Part 30: Update XXVIII - Suspicious pair

Update XXVIII - Suspicious pair



Music: Duel of Fate




Thanks to Tohsaka, I dispelled the Reality Marble that Alice's Servant had put in place. ...Actually, I have something else I want to talk to Rin about, and that's Alice's strength. Considering how adept Rin is as a Spiritron Hacker, she might know more about Alice.

Abnormal? Hmm... Well, I couldn't sense any foul play from here on campus. Perhaps her Servant is skilled at building alternate worlds, but frankly, the magic needed... ...would overload the human brain and magic circuit. Still, Servants have to be fueled somehow... ...otherwise they would just be very powerful objects at rest that tend to stay at rest.

If what Tohsaka says is true, then whatever Alice is, it isn't human. I've heard that the data of dead people in the SE.RA.PH manifest like ghosts on occasion—



Humans don't die here, so the only virtual ghosts are echoes of angry hackers, etched into electrons. Isn't it obvious? People aren't really alive here, so why would their ghosts be here?

There aren't any people in here, either living or dead. Just magi who've converted their spiritrons and hacked in from the surface, like Rin.

Even if Masters die, this isn't the place their spirits will haunt. The Moon Cell deletes the data of defeated Masters, and is thorough enough not to permit loose data. If data from any deceased person incorporates, it is immediately dismantled by the system.

Anyway, the point is this. Ghosts can't be created here. But someone who qualifies as "previously deceased" might be permitted by the Moon Cell.

A ghost... Someone who's been dead since the very beginning... That's what she's talking about.

Okay, so Alice isn't a virtual ghost like the man in white from earlier, just a normal ghost that somehow got online. That clears everything up!

All right, no more chit-chat. We're enemies, don't forget it!



Music: School IV




What do you say about us heading to the chapel and asking those sisters if they know anything? They're smart enough to do Alterations of the Soul; they should know something about this.

Go to the chapel? Not a bad idea. The sisters who do the Alterations of the Soul might know something. I'll try to head over there later.



It's as if your libido rose up and erased your conscious mind. Yeah, that's probably how it works. The Reality Marble influences your unconscious mind.



If you're talking about Reality Marbles, you won't see that many Servants using them.



Is that girl even human?



~

If you seek knowledge, look no farther than the books around you. They know many things... The word "library" just doesn't do justice to this place. It's a veritable information bonanza!



Just select the Status option from the terminal menu to see your current stat levels. You can see your name, nickname, experience needed for the next level, and your equipment.



....Hmm. You might want to ask one of your fellow Masters about this.



My apologies, but that is outside of my expertise. I do not know...

Music: School III


Touko finally has something to say, after two and a half weeks of doing nothing but pointing us to Aoko for an Alteration.



When I tell her I'm not looking for an Alteration, Touko Aozaki responds with irritation. Before her mood entirely sours, I ask her about the two Alices and about ghosts.

Ghosts? Well, isn't that quaint.

Touko Aozaki becomes more animated as she turns my way and says more.



We sculpt your spiritual bodies in a way that maximizes the flow of energy from Master to Servant. I've seen those Alice girls plenty. It's not for me to say whether they're twins, but— From what I can see, the girl is what people call a "ghost.” If she is indeed a cyber ghost, she'd have no bodily limitations to her magic output. Without a brain to burn out, she would have no limits. Even if her soul started to break apart, she would continue to spew magic until it all burnt out. Still, for a ghost to utilize so much magic, she'd need excellent compatibility with her Servant. Do you know her Servant's class?

Recalling that brute, I conclude that it must be Berserker. That is what I answer.

A Berserker? Are you sure you aren't mistaken? This Servant is using a large-scale Reality Marble, right? That's not a Berserker's style. A Reality Marble is highly advanced thaumaturgy. So if you think about it, a Caster makes more sense.

A Berserker wouldn't use a Reality Marble? What does that mean? But, if that's true, then what in the world is Alice's Servant? I haven't solved the mystery of the twins, but I think I now know that Alice is...special.

We killed the beast and Alice was perfectly fine, so that alone should show that it can't be her Servant.

Hakuno really isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Are you done asking questions? Then I'll get back to work. It may not look like it, but I'm busy. ...Hrmph. What I wouldn't give for a nice, talented underling who can make a good pot of coffee.

After that, Touko Aozaki becomes absorbed with her papers, tuning out everything around her. That's my cue to get lost. I offer a slight bow to Touko Aozaki and leave the chapel.

Music: School IV


That immediately kicks us out into another scene.

I don't ever want anything bad to happen to us again. C'mon, Alice, let's run away!

Uh-huh, let's run away now.





I want to, too! Let's read a story, Alice.



Gee, I wonder where they could have gone to read a story?

Alice must have run away from me. It would be good for me to speak to Alice about cyber ghosts. I just need to find where she ran off to...



Anyways, I have to make a quick stop back to the Chapel to cash in those levels. Infuriatingly, it leaves me one measly point off from a new skill.



Also, thanks to my Servant, any low-rent enemies I come across turn and run when they see me.

~

Hey, I've finally gotten used to this place! I can run and fight without wanting to hurl! Now I just have to worry about my Servant wanting to drag me around everywhere...



Hey, pull out a victory, okay? It'll make things easier for me in the future.



If you ask me, I'd say Alice's Servant is a Heroic Spirit who's an extremely talented magus.



She kept mumbling to herself how she'd never had anything like it before in her life. Wow...just...wow... I never knew that there were people like her in the world.

You know, Rani's professor is kind of a dick, when you think about it. Sure, she's learning a lot about people here, but her only options are to win or die. Even if we are that person she was sent to find, her best case scenario involves either watching us die or killing us herself.



I take it you got slapped around in the Arena by that Alice girl. I hope that you'll make it far enough that we end up facing each other in the Coliseum.



Alright, let's go find the Alices at the library.

Music: Duel of Fate


Did we mistake it for the March Hare?

You're a March Hare.

That's mean!

And what are you gonna do after you catch the white rabbit?

Off with its head.

Uh-oh! Run, bunny!

Music: Stops
Sound: Heartbeats


Where? How do you know?

Music: Breach






You're right. We'll see you later. We're looking forward to playing with you.



Music: Stops
Sound: Stops


They're really amazing Spiritron Hackers. Shinji would be nothing in comparison. There one second and gone the next, as if the system rules didn't apply to them at all. They're like ghosts. I can't see how I—or anyone else for that matter—could defeat them. That's when I realize there's a piece of paper near my foot.



The text is just mirrored, but don't bother doing it yourself, dealing with this is up next.

...??? It's gibberish. Should I ask Touko Aozaki again? I might learn something.

Music: School III


Back to the chapel!



I relate what just happened in the Library and show her the code I picked up there. She frowns.

Hmm? Again with the quaint things. This is mirror writing. Anyone can read this, with the aid of a mirror. And don't ask me for one, find it yourself.

Hakuno Kishinami: Still not the brightest.

A mirror... There must be a mirror somewhere. I better go find one.

Weren't you saying a little bit ago that you thought your enemy's Servant was a Berserker? Think again. A Reality Marble is a tool used by Servants with low combat ability. That's not a Berserker's style. So tell me, which came first—the Berserker or the Reality Marble?

Her words spark a realization. The Berserker didn't exist before the Reality Marble. They're one and the same. First, I'll solve the mystery of this code. There must be a mirror somewhere around campus.



Where could you find a mirror in a school?

Music: School IV


In the bathroom!



But while the girls' room is marked, there is a second one...



It seems like a cut and dry railroading to use the correct bathroom, but if I press the issue...

Although the boys' bathroom has a mirror, I should use the girls' bathroom instead.

~

I must use the mirror in the boys' bathroom. It's NOT to satisfy my curiosity...



...it lets you use either one!

There's a mirror. I hold up the code to the mirror and try to read it. It turns out to be English. Let me see...



Yep, that's Jabberywocky, alright.

A monster that gets decapitated with the Vorpal Blade... Jabberwock? The name of the monster written on the note Alice dropped... So that means... Is that her "friend's" name, I wonder— I might be able to learn more if I head over to the library.



This makes a new marker pop up back in the library.





Read it.





Alice drops in out of nowhere to interrupt Hakuno's reading.



Alice suddenly appears behind me.

Music: Fear


—I'm going to ask Alice about this Jabberwock I just read about. Is your Servant's true name... Jabberwock?



The Jabberwock is my—







We have to go bye-bye now. We might wake up from the dream if we talk too much.



Well that's ominous!

Yep! See you later, lady!



...And, they're gone. But, I've learned that while the monster is in fact the Jabberwock, it's not their Servant. If that's true, then it's like Touko Aozaki says, and Alice's Servant is actually...



*Giggle* There's a little bit of overlap between the two of us, but I'm the better Caster by far!

Does that mean they're not twins, but that the Servant is a copy of the Master? Although I haven't quite gotten to the heart of the matter, I think I am headed in the right direction. It feels like the truth is within arm's reach...



Music: School III


The level 3 Matrix finally gets us an image of Black Alice, as well as a new key word and skill.




Professor Dodgson is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll.






With this bizarre week nearing its end, all that's left is to kill a bit of time before the Elimination Battle.

Next time: Through the looking glass.