animus_network

[Now that the Shadows were gone, Lancer had taken up exploring the Tower again. When he made it to the fifth floor, he though it would just be like the other floors. If anything, he had expected monsters like the Shadows, and not what he actually saw.]

[Looking through the viewing scope, he found nothing but shifting scenes of a wasteland. He had dismissed it at first, but one of the scenes grabbed his attention. It was a dead land like the other images, but he thought he could recognize the remains of the buildings. As if to mock him, the image slowly zoomed in on a place that was the ruins of Fuyuki. As the image got closer, he started feeling dizzy and empty--the feeling of a Servant whose Master had just died.]

[But that was impossible. The last time he had left her, Ayaka was still alive. Then, why...?]

[The viewing scope first showed him Misaya, finally having found her peace in death, lying there as he had left her. And then it showed him the Grail, even more still and dead than it should have been. Lying there among the corruption was a little girl, one who he had met during the summer festival. The next image was the perverted priest, and the one after that was of Misaya's various classmates. They were all dead. Not just the humans, but the animals and plants as well. Of the Servants there were no trace, but Servants never left more than dust behind.]

[At this point he just wants to pull away and stop looking, but the sight draws him in. There's still one person he cares about left behind in his world. One girl who he had sworn to protect until she could retrieve her Servant. Even though the rest of this world is dead, he hopes that she, at least, is still alive.]

[When he finally sees her, he realizes why he's been getting this feeling. He no longer has a Master, not even a temporary one. Ayaka Sajyou is as dead as the rest of her world.]

[She was lying still, her eyes closed, a faint smile on her lips. Her face is turned to the side and one of her hands is extended horizontally, as if to reach to grasp something. It's only when he notices the pool of black mud next to her that he realizes she must have spent her last minutes with Saber. At least...she could spend her last minutes with that guy.]

[It's at this point that he finally pull back. He takes several deep breaths before heading to a networking console. It took a while for Lancer, even with the updates he had received from the Grail when he was first summoned, to find the audio function. However, there was no way he would show anyone his embarrassing emotional state on video.]

Hey.

[His words come out as a whisper.]

What the fuck is the fifth floor all about?

[It seems obvious enough, but it could possibly be an illusion. He hopes that the other tower residents could confirm this guess.]

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...Shit.

[He had already cried once after he met Saber. He didn't want to cry again. Nevertheless, his voice shakes a little.]

So what does it mean if all you see is a bunch of dead people?

in my perſonal and mildly profeſſional experience, ſeeing a bunch of dead people uſually means that a bunch of alive people died.

[He growls.]

Look, what I'm saying is I peered through the scopes. And then I saw a wasteland. And in that wasteland, there were some people I knew, and they seemed dead. What I wanna know is whether or not that was real, and whether or not my world is really fucking dead.

at this point, does it matter? all you can go on is belief now, so what do you believe?

You sure nobody's found proof going one way or the other?

i was given a tour of what they ſaid was my world, which looked exactly as what you can ſee in that floor. and everything really was dead and barren, but after davy jones' locker, i do not even know what to think. it could have been anything, really.

They...actually stick you in that place?

more like drop you there, but yes.

How did you know if it was the same thing you saw through the scope? I mean, it could have just dropped you in any wasteland, right? They all fucking look the same.

i do not know about others, but i recognized my world. there are things you will never not recognize.

[His hand slams hard against the keyboard, causing a loud bleep to issue from the computer.]

Fuck. They really know where to drop you. Fucking bastards. Goddammit, I'm gonna kill them all!

i believe you just joined a very popular club.

The others can maim them as fucking much as they fucking want to! The final blow belongs to me!

and i am ſure you will convince everyone with that fine logic.

I have a spear. It's either get out of the way or get fucking impaled.

...you really have not been here long, have you.

Just long enough to get really, really pissed off at the assholes who run this place!

[In other words, less than a month. But even that was too long when you were no longer supposed to exist.]

yes, well. do let me know when this impaling buſineſs goes down, i would like to ſee this.

Watch from a good distance away then. Or else I might end up impaling you too.

it is alright, lad, i am excellent at dodging.

Fine.

[He doesn't care either way. As long as this "Jason" and all of his allies die, his job is done.]

Oh, and since you've been at the tower for so long, is there any way besides that fucking lift that I can somehow drag those bastards up here?

i am pretty certain the anſwer to that is no.

Fuck.

[So he had gotten himself stuck in the same rut again. All he could do was stew in his anger and wait. He absolutely hates the wait.]

They really did think this through...

amazing, is it not.

You could call it that.

[They made sure every single detail could stir him up into a rage--he was supposed to stop existing, but they saved him; he was a hero, but they made it clear he couldn't save anybody; he just wanted a beer, but they made him jam a bowl of oatmeal down his throat before he could drink it without vomiting. And then they hid themselves away in a place where even he couldn't reach when all he wanted to do was RIP THEM TO PIECES.]

[It couldn't have just been him either. Everyone here probably went through the same thing. And he had seen more than one Servant, so even heroes couldn't resist whatever forces controlled the tower.]

[In the end, this was just something he had to adjust to. Sitting around being angry wouldn't help anything.]

[Jack is much more of the school of W E L P. And handling things as they come and somehow always landing on his feet. He's not personally offended, at least. They have somehow managed to avoid that. Or he hasn't let himself be personally offended. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Gods and Devils help the Tower if Jack Sparrow gets Offended about something, he's a little single minded about things like that. He sees Lancer's rage as a bit of a waste of time. Not much you can do, not much point to it now.]

and i am ſure you can call it many other things as well,

[There's a moment of silence.]

Hey, is there anything around here that I can smash without getting everyone else pissed off at me?

well, if killing monſters is your thing, you can always drop by the thirtieth floor. there are always creepy crawlies all over the place and certainly no one will ſo much as miſs them. juſt do not blame me if you turn out to be not as good as you thought you were, and you get killed.

I don't die easy.

[With that, he shuts off the feed.]

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[text] ...I am sorry, he is a jerk sometimes. OTL

voice: don't worry about it--Lancer is used to jerks

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