Fate/EXTELLA: In Veneficus In Mundo Eidos

Novus Ideocentrism
Chapter 3: Articles of Authority - Regalia

"Wizard? What is that?" Maya Yotsuba couldn't help herself but ask that specific question to the boy in front of her.

She knew what the word meant, another term for a magician in general, but the way how Kishinami-san phrased such term in a specific way made her think that it wasn't the case. Her suspicion was on the spot when the brunette male gave her an expressionless look that almost can be seen as if he was doubting her intelligence. If she was an ordinary girl, Maya would be furious at the boy's attitude towards her but since she was raised by her parents to be prim and proper, the black-haired girl just remained silent while observing the person's behavior.

And judging from the confusion expressed by both of his face and body movements, Maya saw that the lad who happened to be her savior from her captors didn't mean any disrespect or ridicule. Rather, he was an individual who had been put in a situation where he was trying to make sense out of things around him. It is appropriate to say that the brown-haired lad looks like someone who lived in a cave or even maybe from another world.

"No, such a thing is impossible." The young female argued inwardly. "A plot device commonly used and found in Isekai novels... and even if I believe in the multiverse theory, there's no way that traveling between two worlds is feasible even with advancement in science."

Unknown to the young Yotsuba, someone who was watching this scene with a popcorn and soda in hand in a far, far away place only laughed in amusement at her thoughts.

Oh Root, if only she knew that the proof was already laid bare in front of her magenta-colored eyes...

Back to the girl, Maya stared at Hakuno as she watched his movements. Her rondures widened a bit when the brunette suddenly cupped his chin in a way that one can discern an act of thinking. She was surprised by this, normally people would follow up her query with a query of their own to which Maya was sure of herself that the lad would surely do. However, Hakuno chose to assess everything in thought as opposed to asking her another set of inquiry which the female thought that the boy supposedly would do.

Not only that, he didn't even answer her question. She watched with patience as the boy silently pondered over something before said lad's brown-colored eyes hover over a golden ornament on his right ring finger with an inferred gaze. Now that she saw it, the female can tell that the jewelry was quite beautiful with that elegant precious stone radiating a vibrant radiance of fire red ruby... and burning orange citrine... and bright yellow topaz...

Maya's eyes widened a bit when she witnessed the gemstone on the boy's golden metal round band forever changing in a myriad of colors every second.

From the bright yellow topaz, the gemstone then changed into a lush green emerald before changing again into a deep blue sapphire. A second passed by the stone then shone into misty indigo tanzanite before changing again into a bewitching purple amethyst. Those weren't the only ones that the lass saw, she even saw a glimpse of other colored precious gems like pure white diamond, burning gold chrysoberyl, ice silver crystal, pitch black musgravite, and even a dozen more!

Her mouth formed in a shape of letter "O" as she gasped in both amazement and disbelief at the sight behold to her.

She wasn't very knowledgeable when it comes to appraising and evaluating precious gems, that was a jeweler's job, but she knew for a fact that the polished rock isn't like other stone you can find in any market. While there are other gemstones that change colors in accordance with the variations of light distribution like alexandrite or a Turkish diaspore, a knowledge she attained from reading some past time book collections of her bookworm of a sister in the past to passed out boredom, she couldn't find any gemstone that specifically changes color spontaneously in every available hues in the light spectrum, even black. If there are any words that Maya can put on a label on it, those would be rare, enthralling, and otherworldly.

Having mystified by the ring's unworldly and paranormal mien, several notions began to pop-up inside Maya Yotsuba's head. One of which was how the ring can be a new type of CAD. After all, an ordinary finger-worn ornament displaying such mystical behavior is far from being normal.

Casting Assistance Device or CAD for short, are tools typically used by practitioners of Modern Magic such as herself, helping to accelerate the invocation of magic and as well as provide stability in terms of Psion usage. A magic tool that replaces the tools such as wands and staves used by magic practitioners of the old and to the best of her current understanding, the CADs of the current era are pretty much bulky that looks like a fusion of a watch and tekkou interwoven in a single utility. If she assumed what the ring was supposed to be, then this would be the first time that Maya encountered a very interesting and intricate take on CAD design.

Surely her elder sister would be more intrigue of this knowing her quirks in terms of everything Psion-related technologies.

"But how many Activation Sequences are fitted into that tiny thing?" Maya asked herself. "The reason why CADs are mostly designed as it is today is due to usage-wise and a large number of processors needed for the same amount of Activation Sequences stored within it. Can that thing be classified as a CAD in the first place?"

Realizing that she won't find any answers to the questions floating in her mind on her thoughts alone, the black-haired lass decided to ask the brunette for some clarity. The moment her magenta-colored rondures left the very intriguing jewelry, she felt fluctuations of Psions out of nowhere. This sudden exposition of what she felt like a surge of thought particles prompted Maya to direct her gaze back at the countenance of Hakuno.

And what she saw next left her mystified.

"Wha..."

Her own eyes were met not by the lad's brown orbs but rather eyes that shone in rainbow illumination, mirroring the colors of the precious stone on the golden ring that he wore. Those rainbow-colored rondures were glistening under a kaleidoscopic brilliance and Maya Yotsuba's heart immediately got captivated in seconds, her very attention lulled by its preternatural appearance. For a moment, the young pre-teen girl just stood in her place while being dazed by Hakuno's odd yet majestic eyes.

She only got out from her stupor state when the boy suddenly collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

"Ah!?" The young female Modern Magician gasped upon seeing the lad on the floor. "Hey, are you alright Kishinami-san? Kishinami-san?"

Kneeling down, Maya bent over as she tried to assess her savior's vital signs wondering why he fell to the pavement instantly. Her hands then roamed around Hakuno's upper part; from his forehead, neck and down to his chest area. In her case, the female Yotsuba had to fight down the blush on her cheeks as her delicate paws traipsed over the lad's frame.

It was her first time touching an opposite gender's body, she didn't even do this to her fiance. Her physical interaction with her fiance was only limited to holding hands while upholding the personification of an idealized Japanese woman that was ingrained in her since her childhood by the older females in her house. And yet, here she was doing the exact opposite of it. In her defense though, her actions are very justified by the immediate situation presented in front of her.

"Did you collapse due to exhaustion?" She asked herself as she finished her evaluation on Hakuno's predicament. "With all that you've done back there... and for me... I guess something like this is bound to happen sooner or later."

A small and gentle smile appeared on her delicate profile.

"Thank you."

As a token of gratitude for saving her life, Maya did one thing that she read from one of her sister's books. She carefully placed the unconscious lad's head on her lap while her magenta orbs hovered on his countenance while unconsciously brisking the strands of his chocolate brown hair with her fingers. As she was doing this, her mind was thinking some things concerning Hakuno with an innocent blush on her cheeks.

XXX

While his physical structure was experiencing what every NEET male would say a heavenly pillow lap from a beautiful girl, Hakuno's Spiritron structure or soul wandered in an entirely different plane of existence.

The moment he opened his orbs, the brown-haired male found himself in a very familiar and surreal place. His brown-colored irises staring face-to-face with a giant orb made of purely condensed Spiritronic particles, the Moon Cell's core, also known as Angelica Cage. The spiritronic sea accommodating the entire nucleus hadn't changed at all since the last time he saw it: the deep blue environment mirroring the deep waters of a vast ocean of Earth, the endless bluish circuit-like lines speeding away in intersections as they branched and spread throughout, not a single thing has changed.

He was fated to be deleted by this supercomputer because of the nature of his entire existence. However, because he was regarded as the victor of Moon Cell's Holy Grail War nonetheless, it granted him access to functions that would be unobtainable by other hackers. His eyes then glanced at the exquisite and beautifully crafted golden ring resting on his very right ring finger.

Regalia.

Also known as the Articles of Authority, was granted to who was declared the victor of the Holy Grail War. It was the grand prize of the Moon Cell's initiated Holy Grail War, a proof of total authority of SERAPH and the right to rule Moon Cell. The authentication of one who ascended to kingship over the Eye of God.

The Ruler of Moon Cell.

The King of SERAPH.

A Royal Administrator.

A Sovereign.

Such information was something he obtained a while ago when he willed the ring on his finger in front of his own confusion in his current predicament, and the moment he did that his mental faculties were assaulted by a various influx of inputs; data, information, facts, history. Everything that pertained to all that was recorded by the Moon Cell since its arrival in the solar system seeped into his mind.

It was slow at first, like water flowing in the brook. A mere drip to provide a taste of what it had to offer. And when Hakuno permitted to let the stream unhindered, it expanded into surging waves of an ever-expanding ocean.

Certainly, with such massive information gushing forth inside a human's consciousness, it was evident that the process might be painful. It may even mentally cripple the person receiving such an immense block of data or worst even death. However, Hakuno Kishinami didn't feel any discomfort or pain in the process.

Rather it was very soothing and relaxing as if his mind was given a literal massage.

The Regalia ring, the oldest artifact in the entire solar system alongside Moon Cell, was like a terminal of some sorts and having learned such knowledge, Hakuno Kishinami used it to summon himself directly to Angelica Cage for answers. Of course, doing this means that his soul needs to leave his material body on Earth's physical plane in order for him to access the Moon's cyber world frame. He just hoped that he didn't startle Maya back on Earth on his sudden indisposition.

With the Moon Cell in front of him ready to answer whatever queries he had, the victor of the Holy Grail War decided not to make the spiritronic computer waiting for its Sovereign.

"Okay Moon Cell," Hakuno declared, his eyes expressing the want to address the perplexed thoughts in his head. "Tell me everything I want to know."

As expected from a machine, it didn't give him a verbal response. Rather, the Regalia on his finger shone brightly in a multitude of colors all the while receiving all the data and information through it. Then from that finger ornament, the influx of data flowing through it was then being transmitted to his entire Spiritron structure and Hakuno had to close his eyes as he tried to focus on the sea of data that the Moon Cell was bestowing him.

When the process was complete, Hakuno opened his eyes in understanding though he couldn't help himself display a scowl on his face despite how small it is. During the transfer of knowledge, Hakuno learned many things. One of this is the history of Moon Cell itself.

The Moon Cell was an energy storage device placed within the Moon. An artifact made by non-human intelligent lifeforms and is the supercomputer that has been observing planet Earth for almost 4.6 billion years. Originally Moon Cell was just an observation device made by an otherworldly civilization.

Moon Cell only contained equipment to observe and record life on Earth, but after many, many years it came to have its current functionality. Its sole mission was to observe, but when trying to observe there are always some "blind spots." These blind spots can be attributed to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle: the part of the thing that the observer observes is certainly determined, but the part that remains unobserved remains undetermined.

An observation device must be completely fair and impartial. When carrying out observations, there will (must) always be some area that cannot be seen. In order to bypass such wall, the Moon Cell went to extreme lengths just to observe and record everything on Earth as exactly as it is.

The supercomputer made of massive photonic crystals created several functions to know everything about Earth. Like this, one can certainly say that Moon Cell evolved from just an observer into an inspector and supervisor, and expanded its capabilities to even include the ability to compute the management of the entire planet. From this, Moon Cell became a computational device that accurately simulates all of Earth and its life forms, and can even accurately predict the future.

To put it simply Moon Cell is, "The eye that observes the Earth." A database of mankind. A colossal memory device that has recorded mankind's ecology and history, and even the thoughts and souls of [all] people.

Moon Cell is just a container that exists on the Moon. A typewriter that God left behind. An observation lens drilled into the Moon.

The Moon's Eye.

A bottomless Klein Cube.

The observer of everything on planet Earth whose master is no longer around...

...Until he came and became its victor through a death game that the machine instigated itself.

One thing that brought a sour look in Hakuno's face was the fact that he was now transported into a parallel world by his world's Moon Cell. Not to mention it was a world with an entirely different history with another Moon Cell bored through the moon to boot. In summary, he became the sole owner of the Moon Cell of this World Line the moment he got himself transported.

"Well, I did wish to live but I didn't expect for my world's Moon Cell to throw me into another reality..."

To him, everything that he had learned from Rani and Rin about Earth, which can prove useful to him in this second chance of life, by the way, became moot the moment he arrived in this world. There's also the fact that he was currently placed in the year 2062, which was 32 years into the future than his original timeline. In addition to that, he also learned that the humans in this parallel world developed a magic system that was very far from the Spiritron-Virtual Spiritron-based system that he was indoctrinated.

"No wonder why Maya-san didn't know about Code Casts and other things related to Spiritron-Hacking. It's because it did not exist here in the first place."

With his current position, the brunette realized that he was now an oddball in a world where most humans utilized Psion-Pushion-based magic. Not only that, because he was now the owner of this world's Moon Cell he has now the job to make it sure that the machine, which can grant any wish or miracle, must not be discovered by or fall to the hands of people who would use Moon Cell's otherworldly powers for themselves. Though he wasn't perturbed by this, even if the humans of this world somehow managed to discover the alien artifact through scientific efforts or sheer luck, it will take more than conventional hacking to able to penetrate even the second layer of the Moon Cell.

Hakuno mentally thanked his lucky stars, if there's any, that he was the only one capable of interacting with the Eye of God.

Then there's the sole purpose of having Moon Cell choosing its rightful owner. The brunette could only do nothing but furrowed his eyebrows at the severity of the position he was placed in. Glancing at the Regalia adorning his finger, Hakuno can only sigh, knowing the exact reason of his role to the Moon Cell... and sadly to humanity by extension.

"Huh..." The brown-haired lad began as he let himself adrift in the midst of ever-flowing spiritron particles surrounding the Eye of God's nucleus. "I really can't catch a break, can I?"

If Hakuno had the ability to peer to any parallel worlds, he would certainly see someone being amused by his current predicament.