End of the Gaze/centrifuge

Ghh...

All right. I admit it. You won. I lost.

Good. I'm glad you have the grace to accept when you're beaten.

...I want to make a deal. Let me talk to Sakura before I disappear, even just for a little bit.

A deal? Are you kidding me? Forget it! There's no telling what kind of trick you might be trying to pull!

I see. That's too bad. I was sure you people would want what I have to offer in exchange.

How would we even know if it's worth our time unless you told us first?

I have information. Information about a Servant none of us knew about.

？！

Please, tell us.

Are they an Archer? Is that who inflicted that wound you had when we caught up?

I see. So you already had your suspicions.

I can't say whether they are an Archer or not, but their attack was shockingly powerful and came from extreme range.

I tried to fight back by tracing their gaze with my Mystic Eyes, hoping to petrify the sniper...

...but their resistance to the effect was so potent, it rebounded on me instead.

So I think we are dealing with a Divine Spirit Servant of very high purity.

... ...

Now that you mention it, you have kept your right eye closed this whole time.

Sharp, aren't you? I was planning to pay you with this if the information alone was insufficient. I suppose I can give it to you anyway.

The moment I was struck by my own power, I closed my right eye while it was still active.

So even though my Mystic Eyes were deflected, the effect still reached the sniper. This eye is looking at them right now.

Well, I say looking, but the circuit was burned instantly, so I am not able to actually see them.

But, conceptually, my eye is still looking at them.

...!

I don't need this eye anymore, so I am going to conceptually detach it and give it to you.

You obviously know what to do with it, alchemist.

This is quite...weighty for no more than the concept of an eye. Did you throw in a bonus of some kind?

I am just leaving it behind as well. I am not sure whether you'll be able to make use of it.

You shouldn't be surprised. I am fairly sure it is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Well, as long as we can make use of its sight, there should be no problem. Thank you. I will gladly use this.

Well damn. I guess the evidence really does point to there being an Archer out there.

What're they doing here!? Are they fighting in the Holy Grail War, too?

How should I know? Besides, it is hardly my problem anymore.

All I can say is, given what I have seen here, we were likely not told the whole truth about this world or the Holy Grail War.

Ugh. This is so frustrating. Whoever tricked this monster should pay for their actions...

...but since I can't do it personally, I will just have to entrust that task to you instead.

If what I gave you turns out to be more valuable than you expected, then you can consider us even.

？！

Now, if you're satisfied, I have a wonderful conversation to enjoy.

I will need some time to make myself at least minimally presentable, so please, leave me alone now...

So, what's the plan now, Master?

The only other Servant left is Lancer, the son of Vāyu. We could keep this momentum going and go challenge him right now.

(Well, technically, Berserker's left too, but that greedyguts shouldn't be any problem.)

(I bet a little push is all it would take to send him over the edge and into depravity.)

Precisely what I calculated you would say.

So I already finished analyzing the eye Medusa left with us.

It no longer has the ability to petrify...

...but it is indeed still focused on what she claims to have seen.

If I delve in even further, it should point us towards the object of its gaze, like a compass.

Oh? Well, that should at least lead us to this mysterious Archer.

Should we find Āyus and Duryodhana again first?

Yes, I think we should.

The announcement made at the rotation gave Berserker credit for finishing Saber off.

So meeting back up with them should not only add to our offensive forces, but also make it easier to replenish our resources.

？！

I wonder.

He is still a Servant in this Holy Grail War, so I do think he can only hole up for so long...

...but for now, I do not think he is worth including in my calculations.

All right, once we rendezvous with Ayus and Duryodhana, let us head in the direction this eye points us.

I had a feeling we might end up going this way...

？！

... ...

Well?

They are not inside the church.

Predicting behavior... Recommending caution.

Please stop. What you are about to do may be considered a forbidden process.

Oh yeah, we definitely can't have anyone breaking the rules.

Anyone...except me!

As the strongest and kindest ruler to ever exist, I should be making the rules here!

I know from my earlier investigation that you are not a Master, as you do not have a Command Spell. However...

Then you leave me no choice.

...Just as I calculated.

I knew I should have made certain, even if I had to jam my Etherlite into you to do so.

No normal AI, even an armored Type D, could withstand a hit from Berserker.

So that leaves just one possibility...

You're not a normal AI.

And that pretty much narrows down your possible partners in crime, too.

The only one who could possibly hide an entirely different sort of being in the structure of a prime AI...

...would have to be someone capable of cheating at the base, system level.

And there is only one being in this whole world with the necessary privileges to do something like that!

Yes, I admit it. She is my Servant, Archer, the first participant in the System Grail War.

Yes, and no.

She is my Servant, Archer, the first participant in the System Grail War.

？！

Her True Name is...

...Durgā.

...Great. Juuust great.

Of course you'd have the one Servant I never wanted to see again.

So you at least know the name, huh? Makes sense, I guess. She's pretty famous.

Oh, first time hearing her name?

Fine, I guess I can tell you about her. We all know how misery loves company.

Basically, she's Shiva's queen and another aspect of Pārvatī.

？！

As I recall, although she is connected to Pārvatī, who is renowned for her grace and beauty, the two could not be more different.

Instead, I believe she is a goddess who symbolizes war and conflict.

Yup, that's her all right. She's basically made for combat. No..."combat" doesn't quite cover it.

She's made for completely annihilating her enemies.

Back in our time, there was this bunch of demon gods that was too much even for the regular gods to manage.

One day, when the gods had finally had enough, they came together to create someone who could completely annihilate the demons.

And Durgā was the result of that effort. Calling her bad news is wildly understating things.

Correct. Your praise of this goddess's capabilities is accurate, Kama, god of love.

Why thank you.

I detested you even before I saw you were using the same kind of vessel as Pārvatī, so I would've hated to be inaccurate.

Dammit, that's Durgā?

This might be out of our league. Divided Spirit or not, I don't want to make an enemy of Shiva's queen!

The man who smells like the demon Kali. And...is that Vāyu?

Guess I should've known a god would have a sharp nose. So much for hiding and seeing how things play out.

... ...

Tch, so they're here too.

I see all surviving Servants have gathered here.

Very well then. I suppose this requires an immediate course correction to put you all on the proper path.

Apparently, even when the truth is hidden by design, it still finds its way to the surface.

Perhaps that is just its nature.

There. I've opened up partial access to my high-level database.

More simply, I'm willing to answer any questions you may have.

What's going on, Governor?

Why do you have a Servant of your own?

Does this mean you're participating in the System Grail War, too?

No, it does not.

I am simply overseeing this Holy Grail War. She is my Servant.

Both of these statements are true, and neither conflicts with the other.

So, that ArcherDurgā, is special in some way?

Affirmative. Her summoning is the incident that began this Holy Grail War.

No... It would be more accurate to say that her summoning is what enabled me to begin the experimental ritual...

...I call the System Grail War.

？！

This ritual beginning is the reason the Paper Moon stopped working.

Once it has concluded, the Paper Moon will work again, though differently than it did before.

So I maintain that I was not lying in my earlier explanation.

This Holy Grail War is going to change how the Paper Moon works...?

Then...this was all an experiment to see if the Paper Moon could be used in a different way?

Correct. An excellent display of logic.

This experiment was designed to make use of the Paper Moon's unique properties and its ability to reproduce everything exactly as it is...

...to artificially create a Holy Grail War.

You Masters and Servants are both the subjects, and the products, of that experiment.

While you all may have gotten here via unusual means, the result is practically the same.

So, you're saying we're lab rats?

In a manner of speaking. None of you Masters and Servants here are your natural selves.

Some of you have been processed. Some of you have been generated.

Some of you were probably more aware of this than others, and to differing degrees.

I am certain, however, that those of you most able to see matters objectively must have sensed it yourselves.

Others of you may only have become aware of it by hearing events recounted from another perspective.

You may have different personalities, beliefs, tastes, and values.

However, none of those things were created from scratch. They were all present in your original selves.

That is to say, while you are all still the same people you have always been...

...the versions of you here are comprised of isolated aspects of your personality which were extracted and made to stand alone.

I believe you already know what such beings are called.

？！

Yes. You are all...

...artificial Alter Egos created by the Paper Moon.

...Impossible. As the Paper Moon's caretaker, I can assure you that the Paper Moon has no such functions.

That's exactly why I did this, Ms. "Caretaker."

The key is rotation and the centrifugal force it produces.

In essence, it works by using the power of the Holy Grail War system to rotate this world...

...then using the conceptual centrifugal force this generates to separate, restrain, and replicate various aspects of your souls.

...

You are putting our souls in a conceptual centrifuge!?

Ah, I can see from your expression that you recognize it is possible.

I call it the AEC Method. The AEC stands for "Alter Ego Centrifuge."

Whoa, whoa. Hold on a damn minute.

Okay, this has all sounded so nuts I've just kinda been letting it go in one ear and out the other. I mean, how do we even know she's telling the truth here?

For all we know, she could be making this nonsense up. Where's the proof?

It may not be proof, but I do have some circumstantial evidence.

Remember the shock absorbers around the perimeter we wake up in after being sent flying in one of those rotations?

Were they not familiar?

I think those are Coffins. Or at least, they function similarly.

They are vessels meant to prevent Spiritrons from escaping. Cradles meant to secure the parts of our personalities that have been separated from us!

Incidentally, the rotation that occurs when a Servant disappears is more of a preliminary operation.

You don't need to worry about your personalities being separated. The real process will occur when the ritual is complete.

Hang on. I've been trying to wrap my head around all this, but it doesn't make any sense.

Let's say we really are Alter Egos, and the whole point of this Holy Grail War was to create us.

What does that get you? Why bother with all this?

Ah, of course.

The point of all this is to prevent the end of the world.

？！

To answer that, I'll need to start at the very beginning.

One day, a Holy Grail manifested inside the Paper Moon's microscopic domain. In response, I came into being.

(So there really was a Holy Grail involved in this incident.)

(Since Holy Grails possess near unlimited power on a conceptual level, I guess there is no reason why one could not get involved with a tiny virtual world like this one.)

I then used the Holy Grail's power to calculate that the world was going to end unless something was done.

...Quick question. Which world are we talking about here?

The one bleached white, of course. The very world all of you at Chaldea are attempting to save.

I understand that you are currently preparing for your final confrontation.

But the biggest problem, and the reason you will fail, is that you are simply lacking in firepower.

Yes, it is. I arrived at this conclusion by converting every contracted Servant, and all of Chaldea's surviving staff, into numbers reflecting the sum total of their abilities.

Those numbers paint an unmistakable pictureone which I am far too intelligent to misinterpret.

... ...

And I have calculated that they will be insufficient.

Yes, I know you have allies. The question is, do you have enough of them for the final confrontation?

And the answer is, "No." As such, your amassed firepower may as well be nonexistent.

？！

So, I turned to the Alter Ego class to bolster your firepower.

I'm sorry to just ask this now, but, what are Alter Egos?

They are an Extra Class of Servants.

Unlike an Alter, which changes a Heroic Spirit's way of being down to their abilities and personality...

...an Alter Ego could be seen as a Heroic Spirit's alternate personality being separated to form a wholly new Servant.

Using computer programs as an example, an Alter is like a different version number of a given program...

...and an Alter Ego would represent that program's systems being repurposed into a wholly new product.

Many Alter Egos became High Servants owing to the use of powerful beings like Divine Spirits to fill in the parts of their personalities which were left empty after their separation...

...but that is not a requirement.

Anyone can be an Alter Ego class as long as a different personality of theirs is the one in charge.

You may have gotten used to them at a certain point through sheer familiarity...

...but from my perspective, Alter Egos seemed an especially mysterious class.

It is very easy for any Servant to qualify as one...

...and they depend far too much on internality and mentality that lack forms of their own.

But then, I had an idea.

If it's possible for an Alter Ego to be established just by having one aspect of a Servant's personality be in control...

...then theoretically, it should also be possible for a single Servant to produce two Alter Egos.

I understand living beings possess a wide variety of mental states and personalities.

It follows, then, that every person and every hero can be said to exist as a convergence of countless personalities and possibilities.

Meanwhile, Alter Egos can exist independently simply by virtue of being Alter Egos.

And as far as I was able to tell from what of Chaldea's records I was able to steal a glance at, there is no data indicating Alter Egos' combat capabilities are in any way inferior.

So then, logically speaking...

...wouldn't taking a single Servant, artificially separating their various personalities...

...and using them to produce multiple Alter Egos be a far more effective force multiplier?

？！

No, it isn't. It's entirely feasible, and the benefits are clear. This is the answer.

So, having arrived at that conclusion, I decided to take action on that basis.

And that plan is being carried out even as we speak. The System Grail War is the key...

The Infinite Alter Ego Production Project.