Romani sat across from Nichloas and massaged his forehead, "You punched him and... that happened." He pointed at the pointy eared man cleanly embedded in metal. The doctor looked to the staff outside, "Please try to get him out of there... and somebody inform the Director."
"Yeah, I punched him and that happened." The unruly teenager mimicked his tone, "I don't know what the norm here is but where I come from, you just don't caress a man's face. And I don't think interrogators are allowed to act like two dime who-... Nevermind." He crossed his arms and raised his head to stare directly at Romani with curious purple eyes.
Romani sighed, "I see." He then turned to look at the staff who were still idly standing around, "What are you waiting for? Please remove Beryl from the wall."
""Ehhhhhh...""
The collective hesitation made the doctor sigh again, he got it, he really did but they had jobs to do. Nobody wanted to touch human trash but they'd signed up for it themselves.
"I say let him stick there for a while, so we can see where his confidence comes from." The one who spoke was Nicholas.
Romani couldn't stop sighing if he tried, "He's... not meant to be here in the first place."
But well, when you lived in a world where sick fucks who tortured and killed for shits and giggles, and children were prime material for experimentation, you developed a certain resistance to all sorts of bullshit.
So it didn't take long for Romani Archaman to let go of his surprise and turn to look at the intruder in all seriousness, "I'm Romani Archaman, you can call me Roman." He politely introduced himself, "Now, do you know why you're here?"
Chaldea's Headquarters were based at the centre of Antarctica, people didn't just 'pop' out of nowhere without knowing about them.
Nicholas stopped at his words, looked at the two people trying to pry Beryl off the wall, and then with unexpectedly grave seriousness, he started eyeballing the doctor.
"W...What?"
"It's cause I'm black."
"I see..." Romani nodded but realised something was wrong and tilted his head in genuine confusion, "Wait what? No, you're n-... What?" The doctor facepalmed, he'd never met someone like this before.
Cause you know, theirs was an organisation with the fate of the world riding on them.
"Can you please be serious?"
Nicholas chuckled and straightened himself, sitting like a proper human being. He then spoke one word, one word to explain everything, one word to bare all truths, one to rule them al-*ehem*
"Zelretch."
Romani straightened his back at the name, "The Wizard Marshall?"
And it did explain everything.
The fact that the weather had been disturbed by a hole in the clouds, the snow had been cleared, the sheer eccentricity of the individual before him.
Nicholas nodded, slightly smirking when he noticed the Doctor's dilemma, "You can ask him if you want."
"Ah..." One did not just 'ask' the Wizard Marshall, and in doing so risk disturbing someone known for messing around with complete disregard for rules, claiming rules were made to be broken when he was one of the people who made them, "I see."
"You people seem to see a lot." Nicholas narrowed his eyes, all these people were saying that a little too often.
"...Then I guess you must be our last Master candidate?" Romani asked hopefully, the quote would be met then and they could stop their search. Also because he hoped this action of Zelretch's was a straightforward one.
The teenager shook his head more furiously than the doctor thought possible, "No, no, no, no. I think there's one more."
"But with you we would have all we need."
"You sure about that?" Nicholas gestured to the unresponsive Beryl, still stuck in the wall, "You really sure about that?"
-
Olga Marie Animusphere was the Director of the Chaldea Security Organisation, taking the position after the predecessor, her own father, had... regrettably lost his life.
She'd been in her office, working away like she was most of the time, being the diligent woman she was, when Doctor Roman had notified her that a possible Master Candidate had been dropped off at Chaldea.
She brushed aside a bang of her olive hair as she walked hastily to the medical ward.
As Director, she had a duty to the people that worked under her and a Master, who'd be fighting on the frontlines soon, deserved that she at least met them once, to greet them.
They had the right.
It definitely wasn't because her staff had kicked her out of the staff on the totally unbased claims that she was overworking herself.
Of course those thoughts went right out the window when she reached the clinic and the metal door slid away, revealing a sight she... She honestly didn't know how to react to.
"Get that goddamn syringe away from me, you monster!"
"It's just one prick, it doesn't even hurt! Please let me take a blood sample!"
"I always thought it was a joke but not anymore, you gingers have no souls! I'm gonna punch you if you don't get away from me!"
A pale haired teenager was hanging in one of the corners of the room like a...spider, elevating himself by pushing against the ceiling and walls with his hands and feet... How had he...
"How did... he even manage that?" The words left her lips before she could notice.
"D...Director!" Romani Archaman straightened up immediately, afraid of her alleged harshness, "That is Nicholas Martel." He pointed at the teenager who winked at her, "He's put Beryl Gut in a coma, on account of brain dama-"
"Screw him, he deserves it. Didn't his mother teach him anything?"
"His file says he killed his mother after she raised him." Romani stared at his boss with a look that said he wasn't sorry at all.
Nicholas deadpanned at him, "How am I the bad guy here?"
"...Most of the staff is praising your actions, but I don't like how nonchalant you are about this. He was a member of A-team." Olga answered his question sternly, maintaining a professional visage even if she personally didn't want to rebuke him.
Beryl Gut was human trash.
"I'm so sorry for putting a serial killer and would be rapist in a coma."
Well, it was just how unbothered he wa-
"I should've killed him."
...Olga was left speechless.
"Actually doc, where's he at?" Nicholas looked at Romani, who hesitantly looked at Olga.
"Do not answer that question."
"Lady, I'mma give you a warning cause you're smoking hot and trying to be professional but, I'm not above punching the shit out of you."
"W...What?" Olga Marie Animusphere was a woman who spent all her time at work, was given no recognition for her work as she grew up, and thought of as underperforming by her peers, they compared her to her father's star pupil, claiming she should be disinherited.
In the face of such blatant and vulgarly honest praise, the fair-skinned woman flushed prominently, momentarily short-circuiting.
"...Hey doc, does she have daddy issues?"
Romani Archaman slowly, very carefully nodded his head in affirmation.
"I-I do not!"
The Director slammed the door in their faces and ran away with wet eyes.
"I-I think that's that first time someone's managed to drive away the Director before she blows her top." One of the passing staff commented with wide eyes, looking at the newest Master candidate with newfound admiration, "Gotta tell the others!"
"Wai-" The man bolted away before Romani could speak further and the doctor sighed, "There goes my attempt at preserving her dignity."
"I... feel kinda bad." Nicholas rubbed the back of his head, and Romani took the opportunity to withdraw a sample of blood for testing, "Did you jus-... Oh you son of a bi-"
"Think of it as punishment for making Chaldea's beloved Director cry. Besides, it didn't hurt, d-did it?" Romani smiled sheepishly, walking backwards as Nicholas walked forward, his fist pulled back. The doctor rushed to a machine and put in the blood sample, "T-There! Great! You're compatible!"
Romani shrunk backwards, "Please don't hurt me, I still want to watch more Magi Mari."
"...What's that?"
"It's this really cute streamer idol! She's really interesting to watch." The doctor spoke with passion, momentarily forgetting his situation but then noticed Nicholas' eyes, "W...Why are you looking at me like I'm human trash?"
-
Writing this is therapeutic.
Nicholas was lying in his less than comfy bed, arms crossed under his head, and staring at the plain metal ceiling in silence, "What am I doing with my life?"
It was a simple room, with a metal book shelf in one corner, a bed extending from the wall and a table with a lamp right next to it, also extending from the wall, also made of metal... It was actually weird how just about everything was metal here.
It had been a week since he'd arrived in Chaldea, met a few 'interesting' personalities, signed a few autographs for staff members, and noticed that the Director, Olga Marie Animusphere, was avoiding him like he was a discord mod trying to hit on her.
But he digressed.
The fact of the matter was, he'd shown up out of nowhere, gotten selected as a Master and this was his life now.
"I get the feeling whoever built this place didn't have comfort in mind. Wonder why?" He deadpanned at the white shitty excuse of a mattress under him.
Anyway, they'd given him his own place to stay, and told him that he would be getting paid when he punched the haughty son of a bitch who was SUPPOSED to give him a tour but ended up just going off on how a civilian like should bow down and kiss management's feet for the opportunity they'd given him.
*Ehem*
Nicholas didn't mind, it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. Everything aside from this little facility was going to be erased from existence sooner rather than later by a trigger happy necrophile.
To be honest, he wanted to try punching the son of a bitch at least once.
Plans for the future aside, Chaldea was about the only organisation he knew willing to honestly induct someone who technically didn't exist until a week ago solely because of his compatibility with what they wanted.
Before he could think about how punching a government official could land him an id, the metal door to his room slid open and a certain ginger doctor walked in, holding a laptop in his hands, "Here's the laptop you've been requesting."
It's staff was also extremely amiable.
Nicholas tilted his head in confusion, "Doc, why's the head of the medical department doing delivery duties? Isn't this a job for... dunno, a grunt or something?" He sat up as he spoke, slightly surprised by the visit.
"You're really asking me that?" Romani sighed at the Master Candidate, placing the laptop on the table, "Nobody wanted to come here after... you know, the incident."
Understanding flashed in Nicholas' eyes and he groaned, "Bah... It ain't my fault. He shouldn't have crept up like that."
"You punched someone that might as well be on the board of directors!"
"What did he even do around here? Laugh weird and give everyone chocolate?"
"No..." Roman massaged his forehead with a hand, the other on the table, "Lev Lainur Flauros invented Sheba, you know the device we use to look at what Chaldeas is showing."
Nicholas deadpanned further in response to what many considered an amazing accomplishment, "You mean the satellite y'all can't stop riding... The 'civilians' you like to look down on made those decades before you."
"It's not just a satellite, it can... look at... the past..." Romani's voice got weaker and weaker as he spoke, and he clicked his tongue, realising what he'd just walked into.
Nicholas smirked as much as his frozen face allowed him,"Oh yeah, sure it can. Tell Lev to use it to look for his mind, cause he done lost it."
The thing just started short circuiting and blacking out when they used it as anything other than a satellite.
"You know what, nevermind. I'm just not gonna do this." Romani threw up his hands in surrender and opened the laptop, "Anyway, last time you looked at me like I was a waste of space when I brought up Magi Mari. Have a look, you'll get why she's amazing."
"Don't you da-"
"Oh look, she's streaming right now!"
"Hello everybody~! It's your beloved Magi☆Mari~!"
Nicholas' straightened abruptly when he heard her voice and Romani thought he'd been enamoured completely, like he was.
His theory *ehem* delusi-*EHEM* was only further supplemented by the fact that the teenager narrowed his eyes and leaned a little too close to the screen, extremely thoughtful.
"It was actually just a site where she posted stuff you know, but then she started streaming too." Romani would never admit he was little unnerved by the teenager's focus, "Hehe... look at you."
The doctor laughed sheepishly and rubbed his nose, a hand at his waist, "You were hating me so muc-"
"Yeah... I'm pretty sure that's a dude."
Romani's heart sank, and he physically recoiled as if he'd been slapped in the face, "W...What?" He'd probably misheard hi-
"Yeah sorry, that's a dude."
"You lie! You're just trying to lead me astray, you... You evil, evil man!" Romani ripped the laptop away from Nicholas and stared at the screen with eyes that were threatening to pop out of his head, "There's no way my beloved Magi Mari could be a man!"
"Brother, it's 2015, you should be used to this." Nicholas looked at his fist, he'd have punched the man but he'd actually grown on him, also because it wasn't even annoying... just pitiable. He looked at Romani with sorry eyes.
"Stop looking at me like that! No! You're lying!" The doctor obviously refused to believe him.
"I'll admit there's guys who can do really good impressions but if you listen closely enough, there's always a slight edge." Even Nicholas raised his hands in surrender, "Look, I'm sorry. Really, I get it. Also, I might be wrong."
"Noooooooo-... My perfect Magi Mari has been tainted!" Doctor Romani Archaman ran out of Nicholas' room hiding his teary face in one of his arms, with a laptop in the other, "I won't believe your lies!"
"The lapt-..." Nicholas held up his hand to call after the doctor but then paused and lowered his hand, "You know what, nevermind." The teenager turned around to look at the wall with narrowed eyes.
They were supposed to be in Antarctica, right at the centre of it.
These people had some damn good insulation.
-
"I fucked your mom! You hacker fuck! You should kill yourself!"
"I will find you, and I will hurt you. It may be years later, but I will." Nicholas chortled and put down his console, satisfied with his killstreak and completely unbothered by the abnormally steady stream of profanity coming from his discarded headphones, "You sure you don't wanna play?" He held up the console and glanced over his shoulder at the young man sitting on the bed in the other corner of the room.
"N... It's alright. I don't think I could handle such a crowd."
"Eh... they're not that bad."
"My ancestors skull fucked yours!"
Nicholas smiled again and turned to stare at Kadoc Zelumpus, a timid young man who happened to be a member of the A-Team. He had silver hair a shade lighter than his own and really needed to eat some food. Nicholas had sought him out after learning that he had a particularly powerful system at his disposal.
"S...So you're the one who... well, I want to say, got into a fight with Beryl." The whole of Chaldea knew by now what had happened and Kadoc was surprised how his other team members seemed to think nothing of the ordeal.
Nicholas nodded, "Yeah, fight, sure."
"He was talking about how he was going to rip off your limbs one by one."
"...He's up?"
Kadoc nodded hesitantly when he noticed the sudden shift in mood.
"Where's he at?"
"W...Why?"
"I just wanna talk to him."
"You're not going to-"
"I just wanna talk to him." Said the man who was folding up the sleeves of his standard issue Chaldea uniform.
Some time later, a boom resonated throughout the facility, startling many.
-
Some feedback for dis tired soul.
Y'know, I could be persuaded to drop another chapter for some P.S.
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