is this darkness of the dawn and your friends are gone

[bogwife]

[Everything keeps happening so much and the only real constants are death and parties.

Zerinda takes the initiative to plan things this time, with Della helping her deliver the invitations either being slipped under doors again.]



[It gives everyone an hour or two to settle down from the investigation and trial. By 6 on the dot the tables in the lounge are packed with miscellaneous vending machine snacks, a large pot of a thick and warm white stew, a plate stacked with biscuits and cupcakes. So many cupcakes. Mira has been coping well with her stress.

There's also several bottles of wine, hot coffee and hot chocolate waiting for anyone thirsty.

Welcome to the party, ya'll.]

Comments

[nothingcanstop]

Quite a bit, actually. I'd just like a little context, if that's alright.

[mouflon]

Well, I can try, but you have to remember that we lived decades apart from one another. A lot can change in that amount of time.

[nothingcanstop]

Anything would be better than what I've got, which is a big nothing. I think...he said he wanted something. Does the Holy Grail War grant wishes?

[mouflon]

That's how the tradition goes. I've never seen the end of one, so I can't say for sure whether or not it's true. Certain people believe it is, though, and sometimes that's enough.

[nothingcanstop]

There's no detailed records of it?

[mouflon]

[ ... ]

No, there are — they're just not something anyone can access. Like I said, Della, things can change a lot in a few decades. Earth's condition is... There's just not enough magical energy left to hold something like that anymore. And the Wars that must have taken place before things reached that point, before I was born... Magi kept their abilities hidden from regular people, meaning the Holy Grail War would have been kept secret, too. The only records left in human hands would have to be locked up in some vault of the Holy Church somewhere, now that the Mage's Association is defunct.

[nothingcanstop]

...Magic's dried up? Is it...like Anna's world?

[mouflon]

Yes and no. It's not sealed or anything like that. My Earth just stopped producing magical energy a long time ago, and what was left has already been used up.

[nothingcanstop]

So...with it like that, that just...can't happen anymore? The Holy Grail War's just a...theoretical thing?

[mouflon]

On Earth. However, the Moon Cell was able to replicate the necessary conditions by creating a special digital environment inside itself. That's what those AI I mentioned were for.

[ you know, just normal stuff ]

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...................... ]

Are you telling me...you have your big magic fight.......in virtual reality.......on the moon.

[mouflon]

Well, where else are we going to have it? Like I said, it can't happen on Earth anymore.

[nothingcanstop]

I just...you know, given how surprised you were, when I mentioned people, on the moon...

[mouflon]

That's different? No one lives up there. The Moon Cell isn't even normally accessible... Especially with the way the Harway family is so desperate to have it all to themselves.

[nothingcanstop]

...I think you're going to have to explain just what the "Moon Cell" is, in like...small but detailed words.

[mouflon]

Honestly, it's pretty much what it sounds like. It's an ancient artifact, located inside the moon. No one knows where it came from or exactly why they put it there, but it works basically like a giant, super powerful computer. And it doesn't normally do anything, it just... watches, and records what happens on Earth.

[nothingcanstop]

So...it doesn't take place on the moon. It's just...a big computer that powers... How do people take part in it, then? If they aren't also on the moon.

[mouflon]

The same way we use our magic circuits to hack anything else. As long as you can use magecraft, you can connect to the Moon Cell.

[nothingcanstop]

...Kirei didn't seem to have that. Is that another uh....newer thing? Talking to technology?

[mouflon]

[ Rin nods. ]

It's something that developed by necessity. Most traditional magecraft is worthless in the modern world, but that probably isn't something he would have needed to contend with at the time.

[nothingcanstop]

...Can I... Can I ask about...magic circuits? That's something I'm not really, uh, familiar with either.

[mouflon]

Again, they're pretty much what they sound like. If you're born with them, you can use magecraft, and if you aren't, you can't.

[ There are more technical details than that, but she assumes that covers what Della actually needs to understand! ]

[nothingcanstop]

Alright... Um... [ There's a pause, and... ] Do you...know what lives in it? In the Holy Grail?

[mouflon]

[ uhhhh ]

What?