GENESIS: Saber

GENESIS: Saber
Date of Scene:	12 April 2014
Location:	Heaven Or Hell Office
Synopsis:	In spite of her scepticism and after some needling by Samael, Saber finally agrees to generate an Abstractum: Arymes Prydein. NOTE: Arymes Prydein's personality has been retconned.
Cast of Characters:	346, 253, 347

---

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber's office, sometime during the past week. There had been up and down days, and today happened to be one of the more relaxed ones. Saber had been interested in an Abstractum, Psyber had the time free to generate one for a brief period, and so he had set up this meeting.

The time was mid-afternoon, perhaps about three or four in the afternoon. And the location was Psyber's training area within the larger office building. Several floors up in the elevator will take one to the firing range adjacent to a sparring arena. The sparring arena is where Psyber can be found.

In lieu of his normal attire, which is mostly worn outside, Psyber is wearing a pair of black slacks and a t-shirt with tennis shoes, sitting in the middle of the sparring circle with Adjudicator across his lap while he yawns faintly and sort of drifts in and out of a mid-afternoon nap while he waits for his friend to arrive.

His head bobs up and down occasionally, red eyes drifting between half-open and barely shut as he dozes.

Saber (346) has posed:
As much as Samael was not the most trustworthy of beings, Saber had nevertheless considered her "suggestion" that she seek out obtaining an Abstractum, something she had not really considered. Although, it was more like needling, and she had been told the Pure had been seeing out strong opponents. While Saber generally liked honourable battles against chivalrous opponents, something had seemed a little off. Nevertheless, she decided it was probably a good idea...in case her allies needed her help. Fortunately, Psyber seemed willing.

Parking the V-Max in the usual spot, the knight dismounted and entered the office, straightening her gloves on the way in. The usual three-piece suit was convenient enough to travel in, and if need be she could always shift to her battle armour in the even of something a little more rigorous.

Chances were that she would need to summon her armour; Psyber was in the sparring arena. As much as Heaven or Hell was an investigation agency, having a sparring arena was quite convenient.

Heading on in, the Servant entered with her usual amount of quiet. It was only when she spoke -- a soft alto -- that she made any sort of noise. "I am here. I thank you for waiting."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Adjudicator, the wide greatsword, sits with a rather relaxed, casual sort of posture to its blade, making a gesture like a greeting with its hilt. The eye set into hilt of the thing, around the odd inscribed imagery of a dragon, seems almost as drowsy as Psyber. "Greetings, miss Saber." It says, in a deep, aged sort of voice - yet still lacking any distinguishable gender - and then takes a more passive posture, letting Psyber handle much of the actual talking.

The irony of a talking sword greeting Saber isn't lost on the blade, but it keeps amusing puns and other suchlike to itself for now.

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber makes a kind of half-asleep noise and snaps his head up to full attention when Saber joins, letting out a wide yawn and then rubbing at his eyes, "Hey Arturia. Always happy to help out a friend, and you and your Master have done a lot for me anyway, so yeah. It's not much imposition."

He slowly pushes to his feet, letting Adjudicator take care of its greeting, "This is Adjudicator. His whole powerset is derived and built around morality and choices. That kind of thing. He's a really powerful weapon, too." He adds as a secondary note, lifting the sword up and presenting it out towards her.

"But don't take him as an indicator what yours will be like. I've helped get a good three or four people their Abstractum, and they've turned out drastically different every time."

Saber (346) has posed:
The King of Knights nodded; she and Sakura had been busy enough helping out the agency when they were able. Though her Master had been busy as of late with business at the Clocktower with her elder sister, Saber nevertheless managed to keep busy.

She wasn't terribly surprised by a talking sword...at least, not after being in the multiverse for nearly five years. Her expression remained neutral, but the knight was polite and properly chivalrous, as always. "Greetings," she replied, with no indication that she found it particularly odd...given the magical nature of her universe.

She accepted the sword with the practised hand of a Saber-class Servant. "I see. What needs to be done?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"If you're seeking one of your own," The blade explains with a little gesturing of its blade. "Then what needs to be done is simple. Both you and my User need to consent to the process, after which I may begin it. Aside from that, there's little that needs to be done, and I will handle it." A simple, frank explanation. Easy! "Before we begin, though, do you have any questions?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber doesn't have particularly much to say to Saber as the sword is taken into her grasp, "The sword is pretty helpful and knows most of the process. Way more than I do, so I usually let him take the lead on this stuff."

"We're in the training room, by the way, because there's always this big..." He waves his hand a bit, "Dramatic thing. And if we did it in the office proper, papers would fly around from all the wind and junk." Psyber admits to Saber.

Saber (346) has posed:
A curious expression bypassed Saber's usual mask as she regarded the sword. She had heard that it didn't seem to matter if a potential User was necessarily honourable or not, but the purpose itself seemed unclear. "In what way do Abstractums turn out differently?," she asked him. "Does this depend upon the personality of whomever seeks one? I remain somewhat unclear as to one's specific purpose."

Her eyes flickered to Psyber, tilting her head slightly. "What causes this dramatic reaction? Is it a reaction with prana, or some other sort of energy?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"We are whatever our Users need. Not what they want, sometimes, but whatever's best for them." Adjudicator says, frankly. "I ease Psyber's uncertainty, and do so with as much forethought as I can. But others of more ill intent have less pure needs. Some Abstractum are simply evil or sociopathic because that is what their User truly needs from them. Others have more complex psychological needs. So the Abstractum they receive is friendly, but forces some unusual interactions that they need to work through. In all cases, it is only what the User would benefit from most."

"The reaction comes from the unusable portions of our Resonance energy being vented. It is a somewhat spectacular visual experience. You'll see much more of it through further Abstractum use."

Psyber (253) has posed:
"Like it said, it's resonance bleedoff as part of the setup process, I guess. You should see some of the stuff it does during combat. Trails of dramatic red sparks, cutting red lines through the air, all sorts of stuff." Psyber shrugs to Saber, reaching out to take back his sword, "I'll need the sword back when we make yours, you can't hold two at once or shit goes wacky, so yeah." Psyber explains to her in a friendly tone.

"Really, I don't regret getting Jude ever. It's been a huge help to my life, and though I own many blades, it is by far my favorite. I really think you're making a good choice." Psyber reaches out with a hand to pat Saber on the shoulder as if sensing some worry or unease from the Servant over this, "It gives you someone you know you can trust, and everyone needs more people like that."

Saber (346) has posed:
The Servant nodded. It was, admittedly, something she was not entirely sure of; Psyber had read her well. That wasn't an easy thing to do, even after all this time. Just one more of his many talents, Saber supposed.

Something she needed? Years ago, she had needed to save Britain by allowing a different king -- a stronger king -- to take her place. Yet, she had accepted her birthright because there had /been/ no one else. She had come to terms with that much; she might not have been strong enough to bring Utopia, but no one else so much as wanted to even try. It had taken her a long time to come to terms with that. But just what did she need now?

"I understand. I must admit...I am somewhat apprehensive. However..."

But she was still going to save Britain...in a different way. Camelot was gone, but that didn't mean she couldn't still protect the country which was once her kingdom.

She handed the sword back to the half-angel, with a subtle edge of determination in her expression. "I am ready."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Ah, you are ready?" There's almost a palpable spark when the Abstractum comes back into contact with Psyber's hand. It audibly draws a deep breath - impressive, given that it doesn't have lungs or a mouth - closing its eye for a moment. "Then we shall begin."

"Powering Genesis Drive."

THEME: http://tinyurl.com/ABSTRACTUM-PROCUREMENT

A red light shines out of the blade's eye, and then suddenly becomes bright. It shifts into a monotone. "User explicit consent confirmed. Candidate User explicit consent confirmed. Drawing resonance." A loud whirring noise begins to build in the Abstractum; small burst of wind blast out, but there's nothing here that can get knocked over, only a bit of dust to kick up dramatically.

"ASSEMBLING CONCEPTS. AMPLIFYING PARADIGMS." It speaks in a harder monotone. "DETERMINING IMPRINT." Saber is going to feel a sensation not entirely unlike being grasped, tightly, but instead of in physical space, it's in another spatial axis entirely. Like the sensation one feels during summoning, but only partially. It lifts her, and then she's struck against reality, with the sensation of leaving an imprint in it, a mold of sorts.

When she's struck against reality, there's a bright red shockwave of light; Excalibur, her sword, wasn't summoned by her, and yet, there it is, floating in front of her! "CONCEPT MOLD ESTABLISHED. ENGAGING FULL GENESIS." And, it would seem, this "imprint" gets filled in. Like certain actions before it, this "filling in" seems to be performed on another spatial dimension, looking the way a mold might look to a flatlander when filled. A hemispherical crystal appears first, at the hilt, seeming to grow a strange arrangement of brassy tines that wrap around the crossguard of the blade with a complex construct. When it completes, the blade itself seems to suddenly flicker to a new form: A bronze or iron-like tone to the metal, and a deep blue penetrating the hilt and the midsection of the blade displayed through an indentation on its flat, and a short, tapering gap just above the crossguard. A stern black iris forms in the gem, then the eye closes over it, lidded by two shadowy eyelids.

Both Abstractum speak in unison now. "NETWORK MESSAGE: A new Abstractum has been deployed. Thank you for assuming the duty of protection. When They return, together we'll end them." And, abruptly, everything settles down.

Adjudicator seems to now be at the point where it doesn't get any exhaustion at all from the process, a testament to its growth. "It would seem that worked out quite well." The Abstractum says, simply. "I hope it serves you well, Saber." To Psyber, "The shape seems fitting, at the very least, for her."

The new blade itself is just now waking up, so to speak; the sword was floating just in front of Saber previously, and is now beginning to settle down. Ideally, it'll settle down in her hands.

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber steps away as the enter Genesis process finishes, slinging his sword up and across his back as the new sword appears in the air, "Yeah. That's a fine-looking sword. I hope it grows up to be as powerful as Jude is." The half-angel grins a bit and crosses his arms, looking back up over his shoulder, "Wow, you're not even winded at all. Impressive, Jude."

Psyber then mostly turns to watch Saber, "You should probably find out its name."

Saber (346) has posed:
In truth, Saber had not known what to expect; all the Users she had come into contact with had been granted a new weapon. However, she didn't need one...Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory was the symbol of her legend, a legend unto itself. The holy sword was so legendary, in fact, that she required a second Noble Phantasm -- Invisible Air: The Bounded Field of the Wind King -- just to simply hide it and by extension her identity. The only other concepts she could have made use of were Caliburn: The Golden Sword of Destined Victory, and Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia...and both were lost to her.

What she had *not* expected was for the Abstractum to fuse with Excalibur /itself/.

Prana surged, and Excalibur was summoned...but not by the King of Knights. The blinding flash that accompanied summoning her armour surrounded her petite form as she was strick against reality, the spiritual forms easily manifesting on the material plane, imposing her battle armour over her civilian attire before her feet touched the floor once more. She found it wasn't possible to contain her surprise and nearly everything.

The Excalibur-Abstract settled into her hands, and Saber stared down at it for a brief moment. It was almost a blend of both the Sword of Promised Victory and the Golden Sword of Destined Victory, and even something of Avalon in it. In a way, it was not unlike all her Noble Phantasms combined...and for the first time in many years, there was a strange mixture of feelings within her. The wistfulness at her loss of Caliburn and Avalon, but yet hope and fulfilment, as if they had been found once more and restored to her.

Vaguely, she heard Psyber speak; it was almost a miracle she could even hear him.

"Yes...I should. Forgive me. What is your name?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Greetings and salutations. I am Arymes Prydein, Red Abstractum in service to you, my king." The blade itself almost seems to bend, as if making a bow-like gesture. The blade has a polite, respectful sort of tone to it, reverent in a restrained kind of way, and perhaps a fair bit on the chivalrous side.

"Hmmm. Quite a bit more professional than most." Jude says, frankly assessing the new sword-thing. It turns to Psyber, nodding briefly. "You're right, you've built up quite a bit of power here." It speaks in an honest and rather genuine tone. "And it is good to see you think of it more as an example for others to achieve than anything else." With that quick approval done, Jude goes back to watching Saber and Arymes.

Saber (346) has posed:
Talking swords might have been something Saber was acclimated to, having her own sword speak -- or rather a modification of her sword -- was another matter, entirely. It was strange, but yet something else. Lancelot had been re-summoned as a Saber after finding peace at last, and it was entirely likely that others had become Heroic Spirits as well. Yet, her First Night had been scarce as of late, and she had yet to encounter any of her other knights. Agrias had filled that void, to a great extent, but the knight of Ivalice served another. To have something like another knight at her side was comforting. Cliche, perhaps, but for Saber, it was the sort of thing she felt most comfortable with.

"Well-met," she replied. "I must admit surprise...I had not expected an Abstractum to become a part of Excalibur."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"The blade is a part of you, just as an Abstractum might hope to be." The newly changed blade says, simply. "I become a part of it, when you allow me to, just as a knight becomes part of their kingdom and its identity." The blade seems to stand "at attention" as it continues. "There will be times when you will have need of your blade in its original form, for which I may separate from it. But if you will have my service to you, I will do what I can to serve you."

There's a slightly awkward moment before it continues. "However, I must know, what you would prefer I call you." It looks like Abstractum don't know the names of their Users right away! For pretty much precisely the reason of situations similar to Saber's.

Saber (346) has posed:
"A part of me..." Saber mused. At least this part she could understand on an instinctual level as a Servant. "So then, you are a concept, such as a Noble Phantasm?"

She couldn't help but smile; some might find it too formal, but for Saber, this made her feel at ease. "I shall. I have no doubt that I will have great need of you, Arymes Prydein."

Saber shouldn't have been all that surprised that the Abstractum hadn't known her name; she hadn't known its name, either. The important part was the understanding of the code of chivalry, the path of the knight, things beyond names. And because the Abstractum was a part of her now, her simple class designation wouldn't do at all.

"I am Arturia Pendragon, heir to Uther Pendragon and the King of Britain."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"I am a conceptual construct, wrought in the mold you form in reality." The sword speaks almost as if it's giving rehearsed religious information. "From your identity, I find my own, as a knight is defined by their liege, or a sword by their swordsman. I believe I am very much like a Noble Phantasm, a pure idea and symbol."

"Well then, Pendragon, consider me pledged formally to your service, and to the protection and betterment of your Kingdom of Britain." Not an official oath of fealty, precisely, but the intent is there and genuine: It's obvious that while Arymes may be disconnected from specific variants of the code of chivalry in terms of their most specific rules, it certainly adheres to the ideals and spirit of the rules with much respect.

Saber (346) has posed:
Thinking of them as a form of Noble Phantasm helped a great deal...but then form that point, Saber had many more questions. She had heard through Psyber and others about many more aspects of Abstractums, where they came from, what their ultimate purpose was aside from aiding their Users, why Samael seemed so interested in encouraging strong opponents to seek them out...but the Servant decided those could wait for the time being. She had a feeling she would be finding out soon enough.

Unbidden, the memory of Sakura's sudden, unexpected pledge upon forming their contract; the magus had known she was a knight and had come to trust and respect Saber, though she had remained unaware of her true identity. The King of Knights had been completely taken by surprise; Masters did not typically pledge loyalty to their Servants, even if the circumstances had been wholly different than those of the Holy Grail War. But Sakura trusted her...and she trusted Sakura. Upon her pledge, Saber revealed her true identity, much to Sakura's amazement at who her Servant really was. It was a moment she would never forget.

And now, she had been given much the same thing again, under the code she held dear.

"I shall."