A shrill beeping caught James and his eyes opened sharply to settle on the digital clock resting on the worn wooden table of the bedroom of his Fuyuki safehouse. It was a run-down apartment, no penthouse suite for sure, but it had all the necessities he required. Hot water, electricity and a reliable (but not entirely legal) WiFi connection. What set this apartment apart, however, is the purpose-built concealed spaces and what they contain. At first glance, it would seem to be an ordinary apartment for a single young man, but in reality it was stockpile for firearms and other weapons that James found useful against the Magi he hunts, especially those that arrogantly and foolishly focus all of their efforts into Magecraft, leaving them helpless to the vicious punch of gunpowder and steel. As the ringing of the clock got louder, the assassin focused his attention back to the device. 11:04AM. Rising from his bed to silence the device, a small part of him bristled at the late awakening. Another, larger and more logical, part of him recognised the reason
why he had slept in in the first place. Before he could dwell on it, he shook away the though and quickly went through a routine that could simply described as 'normal'. After a quick but through shower, he quickly dressed himself and poured himself a mug of coffee.
He glanced over his shoulder as a figure materialised beside him, as if by unspoken command. While the slim, weathered tricorn and the worn longcoat didn't give many clues to the figure's identity, the folded mechanical crossbow on his back highlighted his class as a servant.
"Archer." The servant nodded slightly in acknowledgement, but didn't speak. Instead, James continued as he knew his servant was listening.
"We need to need to do some reconnaissance, get a better picture of what we're up against."The servant appeared to be in thought for a moment before he looked out from under the brim of his hat and nodded in agreement.
"I agree. An important part of the hunt is learning about your prey. Its habits, its weaknesses, where to strike...""That's why I've tapped into the traffic camera network around Fuyuki and the surrounding area..." James crossed the small apartment to where a sleek black laptop was open and waiting on one of the kitchen worktops, Archer following behind. Touching the trackpad and tapping his entry code, he looked at the screen, split into nine sections each showing a different camera feed much like the devices he used to spy on the church. Something unusual caught his eye and he raised an eyebrow before he place his mug down and placed both hands on the laptop. Deftly manipulating the keyboard, he expanded four of the camera feeds across the screen, one in each quarter of the screen. On each of the screens, almost unnoticeable to the human eye, the feed appeared to flicker as if it had been digitally altered, almost like someone was doctoring in it real-time. Over a short amount of time, the screens stopped flickering only for it to travel to another camera, as if it were moving...
"Based on the way it's moving, this isn't likely to be a software glitch. We should check this out.""Agreed. We should be careful though, there could be Servants involved."James didn't respond verbally, instead just nodding and crossing the room to a nondescript end table before reaching under and pulling out a Browning Hi-Power handgun in a discrete chest holster. While it wasn't as powerful as his twin M1911s, he was heading into a fairly busy area so he needed something more subtle and the fairly large magazine made up for the reduced stopping power. Slipping on the holster underneath his coat, he nodded to Archer, who slipped back into his non-corporeal form, and quickly left his apartment, locking the door behind him.
~~Time Skip: 1:35PM~~Checking the camera feed on his phone again, James saw he was close to the area that was being affected by the unusual interference effecting the cameras. After searching for nearing 2 hours, the Master-Servant pair were finally getting closer to figuring out whatever was causing it. Tapping into the connection to Archer, he sent his servant a quick message.
"We're close, stay alert for any Servants or Masters..."
"I understand. I'm not sensing anything right now, but I'll keep my eyes open."Closing the connection again, James looked out across the people in the street around him for a few long moments before stepping out of the alleyway he was in. As he walked, he glanced at one of the traffic cameras mounted onto the buildings as he tried to connect the information he had. Suddenly, he felt himself collide with someone else and his focus abruptly shifted from the camera to the woman in front of him. As he was in thought, he hadn't seen her as she drew closer, and she seemed too preoccupied by the sun to notice him either. She was a little older than him, maybe 3 or 4 years, but something told him there was more to her than would seem... Shaking his head slightly, he caught himself and gave her a polite smile.
"Ah, I apologise. I wasn't looking where I was going."
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