It Started With Devils & Artefacts

"Indeed three cups, while I am sad that this is not the real deal, however, the logs of this gear are more than worth it." Marcus said as he started checking all the logs recorded by the gear.

"Logs?" Once again the silver-haired Goddess was confused.

"The Sacred Gears are ancient computers." Le Fay explained, she waited with anticipation for what Marcus would say.

Artemis simply nodded. By this point, she would believe anything. Her being a maid to a human is more than enough proof that the world is going nuts.

"Yes. Very basic and primitive, but they do their job. This one is no different. But, because the core of the gear is quite… how should I put this… lax. It doesn't have a solid concept…

In other words, it's something like 'the cup from Heaven'…"

Which is quite a broad thing. And by this point the Pantheon that Big G created has already split up into several major religions over the world. Three of them are Christianity, Islam, Judaism…" His words quickly made them understand what he meant.

"Anyways, this is just my theory. You can come up with your own. The logs don't have anything on this, only that the manifestation of the cup, or cups, in this case, comes with the influence of the host."

"I see… quite reckless and unpredictable…" Artemis said with some disbelief, she didn't expect someone like the Biblical God to create such a gear.

"As I said, YOLO… but knowing how much of a perfectionist he was, he didn't expect his pantheon to become so diverse…" Marcus said with a shrug.

"Still though, the logs will give us some directions towards Life Force and Souls. That's all that matters with this Gear." The teen inventor did a quick read on the logs before turning the holographic window off.

"Quinella dear. Begin analysis on the logs, I want your take on this once we are back at base." 

[Sure thing. I've already started on it!] Quinella replied with an excited tone. She was like a little girl who had just received her new barbie doll to play with.

"Great, even though the Confiscator doesn't even have 0.1% of your processing power at home, it should be enough to get some ideas." 

[Oh, don't worry. This mess of logs has already answered some of the questions about souls. For example, it's like a fuel to the biological body… not in the sense of moving a body, for that you need nutrition but hmm… it's hard to explain in human terms…]

"Like oil to a car?" He said with a shrug.

[Yes… we can always trust in your obsession with those moving boxes… we can also say it's like the spices we put on the food making it taste much better.] The silver-haired answered with an eye roll before having a thoughtful look and offering her description.

"Fits too." He agreed with another shrug.

"I see this is fascinating… no wonder when I was around S.P.B.A. I would always feel that they are missing something." Le Fay said with wonder. This is so exciting! She always learns something when she is around these two! When it comes to magic research she has already learned more here than she ever did in Golden Dawn!

[Don't think too much about them. The current S.P.B.A. is nothing more than flesh robots. They do not have souls. Their behaviour that you see is my programming. So they could not do things that are outside of their programming, for example.]

"They do not have self-awareness. This is what Quinella wanted to say. Although they could develop it because their programming is complex, this very programming has shackles in place to prevent that." Marcus started to explain.

Honestly, the S.P.B.A. Programming never came up before in their daily conversations so it's a good time for them to understand more about them.

"How do you even program an organic body like that?" Simply put, Artemis is out of the loop here. This is way beyond her understanding. Goddess or not she could not understand how being of flesh can be 'programmed'. Such a word for her associates with computers, not organic beings…

[Biological organism is a very complex computer Artemis. Just like how runes can become computers and that computer can also become me, so can the organic body also be programmed and created.] Quinella explained simply. She 'felt' the Goddess' words were like an attack on her. Unintentional or not… it's like saying that her Master can't do such things…

"...Yes… I forgot… you are an even more absurd creation than those…" The silver-haired Goddess got reminded that Quinella is an even more complex creation!

After hearing that, the Artificial Intelligence groaned and wanted to punch this woman. Why does her master even have to 'domesticate' such an ignorant Goddess!?

"Right… as Quinella just said. Organic bodies can be programmed through neural patterns in their brain." Once again Artemis looked confused… and Marcus saw that.

Atalanta as well, she has no idea what neutral patterns even are or how in her Goddess name can one even program a biological body!?

"Anyway. For example, if we are to drop one of the S.P.B.A. soldiers onto a tropical island then they would return to me after building a raft and stuff like that. But, if we, for example, drop one of them on a habitable planet without the means to leave that world. Now then, they would realise that they can't follow their programming so they would either kill themselves or…"

"Develop self-awareness… meaning… They would become proper living beings…but... could they develop their self-awareness before?" Le Fay asked with sparkling eyes. She was delving into such an incredible piece of magic… or is it science? Could she even call herself a witch anymore? She is delving into science here too? Or is it!? 

[Such complex beings develop what we call a Spiritual fetus… it develops when a complex amount of 'programming' is in place. With time this fetus will then grow and develop more...eventually becoming a proper soul inside a container like, for example, a biological body.] 

"Or an artificial container…" Le Fay said with wide eyes she has realised that Quinella most likely has this Soul fetus thing… her behaviour is extremely human…

[So cute. You already realised that. All that is what we've just found out on our own with quite some basic observations. This grail, Longinus gear, will give us around 2 thousand years worth of data. Eventually connecting the bridges between the Body, life force and Soul.] 

"B-B-But… won't those S.P.B.A. develop self-awareness either way? Their personalities are quite complex!" Le Fay asked with a thoughtful look.

"No. For that to happen a certain amount of threshold is needed. They have to think a lot of self independent actions. Which I'd already mentioned. The more complex the programming Quinella adds the better."

"B-But isn't that what creates self-awareness?" Le Fay reasoned with him.

"Yes and no. We are discussing a regular man and a zealot. A zealot could easily pass as a programmed person while the common man has quite a bit of self-awareness and can develop their point of view on all things. While a Zealot? For those it is only black and white.

Behaviour on a certain pattern, even if this person is 'free' he will still behave in a certain 'trained' way. Only a large amount of self-awareness allows him to realise that he can do whatever hell he wants. Meaning he overcomes his 'training'." 

"I see… thought process… in other words… that individual must think in a certain way… thus becoming something akin to shackles…" The blond said with wide eyes, she just had a new perspective on people's minds…

"Isn't such a thing quite easily breakable?" Artemis asked from the side.

"Darling, I insist that you test it out on them yourself. I will get more data if you do." Marcus smiled brightly while saying that. He does want to improve his S.P.B.A. Maybe someone like the Moon Goddess could help him discover if his soldiers' programming has any faults. Honestly, he is doubtful that the borderline is perfect, as Quinella said, nothing is perfect. If it's perfect it means it can't improve.

While his A.I. loves calling him the Perfect human… he still knows he can get above that perfection she mentioned. That's just how it is…

"No… no, I won't… I don't want to get embarrassed." Artemis quickly shook her head. She suddenly felt she was getting baited into it. The moment he says 'more data' she knows that she will most likely humiliate herself!

"Well. If you insist. I already told you that you need to reach a certain threshold to make them start developing this self-awareness. However, as I said before, this is still quite experimental technomancy. The logs from this gear will help us further understand those things. 

Anyway, we are done here. Le Fay, watch over Valerie make sure you explain things to her. While I will return to the bridge, we will be leaving soon."

"Of course! Leave it to me!" The blonde maid nodded with a small bow.

Marcus could only smile seeing her do that. The training Grayfia put her through is showing its results.

~~~

[There is a group of vampires waiting outside the perimeter.] Quinella said to her Master. A holographic window appeared in front of Marcus.

He saw quite a bit of vampires waiting just outside the perimeter of his Confiscator.

He noticed that the majority of these vampires are females, although there are quite a bit of males too, the majority are females. Quite the beauties.

"From the looks of it, the attire is different, and their magic reading is a little bit different. This means vampires of different factions…"

[My analysis is that they wish to speak with you. They are not hiding in any sense. Their magic signature is broadcasted for everyone to sense it.]

"Well, let's see what they're going to say. This will be the first time I am going to talk with another faction in person." Marcus said with a shrug.

"Second. You talked with me first, remember?" Artemis said with an eye roll.

"Sort off? This is representing their faction as a whole. While you acted out on your own." The teen inventor rolled his eyes at her as well.

"..."

Marcus raised his eyebrow at her. Seeing her pout angrily. To fix that, his hand went on her ass and squeezed it hard.

Her whole body jumped a little bit. She nearly hissed at him. In turn, the teen squeezed her nose with his other hand. 

"You are so cute. We will continue this when we don't have any pressing matters."

She wanted to retort but then she had a knowing look. Yes, this is a good moment to get some one on one action!

"As you wish... my master" Artemis said while pushing her breasts onto his chest. There was quite a coy expression on her face.

And yeah, seeing this kind of Goddess borderline seducing him is quite a turn on…

Before he pulled away from her, he squeezed her ass one more time.

Well, it was time to see what these vampires want. He doesn't have much patience to stick around after getting the cup.

Instead of walking towards the bridge, Marcus started walking towards the hangars.

"You two are coming with me?" The teen asked his two remaining maids who were following him.

"Well… Master should always have one or two maids with him all the time." Artemis reasoned and Atalanta nodded to her. This time they are acting as a unit…

"And you are not afraid of being seen dressed like a maid?" Marcus asked the Moon Goddess. He was quite curious about how much she changed from just a single afternoon. Did Atalanta's boldness rub off her? Are they competing with each other now?

Such ideas floated around Marcus, as he was thinking about this…

"There is no point in hiding. Your enormous airship appearance made it only a matter of time before everyone will know about your existence. In turn, mine being your maid." Artemis simply said to him.

The teen inventor could only roll his eyes at her excuses. Well, whatever excuse she has is fine with him.

"Well then let's go ladies." Marcus both hands wrapped Atalanta's and Artemis waists. Now he looked like a young Master with a pair of beauties in each hand.

The pair of Huntresses could only accept this with some embarrassment. They forgot that their Master can take them at the same time like this...

A few moments later, after a short walk, they arrived at the lift lobby.

Taking a short trip down, they arrived at quite an empty hangar.

There are only the barebones of troops left in the Confiscator.

Nonetheless, the cream of the crop is still there. The elites… Marcus Goldman's most powerful minions are still here. Quinella was mad about this. As she insisted that Marcus has his 'Royal Guard', his 'Commandos' or whatever else people call their elites.

While at the core they are the same as regular S.P.B.A. The only difference is that they have received severely improved programming and Realitus technology was used on them to receive field experience. 

Where it takes to create 1 elite, in the same span Marcus could produce around 20 regular infantry-men. For the simple reason that they experience combat training in specifically prepared simulations. As mentioned before...Quinella went nuts with those. She made them experience combat situations from the Trojan war to World war 2…

This means that even a stick is a lethal weapon in their arms.

Unlike the regular ones, there were only six of them waiting for Marcus, any more than that and the teen inventor would have spanked Quinella. He doesn't need bodyguards. Well, he accepted the guard if they were going to look cool.

Thus now they looked like the ceremonial versions of the regular Mandalorian armour the S.P.B.A. are wearing. With one shoulder cloaks and more ornamental armour in general, they were ready to 'protect' Marcus in style. Well… more like beating up someone in the inventor's name.

Without even bothering to look back the six elites started to follow Marcus to the Gunship which will take them to the surface.

~~~~~~On Ground~~~~~~

When the warning of an attack happened. The vampire factions quickly acted on that. While the majority of the Vampire families and factions disliked the Tepes faction as they received news of their strange movement and possible civil war.

They still are one singular supernatural faction that rules the majority of the Balkan nations and they act as one large group when need be.

So… they tried to move in… 

It didn't work so well…

First, they can't teleport into the area. For some reason, their teleportation would be diversed. 

This meant that the attackers have means to nullify magic teleportation. Which leads to them teleporting some distance away…

Not that they needed to look far for these attackers…  while they didn't believe that 'Aliens' were attacking, sure enough they changed their mind when they saw it...

One only needs to look up to see the enormous ship of some sort floating above the Tepes Castle. While the ship stands out like a sore thumb. The golden shadow it casts below didn't hide what was happening there.

There were thousands of soldiers and squadrons of jet fighters which were… Transformers... it only magnified the threat this caused to them.

"So… umm… are we fighting Mandalorians or Decepticons?" One of the Vampire on the lookout asked.

"Beats me… how am I supposed to know that?" 

The other one just shrugged back. Like hell he knows!

There are thousands of Jango Fett cousins over there and most likely around a hundred Decepticon Transformers! This is nuts! Since when did pop culture classics come to life to conquer the supernatural!?

Before long, they saw a gunship leaving from one of the hangars of the massive airship right towards them. Not only that but they saw the ships massive canons… move… pointing at them…

**Gulp**

"I-I-I think they noticed us…"

"No shit…"

~~~

Sweat was pouring down from the Queen of Vampires Carmilla's forehead. This was not the battle she was expecting to participate in when she learned that the Tepes Faction was under attack from an outsider… which the spy said were 'Aliens'... She never expected it to be in the literal sense…

Flying ships, robots, futuristic-looking soldiers… not only that but her magic just stopped working as well… They were dead in the water here…

Soon enough those jet fighters flew over signifying that the vampire had been noticed and the enemy army was moving towards them.

Carmilla was sweating even more, this was bad. Without magic, they can't use the majority of their vampire powers. At the moment they were barely above regular humans in terms of brute strength.

'Whatever they got from Castle Tepes should have been their goal… They didn't slaughter everyone. A lot of vampires and humans were left after.

Maybe there is a chance to talk this over…' 

As she was thinking about the current situation, she saw one of the troop carriers land not far from their location.

What attracted Carmilla's attention was one of the signatures inside this futuristic plane…. It was a Greek God…

For a moment she thought it was a plot of some sort from the Greeks… but, this doesn't make any sense because the majority of the Greeks were extremely passive for hundreds of years…

And it's simply absurd… because the Greeks don't have advanced technology of this level…

Then, she saw it… the plane doors slid to the side and she saw a very handsome man with a pair of women come out.

Carmilla's eyes widened to a comical level when she saw THE Goddess of Hunt and her second in command dressed as slutty maids…

This instantly sends warning bells to her. This guy, whoever he is… is very dangerous… To make Artemis into this… one needs a lot of power… and ability… because from the looks of it… The Moon Goddess and the Chaste Huntress don't mind being dressed like that…

"From your appearance… Carmilla I pressure?" He said with a soft tone. It sends goosebumps throughout the Vampire Queen's whole body…

Yes, this man… is dangerous… not only that, but it excited the Queen. She has not met such… a high-class human specimen before! Her Vampire senses were going wild around him!

"Y-Yes… I am the Ruler of the Carmilla Faction, and the supernatural side of things in Hungary." She quickly snapped out and responded as quickly as possible and at the same time straight to the point.

"Thought so. My name is Marcus Goldman. I am an inventor, researcher, scientist, collector, and many more things. I have collected what I wanted from the Tepes Faction and I have no qualms with you."

She sighed in relief after hearing that!

"So, this leaves us in an awkward situation. I suggest you turn around and just leave. Or do you wish to become battle data for me?" 

For a second she sensed his power… it was… she could not even describe it… it was just there, no end or beginning. The amount of magic… 

'No wonder...no wonder… the Greek Goddess is so subdued… she most likely provoked him...ending up as a maid…'

Nonetheless, this doesn't answer why the Greeks didn't respond in any way when Artemis became like this… or they don't know yet?

"No… I don't want that. Can we discuss this over? Tepes Faction is...was… one of the biggest Vampire factions. Now that it's gone. There is a major vacuum of power…" 

"...do I look like I care about the vacuum of power? You can take it over. Turn some people into vampires. Rebuild the numbers." 

She can do that, and she will do that. But, that is not the problem. With this kind of attack on them. It will attract quite a bit of attention and there is a chance they either become someone's lackeys or worse, with their diminished numbers. While the Tepes were an annoying bunch they were one of the strongest Vampire factions.

"Yes. That is the plan but the power vacuum to fill up is going to be difficult. Can we until that happens to rely on your security?" She asked him. The Vampire Queen asked that because she saw how he looked at her. There was interest in his eyes. Oh yes, she has used her looks for many things before.

And now, she might even snatch the help of a genius inventor who can make science fiction into reality...

"You want... my protection? I just wiped a vampire faction and you want protection from the very same guy?" He asked with disbelief.

Carmilla internally giggled hearing that. Does he believe she cares about vampires who are not her blood? The only reason she was here in the first place was self-preservation. Vampires would band together to fight threats. While they could not produce the fighting strength of a Pantheon they still could annoy the living daylight out of the other factions. Thus being left alone to their devices.

"Your understanding of Vampires in general is quite lacking." She said simply after hearing his response.

"I suppose it is. Very well, having the assistance of a few vampires will not be bad. Still, though, I am a researcher and inventor. Your kin will be provided with some of the samples like blood and hair. In return, you will be getting my protection. Who knows, maybe I will find something interesting and your kin will benefit from it." He said with a casual shrug.

The Vampire Queen could only raise her eyebrow at him. Here she thought she would need to 'persuade' him more.

Maybe this is not going to be hard as she thought…

~~~~~~Marcus, back on board on the Confiscator~~~~~~

Honestly, seeing another Fate character was something, I was not surprised or shocked I even expected it in some way. Carmilla's Rider looks is hot. Her hairstyle and that silver hair, striking red eyes and those long legs, a perfect body type... Then adding on top of Artemis' previous teasing, it was hard just to brush aside what this Vampire Queen wanted.

With quick thinking, I realised that we didn't collect any of the vampire samples. Why? Well because they disintegrated. The holy energy powered weaponry turned them into dust. There was not a single corpse in the castle left.

While regular vampires can still resist the damage. Once it dies the resistance disappears thus the body turning into dust.

Now. I have quite a bit of samples along with the Vampires becoming my satellite... faction? Nation? Well, that can be discussed later.

"You sure you want that woman close to you?" Artemis asked me after we got away from the vampires. Allowing them to discuss some things.

"Oh? Let me guess she is famous for sucking out the blood of countless men? Quite far cry from the original Carmilla who bathed in children's blood." I said with a shrug. Knowing the story behind it.

"Yes...well…"

"You forget that Serafall has tried to seduce me for years, and she is a devil who wanted to tie me to herself through Evil Pieces… and how did that turn out?" I asked her who quickly had a knowing look.

She saw enough of how Serafall acts around me...

"More or less I do want her to try to seduce me. I haven't tasted a vampire before." I said with a shrug. I am getting quite excited to do certain things to her.

When she heard that she had an annoying look.

"You…*sigh* devils are a bad influence on you." 

"On the contrary, they were a good influence. They taught me how to enjoy the fruits of my labour." As I said that, I wrapped my hands around her waist. They didn't stay there for long as the hands travelled down on her ass and squeezed it hard. Then they went under her skirt and squeezed again.

This time I could feel her warmth. After all, only her panties were standing in the way.

"Hmm very good. Once we are back, we will go through proper training with you." I said that while emphasising it with a squeeze on her bum.

The Moon Goddess slightly moaned to my touch. Her whole body shook for a bit.

"I-If this is what you want." She said with hotness.

"I do. A maid such as you needs 'proper' training." After saying that I claimed her lips. She moaned more this time as I pushed her against a wall.

Before long my hands slipped underneath her panties and one of the fingers brushed past her special place.

This time her whole body twitched, hard. She did not expect me to do that. After teasing her like that I pulled back.

"That… was… underhanded…" She said with a healthy blush. Artemis was picking her words properly. I can only bet that she was thinking of an extensive vocabulary to use on me. But she was holding back.

"Is it? You are my maid… you should be prepared all the time." I said while stroking her cheek.

"...I will be, the next time… it is only my first day here…" She said that with a serious nod. Which is amusing on its own. Artemis, the chaste Goddess of Hunt, being prepared for naughty things all the time…

How absurd does that sound?

"I will watch you closely." Giving one more peck on her lips, I started walking forward once more. I am pretty sure the Vampires are ready.

I did however ignore the stare given to me by the chaste Huntress who saw the interaction between us.

~~~

Artemis fought back her embarrassment. This was quite humiliating and exciting. She never thought she would end up as a human's plaything.

But, the way he pushed her against a wall. And how his hands were exploring her body like this… it was quite exhilarating.

By this point, she has already accepted the fact that she will be taken by him soon… She has no idea what will happen to her afterwards.

She can however predict that her divine power will diminish. Not that the Goddess of Maidens gave her a big power boost. Most of her divinity comes from Moon and the Hunt.

And she couldn't complain to him. After all, she was the one who put herself on this bet.

"Goddess…" Atalanta got her attention.

"What is it?" Artemis asked as she fixed herself up. She still felt hot and bothered though. He only played with her a little bit. But he touched all the right places and it sent her body into a hypersensitive mode…

It's like he knew where to touch her…

"I suggest we double team him." 

"..."

"..."

"What are you talking about? This...this…" The Moon Goddess was utterly baffled by what Atalanta just said to her!

Did she hit her head on something? Or did their new Master do something to her!?

"Goddess… listen. Hippolyta told me that… our master did 'things' to her. That he completely dominated her in bed activities. Our only way to balance this… in some sort of way is to do this together." Atalanta said with a thoughtful look.

And Artemis could only narrow her eyes for a bit. Yes, this makes sense. Yet, in the same way, this is still a competition… 

"I will think about this." The Moon Goddess said as she started walking forward. Towards where Marcus went. She wants to figure out if he is going to do things to that Vampire Queen.

She is not concerned about his life. Not at all… The man can punch through a moon. The Goddess of Hunt is more concerned about how this Vampire woman will affect the current hierarchy

Atalanta soon enough followed as well. She wants to see this as well.

~~~

Carmilla quite happily signed the contract. She was expecting borderline slavery. Or something else for protection. But she gets an enormous amount of autonomy. This was akin to being a company under a large conglomerate. There are certain goals she has to accomplish and a few things she can't do. The rest? It's all free will. Quite fascinating. The beautiful vampire learned some things about her new Leader.

Simply put, he doesn't care. As long as she doesn't do certain things she is free to do whatever she wants.

However, she did spot some fascinating things. She is now his. Oh, yes, she read through certain lines in her contract. Quite devious. She was expecting such a thing from a devil. Not a human.

Through multiple clauses, he makes her only serve him. Oh, she doesn't mind. She barely enjoys male company. Carmilla, after all, is the leader of the pro-female Faction so males are a rarity in her place. However, now she is only going to serve one man.

In a sense, it's like she just got married off… the Silver-haired vampire Queen never expected that her going to a battle will lead to this… to be magically contracted to some human inventor…

"You are quite devious~~~ binding me like this… now I can only have you for company or I will die otherwise~~~" Carmilla said with a purring and very seductive tone.

Now that the whole contract and sample giving thing was over, the Vampire Queen can finally move in and try seducing the man. She doubts that Artemis or Atalanta know how to seduce a man.

"Well, you wanted protection so I am giving it to you." He simply said that as he sealed off her hair samples.

The silver-haired vampire Queen started laughing hearing that.

"By chaining me to yourself? You are a very fascinating human! I am very much interested in you. Now I want to see what you are going to do to me~~~" She said that with a sultry tone.

Honesty she wants to taste him just as much as he wants to taste her. Blood included… 

Marcus looked at her with a smirk. Yep, he was going to have some fun before leaving Romania…

After sealing the sample cases, he now focused on the waiting Vampire Queen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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