To Hirasawa's surprise, the elevator began to move downwards after it had been filled. She had expected it to go up, since the building was essentially a tower, leaving her to wonder whether the building itself may just be an elaborate facade. As the lift moved deeper into the earth she felt the effects of the antinite decrease, much to her relief. There was an almost visible weight lifted from the shoulders of the box's occupants. After several minutes of descent, the elevator slowed and came to a stop. After a short pause, the doors opened, revealing a wide corridor with unmarked doors leading off it. The floor, roof and walls were all constructed of white metal, and lit by luminescent panels rather than the more common LED bulbs, giving a rather futuristic feel to the whole area. They walked in silence along the center of the corridor, as men and women of varying ages scurried past them in lab coats, carrying clip boards, chemical tubes and small pieces of machinery. The doors were all sliding ones, adding to the whole surreal atmosphere. When they reached the end of the corridor, a larger double door opened, and the group were led in by the secretary.
The room that they found themselves in was very plain, playing host to the same white walls and luminescent panels. There was a long, curved table in the center of the room, at which 7 old men were seated. 4 of them were clothed in military gear, and looked even more like outsiders than the newcomers did. The other 3 wore the same lab coats as the people who had been working in the corridors. All 7 wore hostile expressions, as if they viewed the newcomers as potential terrorists. After an uncomfortable length of silence, the man seated in the center of the table spoke up. "Welcome, mages." He shifted his position slightly, as if the chair was too small for him. "You are all here at the request of Japan's Ministry of Defense, of which I am the representative. You do have the option of declining our request, however, it is in your best interests to accept. If you refuse, the home defense agency will carry out full investigations on you, and you will be arrested on suspicion of being an enemy agent." He paused, assessing the reaction of each of the people in the room, probably for signs of weakness.
"As you know, the world is currently in a state of war. There are certain things that are kept secret from the general public, though. For example, I doubt that you knew that this war has already claimed more lives than all other wars in recorded history have, put together. You also didn't know that as a result of this, the middle east, most of Africa, India, Southern America and Australia have been reduced to nothing more than sand and ash. These environments have taken so much damage due to being popular battlefields that even the world's best scientists have no clue as to how long it will be before they are inhabitable once more. But enough of this. If you so wish, you can find these details out by yourself at a later date. Now, as to why you are here..."
At this point, a second man stood up, this time one of the men in lab coats. "We believe we may have discovered something that can put an end to the war once and for all. All we need to do is to find it. Have you ever heard the legend of the Philosopher's Stone? Or, more accurately, the Alchemist's Stone?" He paused briefly, but continued before allowing any response. "In the ancient world, mainly Europe and North Africa, people known as "Alchemists" experimented with turning base metals into gold. Legend has it that in order to do this, an item known as the "Philosopher's Stone" had to be used. If it does what we think it does, it will allow us to instantly finish this war. The only problem is, we have to find it. We believe we know roughly where it might be, but as you can imagine, we can't insert a large force there to look for it, since every last soldier is currently working on the battlefield. This is where you come in. You will be responsible for finding this Stone. I don't mind how you do it, as long as you are discreet. We cannot let our enemies know what we are looking for, or that we are there."
The first man began to speak once more. "You will be starting in an Eastern European country called Romania. It is up to you how you go about achieving this objective, as long as no one finds out why you are there. If you get captured, tell them that you are Japanese spies. Tell them anything you like, as long as it does not involve the stone. We suggest that on the way there, you all come up with a story you can tell to keep consistency in the chance you are interrogated. You may use your abilities as you please. Civilian casualties are not a concern, just make sure that no one manages to report to officials. You are dismissed." The secretary signaled for them to follow her. They returned to the corridor, and began to head towards the lift, before taking a turn through a side door. This corridor led to a vast hangar. The floor was covered in a deep pool of water, and a small submarine waited with it's hatch open. The secretary addressed the group, and handed each of them a selection of items. "These cards are fake IDs which tell people that you are a member of the European Magician's Council. It is not unheard of for foreigners to be accepted into that, so you should get away with speaking Japanese while there. Just make sure you do it quietly." Each member had been given a small ring, with 2 buttons disguised as gemstones. "These rings are CADs programmed for stealth-oriented spells. The blue button casts a disguising activation sequence that changes how others see you. If you press it, you will look like a young Caucasian for about an hour. Be careful, because you will not be able to use large spell sequences while this spell is running. The red button casts a memory-wiping spell on the target which should erase the last 10 minutes from the memory of the target. It will only work if they are asleep, so knock them out first. Now, if you would be so kind as to board the submarine, you will be taken to our offshore airport."
