Child of Iron

by MalcolmTent6730

Anthony Taylor's mother was his entire world, so when she died, he was lost and alone in the world. But when he starts getting new skills and items from an incomprehensible force called the Celestial Forge he sees a chance to turn things around, and in the process maybe even surpass the father that was never in his life. Tony Stark will never see him coming. Jumpchain story.

34. Chapter 25

Hey folks. My pat-reon went live yesterday. /malcolmtent at that site.

I'll be starting another thirty thousand word a month story over there and any patron can vote on the plot and some can even submit voting options.

You slept for another eight or nine hours after the fight. But once you got up you could feel a marked difference. The soreness was gone in your back and hands and the sensitivity in your palms and fingers had gone down but not vanished. You couldn't help but reflect that increased hand sensitivity and dexterity might be useful for your crafting as you tried to sit up to stretch. It was tough to actually do this since you were buried in female bodies.

Sheila had claimed the spot between you and the couch snuggling in, with Felicia laying down behind you and Ruby climbing literally on top of you to sleep effectively sealing you in. You glanced out between them to see Nat had pulled up a comfy chair and was reading beside the couch. She noticed the movement of your neck and glanced up, smiling at you. "They've missed you terribly. Plus that fight was crazy and they were worried. We had to physically barricade the arch so Sheila didn't go out there. I remembered you warned us not to let her show herself though and you have ways of surviving."

You smiled at your oldest girlfriend "Thank you. That guy could have actually hurt her, and she still isn't used to combat. We really need to find someone physically strong enough to train her. She knows some shield moves but martial arts and knowing how to fight when you can throw a building arent really the same thing." You glanced down at the sleeping girls. "Can you help me move Ruby a bit so I can slip out?"

Between your artisan acrobatics and Nat's strength you managed to slip out somehow without waking the others, slipping Ruby into your place and letting her snuggle between the girls. You smiled at Nat and gestured her over to a nearby stove next to the fridge you'd installed in here for the girls when training. You started frying some bacon and cracked a few dozen eggs into a bowl, knowing your daughter could pack it away and that her mothers werent too far behind if you were the one cooking.

You caught sight of your new motorcycle off in the corner, it really was nice, as you cooked up the eggs and bacon. You decided to wait to finish cooking to wake the others, with the size of this place it would take a few minutes for the smell to do it, and talked to Nat. "So, how have things been in here? Enjoying yourselves? I'm sorry I haven't been around, this particular world seems geared towards my training specifically. Hopefully the next one we can slow down and have some more fun."

The heartstopping redheaded gave one of her throaty chuckles "It hasn't been too bad. Ruby and Felicia keep each other company. I spend time with them mostly when we train. Sheila spends her time with Randall while we work and her mothers when Spitfire gives us time off for his own training. I mostly take the down time as an opportunity to relax. We have the safety shower here in the workshop to clean up and its nicer than the usual barebones models in labs."

Another voice cut in as your mentor sat down at the table, his red hair actually a mess instead of the casual wildness he carefully cultivated most days. "I tried not to overwork the girls. I had my own catching up to do. Smelled the food, plate me up?" You rolled your eyes at the old busybody before making his plate as he asked. "Anyway sorry to interrupt but no way I'm passing up food you made. In any case I'm up to fighting shape for the match with sleeping forest and all three of the girls are progressing rapidly. They should be ready in time."

You sighed, rubbing your hands together. "We should bring Yoshitsune with us if we can, just in case the grand windbag decides to make an appearance. Sleeping forest seems like the type to keep things civil, aside from hate shoes, but I get the feeling their boss keeps him on lock. That said we're basically fucked if that bastard shows up and Yoshitsune isnt there, at least before we're ready. I've still got a lot to learn though I've made some good progress. I need to learnt to integrate my air control intro my road."

You rolled your eyes again as the white haired man plopped down next to Spitfire "You aren't wrong, I doubt that asshole has the guts to attack somewhere with me and Kilik both in attendance. Ram Jet doesnt restrain the Gem King AT ALL and basically cripples the wind regalia. Kilik isnt the kind of person you can fight when you're hamstrung. Of course, it'll help that we got these." He dropped a pair of bloody wheels on the table, paling and picking them up to put them back in his pocket at Nat's glare and upon realizing people were eating.

Your eyes widened "Wait when the fuck did you grab Nike's regalia? And why would that help Kilik fight for us? Are we going to trade them for protection or something?" You made yourself a plate and sat down to eat yourself, though you stopped and let out a high pitched whistle to wake up the girls because they would murder you if you cooked and they didnt get any. As they filed over your plated out their food for them and introduced them to Yoshitsune though they like him were a bit wrapped up in your cooking to respond much.

Spitfire fielded this one, being more used to your cooking than the nearly comatose Yoshitsune who was blissed out of his mind on super food. "Right I keep forgetting you don't know the whole story. That's Kilik's regalia. The guy is a monster and is able to compensate but those were made special for him and his power multiplies when he has them. I plan to head to Tropaion later today to seek a meeting, once he hears about Sora we should be able to convince him to help, and hopefully promise not to use the damn things in our parts war because that would be massively overkill."

That sounded like it might be a good idea to you, based on what you had seen of that fucking monster. It sounded like a good idea to have someone like that on your side. As you considered you own plans for the day you felt the forge fire again, having left it unlocked after last night.

Celestial Forge Accessed: Genius (Stellaris) (100CP) Sufficient CP. Purchased. Total remaining CP: 1100.

The rest of breakfast was fairly standard, you told Yoshitsune about the forge because why the hell not, he had already seen your workshop. The rumble king left with Spitfire after you handed over the Gem Regalia for the deal with Kilik since you assumed it would be safer for them to travel together. As a pair they should be up to taking on damn near anyone even having driven off Sora.

Speaking of Sora you had headed out yourself, though in your normal civilian clothes. You'd had your armor on when you killed Nike though any real investigation would make it obvious who you were with your new regalia and Spitfire's statement about his disciple. Still it would probably take a while. You decided to take the bike, marveling at how smooth and responsive the thing was. It really was a nice bike.

You pulled up in front of the Noyamano house with a sinking feeling. Sora had shown up at the parlor yesterday in his normal clothes and with those damn AT legs exposed, which meant he had no intention of hiding anymore. If your read on him was good, and granted you'd been distracted from his aura by the apocalyptic hurricane he'd tried to drop on your head great flood style, he would've come out and directly challenged sleeping forest.

You walked up the path and knocked on the door, wondering how bad of shape Ikki would be in if Sora had thrown down the gauntlet and he'd heard about it. The door opened and Rika looked out at you. Her eyes were circled with dark bags so deep they looked like bruises. She stared for a moment then stepped aside wordlessly and let you in. As always you noticed her ass when you walked by, though at this point you'd have been more shocked if it wasn't nice since she was the original thorn queen.

Knowing it wasn't the time you made your way back to Ikki's room. You considered how to play this. Thought about your friends pain and the deep heartache he must be feeling and wondered if you should try to be sensitive. You stared at the door for a second then just shook your head and threw the damn thing open as loudly as you could. "Get up loser, we're going out to ride."

Ikki was sitting in his chair leaning back, eyes rimmed red with tears, but when you came in he sat up to look at you confused. That was good, confused people couldn't be sad. Now you just had to keep him in that frame of mind. You dragged him out of his chair and shoved him to the door, grabbing a bunch of new clothes and throwing them at him before shoving his ATs into his arms and pushing him into the bathroom.

He gave you an almost offended look, barely managing the emotion through his haze. You smacked him upside his spiky head. "Don't glare at me dipshit. Go shower and get dressed. And dont drag your ass, I'll come in there and scrub you down myself if you make me wait too long." The expression he shot you was by far the most offended look you had ever seen on another person, it was hilarious.

He stumbled into the bathroom and you heard the shower start, before turning to see Rika smiling softly at you. "I wish we could have done that. But we're his sisters. He would have played tough for us and he expects us to try so he wouldn't have been off balance. Thanks Anthony, You're a good friend. Come have some coffee while you wait." She shot you a devilish grin "And since you helped my little brother I won't even stomp your balls for staring at my ass as you follow me down the hall. Just this once."

Ikki only took about twenty minutes to shower and get ready, skimming down the hall on his beat up old black and yellow ATs as usual. You nodded to Rika and followed him out catching up to your friend pretty easily since he wasn't going too fast. You rolled along like that for fifteen minutes before he finally spoke. "I guess you heard about Sora then?"

You shrugged, figuring he would find out eventually "I assume you're talking about something other than the him being evil thing, because he made that pretty obvious when he showed up and tried to murder Yoshitsune and Spitfire. Based on his whole evil overlord vibe though I'm guessing he called and declared open war on sleeping forest?" Ripping this band aid off was the right call here you thought.

Ikki's eyes went wide, his face flashing with horror and disbelief. "He tried to kill Spitfire? Yoshitsune I could see, it's horrible but I would understand, but Spitfire and him grew up together." His expression fell. "I guess I never really knew him at all. It felt nice you know. To have a big brother? I'd never had that. It was just me and my sisters for as long as I could remember. Sora was someone I could look upto. Could try to be like. He was the first wind king and Rika loved him."

You looked forward as he talked, ignoring the quaver of tears in your friends voice because you knew he would want you to. You just stayed quiet and let him talk. "He was my mentor. Like Spitfire is for you. He taught me to ride. Taught me what the sky means. I really thought of him as my big brother you know? I had this vision in my head of him and Rika getting married. Like maybe I could be in the wedding. I feel like such an idiot."

You kept rolling along in peace as your friend let the tears roll silently down his face, never looking over or acknowledging them at all. He'd talked already. Now he just needed the quiet, and you could understand that. As the two of you followed the road through the dark early morning chill you felt the forge trigger again and allowed it. It would be good to rack up some new tricks after so long without it, and your friend just needed you to be here with him, no need to say a word.

Celestial Forge Accessed: Hive Engineer (Mass Effect) (400CP) Sufficient CP. Purchased. Remaining total CP: 800.

You skimmed around the park near Ikki's house for a while, just letting him work on things, he isn't doing fancy tricks or anything just speeding along with a peaceful look on his face. But as he goes on you see the look slowly turn more and more depressed. Finally you'd had enough and slapped him on the back. "Ok enough moping kid. Let's go find Simca. As much as she likes you I somehow doubt she stuck around Genesis after Sora came back to take over."

Ikki's face paled. "Simca wouldn't be able to get away from Sora if he decided to take her. She's still in a wheel chair from when Ringo attacked her!" You looked sideways at your friend, not having known about that and wondering when his life turned into a damn soap opera. Of course your side eye only lasted a few seconds since he took off at a mad dash for...fuck if you knew where.

You followed Ikki to a nearby apartment, whose door he busted open...only to see simca there getting changed. Ikki's face heats up and he turns around quickly, with you following suit even though you honestly doubt Simca cares. Her silvery laugh echoes through the apartment after a moment. "It's ok little Crow, you can turn around, I'm decent." You were tempted to make a joke about that but it doesnt seem like it would land.

Ikki barrels forward and hugs the older girl his eyes tearing up as she pulls him close, kneeling in the ground in front of her wheelchair. You hadn't heard about the chair at all, and wondered why people were stupid and didnt ask you for help with things. You doubted anyone had mentioned this to Spitfire while he'd been training you since he knew about your cure all. You decided to wait until they finished their conversation to give her one of your spare vials.

Simca just sat there, looking down at Ikki tenderly and petting his hair, before looking up at you. "So. You're the person I have to thank for my freedom I hear. I'll be honest, it's pretty shocking you came so far in just a month." Her hair is short now, but you think it suits her as she smiled gratefully over at you. Ikki looks up at her in confusion, a look you definitely share.

She giggles at your expressions "Oh, you didn't know. Honestly I'm not as useful or integral to Genesis as it might have seemed. I was always more of a tuner than a rider, I even helped found Tool Toul To. Nike was obsessed with me though, and forced me to take up the position. He was...a terrifying man. Being the target of one of the most powerful men in the world is not a nice feeling. I didn't even really notice how constantly tense and afraid I was anymore after all these years...until he was gone." She smiled brightly at you. "I can't thank you enough. You did the world and myself both a huge favor. He was an evil person."

You smiled back. "He was trying to murder my mentor, so I don't really know if I can take too much credit for selflessness. That said he did seem like a piece of work, I'm glad to help get you out of a bad situation. If I might ask how exactly did you hear about his death? I only killed him like an hour or two ago. Even the storm rider grape vine isnt that fast."

Her smile turned a bit sad. "Sora came to visit and told me. Before informing me my services with Genesis would no longer be needed." Your faces must have been even more horrified than you though because she actually burst out laughing at your expression. "Relax. He didn't hurt me. Sora is a complicated sometimes vicious person, but he genuinely cares for the other gravity children. At least as much as he's capable of. Being in this wheelchair I'm no obstacle to his plans. He was especially close to his brother as well, and like I said Nike had quite a bit of affection for me. I think this was one last way of honoring his memory."

Ikki looked...torn at that statement. Sad and confused by his former mentor sparing the girl he loved. His aura was conflicted. Happy she was ok, upset she'd been in danger, and hopeful Sora might still be able to be redeemed. Which you were just not fucking having any of thank you very much. You cleared your throat to get his attention. "Ikki. Sora is still a bad guy. He didn't hurt Simca, which is good, but it doesn't make him secretly a friend. He's made no secret of being willing to kill anyone he cares about if it serves his purpose. Simca wasn't a threat to him. The same is not true of you."

His expression fell once again, as he slumped back down against Simca, who pulled him close and cooed to him sweetly. You smiled at the pure love and adoration you saw in her aura. Simca had been...different last time you'd seen her. More carefree, lighter. She seemed calmer and less flighty all bird puns aside. You were glad you'd brought Ikki to her, she would be good for him. You gave her a smile and looked over at Ikki. "Hey man, she might be safe, but we really aren't. We must have only missed Sora by an hour at most, we should head to the tower. Simca can come with us. It'll be safer there."

Ikki looked up at you and nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He stood up and walked behind Simca grabbing hold of her chair. She smiled at the brazen assumption she would just leave because he wanted her to but said nothing about it. He pushed her out the door and all three of you headed for the Tropaion. As you followed behind you felt the forge trigger yet again, still plenty of buildup you were letting work off before you locked it.

Celestial Forge Accessed: Grand Library (Dishonored 2) (400CP) Sufficient CP. Purchased. Total remaining CP: 500.

Your trip to the tower with Ikki and Simca didn't take too long, but on arrival you realized you were going to have to go get your bike at some point. Luckily the thing was made by the forge so theft or destruction weren't problems. Ikki and Simca wandered off as soon as you got to the tower to be alone which suited you fine as you headed upstairs to talk to the pink haired beauty you'd had your eye on.

Kururu was, to your complete lack of surprise, at her work bench. Sitting in front of her was a small device. The thing looked rough and there were wires sticking out everywhere but that wasn't what shocked you. Above the device was a gear about the size of a penny, floating in what appeared to be a kinesis field.

Granted the field was sputtering and the thing kept dropping a few inches before the field flickered back to life pushing it back into position. But still, to be able to make any sort of kinesis field from scratch after seeing it once was monstrous. You cleared your throat to get her attention, having to repeat yourself a few times before the pink haired girl looked up from her intense glare at the device.

When she saw you she pouted. "Your tech is annoying. It doesn't work right." She gestured at the device "Look at this! This should work! I followed the steps you took from memory exactly, and even though its bigger than yours for some reason it should still function perfectly. But it came out all rough and barely functional, not pretty and perfectly made like yours. You cheated somehow I know it."

You grinned at the pouting pinkette ignoring her totally accurate complaint as you sat down next to her on a nearby crate you pulled over and cleared off. "Your inability to recreate my genius aside I'm here for a reason. I want to make another regalia. Not for me, but for Ikki. After losing Bagram and with this whole Sora mess he's depressed. Kid needs a win. I bet between us we can make him something amazing."

She looked unsure. "I don't know. Your regalia are...limited. They're interesting and they do some cool things for sure, but they aren't as versatile as some of the others, and nowhere near what the storm regalia would need to be. The wing road is insanely flexible in ways yours isnt and the rumble is leaps above yours in a technical sense. Plus you have a weird thing about materials. You're obsessed with that super hard black metal you have. Like it's useful and amazing sure but you kind of use it as a crutch."

You would have argued that if you could have but she wasn't wrong. You were kind of a soulsteel fan boy and tended to use it for everything. Luckily you'd slipped into the workshop on the way up and grabbed something that might change her mind. "I can admit I get a bit overly focused on soul steel, though I have some sources for AT building I didn't before and can improve really fast if need be, the main rebuttal I have to your points is this."

You reach into your pocked and pull out a chunk of vibranium the size of your palm, handing it to Kururu. She raises an eyebrow and sets it down, proceeding to run it through a battery of tests. There were some for hardness and resonance and a few things you suspected might be specific to this world or ATs because you didnt recognize them at all.

By the end she stared at the chunk for a minute then stared up at you in consternation. "Who ARE you? Where did you even get something like this? I'm not sure if it's useless for the regalia or the absolutely perfect material for it. The over road does make use of vibrations extensively and this substance clearly absorbs them. I thought it just did that for a while but I accidentally triggered a release of energy as one point so I can tell it stores and then expends them."

You just shrugged, not up for another round of explaining your origins after the morning with Yoshitsune, besides you would show her at some point anyway. For now you just gave her a look. "As to your other point I'm not against using tiny bits of soulsteel but I dont want to leave chunks of the stuff the size of fucking shoes behind when I resume my travels so I think you should take lead on this. You understand the wind and rumble both better than I do. You can decide materials, though i still think i should do the actual manufacturing."

Her cute face twisted in another pout. "I don't like admitting it but yeah, your construction fundamentals are better than mine for sure. That said you mentioned having access to some kind of information on AT fundamentals, going over that might not be out of place. It would definitely help our build if you were up to snuff. Not that you aren't impressive as an engineer but I can tell your education was more all rounder than AT specialist. A better grasp on fundamentals will let us really shine." She inhaled deeply then blew out a breath. "Ok. I'll help. We can try to make your friend his regalia."

You whooped with joy and hopped up, grabbing Kururu and pulling her into a hug, spinning her around joyfully as she squawked in protest, her face a bright flaming red. Smiling at how easy the composed engineer was to fluster youset her back down, wincing as she kicked you in the shin for scaring her, covertly rubbing your shin when she looked away so you didn't look weak. As she sat back down to resume her attempts to reverse engineer tech from millenia in the possible future from single glance you felt the forge trigger again.

Celestial Forge Accessed: Mad Science! (Eureka-Warehouse 13-alphas) (600CP) Sufficient CP. Purchased. Total remaining CP: 0.

You decide aside from acquiescing to her demands to learn more you'd like to show Kururu your new library. You hadn't even seen the thing yourself yet but you knew it was there, had felt it slot into place in your workshop when the perk locked in. The thing is filled to the brim with hand written books on ATs and their mechanics. You know from the forge it'll continue to fill with new books every time you jump somewhere new and you were excited as hell to see it.

You consider blindfolding her but in the end any explanation will require time so you decide to just drag her along. You spin to the still blushing pink haired genius. "Ok please hold all questions until the end." Making sure the forge is locked again as an afterthought, you grab her by the hand and yank her through the archway.

Inside your workshop the girls are relaxing on the couch cuddled up together watching a horror movie. You briefly wonder exactly what time it feels like to them because ninety six hour days have to play hell with their circadian rhythm. Case in point Sheila appears to be fast asleep curled on on Felicias lap with her feet across Natasha. Ruby is laid on Felicias shoulder opposite your daughter sleeping as well.

Nat and Felicia notice you come in and see Kururu and Nat whispers something to Felicia and then slips Sheilas legs off her lap to quietly stroll over to greet you. "Hey, we figured you would be out for longer." Her voice is a low whisper to keep from waking the girls. "I see you brought a new friend over. And that you didn't tell her what was going on." She smiles wryly at the shellshocked look on Kururus face.

You just shrug in response. "I'm so sick of explaining things to everyone all the time. I'll fill her in later for now we're here to do research. Besides she's seen weirder. She lives in a giant mechanized roller blade parts mine hidden in a massive clocktower. This is Kururu by the way. Shes a mechanical genius like I am, and she's adorable."

Nat just chuckled lowly at your blase attitude and pecked you on the cheek before turning to look at the pink haired beauty. "I can see that much myself. Well it's nice to meet you Kururu, I'm Natasha, and I'm going to get back to the movie but I hope we can talk more later. Try not to let him shock you too much, I know this is all a lot, but you'll love it once you know whats going on." With a kind smile she slipped back over to the couch to rejoin the cuddle puddle.

You turn to see Kururu bright red and staring at you a bit lost. You grab her by the hand and pull her away from the couch and past your workspace towards the new area you know for a fact is in this place. You might be rushing this whole thing a bit, though you suspect explaining will be easier once she's seen all this proof. You pull her along until the two of you come to a large wooden door in the wall that hadn't been there before.

The door is wood banded with iron, very medieval and gothic. You reach down and pull the door open, taking a moment to savor the creak of the badly oiled hinges. Taking a deep breath to brace for something you know you'll never forget you pull Kururu behind you and out onto a...wooden bridge.

The bridge stretches out over a dark chasm, one of many leading to stone platforms lined with massive wooden shelves. Each shelf is packed with various leather bound books of varying sizes, stuffed onto the shelves in any way they can fit, some on their side, some on their backs.

You walk reverently down the surprisingly sturdy wooden rope bridge toward the first platform, lit with torches on either end of the bridge and the platform itself. You make it to the first one and step out onto the stone, feeling more comfortable on the solid rock than the bridge no matter how steady the thing feels. You pull Kururu behind you, knowing that like you she's thrown away all her questions for the moment to just enjoy the experience.

The two of you approach the first shelf on the platform, and Kururu reaches up to grab a small red leather bound book. More like a journal than a novel. She flips it open and rifles through it, here eyes going wide. "This is notes from the original team that developed the regalia. Notes that definitely don't exist because I know for a fact the person who this was supposedly written by died a few months into the project. They're so detailed though." You cant help but grin at her obvious enthusiasm for the subject and her work in general, she really loves her art and it's truly beautiful.

She shoves it back onto the shelf grabbing another book, then another, rifling through the tomes gleefully as she finds text books and technical manuals that you know don't exist here. From what you can tell the library pulls books from alternate versions of the universe attached to it, creating accurate and concise informational books without providing too much context about the more personal side of the world.

As you smiled at the beautiful girl rifling through this amazing new library you glance around again at the wonder that's been given to you by the forge. You knew your powers could warp reality but seeing something like this is different. You'd seen every inch of that work shop but this just got slapped on. It was absolutely amazing. Smiling at her enthusiasm you walk forward to join your new partner in looking for books. The only question now is what exactly do you need to brush up on.

You were grateful for Kururu's similarities to you almost immediately, because she forgot about the awe and confusion fairly quickly once you put her in front of some books in here field. Seeing the tiny pink haired beauty stack books so high she had hook her chin over the top of the armful to see was hilarious, and not a little adorable.

Luckily each stone platform had a gorgeous table made of the same smooth dark wood as the shelves set into the center set with ever burning candelabras and surrounded by absolutely gorgeous padded chairs. The cushions on the wooden chairs were plus and felt warm and inviting, and you could see yourself studying here daily, especially with the time dilation effect.

Your own pile of books while smaller than Kururu's was still sizable, but unlike Kururu you had a huge advantage in studying. Your multitasking perk hive engineering gave you the ability to flawlessly do a ton of things at once which meant you could unfocus your eyes and read several books at once and with all you intelligence boosting perks still process and understand them flawlessly.

Sadly while you could multitask at an inhuman level you only had two hands so you could only turn the pages of so many books quickly enough for this to be efficient. You ended up managing six at a time, which was still pretty damn effective, but you also have dozens of times more research to do than Kururu to reach a decent level of grounding in ATs so you needed the edge.

As you read over six different technical manuals, research journals, and even history texts you came to one absolutely inescapable fact. Air Trek's were bullshit. The power production numbers on the AT engine tech were much lower than say an arc reactor or a power cell but they had a few distinct advantages. For one, the materials to make them was pretty much dirt cheap. Just normal metals and some semi delicate machining.

Secondly the AT tech could be miniaturized to a level that neither of your power generation methods could even com close to. If you could get equipment that would work at the right scale you could make one the size of a pin head that would power a damn blender. The quarter sized engines in ATs ran the things at upwards of a hundred mph. Most commercial models had limiters and safety features but the things still powered the roller blades nigh indefinitely. If the engines werent perpetual motion they were really fucking close.

It was no wonder they used the technology for everything in this world. Scaled up the engines enabled things like that giant hulkbuster mech that pompous Genesis dick had been using to be fielded easily. The only tricky thing about them was that that unusually complex and detailed motion patterns needed to maintain momentum and energy required highly advanced math calculations and formuli to run, so every single engine regardless of size had an onboard processor with a high grade logic software built into it,

The issue with this was that you were looking at a research journal detailing exactly what the logic processing software entailed and you could see what you doubted anyone else had noticed yet. The way the engines work required that processor to interface heavily with the processor of any advanced machinery they were built into, and the fucking things had a massive and very obviously intentional back door in them.

You were beginning to get a very unsettling picture of what the "sky regalia" was. And it was accompanied by a certainty that a charismatic sociopathic supremacist who hated everyone on earth aside from a small group of less than a hundred genetically engineered super roller bladers should almost definitely not have access to it. Not that that's all it did. Because from the notes you were reading from this apparently non existent co lead on the project the doctor in charge though being able to hack the whole world wouldn't be a functional capability if you didnt put it on a pair of awesome roller blades.

That said your new insight into both the project and your growing understanding of the way AT's functioned gave you a new appreciation for the work that had gone into them. It wasn't just the engines either. The doctors had hired dozens of teams of dedicated scientists to refine and machine every individual component of these designs. The fact that these had been designed as a means of moving in zero G's honestly made your head hurt, but they had definitely gone all in.

There were hundreds of scientists worth of experience, not to mention over a decade of development from every single genius humanity had to offer, and the end result was a thing of beauty. You could see how your regalia would have been a crude and brutish thing if not for alterations Kururu made to the plans that you hadn't even noticed when you were working on the things. Small changes that made the design function more smoothly.

It was a good reminder to you that you shouldn't use your perks as a crutch. You didn't know everything and while they massively improved your crafting and designs they worked even better with a higher baseline. You could make a decent pair of ATs out of nearly anything with your perks but the version you made with all this knowledge and skill would be infinitely better. After a dozen trips back and forth from the shelves you finally finished your foundational research and felt like you were ready to take on the challenge.

You slammed all the books shut and stood up to reshelve them before turning to look at your partner. Aside from the vibranium you didn't intend to use any super metals at all. This would be a pure test of ingenuity and skill, and Kururu and yourself were going to make the greatest AT's of all time without needing anything as gauche as universal materials. That way you wouldn't need to worry about leaving the regalia behind for your friend to keep or pass on. Now all you needed to do was decide how to get started.

You were raring to go with your new skills and knowledge and you saw Kururu was the same but ultimately the two of you decided it might not be a good idea to make the new regalia without input from the source. Both of you headed out of the library and for the entrance of your workshop, passing your girls who were all passed out on the couch together now. You quietly slipped over to the sofa with a shushing gesture and pulled a blanket hanging on the back over your daughter, giving her a peck on the forehead and the girls each a peck on the lips.

Finally you grabbed Kururu's hand and pulled her through the archway. Once you reached the tower proper you preempted all the questions you knew were coming by giving her a basic breakdown of your whole situation. You went out of your way to be vague as hell and allude heavily to thing's she might have seen so on the off chance anyone was listening the whole explanation would sound like nonsense.

Kururu looked fairly stunned though, hearing your explanation. "So you're from an entirely different world? And you can go to other ones? And they have different technology and even magic?" Her brown eyes glittered with excitement at the very idea of all the amazing things to discover in the multiverse. You couldn't blame her, you were still excited about it yourself and you'd had weeks to get used to it.

You grinned toothily over at your fellow engineer. "Sure. We're stuck on world until after the gram scale though, after that maybe you can come with us? You seem like kind of person who would love traveling and I could always use a partner in the lab. Plus you would be able to access the library every world and it would give you background knowledge unique to each jump."

Kururu looked excited but raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Would I have to have sex with you? Because you've been staring at my butt pretty hard and flattering as that is I don't love the idea of paying my travel expenses with sex." She blushed profusely. "Not that you aren't very handsome, but if I have sex with someone I want it to be because I'm compatible with them and like them."

At her statement you directed your gaze to the aforementioned ass again. It wasn't anywhere near as fat as Felicia's or Nat's, or as toned as Ruby's, but it was phenomenal. Two perfect soft, round, gravity defying globes of perky cheek that was just soft enough to jiggle when she walked even despite it's compact size.

You shook your head redirecting your gazed to an amused Kururu who had obviously been waiting for you to snap out of it. "No, of course not. I mean I'd love to have sex with you whether you stay or go, but that's your call and those two decisions have no impact on each other." Kururu's eyes widen at your bluntness and her pale cheeks flush as she looks down shyly and hurries on ahead, giving you plenty of time to watch that sweet bouncy ass.

Finally after about fifteen minutes of silence (which you knew because your multi tasking skill made it possible to keep track of the time while watching your guide's perfect cheeks bounce) you came to where Ikki and Simca were sitting together. The walk over had been fun for you, mostly because Kururu looked back to see you staring and made a point of giving her steps a little extra bounce to see how you reacted, shooting you flirty smiles when she saw how enthralled you really were.

Ikki was seated at table next to the parts mine with Simca in her chair to the side of him. They were smiling at each other goofily and you grinned internally at Simca's aura, noting she was just as infatuated with your friend as he was with her. She had an almost reverent adoration for him, seeing him as all the freedom and joy she never got to have in her life. Ikki for his part was completely besotted, viewing Simca as the physical embodiment of the exultation he felt when storm riding because she had been one of the first riders he met. Plus boobs. He WAS a teenager.

Personally you were more attracted to all the junk in Simca's trunk but you recognized your preference for butts verged on a fetish, plus she was your friends girl, and you had your own pink haired hottie to woo. Speaking of whom Kururu looked almost starstruck at the romantic atmosphere of the two sitting together, and you made a mental note to take her out for a nice dinner date and put in some actual effort. Or maybe cook her something and have a picnic.

Focusing up you turned to Ikki, who had just now noticed the two of you. The time with Simca had been good for him. His aura was still forlorn but he seemed more at ease and somewhat content even if a little melancholy. It was amazing what love could do for a person, his emotional wounds seemed to have done the equivalent of weeks worth of healing just from being around her. Hopefully this next part would wipe away the last of that. "Hey nerd, you done boring the pretty lady yet? We've been doing some research and we think we're ready to make your regalia but we need your input."

You made sure to smile when you said that first part, to convey you were just messing with him. Luckily his aura showed amusement and fondness instead of offense. He also shot Kururu a look then raised a questioning eyebrow at you, which you answered with a wink. His lips twitched into a smile at your antics "Alright then, ass. A regalia custom made by the future pledge queen sounds impressive, provided she doesn't let you screw it up to bad. What do you want to know?"

You drop down to sit at the table next to your friend, happy to see the excitement on his face at the though of new gear. You take a moment to consider everything you've learned, the concepts and styles of AT available. You had already decided not to put any dead space tech into the regalia, not just because it could be reverse engineered but because it didn't...fit. The principles behind air treks were mature and deeply weird, there was decades of science specifically developed for this tech and it was very specialized.

You also weren't going to include soul steel. Honestly you were going to need to rework your own regalia, you hadn't really made ATs as much as just some super advanced roller blades. They were strong and impressively useful, but your understanding of your road and of both AT design and storm riding in general had been lacking. Not to say they hadn't been a masterpiece or that they had been bad quality. Cannons were powerful weapons, but sometimes you needed a sniper rifle.

That was why you were using mostly locally sourced materials, you wanted to make sure you got a good feel for the spirit of the tech before you did your rebuild. You looked over at your friend and finally decided what course to take. "Ikki, tell me about your road. What do you envision when you imagine a storm? I know how the rumble regalia works and i have a basic understanding of the wind but how do you see them coming together?"

Ikki looked thoughtful. "The biggest benefit to the combination is an amplification to air control I think. The wind regalia massively boosts range and power and ram jet takes wind energy condenses and amplifies it. My road is mainly based on wind control anyway. Most people think thats just throwing around tornadoes, but storms are an ecosystem of air. Where there's wind, there's a lack of it somewhere else. Hurricanes demonstrate that perfectly with their eye. I think my road is about understanding the exact way a butterfly needs to flap its wings to cause a hurricane."

You blinked in surprise. That had been...eloquent. Ikki tended to be a bit of a dumbass. You loved the kid like a little brother but he was a thug and a bit of an idiot. But this was a side of him you hadn't seen before. He seemed so serious and mature. For a split second, sitting behind him, you saw a shadow of a great beast in his aura, a great knight in black armor sitting astride it with massive wings. Then it was gone.

You found yourself slightly disturbed by the ordeal. This world was...weird. The way they treated the sky was almost religious and it did strange things to the metaphysics. You didn't think it was obvious or even noticeable to them but it gave you a fucking headache sometimes. After talking to Ikki a bit more you got a better idea of what he needed and brought Kururu with you back to her workshop. Without using soul steel her work space was optimized better than yours for this kind of build.

Your workshop had been added to plenty but ultimately it was pretty basic. You could do almost anything with basic toold but using a fully outfitted optimized lab was obviously going to work better even for you. Before you started you hesitated and looked over at Kururu. "If we're doing this together, I think we should use your regalia. I can hook myself up to it and share some of my talent with you."

Kururu looked at you with indecision, before glancing down at your own AT's and nodding. She walked over to her work bench and reach under pulling out a huge case. She shifted a bit under the weight and dragged it over to the table setting it in front of you, opening it up to show a huge mechanical cross. It took very little time to hook yourself up to it and you slipped the headphones over your ears as Kururu took her place beside you.

You weren't sure what it was, maybe your aura sight, maybe one of your other dozen abilities, but when the two of you connected you FELT it. You hands started to move on their own, a sensation that wasnt unusual with your perks, but Kururu's hands moved too and they were almost an echo of yours, like you were occupying the same space and she was an afterimage. But one that moved differently than you.

Her insane talent mixed with echoes of your own and shadows of your perks to create something mindblowing and your own abilities could barely keep up, but they did. The two of you moved in sync, not two halves of a whole but to competing and reinforcing influences. You were greater than the sum of your parts, multiplicative rather than additive. Even a hint of your forge giver perks imbued into someone with talent of a literal forge goddess combined with your own Stark blood and insight was creating something altogether new.

You felt weight gathering in the air, not magic or science but that same hallowed energy people here seemed to imbue in their ATs through faith. Beauty of the gods was in full force here, as were plenty of other perks, guiding you both. You had been planning to make a design or schematic again but it wasnt necessary, all need for communication or preparation washed away in the flood of emotion shared between the two of you.

And finally it was over. You pulled off the headphones, and Kururu did the same...and immediately toppled over unconscious. You managed to catch her, though you were very drained. The pledge regalia was...intense. It synergized with the forge in an unbelievable way. Setting Kururu down on a nearby bench to recover you turned back to your creation. Anxious to see what you'd made.

You smile proudly down at your new creation, wishing Kururu were awake to share your first real examination of the masterwork in front of you. All your style perks had not only added up but been amplified by the pledge regalia, and beauty of the gods made along with all the quality boosts and the fact that you'd made a regalia before and understood it better through stone age otaku had combined with the boost from having a second pair of hands.

You called it Indra, named for the vedic god of storms. The base was a damascus metal in a slightly bulkier than normal frame, spiraling with lines of vedic scroll work and symbols in purest gold. Taking inspiration from both ram jet and the gem regalia a perfectly sculpted golden lotus, so delicate and gorgeous it looked like an actual flower sat above each toe inset with vibranium that traced through it like veins.

When wind was fed into the flowers the petals would open and spin pulling in air to assist, when expelled the vibranium amplified the gem roads vibration hardening principle to extreme levels to reinforce any air walls created. The moon drop effect was worked in to further reinforce the durability of any walls created, making a self sustaining trinity of powerful defensive effects that made any created walls infinitely harder to breach and could still be used to harden air and take to the skies through platforms and a road in the air.

Aside from the durability powers you had and perfect designs the vibranium veins also soaked up and impacts against Indra storing the power to pour into the next defensive trick. You even put in a runic code in the form of an Ohm that would initiate a safety override of the sky regalia if it got close enough, making this a real honest to god regalia and not a pseudo regalia. You'd used vibranium instead dg-78 for the core creating a defensive fortress that no one would easily breach.

You had considered long and hard actually what to put into them. Ram Jet pulled in and condensed wind and the gem regalia hardened it, forming unbreachable walls but at the cost of some of the mobility or versatility of the wing regalia. They weren't slow of course, hell they were pretty much as fast as the Flame regalia in terms of raw speed, but they couldn't keep up with the wind. But Ikki had become more steady over time, more stable. He wanted to protect his friends more than anything, and Indra would let him do that perfectly. Of course amplification aside it still depended on his own abilities to manipulate the wind, like all regalia.

You woke Kururu up after maybe thirty minutes, wanting her to have a bit of rest but knowing you still had to get these to Ikki. You weren't actually sure how long they took to make, not having checked a clock before starting but you knew it couldn't have been a short time. Her eyes fluttered open sleepily and she smiled up at you before her blush turned nuclear and she nearly flew off the bench. "Oh god! I passed out...that was. Wow. I never knew it could be like that. I felt like we were one person." She blushed again. "Can I see it?"

You smiled and grabbed the AT's, putting them down on the bench she had vacated, and as her eyes fell on them her breath caught in her throat. You gestured grandly "Well? What do you think of our masterpiece? Because seriously, the sheer elegance of every single atom of metal in these makes other regalia look like garbage. Except the flame, but thats not mechanical, the programming in those is fucking weird based on the journals and I still don't really know what it does since they leave a bunch of it out."

Her breathing is coming now, but shallow, and you're vaguely worried she may hyperventilate. Her pupils are blown out wide when she looks at you like shes literally high on looking at the regalia you made, and with very little preamble she hurls herself at you and locks her mouth to yours, legs wrapping around your waist. Despite being a gentleman you worried she might fall and were thus forced by circumstance to sink your hands into her soft round butt as she kissed you. Just to hold her up.

Luckily you were an artisan kisser, or even better due to practice and she certainly seemed to enjoy the twenty or so minutes you stood there letting her try to eat your face. Her ass was springy and soft, being able to sink both hands in deep like you were kneading a particularly thick dough, and since it was small you got perfect handfulls of each cheek, which she didn't seem to mind at all. You probably would have even kept going, except for the loud throat clearing cough from off to the side.

Ikki stood pushing Simca's chair looking amused, with Spitfire grinning maliciously and Ine glaring angrily as Yoshitsune offered a bright thumbs up in the background. You personally had zero shame in your game, but Kururu was a shy girl when she wasn't inventing and her face flushed scarlet as she buried it in your chest. You debated taking another good squeeze before you put her down but ultimately decided against it, and just set her on the ground.

Deciding to completely ignore the looks you turned and picked up Indra. Passing them to Ikki. His hands dropped from Simca's chair and reached out shakily to receive them. You grinned at your shocked friend, knowing beauty of the gods stacked with everything else made them look so divine that mixed with the weird faith aura ATs had they had a presence that made them seem like there was a genuine deity in them. "Well your majesty? What do you think of your regalia?"

Ikki stared down at them in amazement, before looking back up at you and grinning. His previously partly flat gaze now shining with the excitement that defined his relationship with the sky. You had made sure not to lean so hard into defense he couldn't still take to the skies. "They're amazing, i can't wait to try them out."

Ikki wasn't the only one enchanted by your newest creation, Simca being just as impressed by Indra. You made sure to tell them the bad news up front. Due to Ikki being a teenager and not finished growing, unlike the other kings he would need a tuner. His style and even basic shape would change over the years and he would need someone to alter the regalia for him. Your durability power would keep it in perfect working order pretty much indefinitely but the thing still needed to be tweaked as he grew.

Luckily they didn't actually seem to mind, you had forgotten Simca was a tuner herself as well as a gravity child, and she was more than happy to help her honey bunny. In fact, she had another suggestion that would be even more helpful. Her face was curiously blank as she said. "We should go down into the tower and see Kilik. Ikki is going to need some training to use the Gaia road properly, and Spitfire, while a genius, never understood the gem like my brother did. The Flame is a template for all roads, but the gem is nearly the exact opposite, and your grasp, while passable, my friend, could never match up to my twin."

Spitfire shrugged at her comment, also staring at Indra but looking up when mentioned. "No offense taken, you're not wrong. The gem is all about restraint and stability, the Gaia road never meshed well with my personality or talents. That said you know as well as I do Kilik can be...difficult. We just gave him back his own regalia and managed to work out a deal, training wasn't part of that."

Simca shook her head "It won't need to be. My brother owes me. Ringo was nominally acting on behalf of Sleeping Forest when she attacked me. Nike is dead so Genesis has no claim on me so he has no excuse not to pay me back for allowing that. Even if she didn't ask he'll still hold himself responsible. Ikki has a solid grasp on the wing road and the over road, but these word with the gaia road too and he has no experience. Kilik is the only person I can think of good enough to train him up quickly, and I'd rather he be functional with his regalia as soon as possible with Sora still running around in a rage."

And so you all headed down into the tropaion tower. In an elevator. A really really fast one. You rolled your eyes internally at the realization that they had used AT tech for the elevator. Not that it was a bad idea, it just seemed excessive. On the upside it only took like forty five seconds for you to reach whatever weird sublevel Sleeping Forest used for their base, stepping off the elevator to find them all gathered around, presumably from the meeting that had just taken place.

Standing in the lead, watching as you all filed out of the elevator, was a man who sort of defied description. The white hair, red eyes with a cross in them and stole over his shoulders was an...interesting look. The calm look on his face and piercing intelligence mace him seem somehow simultaneously terrifying and weirdly boring. He gazed at Simca intently before turning to Spitfire. "Returning so soon after our meeting? Minus twenty points."

Simca rolled her eyes at her brother. "They followed me, I need people to help me get around now since your psychopathic teenie bopper shredded my legs out of nowhere." She bared her teeth in what could charitably called a smile at Ringo, who looked on steadily with little showing on her face. "Minus sixty points for not being in control of your team members by the way."

Curiously despite her lack of expression Ringo's aura actually pulsed with guilt. She didn't like Simca at all, mostly because she was hopelessly in love with Ikki who was too stupid to notice, but she did respect her. Ringo hadn't wanted to hurt Simca at all. She had been trying to help her. She didn't want Simca to have to fight her brother or Ikki and possibly get hurt or killed in the battle ahead. She'd been trying to be kind.

Ikki however had the subtlety of a concussed rhino and didn't have an aura reading perk from a multiversal power set so he missed that. He ignored Ringo very deliberately, his knuckles tightening around Simca's chair as he glared as Kilik. "Hey, shitty priest. Simca say's youre pretty good at the Gaia road and my new regalia use that. We want you to teach me how do it too."

You turned to stare at him in bewilderment. You had expected him to have at least some tact here, but apparently he a still hurting from Sora's betrayal. You hadnt really considered that you were asking him to take on another mentor, and the best friend of his former big brother figure at that.

Surprisingly Kilik seemed to have picked up on the subtext there, probably because from what you'd heard Ikki had had a full on emotional breakdown in the very base when Sora came out as machiavelli lite. Kilik just raised an eyebrow at Ikki. From his aura you could tell he felt somewhat responsible for Sora even after all these years, and genuinely felt bad for Simca being hurt. You could also tell he would probably die before saying so because he was insanely emotionally repressed.

As you felt the forge begin to trigger and allowed it because no one was looking at you anyway so why not, he just stared impassively at Ikki after the outburst before raising one eyebrow. "And what exactly would be my reasoning for doing that?" What was it with kings and requiring people to prove themselves?

Celestial forge accessed: Genetic Engineering (World Seed) (400CP) Sufficient CP. Purchased. Total remaining CP: 200.

Ikki, predictably for someone who ran a street gang when he was younger, was much less reticent to go up against one of the strongest people in the world than he probably should have been. In response to Kilik's question he just grinned and started strapping on Indra. "You want me to prove myself shitty priest? Be careful what you wish for!"

On the one hand he'd never used the regalia in his life which was stupid, but on the other you made them perfectly for him using heightened perception, aura sight and your insanely heightened brain to map out everything about the kid and pour it into the specs. In a very real way Indra was made for him. Simca would need to tune them over time to keep up with growth but for right now he should be able to master them intuitively.

Kilik, also predictably, was emotionless in the face of the challenge as he was already wearing his ATs. "Minus thirty points for being arrogant and overeager. But plus ten for having the convictions to challenge me in the first place. You're still at eighty. If you can keep from hitting zero for five minutes in a confrontation I'll teach you. We got interrupted last time. You could have done worse before but if you claim this so called regalia can stop Sora you'll have to show me."

Ikki stood up on his new AT's with a grin and put subtle pressure on them as he ghosted forward. His voice was joyful as he shouted back "Holy shit Anthony these are amazing, it feels like they respond almost before I move. They're so smooth. Lets see what else they can do!" He applied pressure more to the front by shifting his weight and nearly vanished in a blur of motion towards Kilik.

The white haired leader of sleeping forest just rolled his eyes "A head on approach. Pointless. Nothing has changed from earlier. You're barely faster. Your so called regalia is a disappointment. Minus fifty points." You saw his aura flash outward in a wave as he activated the gem regalia deciding to put Ikki out of his misery with his newly restored ability to stop him in his tracks properly.

Only for his eyes to widen and his body to have to lunge out of the way of a hammer of hardened air Ikki formed with moon drop and ram jet and hurled at his head without a seconds pause from his immobilizing regalia. Kilik looked genuinely confused. " Plus sixty points for being able to shrug off my gaia road. Because that shouldn't be possible. How did you counter it?" He wasn't looking at Ikki, he was looking at you when he asked that and you smiled.

Of course you weren't going to tell him the thing was interspersed with vibranium veins that just absorbed the effects passively. So you grinned and decided to bullshit him. "I studied the gem regalia while we had it, the reason Ikki needs training is the version of it in his own ATs. Of course I built in a passive defense, though if you want details you'll have to agree to train him."

He turned to see the crater in the wall behind him, a bit off balance from the obvious power. Ikki couldn't use the gem portions of the regalia yet, but the passive hardening was applied to any air attack even without the gaia road assuming Ikki had time to charge the vibranium circuits by using them. The most direct way was impact, but Kiliks immobilizing gaia wave served the same purpose. The combination of the three roads made an absurdly potent attack. He was lucky Ikki hadn't thrown a tornado. His pile tornado trick would have basically become a blender.

Kilik frowned at you for a moment before shaking his head. "You're at ninety points. If you can get to a hundred I'll stop the test and call it a pass, but I'm not done yet. Defense against vibration attacks is one thing, but lets see how he does with the ground itself." He stormped down hard with the gem regalia and your eyes widened as you saw the steel floor of the tower base shoot up in the form of spikes to spear at your friend.

Nike had needed to break them free and throw them, but apparently Kilik had a much better grasp on his own regalia than the knock off gem king had. Luckily he stuck to the spirit of the test and speared the ground at Ikki from the front instead of just ventilating him from beneath. Having trained with Yoshitsune Ikki of course knew how to make a rumble wall. He shifted his hands and shoved a burst of air into Indra before erecting the wall.

The spikes of the tropaion, made from a metal that was made to contain the sky regalia itself met the barrier of Indra in a spectacular clash...and stopped. The tips of the spikes hit the hardened shield of air and warped and bent at the impact. Kilik looked at the scene for a moment before nodding. "Plus ten points. His gaia road is nonexistent but his foundations with wind and storm are solid and the regalia are powerful indeed. I will teach him."

Simca squealed in delight and her chair zipped across the room for her to throw herself on Ikki in happiness. You saw Ringo look away sadly as that happened, her aura showing her heartbreak so clearly you could literally see it happen as she watched. Knowing what you knew about her reasons for attacking Simca you felt bad for Ringo. She had just wanted to help the person she loved, and now he hated her for it.

Their battle had not left them on good terms. Ikki's wannabe tuner had put a fake wind regalia in his ATs to prove she could make one for him and it had broken forcing a tie. Ringo deserved to be heard, and your friend could really use her back in his life. The question was what could you do?

_
Perks:
Genius (Stellaris) (100CP)

As expected from someone who broke through a barrier thought impossible by physics, you're a genius. Your level of study in the three most important fields (Social, Engineering, and Physics) are enough to have you be known as the premiere in all fields in your Empire.

Hive Engineer (Mass Effect) (400CP)

It took the rachni mere months to reverse engineer faster-than-light travel technology. That is the fastest this has been managed by any current race. It's not even close. Granted, they were an indeterminate amount of parts working together to accomplish it. Though that is ultimately where their power comes from. You're given what will seem like an unlimited capacity and skill for micromanaging. You could work out the inner workings of an entire planet with relative ease. It will take several more cases to that level before you'll find yourself bogged down and unable to keep up, and even then it might be more. Assuming Queens were always rare, you could probably manage two dozen worlds before things start getting fuzzy. After all, rachni controlled over two hundred worlds at their height.

Grand Library (Dishonored 2) (400CP)

Built of dark grey stone and the rich wood of Serkonos's mountain forests, the grand library seems embedded with a chasm, crossed with catwalks and bridges. It contains thousands of books, painstakingly hand-written on occult and metaphysical topics, and hundreds of years of research on the astronomy and metaphysics of the world can be found in their leather covers. While rare diamonds of practical knowledge are scattered between the books, the more academic literature is likely to help you in developing your own magics or rituals. The Grand Library updates for each new jump, adding further shelves of books along grey stone escarpments, and providing a comprehensive academic knowledge base of the metaphysics, magic and dimensions of your local setting, though it will not contain books which already exist. The Grand Library attaches to your Cosmic Warehouse or other pocket dimension.

Mad Science! (Eureka-Warehouse 13-alphas) (600CP)

Most people would say that it's impossible, not to mention extremely reckless. Not you. Given enough time and resources, and a general disregard for the potential consequences, you can do almost anything technologically possible to achieve. Occasionally things get out of hand and run amok, but that's a risk you're willing to take. Plus, it occasionally results in accidental inventions and discoveries. For SCIENCE!

Genetic Engineering (World Seed) (400CP)

While robots and machines are interesting enough, it would be foolish to think that technology is limited to steel and metal. You have knowledge of a field of technology that goes beyond the conventional. Rather than mechanical engineering, you do genetic engineering. You can grow any technology you could normally create organically instead, and give life to terrors of plants and beasts. Instead of cars you could make reptilian mounts, and instead of hammering together a spaceship you could grow it in orbit. I can't imagine it would be fun to fight against a ship that had a giant row of teeth. But further than that, you could combine the best of these two fields of technology. Machines that heal like organic beings, but a thousand times faster, flesh and scales with the toughness of titanium, and muscles with strength on par with any machine. Robots able to reproduce and propagate like natural lifeforms, and organic brains with the power of the best Artificial Intelligence. I'm sure you can see the potential this offers.