"Thank you for your help securing the island." A man says kindly as he shakes Izuku's hand.
"My forces destroyed most of your defenses when they arrived, so it's the least we could do." Izuku replies humbly.
"You had to because of our security failures, we hold no grudge. In fact the data we gained fighting your swarm has improved our new security system." The man says.
"We are glad your security has improved, don't hesitate to call on us again in the future." Izuku offers.
"We shall." The man replies.
"Director." Izuku says seriously. "One of my friends has suggested a gift for you all. How would you like to explore the stars?"
"Oh? I'm sure many of our scientists would be interested." the now identified director of I island says.
"We have the plans for a science vessel, a large unarmored support and research vessel. You would need to crew it yourselves and I would recommend not flying out of the system unless the swarm is present for safety." Izuku explains.
"How large and how many crew?" The director asks.
"It's a spherical vessel, around 500 meters in diameter, crew depends on what you can automate. I'd say around 100 people for command and engineering. The rest is mostly cleaning and kitchens." Izuku explains
"That's manageable, I will have to speak with the rest of the board but I'm sure this will be accepted." the director says.
"Wonderful, I will be in contact soon with the delivery details and blueprints. If you think of something during construction we will add it. Within reason of course." Izuku says cheerfully.
"Thanks again for saving the island and providing security." The director says as Izuku walks out the door.
"You're welcome." Izuku replies.
"Inko, I'm glad you could come." Recovery Girl says as Inko enters her office.
"It's no problem, I could always use a break." Inko says. "Even though I can work 24/7 without any drawbacks doesn't mean I should.
"Of course you shouldn't, I don't believe infestation protects your mental health." Recovery Girl replies.
"The hivemind does to an extent, but it's not perfect." Inko replies.
"Something to look into in the future." Recovery Girl says, "Now, let's move on to the reason for this meeting. How is Izuku doing?"
"He's quite well. He seems to assimilate more into the swarm every day. I think he has 4 bodies active at this point on several projects." Inko says.
"And is he stressed from all this work?" Recovery Girl asks.
"No, he's actually becoming kinder and more personable over time." Inko says.
"Really? Any idea why?" Recovery Girl asks.
"I believe it's all the new members. All these young heroes are bringing their energy and sense of justice into the swarm, completely overwhelming Abathur and the older broodmothers strict pragmatism and slight sociopathy." Inko explains.
"That makes sense." Recovery girl comments. "I assume adding Toshinori to the swarm helps that as well."
"I think so. Izuku was working on assimilating All Might from the day he met him and learned about his terrible injuries." Inko says. "I think he wanted All Might's strong sense of justice as much as he wanted All Might's personal strength."
"That means notices his own humanity returning?" Recovery Girl asks.
"He has, it drives him to recruit more people." Inko answers.
"And how about you?" Recovery Girl asks.
"I'm not as integrated with the swarm as Izuku is, but as the oldest member I have a unique bond to the swarm." Inko says. "I think my personality has lightened as well, but since I joined as an adult it never had as much of an effect on my personality as it did with Izuku."
"Interesting, how are you doing socially? Raising a child alone then joining the swarm must have been hard on you." Recovery Girl asks.
"It wasn't that bad, I had Mitsuki as a friend until Izuku infested himself and I saw his memories of Katsuki's bullying. While I don't blame her, we drifted apart after that point. But now I have Rei, and she's wonderful, not a big talker but she listens. And I hope to make friends with the adults Izuku has been infesting lately." Inko answers.
"That's good to hear." Recovery Girl says.
"Now that I think about it, I might see if I can get Mitsuki and Masaru to join the swarm. I could use more help with admin now that the swarm is expanding outside of the Sol system." Inko wonders.
"Outside the solar system?" Recovery Girl asks, shocked.
"Oh, you weren't supposed to know that." Inko says sheepishly.
"I honestly don't think I want to know." Recovery Girl says, "These kids get into enough trouble on Earth."
"Terra." Inko corrects.
"Terra?" Recovery Girl asks, confused.
"For simplicity's sake we've named the system Sol, our planet Terra and the moon Luna." Inko explains. "Then we won't get confused when talking about other systems."
"I see." Recovery Girl says.
"Mei, I am looking for Eri, the queens said she came this way." Izuku says as he enters the Manufactorum of the infested.
"Haven't seen her, heading to Luna." Mei says quickly.
"Alright." Izuku says, turning to return to the main hive. "Wait. what's going on? Why are your eyes glowing purple?"
"Just science at work." Mei says.
Izuku pauses and smells the air. "Is that terrazine I smell?"
"Terrazine? No, it doesn't exist in the universe." Mei answers.
"You used a Yaororo-extractor, didn't you?" Izuku sighs.
"I did." Mei admits. "But it's in the name of science! Look at what was done on this stuff in the past!"
"A lot of violence and mental breakdowns?" Izuku answers, remembering the Taldarim and the spectre program.
"The mecha-swarm!" Mei shouts.
"It's impressive, sure, but don't you already have the infested?" Izuku asks.
"It's not about the army, it's about the knowledge! All the babies I could make!" Mei shouts.
"Sure, but shouldn't you go back to the translation project? And the mapping project? New tech can wait." Izuku says.
"It can't! Ideas need to be created." Mei answers with a crazed look in her eyes.
"Then do both." Izuku says.
"I can't be in two places at once!" Mei responds
"Momo is. She sends a body to class and leaves another practicing on her colony." Izuku explains. "And that's nothing compared to the many things I'm doing."
"I thought only you could do that?" Mei asks, calming down slightly.
"Nope. with enough practice any of you can." Izuku answers.
"Then I have learning to do!" Mei announces before running off into the depths of the cavern."I saw Eri playing with a mecha-zergling!" she adds before disappearing behind a factory.
Izuku merely sighs and walks towards Mei's small earth lab.
"Eri, where are you!?" Izuku calls as he walks up to a pair of mecha-zerglings.
"Here." Eri replies from above.
"Where? I only see a harvesting bot." Izuku asks.
"That's me!" Eri shouts. "This is a Gary without a brain."
"So now you're G-Eri?" Izuku asks.
"No!" Eri replies, "I want a better name."
"Too late. Several of the girls are watching and they like G-Eri." Izuku says playfully.
"Nooo!" Eri wails playfully. "At least give me a mecha-swarm."
"A mecha-swarm?" Izuku asks in shock. "The infestation process may have increased your mental maturity, but you're still way too young to have an army."
"Please?" Eri pouts, transmitting a pouting face though G-Eri's screen.
"Who could say no to that?" Inko's mental voice says.
"Mom really?" Izuku asks.
"You had a bigger swarm at her age, and you were less mature." Inko replies.
"Fine." Izuku says. "Congratulations Eri, you can now use G-Eri to lead a mecha-swarm into battle. As a garrison force under Mom's administrative brood."
"Yay!" Eri cheers and the mecha-zerglings dance.
"You already had control?" Izuku asks.
Eri only smirked at that.
"MEI!" Izuku shouts, running off to find the reckless inventor.
"You know, every girl in 1-A is infested." Momo says suddenly as the girls relax in Izuku's creep covered dorm room.
"We are yes." Tsu says.
"So no normal people use our bath." Momo says.
"Also true." Tsu says.
"Are you suggesting something?" Kyoka asks.
"Could we turn our bath into a spawning pool? We will still have the showers to rinse off, but the enzymes in the pool are wonderful for healing and rejuvenation." Momo asks.
"I like that plan." Tsu says.
"Sounds fun!" Mina agrees.
"I don't know what Mr. Aizawa will think." Ochako wonders.
"It's fine." Kyoka says, "he's not allowed inside."
"Then let's do it!" Toru cheers, standing to leave the room.
"I've called for a drone from Io." Ochako says, wondering if she should decontaminate the drone from it's life on Jupiter's volcanic and radioactive moon.
"Window or front door?" Mina asks.
"Window, we don't need any questions." Ochako says.
Soon enough a drone floats through the open window and is led down to the first floor girls bath.
"Wait, none of us can generate creep." Toru says in a troubled tone.
"Can the overlord dump creep through the vent windows?" Mina asks.
"Maybe, but without a creep tumor it won't be sustainable." Momo says sadly.
"Let's just spread it from Izuku's dorm and recycle the tumors when we finish." Tsu says.
"Alright, but we will have to be quick." Ochako agrees.
"I'll start opening windows to vent the smell." Momo offers.
"I've taken control of the creep tumor in Izuku's dorm." Tsu says, "beginning the spread now."
"Everyone else, secure the area," Ochako commands, and the girls run off.
Around an hour later they were all relaxing in a freshly grown spawning pool.
"We should invite Itsuka and the others over soon." Mina says happily.
"Perhaps even the other girls if we make sure they don't ingest anything." Momo adds.
"We can't tell Midnight though, she would definitely get infested by accident." Ochako comments.
"She would." Kyoka says with a chuckle.
"We could invite the boys as well." Toru says.
"We can't bring boys into the girls' bath!" Momo shouts in outrage.
"Eh, we can cover our bits with carapace anyway. And even if we didn't I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind." Mina says.
"I agree, Eijro and Tetsutetsu are too pure hearted to do anything, Izuku could see us or any girl on the planet anyway, Fumikage has the darkness though Dark Shadow might be a problem, and Shoto is Shoto." Ochako says.
"You know, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask." Kyoka says.
"I hope it's not as big a travesty as that was." Momo says.
"Uh, no. I just wondered what the relationship rules are." Kyoka asks. "I mean, we are technically immortal and are stuck with each other forever."
"I think we should avoid any permanent legal relationships with each other." Ochako says, "We can date, but 'till death do us part' is a bit much."
"I've gone on a few dates with Ejiro, but I could see myself dating any of you for a while as well." Mina says.
"In a few hundred years I might ask All Might." Tsu says, earning a few shocked looks. "What? He is adorable."
"Can't argue with that, but he's such a dad." Kyoka says.
"Yeah, let's not consider dating someone forty years older than us for now." Mina says.
"Nana's hot." Kyoka comments.
"She's even older than All Might!" Momo shouts.
"That's what you think of? We haven't even seen her yet, she's been in my body." Ochako argues.
"Yep, hot." Kyoka says.
"On another note." Toru says, "Can we even get pregnant?"
"I honestly don't know." Momo says, "But we're too young for that."
"Eh, we're almost 16." Mina says.
"Knowing Izuku I would say we can, but not in the way we would think. Infestation would probably prevent that in some way, knowing Abathur. But Izuku would have thought of a go around, or Inko would have. She wants grandbabies." Ochako explains.
"I'll ask him when I get to that point." Toru says.
"Do you even have a romantic interest?" Tsu asks.
"No, but I will in the future, or I'll ask Izuku." Toru replies.
"I-I-Izuku?" Ochako squeals before covering her face.
"Maybe not in a romantic sense, but if I want a kid, he's a good choice." Toru explains.
"Agreed." Tsu says.
"Of all the boys in the swarm, I'd say he's the best choice." Momo says.
"I think we broke Ochako." Kyoka says.
"Perhaps we should let her have him for the first fifty years." Tsu says.
"I would only agree to ten." Toru insists.
"Or not, he can be in multiple places at once." Mina says.
"If you put some more effort into it, so could you." Momo lectures.
"Now that would be interesting." Kyoka says.
"If you date yourself, is that incest or masturbation?" Tsu asks.
And the discussion didn't get anywhere productive after that comment.
AN: A much needed break from the plot, at least for me. Even as their world goes down hill, the swarm is still a generally casual place, for now. Also that's about as much about relationships as I will be mentioning in this. They aren't the focus and I have enough plot lines and characters to manage before I get into that.
How about a few answers to questions: I feel many of them are still attached to Earth, I mean, they want to be heroes, you don't really go into such a field without some attachment to the culture you are protecting. And when it comes to the families, the science vessel I mentioned in this chapter and the resort and casino on Mars are both future shelters for them, I just haven't found a good point to put it into the story. For now only Ochako's family is off planet.
If this Izuku ended up in canon? Well, he would be interested in studying how One for All effects himself. Other than that the story wouldn't change much. I always try to keep changes to the setting minimal to more emphasize the changes I do make. Like why buff Izuku if you're just going to make the League ten times stronger before they even meet him?
Well Nagant seems popular, I'll look into her more, though my plot kind of finishes on earth before she becomes a thing. Maybe an investigation of the HPSC digs her up.
I appreciate all the positive comments on my writing, but that's only one part of the anxiety, part of it is just a version of stage fright, I mean, I don't think 1000 people have ever even heard my voice, and that's adding everyone I've ever spoken with and bystanders.
Creating a sub-brood to the Blitz Brood, Yui Kodai has decided to go 'all in' on doing damage. While on her own she packs a serious punch with her many spine launchers and her ability to make those spines much larger, that pales in comparison to the special monstrosity she holds in a pouch on her right thigh. There is simply no more destructive thing in the swarm than her infested odin. When needed it is expanded to a size that dwarfs most skyscrapers. Before infestation it was already covered in cannons and missiles, but the swarm has added several 'features' that make it a real terror, large spines on its shoulders to deal with ground targets and spore launches on its back to clear the skies. On its legs are small baneling nests to provide constant explosive reinforcement. Some commanders would back up this extreme unit with support, but Yui has opted for even more damage. She has forgone all units from larva save for drones and instead uses special baneling nests and scourge nests to spawn endless splitter banelings and scourge with extra area damage. Swarm queens support the endless waves of explosives with creep and do what they can to heal the infested odin.