"So, what is the New Foundation like?" I asked Carver as the two of us were planning the church.
"They're the main opposition against Nexus, and the other Chaos Guilds. They have numbers, which is good, and they don't force everyone in their settlements to be soldiers, but they still are run by an O5 council." Carver said.
"That's fair." I nodded. "Hmm…wonder how far they are from here?"
"Nearest settlement is a few zones away." Carver said. "They're neutral with the Slayers, but we don't usually work together."
"Right, so it'll take way too long to get there and I doubt Greed could get us there…"
"They play nice with Greed, but they also have their own Teleporter systems. Keeping all the settlements under their care linked for fast evacuation or travel."
"Right, so maybe I can ask Greed if they can get us a teleporter there." I admitted, scratching my head as I looked at more of the construction. "Hopefully the construction will go well with these plans."
"They will. Large bulk of the materials are high grade metals, armored wiering and the works."
"Gonna take a while but thankfully I have all the needed resources."
"Perks of becoming the founding member of a new Mother Run Guild." Carver chuckled.
"Still can't believe it to be honest." I said honestly. "Still need to grow the guild somehow…" I said, wondering how the hell I'm supposed to gain new members cause I haven't gotten to that part yet.
"Maybe it came with a manual that got added to your inventory without you realizing?"
Huh… maybe.
Let's see… no, no, no, no, no, definitely no, no, oh… here it is. Past Protectors Guildmaster's Manual. Well at least I'm not totally on my own, better some instructions than none.
"Alright…so how the hell do I get to recruit?" I muttered, pulling out the book and sifting through the pages to where the recruiting might be.
Let's see- Woah!
The book burst into a bunch of small lights, and formed into what looked like a tiny, chibi version of me with the armor and everything on. "Hello! I am Maggie, your personal assistant AI for the Past Protectors!" The little me said.
… She's adorable!
I couldn't help myself as I hugged my new AI helper. "You're so adorable!" I squealed happily.
"Please miss Heather, I'm a especially adapted AI to help you run your guild, please release me!" Maggie said, trying to wiggle out of my arms.
"You're still adorable, I'm sorry." I said, letting go of chibi me. "So, how can you help me Maggie?
"Well for starters, you are going to need to create an official guild headquarters. Would you like to create a custom one or use a default?"
"Well, what are the headquarters supposed to be like?" I inquired.
"All Mother Run guild Headquarters are where higher ups and such create and record missions, keep digital and physical files on all guild members, their Abilities, titles, locations and their various missions as well as, in your case, a detailed recording of the lost pasts that you have recovered of the Prize Pod People. It is also where you will for now hold the initiations for new members."
"Awesome…and oh yeah, I remember Titles…never really went into it now that I think about it." I hummed.
"You should. The passive features most Titles give can be extremely beneficial." Maggie said. "Now, do you want a custom base or a default set up?"
"Let's go with Default, I'll do special things later."
"Alrighty then!" Maggie said, waving a hand and a bit away from us appeared a whole new building. "There we go, a simple basic Guild HQ Office."
"Huh…awesome." I said. "Right, so what's next?"
"Now we enter it!" Maggie said, floating over to it.
I shrugged, walking over to the building and opening it. Inside I was greeted by a huge main entrance. Some waiting chairs, desks, several doorways and a basic two wall sided stairway going up and down to a second floor.
"Jeez, this place is huge." I said in surprise.
"As a guildmaster of a Mother Run guild, you will need the space. The Default facility here comes with a Guildmasters Office, Training Hall, Cafeteria, barracks for guild member noobies and trainees, Simulation Room, Pod Storage, Medbay, Archives and Armory." Maggie said, floating around me like a tiny fairy as she stopped right in front of me. "You can check out all the rooms, nothing is stocked yet, well, it has furniture but weapons, meds and the other extra stuff will need to be found and added. I recommend you check your office first."
"And where would my office be?" I inquired.
"The second floor, right there." She said, pointing to a door I could see from down here on the second floor.
Nodding, I walked up there, seeing the door had my name appear on it as I touched the door. Opening it, I was greeted by a fairly simple, plane office. A desk, chair, filing cabinets, PC, and an empty bookshelf were what this room held. I noticed a sheet of paper on the desk, picking it up I saw the writing.
[We fight to reclaim the past of others, who came to our world built by our Mother.
We fight to save the person they were, and hope they can become who they are within.
A past one lost we work to reclaim, to help those with no history to their name.]
"That's the official oath of the Past Protectors Guild." Maggie said.
"That's a rather good oath." I nodded. "And my own office…this is fantastic."
"Yup! And now it's time for the important stuff." Maggie said, pushing me over to my seat. I sat down, the PC immediately booting up. "A guild is more than just the members, it's also the workers. To keep this place working right you'll need not just members to go out and recover the lost memories of the Pod People, but also to work in cleaning, cooking, maintenance, IT, ect." She said.
"Well…I suppose some of the Prize Pods people could help out with this." I admitted. "Some would even be stoked about it."
"Excellent! Now then, what will the starting pay be?"
"No idea…" I said nervously.
"Oh my. Well you will need to pay employees and guild members. All Mother Run Guilds pay their members and employees." Maggie said. "Most guilds are exchange or resources and pool loot from dungeons, but I suppose this will be tricky since you lack communication to The Family while here on Armageddon and can't collect the monthly allowance all the Mother's guids get for budgets."
I slammed my head to the desk.
"Cause of course…" I groaned. "So I'm up shit creek without a paddle as I can't pay people…"
"Well, maybe not in Rem, but you could pay at least guild members in something."
"Besides rooms, food and safety, what else?" I asked.
"Skill Points!" Maggie said. "As a Guild Master of a Mother Run Guild you should have gained a title, Heather the Founder! This title acknowledges you as the founder and first member of the Past Protectors and will bestow upon you anywhere from ten to a hundred skill points a day. Depending on if you helped recover the past of any Pod People that day or not."
Woah… Payment in Skill Points is useful… I know a lot of guilds do do that…
"Well…I suppose that's good payment." I admitted.
"Few people would turn down Skill Points." Maggie nodded. "So, who is gonna be your first initiate into the Past Protectors?"
"I don't even know how to do any initiations or recruiting." I admitted.
"That's easy, you stand before them, have them recite the oath, and as long as they can at least combat a level three Dungeon at minimum, they will be initiated."
"Alright…so that'll either be rather easy to do or it'll be really difficult to do." I admitted.
"That's why there is a training hall and simulation room." Maggie said. "Helps ensure the members to be are up to the task."
"Right…" I nodded. "This is…going to take a while…" I said, no even sure where to start with recruiting people.
"You okay hun?" Casey asked, petting my head as I had my face buried in the pillows of the bed.
"Money… need money… paperwork… so much paperwork…" I groaned.
"Oh… your personal hell huh?"
"Yes…" I whined. "So much paperwork…not enough money…everything is pain…"
"Oh… you poor muscle bound brute." They chuckled as they patted my head gently.
"I'll show you brute." I pouted. "I haven't had 'stress relief' in a while."
"And I will remind you I am pregnant, with your babies so please refrain from being too rough otherwise I might have complications." Casey countered. "But I'm sure Jenny would love a rough ride."
"I'm sure she would." I chuckled. "But…sorry, I know your still pregnant and…I can't wait to see our kids."
"Yeah… me too. I wonder if they're gonna look like the ones you birthed, or will they look different? I'm getting more and more excited by the day, and this is something I never really thought I'd experience before. Owe Jenny for this."
"Yeah, we definitely owe her." I nodded. "But…it's just too much paperwork and getting recruits is a hassle and a half…"
"I can imagine. Hard to believe our lives are at where they are now. I imagine if you told me ten years ago I'd be pregnant and you'd be the head of the fourth Mother Run guild in existence… well, I'd probably think you were high."
"And I'd ask what kind of shit their smoking cause…in hindsight, I would have found that really hot I still would have found it really silly due to how vanilla we were."
"Yeah… heh, kind of funny thinking back how limited we were back then… now we have boxes of fun stuff, organized by day of the week and various outfits to add to it." They chuckled. "Never before in my life am I more happy when it's a monday than these days."
"Oh yeah, Mondays are amazing." I chuckled.
Smiling, Casey leaned down, giving me a kiss before lying down next to me. "Oh, Arthur and Mantis seem to be getting along."
"Thankfully, I was scared Mantis would constantly attack Arthur…though he's so lucky for getting the Crucible…"
"Mantis also got that Soul Eater sword. That's a really neat weapon. I think it fits him."
"It does." I nodded. "Though again…really lucky cause I've been trying to look for those and those two find those things that I've been looking for for a long time."
"Heh, yeah. You know, I'm glad I let Mantis go outside the walls with Arthur. I know he's not really… a child, but maybe once he gets over his issues he can try and be one. He deserves that much…"
"Yeah…he does deserve to be happy." I nodded. "And with Arthur…well, he needs the help getting his bearing's in this world to be honest and he seems like an overall great person."
"Yeah. Real curious. His interest in basically everything new he learns about is almost childlike in itself." Casey chuckled. "Wish we could just develop the town better and faster. Once that church is built and that ability of yours, population is gonna grow real fast."
"Oh yeah, it's going to skyrocket." I nodded. "Though we should probably get into contact with the New Foundation, they're able to help us through a lot of this."
"Hopefully. Wish I could do more for everyone though."
"You're doing the best you can." I said softly. "We're all doing the best we can…"
"Yeah but, you got this whole guild thing, Nanny is, well, a former Mother's Daughter, Jenny is a gunslinging badass, hell even Mantis can fight. That just leaves me home with the sex bots…" Casey sighed.
"Listen, you have always been my moral center, you always made me feel safe, happy…just your presence helps me know that things will get better…just because you can't fight and have chosen not too for as long as I've known you doesn't mean you can't help."
"Maybe… if I could I'd be working on crafting stuff… wish we bought that crafting room but, I guess the indoor pool was fun when we used it…" Casey sighed. "Guess it's just hard to feel like I'm worth much when everyone I love is out there actually risking something and I'm in here…"
I sighed. "I know Casey…you've always been a pacifist and your photography has always made people smile…maybe there's something in the Skill trees that can help out? Those things are huge and can do thing's to help out more."
"Aside Scan I never really put anything into them. A few healing spells sure, but since you did most of the fighting you always got all the skill points… I don't regret it, but I guess I feel like I missed some opportunities."
"I understand." I nodded. "But there has to be something here…"
"Maybe. Can't really try anyway while I'm pregnant so it will be a while before I can really test anything."
"That's fair…but when our kids are born I'm sure we'll find something for you to do in this crazy world."
"Hopefully. Just hope I don't get as big as you did." Casey chuckled.
"Don't worry, as far as I know you won't ever get as big as me due to my biology and Mother skill tree shenanigans…"
"Heh. Hopefully. Still can't believe you flashed me in the car."
"You loved it…plus with how big my melons got I just had to." I giggled.
"Heh, yeah… those were simpler times…" Casey sighed. "Think we can ever get those days back?"
"Maybe." I said. "Even if we're in this terrible place…I know we can get back to some innocent normalcy." I shrugged.
"Hope so. Think we might be able to leave Armageddon someday?"
"I sure hope so…but we'd need our ship to probably go way too fast." I admitted. "And…I'll have to move the new HQ immediately…"
"Well, here's to hoping."
I give my lovely hybrid a peck on the lips. "Here's to hoping."
The next few days, construct began on the Church. It would be ready by next year, or so Carver says. Until then…
"Greetings." Said the elderly human across from me. He was old, and not just in looks, he basically irradiated age and even wisdom. "I am O5-1. A pleasure." He said with a nod.
"A pleasure sir." I nodded. "I'm Heather."
"I have been told you are in need of soldiers for this Church you are building, and an experienced Mother's Daughter is to head it?"
"Yes and yes." I nodded. "I'm also going to need more people for my new Mother's Guild, the Past Protectors."
"Yes, that part intrigued me greatly. The first new Mother's Guild in over three Eras. How interesting… we have the manpower, but too few of our MTF soldiers have the exceptional aptitude and skill for combat. The New Foundation has largely came to be what it is thanks to our newest O5."
"That's good to know." I nodded. "Any amount of people you can spare is always a help, as we have the Slayer's Guild especially to help defend our new Church."
"Yes, the Slayers. We've had dealings with them in the past. Some cooperative, others… less so." O5-1 sighed. "We might have changed much from the original purpose of the SCP Foundation, but we still prioritize Secure, Contain, Protect. The Slayers don't, they slaughter all that poses a threat, but when those threats are people, people who respawn, well, killing is a temporary solution. Imprisonment is the only real option to remove soldiers from the Chaos Guilds."
"Yeah…killing doesn't do what people really think it should…" I said carefully. "Especially here when murder is probably the go to everywhere..."
"Typically. Against monsters and such, it keeps them at bay, and a culling is helpful, but when dealing with people, different measures must be taken. So, tell me about the Mother's Daughter in your custody? Is she experienced? I could sense the barrier here upon my arrival, it's quite powerful."
"So…before I fully talk about this, because of how dangerous this topic is, are you actually O5-1? Or are you some very convincing Shapeshifter?" I asked carefully, cause this is one topic I have always been told to be very careful on as Chaos Guilds will hunt Nanny down no matter where the hell she is.
"If proof is what you seek, all I can really offer you is to see my age from my Assistant." He said.
I was confused, seeing him pull up a display screen from the Assistant and seeing his age-
… holy shit…
"I…uh…wow…" I said in surprise.
"Not many can say they are older than the universe itself." O5-1 chuckled.
"Y-yeah…" I said carefully. "Sorry sir just…wanting to be certain your real and not an imposter cause…I've been told this is a very sensitive subject that shouldn't reach unwanted individuals ears."
"You are not wrong and your caution is welcome. I only ask as we ourselves have come into both a newly recruited Mother's Daughter and Son."
"Really?" I asked in surprise. "Well that's…that's really good news actually."
"Perhaps. A small test church has already been set up, but recently some developments have happened. Primarily of our concern is of the Title, Custodian, the Son has recently gained."
"What's special about the title?" I inquired.
"Custodian is a fairly rare title, while it allows the owner to claim custody of others, almost like a party, the custody allows those in it to gain a small boost to their stats. But it's the ability the title bestows upon the owner that is most of note here. Final Thanks, a Legendary Ability."
"Titles can give legendary abilities?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes. It's a little known thing, but some legendary abilities are tied to specific titles, not all are gained randomly. Something I have noticed in my many long years is a trend amongst Titles and how ones obtain them. Some are rather straightforward, while others are seemingly vague or gained without reason, but there is. Custodian and its higher tier form, Perfect Custodian, are such titles that seemingly are gained for no reason, but in actuality, have a trigger that bestows them upon someone. A simple yet difficult trigger that few if any ever actually pull."
"And…what's the trigger?" I asked carefully.
"From what I've noticed from interviews with prior and this new title holder, for Custodian to appear, a person who can easily clear out a level 3 or 4 dungeon has to state that the person going to receive the title, and is far weaker than them, as their friend, and genuinely mean it. For Perfect Custodian, the person who can clear level 4 and 5 dungeons has to accept the person weaker than them as their leader."
"Right…" I said, thinking if me and Casey ever did a level 4 dungeon before. "Well good to know what the prereqs are…but what does Final Thanks do?"
"Final Thanks is a unique Ability. Should a member under their Custodian Title die, abilities, stats and skills are transferred to the Custodian at twice their power. This includes Legendary Abilities, for two hours. If the person is an immortal, having an Immortality Ability, then the skills and abilities and stats are transferred at face value for thirty minutes but the pain of death and regeneration is shared between the immortal and the Custodian."
"Well…that's a shitty downside of your immortal." I said carefully. "But good to know."
"Yes, but it's still a powerful title and Ability. That's without getting into the… extra benefits."
"Extra benefits?" I inquired.
"In my time and witnessing these titles and abilities, I have noticed that when Perfect Custodian is received unto a person, they gain three extra Abilities and the passive boost to those in their custody gain a two hundred percent stat boost, and the abilities they gain are called Super Nanny, Who's A Good Boy/Girl, and As The Twig is Bent So Grows The Tree."
"And what do they do? And..I'm gonna need to look at my Titles here…."
"Super Nanny, when someone is under the Custodian custody, gains skill points three times faster than normal and the Custodian can apply healing magic, potions, buffs and other aid directly from their Assistant to their custody. Who's A Good Boy/Girl, so long as at least three people are present to witness the Custodian cheer their custody, the Custody will gain a temporary double boost to their stats, that stacks with the passive two hundred percent boost Perfect Custodian gives them already, and for every five people that witness the cheer, the effect of the boost is doubled. Lastly, As The Twig is Bent So Grows The Tree. This ability allows the Custodian to assign tasks their custody can do to unlock skill points, use their Custody or their own skill points to unlock abilities they otherwise would have to grind to get, bypassing whole branches of Skill Trees, even aid in getting their Custody new Titles and Legendary Abilities, for only those with this ability can see the Legendary Abilities Skills Tree."
"Wait, Legendary Abilities have Skill Trees?" I asked in shock. "That's…damn…"
O5-1 nodded. "The Perfect Custodian Titles Holders are the only ones who can see it, and help their custody's gain more legendary abilities with the assigned tasks. This makes them a heavily sought after prize for Nexus, Violence, Lust, even factions that fight against the Chaos Guilds all seek to have at least one. And as I said, there are other benefits this title gives that are not mentioned."
"Right." I nodded. "That's really good to know." I said. "So check Titles cause boy howdy are these game changers."
Nodding again, O5-1 continued. "The unsaid benefits of Perfect Custodian apply differently when used on tamed beasts and monsters. Because of the nature of the Title, it can act as a form of Beast Taming magic, all the mentioned benefits applying to the beasts under the custody, however, should the beast, a being incapable of respawning, die, then all those abilities, skills, magic, pass on to the Custodian at twice their prior power… permanently. This also applies if a person capable of respawning dies a permanent death. The Custodian inherits it all, forever."
"Huh…that's interesting." I nodded. "Just one title can do all of that…jeez…"
"It's the combination of the abilities and the title that allows this. Many overlook titles, but they can be more useful than people expect. But enough about that for now, the New Foundation is open to working with your settlement. Preferably, we'd love to integrate it as part of the New SCP, but our treaty with the Slayers prevents us from establishing settlements in Slayer Guarded Zones. As such we can easily open a transporter system, perhaps a few soldiers to join the Past Protectors, but we'd need to receive something as well."
"That would be preferable." I nodded. "I'd enjoy at least having trade and transport between our settlements, it'll help us get somethings we can't normally get, and it'll at least get some better socialization between everyone." I admitted. "Plus…I can see my son Dexter again."
"Dexter? Dexter Morgan? Arrived with a Gen One Breeder?"
"Yes, yes, and yes…I haven't seen him in years and I want to see my baby boy again…and however many grandkids he's given me and Casey."
O5-1 was… oldly silent. "Did he really come from a pod?"
"Yes, he came from a child prize pod the day Candlelight was attacked by SCP's, we were in the Matchmakers Guild when we fell into their storage and fell on two, one was Jenny the other was Dexter." I explained, even displaying my own memories of the event through my assistant for him as proof since I can now do that.
"Hmm… do me a favor then." O5-1 said. "Don't recover his memories."
"What?" I asked. "What's wrong? Are his memories that horrible?" I asked, now really concerned about what his life was like before being a Pod.
"Let's just say, it's classified, and unless The Mother herself tells me or you otherwise, some secrets are best left forgotten…"
"So leave the now scared and concerned mother hanging on 'its classified' and expect her not to look into it?" I asked with a frown.
"Let me put it like this then…" O5-1 said, leaning forwards. "If you do unlock his forgotten past, and it confirms our suspicions, Dexter Morgan will be labeled an SK Class SCP, and detained into a Prison strong enough to hold a Void Admin."
"Why?" I asked worriedly. "What in Mother's name would make you think my pacifistic, fishing addicted son would be considered that!?"
"Events from the past that, for the safety of everyone on Armageddon, should remain in the past and forgotten… if that man is… then waking up his forgotten memories, well, it could be like setting off a Big Bang Bomb. If you want that man to remain your pacifist, fishing loving son, then don't make him remember…"
"That's impossible…even with his memories he can't just magically gain the powers you think he has that would be that threatening…" I said carefully. "I did it with other Prize Pods and they didn't gain powers or Abilities through it…"
"Other prize pod people didn't come from our reality."
I blinked. "Excuse me?" I asked. "A prize pod from our world? I thought Prize Pods were for Isekai not…reincarnation…" I said slowly.
"So did we, but Dexter's arrival, that Breeder, and several other tests confirm what we are suspecting… He is Dexter Morgan, the Dexter Morgan of the Morgan Incident back from Era One. The only person to be forcefully turned into some Madness monster."
My eyes widened…that's why he wanted to go to that…graveyard. "That's…that's impossible, and…you think if he remembers his past he'll become a madness monster?"
"This is new territory miss Heather. It's better to be safe than sorry, after all, you may be the guild master of the Past Protectors, but can you genuinely say there isn't a chance the only thing keeping that man who is is now, is the fact he's forgotten his own Madness?"
"This is new territory…but at the end of the day…it should be Dexter's decision if he wants his memories back but…" I trailed off, thinking about all the years I've spent with him, raising him…
"So you are in good consciousness alright with the possibility of losing your own son, and turning them into a beast of unknown power, if he says yes?"
…
I sighed. "That's why I trailed off with 'but'...ugh, this sucks…"
"As a guild master and one of a Mother Run Guild at that, there might be many things you won't like that you will have to or can't act on. I can tell you from personal experience, regrets will pile, and other options will feel like a luxury you can't afford at times."
I sighed. "Maybe you're right…but maybe you're wrong." I admitted. "Life is weird, it has twists and turns and…does things that nobody thought possible…all we have to do is try."
"Maybe… but are you willing to risk it? Will Dexter?"
"I'll have to think about it…and I will ask Dexter, let him make an informed decision cause he is a grown adult, he can choose if he wants his memories back or not, and depending on how thing's go I can lock away certain memories from what I've learned about my new powers."
"Fascinating." O5-1 nodded. "Well, for the sake of everyone, I hope you and Dexter do what's right. Heh, funny, were this the old days I'd just have you anesthetized and Dexter in lock up anyway… funny how one gets more emotional on their old age. More considerate. Hopefully, it won't be the death of us." He said, standing up. "Some workers will arrive to construct a portal hub for travel and trade, hopefully the new Daughter can meet their elder and learn some things."
"Alright." I nodded. "And best I can say is that you've grown to appreciate life, not see it as some disposable tool."
I sighed, walking back to my room. O5-1 left and I was exhausted…
With all that wandered in my mind I did think back to what he said about Titles…
I wonder if that was true…
"Well…might as well see what Titles I have…" I muttered, pulling up my Assistant and going to the Titles tab.
[Parenthood: You are a hermaphrodite that has fathered and mothered children. You embraced both parts of your biology and happily do so again. Motherhood and Fatherhood Skill Tree Abilities can cost up to half as many Skill Points as normal.
Past Protector: This title Recognizes you as a member of the Fourth Mother Run Guild, The Past Protectors. You are much more likely to recover Prize Pods while Dungeon Exploring.
Heather The Founder: You are the Founding and First member of the Past Protectors. You gain 10-100+ Skill Points every day depending on if you recover a Pod Persons Memories that day and how many.]
"Huh…" I blinked. "That's…jeez that's quite a bit for titles to give…"
I… hmm… would Casey want that? Custodian or… perfect Custodian… can I get it to even trigger? I know I've gotten a lot stronger over the years… Nanny would definitely be able to trigger it for Casey…
"Alright…if Casey can get Custodian…even Perfect Custodian…then he can start helping out like he wants to…" I muttered.
Now… where is Casey? Should also bring Nanny just in case I'm not powerful enough to meet the trigger requirements.
"Where's Casey?" I asked our friendly AI where my hubby is cause I have somethings to talk to him about.
"I dunno." Maggie said, appearing before me in a flurry of pixels.
"Hmm…where's Nanny?" I inquired to Maggie.
"I dunno." She repeated.
"You only know things that are happening in the HQ, right?"
"Nope."
"Right…" I sighed. "So what do you know my adorable AI?"
"How to help you set up your guild, organize and structure the workplace, and the rules and regulations."
"Fair enough." I nodded, lightly patting their head as I started to search for Nanny and Casey.
It was a short while til I found Nanny, she was making some healing potions in the med bay. Once I picked her up I found Casey sitting on a bench outside. From where we were you could just barely see over the walls.
"Hey Heather, Nanny." Casey said as we approached. "What's up?
"So I have some questions here, and it involves Titles." I started. "And to get you to gain the Custodian title."
"... You want me to be a janitor?"
"Not a Janitor." I shook my head. "It's a special title that can do a lot of neat thing's to help out."
"Like?"
"Well, from what I've been told Custodian's can take 'custody' of people, and by doing that they buff people's abilities, if they cheer the boost get's bigger and…if anyone in your custody dies then you get all powers, abilities, and even Legendary Abilities, doubled for two hours…and if you did this to a Beast since it kind of also acts like a Beast Tamer ability, if the beast dies than you get all it's strengths and abilities doubled permanently."
"... That is actually really stupidly useful." Casey said. "How do you get it?"
"So someone that can beat a level 3 or 4 Dungeon has to genuinely call you their friend…and Perfect Custodian is someone that can do a level 4 or 5 and genuinely call you their leader." I admitted, reminding myself of what O5-1 told me specifically so I can make sure I had this correct.
"Oh, that's it?"
"Seems so." Nanny said, kneeling down and looking at Casey. "Casey, you are a good friend, a father to half my pups, and the man I love. I'd follow you anywhere as your shield." She said. To add to it, she gave Casey a kiss.
"Woah…" Casey said when it broke. "Woah!" They blinked. "That's a lot of… hold up…" Casey hummed.
"What up?" I inquired.
"Uh… okay I got Custodian, then it said Custodian accented to Perfect Custodian… and now I have five legendary abilities…"
… Those abilities were legendary?!
"O5-1 didn't say they were Legendary!" I said incredulously.
"Huh… from what I'm reading, it looks like only four of these came from the Titles… this fifth one just appeared with them… Township?" Casey hummed.
"I have never heard of this Ability." Nanny said.
"What's it do?" I asked. "I mean, it kind of sounds like you became a Mayor or something."
"It says… construct and expand settlements, keep track of residents… huh… it's more or less a city builder but as an Ability."
"That would be extremely useful for expanding the town." Nanny said.
"That is a really useful ability." I agreed. "You were always better at that stuff than me to be honest."
"Not my fault all you ever did in open world RPGs was fight, loot, explore and repeat." Casey chuckled.
"It's not my fault the house building part was boring as sin." I pouted. "Especially when you tried to show it to me…you were in your own little world when I passed out trying to pay attention."
Casey snorted. "Heather, if sin was boring we wouldn't have a four person relationship, kids, and the many sex bots we have."
"Hey, that's the fun kind of sin…plus I was very embarrassingly reminded that I…still kinda want a harem…" I said sheepishly.
"Pretty sure this qualifies." Nanny said.
"I mean…yes but…" I trailed off as I blushed brightly.
"Did you forget to change your Playstation background again?" Casey asked with a teasing grin.
"M-maybe…" I answered noncommittally.
"Ah the hormones of youth." Nanny chuckled.
"Heh, yeah, Heather was very into reverse harem anime for a long time." Casey chuckled. "Remember once I saw her browser history and… well, that was a core memory I did not want when I was fifteen."
"Sta~hp!" I whined. "We're not here to tease me about my teenage years."
"Would you rather I tell Nanny about your young adult years and the secret collection room?" Casey asked.
I felt my heart stop.
"Secret collection room?" Nanny asked with a smirk.
"It's where Heather keeps all her… tasteful collectables~" Casey chuckled.
"I thought you loved me Casey? How could you betray me like this?" I whined more as I lightly pawed at him in some playful vain attempt to get him to stop.
"Oh well at least I didn't say anything about your extensive collection of sexual VR games, all Full Dive." Casey added.
"Oh my, how extensive?" Nanny asked.
"Three hundred titles. All completed." Casey laughed.
"That is sacred knowledge that you should not speak." I said, though there was no malice to it as this was just fun teasing that I didn't like because it was at my expense.
"Wow, amazing how easy Heather is to make blush." Nanny smirked.
"That's nothing. You should see her tail wag." Casey grinned evilly.
I actually gasped. "Don't you fucking dare you adorable trash panda."
"Foxy trash panda." Casey corrected. "Also, who's my sexy megalodon~" Casey said with a low, sultry voice as they placed a hand between my tail and butt, applying a light pinch and… damn it!
"Wow! It moves so fast!" Nanny laughed.
"It's cute but it also once took out a rather nice house plant we used to have." Casey chuckled.
"How dare you." I groaned. "Why are you picking on me?"
"It's easy and seeing you embarrassed is ultra adorable." Casey smiled.
"You're lucky you're so cute and fluffy." I pouted.
"Don't forget sexy, pregnant, busty and thanks to your newfound kink for being the Dom, also well experienced in how your male parts get off."
I was crimson…
"Listen…can we please stop talking about lewd things and get back to all the new shit you got?" I asked weakly.
"That depends, what day is it Nanny?" Casey asked.
"Thursday." Nanny said.
"Ah. Fun. Let's go grab Jenny and enjoy the Thursday box first then tomorrow we can use my new abilities and titles." Casey said, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me along, Nanny following as we went to find Jenny.
… when did my husband become such a Powerhouse, Sex Weaponizing Wife?!
One night of fun and a morning of recovery and cleaning later, Jenny, Nanny and I were outside, Casey looking through their abilities and titles they got yesterday.
"So, how does this Custody thing work?" Jenny asked.
"I need to create a key, or trigger phrase that I say to someone to bring them into my Custody." Casey said.
"Needs to be something specific that you can't accidentally say in passing conversation." I pointed out.
"I figured… wonder what would work best…" Casey hummed. "Something I'd never say in regular conversation… got it!" Casey said. "Heather, wanna fight?"
I grinned. That was perfect! Casey would never say that to another person normally so it's perfect! "Yes, yes I would." I said readily.
Casey nodded. "Alright, trigger phrase is set, Wanna Fight is what I have to say and Heather is now under my custody meaning you should have a two hundred percent boost to all your stats."
"Pfft, two hundred!?" I asked in shock.
"Didn't O5-1 tell you this yesterday?"
"He told me about the abilities and all that stuff, but I didn't hear about the stat bonus." I admitted. "Like, I know I'll get three times the skill points, get a bonus whenever you cheer for me, helps me gain skill points if you ever give me jobs…and also you can see the Legendary Skill Tree's." I said. "And a whole lot of other things that were the descriptions of your legendary abilities."
"Excuse you I can what?!" Casey yelped. "How did that not sound like a legendary ability to you?!"
"Kinda thought it was just some Rare Luck skill at first, the Cheering is literally a rare skill, and you just got a skill that is a bounty board." I said carefully.
"Okay… this is… weird… let me just see if this actually work- Eep!" Casey yelped, suddenly looking a bit pale as their eyes widened to dinner planted and their pupils turned into pins.
"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.
"Th-tha-thats a lot of… woah…" Casey said, swallowing. "I can see… all of them… all the skill trees you have, don't have, the branches and cross branches and the Legendary Skill Tree… holy…"
"Wish I could see what your seeing cause it sounds awesome."
"It's… actually rather terrifying…" Casey gulped.
"Really?" I asked. "How big is this?"
"I uh… can't see the tops… of any of them…"
I frowned. "Really? You can't see any of the tops?" I asked.
Casey just shook their head.
"Huh…that's scary." I admitted. "So…might as well start off simple, can I upgrade Assimilation?" I asked, wanting to start off simple here.
"Uh… no. Looks like Legendary Abilities don't upgrade…" Casey said.
"Boo." I huffed. "Is there anything Assimilation connects to?"
"Uhh… yes."
"Can I obtain it or do you have to do something with it? And what would the thing be?"
"Well, there are… lots it's linked to so uh… um… This one here is called Amalgamation, it allows you to add genetic material to your biology without mutating or altering your body in any way unless you want a specific trait that will cause a temporary mutation to use the trait you wish to make use of from another species not your own…"
"Well…that sounds interesting." I admitted. "One of the reasons why I haven't really Assimilated any Demon's was cause I didn't know if it would mess with me in a dangerous way, but with that I can do that with impunity."
"Yeah, uh… this one says to receive you specifically have to…" Casey blinked. "Uhhh…What?"
"What do I have to do?" I inquired. "Do I have to Assimilate something first that would change my biology? Cause if that's the case I already did that, it's why I have Photosynthesis and can finally give the sun a big middle finger."
"... It says you have to complete thirty dungeons of any level…"
"Oh, seriously? That sound so eas-"
"Naked…"
"... Excuse me what?"
"I- That's what it says!"
"Wha-what?" I asked. "That…that makes literally no sense, who in Mother's name would think that having RNG for Legendary abilities would be a good idea?"
"... Grandmaster Lord…" Nanny groaned. "He's one of the ones in charge of Abilities and the Skill Trees…"
"So I can only assume he did this just to fuck with people."
"Knowing Grandmaster Lord… that is exactly the reason…" Nanny sighed. "I've met them a few times back when I was with the Mother's Daughters… He is a very… eccentric individual…"
"Crazy is more like it…" Casey said. "Yeesh. Gain Copy Cat by skinning a saber tooth tiger alive… Gain Starfish Clones by decapitating three hundred and seven birds? Gain Generation by eating a Terraform Engine?! The genuine hell with all of this?! It's amazing anyone gets Legendary Abilities at all! No wonder they're so rare!"
"...Does it say what kind of birds?" I asked. "Cause I know for a fact I have decapitated a lot more than three hundred and seven birds…also yes, none of that makes any sense…and we're buying a Saber Tooth Tiger."
"Heather No." Casey said quickly.
"Heather Yes." I retorted with a smile.
"See if mine are the same or different?" Nanny asked.
"Alright. Nanny, wanna fight?" Casey asked.
"If you wish." She smirked.
"Alright… let's see here… alright… for Amalgamation, Nanny just needs to birth a shapeshifter."
"... Huh… I could do that." Nanny nodded. "More reasonable than thirty dungeons naked."
"Yeah…also, what kind of birds do I have to decapitate?'
"Alpha Griffons." Casey said.
"Bitch, I've only decapitated two of the bastards…" I cursed.
"I'm literally just relaying data here Heather please…" Casey groaned. "Okay, maybe the non legendary Abilities will be more normal… ah, here we are, Defence Booster, boosts defense stats by twenty percent per level, there are a hundred levels. To unlock and gain level one, block an attack that would deal half your HP in damage if hit, one hundred times. That's much simpler."
"I should already meet that prerequisite right?" I inquired.
"No, it says I have to activate the alternative purchase mission for you for the counter to begin, otherwise it's ten skill points."
"So for non legendary abilities these tasks are alternatives to using Skill Points. Interesting…" Nanny hummed.
"Sounds useful for broke people." Jenny nodded.
"Yes, it does." I nodded. "And I supposed it can be really simple with Nanny or Jenny here for me to block their attacks."
"Yeah, huh… aside from the random mess that is the Legendary Skill Tree tasks, the rest of these all make sense." Casey hummed. "I can't see my own though, kinda sucks but oh well."
"Huh, that's strange…" I hummed. "Well, we'll figure this out as we go along."
"Yeah… this is uh… a lot. Between all this and Township I guess I got a lot of work ahead of me." Casey hummed.
"And I know you can do it." I said warmly, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss. "Cause your just that amazing."
"Heh, well, I wanted some kind of work and I sure got it. Guess I should spend some time looking through the abilities, skill trees and such. Think we have some notebooks in the house…"
"I'll get you some more from Greed when I buy, and skin, that Saber Tooth Tiger." I said honestly. "It'll…suck that I have to do it while it's alive…but we can also test your Custodian stuff with an…" I shook my head. "No that sounds cruel…"
"You're already considering actually skinning the poor thing alive… I think you're already stepping into cruelty territory…" Casey laughed weakly.
I sighed. "I know…I really don't want to, and I hate how that's the reason for me to get Copy Cat…" I shook my head. "Never mind on that cause I'd rather not be cruel…"
"Well, I got no qualms about it." Jenny shrugged. "Don't forget to add me though."
"Oh yeah. Jenny, wanna fight?" Casey asked.
"Yeah." Jenny chuckled.
"Alright, and that adds you." Casey nodded.
"Cool." I nodded. "So the three of us are getting two hundred percent bonus to all our stats."
"With my numbers already that's a huge jump." Nanny said.
"Give us an example." Jenny smirked.
"Well my MP was at a little over one million, now it's at three million one thousand nine hundred and fifty."
"That is indeed a huge jump." I said.
"Wow. This is basically broken." Casey chuckled.
Yeah it is, no… no wonder O5-1 said all factions desire Custodians…
"Right…so keep Casey safe." I stated simply. "Because this is some…massive stuff."
"I will. Not like I really leave town anyway." Casey smiled.
I nodded… I hope I can keep him safe… because I might have just put a target on my love's back…