06.10.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back for my weekly dose of your comments!:
Rain Dance Jam - Dude~, same! Pisses me right off it does!
I See Your Secrets - (No you do-, wait, I've already made this joke) I mean, even if the girls started getting pregnant I could always make the argument that Midoriya is so pure of soul and body that his genes basically prevent his offspring from being horribly inbred like most of European royalty was back in the 16th century
n1ght4ury20 - I'll try my best!
gejadi97 - You gotta be more specific than that. I checked it out and nothing seems broken, so I'm not sure what you were talking about.
Kamori I'm The Infinity - Smells like sweat and teenage hormones... Is this the new Lois Vitton fragrance or something?
Oh hey, look what dropped out of my pocket - it's your weekly dose of Stranded!:
Waking up with Kyouka snuggled up against him was definitely the highlight of his day, even though he had yet to get out of bed. There was nothing better than being greeted by the warmth of the person you love first thing in the morning, sue him. He was usually one of the first people up and about, but at times like these he liked to lay back and enjoy the company for a bit longer. This strategy - as innocent as it may seem - had earned him a couple of morning rounds in the past, and while that's not his goal most of the time, he definitely wasn't complaining. Thankfully Kyouka was one of the most cuddly people in the morning, her mind completely devoid of horny and filled with fluff.
With their daily dose of cuddles ingested, the two were ready to face the world yet again. Although there wasn't actually that much to face. They had comfortable shelter, clothes, all the food they could eat and a hot spring to relax in at the end of the day. They were pretty much set and the world around them seemed to agree with this assessment.
There was a light breeze, the warm gusts barely strong enough to tussle their crops but bringing a refreshing feeling with them. The twin suns were basking the entire area in their glow, though it was a far cry from the maximum output of their scorching rays. A few milky-white clouds overhead provided momentary reprieve from the sunrays, but left the big blue sky mostly unobstructed. The birds were singing happily in the trees and the girls were already bustling around their central campfire, preparing a delicious breakfast.
With great smiles on their faces, Izuku and Kyouka headed to join the others, already prepared to face the teasing that they'll no doubt be subjected to once Mina and Setsuna spotted them walking side-by-side. Still, it was a small price to pay, for life was great.
And then the record jammed.
Izuku froze mid-step, his left foot slowly falling to the ground as his brain kicked into high overdrive and started analyzing the situation. Kyouka was surprised by his abrupt change in behavior and thought it was a joke at first, but her joyful attitude quickly mirrored Izuku's seriousness as she also realized what was going on.
"Since when do we have birds here?" Both of them thought in sync.
Their eyes darted from place to place, spotting the critters flying about their business without a care in the world. Entire flocks seemed to be migrating from one side of the valley to the other, heading for the mountains or, on the contrary, moving away from them. While their erratic behavioral patterns were strange in and of themself, the sudden appearance of the birds was a much more worrying development.
Izuku and Kyouka hastily joined the others, noticing their surprised expressions right away and realizing that they were already on the same page. Good, it made things easier.
"I'm not going crazy, right?" Mina asked just as they arrived, voicing the thought that was going through all of their heads at this moment.
Most of the girls hadn't seen a single animal since their arrival and now there were loads of birds flying about! Izuku, Mina and Momo had seen a couple of sabretooth tigers a while back and even managed to kill one and there used to be some fish in the rivers, but all the fauna seemingly vanished at some point. The most they got since then were distant howls, growls and whatnots. But all of those noises could be attributed to mammals and not birds, so where did they all come from?
Thankfully they had someone with extensive knowledge in their midst and so all heads turned towards the two former robots - Shu and Stormy.
"What?" Stormy asked, completely unfazed by the attention or the sudden appearance of birds, which only confirmed that she must've known something.
"Do you know where all these birds came from?" Izuku questioned, taking the lead.
"It's obviously thanks to the terraforming operations, duh." Stormy responded in a carefree manner.
"Be nice." Shuusa chastised her not-really-sister.
"But why now? And why so suddenly?" Momo continued the interview, her thirst for knowledge rearing its head.
"Where do I start?" Stormy mumbled to herself, taking a few moments to think things through before beginning to explain. "The Gaia Project is a really massive undertaking and since Martin has a real boner for keeping things in order, he devised an overly complicated system to track the planetary progress." While her choice of words didn't sit well with Ibara and Izuku, they were more interested in what she had to say and so they let it slide. For now that is. "The first step is kind of a build up to the process itself. It's about deploying all the necessary hardware and distributing the automatons all over the planet. Once everything is in place, Midas-series automatons - like Shu - initiate the terraforming process by altering the mineral composition of the ground and creating a suitable seedbed for the next phase."
"That's where Shu's matter manipulation comes into play." Izuku realized, voicing his thoughts out loud.
"That's pretty amazing." Momo chimed in. "Changing the mineral makeup of an entire planet is no small feat and you're talking about it so casually."
Momo's remark actually caused Stormy to snort in amusement.
"Oh please, in the relatively short amount of time that passed since I've been constructed I've seen Martin extinguish and reignite stars on a whim. Terraforming planets is like a stress-relief hobby to him." Stormy revealed with joy, instilling great amounts of existential dread in her adopted family.
"We must do everything we can not to annoy him!" They realized all at once.
Yeah, messing with the guy that can allegedly 'extinguish and reignite STARS on a whim' was not something they wanted to put on their bucket lists. That's fair. I wouldn't want to do that either.
"So… where was I again?" Stormy wondered once she got over the impromptu amusement overdose.
"Life-seeding." Shu, ever the helpful younger sister, prompted.
"Right. Once the ground is prepared, a semblance of atmosphere is created and all the pollutants are taken care of, the proper terraforming starts. Pan-series automatons start creating and nurturing artificial biomes from the seeds they receive and eventually transform the fertile wasteland into lush forests, jungles, meadows and stuff. I don't know much about ecosystems, but it seems to be a very fragile balancing act as the different plants start to cross-breed and produce new combinations that must be kept in check. Pan's are responsible for both nurturing the desired life as well as exterminating the deviations." Ibara was visibly upset by the thought of plant-genocide, but she understood the dangers of invasive species.
"Wouldn't that take centuries to achieve?" Setsuna spoke up. "I get that stuff like flowers grow up in like a year and can criss-cross pretty quickly, but what about trees? They take a lot longer to fully develop and produce possible combinations, right?"
"Well… not exactly. You've noticed that the berries and stuff used to ripen on a daily basis, right?" Stormy asked.
"Yeah, kind of hard not to notice when it's one of the main things that kept us alive in this place." Mina stated.
"Why do you think that's the case? Why do plants regrow so quickly?" Stormy pressed, curious to hear their version of the story first.
"They must've been obviously altered in some way, correct?" Ibara, the resident plant expert, said, playing perfectly into Stormy's hand.
"While they were indeed altered in a myriad of ways, their growth times were left alone. The medicinal berries are of course a product of genetic modification, but the only thing special about them is their healing ability." The tomboyish daughter explained.
"Is this an artificially sped up process then?" Momo, the resident genius, spoke up.
"Bingo!" Stormy confirmed with a grin. "Zeus-series automatons - like yours truly - are in charge of the climate, weather and managing the entire operation. We spike the rain clouds with compounds that substantially shorten the growth time of all plant-life, allowing the Pan-series automatons to create stable ecosystems in no time at all!" There was a proud smirk on Stormy's face and it was pretty obvious that she liked to talk about her previous job.
"That's revolutionary! It could help solve world hunger!" Momo exclaimed excitedly, already theorizing the many uses such an amazing fertilizer might have.
"Yeah, unfortunately it's a strictly guarded secret of his, so don't expect Martin to hand it out just because you ask nicely." Stormy nipped Momo's excitement in the bud. "He works in mysterious ways, so don't even try to ask me why he wouldn't solve world hunger. He has his reasons and I trust them to be noble enough."
"I see…" Momo was visibly deflated by the announcement, but there was also a spark of genius, madness and determination in her eyes.
So what if Martin won't share his secrets? There's nothing stopping Momo from trying to figure it out on her own!
"Can we get back on topic, please?" Itsuka urged, intrigued by what else Stormy had to share.
"Right. So, once the plant life is sufficiently established and stabilized, the last piece of the puzzle is introduced - fauna. Pan-series automatons are refitted and equipped with tools to create animals and an even more convoluted balancing act starts. Now, instead of keeping the cross-breeding plants in check, they have to make sure that the animals don't kill the plants or each other. That's the most fragile step of the whole process and I've seen a fair share of attempts fail catastrophically despite having a solid start." As expected, even the most advanced technologies cannot fully subjugate nature.
"And you think that we've entered this final stage overnight?" Kyouka questioned, seeing where things were going.
"Well, yes and no at the same time?" Stormy responded with some uncertainty. "The floral stability was technically achieved some time ago, but all the Pan-series automatons needed to be refitted before initiating the last phase. If one of them was to start prematurely it would mean that some species would have more time to evolve and adapt than others, effectively creating an advantage that could spell doom for their coinhabitants." The girl explained. "I'm guessing that the automatons got to work a couple of days ago and we're seeing the first fruits of their labor."
"'First fruits'... So there'll be more?" Izuku asked, just to be sure.
"Oh yeah, a truckload more. Even though the terraforming process is the same, the results from planet to planet vary. Some orbit neutron stars. Others orbit red dwarfs. Some are absolutely gigantic and others are smaller than most moons. Each one of those planets receives the same basic species of flora and fauna and it's then up to the Pan-series automatons to guide the artificial evolution in the right direction, creating organisms that can adapt and thrive in their given environment." Stormy said, once again puffing her chest out and showing pride at being a part of such a grand undertaking.
"And I assume we won't be seeing just birds, right?" Tooru guessed hesitantly, bringing forth an issue that others have overlooked up till now.
"Let's just say that I'm very happy we have this valley." Stormy responded mysteriously.
"A functional ecosystem requires the ability to regulate itself through various means…" Ibara realized.
"One of which is population control. And this means…" Momo continued the train of thought.
"Predators. Angry, with big teeth." Izuku finished grimly.
Silence reigned supreme for a few moments as they all started coming to terms with all the news that was suddenly dumped on them first thing in the morning.
"So… what do we do now?" Mina wondered out loud, breaking the silence and prompting people to actually start thinking about the future.
Some of them were about to share their ideas when their stomachs growled in unison, bringing forth a more pressing issue.
"I say we should eat first and worry about the future later." Izuku stated, before smiling to lighten up the mood somewhat. "Even the dinosaurs showing up won't make a difference if we fall over dead because we kept worrying all day and forgot to eat."
Thankfully his joke was enough to cheer the girls up and they sat down to finally have breakfast, the information dump pushed to the corners of their minds but not entirely forgotten, the shadow of possibilities looming over them throughout the meal.
Once their bellies were filled, they could get to thinking. And they had a lot to think about.
Ominous information taken into account - venturing outside of the valley would soon become a very bad - and very risky! - endeavor, one that should be avoided unless absolutely unnecessary. Unfortunately, they couldn't simply seal themselves away in their little valley and wait for Martin to send them home.
Their valley - as cozy and unbelievably convenient as it was - was relatively small and a fat chunk of it was already dedicated to farming, limiting the available space even more. Sure, they could probably scale back their crop growing operations, but messing with their food supply was not something they were eager to do. The current system worked, so leaving it alone was the preferred option here. This meant that they needed to treat whatever free scrap of land they had remaining with utmost respect.
They could plant a small forest to secure a wood supply, but that'd require dedicating even more space or risk the whole endeavor being some utterly inefficient that they might as well have done without it. The valley was surrounded by a pretty dense forest that grew back at quite the rapid pace, so it's not like they were going to run out of wood. They'd still have to leave the safety of their home to gather wood, but with sufficient preparation and enough caution they could ensure nothing bad would happen. Besides, wood wasn't exactly a crucial resource at this point. They could always use coal from the mine.
What was a crucial resource then? Medicinal berries. Momo's efforts concerning turning the Devil's Drink into something fit for recreational use without the whole orgy side-effect bled their stores of medicinal berries dry and even though they made sure to start replenishing the supply, they had yet to recuperate. Now that the access to the outside world would be restricted however they needed to figure out how to secure a steady - and most importantly safe - source of medicine.
But they had no idea what other medicinal plants and herbs they could use to replace the berries. They were so reliant on them, that they never bothered to search for alternatives and it was coming back with a vengeance.
The situation seemed quite dire when Ibara finally proposed something that they didn't consider in the past - trying to move a couple of bushes into their valley. There was no guarantee that the bushes would survive the procedure, but it was still worth a shot.
The final talking point on the agenda was the matter of safety. They were sleeping peacefully since nothing ever came close to their valley and the only thing they had to worry about in the last months was Stormy stalking them from afar. Now that potential predators could swarm their local area in a matter of days though, they needed to reconsider how much trust they put in their current safety measures.
The cliffs of the valley acted like walls, high enough to deter most creatures from trying to scale them. Still, they shouldn't simply dismiss the possibility of something being able to climb over the natural barrier. As such, reinforcing the outer perimeter with stakes and at least a palisade or something like that seemed necessary. Or a good idea at the very least.
They also had a brief debate about the entrances to the valley, which at this point were simply overgrown cracks in the cliffs that they were able to squeeze through quite easily. They were well-hidden from the naked eye thanks to the dense vegetation, but leaving those passages completely open didn't seem like a good idea anymore and so those vulnerabilities would also need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Last but not least - personal safety.
They'd inevitably need to venture outside of their valley for one reason or another and when that happens they'd need stuff to use in case something tries to take a bite out of them. They already had Izuku's Tek Spear and Momo's Tek Carbine, but that's about it. With how peaceful their life was up till now, Momo focused on more utilitarian projects like crafting tools for the farms and mines and trying to reverse engineer Martin's holoprojector. With the recent turn of events however, it was clear that Momo would once again need to channel her inner forge mistress and focus her efforts elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
All in all, it was pretty obvious that their slow lives would gain a whole lot of momentum in the days to come. There was a lot of work to do, but they were UA students! They don't shy away from a challenge, but face it head on and always give it everything they have. The bigger the hurdle, the greater the satisfaction and so they were more than ready to go beyond.
Y'know what? I've used the 'life was good' and 'everything was going smoothly' lines way too many times and decided to put an end to it with a major twist. I'm not taking 100% of the credit for this though, mostly like 90-ish%. The rest could be attributed to the MEFU guys over on my Discord channel (link in bio for those interested) whom I ping-pong ideas off of from time to time. I won't spoil anything more than that, but keep in mind that I am the Absolute Madman!
For now have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!
