I woke up with a yawn, getting my casual clothes on before grabbing some coffee. Babies and kids are all still asleep. Good.
"Ah…peace and quiet…" I sighed in contentment, taking a sip of my warm morning coffee and just basking in the silence.
Once I chugged the mug down I headed outside. The fresh air was nice, a bit cool but the sun was warm.
I walked down to the mailbox. It's mostly newspaper and coupons but hey, it's good.
I turned around and… what the?
I blinked, rubbing my still half asleep eyes and looking around… My home… It… it just… vanished?!
Looking back, the large buildings and many farms of Candlelight were all… gone?!
"What the fuck!?" I shouted in horror and surprise.
I immediately ran up and over to the outline in the ground where my house was… everything… Marianne's clinic, the farm, even the fucking walkway is gone?!
"How!? Why!? Whomst the fuck did this!?"
"Oh my, did I miss one?" The voice froze me to my core. It just oozed with… vile cruelty… insanity. Turning, I spotted a man in a wide trench coat, black shirt and dress pants/shoes. A tan fedora on their bald head and a tattoo of a handprint with a small blue dot in the palm on his forehead. "You're quite the strong one to miss the mass teleport. I'm impressed actually."
"What did you do and where did you take my family before I break every bone in your body." I growled.
"Feisty. Oh Armageddon is going to love you on her surface." He said, chuckling.
I walked over and grabbed the prick by the throat and lifted him up. "Tell me where my family is. Now."
"Safe." He said, grabbing my-
Crack!
Fuck!
I jumped back, my wrist mangled and broken. He just grabbed me and broke my wrist?! "For now. Armageddon is an indifferent world, full of danger. For now they are safe but it can change from one moment to the next."
"What…what the fuck?" I looked at my broken hand. "How?"
"What? Did you think just because I had powerful enough magic to mass teleport a city, buildings and people included, that I didn't have any physical strength?"
"I thought I would have been stronger than you." I growled, thankful for grabbing some regen skills as my hand fixed itself quickly.
"Oh, then I guess you don't know this symbol then?" He asked, tapping the tattoo on his forehead.
"Not…really." I said. "Who are you, who do you work for, and why the fuck did you send everone to Armageddon?"
"I am Sanderson. I am head of the Nexus Guilds Immigration program. This city was selected as our first mass immigration program."
"Why?" I asked incredulously. "What nonsensical bullshit are you up to to think kidnapping is A. 'immigration', and B. a good idea when said 'immigration' is sending people to the worst possible place in existence?"
"The planet craves a population. And I and my associates do as the planet demands. We started with Breeders, producing them in mass numbers but those only go so far. Then we founded the Welcoming Committee, keeping would-be treasure hunters from leaving the planet. But despite all that, the planets population barely makes up a fraction of a percent of its surface. So, immigration was the next step in satisfying Armageddon's desire for a population."
I actually took a step back… this guy… is fucking nuts!
"Okay…so apparently you are one hundred percent, butt fuck insane." I said in horror. "Cause…last time I checked history, you and your merry band of AA buddies decided to nuke the entire planet of anyone bothering to do…literally what you're trying to do." I said. "What? Were you mad that people were doing your idea first and decided 'no, it's my idea, nobody else'?"
"That was the old management. First generation Nexus still bitter and soured after the war. We are a new blood seeking to do as the planet asks over our old bloods selfish destructive desires."
"Still…dick move…" I said carefully. "Where did you teleport everyone?" I asked, hating how I'm going to have to play along with this fucking lunatic's actions.
"Each section of the city had a different destination. This property was sent to Aqua Terra." He said. "Nothing but the open seas, flooded continents, sea monsters of all kinds and islands and giant earth back sea turtles."
"Goodie…" I sighed. "Fine…whatever…"
"I'm more than happy to send you to them. After all, it's my duty with immigration to ensure all family of the immigrated arrive safely and together."
I really don't like this guy… but, I can't reject his offer. Even if I did arrive in this Aqua Terra zone, it could take me years to find them… assuming…
"Now…are you sure I will be teleported to my family?" I asked carefully. "And not just in the middle of bum fuck nowhere as I have to kill a random leviathan that wanted to attack me?"
"You might not trust me but my faith forbids me to lie about these matters. Especially when I've been given these orders and rules from Armageddon itself. You will arrive exactly where I placed your family. On the back of an earth back sea turtle."
"Alright…and seriously, you're making it sound like Armageddon is alive and quite literally telling you 'I want friends, so get me some' like some locked up child." I frowned.
Sanderson just smirked as he looked at me. "Enjoy your new life, David Alchem." He said, snapping his fingers.
Ouch. Shit…
That teleport dropped me a few feet from the ground… ground… huh. He did say Earth Back turtle so… does he mean like the turtles that supposedly carried the world on it's back? Huh. Well, I can smell sea air, but I don't hear any ocean waves.
"Alright…" I sighed, getting up from the ground. "Where the hell am I specifically?"
Looking around I saw… mountains. Lots of mountains… we're surrounded by them. Huh. Makes sense, those must mark the edge of the shell, keeping the ocean off of the back. Around me was grass, trees. This… honestly, doesn't look bad. Was that guy messing with me? No… no way in hell he was…
Okay, now where is my house and where is my family?
"Hmm…" I shook my head, bringing up my assistant to try and see if I could contact my family…which immediately went with static. "Of fucking course…" I grumbled. "So…best pick a direction…"
I activated speed force and began running. The geography of this giant turtle shell was pretty diverse. One section is like a desert, another is a tundra, savanna, jungle, swampland, all teeming with some forms of life. I found my house and family in a flat grassland. The fence, mailbox, all of it placed there as if it was always there. Everything that was on the property was where it was like back in… Candlelight.
"I…really hope Candlelight is safe…" I sighed out, rushing towards my house as I tried to think of who else was in Candlelight besides Katsuki, but even they were probably hard pressed to do everything all thing's considered.
I walked inside, seeing power was on still. I checked the kitchen. Water is running. Good, the utilities generator is still running perfectly. No one is up yet either it seems?
Being safe I checked the bedroom. Yup, they're all there. Kids rooms and nursery was the same, they were all still sleeping soundly.
I sighed in relief before I took a seat on the couch… okay. Running around on this giant turtle back showed me there wasn't much danger here. Some carnivores, both animal and plant, night might bring something else. Plus that Sanderson ass said the sea itself was dangerous so… gotta protect the giant turtle. otherwise…
Hmm… I wonder if this thing is smart?
"You ask?" I stood up, an old deep voice speaking… in my head.
"Uh…hello?" I asked nervously. "Sorry if I sounded rude, possibly ancient psychic turtle…"
"Greetings, it is an honor to host you and your group atop my shell." The turtle said.
"Not really by choice but that's not your fault." I said. "So, my names David…what's your name?"
"I have no name. My kind have no need for them. I am well aware of your plight. A member of Nexus informed me I would soon play host to what they called 'immigrants' to the planet, but I knew you'd arrive unwillingly."
"Yeah, insane prick was acting like he literally met this planet as a person and was going on and on about how they needed people on it once again like it wanted friends or something…now sure, I've seen that World Soul's exist but still."
"In this reality, all possibilities exist. Tell me, David, would you like to know more about our location?"
"Yes please, cause I want to know as much as I can for the place we're going to be staying for…a long time…"
"This zone is called Aqua Terra. The seas here are seemingly endless. I have swam them all three million years of my life, and I have never seen more than an occasional small island. The waters here hold treasures, but also danger. Some manage the climb up and over the mountains that rest along my shell's edge, fewer that can tower over them."
"So I was told that there are many leviathan's…question, does any of the sea monsters here ever attack you or do they mind their own buisness?"
"Some try, but they are like ants or a beetle to me. Some can not even penetrate my flesh. The few who do, find my blood distasteful and leave. Few of my size challenge me or attack. The only creatures that are a threat to me, rarely leave the dark depths far below."
"Oh…okay…" I said nervously. "Let's not go anywhere that deep then."
"Night often spawns beasts upon my shell. And sometimes, a flying beast hunts or rests upon my back."
"Right…so best stay inside during the night." I mentally answered. "Have you sensed anyone else walking around here?" I asked, wondering if anyone else besides us on this magical turtle.
"No. You are the first intelligent life forms to reside upon my back in my entire life."
"Right then. Good to know."
Hm. Well, at least we're safe… ish. Still, once the others wake up this is gonna be hectic…
The next week was as I expected. Day one once everyone was up and informed on what happened. Panic. Like all the stages of grief hitting at once.
Day two through four was a mix of dread, depression and anxiety.
Day five was finally letting the information of our situation process. They also met/spoke to our giant turtle and were immediately made happier that our giant sea turtle was friendly and kind.
Day six, aka today, has been planning. We have a whole giant earth sea turtle back to make use of.
"Our total family population currently sits at just over fifty three thousand people. Primarily our Lovers." Marianne said as she went over a large hand drawn map of our giant sea turtle back land. "Of them, twenty thousand are den Mothers. Milk, cheese, butter and such won't be an issue so long as we don't accidentally overpopulate. But we still need meats and veggies."
"Fishing is kind of an option but I'm not sure if I should drag leviathans up onto his back…hmm, well, there's also the animals and beasts that roam around at night, depends on if they're Shadow's or normal animals." I suggested. "And veggies…well, maybe we can find some around here, at least berries and the like."
"We have potatoes, onions, carrots and such. Plus apples and oranges we can plant to make more. The biggest issue will be space. Our already big family is only going to get bigger as we, well, live here." Marianne said. "The house spacial expansion engine currently can accommodate the current population, up to a million, but exceeding that will stress them. If that happens we'd all be moving into huts and such we'll have to build here."
"Meaning…?" Abby asked.
"Meaning the only way to keep that from happening is to find the raw materials to build upgrades to it so that doesn't happen. The resources on the turtles back are very finite as is so… we will have to dive for them."
"Fantastic…" I sighed. "So, I was told by our…'gracious immigration officer', that this place is every ocean themed apocalypse…so there might be some neat things down there….but possibly eldritch horrors as well."
"Yeah that tracks…" Marianne sighed. "Our biggest issues in regards to that are that the mountains at the edge of his shell keep us from reaching the ocean, and we have no idea what is below the turtle at any given time. Digging through the mountains can net us useful materials and access to the ocean but we will need a special, huge set up in order to even find items of use."
"So…we're very unprepared for this, and there's too many things to do to keep up with our giant family…" I said. "Well…crap…"
"Well, how many of our lovers are plant based or at least can control plants?" Abby asked.
"Fifty." Marianne said.
"Alright, then we can use their powers to make the plants grow faster."
"Were we on solid ground, that would be fine but on a giant earth turtle, all we farm with that method will pull from the turtles own body, meaning it could make him very weak or even kill him should we do that for extended years."
"Shit."
"Our best bet as is is to farm the plants and let them grow naturally. In the meantime a group can go and capture wild pigs, chickens, whatever they find and we can pen them for domestic breeding and slaughter. While all that's happening we can pick a mountain and start digging through it."
"Alright." I nodded, starting to put skill points in a lot of things cause I just have way too many of them, ranging from animal handling, to mining, agriculture and just a lot of things to help us out. "So we have a plan, just need prepare for all this nonsense…"
"I just wish John was here when this happened. His skills in crafting and repair would be invaluable…"
I frowned… John and Cassidy had both gotten their own places after life in Candlelight got settled and established. Wonder where they are now? And if they're safe?
On day seven we got to work. Vais and I picked the smallest mountain and began digging. Explosion helped a lot, as did Harden for punching and blasting hard rocks. It was good therapy.
Vais sorted the rocks in piles. Basic granet, ores, minerals. He learned how to spot them working with John.
"This is super bullshit still…" I growled, punching the rocks even harder.
"Nothing we can do about it now." Vais said with a sigh. "We just have to make the best of it."
"I know, I know…" I sighed. "We were just getting everything together, things were going right…and now this."
"At least we weren't separated."
"That is a major upside…I don't know what I'd do without any of you."
"Get pissed. Go crazy. Fight the first thing you saw that moved. Repeat." Vais said with a chuckle.
"No I wouldn't." I said, throwing a playful pout towards my ferret.
"Maybe after a panic attack first you'll get to that other stuff." Vais said with a small laugh.
I threw a rock at Vais and pouted harder.
"Heh…" He sighed. "Think we can make an actual life here?"
"I hope we can." I said. "I don't want to but I hope…I'm also concerned about Candlelight…"
"All those people…" Vais nodded. "I'm also worried about the kids. The babies and any born here will only know this and… Luna, Timmy and Tina had friends and school… not to mention school…"
"Yeah…" I sighed. "We're going to have to teach them everything…then they lost all their friends and we don't know if anyone else is even around this apocalypse area…"
"Probably not. You said he mentioned each building or something like that was sent to it's own location. I think either by stealing the city zoning and geographic maps, or through pure aerial observation, he sent each property and all that was on and within it to a different zone on this planet. It makes sense given the house arrived with everything on the inside and out the same as it was back on Dechamore. So, I think it's safe to say we're the only people from Candlelight in this zone."
"Shit…" I whined. "Perfect…now we have to hunt down every single person from Candlelight…"
"Doing that isn't gonna be easy. If the stories they tell about this place are even a quarter true… some of the people might already be out of our reach… or turned into someone, or something else…"
"Which I hate extremely…" I sighed. "All those Prize Pod people…all those actual, living breathing people…Candlelight was supposed to be about hope…"
"Maybe that's why he made Candlelight the first target?" Vais questioned.
"What? Because there was some hope for Pod People they wanted to strip it away in this hellhole?" I asked, given I've heard nothing but awful things about this place I didn't have much hope for a positive here.
"Given what they do to them, maybe? Honestly it's lucky they didn't take anyone from the house. What they do to Lovers specifically is… horrible."
"I heard the term 'Breeders' as a 'solution'...what is it really?" I asked worri
"Well, as the name suggests, they're purpose is to breed. I only know this from online forums back when I was a cringe edgy teenager but I looked into the Chaos Guilds. Everyone did it at least once, either on a dare or our of morbid curiosity. Basically they take a Lover Class, or anyone really, Pod or not it doesn't actually matter and they somehow tap into their Code Profile, it's like a character and stats sheet in an RPG. It contains all the information of a person's being. Memories, Name, abilities, skills, race, gender, but most importantly it's where the Archive is kept. It's this like, back up of all you are. Should someone get amnesia, brainwashed or forced into a new gender or species, it's like a reboot, turning them back to who they are. Somehow, Nexus can reset it, removing all it stores and once that's done they put all this… stuff, making them obsessed with pleasing and satisfying their master, to unhealthy and horrifying lengths. They don't sleep, eat, or bathe unless ordered to. They have no memory of who they used to be, no sense of identity, just blind obsession and lust for their master, and if their master is angry at them, or they are untouched for some periods of time, they go into a deep chronic depression, often leading to self harm and suicide or extreme mutilation of their own body just to somehow please their master."
I stared at Vias, my entire body going so stiff I thought I would break something if I moved. I…I tried processing that, trying to think of how or why they would do that….I don't know when but I threw up at that. "WHAT THE FUCK!?"
He patted my back, helping me cough up the last of it before handing me a water bottle which I used to get the bile taste out of my mouth. "That was more or less my reaction when I read it. Broke me out of my edgy phase." He sighed. "They also primarily sell Den Mother Breeders. All species. Largely female but supposedly Male Breeders are rare to find on their markets."
"That's…that's fucking horrible." I coughed. "What the hell…why is this still a thing?"
"No one is really sure, but some people think it's because of an old legend relating to The Family. Supposedly, a small group within The Family oversee Evil, and one of these members in particular actually created Armageddon as an Oasis where evil can roam as free and cruel as the wind. Or something like that. Forums were spotty at best on details."
"Cause of course…" I grumbled.
"That does raise a question though…"
"What question?" I asked bitterly.
"What will we do if we find one?"
"What? One of these 'pure evil' Family members?" I asked. "Cause if we do then we're probably fucked."
"I ment if we find a Breeder. What would we do with them?"
"I…I don't know…" I shook my head. "Like…I would try to treat them right, but…they want to be treated like a slave, a cock sleeve that think's that's their only choice in life…"
"Let's just hope we don't encounter anything like that for a long time… honestly, I don't know how I'll react seeing one in person…"
Vais and I continued to dig in silence, stopping to eat, drink or use the bathroom before getting back to work.
It was hard work. Days turned to a few months quickly but, it was admittedly good progress.
Vais and I made a tunnel through the small mountain and to the ocean on the other side. It was just to the left of the turtle's tail.
The farm was doing well. Potatoes, carrots, and apple and orange tree saplings we're starting to sprout. We also managed to get wild pigs and chickens easily enough.
"Hey David!" Abby called as she ran up to me. "Guess what!"
"What up?" I asked curiously.
"I just got the ability to solve our underwater mapping issue!" She said as she tackle hugged me.
I caught her and hugged back. "Really? That's incredible, what did you do?"
"I remembered once my mom told me about a time she used the water to relay information back to her by literally speaking to it. Well, after some trial and error I managed to unlock Hydro-Communication. I can talk to water and it can sort of tell and show me what's under it. And good news, there's a huge city just a bit ahead of us. I already asked the Turtle and he said he'd stop to let us explore it!"
"That's awesome!" I said happily. "Though uh…did they give any warning's about the place?"
"I only unlocked rank one and being only half water fairy, the message wasn't completely clear but the city seemed, from what I understood, pretty intact, made for being deep under the water and did have some monsters running around inside and out."
"Fair enough." I nodded. "Better than nothing…now let's just hope that there's some water breathing skills in these skill trees." I said honestly. "Cause while you can be apart of me and probably make me ignore that…I'd rather not have you get into danger."
"Fat chance." She said, planting a peck on my lips before her body melted and flowed into mine. My hair gaining her colors too. "I'm going with you. I'm literally your eyes, lungs, and all that. But if it makes you feel better I don't mind hanging out on your bones while we do~"
"Oh my god…" I chuckled and shook my head. "Still my silly water fairy."
"Oh and don't worry when there's a sudden jolt or shake in the… everything. That's just Turtle stopping." She added.
At that exact moment, that stop and jolt felt like an earthquake and I face planted in the grass. That's gonna take some getting used to…
"Ech…that's gonna be annoying…" I groaned.
I jumped back to my feet and bolted for the tunnel. Once out I slid down the Turtles tail and jumped into the water.
Abby's Water Fairy abilities kicked in. Everything was as clear down here as it was above the water and I could even breathe.
I felt her take control for a moment and rapidly swim us down. It was dark for a while before eventually I spotted lights. My eyes widened at what I saw. I'd recognize this city anywhere. I actually smirked. Hello Rapture my old friend.
Quickly we found a way in, some Big Daddy maintenance entrance and I was in. Smells like rust, sea water, mold and decay and blood…
Yup… this is Rapture…
"So you know this one?" Abby asked.
"Yeah…this is Rapture alright." I nodded. "God, haven't played Bioshock in a while."
"Anything of note or look familiar?"
I looked around. Aside from the decorations this so far was your average supply and locker room… just giant cause big daddies use it. Hmm… no suits or weapons. But plenty of lockers to check.
"Honestly? Surprised I haven't heard any Big Daddies walking around." I said honestly, walking over to some of the lockers and ready to start looting the place.
I mostly found some candy bars, beers, sodas and a few apples. Some tools, cigarettes and a few dollars. Apparently rapture has it's own currency cause these are not American dollars.
Once all that was put away I left the roomz the huge weighted door rising up with the sound of heavy gears turning with ease. Now that's nostalgic. Walking out and looking around I spotted a wall map.
Okay, Service entrance/Exit. That's here… so close by is… Emergency Care?
"Did we end up in a hospital?"
"Uh…I don't know…" I said, walking towards Emergency Care. "I mean, sure, Rapture was trying to be it's own city so it would need a hospital…but depending on what kind of hospital it is…"
The Emergency Care door swung open and immediately my nose was hit by the stench of decay. Bodies piled in water and Blood, a heavily blood stained surgical table sat with rusty surgical gear in a bowl next to it.
"Oh that is nasty!"
"Fucking hell!" I shouted in disgust, waving my head over my nose as this just smelled horrible.
I backed out of the room and walked down the hall, trying to get that smell out. The next room was labeled as X-Ray.
Opening that I was thankfully greeted by no horrid sights or smells.
Hmm… I should definitely loot any and everything Medical. Marianne can sort out and make use of what she can later.
"Alright, so time to loot all the medical crap we can." I said, trying to think of how to shove all the X-Ray stuff into my Assistant cause I think there was a size limit to what I can shove in at one time?
"No there isn't. Storage has no limits in the Assistant."
"Cool, was just wondering about what I could shove in this silly thing." I said honestly.
"I know. I can hear your thoughts when I'm like this you know?"
"It's…" I was about to say how long it's been…then I realized it was quite literally our first dungeon run a year and a half ago. "Holy shit…again, getting whiplash from how short my stay has been here…."
"Done a lot for a year and a half. All in all, and still more to go."
"All I know, is that punk ass kid is gonna be really pissed that his 'rival' was taken away…" I said honestly, but then remembering how I got a rival just by distracting him with my adorable doggo. "Sweet lord, remembering how I distracted him with DJ…I'm not supposed to say 'good times' when it's only been a year and a half damn it."
"Heh. It does feel like it's been way longer. At least DJ is helping keep the kids happy."
"Yeah, DJ is the best doggo." I said with a warm smile.
I managed to store the items I found away, large and small were all placed into my assistant storage and once the room was picked clean… ish, I moved onto the next roo-...
Maternity Ward…
"Do we… go in?"
"I'm…very scared to see…but sure, why not." I sighed, knowing I'm going to regret this decision but let's see what more horrendous shit is in store.
I opened the door. Okay, so far no stench…
I walked through a room filled with hospital beds all empty, dusty. One door ahead was labeled as Delivery Room. The other, Nursery.
I checked Delivery Room First. It was empty. Dry blood and such but no corpses.
Slowly, I opened the door, finding the Nursery empty… save one thing. A Prize Pod. Dusty, covered in grime, but unopened.
"Huh…that's…very strange." I said carefully. "Should…we open it?"
"I wouldn't. Not here anyway. Odds are if it spawned in a Nursery then it's likely a child or baby. I wouldn't want them to wake up and be in this hell. You can store them in your Assistant so long as their pod isn't open."
"Awesome." I nodded, moving over to the pod and carefully storing the pod in my Assistant for later. "Prize Pods…here of all places…" I shook my head bitterly.
"Rumors say they actually spawn way more often here compared to any other dungeon or planet. But the Chaos Guilds are always hunting them down and collecting them. The fact this pod was covered in so much dust and grime, I have a feeling no one has been down here in years… if ever."
"Well…better we find them than those asshats." I said honestly.
"No arguments here."
With that we checked out the rest of this hospital. We did manage to find some medicine. Pain killers, first aid kits, but I soon found something that was so cool to actually hold in my own hands. Lightning Plasmid. Level one.
"Awesome, Plasmids…hopefully there won't be any draw backs from using this…"
"Not with your body's genetics as they are now. The DNA helixes are built to easily adapt and change as needed with little to none of the drawbacks such mutations would typically cause."
"Oh, sick." I said with a smile.
Slowly I put the needle in my arm, and pressed the syringe down.
My whole arm glowed like magma as the fluid traveled down my veins. Bringing the heat to my chest and neck, crawling to my other arm and in a flash sparks of blue electricity flashed between my fingers.
[Plasmids Acquired!
Genetic Rewriting sequence archived and complete.
Process will no longer cause physical discomfort.
Plasmid: Electro Bolt. Acquired.]
The electricity, and pain and heat Immediately died down… ouch… shit no wonder Jack and Subject Delta nearly passed out… actually, Jack did pass out.
"Okay…that hurt a bit more than I thought it would."
"That sucked."
"Sorry." I said nervously. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Being as I am I felt that on the level it works. Sucks but, oh well. So, you now have a fourth means of using electricity."
"Yeah…sometimes forget that I uh…" I brought up a hand and brought out a ball of fire from my Fire Gem, and then started to cycle through…all of the elemental gems besides Void cause that still hurts like a bitch. "Kinda got all the elemental gems in me when we first started."
"Eh. Variety is good anyway. Just one flavor of an attack or element can help when an enemy has resistances."
"Yes…so uh…I have a question." I brought up nervously, continuing through the halls of Rapture. "Should I even bother using Generation…and should I use it to generate Grey to let the Family know where I am?"
"Doubt it will matter. Given who supposedly runs this place you might attract the undesirable side of the Family. As for using Generation… well, with One for All with you it's not as obvious. It appears more like you just put skill points. Maybe just try not to overdue it, kay?"
"Alright." I nodded. "So best not do any of that…cause I legit thought if I did something possibly turbo illegal we could get rescued from this hellhole."
"Or ambushed. Tortured. Brainwashed and turned into a slave warrior or breeder."
"I know, I really don't want any of that to happen." I said honestly.
With the hospital cleared I moved to a connecting hallway, walking down to a fork in the tubes. To my right was Treasure Trove Market, and to my left, Sea Cave Mall. Huh.
"If any of the food is still good, could be useful. More veggies and fruit to grow. Maybe even meat or fish."
"Well, maybe the food is still good?" I wondered,
I took the right path, the huge door opening and revealing a three story farmers market of metal and wood.
And Splicers.
"Cause of course there's still Splicers." I sighed.
Looking at them, they definitely looked like Splicers, save one difference. Their eyes were this… eerie faintly glowing white.
"Need help?"
"Those…don't look like regular splicers." I said carefully. "But I should be able to deal with them…just need to make sure I don't also blow up the building…"
I sparked up Electro Bolt and got to work.
Thankfully despite the odd thing with the eyes, they moved and fought like the Splicers I remember, so beating them was easy. They're not all that strong. Just fast.
Once they were all dealt with I collected Splicer Weapons, a Rapture style revolver, some ammo, and ADAM. To my surprise. It was barely a hundred ADAM so, not that much but impressive regardless.
"Surprised that I got that much ADAM…also seriously, what was with the eyes?"
"Well, despite how they looked, and died, they're actually a type of Shadow Creature. Since the Splicers you know we're former humans, most still with intelligence, just gone crazy, these Shadow Creature spawn in since becoming a Splicer isn't possible in the usual way, so these special Shadow Creatures take the place of them. There are some that can spawn in able to talk and have intelligence but they're rare."
"Ah, right then." I nodded. "Good to know those things are Shadow Creatures."
With the market clear I rapidly checked each stall and store. The meats on display were spoiled but there was a locked freezer loaded with fish and meats.
Produce was mixed of spoiled and fresh. I took both anyway. Fresh can be eaten and planted. Rotten can be made into compost.
I had a very good haul from the-
"Hehehe!"
I nearly jumped as I watched the door back to the fork open and in walked a Big Daddy and a Little Sister.
"Uh…are they also Shadow Creatures?" I asked worriedly.
"I honestly have no idea. The Big Daddy, maybe, but no idea about the Little Sister. If she is then she might be a Sub-Human Shadow Creature. Meaning if you cure her she might becoming a normal little girl."
Sub-Human Shadow Creature?
"Hold up what?" I asked. "Mind giving me some tidbits on what you mean by that?"
"There are all kinds of Shadow Creatures, but one of the more unique ones are the Sub-Human Shadow Creatures. They are like, half sentient being, half Shadow Creature. While they can spawn in and be killed like any other dungeon enemy they can also be transformed into, well, a full version of whatever species they appear as. It varies from type to type but given this one is a Little Sister I wager curing her will turn her back into a full human."
"Alright…so time to rescue a little girl from a drill monster." I said honestly.
"Don't you need a special plasmid for that though?"
"Uh…maybe?" I said nervously, trying to remember Bioshock as I had a million other things to think about.
Thinking back…. Yes, yeah Tenenbaum give it to you in both one and two… shit. Doubt a Gatherers Garden will have one… maybe the 'orphanages' might have one…
"Alright…gotta sneak into one of the orphanages to get the proper thing to help the Little Sisters…"
I left the market and ran for the mall. I didn't browse but I did kill some Splicers as I went for the other exit. The Orphanage has to be somewhere.
"Wish I had a map, forgot how big this place is…" I grumbled.
I ran down various halls, buildings and such. Fighting Splicers and turrets. I passed lots of Big Daddies and Little sisters. Some were different species other than human. A little dragon person, a puppy. Well, a small humanoid dog person.
Eventually I found an Orphanage, entering it was depressing. There were no toys, no posters, just plain tile walls, a broken glass wall and door, and behind that were lines of empty beds.
"Geez…this place is depressing…" I sighed.
"Considering they were Little Sister factories, makes sense." Abby added.
I walked through the lab, finding a single plasmid of the Cure for Little Sisters… and, something else. It was also a plasmid but it didn't look like any I recognized. It has the image of an ADAM slug on it, and under that were the glowing yellow eyes of a Little Sister.
"Well that's creepy…"
"Uh…huh…" I frowned, using my suped up Scan skill I got from All Might to see what the hell this thing really is.
[Scan Completed.
Sisterhood Plasmid.
This plasmid is an experimental compound that builds a new organ that functions identical to that of the ADAM slug within little sisters.
Item Class: Rare
Item can only be used by pure females or hermaphrodites.]
"Huh. That could be useful."
"Yeah…that would be rather interesting." I said honestly. "Though…it is experimental so…who knows what would happen."
"Well, wanna use it?"
"I mean…sure, why not." I said. "Though, do you want to get out of me before I use this? It might be super painful for ya."
"Nah. Honestly I should get used to it. I am supposed to be your Symbiote as well so, I should get used to this."
"I don't want you to get hurt Abby…but if you insist." I said, injecting the experimental plasmid into myself.
It didn't burn like I expected. It did burn and I felt my organs shift as something new grew in there before I got a bit light headed.
[New Organ Detected! Plasmid Slug-Stomach Acquired! Ingest blood for this organ to produce ADAM. Fifty ADAM per Liter of Blood consumed.]
"Okay…" I said, putting a hand up to my head. "Light headed there…but now I'm a weird vampire that produces ADAM."
"Did you not know that's basically what a Little Sister is?"
"Yes I know, but at least give me some lee way on not being a turbo nerd." I said sheepishly. "A lot of things are happening."
"Well, maybe you can also get one of those needle bottle things."
"Hmm, probably." I hummed. "But we still have…a lot of this place to look through still."
I explored the rest of this orphanages. There's wasn't much else but the… surgery room.
I left that room and orphanage quickly.
As I was Walking back I spotted a Big Daddy and Little Sister, the little sister was some small deer humanoid.
"Honestly a little surprised at all the different races the Little Sister's are…" I said.
"Well, gonna beat up metal Pappa there and save her."
"Yep." I nodded, cracking my knuckles. "Let's see how strong these thing's really are." I said, grabbing a loose piece of tile and chucking it hard towards one of it's legs.
The lights in it's helmets immediately turned red as it turned to me, a hollow, beastly roar as it's drill arm revved and spun rapidly.
Shit I forgot how fast these are!
I dodged it's charge and blasted it with Explosion.
Well, it took the hit. Things are walking tanks.
"Alright, fine." I said, using hardening and letting my increased strength loose a bit more as I punched it square in the face plate.
I cracked it, my first sinking a bit into the broken glass and bent metal but it swatted me off. Using Harden I crashed into the metal wall, leaving a dent and dodging another charge from it.
These things are tougher than I was expecting.
"You're excited."
"Well, even if I'm holding back a crap ton, this thing is able to take a few hits that level 3 dungeon's weren't able to take." I commented.
"So you're having fun?" Abby asked as I dodged another charge attack and sent a point blank Explosion at it's drill arm, breaking it off and picking up the drill and pocketing that for later. It roared, now even more pissed I took it's drill.
"Yes." I said with a smile, dodging underneath it's wild swing of rage as I punched it's 'face' again.
When I did, the metal mask fell off…
Their face was… mangled. Full of tubes, bolts, large growths, possibly tumors.
I always forget Big Daddies were once human too…
"Ech, talk about a fugly duckling." I said, dodging a very enraged fist at that comment.
With that last dodge I sent a Harden quirk punch into their exposed face, then set off another point blank Explosion.
It finally dropped dead, earning me five hundred rapture dollars, a hundred ADAM, and some parts to maybe repair that drill weapon.
I walked over to the Little Sister, who was crying at the Big Daddies feet.
"Hey," I said softly, kneeling down as I hopefully could be seen as friendly to her due to my new injection and organ. "It's going to be alright." I said, slowly and carefully bringing up a hand for her to take if she believes I'm a friend.
"No!" She yelled, trying to swat my hand.
As gently as I could I held her, letting the Cure plasmid activate and placing my hand on her head. Her body beginning to glow with that familiar effect.
When it faded I got two hundred and eighty ADAM, and the little deer girl was unconscious in my arms. An Assistant appeared on her right wrist.
"Alright…one down." I said softly. "But…this is both a good thing…and a major problem…"
"Good we saved a kid… bad we have to keep them safe until we leave."
"That is true…but it's good we saved a kid, but bad that we're going to have another mouth to feed when we're already trying to figure out how to not struggle when it comes to food and resources."
"... This place is underwater. Pumping air from the surface wouldn't be easy and compressed air would be impossible to maintain. There should be a large farming place for their fresh produce and oxygen. And I'm betting there will be Multiple."
"That is true…" I hummed. "Hmm…if we can set up a teleporter here, then we can always drop in and grab our fresh produce and head back when our turtle friend needs to keep moving."
"Or… we take them."
"I mean, that's also true." I nodded in agreement.
"The assistant has a special feature that can store whole buildings, but that requires specific criteria to be met first. Primarily you need to ensure what you want to store is a closed off building, meaning we'll need to disconnect the thing from the rest of the dungeon. Secondly, without a Space Gem you'll need to use a lot of magic instead to shrink it for storage. Lastly, no monsters or people can be inside said building."
"Alright…I'm pretty sure I absorbed a Space Gem but don't remember…and it's gonna be a bitch if one of those area's is a monster spawner…"
"Absorbed space gems don't count. It would have to be the raw gem. But, like I said magic can work just as well and with your Generation ability it will be easier. The hard part will be making sure nothing spawns in while storing it."
"Hmmm…" I looked down, seeing the small deer child begin to open her eyes, blinking and seeing me with large golden eyes. "Mamma?"
"Hello there." I said warmly. "How are you feeling?"
"Mamma!" She hugged me. "It smells…"
I chuckled a little, holding her close… Looks like I'm adopting a lot of daughters while I'm here.
"Yeah, I know it smells." I said softly. "But we're going to get you home and you can meet your new family."
"Okay mamma." She said.
I quickly used Scan on her.
[Scan Complete.
Name: Fiona.
Species: Roe Deer
Age: 9
Mother: David Alchem
Father: Abby]
Hmm… must work just like a prize Pod person then. Since I accepted her when she called me mamma, I became her mother, and given Abby is within me that made her the father.
"Another kid neither of us were knocked up for to have. This feels like a trend." Abby said with a chuckle.
"If you want I can swiftly change that when we get home." I mentally told Abby as I picked up Fiona and carried her.
"Maybe once things settle down."
"Alright, when thing's settle down." I carried Fiona off to find one of the, hopefully stable, garden area's to try and get more materials for our growing need for food.
I still need to save the other Little Sisters I passed on the way here too. With all these kids, keeping them safe and here will be tricky… I could travel back to the turtle but that will make this whole thing take longer…
"Ugh…this bites…" I said, trying to think of what to do cause there's a lot of shit here.
"Well, I actually know a way to keep all the kids with you and safe but we are gonna need like, a backpack or something." Abby said.
"Should be something around here, but what do you have in mind? Cause I'm kinda flip flopping on bringing DJ down here to give us some back up but I don't think that'll be good."
"Well, remember that shrinking spell we used for size difference sex roleplay?" I blushed but nodded. "Well that spell only deactivates when the caster chooses. So, if we can get a sturdy backpack we can shrink Fiona and the other girls we'll be saving, and with some Generation boosted spell casting and enchantment can make a safe storage back for them all to stay in safely."
"That is a very good and cool idea." I nodded. "You're the best Abby."
"Thanks."
I carried Fiona with me to a nearby hotel. I actually found a large purse, leather and in amazing condition with lots of space and pocket.
I activated Generation and Abby led me through the enchantments and after a few hours work an old shrinking several beds and items, gently shrunk Fiona and placed her inside. Basically, this was like the backpack I started out with but also has some magic work to keep sounds and the inside stable with a magic gyroscope so, however I move won't affect it. I also spent the time putting a special enchantment so that if the outside gets squished or crushed, the inside wouldn't be affected.
With all that done I decided to loot this hotel before heading off to the gardens or to find more of the little sisters and Big Daddies.
"You look nice with that purse."
"Thanks…still would prefer a bookbag but it'll work." I mentally said, getting a pretty sizable purse and just glad it'll be big enough for what we need.
I had to admit, it felt weird to walk around with a purse but it would do.
I decided to backtrack and fight the Big Daddies I passed and save their Little Sisters. Some hours and six little sisters saved later I was entering a new building and found…
"Do you want something?" Asked an elf man as he sat taking apart a security turret.
Looking around, this Elf man seemed to have a shop here. All kinds of mechanical parts and weapons on display.
"Uh…hi there." I said carefully. "Didn't expect anyone else down here…who are you?"
"Kilpulu. Are you here to buy or sell?" He asked, not looking at me as he kept taking the turret apart.
"Well…what do you have to sell?" I inquired. "Also uh…were you kidnapped as well from 'Immigration' or were you just…here?"
"I'm native. Born here and worked most of my life in Greed." He said. "As you can see I mainly sell mechanical or robotics, but there's not much of that here so I also have weapons for sale. Not my normal specialty."
I blinked. "Uh…okay." I said slowly and carefully, not believing this is the second time I'm meeting my second chaos guild member and they're just kinda…chilling and wanting to sell shit. "Well, what do you have available?"
"Whatever you see on the shelves." He said flatly. "I don't remember all that's here. Hardly anyone has ever come to this zone so I come here to be alone."
"Huh…alright." I nodded. "And sorry to ruin your personal place, but wasn't really able to choose where we were thrown."
"Right. You mentioned that Immigration thing. Nexus and their projects." He said with an eye roll.
"Yes, the 'leader' was an insane person talking about how 'the world spoke to me, and they want people' or some shit like that." I rolled my eyes, looking at the shelves to see what this kinda friendly elf had in stock.
There was more of the Rapture pistols. The shotguns and almost all the weapons from Bioshock one, two and the burial at sea DLC from Infinite so, cool. Only missing the Cameras and a Rivet Gun.
"If I remember correctly Greed is basically the sellers and distributors for the majority of other Chaos Guilds. They sell on the markets and act as mediators between settlements and other Chaos Guilds."
"Well…at least the first group we meet are just merchants and not batshit insane people that want to murder us." I brought up to Abby, cause all I've heard about Chaos Guild's is that they're a pack of completely insane people that just want to do thing's because they can.
Hm. Well, might as well see if I can ask questions. Might be my only chance to get info out of this guy.
"So, mind if I ask a few questions?"
"If you want." He said, now half done taking the turret apart.
"So, considering I've only had one other contact with Chaos Guilds…how many are there, and are they as bad as I've been more or less lead to believe?"
"Depends on the guild and the person." He said plainly. "There are those looking to just cause others pain and suffering. Others just join to work or aid their settlements."
"Huh…interesting." I said honestly. "Good to know that there are at least some people that aren't just…batshit insane."
"I'd offer the usual spiel for Greed and the protection from other guild raids and attacks, but they hardly come to this zone. Most think it's boring. You probably won't run into them. Least not for years or more."
"I mean…that's dependent on if fifty three thousand people suddenly appearing here would be 'not enough to bother'..." I said carefully.
"They probably don't even know you're here."
"Best they don't know yet." I nodded. "And how much for this?" I inquired, taking one of the shotguns from the shelf.
"Eh. Two hundred rem and take a few hundred shells. Weapons aren't my specialty items and honestly I don't care for them in my stores."
"Fair." I nodded, grabbing the shells and giving him the rem. "So what do you specialize in?"
"Robots mainly but anything mechanical really. Don't have any here, just machine parts and those weapons."
"That's fair." I nodded. "So, have you met anyone else in my situation? Stuck on Apocalypse against their will?" I inquired, considering this guy was a merchant they would have been around meeting all kinds of people.
"Lots over the years. Most either managed to find or make a settlement and others either disappeared or ended up slaves or serfs or breeders."
"Shit…" I frowned. "Uh…anyone in recent times?"
"One. Has a decent place. But his settlement is over a year old. Well before this whole immigration thing started."
"Okay cool, good to know there's someone else out there…probably a fuck long way away but still." I shrugged.
"If I remember… I believe he's thirty seven thousand, five hundred and fourteen zones north east from here. Roughly… forty seven million light-years."
Oh Fuck… this planet really is huge…
"Fucking hell…" I said in horror. "Okay, are we sure that this is an 'infinite space' and everything being boxed in by Apocalypse and Homeworld?" I asked.
"I just live here, I don't bother trying to understand the hellhole." He replied.
"That's fair." I nodded. "I would have rather not tried to understand this place…but someone wanted to be an asshole."
"Well, welcome to Armageddon. Try not to die, and if you're looking for Serfs, Breeders or Slaves just ask. I can contact Lust for you."
"And I'm gonna hard pass on literally all that horse shit." I frowned.
He shrugged. "If you insist. Anything else?" He asked as I paid for the shotgun.
"Got any questions for him Abby?" I mentally inquired.
"Not really. But we should have a means of keeping in contact with him should we have to."
"Fair." I answered. "So, anyway of keeping in touch with you?"
"Here." He said, tossing me what looked like, well, it was a small box with a button on it… huh…
"Either expected contact info on our assistants or a phone…not this." I said honestly.
"Armageddon doesn't exactly let people use their assistant for talking and most communication methods can never make the range across the planet. That box contains a small fragment of a space gem, and on my person is the rest. When the button is pushed it tries to activate the gem, but since it's split improperly it can't, but it does trigger the other parts of the gem to activate. So, while both parts of the gem are active is makes a small portal between the two. Smaller than atoms but large enough to send a quick and short message through. The message being your planetary coordinates. That way I can find you when you call. Might take me a while but I'll find you so long as you don't move locations too far or lose the thing."
"Ya know, for a reality where people can move at speeds that's just straight ludicrous and can't even be quantified, or just straight teleportation, it's always a wonder why travel is always such a pain in the ass."
"Even with all these abilities, when the distance is seemingly infinite, you run into walls and hurdles more often than you think."
"Eh, fair." I shrugged. "But is there any Chaos Guild's we should be worried about in the weird off chance we do encounter one?"
"Hmm, well, Lust has hunters that seek out… potential product. Carnage will literally burn and slaughter a place if it isn't marked as associated in some way with the guilds. I guess those two are the most you'll be worrying about."
"Right…" I said carefully. "And…how likely would we be seeing any of those two?"
"In this Zone? Not very. Lust looks where the easier to get resources are, meaning land and cities. Carnage likes to level things and you can't exactly level anything visibly in the ocean so both rarely come by here. Not even the Nexus Pod Hunters come to this zone much. The deep sea and such is not worth the manpower."
"Alright, good to know." I nodded. "So even if we hit the 'we're noticed' phase of this bullshit, we still have a good buffer cause why the hell would people come to a more dangerous version of Subnautica?"
"It's not that this place isn't dangerous, it that the ever expanding sea and depths make settling here difficult. They go where people are more likely to build settlements and homes. Not too many people can do that in this zone."
"Fair, cause the only land is on the backs of turtles and any place underneath the water is either a dungeon or not worth the trouble…also apparently, you could get into a fight with an Eldritch creature and I don't like that."
"That too."
I sighed. "Alright, so we got time for a lot of things."
"So, will you be around this dungeon long?"
"Well, gotta rescue a lot of Little Sisters, as well as literally steal an entire Garden room from this place and head back to our home."
"Sounds like you'll be having fun then. Doubt you'll need robotics for that."
"Not at the moment but I might need robotics later on." I said honestly.
"Well, good luck on your tasks."
"Alright." I nodded, loading my shotgun and heading off to find the Garden.
"He seems… alright."
"Yeah, surprised we met such a chill guy."
"He was a bit Indifferent but, as long as he's not hostile I guess he's alright. Plus, now we know that for the most part we're actually really safe. Well, safe as can be on Armageddon."
"Yes, thank god. We have some buffer's…though sooner or later we will have to be 'sponsored' by one of the guilds just so we're not fucked with."
"Well, at least we have time to figure it out… so, will we hang around this dungeon for a while? Odds are there is a lot more here than what we're seeing."
"We're gonna have to find a Garden at least, and we're gonna have to speed it up cause I doubt our turtle friend will want to stay above this place for any decent stretch of time."
"Then let's get a move on."
With a nod I rushed off, clearing buildings and saving Little Sisters, killing Splicers, looking for the gardens. It can't be that far, the market here should mean it's nearby- Fuck yes!
It wasn't a Garden, but it also kinda was. A Gatherers Garden.
"Gatherer's Garden, awesome." I said with a smile. "Gonna get some neat shit from this." I said, walking over to the Vending Machine esc thing and looking through what I could get.
In total I had shy of five thousand ADAM. Easier to get it in this dungeon than in the games.
The machine first took a blood sample from me, setting up a means to tell how much ADAM I had in my body, then it let me choose what I wanted. I smiled at seeing all the iconic plasmids from the first two games, but there was also stuff I didn't recognize. Makes sense. I know the game itself underwent a lot of changes so, take into account how this reality was made… limitless Plasmid possibilities.
"Ah, yes, I can't wait to see I got a new skill tree based on me shoving all sorts of insane drugs straight into me." I chuckled, which was also surprising that there wasn't a weird gem skill tree given I consumed practically all the Elemental Gems.
First thing first I upgraded Electro Bolt to Max, then I got and maxed Incinerate, Winter Blast, Sonic Boom, all the combat ones. Then the offensive ones. I still had over three thousand ADAM so, now for some new ones. Let's see here…
"Hmm…what new thing's are here…" I hummed, looking through the…vast selection here.
Hm… Aquatic Breathing. Aquatic Pressure Stabilizer. Plasma flame… hm. Definitely useful. Will probably need them when looting the garden. Huh. Transmutation… huh. Gene Looting. Harvest the genes from corpses to add to your own. Human and animal applicable.
"Okay, there's some neat shit here." I said in surprise.
"Will definitely be useful at some point. Maybe you should take some of these Gathers Gardens with you, see if the Assistant can assimilate it into the functionality."
"Maybe." I said, trying to put the Gathers Garden in my Assistant to try and see if Abby's idea would work.
I had to unplug the thing and tank it off the bolts but it did get stored.
[Unique Resource Detected! Gatherers Garden Machine. Assimilate appliance into Assistant functionality? Yes? No?]
I selected yes.
[Assimilation complete.]
I now had a new app on my Assistant, amply named Gatherers Garden.
[New Skill Tree, Plasmids, Generated.]
"Okay, that's pretty cool." I said. "I didn't think I could just, get Plasmids as a skill tree just by taking the vending machine."
"There are a lot of things that normally don't get unlocked until you get certain items or do certain things. The Assistant is weird like that."
"Fair." I shrugged. "One of life's greatest mysteries."
I gave the new skill tree a quick look over. The Plasmids and Gene Tonics all had to be unlocked and made via the app first but once I maxed them all out in the App I was able to use Skill points to increase effectiveness, range, over all just improvements.
With that done I went back to looking for the Oxygen gardens or farms.
Thankfully I finally found one of the farms. It wasn't what I was expecting. More special stacked growers and artificial sun lamps, but they were still growing potato's, tomatoes, corn, carrots, all kinds of veggies and fruits.
"Awesome." I said with a smile, moving around the place to see if there was any monsters.
There was indeed some monsters. Splicers. Some rabid animals, one plant monster, and a big daddy I dealt with quickly and saved the little sister.
With that I got to work. First I made all the doors here lock right, then used my Plasma heat plasmid to wield them shut just in case. I then had to cut them free from the walkways leading to other buildings. That took a while but eventually I finished. Now I used another maintenance exit to get outside the building and began the process.
[Building Selected. No space gem detected. Use magic for storing structure?]
Yes.
[Request acknowledged. Begin pouring Mana]
I activated Generation for this and put in many thousands of points of magic until eventually, the building was gone and in my assistant was stored Rapture Greenhouse #394.
"Perfect." I said with a smile. "An entire Greenhouse for us to use."
"We should head back. Let the new girls get used to the place and figure out where and how to set up our new greenhouse."
"Alright." I nodded, walking towards an exit hatch. "All in all, good start to this misadventure."