The rest of that afternoon had been full of training, and testing, so the Slayer could gauge everyone's levels of strength, speed, endurance and skill. Followed by treadmill running for the rest of the day, though he had to let them go early, as it was Sunday, and they needed to be planetside due to school the next day. He also showed them a few other things about the FOD that'd be required for living there, mainly trash disposal. Everyone marveled at how the system worked, as it compressed the garbage and shot it out into space. But there was confusion that it would naturally burn up in the atmosphere once fired outside, causing the Slayer to give a brief lesson about reentry physics.
The following Monday was slightly boring, manning Fiye Weapons. Though MND were all looking at what the FOD had in its server in the meanwhile, and each one was hit by various ideas and questions they all wanted bombard the Slayer with.
He meanwhile was sitting at a desk, attempting to fix a PDD, when all the girls came in, and as he spun the office chair around, held up his hand. "One at a time ladies, one at a time."
The girls look among each other, and Marion goes first. "You know Bill...we need help. We can't have you single-handedly making EVERYTHING we sell. You can train others how to do ir, right? We need some labor."
"Not only that, but your server has things that would GREATLY benefit Remnant, that if we got additional labor, would also be doable," Nixera adds. "I saw the pictures of satellites. Imagine if we had plenty of THOSE in orbit"
Marion looks at her, about to say something, but Daisy gets her turn. "Not to mention...all the entertainment you have on there! You seem to have EVERY book, movie, video game, and more, from Earth. Imagine if you could rent access to that." Marion and Nixera then look at each other, inspired by that idea.
"You could rent satellite access too," Nixera comments. "For the big names out there."
"Ah, but there's a price you could tack on," Marion adds. "Imagine if you could make a few, by yourself, to demonstrate what they do. Now imagine talking to Ironwood, Ozpin, and the like. You give them access, with a couple conditions. First, your wanted status gets cleared. Second...they help make the rest. Even if not directly. We'll need the resources, both in material, and in manpower." The Slayer's eyebrows perked up at that idea.
Yes, turn those who want to lock me up, into customers. That'd just be TOO good. And ironic. I'm sure there's a Rule of Acquisition that would tell me to do exactly that. "More than that, based on what you're saying," the Slayer adds, sitting up. "We'll need a facility to make all this stuff too."
"Hmmm, there's a couple other things," Nixera adds. "Shipment from facility to the store would be an issue. Though at this rate..." she looks around at the store's backroom. "We might need a second store, to help keep up with demand. No offense Mari, but there's a limit to what can be sold in a mom-and-pop store."
"None taken," Mari says with a chuckle. "One part of me wants to change the name. To what? Not sure. But something."
"There's another thing," Daisy comments. "Do you even fully know all your own tech? IE...the restructuring generator?" The Slayer is about to comment, when she continues. "Let's say you could figure THAT out, and make more. You could MAKE facilities, so long as you have the land for it. I even have ideas there. One for proximity, and one for isolation." She then walks over to a map of Remnant. "Southeast of Vale, there is an old city named Mountain Glenn. It's in ruins now, thanks to Grimm. They overran the defenses, and people had to flee. A good place to attempt to renovate, via restructuring," she says, pointing it out on the map.
"You mean, WAS overrun with Grimm," the Slayer says, checking his wrist as if a watch was present. "Oh, damn. Well if I had a watch, I'd say it must be fast by a few weeks, or months, or so. Time gets funny at my age," he smiles, and the rest of his team chuckle with him.
"But? There's other areas you could bring life to, metaphorically," Daisy adds. "Menagerie, down here?" She says, tapping an island that looked vaguely fish-shaped to the Slayer. "Home to all faunus. It's mostly deserts, with a few exceptions. Kuo Kuana is the largest settlement there, and home of the chieftain of Menagerie, Ghira Belladonna." Everyone else opens their mouths, but before it could be asked, Daisy confirms. "Yes, Blake's father."
"Plus all the faunus you can get to work for us, so long as they get paid well, and all that," Marion suggests. "Though we'd have to visit, get permission, and all that. Yes Blake would come."
"But what we could do, sooner? Is check out Mt. Glenn in detail," Nixera suggests. "Nobody's going to get upset at us poking around ruins."
"Good ideas, all of them," Slayer says. "Heh, almost too many. Though the issue becomes what's first."
"Well, gaining freedom by itself does sound like a good early goal," Daisy comments. "But exploration of Mt. Glenn will be easy. And Menagerie should be a weekend thing, or at least over several weekends."
"Scouting Glenn sounds like a good first choice," Marion suggests. "And hey, give us a base, it means we may be able to negotiate with Ozpin."
"Fair enough," Slayer says. "But now comes the question. Do we wait for the weekend so everyone can join? Or do we do this ourselves?"
"Hmmm...first few times? By ourselves," Nixera says. "We KNOW it's overrun with Grimm, but if we scout, we can get an idea about numbers. Along with mapping the place."
"So when do we go?" Marion asks.
"Well, we can head back up, plan for it. Determine the best entry point," Slayer says, getting ready to cue up a portal.
"Haven't you already saved this store to your favorites?" Daisy laughs.
"I don't have a favorites menu," the Slayer chuckles. "But now that you mention it? I should make one. Hell, that's one thing on the list of things I should do, regarding the FOD."
"One thing?" Nixera echoes. "What all else is on that list?"
"Well, there's one simple thing. Remember when Nora's lightning hit me, then hit her, and it refilled aura?" Slayer asks, everyone nodding. "I had an idea to give a lightning attachment to the equipment launcher. If I get it right, it means I can shock Grimm and refill Aura, for everyone," he explains, everyone else getting excited at the idea. "So that should be simple. The other thing I want to do...is hard to explain. And may blow your mind so much smoke may come from your ears," he continues as the girls lean closer, curious.
"Ok, so..." He pulls up some holograms, drawing in the air. "Let me show you the cosmology of existence, at least as I know it so far. Including theories I have, that I think you'll understand." He draws a a rough sphere in the air, the holo program autocorrecting it to a proper sphere, and he continued to make a rough version of Remnant, inside that sphere, along with shattered moon. "So this is Remnant. Not the planet mind you. The universe. This planet we're on, the shattered moon, sun, any other planets in this system, stars...everything in this universe. Bear in mind, NOTHING I'm drawing is to scale," he begins with a chuckle..
"But I am not from Remnant. There are other realms out there." He draws another sphere, this time with a different planet inside, with non-shattered moon. "This would be a different universe. One where things like Dust, and Grimm, and everything you all know? Don't exist. For this universe? This would be my home...sort of," he says, and while the others don't notice, Marion notices the slightest hint of sadness in his face as he explained. "This little beauty is known as Earth. My actual true home," he says.
He draws a third sphere, the planet in this one having a giant shard through it. "This is..well, my second home. Argent D'Nur. The giant thing you see is the World Spear, impacted the planet long ago. Long story," he explains. "Ok, ADN, as is easy to shorten it to, may also actually be part of the Earth universe. For that matter, so too might Remnant be. But let's keep them separate, for now, to simplify things." The girls nod in understanding, though awed.
"Now, there's 2 other realms that are special. One exists below everything. Well...sort of below. It's hard to explain in simple terms, but this dimension is hyperbelow all the regular universes. 4th dimension downwards. I'll give a lesson on 4D space, hyperobjects, and the like later." He draws another shape below the universes he's drawn so far, but makes this one large, and instead of a sphere, it resembles more of a mushroom cap, upside down. "This realm was once known as Jekkad. But now...it is Hell," he says with a scowl. "A realm I've defeated, over and over, though my recent victory may be final. But I honestly doubt it, as I get a feeling that even losing their Primeval wouldn't be the end. Sure, it may be a few eons or so, for them to regroup. It may involve powers and entities unknown to me. But Hell will rise again. And I'll be ready for them," he says darkly, and the girls get a shudder.
"And up here..." He now draws another mushroom cap, but right side up, above everything. "This is Urdak. The Maykrs there, no E, and a Y after the A, would tell you it's heaven. BUT it's a dying realm. Dying, but the Khan Maykr wanted to use Hell to invade Earth, to harvest their souls as energy to rejuvinate the place. She was an ugly bitch without the mask. So too was Samur, which makes me wonder if it's natural for all Maykrs, or if it's a result of Hell corruption. But back on track...Urdak is hyperup from the...let's call this the mortal system plane. 4th dimension up."
"And that's just what I know, so far. I know there's more out there," he says, waving his hand all around the cosmological holo-picture he drew. There's likely things outside of all this. Davoth was a Primeval, but that does not make him the god of all things, or to use a popular comic version, The One Above All. And there might be more mortal universes out there, it's hard to say. I just know of these three worlds," he finishes. All the girls were looking stunned, though not fully comprehending the magnitude of what he had just explained. After a few minutes of recovery, Marion spoke up.
"That's...mind-blowing, as you said. But I realized you said it relates to something you wanted to do. How does all this..." she waves her hand around the Slayer's hologram, "have anything to do with that?"
"Good question Mari," he answers, grabbing the Remnant universe. "I don't know where Remnant sits, relative to everything else. I need to find roughly where we are now, relative to everything else," he explains, moving Remnant around to various locations in the mortal system. "If possible? I'd also activate a beacon." The Remnant universe starts to pulse with light to demonstrate. "If it works? ADN, likely with Earth help, can pick it up, and locate us. Why ADN? Well...the FOD was pretty much made by them. Sure, there's Maykr tech in there as well. But the FOD's original blueprints were drawn by Sentinel hands. They'd be the ones who'd be the most likely to pick it up, though they took a beating. Good news is, thanks to Hell's invasion of Earth, and all that? These 2 will know of each other," he says, bringing the Earth and ADN universes close together. "They can't afford to ignore each other."
Nixera they hits a realization, upon hearing all that. "Wait...let's say all that happens. Does that mean they'd get in contact with you? Or for that matter...will more of your people come here, to Remnant?"
"That...is a good question. One I can't answer. They may not even know I'm alive. I was last in Hell, in a stone sarcophagus. And even I can't say how I got to Remnant." Still, that'd be quite interesting, if they DID come here. Commander Valen would be a welcome addition. I'd say he's FULLY redeemed himself, leading the battle of Immora. He wouldn't be Commander anymore. Maybe more like Captain, or even General. Hell...I'd let him wear the crown of the Night Sentinels. Though if he insisted I remain king...I'd let him rule in my stead. He'd get to manage the army, and if he knows how, do all the political stuff too. Especially if the fact that multiple worlds look up to me is considered, he'd get ADN. Not sure about Earth though.
Thinking of Earth...well, I'll admit there's not too many faces there I'd want to see. That ARC intern would be one of those, for sure. I never got his name, but with how helpful he was? I'd give him a place of honor. Doing what, I'm not sure, but something. Might get a secretarial job, or something. Real issue is I don't know what he can do, outside of dial up portal locations.
But there's one other person, who's name I DO know, I'd be interested in seeing. Dr. Elena Richardson. It was interesting, listening to her go from "He's not a god," to "He might be a god," to "He IS a god!," and finally to "All hail the Doom Slayer!" Not only that...but from the sounds of her voice? She's likely to do ANYTHING I want. She'd obey my every whim, and desire."
The Slayer paused in his inner monologue, as he imagined everything Dr. Richardson would likely do for him. There was no doubt that she got...excited, while recording those logs. And that if he wanted her to...she would be all too happy to spread her legs for him. And the Slayer didn't know how he felt about that, mainly worrying if he'd be taking advantage.
Yet he felt a stir, which told him he was not completely opposed to the idea. It's been a while, hasn't it? I've gone for so long without female attention, I've forgotten what it's like. And not just getting the dick wet. I've forgotten what it's like to have female company. His thoughts went to his teammates for a brief moment. Maybe I should do something about that. Right now...all we've done, has been as friends. No harm if I wanted to...take them on a date, somewhere, sometime.
It was then that other flashes hit his mind. Mainly of the other girls in the Diamond Sentinels, and even other ladies like Glynda Goodwitch, the ice girl Winter, even the Malachite twins, as well as rumors he's heard. Remnant produces some beauties, that's for sure. Guys of this world...you all are quite lucky. Jaune, Ren, I'll help you 2 along. Your respective ladies deserve ALL the attention you can give. And Jaune...you have a literal CELEBRITY that loves you. You WILL treat her well. He even imagined saying all that to Jaune's face, even waving his hand like he was attempting a Jedi mind trick. And they age gracefully too. I mean...Miss Goodwitch, I'll have to play you the song "Hot for Teacher" sometime.
But more thoughts hit him, and not positive ones either. A couple things. First off...is age difference. I mean...I'm primordial aged. They're all WAY young. There's also the fact that I'm immortal, and they're not. Though with that last thought, a different idea came into his head, that seemed wise. Asari have learned to live with having multiple lovers over the course of their lives, considering they get like, a millennium. And they don't regret it, at all. Heh, if a race of ficitional blue aliens that can mate with ANYONE, male, female, and any race, can make it work...so can I. I've been denied the Gift of Men, and would likely BE the one to lead Dagor Dagorath, Ragnarok, and beyond. So I should make the most of it.
"Hey...Bill? You kinda spaced out there," Marion says, waving her hand in his face.
"Oh, don't worry, just thinking," he says, shaking his head.
"About what? Let me guess, troubles related to the multiverse?" Nixera asks with a smile.
"Not sure I'd say multiverse," Slayer responds, "Nor am I sure what I would say. But yeah...that's part of it. And my immortality."
"I'm not surprised. I bet it comes with all sorts of complications, navigating the sandwich of reality," Daisy says with a chuckle, everyone looking at her. "What? Urdak and Hell sandwich everything else," she says, demonstrating with the hologram. "So reality is a sandwich. Or a burger. Which I think counts as a sandwich," she laughs, everyone else joining in.
"I think the bunny is hungry," Nixera says, poking her stomach, as they break for lunch, agreeing that in a few days they'd go to scout Mountain Glenn.
The next day, the Slayer was in his workshop, busy with the equipment launcher of his armor. It was tricky, trying to tune the variables of what he was calling the Thunderbolt just right so it would produce the desired effect. Luckily, long ago he had learned to keep sensors in his armor, for the detection of various energies and changes that occurred, so upgrades and changes could be more easily made.
He heard someone come in, only to find it was Marion, escorting a little girl that looked like her in miniature, about ten, but thinner and paler. "Hey Mari. And you must be Viri," he says sweetly to the little girl, who heads over to him, giving him a small hug that he returns, but after pushing his work further back on his desk. "I've heard you've been sick in bed. What are you doing up? And not just out of bed either, but up here on the FOD?"
"My big sis could afford medicines!" Viri says excitedly. "She says that thanks to you sir, I can get better," she continues, even jumping into his lap. "And she thinks it's safer, and better for me up here."
"That may be," the Slayer smiles. "The air filters in this place are AMAZING. On top of that, when the air recirculates, it goes through a chamber that's unshielded from solar radiation, which kills any microbe present. And it would take a HEARTY bacterium or virus to survive that," he explains to her. "As for other things? Yeah, it might be safer up here. No nasty Grimm can get up here. Though it now makes me wonder...Grimm aren't counted as living. Would vacuum kill them?" He pondered out loud.
"So whatcha working on?" Viri asks as she looks at his cluttered work table.
"I'm calling it the Thunderbolt. Apparently, it seems that if I shock things, Aura will be refilled," he explains to her, as Marion watches with pride at the 2 of them getting along. "So I'm ensuring I can do that on the regular. But it's dangerous, so don't touch," he tells her sternly.
"OK. What's this?" She asks, as she grabs a nearby shotgun shell gingerly.
"Oh that is a shotgun shell. Twelve-gauge, double-aught buckshot. Perfect for killing demons, or Grimm," he explains, and Viri's eyes light up, as the Slayer pulls up a hologram to explain, showing a cutaway view. "This metal part is the primer. When I shoot, a spring forces a hammer to strike this center pin. This ignites the gunpowder, here," he points to the black part. "This ignites, forcing this plastic piece, called the wad, away. This wad in turn pushes the pellets down the barrel, and once they exit the barrel, they spread in many directions," he finishes as he makes the holographic shotgun shell fire in slow motion to show it all in action.
"But where's the Dust?" Viri asks. "Don't all guns need Dust to work?" Marion leans in closer as well, with a raised eyebrow.
"No, it's gunpow..." the Slayer was about to explain, but a thought comes to him. "Marion...do you happen to have a bullet on you?" He asks her, a theory forming in his mind.
Marion fetches him one, leaning closer as he examines it, noticing the Dust within, then pulling out a regular bullet as he knew it. "You guys use Dust for everything, right?" He asks the girls, though it's mostly directed at Marion, and both the sisters nod. "Does Remnant...not have gunpowder?"
"Never heard of it. It's all Dust, which is why ammo can be expensive. Especially with the SDC having a monopoly," Marion explains.
The bullets fall from the Slayer's hand. "Mari...what if I demonstrated the knowledge of gunpowder to you all? We sell plasma cells, in limited quantities. But regular gunpowder-based ammo..."
"That depends sir. How cheap would it be?"
"DIRT cheap to make. Gunpowder is quite simple. My world has known the recipe for centuries. Though it's only recently it's been modified. Early versions had a lot of smoke involved," he explains. "And I can show various weapons too, that are ALSO cheap. My world has plenty of classics," he says as he makes them appear on the hologram. "M16's, AK-47's, MP5's, SPAS-12's, and far, FAR more," he says, showing each gun on the hologram, the sisters looking in awe.
"There are small villages and tribes, way out in the woods. Defense...can be an issue," Marion explains. "They'd be great customers."
"Now, I'd throw in lessons," Slayer adds. "Though some guns are easy. AK-47's?" He pulls up the hologram of one. "They're so simple, children could use them," he says, but his face gets dark as he adds, "And unfortunately, in the past...they have. Yes I know that's fu—messed up," he censors himself for Viri's sake. "Warlords in Africa. This weapon, although cheap, and popular, to the point that one in five small arms was this gun...is known universally as the bad guy gun," he explains.
"But still...something we can look into. Especially once we check out Glenn, and other places," Marion says, sitting next to him, and Slayer continued to explain and talk for the rest of the day.
The day came when DMND were preparing for their expedition to Mt. Glenn. "So, what exactly ARE our goals?" Marion asks as they gathered in the command center, around the hologram. "I don't think we should just single-handedly just take it over in one sitting. It's too big. And you might be good sir, but even you can't be everywhere at once."
"Good question," the Slayer answers. "For now? An overview. Some major streets, and a general map. Also, if possible? A base camp. Somewhere secure from which we can observe the situation, so likely on top of a building, that's still intact and secure," he explains, running his sharpening stone over the Doom Blade. "Now, granted, it's likely we'll secure multiple base camps all across the area. Clear it out, quadrant by quadrant. Luckily, I was able to whip up some equipment that will help us, all in my pocket dimension," he explains. "So we have various sensors, deterrents, and even some drones. Also a holotable, for mapping."
"You came prepared, huh?" Daisy chuckles. "Are you always this prepared? If a girl came onto you right now, would you be able to whip out a con—mmph!" she was about to say, before Marion covered her mouth.
"Seeing us off Viri?" Marion asks, seeing her sister in the doorway. "Keep it PG," she whispers to Daisy as she removes her hand.
"You're all going to make things better right?" Viri asks as she comes up to them.
"Yes we are," Nixera says with a smile, petting Viri's head.
"By the way...Glenn has an EXTENSIVE underground, from all the old reports," Daisy says. "Will we be mapping those out too?"
"Not today. We'll get there eventually, but I feel even that's too much for today," the Slayer answers.
"Oh, and I got something for us," Marion says, holding out a box. "A little sweet prior to us going," she says as she puts it down and opens it, revealing a variety of donuts. "Curious little shop. For whatever reason, the person who made the sign mispelled Donuts as Dontus, and the owners have learned to accept it. The one at the counter is an interesting guy, will talk your ear off about history, insisting certain things happened in a certain way. The baker's friendly too, I think he got referred to as Strike," she says, as everyone grabs a donut.
"You know..." Daisy says with mouth full of donut. "I thought you didn't have that much of a need to eat," she says to the Slayer.
"Just because the need isn't there, doesn't mean the desire is gone," the Slayer chuckles as he eats a donut. "Deep down, at a fundamental level? I'm still human. I still enjoy eating. I probably would enjoy sleeping too...if not for nightmares," he continues darkly, shuddering. "I've seen too much death," he explains quietly.
"An immortal man, with abilities that defy explanation, with a man's soul," Marion observes. "It actually makes me wonder..." she turns to face the Slayer fully. "And answer truthfully, please." The room grows quiet as everyone looks at her, pausing their eating. "Are you...a god?"
The Slayer thinks for a bit, and sighs. "I...I might be. You see, before I came to Remnant, I killed a god. His name was Davoth, the Dark Lord of Hell. He was what's known as a Primeval, which as I recall...they're basically the gods of realms. Each realm has one, in theory. And I think when I killed Davoth...I became a Primeval myself. Beforehand? I may have been more...a god-prince, of sorts. I wielded his power against his armies, and even used it against the man himself. That...was an annoying battle, realizing he had the same powers as me, fully able to use them," Slayer says, another sigh leaving him.
"So to answer your question? I might be a god. I've certainly lived longer than some gods have in Earth's mythology. At this rate...only the Abrahamic God may be older than me." And I have a feeling he's out there, still. I hope HE's friendly. I honestly would rather NOT have to kill the big G, but I will if I have to. What'd be worse though? I really, REALLY hope the big J doesn't have to go on my hitlist, if he's real too, and he's as friendly as everyone makes him out to be. I also hope he'd understand my situation, seeing as we're polar opposites, yet still work for the good of humanity. I would ruin faith for billions, and would be universally despised, if I had to kill him. But...I'll do what I must.
"So yes, I might be a god. I might actually be a Primeval. Does Remnant have one? I don't know. I'm the newcomer to the god club, so I can't claim knowledge of all the rules. All of what I could and couldn't do. All I can claim is I know how to kill, and can do so without stopping or slowing down," he finishes, as all 4 girls listen intently.
"Wow...a real god, amongst us. Should we start saying Your Holi—" Daisy nearly asks, but gets silenced.
"If anything? You could say my body is a god. My soul is a man," the Slayer explains. "And DON'T do that. I was king of the Sentinels once, and that can be rough when you want someone to see you as you, not as their king. But a king leaves the throne eventually. Gods...don't have rules of succession. So please, no 'Your Holiness,' no praying, no trying to get people to worship me. Let my actions do the talking. If people find a god in me, let them do so, in their own way. Ok, with a few lessons here and there," he explains firmly. "But to you all? You all get to know my soul is of a man. And that's what I prefer to be, because then I can be me."
"That was almost poetic," Daisy says with a smile. "You know? We should do something soon. No weapons, no Grimm, just...us," she continues. "Something fun."
The others are about to agree, but Nixera chimes in. "Wait...would that be a date? A group date?" She asks with a light blush. "I-I mean, I like you all, especially you Dais, but a date? The 4 of us?"
"I'm fine with the idea," Marion says. "I mean, it doesn't have to imply romance, would it? Real question is...would you approve?" she asks the Slayer.
"It...would be unusual," he admits. "But I don't think I'd say no. I mean, a group thing is unusual, but the question would be the fact I out-age everyone on this planet, and if you're OK with that."
"That just means you've passed any awkward phase, ever," Daisy says. "And it means you have stories to tell. And I'm sure we'd all love to hear them someday."
"Anyway...shall we get going?" Marion asks, and they all nod. Slayer puts on his helmet, and Viri waves goodbye as they walk through the portal to Mountain Glenn.
