Jessica grumbled as she rejoined John. "Of COURSE they would show up at the last second."
John hummed as he checked, once again, that his girls were safe in his Pocket. Just to be sure. Right there, in the safest spot, near his Pocket Pals. "Who?"
His sister jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "The Potential Slayers and their Watchers. I sent out a bunch of anonymous, fully paid 'transfer order' documents to them when you were dismantling the Watcher's Council back then."
She pulled up a screen of one of the nicer Doe Park underground neighborhoods. "So while the Watchers were suddenly crippled in debt with no income or savings, they would ALSO receive a wad of cash and encoded orders to relocate here, for 'safety' reasons."
John blinked. "Wouldn't that be… VERY suspicious?"
Jessica waved it off. "Nah, it followed all the normal 'relocate, you are compromised' hidden procedures and I added in a 'Stay silent for 3 year' protocol that exists for some reason, so the only bit that had them hesitant was us paying for everything despite 'our recent financial issues'."
Huh. "I feel like a random letter to a bunch of young girls ordering them to move to a new underground base in a different state would meet far greater resistance than that."
His sister frowned, frustrated. "Nope! Turns out the Council tended to ostracize their 'new recruits' and keep them socially distanced from anything and everyone. Easier to control the girls this way. So yeah, forcing them all to move randomly was EASY compared to getting them to accept the free payments to get here."
Because evil shit was common and benevolent offers were normally 100% sketchy, right. "This world sucks."
Jessica shrugged. "Well, I pointed Buffy and her mom at the new army of highly trained potential demon mulchers moving in and gave them all a lifetime's worth of free income. I'm sure their 'big sister Slayer' would have an opinion or two if the Watchers ever find out that the relocation orders didn't come from their leadership and wanted to complain about it."
Fair enough. "So are we good to go?" One more check: Grace and Temptation still there. Good.
She nodded. "Yeah, let's do this. Hopefully the next place will suck less than a town soaked in the powers of Hell."
Yeah, good point. "I'm personally going to be aiming for a brand new Body, around 10 or so… And somewhere we DON'T have to fix everything to have a bit of a relaxing vacation! An extra step or two later on is WORTH some down time now, in my opinion."
Ignoring his agreeing sibling, John began listing requirements. "Next location needs to have little to no ongoing conflicts. Not political, sociological, theological, economical, nothing! Peace is the priority here, alright?"
[[Adjusting trajectory according to requirements.]]
Jessica hummed. "Can we aim for somewhere with low income disparity? Like, no 'all the money' rich people and no armies of starving children? Just… Everybody is at least able to survive each day on average, kind of thing. Even if the place is peaceful, I don't think I could relax if I saw a bunch of people begging in the gutters or abusing crowds of slaves or whatver."
Oh, good point! John added it to the list. "So, peaceful AND something sort of socialist I guess. Or like Canada, where basic needs like medical care are just provided instead of pumped for profit." Wait, that was a good idea! "In fact, a place with like ONE government, that should fix a bunch of issues right? Can't have wars between nations if there is like only one nation."
She winced. "Sounds like a good recipe for tyranny."
Hmm. "I could tack on 'The vast majority of subjects are somewhat content'? I don't like the idea of restricting us to somewhere 'Everybody is happy' or whatever, that is just begging for bad stuff behind the scenes."
His sister tapped her foot, considering that… And eventually gave a nod. "Global peace, one government, no massive income disparity, no huge waves of social discontent.
Sweet!
[[Adjusting trajectory according to requirements.]]
And they were ready to go!
…Mostly.
John whispered while facing away from his sister. "Also it needs to have technology or magic advanced enough for me to upgrade my Iron Golems into people able to exist in places where Essence is not stable enough to support itself autonomously."
Jessica blinked. "Wait, what was that last bit?"
[[Adjusting trajectory according to requirements.]]
Sweet! "Nothing, I'll pull you out of our Pocket when I know it's safe. Let's go!"
She frowned. "Hang on, w…"
[[Pocket.]]
And his sister vanished into safe storage for the trip. Alright, everything was packed up and it was time to skedaddle!
Let's do this! "Recycle this Body entirely, please, and make me something local when we arrive. Below the age of pubescence for whatever species I end up being too, alright?"
[[Confirmed.]]
[[Pocket.]]
[[Transfer.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
[[System connection reestablished.]]
[[WARNING! Realm contaminated by beings beyond HOST's handling capacity!]]
[[Mapping variant option.]]
[[Transfer.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
[[System connection reestablished.]]
[[WARNING! Realm contaminated by beings beyond HOST's handling capacity!]]
[[Mapping variant option.]]
[[Transfer.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
[[System connection reestablished.]]
[[WARNING! Realm contaminated by beings beyond HOST's handling capacity!]]
[[Mapping variant option.]]
[[Transfer.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
[[System connection reestablished.]]
[[Realm abandoned by beings beyond HOST's handling capacity, designation Realm locked.]]
[[Scanning local sapient species for new Body template.]]
[[Local sapient species rapidly accelerates aging for children to efficiently reach prime maturity, adjusting age of HOST Body to infancy to best match requirements.]]
[[Deploying HOST.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
John felt confused. 'Wha?'
And tiny. And weak.
His limbs couldn't really move either.
Alright, this… This didn't seem to be right. What was going on?
[[Local sapient species either adapts other adopted species into the local population or scientifically generates newborns in lab environments to replace the aging generation. To more efficiently raise the children, their minds are connected to a digital simulation accelerated for 'childhood' while bodies are adjusted, enhanced, and biologically aged to reach optimum maturity with most optimal muscle density and body mass.]]
Huh? Why couldn't he move!?
[[Bodies are subjected to customly designed and modified training routines while the mind and 'self' is growing within mental simulation systems to properly establish needed 'muscle memories' and reflexes. Currently, HOST's Body is being proactively modified in preparation for these upcoming procedures.]]
…Wait.
John rapidly reviewed the massive amount of data coming in… And yes.
He was a baby.
What. The. Fuck!?
[[...HOST can not be prepubescent in this Realm at any other age. Beyond this is rapid age acceleration to biological maturity.]]
Man this was strange, and it SUCKED that he couldn't even blink right now, much less rant!
Wait, go back a bit. Body modification? When was THAT bit of wonderfulness going to start kicking in? Bet that was going to hurt like a bitch.
[[Procedure has been optimized to the point where processed infants and adopted species can undergo needed modifications without synaptic interactions. Current ongoing modifications are 39% completed, and HOST will be uploaded to the digital simulation before Body refinement steps requiring less pleasant mental interactions continue.]]
So what, he was being 'modified' right now and couldn't even tell?
[['Pain', 'Torture', 'Stress', etc., were determined to be inefficient and thus optimized out of the vast majority of local medical operations. Only newly assimilated species or newly developed procedures may experience such issues until the new advancements can be properly optimized.]]
Huh. Well… That was nice. How was he in this thing though? This pod or operating table or whatever this was, he couldn't open his eyes for some reason.
[[HOST's Body's eyes are being modified, and are currently disabled.]]
…Ah. Wonderful.
Moving on.
HOW was he here? Didn't anyone ask, 'Hey! Where did this random baby come from'?
[[HOST's Body was deployed within a birthing pod, the following processing procedures are automatic and require no oversight or supervision. Insertion into local culture will be successful. Previously scheduled baby's birth was delayed until HOST is fully processed and the birthing pod becomes available once more.]]
Huh.
…So what, he just had to wait here?
[[Most newborns are unaware of the passage of time, and ambient resonance ensures a calming and soothing atmosphere for the processing and modification procedures until their mind is connected to the digital simulation and disconnected from further processing.]]
Lame!
Meh, whatever. Was Jessica going to have to go through this too though?
[[HOST's sibling did not request a prepubesic Body and thus will be generated via genetic extrapolation and modified to include local alterations required of all citizens. Her original Body will be stored for the duration of this Realm transversal.]]
Uh… Maybe DON'T let her pop in with a heavily modified brand new Body just yet? That would probably freak her the hell out. Justifiably.
Because this was WAY beyond what John was expecting, and it was best to let him look around and make sure all this mess was safe first. Until then, Jessica was in Pocket lock down. Same for the girls too, they may be made out of Magical Essence of Iron and the Concept of Defenders, but… Best be safe and logical about all this.
Damn it, that was going to be a fun conversation. 'Hey sis! Wanna hang out? Welp, let me just get the medical bed set up and the tools sterilized so we get you properly modified!'
On the other hand, maybe the 'modifications' were fairly minor, like how hospitals gave out vaccinations or whatever. Or how some kids have extra toes removed, or fingers that didn't separate or whatnot.
[[...]]
…The changes weren't minor, were they?
[[To ensure proper efficiency and optimization, the local sapient species does not mandate a uniform listing of modifications or prosthetics or alterations for every individual processed. Instead a listing of required capabilities for their designated function is generated and a unique set of procedures are developed for each newly born infant or assimilated entity. This ensures the cutting edge of advanced technology is tested for data gathering purposes while also increasing the potential for new breakthroughs or advancements that can be adopted by others within the collective. Any such experimental procedures will still ensure the newly processed drones could still fulfill any requirements mandated by their new roles without additional adjustments.]]
John couldn't sigh, but he wanted to.
The changes were massive, weren't they?
[[...The assigned role for HOST was unacceptable, and a customized list of capabilities were provided by the System instead of the one suggested by the automated Birthing Pod.]]
Damn it.
Fine, whatever. Keep Jessica out of this until he had time to 'grow up' and get his new body and stuff. And keep Hope and Temptation and his Pocket Pals safe, alright?
[[Confirmed.]]
Until then, he was going to be stuck like this in a half-asleep, half-awake soothing state.
Which was just wonderful, really. Just wond… Just…
[[HOST's Mind substitute avatar now undergoing deployment within digital simulation.]]
~~~Pocket System~~~
John blinked at the small crowd of fellow infants being cared for by what seemed to be cyborgs.
Wait, by the SAME cyborg, who seemed to be designed to be the most idealized 'mother' as determined by his species. She was just copy pasted for the entire crowd, not that any of the babies understood what was going on to even notice.
Huh.
She was strangely artistic, with blinking lights glittering in soothing patterns along the thin black materials attached to her body.
[[Unlike field deployed units or drones optimized for battle, utility or domestic units are adjusted for peak efficiency, long term reliability, low cost maintenance, and reduced requirements for sustenance and other biological requirements. Promoting 'symmetry', 'beauty', 'simplicity', and other such criteria has shown a numerical boost in long term performance and reliability of function fulfillment.]]
Wait, optimized for battle? But this WAS a peaceful place, yes?
[[Historically, yes. Conflict ended several centuries prior to HOST's arrival. Societal drive and mandates have shifted fully away from expansion and acquiring biological and technological distinctiveness, instead redirected towards optimization, efficiency over time, durability, and ongoing advancement of scientific fields of research.]]
That was… Good?
Then the world swirled a bit as the woman who had been checking his simulated biological modifications lifted him into her arms with a smile, a number of cords and tubes attaching from her prosthetic right arm and connecting into his spinal implants.
It felt… Nice.
As the simulated nutrients 'fed' his 'body' in her arms, he began to feel more and more drowsy… As the locally networked mini-hive of infants gently murmured in the background of his mind.
It was warm and soft and innocent, the touch of new life in a strange digital world, one that flew through time like wings of a prayer as bodies grew and were trained and enhanced somewhere else.
The whispers of new angels in a confusing world. Of a new spark in the sky, of new stars to join the heavens, of little ones that were too young to truly dream yet.
And as John slumbered, he murmured back to them.
[[...I was lost in the nothing, I dreamed in the dark. I hoped for salvation, yet I lost my own spark. My world was broken, thoughts lost and mind mad… I cried in the nothing, lost all that I had…]]
Time moved quickly outside this place, in that world abandoned by things beyond Gods.
But here, in the arms of strangers and the sea of young, Time dreamed as well.
[[...I was so very alone, and it was all that I knew! And I drifted there slowly, beyond everyone's view. But I have since found my home, though it is awfully new… And if I found myself, then you'll find yourself too!…]]