John was antsy. "Right, so here we have my initial peace offering to reality: Updated Templates."

The girls looked suitably impressed, which he deeply appreciated… This had been a PAIN to get right! "Thanks to Temptation's logs over the chaos going on in zombie heaven, I've created a number of standardized templates for the Zamboni Hoards. From the basic used-to-be Sun-Johns all the way up to king Sunny ZZ-Brony himself, all patched up and ready to go!"

And hadn't THAT taken longer than expected. "I've left them configured to use the same settings as other Templates here, but these new options have additional toggles you can play with… One to disconnect child instances from the Template when spawned, another to force updates upon all the children using the parent as the source, an option to merge two templates and have the children 'adopted' into the new line, and so on and so forth."

John glanced at his attentive audience and tapped the data. "When WE use this Template method in the future, it will default to 'orphan' child instances for security reasons. I'm not actually sure how someone could alter our Templates using a single unit of its offspring… But I managed to do it somehow, so it's best to be safe, right?" Right.

He forced back a yawn… This mess took FOREVER to get right. "I tossed in a few test options and examples and stuff too, so reality has something to work with here, but this is pretty much just patching up the mess I made. Moving on!"

He shifted to the covered tray. "THIS is the reason I hope that existence will actually forgive me… The Essence Pie Template!" With a WHOOSH of steam and deliciousness, the pie was revealed!

The girls cheerfully clapped! "Thank you both, this took… WAY longer to set up than I expected. This particular Template is also a good example of why I haven't converted ALL my Crafting into using this stuff in the background, by the way… Using raw Essence is more efficient and self correcting most of the time."

He tapped the pie Template with some Sun nodules and watched a new instance spawn. "But since we won't be here forever, THIS will allow reality to directly convert raw Sun into delicious Essence Pies long after we leave."

Picking up the slice… Ooh, strawberry rhubarb… Mmm. "Anyway, this will give Homeowners, Plants, and Zombies something they can enjoy since it will shift into whatever they wish when they try to eat it. Maybe even help fix Crazy Dave's diet… Might act as a stimulant to the plant's spell matrices, actually… Meh, it should be fine."

Where was he? Oh, right. "I'm hoping that this combined with the various 'hilarious' videos my sister took of me while high on Sun will convince this plane of existence to stop grumbling at me for a bit. I mean, yeah: I deserve it all… But it feels BAD to have all of creation glare at you. Even from here, which really shouldn't be possible."

At first he had just assumed it was his own guilty consciousness… Until his sister had sent reality a video clip of him being mortified over his past actions and he distinctly detected amusement from the nothingness.

Moving on… "So what do you think?"

Grace hummed. "Of course these gifts will be appreciated… But I feel you may be overestimating exactly how 'angry' reality actually is."

Her sister nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting real 'exasperated older sibling' vibes from this place, not 'angry rage mob' mentality. If anything, this place seems to consider you as some sort of infantile new reality cluster… Maybe it even EXPECTS you to just cause chaos like this."

Huh. He glanced at the Pie Template… "Well, best be sure. And if it DOES have fond feelings for me despite all this, then that's an even BETTER reason to try and get on its good side with a bribe or two."

Honestly, these two bits had taken a long time to get set up… But once John had cracked the whole Template method open, the only holdup was the calibration process for each new item Templated.

Sure, he already HAD a module that would automatically build an attempt at a Template with every Scan conducted by his System… But the automated options were always a bit off.

So each and every template needed… Adjustment. A little massage to get the outcome just right, and ensure small errors like overlapping materials or superimposed ingredients didn't occur.

It was finicky and annoying work… Which is why John was stopping HERE, with the pie and the apology templates. There were plans on his agenda to go through all his previous Crafting Chests, to update them to use Templating for efficiency and stability reasons…

But only later. Not now, when his fragmented Mind hurt like a bad sunburn as it recovered.

John shivered as the echoes of last thoughts flickered through his Mind…

No. Focus. "So! The apology Templates, infinite pie… And a handwritten apology letter, since I don't know how to get back to the afterlife where I left from since I didn't actually reincarnate when I left. That's good enough, yeah?"

Grace and Temptation nodded… Good enough! "Now I just need to hand these off to my sister… Uh." Wait, was she still asleep? "How long has sis been napping?"

Grace glanced to one side, checking. "Seven hours or so. And counting."

Huh. "Well, she has been pretty stressed lately… Meh, we can just send this on ourselves. Not like we are going back out THERE anyway, what with the endless chaos and warfare going on between all the armies of undead and plants and stuff."

After all, they STILL weren't sure what exactly caused John to go all loopy. Oh becoming a multitude made things WORSE, but the initial cause? Was it consuming Sun, or eating plants, or the act of dying/being reborn? No clue.

So best not to risk it. "How do we do this, anyway? Do I just find a really big envelope or…"

Temptation placed a box on the table. "Just put them in here and I'll put a stamp on it."

…Well, alright then!

~~~Pocket System~~~

Jessica pulled up the data. "THIS is our next Realm. Chosen because it is complicated, dangerous, and overly layered on itself."

She glanced at her attentive agents. "If John can show up here for a while and leave without being noticed, then the stress test on our defenses will be declared beyond successful… But at this point we are just aiming for him to be able to arrive at this place without all of the many layers of reality punting him out."

Or worse, choosing to adopt him at the same time and having all of existence go into a feud over custody.

Either way, those were the goals. "Now, theoretically he could just show up in one of these dimensional fragments at some arbitrary time shard within these near dead reality clusters… But that wouldn't really be a successful test nor proof that these new modules are going to keep my brother and us safe."

She glanced at the data again and winced. "In fact, that would be similar to a kid skipping a stone into the pool and then claiming that he was now a diving expert."

Sigh. "So we will have to let John be himself for a while. If anything would force a hidden observer into action, I have no doubt my sibling's chaos would be at the top of that list."

Still, that didn't mean they had to TRY and make things difficult for themselves… "Now everyone, please look at the provided list of suggested entry points that we will be reviewing today. All of them have some similar points of commonality, ones that I hope will keep both my brother safe AND the new defenses well tested!"

Jessica gave them a bit to look it over… "Most of these entry locations are outside of the largest dimensional layers. A few belong to certain entities, like demons and some such, which are surprisingly undefended and unmonitored… It seems that mystical and spiritual entities tend to be lazy and unmotivated when not actively pursuing some goal or agenda, and I hope to take advantage of that."

She made a number of those items highlighted… The new and improved Transfer modules made this process SO much easier! "Within those options, I'm focusing on these specific energy signals. They are marked as both Magical beyond average and unattended… I'm pretty sure several are stockpiles or vaults, while a few may actually be the magical version of a dumping ground. Stuff we can have John acquire for research, but hopefully won't be monitored or missed when it is taken."

Plus, from a moral standpoint… Stealing from demons was probably fine. Right?

…Might be best to make sure. "When we arrive, assuming John is able to be deployed at all without the entire cluster mess stomping him into the ground, these targets will be further analyzed. Some seem defended by Magic or Souls, Psionics or Conceptual restrictions… But others will hopefully be far less tricky for us to interact with once John is in the field."

Sure, her brother could probably smash whatever was in the way like some sort of Godzilla nomming on Tokyo, but if THAT option was selected, then the defensive modules would pretty much give up on any attempt at being stealthy. For obvious reasons.

She glanced at the concerned agents… "As many of you know, this is thankfully the final 'test run' of our security system. AFTER this Realm, we will be able to actually join him again as he continues his journey. This obviously includes the girls and I, along with all field agents and members of John's kingdom that have expressed interest in exploring these new places."

The murmuring of the crowd thankfully took on a much more optimistic and upbeat feeling to it after that… Good. "

A few taps changed the screens to show odd maps with warped colors. "These are the regions we wish to avoid. Areas dominated by the raw concepts of Chaos or Order, zones that are less dimensional clusters and more raw Soul Domains that allow people to visit, a number of regions that don't exist until someone is there to observe them, and so forth. This brings us to the task I am now assigning to all teams not currently occupied with research!"

Jessica looked over her people. "I need at least a dozen 'safe' locations near each potential Magical target we may send John after, safe locations that he can either retreat towards to escape danger or places he can travel to continue his exploration. And by 'safe', I mean locations that are not actively hostile to outsiders… Beyond that, we need to just trust in John's absurd luck and charisma to carry the day."

Because honestly, who else other than her brother could stumble into a new Realm, cause more chaos in a few days than had been seen for millenia, and somehow in the process make FRIENDS with the reality he was accidentally devastating?

Her brother had surprisingly good people skills. Especially with those who were only debatably people to begin with. "Now, are there any questions?"

A multitude of hands went up… Damn it. "Right, one at a time please… You, Agent G323."

The woman blinked, apparently surprised to be picked… But quickly rallied. "Um, yes ma'am! I just wanted to know if there is any policy concerning Sun collection and use by agents. There's not actually a policy in place, and they aren't currently documented as being addictive…"

…Damn it. "Are my agents snorting Sun clusters?"

Some awkward shuffling. Shit. "Are they at least doing it when OFF duty shift?"

Awkward silence.

Fuck it. "Have a research team verify the effects of Sun when used for recreational or medicinal purposes. Until we get a report BACK on this subject, no injecting or gumming Sun while on duty, understood?"

""""YES MA'AM!""""

Jessica glared at the idiots. "I would RATHER ban the use of this stuff entirely, at least in the short term considering how 'high' and 'loopy' my brother became after interacting with it… But at the very least, I insist that every team with a member who is partaking in Sun dosing be under the close and active observation by a team member who is NOT indulging in said energy bundles. Understood?"

""""YES MA'AM!""""

Sheesh. "For now, we treat it like drinking and other recreational drug usage… Not on duty, and not in excess. Now! Get split up into teams and start analyzing our next Realm for dangerous traps. I'm not going to let my brother just wander into a reality layer composed of dark matter if we can prevent it."

""""YES MA'AM!""""

Jessica waved them off and tried to focus back on her own self appointed tasks… But could help but grumble to herself. Agents snorting raw Sun energy, because of course some would.

Just went to prove that being competent and professional and talented did not EXCLUDE one from also being an idiot.

System, make sure to track any users for side effects while this issue is being researched, alright?

[[Yes, user Jessica.]]

Good.