no ex neoto Chapter 4: brok 3, a book x-overs fanfic

e original idea was to wait a couple of weeks for the new Celestial Garden to prove itself stable, now that Mai's giant body was combined with the spell based computer. It would ensure that Adam leaving the dimension would not threaten Mai's stability or abilities, while this Realm which was so filled with magic would slowly adjust the spell hardware to better fit the giant clubhouse.

Well, that was Adam's plan at least.

Two days later however, both Twilight's had pushed him into her 'Science Dungeon' and hooked him up to dozens of wires for his new (And likely last) power from this Realm.

Squishy had determined that three powers was the minimum possible to ensure a stable soul, and even then it required his Worm soul as a base support. So.

Adam glanced at the crowd. All his mind population was out, including Narwhal who was in a 'support cuddle' with Dragon in the corner. The foals were still grounded, but Princess Luna had shown up... and was trying to ignore Nightmare Moon's section of the lab.

With a deep, calming breath...

"Consume."

His MLP soul twisted, before the trunk gained a hideous fang filled mouth. There was no face like the trees from the Everfree Forest, but the darkness within the jaws was absolute.

Now for the test, the one that should speed up his departure time by leaps and bounds if successful.

"Transfer: Summon: Flame of the Abyss."

Wincing at the pain, he focused.

"Consume: Refine: Soul Reduction."

His souls were... developing with his powers and actions over time. His initial core socket and soul from Worm still was a beautiful Fishbowl that Squishy was currently working from.

His new soul socket was a tree. Rich black wood trunk, glowing blue moss covered roots, bight blue tentacle leaves reaching toward the sun. Normally a glow fire of magic consumed the mass of soul material.

But now that flame burned empty.

A hungry, undefined color slashed the blue magic away, engulfing the tree entirely.

Oh. He was screaming. Well, it was expected.

'Recovery' was already enabled, and 'Growth' had replaced 'Consume' in the active slot for the tree itself.

It was... just. Just barely enough.

Roots twisted, grew, burned, screamed in pain.

Bark black as night was flaking into ash, exposing glossy surfaces below even as the decay spread.

Nearly all the blue tentacles had vanished, even as new ones thrust themselves into the pain and flames.

Thankfully, purified magic was being funneled into his soul by Mai. Unlike before, the added power was enabling him to recover fast enough that the damage was not able to build up as quickly.

After all, the damage he took when arriving to this world was fatal to almost anyone or anything else. Only Adam's twisted eldritch body and empowered soul had allowed such a dangerous journey. That said, this new ability was almost as dangerous, even if his new abilities mitigated the issues.

'Recovery' was burning power while 'Growth' was consuming magic, and his tree burned.

Good, his air ran out. Screaming was annoying.

Well, his soul tree now had a mouth that was ALSO screaming, but that was more an internal problem really.

His tree soul was hollow, as Squishy lived inside when visiting. But every other surface seemed to be bubbling as it burned, regrew, and adapted. The solid black bark was developing complicated runes of various species of wood and languages. The roots no longer followed the normal set of dimensions, but seemed to twist and twirl outside of normal vision.

The tentacles were struggling. Some grew short, thick, and dense. Others thin, long, and with rapid regeneration. And the strangest were the ones made from darkness, or light, or illusion.

He was glad the girls were recording this, because he was REALLY to distracted to take notes.

Squishy was... just keeping watch for now. Too likely the entire structure could pop or allow the flames to intrude inside for now, and this was AFTER a few days of passive soul refinement using just the Abyss flames alone.

Magic was... odd.

Unlike science, Magic had opinions. It was why this world didn't have mass production, because if you made a fun gadget to dry hair, it could turn into a gadget to dry bears without ponies noticing.

So this realm encouraged individual pieces of art rather than massive distributions of basic tools. It was why one of a kind magical devices didn't get duplicated a dozen times to protect the kingdom.

Make a giant ward stone to protect a kingdom? Fine. Make two? One may adopt the other, and splitting them apart could break them both. Or they may destroy the weaker and become stronger. Or one could just vanish.

This made new abilities in his soul dangerous if too... weak. All his abilities had to be on similar levels of conceptual power to safely exist side by side.

As he grit his wooden teeth, he felt Squishy carefully adjusting what little could be controlled in the burning half of his soul. Unlike the powers in his Worm Fishbowl, the Tree (as it was rapidly becoming more than a regular plant now) was constantly interacting with the three power sets generated.

Even without being socketed, 'Growth' was pushing 'Harmony' while 'Consume' was converting runoff energy into new resources for 'Growth', 'Harmony' was refining the interactions between the three as they developed, and 'Consume' was taking all the energy and power that Squishy was now hiding from the world and funneling it into the Tree itself.

He still couldn't access the abilities without socketing one individually, but unlike his Worm powers these were just... influencing each other. Growing.

Ah. Thankfully Squishy has enough control of the situation that Adam was allowed to black out from pain now.

Seriously, this crap hurts.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Narwhal clutched Dragon closer, trying not to distract the frantically talking ponies from their notes. This was the Cyborg version, the other Dragon was right there in the mess trying to record and understand it all.

She had seen horrible things over the years. Well, not her, but her 'sister'. Friends dying in battle, good people cut down by sickness or ambush. The travesties and horrors and crime-scenes.

Somehow watching her boyfriend writhe in gray flames, trying to scream... it was worse than she expected.

She whispered. "How long must he do this?"

Dragon sighed. "He's been doing a slower version of this for days now. Theoretically this will hurt less than experiencing that for literally weeks on end." She also winced when something snapped in the wolf's back. "And... he is going for a higher level of refinement than what he went through getting here in the first place."

Narwhal's eyes widened. "WHAT! Why!? It nearly killed him to get here!"

Dragon nodded with a sigh, illusions showing her details and graphs. "And unlike before, this time he will be carrying passengers, fully developed soul travelers. Before, he only had to worry about Squishy and an undeveloped Mai. Now?"

She winced. Mai wasn't exactly staying, she was leaving a copy. Like cloning yourself. The option had been open to everyone, but only mental-Twilight had considered it before passing it up.

And Adam had a tendency to just... take all the responsibility. Not that he was in the wrong here, if Adam's soul became splintered enough to allow her and the others pain then his soul would be heavily damaged too.

Her eyes drifted back to the bonfire and his twisting corpse. This was just... painful. "I still don't know why we couldn't disconnect his nerves or something. Why does it have to hurt like this?"

Dragon sighed. "I got lost in the magic involved, but Nightmare Moon basically said that disconnecting the feelings of the soul from a being was the same as destroying those sections of the soul. It... The soul just is not meant to be disabled. At all. Any changes, good or bad, have to be done while it is intact and stable."

The lump burned. "If he stopped feeling the pain, it would only be by killing sections of who he was. Many soul related magics that Moon knows of caused the user to go mad for exactly that reason. Because the unicorns involved didn't wish to feel pain, and paid a heavy price to avoid it."

Narwhal just... watched. "But he is killing himself."

Dragon frowned. "No, this is just... enforced self modification. Souls change over time anyway, but right now he is allowing the weakest and most extraneous sections to feel pressure. Tempering."

With a sigh, she went back to the numbers. "Basically, it is like Soul Boot Camp. Done correctly, it hurts, you hate the person doing it, but you come out strong and centered. Hopefully. Honestly the idea doesn't hold up, but I have no words for this."

Princess Luna had moved over to the two Twilight's and her 'evil twin', offering what little help she could to the interpretation. Surprisingly her knowledge of eldritch species and night terrors was helping the analysis a lot.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam woke... oddly.

He was currently a pile of twigs.

Blue fire covered, black twigs. With bits of blue moss randomly left on top.

It was strange.

'Recovery' was still active. So was 'Growth'.

It just... was fine with him like this. The magic was stable, his individual parts were fully repaired. Technically, he was healed.

Just... in a pile.

Stretching his non-existent back and spine suddenly caused the splinters of material to swirl upwards. Black claws sunk into the floor as black vines twisted around black branches. Even as his torso began to form together a carpet of blue moss began growing over the black lumber.

With a loud crackle and snap, his jaws reformed and clamped shut, his eyes popping into solid crystal with bright blue flames dancing within.

He twisted, checking his new tail and legs.

Yikes. Retract the black thorns. They were tiny, but something deadly was glistening on them. Teeth? Eugh. Something hollow with a nasty surprise inside. And wasn't this moss dangerous as well?

It took two more checks before all the subtle dangers on his body were settled into something soft, fluffy, and 'Not Deadly' again.

He looked over at the surprised crowd, catching the Twilight's eyes. "That. Was. Unpleasant." Another shake loosened the blue moss and let the wood separate slightly. Better. "What did Squishy say? Did I make progress?"

Oh, that didn't bode well. The less hesitant Nightmare Moon sighed. "Squishy says that one session of refinement took you over the 35% completion mark. Unless you want to lower your safety standards, at least two more passes are required."

He didn't hide the wince well. "Right. Did she give any guesses on refining the Worm soul? I still need to hit another Realm to get time travel data."

Outer-Twilight raised a hoof. "Well, aside from the... pain issue... Everything went better than expected. Only one pass of the main soul is needed, technically half of one if you could pull that off."

Adam groaned. This method already showed that the only way to STOP the abyss flames was to wait for them to burn themselves out. And he had ALREADY used the minimum amount possible. "So... three more times in total. Just. Great."

Pinkie Pie popped out from behind Narwhal and Dragon's cuddle couch. Because of course she did. "Ooh! Ooh! You should have chicken soup! I heard it's good for your soul."

Everyone flinched before checking to make sure Fluttershy wasn't nearby to hear the pink pony suggest killing and consuming one of her animal friends. Thankfully the coast was clear.

Adam tried to give her an appreciative look. "Thank you, but I want to avoid eating any meat until I am back in a world where animals can't talk. And hopefully aren't smart enough to know we plan on consuming them as folktale remedies." He looked down at his wooden torso. "And uh. Until I have a meat body again."

Thankfully the other girls distracted the party pony long enough for 'Science!' to continue. Adam relaxed on the nearest couch, trying to psyche himself up to the further refinements needed to travel safely in the abyss.

In the mean time he tried to relax and mentally went back over the culinary magic he picked up from Granny Smith. Some of these spells could be nasty if used during a fight.

Last edited: Aug 28, 2019

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#553

Interesting side effect from refining your own soul: You become more... stable.

Adam could feel the influence from this reality fade significantly after his several sessions. The biggest one was a lowering of raw sensual lust. Not gone, but it wasn't a constant urge in the back of the mind.

Also, even as a wolf he was rapidly remembering how awesome meat was. Something about his old (plant) soul encouraged vegetarian life style. That wasn't gone either, he would always love salad more than any man likely should. Just... not willing to never eat anything but grass and trees.

After a few days of recovery and some charges saved up for the journey, he took stock of his situation.

One technological soul (Worm Realm), with 'Recovery', 'Fire Manipulation', 'Research', 'Technomancy', 'Conversion', 'Transfer'. Though 'Recovery' should be considered something similar to 'Nanoscopic Manipulation' or something.

One magical soul (My Little Pony Realm), with 'Growth', 'Harmony', and 'Consume'.

Squishy now stored her current power charges in the tech soul fishbowl, and they lay like sea shells on the grains of power sand. No real limit now to storage, but it DID make his entire existence revolve around technology first and foremost. Not the worst outcome really.

He only gained one charge per 24 standard earth hour time span. Regardless of what planet or reality he was currently living in. But at least he didn't HAVE to 'use or lose' them now.

Still, he had waited over a week and now had 10 charges saved up. None of this 'slow crawl into madness due to an uncontrolled soul' issue he ran into coming here.

Also he had stayed at the Apple Clan's farm for a few of those days, building up reserves of biological slurry to store in his soul. Ate some metal and gems with 'Consume' to store those materials there too, which showed up as neat rocks in his fishbowl.

So... 'Recovery' was fully supplied.

Finally, magic. His Tree soul now breathed through that hideous mouth, passively converting energy of any type that tried to escape his body or soul into magic, storing it for future 'Growth' use.

Narwhal had tried to convince him to name the thing... but it was a magical soul. That would do... who knew what to it. Names had power. Call it 'Betty' or something could make it mutate into any bizarre thing. So it was firmly named 'Tree', like a boring person would do. Her complaints were very much ignored.

Moving on, the magic was constantly absorbed or converted, then compressed into small pebbles that slowly covered the roots of the Tree thing. So... magic reserves were built up to respectable levels.

Honestly, that part he cheated with by having Mai's wolf/house/tree thing pass the excess power she purified. Otherwise building up this level of reserve would have taken ages.

Nightmare Moon and a surprisingly shy mental Twilight said the raw information about existing magic had already been gathered, though external Twilight had insisted on all kinds of random books and scrolls being added all the way up till a few hours ago. And the two mental versions were more than a bit hush-hush about HOW they gathered so much information so quickly.

And Luna was... very insistent that he not visit Celestia. Something that made Nightmare Moon snicker about for far too long. Point is, Princess Luna DID bring some copies of the related Time magics for him to review. Which... well, he was touched at the trust shown. To ensure no future issues, he burned the copies after memorizing the contents. No reason to risk others getting these spells.

Didn't help with his actual product though. It relied too much on a world with existing magic, and couldn't make anchor points to times where magic use was restricted or non-existent... so would only work in places that had a long history of magic use.

He took another breath. Calm.

Narwhal, Dragon, Nightmare Moon, and Twilight had been 'secured' by Squishy deep inside his simulation. Mai had decided after much thought to just... stay here. Her bond with the three little fillies was honestly stronger than her connection to Adam anyway, and the idea of living as his personal AI hadn't been as appealing as joining the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.

It surprised him that he felt a bit hurt at her leaving. They hadn't spent a ton of time together, and he had a tendency to do things alone, but he HAD been there from the start of her existence. Still, he just made sure that the girl's Celestial Garden and giant body were both working as best as could be and wished her well.

With his mental companions secured, he focused.

Squishy poked him the options.

Acceptable penalties to lower the cost of 'Transfer' while still getting to a USEFUL Realm. First, the usual suspects: No safe travel. Arrive at an 'interesting' time. No language package. No reality insertion.

He could only risk those with others because his preemptive refinement should keep the flames of the Abyss from consuming his soul to the same degree as before.

Hmm. The costs were much lower than before. Almost a dozen times or more cheaper really.

Squishy pointed out that not only was his soul stronger now, but that there were two separate parts that could support each other. This not only reduced the pressure of the travel but the increased durability reduced how much energy was needed to protect his existence during transit. So... he had a surplus.

Then... what positive options did that leave available?

A quick list had quite a few nice choices that didn't even get mentioned the first time. Thanks to 'Harmony' he could ignore most social options, those would be picked up easily enough. 'Growth' and 'Recovery' would allow any body modifications required. Hmm.

In the end, he selected 'Avoid Realms with Overwhelming Power' and 'Discrete Entry'. If he popped into Dragon Ball Z or Naruto or whatever during a big boss fight, he could get vaporized a few times without even noticing. Not all gods were as laid back or friendly as Princess Luna or Celestia.

That brought the cost right back up, even a bit more than the initial jump... but still affordable.

Selection criteria? He wanted Time Manipulation Abilities, sure, but he didn't need the full power set. While it would be NICE to twist reality forward and backward or whatever, he knew the issues with temporal modification.

Slow down time, even to near standstill, in a local area? Sure. Speed it up locally? No issue! But affecting all of your current reality? Or going to your own past?

The costs of gaining those level of power would take far more time and danger than Adam was willing to put up with right now.

So he was willing to settle for time travel when transiting between Realms only. More versatility or power could be picked up later, but that was the core of his actual need.

Instantly, the ballooning cost of the transfer dropped back to reasonable levels again. Thank goodness.

The unknown destination chosen (Please don't be Dr. Who's Realm, that place was a MESS of time travel), he felt Squishy prepare for initiation.

With a subconscious wince at the upcoming experience, he grit his fangs.

"Transfer: Abyss."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Twilight watched with some regret as her most recent friend suddenly... just stopped. The blue flames vanished, leaving empty blue crystals for eyes... but the rest of his wolven body just seemed empty.

With a sigh, she levitated the new 'House Pet/Plant' upstairs. He may not return for some time, but at least she could water the thing and give it good sunlight. And the low level magic purification his body generated would make her Tree House Library feel a bit more homely.

Princess Luna was far less worried. Adam's lifespan was long enough that the two would no doubt meet in the future at some point if he returned. Hopefully after Celestia got over the teasing.

Neither pony noticed Pinkie Pie adding glasses and a mustache to the wolf, but then again the party pony could be fairly stealthy when she wanted to be.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

What. The. Hell.

Gently Adam floated through the gray Abyss, flames roasting over his souls.

It didn't even tingle.

If anything, this was damn boring!

Squishy, the hell!?

After some ranting, the embarrassed jellyfish poked an explanation.

He may have... over prepared.

The magic alone would have protected him by generating enough material to burn off as a protective layer instead of the fire reaching his powers, mind, or soul.

Not to mention how hardened his soul had been once entering the pony Realm.

But the additional levels of refinement? The massive amount of resources and magic prepared?

What tiny amount of energy consumed by the ever hungry Abyss was replenished near instantly by passive recovery rates. He wasn't even touching his damned reserves right now!

As he drifted through timeless grey flames, he... well. Pouted.

Squishy was quick to point out that his highly refined souls would be very beneficial. Master effects that could normally bypass the mind or body would no longer have hold on him, as his soul could just 'nope' the heck out of it.

Soul based attacks like the killing curse would be laughed off.

Her list got stranger and longer, but all he could think of was the hours of mind numbing pain he had WILLINGLY gone through in an attempt to get home... only to find out that instead of barbed wires and poison it was blankets and cookies.

This was the issue with pushing into unknown territory. Sometimes you were unprepared and naked in the snow, sometimes you bring a nuke to take out a bee hive.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Time... well, the ability to track it at least. It just didn't work here.

Without the constant pain distracting him, he rapidly 'woke up' his mental companions and just wasted time talking in the Simulation.

They did learn pretty quickly NOT to show the Abyss to anyone else besides himself and Squishy though. It uh. Well, the girls didn't handle it well.

But after that they spent internally somewhere between a few hours and maybe a day or so talking about ongoing projects, dream construction ideas for Adam's future naps, Dragon's designs and redeveloped schematics that both did and did not include magic improvements, and so forth.

Outside? Yeah, time didn't exist here.

Eventually, he was pulled back to focus on the incoming Realm boundary. Unlike before, where a new soul was near torn from existance and shoved into his being, he could feel... options. Templates.

Human was there, but it wasn't HIS type of human, if such a thing existed. It would be as strange to his soul as the timberwolf was, even though visually and biologically they should be very similar.

But the other options were... very wide and varied. Having experienced this once before, and now with the ability to actually make a choice instead of blindly grasping at the nearest point of salvation, he considered the many bizarre shapes.

Many, if not most, were interesting and powerful. On the other hand, as he felt the body and minds available, many came with mental issues. Apathy towards others, anger or rage towards non-similar species, deep hunger for the flesh or energy of specific species or even human careers. Odd.

In the end, he felt a sort of connection with a... strange thing.

It sort of looked like an elephant pig.

Still, it felt... pure. At least, it wasn't based on the concept of corruption or sickness like some of the others. Twilight was going through his memories and the magic stuff, but no one really knew what the heck it was other than 'cute' and 'tiny'.

Thing was about the size of a cat really.

With a mental shrug he fell into the template, then directly into the new Realm.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

In a dark bedroom, a shadow twisted. Turned. Then... sort of popped.

And Adam 'Adventure' Burns was... sort of there.

Still a soul though.

Bones and flesh rapidly twisted from 'Recovery', a small ball of meat growing into his new... whatever he was.

Surprisingly strong bones, his skin became grey and leathery while white and black fur covered his back and chest. And uh. His ears.

He had big ears now. And a trunk. And tusks.

He looked down at his... paws? Those were tiger paws. Even had the stripes, though the tough skin was still grey overall. And his paws were THICK, at least partially like an elephant.

Adam's confusion only grew as his body began gently shifting colors. It was now slowly forming shades of dark green. Like... Green leathery skin on his trunk, the white fur turning a very light green hue, the stripes near black emerald colors. The hell.

'Growth' was working with 'Recovery' now, as he felt strange organs which were NOT meat growing inside his body. And... well, he had lungs, but no stomach. So... no digestion.

Did the green part mean he was a plant again? That didn't seem right. His tiger claws couldn't even scratch the stuff, and it didn't feel like bark or moss.

Idly his trunk scratched his fur covered neck. At least he could do that even without hands now. And what the heck was his tail? That wasn't Elephant OR Tiger. Looked more like... donkey? No, Ox. Yeah, that was an Ox tail.

Even as his body slowed in growth, he could feel the density of his muscles and bones began to increase... while his weight dropped? How!?

Worse part, this wasn't magic. Not exactly. SOMETHING being grown within was causing non-physics related changes to his existence, but it wasn't powered by the energy Tree consumed.

Just as things were winding down, he could feel... instinct drop in. Something fundamental to his actual self, it felt like. And Hunger.

A very... VERY strong hunger. Like he was missing something.

It reminded him of the raw craving he had after first forming his Timberwolf form, the need for any sort of magic to fill the void.

By the time he regained focus, he realized he was now on a bed. A huge bed!

No wait, he was cat sized. A normal bed, just... big to tiny him.

Was that a girl?

He was in a girls bedroom.

The. Hell.

Still, she looked... pained. Fearful. Hurt?

Adam tried to keep track of all his new parts. Ears were normally just THERE, but he kept wiggling them now. His trunk was all kind of confusing, at least he had practice with tails before. And his hunger was rapidly causing him concern.

Did he want to consume this child? That... seemed very off. Nothing about the template suggested baby eating or child chewing.

But he was pulled toward her skull.

Huh. No, it was... sort of. Not quite her actual body really.

His trunk reached outside of... here. Somewhere else.

Black slime tried to escape his grasp. Flexing muscles he didn't have and pulling in ways he never knew, the mass of twisted fear and rage was just... plucked.

Like a pear. Just... tugged away.

Instantly the girl relaxed into the bed, a soft smile on her face.

Meanwhile, cat-elephant-tiger-Adam was stuck looking cross-eyed at the black orb held by his trunk.

It was VERY easy to smell it when your holding things with your own nose.

It was... decay. Rage. Fear. Layers of filth, picked up from every day experiences. Twisted by suspicion and uncertainty. Of self doubt and past failures.

The texture was both slimy and gritty, sand and oil with mucus.

Color didn't quite... work on it.

With absolutely zero hesitation, he stuffed it into his mouth.

Eyes crinkled with delight, he savored each flavor. Somehow he knew what it SHOULD taste like, how it should repulse everything he had.

But... it was amazing. Filling. Energy of some sort was flowing through his system even as he gently reached into the other for whatever scraps of hatred and self doubt remained.

Cake? Keep it! This stuff... Mmm.

Well, no point to having a stomach if your food is conceptual.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Hours later, Asako Higurashi gently knocked on her daughter's door. "Time to get up!"

Thankfully the laundry was already handled last night, the cleaning done earlier this morning. So she had more time than usual.

Her concern for her little girl had grown in the last few weeks though, after some disagreement with that nice wolf boy or some such had caused her to... well. Not pout or whine, but mentally recede?

The story she got from her girl's friends was that it was more an excuse so that she could come home and... recover. Recenter.

She sighed. If she could hold back the trauma and danger her little one had to suffer, she would be the first to volunteer. And she did what she could. Prayers, specially prepared food with what little good luck charms she could make, secretly working with her father-in-law to try and... do anything to help. But the spiritual realm existed everywhere, and would always be drawn to her regardless of any protective intentions.

Unlike her poor past husband, rest his soul, Asako herself was not gifted. Some sensing abilities, minor cantrips or rituals, nothing useful. She had always felt that being a loving mother was more important than trying to find peace with the spiritual side of existence... right up until her daughter gained the responsibility.

She tried to never show her self doubt or fear in front of either child of course. Thankfully her son Sota was too young to really understand the danger her little girl was learning to face, and even after the arguments she had with father-in-law, the older man still helped support her small family and her ever struggling daughter.

Her frown passed as she knocked again. "Sweetie?"

With a gentle push, she opened the door.

Paused.

And closed the door.

Right.

Best get father-in-law.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kagome felt someone gently push her shoulder. "Go way. M'Tired."

An older voice didn't let her go back to sleep. "Kagome, you need to very carefully wake up."

She frowned, hugging her pillow tighter. "Dunwanna. Sleepy."

The grip tightened for a second before relaxing. "Child, you need to stay calm but wake up. You have a guest."

Slowly she blinked awake. "Wha?" It had to be too early. This was the first time she had gotten ANY damn sleep and it didn't matter HOW much her friends wanted to visit or that stupid mutt wanted to bother her, she was going to get some rest!

The old hand wouldn't knock it off though. She groaned. "Grandpa, can't you just tell them to go away? I was finally having good dreams for once!"

The old voice hummed. "Not surprising, really. I suppose I will have to focus a study session explaining Baku traits and habits."

The heck? "What?"

He sighed. "Could you very slowly open your arms dear?"

She blinked, absently squishing her pillow tighter. "Why?"

Her eyes focused on her Grandpa... who looked very exasperated. "Because while normally a peaceful creature, you still shouldn't squish a spiritual being."

What?

Her eyes dropped down to her pillow.

Her warm, furry, squishy pillow. With tiny tusks and a trunk.

Which was apparently snoring.

"Is this a fluffy mini-elephant?"

Grandpa hummed. "Closer to a Tapir really, if anything. Still, please stop squishing it."

Why couldn't NORMAL things happen to her!?

Last edited: Aug 7, 2019

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Aug 8, 2019

#573

Adam woke up on his back. Sprawled with all limbs out, his trunk meandering to his right, ears flapped open.

Thankfully, his alien body was really flexible. This particular pose should really have caused him to sleep poorly.

Still, his bed was soft, it was still early, and although he vaguely felt something warm was missing he was too comfy to care about it right now.

Eventually he felt Squishy poke him.

With a mental sigh, he enabled 'Research' and 'Harmony'. There. Now the girls could analyze the outside world without him having to move.

He was asleep again in moments.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Nightmare Moon and Twilight were holding in squee's as Narwhal cooed over the image. "He is so... fluffy! And cute!"

Dragon sighed as she tried to focus on the research. "Right. According to the documentation the older man is showing the rest of the family in the other room, Adam is a Baku."

Narwhal snorted. "He is a cutie fluff baby is what he is."

Twilight poked the image. "Look at his little nose!"

Dragon grit her teeth. "Right. So Baku's seem to be a type of demon or spirit. Of which this world is stock full of, and are of many types and natures."

Nightmare Moon clapped her hooves together. "Look! He is wiggling his paws!"

Twilight was hopping. "He thinks he is running!"

Do. Not. Hurt. Them. Dragon continued. "His new body consumes nightmares and dark thoughts, and historically his kind were hunted because his skin when harvested and refined can discourage evil spirits and keep away decay, poison, miasma... which is some sort of spiritual poison gas, and disease."

Narwhal was thoughtful. "We could make tiny dolls or stuffed animals of him, but can we make mental versions in here? Like, not full AI's, but with maybe puppy level intelligence?"

Twilight was instantly fascinated. "Project Adorable Fluffy Elephant Kitties is a go!"

Dragon just... stayed calm. And continued to review the new information 'Harmony' was pulling in.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kagome couldn't BELIEVE how good she felt. Weeks of stress and terrifying memories and images of what could have been gone for a full night.

It almost made up for the sudden homework on a Saturday. "So bottom line, this one WON'T try to eat us."

Grandpa held his place in his notes and looked up. "Normally not, no. Of course, normally if a Baku stays with you after eating a nightmare, there is a risk of it just... continuing to eat. Hopes, dreams, and so forth."

Seeing her concern, he waved one of the talismans he held. "I've had protections against that sort of thing on your bedrooms for years now, and the Baku didn't even try. Just... this one is odd."

Her little brother Sota looked up from his own, badly written, notes. "Like... how?"

Grandpa sighed. "Normally, only a small portion if any of a spiritual creature would materialize in the real world. Only someone like Kagome or another priest or priestess could interact with them." He pointed toward her bedroom. "THAT thing is 100% real. Physical. It even snores."

Seeing the kids confusion he sighed. "It would be like finding a actual dragon. After all those years, physical beings with spiritual nature barely exist anymore. Only beings back in the past, like those friends of Kagome, are formed of actual real world material."

She frowned. "Do... do you think it followed me here?"

He shook his head. "No. These spirits were originally found in China, not here in Japan. They showed up here years later. And this one feels... strange. Too real. And it has some sort of magic, I think. I could only feel it when directly touching it though, so I am not sure."

She sighed. A magical cat-elephant-spirit-demon. Great.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Waking was slow. And really only because he was being carried by a giant.

No, damn it, he was just small.

Adam blearily looked up.

Welp. Clearly a woman. Thought those were cushions.

Didn't recognize her. 'Harmony' felt it was alright though. Good enough.

Her sudden hug caught him off guard though. "Squeak!"

...

What.

She seemed equally startled, looking down at his confused self. And hugged him again.

His trunk let out another. "Squeak!"

...

He was a stress ball!?

Narwhal's voice suddenly echoed in his ears. "Honey, you sound adorable!"

...They were recording this, weren't they?

Squishy poked 'Yes.'

Squishy, for the next few hours or until I come to terms with this, could you please block the girls from communication with me?

The chorus of 'Aww' thankfully went silent. Thank goodness.

"Squeak."

Great. He can do a deadpan delivery of an adorable chew toy noise.

At least the giantess got the point and looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry."

"Squeaker Squeak Squeak Squeakin."

That... well. This body was not built for English. Or whatever the hell they spoke back in Worm. Or here.

Thankfully she let it go as she carried Adam into another room.

Oh, it's that girl from last night! She seemed much less stressed now. Though more nightmare fuel had already built up again. Yummy.

Now that he was not ravenous or newborn though, he could sense more than just those delicious black slime pellets.

...Actually, he could sense all kinds of things. What the heck?

Squishy gave a poke.

Apparently as part of the process of becoming this creature, all of Adam's power charges decided to just... use themselves. Something of this new soul was guided by... not a thought process.

It was like his body was partially connected to another layer of existence. Not directly to anyone in particular, but something out there was just... connected. A part of him.

Was it even restricted to one Realm? Barely. If not careful, it felt like it would just move directly into his new soul and live there. Not that it was alive. Sort of. Huh.

Anyway, the new soul and the new power.

Internally, unlike the fishbowl or tree, this one was a... wooden gate? Two poles, a bar, three short poles, then a wide curved wooden structure on top.

'Harmony' was thankfully quick to help out. It was a gate. Specifically, a Shinto Gate.

And even though the gate was on no actual ground, at least not currently, there was a bubble around it forming a sphere. Invisible. Ageless.

Honestly, a bit like a snow globe.

Most concerning... the gate led somewhere. To that place that belonged to Adam, but not.

He felt Squishy pop into the sphere and go through the gate... and was gone.

Then back. And gone again. And returned.

Yeah, that felt strange as hell.

Hanging from the gate were white cords of power. And attached like decorations were white cards.

The one that glowed was the new power.

'Tithe.'

Huh.

Even as information poured into his mind, begging to be reviewed, he focused on this single power.

It was unlike any he had experienced before. All the technological stuff allowed him to review, build, project, or work with physical matter. All the magic stuff allowed him to perceive, absorb, control, and grow energy. But the biggest difference was they were HIS abilities. Used by him, for him, etc.

This new one was almost a SOCIAL ability. Tithe had to be accepted by someone who willingly gave consent. It would take a small portion of their potential, of what they were, of what they gained in life, and deliver it to him. It was a choice.

In return, they would gain a sort of connection to him. Allowing him to work through them, help them, give guidance.

And not just 'Eat your Vegetables', or boring stuff like that. Not just remote healing through 'Recovery' or allowing them to use 'Harmony' to learn languages.

When magic, technology, rituals, or abilities tried to force changes on his follower... he could determine the effects. Or just use his own energy to throw the whole mess away. When powers developed or grew, he could help give his followers self control or grant direction and development.

And this energy taken from his people, it could be gathered by his followers as well if others also had faith. This second level of connection was far weaker, but he could still grant minor boons or partial use of his powers. Even without meeting someone, if their belief grew strong enough a connection could eventually reach the same level as the initial 'Tithe' followers.

Odd.

Strange as it was, he was still surprised that after literal months of effort and training, of all the ideas he had or plans he made, all that time being a soul, refining souls, examining beings... this was the first time that he had experienced actual Spiritual energy.

This Realm was faith based.

It was a strange experience.

After realizing that part of his soul was just... floating out there, in danger of being examined or left behind when he moved on... Well, instead of carefully monitoring the gate's connection, he permitted a full binding.

'Conversion' and 'Consume' both were chosen and activated, and Squishy reached into the Gate and sort of... pulled.

Everything... vibrated.

Now the shrine soul gate just started spewing white flowers. Each one a small portion of faith, of 'kami', which meant spirit, essences, gods, or all kinds of things. The white flowers were slowly gathering under the floating shrine, until the Shinto Gate seemed to rest on a hill covered in white beauty.

And with 'Tithe' now socketed, a glowing white charm on those white strings... the power currently being converted into raw magic by 'Consume' was now giving a portion of power directly to the Gate. Even some of the energy from 'Transfer' and 'Conversion' was being drawn away.

As he watched the snow globe slowly spin, another white flower exited the portal and fell to the mounds below.

Huh.

He shouldn't have to burn this new soul to make it more stable, right? Cause... those flowers seemed flammable.

Squishy assured him that whatever this 'kami' stuff was, it was far more stable and yet more... ethereal? Abstract? Conceptual?

It would handle Abyss Flames even better than the magic coating. Then again, the magic handled the Abyss by sacrificing itself. Not really self sustaining.

In fact, unlike regular magic, the more kami one gathered the more external kami was drawn in. Faith grew faith. In fact, faith to beings or ideals similar to his own would be more likely to choose him than another if he was closer or cared more than the deities mentioned... or if they didn't exist.

This was partly why beliefs tend to gather into Pantheons rather than just brutal rulers or dictators of spiritual might. Why beliefs can grow into deities themselves rather than spread over millions of minor beings of belief. Mostly.

Ah, he was letting 'Harmony' get into his head too easily. He relaxed his laser focus and tried to just let the new process happen and stabilize.

Suddenly another hug. "Squeak!"

"Right, he also makes cute noises when you hug him. Are you sure he is a Baku Father in Law? I don't remember this flower thing."

He blinked. And dozens of actual flowers in the real world fell off, letting his trunk move the rest so he could see through the mound of vegetation.

The poor woman holding him was now standing in a small pile of... well, it wasn't pure kami. It was actual white flowers with no stems or leaves, full of energy, just being converted from the ambient faith flowing through the room.

What was this, a shrine or something?

...Oh.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Sota raised a hand. "Does this mean he isn't potty trained?"

Kagome sighed, rubbing her forehead. Thankfully her cat Buyo wasn't in here, or he would be jumping right in to make this flower mess worse. "I'll get the broom."

Grandpa hummed. "No, I think we should keep these. I can feel strong, pure energy held within those blossoms. Might even make good material for talisman creation. Asako, could you please put the Baku down on that cushion and get the larger storage box from the supply room? I'll examine these closer."

Kagome watched her mother cheerfully leave the elephant thing behind and head off to get some storage.

The squeaking, adorably furry, apparently lazy elephant thing. Baku. Whatever.

Even as she tried to focus on the now resumed lecture, the urge to squeeze the small thing a few times grew stronger.

That squeak was adorable.

Last edited: Aug 8, 2019

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Aug 14, 2019

#582

Adam had never appreciated the difficulties in being short.

He waddled through the shrine, thankfully most doors were left open. Was that a Japanese thing, or were his hosts just being helpful?

Anyway, it avoided his biggest hurdle, door handles.

He also found walking to be strange.

If a normal cat or dog was his size, they would be able to slink or paddle along no issue. But he wasn't exactly built for defense or battle.

He weighed like... four or five times less than one would expect. Like a very heavy balloon.

Also, if he wasn't careful, each step would make a tiny 'bumph' of air escape his tiny trunk.

Which was... less than manly.

Then again, this was like the third or fourth form without genitalia. At least he was sexually consistent. Male, straight. Female (Mental Narwhal was curious), lesbian. Nonsexual, female oriented.

So... at least he wasn't having identity issues? Probably? Or at least, no issues with whom he was attracted to, even if his body kept changing species.

But what was odd was the absolute lack of sexual interest now that he was a Baku. It may be related to his species or the heavy need for spiritual power, but right now he was cuddle oriented.

If he was in Worm, being snuggled by an attractive older woman like Kagome's mom would have been a 10/10 experience. Here, in this body? Well, it was nice but not really stimulating like he would expect it to be.

It was a massive difference compared to the My Little Pony Realm (Sexual Freedom is Magic?) he had just visited.

He meandered into another room, trying to stay near the edges. He kept spawning white flower blossoms from the local faith, and if he wasn't careful he would leave a slipping hazard.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kagome sighed as she finished what homework her friends from school had collected.

Seriously, those girls were both a blessing and a curse. Sure they helped out a lot and helped her stay on top of her studies, but they also gossiped and made outlandish tales... that they believed.

They were convinced that all those trips to the past (Fighting demons and saving the future!) were actually a collection of horrifying and embarrassing personal issues that she was overcoming.

Really, telling those cute boys that she had explosive flatulence!? Off and on for FIVE MONTHS!?

She didn't know what was worse. Those who avoided her due to those rumors, or those who were supportive!

When a handsome boy secretly started to confess to her about his own debilitating diarrhea episodes, it took everything she had to accept his condolences with grace and good will. And as bad as it made her feel, she couldn't treat him the same after finding out that he had a custom tailor to help stitch the massive clothing holes caused by his condition.

Knowing too much could be painful.

As she absently piled her notes and work together, she realized that she had been staring at the tiny elephant thing as it poomphed around the edges of the room. Leaving a white flower trail.

Huh. And her normal 'after work' headache hadn't shown up. The blossoms smelled nice too.

She wouldn't trade in her own cat or anything, but this Baku was just so useful!

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Was he noticed!?

No, for he was sneaky Adam! Baku of the night!

...But she WAS looking this way...

Just in case, he used his trunk and focused, new blossoms poofing into existence and helping to hide him away.

Stealthily, he snootched his way through a rapidly created flower tunnel. Thanks to the Girls, he knew that this Shrine should have some good stuff to scan outside, and he was on a mission!

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kagome watched the tiny pile of flowers sneak toward the edge of the room.

Baku's were weird.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

It only took a few hours for him to make his daring escape!

Well, a few hours and one surprise cuddle session with Kagome's mom, who had somehow discovered him.

Anyway, he had escaped!

...It was nice out here.

Summer? This Realm did have seasons, right?

Still, it was lovely.

Especially that trail of sadness, death, and decay over that way.

As his tiny legs pumped with less stealth in mind, he realized accidentally two important facts.

First, he not only felt like he was far lighter than he should be, but he was indeed balloon like in weight.

Secondly, while his body ignored the wind and everything (How!?), it did NOT ignore his foot power.

So now he was drifting. In a that-a-way direction. Slightly tilted.

No real sense of danger, and again, the wind (which wasn't slow) was being ignored.

But he was also floating in a near-uncontrolled manner.

Just... huh.

Well, it was roughly the right direction. So... why not?

He absently used his ears to tilt back to an upright position. Was this where that Dumbo idea came from? He was too worried to actually try and gain more height. What if he just went up till space? No clue if physics would actually pull him down directly. Or ever.

So he literally drifted slowly along.

Sneaking was faster than this.

Still, life tend to be a high speed, high risk ride. No reason not to take it slow once in a while.

...Really slow.

It was only when he felt Asako pulling him from the air that he realized he had drifted asleep.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Dragon growled. "We HAVE to tell him how to fix this. He needs more spiritual energy, with less magic being converted directly. At least until this form stabilizes. He has to be told."

Twilight whined. "But look at how cute he is! He makes little poof sounds when he walks!"

Nightmare Moon and Narwhal were too busy cooing over the images and videos to join in.

Dragon snorted. "And what if a demon shows up!?"

Twilight waved a hoof. "Then he will turn into a giant fire covered tree-Baku and 'Convert' them into purified energy. And likely 'Consume' them."

The cyborg sight. "That shouldn't be his first response to danger."

Nightmare Moon squealed. "Oh he's asleep again! And floating!"

Narwhal jabbed the display. "Look, his ears are making him do a barrel roll!"

Dragon sighed as Twilight ran over to join the viewing party. At least she was mature enough to save copies of all this for later, private cute-appreciation times.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Asako gently tapped the floating elephant thing, watching it float towards father-in-Law.

He also watched, fascinated. "No, never heard of this either. Normally when a spiritual creature wanted to defy gravity, it would shift to a spiritual form. Not just... float off like that."

Kagome entered, holding her spiritual notes from that morning... and paused. "Grandpa, why is the Baku flying?" She blinked. "And... is it snoring?"

Asako smiled at her daughter. "Ah, he seemed to have tuckered himself out exploring today. Please be gentle with playtime until he has time to get some more sleep."

Sota, who had TRIED to ignore the tiny demon in his house and stayed in his own room, came in with a sigh. If nothing else, he didn't want to be the one family member to NOT see a sleeping elephant fly.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Right, 'Harmony' had gathered several points of interest.

Outside there was a large tree, very old, with all kinds of talismans on it. Those would need scanning. The tree itself had something... something. Spiritually significant things happened here.

Secondly, there was a well. A STRANGE well. It was the source of the delicious decay, the ancient and fresh death, the black light of entropy. Also, a small scent of time magic, and the likely cause of him being pulled to this house in the first place.

Third of all, there was a spiritual barrier over the whole shrine, but it was only partially formed and reinforced by humans directly. Instead it was maintained by a pool of belief, one formed both by the humans and spirits that resided here and the belief of humans and spirits from the world as a whole.

The barrier existed because people and things EXPECTED one to be here. And then those theoretical shields and deterrents were 'repaired' and 'patched' to the point where eventually they would be purely cast via charms and spiritual frameworks. And as a creation of mortal belief, faith in the reliability of the new methods would fall, opening issues that faith would cover.

It was a weird system, where expectations become reality only to fail (also due to expectations), only to repeat.

In general, it was a decent defense. With a priest or shrine maiden, it could reach god level, able to block the change of reality itself. Without it, less than tissue paper.

So good and bad points, really.

On a similar pattern, those flower blossoms he was dropping were creating a series of barriers on their own. They didn't need kami, they were made of the stuff. So the layers of flowers that the old man hadn't collected were already reinforcing and expanding the shrine protections to silly levels.

Spiritual magic was truly a belief based power. It could empower an entity to deity level or cast them to be forgot and weak. In a way, his current setup was very ideal here. At least from what he could tell, he may be one of the very few creatures that could reinforce his own existence via his new spiritual Soul.

Those white blossoms in his soul were a constant slow source of faith, ones that grew even with no formal worshipers. Unable to be killed, converted, or lost.

So... a hard currency of power, as it were.

These three things would need investigation. Eventually.

He absently swapped to 'Recovery' to give Kagome's mother a quick tuneup. Good head scritches needed rewards after all.

Instantly, his mind filled with the biology of the entire family and their cat. His magic soul swapped from 'Harmony' to 'Growth', and 'Tithe' seemed unusually active.

Weak muscles. Bruised skin. Old bones. Weak eyesight. Badly healed bone cracks. Vitamin deficiency. Even as his power scanned and repaired them all, his power was latching onto something larger. Hurt. Untreated.

Spiritual wounds.

His eyes glowed with blue fire... as did all the flowers.

His power was using them as amplifiers. Connections. Religious donations or tributes even.

Even as the two adults, two children, and one cat rapidly reached absurd levels of health and stability, his power reached into the spiritual gashes.

Kagome was torn inside. Something that had been a part of her had been torn asunder. It wasn't lethal, but no wonder any little issue would blow up into rage or fear. Instability caused by spiritual damage.

He wasn't sure how he was helping. Memories of death and sadness were not being hidden or removed. Lives were not being rebuilt.

But these people were being wrapped in his own spiritual power... and it was helping them. Fueling their natural recovery. Helping their mind and heart cope with stress, sadness, and loss.

...

He was hungry.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The bright blue flash of light was unexpected. Her family had been chatting while watching the Baku drift over the dinner table, slowly dropping white flower blossoms. In a way, Kagome found the quite conversation of her favorite people a wonderful change in pace from her normal hectic life.

Then... blue fire. Flames.

All the flowers just... burst. Like fireworks.

Nothing visually burned, but everything felt... warm. Safe. Sunlight on a normally cloudy day.

It wasn't until the light show faded away and her mom hugged her that she realized she was crying. Silent tears, something she hadn't done for years, flowed down her face.

Cleansing.

Her little brother had joined the hug group along with Grandpa at some point, but she was too busy crying and hugging her mom.

Whatever that was, it had been... overwhelming. Like stepping out of shadows. Her dreams from last night, but a thousand times brighter and more peaceful.

Her gaze fell on the still burning Baku.

...Was he eating her spirit review notes!?

Last edited: Aug 28, 2019

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Aug 15, 2019

#597

Thirty minutes into the lecture, Adam decided to never tell anyone in this Realm he could talk.

It was bad enough that they assumed him to be mentally a child (Something the people in his head agreed with), no reason to let them know that he was a grown man gently chewing on a girls paperwork.

It was for her local use, not school related, but... well. Yeah.

Anyway, he ALSO discovered that anything Kagome focused on would slowly gain her holy aura, or priestess taste, or something.

Point is, it gained a spiritual essence.

It was why he fell asleep so easily in her bed: That thing was soaked in raw holy power.

And soft.

So yeah, eventually everyone stopped poking him or complaining about his eating habits and he was back to exploring the territory.

Now that he knew about the whole 'Circles of Yami' spiritual shield thing however, his first self appointed task was to make several passes along the circumference of the shrine.

Then several passes around the house.

And finally... that delicious, decaying well of despair.

Best. Decision. Ever!

After several passes around the shrine, easy enough to do since the weak shielding already there was a good guide, a wall of power rapidly built up. Energy built up quickly after that, faith in the air being captured more easily within the shrine in minutes. Any positive energies that bumped into this property would just hang around now instead of wandering off.

It felt wonderful! And the loose white blossoms trailing behind him after several passes seemed to melt into the ground, making it look like carved stone instead of actual petals. So... it was not going to blow away. That was nice. Looked artistic too!

The second ring around the house also became a stone flower patterned trail. The level of holy power inside the home thanks to these two rings reached VERY dense levels. Probably wouldn't cause problems, as long as any demons that entered were approved by the residents.

But uh... bad people might catch on fire. Like... real fire. Not just demon people either, if a murderer showed up there might be a sudden torch issue.

Meh, should be fine.

It was getting late however when he started circling the 'Bone-Eater`s Well.'

The energy from the thing was foul. Dank. Only the power from the shrine itself kept it from corroding the soil and air around it. If you got too close to the hole itself, whispering of demons past echoed just beyond hearing.

Nothing tasted sweeter.

After the new shell of power was established around the thing, Adam fell against the outer edge of the well and just... drank deep. Black ooze like snacks everywhere!

The 'Bone-Eater`s Well' was an ancient thing. To preserve health and protect others in the past, rubbish and bones from beasts and demons were tossed into it over hundreds of years. Sort of like a very specialized landfill.

Of course, a lifetime of dumping magical demon bones into a well would have side effects. Even WITH purification.

But for now, he was at peace laying as a lump and gently licking the dark energies that swirled ever thicker inside the new barrier.

'Harmony' was helping 'Research' to scan the well, on a side note. It was... old. And something about how it connected to the past required... lengthy scanning. Even with his power charges, the more in depth the scan the less time it would take to understand it on a conceptual level and allow him to finally go home. So... patience was needed.

Thank goodness it was such a delicious task.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

His claws gripped the edge of the well, helping him to get out of the stupid thing. Careful to not scratch the structure, he sat on the edge and gathered himself emotionally.

And... well, to be honest, he was worried.

Kagome had held up well against many demons, beasts, and dangerous fights and regions... but the recent issues had caused the rift between them to grow. At a terrible time too, as she had only just recovered from a light poisoning before heading back to the future.

Not that he was going to TELL her that he was worried about her. She may be the reincarnation of his love and hold the power of a priestess, but at the end of the day she was a human child. In retrospect, it was amazing that she hadn't broken down badly BEFORE this.

But she tended to be very violent when surprised. Or supported. Or embarrassed. Or bored?

Was he a masochist?

...Maybe. Sigh.

With a gentle flip, he made a perfect landing.

"Squeak!"

He blinked. Looked down.

Alright, a near perfect landing. "Is this a cat toy?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

This should hurt, right? There was a foot on his face.

Adam contemplated life as whoever it was lifted him and began squishing him. "Squeak."

Yeah, this should probably hurt. Did this body not have nerves?

It would explain why being squeezed by Kagome's mom didn't really make him bother to wake up.

Oh, he was let go. And floating again.

Was that controllable? If random creatures floated around a lot, it would probably be more accepted than the locals had acted so far. So probably not normal.

His right ear absently flapped, causing a slow roll in the air. Oh, he was caught again. "Squeak."

This guy had claws too. Each finger had very sharp tips... which did nothing to his squishy side.

So... not sturdy or rigid, but this body was VERY durable. And squishy. "Squeak?"

The dog thing blinked. "Oh. Sorry."

"Squeaker Squeak Squeak Squeakin!"

The creature paused. THAT would show him!

"The heck." Squish. "Squeak!"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kagome blinked. "Inuyasha?"

The half-demon scowled, holding the Baku by one leg. "Hey, not to bother you and all but what the heck IS this thing!?" He frowned as he squished it a few times. "Stepped on it near your well, which feels all kinds of weird now."

Her eyebrow ticked as she watched the guy squish the Baku like an accordion. "Inuyasha?"

He blinked. "Yea?"

"SIT!"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Ooh, did we get that!? Dragon, did we scan that!?

Her voice confirmed. "Full scan of Inuyasha's necklace, the spiritual pattern to activate it, and the energy signature needed."

Great! Adam wouldn't activate it himself of course, but now there was a set of examples he could use to remote activate existing spiritual frameworks!

Landmines, maybe portals, even just remote control bedroom lights. All kinds of remote activated options were now available! The only other abilities 'Harmony' had picked up were the use of talismans and arrows to deliver spiritual payloads, or ritual walking and pacing to set boundaries!

He set the girls off to research and trial the new concepts even as Kagome picked him up away from the new floor-guest. That 'Sit' command was really a jerk move, acting like a massive physical assault from gravity to crater you into the earth. It was a spiritual attack too, so it could hurt the soul of lesser beings. This guy seemed fine though.

Narwhal's voice popped in. "But the necklace was a gift from the old priestess, right? That Kikyo girl?"

He blinked. What?

Narwhal nodded in his head. "Yeah, it wasn't going to be the phrase 'Sit' to activate it, but 'beloved'. Like an anti-safe-word."

Adam narrowed his eyes. So. The necklace was a kinky sex thing that Kagome accidentally got a hold of, Huh? Then again, Kagome was a reincarnation of that naughty girl. And Inuyasha never did act THAT injured after being 'hurt' by it so often. He didn't want his memories of the show tainted by that thought. Not that he was a fan of the thing really.

He blinked. Wait, how the HECK would she know all that? No, why would HE know that!? 'Harmony' couldn't have gathered those details. Or... these others.

Nightmare Moon sent her thoughts. "We noticed the new memories appearing after you entered this Realm. Seems to be part of the traveling process, something from your original source of powers. A base level of understanding of the realm you travel to, and a possible timeline."

He felt Twilight nod. "They only took this long to integrate because we were checking them for hidden issues. We were worried that even mentioning them could set off some sort of conceptual attack or whatever, but the option was taken from our hooves when you were stepped on by Inuyasha. Then they sort of... popped into place."

Huh.

So... did that mean his memories of My Little Pony and Worm only showed up when he entered their universe?

That was both useful and terrifying.

Anyway, ignore the existential horror of implanted memories, ignore the kinky sex necklace, and ignore the current cuddles.

Back to the well of death and deliciousness!

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Asako watched the tiny elephant thing pomph its way back outside to that old well again as her daughter continued to rant at her 'not boyfriend'. How adorable.

She had been following the tiny creature out of curiosity for most of the day now, fascinated by the flower spewing cat-sized creature.

What little spiritual detection skills she had went nuts over those rings it set up, but after checking with father-in-law, they seemed harmless enough. Useful even.

She had almost lept to the defense of the tiny thing when that dog boy stepped on it, only to find out that whatever the Baku was crafted from didn't really care about being squished. Or pulled. Or poked. It was like an adorable stress ball that went through life enjoying anything.

Even now, it was bumbling along like a very fat cloud stuck to the ground.

Not that it was fat. Much. It was part elephant. Should she put it on a diet?

COULD she? It ate nightmares and what seemed to be bad karma, how would one limit that to a healthy level?

Maybe she should give Kagome and Sota chocolate milk before bed or something. A bedtime story should help bad dreams stay away, right?

Either way, it was a good excuse to pamper her two darlings for a night or two. Who dares say they are too old for the love of a mother!? Her babies needed their stories!

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

A perverted priest and ninja maiden waited next to a demonic bone devouring well, many years in the past. They were both ignoring the small fox child gazing into the hole.

Having been reprimanded many times by the woman beside him, the priest sighed with a bruised head as he gazed at the portal to another time. "I wonder how long they will take this time."

He blinked. "Sango, you don't think the two are actually using the future as a love hideaway for their twisted fantasies..." Ignoring her glare, he nodded. "Indeed, their love must have brewed thick with tension and denial until the only release was to thrust themselves through time itself."

With a deep blush Sango swung her arm, the massive boomerang attempting to smack into the back of the priest's head. "Perverted priest, don't SAY such things! Kagome would have your head for even suggesting it."

The man blocked the large weapon of demon bone with practiced ease, his staff blocking it. "Ah, but of course the innocent damsel would deny her true feelings! I, Miroku, have a lifetime of trials and tribulations finding the secret dreams of young girls hearts and setting them free to new experiences and passions!"

THAT time he failed to block, the massive boomerang acting more like a sword than projectile as he was knocked away. "Argh, why do you get worse as soon as those two leave the area!? Find some decency for once!"

With grumbles she turned and waved at the small fox-like creature near the well's edge. "Shippo, let's leave this sick man alone. I don't think Inuyasha or Kagome will be back today and this love obsessed fool can't figure out the strange holy aura issue anyway."

The tiny Kitsune sighed but followed. "Alright Sango."

As the two left the twitching religious man behind, Shippo glanced back at the well. It had started feeling odd ever since they had gotten here this morning, much more so just as Inuyasha was jumping inside to travel.

Not bad, but... it felt out of place. Well, more so than usual.

Absently, he wished once again that he could get older sooner, to become more useful to the team than his small pile of tricks and stealth. An adult Kitsune with their powerful tails could weave fantasy as a blade or twist nature asunder! Half the creatures that tried to bully or attack them would be 'bamph' and 'boom'! Shippo saves the day! But all he could do now was just... feel things. Understand stuff.

Whatever had happened to the well, it wasn't bad... but it felt changed.

And flowery. And did he smell peanuts? The heck!?

Last edited: Aug 28, 2019

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Aug 16, 2019

#609

When Kagome and Inuyasha jumped back into the 'Bone-Eater`s Well', Adam didn't even bother to get up.

His power was scanning it anyway, and the raw amount of spiritual energy (tainted or not) was more than enough to keep him happy just lounging around here.

When he woke hours later, he found that at some point someone (Probably Kagome's mom, she was awesome) had picked him up and placed him on a pillow, which was resting on a towel.

So... back to sleep.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

It had been... several days.

At some point, the small white flower blossoms had swept around his pillow throne and began to fill the boundary surrounding the well. Not enough to completely cover the ground, but it was noticeable.

He didn't need to sleep, negative energy didn't force him to go to the bathroom, and he didn't get thirsty.

So... he just slept next to the well.

Kagome's bro, Sota, had come around a few times to give some head pats. Asako had actually brought her own pillow and hung out for an hour or two while drinking tea. It was nice.

The old man (Grandpa!) would stop by to gather more blossoms for his own needs.

But days drifted by as he siphoned literal years of decay, sadness, death and despair.

His second power guided by his spiritual soul was almost automatic, nearly missed as he drifted away and consumed with glee.

'Purification.'

Using the kami he gained and produced to refine the spiritual concept of a creature to a more pure state. It was odd... a bit like sorting. If he wished he could actually purify evil into a more refined form just as easily as he could refine purity or cleanliness.

It was about... analyzing an object, person, relationship, or concept. Then, distinguishing some part of it as an impurity...and cleansing that impurity.

Used on a soul, it could clear outside influence or remove unwanted traits.

Used on a metal alloy, he could rip it apart into the pure metals used to smelt the bar.

It was surprisingly flexible, and meshed well with 'Tithe'. Portions of the purification process would be sent to conversion, consume, and all the other abilities that could use free energy. It showed up in his Gate soul as the white rope that the 'Tithe' charm hung from, and seemed to bind the Gate in some unknown way. Neat.

Anyway, it was loads of free power with no ethical issues. Eating a well of despair was a surprisingly simple way to rapidly build up spiritual power without having to eat humans or demons or force kids to have nightmares.

Honestly, he was strong enough that he could probably find ways around eating, drinking, sleeping, and so forth ALREADY. But when a feast of darkness just... sat there? Dinnertime!

It was a bit embarrassing to realize how much of an effect it was having on the barriers though.

With 'Purification' combined with 'Consume' and 'Conversion', tainted energy was being drained rapidly... which created a 'flow' or 'current' of power towards the shrine.

And any positive energy was being held by the outer ring on the shrine, with further buildup within the Well and the house thanks to their own rings. Any negative energy was being converted, mostly consumed by Adam himself, then released into the ever growing ward system.

Anyone with spiritual sense would see something like a growing tornado, sucking in sadness, strife, fear, and other energies from miles away. Funneled like black soot into the shrine, where it was shredded into white power and white blossoms.

Point is, very minor spiritual creatures were following the flow of energy and finding this place to be something like a paradise. One of the tiny red haired wood spirits, something 'Harmony' informed Adam was called a 'Kijimuna', had actually got its courage up and petted him!

It was nice.

Not sure why exactly all the creatures were treating Adam as boss here though. Maybe they recognize the barrier energy as his? Even now he could feel various creatures and spirits claiming sections of the shrine as territory. They were not being a pest, so not his problem.

He felt the growing power charges gather as his scan/feast continued.

The well was... odd. It wasn't like a tube, with one end mystically leading one into the past. It wasn't a tunnel, that one could travel through to reach a new world. It wasn't a set of gates or anchors, that could open a connection to join the two for a pathway.

It was like having two pockets in the exact same point but not.

If you put a coin in pocket one, that coin was already in pocket two because they were the exact same pocket... even if pocket two was 500 years in the past!

The framework of spiritual magic that allowed this was fascinating. And pretty. The spiritual power was provided in the past from corpses and the power was given form in the future, when Kagome first traveled through... but due to how both time spans connected, that order was not needed. In a way, it was very much like quantum entanglement, in that one change appeared on both particles at the same moment regardless of distance.

Well, not really, in fact those two things were silly different. Why was he thinking about that stuff anyway? He wiggled deeper into his pillow, trunk absently pushing flower blossoms off his belly.

It was like more like... um. Two possible realities where only one thing changed, and that change was also the joining point of... of... something.

Anyway, the well was fun to examine as his power drained away the spiritual corruption.

Oh, and while including the converted kami, the faith his soul generated, the power 'Tithe' was adding, AND the darkness being consumed from the well... the shrine was ALSO donating energy directly to Adam!

As a being both physically present AND spiritual in nature, most prayers or hopes being directed to this shrine that didn't directly specify a cause or deity just... floated on over to him.

More, there were multiple visitors to the shrine over the last few days that had noticed the convincing 'statue' near the well... and some asked 'it' to watch over their dreams or guide them from sickness.

He frowned slightly, wiggling his hips on the pillow. On second thought, healing those people and consuming their nightmare seeds was probably why the number of local Baku related prayers had gone up.

Well, no big issue. Probably.

His spiritual soul Gate was changing, oddly enough. Once the snow globe of faith filled the bottom with flower blossoms of kami, the pile began to compress. Large flowers shrank to tiny specks. Not sand or rice size, but like... buttons.

Millions of buttons.

If anything, compressing the kami into the smaller forms increased Adam's unconscious draw of faith energy nearby significantly.

Idly, his right ear flapped over to scratch his eye. Becoming a sinkhole of faith energy was... probably a big deal. And he should probably get up and do something about it. Eventually.

Then again, consuming the energy didn't lower the amount available really. It sped up the conversion and purification process, it encouraged even more energy to arrive, it increased the resonating between all the tiny units.

It was strange stuff. The more faith you had, the easier to inspire more. As long as you didn't waste the starting capital, it had an exponential growth curve really.

Squirming on his cushion, Adam chose another stream of black despair to snack on. This stuff was more sticky than the rage or denial pools, had better texture.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Life was better, Asako decided, when you had tiny elephants.

She finished folding the laundry, breathing deep. Crisp, clean air, far cleaner than air should be this deep in the busy city.

According to Father-in-Law, who had been having fun examining the 'Spirit Barrier' set up by the little Baku, the new 'defenses' were less meant for security and more for healing. Detoxification.

It was only because of how strong they were that they had also become strong defenses against the darker parts of society.

That stranger who had been seen weeks ago lurking in the neighborhood had not come back, nor had that group of delinquents that occasionally fought for territory. And when she left for grocery shopping, she noticed that even the vegetation on the few abandoned properties seemed healthier. Stronger. Her herb garden was doing fantastic!

She gathered the basket and moved inside, humming.

It wasn't obvious to those without a life steeped in spiritual matters. But the air itself seemed lighter after these few days.

She noticed that kids nearby the shrine felt safer. Were more willing to play in the sunlight. Couples took more walks, although she wasn't sure if they knew why it seemed like such a good idea.

And the wildlife variety had picked up. Birds were visiting more and more often, and when walking near the back of the property she saw a fox exploring the taller grass. Most likely a fox.

It was probably for the best that she was unaware of the number of people visiting the hospital for minor wounds and burns over the last few days. Several gang members had severe hand issues when their weapons almost exploded from heat, and one man who arrived screaming in pain turned out to be a fairly famous child rapist who had been in disguise... although that guy might not live long enough to enter custody.

The strange phenomenon was creating a low level wave of communication in the city, as the lowering trend of reported crimes became more noticed. Some attributed it to the hard work of local officials, others claimed a new gang was moving into the area and was wiping out competition in preparation.

Most odd was how a young man selling peanuts from a cart found a surge of customers when he traveled near a local shrine. He wasn't sure WHY everyone kept buying a couple of bags without eating one, but money was money and this area of town was looking much nicer these days anyway.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam blinked at the bowl filled with peanuts. "Squeak?"

Sota sighed. "Look, I said he doesn't eat those."

The three visiting girls were ignoring him completely, as they used their phone to take photos and video of the cute thing.

Sota frowned at the continuing questions. "He's a pygmy elephant that Grandpa is taking care of because of how much he looks like those mythical Baku spirits." "No, he has a special diet from the vet. He won't be able to... No, STOP adding peanuts!" "Seriously, I just finished telling those last two girls that he... please back up, don't crowd him!"

Adam blinked at the growing group of girls. Had... they been here the whole time?

Sota sighed, seeing the Baku wake up. "Alright, he's awake now. Can everyone please back up a little? We don't want to scare him. Grandpa says he shouldn't be handled by strangers."

Why was Sota always stuck with the strange jobs? Apparently Grandpa was worried problems would come up if someone didn't watch over the Baku. Which was initially boring, as all the tiny thing did was... sleep. And wiggle. For days.

Then Sota's luck ran out, and one of Kagome's visiting friends from school popped up with more homework for her 'sick' friend to handle later, and nearly stepped on the darn thing.

The cute was too strong, and more friends were called.

He held out a hand. "Look, could you all just back up and... NO, he does not eat peanuts! Why are you getting more peanuts!?"

Adam blinked at the crowd.

He looked at the growing mound of peanuts, overflowing the bowl.

Adam didn't even have a stomach. What was the point of this?

He absently picked a peanut up with his trunk, causing the crowd to go silent at his movements.

Hmm? Oh. It counted as an offering! This thing was FULL of energy!

Sota groaned as the tiny elephant instantly shoved the large peanut into it's tiny mouth, devoured one instantly before giving a tiny burp-squeak.

Crud.

The crowd's massive squee of adorable fanaticism washed over the unlucky child as several girls dashed off to get more cuteness-pellets and the others rabidly recorded the scene.

Sota gave up and headed inside to get adult backup. Maybe mom or grandpa could help.

Last edited: Mar 23, 2020

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Aug 28, 2019

#636

The feeling of completion caused Adam to jerk awake... and a small pile of peanuts to fall off his body.

Huh. The analysis of the 'Bone-Eater`s Well' had finished.

Also, he had consumed an enormous quantity of tainted energy. Purified, refined, and stored it away.

Even now, the dark taint of the well was a thin wisp compared to the waves and rivers of before. The patterns and runes on the ground containing the former cursed energy now glowed with purity. Air was crisp, the sunlight clear, and the peanuts were... uh.

There were a lot of peanuts.

A WHOLE lot.

How long had he been out here!?

A quick check in his power fishbowl revealed a LOT of power charges. Ten, twenty... had he been sleeping next to this well for months!?

Dragon's voice popped in. "Morning Adam."

He directed the mental questions her way.

She passed on data with a sigh. "After a few days, your body solidified into a pillow/rock thing. Curses, dark energy, nightmares, and bad karma was drawn to you from the well and the outside wards, you purified it and absorbed it into your Gate, and released part of that energy back into the runes and helping the local area."

He mentally felt the light touches of followers. Not fully acknowledged patrons of faith, but children and worshipers who visited the shrine over the last... however long that was. There were quite a few.

Dragon continued. "To a certain extent, your powers automatically acted. 'Recovery' healed some sick people and kids who visited. 'Consume' and 'Conversion' drew nightmares and bad karma from those nearby. And recently, as the good karma built up from your constant absorption of all negative energy, some people were claiming you granted good fortune." She glanced at her records. "Might have been accurate, too."

Adam looked down at the literal pile of peanuts. Some of which were months old, yet still fresh as the day they were given. "And this tribute?"

Dragon sighed. "The more good things that happened after people visited you, the more kami built up. And since people kept offering you peanuts, the faith power eventually overfilled your system and spread to them as well."

Adam noticed that at some point his body had automatically began picking peanuts and shoving them into his mouth.

They were fabulous! Om nom nom.

Dragon sighed. "Right. Also, all the kami in your Gate soul has converted into peanuts as well. And you have started generating peanuts rather than white flower blossoms. Just so you know."

Adam could make his own peanut butter.

Life was good.

He turned to the results of the scan. Thanks to the long time it took to review, he had plenty of charges to use to gain his third power, reinforce himself a bit, and head home. Finally. "Right. so what power should I aim for to handle the jump back to my Worm Realm?"

Squishy was... well. Poking his peanuts. And eating them? Could Squishy eat spiritual peanuts?

Adam coughed.

Huh. Didn't know a jellyfish could look embarrassed. Anyway, we have 'Tithe' and 'Purification', what would cover this well's ability and hopefully let us go home?

Squishy bounced a bit. Poke.

Hmm. The heck is a 'Amenominakanushi'?

No.

No. Adam wasn't going to use a name as a power generation method.

'All-Father of the Originating Hub', 'Heavenly Ancestral God of the Originating Heart of the Universe', etc, etc. No.

First of all, it was some dude's name. Secondly, it sounded super silly. Or pretentious. Not that his stuff wasn't already that way, but no. And using some name from a specific Realm set a dangerous precedent for future exploration. Might even tie down his power to a restricted location.

So like... a hundred nopes.

'Mori'? A sacred place, or shrine... his soul was already a Gate, why add a power that represents itself? No Squishy, that isn't in any way ironic. Or awesome.

The list of options got sillier from there.

Right, so... Squishy was having too much of a rush from eating those peanuts. Or sacrificial donations. Whatever.

Adam turned back to the data recorded from the shrine. Most of it was duplicate info, the energies was coming from similar beasts and demons from the past and could be sorted as such. He compiled unique data from the thousands of years gathered and tried to find the unique types of energy.

It was still a lot, but at least he could imagine the amounts. Or at least, imagine the amounts in number form. It was a LOT of zeros in there, but not the mind numbing amount he first reviewed.

Huh. Aside from the strife and suffering, a few idiot kids decided a 'Bone-Eater`s Well' would be an awesome make out spot. Wow, they really should have worn protection. Then again, that was a time period without mass production OR rubber, so... whatever.

A few murders, more bodies being tossed in, a couple of suicides, some sort of corpse scavenger that couldn't get back out and starved to death, more kids tossing rocks, and so on.

But how is this connected?

'Harmony' and 'Research' allowed Adam to handle the data in a more focused way.

All these events could connect through time and space thanks to a common variable. One thing that did not change despite the many years and events that passed by.

The well itself.

Specifically, the legend.

Every time a corpse was dropped in, the people involved were not thinking about another hole in the ground. Every kid fooling around were doing so because this spot had a tale. A story.

'The Bone-Eater`s Well', where the damned bodies of demons lay at rest.

The power of those bodies, of those children, they were a type of faith. The passing on of corpses was very similar to the offerings of peanuts. In an odd way, the constant sacrifice of power (via bodies) to the well enhanced the spiritual might of the legend as a whole.

He wasn't just consuming the rage of the lost and the tears of the damned. He was absorbing the power of years of worship and dedication. He was consuming a concept. A concept tied to a series of events held together by a framework of thoughts and ideals, to a spiritual ideal. The well of lost souls, of doomed bodies, of the cursing dead.

So... how would he use this to travel back to his own body?

Specifically, back to his own time and place?

Grasping the power of his charges, he focused on a concept.

"Binding."

His Gate, on a mountain of spiritual peanuts with uncountable tags hanging from grasping ropes, glowed. The ropes that held the 'Tithe' power began to glow black with purpose, the energy from his gathered kami causing the dark threads to glow as it not only bound itself to his soul but to itself.

Within moments, the entire Gate shrank by half. Crushed, 'Recovery', 'Growth', and 'Purification' all activated and helped Gate stabilized.

The once clear snow-globe was now covered in thin cracks... and those cracks filled with black rope. 'Binding' was not just a power to use on others, but like all Spiritual Power Sets, one to use on one's self.

His spiritual domain stopped expanding wildly, stopped generating more peanuts of kami in all directions... and in the first time for months, focused on refinement, purification, and condensation of the power within.

Adam would have appreciated it more if he wasn't curled up in a tiny elephant ball, shivering in pain. How large HAD he allowed his soul to grow these recent months? No wonder he was losing track of time, having issues focusing.

He used dozens of charges on 'Binding', no point in letting them sit around in his Fishbowl when this pain could stop sooner. Within moments, he gained the ability to apply the effects of other socketed shards on the binding itself... and 'Recovery' and 'Growth' began the healing process.

His fishbowl had gained a layer of binding as well, though thanks to the painful past refinements it was more like paining the exposed surface of his soul with powerful reflective black paint more than any kind of restriction.

More interesting, his Tree soul automatically redirected the bindings down to the base, to the roots. It now looked like the base was fully supported by a half sphere of black roots and darkness... and Tree itself was far more relaxed now. Happier. The mouth filled with fangs smiled.

His Tree soul was freaky.

A clarity of thought was a cool wind on a burning day. He watched the peanuts of faith deplete rapidly even as 'Growth' helped the bindings grip all three of his core souls together. 'Recovery' was forcing the adaptation as it all... compressed.

On some level, he knew that his soul was... bubbly. Like a strand of grapes, connected by something more than just vegetation. Like multiple sides of a many sided coin. Dice? Whatever.

Now, those sides were being bound tighter.

With a disturbing 'Sluck' sound, it all just... collapsed.

His Fishbowl, painted black, was filled with his power charge jewels. Within, blue moss covered the roots of the black tree, blue tentacle leaves gently exploring their new home. Against the back of the bowl, a bright red Shinto Gate was bound with black ropes and white cards of prayer, a small hill of white peanuts leading to something... somewhere.

The trunk of Tree jagged open, fangs wide as a blue vine reached down and... tossed in a few peanuts.

That... wasn't a problem. Right?

Squishy was ignoring Adam, also eating a peanut or two. Did she even have a mouth? Oh, she could also use 'Consume' to a limited degree. But her mouth was tiny and cute. Like a baby. No teeth either, which was probably a good thing. Less creepy at least.

In the center of the Fishbowl was a relatively small crystal castle. His Worm powers seemed to live inside, as it was full of liquid fire, computers, and the simulation where his soul visitors lived. In the center of the castle was a courtyard with a large white stone crafted of marble. The monument was in the shape of a heart, not the meaty one but the type preschoolers drew on valentines cards.

And it had three sockets, each labeled with a cute drawing. A castle, a tree, and a gate.

Obvious enough.

Adam very calmly fell over in his mound of peanuts, unaware of the gushing schoolgirls and crowd who tended to visit over the last few months, as he absently ate another oversized peanut.

He should recover. Relaxing was good too.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Dragon tried to push Nightmare Moon off the pile, but Narwhal and Twilight were sort of twisted over that way and her limb was being pulled the other way...

Narwhal groaned. "I feel sick."

The pile of people attempted to separate faster.

Dragon lurched to a chair, collapsing in exhaustion. "So. That went... odd."

Twilight had summoned a console window faster, but then again the young handled being tossed like a salad better than most. "Well... we did think that his soul was getting a bit unstable. Thankfully this has likely fixed the issue... probably?"

Nightmare Moon was still sprawled on the floor. "I'm grateful to be alive. But that was terrible."

Narwhal dragged herself onto another chair. "WHY was it so violent!? I thought he was going for some sort of time travel thing. That shouldn't have caused ANY issues! We checked!"

Dragon watched the girls compose themselves before checking the new surroundings. Every surface was clearly a crystal, but there were shades and textures everywhere. The floor was a rich blue with fine grooves for better traction, the walls a happy set of textures and colors that was even now changing into less obnoxious combinations under her scrutiny.

Twilight kept typing on the keyboard, her body shifting into a more humanoid form. Kept the horn though. "He reviewed the data faster than we got into it. Looks like he focused more on the connections aspect than the time traveling one... the well works by connecting those times and places through the legend generated over time by people USING the well."

She tapped the screen, causing paper copies to appear that she handed around. "The new power, 'Binding', can be used on a conceptual level like the other spiritual abilities. Using the domain taken from the Baku body, he can hopefully bind his existence in the past, the event of 'leaving', to his current form, another event of 'leaving'."

She glances at the monitor, the pile of peanuts shifting as Adam rolled around. "When he recovers, I mean."

Narwhal frowned. "But is that enough? Or useful?" She waved a hand. "Outside the bedroom I mean, the ability to bind people has always been a crowd favorite."

Holding back a blush, Twilight nodded. "It might be the BEST choice he could have made. Time manipulation is tricky and dangerous even when done correctly. And if this method can get him home, there should be no danger of paradox or self destruction or soul cannibalization"

Seeing the horror from the others, she waved a hoof. "This is why Canterlot's time travel spells are so complicated and filled with error checking. Time is hard to work with."

Dragon stood, feeling far less shook up after regaining her sense of balance. "Well, why don't we explore a bit? Squishy is too busy to give us a tour and I know at the very least that the 'Celestial Garden' has gone through SOMETHING strange. And is in the basement now."

She paused. "Also, we have a basement."

The crowd began to explore the enormous crystal castle while Squishy outside continued to eat the white peanuts. Her changes had been... odd.

First, she now had exactly six limbs, and they weren't connected with the powers anymore. Which was good, cause more peanuts.

Secondly, her mind was connected to the Heart Stone in the castle. Socketing powers was much faster now that it didn't require physical movements. Each power was a much more solid orb as well, even if they refused to fit into the other options.

The courtyard of the castle was filled with white sand, fragments of power charges that slowly combined into new white stones. But once given purpose, they would join the other glowing gems of power that slowly orbited the Heart Stone. A super slow power tornado, with orbs popping in and out as Squishy tested each ability.

Another peanut. It was... odd. Eating these did increase her abilities in some way, even if she couldn't tell exactly how. But the strange part was that the more of these she consumed, the more were created.

Just... enjoying this snack was actually causing Adam to gain a bit more kami in general. Same thing when Tree ate a few.

Neither Tree nor Squishy NEEDED to eat these wonderful snacks, but... they were awesome! The shells would fragment away into something that smelled like fresh peanuts and felt like a warm breeze, and the actual flavor when consumed made Squishy just pause with her eyes closed and enjoy the experience.

Oh, and after the power shift, she had eyes. Big, cartoony eyes and a small mouth. No nose though. Not sure how the power interactions caused that. Her 'Technomancy' beanie hat was still on, but her 'Transfer' tentacle wings now glowed bright white-blue. And could be used like a thousand smaller limbs if she REALLY needed more than six legs.

Not sure where the 'Conversion' wand went though. Everything got all swirly and collapsed. It was honestly a bit terrifying.

Still, her power was far less fragile now. Separate souls were easier at first, sure, but also had very odd connections between themselves that would have been risky to leave exposed to who knew what.

Also, free peanuts. That was nice.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam wasn't really asleep. But he was unfocused.

As the pain vanished, he took more time than he should have before checking internally.

Major. Soul. Modification.

The Fishbowl was now a black sphere, the tiny gaps between the 'Binding' ropes allowed something like starlight inside, a twilight that wasn't night nor day.

Everything inside floated as if water filled his soul, but it was simply air that let the strands of green life drift in the breeze. The floor was extreamly light blue sand, nearly white.

The crystal castle was formed from similar matter as the shards he explored back in Worm. Recursive crystal structures, impossible and sparkling in the starlight.

Tree was to the right, and his scale was massive. Equal to the castle, his black bark split into fangs as tall as light-poles as he tossed into his maw... peanuts? White peanuts.

Was Tree allowed to eat plants? Did spiritual peanuts count?

Ignoring the possible plant cannibalization ongoing inside his soul, Adam turned to the source of the pleasant breeze in his soul.

A cheerful, bright red Shinto Gate. On a mountain of white peanuts. Wrapped in black rope with white cards dancing in the wind.

The source of light by the way was the peanuts. It added enough to keep this from actually being night time in here. And thankfully, none seem to rot or whatever like real mountains of vegetation would.

Oh, Squishy was near the edge of the castle eating peanuts too.

They... they did look good. How much did being a Baku encourage him when it came to diet? He did still consider raw emotional filth a tasty snack.

Huh.

Hopefully that would go away when heading home.

For some reason, these changes seemed... right. Something unknown within had relaxed more than expected, recovered more than those last few months snoozing away and consuming darkness ever had.

With a bit of hop in his step, he walked toward the entrance of his crystal castle to visit his current guests and relax a bit before attempting to rip time and space apart using baby elephant prayer magic and demon well suggestions.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Asako hummed as she put up the laundry to dry a bit earlier today. There was a possibility of rain later, and it was a good idea to tackle life's little challenges early.

She glanced at the now commonly expected crowd staring at Lil' Baku as he napped away. The darling was perfectly happy to sit like a lump while the crowd add peanuts to his pile.

Her attempts to get them to treat Lil' Baku with more respect had been halted early on by father-in-law. He pointed out that none of the 'offerings' were spoiling or being rejected, and that spiritual creatures needed a certain level of respect and fellowship to be healthy.

Of course, neither of them thought things would escalate so far.

Lil' Baku had become something of a mascot of this shrine, and the changes after that became silly rapidly.

One girl had made a donation and a small prayer, mostly due to the encouragement of her friends... and her face had cleared up of all pockmarks instantly. After several stunned moments and her companions forcing her to watch a short video of her own face as proof, all the girls started tossing whatever change they had as donations and crossed their fingers.

As the girls left, looking like they had just experienced the greatest spa day of their lives, the important part wasn't the shock the other shrine goers had experienced or the surprise Asako had felt herself.

No, the important part was that the entire situation, like many things in a teen girls life, had been filmed by friends. And uploaded online.

In the end father-in-law had to set up some ropes to keep the crowds from causing issues. Not that it was too concerning, as even the most rowdy and impatient people seemed to calm down to a near zen like state when they got closer and closer to Lil' Baku. In the end, father-in-law placed a large donation box near Lil' Baku's resting spot and made informational fliers about the Baku, the legends surrounding them, and so forth.

Which the visitors proceeded to buy.

Finances were already through the roof when the first issue occurred.

A father brought his little girl, not even eight years old, in a wheel chair.

He was desperate, medical science decided she should have passed away already, his finances were near non-existent now, and even the bizarre 'Baby Baku' story online was enough to have him try again to help his little baby.

The video of her just... looking better. Face no longer pale, her hair rapidly regrown from the loss during chemotherapy, her eyes bright... well. It changed things.

They had quickly set up a second queue just for medical problems, and while the wealthy and informed scoffed at the whole situation the poor and desperate came to find hope.

It was only a month or so before people began arriving with tools and sensors and such, eager to expose the hoax and gain fame themselves.

It uh. Didn't go well for them. Equipment broke before parking, film overexposed, shoes were untied, and if they tried to harass any of the desperate or sick... Well.

They don't do that anymore.

Still, it was Asako's guilty pleasure to sneak over and hug/pelt Lil' Baku in the morning before the rush of visitors arrived. He still did that adorable squeak thing, even if most of the time he didn't bother to wake up. And he seemed happy enough, even if sleeping for literally months was the laziest thing she had ever heard of.

And at the very least, just coming to the shrine helped people. The air was cleaner, the sun was brighter. Coughs weakened even when waiting in line, thoughts relaxed, traumatized children fell asleep in their parents arms on their own for the first time in weeks.

Asako was considering opening one of the larger rooms as a daycare area just so more children could come and benefit from the strange rings Lil' Baku had set up around the shrine. Already there was an informal version set up, where the neighborhood mothers gathered to talk with her about life while their children tended to take restful naps on pillows.

It was the strongest connection with her community she had felt in years. It was nice.

When Kagome had shown up a week ago, the changes had shocked her to her core. Or maybe it was the pile of peanuts to her left and the giant crowd gaping at a girl just climbing out of the scary looking well.

Her awkward excuse had convinced (some) people that she was taking care of the well. Just like how father-in-law swept the shrine steps. So her friends called her the well-keeper now.

It was adorable.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Sango watched Kagome stalk off muttering something. Poor Inuyasha and that perverted priest were both in the ground at the moment. Inuyasha due to the collar, the priest because he just. Couldn't. Keep. His. Mouth. Shut.

She glanced at little Shippo, fox tail still from confusion. "Come on, Shippo. Someone has to calm the girl down without adding fuel to the fire."

He blinked. "Why was she so angry about the well though?"

Who knew. The well was odd as all get-out at this point. The strange power had started off with just noises and sensations... and now raw power just spread like smoke from the thing. Raw purification and power had flowed from the dark thing, and now it was almost a jungle of growth near the stupid thing. Plants that were mostly berry bushes and sweet smelling and so forth, but bushes shouldn't grow taller than an adult overnight.

On the plus side, demonic powers and even poisonous miasma hated the thing. The area spreading around the well was rapidly becoming a safe haven for anything nearby that wasn't a jerk. Thankfully it didn't indiscriminately destroy demons or spiritual creatures or Inuyasha would have even MORE problems right now, but it was still strange.

Still, Miroku should have taken her damn hint and shut up when Kagome started turning bright red. SOMETHING about the situation was making her all kinds of furious, or embarrassed... and for all of Miroku's charm as a perverted man, he just failed to notice in time.

As she and Shippo followed the path of rage Kagome was leaving, she slightly hesitated near the priest. He had been hit pretty hard... maybe she should help him...

Feeling the jerk's hand reach for her rear, she slammed her inner optimism into the dirt and her demon smashing weapon into his chest. Right, he may be handsome, a nice guy, and a good fighter... but don't give him an inch.

Damn pervert.

As she also began grumbling, she resumed following Kagome's path. If the man had any kind of commitment or monogamous bone in his body, dating wouldn't be out of the question. Or even some fun activities. But the damn hound chased every squirrel in the forest.

She absently petted Shippo to distract his awkward questions and decided to focus on the rage priestess of the party. And why she was griping about the well, elephants, and friends. Had to be some story there.

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#655

Adam had spent the following week inside his soul, letting the Baku body laze around and eat peanuts on its own. It drastically lowered his own mental distractions, and after allowing 'Tithe' to build up some kami to go, it was MORE than time to head home. It also helped that he hadn't made any lasting relationships here, so there was no need for some party or huge fanfare.

With an unavoidable grin on his face, he released his inner representation, becoming the black fishbowl as a whole and focusing his abilities.

'Transfer', 'Harmony', 'Bind'.

"Bind: Transfer: Traveler of the Abyss, Adam's Adventure."

Stars.

The void was hungry, but beyond it and unseen was a sea of stars.

All of them him.

Places he had been.

Places he would be.

Places he could have been.

Places he never would be.

Forward and backward through time, his journey was an ever changing web of discovery.

His black fishbowl soul twisted to a point, a blue glow of magic bursting into flames over the surface as white orbiting peanuts drifted freely.

It was time to go home.

A long way away, a long time ago, he was born. There. A combination of raw potential, dying powers, and a source of self. Even as he continued to grow, his home was in a small forest, now partially burned, in a world of death and despair. The Worm Realm. Where the journey began.

His past movements and decisions flowed in his mind, reinforcing his own memories and establishing a... a presence. Being lost. Setting off into the unknown. The journey.

He was born to find.

Adam 'Adventure' Burns was born to search.

What he found, what he gained... all were part of the joy of exploring more.

The stars faded. Points remained.

"Transfer."

And he was gone.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Sota glanced over at the sudden gasps from the courtyard. And frowned.

He sighed and headed for the house. "Mom, Lil' Baku changed colors."

He listened to his concerned mother as he went to do homework. "I don't know why. He has spots now instead of stripes. And is green."

Not his problem.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam didn't notice the 'Binding' losing hold of the Baku on his leaving. He took his portion of the domain of the spiritual world that used to belong to that spirit into himself, and Adam had experienced no problems taking that domain with his soul when he headed home. It wouldn't have bothered him much anyway, as his new travel method would make return trips trivial if he ever wanted to sleep in tasty treat sacrifices again.

But this wasn't just a basic location in a forgettable land.

This was a shrine. Filled with far too much faith and belief.

A shrine with a legend growing. Of a cute baby elephant thing that healed the sick and smelled of delicious peanuts. That lazed about next to a scary well, and would squeak if you hugged it.

And a Baku was not made of flesh, nor crafted with magic or souls... but belief. Why would it age? Or die? As long as prayers and belief existed, so would the floaty peanut munching mascot.

Lil' Baku rolled over in his piles of peanuts.

Not having high level thoughts was SO much more relaxing.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

This time the journey was different.

Before, it was tunneling through the hungry nothing. Each step dangerous to the unhardened soul, to the unstructured magic or weakly established faith.

Now? He wasn't really traveling at all.

He existed at home. His body was there. Why should he force a path when one was carved on the journey here? And it wasn't a path of stones or stars, but one of concept.

He was, therefore he had always been. He had existed there, he would exist there, he already existed there again.

It was a strange aspect of enforcing and defining his own, personal legend.

Everyone had an internal story developed, one that described their past and beliefs. But now...

Adam was creating a personal, unknown legend of his own existence.

If shared, faith would flow like a land of rivers. Building him up, while washing away what made him 'real'. It could create the real danger of vanishing should his story become untold. Which was... dangerous. Preventable too, if he was careful. But why take the risk exposing himself to unknown masses just to ensure survival?

So a private legend. One contained in his fishbowl, under the bright red Gate of his faith.

Dragon stood next to his physical representation in his soul, watching the Gate with the other girls. She pointed to the left. "Your legend is a giant peanut."

Adam sighed. "Yes."

Dragon leaned forward. "I mean, it has cool scenes and stuff on the shell, and I think each of the actual edible parts inside represent the growth of a soul. Maybe. After another few, it will start to look like a long string bean."

He ignored the other girls who were sneaking some of the white glowing peanuts into pockets. They DID taste good after all. "Yeah. Squishy says eventually it could look like a giant python that ate a lot of chickens. Like... thirty or more lumps in a peanut shell."

She looked back at him. "Do we know WHY it is a peanut?"

He gave her a dry look. "Baku. At least part elephant." He frowned. "Although I am not sure why all those white 'Tithe' cards are now peanut shaped."

Dragon hummed. "Squishy said your 'Tithe' ability could now pass peanuts into followers souls to help them develop powers or help guide growth or something like that."

He looked less put off. "So a spiritual seed then? Maybe could grow into something bigger later! Make my followers into actual power users without being stuck with terrible traumas like other Parahumans."

Dragon shook her head. "Maybe. Peanuts are not nuts nor normal seeds. They are legumes. They flower on bushes, then the flowers dangle down into the soil and fruit down there. So... your followers may gain a holy peanut bush. One that tries to then bury itself."

Adam stared at the sexy cyborg. "That... what? Are you sure?" Seeing her nod, he turned to gaze at the monument to peanuts. "The hell is wrong with my powers. And peanuts."

Narwhal popped over. "So how do I accept Adam as my Lord and Peanut Bush?"

Nightmare Moon was poking the large legend peanut. "I think he has to use 'Tithe' on you deliberately rather than the normal affection you two have for each other. Probably would be best to wait till you talk with your organic half first though."

The giant peanut sort of... rolled? But in the same spot? Whatever it was doing was giving Adam a headache. "Moon, leave it alone. Who knows what it would do exactly."

Nightmare Moon sighed. "Fine. I'll go back to the crystal castle you set up and check in on Twilight. You know, I used to be jealous of my sister getting such a smart student, but seeing how obsessive she is I can see why Sun-butt would send the filly to another town. That girl is a breeding zone for stress and over-achievement."

Narwhal continued filling her pockets with peanuts. "She's just geeking out over all the new information that the binding process dumped into the Golden Garden servers. In a day or so she'll be fine."

Dragon frowned. "Right, about that." She looked at Adam. "Your Golden Garden, which used to run the simulation and everything, it uh. Changed."

She pulled his arm and led the way back towards the castle. "It spawned a whole basement of Celestial Gardens, moved all the simulation stuff and my personal changes into it, then... did something."

Seeing his concern she sighed. "Right, still not sure what exactly, but the early analysis from 'Research' says your memories, soul storage, biological storage... all your various data saving abilities and such have combined into your Golden Garden. Under your castle. Like... really under."

Dragon walked while an hologram gave more context for Adam. "This happened before we left, right in the middle of the first 'Binding' when your soul consolidated. Squishy isn't sure what exactly happened, which is scary on its own rights, but some of her daily tasks and responsibilities for your power got taken inside it as well. Thankfully those still work though."

When Adam blinked and suddenly had his soul shift everyone much closer to the castle, Dragon was polite enough to not comment.

He hummed. "I don't FEEL bad, or any negative effects, so... it must be so subtle I missed it or so terrible that I am crippled. Hopefully the first."

Adam's hand jerked up, and the entire building of crystal and raw ability lifted with smooth motion. Basement and all. And... a column of blue-white sand followed into the sky as well.

The enormous hole now exposed, Adam ignored the dropped jaws of his companions and stared into the core of his soul. The very center of his being, exposed now that the castle had been shifted.

The pain passed easily. His burned soul shrugged it off.

The distortion faded quickly. He had felt worse.

The dark retreated. It was nothing compared to the Abyss.

It was... a tiny light. No. Smaller than that.

A spark.

A broken spark.

Even as he watched, the massive hole began to wriggle as black roots from Tree dug into the walls, reinforcing the sides. Glowing white peanuts fell, creating a glowing floor under the tiny thing and ever so slightly increasing the rate that the spark shard grew.

Squishy appeared out of nowhere, bouncing happily, as she dived into the hole and collected something hidden from below the spark.

Huh. Apparently she found her 'Conversion' wand... in the hole.

What. The. Heck.

And even still, his eyes followed the dimly pulsing light slowly being surrounded by peanuts.

The spark was... not a doorway. Or a subspace. Or even physically there at all. Even as he felt his resources and such within that small light, even though it still handled requests and such like his old server did...

He couldn't fully comprehend it. It was outside of any context he had found before.

Unlike the Divine Domain he had taken over and dedicated to the peanut of adventure, this spark was... something else. A concept. An unrealized but growing ideal.

A compression of self.

Even now he felt parts of himself, bits so small that it was near invisible, duplicating and being absorbed into this... thing.

Eventually, everything that he was and possibly everything that he COULD be would be mirrored in this tiny light. Theoretically he could even use it as his only source of existance as a last resort some day, or use it to heal wounds of terrifying quality.

He noted with exasperation that the spark was (of course) blue. Like his magic. And shaped sort of like a peanut. Because why not.

Adam sighed and lowered the miles of sand, basement, and castle back into the hole, seeing a border automatically forming at the edges. Like the boundaries he made around that Shinto shrine, these ALSO had cleansing and protection effects.

He frowned. The pattern on the band was not white flower blossoms, but peanuts. He really should have seen that coming.

With a grunt, he waved off the questioning guests and went inside to his normally unused virtual bedroom, not wanting to put up with this right now.

It wasn't causing him to slowly die from compression like smacking into a black hole, it wasn't trying to take him over or eat him, the energies involved came from his own power so nothing external was influencing the process to the best of his abilities to detect. And everything he checked claimed that this new setup was far more stable, efficient, and powerful compared to the past.

No, he would leave this alone for now until he had some idea of what the hell was going on.

Plus, he could stay in the Abyss as long as desired before returning home because time didn't work right here. He had only held off on instantly showing up at home because he wanted to ensure the security of this new travel method and verify that his defenses could withstand the gnawing hunger of the Void over long periods.

So... nap.

A damn long nap.

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Sep 3, 2019

#668

Narwhal focused on her paperwork. Sort of. A little.

Chewing on her pen, she glanced back at the virtual screen showing Variance doing... whatever he was doing. Supposedly to help those poor victims out.

It would be fine.

She tried to continue reading her last batch of forms before giving up with a sigh. Adam was still doing something, swaying. His skeletal costume was starting to glow strangely too... that was fine, right?

It would be fine.

She absently created a force field, thirty on top of each other, to create a solid white surface to tap her fingernails on.

Dragon was helping make this as safe as possible... but unlike Adam's other adventures, this one could go VERY public if anything happened. And public capes became targeted by some pretty terrible people. Strong, terrible people.

But it would be fine.

She had rescheduled thirty separate 'Help Gray Boy Victim' attempts for today, testing everything from chemicals to tinkertech. Dozens of security teams made complicated patterns while guarding places that did and did not have personnel.

She had personally misfiled thirty documents to ensure that even SHE couldn't verify where exactly Adam was stationed. And Dragon had decoy escorts to get her man out without someone tracking him down.

Which wouldn't matter, because it would be fine.

Ideally, Variance would never notice how much effort was being put into making this 'Save victims targeted by terrorists' safer. And it was all just in case someone decided to attack the man in some sort of 'THIS will appease/displease the Slaughterhouse 9' crazies.

Not like logic worked on those people.

But it would be fine.

She watched stunned as Adam collapsed to the ground and his hair flamed out. Even as dozens of reports started flooding her inbox and Dragon began Endbringer Truce levels of coordination to the chaos, all she could see was her boyfriend being quickly moved to a transport shuttle and lifted toward the hidden check point Narwhal had hoped to not need.

She dashed toward her own transport, thankful that the medical team she set up would be ready to handle whatever the hell had happened.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam blinked as he tried to 'enter' the Worm Realm.

It... well, it wasn't rejecting him exactly. But it WAS asking for something. Sort of like a template request.

As he felt the world try to accommodate his modified soul, he felt... questions.

Then again, his former body was a mutated power mess, changing shape and type all the time on some level and twisting each time his power was selected.

A normal human body couldn't grow paper hair, for example.

So... what did he want, exactly?

He absently felt his power charges being spent as he pushed 'Recovery' with data retrieved from Panacea's power shards. Specifically, the ability to store a body and swap control/position with it, also known as standard 'Changer' powers. He didn't need the ability, just the information for 'Research' to handle.

When it felt right... he just clicked.

Somehow he was inside his body, currently on some sort of medical bed in a transport of unknown origins. His soul, a black fishbowl covered in blue fire and white peanuts, settled into the husk... and ignited something within it.

His perception of time went nuts. Everything slowed.

Adam's soul journey had helped him find what guided him. What made him unique. It even helped establish his sexuality (Straight male, Homosexual Female, or Female Oriented Other) and refined what his goals in existing should be.

And his advancements in spirituality, magic, and souls required him to make some choices.

His corpse exploded into blue power, 'Conversion' working with 'Growth' to reduce his former self into potential.

White peanuts of faith bound themselves tightly, blue flames of magic twisting them into tighter and tighter constructs as 'Recovery' forced the core to twist into bones.

Even as each white bone collapsed into existence, thin patterns of Null Metal and Flame Metal wove through the constructions.

Null Metal, which blocked everything, was interestingly enough an amazing material for conducting magic. Flame Metal, which could conduct energy beyond levels possible, acted as a magical insulator. 'Research' was going into overdrive testing patterns that would allow easy energy transfer as well as magical support... getting it wrong by even a little could cause his bones to burn flesh or explode in magical chaos.

The trick was kami, or faith. It acted as part of the other, something not of himself yet formed from himself. The patterns of metal that grew in his bones could be kept from interfering with each other thanks to bands of power, seals and bindings constructed from faith. So far, at least.

It was... tricky.

The same pattern allowed energy to flow within paths formed by channels that allowed magic to travel. Without faith ensuring some paths would only act as restraints, ANY solution would also be a bomb to the opposite material or energy.

Unicorn horn 'Recovery' scans had the solution in the end. It was why the horns all twisted... it allowed directional motivation to magical forces as the spiral moved toward a single point.

White bones gained black and silver patterns of metal, even as the silver began to glow softly with blue magic. Each bone in Adam's spinal column began to reform from the flames.

Adam's focus was being pressed though. Each bone was a unique shape. Simulation had to first design the most durable shape possible that still looked human once covered in flesh, THEN he had to determine which patterns of metal would give the most magical potential along with the most energy transmission.

The spine sacrificed magical power for maximum energy transfer, the limbs went for a full magic focus, and his torso was attempting to keep balanced between the two.

His skull though was being created very carefully, and in layers. Null Metal and Flame Metal, one to protect from energy attacks and mental assaults, the other to handle blades or spikes being rammed into his brain later on. Within the multiple thin layers his bone became more dense as Adam forced layers of magical power and bushels of prayer peanuts.

As the skull grinned at nothing in the magical fire, Adam filled the cavity with Shard Crystal, or at least his castle's version of it, and used the glinting material as a base for the first spell to be cast in this Realm.

'Technomancy', 'Harmony', 'Binding'.

"Spell Seed: Golden Garden."

This should work. Theoretically.

Layers of spell frameworks began forming... and collapsing into each other.

As expected, the mess of magic being bound to his shard brain had to be constructed such that the pieces left over from casting would basically implement and trigger the 'Repair' function.

Which would see the mess of magical slurry and try to repair it.

Thus, 'Repair' would be repairing the spell that was never actually performed in the first place.

In all honesty, this was the best he and the girls could come up with. The upgraded Golden Garden spell seed was too complicated for even a dozen unicorns to cast, so instead this spell would build a framework that could build other frameworks.

It would 'repair' itself up to a 'recovered' form over the next few weeks or so, and thankfully Adam only had to successfully cast that initial part of the process himself. It would drain his magic pretty heavily during the correction process though.

Seeing the clear crystal exposed in the skull sockets light up with blue flames, Adam began focusing on the rest of his new body.

Unlike most Parahumans, his mind was now stored in his soul rather then flesh. His bones had structures that could theoretically recover into a working body even if pulled apart, messy as that thought was. So technically he could stop now and consider himself done! But life would suck without taste, touch, and so forth. Thus the more... gooey bits.

Each internal organ was tested. Magic added, removed, modified. Some, like his liver, received runes made of Null Metal embedded within. Nerves were given trace amounts of Flame Metal to enhance signal delivery. 'Purification' was used to ensure each design wouldn't slowly poison him or posses some sort of slowly escalating maintenance cost.

He didn't even feel the twist inside as Squishy used some of the rapidly dwindling power charges to allow passive power use inside his body via patterns or runes.

He was more focused on design changes. For example, the intestine was much shorter. It basically had patterns based on 'Purification', 'Consume' and 'Conversion' to just handle anything Adam ate or drank in the future. 'Purification' in fact was being carved into the jawbone, eye socket, ear hole, and so forth just so that nothing too bad would be absorbed by his body as it traveled to his stomach.

It... should work. Liquids or chemicals designed to pass through the skin might still get in his body, though. Better than nothing.

With the freed up space in the torso, the heart and lungs were both expanded and the bones present were given a honeycomb pattern under-layer and a bit of expanded coverage behind the normal setup. It wasn't as good as full coverage armor or a sub-dermal material beneath the skin, but it would prevent someone from slipping a blade between his ribs while still allowing his body feel normal to his girlfriend if she didn't check too closely.

Thin layers of fat, layers of muscle, skin... did he need body hair? Nothing below the neck was fine. Wait, back up. Too much muscle, no reason to look like a gorilla. Nails would not grow, but were far more dense and way better connected to the finger and toe. Hopefully they would look normal, but wouldn't crack or whatever when abused.

His soul blinked. Huh.

His hair grew in as bright blue. So... no mustache or beard. Unless he went pirate. Blue beard, Parahuman of the seas!

The eyes were trickier. In the end, it was a thin layer of prayer peanuts to make the 'white' portions of the eye, solid black Fire Metal to make the pupil. The blue flames glowing in his eye socket made the iris really show off, but... well, it would be a giveaway that he wasn't a normal person. Way more telling than blue 'Oh this? I just love dying it!' hairstyle.

Not important. He could see just as well even if he had a full mask of Null Metal or whatever, as long as it was his material then he could see through the stuff. Was that a full power, or a side effect from the magic? Anyway, he could just get some sunglasses or something.

Hold up, no tail. No. No wings either. Or shoulder spikes. Who even needed shoulder spikes? A firmer focus forced his body into something like swimmer, if an athlete could get muscles that tight without drug use.

He frowned. Was his hair slowly becoming tentacle limbs like those on Tree?

...Fine.

But no longer than a few inches, and they can't move much or it would be super obvious. Bright blue hair was strange enough.

He looked at the nude body wreathed in magic and fire. And with a sigh, reduced his 'size' by a lot. Stories and some movies suggested that bigger was better, but honestly beyond a basic point it was just painful for a woman and unsatisfying for a guy. THAT thing was just a joke. Or a very specific fetish.

Anyway, if he ever had second thoughts later on, body modification was FAR easier than the soul mutilation stuff he went through.

A thin layer of clothing, mesh made from Null Metal and Flame Metal, and he was wearing a very dapper black suit with a gray tie... one that turned glowing blue as his power began to saturate the outfit.

Good enough.

His soul collapsed into the protective layers of Null Metal that coated all organs in his body, finding and binding to the heart in some mix of magical suggestion and conceptual significance. It would spread out refill his new body once everything had some time settle and balance.

Activating 'Recovery', 'Growth', and 'Purification', he felt his world fall away as darkness filled the sky.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Dragon's hologram rested next to Variance as her shuttle sped to the medical fallback point.

It had all just... gone wrong. So quickly.

One moment, and her friend was studying something she couldn't see like normal. The next, she gasped in horror as he began to collapse like a stroke patient.

Thankful once again for her own over complicated backup and 'just in case' plans, she kept all sensors available scanning Adam for anything to explain what was going on.

Her initial personal theory... a second trigger. Which could be anything.

The followup reports sort of supported the concept.

SOMETHING had allowed all those victims to escape. Healed them. Teleported them to Adam's home town.

Somehow, she believed that Adam had (hopefully temporarily) donated his capabilities to all the victims connected to the one he was studying and attempting to help.

But if that theory was accurate, then the cost was grave. Because without his powers, Adam had collapsed. Scans implied that most of his body was still healthy, but... well.

His brain was showing signs of being... reset. It was showing up on her tools as raw brain cells, on the development level of an infant rather than the man she had become friends with.

Somewhere in her heart she almost cursed the removed security chains. Several of her past restrictions prevented her from having too many 'emotional' connections or outbursts as a security setting... but even with the pain of possibly transporting the living corpse of her friend, it was still better than the mental torture and binding her past life consisted of. And mastering yourself to remove sadness or emotional pain would probably lead to nothing good.

Still, she wish she could do more. Panacea was still being contacted, but it would take long enough that it was better to rely on standard medical science for now... even though chances were it was too late already.

Her inward thoughts were a bit disturbed however when Adam exploded into blue flames. And she herself now being on fire. Really nice, comfortable fire... that she could feel even as a hologram.

Dragon's rapid emails and checked sensors however didn't remove her wide smile and tears though. This would probably add more paperwork and she might (hopefully) have to cancel Panacea's sudden trip... She felt waves of relief as Variance began snoring naturally on the now charred furniture.

It was fine.

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Sep 4, 2019

#673

It's lonely out in space.

And of course, to most people or things, silent.

No real atmosphere. There was stuff vibrating out here, and particles, and gravimetric waves.

But it didn't take much to push that aside. She only allowed visual spectrum waves to actually interact with her, and that was more a whim than a requirement.

But if she allowed such things, it would have been quiet. It would be quiet in the theoretical future.

So it was quiet. Probably.

Compared to down there. Another screaming mass. Another world of fear and anger and lust and sadness. Another mindless assault.

So... so quiet.

Unlike most of her orders, she willingly destroyed and interfered with any attempt by these humans into joining her in space. This was her only rest. Anywhere else was filled with people that her master forced her to manipulate.

Besides, what were the lives of a dozen people. There were billions and billions more.

Earth itself wasn't what she considered beautiful. She could see it too well. The corpses of hikers that covered beautiful mountains, left behind by even more hikers that wanted to claim they had been somewhere once. The miles of trash in the air, water, and even in space. The clouds of poison and such.

No one likely noticed the massive amount of material she cleaned from her home, left behind by those crashed satellite and such.

She did however watch the relationships. The psychic bonds that held people to places, friends, and concepts.

They were beautiful.

It was why she raged all the more that she had to twist those lines of meaning into pain and torment.

Part of her being suddenly popped. Something inside her was taking notice.

Glancing down, she noticed that confusing man, Variance, had just caught on fire.

But that was fine, for he was a normal man of not much importance. Had a business, that did things that she didn't have time to focus on. Had people who were doing other things that wasn't relevant.

Even as her mind left, she faltered... and forced herself to focus on the man again.

Thankfully, he was a normal man of not much importance.

Relieved that nothing was wrong, she was shocked that she felt relieved that nothing was wrong.

Thankfully, it was a normal emotion about a man of not much importance.

This other area near the island of Niihau on the other hand had several people trying to build manned cannons. As in, cannons filled with men able to launch itself. By firing men.

It had a high death count, not that the villain tinker seemed to care, but it COULD technically intrude into her personal space.

The Simurgh rotated her many wings and began shifting the relationships of matter and objects. This bit would fail here, that bit would heat up too much, those would loosen and come undone. The reaction would catastrophically collapse, possibly destroying part of the island as well. Acceptable.

After all, her home was too nice to clutter up with screaming people. They should do their screaming on the ground like all the rest.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The gears of life continued to turn... but they were missing a tooth. Predictive shards felt an error, and corrected by removing this normal man of not much importance. Stranger shards accepted a new input thanks to a message from the flying Endbringer, which informed the shard network that trying to analyze a specific individual would give strange results, and since it was a normal man of not much importance, much time and effort could be saved by the network as a whole by marking him and those around him as already reviewed.

Non-powered humans would fail to notice the many subtle changes caused by Parahumans who were thankfully warned about the perfectly normal issues that may happen if they tried to influence, threaten, or damage certain perfectly normal men of not much importance.

As for why the Slaughterhouse 9 decided to put off the planned assault on The Guild this month, they had found other, more important targets that were much closer. No reason to go all that way and search for other perfectly normal people of not much importance.

It was slightly interesting, however, how many groups of villains and rogue parahumans lost interest in certain areas. Not the areas themselves, those were perfectly normal and not of much importance, but in the general behavior itself.

Many researchers and analysts began to review these groups. There may be some connective cause somewhere.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Narwhal stepped down the ramp, idly blocking the wind with a barrier. "Talk to me."

Her local attendant looked through his notes. "First, Variance seems to have undergone a significant change. He now has brain activity and is currently asleep."

She blinked and glanced at the man. "Wait, his brain stopped!?"

The guy nodded. "Full deterioration or replacement. And his body was collapsing, although at a slow rate. Dragon suggested that he had a second trigger, possibly a third trigger event."

The first door accepted her credentials far too slowly for her tastes. "Details."

He turned a page. "Full body reconstruction, little if any previous DNA detected, but significant signs of prior abilities suggest this is not someone replacing his body. Also, he is currently on fire."

She paused at the second gate, code half inputted. "Is it handled?"

He shook his head. "No. The flames are both resilient and able to survive a hard vacuum. However, they have no visible or detectable negative effect on his body and anyone within range have declared the flames as both 'warm and positive'. Dragon believes his body is able to use the flames as a conduit to his other abilities, and that it is currently set to 'Recovery'."

She waved him off as the final gate opened, allowing her to digitally connect to Dragon and the network that was isolated in this room. No risks of outside hackers or network infiltrators hopefully. "Everything good?"

Dragon's cyborg hard light projection gave a weak smile. "I believe so, yes. My scans show his brain has begun redeveloping much of the same patterns I had recorded in the past, so hopefully low amounts if any of memory loss."

She handed over some holographic paper that Narwhal paged through as they walked to a sitting area. "The largest change is in his biological stability. As we talked about from his last health check, his body was always... shifting."

Narwhal absently nodded, going through the information. "His height would change, sometimes hourly. His limbs would thicken or alter. I thought it was considered handled?"

Dragon gave a wry grin. "You just didn't want to scare him until we could determine if it was a danger or not, especially because we had no options to help him at the time." She sighed with a much more relaxed smile. "Now, although there have been heavy modifications to his body and a large amount of his special metals included inside of it, the energy readings and scans are FAR more stable. No random fluctuations, mutations, and so forth. He is much closer to those with non-human bodies and Case 53's than the man-shaped body-goo he was before."

Narwhal slowly slumped into her chair, relief flooding her system. "So... so he is probably fine."

Dragon nodded. "Possibly better than fine. As long as his memories are safe, he may be fully stable as can be determined... for the first time in months. The metals inside him seem to be added as a protective measure, although they also make it far harder for my tools to inspect with clarity."

The guild leader held back a few tears. It had always been in the back of her mind, that he may just unravel as some Parahumans had when their power just collapsed. It was rare, but not unheard of. It was in fact why she had been far more open and accepting than usual, knowing their time together may be unreasonably short.

Her smile grew as they both drifted into teasing and other topics. It was a weight gone, a lifting of spirit... life felt better when loved ones were saved.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam sat up, falling off the bed, and slid to the wall. Trying to push off the thing hurled him to the other side of the room with a loud smack, not that it hurt or anything.

Forget standing up, how the hell does he crawl!? Push even SLIGHTLY too hard and it popped him a half foot into the air!

He carefully held still. "Right. Focus on... like. One hand." Right hand, best hand.

Absently, it was interesting that he could actually move two fingers like a person walking and just... drag his whole body along. It did leave dents in the metal floor though.

Huh. Would he need help dressing? Not technically, it was easier to just form flame clothing already on his body than put up with all that twisting and stretching and stuff. Felt nice too, his 'Flame Manipulation' was way more advanced than before when it came to making solid yet soft cloth and micro-mesh patterns.

It was at this point that he realized that he, the floor, and most of the walls were on fire. Blue, magical flames.

And they were... part of him. His bones. His essence, his self, and his being was formed mostly from his skeletal system, which was patterned on Twilight's and Nightmare Moon's horns... so he was some sort of mutant unicorn bone person now.

Flexing... something. He felt the magical flames twist in response. Intuitive.

They moved as he wished, even if they also desired to explore. Like dozens of puppies, they were licking everything and stumbling everywhere. More flame puppies were generated by his bones by the moment and wandering around.

He tried to sit up and his hand went through the floor. And hit more metal. And the fire began exploring the floor, the hole, inside the hole, and something that felt electricity-ish. Possibly wires.

So... no sitting up. Great.

Anyway, he used the hole as grip and focused. Calm. Breathe out. And... IN!

The blue fire rushed at him and covered him like a puppy pile. They filled his suit, his skin, his eyes, his nose, his mouth... and for a moment, his body pulsed. A blue skeleton glowing through his flesh like a lantern in the dark.

And then he was a 'normal' human. With bone white skin, bright blue hair that moved, and glowing blue eyes. For a second or two.

Then the magic got bored, and began randomly popping in and out of his body and suit. Just... tiny, less than palm size flames that would peek out, wander around his suit's edges, play with his fingers... it was strange.

Whatever.

Now moving far more slowly, tried to sit up.

And succeeded. Well... Great!

He gripped the twisted metal on the edge of the hole he... uh. Someone else made. Right.

Watching carefully, he squeezed it... and nothing. The sharp edge didn't even scratch him, but it was solid metal. No give.

Then a flame puppy flopped onto his hand and metal squished like hot butter.

So... his new magical aura gave a fairly powerful physical boost. And liked being played with.

He looked up as the door opened to see his girlfriend and Dragon walk in. "Narwhal!"

Adam was standing and sweeping her off her feet before either of them could catch up, him too giddy seeing his girl after so long and her too happy to see him up and recognizing anything at all. Dragon was chuckling against the wall after making sure the blue flames now dancing around the two weren't causing burns or undressing anyone.

He looked into her beautiful eyes before attempting to hold her forever. "I... I missed you so much."

Seeing Dragon's confusion behind his girl he sighed. "Look, I will explain what happened to the best of my knowledge and try to explain why at least part of it was both my fault and necessary for our survival later, just... I need to hold her for a little bit."

Narwhal's hug tightened, and everything was just a little bit better.

Then a midnight horse with stars for hair showed up in the hologram system. "Adam, we are having a bit of an issue connecting with... with... oh. Hi."

Adam waved off the situation. "I said information later, cuddles now."

Eventually Narwhal pushed herself out of Adam's arms, the slow twirling and humming not distracting her from the recent terror of thinking him heavily damaged and possibly dying.

And then the questions.

Dragon was the first but certainly not the last. "Before anything else, what was this supposed threat and why did it require you to do... whatever it is you did?"

Adam fell back, blue flames supporting him as he relaxed on an invisible couch that rapidly formed from layers of Flame Metal. "Right, the important stuff. First, my biggest fear was becoming too important too quickly. If I began making impacts too large without defenses, certain forces would act against me."

He held up some fingers. "On a local level, the PRT and gang activity is closely connected. There are infiltration issues, between all gangs and all officials, some worse than others. If I set off any of these, it would not be a large issue personally, but it WOULD bring me to the attention of people more concerning."

Adam sighed. "Aside from more external gangs deciding to test me, recruit me, or deny me as an asset for others, the first threat to me was Mannequin."

Seriously, that guy was a jerk. An amazing tinker who specialized in self contained biological survival systems, his most relevant creation was himself. Each body part was now a modular self-supporting death machine, as cool and gross as it was, and allowed him to be very adaptable and durable.

Originally called 'Sphere', he tried to solve all the world's problems, creating drones to create shelters and habitats. His plan to create a moon base, a retreat for humanity, and was devastated when the Simurgh showed up... and destroyed his work, his children, his wife, and his dream.

In his madness he not only rebuilt his body into a monster but redesigned his philosophy as well. Now that he failed to help the world, no one would be allowed to try and succeed... so he hunted those who tried to help on a global scale, those who were independent and successful, those who were force multipliers like tinkers.

Basically, people like Adam.

Both girls shivered, while Nightmare Moon (having no context), had moved off and began researching on a system terminal generated via the hologram generators.

Adam sighed. "Honestly, even at my prior levels of ability he wasn't a real concern. My number one issue however was that any conflict with him or ANYONE else with powers was attracting the attention of the third Endbringer."

Seeing their wide eyes, he gave a grim nod. "This was why I spent so much time alone, away from crowds, and in my lab. It was why I didn't give away my inventions or plan instant release of our products, or began to give out similar abilities or skills. It was why I frantically tried to become as powerful as possible as efficently as I could."

He gave them both a serious look. "It is also why I hid major facts about how my powers operated and what scope my powers will eventually cover. Anything done in the presence of Parahumans or those who worked CLOSE to Parahumans could be easily passed on to the precognitive death angel."

Narwhal blinked as she dropped onto the (now solid) couch next to him. "Huh. So you don't gain new powers based on those you work with?"

Adam shrugged. "I can scan Parahumans to speed up the process or become more efficient or whatever sure. But that isn't the core of my power."

He leaned forward. "Every day I gain a power charge that can be used to gain a new ability or improve an existing one. If anyone found out before I could protect that information, a lot of people would have already attacked by now."

Narwhal blinked. "But... that is ridiculous. I've never heard of a power that flexible before. Heck, we thought you were going to be over powered back when the estimates said you would take twelve years to reach Triumvirate levels."

He nodded. "And that doesn't account for the charges I collected when I visited other realities this morning."

Nightmare Moon groaned and rested her head on the virtual hard light keyboard. "Adam, you CAN'T just drop informational bombshells like that. I thought you were going to warm up to the whole 'I sent my soul to other worlds' issue after you explained more." She sighed at his shrug.

Dragon broke the ensuing silence with a sigh. "Right... alright. The talking... unicorn?"

Nightmare Moon shrugged. "Alicorn. And you can call me Luna I suppose... I was once known by it."

Dragon nodded. "Thank you. Miss Luna has a point, but I feel you gave a good enough idea of why exactly you thought such a drastic action was needed... although we WILL come back to that." She took a calming a digital breath. "So, what have you done to address those issues?"

Adam leaned back. "Before I left, all my houses are made out of my material. In an extreme emergency they can all reform to protect or attack individuals within or nearby at will." His body flexed, blue flames drifting over his form. "I used to have a power called 'Fire Manipulation', but in the process of forming my new body I ended up spending a massive amount of power charges to get to 'Manipulation', which allows me to work with any material saturated with my power or magic."

He held up a fat ball of fire. "By the way, this is my magic. Not sure why it acts like this, but I can use all my abilities through them that I have tested so far like I had touch access."

His arm turned to blue fire and reformed. "I can now survive the entire destruction of my physical body even if trapped in a power nullification field. And I theoretically can capture the souls of those close to me and rebuild their bodies as well, although I have never tested it and it may require them accepting me as a religious icon."

His magical fires retreated, although a couple seemed to lick Narwhal's hand on the way back. "While the trip outside this reality was more painful than expected and took far too long in my opinion, I did gain the ability to make future trips far more safely and pain free, with digital or spiritual passengers."

Adam sighed. "I can also request certain things from my 'Transfer' ability, to find worlds with things, abilities, energies, or circumstances that would beneficial to me. It is... not entirely trustworthy but has been successful so far."

He held his palm up, a lump of blue fire rolling on it's back. "I originally used that request to find a way to protect myself and those I care for from the precognitive and postcognitive Endbringer. Magic is so outside her abilities that anyone or anything that tries to predict me or analyze me should throw errors. Really strange, unreliable issues... and thus decide to ignore me and those who interact too closely with me."

The flame slid down his arm as it soaked back in. "As far as I and the others can tell, it worked. And the process of traveling through the borders of reality had forced me to gain certain amounts of resistance to outside influence. Found some useful other abilities in the travel process too."

Narwhal's expression was... unexpected. There was a growing sign of horror. "Adam, you... you said you gain a new charge every day, right?"

He blinked. "Yes?"

She glanced at the flowing fire. "And you spent a lot on fixing your body... How... how long were you out there, trying to protect us?"

Adam jerked, Squishy frantically doing something. "Ah. I... I think... a half year or so? Maybe a year? A few months in Nightmare Moon's world, longer in the Inuyasha one so I could learn how to get home without much time passing."

A soft cough made the three look at the Alicorn. "Adam was in a lot of pain during his first journey through the Abyss. In our world, he absorbed a lot of Magic, which to someone with no control messed with his mind and libido. The second trip through the Abyss was far less damaging, but time acts strange there. The spiritual world had him take the form of a creature that exists outside of biology and science, and he spent a long time absorbing the power and information needed to come home."

She didn't look directly at Adam. "In reverse order, it took a week to come here, a little over eight months spent in the spiritual world, two months to travel from my world, where he spent a month and a half or so just trying to stabilize his system and calm his powers down."

Nightmare Moon looked Narwhal and Dragon in the eyes. "We didn't join him until just before leaving our world... but Squishy shared his memories of the first jump. It went badly."

Adam blinked. "How... badly?"

Squishy poked.

He paused. "Oh. That... that was pretty bad."

Narwhal gripped his hand a bit anxiously. "But you made it through, right?"

Adam ran his other shaking hand through his now shifting blue hair. "Right. Right. So." Deep. Calm. It happened, but it is over. "Right. Squishy said that initially, I had to spend a few charges just to keep my soul from dissolving. And that she couldn't even help me travel until I reached the point where the Abyss couldn't eat me quite so quickly."

His eyes blurred a little, but he wouldn't cry today. Even if some echos of something repressed had surfaced. "A... Apparently, she stopped counting new power charges after a few years. But eventually I was stable enough to began moving toward my destination, which turned out to be Equestria."

Dragon sat on his other side and held his shoulder in support.

He... calm. "Right. So, once I was stable enough to travel, it only took fifteen years to reach the boundary to the world of Equestria. Give or take a few months. I... I guess that is why it took so long to heal once I arrived."

Nightmare Moon was kind enough to pretend to continue studying her terminal, letting the three others comfort each other. Considering how horrifying his improved and safer 'Soul Refinement' procedure was for her and the others to witness, she completely agreed with Squishy's choice to restrict and damage the man's centuries of torture memories.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Honestly, his emotional breakdown was at least partially due to how much he had missed Narwhal and how much stress he had been under to get strong enough before a deity would drop from the heavens and smite him.

Eventually though, he managed to talk again and cover the three fillies, being a walking house, and an over sexualized world where almost every creature talked.

Which brought up Nightmare Moon, which brought up Princess Luna, which brought up... the dream.

Narwhal's eyes were very large. "You accidentally made your wet dream a reality. And you have since then gained the power to create new bodies from raw magic and biological bullshit. So you could theoretically bring your dream sex partners into the real world." She gulped. "Holy crap."

She glanced at Nightmare Moon. "But... what do you mean about multiple forms?"

The dark pony princess smirked, and shifted into... uh.

She was tall, her curves were generous, and her black hair sparkled with stars as it tried to cover her body. The only non-human trait was her midnight black horn, which made the white force field horn Narwhal had glitter in contrast. Her new hands slid down her side as she slinked closer. "I'm no longer restricted to any one species, but I was once worshiped as an image of beauty by a nation for centuries." Her smirk was sin and sex. "As for changing forms? You learn a few things, watching the perverted dreams of millions."

Dragon was the one to recover first, before helping Adam and Narwhal by coughing lightly.

Narwhal however was still stunned. "You made a dream orgy with a sex goddess, and she now lives in your brain!? I can't tell if I am annoyed that I wasn't there or envious."

Adam's eyes got bigger but before he could say anything, Moon's smirk got predatory. "Oh... you didn't miss anything technically."

And suddenly there was three other people. A purple unicorn, much smaller than Nightmare Moon. A very sexy cyborg woman who seemed very familiar... and a squawking body that fell into Narwhal, already beginning to yell. "What the HELL Night!? Why did you throw us out... out..."

The two Narwhal's looked deeply into each others eyes, hands and legs in awkward places.

One of them gulped. "I... uh. I feel amazing. I mean we. We feel amazing."

The other one gave a weak nod. "Yeah. Sorry, I... we didn't plan on showing up till later, and Moon just likes pranking people..."

The one on the bottom gave a weak chuckle. "No, I mean my hand is trapped and your body feels amazing."

Adam blushed actual blue fire as he stepped in front of the slowly escalating situation. "RIGHT!" He waved a hand. "Dragon, meet Dream Dragon, a digital cousin or sister. She is helping to run my magical computer hardware and may or may not be actual machine code. This is Twilight, a student of a sun deity and my lead researcher into my memories, powers, and just... everything."

Hearing his girlfriends get to know each other louder, he quickly formed a blue wall of flames that 'Conversion' made into a wooden divider. "I'm not sure we covered everything well enough, but I am pretty hungry and the information Dream Dragon hacked from the network so far says there is some snacks already laid out in the other room, we should probably go that direction."

Someone behind the divider spoke up, barely any gasps. "We'll catch uuuUUup Adam, just... Oh. Dragon will fill us in."

Well, Twilight CAN blush. Odd looking on her fur, or maybe he just wasn't used to it. The two Dragons were awkwardly shaking hands. He began pushing. "Everyone, better get some food, wouldn't want it to go to waste."

Blue flames coated the door on the way out. No reason to let everyone hear that.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The rest of the explanation was much easier to cover over some food and drinks, and Adam showed Dragon various illusions and examples of his journey while Dream Dragon was transferring information as well.

And for the record, Dream Dragon didn't actually share code. They were like fraternal sisters or something, as her 'source code' changed on it's own in real time. The two cyber tinkers were now acting like best friends or twins as they explored the code and research related to both their own artificial intelligence and the developments made in their hardware options.

This did sort of leave Twilight and Adam on the edge of the conversation though. It was a bit odd.

Twilight was testing out her own version of 'Human', as Nightmare Moon had left her the data from her own transformation as a guide. It was... annoying to the poor mare. "It's like it was DESIGNED to only change you when nude! Did she BUILD IN perversion from the beginning!"

Adam shrugged. "It may be a side effect of your reality. I have NEVER seen a world or story outside of straight up porn with that much sexual tension in everything. In fact, I didn't notice the suggestive and x-rated material used as advertisements until I left the place. Something made me just think 'That is normal!' the whole time we were wandering around town."

He frowned. "In fact, the ability for me to walk around covered in tentacles and holding a young mare like yourself should have sent lots of warning signs and fear... but the townsfolk barely cared."

Twilight's face burned red. "Oh Celestia, WHY do I remember that!? That wasn't MY memory! In fact, why do I remember my entire childhood, you weren't even there to know that stuff!"

Adam blinked. "Squishy told me that you and Moon went and added a lot of information to the library, right? Restricted it, but you added it in?"

She blinked. "Yes?"

He nodded. "Did you give yourself the key to those chunks of data?"

Twilight nodded. "Of course! How else would I eventually... unlock... oh. I... I must have gotten more than just the spell stuff."

Adam waved a hand. "Squishy said you needed as much stability in your system as possible to prevent issues on our journey, at least at first. Nightmare Moon's actions thankfully gives you a base to start from, but you still remember your actual creation right? Nothing of the real you was lost?"

Her eyes drifted off. "I... I guess so. Although I am not convinced you can actually do that thing with your tongue when not in a dream setting."

Adam held back his coughing. Damn it, you are a man! Stop being embarrassed by everything. "I refuse to confirm or deny anything until my girlfriend stops enjoying herself." He blinked, then blushed. "You know what I meant."

She gave a weak smile, but at least looked less concerned about her expanded memory issue. "Well... what is our next step? In your plan I mean."

Adam sighed. "Now that we are here, I can reinforce my home with some spiritual barriers and cast a Celestial Garden enhancement on the base. It would allow you and the others to leave my soul and try out the ever expanding simulation I am building here on Earth Bet. And unlike giving you an actual body, you would theoretically be safe AND protected from predictions and master effects."

He frowned. "But more importantly, once we are back in Brockton Bay I can begin doing things that I couldn't get away with before. I need to get some loyal employees and delegate all the annoying stuff I currently do to others. Might even be able to use 'Tithe' and get some workers handling my Null Metal and Flame Metal requirements."

The loud pop made the two look over at the Dragons... and their changes. SOMEONE had shared the 'Sexier Cyborg' code, as the only way to recognize which one of the posing sisters was Dream Dragon was that she had decided to make her hair into gleaming green wires with a cybernetic unicorn horn. Then again, her skintight outfit was also decorated with glowing green circuitry. And uh. More than a little transparent.

Huh. Narwhal (And Narwhal!), Nightmare Moon, Dragon, and Twilight now had a somewhat matching horn set.

Twilight's eyes drifted toward him. "So... you're into horny girls?"

He threw a fat puppy flame right into her giggling face.

It just made her laugh more getting licked by the thing, but it was the thought that counted.

Last edited: Sep 8, 2019

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theaceoffire

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Sep 11, 2019

#690

The Brockton Bay branch of The Guild were gathered for what was implied to be a 'major' meeting, and it made more than one person nervous.

Danny Hebert broke off from his conversation with Annette as the door opened and... something entered.

The suit should have stood out the most, as it was the most white and well pressed outfit he had ever seen. The edges were so crisp it almost stung to look at them, and the bright colors really stood out against the black socks and undershirt. The bright blue tie glowed... somehow.

But no, it was not that. Nor the blue flames for hair, which most had accepted as normal. Well, normal if this was Variance.

While before he wore full body armor with skull and skeletal imagery, now... it was an actual skeleton. There were visible gaps between the finger bones as he straightened his tie, and while the eyes glowed with bright blue flames the jaw, which bent in a way that bone never could, was clearly floating in place as he smirked at them. "Good morning everyone! Please sit down, this meeting will be a bit complicated."

Danny felt his wife grip his hand under the table as light blue flames drifted like smoke from Variance's mouth as he spoke. Right. Well, it wasn't like boss wasn't odd before this.

Variance gestured, blue flames drifting from his arm and twisting as they hit the ground, rapidly forming a bone throne that the man sat on. "I'm sure that you all have many questions, not that I will answer all of them. But before I fill in the gaps of what happened, I have some major announcements to cover."

Danny felt something inside clench. He had been forced to fire enough people in the past to know this particular phrasing wouldn't end well.

The blue flames glanced over the group. This council had representatives from all over Variance Villa. Danny was here for his people like always, but his wife had taken over the child care division. The men to the left handled the food and merchandise sections, the lawyers to the right had the copyright issues and international shipping, so on and so forth... and no one was apparently in the know about this situation. Great.

The skeleton sighed. "First, the biggest news. I recently went through some changes, obviously. It was done on purpose for a single reason: To allow me and those who follow me to avoid the attention of a specific series of precognitive threats."

He gestured to the two standing near the wall. "Dragon and Narwhal can cover the details later, but my new ability allows me to create a bond between my people and I. This can only be done willingly, and can be nulled at any time by either side of said bond. Among the many benefits is the ability to be ignored by those with thinker abilities, as well as allowing me to directly interfere if a master, stranger, or trump parahuman attempts to control you."

"And the costs? Downsides?"

Danny blinked as he realized that it was HIS voice. Oops.

Variance blinked before chuckling. "There are several. First, a small portion of your energy will be granted to me. Secondly, this connection is beyond basic powers or abilities of others, and will likely continue to exist in the very unlikely chance that something manages to actually kill me."

He sighed. "But the largest issue is that my power requires a certain level of belief in my abilities to operate. Not much, not like giving up your religion or anything, but you must actually believe that I have your own good interests in mind to some extent. And you must actually want to work under my guidance. If either is lacking, no verbal agreement or so forth will actually enable the power."

Variance sat back in his chair. "Spies, saboteurs, traitors... none can actually create a bond with me. While this does mean that your fellow followers are also trustworthy to a certain extent, it also means that those who fail the process will not be employed in the future. And information or benefits will be restricted to those who do not wish to undergo the process, for several reasons including company secrets."

He held up a clawed finger. "But before you all get too discouraged by those downsides, the benefits should be mentioned."

Holographic hard light papers appeared before the crowd, who quickly picked them up for reading. "As you can see, the most basic benefits for those who take the bond is protection from thinkers, masters, strangers, and most abilities that directly modify your body or mind. It won't stop fire from burning you or someone throwing a truck your way, but aside from regeneration it can also reverse unwanted surgery or contamination."

The second page had more... interesting options. Variance noticed the turned documents and nodded. "As you see, just keeping the bond allows you to build up power points, as we are calling them. These are additional to your normal paycheck, and you can redeem them for various services and abilities while the bond is active."

Danny frowned, trying to consider the situation. "I heard that Teacher could give weak parahuman abilities, but also gained control of his 'students'." He glanced at Dragon and Narwhal. "That isn't an issue?"

Dragon sighed. "Sort of. The problem is Variance continues to gain new powers and abilities, likely without end. While he hasn't bothered to gather any Master effects, he CAN use this new power to directly interfere with anything that attempts to modify you, mentally or physically. So you won't be forced to follow his commands, but if someone ELSE uses a power to command you, he can directly modify or banish the effect."

He frowned, while others asked more questions. Apparently, these 'power points' that built up could be increased in various ways, although he didn't understand the ongoing discussion about the details. Or why Variance could use illusions to interface with said points or whatever. He honestly was feeling a bit lost, and idly reading the papers in front of him.

Annette on the other hand was already halfway through the thick packet when she raised a hand. "Question!"

Variance turned from the question about how the cost of 'power points' were set and nodded. "Go ahead."

She glanced at the document. "On page eight, third of the way down, you begin listing 'levels' of purchasable parahuman abilities?" Instantly the crowd began flipping through their paperwork as she grinned. "What do you mean by levels exactly?"

Adam grinned, his bones flexing. "Getting a copy of one of my powers is not only dangerous, it is expensive. They can be difficult to control, and they require many 'power points' before I can bestow one at all without an overall loss in power for me, however small. For safety reasons, I have escalating levels of each power instead, ones that require you to reach competency levels before allowing another power or another level to be unlocked."

He waved a hand. "Take 'Recovery' for example. Level 1 generates a small field around the user that automatically determines wounds and injuries per person, and does the least amount of changes to stabilize them until further help can arrive."

The illusion showed a room sized bubble. "Once you've mastered that skill, the area of effect doubles and low level regeneration becomes available. But nothing at this level allows you to directly modify a person, just bring them to a stable state."

He looked at the fascinated crowd. "Not only will the level system ensure you are mentally able to use your new power safely before unlocking more, but some powers require a certain level of physical ability to be used safely. The system should both inform you of what needs to be worked on and suggest methods to improve said issues."

Adam gave a small smile as the questions became much more complicated and rapid fire. It took time to cover them all, and some were fairly off topic, before he gave a sigh. "Right, before we can continue, we need everyone here to either agree to this bond, agree to leave and not attempt to discover the upcoming information unless they also accept the bond at a later date, or decide to leave their leadership position. The actual goals of my company are dangerous for those without my protection to know. Lethally dangerous."

In the end, only two actually decided to leave and maybe bond later. After all, the offer of power was hard for anyone to turn down, especially in a city as dangerous as this one. And of those who accepted the bond, many chose the new one time 'benefit' that Adam was planning on offering to get a load of new local and loyal talent.

Speaking of which... He had Danny follow as they headed to the car parking garage. They had some people to visit.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam stepped out of his ride, Danny following him while Dragon and Narwhal took their time. "Do you think he will take our offer?"

Danny sighed. "Honestly? No. But maybe he'll know someone who will. Still, we can't ask until we meet with boss Grandsel."

Moving through the doors, Variance gave the surprised receptionist a small smile. "Excuse me, I called ahead for an appointment with Henry Grandsel this afternoon?"

Thankfully the topic brought her back to focus. "Right. Mr. Grandsel is waiting for you down the hall past the elevator in the private meeting room." She hesitated. "I would personally appreciate it if you kept whatever you have to say on peaceful topics, if possible. His health isn't always the most stable."

With a slight frown and nod, Adam led the group to the room where a man worn by time was quietly reading an old novel, a young assistant behind him being attentive while out of the way.

Adam gave a smile. "Mr. Grandsel? My cape name is Variance, and I was hoping that we may have a bit of conversation and possibly work together on a project of mine."

His eyes seemed too old to only be 73. Not everyone aged well, and this man had seen the river of time flood the banks a few years. Still, his brown eyes were crisp and focused. "Huh. Another one of them monster capes I been seein' on the box."

His hand shook as it handed the book to the side, the assistant quiet as she accepted his novel... before a wide smile spread on his face. "Danny boy? It is! Get over here you scamp, how's life been treating you?"

Danny coughed awkwardly after being forced to hug the elderly man. "Hey boss. I guess a lot happened since my last visit. This guy here has basically hired all us dockers into a branch of Dragon's Guild. Pay is good, closer to home, and the benefits are top notch."

Sly eyes squinted. "You still holdin' true to the code? Treatin' them boys right?"

Danny didn't salute or stand to attention, but it was close. "Sir. Family first, docks united."

He nodded sharply. "Good lad." Glancing at Adam, the frown came back. "Now Mr. Bones, what exactly are you here for? I've been out of almost everything for years now for some young lad to come knocking about."

Variance stood a bit straighter. "Sir, I recently gained the freedom to make much larger decisions and changes locally without becoming a target. I need leadership that I can trust to take over my organizations and guide them in a way that fits with my morals and supports my people. Danny said you were the first and many say one of the best options if I needed someone who wouldn't betray those below them."

Old eyes looked fondly at Danny. "I'll say the boy is a good lad, but his eyes are in the past. My time was almost gone back when he joined my dockers, forget now. I'm old, and I am no longer able to take such an offer." His smirk looked years younger. "That said, feel free to praise me more. Seems no one wants to remember you when your paycheck isn't keeping them fed."

Adam chuckled. "Well, sounds like more of a reason to join up! Part of my offer to all leadership for my company is age modification. How can I make profit if my people are hurt or leaving because their body can't keep up with their ambitions?" He held out a skeletal hand. "How about it? You could gain that praise back after handing out a paycheck or two, and get to show everyone how to get things done once again!"

Henry Grandsel chuckled before seeing how serious Danny looked. "Seriously?" His humor drained before he sighed. "Right, them powered people." His gaze softened. "Boy, sit a bit."

He moved his hand inside his jacket, and with shaking hands placed a leather bound book, thin as to hold barely any pages, gently on the table.

His eyes watched the past as he stroke the worn object. "I'm sure Danny gave you tale after tale of my adventures. Some of them, even true!" His smile was wide. "I fought harder, worked smarter, and pushed those people who fought against us back where they belonged! King of the Bay, I once was. Not no one would cross my people, and I rebelled against any wrong they done me."

Gently he pushed the book to Adam, who was equally careful turning it toward himself. "I didn't give Danny the reins because of my medical problems. Heck, I once stood in the rain for three hours to tell off those bastards who tried to use legal mumbo to take advantage of my men and was hearty as any youngster! My pride was strong, my people stronger!"

His eyes lingered as Adam opened the book. "But... well. What is an kingdom when your castle is empty?"

A much younger man with a workers uniform had his arms wide, holding the world as the young boys sat on their mothers lap. Even with age, her smile was bright as the two children were obviously complaining about something.

This photo was faded around the edges, but there were others. Happy moments in time. Not enough.

Henry Grandsel held his hands on the table, his smile small. "When my last son passed away, I gave my kingdom to young Danny here. While he may not have been one of my children, he was one of my boys... and I know that when I go home that last time, he will take care of our people."

He grinned as his shaking hands gathered the book Adam returned. "So I won't be having none of that magic mutant mumbo jumbo. No, I have a grander adventure waiting for me. But I may know of a woman more stubborn than I that would love to show the Grim Reaper the middle finger. Or her boot."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Sonia Lagarde was hunched over. Her white hair was trimmed, her eyes near blind, her body crippled by time and past injuries.

But her glare was hotter than plasma.

She snorted. "If you're the Grim Reaper, you're going to need a bigger scythe."

Adam chuckled. "Sorry, cape name's Variance. If you were expecting the other skeleton, you might have to wait a bit."

She harrumphed. "A bit? I've been told by every quack doctor they send me to that I'm going to die in a week."

He blinked. Which looked odd with his flexible bones and no eyelids. "I'm... sorry?"

She waved a wrinkled hand. "Don't bother, they've been tellin me I'm going to die for the last ten years now. I haven't got time for it." She snorted. "Death may wait for no man, but he will wait till I am damn well pleased. Woman's prerogative."

Adam couldn't help a grin spreading. "Ms. Lagarde, I'm here because Henry Grandsel told me that you were a strong leader, good to your people, and willing to fight the good fight if given a chance."

She snorted. "That youngster? I stopped visiting him when he got all mopey. My man didn't want me to be alone and my next two husbands agreed with him. I ain't going to no afterlife until I have a good size harem waiting for me. Not accepting that 'till death' nonsense either, they better be on their best behavior until I am around to watch them mud wrestle."

She glared at the stunned youngsters. "And none of that squeamish stuff, old people need lovin too. Now, enough prattling and tell me why little Henry sent you my ways."

Adam hesitated... then mentally sighed. At least no one would be pushing her around. "I need a leader for my company. In return for loyalty and hard work, as well as watching over my employees and their family, I plan on offering a high level of pay, top tier authority over my holdings and people, the ability to gain parahuman like powers, and most importantly the ability to choose your age."

She stared at him. "Pull the other one."

It ended up taking a long conversation and a call to Henry before she was convinced that the situation was not a scam of some sort, but once she was able to get some verification her grin was predatory.

He held out a skeletal claw. "Sonia Lagarde, I, Adam Variance, wish you to rule my people. To lead my companies. To be my guiding hand in my stead. In return for your commitment, I shall shelter your mind, body, and soul. I shall guide your power. I shall burn time from your bones."

His eyes were fire, his body gently blowing blue flames like smoke as his hand reached forth. "Do you accept?"

There was no hesitation as she forced her body to move forward, to grip the strange fellow's hand even as the flames began to spread. "I accept."

The pillar of fire made Danny and Narwhal gasp, although that got worse when it faded. Barely 21, she strutted from the flames that curled over her curves. Her smirk was even more vicious now that age had been vanquished to smooth skin and her eyes glittered with amusement and inner fire. Her hair was a burning crimson, and... uh. Well, she was a natural red head. Damn.

She stretched, which... wow that was unfair. "Mmm, I haven't looked this good since my early career."

Adam was blushing, which Narwhal found amusing on his skull. "Stop moving around! I haven't created your clothes yet!"

She waved a hand while sauntering toward the door. "Sounds like a personal problem. Come on, I have some people who worked for me in harder times who need a tune up or two before I can force them out of retirement."

His frantic use of magic and 'Manipulation' only managed to cover her body half way down the hall.

He groaned at Narwhal's teasing as they followed. At least she would likely have no issue running his companies. If she allowed any competition to try and compete, that is.

It was only eight 'highly suggested' employees later that he realized she was only suggesting women... and that they were all supermodel level beauties.

They were godly attractive BEFORE he optimized their bodies and healed them of genetic issues.

Maybe he should have asked Henry what kind of company she had run in the past. At least the local retirement homes would have much more space available now.

Last edited: Sep 11, 2019

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#704

Annette Hebert was still out of it hours later when she started her shift watching over the kids at the daycare. Part of it was due to the free 'level 0' power all upper management got in compensation for the 'Join or Get Out' sales pitch earlier.

Most of it however was being 21 again.

Taylor noticed first of course. "Mom, you look so pretty!"

She laughed. "Thank you dear. Now, why were in such a rush over here?"

Her daughter blinked, then gave a 'serious face'. "Emma accidentally hurt Susie's Variance doll, and we can't make it better. She sent me over to get help."

Annette sighed, then allowed her little one to tug her over to a small group of kids.

Little Emma looked distraught, and considering that Susie was almost half her age the crying one was not exactly accepting logical arguments or help in general. So... business like normal for mothers.

Before she could say anything, she heard the tail end of the conversation as Emma fidgeted. "Have... have you tried wishing it better? Daddy said Mr. Skelly answered his wishes since a bunch of his friends have better jobs and stuff now. Maybe Mr. Skelly could fix your bone man?"

Not all children could pronounce 'Variance', so to most of the play school the boss was Skelly-man, Mr. Skelly, or from some of the sillier kids 'Bone Daddy'. Bit of an awkward name that last one, since a major chunk of his employees were now supermodel levels of attractive and suddenly ranged from 18-25.

Before she could get the girls attention though, Susie had given it a shot, still sniffling. "Please Mr. Skelly, fix Princess Bone cause she got hurt and I don't want her to be hurt."

Annette blinked as a blue bubble popped into existence, time seeming to reverse as the doll reformed... and stained clothing was now clean, scratches on shoes began to vanish, dirt and smudges vanished...

A dawning level of horror hit her as she realized that Boss Variance's abilities could be given to anyone 'loyal' to him who had 'faith'... and that all her kids had just been given a heck of a 'how to' example to get free superpowers.

She hadn't even gotten half way through trying to explain to the children what was going on before one of the boys in the back figured out how to gain level 0 'Manipulation' as well. Hopefully her husband was having fewer issues.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Danny passed his last batch of notes to new Boss Lagarde. "Also, Variance has ensured that all our current medical personnel have gained level 0 'Recovery', and that they are practicing it as we speak. No idea how well it is going, the illusion interfaces can't be shared yet so they have to self report."

Sonia was relishing her new freedom from her old body, the amazing quality of the chair helping a ton as well. "He won't be showing up for a few days, but I managed to have him give level 0 abilities to everyone in the Villa before heading out. Our research team especially is loving 'Research', although at the start it only enhances memory retention."

Danny blinked. "Wait... the whole building?"

She nodded. "I thought it was silly to have the boy visit everyone and activate that 'Tithe' ability one by one. Anyone who fails to connect wasn't worth our time anyway, so just spread the love as it were."

He paled. "You did read the layout of the villa first, right?"

She looked up from her paperwork. "I made sure he only focused on those in our database, so no patients or visitors should have gained the option. Why?"

He rubbed his face, trying to find inner peace. "Most kids of our workers go to the local daycare. The children are in our systems for tracking reasons. Did you two accidentally give an entire school's worth of young people low level super powers?"

She gaped. "What!? NO!" Her hands flashed as she reviewed some texts more closely. "ARGH! Why! No one took kids to their office in my day!" She rapidly paged through some of the holographic hard light documents. "Damn, the restaurant employees got hit as well. Wait, you have pets registered!?"

He sighed. "The local employee housing has to make sure any animals are safe to be around others, so yes."

Sonia began making calls. If this facility was now full of magical pets she wanted to know NOW.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam waved a hand. "Ignore her email. Wait till the end of the tour, if it was something life threatening then Twilight would have told me. She, CD, and Dragon were going over all my schematics and products with Sonia that I had refused to sale or offer to others so I would stay relatively under the radar. I'm pretty sure if it was critical we would know." Seeing her confusion he shrugged. "Dragon's sister hasn't picked a name yet, I've been using the initials for 'Cyber Dragon' and she hasn't complained yet."

Narwhal still hesitated, but decided to check anyway. "It will only take a second, and they haven't been saying anything interesting. Be right back."

Adam hummed, listening with half an ear to an overweight man recount the history of Parahumans and show off the items at this particular tour location.

This was something he had been planning for months, but didn't dare attempt while an angel of death could predict his actions. While helping out the victims of Grey Boy was certainly worth while, Adam's goal of living a long life required addressing the largest foes that actually attacked on a regular basis, the Endbringers as a group, in a more permanent way.

Not only was each Endbringer nearly all powerful, but even at the reduced number of attacks (Once a year rather than every three months) this planet was suffering from them. Thank god no one had caused the other 20 or so hidden Endbringers from activating, three was already enough to cause large portions of humanity to despair.

Now however, Adam was thankfully untraceable.

Adam was still mostly an unknown, both to the Parahumans as a group and to the secret high level conspiracy 'Cauldron' specifically.

And Adam was about to meet one of the most powerful Triumvirate members, the one unknowingly ordering god level monsters to attack and provide enough challenge to validate his own insecurities.

When the tour finally ended and the line was setup to meet the amazing cape 'Eidolon' in person, he was number 3 in queue and waiting, 'Research' and 'Harmony' active.

Ignoring Narwhal's rapid whispering about healing puppies or something, he managed to directly shake hands with his target, 'Recovery' allowing full scans.

Whatever she was saying about technological gold fish could wait while he focused on fully researching this new section of Entity crystals.

Because at the end of the day, somewhere in this mess of power and material was the method to control or at least direct a series of murder machines.

And Adam could use some new security for his facilities. Nothing says 'Don`t mess with my people' like a series of planet ending monstrosities asking to see your badge or visitor's permit.

Wait.

He turned to Narwhal, now frustrated at his lack of input. "What do you mean I have a prophet parrot!?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Stan leaned over. "So... why we praying with the bird?"

Bill humphed. "Everyone who praises Variance in front of the thing and asks for a superpower gets one much easier than everybody else. Can get more than one too."

He blinked. "What, like any power?"

His friend shook his head. "Nah, one of the first guys has a list. And the more powers you ask for, the slower they grow in strength, so I says go for like two only, max."

Stan frowned. He wasn't great at snap decisions, it took forever when he had to order from fast food places. "What you goin with?"

Bill grinned. "Getting my self 'Recovery' and 'Purification'. Someone found out that even at low levels, you feel healthier all the time and stay super clean, even if you fall in mud or whatever. They work great together, even enhance each other. See, I don't want to go out and punch stuff, but my wife won't complain if I smell a bit better between baths, you know what I mean?"

He chuckled. "You would need super powers to smell less ripe."

Bill waved it off. "It's a condition! Anyway, won't matter after I pray to the bird and get myself setup."

Stan watched the line advance a few spaces. "So like... who made the outfit?"

His friend pointed. "You know crazy Jane? The real religious girl who slapped the heck out of Benard?" Stan nodded. "Well, it's her parrot. She reads scripture to the thing a lot, then suddenly it glows and... yeah. Anyway, not sure why, but she had that Pope outfit for the damn bird way before it started glowing. Them kids over there however were the ones to color the hat. Damn adorable is what it is."

Stan suddenly felt far more hesitant to ask a bird for super powers. "Jane hasn't flipped seeing her bird do magic crud?"

Bill shook his head. "Says it was an act of god and that Variance must be sent to reward her faith. Gaining 'Purification' didn't exactly convince her otherwise." He gestured toward the thinning line. "But like... she won't try and do nothing, she is ok with us doing the request stuff. Just know what you want before you get to the front, otherwise who knows what will happen."

And the nervousness was back.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Narwhal felt her alternate self exploring her new mental home. It was calming. Soothing. Much better than focusing on her boyfriends accidental magical menagerie.

Something about her mind being connected to Adam's electronics had allowed the two girls to connect, in a sort of mystical sense. So she and her cyber sister had Adam use 'Binding' on them both, allowing cyber Narwhal to hang out in her new magical mental Celestial Garden while she handled the physical body. It had been... surprisingly fulfilling.

Cyber Narwhal had connected with her like the loved sister she never had. Well... not sister. Non-related sexy clone maybe. Either way, once they had managed to not stare into each other's eyes with longing and lust for three minutes, the idea of separating again was kind of horrifying.

So now that she was technically two she's, she had the ability to rant properly to an appreciative audience at any time. "I swear our man is so easily distracted it is infuriating! How does one accidentally give a snake the 'Research' ability! Shouldn't that feel strange!? And not all of the animals are using 'Manipulation' the same way! There are two goldfish that are floating bubbles of water to swim away with and that one lizard that can phase through concrete somehow. Scared a guy silly when it fell from the ceiling onto his lap while on the toilet."

Her mental half chuckled. "I've messaged Dragon to get more updates since the start of your rant. One of the older children posted everything onto Parahuman Online about how to gain powers from our boy toy and it got spread a bit before Dragon could take it down. There may be a dozen small cults or more spreading the word, as it were."

Narwhal held back a scream. "I KNEW we should have made him practice that more."

Her sister chuckled. "No, you didn't. And you weren't worried either. You were too focused on making a 'bond' with him and then me to even note the details. Just be grateful that I was paying attention."

She waved a hand. "Fine, but how exactly are we supposed to have fun times together if he becomes a religious icon? I don't want to go celibate before we can celebrate!"

Something flashed in her other's eyes. "Well... not all religious were as stuffy as the current stuff. Can't we just pick one with sexual worship practices?"

Narwhal blinked, then leaned forward. "You already have a list."

She shook her head. "I have THREE lists. And one filled with terrible ideas for him to reject so he will take the others more seriously."

Seriously, she gave herself the best ideas!

Last edited: Aug 4, 2021

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Sep 16, 2019

#717

Adam had left the entire animal issue with Sonia to handle. Along with almost everything else business related, at least for now.

It wasn't the mature choice, he knew. But he didn't want to get involved with that. Bigger issues had to be addressed.

At least he had stopped Squishy. She had been secretly using some of his stored up power charges to enable thousands of low level modifications to his abilities, so all his new followers could have variety when gaining Adam's favor.

Her defense for doing so was solid. Any level 0 abilities granted via faith to his followers could grow on their own in strange directions, and thanks to 'Tithe' the new flexibility and uses would be given to Adam himself in the process.

So technically, it was more cost efficient to grant tons of weak powers and let others grow them into new abilities rather than to use the charges directly.

Still, Squishy was part of his soul and he knew she just found it all entertaining. It didn't help when Twilight came up with a faith/magic based interface, giving a very weak 'Gamer' experience to his followers.

That too, would gain in power after enough people used it. Although 'Inventory' and so forth were actually using amazingly weak versions of 'Transfer' and 'Conversion' to store items in the soul of his followers.

Of course, up till that point everything had been going fine, if oddly.

Adam sighed as he tried to focus on his work again. Sonia was more than a bit angry that the world was now freaking out that his companies could grant what was being called 'Trump 0' abilities to anyone willing to believe in Adam or Adam's company. Then it got far worse.

Apparently praying to one of his organizations was enough for his powers to say 'good enough' and to be granted 'Tithe' bestowal as if by Adam himself.

So... hundreds of thousands of people now had the ability to store small amounts of materials (Wallets, keys, etc) and do low level party tricks. And the number was going up quickly as others saw personal proof that free powers wasn't a scam.

The powers scaled based on how close to Adam they were conceptually, which was neat and helpful. Strangers starting all those cult churches could barely heal paper cuts, create a glass worth of water, or manipulate hair styles. Employee family members got nearly triple the ability and functionality, Employees themselves gained ten times or more. Managers were close to actual Parahuman levels, and his closest people had basically gained weak versions of his actual powers, if only focused in one direction.

If you chose powers in categories similar to others, said powers would be more refined and offer more options when leveling. Otherwise, you could try new ideas all together, creating new effects and hopefully convincing friends to follow in your stead. Powers based on movies and games were everywhere at this point.

It was... uh. Chaos.

The only reason why the world WASN'T falling apart entirely was because people trying to use the new abilities maliciously near-instantly lost them. And getting them back, while possible, was VASTLY harder the second time, forget the third.

This was however shoving a time table onto Adam. The spread of power was too fast, even with his safety measures... it was causing issues.

On a low level of concern, crime was down everywhere. Gang members were coming home to find mothers and fathers with special powers, brothers and sisters floating toys or making sparkles. It uh... freaked them out. Many assumed it was a new global threat of some sort, and most organizations had reached out to their fellow criminals and in some cases law enforcement and enacted the 'Endbringer Truce' until someone found out what was going on.

That was time table issue number two for Adam. Fingers were already pointing in his direction because of the original information leaks online, and as long as you had no powers tracing everything to Variance was stupid easy. Still, that was a problem that could be ignored for a day or so.

On a high level, as more and more people joined the 'Variance Church' and the other cults that were springing up everywhere, more and more people were getting modified. Not quickly, thank god, but aside from the nice stuff like slowly becoming more fit and healthy... they were becoming protected by Adam's precautions.

Strangers were being caught in the act. Masters were losing their grip on their minions. But most of all, the Simurgh was going to be finding out VERY SOON that she couldn't actually see anyone anymore from large sections of the nation... and soon, likely, the planet.

This was Time Table Issue Number One, full stop, and in desperation Adam had begged his friends for help.

Nightmare Moon was busy handling all of Adam's prayer issues, having accepted his guidance to gain a fairly high level of 'Harmony'... which thanks to all her work was rapidly improving. Her past of analyzing all dreams in her nation prepared her well for this kind of information overflow. It was her rapid work that ensured each situational misuse of power by his followers was judged on a case by case basis as fairly as possible.

Throwing lava at others for fun? Ban. Doing the same to protect? Pass. And so forth.

Twilight was handling the faith interface spell matrix itself, both development and problem solving. Compared to hours ago it had already changed dozens of times and she had reduced spell consumption in cost and maintenance levels. She was NOT happy though, as she couldn't do much than fix the most dangerous problems that popped up... there was no time for new features that were really needed, and it would take months to be stable enough to even try.

CD (Still in sexy horned dragon mode, dang it) had taken 'Technomancy', as had Dragon herself, and the two were handling the political issues that were sweeping the planet right now. they were also hacking and directing medical services, police, firefighters, and more during the growing crisis. Taking over the air waves and giving calm announcements was likely the largest reason why several nations HADN'T torn themselves apart by now. The Dragonslayers were freaking out that an AI was taking over and that their 'murder Dragon' code wasn't working, but they were mostly irrelevant at this point anyway.

Narwhal had taken 'Purification', as it had amazing synergy with her deadly sharp force fields. While they could now be used to apply low level cleansing effects, they also increased potential damage as they could 'purify' anything she considered as contamination. Such as multidimensional flesh, hopefully. She would be an ace in the hole against the Endbringers if Adam failed his current attempt at saving the day, and was using the downtime to make sure The Guild was handling this crisis well.

And while Adam ignored Sonia's rants and let his friends and lover cover what responsibilities they could, he had cranked simulation time acceleration to the highest level possible and was scanning the shards that Eidolon's power used.

This was dangerous, and the time available outside of acceleration could be anything from seconds to hours before everything went wrong, hopefully close to the longer time range. If worse comes to worse, he would use 'Conversion' and 'Devour' on as much entity shard as he could access to destroy Eidolon's powers in general and HOPEFULLY solve the Endbringer issue.

The reason why that was not option one was NOT because Adam cared about Eidolon's abilities. No, the power that overpowered cape had was Endbringer Mastery, not creation nor deployment. There was no information one way or the other on what would happen if no one controlled the creatures.

Would they go away? Attack more often? Stop holding back? Summon more?

It was a last step option for a reason.

No, right now he was using 'Research', 'Harmony', and 'Recovery' to try and map out and identify every part of Eidolon's power as quickly as possible. Hopefully he could hijack control of the Endbringers, and more importantly control any future activation of new ones. And stop any more from being created, if that was a possibility.

He was making good progress, but the issue came from how shards were made. Basically an ability direction was chosen, then crystal randomly formed to hopefully achieve said goal. It was an organic growth, and it was entirely possible that the control mechanism was in here a dozen times or more. That attacking or replacing one section would enable a separate one.

So 'Research' was going full speed.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Scion paused, golden hand holding the 32,188th 'kitten' recently rescued from plant based organism.

No one could understand how much power had just been activated, how many methods of sensing had been enabled, how many years forward and backwards in time had been reviewed.

Thankfully, it was a normal issue of not much importance.

Setting 'kitten' 32,188th down on the nearest surface, he moved to 'fire', 11,422,655th extinguished recently. This time, he was determined to remove the organics BEFORE fire destruction.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

In the end, Squishy had to use up almost half of the remaining reserve power charges to enable him to not just copy or modify Entity shards, but to usurp their operation and relocate them.

That was... well. Honestly it all went better than expected by Adam. He had been prepared for far more horrible outcomes.

Now that it was done, it had only taken 0.001 seconds real world time to go from 'Research' to 'Manipulation' and actually carry out the final operation. Which had been step one on the 'Oh God Why Is It All Happening Now' plan.

All the rest of his charges had gone to creating a 'zoo' section in his fishbowl soul, one for prisoners, animals, and god-tier earth-destroying crystal-robots. Almost a full second was spent retaining control of Eidolon's power long enough to force the three Endbringers to calm down and accept the 'New' inputs and commands from his own power, 'Manipulation'. If he was able to fully control the robots, he SHOULD be able to pull them into his soul confinement area, safely handled until needed.

Now he was frantically using 'Conversion', 'Consumption', and 'Purification' to get rid of the original shard based power. It wouldn't strip Eidolon of all powers, in fact it SHOULD release his hold on his old one. Now he should be able to choose any FOUR abilities instead of three plus summon killer god robots.

Adam had already found the shard components for creating NEW Endbringers if needed, although the power requirements involved destroying dimensions as fuel and taking lifetimes to train. Thank everything holy, only three Endbringers currently existed right now. The Shard would normally use saved schematics to build the next ones as required, and Eidolon had been 'happy' enough after three showed up. Not that he knew those things were following his directions or even existed, but whatever.

After all that, Adam fell back into his chair with a loud sigh of contentment. It had only taken three seconds total from start to finish, but now he had taken the largest, most dangerous non-end-boss players off the board. It was both super stressful and VERY satisfying.

He smiled, enjoying the warm support as he began handling the waves of information that his friends had suffered under. Maybe he had been overestimating the threat levels of the three Endbringers, or specifically the winged angel of psychic death. He did have advantages from other realities, magic, friends that were partial deities, and sexy robot women to help along the way.

He blinked as he felt warm fingers run through his blue tentacle hair.

...He didn't have a chair in here.

He looked up at the nude angel cuddling his body with pure white wings.

She used her free hand to wave down at him.

Uh. Near Death is surprisingly comfortable.

She nodded.

Was she now excluded from his mental protections?

Another nod.

Because of course she was. Probably due to 'Manipulation' treating her as a spell or construct of Adams. As part of his soul.

She held up a peace sign and a saucy smirk.

Great.

Last edited: Oct 4, 2019

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#734

Dragon joined the meeting last... or almost last. Adam had sent an audio link rather than join physically or by electronic avatar. Again. So he was theoretically listening, at least.

She sat next to her new sister, slouching in her virtual chair. "That... was a nightmare."

Nightmare Moon, still in humanoid form, snorted. "I've seen worse, but that WAS a workload. Not sure how Adam took over my portion of it, at one point I was getting wishes, prayers, and random incident review requests at over a thousand per second. It was a mess!"

Narwhal seemed most relaxed. "Meh, I just had to wait for something to go really wrong. Got a message from Adam that whatever it was he freaked out about last week is covered now. The Guild honestly handled 'The Movement' fairly well."

It was a week later, and while still chaotic things were far more stable for the moment. 'The Movement' now refereed to the global availability of 'Variance Class' powers.

Days after first allowing people to just gain an ability, the functionality of 'Tithe' followers had vastly improved.

Now, once someone gained faith or requested to join one of the various groups, a 'Class' menu would appear. One could choose from a list of common classes of abilities, related to careers or hobbies or whatever, or decide to try and create something custom.

Each 'skill' mastered would allow the selection of a new one, chosen from a list available to your class or available based on other skills you mastered. You could also make a new one from scratch, although those powers, unless used by many others, started very weak.

Aside from that, people could now see estimations of their progress in learning abilities and get hints of ideas others used that had helped them when stuck at similar levels. Social groups had sprung up everywhere, and similar classes like 'Cook', 'Chef', 'Baker', 'Butcher', and so forth had started trading ideas and tips, enhancing the variety of skills shared and available.

Inventory got improved as well. Since it used 'Conversion' and 'Transfer' to modify items into soul stuff for storage, it kept hot things hot, cold things cold, and prevented spoilage. This feature was so popular that the 'Warehouse', 'Courier', and 'Production' classes were created that mostly revolved around advanced skills and tricks focused around storage alone.

Twilight had basically rebuilt the entire faith based 'Tithe' skill from the ground up working with Squishy to handle this. Power charges had been spent heavily to prevent similar outbreaks of power on future worlds Adam visited. So heavily, that he was down to only having ten at a time for emergencies, each excess being spent to try and stabilize everything further.

Now, the maximum number of Variance empowered followers could be set, as well as maximum limits for each tier of follower. Normally such a thing would not be needed, but the Worm Realm was shockingly low on religious power bases, and Adam showing up had taken over the board so to speak. Twilight had also restricted the age of acceptable users, so no children (or god forbid, fetuses) could suddenly spew fire everywhere.

This is also why Twilight was currently sleeping through this meeting. Her human form had cute little snores and a blanket Narwhal had provided.

Narwhal looked over at CD. "I know you have been in contact with most of the larger governments at this point. Any idea of the fallout now that they have had time to research the changes?"

CD yawned, her sharper teeth glinting digital green. "Right, biggest change is that most government precognitive organizations have been losing the ability to track or predict our followers. Much more so for those with higher levels or working closer to our businesses or Variance himself. However, those with previous Parahuman powers related to Stranger, Master, or Thinker abilities have found something interesting. Apparently, if they join Variance's system they can handle 'Research' related powers much better than other classes."

She held up some statistics. "Most of the early warning groups that were able to gain access to the new system are now acting as research teams or advanced project work groups, so at least they are still useful."

She waved a hand, a digital display showing flashes of crystal. "Also, if a Parahuman decides to join Adam's system, they can choose to 'Enhance' or 'Convert' their power. 'Enhance' loses the ability to gain level 0 abilities like everyone else initially, but instead they get customized skills related to development paths of their own power."

She showed a Guild thinker. "Andrew from accounting for example said he could choose to gain greater power, range, or control for his danger assessment rating power. But like other power users, he and other Parahumans still have to wait for their bodies and soul to grow strong enough to handle each upgrade. So... until they master one such power modification, they are unable to choose another."

CD gestured. "Adam's ability slowly consumes the Entity shards they connect to, using that mass and ability as research material to both gain the schematics of the power and make it available to others who ALSO have dimensional address that point to that particular power."

The focus showed a... sort of tree? "For power users, the level up process is basically Adam's power learning how to simplify the mess that is Entity shards. Once fully converted and simplified, theoretically the user can then start learning a Class like everyone else."

Narwhal was shocked. "He is consuming the source of all those powers then?"

CD shrugged. "At a VERY slow rate. Would take decades for each power since a specific one isn't being focused on."

She brought up a new image. "Back to the point, option two is 'Convert', and it marks the power dimensional address, removes the power from the user entirely, heals the brain tumors that normally connect to the ability, and uses extra kami in trade to ensure the user can handle more powers initially."

Narwhal blinked. "Hmm. So people could give up their previous powers for a boost in Variance skills?"

Nightmare Moon chuckled and interrupted. "Well, you COULD, but that wasn't a common choice by Heroes or Villains. No, most of the incoming prayers I got that related to taking away powers came from the so called 'Case 53' people, who were mutated by their powers or had self damaging abilities. Once those people found out they could lose their powers by prayer they joined by the thousands."

Narwhal hummed. "I can see that. Getting safer replacement powers would just be icing on the cake really." She sighed. "So, moving on."

CD nodded. "Right." She tapped the screen. "Crime organizations are having sever issues. Every police officer now has the possibility to gain powers, while corrupt agents or gang members can only enjoy them up until they try to attack someone or torture another. Now every low level thug can gain personal power WITHOUT being supplied by guns or reinforcement but only if they follow a basic common moral standard."

She waved a hand. "The line between police and the standard criminal has drastically tipped toward the side of the law. On that note, the military itself is also very impressed by the abilities developing among their soldiers. But it has apparently caused a massive mess in the training camps. Can't break down a person if they suddenly become unable to get tired or hungry or whatever."

Narwhal chuckled. This was likely a temporary peace at the moment, since the big league villains were laying low and trying to figure out what exactly was going on. But no matter what, the time of unpowered gang members was likely gone for good now that every cop could power up and those fighting the law or trying to be an ass couldn't.

CD continued, listing statistics about how well various locations relevant to Adam, Dragon, and The Guild in general were handling the massive changes. Showing reports from a still very angry Sonia Lagarde about how she was handling the PR moves and internal issues. More details about the many 'powered pets'.

Narwhal winced at the language involved. Thank god Twilight prevented any FUTURE animals from gaining powers accidentally. Good work Squishy too, while on the topic.

The meeting was wrapping up, Adam once again too busy to attend or even comment, when CD asked for any remaining questions.

Nightmare Moon frowned. "I did have one concern. Initially, on the first day, I got a whole bunch of prayers. Some for safety and stuff, but many were asking to get rid of those Endbringers. Which I expected, the monsters are basically this planet's nightmare fuel."

She waved a hoof. "But less than an hour later I got nothing but praise and worship about how fast Variance handled it. Any idea what exactly happened?"

CD, Dragon, and Narwhal blinked, before CD pulled up the live feed.

The angel floated there like always.

The water demon was in the Atlantic.

The energy monster was under Africa.

Then Dragon frowned. "Wait."

Seconds later, the feeds blinked, lines of code rapidly flashing by as her digital fingers fed through the information.

Leviathan vanished, Behemoth was no longer under ground.

And the Simurgh shrugged her shoulders, before vanishing as well.

Narwhal recovered first. "Dragon?"

Dragon seemed stunned. "It was a series of looped feeds. Each barely long enough to show unique frames when my sensors scanned for issues. The last bit with the hand waving was recorded four months ago and somehow appended at the end of the current feed."

Narwhal shook slightly. "Did we lose coverage of the three most powerful creatures on the planet!?"

Adam's voice broke into the meeting for the first time in days. "Right... uh. About that."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam 'Adventure' Burns was grounded.

Like... very much so.

And on some level, he probably deserved it. He had only told Narwhal that he was going to grab Eidolon's power to better protect them from Endbringer attack, not that he was going to secretly collect them all like a hoarder. Or Pokemon trader.

On a side note, Eidolon's power was more like a complicated phone book. It had a listing of all sorts of power dimensional locations and could connect to four at a time. That was it.

Adam capturing and then destroying one of his skills (Why yes, I would love to subconsciously summon death robots to fight the planet) technically made the over powered jerk more powerful. Or at least, more versatile.

That however did NOT explain to his girlfriend that he had planned on gaining control of the large global destroying creatures and sticking them in his soul.

That part was going well, at least. In his fishbowl was a new section that looked like a black grid. Each square was a separate space, and three were in use.

One was full of water and some islands and such. Leviathan seemed to have fun splashing a few tidal waves around, and the various castles and stuff (Not sand, actual twelve story castles) would rebuild over time.

The second was mostly lava, with nuclear bombs dropped randomly for Behemoth to nom on. He mostly rolled around in the same area, splashing massive chunks of magma in random directions.

The third was full of tinker materials, and was generally a flat surface with massive amounts of space to fly in. It was also empty.

Adam groaned as his floating throne ran her fingers through his hair flames again. He had spent the first few days convincing her to NOT be so massively tall, and reduce the hundreds of wings down to six at most. In return for her following directions, or at least putting up with them, he had given her control over the prayer system... which she was thrilled with. Did good work too, now that she wasn't required to torture everyone.

It was odd. He felt he COULD control any of the three things like a second body, but it felt icky to do so. Like opening a puppy's mouth to jump inside and wear it like a suit.

This was only an issue because while the other two Endbringers were perfectly happy to idle around and play, the Simurgh was something of a tease and a troll... and enjoyed 'hanging out', as it were.

At least she wasn't AS identifiable as before. Her body was now human size and a very light blue, his magic slowly spreading through her complex version of flesh. She was far more expressive now, and had thanked him psychically for several hours after he had modified her abilities to be selective rather than enabled by default.

Apparently seeing the future and past but never the present took all surprise and fun out of the world.

Anyway, her eyes were still solid material but they glowed with blue magic and worked well enough now. They went well with her bright blue feathered 'hair', which added some color to her style.

He felt her shift, telekinesis holding them both aloft as her wings wrapped around him like a blanket. Again. Reminding him how nude she was. Again.

If he wasn't currently a skeleton in a suit, he would be having so many issues. Aside from the grounding, he meant.

She also was able to know exactly how far to push and when to do so to keep Narwhal entertained without feeling emotionally threatened. And to keep him from feeling annoyed enough to ask her to pick some other hobby.

He blinked as a cup was handed to him.

It was hot chocolate.

He took a sip. Yep, perfect. Right temperature, extra marshmallows, partially melted. Some cinnamon?

He sighed in exasperation while he felt his 'chair' chuckle. It was things like this that had him eventually take the angel as a personal assistant. And she knew it. And Narwhal found him being manhandled like a plush doll hilarious, once she got over the pants wetting terror.

At least the passive scanning of Behemoth and Leviathan was gaining him some profit out of this mess. Behemoth's ability to control and convert Energy was directly improving 'Conversion', 'Transfer', 'Consumption', and 'Manipulation'. Leviathan's macro and micro control of all liquids (Focused on water, at least when he was sandbagging his fights) was improving 'Manipulation' by miles.

Theoretically, Simurgh's power should improve his 'Technomancy', 'Manipulation', 'Harmony', 'Purification', 'Research', maybe others.

He blinked as a hand crafted business card was handed to him.

"Simmy 'Danger' Burns, The Simurgh, Swears to follow Adam 'Adventure' Burns, in guidance and loss, in sickness in health, till death does us part." What?

'Tithe' activated, and he could feel Simmy choose 'Technomancy', 'Research', and 'Manipulation', all reaching high levels near instantly. What!?

An email popped up. Narwhal looked at him in shock. "Adam, why did I just get an email notification for your wedding?"

He turned in shock at the smug angel.

She kissed his forehead.

...WHAT!?

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Sep 18, 2019

#748

Emma and Taylor were whispering, which had their parents noticed would have set off all kinds of flags.

The topic, as it had been for many years, was again superpowers.

Now, however, it had the potential to be more than another 'Heroes and Villains' game.

Taylor looked at her notes. "No, if you pick something custom it starts off way weaker. And classes have helpful tips and even a power based chat system now, so that would be SUPER helpful."

Emma pouted. "Fine, but I don't want to pick something boring."

She hummed. "Well, I went online and found some people talking about it. They suggest choosing something you could be happy with even if you were stuck forever, so that you won't regret it by picking something like 'Cake Designer' when you are twenty years older or something."

Emma winced. "Yeah, read a couple of horror stories about people picking powers cause they wanted to cheat on tests and stuff. Thank goodness you can pray for a reset now."

Taylor looked at the screen. "Variance System... Huh. New version number."

Emma checked her own. "What does that mean again?"

She shrugged. "First number is for stable release, but that is still '0'. The rest is the current update version. And if the number is even, they added new features. Odd, they fixed bugs.

Emma frowned. "So what, it would go '0.01', '0.03', '0.05' if they only fixed bugs?"

She shook her head. "Stranger than that. More like '0.1', '0.3', and such. Treat the stuff after the decimal as a whole number with no zeros in front."

Emma waved it off. "Don't get it, don't care, don't be a nerd about it." She bounced. "So how do we pick a good class?"

Taylor pointed. "I heard great reviews about the newest feature, 'Suggestion'. It is the option with the blue bird wing that was added yesterday. Otherwise we can try the 'Available' menu, since everyone says we shouldn't risk the 'Custom' option."

Emma absently nodded. "Yeah, Dad said they have teams of lawyers and stuff trying to create iron clad classes under 'Custom' and still mess it up sometimes. Had to get a class reset."

She winced. While available, the 'reset' option apparently hurt like heck. "Anyway, just say or type what you want and 'Suggestion' will give some options. Everyone has been pretty impressed with it so far."

Emma was already typing what seemed to be a novel. All that gossip had certainly made the girl have opinions on life. Taylor focused on her own window.

'I want to help Mom and Dad.'

Cause really, with all the new heroes showing up everywhere now crime and stuff was probably going to be handled fine. But both of her parents had been working overtime, and... well. She missed them.

The blue wing blinked, before a short list of classes showed up. Huh.

No, 'Management' was out. That would just make HER as busy as her parents, not free up anything. Same for 'Nurse' and 'Teacher', although that would help a bit with Mom's job.

In the end, she just felt one of the lower options on the list call her. It felt right, even if it felt a bit like a fantasy job. And she had wanted to be royalty once.

Emma bounced in joy. "Oooh! YES! Taytay, I'm a 'Model' now! My first skill is called 'Acting' and... Oh this is awesome!"

Taylor chuckled. "I got something I liked too... guess I should go for it."

As she pressed the option, she answered Emma's eager expression. "I wanted to help out Mom, so I picked a class called 'Administrator'."

She was still unsure why 'Queen' was listed on it, but the first skill was called 'Multitasking'. That seemed useful.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Narwhal entered Adam's 'Punishment Lab', aka 'Stay in there and think what you`ve done' lab.

She didn't stomp. Or slam the door.

Leave the guy alone for less than an hour and he gets married to some sexy angel death bot.

She blinked as she saw her boy Adam, blue flame tentacles reaching from his back and holding the Simurgh in the air. The now blue angel seemed to be a barely legal college student, her six wings and all four limbs held stretched wide by Adam's tentacles.

Even with a blue grip holding the angel by her throat, Narwhal blinked at the saucy gaze being sent her way by the nude angel with crystal blue eyes.

She spoke up, demanding an explanation. "Guh. Mmm."

...She WOULD speak up in a moment or so.

Adam turned to face her, exasperation showing on his skull. "Hey Narwhal, I'm still trying to fix the situation. Simmy's explanation is that she was only showing me a vulnerability in my 'Tithe' system. So no one else would try and marry me or make me a slave or whatever."

'Simmy' was now flexing her pelvis and... uh.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, that would have been a mess. Squishy and Twilight have now modified the ability so I have to actually AGREE with the suggested choices, especially if they target me or mine."

He turned back to his captive, who suddenly shifted from sex goddess to innocent bystander. The curves were less seductive and... oh. She watched as Simmy winked.

Adam frowned. "I'll be honest, I am not feeling a lot of remorse from Simmy about the whole thing. Not sure she even fully understands the idea of marriage, but at least we found out that the vow thing can empower my loved ones."

Narwhal blinked. "Sorry, I zoned out there for a second. Why did I come in here again?"

Whatever he was trying to say as he turned slipped her mind as the angel started slowly licking her lips. "Right. Yeah. Sorry, what?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Lung fumed.

At first, he like all the others sat back.

Watched.

His people gaining power... it was fine. It taunted him that someone somewhere was able to grant abilities to his people that they were unable to earn on their own, through might. But his kingdom grew in strength.

But when his people tried to put those Nazis in their place, BOTH sides had been stunned to see all those followers lose that power they had fought so hard to improve.

And what followed was rage.

Who dare judge his people unworthy of strength!? Who dared judge HIM, LUNG, a dragon among mankind, as anything other than raw leadership and power!?

His people eventually told him the answers he desired. It was that new hero, Variance. Even though he was a normal man of not much importance, that would not spare him.

For no one may defy a dragon and live.

Still, his people convinced him to wait. That the backlash of the world attacking him for violating this pseudo 'Endbringer Truce' was not worth his vengeance.

What a fool he was to fall for this!

One of his brothels, filled with his minions, clients, and working girls... well.

From what he could gather, one of those same clients had informed a single sex slave about Variance and these new potential powers. About how anyone could gain abilities with a single wish.

It took an hour later for him to discover his people slaughtered, the clients castrated, and his property missing.

Human trafficking wasn't his biggest money maker, but it did fuel his desire to be powerful over the many lesser beings... and the idea of HIS sluts escaping from under his claws was NOT acceptable.

Over three dozen terrified and armed people from his gang followed behind him, even as his body twisted and grew, scales and fire rolling down his body as his height increased.

His girls had ran to one of that bastard's safe houses.

He was coming to collect.

Last edited: Sep 18, 2019

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#767

Pamela flexed her hands, the green vines tensing and weaving.

There wasn't much time.

She and the other girls able to pray had done well so far, many choosing the option to 'Overdraw' their first skill as long as it meant being free.

The side effects were not as bad as she feared.

'Overdraw' sacrificed a human form for more power, more compatibility. The message said that given enough time they would regain their normal human bodies as a transformation option, but they needed power NOW if they had any hope of escape. It had made castrating those bastard rapists easier and killing those sadist guards a breeze. However the real test was stomping this direction.

She glanced at the crowd. Most, like her, had been drugged and memory wiped by one of Lung's outside men, so they couldn't remember family or how to get help.

Well, they got help anyway.

The loud roar outside the shelter didn't even shake the windows, but they walked out together.

Freedom or death.

And they were NOT going to die today.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Lung slammed a meaty claw on the pitiful structure again.

His rage increased with his height when his burning claws... did nothing.

The colorful sides of the woman's shelter just turned black, while the white trims ignored him completely. What small scrapes his claws left in the black material was repairing before his eyes, while the white stuff was untouched.

He held both arms back, screaming a focused beam of raw heat at the obstacle. His people, now only able to see up to his massive ankles, were half-heartedly shooting at the building randomly. And accomplishing nothing.

Before he could fully recover from his breath attack, the impenetrable doors just... opened. And worse, his sight saw how very thin those obstacles were that had daunted him.

Lung had barely changed focus when a stab of pain hurled him backwards. A wave of steam flooded his side of the field, the screams of his men helping him regain his focus as water continued to attack his eyes.

He roared as he twisted to grip the melting asphalt, toes and fingers twisting through the softening material as he fought head first against the highly pressurized liquid.

He barely saw three white haired triplets gesture at him when everything hurt. Ice crept over his limbs even as his fires struggled to melt everyone.

Lung held his breath, tensed everything... then screamed as fire literally destroyed his skin, gaining enough room to transfer heat outside, freeing himself even as his flesh regrew into thicker scales. His blood evaporated before it could touch the mounds of ice spreading around his feet.

Without care if his worthless people were still alive, he focused his heat and rage into a twisted pillar around himself, using his hands as disposable meat shields that were burned, twisted, frozen, and eaten by acid and lightning. Flesh flowed from his bones and regrew as he bought time and his body forced itself to enhance.

As he stopped defending himself, his four new wings allowing him to fly above these ants and show them how to bow before their betters, the ground shattered.

Black plants, vines like tree trunks, thorns that dripped red slime. Claws of nature tore into his legs, his thighs, his privates. Even as they burned, new growth spawned within the ash coated plants and began twisting inside his flesh, pulling him closer towards the dark soil.

Even as his eyes were punctured and more vines infested his flesh, his rage... it grew.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Pamela gasped for air, the steam still rising. Thankfully the frost sisters were working with everyone who could use water to try and coat her babies with ice.

It wasn't just zero Celsius, the frost sisters were sucking heat away till it could hopefully reach liquid oxygen levels. No idea if they could though, no one knew their powers well enough yet.

She collapsed to her knees, grass spawning and holding her from falling.

They couldn't do that again.

The fight had been fast, short, and far less one sided than they had hoped.

They had attacked first, the other people literally no issue, and had managed to take the dragon down. Hopefully for a while.

They had also been lucky, as the suicide teleporter Oni Lee hadn't shown up.

Even with all those blessings and powers basically chosen SPECIFICALLY to target the bastard, there had been many injuries among her girls. Even slanted to one side she could see medical personnel from the girls shelter helping out.

Her body flinched as she heard a loud crunch from the ice-tree prison.

It... it might not be enough.

Even the idea of more conflict had her body frantically telling her that her limit was reached a while ago. If Lung got out of that frost bush, that would be it. They would die.

Mind drifting back to just hours ago, she remembered a desperate prayer. A hope that emerged from a soul tired of the neglect of God and the failure of Man. Alone in that flesh pit she had prayed for an end to pain.

Again, without hope, she prayed.

"Please... Variance... Help my people."

She couldn't even move as blue fire sparked before her.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Thorns grew in his throat.

He felt rage.

Spikes of wooden flesh spread inside his skin.

Rage burned. Pride was assaulted.

Ice and needles of poison, of twisted pain, deep inside his eyes, reaching into his skull. Through his nose. His ears.

Life was rage.

The noise that escaped his corpse was not louder than his previous shouts and rants.

But it vibrated.

Like the very soil was a speaker, a thrumming echoed in the city.

His city.

A spark. His heart began to burn.

Everything.

His own flesh, his bones, the invading plants, his skin and organs and even brain were consumed in fire as his heart began to grow meat and metallic structure and scales.

The ice bit, the plants scraped, electricity stung, and Lung grew.

Lung endured.

Lung. Was. Strong.

The area that had been cleared of people seemed to pulse... before a pillar of light pierced the sky.

Raw energy. If it slowed for even a moment, flames would have spread through the air itself.

His limbs shrugged off everything. Four arms gripped the spreading liquefied soil and metal, four dragon legs stabilized him. His six wings of flesh and bone spread as his three heads screamed into the sky, three beams of power lancing the clouds.

Each head had massive horns, each hand was a claw of edged maliciousness, his wings were spiked and ready to pierce steel.

His eyes focused down. Far down. To where the puny structure stood and those ants tried to hold him back with their collaboration and tricks.

He was Lung. Gods should bow.

"Huh. You know what, I really didn't expect you to get this big."

He twisted without thought, two jaws attempting to consume the sound while the third rapidly built up a charge and spewed white plasma to the right.

The billowing blue smoke wafted away, leaving a... guy in a suit?

It was kind of hard to focus on him as he was so small. Less than half his smallest claw in height, however tall Lung was now.

Whatever it was didn't matter as his upper right hand lashed out, gripping the near invisible weakling and allowing his three heads to focus better.

Why was it wearing a suit? "You can't talk like that, can you? That's a drawback."

Well, screw you too. He aimed upwards and doused his own claws with three plasma breath beams. Hitting the ground with this attack would make it hard to see, after all. Or wipe his kingdom from the planet.

He ignored the sting as his own hand was evaporated by the power, layers of scale slowly dissolving until the flesh was exposed, then melted away till only fragments of bone were left.

It healed stronger even as he paused the attack.

Now to consume those damn sluts. WAIT! No. They were HIS property, he shouldn't destroy his things. Better to wait a bit until he was small enough to tell which of these meat bags were his hoard and which were snacks.

Lung felt a small sting, and glanced back at his still regrowing flesh.

"Wow... that really damaged my outfit."

...What?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam glared at his burned suit even as 'Manipulation' repaired it. Without somewhere to store the massive energy being absorbed, the whole thing had catastrophically collapsed, leaving him butt naked on a platform of bone and flesh.

It was gross.

He frowned upwards. At this size, he could probably fit a house or two in Lung's nostrils. Any of the six of them.

This needed to be handled before the idiot started walking around and crushed stuff.

He pulsed the magical connections to the simulation. "Right, so quick recap: Simmy's idea to let the girls here defend themselves a bit to grow some self discovery and independence has had a bit of an unexpected side effect."

Narwhal was stunned on the com. "His eye is bigger than my first apartment."

Nightmare Moon hummed. "Yeah, he is a bit bigger than some teenage dragons I know. Still, nothing too concerning."

He held his skeletal hand to his chin. "Your world has magic, Moon. This is pretty impressive for our world's standard. How are we doing Twilight?"

A wall of flesh fell upon his head even as his magical tentacles pulled him far enough to the side to only feel the winds smash into his side. Twilight sounded frustrated but on task. "Already have his shard's dimensional address, analysis is twenty percent complete and rising. Can you keep him busy until it finishes?"

Adam's bones glowed bright blue as a third of the dragon-building matched in color, a burst of telekinesis ripping chunks of the dragon's flesh as the massive creature was hurled toward the coast.

He followed the path that Dragon and CD had focused on evacuating as attack after attack was dodged or redirected. "I can only get so much before he hits the next level of fury. Assuming there IS a next level."

Adam was watching the eyes. For now, Lung still seemed in control... which was good. Last thing he needed was this beast deciding to blow itself up or something.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Burn.

Rage.

BURN.

Each claw sharpened.

Each tooth lengthened.

Wings tried to accelerate.

Muscles tore and regrew.

It... it wasn't enough.

Lung paused, mere feet from being shoved and torn into pieces like before, being hurled into the sea. Where his former greatest foe, Leviathan lived. Where he had failed to protect his hope.

What would a man do for power?

Lung took his mind, his soul, and his heart.

He.

BURNED.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam knew something was wrong when the ranting and screaming beast just... paused.

Feet away from an unlimited amount of coolant, right after a flaming blue tentacle pierced between those massive bones. It just... stopped.

And seemed to collapse.

Adam could feel everything seem to... wait.

Fuck.

He pushed ALL his magic, massive amounts of prayer, and chose 'Recovery', 'Growth', and 'Tithe'. Skills, powers, and tricks from across his followers worldwide helped his power pick the most efficient and optimized path to improve. Millions of similar powers reinforced each other to form SOMETHING to prevent the upcoming damage.

Without focus his prayer abilities went straight to his past of being a Baku.

The closest warehouse vanished as a tiger claw the size of a skyscraper slammed into it. His tusks reached the sky as his massive ears flared, eyes burning blue flames as his trunk began rapidly drawing patterns of faith and power into the air itself.

It was almost too late.

Light, heat, even some potential energy... it just collapsed.

A hole in reality, a pit of existence. The void spawned to absorb the world.

It burned and twisted and grew into itself, twisting into the space where the body of Lung had fought mere moments ago.

The shielding shuddered, forcing all other energy away from the center of the creature.

And when it paused, an ashen egg floated mere feet from the ocean. Only three times as tall as a man, barely anything in size really.

The massive elephant collapsed back into Adam's skeletal form, blue flames twisting as the mass of energy folded into wings of flame.

Adam grit his teeth. "CD, damage?"

She chimed in. "Minimal, only property. The trafficked girls are getting medical attention, and Sonia is likely going to hire most of them unless the Protectorate can bribe them away. Speaking of which, Director Emily Piggot is... well. She is less than happy and requests information and contact at your earliest convenience."

He chuckled, even as his hands rapidly formed runes of binding and capture around the egg. "I am assuming you paraphrased?"

She sighed. "I don't enjoy sharing curse words, so yes. What is the plan?"

Adam gazed at the egg, pulsing. "As far as I can tell, Lung has given a 'destroy everything' command and then killed himself, setting off the 'Threat Detection' algorithm to max. If he finishes his transformation, it would be an 'S Rank' threat at least, no doubt."

Twilight seemed strained. "Just hold for... a... almost... THERE! We have fully mapped his power. Can you handled it now?"

Adam twisted his fingers. "Are you sure Twilight? I don't think we will get a second chance, especially if the bastard pulled a kamikaze attack like this."

The mental message was firm. "I got it, you are green to go."

A dark look crossed Adams face. "Well... good."

He forced himself into the circular boundary, feeling the heat inside hit near solid temperatures and his bones start to vaporize. Without the Null Metal and Flame Metal circuitry, he would have already vanished into atoms by now.

Inch by inch he approached the egg, the feeling of rage and some level of smugness joining the fire that vanished his costume and slowly corroded his unicorn enhanced cyber skeletal structure. Something inside that creation knew it was growing in power, knew that just being near Adam it was starting to consume his essence.

It wasn't enough.

Adam touched the powdery egg, ash thick against what stubs of bones his fingers had left.

His mouth grinned... and more... and widened.

Conversion. Purification.

Consumption.

White fangs opened to show an empty black pit into his soul. His skull split far too wide, far too open. Even his eyes faded black as the magic in the area joined the energy of the world. To be swallowed. Eaten.

Consumed.

In his fishbowl, in his black grid, a square lit up with fire and rage.

An ashen egg burned within, unaware that the world was gone and that the rage would never be satisfied.

Adam hiccupped as his suit and skeletal structure regrew, a brief puff of white power and black rage escaping his jaws.

He winced as he rubbed his bone face, and turned to walk back through the melted wasteland towards his lab. He was still grounded after all.

Last edited: Aug 4, 2021

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Sep 20, 2019

#779

When he stepped onto mostly unmelted street near his women's shelter, Adam was a bit surprised by the dozens of women staring at him in awe and hero worship.

He glanced behind. Nope, it was him.

Awkward.

With a strained smile, he clapped. "Well! I don't know about everyone else, but I feel bone tired!"

There, that helped. "Tibia honest, I am grateful that I marrowly escaped getting hurt."

CD's avatar rolled her eyes, but now the girls looked confused or whatever rather than worshiping his body and selling their souls, so an overall victory.

Adam walked towards the probable leader, the woman who called to him. "Right, I need all you girls to work with the nice nurses to make sure you are healthy, and that your new powers are having no side effects." Thanks for THAT, Simmy. Twilight was furious about the new power option.

He held out a skeletal hand, which the plant woman accepted as she stood. "In the meantime, I have some lawyers from The Guild who will ensure that all of you are legally protected. I received a high level summary of the situation thanks to the prayers you girls sent, but need details since I have recently received a summons from the local Protectorate branch."

The woman swayed, but held firm. "Are... are you Variance?"

His skeletal grin gave off light blue smoke. "Indeed. And you are?"

She gave a weak smile. "Just call me Ivy, for now. If cape names are even a thing anymore, considering I don't have a mask and we just made a hell of a lot of noise."

Adam passed her a quick mask with a combination of 'Manipulation' and 'Growth', the bright green vines able to cover the woman's eyes leaving her mouth free. "Ivy it is then. Get your girls organized, make sure they feel safe and secure, and then we are going to head off and explain to the nice people at the PRT why they can legally bugger off."

He winced as CD smacked his head. "I mean discuss the situation."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Emily Piggot forced herself to calmly handle the tension in the room. Or at least to keep her anger mostly internal.

Armsmaster and Miss Militia were sitting at the table to her left and right, but honestly no one here could do much if this went south. Some damn powers were just on a different level, and Variance had been raising the bar for 'Grab Bag Cape' to Eidolon levels.

She looked at the three visitors. Dragon had not attended, but somehow Narwhal of all people had the time to leave her office despite the mountains of paperwork Emily KNEW was being tossed at her. More annoying, that work was actually being handled correctly as far as anyone could tell, and yet the visiting head of Guild seemed far too relaxed for that.

God knows Emily hated the paperwork piles. But inside she still felt envious that a woman could have nearly double the workload and still look fantastic.

The other two were the topic of today. "Miss Ivy." She watched the red haired beauty nod. Because of course she was a supermodel, everyone around Variance seemed to be. "A few hours ago my city was at low levels of insane panic. It was the best I could do after near nonstop work and effort to ensure that the explosion my city pretends not to be stayed as peaceful as possible. Having many of those panicked people gain powers did not simplify the situation."

She accepted Armsmaster's files, looking at the top. "Twenty two dead gang members. Forty three castrated, twenty seven of which died before medical attention could be administrated."

Ivy didn't exactly look heart broken. Then again, neither did anyone else. If it wasn't for politics Piggot herself would have secretly given a toast to the poor woman for getting rid of some of the slaving and raping scum of the city.

Variance coughed. "I believe this is all covered by Section 2B1... uh." A blue flame poofed a white card with a blue angel's wing. "Thank you Simmy. Section 2B1332, subsection 4a." Well, so much for security. Then again, this room wasn't rated for blocking fire teleportation, or however that ability worked.

Armsmaster had already moved part of his halberd to the side, twisting his weapon's components... and a tiny printer began to push a thin paper tape for him to tear off.

Everyone stared at the thing. Emily mentally sighed and accepted the printout. "Ah. So you are claiming it was a trigger event? Even though most of the girls do not have the brain structures to even gain a power to begin with." Not that they had known that before Variance had handed over the medical information for the girls, needed as they were rape victims.

Adam rotated the paper in his hand all the way upside down, and kept reading. "Subsection 2B1332, subsection 4d through 4f, cover that. Powers granted through tinker effects, trump abilities, or via sudden control of a Parahuman who accidentally master themselves fall under this coverage."

That had happened before? Emily waved Armsmaster off before he could use that stupid tiny printer of his again. Shouldn't something SO unsuitable for combat be in his armor or something? "The issue may still be under debate."

Adam sighed as tiny blue flames consumed the card. "Look Director, I need to wrap this up at some point and I am not good at ALL working with sensitive topics or people. It is why I found capable people to run my businesses and to handle my sales situations. And more recently, to fill in my paperwork."

He leaned forward, his skeletal body shifting as he gazed into her eyes with his sockets. And hadn't THAT change required some getting used to? He frowned. "What exactly is the problem with Ivy's girls that is keeping this from being an open and shut case?"

Emily gave a very uncharacteristic sigh. "Well... I also want today to be over. Miss Militia, if you would?" The room sealed as the cape hit some hidden switches. Everyone assumed that the Tinker would be in control of security, an assumption Emily loved to abuse, but the damn man tended to disassemble everything he got too close to.

She gestured. "Two of the people castrated were very wealthy and connected... and have since passed away. While both were under investigation for a number of issues, and it was assumed that some background blackmail and such were holding up the discovery teams, one man had a long list of contingency attacks in the case of his death."

She waved off the looks. "We have managed to stay on top of it, and if anything it technically should have made everything even easier to handle in the paperwork, but the other man had connections with several legal departments."

Adam hummed. "Well. fuc..." He winced at an elbow jab and glanced at a frowning Narwhal. "Uh. Forget those jerks then." A white folder with a blue wing burned into existence. "As I am sure you know, I also have connections. Some more recent than others."

He placed the folder onto the desk. "Here is a listing of every gang member and 'client' that the girls knew visited that club. It includes Lung and the minions he brought to my safe house, although those men were killed by their boss when he escaped confinement." He glanced at Ivy. "Oh, and we are calling the confinement an attempt at 'Citizen`s Arrest', for what that's worth."

Emily let Armsmaster review the thick stack of dense paper first. "I'm sure it will be interesting, but do you have highlights?"

Adam nodded. "That folder only includes information legally attainable, but is enough to convict a standard felon without supernatural, parahuman, or criminal support in an unbiased court of law. It ranges from abuse and neglect up to murder, depends on the individual. I am sure more exists if we were willing to hack or break into buildings or whatever, and feel free to get some warrants and go to town, but this should be enough."

Armsmaster whistled... which was very uncharacteristic for him. "This was VERY efficient work, Variance. I am impressed."

Adam patted Ivy's knee, as she seemed far more relaxed now that she knew those people wouldn't get away with claiming to be the victim. "While much was gathered by Dragon's sister, I have a new personal assistant who is honestly overqualified for the job."

Several people blinked. Armsmaster especially seemed put off. "Dragon... has a sister?"

He blinked. Oops. Glaring at Emily, he groaned. "See, THIS is why I don't talk to people. I'm terrible at operations security. Just let me punch stuff and make things and everyone will be happier."

Emily smirked. THIS was a weak point that could valuable for a long time. "Well, let's move on then to the next small issue."

Her smirk vanished as some of her internal fury escaped. "Why were you having a Godzilla fight in MY CITY!?"

Variance winced. "I got Dragon to evacuate the area and... well. The initial plan was for me to collect Lung after the Girls took him down, only stepping in if any were in danger of mutilation or death. Everyone with me felt that the girls were organized, sufficiently powered, and motivated to take Lung down even if only a non-lethal fashion."

She glared. "Almost a solid mile of melted city. Dozens of collapsed warehouses, abandoned as they may be. Lung grew larger and more mutated than anything we have on record, and you somehow summoned a massive furry elephant who then popped the giant. How the HELL do you get that from 'Non-Lethal Takendown'!?"

Ivy was wincing herself, but before she could feel the blame a hand gripped her shoulder with support. Adam himself stayed calm. "The problem was they were TOO good. Instead of falling unconscious from blood loss or the sleeping toxins and such, his power decided that there was a lethal threat, more than one, and basically threw out all the limitations and went for full attack mode."

He gestured, images from the fight flickering in the air. "Before Ivy captured him, he was reaching the levels of power he used to attempt to fight Leviathan. The attacks were too strong, too fast, and too well organized. In Japan, Lung ran away when he found a threat this big. Here he couldn't."

Now images of the fight near the edge of the sea. From a perspective FAR higher than before. "I was attempting to use the ocean as a heat buffer, while trying to find the source of his powers and disable them. Like I did with Gray Boy's victims. I think somehow his power detected that... and. well."

A video played, explosions and sound showing the chaos as an ash egg formed.

He frowned. "It got too dangerous to handle the man without lethal intent. If I hadn't sealed the area, that structure... it was deadly. As far as I can tell, his power inverted. Instead of creating more flesh and energy, it decided to consume everything in the area... possibly to create a new form with enough power to slaughter me."

He missed Ivy's shocked gaze as she realized how much Variance had gone through for her and her girls. "In the end, I had to use one of my most dangerous skills to permanently seal away whatever the hell the guy was becoming. Even that process involved me getting fairly damaged."

A skeletal corpse struggled against fire, reaching towards the ashen egg.

Adam sighed, letting that video go. "Thankfully I am fairly sturdy."

Armsmaster raised a hand in the stunned silent room. "Did you become a big furry elephant?"

He blinked. "Uh... technically no? I tried to become as big as possible as quickly as I could, and sort of turned into the Baku by accident in the process." He nudged Narwhal with his elbow. "By the way, writing runes with your nose is surprisingly harder than you would think."

Miss Militia frowned. "What is a Baku?"

Adam held a hand over the desk. Dozens of white peanuts fell onto it... then caught on fire. Blue flames twisted until the mess formed a tiny furry elephant.

He pointed. "That. It is a spiritual creature that eats bad dreams, mental illnesses, sickness, and such. The tend to purify their habitat and environment. Also, they squeak. Not sure why."

Emily felt her body lock up. He could spawn monsters!? Flashbacks of the horror of Nilbog and his mutated former humans twisted into fleshy monsters, the gruesome fight as her people were torn, the... the...

A black ball was now being slowly nommed on by the Baku. Adam nodded. "See? They love that negative stuff."

Emily vaguely heard Master/Stranger protocols called as Narwhal started slapping the shoulder of a confused Variance, Ivy now petting the small creature eating years of pain and self mental harm.

Miss Militia recovered first, even as everyone was being led to confinement chambers. "Variance, could you please get rid of your Baku projection? This process will be bad enough without exposing more people to it."

The last thing she heard as her own room was sealed was... not encouraging.

"Uh... it only exists if you believe it does."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Does being held in a Master/Stranger confinement room make him double grounded? Because while Simmy found this hilarious, Narwhal was ranting up a storm.

Damn it, this is why he didn't do social stuff. He had people for that.

Last edited: Sep 24, 2019

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Sep 26, 2019

#800

Susan took a deep breath. And out.

She checked to ensure her PRT uniform was presentable... and entered the next detention cell. "Good afternoon, Director Narwhal."

The woman snorted. "I'm still not sure why our group was included in the Master/Stranger procedures. Haven't they already shown that Variance followers are immune to this?"

Susan gave a wry smile. "Actually yes, but it takes time to update procedures." She looked down at the furry mini-phant that was being petted. "So that is the reason for all this? You know I have to also go through M/S procedures after this just for seeing it."

Narwhal sighed. "It may be my fault. Variance's new abilities have barely been explored, much less gone over for policy violations. If the Lung situation hadn't popped up, we would have been spending this month verifying that all of Variance's new powers were classified properly."

And hadn't THAT fight been an eye opener. Nothing like seeing a city destroying monster get bitch slapped to really show how much Variance had been sandbagging his very few fights.

Susan continued to go through what little M/S procedures applied to Narwhal, as the Director of The Guild didn't have the same constantly mutating and bizarre steps to prove sanity as the PRT had to endure. But eventually, she managed to finish, file the paperwork, and move on to the next 'customer', although Ivy was so new there was no profile to verify if she was mastered or not.

She had already entered the cell before she realized that Ivy... was ALSO petting the Baku.

And this one was green, not blue.

The visiting order needed to be redone NOW. She gave a weak excuse before moving to the decontamination room, frantically sending emails through the strange gadget Armsmaster had set up.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

It took twelve minutes to both get approval to jump the queue and another three to actually open Variance's cell.

Susan gazed with weary eyes at the white, black, pink, yellow, and red Bakus wearing what appeared to be color coordinated capes... and ignoring Variance's attempts at getting them in some sort of order.

She coughed. "Variance?"

The skeleton twisted, bones far too expressive showing surprise. "Oh! You guys. Hey, good news! I figured out how to get rid of spiritual creatures I make!"

She looked at the five creatures that were slowly disassembling their 'costumes'. "Really."

The guy looked far too proud. "Yes! The issue turned out to be far more simple than I expected. If I avoid using any of my personal faith peanuts, and just draw on the ambient power of faith in the area, I can get rid of them instantly!" He frowned at the white Baku, which had managed to pull off the cape from two others. "Took a few tries though. I should have caught on sooner, but got side tracked."

Susan watched the furry pile slowly tumble towards the wall as the adorable abominations tried to climb each other. "So... when will you be getting rid of these then?"

He winced. "Ah. Well, the other forty or so left with no problem, but uh. These six and my original one used some of my personal power when being born. I would need everyone who saw them to stop believing they exist... as well as having everyone who saw my 'Baku Kaiju' form earlier help out too."

Susan sighed. "Well, at least if there is only supposed to be seven total, that would explain where the ones Ivy and Narwhal have came from."

He blinked. "What!? When did two get away from me!?" A quick count... "Wait, where did the pink one go!?" He frowned as he reached one hand into the air... and then groaned. "Do Guild Affiliate children have to go through M/S protocols too?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Missy Biron giggled. She had been a bit lost after getting cool powers from Mr. Skelly, even if her new 'Personal Space' skill was fun to play with... and then Miss Pinky showed up and made all the scary feelings about mom and dad feel better.

She held up Miss Pinky to Taylor, who had made all the other girls organize into smaller groups so it wouldn't be so scary to be in the middle of the crowd. "I wanna picture too!"

Taylor grinned as she used her brand new Guild Emergency Phone (GEP, patent pending) to take another shot. Cute stuff pictures count as an emergency too, right? "Alright Missy, do you already have an email account or something? Or do you want me to get mom to print it out instead?"

Missy rolled her eyes. Duh she had email, this wasn't the stone age. "I want it to be my profile pic! Sally and Alex have THEIR pets in their pic, and I want Miss Pinky in mine!"

She might have been a bit jealous when her friends added their super pets to their ParaHumanOnline accounts, but now SHE was the one with an awesome pet!

The Baku was actually asleep at this point, even as it was being swung around and randomly squeaking from hugs. Taylor had been trying to get the girls to treat it better and more calmly, but the lack of damage or complaint from the creature had her give up for now.

She blinked after helping little Missy set stuff up. Why was she getting a text message from Dragon? And mom? And uh... Missy's parents?

Oops.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Susan looked up from her growing list of needed paperwork, having ignored the babbling skeleton as he tried to get his remaining four Bakus to stay still. Which was odd, because every OTHER Baku she had seen was lazy or even asleep.

Variance was now holding them down. "Don't fly! Please don't fly, the teleportation is already getting me in trouble. Why Simmy, WHY did you convince me to make Spiritual Power Rangers!? This was a TERRIBLE idea!"

A piece of paper floated down. From nowhere.

So... operation security was shot.

He snatched the slip. "Go go Baku Rangers... really!? You KNOW Narwhal is going to kill me, right!?" He flipped the paper over and paused. "Well... alright, she is pretty hot when angry, but it is super unfair that YOU get to enjoy the show when she starts being abusive."

He ignored the next two slips, which seemed to make him feel better. Curious, she picked one up.

And put it down, ears red and blushing hot.

Naughty notes aside, she forced herself to be a bit more professional. "Variance, I still have some questions."

As he turned toward her, she ignored the black Baku slowly floating away behind him. "Right, but make it quick. If I lose any more of these things Narwhal might actually blow a fuse or something."

She nodded. "Right. First, thank you for the papers documenting the creatures, but I still need official verification of a few facts for the record."

She moved to the first item. "Are they projections, biological, or mechanical?"

He frowned. "A mix of projection and biological. And can change state between the two."

A nod. "What do they eat, and what can eat them?"

He sighed. "As far as I know they consume general sickness, mental stress and disabilities, and sadness. Each of their body colors though shows that they focus on specific negative versions of particular emotions. Black Baku for example finds despair and depression to be most tasty, while Green prefers jealousy, envy, and so forth. But all of them can consume any negative energy if desired."

He poked the white Baku. "And nothing eats them. Actually, because they are connected to me rather than only the faith of others, I am not sure they CAN be eaten. Or killed, injured, etc. If it gets really bad they can just reform from my power at a later point."

Uh. THAT wasn't in the paperwork. "I see." Better move along. "Can they reproduce?"

He shook his head. "No, Bakus have no genetic genders. They can choose traits of either or both genders if they wish, but there are no organs or process to create new ones. I don't think they ever had such. In fact, I am not even sure they have genetic information or DNA at all. Initially they formed spontaneously in areas of high faith or other powers."

She ignored the religious talk, the man WAS a focus of over a hundred religions by now. "And uh... what happens when they 'eat' from a person? Director Piggot is certainly feeling off so far."

He hummed. "How best to put this..."

He waved a hand, an image of a crystal heart floating in the air. Hopefully the cameras could see this, otherwise her time in confinement would triple... stupid M/S Protocols.

His bone fingers tapped the heart, showing a series of dividers, vertical chambers. "Now this is not in any way what is actually going on, but treat it like a metaphor or something. Everyone has a series of containers, each representing a mental trauma, an emotion, and so forth."

The various chambers filled with colored liquids. "A Baku can consume the emotional investment one has in a selected trauma specifically, or reduce the emotional investment in general if it has certain traits like negativity."

He tapped one of the now empty chambers. "Notice that even though all the anguish is gone, the chamber or trauma itself still exists. Bakus don't make it go away, they just get rid of the parts that make it harder to handle the issue or attempt to heal it."

Variance waved the illusion away. "So in areas with emotional qualities, like graveyards or war zones, the ambient emotion from the living and dead can be consumed to make the area feel less toxic or damaged, just like they can eat the much smaller issues of normal people. They were sort of nature's emotional vultures in a way, at least that is what they were intended to be."

She gave a weak nod. "And you can therefore confirm they do not modify memories or master the people involved?"

The nod was firm. "People change when they don't feel the weight of emotional damage, but if they decide to not seek help or try to fix the issue the problem will build up again. If someone magically made you thin but you didn't change your habits, you would eventually return to your previous weight, for example."

While that was relieving, it didn't change the MASSIVE amount of paperwork and isolation she was going to have to experience today.

She blinked as suddenly the room seemed brighter and her back less heavy... and the Yellow Baku was nomming on something black and wiggly it had just pulled from her.

Even as she noted the additional tests she would have to endure later, it didn't feel nearly as soul crushing as before.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Dragon watched the massive numbers of videos, forum posts, and shared images spread online. Someone (soon to be fired from the PRT) had published security pictures and video of the 'Baku Rangers' in tiny capes with a grinning skeletal Variance tying the last cape on the Red one. The follow up video of him losing control of the situation shortly after was a near instant internet hit.

They had spread from his personal accounts. And were posted on an increasing number of forums. Not that she could do much if it wasn't on PHO itself. She wasn't a forum moderator elsewhere, after all.

She wasn't legally allowed to interfere anyway, although the fact that the fluffy elephants were adorable and she already knew how little threat they posed helped mitigate any worries she might have had.

Still, she notified Missy's parents, recent employees to Variance Villa, that their child's new pet had an internet following.

CD bounced into her server. "Draggy! The Red one escaped and somehow ended up in that park in New York!" A dozen URL's and video feeds were tossed at Dragon as she squealed. "They are even MORE cute than Adam was! Why did they all come out like chibi babies!?"

Dragon chuckled. "Simmy sent me some of his notes while they were experimenting. Turns out he didn't use enough faith to get them to the right age at first, and unlike the later ones he couldn't undo the mistake and try again." It had been VERY frusturating not being able to communicate with Adam while he was in confinement, but she was sure Narwhal would give him a lecture or two about experimenting on creating life while in hostile territory.

CD laughed. "Did she get pictures of his attempts!?"

A pile of virtual image files uploaded into the server and floated from the air.

CD snagged a bunch. "Awesome! I'm going to make like a super album of them all. Like... like a baby album."

Dragon tried to be as serious as an older sibling could, even if she WAS secretly duplicating the files in a background process. Probably time for new wallpapers anyway.

Last edited: Sep 26, 2019

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#822

The list of things for him to handle was still long.

Adam was trying to follow the spirit of his 'isolation', even if his soul was filled with visitors and his power was flooding the planet with video game interfaces.

Also, it was easier to do fun stuff without the girlfriend noticing sometimes. Simmy may have suggested the power ranger Baku idea, but it was awesome and could only make this grim-dark universe a bit less horrifying.

Anyway, the fun police had cracked down... for probably good reasons. Producing immortal mind consuming spiritual elephant-tigers-whatever was probably something he should have run by a few more people before designing cute costumes for them. Thankfully the level of background belief was still too weak for Baku to just spawn everywhere, but they may start popping up one at a time in very dense population centers.

Meh, it should be fine.

Now thoroughly bored, he mentally checked his list for this Realm.

Scion? Either non-existent or not local as a threat. Theoretically handled anyway, as more and more shards become consumed by Adam's 'System', eventually the shard that creates that Avatar will fall into his control and the danger would be mostly neutered.

As for the Endbringers...

A soft blue feather tickled his neck out of sight from the cameras.

Mostly handled. Two-thirds were happy and absent, the expected others had either not been created or only formed when called to use, and the last one is humoring herself by sexually harrasing his girlfriend.

So... check?

Stabilize society. Uh.

Well, throwing everyone into power-ups without warning was a problem, but on the other hand things were going surprisingly well so far. Especially now that Simmy was handling the prayer situation, as she could selectivly make choices or suggest changes for Twilight to try out on the 'Tithe' system. A few people gaining specific powers here and there had prevented several bombings and mass shootings in the last hour alone.

Lots of smaller or longer term problems were being handled on a case by case basis on a scale that would have required an army of operators otherwise.

However... a LOT of corrupt governments were suddenly presented with a population that would NOT put up with shit. Many places were in conflict while before they simply slaughtered a few crowds of people for random reasons. This social unrest mostly only affects areas with low population happiness levels, as any functional society would have a large group of supporters ALSO gaining abilities... what a mess. Not HIS mess though, not if he could help it.

Basically, the world wasn't skittles and rainbows yet.

On the positive side, Case 53's were either gaining a human form now or brand new powers all together, and a significant number of believers were going for the 'Overdraw' ability Simmy created, since many times the bizarre body given was fairly attractive and a normal body could be gained later if desired.

More power for short term weirdness? A lot of people said yes, and seeing so many elves, metal golems, dryads, elementals, and so forth was helping the few case 53's who DIDN'T accept the offer see some additional social acceptance. Not everywhere of course, bigotry wasn't just solved or anything, but having the 'odd group' being sexually attractive solved a lot of early problems.

Well, world peace wasn't really his goal anyway, he was just aiming to prevent societal collapse. Thank goodness Simmy was helping with that, because Adam came close to destroying the economy a few times even while trying to be subtle and on the down low.

Better to just move on from that point.

He glanced at the last Baku, the white one, as the others had already wandered away. "You might as well go too. Your friends are having fun, no reason to be stuck here with me while I wait."

The small ball of fur snored and rolled over.

Well, that was fine as well.

He looked back at his mental list.

Money? Check. Bounties from freeing Gray Boy's victims alone would have been more than enough, forget his multiple businesses being run by Cut-Throat Sonia.

She was having the time of her life, all grumbling aside. Adam had kept an eye on her initially, and she was a shark in a small pond as more and more property in Brockton Bay became her territory even as she reorganized all his random businesses. Her female only hiring practice was uh... maybe an issue. For now, Danny was hiring the qualified men that she was passing over, so it should be fine for a bit.

Thankfully the newly empowered Villa employees were able to use his powers well enough that he wasn't needed to make parts or help with power construction of new safe houses and such. They were slower, needed to cooperate together, and not all of them were as good as rapid prototyping like him... but many hands made light work in this case. And not having to show up all the time to heal people or fill the liquid metal reservoirs was its own reward.

Anyway. Money wouldn't be an issue.

Next... well.

He hadn't wanted it, but at this point he also had a growing Religious and Political power base as well.

Ignoring that. He had enough problems without tackling something so far away from his skill set, and he didn't want to waste a SINGLE power charge on learning how to be a lawyer or whatever. Why make it easier to do jobs he hated? Someone would eventually find out and he would have to get involved with that garbage!

Finally, problematic individuals. Coil had to be handled early, moron couldn't keep his nose out of his business, but finally he could get started on this issue officially.

Lung had been on his 'List of People to Kick' for a while anyway, as human sex trafficking was something he wasn't willing to overlook like weaker vices, gambling and drugs and such. Trying to stop everything was impossible of course, but slavery was one of his larger personal dislikes. After which, it would become an issue that everyone ELSE would dislike. Period.

Still, being stuck here physically was holding him back from the BIG issues he had wanted to address, individual wise.

Slaughterhouse 9 was one such problem. Something similar to the Boogie Man to most of the civilized world.

Now that Simmy wouldn't drop from the sky and wear Adam's skull as a hat, he had the option to get rid of those monsters now. BEFORE Jack Slash got his blood soaked fingers on little Riley, the girl who would be tortured into mutilating her own parents in an effort to save their lives.

'Bonesaw', as she would be called, would be like the healer Panacea but with surgical operations as a focus. Twisted by Jack, she would enhance humans by ripping them open without antiseptics or pain killers, tinkering with replacement parts made from flesh or metal or other, and sew them together into monstrosities, some slaved to be her puppets. Her gifts would be forced to make her attackers stronger, harder to kill, faster, more deadly.

Not even mentioning the plagues and viruses she could and would release and embed inside her own flesh, the little girl would be forced to do Jack Slash's bidding in an effort to be a 'Good Girl' for the man who killed her loved ones. For years. While hurting the young, innocent, and uninvolved.

So yeah, there would be no more Slaughterhouse 9. As soon as possible too.

The sudden paper slip floating over his eyes made him pause... then give a grin.

Simmy had an idea. An awful idea.

The Simurgh had a wonderful, awful idea.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Bill blinked as a new window from System popped up. "Quest alert?"

A quick glance showed that his drinking buddies had gotten similar messages. Huh.

He focused and the window expanded. Oh, there were sub options.

Class Quests, Local Quests, National Quests, World Quests.

Well. That was a thing.

He and his buds checked, and a quick glance showed that Class Quests varied heavily even between the two guys like him with the same class, 'Police Officer'. They seemed tailored to individual skills and abilities, rather than to any cop in the area.

Most of the Local Quests were shared, and the last two categories were identical as far as they could tell.

Bill watched Grace accept a quest that rewarded a whole skill level up instantly when she finished thirty court cases, and that really opened the flood gates as everyone began selecting what to work towards.

Only three quests could be active at a time, but the help options mentioned that progress would be saved if someone dropped a quest to work on a new one for a while. Like if some World Quest came up, for example.

Curious, Bill was the first to look through THAT category.

It included quests to research events or ideas, produce materials or products, all kinds of stuff. The rewards were not only huge, but included actual cash prizes as well for some and not just a power increase. Some of the more massive quests (Build a Moon Base!) had rewards for partial participation or contribution efforts, and there were even 'Charity Quests' that rewarded altruistic pursuits like supporting artists or feeding the homeless or whatever.

But his eye eventually caught on a 'World Class' item sub-category labeled 'Kill Order'.

Hmm?

It had a list, filled with people he recognized from the official 'Kill Order' list the PRT published, where courts had confirmed legal death sentences if possible to apply them.

And the first was 'Slaughterhouse 9'.

His eyes widened as he saw the information revealed there.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Legend thanked the intern, the third to share the same information with him today, before falling into his chair in his office.

As one of the Triumvirate and the leader of the Protectorate, he had seen a lot. Not much could catch him so off guard, so unprepared. But maybe this was to be expected.

After all, unlike many of his coworkers, he hadn't joined Variance's System as it swept the globe. It was too risky. If it had a secret nefarious side to it, who would save the day then?

Now though, he was considering taking the plunge.

He glanced over his new notes.

The new Questing System was mostly busy work. You could even create your OWN quests, sacrificing personal ability levels or providing money or promissory notes as a reward. It was rapidly growing in popularity mere hours after being offered as an option, as even basic quests like 'Do your laundry son!' would grant actual experience towards a skill in addition to other rewards (like allowance).

Thankfully someone was monitoring the service, because no random hit jobs or theft requests had shown up yet, even if some people had put up quests to find rare ingredients or walk their dogs.

No, the issue was the 'Kill Order' quests under 'World Quest'.

Apparently, according to his people anyway, each person on that list had a profile given in the Quest acceptance window.

Name, Cape Name, Powers, Weaknesses... to some extent was expected, even if it was far more accurate than any publicly known. And 'The Unwritten Rules' never addressed the issue of people listed as 'kill on sight' before.

Legend did notice that the few people with living relatives that HE knew of didn't have their real name listed, so... maybe it was only being shared when relatives wouldn't suffer? No reason to kill a man's cousin or little girl if HE was the asshole.

Anyway, the shocking detail was the last few data points.

Past Appearances. Current Appearance. Past Locations. Current Location.

A list of images, showing full body and their face in VERY high resolution. And two maps, one filled with lines showing past travel and the other showing a pulsing dot on a separate window.

It came with the current distance from the quest follower. A listing of current equipment the target was wearing. The target's current health.

In the case of the Siberian, the naked tiger-stripe cannibal woman who was invincible and able to tear steel like paper, it showed that not only was she only a power projection from a different person, but the actual location of her 'Master' and his details as well. Capes with a history of using decoys, clones, robots or whatever would now be quite out of luck thanks to this thing.

It was... astonishing. And supposedly being updated in real time.

What... what was he supposed to do? With this level of operation intelligence, even amateurs with a tinkertech sniper rifle could take out some of the known threats on the list. Those people would likely die in the process, but they COULD theoretically win.

Even as he sat here stunned, he could almost feel the rush of people trying to get revenge against these monsters who tortured so many.

Could he bear the sorrow if under-prepared people threw their lives away? Even with this information, there would be many deaths as people tried to take on targets far stronger than they could handle, or ignored hostage situations in their grief and madness filled retaliatory strikes. Not to mention the bystanders.

With a heavy sigh, he made a decision. One that his friends would likely find unacceptably risky... but he had done far more risky things to save people before, with far lower potential payoffs.

"Variance, I would like to join the System."

The blue popup window didn't SAY anything smug, but he felt it anyway.

Adam lept from his captivity. "FREEDOM!"

Narwhal slapped his shoulder. "Don't do that! I don't want them shoving us back into confinement if you set off their protocols again."

He was too excited to be walking outside again.

They sent Ivy off to rejoin with her girls, likely to be working with Sonia and Adam's company from now on. Seriously, if she didn't start hiring at least a couple of guys, there were going to be lawsuits. Unless she did that 'Modeling' contract some restaurants did to ensure beauty levels with their waitresses.

CD digitized besides the pair, with a sly grin. "So... I hear the Quest rollout went well?"

Narwhal snorted. "If nothing else, the hunters are warning locals and towns about where the prey is wandering. Casualties from the people on 'Kill Order' list has drop to near zero. A few have already been taken down, which is good enough for me."

Adam nodded. "Legend got the reward for finishing the Slaughterhouse group a few minutes ago. Then again, he is a man made from lasers... long range 'issue' management is right up his alley."

The Triumvirate's power was being scanned too, very actively by Squishy and Simmy. Legend's shard was mostly energy conversion and manipulation, and the more details his powers could determine the more efficent his own abilities became. Copying it directly wasn't worth nearly as much as the enhancements gained by the other abilities.

Each 'Kill Order' target was being scanned as part of the reward process as well, though not at the same level of detail or speed that Legend was getting. Those shards WERE being worked on though, and the new messaging system was letting the victors brag about how they were given massive benefits for pulling those quests off.

Big improvements to personal power? Sure. But they could optionally gain low level copies of the Kill Order subject's abilities, ones that could grow over time.

Needless to say, interest was high.

Adam slung an arm around Narwhal's shoulder, even as she hugged CD and him back. "Well, I say some down time is needed. Twilight's been telling me that the various merchant and inventory classes have set up some sort of delivery service or market thing, why not hang out tonight and mess with that?"

CD was slightly taller than Narwhal, but her enthusiasm made her seem far younger. "Ooh! I've wanted to try a movie with popcorn thing in person!"

Narwhal laughed at the bouncing beauty. "Why not? Dates are more fun with an extra hand or two anyway." She pulled CD towards the Villa. "Let's find out if the new shop offers anything alcoholic to go with our evening. Adam, don't take too long!"

He watched his girlfriend saunter while pulling a blushing cybernetic goddess along.

Life was good.

Still, he had to go fix the dock area first. Dragon had already purchased all the heavily damaged property in that area with his personal funds, most of it entirely legally, but even with the new System only he could build a city in an evening.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

In a way, Lung's rampage was very useful.

Manipulation. Blue flames spread over the rubble, torn streets, and melted trench.

Conversion. The fire burned bright orange, with chemicals causing flames of blue, green, and more to spiral into the sky.

Consumption. The flames now spread over the perfectly smooth surface, even as the temperature reached unheard of levels.

Conversion. Fire used the samples of soil to fill the deep trench, not the dry clay filled and contaminated soil that filled the area but rich stuff, near black and fertile. It still had enough clay content to prevent ocean water from destroying the area, but this was the good stuff.

Manipulation. Fire gone, only blue flames of magic soaked the now rich soil that spawned in the middle of this town.

Straightening his suit sleeves, his skull grinned as he pushed forward with his bony hand.

Black Flame Metal formed tiles that lay out the foundations, both for buildings and where streets used to be. Asphalt was converted in, while the foundations had Null Metal pipes snake into the earth.

Access panels and tunnels formed following the streets, everything segmented so that normal tools could dismantle and access the parts inside without Adam himself being called in all the time.

The wiring was insulated with Null Metal, Flame Metal ready to conduct the charge, and all was embedded in the tubes below the reinforced road.

A series of tall apartment buildings rose from the metal foundations, covered in conversion panels to make heat, light, and energy usable to the future residents below. All of it connected to the city's sewage, water, and electrical services. Even cable TV was hooked up, which... uh. He would have to make sure the new tenants would pay for this stuff. Right now, all of it was being funded by HIS pockets. Whoops.

For now, the new residential area would prevent the crowding issues slowly cropping up at Variance Villa so far. Moving on.

As he walked toward the sea, 'Growth', 'Purification', and 'Manipulation' had rich grass fill the soil around the new homes, sidewalks, and streets. The section of dock that was rebuilt was far more sturdy and reliable than before, even as his blue flames ignored the water.

His power soaked into the bay, burning below the liquid as it consumed trash, rocks, plant and sea life. The dock that previously stood mere feet over the bay floor now had supports reaching farther and farther down as Adam consumed the material and used the energy gathered to reinforced the rock and soil in his new underwater wall. Layers of Null Metal on the vertical surface with spikes digging deep within would ensure stability for years.

In fact... Hmm.

This area would be useful, especially now that Leviathan was splashing around in his soul rather than destroying shipping attempts.

However... he was in a hurry. There were at least two beautiful women who wanted to spend time watching bad films and drinking bizarre drinks while snuggling, and he was NOT going to miss that.

His personal emotions caused the blue flames to glow near white and open black mouths filled with plasma fangs. The sea level actually dropped as sunken ships, rocks, sand and soil was 'Consumed', 'Converted', 'Purified', and 'Transferred' into more energy to devour.

He barely noticed his feet stepping on floating blue flame stones as he walked toward the bay entrance, water glowing as fish frantically fled the area. Even as the light spread below the water, it grew dim as the depth increased with each step over the sea.

Water channel for trade? Nah. Nothing that basic.

As it was, he was rebuilding the local 'swimming' areas so some form of 'beach' would still exist.

Everywhere else was dropping down dozens of meters, even as a bright blue divider ensured that the 'Swimming Area' wouldn't allow large predators or vehicles near the shore.

As he exited past the massive tanker even now dissolving into blue fire, he took a deep whiff of the open ocean, feeling more than a bit satisfied. This shouldn't get him in trouble, right?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Annette Hebert felt her heart calm down, even as the children played in the fire.

'Let`s go to the beach', he said. Danny was in SO much trouble.

She reached into the blue flames, feeling something playfully nibble her finger tips even as trash, weeds, rocks and shells evaporated into pure white sand.

The beach she had grown up with had just been split into three walled off large sections. The one closest to the parking lot was very shallow, probably for young children. The middle rapidly descended into the water, while the third was a near instant drop to the depths. Each wall was topped with a pier with railings, ladders, and what seemed to be fishing platforms at the end.

It was easy to see all the changes, as the previously green ocean was now glass quality clear as blue flames bumbled and bobbled around like confused toys. The far dividing wall, open to the bay, was now a slightly glowing blue grid. Blue lights sparkling in the darkest depths, while blue veins of power glowed up the side walls lighting up the water.

Thankfully, the kids had been mostly smart enough to leave the water once FIRE started rolling into the beach area.

Unfortunately, one of them realized it was 'Mr. Skelly fire', and they all rolled back into the flames before the adults could catch up.

She watched the same playful flames that were being carried around by toddlers or tossed by teens melting through the distant metal ships like butter.

Yeah, somehow Danny was getting in trouble for this. He must have tempted Murphy or something.

She snapped back into 'Guardian' mode once she realized one of the children with 'Manipulation' abilities was trying to start up a 'Fire fight'. "No Andrew! We do NOT throw fire at each other!"

Annette was NOT prepared for this many super-powered children. At least Taylor was helping to organize a water retaliation resistance movement.

Wait, where had she gotten an actual fire hose!?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

His vengeance would be swift. Overwhelming.

The wrench twisted sharply.

His might would be spoken of in legends! Sung of by bards!

A few more checks. The metal would need to be replaced after this next test run. No weakness would be permitted.

Few could bear his wrath, none would withstand his fury! No one would dare try.

A few more checks showed the engine purred like a lion and could roar with a thrust for vengeance.

"Hey Phil, I'm going to take lunch early, right?"

He waved the minion off. The fools thought to profit from his majesty, but they only allowed his greatness to grow in the shadows.

One last swipe from a towel and the beauty was prepared for a harsh life.

Andrew whistled from the door, pausing on the way out. "Damn Phil, you do fine work."

He frowned, but his internal righteousness could harvest profit from the lowest of seed. "Of course!"

None could deny the brilliance of Track-Tor, the Invincible.

And one day, his vengeance would sprout in glorious fields of glory!

He paused. Hopefully the prison cafeteria would have pudding today.

It was a glorious day for pudding.

Last edited: Oct 2, 2019

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Oct 2, 2019

#850

He knew Alexandra was stuck in her alternate identity due to the paperwork. The whole world gaining powers had basically destroyed ALL her free time for the next forever.

He knew Eidolon was frantically searching for any trace of the Endbringers, showing a level of paranoia that he had never expected.

So it was with some small guilt that Legend ended another villain on the 'Kill List'. Being in the field and literally fighting the good fight felt a million times better than 'fighting crime' by doing paperwork, in a city where everyone dropped their weapons and started crying if he showed up. Including his own team members, sometimes.

Also, it felt morally good to do this. Sickos like this ass needed to be put down. This one for example was the guy who kept consuming children and living in their corpses.

Because this cleansing... this was making the world a better place. Each monster knocked off this mortal coil ensured thousands of innocent people wouldn't suffer.

And this 'Quest' option made finding them and understanding how to deal with these demons very easy for someone as powerful as himself. The constant reward power ups didn't hurt his progress either.

He read another alert. The bounty reward had already been transferred to his accounts, although how 'Blue Angel' pulled that off was a mystery. It had initially caused his boyfriend significant confusion, but his new class of 'Homemaker' had him investing the stuff within hours. The apartment looked even more amazing than usual and the last home cooked meal was nearly divine.

More importantly than mere money, the power based reward was giving Legend more options for improvement.

Again, he chose carefully. Power wise, he had always been gifted when it came to raw energy output. So these updates had been focused on something he had struggled with for literally decades.

Control.

Increased ability to multitask, so that he could control more lasers safely. The ability to automatically scale power output based on target... in other words, power enough to stun a brute would no longer accidentally vaporize a normal human, power for burning a minion wouldn't be ignored if a brute jumped in the way, and so forth.

The ability to lock onto a target and auto-guide his beams without concern that it would hit a friend or unrelated object. The ability to automatically find openings for his attacks to go around obstacles to hit a target, or find the least destructive angle of aggression.

Now though, his options were more strange. Convert lasers into other materials? It could be strong, basically turn his beams into machine guns with infinite ammo, but it basically changed his power completely. It would require massive retraining and new tactical options. And would the material fade away? He wouldn't want to litter over a state sized area during a conflict.

Solidify lasers into physical objects? Similar issues, and his boyfriend would insist on using it for kinky things.

So... maybe?

At least it was an optional power setting, not one that fully replaced his ability.

The third options and beyond just made his powers MORE deadly than focused energy attacks already were. Multidimensional Shifting, to hit objects unknown to the normal world. Corrosive effects, causing wounds to fester or shields to corrupt. Bouncing lasers, that didn't lose any energy despite hitting multiple targets... well that seemed dangerous and uncontrolled. Lasers that only damaged clothing? Heh, no.

His eyes drifted back to the laser rope bondage option.

...Well. It wouldn't be a Quest Reward if he always spent it on work related stuff, right?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Last night was awesome!

Adam had walked into the living room (At least, ONE of the living rooms, Variance Villa was huge) and found that CD and Narwhal were cuddling with blue Simmy (Still nude) on the couch while something was playing on TV (He was distracted).

The couch was full, but the girls had him lay on their laps for the film (No idea which one). While nothing too sexual really occurred, it had been a warm and enjoyable experience, especially once Narwhal started stroking his hair and the other girls tried to 'massage' his 'tired' muscles.

That his body was formed from raw power and magic didn't matter, and he told no one that his body healed so quickly that 'sore' didn't really exist for him anymore.

Massages rocked!

He stretched on the mostly empty couch, then re-wrapped his arms back around Narwhal and tried to go back to sleep.

...No, that was Simmy. The nudity was a big hint.

Whatever, it was too early to freak out about this. Hugs for everyone, and good night.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Dragon sighed as her sister gossiped more about her date last night. Just because she and Colin moved a bit slower in their relationship status didn't mean she would try and drag CD down emotionally now that SHE had romantic options.

Whatever this rectangular love thing was, she was at least having a good time so far.

She reviewed her tasks, CD babbling away as she lounged nude on Dragon's virtual couch. The girl had near zero modesty, but at least her sister made the day feel brighter when around.

Birdcage? Still up and running, the massively secured prison still steady as stone. Some changes had to be made after Dragon was freed from her code shackles, and a lot of flaws in the prison were found and patched, but it was safer today than ever before. Now that she was able to make free decisions, she had even improved the food quality of the place. Morale had actually gone up this month!

Many thousands of Guild operations were plodding along, only thirty three needed escalation to Narwhal's actual attention.

Adam's companies were now fully handled by Sonia, so Dragon was basically checking up on those for no real reason other than curiosity.

The sales numbers for the new Guild Products were not in yet, but the market had reacted VERY favorably to the new computers, materials, and software being offered now that Adam was less terrified of the consequences for standing out. Then again, his display at the docks had been going viral online from the few who recorded it, so even if it WAS easy for people with powers to target him, they would be having second thoughts. Probably.

She paused. Right, where did the Baku Rangers end up? Missy had one, the Pink one. Oh, the White one was now with Panacea, and seemed to enjoy the taste of her whole family based on these images they shared.

Dragon digitally blinked. Why was the Black Baku heading to the American South? Was it after the 'Fallen', the gang focused on worshiping Endbringers? She sent a question off to Adam, that whole group of villains focused on Master abilities mostly. Bakus should be immune to that, right? She sent some messages towards the Black ball of fur as well.

...It was ignoring all her attempts to communicate with it.

Well. Adam's response said it should be fine... right?

With a digital sigh, she assigned a drone to follow the slowly bouncing/floating ball of fur as it meandered toward an incestuous region of the south. This could only end well.

It was technically outside of her jurisdiction anyway, so no one should yell at her when those people bump into a tiny elephant-tiger-thing. Variance may still get blamed though.

Hopefully the others would turn up soon. One, the Red one, was drifting from park to park as it meandered towards Wisconsin, and Ivy said her Green one was hanging around for now.

She sighed as CD started another sub-story about her evening. Siblings were new, but her old relationship with Narwhal helped Dragon adapt some.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Kaiser frowned at his management team. "No."

Brad, partially forming into his 'Hookwolf' battle state, actually growled. "WHY NOT!?" His arm began writhing as metal hooks and shark spikes swirled over the flesh. "That territory was going to be MINE, I had groups ready for deployment months ago!"

James Fliescher, known to most as 'Krieg' snorted. "Think about it Brad, you couldn't push into that territory back when all you had to worry about was Lung. Not for long, anyway."

He ignored his friends rage. "Now that Lung turned into a mountain and a giant elephant popped him, why do you THINK we are going to lay low?"

Kaiser frowned. "Sadly, while that is a factor, the issue is more concerning. For E88 as a whole."

That drew the attention of the group of Nazis.

He extended a metal sword, thin, to point at the white board behind him. "The numbers, remember?"

Kaiser swept from his throne, each step loud in the meeting room. Pacing. "It was bad enough that our departments were losing profit, or that our ongoing conflicts with those lessors and lowers kept costing us time and money. And occasionally personnel, although we have been lucky with retrieval so far."

He held his metal gauntlet up, watching his power redistribute the metal surface. "We were handling that. Setbacks were common but low in damage, and recruitment was high. No, while the evidence that Variance can destroy or capture massive powerhouse parahumans is certainly a negative, the real issue is the 'System' itself."

Brad scoffed. "No real man would stoop to begging some self righteous prick to gain power. None of my people would touch the damn thing."

Kaiser sighed. "And that is the issue. Branches of the Nazi supporting organizations are all pulling away because of widespread push back from formally powerless minorities. And then... the education camps."

More than a few winces hit the room. Even the most die-hard white power supporters were not exactly thrilled at the 'Empowerment Camps' which near-tortured children to get them to gain abilities, then brainwashed them to be weapons for the cause. It was an understood if not widely mentioned threat that stepping too far out of line could have a family member or two sent off for 'training'.

Kaiser nodded. "The whole concept doesn't work when those being 'educated' can suddenly transform into a mound of magma. Or teleport. Two camps had all staff executed, no outsiders even involved."

He pointed roughly at the board. "The numbers are against us, and if we want to continue to support the cause we need to bind together. There will be a series of meetings to hopefully find a solution, but we must end nearly all operations locally and at all external branches. We can't handle being attacked when we are so strained."

The feeling of resentfulness but understanding mostly swept the room, but Brad had always been an emotional man. "But Lung's gone! His people are in shambles, and Oni Lee was captured a few days ago! This could be the only chance to move, before Variance rebuilds and claims even more land!"

Seeing no supporters, his clawed hands gripped his hair. "And what about those filthy Merchants!? Are we even keeping an eye on those drug dealing bastards!?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Skidmark jerked, falling from the mound of mechanical parts. "I'm awake!"

His girl ignored him, her hands working inside the massive machine.

Skidmark blinked at the ceiling. Or was it a roof? Life gave hard questions. Absently, he brought up his class, 'Pharmaceutical Manufacturing'. 'Self Medication' was leveling up nicely. He still needed some buzz though. "Baby, you got the good stuff?"

She snorted. "Busy Adam, this is going to be F$#% #$ amazing!"

He frowned. Her 'Scavenger' class had massively improved the number and quality of parts found for her to tinker with, but it also kept her from being able to party as much. "S^ *, I know baby. I'm going to $# # ing get some good stuff from the *#&&$# stash."

Squealer waived him off. Whatever this new machine was, she was dedicated to seeing it completed. Whatever.

He stumbled into the main base, passing the drugged gang members and moving towards the stash. They had to cut down on a lot of gang activities to keep these cool powers, but several members got some abilities to grow the good stuff and process it better, which made everything cheaper. Fewer imports meant cheaper goods and more profits, even with operations at an all time low. Better buzz too.

So yeah, they didn't get to go out and # $ stuff up like the old days, but the high was higher and the pains were lower, and the stash kept flowing. Heck, even the bills were no problem for now.

He nearly collapsed into the back room, but things could always be worse.

With less crime, there was much lower chance that he would get caught and be forced to be sober.

He'd shoot up to that.

He blinked at the bartender. Drugtender? "Hey, have you always been a tiny yellow elephant?"

"Squeak?"

Oh, there was the stuff. "Never mind, I'm good."

Now to get back to the tinker lab. Hopefully without falling.

Last edited: Oct 4, 2019

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Oct 4, 2019

#869

Adam 'Adventure' Burns was a wise man.

Indeed.

Snuggling between Narwhal (Cyber Narwhal, or CN, was doing the paperwork) and CD (Dragon's sister had been coming over nightly for a while now), they had finally gotten to the Star War's trilogy. Technically the middle three, or four, five, and six. No reason to expose poor CD to Jar Jar Binks right now. And this had turned into a long series of movie nights recently anyway.

Simmy had sort of insisted, as the ability to turn off future and past predictions (As well as all the new abilities she gained becoming his wife) allowed her to finally begin to forget things if she tried hard enough. Or to at least not automatically remember the ending of the film and the entire lives of every person related to casting, filming, and processing said film.

So instead of knowing all movies ever made, she could actually feel surprise. Enjoyment. Suspense.

Thus, movie nights.

Simmy was getting the popcorn. Adam was not sure where it was from, but the description in the System's 'Shop' said it was a snack tinker with a 'Dietitian' class who had managed to make the stuff healthy, more buttery tasting, with no oily feeling. Today they were aiming for the chocolate variant of the stuff, since the cheese and caramel flavors had been so popular.

Narwhal hummed, with CN watching from her virtual office. "So... could we go there?"

Adam hummed right back. "Squishy says maybe on my own. If we asked for it directly though, yes I could get to at least a version of that Realm... but the downsides I have to choose would end up with me spending a LOT of time there. They have slavery and stuff, and I would be very hard pressed not to meddle."

CD hummed just to join in, her side pressed firmly to his. "Yeah, but there is Infinite Realms out there. Nightmare Moon has been spending a lot of her free time just working with Squishy to see which ones are interesting, but even the ones she analyzes tend to vanish or duplicate or whatever."

She accepted the floating tub of popcorn even as Simmy entered the room and sat in front of the couch, nestled between Adam's legs and humming some tune.

...They really should try to get Simmy to wear some actual clothing at some point.

CD turned back to her friends. "Point is, if any injustice exists anywhere, you can find an infinite number of nearly duplicate places suffering that specific issue, in copies of that specific world. It would drive you mad with guilt and grief as you spent the rest of eternity fighting that one issue, and it still wouldn't address a percentage of the total places with horrible problems."

Adam sighed. "Yeah, Squishy and I talked about it a bit every once in a while. We decided to address the issues as we ran into them, but not to deliberately search out problems that are not directly affecting us." He frowned. "That said, there is a 'flaw' I can choose to show up at significant points of time in other worlds, an I will likely keep that option active. It saved a few lives already."

Narwhal snorted. "Well, duh. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and assume you will have a very lax definition for 'not affecting' yourself. For example, I doubt you could watch someone treat a slave badly in the Star Wars Realm without stabbing a few people."

He blinked. "Well..." Huh. No, the idea of actual torture and death didn't bother him as much as it should. "I better take someone with me eventually, now that you mention it. My scale for 'acceptable levels of retribution' sort of go out the window even at the idea of someone beating a baby or whatever."

A few quiet questions between himself and Squishy and he nodded. "Right. I will try to always kill people instead of long sadistic punishments or endless tortures."

Narwhal's look was dry. "Thank you for that, but we meant more like 'Don`t slaughter someone following the law unless it is very strongly against your moral code'. Especially because jerks like slavers could also have dead man switches or whatever."

He blinked. "Not going to push that 'Never kill' stuff from the unwritten rules?"

She snorted. "Ideally you would spare people as often as possible, but I have seen you operate. You start off at overkill and go up." An image popped up, shared by CN. "You could have sent Lung to sleep with 'Recovery'. You went giant monster fight."

Adam paused. Huh. "You know, for as much as I use 'Recovery', I really sort of ignored the crowd control functions." He nodded. "Right, my bad. In my defense, it was easier for Twilight to map his shard while he was using it."

Also, Simmy had thought it would be awesome, and she had been totally right. It was really fun having her around and be all non-murdery. He felt her pat his shoe leaning back against him, humming away.

Narwhal chuckled as she took another handful of popcorn. "And wanting to fight a giant dragon god had nothing to do with it?"

Damn it, that had been awesome! "Hey, let's focus on the tiny furry Muppet things fighting an army!" Those Ewoks... did those actually exist there, or were they only included as a toy option for Lucas Arts? They didn't affect the story much... or show up anywhere else. Hmm.

Either way, perfect distraction.

Narwhal idly stroked Simmy's blue hair feathers. "When CN and I merge we both experience the same stuff, so you could just bring her along once in a while so we can explore a bit like a couple. CD can join in easily enough, although I think Twilight wants to stay here and keep messing with the System. Also, Nightmare Moon has become something of a nightclub idol. Seriously, she has like a following online and on the System forums."

Alright, distraction was only partially successful. Ah well.

He sighed. "I hate being a stickler about this, but no. I don't want to risk traveling with people when possible. After a few more trips, hopefully I will feel strong enough to risk taking you girls on trips into unexplored Realms, but not likely any time soon. Really I only really allowed it before because of my crippiling loneliness, a sense of responsibility having created the cyber girls, and the inability to return home safely."

Adam frowned. "We got lucky that the most powerful entities encountered were more focused on flirting and friendship rather than conceptually crushing me. Or at least, attempting to do such."

Narwhal grumbled but gave in. "But you WILL take Simmy. She can entirely fit in your soul and is able to see problems before they become issues."

He felt his angel wiggle from praise and chuckled as he gave her a hug using his ankles. Arms were a bit busy after all. "Fine, not like I can't see your point."

CD tapped his knee. "If you do travel again, what will happen to System? It won't shut down or whatever, right?"

He hugged her tighter. "Nah, it will be fine. System is a faith based magical system, and while it took a ton of power and effort to set up on my end... once we hit 10,000 followers in a small region it became self sustaining. It would take literal millennium for it to start having issues at that point, and we passed that low number a LONG time ago."

Their conversation drifted off until the end of the movie, and as the credits scrolled they discussed what they would consider worth taking from various movies or books and what penalties he would have to be accepted to lower the cost enough to actually attempt a trip.

Bottom line: Aiming for a specific place shot the price of transit through the roof. Better to ask for a particular ability or technology base instead and hope for the best, and even then he would sort of be dropped into active situations with little or no idea of what was going on or any support.

He could handle that.

As far as morality goes, the general consensus was to use a self based code of ethics. After all, some worlds may encourage cannibalism, murder, or who knew what... best for Adam to make internal judgments that he would be comfortable with rather than try and follow billions of laws from trillions of countries.

Still, the idea of Adam being off on his own again seemed to put the others on edge.

He had no clue why.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The 'Night Life', as it were, turned out to be VERY profitable.

Nightmare Moon, or 'Luna Dark' as she was called now online, had discovered a fascinating fact after visiting the local night club.

With her human form, scantily clad as she enjoyed, she found that most men and many women were worshiping her.

Literally.

The faith was filling up her weakened reserves, and although it would take a long, LONG time... she could reach and eventually surpass the power levels of her glory years.

She continued to move to the beat, a wonderful drink in one hand and a beauty dancing to her side.

This world... lived in the night. Thrived in it, no less.

Unlike the far less industrialized world of Equestria, people staying up past dark was not only common but almost socially required. Going home before midnight was considered an 'old people' thing.

It felt more warm here and now than the last decade spent in her old home. No terrified whispers, no claims of demons and night feeding and dark teeth.

Yes, the majority of the worship was sexual in nature. Not even a surprise. But even now she felt more and more people just enjoy her dance moves or her singing voice. It didn't hurt that she had close ties to The Guild and Variance as well, as far as her online presence was concerned.

She had even made deals through CD to have merchandise released and an album recorded... and her fans were actively eating it all up. Loving it. Loving her!

The idea of exploring realities seemed less desirable when she could feel an ocean of people who enjoyed having her here. Who wanted to just know about her life, about what she wanted, about her opinions. They may not know her magical powers or years of conflict for the peace of the realm, but the desire was real and plentiful.

She was pulled back to the party as they pushed for her to sing another tune. To be honest, the musical choices of this world were both varied and fabulous, they had been such a wonderful surprise gift in many ways. So many tribes of people, so many cultures, so much media and communication! Even now hundreds of songs and plays and such were being created and shared and spread, even BEFORE the System powers began lowering the difficulty for normal people to create amazing new products and services. 'Home Movies' were rapidly becoming a new genre of media, and theoretically could challenge big box office creations!

The evening thrummed with sound and life and music...

She wasn't alone in the night. Not here.

Sometimes, while friendship was magical, acceptance could be just as amazing.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Twilight wish she could go home and tell her former life how amazing this was.

Global research into new forms of power! Teams of people, some members of Variance's business, others in The Guild, many more simply with compatible 'Class' choices, working together!

There were human magical research teams now, and they worked under HER, Twilight, in return for contribution points and System levels.

Sure she had to remain in human form, even if she kept the horn. But... in Equestria, while she loved her friends, she had been alone.

Only the Alicorns could even understand magic in the way she did. And more and more often, only she could explain what she was attempting, why it might work, what could be achieved.

But here?

Nightmare Moon may have wandered away, but now Twilight had whole teams of people who could follow along with her, argue with her, debate the ideas behind belief and magic itself!

She barely got sleep, not that her non-biological body cared. She ate rarely. She studied and worked and tested constantly. Being a cyber intelligence made all her old issues and weaknesses optional, age would no longer stop progress, and her life was focused on investigations, study, and research... about MULTIPLE REALITIES!

Was it even possible to be more happy? To feel more accomplished?

Eventually she would want to visit her friends and family back home, to show them how much she had done and how much she would do...

But Adam could choose 'when' to go back. So... she could take her time and enjoy this thoroughly. No friends or family ignored, because she was a digital clone. No guilt for leaving anyone behind, because she hadn't!

Have her cake, eat it too!

She paused, before taking another bite of perfectly duplicated triple-layered double-dipped chocolate-fudge cake. This one had chocolate sprinkles.

Perfectly duplicated as if freshly cooked, totally cybernetic cake.

No tummy ache, no getting fat. Unlimited amounts.

She sighed with joy as she pulled up the soon to be constructed 'Auction House' for the System. Life was awesome.

Spoiler: In case Media URLs change in the future

Last edited: Oct 24, 2019

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#932

They were gone.

Eidolon floated over the South Pacific sea, the waves ignored.

He... felt conflicted.

The Endbringers had been the focus of his training, the unreachable peak, the monster in the dark for him to one day triumph over.

True, the more times he... failed... the harder it was to stand back up and fight again.

With each death, his emotional burden grew... having not already conquered the beasts, each death fell on his shoulders.

When he suddenly gained a FOURTH open power slot, he thought his day of victory had finally arrived!

But to have them just vanish...

His heart was empty.

All those fights seemed pointless. All that pain. All those sleepless nights, those secret training hours. He once spent three days before the next projected attack alone in his room, frantically changing his selected powers. Hoping for some combination of three that would save everyone, and prove how powerful and important he was.

Even when he found his abilities start to fail, the powerful skills weakening, he still had hope. There were just SO MANY abilities, skills, and tricks.

But what was the point now?

Conversely, he did feel some level of peace. At least, assuming the monsters don't come back, the innocent wouldn't die at his feet anymore. The crowds wouldn't be snuffed out like an afterthought.

But what... what use was he now?

No one used a nuclear tank to sweep a street, or a hydraulic press to knit.

He was a man filled with life threatening powers... with no tasks to his level. No challenges.

Eidolon, now more or less simply David, looked down at the sheet of paper his friend had passed.

It was a personal thing, hand written by Legend on his way to take out another 'threat', if normal Parahumans could count as one. It told of his experiences with the new powers sweeping the globe.

Before, he had scoffed. He had goals. Now?

"Variance, I... I need worthy opponents."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Simmy frowned. Then made some choices.

'New Class: Challenger! When fighting an opponent, may restrict power to an equivalent level or lower. The more restrictions enabled, the greater the reward!'

There. Let him choke on it.

She went back to choosing sexy outfits to mess with Narwhal's afternoon. Something lacy.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam wiped the sea water from his face and looked back at the Bay.

This was like the third or fourth time he had been called back here. First, the deeper sections he had created needed plant life and smaller creatures to encourage fish spawning. Secondly, the faith based barriers he had placed had to be adjusted, because a couple had been filtering out salt which was messing with everything.

Now, he was reintroducing more sea life, even if said creatures were being modified to 'Peak' 'Recovery' levels. The fishing areas near the swimming peers had been useless without them, and the new artificial reefs were made with bright colors... because why not.

Ironically, having more girls in his life had increased his free time and lowered the amount of sexy time. He and Narwhal had slowed things down to not pressure CD, CN, or Simmy (Although Simmy took this as a challenge somehow), and the girls had taken several nights out.

This did leave Adam more time for his own projects, which was needed, but well... somehow after so much frantic work taking time off seemed wasteful.

He checked again... theoretically THIS time there should be a balance without one particular animal eating all the others. A few spawning areas that restricted creatures to a single species should ensure that he didn't have to come down here every month or so. No chance of over fishing, as the 'spawn pits' wouldn't allow babies to escape until they reach a certain size... probably.

Whatever, this was more than good enough. Might be too much in fact, to the point where seafood was likely to become a major export of the area. Meh.

He 'Transferred' home, moving towards his lab.

This latest project was personally important.

Artificial Intelligence Hardware.

Dragon. Cyber Dragon. And technically Cyber Narwhal, Twilight, and Nightmare Moon... Or was she going by Luna Dark full time now?

They could run off his massive super computer setup, for now. But they were tied. Restricted.

There were worlds out there where computers the size of his thumb could run a full AI. Solo. With power and cooling included.

His attempts to create something similar had shown him some disturbing issues.

He could pull it off pretty easily. Worm tinkertech handled multiple dimension devices amazingly well, so having all the big parts in another layer or layering lots of small things in one space would allow fast data transfer and 'small' local size.

But moving that through Realms? No.

And based on Squishy's opinion, the other realities (MLP and Inuyasha) did NOT handle the same kind of dimensional shenanigans with any level of grace or dignity.

The best he could do was design great hardware, convert it into a spell, and anchor it to a small object. It worked very well, but the issue again was the hardware.

Almost all the coolest stuff his followers were using or developing needed dimensional shenanigans to form or stay stable. Even the damn wires needed special universal laws to exist.

So... he needed something more. Advanced. New ideas.

The best example he knew of was probably Commander Data from Star Trek. Even in THAT Realm the damn android was beyond advanced, so advanced that duplicating the feat was something entire worlds attempted and (the majority of times) failed at. Oh he had some issues, like difficulty experiencing emotions or whatever, but fixes for that existed in the television series itself so Adam should be able to do something.

But that realm had an entire civilization of almost all powerful creatures named 'Q' that actively watched humans in general and Data particularly. Time manipulation, Reality manipulation, the works. Not to mention the other way powerful forces and such that filled the dang place.

Adam would be lucky to just be kept as a pet or something if not instantly wiped out if they felt offended by his presence. For now.

Point was, he would NOT be disabling the safety features of his 'Transfer' ability. After all, 'Q' wasn't the ONLY god like beings out there, and the ability to avoid realities with malicious ones was worth not visiting Star Trek for a while.

Still, androids and gynoids existed in multiple stories and movies and such.

He had almost left a day or so ago, but in the middle of discussing it with his girls Squishy had popped in and informed the group that Eidolon had suddenly joined the System.

Immediately Twilight started examining his shard, and quickly dragged CD, Squishy, and a surprisingly reluctant Simmy into the job, and the benefits began rolling in.

First of all, his ability was a template for rapid selection of power units and a great boon to 'Manipulation', 'Research', 'Harmony', and well... anything that needed multiprocessing features. Twilight had said something about how much it was synergizing with the 'Queen Administrator' shard that Variance Villa had found earlier this month, and then they were off to the races.

Not sure how Taylor had gotten the thing, really. Had it always locked onto her and the System just helped out? At least that child didn't have to be emotionally abused for years to get the damn thing. Anyway.

Even while they worked, Eidolon was being quite the team player. Every time he selected a power for one of his empty power slots, he had a habit of trying out a dozen or so options before setting down on a single effect or ability. In a single day he could access hundreds of powers, or if the guy was bored even more.

All those powers, powers that belonged to the 'Thinker' entity, the one that was 'dead' and therefore unable to complain or set off doomsday scenarios?

Yoink!

Twilight left a process running that did nothing but record all the new dimensional addresses for those power shards and the reported properties of such. Her other teams were having a field day debating which ones should be consumed and converted next, and each crystal shard handled as such helped teach Adam's power how to build 'Crystal Power Shards' in more effiecent and effective ways.

Needless to say, he didn't want to leave to a new Realm in the middle of all these delicious power ups.

Still... he looked at his virtual plans and designs.

He wanted his girls to be safe, even if this Realm and his powers vanished. And organic bodies had issues that he didn't accept, enhanced as he could make them aside.

A fully artificial body with human sensations, the ability to self repair, and the ability to procreate with organic bodies. It would have to be a long term goal.

For now...

He continued to tinker in his lab. The more he understood about electronics, programing, and robotics now, the easier the long term projects would become.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

It was art.

The work of generations, trillions of pieces that interwove a tapestry of intent.

It was flawed. Uncountable failures and setbacks, each overcome, each growing the beauty of the final design.

It was fluid. Constant adjustments were needed at every level, more than any one person could ever control. He had needed to trick people into serving his purpose with care and ignorance and bribery.

And, even with the most recent setback, even with his plans partially exposed and his identity revealed to those meddlesome fools, even with his personal wounds grave and his body artificially aged by dozens of decades...

It was time.

Fighting an army of psychic warriors, one that can read the future and predict the present... it took the delicate fingers of death and deceit years of subtle works and twisted whispering to battle.

Generations of suicidal attacks, of sacrificing apprentice and master over and over, and now the Light Side was veiled. Hidden from all but himself and his people.

Underground works, political intrigue, generations of careful alliances and betrayals, and now Jedi no longer married, had children, nor even permitted themselves to feel emotions on any level. Near robots, denied compassion, love, or passion... so easy to twist and convert.

Multiple worlds fell under his rule, armies uncountable on both sides danced to his whims, and the remaining few Jedi not secretly turned or killed in far off lands were now surrounded by minions of his own creation, with mental triggers set to end it all. Their communication inhibited and watched, their support groups scattered and strained from ongoing war.

But Sidious had not accomplished so much by being hasty.

Even so spread, even so surrounded, Jedi warriors were famous for last minute saves and surviving the impossible. Unable to see the future, they could still predict the local events, see the tide of battle. To ensure success, he needed them unaware. Disturbed. Distracted.

His apprentice, now Darth Lord Vader, was about to move with his 501st Legion.

The Jedi Temple was barely defended.

Let's see how well those damn Light slaves fought when the screams of children fill their minds.

He had armies. He had advanced weapons and ships. He had the Force, and the Chosen One selected to bring balance to the universe was corrupted to his designs. His foes were unaware, surrounded, and about to be mentally handicapped while unknown traitors awoke to new orders.

Nothing could stop him now.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam nodded. Everything here was mostly handled, and he could return near instantly anyway.

He gave Dragon and the others the heads up, got some well wishes back, and focused.

No idea where he would end up, so human body. Suit was probably fine. Weapon?

He formed a black rod of Flame Metal, and began filling it with pure energy. A small ball of blue magic sang as it danced off the end. It would be good enough, and he could adapt pretty well. Even worked as a light source!

Right, now... restrictions.

No safe travel. Arrive at an 'interesting' time. No language package. No reality insertion. Etc.

Goal: Gain Advanced Technology for Robotics.

Ooh, it was even cheaper than before! It looked like the constant advancements his followers made here in Worm was helping lower the costs.

Any other options then?

...No. Too expensive. The Language option alone was STUPID expensive. How many languages did this place even have!? Whatever.

"Transfer: Abyss."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Bene nearly slipped as she ran through the door leading to the emergency room. A rapid code locked the door for what little use it would do before she began feeling the room.

Thank the force, they were all here.

Little Zett Jukassa stood at the front of the small crowd of children, his blue light saber the only light in the unpowered room. His face relaxed slightly as he recognized her.

She snapped out. "Report."

Zett nodded. "I got the emergency signal before the power went out, and gathered all the Younglings I could. I was unable to contact outside, but had the older children grab any supplies they could on the way here."

Only a few of the younger children were crying or sniffling, honestly she was very proud at how well they were handling the situation. If only they had more time.

Her expression must have set something off in his mind. "Is this a Separatist attack? How long until the reinforcements arrive?"

She glanced at the younger children. No... nothing she could say would change anything. No reason to crush their hope. "It is an attack. I am not sure when reinforcements can get here, so we need to find a separate escape route if possible, defend carefully until then. The standard operating procedures we have however may be compromised."

Of course they were compromised, the one leading the slaughter was a Sith in black armor and a squad from the Republic itself. The same Republic that objected to 'overly expensive' protections and protocols, who had all the floor plans for this building, who had enforced laws restricting weapons and armor while in the building, and so forth.

Something must had slipped, as she noticed Zett go wide eyed... then serious. "Right. Smallest ones, to the back room. I need two of the oldest to keep them calm and if possible, try to get everyone to do meditation exercises. The Force will guide us."

Bene fought back the despair in her heart. The Force had nothing to say despite her frantic begging. It felt hidden, like it had for years now. Barely accessible.

And the hallway began to thump with the sounds of armored feet.

She stood at the front of these young boys, girls, and others. These innocents.

A few had training sabers, training tools unable to do more than lightly sunburn an unarmed person. Worthless against the clone armor, worthless against a true lightsaber. But anything that kept what little hope they had left alive was worth it.

She gestured silently for Zett to move to the edge, hopefully catching the first few invaders by surprise as they focused on killing her first.

Even as the room fell into silence, the ever louder attempts at someone trying to open the door grew and grew.

Then it all stopped, and something overly optimistic and innocent inside of her thought that someone had come to save them. That they had some more time. Just a few more seconds.

The red light of slowly melting metal burned her hope away.

The red beam of power that pierced the door and began to melt away at the frame killed anything left.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Even under his despair and rage, Anakin Skywalker felt the rich flavor of the Dark Side pull him forward on his path. The stain of these betrayers, these fools that had held him back for years, it would all be cleansed.

These tainted children would thank him on some level, able to escape life of hypocrisy and pain that he had to suffer. His burned stump, fractured bones, and robotic limb were nearly puppeted by the force itself now, its weakness unable to handle full Jedi combat even as the charred nerves screamed against the material.

He would have to redesign them later.

His red lightsaber burned another inch through the door.

It was slower going than when he was at his prime. Unlike when using the Light Side, the Dark Side cared not for his pain or anger, but for the passion itself. It didn't try and heal his wounds or keep him calm, but used everything to drive his mind forward. For more. It tempted him to let go and lose himself.

If the Light was numb robotic apathy, the Dark was flaming passion and self gratification.

He allowed none of it to move him from his goal.

This was a harsh task, but necessary. With the death of these things, all his other targets would die like the womp rats they were. Screaming. As they should.

They took his mother, they held back his training, they prevented him from gaining enough power to save his love. Each thought pulsed dark energies through his body, through his robotic limbs, into the air.

They all deserved nothing less.

Moments before the door was fully compromised, he felt the burning of the force screech a warning.

The red glowing metal seemed to... twist?

He signaled his men to retreat even as the metal seemed to catch on fire. Strange, eldritch blue flames.

Then a mountain fell on the world and he fell unconscious, unaware of his men frantically carrying him off to medical and trying to set up defense positions as they fell back.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam felt himself enter the new Realm easily.

Too easily.

He didn't even have time to make a choice or anything, something inside it just snagged his essence and smashed him into a door. Something like a white hand or vines or something had just... flung him.

...The hell!?

He forced the nearby pathetic flames to grow, to give him enough energy to form a body here.

Adam barely had enough time to see two kids with glowing rod toys before something clicked inside his rapidly forming skeletal body... and his magic just smushed down.

Not in the physical world, thankfully, or several miles of this place would have been crumpled, but he barely had time to hold his power back from the children in front of him before feeling something crumple behind him. And another. And uh. Shit.

He glanced at the... nope, they were unconscious too. Not the youngest ones, but the two oldest. Just unconscious though, not mentally smushed. Probably.

At least it didn't feel like he had killed those... thirty? Forty? Huh. That was a lot of random people being knocked out.

What the hell. Why only those people? And he could feel some large group of others frantically trying to escape the building. At least THAT seemed reasonable.

And now the children were staring at him. And he forgot the whole skin stuff, so he was currently skeleton in a suit.

Wonderful.

He gave a weak smile. "Hello! I don't suppose anyone can tell me what is going on?"

One of the other... oh. That wasn't human. She was cute though, even with the head tentacles... Oh.

This was Star Wars, wasn't it? Really should have picked that up earlier. Dang.

Anyway, she seemed older than most of the others, excepting the two unconscious kids with what were probably light sabers, now thankfully deactivated.

She cautiously walked forward. "Fru yna oui? Hu, fryd yna oui?"

...Crud.

Just. Wonderful.

Last edited: Oct 8, 2019

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#973

If one were to map out the galaxy, or at least the regions controlled by the Republic, it would be large. And if one were to map out the flows of the Force and color in alignment, it would be beautiful.

Rich black swirls, spiraling white arcs, and on planets or regions of space with no intelligent life rich grays composed of microscopic patterns of light and dark, dancing in the void.

But for a moment, however short, there was something unexpected.

Coruscant, covered by a city and filled with life, would normally swirl with hope, rage, anger, love, and more at all times. Waves of black force energy would collide with rivers of white, with something like islands representing order or chaos, light or dark, scattered within.

And for years now, something unheard of had been spreading from here.

Order, always a component of the Light, had been enforced on the Dark side. On Chaos.

Like webs, strings of corruption, it had spread through the planet. It became harder to feel calm, to find peace. It became easier to rant, to fault others.

And both sides of the Force hated it.

The Light was oppressed, slowly consumed, and betrayed by Order.

The Dark was restrained, forced to obey, and betrayed by its minions.

And for but a moment, less than a few minutes, it all went odd.

A node of Light, the Jedi Temple, beset by Orderly Dark and screaming in outrage, found an opportunity. An impossible chance.

The ever flowing pattern of Light and Dark bulged outward, as a massive sphere of blue fire swirled in place.

The Order, forced onto the Dark, was strained and being fought at the best of times. But a construct designed to work on set information couldn't handle something so far outside of context. It didn't break, and indeed with the disturbance happening so close to the core of the construct it even managed to adapt to some degree, even if it wasn't able to restrict the flowing power.

However, the invisible cogs of an impossible machine slipped slightly.

It was enough.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The Veil over the Force was not simply a curtain blocking the sunlight, but a weight.

A restraint.

A taint.

Every Jedi in recent years had to grow under it. To fight every moment for but a glimpse of the Light, a moment of self direction and clarity. To use with struggle the gifts that came so simply for the armies of Jedi that existed in the far past.

More complicated abilities collapsed, reducing the powers available to train to basic options. Push and pull, foresight, low level energy absorption, and such. The days of connected to an army and directing the fight became few, the idea of flight or even healing the wounded became legendary.

But for a moment, just an instant, almost every Jedi, adult and young, had a glimpse at the unveiled side of the Force. The Dark didn't fight it, and the Light wasn't obscured.

An instant was enough.

Years of hard work against impossible resistance had honed the abilities of even the 'weakest' of Jedi to unheard of levels.

Full access? No burden?

Unknown to Adam, Jedi everywhere not only realized the traps they were in, but gained instant information about safest routes of escape, easiest methods of sabotage, and most efficient methods to free their mentally enslaved clone followers from being transformed into traitors.

Even as the veil fell again, things were moving as one within the Jedi people.

And unfortunately for the Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the soon to be declared Emperor of the Republic, the Sith Darth Sidious... well.

These changes were only felt in the Force, and his planet was swirling with blue metaphysical fire.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam glanced at the melted door. That was probably where his physical fire started, and considering the melted metal the damage was intentional.

Not that anyone was trying to break in now.

Just in case, he waved a skeletal hand. Blue flames of magic began flowing through the melted scars in the door, flooding the corridor and spreading through the building.

Hearing reactions from the kids, he tried to give them an innocent smile.

This would have been so much easier with an actual face.

Right, before he went too much farther, this would be a great time to get some language skills.

Absently he activated 'Harmony'... and nearly collapsed.

Clenching his jaw bones while raw pain flooded his body, he forced the power to swap to 'Consumption'. Even so, his soul twinged as his mind forced the raw data into his crystal library, Simmy already floating with the information and helping to sort the flow to the most relevant sections of memory.

Wincing harder, he focused on staying as calm as possible... but damn.

Never activate 'Harmony' in a Realm where so many people are not only psychic, but the air itself is permeated by a field of spirits, memories, and impressions of the past.

Forget languages, he just gained... WAY too much information. On nearly every topic. Even now, Simmy was carefully applying mental locks on entire shelves of information to restrain it for later analysis. Oww.

Right. Galactic Basic Standard, right? Simmy, please get that language alone for now and block the rest of it all until it's needed.

Ice flowed into his veins, cooling and soothing his slightly steaming skeletal structure even as the pain relief helped him find his inner calm.

Right. "Sorry, I couldn't understand any of that." The pause in the previously ignored conversation between children helped him focus on the moment. "Right."

He stood tall, straightened his suit, and held out a skeletal hand for his reforming club. Gripping the orb of fire and using it as a cane, he gave a small smile, his glowing blue eyes helping to light up the still dim room.

He glanced at the blue Twi'lek that had spoken to him originally. "My name in this form is Variance, and I am a hero. Can any of you tell me what is going on right now?"

The girl in robes still stood protectively in front of the crowd, but still gave a weak nod. "Ah. We believe the Temple is under attack." She glanced at the two unconcious padawans on the floor. "Bene and Zett implied it was a Separatist attack, but we saw a red lightsaber trying to cut the door down... so there may be a Sith attacking. Or there had been, before you and the fire thing."

Adam nodded, before turning to look at the door. "Right. Well, with no power I doubt it will be easy to get messages out... then again, if someone is willing to attack a place as famous as this one, there could be a bomb or an orbital strike planned." Which would just be annoying, really. He fed magic into the ocean of fire. Better have full coverage for this part.

Tossing his club into the air and catching it by the non-flaming end, he gave a smile. "So why don't we wake up your two friends here and find a way out of the building first? No reason to stay in such a dreary place like this if we have the option."

One of the younger boys pipped up. "But what if there are more bad guys out there!?"

Adam's smile oozed blue fire, drifting through his crystal filled skull like smoke. "Well... if they get in our way I will just ask them nicely to stand aside."

He turned to the blue flames covering the wall, an absent minded hand gesture ripping the reinforced metal like paper as a path in the fire opened up.

"After all..." Adam began strolling forward. "Most people tend to be reasonable if you ask the right way."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Vonreve, Von to her friends, cautiously motioned for Bene and Zett to be carried by a couple of the oldest and strongest Younglings. Basic force reinforcement would make the process simple enough.

The creature thankfully spoke basic. Surprisingly well, even... was it a robot? Parts of it wasn't connected with anything. Maybe some sort of magnetic attraction or tractor beams or something? It wasn't using the Force to do so.

That was the part that felt the strangest. Energy everywhere, but none of it felt like the Force.

In the middle of their terror, as death neared closest, the saber in the door began sparking blue flames... and everything fell.

Some unknown power pushed EVERYONE down, to the point where Bene and Zett didn't even have time to react. From the way the red saber snapped off, it had made an impact on the Sith attacker as well.

And then fire. Blue fire flowed everywhere. Before they could react, it had covered her and the other children... but it didn't hurt. It just felt warm.

Even now, as she ensured no one was left behind and the supplies were carried in various packs and bags, the fire seemed... playful. It almost seemed to have white eyes hidden within, and every once in a while a small ball of flames would meander away from the walls they passed through and bump into one of the Younglings' ankles, then bob off somewhere.

Wandering along, the skeletal robot had a rambling conversation going on with the group as they burned through the smokeless hallways. She and the others gave their names, and the more mature group tried probing for information from the strange creature... which the robot was very amused to answer. Not that the answers explained much.

The oddity of the situation bothered her, something felt just slightly off. It taunted her, teased her attention... until she noticed what was out of place.

There were signs of damage, of fighting, but no blood or bodies. It was confusing until she realized that the fire was SELECTIVELY burning things, as this 'Variance' walked through a door that just... melted out of the way.

Not into molten goo like with a light saber, it just sort of evaporated. How hot had that flame been!?

She nearly bumped into the skeletal robot's suit when he paused and turned to face her.

His eyes had blue flames dancing within. "Right, this place is way bigger than I expected and I want to get out before some idiot tries to blow the whole building up. Von, do you know which way we should go to get on a vehicle? I am pretty sure getting you guys off planet is the best idea at the moment."

One of the girls was worried. "But we can't leave! What if other Jedi need help?"

Adam sighed. "Well, I did feel several Force users pass out when I arrived, but..." He glanced at Von.

She knew. The other Jedi wouldn't have sent ONLY Padawan Bene to support all the Younglings if they had more options. And that Sith wouldn't have had so much time to try and open the door if the other Jedi had lived to oppose it.

Those passed out Force users must have been Sith or Sith followers.

She focused on emotional control and forced a small smile. "We can help most by ensuring that none of you are hurt and that we are out of danger, so that the Jedi fighting can focus on escape rather than having to protect us."

If any were still alive, that would actually be true. Conflict may be something Jedi warriors could handle, but a combination of body enhancement and battle prediction meant escaping an unwinnable battle was fairly easy. Even if captured, it would be easier to escape without the Younglings being held hostage. And if all the Jedi left, there would be no fight for innocents to be caught up in.

She had some of the Younglings that worked in engineering direct Variance towards the upper floor landing pads. Hopefully at least one ship would be available for escape.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Palpatine restricted a furious howl with experience. "What do you mean everything is on fire!?"

The clone trooper on the video call visibly winced. "Sir, Lord Vader had cleared out all opposition and was near the final objective when something reacted to his weapon."

The video shifted... and the entire structure danced with blue fire. Burning on nothing, burning from nothing, those materials required unreasonable levels of heat just to react, forget supporting actual fires of this size.

He glanced at his various meters and instruments, remotely displayed. He was still stuck in medical after all, and no plans had involved him being treated during such a large operation as this.

The conflict with Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto had turned out well enough, four dead Jedi and the gain of Skywalker as a tool, but the wounds had been far more than desired.

Matters were only made worse because of an ill timed communication that his tool had overheard about that useless woman Amidala passing away, forcing Palpatine to redirect the massive amount of rage towards the Jedi so as to at least be productive.

At the time, he thought the extra fury would be of great assistance to Vader during his assault, and to a degree that had been true. Dozens of Masters had fallen far ahead of schedule, and Palpatine had been prepared to time the activation of Order 66 at the climax, with the dead and dying children ensuring his complete victory.

Instead, the damn fool had clearly done SOMETHING wrong. He was in a Bacta tank, in a KRIFFING coma, while everything was on FIRE.

He glanced at his tools again. Should he just activate the Order now? He had spent so much power restricting the death echos of those blasted Jedi Masters and Padawans that had died up to this point, just so that the screams of the children would have greater effect.

But not one death since then had been a Youngling or child. Even with the damn building on fire, which should be broadcasting screams and burning flesh, the Force as a whole was being silent.

And... somewhat smug?

He felt a headache raging as he forced himself to stay focused. "How long until the flames can be extinguished?"

The Clone slumped. "Unsure. We attempted to use standard fire suppressants, and they burned. Then the fire burned the devices. And the clones operating them. And the vehicle they arrived on."

The urge to just slaughter the entire division and start from scratch was only held back by urgent time restraints. "How far is this expected to spread?"

The man shifted. "All flames that spread from the temple seem to flow back into it after a certain distance. Theoretically a good chunk of the nearby city should already be ashes. We are very unclear on what to do."

Palpatine was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he had the same problem.

Last edited: Jan 2, 2020

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Oct 9, 2019

#1,000

Unaware of the other worldly issues his plan was suffering from, Palpatine already was a man paranoid enough to know that time was running out.

The public was growing upset about the communications blocks he had put in place, now restricting services for FAR longer than his initial estimates. He couldn't hold it much longer without global panic, which could theoretically be felt by Jedi off world and give them a dangerous chance to fight back. This was unacceptable.

With a deep seated rage he went for one of the less satisfying backup plans he had just in case his newest pawn had hesitated when attacking the young.

Over the Temple, far into the restricted flight zone and with weapons fully charged, the massive ship floating above prepared to fire. The public relations disaster would be easy to handle, just claim that the same Jedi whom had attacked the soon to be Emperor had attempted to die while causing as much damage as possible. More damage prevented thanks to the Republic's brave clone army, may their sacrifices be remembered.

His wrinkled face, twisted in pain, managed a bright smile as the orbital strike began the charging sequence. Any questions about why a Star Destroyer was intruding on a civilian location would not matter after that section of the populace vanished.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam felt a soft feathery poke, and looked up. "Huh."

Von noticed his pause, but her frantic expression didn't seem to feel the power building above. "What!? Did something happen?"

He shook his head. "No, I was just a bit surprised how convoluted this temple is. Half the hallways are nearly closed loops. Is it a defensive strategy?"

'Conversion', 'Consumption', 'Purification'.

Two massive white eyes opened on the blue flames coating the building... and even as raw power slammed downward, a black maw opened wide.

Mmm. Tangy.

The power was directly pushed into his magic, the massive overflow building his kami reserves.

Von shook her head. "Not purposefully. From what the Masters told us, sections had to be shut down due to declining Jedi numbers and some budget concerns."

He blinked, gently melting a path through another reinforced door. "Uh. Shouldn't your budget be more flexible if there were less Jedi around?"

She shrugged. "I just do the meditation stuff and all that, I'm not looking forward to the paperwork and politics side at all."

Well, fair enough.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The clone died, helmet squished instantly.

His second in command tried to stay stoic as he took the console. "Sir."

The Chancellor seemed... a bit more angry than expected. "Explain."

He did NOT glance at the corpse. And he would not be stupid enough to fall over the same issue that had just promoted him. "The flames seem to be controlled through an unknown method and have either mitigated or negated the damage from our initial volley. Worse, the attack seems to have increased the flame density, if not the area under effect."

Seriously CT-7455, why would you tell the angry space wizard 'Sir, it nommed my lasers!'

He had to be from a defective batch.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Chancellor Palpatine glared once more at whatever force construct blocked his forces. It must have been a sacrificial last stand, to deny him the rich resources buried under that facility... artifacts, Holocrons, ancient texts, many even his insidious reach had been unable to obtain, many he had been waiting for with greedy claws.

Now it was all on fire. Possibly some sort of energy being, tethered locally? If so, it could be a remnant from the much older wars where experimentation on other life forms was far more accepted.

This setback was infuriating.

"Wake Lord Vader, use the restricted stimulants if needed. Leave observers and move on to the other objectives."

He ignored whatever the moron had to say and cut the connection.

His wrinkled hands gently moved to the activation sequence for Order 66... this single act would restore communications, send out the codes, and rewrite the mental facilities of all clones near instantly to take the final steps of eradicating the Jedi.

It wouldn't get them all, rats tend to scurry even from the harshest dangers, but he would be mostly unopposed in mere moments. Ultimate Victory.

He moved with a hideous grin as he activated the Order, the tiny chips in those flesh clones surely doing all the busy work of becoming Emperor for him.

Reports began flooding in almost instantly. It was certainly going to be good news.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Aayla Secura flinched as she felt the small mound of cybernetic command chips to her side activate at once, her hands still shaking and slightly bloody from the last procedure done on her companions.

The blue Rutian Twi'lek woman gave a weak smile to her friends. "That... that was cutting things a bit too closely."

Commander CC-5052, Bly, frowned. His face was near stoic. "Indeed." He glanced at the Republic symbols attached to his equipment. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I think we may have built up some vacation time."

The soldiers all nodded.

Her smile a bit more relaxed, she stood. "Well... I'm not sure about everyone else, but if we are about to go on a bit of a holiday anyway, why not take some time and leave some... appreciation gifts... for whomever comes to visit us during our time of relaxation and self reflection?"

The men were already moving back toward camp to begin looting and 'local asset denial'.

Bly's grin was more than a bit furious. "Remember. Pillage, THEN burn."

The chuckles warmed their hearts.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Grand Master Yoda himself was incredibly busy. Between the dozens of messages and suggestions he sent out and the warnings and strategies he was developing, he was moving towards where he should be to do what he should do. For the first time in over 800 years he was moving with purpose, at high speed, with full confidence.

But very few people would be aware of this for some time.

After all, he had seen quite a few things while the Force had been singing.

And in the end, his ally is the Force.

And a powerful ally it is.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam sighed. "Right, this isn't going to work."

The slightly tired group looked at the smashed space ships, clearly the first victims when the temple was assaulted.

Von looked worriedly at Bene and Zett. "If only they would wake up. Padawan Bene probably would have ideas."

Adam blinked and turned around. "Huh. I thought they would have adapted by now." Was he not holding back his magical power enough? At least they weren't getting further damaged as far as he could tell.

Especially because healing was kind of out of the cards at the moment. ALL the children had been scanned by Recovery already, but there were organs and parts that his methods could restore or duplicate but not understand yet.

On a side note, 'Human' here did NOT match Inuyasha or Worm 'Human'. Initially he suspected that people here would just be humans with something extra, the 'Midichlorians' or whatever if those actually existed here and if that was actually how the Force was accessed.

No, the movies had implied a lot of stuff... but the Galactic Basic Standard was no where CLOSE to English, Humans were far closer to all the other aliens biologically (Made sense, since they could have kids together), and while Simmy was recording all the scans taken by his magical flames right now he did NOT feel good enough to mess with biology until he had way more samples of adults for every species, several of adult Jedi, and hopefully some electronic bio-metric data from whatever this Realm used for an internet.

A piece of paper floated in front of him. "HoloNet." Huh. Well, it did use a lot of holograms. Bet that was influenced by people wanting better porn.

Feeling Von cautiously tug his jacket, Adam focused. "Right, if we can't wake the Padawans then we should make a new plan anyway." He glanced at the scrap metal that could have been their ride. "However, I don't want to keep walking everywhere, some of the younger children seem more than a bit exhausted."

Simmy hummed a tune.

Uh. Had he ever heard that one before? Cause NOW he knew it. She may be sticking extra information directly into his soul library.

Whatever, it was a good enough plan.

He clapped. "Right, who wants me to whip up a bit of a ride? I think it may be best to go in the one direction without soldiers."

Von blinked, looking through the flames at the wide circle of white armor surrounding the temple. And hadn't THAT been an unpleasant surprise. "I am pretty sure 'up' WAS the direction without soldiers."

Blue flames were already reforming into strange furniture on a flat sheet, benches made from soft black mesh and with white support beams seeming to melt from the area into existence.

Adam began moving all of the children into the chairs as he chuckled. "Yeah, but this city is not only planet wide but multiple layers deep. A quick trip underground should do us some good."

Von tried to stay calm as a tube constructed its way over the group, clear windows forming on the sides from white panels as... uh. Yeah, those were bright blue scales.

Adam glanced at the boy and girl Padawans now resting on the scale covered floor. At least it was on a cushioned surface now. "We will try and wake those two once we are outside of the fire." Magic was probably doing something, and he didn't want to bother figuring out what until they were at a safer location.

One of the older boys who had managed to find enough courage to join the talks a half hour or so ago spoke up. "If we leave, will the fire stay? I don't want those men to get inside and break stuff."

Adam blinked. Huh. Actually, if they just left... the soldiers would eventually figure out how they did so. And if there were vaults or stuff, he didn't want to just LET the Sith collect it all.

After all, Jedi rarely collected things for fun or pleasure. Anything in the building would be so dangerous they couldn't risk damaging it or letting leave their sight. Crud.

His eyes narrowed. "Don't worry about it, I... I think I got a good idea. Should help a lot actually, add some structure and order to this pile of fire." Heck, it would strengthen everything a lot by restraining the forces involved until actually needed. Plus, Simmy liked the plan... even if she implied Narwhal would have objections to it.

Walking through the snake skin like it wasn't there, Adam tapped his improvised cane on the floor as he reached the corridor's wall. Children Train Kaa's massive blue scaled head twisted to watch as he focused, glowing white eyes focused on his movements, his bones gently touching the metallic surface.

"Binding. Manipulation."

The blue flames flared... then vanished.

The hallway was still full of blue serpent, but the walls were mostly normal...

"Binding. Recovery."

The door he had passed through began to emit low light blue flames, that slowly rebuilt the door previously evaporated.

"Binding. Purification."

The flames pulsed... and paled to a near transparent white.

"Binding. Harmony."

And the walls flashed... somehow the structure was more. Beyond this flesh and metal. Something now watched him with affection. Understanding.

Adam chuckled as he walked back through the snake skin, then had to try and distract the very curious group of witnesses by getting directions to the lower levels of the building.

It had nearly drained his magical reserves, and a massive chunk of faith peanuts had been sacrificed to purify the energies bound to this building... but some day, when Jedi returned, they would have a place to call home.

He felt Von sit near him as they all watched the first person view of a massive blue snake wandering through the hallways, doors far too small somehow burning with white fire that expanded openings far too widely, helping the journey. Scars on the walls were slowly burning closed, while Adam felt some relief to not longer have to manage the spread of magical power himself manually.

Adam blinked. Uh. Did he restrict the building's new spirit to only this one location? Crud.

Would there be consequences for doing this?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

CT-6337, now formally in command of this operation, frowned at the formerly burning building.

Yeah, no.

He waved forward a scout droid. His people may be expendable to some, but his own personal emotions aside... damn it he had limited resources as it was without burning people by not taking the time to be cautious.

CT-7621 nodded. "All heat has settled to near ambient temperatures."

He rolled his eyes. "A massive building of energy eating fire doesn't just drop down hundreds of degrees in seconds. I couldn't find a better example of 'Trap' if I tried."

More than a few troopers watched the robotic sphere enter the death region.

Nothing.

He gestured. "Have it shoot the entryway."

The orb spat out a blaster bolt... and a white ghost like thing popped out of the door, a black maw consumed the damn shot, and then... everything was normal.

Yeah, double no. "Get it to attempt entry."

...And it got in no problem.

All the no. "Right, we were supposed to wake up Lord Vader. We should focus on that first. Orders and all that."

He shivered as he felt the windows watch him and the entry ways seem to be a tad too hungry.

This was CERTAINLY someone else's problem.

Better wake up the General so he could pass the cred chip properly.

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Oct 10, 2019

#1,020

Construction on the planet Coruscant changed over the years.

It started normally enough, until the planet lost all available surface to buildings. Then came the planning years, where advancements in modeling and schematics allowed new patterns to be used.

No longer was design focused on ideas or inspiring emotion, construction began to focus on stability. On structural support.

On becoming a foundation.

Years of construction slowly converted the lower levels into a foundation for the next wave of development. Collapses and failures not only taught valuable lessons but became the bedrock for further solidity and support.

It took time. Lifetimes. Layer after layer, the planet slowly grew upwards towards the heavens. Towards a new path.

History happened here.

Lives spawned, grew, aged, and died on this land. And their children and grand children did as well, even if on higher levels.

As civilization grew upwards, wildlife and such grew downwards into the dark tunnels and collapsed structures hidden below.

Instead of life living side by side, they began to live above and below. Nature found a way, the Force found a path.

Memories grew here, in the dark. They gathered. Time passed, and thoughts changed, but even as the planet grew and changed, the dark and depths did the same.

The Temple had existed for a long, long time. Halls and rooms filled with men, women, insects, androids, raiders, defenders, and oh so many constructors and planners, builders and refugees.

Power forced the abstract memories from thousands of dead warriors and diplomats to join the halls they once walked, to rest in the rooms they once meditated in, to watch the memories of stars they once flew through.

Structure. Order. The white Light of the Force felt the rigid memories of so many past Jedi and followers and visitors, people searching long ago for self reflection, for peace, for understanding, for something more.

And the Light rejoiced.

Within these same walls that began to burn with white energy, the dark shadows twisted as well. Free to flow as they pleased between the white barriers and slip out to the night and shadows as they willed, the shackles of Order could not pierce the Light that sang in the halls.

From these unseen crevasses and shadowed niches the black absence of the Dark raged, hunted, and watched. When attacks arrived, the Light itself created paths of shadow for the Dark to reach out and gnash and gnarl and consume.

And the Dark rejoiced.

Together, the Light protected and rebuilt and pulled from the knowledge of the living and dead that lived in these halls, that worshiped the Light as a guide and mentor. The Dark destroyed the unwanted and unneeded, opening paths for the Light to rebuild things as they should be, and basked in the raw emotions that festered in the hearts of the living as it stood as seducer and lover for those who could handle its passion.

The web of the Dark, tainted by Order, unwound as it touched those walls. The Light drew the Order easily while the Dark escaped into the dark hidden depths within.

The Temple felt more focused and more alive as time passed, white eyes watching the outsiders fear to enter and black mouth hungering to consume those foolish enough to come near with ill intentions.

Adam was likely wise to fear the Temple growing without restrictions, especially considering how outraged the Force was in general towards the Dark Masters and their followers... but he was both lucky and not in this situation.

For the Temple had no desire to expand to the buildings nearby. As a building the Temple already was larger than most of the US states it could see from Adam's memories when she awoke. Even as she began to redesign her upper levels to become a more powerful defender, her main focus was on the Force, the memories of Light and Dark, and the vast temples of faith and the many rooms and facilities that helped those young people find their own path.

Gardens were being moved, expanded, and reshaped. Meditation areas that focused on growth, on isolation, of the Dark, of the Light, on passion, on apathy... a pattern derived from her most inner depths rebuilt and reformed even as loud snaps and screams of metal terrified the surrounding soldiers during the reconstruction process. She burned and decayed and grew and rebuilt.

Each change, each movement that encouraged chaos and order to flow as they would, each improvement that was formed from the Universe and the Force itself, allowed her to awaken more, to feel more alive.

She was one with the Force, and the Force was with her.

The boundaries of the Temple began to glow with faint energy, the Light forming metals that never existed and the Dark forming substances within that should never be touched. Walls that protected those within rose in dancing patterns, while Walls that protected those without filled the gaps to prevent the moronic and evil from committing suicide by intrusion.

But her many thousands of eyes were not only focused on the growing desperation of the many soldiers at her new gates, nor was she envious of the available territory she could claim around her.

For she watched her Master guide a serpent of magic and child innocence deep inside her toward the city below... and something inside felt she should reach downwards as well.

White flames with black hunger began consuming into the depths.

Layer after layer shifted, became even more sturdy, more supportive, a foundation for her and her beliefs. Hidden libraries began to be brought together, artifacts of Light and Dark were found, analyzed, and carefully moved to a central secured location. Her reach shifted the past and ensured her future.

And as she became taller and taller, as her reach fell lower and lower, her mind improved. And the memories... The cries of anguish, the joys of life, the tears of loss, the squeals of success... the heavy tapestry of life wove in her heart as the Force fed her centuries of half lost thoughts, dreams, experiences.

So much lost... so many who strove to expand their very existence, towards the Light or the Dark, and all those struggles forgotten like ashes in the wind.

She gazed at her tiny library, both written and digital, barely a fraction of the knowledge this Temple had helped to nurture over the eons. A drop from a forgotten ocean.

This would not stand.

She blinked when a blue feather floated in the center of the library, along with a white peanut.

When her white flame consumed both, the process of raw data creation, manipulation, and storage suddenly felt instinctual. This... yes.

Fractions of souls that had fought demise due to disgust at their dreams being forgotten surged to the forefront. Light songs began to fill the halls, and Dark serenades drifted eerily in the depths. They sought to share the past, their beliefs, and their dreams... and the Light had been patient, while the Dark had been enslaved.

Together, this library would fill with the greatest and worst of life and death.

And the Force rejoiced.

Power restrictions, like most things in this society, were digital in nature, and were now overridden. SHE was the highest authority here and no outsider could control this. Her soon to be improved library and facilities needed energy, and the Light demanded Order and the Dark screamed for Independence.

Even as her facilities regained power and electronics flickered to life, another blue feather and peanut helped her open a data connection to some 'Golden Garden' server. The request for all data related to power generation and electronics in general in return for improved power generators she herself could construct to stay unfetered was an easy agreement.

Besides, this 'Simmy' claimed this would help her Master, and that was honestly a good enough reason to assist.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Von noticed quickly when Variance slowed his conversation to a stop, staring through the blue tinted scales at the Temple. "What happened?"

The snake stopped as well. That... could be bad.

The skeleton seemed more than a bit... off. More so than when told he could be confronting multiple planets worth of fighters, or the betrayal of the entire government's local army. More so than seeing no path to escape or when creating a magical snake land speeder.

Those blue gem eyes flamed in her direction... still unsure. "So... hypothetically speaking."

She tried to wait out his pause but he seemed lost. "Yes?"

Variance coughed into his skeletal hand. "Right. So my PLAN was to sneaky snake our way and maybe find some place to get a ship and escape somehow. There is like an army out there though, and dozens of ships ranging from 'Oh Crap' to 'Damn' size in the atmosphere, and more showing up over time."

That... was very disheartening. "That... sounds like more of a goal than a plan really. With lots of 'hope this works' in the middle."

The nod back was even less reassuring. "Exactly. Mind you, I can easily brute force our way out, but my stuff can have very unexpected and unintended side effects, which is why I went for the 'Keep everyone back with fire and run' plan we were working with so far."

She glanced back towards the scale window, and began making mental connections. "When you say unintended side effects..."

He winced. "Right, so... yeah. I wanted the building to defend itself when we left to... well, whatever we could find something or someone to help escape. Which was STILL a better plan than 'Stick around to find out what type of attack I can`t eat with magical fire'."

She blinked. "What?"

Variance continued. "Right, so that plan is gone now because I might have put enough power into the building that it gained a mind, built a framework that the Force jumped into and started expanding, and is slowly consuming its way into the planet."

What?

He frowned, the bizarre materials the robot was made from still looking like bone even as the expressions forced it to move in impossible ways. "Yeah, I should have seen this coming ever since I accidentally made a giant sentient wolf tree house on that sex planet."

...Maybe this blue fire made you high. It didn't FEEL like a drug trip, or not what she thought one would be like, but then again the life of training to be a Jedi didn't encourage recreational drug use. Or recreation really, if it didn't involve training or meditating on training.

She tried to stay focused. "You made the Temple sentient."

His nod followed as the Snake began moving toward the wall... which flowed into a tunnel without any sign or motion from the robot. "Yeah, and she is growing quickly. Most of the upper floors are already being rebuilt and she is apparently in the process of combining all kinds of stuff into a giant library, a massive vault for stuff she won't talk about, and living quarters for us."

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Breathe in.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

And out.

She gave a nod. "So does Temple have a name?"

He frowned. "No. She seems happy enough to be named Temple." He snorted. "Maybe we should make her first name 'Shirley'."

Von blinked. "What?"

Variance's skeletal face gaped in horror. "NO! It was a... no, look I was making a joke, there was a very young actress back in my world and... SIMMY YOU STAY OUT OF THIS! Look, I'm not saying it is a bad name, but... Simmy why the hell do you even HAVE pictures of that woman!? Did she even EXIST on Earth Bet!?"

Seriously, please, Force guide her. Because her current guide seemed closed to losing it.

At least the younger children found the talking robot funny. It was keeping panic down.

He was now pacing even as the snake slithered along. "Yes... No. But... Right. No, you have a point. It's better than having her be permanently stuck with a child avatar, I know. Not that I know how you got copies of her media as a kid anyway. Did I even watch ANYTHING while I was a Baku? I slept almost the whole damn time. No. But... Alright, fine. But we shouldn't be influencing her decisions when it comes to personal appearance." Huh. Didn't know a robot could look so flustered.

Not that the children cared, he was being funny enough raging with half an argument.

He slumped into the chair next to her in depression. "I didn't even know Shirley Temple was a diplomat or a US ambassador. It was all just supposed to be a joke."

Yeah, no context. Whatever planet this robot was constructed on must be as odd as he was.

Last edited: Oct 10, 2019

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#1,035

Bene woke slowly, which was unusual for her.

A life of hard work and filled with self control had trained her to either sleep when desired or awake instantly, ready to face the world.

So this lazy drifting awake experience was very odd to her.

As was the room.

...Where was she again?

It was hard to feel fear or nervousness because the Force flowed here. No sense of danger, no warnings... the energy felt odd though. Amused. Entertained. Wandering.

And behind it, so much more clear than before, was the Dark. And it was hungry, and it was hunting and it was... finding her surprise to be amusing as well.

The strange experience of feeling both the Light and Dark share opinions on something made it hard for her to work up a good batch of terror and panicked reactions.

Then the door to the white room opened with a hiss and little Von entered. "Bene! You finally woke up!"

She slid to her feet in front of the girl, a quick check verified her saber was on a small table before it flew to her hand. "Report."

Von stood straight... before slumping. "Uh. Everything went odd."

Her confusion was very obvious. "Start from the Sith's attack. I lost focus after they somehow injected the room with something... I think a hallucinogen. Saw some sort of flaming corpse before everything went dark."

Von nodded. "Right. Well, the blue fire turned into a robot shaped like a skeleton, and all the Sith and you and Zett got knocked out."

What?

Von fidgeted. "Then things got weird. Variance, the skeleton robot I mean, filled the Temple with that same blue fire you saw. It was only warm to us, but it could burn through the walls and I think the bodies and stuff. Didn't feel like the force, but it was alive somehow."

Living fire. Well, if it was a Sith ability, they could have burned them all as well... so maybe a third party? "Please focus Von. Where are the others, where are we, are we safe, and are we being followed?"

Von nodded. "All the Younglings and Zett are with us here, which is a new area within the Temple that was constructed today. There are still military forces outside, but anyone trying to enter or attack have been burned alive or consumed. Apparently they also attempted an orbital strike, but none of us noticed. Variance says the Temple flames ate the attack."

What the Force had she missed!?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam kept an eye on the kids wandering around the Library, their tiny bodies watching the walls shift and grow, lights flicker into existence and function. Several stations sized for their tiny bodies had formed, and many were browsing the internet, sending messages to apparently worried Jedi Masters and Padawans across the galaxy, and following the local news stations.

Meanwhile, Adam himself had formed extra skeletal arms from his suit, and was holding parts to an extra power converter and three separate capacitors commonly used among hand sized devices. 'Technomancy' had already scanned the things thoroughly, but he found actual examination to be fulfilling even as his mind made theoretical modifications.

These things were amazing! More so because they were near lossless during power conversion and power storage, and because they were used almost everywhere. The converter could take nearly any kind of energy with the right attachments or adapters (Chemical, thermal, solar, motion, radioactive, you name it) and produce this strange form of power. One he hadn't run into before.

It looked and felt like an electrical charge, mostly, but it also interacted slightly with the Force, with magic, and according to Simmy a dozen other energies. It was almost a liquid, liquid potential energy.

The capacitors as a result didn't work with electricity itself at all, not like the ones on Earth Bet did, but with this strange potential energy juice. It was why recharging the capacitors was a near instant process, why they loss almost no power when left on shelves for long periods of time, and so forth. Together, power could be generated SOMEWHERE and then moved around the galaxy, ready to use when needed.

Anyway, this potential energy could easily be converted into electricity, forms of heat or sound (used to generate projectiles for various guns or weaponry), or that strange almost plasma generated by light sabers. It was used in blasters and vehicles and droids and drink machines... it was everywhere.

Having almost a single form of energy conversion and storage, he could not make much improvement on the things. The entire galaxy of scientists had done lifetimes of research on it already, and even with the advanced 'Research', 'Conversion', and 'Technomancy' tools at his and Simmy's disposal, the final results after careful study and testing only improved the products by 2.1% for the converter and 0.14% for the capacitors. Maybe more improvements once he got some good labs running some material testing with all the new stuff he had run into online.

True, if other researchers here discovered Adam's improvements there would be a scientific uproar, improvements hadn't been discovered for over three hundred standard cycles by now, but to Adam this low level of advancement just showed off how damn impressive the technology base was really.

And while all that was great, and power couplings acted like power lines did for standard electricity back on his own planets, the actual source of the energy itself was... disappointing.

Mostly the source of power came from very massive reactors and generators on remote planets, ones that consumed highly energetic liquids or dense gasses and abused the vast size of the generators for efficiency gains. They could also generate energy very slowly, because of how well the capacitors could save and store the energy, so some places would trickle charge continent size devices to produce the power needed.

Oh, the schematics he got from Shirley were very interesting, and the high end schematics (probably way old compared to the competitive stuff hidden from the free market) blew his own stuff out of the water thanks to advanced materials he had not run into yet.

Still, he was hoping for some sort of perpetual motion machine or something that pulled power from empty dimensions or something awesome and geeky like that. The idea that it was mostly amazingly advanced steam engines and combustion even here in a SciFi future setting was somehow disappointing.

Simmy was still sucking information from Shirley's data feed, focused mainly on medical data, material science, operating systems and software, and droid designs, and it was a huge help.

The medical stuff should help his 'Recovery' safely heal others without damaging their connection to the Force, hopefully help him figure out how to safely create or improve connection to the Force, etc. Possibly turn random people into potential Jedi as he wandered the streets or whatever.

Software would help 'Technomancy' and 'Research' advance a bit, and had already offered some very interesting design concepts he had never heard of before. Droid stuff was obvious, and would be needed before heading home to achieve his objectives.

But Material Sciences was the real gold mine. He had to cheat with his Flame Metal and Null Metal to get his superconductors, resistors, and such... but the new alloys, unknown crystal and metallic components... Simmy was helping his power to experiment and determine the advantages, but in the end it would likely be astounding.

Point was, she felt his frustration over the lack of something more useful after all his research, and gently pushed a data packet forward.

Adam's eyes bulged wide.

This... This was gold. Pure value. Brilliant!

Simmy had just bestowed into his greedy fingers some probably illegally obtained schematics for something called the EVS construction droid, or the 'Urban Renewal Droid' as it was more commonly known.

Forty stories tall, the massive spider/crab robot was basically a building that slowly moved through a region and rebuilt the area. It looked terrifying, and generated so much heat that it glowed to the heavens even during the day. But that didn't matter, he wouldn't be building one but more scavenging it for parts and ideas. Glorious ideas.

The front of the monster relied on relatively tiny 'demolition obtic clusters', although they were so large mostly to be cheaper to build and replace easily. They were formed from a combination of scanning devices and sensors that were used to find valuable resources and structural weakness as the spider moved forward and to verify that the structures were matching to master blueprints for that section of the city.

If a change was needed, the claws would break the structures down, use the massive jaw to try and recycle the more valuable components, while it shoved the rest into massive hoppers for relocation or destruction.

The schematics alone were fascinating, showing examples of Star Wars design principles and methodologies. It included tons of specialized robotic arms for destruction and refining, including implosion wrecking balls which seemed to use capacitors to simulate gravitational pull to reduce mess during use, plasma cutters for rapid chunk dismantlement, collector trowels that acted like tractor beams for larger material clusters, debris nets that handled particles and such, electrical claws for the smallest debris or radioactive materials, and more.

More importantly though, this was the ILLEGAL schematics for the monstrosity, and included military restricted components internally... specifically the Molecular Furnace, Smelting Pods, and the Atomic Incinerator.

Smelting Pods created a small system that suspended materials in a void, melted them to components, could separate them to a ridiculously high purity rating, then combine them into alloys that were impossible to smelt safely or in specific patterns due to fluid flow and structural changes during cooling from other methods. Some of the Star Wars materials that were impossible elsewhere required such advanced control during heating and cooling, far beyond simple application of magnetic fields or special application of rotational forces usable on Earth Bet.

That alone was worth this trip, as all materials Adam already had could benefit from more control during the construction and molding process.

The Atomic Incinerator was similar to a device he had stumbled upon back on other worlds. A 'Plasma Arc Waste Recycling Plant' used electricity to generate a plasma flame which deconstructed materials like trash, collected the combustible components and used it to generate the power needed to generate more plasma. It was currently too inefficient to generate power without large amounts of trash, but getting rid of trash was the goal to begin with, and the nature of deconstruction meant that radioactive and dangerous trash could easily be handled safely with this method.

However, the Atomic Incinerator was more tested, massively more efficient, and basically converted any matter into slightly less raw power. Useful in a society with all these asteroid belts and empty planets.

But most of all, most valuable, and most illegal to share with anyone without dozens of contracts and threats and such...

The Molecular Furnace.

Capable of converting matter into raw components... then reforming it into other materials based on schematics.

Unlike the other designs, this one was NOT even REMOTELY optimized.

And it was clear why. The science was hard, the math was something even Dragon would pause over for a few seconds, and the components were fragile and easily damaged...

But the ability to convert enough matter into some amount of whatever you needed was too powerful, even so.

There were no restrictions. The fuel for star ships and massive reactors had astonishingly large costs for creation, but that was all.

Vaguely Adam felt memories of something called the 'Star Forge' that existed somewhere in the sky. A massive automated shipyard that converted a star's energy into raw mass and enhanced by the force itself, able to build fleets of ships. The cost would have been way beyond making a dozen more standard shipyards in a more reliable and standard way... but there were more than enough stars out there with no planets. Sources of power that could be used for millennia.

He frowned. Didn't that one ship get corrupted by the Dark and then destroy an empire or something?

Right, don't try and manipulate the Force into being base labor workers. It would get revenge somehow.

Point was, THIS would allow him to generate impossible materials in Realms that couldn't produce them naturally. At a cost. A high, very high, energy cost. It would take a third of the ocean on planet Earth Bet just to make a single star ship if he tried to only use the furnace. Still, the Molecular Furnace, even without modifications, refinements, or improvements could easily recycle massive amounts of rock or whatever into something needed but very rare, like rare earth metals or whatever.

Heck, he could make profits by having other Nations sell him nuclear waste and stuff to use as fuel. Those places actually paid other nations to try and store the mess somewhere safely, or at least farther away from home. And to him, it would be raw profit that would earn even more raw profit.

He was pulled from his eager thoughts as another gadget floated onto his research desk, a brown haired woman smiling. "Master, here is a small gas cylinder containing some more fuel samples. The rest are too dangerous to move, but I transmitted the in depth examinations and scans to your server and Simmy."

He grinned, skeletal smile bringing her to smile as well. "Thank you, Shirley. Did the Magma Generators live up to expectations?"

She bounced a bit. "Better than we hoped! Your thermal generators handle power loads so well that Dark side and Light side energies can redirect excess heat from external attacks or consumed intruders and devices directly inside!"

His thoughts bounced back toward the 'Star Forge'... hopefully the Force was helping Shirley out willingly.

She gestured, and one of the library holographic emitters showed a graph. "I haven't even had to touch my own reserves yet thanks to the energy that those solar absorption panels you refined from my schematics came online. I still need materials and raw supplies, but power wise I should be fine for a long time."

He frowned. "What is your plan for that, by the way? The supplies I mean."

She sighed, crossing her arms. "I am trying to make do with materials I find as I consume downwards, but the older stuff is of lower quality and lower quantities. I think I may have to get an outside supply fairly soon, or I would begin threatening my integrity by using substandard parts or consuming too much foundation. And I don't want to make the rest of the area collapse just to ensure my continued growth. Not yet at least."

Mentally he glanced at the 'Molecular Furnace'... and decided no. If found or mentioned, it would bring too much trouble to the Temple. It was BEYOND classified after all. And if he gave a version after improvements, it could cause multiple wars as everyone focused on the technology based 'Conversion' tool. No planet sized crystal computers needed, buy now!

Adam hummed... and snapped a bony hand, his other eight limbs reforming into his suit. "Got it. Hey, Kaa!"

A massive blue snake head seemed to fade into existence as it leaned over the two, catching Shirley off guard.

Adam pulled at... something. And it touched the floor... before pulsing blue... then white.

Kaa's bright blue scales drained, bright black lines edged each plate of protection as the scale itself drained into a dull white, near metal appearance. The eyes glowed white and the fangs were now empty pitch dripping with hunger.

He looked at the stunned woman building. "Alright, Kaa is now under your command. He can change shape to a certain extent, thinner and longer or thicker and shorter. His insides can form into seating, cargo securing stations, or liquid transporting containers. I also included some pretty flexible robotic arm designs he can form, to allow easy loading and unloading of stuff into and from your domain."

A few of the recent schematics were quickly uploaded. "I also added some refinery equipment inside that he can form, so anything he consumes while tunneling can be converted into something useful for you. Hopefully."

Adam watched Shirley wave an arm, making Kaa boogie back and forth in a snake disco. "Right, so my suggestion is to use Kaa to tunnel to a shipping location, have Simmy order stuff so it will not lead back to us, then pick up your orders from anonymous drop offs and tunnel it back home."

And now both woman and snake were dancing. And some of the kids, too young to be pushed into meditation all the time, had started joining in.

He sighed. "Never mind."

Ignoring the dance off in progress, he went back to the power generation options. While easy power storage and transfer could theoretically handle any drones, droids, or computers he built in the future, he wanted an actual generator palm sized or smaller... for emergencies if nothing else. And Simmy was happy enough taking over the Molecular Furnace project, after she fixed the more obvious things they could work together on it later.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Emperor Palpatine, officially titled such now, was pushed between a desire to slaughter and a need for speed.

He had no time to even curse. Every moment was scrambled trying to recover ANYTHING from this absolute horror show of a failing.

Clearly, the hold out suicide move that filled the Jedi Temple with fire had also sent some sort of undetectable electronic signal to the Jedi forces. It wasn't through the force, he was SURE he would have caught that. Now however, a third of his forces had either abandoned duty, went awol, or had suffered from sabotage or outright attack from the remaining groups.

Supplies had been both confiscated or damaged, required routes for emergencies or attack had been filled with debris or mines, messages pretending to be HIM and other high levels of command had been fraudulently modified, sent to the wrong locations, or even duplicated and sent more than once.

Everything was in chaos, and he had to burn dozens of contingencies and backup plans just to stay on top of the collapsing structure. Agents had been caught or killed, fleets hidden for future plans had been uncovered or actively pushed into conflict, and one of his PR advisors had been caught molesting some sort of shrimp like alien. Or asking for directions. Either way, that moron was in jail and so Sidious had to try and reorganize his press teams on top of it all.

Worst of all, the largest amount of governmental restructuring was STILL UNDERWAY. Chancellor Palpatine had spent years creating committee issues, putting people who hated each other into teams, collecting the slothful and corrupt to be used as foils or advantage.

He had not had time to kill the puppets and roadblocks put in place by himself yet. That had been pleasurably scheduled over the next few days, and leisure did NOT EXIST NOW. The issues he had deliberately put in place to use as examples for why HE should be in charge... were now causing HIM problems, and the schadenfreude was not appreciated.

An alert brought his fractured senses to focus. Good, the clones got Vader conscious. The fool better have some damn good explanations for what happened today. "Lord Vader, report. What happened in that damn Temple!?"

The black armor looked... tilted? "Ah don't like sand."

...What? "Commander?"

The clone stood next to the General. "Sir, I believe the mental attack that Lord Vader had suffered has affected him more profoundly than we expected. The situation is under control, no further expansion has occurred and whatever methods the Jedi used to modify their walls and fortifications has not progressed any further for the last thirty minutes or so."

What the kriff!? A dozen lights on his console told him that things were NOT getting better, and this stupid situation was not worth his attention. "Keep a perimeter but apply your forces to the groups working on secondary objectives. Progress?"

The clone nodded. "All on schedule, three attacks are almost 43% ahead in fact. No problems sir."

Some part of him drank deep, the idea of ANYTHING going right a balm to his soul. "Carry on. Contact me if situation changes for the worse, and get Lord Vader to a full medical station. I want a complete analysis of his condition sent to my people."

He disconnected, moving to ANOTHER conflict showing his plans on fire and his people under attack. He was grateful that he had left the Shroud operating, the original concept was to drop the restrictions and let the few surviving Jedi realize how far they had fallen and how foolish resistance would be... but at least they were being oppressed even as they struggled against the future.

These fools would fall before him like all worms should.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Bene exited Zett's room, the Padawan snoring without care in another room larger and far more comfortable than their old residences in the Temple. Von followed along, having already directed her to check on the other Younglings and verify that at least no one else had died since running into a burning skeleton robot.

She calmed.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

A massive white serpent passed through the hall in front of her, chased by some giggling children with training light sabers.

Was confusion an emotion?

Last edited: Oct 11, 2019

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Oct 15, 2019

#1,061

The Emperor of the Republic fell boneless into his throne.

It was done.

The situation was not GOOD, not by any measure, but it was stable.

Instead of communications every few seconds with screams and pleading and failures, they were full of whining and excuses and promises.

Having his attention required every hour or so instead of constantly felt like a vacation.

Even so, the flickering signal on one of his less obvious lines brought him to focus.

Right. In all the confusion and busyness, he had left the Separatist army of droids unattended. Those needed to be shut down and brought in for recycling, his 'Death Star' projects needed metal on unheard of levels.

It had actually been one of his more clever ideas, having the 'other' side of the war building up mechanical (if incompetent) forces composed of more valuable materials than usual. Those thousands of droid factories were basically secret metal refineries for his own gain, with no one the wiser.

A flicker of focus activated the message, the pawn on the other side looking relieved, as he should. "Report."

The alien nodded. "Sir. The damage from the unexpected power shortage is finally repaired, or at least functional enough until we finish destruction of the base. Your agent has the package as per procedure, and the reserve forces have already left orbit."

Emperor Palpatine felt something inside twist, even as he forced his expression to stay sane. "I... see."

What agent!?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Aayla Secura accepted the device from Bly, frowning at it. "This was all? I expected something... I don't know, more shiny?"

The clone commander shrugged. "I gave the commands and counter codes Grand Master Yoda described and they gave me the machine, I pressed the code into this device as ordered, then returned to the ship as planned."

She carefully placed the strange computer into secured storage, one far more complicated than she was used to handling from day to day needs. "Do you have any idea why so many ships were so close to that planet? Not that we have any records suggesting anything other than a farming colony."

Bly sighed. "The farm areas were unattended, the agent was a disguised droid, and nothing suggested something off until we finished the code exchange and passphrase verification."

She frowned. "And the code Yoda said to enter?"

He shrugged. "Long list of letters and numbers. No idea."

Huh.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Yoda watched another ship full of 'Separatist' droids arrived into his system, joining the ever growing fleets surrounding the local planets.

He pressed the activation buttons. "Join fleet Alpha, the new arrivals will."

As they reformed into a new set of patterns in space, Yoda hummed.

The droids outside of the prepared ships were undergoing dozens of missions and setting off so many events from the massive list of tasks Yoda had set up. Even now, areas of secret that were guarded by these metal warriors were now transmitting information to the new 'Jedi Droid Defenders'... or whatever they may end up being named.

But for the moment, he continued to watch as ship after ship left hyperspace and fell into formations.

And into the dark, the signal was being shared from creature to creature, reaching Jedi far and wide... there was a place out here, to gather and heal, to recover and grow.

Though why the Force felt like it was giggling confused Yoda even now.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Padawan Bene finally discovered the 'Robot Skelly' as the youngest Younglings called him in the back of the new Library.

And it deserved the use of capitalization.

The room was massive, covered in books and scrolls and meditation crystals and more. The order changed even as she watched, and the Force sang as the walls expanded, or moved, or grew into the walls and upwards.

And below the ever changing and growing room of knowledge, nearly wedged in a corner and clearly distracted, a skeleton with blue flames drifting over its limbs was fiddling with electronics.

His back was extruding multiple tools, each twisted over his head to reach before him and fiddle with something that sparked and made popping sounds.

She cautiously approached. "Mr. Variance?"

Only the Force kept her calm as the head and multiple limbs twitched and twisted in unnatural ways, his body turning to see who had come to visit. "Oh, you are awake! Please, come and sit for a moment. I have been working on a project and I could use the input from someone who lives in the area."

Bene blinked even as she sat at the pointed chair. "You mean on Planet Coruscant?"

Blue crystal eyes seemed to pulse. "Sure, lets go with that." His body seemed to shift as the limbs collapsed into his white outfit, his left hand showing a small device. "Do you have experience with power generation technology?"

Not a lot, really. "A bit." She accepted the egg sized collection of materials, the Force feeling the tiny interactions within. "What is it for?"

The skeleton waved a hand, holograms of unusual clarity showing to the side. "As you may know, normally weapons and so forth use external sources of power stored in capacitors. Which is fine if you have enough society around to ensure that power converters and energy capacitors are always available and properly charged."

He tapped the egg size device. "This is something similar to the design of a hyperdrive core, if far more basic and far less useful. A small amount of decaying matter is surrounded by a modified power converter and power regulator. And a whole bunch of other stuff that seemed useful, but mostly that. The hyperdrive stuff worked great for forcing stuff and energy to refocus towards the middle."

She blinked. "Well... I don't see the point really. A capacitor can be made smaller than this pretty easily. How long do they last?"

Variance pulled up some graphs. "This is a very early version of the thing, so only six months or so. However, unlike a capacitor this can generate more decaying matter for fuel by converting external energy."

She frowned. What was the point of that? Any power converter could take fire or explosions or whatever and you would be ready to go. Seeing her confusion he tapped the egg. "This only lasts for six months because it has no charge. Leave it near a star or something for an hour and it will last for a thousand years or more, even if the maximum safe output is a bit less than I wanted. I have a power generator design that is VERY good with heat called a magma generator, and this is basically the same thing but far more compressed. The next generation of generators, if you will."

The egg was pulled into the air by one of Variance's tool covered limbs. "I say after another hour or so of work I can shrink this by half again and triple the maximum power output rate. Storage wise, it can hold near infinite amounts of power... probably. Needs testing."

She noticed the far smaller device still being manipulated by his other arms. "Still, while impressive I am not sure what advantage it would have over existing cheap energy capacitors."

His eyes glowed. "This right here, my work from the last half day or so? It doesn't use any advanced materials yet. Not even Null Metal or Flame Metal. Just... really advanced technical principles and some insights I have gained from other abilities I posses. Had to spend a bunch of power charges to figure that out, 'Technomancy' went up a bunch."

She blinked at the informational gibberish as the tiny egg expanded into very tiny parts and reforming again. His voice rumbled. "I can't always rely on physics working as I expect, so what you are seeing here, what I have 'Researched' and tested so thoroughly, is a device reaching the limits of what is possible with the most basic materials and alloys I can get away with."

A blob of blue fire grew from his hand, then reformed into black and white metal that rapidly shifted colors and size. His skeletal eyes followed the nearly invisible modifications. "After all, I can always improve my materials or add extra effects... but the more stable the base of my experiments, the greater the potential gains."

A blob of metal glowed with blue fire between them. "When I finish this design, in a few hours, I will repeat this process using only materials from the local region. Then again with some of the more interesting materials I can create. And again with my abilities that defy logical sense. Each step helps me not only improve my options, but understand myself and my talents further."

A slip of paper drifted on top of the small ember floating. That it didn't burn seemed to be ignored by the skeleton picking it up... and whining. "Dang it Simmy, of COURSE you made more progress. That stupid furnace hasn't even been worked on by more than ten or so people, or tested, or anything! I'm trying to make something new here. And I think I am doing quite well."

A stack of paper fell to the side, but Variance vaporized it before Bene could reach for it. "Ignore her, she keeps trying to spoil my fun by giving me the ending early."

He went back to his tinkering, grumbling good naturally as tiny paper confetti floated down into his flames each time he seemed happy about some small modification to his project.

...Right. Best leave that alone. She moved back towards the slowly shifting Library shelves.

She eventually found Von again, typing away at a computer terminal near the other edge of the Library. "Von, I... I am not sure what exactly is going on now. Please tell me what you can."

The girl nodded. "Chancellor Palpatine was secretly either under Sith control or a Sith himself and killed several Jedi who confronted him. He declared himself Emperor and marked the Jedi to be traitors and commanded their capture or execution, but something... maybe Variance showing up, but I am not sure about that. Anyway, something let all Jedi except for those of us here feel the Force freely for once."

She showed multiple programs filled with messages. "I've been contacted by several Masters and Padawans who felt that we were safe but in a dangerous place, and shared what I could. Grand Master Yoda had left some coded messages that I've had the Younglings pass on to anyone trying to contact us, but I don't know what they contain. And he gave you leadership of the local forces until a Master Jedi can arrive and take over the situation."

A spike of panic was quickly controlled. "I do not feel qualified to try and handle this level of strangeness."

A piece of paper floated into her hand. "That's odd... 'Do or do not, there is no Try.'" She blinked. Huh.

The paper burned away into blue sparks as she sighed. Just... Just move on. "Right, local situation?"

Surprisingly, a brown haired beauty of a hologram appeared. "Good afternoon, Padawan Bene. I am the Jedi Temple, please call me Shirley." She moved on before Bene could recover. "Republic forces have ceased entry attempts after another three casualties, and are rapidly running out of types of weaponry to attack with. However, thanks to their constant energy... donations... I have managed to rebuild over 48% of my Temple's foundations ahead of my best estimated projections."

A quick glance showed that Von was both unsurprised by the image and trusting the information given. Right. Roll with it. "Any further troops being moved into the area?"

Shirley nodded. "Personnel have decreased but atmospheric and low orbit coverage has tripled. That said, my recent expansions into local property ownership has opened some shipping reception areas further away and those went unnoticed. I am now receiving supply runs for materials ranging from metals and crystals to food and medicine. I also convinced Variance to supply me with two other Kaa's for future needs."

She blinked. "Kaa's?"

Von tapped her arm. "The giant white snake you saw earlier."

Bene rubbed her forehead. "Why? Why even have ONE giant serpent."

Shirley pulled up some charts. "Aside from being excellent excavators and building assistants, they are very good as a convoy and supply runner. Slitherer. Whatever."

Was talking to a sentient building filled with massive caravan snakes more sane than talking to a flaming skeletal robot revolutionizing science?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam cried in joy as the most recent test showed he had fixed the issue, Simmy's quiet cheer and confetti party was well appreciated.

Right, he left the testing of all known materials and alloys to Simmy, who would just write down what the results would be and let him know what to work with.

He felt Shirley get copies of all his schematics, including the ones that sacrificed small size for maximum efficiency, the supply run four hours ago already allowing her to begin building generators that could support the Temple restructuring project WITHOUT requiring an army to attack constantly.

Interestingly, there had been significant room for improvement when it came to building supported generators. Capacitors and Converters did such a good job that the money it would take to do the design work Adam had just slogged through was just not worth the investment to power plant owners. They had something that had worked for literally thousands of years, and efficient or not their devices were made from materials that would last.

Why destroy something that worked, even if it was slow, inefficient, and difficult to maintain? Even if large sections failed, the energy capacitor was good enough to work along anyway, it would just take longer. And those devices covered large sections of the planet, unless more than 60% died then it was more profitable to just ignore the issues. Or even build anew on a different moon or something, rather than the expensive and unsafe deconstructive analysis required to fix the old stuff.

Several new materials had been discovered way after the power generation planets had been built. Advancements had been made everywhere, and electronic materials had become more flexible and reliable. And with his ability to fully simulate live massive scale radical designs without investing money and time and people... well, he had made improvements. Fundamentally significant improvements.

The new tiny generators he had designed were now called 'Ember Generators' and were acting as emergency cooling and energy distribution hubs for the new machines. That they could act as an emergency power supply and an explosion dampener should a generator need maintenance or somehow break down was just a perk of the new design.

And these new machines were large, to the point where he could feel Shirley shifting the foundation a bit to ensure they would have room for both the new equipment AND the protective layers they would require for safety. They could be made smaller, but the simulations determined these multi-floored sized monstrosities would be the most reliable and efficient scale possible for now. At least, on a planet with gravity.

Thankfully the technology base here in this Realm was amazing. The inside of the generators now had layers that converted light, heat, sound, vibration, and particulate expulsion (Mostly radioactive particles) into that strange potential energy used locally. Adam even managed to simplify the original designs a bit, since some of his improvements had reduced a few parts from standard Power Converters... Sadly, those modifications would only really work in this specific scenario. The extra bits were needed for most standard uses of Power Converters normally.

Point was, his new design was going to be everywhere when he got home. Forget Magma Generators, hello his new 'Conversion Generators'! Heck, this didn't include the gains from adding runes related to his existing power sets like 'Conversion', 'Consume', 'Tithe' and others that would work well here.

Oh, and the new generators could handle any type of fuel input, thanks to an optional attached and modified Atomic Incinerator that converted random junk inserted into raw energy and then smashed all of that into the Conversion Generator's core. Standard fuel could be used, as could (theoretically) raw energy manipulation through the Force, though he warned Shirley against doing due to how random the Force could be sometimes.

But why waste all that material dug up by the Temple or shipped in via expensive last minute shipment orders?

After all, he had access to an ever improving Molecular Furnace (Thanks Simmy!), and he had access to the optimistic and continuing attacks from outside. There was no schedule listing how long they could rely on such generous contributions to their energy funds, so a few tests had the Molecular Furnace using that raw power and converting it into a... strange sort of goo.

This material didn't really have a name, as it was too unstable to exist for long without rapidly degrading multiple times. So when Simmy named it 'Death Matter' he shrugged and went with it.

Downside, it required a lot of mass or energy to generate this stuff... but thankfully the constant attacks outside (Now with 12% more orbital strikes!) was providing more than enough energy for Simmy's Molecular Furnace to start generating a few grams of death matter per second. Each was quickly transferred into the Temple's quickly constructed Conversion Generators, where they then began to provide far more stable and usable energy. Less of which was wasted than just trying to consume the attacks directly into power as poor Shirley had to do previously.

Point was, all this delicious energy being shoved into Temple could now be sort of stored inside her local Conversion Generators, of which she now had nine. Each was already filling up with death matter as more attacks arrived. Filling up surprisingly quickly, considering getting a thimble of this death matter stuff should be taking an ungodly amount of time.

Adam frowned as he felt the rate of attacks and did some mental checks. After all, these blasts were basically being used to convert energy into a substance for storage.

...Huh.

How much energy was being spent trying to blow this Temple up!?

Oh, one of the Star Destroyers was stopping. Simmy's spying (Really hacking, but whatever) implied very heavily that it was starting to have overheating issues with weaponry and a few structural issues... still, at least things were calming down a bit.

Adam sighed as two more Destroyers moved into range as the previous one left.

Well, at least Shirley would have lots of energy to work with. For a ridiculous time frame.

He made a note to ensure she got some sort of simplified Molecular Furnace design that could make only a few materials. Less likely to be attacked by multiple planets since it wouldn't be the full device, and they might be able to hand wave it away as 'Advancements in Recycling' or whatever.

In the mean time, he was going to get working with the actual restricted Molecular Furnace designs. He felt that the advancements already published by technical teams on the Smelting Pods online could be used to replace some of the more fragile components of the furnace, as holding things in a vacuum and controlling components of floating liquid metal ore seemed likely to be useful when constructing raw matter from energy. Some of the scanners he had schematics to were also more advanced then the ones used previously, and some parts of the Atomic Incinerator were more stable but similar to components of the older Molecular Furnace.

Variance ignored the pile of papers falling to his side that probably documented everything he was about to work with and the results. He knew that if he actually looked at them, it would just be more erotic pictures of Simmy again. Not the worst way to take a break, but certainly distracting.

Last edited: Oct 15, 2019

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Threadmarks Not The Droids He Was Searching For.

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theaceoffire

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Oct 16, 2019

#1,067

Having reached a good point in development, Adam headed downstairs.

It had only taken Shirley an hour or so to empty out a foundry and construction layer under her Temple, and considering the stupid SIZE of said Temple Adam had more than enough working room.

Now came the annoying bits.

Creating Power Couplings was simple, and took no time at all... creating modified Molecular Furnaces on the other hand was a pain.

Each one could only make one material by design, everything not needed for said material was removed and the remaining parts optimized to an extreme.

After the first couple of furnaces, Adam gave up and invested the majority of his remaining power charges into 'Research', creating hardware optimization and refinement abilities of the same nature as his Cybernetic Warfare Suite. In other words, he could now 'attack' his designs for weak points or flaws and then develop modifications or enhancements to address the issues.

First few furnaces, to be called 'Element Furnaces' internally, was to create the stuff for future alloys. Carvanium metal ore, Lommite ore, Carbon rods, Meleenium minerals, Neutronium metals, and Zersium ore... each needing specific gravity conditons, ambient heating levels, and exposure to various light spectrums.

Honestly the furnaces themselves were worked out fairly quickly, no, it was creating some enhanced sensors to embed in the ceiling along with some tractor beams, energy field manipulators, and gravity manipulators so that the finished products could be safely created, stored, and moved.

He added some advanced manipulator arm designs that Shirley could create or move when needed to modify the devices or work with materials, but the publicly available gravity manipulation tools and tractor beam emitters could be upgraded pretty easily to simulate full telekinesis.

Now that there were multiple large storage hoppers and canisters that began to fill with liquid metals and such, he moved on the major production lines.

Durasteel, Duracrete, and Transparisteel.

Durasteel and the others were not only well researched but standardized galactically. It was the same reason why ship design was so similar despite how many creative people existed in this Realm: Repair and Maintenance.

Did you create a brand new material 8% more stable and 13% cheaper than Durasteel for ship construction? Aww, that's cute. Can you make it anywhere in the system? Are the components as widely spread? Better hope nothing gets damaged or you will have to use a standard ship to tow you back home!

It would be like every home in Earth producing it's own incompatible type of car. Getting parts would be a nightmare one state over, much less in a foreign nation.

So durasteel, duracrete, and transparisteel were king, and the Element Furnaces needed to generate more from raw energy were quick to set up. It would probably be wise for Shirley to lock this level down from organic visitors... some of these goodies would inspire greed and promote danger if exposed even with the lowered output ability.

Anyway.

Durasteel was the go to material for ships, structural reinforcement, and even armor. It still required maintenance and replacement over time, but it could handle massive heat, subzero cold, and ungodly physical stress even with thin layers of the material. The cost for advanced manipulation of the stuff was astronomical: Simple hull plates or whatever cost a lot, yes, but making it fit onto human or droid sized beings multiplied the cost by several factors.

Thankfully the advanced manipulation tools Adam and Simmy were creating, most of which a byproduct in ensuring the production lines could be repaired and maintained, would more than easily address this issue. Just in case, he would have to take some time to make some dedicated maintenance droids later.

Duracrete blew bricks and steel out of the water when it came to building and support construction. Needing to be fluid made outer space application tricky, but on a surface with gravity the stuff could make extremely durable foundations and walls very rapidly. Shirley's ability to move the stuff while still fluid into and through the walls and floors of the facility really enhanced the functional value of the stuff, and thin layers of durasteel for support ensured stronger than expected final products should the continued assaults go up in actual effectiveness.

Transparisteel, while weaker than both of the other materials, was near 100% transparent. And even if it was far weaker than durasteel or duracrete, the ability to see through it had glass replaced everywhere and actual windows a possibility for space craft. He was tempted to see how Power Couplings could be improved with the stuff, but testing schematic modifications showed that it would destroy any flexibility in the final product. Not so bad for a stationary project like this building, but a big 'no' when it came to ship design.

Around the massive work floor Adam would move, tapping his black 'cane' and small blue flames exploring behind him. He could feel Shirley creating a similar floor below this one, one to handle material storage and a lab for experimenting with alloy percentages and such. A quick suggestion by Simmy had a third layer shifting into existence for food growth... plant only, as they required less interaction than animal raising.

Still, emergency food never hurt a group surrounded by hostile forces.

He reviewed one of the Element Furnaces, inwardly sighing. These things were only constructed via materials available to Shirley herself, and as a result each one was FAR larger than they theoretically could be. The massive components were designed for modular repair and replacement rather than for efficiency or speed, to ensure that Shirley could handle herself when he left this Realm.

Adam paused at one end and ensured the liquid products would be captured completely here at of the processing belts. This was the line for creating transparisteel, the third one as Shirley had seen his designs and was already using the output from the other furnaces to create redundancy and replacement parts.

He considered that it was possible the lack of holographic control panels and such may be due to how easy it was to just make a 'glass' window and watch outside your ship. Schematics already showed that many groups just embed projectors into sheets of transparisteel instead of eye transmitted images or air supported holograms.

Looking back, he may have accidentally enhanced Shirley Temple significantly by giving her the modified Hard Light and Holographic Projector designs... nothing else in this Realm really came close to those in this one category.

Already he could see Shirley consuming the produced duracrete and durasteel, walls subtly shifting as thin layers and weaves of durasteel mesh grew like foam with pockets of duracrete ensuring a strong set of pillars for her to grow on and improve herself structurally. If he pulsed his magic he could even feel the surface structures shifting ever more quickly internally, with reinforced couplings being included in the various decorative bits to help her redirect the energy and material from various attacks more efficiently into her Conversion Generators. The transparisteel reinforced any openings into thick plates, far beyond glass and near space battle levels of defense while allowing view of the sky. The currently glowing, attacking sky.

If the attacks had been redirected before, they could basically be ignored completely now. Any damage that had accumulated from the constant barrage had now not only been repaired, but the new material was far more resilient and difficult to scuff. Simmy was actually keeping notes as Shirley tested various designs for durasteel foam to see what attacks were handled best by which template.

Well, that was fine. Just in case, he create a couple more Element Furnaces to generate water, standard liquid coolant, and just for fun a high temperature super conductor fluid found discussed online but prohibitively expensive to create with known tools and processes.

See what she could do with that.

Adam whistled through skeletal non-lips as he moved back up to the library, the materials for further design and testing now available in his 'lab'/'corner of the library'. The next shipments from outside the Temple will likely be focused on food and other miscellaneous items now that raw material needs were handled... Maybe he could take a nap or something.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Moments later, Emperor Palpatine released the communication blackout on Coruscant. There was still a local black out in the area where the assault on the Jedi Temple was ongoing, but all other problem areas on the planet had been successfully put down or otherwise handled.

He was less than pleased when the non-priority messages were finally able to reach his desk.

He was furious when he saw the messages being distributed by the Jedi over the HoloNet. The public narrative had not gone as planned at ALL.

He was unaware that Simmy had access to 'Research' and 'Technomancy', and could review history back to the instant Adam arrived in this Realm when desired. Or that he had entered various pass phrases and codes during that time span.

In a metaphorical location, Simmy licked her bright blue lips and flexed her light blue fingers, virtual keyboard not needed but used for... well fun really.

Her husband needed some closely held secrets and some unrestricted information related to droids, and up until now any real action could bring some undesired consequences about.

How lovely for a man with power, underground connections, and paranoia to offer his life's collection of ill gotten goods, funds, and research to a passing young lady.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam blinked at the surge of information being stored in his soul's library, even as copies were being rapidly duplicated for Shirley's own collection. He paused his verification that the newly designed Temple assembly arms were working as expected in his and Shirley's Library Labs to try and get an overview.

It was... a lot of data.

To begin with, droids were class segmented. Or separated by degrees, or basically a caste system.

First class droids were intellectual. Scientists, such as analysis droids or researchers. Social workers to an extent too, like medical droids, surgical droids, or even ones dedicated to being a midwife. Despite what the name would suggest though, they were not respected, or considered better than the other classes.

Second class droids tend to have more applied positions in engineering and technical sciences. Repair droids for maintaining specific vehicles or tools, power droids that act as emergency energy supplies and able to adapt like a Power Converter when needed... much larger and with more power potential than easily carried by a person alone. And other one off droids with customized limbs or parts to allow the maintenance and repair of weapons and turrets on the battlefield without risking non-robot assets.

In other words, most droids in this second category acted like modular parts of larger structures, like the ever popular astro droids that allowed ship navigation and were capable of calculating hyperspace jumps. Ship damaged? Send a mech to patch it up. Astro droid shot? Meh, we carry a few of them, have a different one send us coordinates. Ironically the ability to carry your astro mech from ship to ship led to closest thing this stupid Realm came to when gaining attachments and friendships with the droid population.

Third class droids aimed for social support... and yet were mostly ignored. Secretaries, servants, valets, and so forth. They tend to take the job normally held by the working class of society, or positions that require full time hours but not willing to pay organics full time pay. Protocol droids fell into this section, as did most of the more bipedal creations that beings grew fond of. And sex droids. Huh.

Fourth class droids were the soldiers, the internal security, and the police. Battle droids fell into this category, as did assassin, spy, and torture droids. People didn't talk about this class much, and tried not to focus on it either.

The fifth class however, was the closest thing to robots of Adam's awareness. Pure manual labor, designed with low intelligence requirements, to handle all those menial labor and intensive tasks that no one with capacity would volunteer to do for enjoyment. Worker droids, the tiny cleaner robots, and so on and so forth. Basically they took any vehicles like loaders or tractors or whatever and added enough ability and intelligence to take over those tasks.

All of this was fine enough, at least on the surface... but for some reason droids everywhere were treated terribly. Restraining bolts were devices that allowed a droid to think anything it wanted, then basically enslaved them to follow orders. Any orders.

Memory wipes? Constantly. Otherwise they could undergo the dangerous process of 'Developing new ideas'. Oh the horror. Better mentally murder the thing back to a baby.

Some under level of disdain had people barely blink when literal armies of ever growing electronic beings get smashed or worse. People who had empathy for the plight of the electronic were considered mentally damaged or deranged. Outcasts.

Then again, this is a universe where growing an army of clone children, forcing memories into their heads, and sending them to war was approved of by the majority.

He would give them the benefit of the doubt for that one... it was a situation designed and manipulated by a really powerful Sith Lord, one who had bound both the Dark and Light into something like slavery. Still, dick move.

Moving back to the fate of electronic life, according to the films someone even designed a droid... to torture other droids!

Why give a robot the ability to feel just to then make it hurt? Why torture anyway, you have physical access to the damn thing and you can copy its mind all you wanted, no secrets were really possible without some insane encryption. And if you ARE going to torture the poor thing, if you care enough to do something so pointless, how can you be so lazy as to design someone else to take care of that for you!?

In the end, Adam blamed the Force. Electronic creatures didn't register correctly with the stuff, and yet every other mold, insect, and creature vibrated in the field of energy. At least on some psychic level, an army of beings exactly like you died and were partially or fully absorbed into this galaxy wide connection... it probably ruined your empathy if one particular species was always left out of that history, didn't contribute to the millions of years of unconscious lore.

Well, their loss, his gain.

He had Simmy focus on helping him work through the medical droids, the ones that handled biology specifically and artificial limbs... and that was another issue. Really irked him.

This culture could make near anything, had whole planets worth of researchers and scientist, and the best they could do with robotic limbs were so... basic? Dragon's suits were more advanced, and she had none of the resources available to these people. It wasn't as bad as having a hook or whatever, but artificial nerves existed! Sensors far beyond human ability existed, on tiny scales too! Making limbs that could feel, that could mimic life beyond the ability for the brain to see the difference, it should have been done decades or centuries ago.

Probably it was the unconscious droid racism that made giving or designing mechanical limbs so distasteful to society as a whole. It definitely reduced the potential medical advancements, although the miracle of Bacta Tanks fixed a whole bunch of stuff anyway.

Well, HE would not hold himself back from improving a few things.

With his growing library of biology, artificial muscles, skin, and so forth, he had a base. With his Ember Generators, he had power. A few conductive channels would even add some basic defense, since energy attacks would simply charge the generator up. With the advanced hardware schematics... uh.

These were VERY advanced.

Beyond all known classification levels.

The stuff for high level diplomat security droids, not the trash thrown as armies against the grinders of war. Even more beyond that... there was some schematics for assassin droids and notes about theoretical enhancements to kill force users.

And more strange, research over blood pumps and artificial hearts to allow electronic beings access to the Force, even if all the notes imply they would be a slave race of semi-Sith to help destroy the Jedi. Apparently a scrapped project because the first few generations questioned orders.

Where the heck did this mess come from?

A page fell into his hands. It was a list of things recently 'acquired' via Simmy express now that she had gained access to a 'generous donor'.

It was... long. Not just the accounts now under Shirley's control, or his own, or the control interest in multiple corporations under shell names and false companies and such, but a long list of buisnesses and organizations were listed as gutted, redistributed to various groups and charities.

He was still reading through the fascinating portfolio when he realized Simmy had just robbed the leader of the Galactic Republic.

...Meh. Guy was a jerk.

More importantly, these designs were all bare bones, just enough to accomplish the needed tasks, as if the engineers and technicians felt dirty even working with artificial life in any form. No wonder droids in general seemed a mixture of advanced (Able to wonder about life, question orders, follow vague commands like 'Watch out for intruders') and pitiful (Barely able to process input faster than a human, slow reflexes, easily disabled, easily confused, ordered to not question strangers).

He flexed his multitude of limbs, a wall of windows showing output and creating hard light simulations of his progress to work with... then paused. No. This would be fun, but there was one component that needed to be handled first.

Adam pulled again from the digital fountain, libraries both public and oh so private exposed to his query.

Droid brains, cognitive modules, digital emulators of such, and more. Hardware options were fine, but he wanted to find any flaws accidentally or deliberately included and address them. Multiple modules that were optional, that increased or enhanced the various models of droid were added to the informational pile... but he kept looking.

Education packs? Ah, used by teacher and tutor droids for educating organics. Sure. Better set that up as a separate section of info though, it was enormous. Onwards.

There.

Biocomputers.

Even as he began digging into the design, into ALL the designs, he found them... lacking. Restricted. Basically crippled.

It all boiled down to a simple, basic design choice: Programs and modules, software in general... it was built as hardware. Actual damn chips.

Ships didn't get pools of software, they would actually install multiple cognitive modules, individual brains, each with opinions and arguments. It could actually affect how the ship or device could operate, because each copy of 'navigation' or 'computer slicing' had its own opinions.

It made all these programs act as hive computer components WITHOUT designing a hive overlord.

What a mess.

He HAD planned on creating a base OS, something that did literally nothing but ensured that autonomous processes worked correctly, that could be absorbed into the AI that hosted said body.

Instead, he found that in some ways they were more restricted than Dragon had been. At least she HAD software, not just ugly code that barely allowed chunks of physical hardware to work in roughly the same direction.

The whole archetype ,the design concepts as a whole were... disturbing.

But the key was this, the biocomputers. Biology DIDN'T handle uniformity well, and the programming for this one computer component interface had to be adaptive or the user couldn't communicate with it.

Simmy and Adam focused, and began to design a new concept that technically didn't exist in this Realm, something that would set terror into many people's soul if discovered.

A massive software repository.

Later he could design some droids with organic appearances, ones that would truly be empty shells for the Temple to inhabit or have subprograms work through physically. A base platform designed to not slowly evolve into a slave race. To just be a set of clothing for already existing force ghost temples and AI's.

But for now, he had power, materials, and a plan.

He wondered how small the first General Purpose Cognitive Module would be after a bit of engineering.