Above was a blue sky, and below was blue water. Two hues of blue, kin but not identical, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Not a single cloud hung in the sky, and the sea gently swelled and shifted without breaking any waves.
It was a place of utter calm and serenity, with too few variables to ever devolve into a chaotic state.
"Wow, this place is even more boring than I thought it would be."
At least, that had been the case.
In the infinite sea of blue, there existed a small spit of sand, barely large enough to be called an island, and even then only because of its utter lack of competition. Above that small island was a twisting vortex of space, from which a girl had just stepped out.
She was young, a teenager barely into adulthood with bronze skin and black hair casually tied up into a ponytail. Her eyes were a bright green and her lips twisted into a confident grin. She wore simple clothes, a black t-shirt with a low collar, jeans that hugged her legs, and a simple but well worn set of sandals. She also had a bag slung over her back, packed full to bursting.
The vortex of space faded away, causing the girl to glance over her shoulder as it disappeared, but she wasn't concerned. After all, going back wasn't in the plan. She turned forward again after it was gone and placed her bag on the ground as she looked around.
"Boring… but blank. Like a canvas," she said to herself, a small smile playing on her lips. "It's been a while since I've painted anything. This should be fun."
"Sand is too loose of a material to be suitable for painting," a second voice suddenly said. "Might I suggest sand raking instead?"
"Woah!" the first girl said as she whirled around in shock, sand being kicked up by the motion. Behind her was another girl, one that hadn't been there a moment ago.
She was shorter than the first girl, even standing on tall heels that gave her a few extra inches of height. Her skin was pale and her hair was a lilac purple and done up with a lot of care into a bun and multiple hanging braids. She wore a black and purple dress and gray and red cape that made her look like a villain, with matching black and purple garters. Her arms were adorned with detached sleeves that went all the way down to her hands, where they wrapped around just her middle fingers.
"Holy shit, you scared me," the tanned girl said, placing a hand over her chest. "How long have you been there?" She was sure that she had looked behind her just a moment ago.
"I arrived approximately twenty-four seconds ago," the other girl replied in a monotone voice and blank expression. "For reference, it was one and a half seconds before you called this place boring."
"So right after I turned around, huh?" the first girl said with a sigh. Then she perked up. "You must be my assistant, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Kat Silver!" She stuck her hand out and offered it to the other girl.
But the other girl ignored her outstretched hand and just bowed instead. "Greetings. I am Ruru Amour, and I am the companion that was selected according to your wishes."
Kat blinked, but then she shrugged and pulled her hand back. "Ruru, huh? That's a pretty cute name. I love the whole villainess look you've got going on too."
"The group that the original Ruru Amour worked for could accurately be described as a villainous organization," Ruru replied. "By default, I have maintained her looks. However, if you wish, I can change into numerous other outfits." She looked around. "So long as said outfits are provided. These clothes are the only ones I have at present."
"Oh, don't worry, a shopping trip is a high priority," Kat replied. "I'll have lots of fun dressing you up." Kat walked closer to Ruru and looked closer at her. "So… you're really a robot?"
"I am what is commonly referred to as an android," she replied, watching Kat. Her voice and expression were still both flat. "Gynoid would be a more accurate term, however."
"I can't tell at all," Kat said, leaning closer. Ruru showed no signs of discomfort despite Kat's proximity. "Can I touch you?"
"You may do whatever you wish with me. I am here to serve you however you want."
"Even lewd things?" Kat perked up, excited.
"I am willing to provide you with sexual services, should you wish it, yes," Ruru said in a monotone voice.
Kat's shoulders slumped a bit. "That was probably the least sexy way you could have put that. Ah, whatever, maybe later." She poked Ruru's arm, finger pressing against the strip of pale skin of her upper arm between her shoulder and the detached sleeve. "Yeah I totally can't tell you're a robot at all. That's so cool. What can you do?"
"This version of Ruru is designed primarily for secretarial, research, and engineering work," Ruru explained as Kat continued to poke her in various parts of her body. "I am outfitted with a large database of information, numerous sensors, and several useful tools. Would you like me to list all of them?"
"Nah, that's fine," Kat replied, looking down at her. Kat was a taller than average American girl, while Ruru a taller than average Asian girl, though that probably had a lot to do with the heels on her boots, which gave her an extra few inches. Even then, she was shorter than Kat.
Kat reached up to cup her face, to which Ruru did not react. "Wow. Sorry if I'm being annoying, but I just can't get over how lifelike you are."
"I was designed to appear as human as possible," Ruru explained. "However, I do not require sleep nor sustenance as a human does. I am also stronger than most humans. Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to manipulate Toge Power."
Kat's hand slid down her face, over her neck, and down to her collarbone. "Toge Power?"
"A type of power generated by people's despair toward the future," Ruru said, not reacting to Kat's hand drifting even further down to her chest, which the tanned girl started to grope. "A fully empowered version of my villain self would be able to manipulate that power to create disposable monsters known as Oshimaida. However, such an ability increased my tier above the budget that you set, so the knowledge and ability to do that has been taken from me."
"Uh huh," Kat replied distractedly as she gave Ruru's boobs a squeeze, now using both hands. "Are you not wearing a bra?"
"A brassiere is unnecessary. My clothes provide the required support for my breasts."
"True, you're not all that big. Don't your nipples chafe though?"
"They do not."
"Huh. Lucky you. How about panties? Are those unnecessary too?"
"I am wearing those."
Kat looked down at Ruru with a frown and then sighed. "Ah, it's no fun if you don't react." She let go of Ruru's boobs and stepped back a bit.
"My apologies. I will react in the future." Ruru bowed again.
But Kat waved her concerns off. "It's fine, it's fine. In fact, don't give me any fake reactions. I have my own pride as a lesbian, you know?"
Ruru straightened her back and tilted her head. "I'm sorry to say that I do not know what you mean."
"Don't worry about it, just don't fake it, alright?" Ruru nodded, and Kat grinned. "Now… let's get down to business!"
Kat turned away from Ruru and started looking around, a task that was quickly accomplished as there was nothing but the sand directly below their feet and the wide ocean around it.
"Man, she said it was going to be empty, and she really meant it," Kat muttered, partially to herself. "I wonder what it looks like under the water."
"I can-" Ruru started to offer, but Kat was already taking her shirt off with one hand as she unbuttoned her pants with another, kicking off her sandals at the same time. Ruru paused, confused, as Kat stripped off the articles of clothing to reveal that she was wearing a silvery-gray bikini under them.
Carelessly tossing her clothes aside, she ran into the water lapping at the edges of their small island and then dove into the water, leaving Ruru to stand there, alone and unsure of what to do.
The water was cool, but not cold, the perfect temperature for swimming. Kat relished the familiar feeling of slipping into the water, the weight of it sliding against her as she stroked her arms and swam deeper into it.
She had grown up near the ocean, and had spent pretty much the entirety of her summer vacations at the beach from sunup to sundown. Her mother couldn't afford a babysitter, so she took care of herself, packing simple sandwiches for lunch and biking to the beach.
But that had been a dirty and overcrowded west coast beach, filled with tourists and birds and trash. The water she swam through now was cleaner than anything she had ever experienced. She opened her eyes and was surprised to find that it didn't sting to do so. There was still something there, it was still salt-water, but it didn't hurt like it should.
And it was crystal clear. She turned her head, slowly rotating in the water as she dove deeper and looked around. The sunlight pierced the water and illuminated the sandy sea floor, creating a show of shifting spots of light.
But just as it was above, the ground beneath the water was blank. A flat bed of sand, gently sloping downward further than she could see, undisturbed by rocks, currents, or any kind of life. It was as blank a slate as it could have been without removing the ground entirely and sticking her on a boat or some kind of floating platform. But as much as she liked being in the water, she liked having solid ground under her too.
Feeling an ache starting to make itself known in her lungs, she turned her body and swam up toward the surface. She wasn't very far out, she had just gotten distracted by looking around.
Once at the surface, she swam back to the island. She had always been a good swimmer, but it felt more effortless than normal. Kat vaguely remembered that one of her purchases from the Catalog included Body Tune Up, which pushed her from already pretty athletic to Olympic tier.
Ruru was still standing in the same spot that Kat had left her in, watching her. Kat grinned at her as she walked up onto the beach, water dripping off her body. "It's just as boring down there as it is up here," Kat reported as she stopped at her bag, opening it and fishing inside. "Sand as far as I can see. The water is great though. Clean and the perfect temperature."
She pulled a hairband from her bag and bunched up her hair into a simple ponytail, preventing the long wet strands from sticking to her shoulders.
"Yes," Ruru replied, a faint expression of confusion on her face. "The Seablock world that you chose as your starting point is a blank slate for you to grow as you see fit. It has a Danger Rating of three due to the lack of food, potable water, shelter, or methods of acquiring such things."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember what Ms. Liddel said," Kat replied, squeezing some of the excess water out of her newly formed ponytail. "But seeing it is different, you know?"
"I do not know."
I shrugged. "At least she let me grab my sleeping bag and a few changes of clothes before coming over. I don't have any real food though, beyond a bag of chips." Kat looked around and then frowned. "Wait, wasn't I supposed to get some phone or something?"
"As an android, I have been designated as your Company provided Smart Device," Ruru answered. She lifted her hand, pointing her palm at Kat with her fingers at the ground. Four beams of light shot out of her palm to form the four corners of a holographic screen that hung in the air. "You can operate it using this screen, or simply tell me what you desire."
"Ooh, you really are a robot!" Kat said excitedly, walking up to poke at the holographic screen that Ruru was projecting. Her finger passed through the screen without touching it, but the display, which showed the Catalog and the options available to her, reacted, scrolling slightly to match her movement.
Ruru blinked at her. "I… yes, I am a robot."
"Hey, what about the collar things?" Kat said suddenly as she scrolled through the Catalog. "The uhh… Temper Jewelry or whatever."
"Tempest Jewelry," Ruru corrected her. "As a purchased companion, I am already wearing one." Sure enough, there was a bracelet on her wrist. "The five unused bracelets that you selected are currently in your Pocket Space, which I can freely access."
"Gimme one! I want to put it on!"
The holographic screen disappeared as Ruru lifted her fingers, holding her hand flat, palm up, where a bracelet popped into existence. It was a fairly simple thing, an unadorned silver metal band with an inlaid sapphire, or some kind of pretty blue gem at least.
Kat snagged it from her hand and slipped it onto her wrist. It was wide enough to slip her hand through easily, and it tightened to conform to her wrist size, fitting snugly and comfortably.
"So this is it, huh?" Kat said, lifting her arm up to take a closer look at the piece of jewelry. "This is what can give me a cock?"
Ruru paused for a moment, caught off guard. "That is… one of the functions it can perform, yes."
"Fuck yes. How do I do that?" Kat grinned as she looked at Ruru, clearly eager.
"The Advanced Runes: Body perk grants the Tempest Jewelry the ability to apply physical transformations," Ruru explained. "Changing your sex is one possible transformation."
Kat sneered. "Eww, no. I want to keep all my girly bits, but also have a dick. But no balls, I don't need those."
Ruru paused again. "That… is also possible. May I ask why you want such a thing?"
"Well, I really really like girls," Kat explained. "They're just so pretty and cute and sexy. But sadly, not every girl likes other girls, so it's hard picking up girls that don't understand how great other girls can be. But if I have a dick, then I can tempt straight girls into having sex with me anyway, right?"
"I do not know."
"I guess I'm also just kind of curious," Kat continued, not hearing Ruru's bland response. "I may not like men, but I like anything that can make a girl moan like that, so I thought it would be fun to give it a go. I mean, I've used strap-ons before, but that's just not the same, is it?"
"Physically speaking, there is a large difference between using an inorganic phallus to stimulate a girl and using an organic one," was Ruru's neutral reply.
"Exactly. And I can set it up so that I can swap between having a cock and not having one, right?"
"You can create any number of preset transformations that you can swap between at will."
"Cool, let's do that then. Default Kat and Cock Kat." The tanned girl grinned, amused by her own antics.
"Very well. I can set that up for you. How large do you want your member to be?"
It was Kat's turn to blink and pause. "Uhh… let's try average, I guess?"
"Understood." A beat passed. "Your Tempest Jewelry now has a new preset available to you. Simply will yourself to transform and it will happen."
Grinning, Kat pictured herself having a penis. A moment later, her body shifted, and her bikini bottom bulged out slightly. She excitedly pulled down her bikini just enough to reveal the cock that had grown there, but immediately frowned and leaned over further.
"Wait… that's it?" she said, poking at the flaccid member. "That's average? I can't even see it past my boobs!"
"Male genitalia typically grows when it hardens from arousal," Ruru commented. "Statistically, the amount varies, growing anywhere from ten percent, to several hundred percent in volume."
"Is that what they mean by showers and growers?" Kat said, wrapping her fingers around her new cock. She gasped. "Oh, it's sensitive though."
"Stimulation should bring it to its full size, which has been set to thirteen centimeters."
Sure enough, Kat's new cock was slowly growing as she played with it, stiffening as the head rose up. "What's that in inches?"
"Approximately 5.11 inches."
"That's it? Not even half a foot? I guess it's true when they say that porn isn't realistic." Her penis was now at full mast, or close enough to it, as she shamelessly stroked it in full view of Ruru, who showed no particular reaction to the sight. Kat let out a long breath. "Shit, it gets more sensitive as it gets bigger, huh? That's not bad."
"I have no data on pornography to reference," Ruru supplied, somewhat unhelpfully.
"Really? None? We'll have to change that. Then again, I'm not sure I want to fill your memory banks with info about cocks."
"It would take hundreds of worlds worth of networks to fill my memory banks. If restricted to just information about male genitalia, it could potentially require thousands."
Kat raised an eyebrow at the robot girl. "Not really my point, but good to know." She looked down at her crotch again. "This is definitely too small though. Hell, I don't think I've ever used a dildo this small before. Let's see… how about we go eight inches? I think that's about how big my favorite dildo was."
"Understood." With the robot girl's words, Kat's new appendage suddenly grew in a way that was entirely unlike it becoming aroused, nearly doubling in length and growing a fair bit in girth as well. It felt heavy and bulging in her hand. It was warm, and Kat could feel her pulse through it.
"There we go, that's what I'm talking about," Kat said with a grin, giving it a few experimental strokes. Under normal circumstances she might have kept it at the average size. She had dated smaller girls that couldn't even use a dildo because it stretched them out too much. But she had made sure to pick up Sexual Calibration from the Catalog, which ensured that 'too big' wasn't a problem, so there wasn't any reason to hold back.
Satisfied, she willed herself to return back to normal and her penis disappeared. There was no transition or shrinking, just one moment she had a penis, and the next moment she did not. Without the additional appendage in the way, the elastic waistband of her bikini bottom snapped up to cover her up again, albeit slightly lower than it was before.
"Well, now that we have the important stuff figured out, I guess we should get rolling on the job, huh?" Kat looked around at their desolate island. "I won't last long without food and water."
"At your current rate of perspiration you will feel the early effects of dehydration within three to six hours," Ruru supplied.
"Right, yeah. But we've got missions, right?"
"We have one mission available to choose from," Ruru confirmed. "There is a note on it from Alice Liddel stating that she has personally set it up as your first job, and that upon completion of it you'll start being able to choose from multiple jobs."
"Oh right, she did mention something about that," Kat muttered. She could only vaguely recall the words because she had been too busy staring at just how pretty her recruiter had been. Kat shrugged. "Okay, that's fine. If Ms. Liddel wants us to do this job first, I'll listen to what she says. What's the job?"
"It is a mission of a Quick scope taking place in a world known as Apothecary Diaries," Ruru started.
"Weird name for a world," Kat said. "No, wait, do you mean that's what the story or whatever from my world is called?"
"That is correct."
Her recruiter had explained the whole metaknowledge of the multiverse thing to her, but Kat had never been one to spend much time reading or watching things. She saw the big movies, but unless she was seeing them with her mom she was typically more focused on sneaking her hand into her date's pants than paying attention to the film.
But she wasn't concerned, so she just shrugged. "Well, what's it like?"
"I do not have a record of these pieces of fiction nor the worlds they reflect. However, based on information gleaned from the Catalog, I can deduce that it is a setting that is roughly analogous to Earth's 15th century China, with some room for potential discrepancies."
"Ancient China, huh?" Kat started pacing, walking in circles in the sand, which stuck to her still wet feet. "Damn, they probably won't have a shopping mall or something. I wanted to spend my advance paycheck. Whatever. What do we actually need to do?"
"We are being hired to free a target from jail," Ruru replied. "A girl named Maomao. Details and basic support will be provided once we meet up with the client."
Kat stopped her pacing and looked at Ruru with a grin. "A jailbreak in ancient China? Sounds fun. What's the pay?"
"Wild Talent and the addition of flora to the Seablock. There is a note that says the flora will grow and produce fruit much quicker than normal, but is otherwise mundane."
"Wild Talent is the camping one, right?"
"It is the Talent that aids your ability to survive in the wilderness, or perform other tasks that are commonly associated with the wilderness such as tracking and hunting."
"Sounds pretty useful. Alright, once I dry off, we'll head out," Kat replied. She made her way back to her bag and pulled out a beach towel, which she laid out on the sand. She then stripped off her bikini, leaving her totally in the buff.
Kat displayed no hints of shame at exposing herself in front of Ruru, and in truth, she had little reason to be ashamed. Even before signing up to become a Contractor, she had been a rather active and athletic girl. Her bronze skin was smooth and well cared for, but it also showcased her lean and firm musculature.
Her belly, arms, and legs were all toned, clearly defining her fitness without reaching the point of swelling up in size. Her boobs were a bit larger than average, what she considered the perfect size, though she loved boobs of all sizes. The spot between her legs was carefully groomed, with barely any hint of pubic hair, all for the sake of keeping it convenient and presentable for her partners.
Ruru's eyes raked over Kat's body, observing and taking note of these features, but otherwise not reacting as the other girl laid down on the towel face down, soaking in the sunlight.
However, there was one thing she felt the need to point out.
"Would it not be more effective to use the towel to dry yourself, rather than just lay on it?" Ruru asked.
"I mean, it might be faster," Kat allowed as she closed her eyes. "But laying out in the sun and letting the heat dry you off feels so much better, don't you think?"
"It does not sound very efficient."
"It probably isn't, but that's alright, we're not in a rush." Kat opened her eyes and turned her head to look up at the other girl. "You could join me, if you want. I have another towel."
Ruru looked back at her for a moment. "If that is what you want, then I shall do so."
Kat thought about that for a moment, tempted. She was decidedly curious about what the other girl looked like naked. But the thought of it was soured by the android's lack of any reaction, which killed her mood. Kat just wanted to see her emotions, whether it was shy embarrassment or confident seduction, or anything in between.
"Nah, if you don't want to, then don't worry about it," Kat said instead, closing her eyes. "Oh, but could you put some lotion on my back? There's a bottle in my bag."
That was Kat's compromise. Ruru didn't need to react in order for Kat to enjoy a girl running her hands all over Kat's body. Granted, applying lotion while wet wasn't the best of moves, and she wasn't going to be here that long, but she was naked and alone with a cute girl who obeyed her every order and she wanted to do something.
"I would be more than happy to assist you," Ruru replied with a nod, taking her first step since she arrived as she walked closer to Kat. Kat's eyes were drawn to her feet, specifically to the sharp heels she wore, and she wondered to herself how the hell the android managed to walk in the sand in those without wobbling the slightest bit or sinking them into the ground.
"Would you like me to move the contents of your bag to your Pocket Space?" Ruru asked as she knelt down and fished through it.
"Mmm, sure, go ahead," Kat replied with a shrug. "Put the bag in too, in case we need to take it out. It has limited space, right?"
"Correct," Ruru agreed. She took the lotion from the bag before it disappeared, contents and all, into her Pocket Space. She then turned to Kat, lotion in hand, before pausing. "How does one put lotion on another?"
"The same way you put it on yourself, but on me instead," Kat replied, laying her head back down on the towel and closing her eyes.
"I have no memories of using lotion in any capacity."
"Really? Oh, right. Robot. Cheating robot skin." Kat shrugged. "Squirt some on your hands. Not too much, but more than a little. Then gently rub it into my skin, covering my back in an even spread of it."
Ruru hesitated for a moment longer before nodding. "Understood. I shall do my best."
Kat hummed in acknowledgement and relaxed as she felt the other girl's lotion covered hands rub against her skin. Despite her earlier claim of inexperience, Ruru's hands felt amazing against Kat's skin. She used just the right amount of pressure and she was meticulous in getting every nook and cranny.
"So, Ruru, tell me more about you," Kat said. "Like how old are you? What do you do for fun? What do you want to do?"
"As a gynoid and a clone created by the Company, my physical age is difficult to determine. However, this body was designed to match averages of a teenage girl roughly fifteen to seventeen years of age. I do not do any activities for fun. The only thing I wish to do is serve you."
"Oh we gotta get you a hobby or something," Kat said. "Every girl needs one."
"If you wish for me to have a hobby, then I shall do so."
Kat sighed. "It's not really a hobby if it's not something you want to do."
Truth be told, Kat was having a hard time dealing with Ruru. She was cute, so it was fine, but Kat didn't really know how to handle someone like the android girl. She had dated girls bad at expressing themselves before, but Ruru went beyond that.
But her gut said that Ruru wasn't as emotionless as she appeared to be, that there was a treasure trove of adorable personality just waiting to be unearthed. And Kat always listened to her gut. It had never steered her wrong before.
Ruru, on the other hand, found herself wondering what Kat was thinking about after falling quiet as she continued to rub lotion into her skin, moving down from her back and to her legs. Her new master hadn't asked any more questions of her, and she was starting to worry that her answer had somehow been unsatisfactory, though she couldn't imagine how, as they were objectively true statements.
She needed more data on this girl she had been assigned to. Without data, she could not understand. And without understanding, she could not serve Kat to the best of her ability, and that was unacceptable.
"May I ask a question?"
"Huh? Oh! Sure, absolutely, ask whatever you want."
"What do you want to do?" she repeated Kat's question back at her. She could surmise the answers to the other two, but Kat's goals were a mystery to her.
"Hmm… that's a good question," Kat replied. She was quiet for another moment, clearly thinking, but she eventually continued. "Mostly? I'm here for the paycheck. It's only ever been me and my Mama, and for as long as I can remember she's been slowly killing herself working two jobs just to make sure I was cared for." Kat's voice was wistful, and a little sad.
But then she forced herself to perk back up and she continued. "So yeah, when Ms. Liddel started telling me about the job, and about the pay? I hopped on it. About a third of my pay is going to my Mama, and that's still more money than she's ever seen. I'd send more, but to be honest I think she'd start worrying about how sketchy my job is if I sent her that much." Kat smiled ruefully. "Which is pretty legit I guess, considering it's definitely fucking shady."
"The majority of the services provided by the Company are highly illegal in most societies," Ruru agreed.
"Yeah, no kidding. But… that's fine. I don't give a fuck about the law or what society says. It's not like either of them have ever given a fuck about me. So sure. I'll help out the slavers. Get myself a harem of cuties in the process, do some jobs for some people, and pay my Mama back by supporting her. That's what I want to do."
"I see," Ruru replied, feeling her understanding of her new master and her motivations grow. She found herself approving, and then frowned. Approving? No, it wasn't her place to approve or disapprove. She put those considerations out of her mind and focused on applying lotion to Kat's legs.
"In terms of my long term plans… I dunno." Kat shrugged. "Keep doing this until I get bored I guess. It'd be cool to turn this place into a kick ass world filled with cute girls and adventure. Then retire I guess. Or maybe never retire? Ms. Liddel said I could take jobs whenever I want, and I think I got that one perk that makes me immortal?"
"Purchasing Advanced Runes: Body also gave you a copy of Everlasting Talent, which renders you and your retinue unaging and immune to your skills degrading due to lack of use or old age," Ruru confirmed.
"Right. So I guess I just chill when I want to chill, and do jobs when I want some excitement or something new. I don't really have any plans beyond that."
"Understood. Thank you for answering my question." Ruru pulled her hands away from Kat. "I have applied lotion to your entire backside."
"Already? Dang, that was fast." She then rolled over in place, staying on the towel, and baring her naked front to the air. She looked at Ruru with a grin and waggled her eyebrows. "Now, how about you do my front?"
"Understood," Ruru replied with a nod, lifting the bottle of lotion up once more.
Kat's grin disappeared and she hurriedly sat up. "Wait, wait, that was a joke!" Ruru paused, about to pour more lotion into her hands, and Kat sighed. "Sorry, my bad. I can do my front myself."
Kat held out her hand for the lotion bottle, which Ruru dutifully handed over. "Understood," the robot girl said, still lacking any emotion in her expression or tone. She returned her hand to her lap, as Kat took the bottle and knelt there in the sand next to her.
With practiced motions, Kat started rubbing the lotion into her front, which was pretty dry now after spending that time laying on the towel. Her offer had been more reflexive flirting than anything. There was a line that Kat wasn't willing to cross unless Ruru showed some kind of reaction, and that would have toed over it a bit.
She remained sitting up though and glanced at Ruru. "If you have any more questions, now's a good time to ask them."
Ruru didn't move as she considered what she knew about Kat. She had been able to glean much from the things she had said and done. There were gaps, or places where her knowledge was only uncertain guesses, but most of them were for fairly minor things, and thus were a low priority.
But there was one question that felt important to her.
"What do you want from me?" Ruru asked, looking straight at Kat.
Kat paused in applying her lotion, giving Ruru her full attention. She smiled, but it was a small one. "Man, you're good at asking big questions, huh?" She returned to rubbing her lotion into her skin. "You know that I didn't ask for you specifically, right? I just asked for a cute robot girl that I could afford with the rest of my starting budget."
Ruru nodded, and Kat continued. "Well, when I ran out of things I definitely wanted to get, Ms. Liddel suggested that I get an assistant. And honestly? She was so right for that. I can get pretty tunnel visioned and distracted when I do things, and I know I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed."
Ruru blinked. "Tunnel vision is a phenomenon in which you lose sight of all objectives that are not directly in your focus. That seems at odds with being easily distracted."
Kat laughed out loud. "Yeah, you'd think so, right? But I manage to do it anyway. The point is, I need someone to keep my head on straight, I guess. To rein me in when I get a little too crazy or distracted, or point out the stuff that I'm missing. You know what they say, two heads is better than one."
"I see," Ruru said simply. Once more she found herself approving of Kat's actions, respecting her awareness of her own faults and taking steps to cover them. But once again she dismissed those thoughts, deeming them irrelevant.
"But I had no idea who to pick, you know? The Catalog is filled with so many cute girls I could probably literally spend forever just scrolling through it and never pick just one to get." Kat started rubbing lotion into her breasts, her palm spiraling around the soft and squishy flesh. She glanced at Ruru, who showed no signs of reacting, and Kat suppressed a sigh.
"Anyway, that was why I had Ms. Liddel pick for me. I decided on a robot girl because that sounded fun but also food is a big concern this early on, and I wanted a cute one too of course, but other than that?" She shrugged. "I trusted Ms. Liddel to pick someone who'd do a good job.
Kat beamed at Ruru. "And so far I think you're doing exactly that. It's only been what, half an hour? But you're definitely cute, and you're definitely doing a good job as my assistant." Kat wiped the last of the lotion onto her legs and then stood up with a stretch. "Now… let me just get dressed, and let's start our first job before I get hungry."
"Very well," Ruru said, rising to her feet as well. She stood silently and patiently as Kat dressed, once more putting her still slightly damp bikini on in place of her underwear and then her shirt, pants, and shoes.
Finally done, she turned to Ruru and clapped her hands, an eager and excited grin on her face. "Alright. You ready to roll?"
Ruru nodded, and she used her ability as Kat's Smart Device to accept their first mission. Another vortex appeared in the air beside them like the one that brought them there.
Kat's grin widened just a little bit and she stepped through the portal, with Ruru close on her heels.
Once they were through, the portal closed behind them, leaving the Seablock empty once more. The only signs that they had been there were the damp towel still laid out on the ground, the bottle of lotion next to it, and the footprints in the sand.
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AN: Welcome to Seablock! Skyblock was made on an evening's whim, and Stoneblock was something I came up with just to play around with the idea some more in a different and fresh way. Seablock is essentially me completing the trifecta, exploring more aspects of it and trying out new angles. A lot of the choices I've made, such as the MC's gender, were decided in an effort to make her different from the other two stories.
Mechanically though, I've learned a lot, and I've simplified things quite a bit. I'll explain many of the details a bit more organically over the 'tutorial' arc, but to give a broad summary, the Seablock is a starting world rather than a Demiplane. Intensity is set to 0, and Kat had an actual starting budget. Rather than a weekly portal, world travel is done exclusively through taking on missions, which earn personal rewards as well as rewards that upgrade the Seablock world in some way. The only non-vanilla thing is the Intensity option that prevents her from world traveling in any way besides taking on missions, which is a 2.
Simple is best, but more importantly I needed something mechanically different from my Skyblock and Stoneblock fics, to keep it fresh and interesting. This was what I came up with, basically a removal of the time limits while still keeping the spirit of the restricted travel and building up of a home base.
And to also keep it fresh and distinct from my other two Skyblock fics, Kat Silver is my first female protagonist OC, and she was fun to design. She has a pretty solid backstory too, something I never gave Roland, and something I only fleshed out later for Morgan. I typically prefer to start with more of a blank slate and figure them out by writing them, and Kat definitely still has some blank spots, but she's more fleshed out than normal.
As for Ruru, don't be surprised if you don't know her. She's a villain from PreCure (Hugtto, for those curious). If you look her up she's rated as higher than a Tier 5, but that's for stuff that comes later. This is a very early version of her, which I'm treating as a SWP, and T5 is appropriate for that. She's cute though, and I've wanted to use her in something since watching that season, so here she is.