Episode 29- The turning point.
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A week has passed. A week during which happened a lot, and next to nothing at the same time. Small and big breakthroughs thanks to scavenged protoss tech happened. The problem is, everything was still under development, with the only project expected to be completed in the foreseeable future being a self-replicator. The part extracted from protoss reaver, even if too advanced for the scientist to comprehend fully, gave the idea for much smaller replicators for different purposes.
Other ideas weren't fully fleshed out, leaving scientists wandering from one idea to another aimlessly. The protoss crystals were still being tested on various things, but the researchers definitely saw the tendency of them being more of a help among the often used items. Power generators ended with overall increased efficiency, lights with much more extended life, and even some simple tools were upgraded by the crystals. The details were all rather iffy, with a lot of unclears all around, but step by step, Po'midor was going towards the next era. Era of hopefully successful and useful copying of aliens.
The biology side of researchers were still struggling with controlling the zerg mater in any way, without them growing out of control. And their leader, Doctor Ariel Hanson, put everything she had on hold, for a project of great importance was supposed to end successfully this very night.
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"Is the circle prepared?" Dixie, the eldest by several seconds and higher by a few inches asked.
"Yes, sister. Now we are double checking." Ixie, the second sister, who was second in both height and seconds. The youngest and shortest, Pixe, just nodded her head.
"Are you three ready, our dear assistants?" She turned to the odd trio.
"I was ready for a long time, my dear." Replied the granny, codename 'Moony'. She was calmly standing to the side, siping something from her flask.
"Just don't let it be too long. My night shift in the hospital can be postponed only for so long. And you never know when another disaster will happen." Replied . He was in his casual clothes, with glasses reflecting the moonlight (of course) and somewhat graying hair creating the perfect contrast.
"I think I am." Ended Mina. For now, only the six of them were present, and the main participants had yet to arrive. The Crone's (Honorary titles) unusual companions were ordered to keep their distance, to not affect or be affected by the ritual.
The moon on the night sky shined brilliantly on the rather big clearing in the forest. The symbol drawn on the ground had many lines and circles, creating some rather mystical and frankly cool patterns. On the fringes of the biggest circle were three big empty circles, just big enough for three persons. The weird thing is, they differed in size. It was like the tree sisters, only with much bigger contrast between sizes.
The two younger siblings drawed the last missing line, "Sister, it's done".
Dixie quickly looked with criticall eye at the symbol, then nodded her head. "Everybody, to their positions. The main stars of the show should be here soon."
The sisters took their positions, standing just before the three circles according to their sizes. The assisting trio kept a much bigger distance, standing almost to the edges of the clearing.
A silence overtook their surroundings, with nearby trees swayed by the gentle breeze. The hooting of an owl sounded in the distance, accompanied by other night bird's calls. A faint sound of distant explosion was heard, another unsuccessful attempt it seemed.
"We're her, we're here, sorry for being late." Additional of six people appeared. Well, more like three people, one very old and wise boar and two vegetables. The two figures on the gentle giant's back were completely unresponsive, probably because they were freshly made blank slates.
Dixi turned around in place, then replied "Place yourself and those two in circles, according to sizes. Ariel, Mayor, The Most Respected Sage Among the Boars, keep yourself at distance."
"Okay."
"Of course."
"Chrum."
Dobromir took the two unresponsive figures on his shoulders, and laid them in the circles. The smallest of the two landed before Pixie, being only a little taller than her, fit in the ring perfectly. The bigger one, but still smaller than Dobromir by head, landed at Ixie's feet, also fitting perfectly in the circle. The hero of this story stood in the biggest circle, facing Dixie.
"You should lie too, the dizznes will hit you like a train." Personally, she was annoyed that she needed to look up to speak with him properly. At last Dobromir himself was of average height, and only his armor, now absent, made him look bigger.
It would probably be some Anime trope, Dobromir laying down and having his head almost between the girl's legs. Buuut… these three girls were firstly too young, secondly, were though early on to wear short pants beneath skirts and thirdly, most importantly, being infected made him lose a few screws. His libido was currently non-existent, which surprisingly wasn't causing him any problems. Anime trope crisis averted.
"LET'S GET STARTED! LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!"
The stars started twinkling, and shining so much brighter. The moon cast a wide ray of light on the whole clearing. And finally, the whole area was filled with invisible pressure, which all present felt as waves coming and going.
The three young Crones put their hands into the air, and concentrated. The waves were replaced with almost tangible constant pressure, which raised with every second. The complex symbol was lit with very intense light, and the three witches started glowing too. A moment later, the trio started levitating a little, and the power was almost crushing. Finally, the light got so bright and the pressure so intense, all the onlookers closed their eyes and turned away their heads. It was a wise decision, because a moment the light exploded, lighting the whole area like a seriously overpowered christmas tree.
When the feeling of impending doom almost reached its culmination, and a fiery explosion almost happened, it all stopped. Mina looked back at the middle of the clearing, and saw the circle actually stopped existing. The three Crones were on their knees, heavily breathing. The other three laying in the circle were hard to see from all the slowly dissipating power which made the whole area wibbly wobbly.
After a few minutes, the power slowly left the surroundings, giving the onlookers quite a clever view of the three figures who were slowly waking with groans. Yes, waking as in plural, seems like the ritual worked.
"It's a very big and important moment, but duty calls." He extended his arms making a T pose. Soon, a white hippogriff swapped down and took him by his shoulders. "I will want to hear those details later…" and he disappeared.
Even Mina shrugged her shoulders, she experienced so many new and utterly ridiculous things that this didn't faze her in the slightest. She, Moony, Mayor, Ariel and the apparently Very Important Boar among all boars walked closer.
Dobromir was first to stand up, and the changes were instantly apparent. A lot of fat escaped from all over his body, from face through torso to even legs. It didn't mean that he was overweight to begin with, but not his face was sharper, especially cheekbones. The hidden muscles now showed everywhere on his body and… he wasn't ripped. His muscles were more compact, and rather didn't stand out too much. The small bear belly vanished completely, and yes, Dobromir walked over here without a shirt.
The two other figures were definitely a surprise. Mina thought it was supposed to be a memory transfer, but it obviously was much more. The first clone, middle in height, was actually a woman. Or more like a girl, considering she looked to be in her teens, maybe? Before the ritual, only the cloth around the chest hinted that it could be a female. Considering the new two small lumps on the chest, and much more rounder, and well, prettier face it was adamant where most of the fat went. The only problem was lack of hair, but considering the possibilities of Po'midor's researchers, it would be corrected rather quickly.
The second clone looked honestly weird. But that was the purpose, Mina thinked. Because the second clone was the shortest, and honestly looked like ten years old. And he…? It? There was no shirt either and lack of any nipples, be it manly or womanly, clearly showed. Additionally, this newly born person was androgynus, which honestly defined it's whole existence. The clear mark of difference from normal humans was the mushroom cap on the head, which honestly fit this small, and rather adorable, person.
Finally the three looked each other in the eyes, and started walking, to meet in the middle. Before any words were uttered, three fists met, and then a vertigo washed all over the tree. The dream, as always, happened after it was utterly forgotten, only to come to the forefront of the mind just at the right moment.
A silence descended upon the whole clearing, and even the wind went somewhere else. This moment was broken by Dobromir loudly exclaiming "Bogumila! Your name will be Bogumila, to match mine in the ancient naming traditions." The young girl, who would look very similar to him if not for the zerg corruption, replied with "Honestly, it doesn't sound that good."
"Now you feel my pain, sister." He turned his attention to his other new sibling "You, on the other hand, your name from now on would be… Ziemowit."
The shroom kid just looked at him funny, then said "I guess it isn't that bad, but still."
"Welcome to my world, brother."
The three sisters, still weak from the ordeal, called their special companions and returned to their home, to sleep it off. Before leaving, they said that a last important part would need to be done, in the aftermath, a week later.
The rest of the team walked back to the mayor's house, mostly thinking. The two freshly bringed into existence had to gain at last a little sense of self. The ritual wasn't completely clear at what it does, so it was more than just copy & paste. They both not so long ago were Dobromir himself, but now they were a little more. But, considering who they were, there was a very important thought in their heads.
As the group cleared the tree line, the freshly bringed to existence girl started with "We have one very important matter to address."
Her sibling replied with a synchronized "Hmmm?"
The rest just looked at her, silently.
"Dobromir is Tank, a heavy cavalry to be exact. But I don't think I am cut out for this." That saying, she pointedly pointed at her lithe and short figure. "I'll need to think about something else, more lighter and flexible."
"A light cavalry, huh? There is a clear counterpart, we will just need to look into history and certain game."
"Which history, do you mean… Ooo, that makes sense. Now, change a horse for a fox and it would be about right."
"Great minds think alike. Don't forget about a certain outfit from a certain era, just slightly modify it for female use and it would be about right."
"There is one tailor who could make it. And weapons…" She drifted off, mind full of ideas.
The Mayor, Hanson and Mina didn't understand one bit what they were talking about. 'What sad lives they led' Though Granny Moony and the Most Respected Sage Among The Boars. They catched each other nodding and then nodded to each other instead. A much clearer understanding formed, Granny knows a specific bit of history about a specific riders in the specific times and specific country. She also played a certain game where a little more flavor was added to the whole picture. The Sage, on the other cloven hoof, knew only the latter, but connected the dots. He wasn't just a dumb animal after all, his mental capabilities outshined all human idiots, and almost reached the point of standart human.
"What about you, Wit?" Dobromir turned his head to the other younger sibling.
"The mushrooms are trying to talk to me and it's weird." He walked in silence a little longer, "wait, Wit? Where did that come from?"
"You know, a first nickname," he said, dismissively waving his hand. "We are, after all, the Mir, Mil and Wit siblings."
"I don't know, it still sounds a little weird."
"Anyway, do you have some inspiration for yourself?"
"I'll make it simple, no history or meta knowledge, just Nox."
"Wich one? A few come to mind, but I'am kinda curious.'
"Xelor, lord of time. I don't know about controlling time itself, or making a giant walking Clock-clockwork, or a few other things, but I definitely liked his style." He turned his head towards his eldest sibling, "What about you? Someone from the game? Video? HIstory? Cartoons or Anime?"
"To tell the truth… my mind draws blank. The only potential I see would be some stereotypical dark lord but eh… Also, I don't have much time, so I will stay natural." He looked over himself, especially his purple skin "As natural as I can be, at last."
The group arrived at the house, and the company sat on the sofa and chairs, three across four. The VIB couldn't fit into the house, and it didn't really concern him any further so he left.
Dobromir, sitting in the middle of the sofa, started a conversation with the silent, to this moment, four. "So Dad, any questions, something to say?"
The Mayor shifted on his chair, let out a sigh, then smiled softly. "Seems I just gained more headaches to take care of. Anyway, I and a few others made some plans and we will be creating a new colony in our system."
"Wow. After so long, we will grow." He looked a little misty eyed at that, it really hit his expansionist/builder spots. "But why a second colony? There are still a few places for smaller cities on our planet."
"That's because our population has grown three or four times larger. Food and other basic commodities aren't really a problem, we will just stop most of our exports. The problem lies in minerals. Our homeland is very poor in that regard, and even with our substitutes in the shape of bio-fuels and renewable sources of energy, we still need to build it from something. With all the turmoil in the newly formed Empire and aliens attacking left and right, importing the needed materials is becoming too pricey, or even outright impossible. We will use the experienced miners from Mar Sara and become even more independent resource wise."
After his long tangent a moment of silence descended. After a moment, Dobromir turned to one of his friends, which were very few in numbers. "Ariel? What about you?"
She righted her glasses with a finger, "Wit's synergy with mushroom sample is pretty decent, but it's practically a new and largely untested field of study. I don't know what will happen further down the road, but a rapport from changes would be very much needed." The last part was clearly directed at the shroom person who seemed distracted by something else.
"Hmm…? Yes, I will try."
Now he turned to the eldest in the room, who was sitting calmly with a slight smirk. "What about you, Granny Moon?"
"Nothing much, just getting the new old people into a presentable shape, they clearly need some little exercise to not fall apart from a gust of wind."
"And what about you?" He said, turning to the last member of the audience, "The rising star among sailors, the voidborn traveler among empty space?"
Mina was definitely weirded out by those names, where did they even "come from?".
"I just created them on the spot, don't worry, they will be remembered and upgraded with time, maybe your tales will become a story for children."
Mina just shook her hands as if trying to shoo away the idea "No, no, it's completely out of context, let's focus on something much more important. Why was I trained by this lady how to sail in those boats? What's even my purpose here?"
"You see, you will be our special pilot. In certain situations, it's good to have a boat ready to take off in a moment's notice, or provide support from above. Your star powers would definitely help in that, especially in making the ship just better."
"I didn't even agree to anything yet!"
"Come on, what better things do you have to do? Waffling abound and doing nothing? Find a simple job and be bored to death? Don't worry, you will be paid a hefty sum, together with free health insurance, tax free, and some other things. Additionally, you will have a house for free, with full furnishings, electricity and colonization."
"But I…! I guess…, okay." She really didn't want to stop being a pilot, and after the quick lessons mostly on the fly, literally, she was hyped more than ever. Even if the boats looked like inferior technology, they were much better equipped compared to simple dropships she used to operate. Free energy, sail itself doesn't need any, some weird tech keeping the air in, even if the boat is open. A good quality computer, both for navigation and for normal use, be it internet or gaming. The special anti-gravity system for easily lifting things on the ship. And a few other things she didn't get time to see yet. "But, who will I be carrying around?"
"Our dear Bogumila, after some time at last."
"But you said it in plural earlier."
"It would be a changing occurrence. For now, I will go alone, because zerg obviously. Ziemowit will be joining Raynor, and because they are moving all around in secret, Maria will deliver him and return. This leaves my dear sister, who will be facing the unknown."
"And when will it be known huh?"
"I know the answer to that one." Every one, except one girl, turned their attention towards Granny. "One of my friends has some kind of foresight, he will know where the two of you should arrive."