FatBabyYoshi
Getting some practice in, huh?
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maybe we'll finally see the carrondas nikke team that mustang told us about.
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Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)
- Thread starter BakaSmurf
- Start date
Chapter 64 - The First Steps into a New Home
New
BakaSmurf
Only Human, After All
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2016
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- 216
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- 10,514
===
Chapter 64 - The First Steps into a New Home
===
It wasn't long before the group was back in the Outpost, passing easily through the front entrance and stepping into the great, cavernous living space. Though, despite it being an increasingly familiar location, Joe was caught quite off-guard upon looking up and seeing the sky where there had once been a rocky ceiling.
Staring up in open surprise, it was Snow White that spoke up first. "What in- I thought the Outpost was underground? This is clearly a valley!"
"One must admit, this sight is rather incongruous with the description we were given leading to our arrival here…" Scarlet added as she tipped her massive hat up, gazing about with a popped eyebrow.
Rapi was the one that spoke up next. "It seems that Mighty Tools finished installing the Outpost's Dome of Eternity," the little blonde remarked at the sight. "Do you not remember having approved the motion, Joe?" She inquired of the Commander, giving him a bit of a bemused look.
At that, Joe just coughed into his fist and started off towards the Command Centre. "A-anyways, there isn't a whole lot to see, but-" once again, he paused. This time, upon noticing how very filled out the Outpost was compared to how it was when he'd last observed it.
Mighty Tools had been hard at work, it seemed. Suddenly, though the streets were still rather barren aside from distant workers, the place was increasingly looking more and more like a proper budding town. All it was going to need at this rate, was a wave of immigrants to fill up the empty buildings.
Hell, thinking of the map Litre had shown him of the place's zoning plans, it looked like the commercial district was even at least mostly done. Shopping might be a lot easier to get done here, at this rate…
Regardless, Pioneer surged forward, seeming more than a little eager to see a functioning, properly built-up town being actively constructed—something of a rare sight on a planet almost entirely bereft of human life, to say the least.
With no small amount of surprise, Joe watched them begin to zoom off—with the exception of Snow White, who stepped towards the Outpost proper, then stopped to give the Commander an expectant look.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Joe looked to Rapi, who was still glued to his side, and motioned for her to follow. "Alright, let's give you girls the tour of the Outpost, such as it is." With that, he set off, Snow White and Rapi remaining close by his side all the while.
There hadn't been all that much to show Pioneer, and while the group did garner a few eyes, Joe had just made it clear that they answered directly to Ingrid, and to mind their own business. That, if nothing else, seemed to make the remnants of Goddess all but invisible to wandering eyes right quick.
Aside from Centi, who seemed utterly nonplussed by Pioneer's presence regardless, nobody of particular note was around to see the girls in the first place. While the Outpost wasn't much, especially when compared to the Ark proper, it was still seemingly a bastion of life as far as Snow, Rapunzel, Scarlet and Cinderella were concerned. Such was understandable, if nothing else, given how they'd been living since… However long it had been since they'd left Eden.
Eventually, the girls had seemed to have their fill of wandering around, and so everyone made their way for the Command Centre, and more specifically, Joe's office. Since there was an elevator in the foyer leading directly to the top floor, they didn't need to pass through the general Nikke living space, and so they didn't run into the rest of Counters proper yet.
Thus, Joe marched to and collapsed into his office chair, letting out a long, weary sigh as he allowed himself to momentarily melt into the seat.
All the while, Pioneer zipped around the suite, immediately looking around and poking at near everything—culminating in Cinderella finding the washroom and declaring with no small amount of utter, rapturous joy, that there was a shower.
The Commander wished that he couldn't say that he was surprised when he heard the water start running, Scarlet glowering covetously at the washroom door as it did so. He probably should have seen the girls hijacking his utilities immediately, given how they'd been living out of tents and probably bathing in rivers for decades now.
Regardless, as the girls all settled in, Joe worked up the will to withdraw his phone to contact Ingrid and Andersen.
[I'm back from the field. Requesting a meeting to debrief.]
Short and sweet, hopefully they'd immediately understand and-
[The Deputy Chief Commander is preoccupied,] Ingrid rapidly responded, [I'll be at your office shortly.]
Ah. So, Cinderella was probably going to have to wait a while before being reunited with her father just yet… Unfortunate, but it was what it was.
"Andersen can't come to meet everyone just yet," Joe declared to the gathered girls, of whom Snow White was peering intently at Marian's gun, First Affection; Rapunzel had claimed one of the couches and was serenely sitting without making a nuisance of herself; and Scarlet was looming next to the washroom door, clearly intent on being the next to use the shower. "Ingrid, the CEO of Elysion and a trusted ally, is going to show up to talk in his stead."
"Ah," Rapunzel seemed more than a little disappointed, glancing towards the small, increasingly steamy room Cinderella was currently occupying. "That's rather unfortunate, but I suppose it can't be helped. He's probably busy with being a… General, I suppose?"
"That's effectively what Deputy Chief Commanders are to my understanding, yeah," Joe nodded in acknowledgement of the comparison. "We'll figure out when we'll be able to have a proper family reunion sooner or later."
"I suppose if we've waited this long, just a bit longer can't be so bad…" Rapunzel mused as she lightly steepled her fingers, seeming to mull something over as she glanced out the window. Her eyes widened at the sight of the sky again. "Um, Joe?" She started. "Rapi mentioned 'the Dome of Eternity' in reference to the sky earlier…?"
"The Ark has a holographic artificial sky over the city," Joe answered matter-of-factually. "It creates the illusion of the city not being a hole in the ground. Helps with the psychology of the general populace. Separates them from the reality that most of them have never, and may never see the real sky, sun, or moon in their lives."
Joe looked out the window himself, noting how, under scrutiny, the illusion cast over the Outpost was somewhat less convincing than the one in the Ark proper. "Mighty Tools must have used older, mothballed projector panels for this one. It's easier to tell that the sky isn't real compared to the Ark itself."
"Amazing…" Rapunzel let out a wondrous breath. "It's good to know that most get to experience normalcy, even today. All this time, we've been fighting just for something like that…"
"It'd be better if they didn't have their heads firmly buried in the sand, in my opinion…" Joe noted somewhat darkly, his frustrations with the Ark's populace filtering through to no small degree. "Maybe the ungrateful fucks would be less inclined towards mistreating the Nikkes they owe everything if they couldn't deny the reality of mankind's situation," he suggested in a resentful tone.
That gave Rapunzel no small amount of pause, shrinking in on herself somewhat with a strained grimace. Snow White's attention shifted to Joe, now staring at him with some measure of wary uncertainty. She didn't say anything, however, leaving the group in a momentary lapse into silence.
"...Such an indulgently large bed…" Scarlet mused out of the blue, leaning over to peer into the sleeping quarters proper of Joe's Commander Suite. "The Commander hath been living in the lap of luxury in his time here, if nothing else."
An obvious subject shift, but one that wasn't altogether unwarranted, all things considered.
The conversation that followed wasn't particularly noteworthy, thus nothing of particular interest occurred until Cinderella was done with the shower… Only to realize that she'd not thought her actions through entirely, given that the washing machine only just audibly started up after the shower stopped.
"Truly?" Scarlet started with audible frustration. "Didst thou sincerely not consider that you hath not a solitary change of clothes on hand?"
"Shush!" Cinderella indignantly cried from the other side of the door. Joe could hear the embarrassed pout on her face.
Although… "So what was your plan then, Scarlet?" the burly figure inquired, popping an eyebrow as he observed the swordswoman's continued vigil over the washroom. "You don't exactly have any clean clothes either… In fact, hey!"
The man suddenly rose to his feet, ignoring the flush of realization striking Scarlet's features. Rather, he quickly rushed to the door and authoritatively rapped on it.
"Don't use the washer and dryer just for one bloody outfit! The Outpost has to get potable water delivered from and dirty water shipped back to the Ark until the on-site recycling centre gets set up! We have to ration it out because there's only so much to go around per shipment!"
"W-well what am I supposed to do then!?" Cinderella cried back, her voice becoming audibly distressed as the washing machine stopped spooling up. "I can't come out and lounge about in my birthday suit! I'm not my father!"
…Yeah, Andersen had tried to waltz about the Avenger in nothing but his way too revealing briefs, sunglasses, and hat more than once. Cinderella may have inherited some of the man's attention whore tendencies, but she wasn't that egregious.
Usually.
With a jolt, Rapi suddenly went ramrod straight with a look of stark realization, and with a grim expression, declared: "I'll be right back!" She then zipped out of the room with a purpose.
Joe couldn't do much beyond stare at the hallway door after the little blonde's departure, not entirely sure what it was she intended to do-
"Here!" Scarlet slapped the washroom door herself, presenting to it a-
"Oy!" Joe started with a furrowed brow. "Did you just sneak into my closet-?"
"You just declared that it would be wasteful to wash but a single collection of garments at a time," Scarlet noted with a grimace as she continued to hold one of Joe's spare shirts up to the door. "Therefore: we need something to wear until the last one in to clean themselves can wash all of our accoutrements at once."
Joe opened his mouth to protest, however, she had a point. So, he just shrugged, spinning on his heel to return to his seat. "Alright, alright, point taken! I'll make a note that we need to get you all new clothes the next time we make a supply run to the Ark…"
"You said that we weren't to head into the Ark proper," Snow White noted dryly, paying little heed to a rapidly reddening Rapunzel.
"I meant myself or one of the Counters girls!" Joe clarified with a groan. "Y'all can give us your measurements or something!"
"O-our measurements!?" Rapunzel cried out, openly scandalized. "B-but that would mean- You would know how big our- And you'd have to use a measuring tape and touch and squeeze and lift and cup our…!" The repressed nun buried her face in her hands, somehow failing to hide how widely her eyes were bugging out at the thought of regardless.
At that, Joe just fell into his seat, then slumped right forward and allowed his forehead to all but slam into the surface of his desk with a long, pained groan. "You've all been here for less than an hour, how is my room already devolving into bedlam, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…!"
"I'm not even doing anything!" Snow White protested with a heavy frown.
Then Cinderella finally emerged from the shower, more than a little sheepishly doing her best to adjust the massively oversized shirt loosely hanging from her frame in a manner that made it look like a wildly ill-fitting dress. The sight reminded him of the first time the little Nikke met Goddess, in fact…
Otherwise, needless to say, Scarlet all but shoved the little platinumette out of the way as she bounded to get in the shower next.
At any rate, with Cinderella's hair worn loose as well, the effect was more cute than anything-
"And of course," Snow White spoke up again. "You're already making yourself comfortable wearing nothing but the Commander's own clothes in his quarters, as per usual."
While Cinderella turned ruby red, Joe gave Snow White a deeply betrayed look.
"...I have done nothing wrong in all my life," Snow White defensively asserted, making firm eye contact with the man as she did so.
"Judas," Joe countered with a heavy grimace.
Some time after, just as Scarlet stepped out of the shower, a deeply contented expression worn on her face as she ran a hand through her still-damp hair, Rapi emerged back into the room. A bundle of clothes held in her arms and a determined look on her face.
"Put these on," she ordered the two recently cleaned Nikkes, randomly shoving half of each bundle into their chests. "Whatever fits best."
As the two blinked in surprise, Joe scratched his head in confusion for a moment before he realized that Rapi had grabbed a bunch of spare workout tops and bottoms from the barracks. That was a really simple solution, though… "Um, Rapi, I don't think those will-"
"You're complaining about me ensuring that your closet remains unraided?" The little blonde sharply turned to face the burly brunet, her delicate brow furrowing heavily in the moments before…
"U-um…" Rapunzel started after she'd stood up, approached, and took an article of clothing from the bundles, holding the shirt up and very warily gazing at it with a deeply embarrassed and somewhat scandalized expression on her face. "All of these, on top of being so... airy, would be several sizes too small on me, R-Rapi. J-Joe would be able to s-s-see e-e-e-everything…!" The towering blonde noted as, yes, it had to be noted that Rapi had failed to account for the fact that Rapunzel was a big girl, actually being the same height as the Commander himself was.
Joe interjected before the poor Italian started to death spiral. "I think that Rapunzel is going to need to wear one of my shirts tonight, Rapi."
The nun's chest alone would probably cause even the largest of Counter's spare tops to tear if she tried to force any of them on. And as appealing as the idea of that was in a vacuum, Rapunzel would probably die if that happened. Come to think of it, Joe would probably die too. Rapunzel was very much a stone-cold stunner, after all.
Rapi just stared at Joe, clearly displeased with his assertion, though she wordlessly shifted her attention to the shirts and shorts she'd provided, and obviously, could not deny the fact that not one of the girls currently housed in the Command Centre even came close to sharing Rapunzel's statuesque, fertility goddess-like build.
So, instead, she turned to Cinderella. "Well, you can at least-"
Cinderella had found what was obviously one of Anis' spare shirts, and upon probing and feeling it out for a bit… "...This would be too tight in the chest, and too loose everywhere else," she pointed out.
Indeed, Cinderella was as stacked as Rapunzel was, while being the shortest member of Goddess at that. Again, none of the Counters girls had anything even approximating a figure like hers, with only Anis even beginning to approach parity in a certain specific area.
"...Again, I think Cinderella's going to have to keep wearing my shirt for now," Joe noted as he rubbed the back of his neck with a small, apologetic grimace. Better for the entire article to be too big, than distractingly too tight in the chest and baggy everywhere else.
After a few tense moments, Rapi turned to face Scarlet, her expression entirely too blank.
"...Well, luckily, given that thine attire seems sized for thy binded figure…" Scarlet began, holding up one of what was one of Rapi's spare tops, given that Rapi's name was written on it on a patch, oddly enough. "There's little reason I could not change out of Joe's garment and change into thine." She reached out, secured a pair of (worryingly tiny, holy shit, Rapi) shorts, and retreated back into the washroom to change.
After a moment, Rapi turned to face Snow White-
"I'm not showering," the silverette asserted plainly.
"Yes thee art!" Scarlet shouted through the door. "Smelly Nikke!"
"I am not a smelly Nikke!" Snow White very forcefully and defensively cried in reply, immediately hunching over like a snarling dog might.
"Stinky Nikke, stinky clothes!" Scarlet asserted. "The Commander only spares you criticism on account of thine fragile ego and sisterly status!"
Utterly aghast, Snow White sharply turned to face Joe, her expression demanding that he deny the cruel assertions.
However, Joe knew and understood what Scarlet was attempting to do, and thus, he simply averted his gaze sheepishly.
At that, Snow White's expression contorted into one of pure betrayal, then pain, then, resignation. In a deeply uncharacteristically small and defeated voice, she declared: "...I'll shower…"
Well that made Joe feel bad, though he wasn't about to go undercutting Scarlet's efforts to get Snow White to bathe. Thus, he simply resolved to low-key make it up to the bottomless pit by allowing her to gorge herself on food that night.
All that aside, there was little else to do but wait for Ingrid to arrive.
When Ingrid did eventually step into the room, carrying what was clearly a rifle case as she did so, she harshly halted, freezing in place like a statue as she took in the sight of almost the entirety of the legendary Goddess squad.
All of whom were loitering and lounging about the Legendary Commander's room, in various states of undress, several wearing what were clearly the Commander's own shirts and little else, listening to cyberpunky ambient background music. There was a mountain of just-emptied Tetra Line Premium-grade ration packs piled up on his coffee table, and the Legendary Commander himself was slumped in his office chair, a can of soda limply held in his hand in a way that called to mind a man defeated by his life and nursing a can of cheap beer in an impotent attempt to deal with everything.
Joe simply tracked his eyes over to Elysion's CEO without turning to face her properly, simply letting an acknowledging, guttural sound of "Egh," along with a quarter-assed nod of his head to affirm that her appearance hadn't gone unnoticed.
Ingrid's keen violet eyes took in the unfathomably absurd sight, and after several long moments, she reached up and heavily pinched the bridge of her nose with a bone-deep sigh of absolute exasperation.
"...It would have been appreciated," Ingrid began, "Had you been so magnanimous as to grant us a warning that you intended to bring Goddess into the Outpost, rather than simply springing your decision upon me like this, Commander," she declared in a deeply put-upon voice.
After a few moments of consideration, Joe looked as though he'd bitten down on a lemon after considering that, yeah, they'd never discussed the notion of him just bringing Pioneer into the Outpost the moment they were reunited. He'd just done so without talking to anyone about doing so beforehand.
Joe had only a simple reply to Ingrid's entirely reasonable point.
"Oops."
Chapter 64 - The First Steps into a New Home
===
It wasn't long before the group was back in the Outpost, passing easily through the front entrance and stepping into the great, cavernous living space. Though, despite it being an increasingly familiar location, Joe was caught quite off-guard upon looking up and seeing the sky where there had once been a rocky ceiling.
Staring up in open surprise, it was Snow White that spoke up first. "What in- I thought the Outpost was underground? This is clearly a valley!"
"One must admit, this sight is rather incongruous with the description we were given leading to our arrival here…" Scarlet added as she tipped her massive hat up, gazing about with a popped eyebrow.
Rapi was the one that spoke up next. "It seems that Mighty Tools finished installing the Outpost's Dome of Eternity," the little blonde remarked at the sight. "Do you not remember having approved the motion, Joe?" She inquired of the Commander, giving him a bit of a bemused look.
At that, Joe just coughed into his fist and started off towards the Command Centre. "A-anyways, there isn't a whole lot to see, but-" once again, he paused. This time, upon noticing how very filled out the Outpost was compared to how it was when he'd last observed it.
Mighty Tools had been hard at work, it seemed. Suddenly, though the streets were still rather barren aside from distant workers, the place was increasingly looking more and more like a proper budding town. All it was going to need at this rate, was a wave of immigrants to fill up the empty buildings.
Hell, thinking of the map Litre had shown him of the place's zoning plans, it looked like the commercial district was even at least mostly done. Shopping might be a lot easier to get done here, at this rate…
Regardless, Pioneer surged forward, seeming more than a little eager to see a functioning, properly built-up town being actively constructed—something of a rare sight on a planet almost entirely bereft of human life, to say the least.
With no small amount of surprise, Joe watched them begin to zoom off—with the exception of Snow White, who stepped towards the Outpost proper, then stopped to give the Commander an expectant look.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Joe looked to Rapi, who was still glued to his side, and motioned for her to follow. "Alright, let's give you girls the tour of the Outpost, such as it is." With that, he set off, Snow White and Rapi remaining close by his side all the while.
There hadn't been all that much to show Pioneer, and while the group did garner a few eyes, Joe had just made it clear that they answered directly to Ingrid, and to mind their own business. That, if nothing else, seemed to make the remnants of Goddess all but invisible to wandering eyes right quick.
Aside from Centi, who seemed utterly nonplussed by Pioneer's presence regardless, nobody of particular note was around to see the girls in the first place. While the Outpost wasn't much, especially when compared to the Ark proper, it was still seemingly a bastion of life as far as Snow, Rapunzel, Scarlet and Cinderella were concerned. Such was understandable, if nothing else, given how they'd been living since… However long it had been since they'd left Eden.
Eventually, the girls had seemed to have their fill of wandering around, and so everyone made their way for the Command Centre, and more specifically, Joe's office. Since there was an elevator in the foyer leading directly to the top floor, they didn't need to pass through the general Nikke living space, and so they didn't run into the rest of Counters proper yet.
Thus, Joe marched to and collapsed into his office chair, letting out a long, weary sigh as he allowed himself to momentarily melt into the seat.
All the while, Pioneer zipped around the suite, immediately looking around and poking at near everything—culminating in Cinderella finding the washroom and declaring with no small amount of utter, rapturous joy, that there was a shower.
The Commander wished that he couldn't say that he was surprised when he heard the water start running, Scarlet glowering covetously at the washroom door as it did so. He probably should have seen the girls hijacking his utilities immediately, given how they'd been living out of tents and probably bathing in rivers for decades now.
Regardless, as the girls all settled in, Joe worked up the will to withdraw his phone to contact Ingrid and Andersen.
[I'm back from the field. Requesting a meeting to debrief.]
Short and sweet, hopefully they'd immediately understand and-
[The Deputy Chief Commander is preoccupied,] Ingrid rapidly responded, [I'll be at your office shortly.]
Ah. So, Cinderella was probably going to have to wait a while before being reunited with her father just yet… Unfortunate, but it was what it was.
"Andersen can't come to meet everyone just yet," Joe declared to the gathered girls, of whom Snow White was peering intently at Marian's gun, First Affection; Rapunzel had claimed one of the couches and was serenely sitting without making a nuisance of herself; and Scarlet was looming next to the washroom door, clearly intent on being the next to use the shower. "Ingrid, the CEO of Elysion and a trusted ally, is going to show up to talk in his stead."
"Ah," Rapunzel seemed more than a little disappointed, glancing towards the small, increasingly steamy room Cinderella was currently occupying. "That's rather unfortunate, but I suppose it can't be helped. He's probably busy with being a… General, I suppose?"
"That's effectively what Deputy Chief Commanders are to my understanding, yeah," Joe nodded in acknowledgement of the comparison. "We'll figure out when we'll be able to have a proper family reunion sooner or later."
"I suppose if we've waited this long, just a bit longer can't be so bad…" Rapunzel mused as she lightly steepled her fingers, seeming to mull something over as she glanced out the window. Her eyes widened at the sight of the sky again. "Um, Joe?" She started. "Rapi mentioned 'the Dome of Eternity' in reference to the sky earlier…?"
"The Ark has a holographic artificial sky over the city," Joe answered matter-of-factually. "It creates the illusion of the city not being a hole in the ground. Helps with the psychology of the general populace. Separates them from the reality that most of them have never, and may never see the real sky, sun, or moon in their lives."
Joe looked out the window himself, noting how, under scrutiny, the illusion cast over the Outpost was somewhat less convincing than the one in the Ark proper. "Mighty Tools must have used older, mothballed projector panels for this one. It's easier to tell that the sky isn't real compared to the Ark itself."
"Amazing…" Rapunzel let out a wondrous breath. "It's good to know that most get to experience normalcy, even today. All this time, we've been fighting just for something like that…"
"It'd be better if they didn't have their heads firmly buried in the sand, in my opinion…" Joe noted somewhat darkly, his frustrations with the Ark's populace filtering through to no small degree. "Maybe the ungrateful fucks would be less inclined towards mistreating the Nikkes they owe everything if they couldn't deny the reality of mankind's situation," he suggested in a resentful tone.
That gave Rapunzel no small amount of pause, shrinking in on herself somewhat with a strained grimace. Snow White's attention shifted to Joe, now staring at him with some measure of wary uncertainty. She didn't say anything, however, leaving the group in a momentary lapse into silence.
"...Such an indulgently large bed…" Scarlet mused out of the blue, leaning over to peer into the sleeping quarters proper of Joe's Commander Suite. "The Commander hath been living in the lap of luxury in his time here, if nothing else."
An obvious subject shift, but one that wasn't altogether unwarranted, all things considered.
The conversation that followed wasn't particularly noteworthy, thus nothing of particular interest occurred until Cinderella was done with the shower… Only to realize that she'd not thought her actions through entirely, given that the washing machine only just audibly started up after the shower stopped.
"Truly?" Scarlet started with audible frustration. "Didst thou sincerely not consider that you hath not a solitary change of clothes on hand?"
"Shush!" Cinderella indignantly cried from the other side of the door. Joe could hear the embarrassed pout on her face.
Although… "So what was your plan then, Scarlet?" the burly figure inquired, popping an eyebrow as he observed the swordswoman's continued vigil over the washroom. "You don't exactly have any clean clothes either… In fact, hey!"
The man suddenly rose to his feet, ignoring the flush of realization striking Scarlet's features. Rather, he quickly rushed to the door and authoritatively rapped on it.
"Don't use the washer and dryer just for one bloody outfit! The Outpost has to get potable water delivered from and dirty water shipped back to the Ark until the on-site recycling centre gets set up! We have to ration it out because there's only so much to go around per shipment!"
"W-well what am I supposed to do then!?" Cinderella cried back, her voice becoming audibly distressed as the washing machine stopped spooling up. "I can't come out and lounge about in my birthday suit! I'm not my father!"
…Yeah, Andersen had tried to waltz about the Avenger in nothing but his way too revealing briefs, sunglasses, and hat more than once. Cinderella may have inherited some of the man's attention whore tendencies, but she wasn't that egregious.
Usually.
With a jolt, Rapi suddenly went ramrod straight with a look of stark realization, and with a grim expression, declared: "I'll be right back!" She then zipped out of the room with a purpose.
Joe couldn't do much beyond stare at the hallway door after the little blonde's departure, not entirely sure what it was she intended to do-
"Here!" Scarlet slapped the washroom door herself, presenting to it a-
"Oy!" Joe started with a furrowed brow. "Did you just sneak into my closet-?"
"You just declared that it would be wasteful to wash but a single collection of garments at a time," Scarlet noted with a grimace as she continued to hold one of Joe's spare shirts up to the door. "Therefore: we need something to wear until the last one in to clean themselves can wash all of our accoutrements at once."
Joe opened his mouth to protest, however, she had a point. So, he just shrugged, spinning on his heel to return to his seat. "Alright, alright, point taken! I'll make a note that we need to get you all new clothes the next time we make a supply run to the Ark…"
"You said that we weren't to head into the Ark proper," Snow White noted dryly, paying little heed to a rapidly reddening Rapunzel.
"I meant myself or one of the Counters girls!" Joe clarified with a groan. "Y'all can give us your measurements or something!"
"O-our measurements!?" Rapunzel cried out, openly scandalized. "B-but that would mean- You would know how big our- And you'd have to use a measuring tape and touch and squeeze and lift and cup our…!" The repressed nun buried her face in her hands, somehow failing to hide how widely her eyes were bugging out at the thought of regardless.
At that, Joe just fell into his seat, then slumped right forward and allowed his forehead to all but slam into the surface of his desk with a long, pained groan. "You've all been here for less than an hour, how is my room already devolving into bedlam, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…!"
"I'm not even doing anything!" Snow White protested with a heavy frown.
Then Cinderella finally emerged from the shower, more than a little sheepishly doing her best to adjust the massively oversized shirt loosely hanging from her frame in a manner that made it look like a wildly ill-fitting dress. The sight reminded him of the first time the little Nikke met Goddess, in fact…
Otherwise, needless to say, Scarlet all but shoved the little platinumette out of the way as she bounded to get in the shower next.
At any rate, with Cinderella's hair worn loose as well, the effect was more cute than anything-
"And of course," Snow White spoke up again. "You're already making yourself comfortable wearing nothing but the Commander's own clothes in his quarters, as per usual."
While Cinderella turned ruby red, Joe gave Snow White a deeply betrayed look.
"...I have done nothing wrong in all my life," Snow White defensively asserted, making firm eye contact with the man as she did so.
"Judas," Joe countered with a heavy grimace.
Some time after, just as Scarlet stepped out of the shower, a deeply contented expression worn on her face as she ran a hand through her still-damp hair, Rapi emerged back into the room. A bundle of clothes held in her arms and a determined look on her face.
"Put these on," she ordered the two recently cleaned Nikkes, randomly shoving half of each bundle into their chests. "Whatever fits best."
As the two blinked in surprise, Joe scratched his head in confusion for a moment before he realized that Rapi had grabbed a bunch of spare workout tops and bottoms from the barracks. That was a really simple solution, though… "Um, Rapi, I don't think those will-"
"You're complaining about me ensuring that your closet remains unraided?" The little blonde sharply turned to face the burly brunet, her delicate brow furrowing heavily in the moments before…
"U-um…" Rapunzel started after she'd stood up, approached, and took an article of clothing from the bundles, holding the shirt up and very warily gazing at it with a deeply embarrassed and somewhat scandalized expression on her face. "All of these, on top of being so... airy, would be several sizes too small on me, R-Rapi. J-Joe would be able to s-s-see e-e-e-everything…!" The towering blonde noted as, yes, it had to be noted that Rapi had failed to account for the fact that Rapunzel was a big girl, actually being the same height as the Commander himself was.
Joe interjected before the poor Italian started to death spiral. "I think that Rapunzel is going to need to wear one of my shirts tonight, Rapi."
The nun's chest alone would probably cause even the largest of Counter's spare tops to tear if she tried to force any of them on. And as appealing as the idea of that was in a vacuum, Rapunzel would probably die if that happened. Come to think of it, Joe would probably die too. Rapunzel was very much a stone-cold stunner, after all.
Rapi just stared at Joe, clearly displeased with his assertion, though she wordlessly shifted her attention to the shirts and shorts she'd provided, and obviously, could not deny the fact that not one of the girls currently housed in the Command Centre even came close to sharing Rapunzel's statuesque, fertility goddess-like build.
So, instead, she turned to Cinderella. "Well, you can at least-"
Cinderella had found what was obviously one of Anis' spare shirts, and upon probing and feeling it out for a bit… "...This would be too tight in the chest, and too loose everywhere else," she pointed out.
Indeed, Cinderella was as stacked as Rapunzel was, while being the shortest member of Goddess at that. Again, none of the Counters girls had anything even approximating a figure like hers, with only Anis even beginning to approach parity in a certain specific area.
"...Again, I think Cinderella's going to have to keep wearing my shirt for now," Joe noted as he rubbed the back of his neck with a small, apologetic grimace. Better for the entire article to be too big, than distractingly too tight in the chest and baggy everywhere else.
After a few tense moments, Rapi turned to face Scarlet, her expression entirely too blank.
"...Well, luckily, given that thine attire seems sized for thy binded figure…" Scarlet began, holding up one of what was one of Rapi's spare tops, given that Rapi's name was written on it on a patch, oddly enough. "There's little reason I could not change out of Joe's garment and change into thine." She reached out, secured a pair of (worryingly tiny, holy shit, Rapi) shorts, and retreated back into the washroom to change.
After a moment, Rapi turned to face Snow White-
"I'm not showering," the silverette asserted plainly.
"Yes thee art!" Scarlet shouted through the door. "Smelly Nikke!"
"I am not a smelly Nikke!" Snow White very forcefully and defensively cried in reply, immediately hunching over like a snarling dog might.
"Stinky Nikke, stinky clothes!" Scarlet asserted. "The Commander only spares you criticism on account of thine fragile ego and sisterly status!"
Utterly aghast, Snow White sharply turned to face Joe, her expression demanding that he deny the cruel assertions.
However, Joe knew and understood what Scarlet was attempting to do, and thus, he simply averted his gaze sheepishly.
At that, Snow White's expression contorted into one of pure betrayal, then pain, then, resignation. In a deeply uncharacteristically small and defeated voice, she declared: "...I'll shower…"
Well that made Joe feel bad, though he wasn't about to go undercutting Scarlet's efforts to get Snow White to bathe. Thus, he simply resolved to low-key make it up to the bottomless pit by allowing her to gorge herself on food that night.
All that aside, there was little else to do but wait for Ingrid to arrive.
When Ingrid did eventually step into the room, carrying what was clearly a rifle case as she did so, she harshly halted, freezing in place like a statue as she took in the sight of almost the entirety of the legendary Goddess squad.
All of whom were loitering and lounging about the Legendary Commander's room, in various states of undress, several wearing what were clearly the Commander's own shirts and little else, listening to cyberpunky ambient background music. There was a mountain of just-emptied Tetra Line Premium-grade ration packs piled up on his coffee table, and the Legendary Commander himself was slumped in his office chair, a can of soda limply held in his hand in a way that called to mind a man defeated by his life and nursing a can of cheap beer in an impotent attempt to deal with everything.
Joe simply tracked his eyes over to Elysion's CEO without turning to face her properly, simply letting an acknowledging, guttural sound of "Egh," along with a quarter-assed nod of his head to affirm that her appearance hadn't gone unnoticed.
Ingrid's keen violet eyes took in the unfathomably absurd sight, and after several long moments, she reached up and heavily pinched the bridge of her nose with a bone-deep sigh of absolute exasperation.
"...It would have been appreciated," Ingrid began, "Had you been so magnanimous as to grant us a warning that you intended to bring Goddess into the Outpost, rather than simply springing your decision upon me like this, Commander," she declared in a deeply put-upon voice.
After a few moments of consideration, Joe looked as though he'd bitten down on a lemon after considering that, yeah, they'd never discussed the notion of him just bringing Pioneer into the Outpost the moment they were reunited. He'd just done so without talking to anyone about doing so beforehand.
Joe had only a simple reply to Ingrid's entirely reasonable point.
"Oops."
Nehef
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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*Anis being grabbed after seeing this*
Anis: "She copied my whole fucking flow! Word for word, bar for bar!"
My guy updates just after the livestream.
*chef's kiss*
NJesus
You guys need Jesus !
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kek nothing gets rapi more motivated than competitors muscling in on her territory, truly best girl
ah the consequences of his actions , I truly pity the terrible fate of having half a dozen scandly clad beauties around poor poor Joe
also anniversary announcement hype!
Vicentehuerta777dragon
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Joe head on the table trying not to smile: my God I'd miss this girls.
JamesAsmodeus
Fire and Blood
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...I can make and am tempted to make the obvious joke here, but I won't. I can't, it'd be too obvious
. Anyways, good chapter! This is going to be the norm for Joe, so he has to get used to his previous girls now hanging around with his current ones. Especially once a certain pink-haired and slightly menhera woman finally catches on that her boo-ahem, "Commander" is back and truly alive.
Fragment of Serenity
Yu-Shan's Paperwork Ninja
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Joe, staring unamusedly at Ingred: "I'm sure it would. Just as it would have been nice to be warned about my history with them"
Ingred: "Well-"
Joe: "Or warned about who I was."
Ingred: "We-"
Joe: "Or, I don't know, MAYBE NOT THROWN IN HEAD FIRST TO AN ACTIVE WARZONE WITHOUT A SINGLE GODDAMN WARNING, MS. 'OH LOOK AT ME, I"M IN CHARGE OF A COMPANY THAT TURNS YOUNG WOMEN INTO ANDROID SUPER SOLDIER AND THEN SENDS THEM OUT TO DIE, BUT I"M ACUALLY A GOOD PERSON"!"
Rapi: "...it should be noted that he's two cases in and he's... REALLY not happy about it."
Joe: "If I wasn't tied to this chair right now, Ingred, I MIGHT just try and strangle you for the sheer amount of stress I'm under, much of it DIRECTLY CAUSED by you. Fortunately for you, Rapunzel is... concerningly good with ropes."
Everyone eyes the blonde, who is dark maroon and refusing to make eye contact.
Rapi: "Pervert."
Ingred: "Well-"
Joe: "Or warned about who I was."
Ingred: "We-"
Joe: "Or, I don't know, MAYBE NOT THROWN IN HEAD FIRST TO AN ACTIVE WARZONE WITHOUT A SINGLE GODDAMN WARNING, MS. 'OH LOOK AT ME, I"M IN CHARGE OF A COMPANY THAT TURNS YOUNG WOMEN INTO ANDROID SUPER SOLDIER AND THEN SENDS THEM OUT TO DIE, BUT I"M ACUALLY A GOOD PERSON"!"
Rapi: "...it should be noted that he's two cases in and he's... REALLY not happy about it."
Joe: "If I wasn't tied to this chair right now, Ingred, I MIGHT just try and strangle you for the sheer amount of stress I'm under, much of it DIRECTLY CAUSED by you. Fortunately for you, Rapunzel is... concerningly good with ropes."
Everyone eyes the blonde, who is dark maroon and refusing to make eye contact.
Rapi: "Pervert."
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Dasneaky
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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It was at that moment Joe knew he fucked up. Jokes aside baka was getting worried about this. Keep up the good work.
Valthorix
Ponderous Orb
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Snow is so fucking cute I can't TAKE IT, I just want to squish her cheeks and feed her an entire pantry aaaaaaaaaaa
Hnnnnnnggggghdgafajdnfhf
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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The Troy Pizza meme represents the chaos that the command center is now in with Pioneer on board.
But the biggest challenge is how to keep Neon's mouth shut about Goddess, because she keeps screaming 24 hours a day that she's a spy.
But the biggest challenge is how to keep Neon's mouth shut about Goddess, because she keeps screaming 24 hours a day that she's a spy.
Chaldean
Not too sore, are you?
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25 Multis from me...and not a single time did she show up. Had to use Golden tickets for her. Have another 200 tickets for Grave before I try rolling for Cinderella again. Thankfully I'm behind on story content.
Dasneaky
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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RIP I all I have left for graves is 15k gems and a hope and a pray also have like 400 golden ticket but that when everything else fails thankfully I also am behind in story content but I didn't even do the ex stage and the lost sector stage think the farthest I got was like stage 3 btw I think imma on like chapter 17 or the one where the lewd nun takes you to talk to everyone.
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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I understand, yesterday I did like 5 runs and I didn't get cinderella and I only got it with the golden tickets?
Anyone the scene from chapter 34?
Rapi was a beast there.
but I'm worried about how that and old tales will affect Only human because here Rapi and Red hood are the same person.
and Cinderella was transferred before the raptures corrupted her.
In fact, seeing Cinderella's massacre in old tales, it can be said that Only human, Cinderella not only dodged a bullet.
Rather, she and Old Tales dodged an atomic bomb.
rictek
Not too sore, are you?
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4 multis for 1 copy, im saving for Grave then go full for Cinderella, just finished chapter 34 and ahhgggg Rapi transformation is soo cool and Seven Dwarves Zero, Snow white you crazy genius you actually manage to add a drill to a gun
Ace of Scarabs
Polish my soul gem, you reprobrate~
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Don't just repeat the stuff from the SB thread, that wasn't welcome there and it probably won't be welcome here.
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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I know, and I'm still trying to appeal my ban.
I was just going to tell you that I was worried, because I don't know how to adapt chapters 33-34 of the game, because apart from the new appearances of Absolute and Rapi. There is also Rapi's new weapon that turns into a drill as seen in the cinematic of chapter 34.
because in only human Rapi and red hood are the same person.
So I'm worried about how chapters 33-34 and Old Tales will affect only human in a negative way in the short and long term.
also that Joe's literal presence was able to create enormous changes in both the short and long term. Being another example that the presence of a person can change events.
because if we stop to think about it Joe, I prevented the tragedy of Cinderella and Old Tales from happening, as I also avoided the fatal fate of some nikkes like Wardress (mihara and yuni)
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Xenoxn
All cute girls in the world belong to me!
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Why are you worried? You are not the one writing the story. I bet Baka will have thought of something by the time the events of chapters 33 and 34 take place, which will probably not happen for a long time.
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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What worries me in those chapters because there, apart from the Absolute updates, there is also the new form of Rapi and his new weapon, which is seven dwarfs zero, which can also transform into a drill, which was made by smol white when red hood asked him to. , which he acquires when Red hood materializes.
but here in Only human Rapi and Red Hood are the same person, so I don't know what those chapters will be like or how Rapi will get his new form if here it is the Exceed System or how power levels are measured.
I mean I like Only human. And it has me worried about how old tales and later chapters will affect the story in the short and long term, this story that Mr. Bakasmurf puts so much effort into.
Spoilers Chapter 34.
PD:
It is also curious how Joe's mere presence generated enormous changes in both the short and long term.
I mean, by taking Cinderella too soon, I prevented Old Tales from being suspected of being traitors, I avoided Anachiro's Cinderella trauma, but although the second part and difficult epilogue of the event are missing. Joe's presence is an example of how a single person, no matter how simple he may seem, can even change history.
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Xenoxn
All cute girls in the world belong to me!
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Why would that worry you? Isn't it a good thing that certain events are different because this story is not a canon rehash? Besides, it's not like Snow White can't just make that weapon right now, maybe she'll just give it to Rapi as a gift because she remembered that Red Hood asked for a drill weapon 100 years ago or something. We'll just have to wait and see what Baka cooks up, this won't be relevant for a long time so there is no point in worrying about it now.
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Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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I know the fics aren't 100% faithful to the game. But as I said, what worries me is how it will negatively affect the story of Only Human.
And I know that several things in the game are changed in OH for reasons of logic such as power levels and certain events.
Plus I imagine Red Shoes cursing Joe for ruining his plan to Kill Cinderella.
Red Shoes: "Damn you, Joe Pholus!"
Don-7
Know what you're doing yet?
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I got three copies of her with my first 10-pull.
Yes, I am boasting.
Kneel before my fortune!
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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With what was seen in part 2 of Old Tales, it can be said that Joe in Only Human not only changed Cinderella's fate as Anachiro, but also changed the entire story.
Because by asking in advance to bring Cinderella, she prevented Red Shoes from corrupting her, dismantling her plans. As it also brought with it one or another change in its presence.
These types of concepts remind me of Shez from Fire Emblem Three Hopes or Future Trunks, where the presence of a single person is capable of generating enormous changes
Because by asking in advance to bring Cinderella, she prevented Red Shoes from corrupting her, dismantling her plans. As it also brought with it one or another change in its presence.
These types of concepts remind me of Shez from Fire Emblem Three Hopes or Future Trunks, where the presence of a single person is capable of generating enormous changes
Chaldean
Not too sore, are you?
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Instead of Cinderella, Rose got corrupted and became the First Heretic instead.
One possibility is that Red Shoes acquired Rose's body and rebuilt her with the corruption code. Or something else along the lines of Rose getting corrupted.
These changes also beg the question of the story behind Vapaus. Does this mean instead of Anachiro being held in the Heretic Facility, it was Rose(maybe we need specific designation for her instead of Rose/Heretic Rose if there isn't one already)? Or did the Butterfly effect hit that too?
But now we know that Red Shoes didn't infect Cinderella with corruption because she was jealous. No, it was because she needed a guinea pig for her new Corruption Code that she upgraded herself. Which makes it even worse.
One possibility is that Red Shoes acquired Rose's body and rebuilt her with the corruption code. Or something else along the lines of Rose getting corrupted.
These changes also beg the question of the story behind Vapaus. Does this mean instead of Anachiro being held in the Heretic Facility, it was Rose(maybe we need specific designation for her instead of Rose/Heretic Rose if there isn't one already)? Or did the Butterfly effect hit that too?
But now we know that Red Shoes didn't infect Cinderella with corruption because she was jealous. No, it was because she needed a guinea pig for her new Corruption Code that she upgraded herself. Which makes it even worse.
Your Target
He that awaits the future, and it has come.
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Oh she pisses me off so much!
Chaldean
Not too sore, are you?
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Agreed. Kinda makes me wish Red Shoes does end up becoming a Heretic at the end of Old Tales...just so Cinderella and Grave can Atomize her and leave no trace of revival later on.
The Turning Point of the War was Cinderella joining Goddess...and Red Shoes ruined everything and it all snowballed from there.
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Your Target
He that awaits the future, and it has come.
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Might want to Spoil that, not everyone is caught up or plays Nikke even if they read Only Human.
Jsebas19
Getting out there.
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Since nikke has Greek meaning, we can interpret that Red Shoes are the evils of Pandora's box and Abe opened the box by converting and recruiting her into a Nikke.
because Red shoes is literally the main reason why the scene is the way it is currently as well as many evils:
-the corruption of the central government
-the separation of Goddess
-dorothy's path into darkness
-the existence of the gatekeeper
-nikkephobia
-the death of liliweis and Red hood (in the game)
-the enikk and chatterbox deal
-the other heretics
-the ark civilization becoming more and more idiotic.
-the birth of Siyuen and her sister Jien's shady actions in Missilis.
-The Destiny of Yuri and Mihara (in the game)
and more.
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