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The Ringing of a Forge of Stars [Warhammer 40k/ Celestial forge V3||OC...ish]

Reader mode
hmm.. anyone got a list of the settings that have clashed on this earth Bet? just for clarity.
 
Thine Spree said:
Wait... Did we ever get told what his codename is? (Also, rereading Ch3 to see which class/s he has.. his got all six, yeah he was a bloody big name over on Terra most likely and probably aligned with RI and the Doc as well knowing his luck.)

(Also, no you not confiscating my Crystal Ball I need it to watch the league!)
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I very intentionally have not shared what Satori's codename is. you may freely speculate as to why.
Morkail said:
Well that explains the kids gloves there getting treated with when you swat a endbringer people will be way more careful in how they treat you.

Nice chapter, worm is always for a "WTF is happening!" Forum post like this good stuff.

thanks for the chapter.
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Indeed. Knowing that the pair are behind something like that changes the ball game, and the kid gloves are being extended as a courtesy against that happining to them.

In fairness, at least some of the powers that be have picked up on the fact that they are intentionally trying to play by the rules, which has earned a not inconsiderable amount of goodwill among those who still fight against said rules collapsing under the weight of parahumans.
Trieze said:
I wanna see how exactly Becky gets her political powerbase cut out from under her after Congress gets through with her.

Being forced to share a tech uplift with Mexico because Costa-Brown couldn't stop sticking her big fat nose where it wasn't wanted? I can see Becky's name being mud after both Congress and various other federal agencies start ripping into her.
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Indeed, Becky's ass is in a hot seat, especially when it gets back that a tinkertech scanner was rigged to try and get a false reading on the lovers to justify the PRT taking control of the situation. It is not helped by the pair being confirmed persons of mass destruction on a level that even Eidolon would have trouble matching.

(The irony here is that, had Becky just toed the line like everyone else, she would have had the opportunity to just fucking ASK for some help and support instead of being the pariah. She literally did it to herself, and there isn't much Contessa can do to get her out of it.)
EnygmaSoul said:
►Lord of all Stars (Veteran Member) (NASA Skywatcher)
Replied On May 20th 2010:
We've noticed some anomalies up on the moon ourselves and will be looking into this ass soon as some telescope time becomes available. We would appreciate any further information that can be sent our way.

–––

Well, that's certainly a creative way to use a telescope. Then again, this IS QQ...
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I saw it when I was doing my last pass, and decided to leave it there because that kind of thing is what happens on interweb forums XD

(edited for typos)
 
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Slider Zero said:
I very intentionally have not shared what Satori's codename is. you may freely speculate as to why.
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Okay, okay, wiiiiiilllld ass guess.. "Doc"

RIversand said:
hmm.. anyone got a list of the settings that have clashed on this earth Bet? just for clarity.
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At least
Prey
Arknights
XCom2+(Maybe)XCom: Terror for the Deep
Touhou (Probably the smallest impact I think?)
A chaos marine+Faction
DMC (And maaaybe Bayonetta as well if you read into the director for DMC one said)
Maybe FEAR depending on just who else were responding to the rifts down on earth bet
 
Thine Spree said:
Okay, okay, wiiiiiilllld ass guess.. "Doc"


At least
Prey
Arknights
XCom2+(Maybe)XCom: Terror for the Deep
Touhou (Probably the smallest impact I think?)
A chaos marine+Faction
DMC (And maaaybe Bayonetta as well if you read into the director for DMC one said)
Maybe FEAR depending on just who else were responding to the rifts down on earth bet
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Prey is mostly lingering effects/places of interest (Talos, Pytheas Miakoda, and the Typhon).
Arknights will be part of the next 'big' focus, mostly because the factors involved mean that eventually the Terrans are going to realize that Bet is a much better proposition for them and make the jump. After that, other factors start kicking in.
XCOM was involved for sure. (which one(s) was the question.)
Touhou is intentionally receiving little actual involvement, mostly because the nature of Gensokyo means that the inhabitants can slide around most issues until it becomes too big to ignore. Yukari actively put a pin in that by warning Satori ahead of time about the thing that would have forced her lazy ass to actually work for a change, thus foisting the job off on him.
The Chaos Champion is intentionally being insidious and 'creeping threat' as is appropriate. (A reminder that despite multiple factions actively watching for the taint of Chaos, they still manage to worm their way in regardless.)
DMC is...is. For the most part, that is handled due to the presence of other factors and factions. The few that aren't are getting handled by the Boys as appropriate.

As for F.E.A.R....I will state outright that the vast majority of what was allowed to happen in the 'proper' timeline for the game(s) has been completely derailed and is impossible to happen again. Alma actually had a decent childhood thanks to certain people finding out about her abilities before her father could sell her off to Armacham. As a result, she has managed to grow into a fine Woman who just so happens to have incredible psychic talents. Her three children are all safe and well as of this writing.

The last abduction attempt that was made against her and her children by unknown parties was met with absolute disaster. Alma has been looking to take her frustration at those responsible out on them at the soonest opportunity.
As a side note, she also has a French cousin that she is currently unaware of.
 
Slider Zero said:
The few that aren't are getting handled by the Boys as appropriate.
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(Jokingly) Huh, what's Butcher doing here? Hell, how is he still alive with Cauldron being Cauldron. That said, Huey probably still could end up losing is girlfriend to an asshole speedster, considering this is Worm. Didn't think you had any perks from that series.

Yes, I know, you mean Dante and Virgil, my brain just jumped to the wrong one... I blame that sniplet where Glenn Chambers sees Skitter and is inspired to form The Boys as an equal and opposite force to the Nine.
 
Slider Zero said:
She literally did it to herself, and there isn't much Contessa can do to get her out of it.
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This is absolutely, hands down, the best part of Brickhouse Bitch's incoming governmental comeuppance. Every alphabet agency and department, even the US Armed Forces, that she ran roughshod over for... what, 15 years now? It's all come back to bite her in her impossibly dense ass.
 
This was one of the best done PHO interludes I've seen in a while. Thank you for the chapter! A lot of hard work goes into these even with the wizard.
 
I wonder if the most recent Alma kidnapping attempt was from cauldron?
 
So we have NuCom1 XCom if that French cousin is who we all think they are, and I am eagerly awaiting the interactions between satori and the Terra's from arknights as that's been a plot point that is going to be bloody big thanks to just how his perk came out (If he didn't get the talking to with Lady gap and the moon bun/brain that would also be a big plot point/interaction)
 
Chapter 27
  • Threadmarks
    • Trying to wrap my head around things was being a little difficult at the moment. Most of this had to do with the presence of Washu, who was being exceedingly friendly at the moment despite the obvious terror her presence invoked.

    "Please, calm down. I'm not here to hurt you, just to fix this mess here before it does actual damage to your soul."

    I blinked at the statement. She had said mostly the same thing when she popped in, minus the soul damage part, but having been exposed to a Chaos God meant that I was paranoid as fuck with things that could potentially erase me with a thought, especially ones that had near-physical access to my soul.

    Then again, this was Washu. If she wanted something bad to happen, it would have already, and there was distressingly little any of us could do about it.

    That thought was enough to finally break the panic cycle and allow me to regain control of my emotions, which in turn helped calm down everyone else now that we weren't feeding into each other. Washu obviously noticed the change and immediately got started on her explanation.

    "So, as I was saying, this here needs some fixing before it can do actual damage to your soul. Fortunately, the cutoffs worked as intended and shielded you from the worst of it, but there are still going to be some effects that were unintended." She pointed at one of the shattered pieces of stellar matter that used to be a node. "For one, you lost a good deal of data in that crash there, and some of it was actually useful for later. Suffice to say you are going to have to recover that on your own, should you choose to do so."

    She then turned towards the busted gearing itself. "Then there's this mess. The system was designed explicitly to allow for you to draw from and in turn empower the pieces of the forge as you yourself grew in power, while also throttling some of the more outsized effects through a usable lens that wouldn't break reality too hard. Most of that was what broke, and fixing it is going to be the hardest part of this ordeal, especially considering the effects that have already managed to leak through thanks to the thing that caused it."

    That last part caught my attention, something that was not unnoticed by the Eccentric Genius. "Yeah, this was a deliberate attack. That black corruption stuff you lot have been dealing with? It was an attempt at rotting you out from within, either pulling you to the side of it's master or destroying you where you stood to remove a threat. I suspect that whatever was behind it has been meddling on more than one occasion, too."

    My mind immediately flashed back to Talos I, and the odd Nightmare that had beaten me across the reactor space. It fit the bill in more than one way. Mio seemed to agree, based on her own thoughts.

    Wait a minute. She mentioned something about leakage?

    "This leads to the other problem, and one that you may have noticed." Washu continued. "That leakage you are fixating on right now? It's a side effect of the corrosion settling in and weakening the…let's call it a lensing effect that would normally shield reality from buckling too hard under strain. Now, your buddy here," she nods absently at Watts, "managed a hotfix of sorts after the situation hit critical mass during your confrontation with the damned tumor shard, but the real fix was linked to something else that failed at exactly the wrong time and forced some adjustments by the system to compensate. The end result was something that not even I could have seen coming, and it's likely only going to get worse before it gets better."

    I took it all in with a calm expression, even as my mind whirled. Everything she was saying seemed to imply something to me, a buildup to a very important piece of information that I had been missing. The answer came to me as I reconsidered our presence on Earth Bet in the light of that 'lensing' effect.

    We were technically still inside the Necromunda Warp storm. And now that I knew what to actually look for, I could probably re-tune the scanner to pick up exactly that, if I so chose.

    But that still left more questions. If this was the Necromunda warp storm, then why the hell were we on Earth Bet? More to the point, why was Talos I, Transtar, Pytheas, and everything else that was most definitely not native to the setting of Worm present at all? Did the weird portals on the planet have something to do with it?

    "To answer your questions, it's more the warp in general than a specific place, and this is only partially your fault. And that is with me being extremely permissive with assignment of said fault." she added, very pointedly. "You had no way of knowing that trying to use a dimensional space transference spell would interact with chaotic space like that, especially because there are normally safeties in both the spell and reality itself to prevent that kind of mess. No, this was another failure point cascading from your pseudo-corruption by your not-so-friendly entity. Don't worry about it too much, you've already gotten it under control and converted to being beneficial, so it's not hurting anything."

    I wasn't even mad at the casual thought scan at this point, especially since she just stated outright that the corruption issue was no longer a thing. Still, I finally found a voice for myself. "But this entire mess is still my fault."

    "I just said it's not. Stop trying to take blame." Washu countered angrily, quickly cutting off my own self-recrimination before it began. "This is just a thing that happens sometimes. Reality is strong enough to handle it, for the most part. The few times it isn't is why realty likes to pick people to help solve problems as they arise. It's a thing…you'll get used to it, eventually."

    As I'd likely get used to being steamrolled by the Genius Crab Lady. At least it was better than getting dealt with by the same.

    Washu pointedly ignored my last set of thoughts, which were shared among the little hive mind we had going at the moment, as she moved on. "This world is one that you would have set foot on anyway, in due time, but instead of it being a thing that you can just fix and move on with, it got pulled from its normal place in space-time and settled here, close enough for the thing that is trying to kill you to affect. This, of course, created an opposing action on your behalf that pulled from the leakage that you were still unaware of and started merging with the world and the spacetime around."

    "The concepts that govern reality stepped in at that point and shunted the entire mess to the side while it worked on fixing the tears caused by it (and that freakish warp storm), which is why you were stuck in this little pocket dimension here. Nothing is stopping you from 'escaping', especially now, but do bear in mind that reality is already strained enough as it is, and this world is going to have to rejoin the greater universe again at some point…and when they do, they are likely going to be defenseless against the horrors that this particular universe has to offer."

    Translation: you don't help them, they die to warp monstrosities. Very subtle there, Washu.

    The pinkette shrugged, completely unaffected by my unspoken sarcasm. "Don't act like you weren't going to do something about it anyway. I have enough insight to see that much. Still, the process isn't strictly defined as far as 'time' goes. It could be months or even years in here, or perhaps the same out there, before things hit a stable point and the scab falls off. Or some dumbass can completely fuck with things and break it even harder. Point being, this is going to be a thing for the foreseeable future, at least until it isn't."

    Mio, my Mio (well, both of them were mine, but that was semantics) had been frowning in thought the entire time, piecing together things as they were explained. She chose now to respond. "So, you were willing, until now, to let us figure things out for ourselves. What changed, aside from the forge breaking on us?"

    Washu nodded in approval at the question, a wide smile on her face. "Very good. I was wondering if you would catch it. Yes, I have been aware of your adventures and activities for some time now, as I have for all that have wielded the forge. It's part of the deal I made when I first created it and imbued it with those small bits of my knowledge and power." The smugness was dripping off of the last part, there, and I found myself frowning in resigned irritation.

    "You mean helped create, right?" I snapped out, causing Watts and his wife ('Just call me Haley. It fits the theme') to look at me oddly. Washu, of course, was unperturbed.

    "Nope, still all me. My pure science carries everything else!!" We all ignored the bragging, much to Washu's disappointment.

    "Fine. Be that way." she pouted. "And to think I was going to explain more things too…"

    Haley interrupted this time. "Actually, I know most of it, now. Thank you for your information!!" she crowed out, a distinct canary-eating grin on her face. "The Forge itself was originally created as a thought experiment by a bunch of bored demigods or something, and Washu got talked into contributing to the effort. The completed product was then distributed to all of those higher beings who were interested, for them to use as they saw fit. Nearly all of the recipients kept the thing to themselves, but there was at least one, maybe more, that let it slip to us mere mortals for some reason. This 'first' version was very much limited in scope and ability, and would eventually grow out from usage by the handful of beings that were gifted it, or something like that."

    Washu waved a hand dismissively, clearly trying to downplay the other contributions to the (rather interesting) project that weren't hers. "Yeah, yeah, sure. But it was my genius that held the entire thing together!!" She then immediately switched over to sulking. "Even if most of the people that came across it have yet to truly tap into that gift of mine…"

    I couldn't help it. I started laughing.

    Washu's look of indignation only made me laugh harder.




    "So, the one we have is kind of an offshoot branch of the forge itself?"

    Mio was asking even more questions to sate her curiosity about the greater world, and in this case, the forge itself, especially now that she had one of its creators on tap. Washu, for her part, was lapping up the attention and generally being herself at the prospect of more praise.

    "Somewhat. It's more accurate to say that the forge has grown into what you had here, at least initially, due to interacting with other branches of the multiverse by those who once wielded it. I know for a fact that at least one user helped save what little was left of his homeland from a dimension-spanning war, and founded an offshoot that still stands to this day. Another used her powers to basically ascend into godhood herself, and then used the gift given to her to help others as she saw fit."

    Washue shrugged a bit. "I think there's still at least one person who was having some issues dealing with things, for reasons I had no interest in knowing. Probably something completely silly in hindsight. Besides, your setup is completely different anyway. For one, the double-bond setup you have works wonders for overall stability and resilience. You two saved each other from some very bad ends, and the results speak for themselves."

    Mio hesitantly places a hand on her stomach, the slight pulse of the life growing within reassuring to her mind.

    "Oh! I almost forgot. Here, please take these."

    Washu immediately started handing out a series of objects, ranging from cups to notebooks to what looked like a sweater of all things, all of which had an interesting and vaguely wing-shaped logo that looked like the letters A and E meshed together in gold on a blue background. The pile was topped off with a small piece of paper prominently displaying the logo, along with some words that Mio couldn't read at the moment due to the pile of merch she was being forced to hold.

    Washu was, once again, grinning like a loon. "This here is all of the great and awesome college merch that you would have gotten in your tenure at a certain university. It also includes your degree, by the way. Congratulations on being officially certified as a Space Engineer!!"

    Mio blinked in confusion, still reeling from the onslaught of Washu.

    Who was currently mumbling to herself? "Well, probably should also add Mobile Suit engineer as well, but that comes with the territory a bit…"

    Mio gave up. There was no dealing with this woman on anything looking like a reasonable level.

    Fortunately, she did not have to suffer alone, as her Satori was with her always…and thus could share in her misery. She could already feel his headache forming at his noticing the logo and certain implications involved with it.

    Probably should ask a question about that…

    Washu immediately started gathering a second set of merchandise.

    Mio could only groan in resignation.




    My wife's suffering at the hands of the mad scientist aside, Washu was going out of her way to throw hints and cautions at us that she really did not have to do on any level, something which I appreciated greatly. Especially since I now had to deal with certain problems related to those nodes that had forced themselves active.

    The least disruptive of these was the small device I was currently holding (having recreated it from spares since we didn't have Hangar access at the moment), which was designed to take in any blueprint or design and convert it to the Standard Template Construct format for use by normal Imperial (or in this case, Federation) systems and practices. Useful to have, but ultimately not worth much to me personally. If we could somehow get a copy to Harry or the rest of the Mechanicus, that would be a different story, but for right now it wasn't that useful.

    Even the addition of an entire library of collected combat techniques and jutsu, once lovingly maintained by the Uchiha clan, was less important in the face of what I was getting ready to deal with. And that was saying a lot, as even my casual run-through of the provided index showed that there was a lot more than just the various jutsu of its home universe. (The fact that it was merging with Thoth's notes into a greater library was somewhat concerning, but ultimately dismissed as harmless.)

    No, the part that had me concerned right now was that piece of paper that was sitting on top of the pile of college merch that Washu had delivered via one of her doubles. And more specifically, what it represented.

    The very literal Anaheim Degree of Mobile Suit engineering and design was burning a metaphorical hole in my mind at the implications of what it foretold…and what had come along for the ride, for that matter.

    After all, Anaheim was the group responsible for them.

    The three Beasts of Possibility…

    The ones that had been recovered were sealed away for very good reasons. Quite simply put? Humanity was not ready to deal with the implications that those machines had attached to them. Not in the slightest.

    And now I, along with my Mio, was the latest in a long line of shepherds and safeguards over the key to their incalculable power.

    And I didn't want to be.

    Psychoframe was one of those things that simply was too dangerous by far, despite the intended purpose of it being used to enhance Newtype control of a Mobile Suit. The main issue came in the form of those same beasts, the three that were built using full Psychoframe designs instead of only the cockpit, which had created quite a few issues in their time. In fact, the third of the beasts, the Golden Phoenix, was still loose and flying free to this day…and had likely been dragged along by the uncontrolled power surge affecting things here.

    The fact that I could just as easily look at the Telekinesis-Link system (provided by another of those nodes that I immediately shorthanded into "the Alpha Documents") and say "but what about THAT!?!?" meant nothing. T-Link didn't allow people to literally fucking time travel.

    And speaking of Newtype issues, there was my own awakening to deal with. As it turned out, being a proper Psyker also meant being a Newtype, simply due to how the processes operated. Likely due to both of the powers' connection to the soul, despite being a mental ability…but nonetheless, I had all of the advantages and issues of being a Newtype to deal with…as if the Force taking one look at the concept and wrapping it in itself as firmly as possible wasn't bad enough.

    Sometimes power interactions could be weird. I'd prefer not to deal with them, but apparently somebody wanted to make sure I had something approaching proper empathy or some crap like that. The fact that it was now entirely possible for others to awaken as Newtypes themselves was a side note that I would deal with when I got to it.

    I ignored the revelation of nearly 100 years of MS development and design that was contained therein. I could have done all of that myself, honestly, and probably better. Being a mecha fanboy did that for a person.

    A sudden tugging on my senses alerted me to the inevitable: one of the many warp predators cruising around had found the beacon of my soul too tempting to ignore and was trying for a go. I felt the slimy thing trying and failing to paw at my very being and found it to be utterly repulsive…and immediately flattened it in my soul's light in retaliation.

    The thing, whatever it was, was annihilated utterly, and the other denizens of the warp quickly backed the fuck off at the display. A similar sensation of Mio dealing with her own annoyances in her own way (this time by devouring the would-be corrupter in endless darkness) hit me, and I could feel her own resignation at having to now deal with this bullshit.

    A sudden, direct and powerful tugging caught both our attentions at once, and it was all we could do to not be physically yanked along with whatever was trying to pull at us. I absently noted that whatever this thing was, it had a far, far firmer grip on us than anything associated with the warp had any right to be, which only raised more questions.

    But neither of us budged from our locations, which, as it turned out, was exactly what the entity on the other side was counting on, as suddenly a woman looking very much like she should have been our daughter appeared before me. The only odd features out, aside from the aura of power she was surrounded by, was the ever widening smile on her face as she rushed to glomp me.

    "FATHER!" The woman, who was in an odd way conceptually my daughter, quickly ensconced herself in my arms and started nuzzling. For my part, all I could do was hold her and contemplate.

    She did not speak falsely: aside from the obvious physical tells, from this close the spiritual and conceptual inheritance was clear as day for me to see: Mio and I were, though the forge, responsible for birthing her into the world, where she took on her mantle of responsibility with aplomb and gusto…at least when she wasn't sitting on annoying time bombs ugh–

    I mentally eased away from her as I started getting bleedover from her stray thoughts. I didn't really need extra worries right now…

    The settling of a second weight onto my person signalled Mio getting involved in the impromptu cuddle session, and her thoughts were both light and teasing, both of which I ignored for now.

    "So, then, not-so little one, what brings you here?' I asked. "I get the feeling that this was not something you could have done casually, before."

    My daughter in spirit shook her head, despite not removing it from her continued nuzzling. "No, I couldn't. Not with everything being as busy as it was, and all of the things I had to do. But when you flared up so bright just now, I was able to get a stable lock on both of you and come to you, at least for a moment."

    She finally pulled her head out of our embrace to look me in the eyes. " Father, apologies for ruining things, but I'm kind of filling in for the God Emperor of Mankind at the moment."

    Both Mio and I blinked at the comment, before the implications set in, and then we shared a groan. It would seem our daughter had already been making waves since her birth…

    *whap*

    "Owwie..."

    Mio's tail came up and whapped our child upside her head. For her part, she took her punishment in stride, even if she was now grimacing a bit and complaining slightly. I only grumbled softly about it, as Mio had beaten me to the punch on doing the same, and there was no reason to punish her for the same thing twice.

    "Anyway," Mio said, "we have yet to handle introductions. I am assuming you have a name?"

    I felt more than saw our daughter's wariness, and quickly sent thoughts of support and caring to her through the Force. (I was actually getting pretty good at this, now that I think about it.) She both visibly relaxed and seemed to take a great deal of energy from my minimal efforts, so I called it a win.

    Finally, she spoke. "I…I might as well pull the bandage off. My name is Alaya."

    To this day I am shocked I did not freeze up at hearing that name, and the attached context to it. Alaya, the former unconscious will of humanity to survive. Alaya, master of the counter guardians, protectors of humanity as a whole.

    Alaya, sister-goddess and offshoot of the world spirit Gaia.

    I was immediately reminded of the strange emptiness I had felt back then on Talos, of Mio's desperate search for something impossibly precious that we had lost somehow, and knew the truth of the matter right away.

    A sudden pulse of power from both Mio and I silenced the oncoming wave of despair, though. It seemed to resonate within us for a brief moment, then echo back towards Alaya, before bouncing between us again and again, finally settling into a small spark that immediately rushed off to parts unknown.

    Vaguely, I could feel something settle into the world itself. Small, weak still, but growing every moment and becoming stronger from our efforts and the energy it was now siphoning off of us all, as it reached outwards.

    All at once a sense of great relief hit me, and it took me a moment to realize that it was not just my own, but Mio's and even Alaya's as well. An echo of gratitude and determination came back from the small spark that was our other child, and I couldn't help but break out into a grin.

    So of course Washu had to show up and crash the party. "You do realize that with the way things are going that letting Gaia do her thing unattended is likely to cause more harm than good, right?"

    The three of us shared a unanimous nod. "Not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon, lady." Mio quipped, a hand rubbing her belly. "Besides, we're still doing fix stuff…or at least we were before getting wrapped up in here with you."

    Washu chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'll leave you two to it for now. Just one more thing before you run off: I'm not going to be able to do much of anything to help you if things go wrong, as I have to dedicate all of my effort here to making sure that this mess," She gestured to the obvious, "doesn't get worse. I would like for you to at least get something more out of this, especially as you have barely cracked the surface of what the forge can really do. Still, if you need me for something stupidly desperate, I'm available as an extra hand, but that's about it."

    I nodded along. It was more than fair, and she wasn't wrong. It was going to take one hell of a situation to really push beyond our combined capabilities to at least put a bandage on it for long enough to get a real fix in. Which was not to say that it couldn't happen anyway, just that most avenues were covered.

    I knew better than to tempt Murphy in that manner, especially after the last time…

    Alaya pushed off from the group hug. "I have to get back to work, now, but a few things before I go: The Force is acting along the warp to change some things, giving people an option instead of just letting them burn with the daemons. Also, I'm using my new remit as the Will of Humanity to empower all the humans across the galaxy that I can reach. I had to use the Astronomican (and its current battery) for the signal boost, but the results speak for themselves. As for what I wanted to tell you: the first resolved itself (and I am grateful for that), and for the second: I just need your permission for something. Don't ask, just say yes."

    As bemused as I was by the byplay, I could easily sense that this was actually important, so didn't tarry. "Approved, Alaya."

    Her sigh of relief was all the proof I needed that a bullet was dodged."Oh yeah, one last thing: don't worry so much about the implications of things. We have to learn sooner or later how to use and control our gifts, after all. Better to do it with someone around to prevent accidents than having to do it alone."

    Alaya nodded to herself, as if checking off an item on a mental checklist, before gathering energy around herself for whatever technique she was going to use to get out of here. Curious, I peered deeper into the swirl of power…and nearly ended up rolling on the floor in laughter.

    The Alaya before us was naught more than a simple projection, and the brief glimpse that I received of the 'actual' Alaya was that of a pouting woman stuck in place on one of the rests of the Golden Throne, her demeanor clearly that of extreme annoyance…and it was insanely cute, to boot, something which I am sure she absolutely hated at the moment.

    Of course, Mio quickly noticed the focus of my attention, and was immediately in the throes of her own spat of giggles.

    Alaya's projection paid us no mind. "Take care of yourselves, please. I don't want either of you to end up dead or worse before you get out of this little mess here. And I'll make sure that Harrisyn gives you a call soon, too!!"

    Wait, what?

    Of course, she was long gone by the time I could even comprehend the statement, and with it any ability to gain answers as well. I could only gin in annoyance at her chosen method of revenge.

    Cheeky girl…




    The days following were mostly normal, for a given value thereof. The government had finally gotten around to getting some proper ID issued to each of us, along with setting up proper documentation required for certain hurdles present in local administration. We generally rolled with the issues presented, as tame as they were, as they came, as there was another project that was garnering our attention. And shockingly enough, it wasn't Harry.

    No, we were finally getting down to fixing our cores' issues with integrating the Chozo technology, along with the needed upgrades to the system as a whole. And what was coming out was not pleasant in any capacity.

    [T: Current system estimates for proper refactor would render your frames inoperable with the cores themselves until properly reintegrated. Estimated time with current complexity is seventy-two days. Any additional upgrades to the systems of the suits will increase the time needed.]

    Yeah. Can't have our cake and eat it too. As good as the upgrades that had been applied to Thoth and Minerva were, they were not good enough to bypass the reintegration time for the frame itself, which meant that performing the upgrade at all would remove Valkyrie-grade firepower from play, along with the other advantages offered by the cores themselves. It was something that we were debating about as we set up the adjustments themselves.

    "Still, Mio, with you being preggers, I think it might be a good idea to get Minerva upgraded first–"

    "Yes, I know the argument, and I understand it. But I have at least another few weeks before I am unfit for combat. Let me at least keep her active to set up Thoth's upgrades?"

    And for once we weren't playing around about it, which was a mark of how serious this was. Neither of us wanted to take our best cards off the able, even temporarily, and especially with Mio in egg belly mode, but there wasn't much we could do about it without sitting on another problem altogether. It rankled quite mightily and made me want to hit something, but everything in the hotel room we were staying in was far too fragile to survive the level of force I could put out.

    Besides, Mio's point was completely valid and understandable. Being potentially open to attacks was not something that either of us wanted to happen under any circumstances, but…

    Fuck. Sometimes this shit got hard for no reason.

    "Alright, fine. We can wait a couple of weeks for you to show more before we start on Minerva. Besides, it'll give us more time to figure things out."

    Her small hum of appreciation (and the enthusiastic hug) did much to erase the minor sting of defeat.

    The initial planning was by far the easiest part of things, as it did nothing more than lay out goals to be accomplished, which were as follows:

    1.) Ensure proper integration of Chozo Power Suit and all related technologies and systems into cores.

    2.) Complete proper integration of psychic and psionic detection and control technologies. (Potentially look into–ugh, I can't believe I'm even saying this–psychoframe as a potential medium)

    3.) full integration of Mana usage and related technologies into Core and/or Frame. At a minimum, Thoth would need to be able to operate as a basic piece of magitech.

    4.) ensure all upgrades are reproducible for future iterations of cores as appropriate.

    The list was short, but dear god was it daunting, even for us, simply because of the amount of actual work that would need to get put in to ensure that everything was on-point before the actual implementation process began. I actually did something I rarely felt the need for and opened up a series of multitasking instances to handle the design, specifically at Mio's urging, solely so we wouldn't be in design hell for months on end.

    And this was with us taking into account the latest tools available to us, no less. A Valkyrie Core was just something that was that complex to work with.

    That being said, there was some good news to happen to us, mostly in my finally gaining legitimate internet access and discovering the infamous Parahumans Online Forums. A quick set of account creations had me introducing Mio to old-school (for her, anyway) Internet communication for the very first time, which was a novel experience for her in seeing just how things worked back in the (relatively) early days of the information networks.

    Of course, I managed to find an insane thread chronicling the initial discovery of our presence on then-Pytheas station, along with the days leading up to Orochi's attack, and even the fight itself, complete with video links to people having recorded the fight being visible in broad daylight. The followup threads describing the still ongoing party at the Simurgh having been confirmed dead. By comparison, the few photos that had been taken of Mio and I in public were completely without much notice or scrutiny, and something in me wanted to know why the hell we weren't getting as much interest as I was expecting.

    Some more generalized trawling of the online news media pulled up why: there were a number of refugees coming through the various portals all over the world, and all of them shared the same distinct identifying feature of being at least partially some kind of human-animal hybrid to some degree or another. According to the reports, conditions on the other side were…bad. Bad enough that most of the countries still stable enough to do so granted blanket amnesty as a general rule to any of the people coming through, provided they went through standard medical checks.

    "I see you found the refugee issue." Mio snarked at me, before turning decidedly somber. "You might want to take a glance at the medical records of the people that are coming through. You might see something interesting."

    That lone was enough for me to immediately start hacking down the various medical databases to get the relevant info…and what I found was…concerning.

    Every last one of these refugees, to a being, was easily confirmable as being infected with oripathy, and several of them were looking like they might be in the extreme later stages as well. What complicated things was that the refugees were being deathly silent on the issue, refusing to cough up any form of information whatsoever on their condition, and creating a not insignificant amount of headaches and confusion for the local docs.

    And the World Health Organization had no clue whatsoever as to what was going on, believing the various effects and such of infection to be some kind of natural phenomena.

    The only good news was that most of the patients were getting shipped around to various hospitals and institutions to receive treatment, and the greater portion of those located in the US were being moved down here to the Medical Center, with most of the rest shuffling through the various Service hospitals, and a small portion (currently holed up at Bethesda Medical Center for some reason) being earmarked for Panacea when slots became available.

    Of course, I already knew what I had to do.

    "Mio, I think we need to make a trip. Get as much medical gear as you can find, and kitbash the rest. I'll call the watchdog crew. We roll in five."




    Surprisingly, it took very little to get our handlers onboard with getting us to the Medical Center. The quick explanation from the field team lead told us much: most of the intel types were aware that there was something they weren't being told, but the ongoing medical concern was a higher priority. The fact that we seemed to know what was going on was a bit of a balm to their nerves, though I was intentionally being just as vague on details until we actually got to the patients just to be safe.

    No, it was the Medical Center Admin Staff that tried to give us trouble. Despite having multiple Federal Agents with us, the staff refused under any circumstances to let two unknowns have access to their patients. I was honestly touched by the genuine concern being shown here, even if a few of the upper-level admins were looking into the originium growths with more than medical interest.

    Too bad for them I'm a fucking ninja. All I needed from them was confirmation of which hospital they were actually in.

    Memorial Hermann Hospital had the distinction of being the main hospital network for the city of Houston, as well as the de-facto centerpiece of the medical center itself. Considering that the hospital actually predated the formation of the Texas Medical Center, it made a bit of sense. The fact that it was a legitimate Tier 1 trauma center probably helped as well.

    It was also, in another world, where my little brother was born, decades ago.

    I suppressed a pang of loss as I moved about the building in question, being one of the many outcroppings of the old Hermann hospital that was built over the years, searching for at least one of the refugees, who would likely point me at the rest. So far, it was a bit of a bum search, though I did find plenty of long-term care patients that I helped out along the way with a small bit of magical healing.

    Amusingly, the nurses on duty quickly caught on to what I was doing and why, and instead of, oh, calling security or something, started not-so-subtly directing me at harsher cases that 'normal' medicine was having issues with. Mostly stuff like tricky cancers, variations on a theme of Alzheimer's (which I purged with a furious vengeance and some additional psionic backing: I'd lost both my father and his mother to that nightmare, and hated it with a passion), and similar. The one attempt to direct me to the Multiple Sclerosis patients that were on-site and not in the resident neurology wing was met with a shake of my head and an extremely brief explanation that I currently didn't have time to help them…yet.

    It did cover for Mio as she crept in and got detailed scans on their issues for later fixing, though.

    Eventually, the nurses relented and 'let' me spot one of the refugee kids playing around on the floor, running all over the place. A quick once-over told me much and not at all: he was dark-skinned, easily within the color ranges for the average stereotype for latino-descent, and had a clear pair of black-tipped fuzzy ears sitting atop his light brunette-haired head. It was the floofy ringtail that cued me in to the kid being of the anaty subtype, though.

    I moved in on the kid with all of the stealth available to an adult trying to pull a harmless prank on a child: that is, none at all. And as expected, the young boy still didn't notice me park right behind him, being too busy gushing to the nurses.

    "See!! I told you I could do it, Miss Nadia! I told you!!"

    The nurse (who I assumed was the Nadia in question, I could check the tags later) was all smiles in her response. "Of course, you told us you could. And we didn't listen. Still, that was no reason to go around trying to prove yourself. You still need some rest, after all."

    I chose that moment to cut in. "Actually, I'm surprised he's not even more hyperactive, considering. I think only cautus kids are worse on the energy spectrum."

    The boy whirled around with a speed that would have dazed anyone else watching him move. I, of course, was not affected, nor was Mio, who had finished searching her section (and doing scans of problem cases) and catching up. The boy's eyes widened in pure awe as he saw Mio stride up, an already beaming grin widening even further. Then he looked up at me…and caught sight of the Medical Operator badge I had worn specifically for this purpose.

    One blink later, I was picking myself off of the ground and trying to balance the new weight settling on top of me, the raccoon kid doing his best to squeeze the life out of me with his sudden glomp-hug. I vaguely heard and felt what I suspected was the poor kid crying as well.

    I pointedly made no attempts to remove him from his perch in any way, only slowly rubbing circles into his back…and avoiding the crystallized section sitting dangerously near his right lung.

    Eventually he let up enough to actually let me get a good look at him. His eyes didn't have the slight dark ring surrounding the socket that most raccoon-type anaty did, but his eyes were still a clear gray, shining with life.

    I just wish the rest of his body matched up. The kid was frail, clearly malnourished to a great degree and slightly sickly looking…and yet he still managed to have all this energy. If not for his oripathy…

    I very carefully held back the tears that threatened to form at the obvious, instead returning his grin with one of my own. After all, he didn't have to worry about that anymore. Not after today…nor ever again.

    "So, what's your name?"

    The boy smiled even more, somehow. "I'm Marcos! Seven years old! Are you here to help treat people?"

    I shrugged slightly. "It depends on what you need help with, Marcos. And if anyone else with you needs help as well."

    Marcos took the bait with the enthusiasm only a child could have. "Yeah!! Mama says that a lot of the elders are needing to relax more because of their ora…oru…omur…orikathzy. She said that nobody here knew how to help, but you're a healer! So you can help them, right?"

    I nodded. "Of course I can. I just need to take a look at everyone before I can get started. You mind me meeting your Mama?"

    "Yeah!! Come on, this way!!"

    And with that, I was quickly dragged off by young Marcos towards his mother, and, with hope, the other refugees. Naturally, the nurses were laughing at me the entire way. I didn't begrudge them one bit.

    Mama Marcos was a pleasant looking woman, sharing many of her son's features, with the exception of having silverish gray hair instead of her son's brunette. She was currently dozing lightly in her elevated bed, a small knitting project sitting next to her that she'd obviously slipped off while working on.

    "MAMA! I FOUND A HEALER!!"

    Key word being was.

    She awoke with a frightful start, the various monitors around her adjusting their rhythm as she processed through her mild panic, only to immediately calm when she realized it was just her son being energetic. And then she turned to look at me, and her face became wooden. Then she looked further, saw my features, including the twin fluffy tails, and her face shifted again, this time to one of barely disguised (and ruthlessly suppressed) hope.

    I decided to take the first step. "Good afternoon. Your son here seemed to think that you were in need of a medic for…what did he call it…oh yeah, 'orikathzy'. Mind if I do a quick check, Ms…?"

    "Anya. Anya Belnades. And yes, you may."

    The checkup was extremely simnplistic, to the point that there was even an out-and-out originium art specifically for that very purpose. My use of said art clearly caught her attention too, as she seemed to relax even more afterwards, making the follow-on process even easier.

    Mio's rendition of her surface thoughts was better left unsaid, especially as I had no desire to kill people today. At least, not yet. After all, I'd have to actually find the appropriate assholes to deal with in the first place. By unspoken agreement, Mio left to gather the remaining materials for what we would need, not that there was much left to get.

    Miss Nadia decided to ask some question while I was working. "So, what exactly is going on with them?"

    I felt the spike in tension from both of the Belnades, and ignored it. "Degenerative disease known as Oripathy. Most common method of spread is through extended exposure to, or direct contact with, unprocessed originium. You familiar with Command and Conquer?"

    Nadia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Red Alert or Tiberi…oh."

    I nodded softly to confirm her suspicion. "Yeah. The stuff is similar enough to Tiberium that they may as well have the same warnings attached. Common symptoms look like cancer at first. Hardening skin, scabbing over at the point of contact, then eventual internal burns and skin crystallization. Past that point, it's all downhill: Lesions looking like radiating lines on the skin, internal crystallization, the works. Eventually the progress gets to the point where, due to inability to respirate or intake nutrition (even through IV, it's been tried), organ failure sets in."

    A thought occurred to me. "Have you had any fatalities yet?"

    Nadia's attempts at deflecting told me everything. "I'll need to see the bodies later on, as they are a hazard if not properly handled. Spread the word on that one, too, as this is important. I don't want to see this spreading any further than necessary."

    I continued further into my checks, not paying even the slightest attention to the sudden despair permeating the room. "Anyway, back to business. Infection progress is divided into three stages, Early, mid, and late (stage I, II, and III respectively), and are measured through a combination of two factors: Cell-Originium Assimilation and Blood Originium-Crystal Density. Dumbed down, they measure, respectively, the level of assimilation with the infected's cells, and the density of originium particles per liter of blood. Higher numbers are bad. For example, I was at 25% COA minimum and at least 0.34u/L density last time I checked, some months back, with a quick and dirty field test…it's probably higher now."

    Anya winced at the numbers, knowing full well what they meant.

    Yes, Anya. I was terminal.

    Miss Nadia nodded solemnly. "But what about treatment? Surely there is some way to stop this?"

    I made a point of remaining silent while I finished my checkup on Anya. And as for the results of that check...she was even worse off than her son was, and even my basic scans showed quite clearly that she would soon be moving into the terminal stage of infection, and from the look on her face she was well aware of what was happening.

    I responded to Nadia first. "There are methods to slow the progress of the disease down, extend life for a good while. It'll be in constant pain, and with a fuckton of oddball side effects depending on how the assimilation progress goes. I myself was struck deaf for a while, along with a strong bit of obsessive compulsive behavior. Oh, and also pain. Lots of pain." I shuddered in remembrance of that day, the memory still all too clear in my mind. "Hell, it even got my damn tails," I waved the appendages in question for emphasis, "which is why they are so incredibly large and fluffy. Also let me control them on a near-prehensile level, too, but that is beside the point."

    I felt the unasked question from Anya in my fucking soul. She was fighting so hard to suppress the swelling of hope inside that it was almost painful to let her suffer…but it wasn't time yet. Instead, I started some supplemental checks as I continued the topic.

    "I should note that not all the effects are negative. Aside from my tails, I also got a pretty massive across the board boost as well, to both my physical aspects and my ability to use arts. Don't worry about the second part just yet, it's something I'll explain later."

    All checks completed, I stepped away from Anya's bed…or at least tried to. It was as I was pulling away that she reached up and grabbed my arm, her grip insistent. "Please…my son…"

    I turned and looked her dead in the eye before gripping her arm back just as tightly. "You don't have to worry about that." I could feel the relief hit her at knowing her child would be cared for…but I had intentionally delayed the rest of the bomb. "...After all, you'll be able to do it just fine yourself."

    Marcos, who was listening in the whole time, immediately cheered. "You mean it? I can play with mama again!?!"

    I turned back to the little ball of energy with an even more infectious grin. "Kid, by the time I'm done, not only will your mama be fine, but so will everyone else. I promise."

    I had to actually dampen my own empathic sense (at great difficulty, no less) to avoid the sheer burst of emotion that hit the room just then. Anya's grip on my arm tightened significantly, while Marcos all but leaped at my back and immediately tried to choke the life out of me with a power hug.

    I could vaguely hear the nurses laughing even harder in the background, but I didn't care. This was happening, and nothing short of a literal GOD was going to prevent it.




    You can imagine my surprise when the completely unthinkable happened…and Murphy didn't punish me for daring to invoke him so blatantly. Still, the results spoke for themselves.

    Mio had returned with the required ingredients within record time, and together we whipped up a nice little concoction that would do wonders for the infected. It wasn't a cure (yet), but it was more than enough to knock even near-terminal cases like Anya's into significant remission.

    Which gave us long enough to whip up a bunch of the actual cure. In fact, we even had multiple variations thereof, depending on what people wanted to work with. The standard version was a full purge, no questions asked…and which had the potential for some nasty side effects on those more heavily infected, even with the strong healing serum it was mixed with. It was a low possibility, but it was there all the same.

    The second was based on my own compromise with oripathy, combined with lessons learned from observation, and was designed to instead properly integrate the originium infection into the body. A set of neutral nanites was included to keep the stuff in line, just in case. Still, while it was a guaranteed win, it was also the worse of the two options, as it wasn't a 'proper' cure, just an adaptation. The plus side is that it made applying the first version a lot safer for those deep into the infection stage…but at the cost of extended treatment.

    The third was a highly experimental variation of the second based directly off of blood samples from both myself and Mio, and was included and created at the direct urging of the Force when I considered it as method two. The one major difference was that this version contained the odd variant-type originium that was now present in our bodies, something that was even now still changing and adapting thanks to the nanites. At least, that's what we thought, anyway…

    Though why the Force was so insistent on my making that batch was beyond me. The other two were more than up to the task.

    There was an open-plan general containment section that had been prepared for the use of the refugees while they stayed, complete with beds and an entertainment selection to use for everyone. There were also several rooms allocated to the group for the more severe cases or for those needing privacy for various reasons, but from a casual glance most were unused at the moment. It did make me wonder if this area had always been like this, or if this was some kind of special setup specific to the situation. I decided to ask later.

    The group of refugees was a mixed bag. I saw a lot of elderly, women and children in the mix, which concerned me greatly as the only reasoning for that kind of distribution was if the actual men of the group were left behind to fight. That, or whoever was managing the movements of these people was being intentionally annoying to the group as a whole.

    The racial breakdown was just as varied. I saw quite a few cautus and zalak(mostly the mouse types, oddly enough), some more anaty of the weasel variety (looked to be an extended family unit of some sort, and were notable for having some of the rare adult men), a slightly larger group of kuranta, the normalish distribution of felines and perro (and who, amusingly, were a single family unit), and even a few ursus in the mix, which I found odd but ignored it in favor of actually getting things done.

    The only odd note out was the pair of vulpo curled up together in the back, alone, and both clearly in considerable pain, thus becoming my first targets. Mio instead split off to try and find anyone who was legitimately in charge of this ragtag group.

    Our arrival on the scene was not unnoticed, and only the fact that I was clearly a Medical Operator kept the group from closing ranks on us out of reflex. It was only after we had already started setting up, and Mio asking her questions, that it was noticed that Anya was actually on her feet for a change and moving around, something which caused a considerable stir, as quiet as it was kept.

    Because despite the overall mixup of people in here, they forgot somehow that the foxy-types had some of the best hearing on the planet, and that was before the enhancements I'd gone through. They might as well have been screaming into my ears with those whispers of theirs, though I tuned it out to deal with my current patient.

    "Hey there. I'm Satori, and I'm here to help. I need you to sit up for a moment, okay?"

    The groan I got in reply was all I needed to help the poor man up, and what I saw was not good. He was covered in scars and half-healed wounds, some of which had started to crystallize, a clear sign of recent exposure. Worse, most of his left arm was crystallized to a large degree, as was a bit of his torso. My best guess was that he had an hour, two tops, before organ failure set in. It did beg a question, though.

    I moved to prepare an injection for the guy as I spoke, making sure to pitch my question high enough for everyone to hear. "Why didn't you tell anyone that you had gotten this bad? The nurses could have helped you."

    I received a shake of the head in return. "They…can't…help…"

    "Hey. Stop talking for a moment, you'll have plenty of time for that later. Right now you need to relax." I accessed my omnitool for the first time in what seemed ages to apply some medigel to slow down the oncoming crash. "And that's why you got this bad. Stop being stubborn and let the professionals do their jobs. They aren't useless."

    The immediate improvement in the man's demeanor did not go unnoticed, and the reaction slowly rippled through the room. I filed it away for later, moving to clear and clean an injection site.

    The man tried to stop me. It was a futile effort. "What…waht you doin…?"

    "Helping. Now hold still, this is going to sting, then burn."

    Despite the attempts at protest (which required me to actually use a damned tail to hold the idiot still) I managed to get the meds administered. Now, just to wait for the effects…

    The guy let out a loud grunt of pain, followed by an outright growl as the meds did their work. I paid close attention to his physical state, making sure that he didn't lock up or manage to still crash on me despite his system working to heal itself with the administered boost.

    Unfortunately for him, this was the type two, which I'd needed to use simply because of how far gone he was. There was no way to actually get his body into stable enough shape for the type one to do anything but kill him off after his system purged. I was not willing to risk using my light-based healing magic and risk another overload, especially when I wasn't sure what might happen as a side effect with originium involved.

    I vaguely heard someone try to move to stop me, only to get slammed around by an annoyed dragon. The remainder took the hint and watched the reactions instead.

    And, slowly but surely, the process took hold. I could already hear his heart beating more steadily, the lungs taking in more air as the blockages and growths cleared themselves while the micropunctures sealed up. I took a moment to angle his head slightly just before the inevitable coughing fit hit, and could only laugh when another bystander (this one trying to be helpful instead) got splattered with the mess.

    Most importantly, though, I, and everyone else, watched on as the crystallization of his body slowly reverted, first back to scablike tissue, then back to normal skin. I took that moment to look the healing man directly in his eyes, and the change was night and day, as his vision slowly cleared and the tired that was in that gaze lessened considerably.

    Which was more than acceptable, so I started the cleanup. "Alright, you're looking good. I need to help out your buddy, too, so go on and stand up."

    The guy slowly raised up his left arm, now once again whole and healthy, and slowly flexed the fingers, a wide look of wonder on his face. He then looked back at me with that same awe, and I was somehow still shocked to see tears in his eyes.

    I actually expected the hug this time, if not the intensity thereof, as he wrapped me in a death grip and all but bawled on my shoulder, a constant steam of "thank you" coming from his lips.

    This time, I didn't shield myself from the emotion. I wanted to feel this, the outpouring of long suppressed hope overcoming the sea of despair that he–that everyone here–had been swimming in.

    Mio quickly returned to my side and started treating the man's partner…or perhaps his significant other? She was very female, after all. Guy was lucky to have her. (I deliberately ignored the large masses of scarring, disfigurement, and general ugliness of her oripathy, injuries, and especially the crying, more or less in that order. Mio would take care of it all before she was done.)

    Turning slightly to get an angle on the rest of the room, I called out. "I need two lines!! Stage three and severe cases at the front, then kids! Females, if you aren't comfortable with me, line up on her!" I pointed to Mio as I barked out orders. "Anyone with family or friends somewhere else in the building, go get them and bring them here if you can. If you can't, get me or Mio here, and we'll go to them! Let's go people, I want this done sometime today!!"

    I still don't know who it was that started cheering, but soon the entire room was awash in noise as the shouts of joy and happiness crashed through the room.

    My only thought, of course, was that this was, indeed, a Job Well Done.




    Anya Belnades had long believed that her family was cursed.

    Her husband was lost to her in the purges, shielding her and her then unborn son from the butchers even as he pushed them towards freedom. Her brothers, sworn by her lost husband to protect her and his legacy, dead in the wastes as they ran as fast as they could. Her mother, who had intended to midwife for her birth, died shortly thereafter from her own infection, leaving Anya the last of her line, alone and heavily pregnant in a ruined wasteland.

    Only her own Operator training had saved her, her rudimentary skill in healing arts and Defensive techniques being just enough to keep her alive until her baby was ready to be born.

    And when her son was finally born, into squalor and ruin, it was but a few short years of relative happiness and peace, despite their squalor, before the problems found her again.

    Her Marcos, named for his lost father, was infected while they were travelling between locations, shards of Originium crystals from an unknown creature piercing his skin and depositing the damning poison into his body before she could react. Her own infection had not helped matters, rapidly progressing to the point where even the boost it was providing her in protecting her son was falling short of the malus it inflicted on her.

    And then came the days when the scavengers found her, and held her son hostage against her own good behavior.

    It was only the direction of her own infection that had saved her from becoming another broodmare for their cause…not that they'd known that at the time, nor did they particularly care.

    She preferred not to think about those years.

    The whirlwind of events that followed her eventual rescue, song with her son and other captives, and the leadup to arriving in this strange new place with the odd people was not worth mentioning other than it happened, especially as it was shortly thereafter that her own infection robbed her of her ability to walk.

    The healers of this place tried, they really did, but the combination of lack of knowledge on what even originium was, let alone oripathy (and wasn't that a shock to many of them) did not help them in any way. That the group in general, along with those whom they had been mixed in with, had also closed ranks and avoided actually trying to let the strange people help them was, in hindsight, also a bad decision…but trust was hard to come by in the wastes.

    And so, she had resigned herself to dying in a strange land, leaving her son alone in a world that he didn't understand…and that he himself might not be much longer for, himself.

    At least, until He appeared.

    She was still trying to process the events in her mind, despite his having explained them to her at least three times already.

    This Satori person had also been infected, stricken at the worst possible levels and doomed to the grave, when he had found something. Something that had let him work around the issue and push past the disease, to claim his life back from the jaws of death itself.

    And from that, he had taken notes. Done research. And then formulated the impossibility that even now was being administered to the ecstatically happy crowds surrounding he and his partner.

    An actual, honest to god CURE.

    And, just like that, the nightmare was over. Her son, restored to full health, and assured a happy life free of the terror of being infected. Her sacrifices and struggles for his sake, all vindicated in one single moment.

    Herself, her own body, specifically a certain part that she had believed forever lost to her, restored to function as if she had never been injured in the first place. And Anya was sure that the other women of the group who had suffered similar fates in that department had noticed the difference, noticed that certain processes and pains had returned to them.

    And they all knew who was responsible for restoring their future to them. And, as per Satori's instructions, word was spreading. Quickly.

    As if he wasn't already seen as a hero, practically a god, among their group.

    Anya could only chuckle in her mirth. That poor man had no idea what was coming his way…none at all…and she was going to make sure that, when the time came, she was first in line.

    Because this hero was damn well going to get his reward.

    After all, she fully intended to personally make sure of it…




    On the Moon, inside of the Lunar Colony base known as Miakoda Station, a presence stirred. Born from the fusion of technologies largely arcane to most mortal minds, and then shaped by the processes that allowed them to merge together instead of flinging themselves apart, it finally awoke from its self-imposed slumber, fully aware and whole at last.

    And it–no, she–knew that she had a task to perform.

    Utilizing the nascent abilities granted to her to form a body, based in part off of the scavenged DNA of those who were effectively her creators, she quickly flexed her will, accessing the base's computer systems in order to seek out her objective.

    It did not take long.

    Target set, she moved. Those who were still on the base, and that were currently acting as its permanent inhabitants, were none the wiser to her presence as she glided through the halls to her objective. (in truth, the Fairies had noticed her long ago, and quickly surmised her objective. The poor dear was subtly being guided to where she needed to be without actually noticing.)

    And then, she arrived. The otherspace between dimensions, that contained the place where she was once born, and would again return to. She slipped inside, headed for the signal produced by her intended target. She paid no mind to the state of things, the massive clutter and jarring mess caused by certain difficulties. Nor did she pay any mind to the newer additions to the space, things that would have been far removed from possibility for many even months ago.

    And she arrived at her destination, a room with a simple display, and a confirmation box.

    [ACTIVATE THE TOWER? Y/N]

    And with a single motion, Risa, the Mental Model of the strange new ship type known as the Rising Phoenix, and current flagship of the new and improved Fleet of Fog (name change pending), set in motion the vast machinery of the ancient weapons testing chamber. Her job complete, she left the room to locate the fabled resource generator room, in order to stock up on essential materials.

    Unbeknownst to her, in doing so she also activated another object of significance, hidden from her sight. Only the flashing status screen told the truth of the matter, even if only for a brief moment.

    [TOWER ACTIVE. TESTER UNITS 1-4 ONLINE AND PROCESSING]

    [AGE BUILDER ACTIVE. INTEGRATION INTO TOWER SYSTEMS COMPLETE. SENSOR RELAYS ONLINE.]

    [DOWNLOADING LOCAL DATABASE. BEGINNING FIRST TEST SEQUENCE IN 3, 2,...]




    Yeah. This chapter is a bit of an explain-e-doo and exposition/worldbuilding. It was also the first time that the world of Terra, setting of Arknights, was seen in force. Satori's actions here will have a massive consequence, as Oripathy is a curse that stretches back millennia on that world…

    Breakdown on the listed races above: In Arknights the standard humans there (yes, they call themselves humans, but are formally known as 'Ancients' unless otherwise stated) are broken up into separate races depending on what specific set of animal features they get. The listing for those mentioned in chapter are below, as well as their animal analogues. For more information, see the Arknights Wiki. It's where I got my info from.


    Anaty (Musteloids, incl. otters, weasels, and raccoons)
    Cautus (Leporids (rabbits and hares))
    Feline (Feliforms, incl. domestic cats (Felis sp.), non-domestic cats including big cats (Panthera sp.) except lions (see Aslan) and mongooses.)
    Kuranta (Horses (Equus caballus), incl. Zebras)
    Perro (Dogs (Canis familiaris))
    Ursus (Bears, incl. giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca))
    Vulpo (Foxes, specifically those of the Vulpini tribe, though exceptions exist. Satori is part-Vulpo.)
    Zalak (Rodent-like animals incl. true rodents (rats, squirrels) and – oddly enough – phalangeriformes (Australasian opposums))

    Also, for those of you aware of what just happened: Yes, I did in fact do that.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Is Alaya taken Mantle of Omnissiash or it will born as new Deity?

    Is Alaya trying to fix Abhumans and various genetic diseases which happendue to age of strife? Like rattling others who lack certain benefits compared to other humans.

    Does humanity join Alaya after death or subsumed in Force?
     
    Slider Zero said:
    [TOWER ACTIVE. TESTER UNITS 1-4 ONLINE AND PROCESSING]

    [AGE BUILDER ACTIVE. INTEGRATION INTO TOWER SYSTEMS COMPLETE. SENSOR RELAYS ONLINE.]

    [DOWNLOADING LOCAL DATABASE. BEGINNING FIRST TEST SEQUENCE IN 3, 2,...]
    Click to expand...
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    Oh dear god, Satori is going to have one hell of a surprise waiting for him once he checks the warehouse again, a AGE suit built with his full techbase in mind... That is just plain scary to think of given the sheer power of some of his perks techbases.
     
    Cyrus2 said:
    So did that just set up rogue mobile suits to be built and deployed? Also another great chapter.
    Click to expand...
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    Not rogue MS...but there will be a lot of prototypes and such floating around thanks to the AGE builder doing it's thing.

    Thine Spree said:
    Oh dear god, Satori is going to have one hell of a surprise waiting for him once he checks the warehouse again, a AGE suit built with his full techbase in mind... That is just plain scary to think of given the sheer power of some of his perks techbases.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I mentioned this on the Discord, but with everything the AGE Builder has access to, it's more than likely to resemble an Orbital Frame than anything else. and yes, it is that hilarious.

    Thine Spree said:
    They've had the tech for awhile now, just the AI core finally woke up from the refactor it was putting the hull its norm apart of though.
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    ImmortalEmperor34 said:
    True but mental models are a major part of that tech base
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    The Union Core, which is the literal core of a FoF Ship and it's Mental Model Merged with a Valkyrie Core and then started assimilating the Rising Phoenix multiple chapters ago. The process of assimilation had finished a few chapters back, though it wasn't mentioned. It was only after all that was completed that the Mental Model formed itself...and due to the nature of the Valkyrie Core and certain connection abilities, it has a lot of Data to work with...and the AGE builder got her specs when she turned everything on...^_^
     
    Slider Zero said:
    I mentioned this on the Discord, but with everything the AGE Builder has access to, it's more than likely to resemble an Orbital Frame than anything else. and yes, it is that hilarious.
    Click to expand...
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    Dont let the mechanicus see it. They will cream their pants since the AGE builder is basically an STC
     
    Slider Zero said:
    The Union Core, which is the literal core of a FoF Ship and it's Mental Model Merged with a Valkyrie Core and then started assimilating the Rising Phoenix multiple chapters ago. The process of assimilation had finished a few chapters back, though it wasn't mentioned. It was only after all that was completed that the Mental Model formed itself...and due to the nature of the Valkyrie Core and certain connection abilities, it has a lot of Data to work with...and the AGE builder got her specs when she turned everything on...^_^
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Do I smell a MA refit on the way for our newly woken shigirl then? (Or some gloriously meme worthy MS built off her own small permutation of the techbase thanks to her valkcore doing its thing?)
     
    Great chapter,as always.
    So,SI accidentally united Earth bet with 2 other Earths and send it to WH40? well,they were fucked anyway.
    Is more Tenchi Muyo characters there ? or ships? one juraian battleship could probably wipe out united fleets of all WH40 factions.
    Arpeggio of blue steel - i like it,but they need more dakka.Made them spaceships,not wet navy!
     
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