A series of pleasant surprises (part 1)

A storm brews south of you. You immediately recognize you're in a dream since it feels like the same one you had before. Looking around you are in the south somewhere, but the Sanctuary is no where around you. A sense of foreboding washes over you, but you want to see what you can see before you wake up. The storm clouds spread quickly across the sky above you, and you feel the wind pick up. The scent of rain coming tickles your nose and the temperature starts dropping rapidly. You look to the north and the hairs on the back of your neck start to prickle. Turning back south you see an army approaching. You start trying to run, but you find yourself moving at a snails pace.

The army approaches quickly and you are shocked by what you see. There at the front you see yourself armored up riding Copper. The girls walk along behind you in their armor. You watch yourself turn and look directly at you as Copper plods past. You see no emotion or recognition. In fact no one seems to show any emotion as they stride past. A vast horde or armored warriors spread around you moving ever north. Amongst the horde you see Amazons striding along. Dinos of every type. Guns, swords, and spears pass you by. You suddenly find yourself leagues behind the army. Your army you realize. In the distance to the north you see fire and smoke rising as the army continues north. You begin to hear the wail of screams and **** mixed with the clashes of weapons ringing out. It becomes deafening. You fall to your knees trying to cover your ears as the sound of war becomes painfully loud. Suddenly you bolt awake sitting up. You feel a cold layer of sweat on your entire body, and your heart is going one hundred miles an hour.

"John...you are awake now. It was just a dream" you hear Dawn soothingly tell you. She has her hands on your shoulder. You take a moment to calm yourself down. It feels like you just ran a marathon, and you collapse yourself onto your pillow.

"Want to talk about it" Dawn asks rubbing your chest. You let out a sigh and explain as much of the dream as you can remember to her. You also tell her this is the second time you've had a dream like this.

"Two possibilities that I see. One, you are stressed and this dream is a manifestation of that stress. In the form of what you believe will be coming soon. Two, you have caught the eye of the Fates and this was a vision. From Remi's warning we already know you have caught the interest of other Gods, so neutral entities like the Fates taking notice of you would not be out of the realm of possibility" Dawn tells you. You let out a sigh feeling your heart rate finally return to normal.

"It is so tempting to just stay here. Close the doors and hermit up. Just enjoy our time together" you muse.

"I have enjoyed our time together. More than I can properly express, and there is a part of me that wants to make what we have right now last forever. It is scary to find love and then have to risk losing those that have given me that love...but I also recognize that we have a responsibility to take that risk. I was literally created for it. You were literally brought here for it" Dawn states.

"But this path before us is not without happiness. I am free to see the world with my own eyes now. I have met people that I did not know existed even though they were right next door to me. I am learning. I am growing into a more complete person. I am...content...being on this path. I happily walk it knowing that this path will lead us into danger, because I get to walk it with you...with all of you. Whatever may come I will be ready. With the women I love, and the man I love. We have the ability and motivation to give other people these same feelings. Freedom. Love. Happiness. We have to try" Dawn says and then lays her head on your chest. You wrap your arm around her. Dawn said exactly what you needed to hear.

"You are very sweaty" Dawn chuckles causing you to chuckle as well.

"I'll take a quick rinse before I head anywhere" you reply.

"I have a surprise for you" Dawn states getting up out of the bed. She fades into a screen on the wall as another Dawn fades in next to the screen. On the screen you see two dinos plodding along, with one half the size of the other. Their long necks and tails, and their giant size make them unmistakable.

"Brontosaurus" you exclaim as you sit up excitedly. Dawn nods her head in confirmation.

"They moved out of the forest this morning and have been heading this way" she states as the satellite zooms out a ways to show their path.

"They are going to walk right past us" you state. Dawn smiles and nods again.

"They will be within one mile if they continue their current route" she explains as a red path line displays on the screen.

"I bet Lira and the others would love to have them" you muse rubbing your chin. In truth you had planned to find some for the Amazons, but making time for it was the tricky part. There were so many things you wanted to get accomplished, but here were two of them walking right towards you.

"Plus you get to experience using your taming magic on some herbivores. Granted they are huge, but still some experience you did not have before" Dawn says walking back to you as the screen fades away.

"How long until they are here" you ask.

"At their current pace about an hour" Dawn replies.

"Alright, let the other girls know. Diana and Juliet can watch if they would like"

"Er...well...Diana is still...indisposed it would seem. I would hate to interrupt" Dawn replies blushing.

"Oh...well then she can meet the two dinos after she...finishes. Where is Juliet then" you ask as you get up and head towards the shower.

"She is with Annabel and Nadine. Annabel is working with Nadine on some more healing potions, and they are showing Juliet how they do it. Juliet appears to be very fascinated with the process" Dawn states.

"That's great. Maybe Annabel will have an apprentice she can teach" you reply as you adjust the water. You quickly get into the shower to wash yourself off quickly. Turning the water off Dawn approaches you with a towel in hand. You take the towel and dry yourself off. It may have been a brief shower, but you already feel clean and refreshed. Dawn looks suddenly unsure of herself and shy.

"You okay" you ask as you wrap the towel around your waist. You pull her into a quick hug and then hold her out at arms length to wait for her to respond.

"I...er...y-you know how you and Yvette are trying for a child" Dawn asks.

"Yah. Do you have a concern you want to bring up" you ask confused.

"No...no I am very happy for both of you, and I hope it happens quickly, but...well, you know how when you removed the spell to free me from the confines of this facility" she asks.

"Yah, I won't be forgetting that any time soon" you smirk.

"And that it unlocked a lot of information about this facility to me" she asks.

"Yah, you did mention that, and the giant robots were certainly hard to miss" you chuckle.

"Well...one of the rooms had no entrance. It was just walled off entirely. It was unpowered so I did not really think to explore what it was, but since it was walled off it seemed like it was specifically for me" she explains.

"Ok, that makes sense" you reply.

"I finally decided to go take a look inside, not really expecting to find very much, but it was...me" she says looking into your eyes. You are definitely confused now.

"Like another one of you" you ask.

"No. It is a room of everything about me. It is all carefully cataloged in books. My father's notes as he created me. Failed coding, the coding he finally used, the process of how he got from the failed code to the successful code. His hopes and dreams, his fears...it is all there" she continues.

"Are you doing ok with all of it. I imagine it is all incredibly personal, but if you are having any feelings you want to open up about I am a good listener" you tell her.

"Thank you, but no. It is honestly making me incredibly happy to read through all of it. I thought I had good closure before, but this has really cemented that closure. What I am getting at though is he also detailed out all the spells he used. So I am able to learn what I am made from on both the technological side of things as well as the mystic side of things. There is one spell in particular that is limiting me, and it is frustrating me, as he has no notes on it at all other than it exists" she explains. She pulls you into a hug and you can feel her trembling in your arms as you hold her tightly to you.

"It prevents me from having a child" she whispers. Your body tenses for a brief moment as you take that information in. You stop hugging her and step back to look in her eyes. Her eyes are fearful and uncertain, but also hopeful.

"That would mean if I removed the spell that you could get pregnant" you ask her shocked.

"I do not know...maybe. I think he ran out of time...or wanted me to discover it for myself perhaps. It does not explain what the child would be, or what a pregnancy would be like, or...or...anything. It is just a spell designed to prevent pregnancy" she says holding her gaze into your own eyes.

"Do you want to have a child" you ask her.

"Yes. I do. I want my legacy to be more than just the things I've accomplished. I want to create more than just war. I want to create life. A life that I can raise, and love, and teach, and shape into something amazing...and then watch them accomplish their own goals. Watch them love and create their own life. Is...is that...is that something you would want to do...with me" she asks looking away. You cup her cheek and make her look back in your eyes. You feel like you should say a lot of things, but ultimately the answer is short and sweet.

"I would be love to have a child with you" you reply.

"Really" she asks almost shocked. You just nod your head and grin. Dawn immediately pulls you into a crushing hug that makes your eyes bulge. You hadn't considered how strong Dawn could actually be, but if this is what she can do when she's excited you'd hate to find out what she can do when she's mad. You feel her crushing grip relax a bit and she takes a step back to look up at you with tears in her eyes.

"We'll have to see about getting that spell removed first. Just remember, I am not an expert in spell removal. So let's not get our hopes up too high yet" you tell her. She nods her head wiping the tears from her eyes.

"But I do promise that I'll be willing to keep trying to find it and remove it" you add.

"I know. It is just hard not to get excited is all. I just feel like it will happen you know" she replies.

"I feel that way too. I have some assumptions about that spell already, but we'll see" you tell her.

"You need to get dressed so we can tell the others about what we've discussed" Dawn tells you.

"All of it" you ask.

"Everything" Dawn grins.