-Sherlock Holmes

The moment they landed at the campsite, John immediately regretted his decision to constantly depart and arrive in the middle of their living space. Maera, Mithra, and Lunaya had all become used to his sudden appearances and disappearances - but not with so many others, much less a new face they had never seen before.

It still probably would have gone over significantly better had Tricia's drones not immediately fled the confines of her arms and let loose a klaxon that might have deafened the poor animalistic creations Tricia had unleashed them upon. Between that and the flashing red lights near the top of their bodies, the entire campsite was in a frenzy, including Lunaya who had her claws out and looked ready to tear either John or the drones into pieces.

"Jesus, can you turn that noise off already?" John asked, one hand already over his ears.

Tricia made a dismissive noise but otherwise made no move except to touch one of her temples. The moment that she did, the sirens ceased, and the drones proceeded to resume circling her, now facing outward and scanning everything around them.

"What kind of Barrier is this, exactly?" she asked, as if nothing had happened at all, despite the fact that Maera and Mithra had fled the campsite, Lunaya was ready to fight, and even Moira was looking quite annoyed with her hands over her ears.

"This isn't a Barrier. I don't know what it is, it's… another world?"

"Unlikely. However, my drones have lost their connection to their mobile docking station, which should be impossible unless you have a Fateweaver on hand to sever inter-Barrier communications or a similar method of placing additional layers of security. This Barrier also does not mimic the terrain of the area in which it was created… a lesser anomaly, but a reasonable accomplishment for a novice mage. I'm most curious about these creatures, though…"

"Well, the two that ran off when your drones started screaming at them were Maera and Mithra. That's Lunaya, who… well, she's more than a bit territorial. Especially about the Nekos."

Lunaya bared a few of her teeth. Not for the first time, John was a bit taken aback at how feral she looked with her inhumanly sharp teeth revealed in a menacing snarl.

"Nekos? As in, the cat-like humanoids fetishized frequently by those who enjoy hentai and other forms of fictional erotica?"

"Um… yes?" John said hesitantly. Tricia showed no signs of anger, or even surprise, although Moira did give him a raised eyebrow that seemed to hold every "I told you so" in the world.

"What inspired your choice of creatures? Was it a matter of personal preference with regards to your sexual fetishes, or do your abilities somehow influence what you are able to create?"

"I- can we drop the fetish thing?" John asked, distinctly put-off by how bluntly and casually she was talking about such things. "It's not a fetish thing; they happened more or less on their own. Remember the ability in my list you asked about but I said I had nothing to test it on - Purify? Well, when I make a Barrier with enemies in it, I can use that, and it turns them into something else. Something permanent, something that can exist outside the Barrier. Moira says that's impossible, but they haven't disappeared yet."

"…How long ago did you create them?"

"The Nekos were exactly a week ago. There was Seras the next day, but she's not here right now, and Lunaya wasn't long after that," John said slowly, trying to think back. The last few days had passed like weeks, and at the same time like seconds. Trying to recall what day things had happened was like trying to grasp sand.

"The longest a creature has ever been recorded outside of a Barrier was exactly one hour, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds. It was a single humanoid creature of diminutive size, with pale yellow skin, and it continued to obey its masters, but the combined efforts of sustaining it in reality killed three adept Barrier mages, put seven more into comas that lasted from two weeks to three years, and consumed enough mana to power my home facility for nearly three decades, not to mention-"

Tricia stopped, eyeing John. His confused look must have been evident, because she let out a quick sigh and shook her head.

"Well, I can see this is not the time for an educational course. Perhaps I should simply begin my examinations. Command your creature to stand down."

Lunaya's snarl only widened, and John found himself stepping forward protectively. In the distance he saw movement in the grass; Maera seemed to be approaching again, though he couldn't see Mithra with her. The white-haired catgirl approached slowly, cautious of the mechanical monstrosity that had scared her away in the first place.

"You don't really… command Lunaya. Wrestling is the best that I've done so far," John admitted, ignoring the incredulous look that Moira was giving him. "Lunaya, she's just going to do some examinations. She won't touch you, she just wants to help me understand more about my abilities… right?"

John cast his gaze over to Tricia as he spoke. She briefly paused, then with an upward glance in exasperation, she made a 'continue' motion with her hand.

"Okay, Lunaya, Tricia's not going to do anything you don't want. So, will you help us? She's a friend, like Moira; she won't hurt you or the Nekos."

Lunaya curled her lip again, more in disgust than anger this time. All the same she moved to a less threatening stance and made a dismissive motion with her hand.

"Excellent. 21-C, begin full spectrum scan on selected target. 22-B, commence environmental scan in Barrier mode, repeat scan with normal settings."

Both drones speedily hovered away, one patrolling around Lunaya as it had around Tricia earlier, the other doing sweeping runs of the terrain. Lunaya swiveled her head and body to keep one eye on the drone at all times, but it didn't seem overly frustrated by that.

"Are your other creations as difficult as this one? And do you have as little control over them?"

"I- I don't have any control over them. They're not by default hostile when I Purify them, but they have free will, they can do whatever they want. The Nekos are pretty obedient; they're just… scared," John said, finishing with a chuckle as he noticed Maera peeking up over the hill, only to leap backwards almost three feet in the air as the drone scanning the surroundings nearly passed directly over her. She ran back into the grass several feet, only to turn around and begin slowly creeping up the hill again when the drone did not immediately return.

The drone which had been scanning Lunaya beeped twice and fled. Lunaya's entire body seemed to relax as she was left in peace at last. The drone hovered a few feet away from Tricia, that green light flashing once again as she stared into its lens.

"Fully functional respiratory, cardiac, digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems," Tricia noted. "Biology relatively human save for claw-like appendages, canine ears and tail, and a genetic code containing thirty-seven chromosomes. Non-human hair color is natural, as are heterochromatic eyes… this is fascinating. Abyssal creatures can be created with this much detail, but there are no missing details. Furthermore, there are no signs of instability. Even the most advanced Barrier creations have at their heart the chaos and uncertainty of any creature created from such unreliable energies. If it wasn't such a fundamental theory of magic, I'd almost think..."

"That she's real?" John finished, raising an eyebrow. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Moira, why haven't you said anything about this? You've seen them outside of a Barrier."

"Just let her work, John," Moira said sternly, one hand on her chin. She seemed to be thinking almost as deeply as Tricia herself, but her focus was entirely split between John and the scientist.

The second drone returned then, assuming a similar position to the first. Tricia once again locked on, and this time she could not keep the surprise from her face.

"No signs of magical activity or of any illusory magic related or unrelated to Barriers. Geological structure, flora, and water content all consistent with reality; all cellular structures match samples collected from the Springfield area, but carbon-dating results in an age of approximately one-hundred and sixty-four hours. This… I will need more tools. Many more, and significantly increased hard drive space and processing power - neither of which I have access to with my mobile uplink severed."

"So, what's the verdict?" Moira asked finally, stepping forward and speaking for the first time without being prompted. "What exactly is he capable of, what are these creatures?"

Tricia's eyes widened yet further, and she glanced around in wonder. Her voice started to rise in excitement, the first John had seen out of her. "I have no explanation satisfactory on a scientific level, but on a more simplistic level, if I were to forge a hypothesis now? They're… a new species, and this may very well be a new world. I will have to do tests, of course, but this could further our understanding of the very nature of the Abyss, of the source of magic! The ability to form permanent Barriers which do not require constant upkeep could allow for expansion of humanity into new spaces, not to mention the possibilities of-"

One of the drones hovered low, just over Tricia's shoulder. There was a hissing sound, and Tricia's words cut off as she inhaled deeply. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, all traces of the light that John had just seen begin to glimmer were gone.

"Are her pupils dilated?" John wondered, not sure if his eyes were sharp enough to actually catch the difference.

"Pardon me. John Newman, this could result in advances in fields across all manners of Abyssal study. I will require further testing, immediately. I will need to see you complete one of these "dungeons", complete one of your "quests", and of course I will need you to assign one of your creatures to return to my lab with me. With enough time and resources, I should be able to determine if duplication is a-"

"What? Your lab? I just met you, you are not taking anyone with you back to your 'lab'," John interjected, protectively stepping toward Lunaya. The Canid herself didn't seem to want the protection, preferring to step in front of John herself and begin exposing her fangs again. The drones protectively circled in front of Tricia in turn, and red lights began flashing as they pointed themselves at Lunaya threateningly.

"John, do you understand how important this could be?" Moira asked, stepping between the two of them before either side could move. "If we figure out how to make permanent Barrier creatures, the Order could become as powerful as we- as powerful as we should be. Don't let yourself grow so attached to your own creations that you cannot see what use they could be to the world."

"What use? They're not fucking tools," John protested, joining Lunaya in her angry glare at both of the new women.

"John, these are magical constructs, no different than automatons. If we create enough of them, the Order could bring righteousness to Springfield, even-"

"For Gaia's sake, Moira, you fucking had sex with one, and you're just going to tell me they have no value except as your goddamn personal army?!"

There was silence for an immeasurably long time. John refused to back down as Moira met his gaze with fire and fury, simultaneously blushing from the neck upward as John's words slowly sank in. Tricia herself even seemed lightly affected, glancing between the two of them in curiosity as the tension in the air slowly rose.

"You are too valuable to lose," Moira eventually said, as if she were talking more to herself than to John. "Very well, but you must allow Tricia to study them in some meaningful way. Did you not want to learn more about yourself?"

"I did, but…" John paused, glancing downward. He did want to learn more about why he was so special - why he had all these abilities. But not if it meant shipping any of them off to some unknown laboratory or surrendering them to whatever sudden desire Moira had to turn all of them into an army of Purified soldiers.

"Wait, I think I've got it!"

John opened up his inventory and pulled from it the Harpy Egg that he had received as a reward from his randomized dungeon with Moira. He had never actually removed it from his inventory after receiving it, so he'd only had the icon to go by. Pulling the actual item out, he was startled by how big it was. The egg was roughly the size of a fully-inflated beach ball from side to side and almost as tall as John's waist if he were to put it on the ground. It was heavy, too - even with his recent level gains, he still struggled to hold it in both of his arms. Its mottled red surface was lined with what looked almost like cracks but upon closer inspection were simply veins of something… different. They were orange, bright, and glowing in comparison to the dull crimson of the remainder of its shell.

"What is that?" Moira gasped at the sudden appearance.

"It's an egg… I got it when we did that dungeon, remember? I've been keeping it in my inventory because it's set to hatch, but if you want it, you can take it. Keeps me from having another mouth to feed, and you can get your readings on the development and biological structure without me giving up one of my friends. As long as you get it back to me or make one hell of an omelet, it should be fine since it hasn't hatched yet."

"I find this… acceptable, for a start. For the rest, will you allow me further access to this place? Moira told me that you can access it from anywhere; I found this claim laughable at first, but given the rest of the things you have told me, it no longer seems so unbelievable. If you could meet me at my laboratory, I could prepare a more effective mobile uplink that would allow me to collect and store more data without worrying about storage space or the limitations imposed by only possessing two of my most generalized drones."

John was hesitant, but he realized that his hesitations were not so much with Tricia anymore. While he had no desire to send any of his creations off with Tricia to an unknown location, she seemed more than willing to work with him on that fact, and despite her odd lack of expression, she seemed more genuine and curious than she did hostile or demanding. Moira had proclaimed that Tricia would be impossible to stop once she learned of the things John's powers could do… yet here Moira was, demanding John accede to all of her demands and implying that his duty now was to raise an army for her.

"Alright. On two conditions - number one is that this testing is voluntary. Any of my friends can stop it at any point they want, and I can stop it if I think you're going too far. As long as I agree and they agree, you can do anything you want."

"I can agree to this, so long as you will inform me what you think is too far. I may be able to reconfigure certain parameters of an experiment to meet your demands. What is the second part of your request?"

"If you're going to be learning about me, I want to learn about you," John said, nodding. "I want to ask questions. You can refuse to answer… but I can revoke consent for experiments, too."

Tricia hesitated there. John was actually kind of surprised; despite giving a false name, he wasn't sure what she was hiding that was so important that she would even momentarily consider abandoning her research.

"I… can accept these terms, so long as you will understand that both of us have our secrets. I understand the importance of a contract, and I will not bind myself to any further unconditioned servitude."

Tricia did not move her head as she spoke, but John could hear the venom in her voice. One of the drones hovered uncertainly over her shoulder as Moira glanced in her direction harshly.

"Myaster, can help?"

John hadn't noticed Maera creeping up to him; he very nearly jumped as she spoke from beside him. Suppressing his initial reaction, he turned to find the ivory-haired girl brushing up against him, her very conspicuously nude form grinding into his calf.

"Help with what, Maera? What's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong, Myaster," Maera said simply, smiling. "Need help with Caturday."

Consumed by confusion for an instant, John stumbled over how to respond. Then, at last overcoming his focus on Moira and Tricia, John recalled the context he'd last heard that unusual but humorous word.

"Oh, you need- Oh. Ohhhhh. Shit."