The Finishing Touches on a Good Plan

A few (temple) minutes later...

“This... this isn’t real.”

“It’s real... well, real enough.”

The water felt cool and flighty in the way that it often felt, though few in Vantage could have ever experienced more than a few true water showers in their day. That Zalla was now kneeling up to her breasts in a pool of it, and that another was nearby... hosting another Human imposter-

A real Human, her captor would say.

Zalla shook her head in doubt... and caressed sore nipples that had finally been given some rest. She looked up and beyond John to the marble statue of him: unlike the sad smile worn on her master, the statue seemed proud, even arrogant in its fists-to-hips pose as it looked up at a naked, single sun in an alien, blue sky.

“I’m... I’m not pregnant.”

“No... you’re severely pregnant.”

“W-We’re on the Plate.”

“Are there even blue skies in Vantage?”

“Y-You’re not human.”

“What keeps me from being so?”

Zalla spun in the water, half-standing up, “Because they sacrificed themselves for us!”

“Three.” John shrugged. “The legend is that three of them did, right? How many humans do you think we have?”

Zalla’s confused expression was only momentary. “The Humans were our ancestors, and they were the last to survive the pilgrimage back to their place of origin, our world; we were all that they had left, and that’s why they were willing to die to protect us! Of course there were only three... and we Dorani honor them!”

“Definitely more than... seven billion or so? Pretty sure.”

“Seven...?”

“Humans, I mean.”

“H-Hah! Impossible!”

“Actually, yeah, there’s probably more in the Abyss, so... more?”

Zalla turned to sit on her butt in the water. She crossed her arms and brooded in silence; she was done talking in riddles with this man.

John sighed as he leaned against his own statue. The temple was largely quiet except for a few grunts or conversations held by clutches of his summons; Zalla had balked and wondered at the Almiraj and all the rest but still refused to budge. Not even this bath seemed to help. I wonder if anyone on Vantage has pets... kind of wish Woofroot was here to cheer her up... and me...

Meanwhile

The activity had slowed now that the humans had settled in... but there was one person whose activity hadn’t changed from the moment they arrived.

A snarling snore escaped its cute source, followed by her mumbling, “Oh Master, I wish we could stay like... this for... eeever...” She continued to sleep on the bare, rock floor in the corner of the Bitter Nines hideout, though now she had managed to ensnare her cuddling prey in short but eager arms.

Woofroot simply lay next to her, tongue waggling as he occasionally nuzzled the sleeping succubus. “Roooorooo,” he playfully whined.

Lily just hugged him tightly in response. His fur (leaves) crumpled under the pressure, but he seemed fine, even happy, to be hugged; this was someone Master protected, after all. So she had to be a good person. Such was as the two remained.

But this interaction was not unnoticed. Nearby, a human watched... and narrowed her eyes. She kept her distance, lest she wake one or scare the other... but her cheeks grew slightly pink with envy. Her hand caressed her knee as she watched the two...

It’s not a normal dog, Galley reminded herself, so maybe it wouldn’t bite me if I tried. But it’s also very dog-like. It’s very... cute. I... want to pet the dog... Galley dared to dream.

“... which is why I want to return to Earth,” John concluded.

Zalla’s eyes had never left the fairly barren map of the Dream; she marveled at its nebulous patterns and at the implication of Earth, below. “So our home... our true first home... was Earth?”

“I doubt it. I mean, I don’t know if we could’ve hidden something like Dorani from the fossil record or... well, the truth is I don’t know.” Yeah, what prevents them from being some weird, horny caveman mage’s experiment at some point? Or everything I know about fossils being bupkis? The possibilities of what truly happened in the past had now become so suspect that John wondered if history—civilian, human history—was even worth trying to study beyond some metaphorical value. “Important thing is that I don’t think we’ve got any Dorani there now... and who knows, maybe that’ll change once I get back, but right now there are literally billions of humans of a few shades and shapes... nowhere near as diverse as the Dorani-”

“You’re... really Human?” The question more escaped her than got asked.

“Was it the fancy office?” John asked with a wave to the furnishings.

“You’re... you’re really... one of the sacred...”

“There’s nothing sacred about us,” he quickly corrected. “Look, some of us do magic, that’s all... some better than others.” John put his hands on Zalla’s naked shoulders. “And we need your help... and we’re going to get it, either way, but I want you to see why you should be willing.”

Zalla looked around slowly, her eyes seldom shrinking to less than open saucers as she tried to make sense of it.

“... And for what it’s worth, I really wanted you to feel good… I didn’t mean to get you pregnant. I just… pulling out never crosses my mind at the time it-”

“N-No, that’s… that’s fine. I’m…” Zalla turned back to John… and quietly leaned in to kiss him. He accepted it and kissed her back; he did it too forcefully, leading her to retreat until he eased off. The exchange became something tender; now that she was no longer under his magical pull, or feeling threatened, her exchange was pleasant… and thorough as she let her lips massage his, her tongue tease and dart along the insides of his mouth, and like this the two “spoke” for nearly two complete minutes until John felt her hands pulling him into a hug. He had to arch his head back for how tall she was; he kissed her from nearly between her tits until, with a satisfied sigh, she finally pulled up and away.

John blinked up in a breathless confusion. “So you’re… not mad about it?”

“I’m not looking forward to giving birth five times,” she muttered, “but… you gave me something I thought impossible, and now you’re also a pure member of my people. I’m… I’m supposed to be ashamed of wasting your seed on my flawed soils.”

“Please don’t ever-”

“But you don’t seem to care.”

“It’s really not important what species we are… I mean, except that apparently we’re very, very… compatible,” John chuckled. “You’re pretty damn tall, though.”

Zalla cocked her head in confusion. “I was wondering about why you happened to be so short…”

John gave her a teasing squeeze. “Hey! I’m actually taller than the average.”

“There are even shorter Humans?!”

“Christ… well, as long as you’re not mad about it… I’m happy to see you carry my kids. I mean, Hell, by now I better be…”

An awkward silence passed until Zalla whispered, “Then abandon the Bitter Nines.”

“They’re the only ones making any sense right now, so… I can’t.”

“You... you’re working for killers. Don’t you see that?”

“The first killers I met were all Lawmen.”

Zalla was shocked but undeterred. “If you saw any Lawman attempting to execute a resident, then they were probably breaking the law... the resident, I mean; Plate residents break the law almost out of habit,” she scoffed.

“And **** is the right answer for that? Apparently no one here knows a prison is supposed to be a building, not a home.”

“And if they cannot rehabilitate and rise again, what use is keeping them consuming precious food?” Zalla retorted. “We must survive, and if every unapologetic criminal was left alive? We would all be dead.”

“Well... I’m going to change that. Once I’m the Peak, and get my people home... I’ll find new homes for those who want to leave this place. And you’re going to help.”

Zalla’s frown deepened... but she knew better than to challenge the notion.

John reappeared just a few minutes after he had vanished along with Zalla... but Tricia knew what that meant for his time in the Temple. John turned to face her with a satisfied smile.

“Her, too?” She almost managed to sound surprised.

“O-Oh... w-well, it was for a good reason,” John stammered, suddenly aware of her heart-piercing glare as she marched at him. “I mean, she had never experienced- I mean, it would’ve been mean to just-”

Tricia reached up, tugged John down by his ears, and kissed him. John went from surprise to a close-eyed embrace of his lover, and so the two remained for ten beats until the blonde permitted otherwise. She met his eyes as she whispered, “We stipulated an agreement wherein I accepted this about you as part of our experimental relationship... but on the premise of fairness and shared attention, as well as to introduce a control into such experimentation... I am due your attentions next, at least.”

John’s open mouth split into a toothy smile. “You sure you don’t want to get married again?”

“Not until it is perfect, Mr. Newman.”

Tricia’s eyes drifted to John’s right, and only now did he take the time to consider the Bitter Nines headquarters as it now stood. The loose collections of tables had been pressed closer together, all shifted towards the north side of the chamber. In the vacuum they left was the human “encampment” of sorts: jugs and boxes, newly hewn from bok, were covered and made a half-circle around the two dozen lime green bedrolls crafted from mana and plant fibers. The Order had fallen into their regimented lives without being told to do so: four Knights kept a loose watch over the provisions, unarmed as they were, while the rest slept save the elder Confessor who cradled a cup of water in his idle thinking. Yui had returned, but she did not sleep; instead, she seemed content to stare daggers at John. Penelope had fallen asleep, though she kept her bedroom in the far, lonely corner of the human area.

Rave and Travolta picked through the kitchen along with Kitok, the latter being more interested in preventing theft than trying to communicate any guidance to them. John’s summons remained at the table where he left them, each looking to him for some result. The exception was Woofroot who, on seeing his Master return, wiggled from Lily’s grip, ran past Galley Gallows’ bare feet, and barked happily as he readied to pounce on John anew. John was happy—and braced—to catch Woofroot as he leapt high enough to nearly headbutt his owner, and John scrubbed and scratched the good boy as he cradled him.

“Keeping Lily company, huh, boy?”

“Arf!”

“So what, did you knock this girl up, too?” Tara’s voice lacked any sarcasm to mask her judgment.

“Well… I didn’t mean to,” John offhandedly replied as he set Woofroot down, “but it turns out that whole ‘breeds with anything’ claim was backed by them being insanely fertile…”

“Master, you shouldn’t waste your seed on such curious oddities.” Tita moved from the table to approach John. She had been afforded an apron that could not have been the idea of any reasoned minds: that strip of faux cloth mostly vanished between her breasts, with its outermost edges straddling her fat nipples, each one seemingly recovered from their ordeal. With her gravid belly, the apron became a curtain that didn’t even reach her hairless crotch, though one would struggle to see it beneath the embryo-filled bulge. “Moreover, Master, surely I’ve earned your attention now, nurturing that disgusting creature, as well as all the… people... here.”

John recalled that fairly explicit, milky promise to his most pregnant minion… though he wondered now at what challenges that would bring. She… she can’t get pregnant while pregnant, right?

“So can she help?” The voice of reason came from Galley who came forward and out of the camp, surely not to follow Woofroot out as he scampered about. “We can stay here a few days at most; one of the Hospitalers said we’re probably low on some Earth-based essentials that might not be in these crops, like potassium… or toilet paper.”

“Or hair product!” Rave yelled across the way.

“Geez…” But Galley didn’t disagree.

“She can and will help,” John finally declared, “and I think we can move pretty soon… we just need to know when next they’ll open all the levels leading up to the Peak.”

“We know when, John the Newman… but we must keep it secret.” John’s company looked up to see Golgon the Fool gliding downward until, with a soft pat of his bare feet, he landed on the table. He appraised the Gamer, clearly curious to see proof of his claims.

The Gamer appraised the Ootuk in turn… knowing what he knew now. Better I not mention it… let him show his hand, first.

“What has she told you, then?”

“She will explain.”

You used Grand Summon to summon Zalla.

As promised, much to the alarm of the Bitter Nines, the Lawman was called down… only now she wore a most alien suit of armor. The green metal of it shimmered with some dozens of mirror surfaces across all the loose lines and tendrils of the steel that joined to make its every crafted surface. Her lower-half armor was split in three, from shorts to shin plates to shoes. Her midriff was bare, her cleavage was on display, and the helm did little but crown her bald head. The armor certainly had more aesthetic appeal than defensive; like Alysha’s old armor, it provided near-unlimited freedom of movement, but at great cost… at least in appearance.

Lawbreaker Armor: magical armor. This suit of armor, when worn in full, grants +20 DR versus all physical and elemental damage. As a free-round action, its wearer can activate one or two of the following abilities: to cast the Rune of Binding, the Rune of Harm, or the Rune of Healing Touch; to attempt to infiltrate any mental network a target is a part of with a Charisma check; a stealth mode which includes sound suppression and chameleon illusions; or adding +10 to one of the wearer’s physical stats for one minute. Every such action taken uses one of the armor’s charges. The armor starts with ten charges, its maximum, and passively regains one charge per hour. The wearer can spend a full-round action and 100MP to manually add one charge to the armor, up to its maximum.

The armor was bizarre enough to Golgon to earn his curiosity, at least.

“Tell them what we discussed, Zalla.”

Zalla had plenty to say with that command… except John had already coached her on what to say.

And what not to say.

“I know… where we can get the materials you need… and a completed pelos key.”

Golgon looked the Dorani up and down, ending only when his eyes returned to her hateful, orange leering. “So… where are they?”

“I’m permitted to tell you… if you permit John Newman to become the Peak once you have freed us from bondage.” Zalla’s blood boiled at the words; no matter the rapport they had developed, John was forcing her to speak some traitor cant, the sort of talk worthy of the **** penalty!

Her fury was worn too openly… leaving Golgon wide-eyed and impressed. The old man gave John another appraisal… and chuckled wryly.