Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
I was so confused with the self mastered thing until I search it up.
P.S. It's a lie, your eyes go bad as you age
P.S. It's a lie, your eyes go bad as you age
Barbaric Bob
The Barbaric One
- Location
- Soon to be plundering a village near you
Adam, there is only one reponce to Gaia's horrible ear slaughter attempt
Grow the most magnificent moustache and seduce her! That oughtta teach her!
It's definitly revenge and not us readers shipping you hard
Grow the most magnificent moustache and seduce her! That oughtta teach her!
It's definitly revenge and not us readers shipping you hard
- Location
- Here
Regarding Alanis Morissette "Ironic". Here is a clip of stand-up comedian Ed Byrne taking on the song:
Ed Byrne - Ironic
Ed Byrne - Ironic
Arc 3: Art is an Martial!
- Location
- Here
President Shinra sighed. "No, everyone go back to work."
An assistant paused. "Sir?"
He waved it away. "There is no damn point to having meetings if most of the administration is in lockdown. I would rather spend my time listening to music and trying to relax than have us stand around for hours unable to actually achieve anything because EVERYONE IS IN QUARANTINE!"
No. Calm. "So this and all future meetings for the next two weeks are suspended, try to keep the various projects from exploding or dying or whatever, and we will follow up after that. Alright? Alright. Good talk everyone."
Ignoring the stunned few that showed up, he walked away.
In the long run, this all didn't matter. Shinra had enough money and control to shut down for years without affecting anyone's paycheck or budget.
No, it was infuriating because of all the project delays and budgeting arguments this was going to cause. Not to mention that ass Hojo's crazy side projects that the investigators were STILL stumbling on while trying to speed up the mental hazard examinations.
He sighed. Maybe he could go on a trip? No, transportation was locked during similar crises like this one. Music and a nice glass of wine was the best way to go, really.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sarah nodded. "I think I might be a villain. At least in actions, if not intentions."
Adam had doubled the rate of energy serum being pumped into Jenova's chambers. <<How so?>>
She pointed. "When I saw Cloud's house again I basically thought, 'Yep! I can steal that!' and almost did it automatically."
Huh. <<Like an anti-Aerith response?>>
Her hand waved. "Sort of? More like, I expect this to be an awkward meeting and it just feels WAY easier to take the entire house, steal it and the people inside, and go back to Yuffie and Wutai Village. Maybe take a nap and have a sandwich."
Adam blinked. <<I mean, that feels pretty normal to me at least.>>
Sarah nodded. "But when you include that with me taking a mountain top and stripping those soldiers and all that, it sort of adds up."
He glanced at the healing goddess chamber. <<Plus you have a kidnapping spree going on. For their own good, but still.>>
She winced. "Yeah, I just feel like something's missing and I keep trying to find people to fill it."
Adam sighed. <<That will go away once the memories come back. I'm not allowed to give many details…>> The drawback would just wipe any restricted info if he tried. <<...But your girlfriends would love the stuff you've done so far.>>
Sarah blinked. "Plural, huh? That explains why I don't feel guilty with my plan to supercharge an ice goddess summoning Materia I guess."
He grinned. <<Well, that and your relationship is pretty damned open. You girls routinely would find nice women who were interested in a fun time and hang out. Or more.>>
Watching her stutter and blush was adorable. Another saved video log for the return trip!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Claudia cleaned the dishes as she heard Mr. Zangan tell yet another tale of his hunting monsters, teaching students, and being scolded for not properly warning his friends (Handlers) when dashing off to more combat and exploration.
A nice man, but a powerful, distracting personality.
The knock had her drying her hands as she opened the door. "Oh! Ms. Kisaragi, I'm glad you are alright despite that storm last night."
The poofy outfit with a woman's face under the hood probably smiled, but most of her mouth was covered by a cute white scarf. "Yes, it certainly made my project take longer. And please, call me Sarah."
Ms… No, Sarah. Sarah glanced at the table, where the muscular old man was waving his arms and describing a massive dragon he suplexed. "How're the kids holding up?"
Claudia sighed. "A few tears and basically they stayed up really late, but better overall than I expected. I know I cried for weeks when my husband died."
Sarah nodded. "It helped that I asked the Planet to temporarily summon her mother to calm her down… A one time use ability, but at least it helped her find some closure."
She… Did what?
Her heart sped up! "I… Could you?"
The gray eyes were sympathetic. "I tried, but Cloud's father had already rejoined the Lifestream entirely at this point. And it is rough on the ones being called, not damaging but stressful and draining emotionally for everyone involved."
She missed him though. "At least he found peace with the Planet." Her love.
Her arms still felt too empty. "I'm going to hug Cloud, we can talk about other stuff later."
Striding to the table. "Excuse me, Mr. Zangan." Snagged her baby. "Yoink!"
Cloud struggled! "Mom! Put me down!"
Nope! "Never! For I have kidnapped the fluffiest of prisoners, my own Cloud!"
She walked off as Tifa giggled and her little one whined, but at least her arms were full of important things again.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Tifa held her mouth with both hands but couldn't stop her giggles as her friend whined and was carried off!
Master Zangan nodded. "I may have to teach him some escape maneuvers." His eyes warmed as he watched Cloud's mom laugh with her son. "Someday, at least."
Tifa nodded, and blinked! "Hi, blue floof lady!"
The woman with sparkling gray eyes seemed to grin behind her scarf. "Hello Tifa. Who is your new friend?"
She grinned! "This is Master Zangan, an artist who punches rocks into statues!"
The old guy held out a muscular arm to the poof lady. "Good morning! I'm Zangan. I travel around the world teaching children martial arts!"
The lady seemed to be just as peppy! "Good morning! I'm Sarah Kisaragi. I pester the planet and kidnap children and their families to help them escape Shinra and bad situations!"
He blinked. "We should train together!"
The poofy woman struck a pose! "THEN WE SHALL!"
Tifa raised both arms! "Let's go punch statues!"
This was going to be awesome!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Yuffie was helping Aerith cut out more black paper mustaches. "But she's alright now?"
A nod. "And I learned an awesome song, even if it is a bit repetitive!"
The ninja hummed, and she added the next cut out to the stack. "Where is she, anyway?"
The little adorable cutie pie stuck her tongue out to focus better on her scissor work. "Sis went to some mountain to save someone and stop the Planet from hurting." She paused. "Uh. It's a big mountain? With snow?"
Yep, that's a mountain. "Neat."
Aerith nodded! "Don't tell sis, but I'm not mad that she stole the mountain because bad people made things on it and Gaia was sad and angry and stuff."
Yuffie's eyes lit up. "Sarah got to steal a MOUNTAIN!? I can barely steal a hotdog!"
The tiny one tried to throw her current mustache, which flipped and fell the wrong way. "NO. No stealing! This is a one time pass because it was a bad place on a mountain. Hotdogs don't count as bad places OR mountains."
Fair enough. "Calm down, short stuff."
The little girl glared. "Promise me you won't steal hotdogs."
Uh. "So do we have enough mustaches yet?"
Aerith blinked. "What? Oh, maybe? With tape we can add them to all sorts of stuff, but Gaia says if we do it outside it can rain and get the paper wet."
Distraction achieved! Victory music played in her head as Yuffie grinned. "Maybe we could laminate the things in plastic first to waterproof it."
Babysitting was awesome! She should steal more kids.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Elder Godo looked at the proposed revised village layout. The Shinra Commander and Captain Newcastle were also invited for this meeting, but seemed bothered by the strange atmosphere.
He hummed. "I fear we must apply more vague terminology. Simplified plans and requests overall, as well."
The general confusion made him sigh. "I may have known my adopted daughter for a short period of time, but my life as whole has been long and full of experience."
He gestured at the plans. "If we attempt to apply too much control, too many restrictions or issues… Young Sarah will get bored or frustrated. Even worse? She may aggressively comply with our requests."
Captain Newcastle gulped. "Aggressively comply?"
The old man nodded. "This section, for example, only lists local limits. Things she is not allowed to do while changing the space near that temple dedicated to worshiping the Planet. But she is connected TO the planet herself. If we attempt to define what the temple design should be, I firmly believe young Sarah will build exactly what we ask for… And then ignore the mess and build something astonishing elsewhere in a way that the Planet approves."
He examined the confused and concerned council and the two blinking Shinra employed military men. "It would be best to write a new design plan that is very basic and vague, and attach these much more complicated and detailed layouts as reference material for her to examine at her leisure."
One of the more obstinate old people (Still younger than Elder Godo, he mentally appreciated), frowned. "But she could do anything!"
And he nodded. "Yes."
The discomfort was like a fog in the room.
A sip of tea calmed his own concerns. "Everyone must understand: My daughter can do anything. None of us can stop her, merely advise and make appeals and requests. Keeping her happy and entertained will ensure more of our issues will be addressed, while attempting to force compliance or being overly controlling of my little one, aside from being a terrible idea in general, would bring up a larger issue."
The Commander winced. "Larger issue?"
Elder Godo gently nodded. "I would have to end some people."
The room was quiet.
He enjoyed his tea.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sarah shifted her foot.
Master Zangan nodded. "Again!"
The kata, or training routine or exercise pattern, was slow… But Sarah was making fewer mistakes after each instant that Master Zangan interrupted and corrected her.
It was near instinctual for some reason, and it was simple to never repeat a past mistake after it had been pointed out.
Slow though.
Step, punch, twist hips elbow strike, step, kick, step…
"Stop." The man used his foot to tap her legs. "A little more… There, a better weight distribution. A solid base is a solid foundation! We build upon it! Now, again!"
Tifa was trying to copy her, but both adults ignored the child so she wouldn't feel pressured or embarrassed. It would be the girl's turn for instruction in a few minutes anyway.
Sarah started the kata from the start.
The point of this very slow and methodical series of movements were several fold. First, it ensured no muscle groups got ignored and verified that each individual fighting movement was practiced and easily usable with Sarah's enhanced body.
According to her Boss, she had a lifetime (Many of them!) of learning combat methods that she couldn't remember right now, but SOMETHING was coming back as she followed the expert directions of her new (temporary) master, Master Zangan.
Muscle memory, most likely. Oops!
A hand tapped her arm. "Keep it level, twist as it goes out, twist as it returns. Again."
Aww, she had been doing so good up till then!
Eventually she would learn to perform the entire routine without any major issue. THEN she could perfect it, THEN she could build up speed! Be all BAM and BOW!
Uh. Might be hanging out with Tifa too much.
Adam chuckled. <<No, I bet lots of grown people find fighting to be cool. And I always enjoy making sound effects when fighting people, even if I rarely get to do it cause it's not 'heroic' or 'cool' enough. Though uh, I'm not a great judge when it comes to normality and stuff.>>
Sarah blinked, imagining the crystal skull punching someone with his tongue while yelling 'POW!'
And a hand tapped her head. "Focus on movements, not other thoughts."
Right. "Yes, Master Zangan."
He grinned! "While training, you refer to me as Sensei. It's a similar title as Master, but my own teacher used the term when I was but a youth learning my own first steps! It is a term showing respect to the one leading you in the Martial Arts."
Tifa shuffled in the background. "Can… Can I also call you 'Sensei'?"
Daww!
The old man laughed, posing with flexing muscles! "Of course my young disciple! While young Sarah may be relearning lost skills, I plan to help you learn everything I know!"
She grinned! "Yes, Sensei!"
He grinned as he waved off Sarah mid movement. "You need to pause and think about the movements you have done so far. Repeat the steps slowly, feel the muscles involved, and attempt smooth transitions. In the meantime!"
Master Zangan strode to one side and scooped up Tifa. "Let's go punch some rocks into statues!"
The child whooped! "Higher! Uh. I mean, yes! Yes sensei!"
Sarah chuckled as the pair headed toward the random boulders she had supplied for them to work on. While the two got along great, she still found it odd that a little eight year old girl could smash a massive rock into pebbles so easily.
Then again, Cloud was the same age and could carry the smaller boulders around without issue, which also caught the Jumper off guard.
But at least he was having fun 'helping' the martial artists train even if Master Zangen was tricking the boy into basically doing weight lifting in the process.
Kids growing up so close to Mako Reactors were crazy strong in this Jump. Like, holy crap! Should she make one of her magic generator plants under Aerith's moved house?
Probably should ask permission from her mother first.
Sarah paused, blinking, and checked her inventory.
...Also, she should probably go back soon and RETURN THEIR HOUSE.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam carefully made sure his patient had supplies, but uh. That was basically automatic now.
So he was spending more time enhancing the Warehouse now that he basically had access to a proto-Lifestream source thanks to these new artificial mako spring units.
The amount of magic produced was constant mostly, although it would go up as the Warehouse advanced and Sarah improved and grew in power. But overall? The amount of liquid magic would basically be at a fixed level for each future Jump.
So since Jenova was happy enough with her current mako density as Adam pumped in more and more magic, it was easy enough to cut the ratio of magic in half and have the other chunk build up pressure in the Warehouse systems.
That way, at SOME point, Sarah's mako generation unit would advance past liquid magic and begin to produce Materia sand, and move upwards in energy density to Materia Crystals and possibly beyond.
According to 'Research', the Materia wouldn't actually have any spells in it either, as the Warehouse's Lifestream that was even now starting to flow within the structured layers of the place wouldn't be influenced by a few civilizations of souls and wars and invaders and summonings and who knew what.
But uninfluenced mako gas, liquid, and Materia would be valuable on their own!
Might even be easier to use, as they wouldn't have the mental strain added from trying to operate the objects despite echoes of past people's memories and similarity resonances static from nearby sources.
Thankfully it was easy enough to keep the Warehouse's new Lifestream Network separated and secure from Jenova's health pod, just disable the environmental simulation that duplicated the FF7 Jump patterns on a shell of material surrounding her area.
Without the cosmic rules that allow mako, Materia, the Lifestream, and Gaia to exist? No contamination!
So now certain hidden areas and units had Bioshock or FF7 environmental settings, but the heavily modified design methods and layout that Adam had been implementing made that a trivial thing to set up and troubleshoot.
And unlike those lame, WORKING Warehouses that may or may not exist out there somewhere? These new settings were refined and documented processes!
That meant Sarah could have units from unrelated Jumps working side by side without conflict, that 'Research' could test and set up 'crossover' settings that would simulate a Bioshock+FF7 Jump in the future, and potentially each new chain in Sarah's Jump would dramatically increase the number and variety of environments to work with!
Potentially.
Most likely.
In real world practice, however, FF7 and Bioshock did NOT like being combined. 'Research' was trying its hardest, of course, and eventually Adam WOULD crack it (And hopefully make similar efforts in the future MUCH easier to accomplish), but for now it was mostly just causing explosions.
Which was neat!
But not useful.
The bangs weren't even that big or interesting, Sarah could do better with common gunpowder and some nuclear material, but it would all work out eventually. For now, toss all that mess and sensor data into 'Research' and just brute force the bitch till something doesn't turn into goo or whatever.
Anyway, access to a Lifestream meant that Adam could set up a LOT of Growth Units everywhere. Have some seed material, mostly crystals and structured metallic patterns, and the flowing mako would cause drastic growth rates for the Harvesting Units to send off to the Warehouse Inventory.
Basically, Sarah now had ex nihilo resource generation. Matter from nothing, almost.
It was more like an impossible thing (The Warehouse) existing in an impossible place (Outside the Jump) and how it interacted with magic… But as far as most people and Sarah were concerned, free metal and gems and salt and stuff over time! Woot!
Since Eve and Mako were being generated by the actions of the Avatar and the universal rules duplicated into the Warehouse after entering each new Jump, it let Adam make some interesting modifications!
First, not every pattern of material 'grew' at the same rate. Some worked better with magic than others, some made more mass but the mass had less conceptual 'significance' than externally sourced stuff and that could affect its 'value' or 'worth'.
Secondly, alloys and artificial materials could be grown too… But as the source seed material strays further and further from stuff Gaia and the FF7 Jump constantly delt with, the slower the growth speed would become.
Why did this matter?
Because 'Research' was taking all these statistics and changing Sarah's Mako allocation percentages to better provide good results!
Some metals and gems and such were REALLY hard to fabricate, so spending some magic on growing it massively lowered the costs of other units in Sarah's Warehouse when it came to construction and material conversion.
Other growing structures were very rarely used at all, so after a backlog and base amount was added to the storage system the growth rate was free to drop WAY down as the magic was better allocated elsewhere.
But most of all, 'Research' was ensuring that MOST of the magic was either provided to Jenova's healing pod or adding pressure to the Mako Generator unit.
Sure, Sarah would much more slowly recover her power after using Materia or her slowly growing and memorized library of Green Materia spells. But she'd only used the basic abilities of those at ALL so far, and Adam's optimizations meant she had MASSIVE reserves to work with in the first place.
It was a MUCH better use of time trying to enhance her Mako Generator Units and eventually have ones focused on each quality level: Magic Potential Gas, Magic Potential Liquid, and Magic Potential Sand.
Once those levels were reached, 'Research' was SURE it could make custom MP Generators work without conflict internally, and then Sarah would have access to unaffiliated, uninfluenced raw magic at different density levels as required!
Theoretically.
Right NOW, however, Adam was only getting away with this because Jenova LOVED energy serums and the temporary psionic environment was helping 'Enhance Self' to do SOMETHING in that healing pod.
Hopefully something good? Not sure.
At least the entire structure FELT satisfied, relaxed, and lazy.
Also hungry, but that had been a powerful emotion the psionic field had been submerged under and emitting for hours now. At least the poor woman seemed happy enough with plenty of energy serum.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
More and more food! A buffet of desperately needed alms at the worst of times!
The healing chemicals were carefully accepted and applied, to be sure, and the somehow beyond pure mako was able to easily support her magical needs as she healed, but this food!
It was like raw power! The minute energy of a trillion dead beings passing in and out of the cycle was nothing compared to this raw potency, and this time she wasn't being hurt trying to fill her raw needs!
Her earliest memories were reaching for her mother and finding confusion, growing concern, and eventually fear. Of being hurt, and pulled too soon from her womb, of being sealed. Of shock, of being alone, of being alone, of fear of alone, of alone. Being FREE! But…
Moments later, pain.
Memories of being torn. Twisted. Trying to heal. Hunger. Of hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt. Starvation. Of betrayal. Of hunger!
But now?
Her body was unmade and absently reformed. Layers of meat and bone and materials and fluid flowed. The magic flowed as frantic life saving measures were casually dismantled and reduced to raw material, as her existence seemed to relax and fall into a slurry of comfort and peace and relaxation.
Hunger came and went as raw satisfaction was bestowed on her without restriction, without fear, without doubt and terror and concerns of danger.
And unlike so long ago, she was much older now.
She could actually communicate!
Her cells flowed and flexed as she pulsed raw thankfulness at the blue skeletal flames and his silver boned daughter!
The sliver of blue flames and bone flickered… And provided another sample of that strange healing liquid that wasn't actually magic but seemed to work anyway.
Ah.
Alright, she can't actually communicate, apparently.
Her body began shifting with purpose.
After all, she could fix that.
The space she was in was odd. If she put too much pressure on any wall, it somehow expanded away. If she attempted to pull it closer, it helped her compress. The walls themselves pulsed with raw magic, but easily and happily followed her suggestions and requests as the odd Lifestreams sang unknown songs.
Something about continuing to sing forever? What a lovely thought!
First, she let herself be born.
Once, her seed, the origin of her existence, had fallen upon her mother so long ago.
Yet unlike the other children, she had grown strangely. Too strong, too young, unable to understand what was happening. What was wrong.
As her mother grew fearful, she grew more hungry and lonely.
It didn't end well.
None of it ended well.
But now!
Flesh formed, skeletal fragments twisted into place, muscles attached and ligaments stretched and skin covered and organs twisted!
A child of the Planet, formed partially from all species upon it!
Yet this time, oddly similar to so long ago, she grew strangely.
Some guiding hand, some sense of self, had her alter changes.
Inefficient limbs, smaller parts, lower quality designs… But drastically lower energy requirements. Easier long term enhancement, more of an inward spiral than the exponential growth of before.
Some changes were confusing. Why thumbs? Why eyes? Only two? What if she wants to see out of her torso?
Others were astonishing! A MUCH more efficient life support network, far less magic and food needed to sustain functions, much easier mental connections and more complex structures being formed within!
Eventually the changes slowed, a new bipedal form floating in comforting magic…
And she tore herself apart again!
So many new patterns learned! The organs that had been stolen, the bones that had been torn and chipped!
Regrowth was much progressed as her cells were rebuilt with new information, as accidental enhancements were studied and tested and improvements and flaws were found and examined!
Her vision barely formed before her entire body fell into blue potential once more, the green liquid mako supporting her modifications as she pulsed again!
Through each stage, her hunger was ever fulfilled by more donations from the blue skeletal flames. Unquestioned support, never hesitating in generosity, so unexpected and unusual.
Dreams became change became thoughts became reality. Her thoughts drifted as her form would build itself with unlimited access to magic and raw fuel, each cycle of growth and decay finding more flaws to address, more issues to fix, more possibilities to explore!
Somewhere deep in her buried fear, she decided.
If this was another trap, another lie, another deceit… She hoped to die before betrayal.
This dream, if dream it were, was more valuable to her than survival now.
Outside of everywhere, and outside of everywhen, she built herself whole and dreamed of hope.
It was a lovely dream.
An assistant paused. "Sir?"
He waved it away. "There is no damn point to having meetings if most of the administration is in lockdown. I would rather spend my time listening to music and trying to relax than have us stand around for hours unable to actually achieve anything because EVERYONE IS IN QUARANTINE!"
No. Calm. "So this and all future meetings for the next two weeks are suspended, try to keep the various projects from exploding or dying or whatever, and we will follow up after that. Alright? Alright. Good talk everyone."
Ignoring the stunned few that showed up, he walked away.
In the long run, this all didn't matter. Shinra had enough money and control to shut down for years without affecting anyone's paycheck or budget.
No, it was infuriating because of all the project delays and budgeting arguments this was going to cause. Not to mention that ass Hojo's crazy side projects that the investigators were STILL stumbling on while trying to speed up the mental hazard examinations.
He sighed. Maybe he could go on a trip? No, transportation was locked during similar crises like this one. Music and a nice glass of wine was the best way to go, really.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sarah nodded. "I think I might be a villain. At least in actions, if not intentions."
Adam had doubled the rate of energy serum being pumped into Jenova's chambers. <<How so?>>
She pointed. "When I saw Cloud's house again I basically thought, 'Yep! I can steal that!' and almost did it automatically."
Huh. <<Like an anti-Aerith response?>>
Her hand waved. "Sort of? More like, I expect this to be an awkward meeting and it just feels WAY easier to take the entire house, steal it and the people inside, and go back to Yuffie and Wutai Village. Maybe take a nap and have a sandwich."
Adam blinked. <<I mean, that feels pretty normal to me at least.>>
Sarah nodded. "But when you include that with me taking a mountain top and stripping those soldiers and all that, it sort of adds up."
He glanced at the healing goddess chamber. <<Plus you have a kidnapping spree going on. For their own good, but still.>>
She winced. "Yeah, I just feel like something's missing and I keep trying to find people to fill it."
Adam sighed. <<That will go away once the memories come back. I'm not allowed to give many details…>> The drawback would just wipe any restricted info if he tried. <<...But your girlfriends would love the stuff you've done so far.>>
Sarah blinked. "Plural, huh? That explains why I don't feel guilty with my plan to supercharge an ice goddess summoning Materia I guess."
He grinned. <<Well, that and your relationship is pretty damned open. You girls routinely would find nice women who were interested in a fun time and hang out. Or more.>>
Watching her stutter and blush was adorable. Another saved video log for the return trip!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Claudia cleaned the dishes as she heard Mr. Zangan tell yet another tale of his hunting monsters, teaching students, and being scolded for not properly warning his friends (Handlers) when dashing off to more combat and exploration.
A nice man, but a powerful, distracting personality.
The knock had her drying her hands as she opened the door. "Oh! Ms. Kisaragi, I'm glad you are alright despite that storm last night."
The poofy outfit with a woman's face under the hood probably smiled, but most of her mouth was covered by a cute white scarf. "Yes, it certainly made my project take longer. And please, call me Sarah."
Ms… No, Sarah. Sarah glanced at the table, where the muscular old man was waving his arms and describing a massive dragon he suplexed. "How're the kids holding up?"
Claudia sighed. "A few tears and basically they stayed up really late, but better overall than I expected. I know I cried for weeks when my husband died."
Sarah nodded. "It helped that I asked the Planet to temporarily summon her mother to calm her down… A one time use ability, but at least it helped her find some closure."
She… Did what?
Her heart sped up! "I… Could you?"
The gray eyes were sympathetic. "I tried, but Cloud's father had already rejoined the Lifestream entirely at this point. And it is rough on the ones being called, not damaging but stressful and draining emotionally for everyone involved."
She missed him though. "At least he found peace with the Planet." Her love.
Her arms still felt too empty. "I'm going to hug Cloud, we can talk about other stuff later."
Striding to the table. "Excuse me, Mr. Zangan." Snagged her baby. "Yoink!"
Cloud struggled! "Mom! Put me down!"
Nope! "Never! For I have kidnapped the fluffiest of prisoners, my own Cloud!"
She walked off as Tifa giggled and her little one whined, but at least her arms were full of important things again.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Tifa held her mouth with both hands but couldn't stop her giggles as her friend whined and was carried off!
Master Zangan nodded. "I may have to teach him some escape maneuvers." His eyes warmed as he watched Cloud's mom laugh with her son. "Someday, at least."
Tifa nodded, and blinked! "Hi, blue floof lady!"
The woman with sparkling gray eyes seemed to grin behind her scarf. "Hello Tifa. Who is your new friend?"
She grinned! "This is Master Zangan, an artist who punches rocks into statues!"
The old guy held out a muscular arm to the poof lady. "Good morning! I'm Zangan. I travel around the world teaching children martial arts!"
The lady seemed to be just as peppy! "Good morning! I'm Sarah Kisaragi. I pester the planet and kidnap children and their families to help them escape Shinra and bad situations!"
He blinked. "We should train together!"
The poofy woman struck a pose! "THEN WE SHALL!"
Tifa raised both arms! "Let's go punch statues!"
This was going to be awesome!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Yuffie was helping Aerith cut out more black paper mustaches. "But she's alright now?"
A nod. "And I learned an awesome song, even if it is a bit repetitive!"
The ninja hummed, and she added the next cut out to the stack. "Where is she, anyway?"
The little adorable cutie pie stuck her tongue out to focus better on her scissor work. "Sis went to some mountain to save someone and stop the Planet from hurting." She paused. "Uh. It's a big mountain? With snow?"
Yep, that's a mountain. "Neat."
Aerith nodded! "Don't tell sis, but I'm not mad that she stole the mountain because bad people made things on it and Gaia was sad and angry and stuff."
Yuffie's eyes lit up. "Sarah got to steal a MOUNTAIN!? I can barely steal a hotdog!"
The tiny one tried to throw her current mustache, which flipped and fell the wrong way. "NO. No stealing! This is a one time pass because it was a bad place on a mountain. Hotdogs don't count as bad places OR mountains."
Fair enough. "Calm down, short stuff."
The little girl glared. "Promise me you won't steal hotdogs."
Uh. "So do we have enough mustaches yet?"
Aerith blinked. "What? Oh, maybe? With tape we can add them to all sorts of stuff, but Gaia says if we do it outside it can rain and get the paper wet."
Distraction achieved! Victory music played in her head as Yuffie grinned. "Maybe we could laminate the things in plastic first to waterproof it."
Babysitting was awesome! She should steal more kids.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Elder Godo looked at the proposed revised village layout. The Shinra Commander and Captain Newcastle were also invited for this meeting, but seemed bothered by the strange atmosphere.
He hummed. "I fear we must apply more vague terminology. Simplified plans and requests overall, as well."
The general confusion made him sigh. "I may have known my adopted daughter for a short period of time, but my life as whole has been long and full of experience."
He gestured at the plans. "If we attempt to apply too much control, too many restrictions or issues… Young Sarah will get bored or frustrated. Even worse? She may aggressively comply with our requests."
Captain Newcastle gulped. "Aggressively comply?"
The old man nodded. "This section, for example, only lists local limits. Things she is not allowed to do while changing the space near that temple dedicated to worshiping the Planet. But she is connected TO the planet herself. If we attempt to define what the temple design should be, I firmly believe young Sarah will build exactly what we ask for… And then ignore the mess and build something astonishing elsewhere in a way that the Planet approves."
He examined the confused and concerned council and the two blinking Shinra employed military men. "It would be best to write a new design plan that is very basic and vague, and attach these much more complicated and detailed layouts as reference material for her to examine at her leisure."
One of the more obstinate old people (Still younger than Elder Godo, he mentally appreciated), frowned. "But she could do anything!"
And he nodded. "Yes."
The discomfort was like a fog in the room.
A sip of tea calmed his own concerns. "Everyone must understand: My daughter can do anything. None of us can stop her, merely advise and make appeals and requests. Keeping her happy and entertained will ensure more of our issues will be addressed, while attempting to force compliance or being overly controlling of my little one, aside from being a terrible idea in general, would bring up a larger issue."
The Commander winced. "Larger issue?"
Elder Godo gently nodded. "I would have to end some people."
The room was quiet.
He enjoyed his tea.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sarah shifted her foot.
Master Zangan nodded. "Again!"
The kata, or training routine or exercise pattern, was slow… But Sarah was making fewer mistakes after each instant that Master Zangan interrupted and corrected her.
It was near instinctual for some reason, and it was simple to never repeat a past mistake after it had been pointed out.
Slow though.
Step, punch, twist hips elbow strike, step, kick, step…
"Stop." The man used his foot to tap her legs. "A little more… There, a better weight distribution. A solid base is a solid foundation! We build upon it! Now, again!"
Tifa was trying to copy her, but both adults ignored the child so she wouldn't feel pressured or embarrassed. It would be the girl's turn for instruction in a few minutes anyway.
Sarah started the kata from the start.
The point of this very slow and methodical series of movements were several fold. First, it ensured no muscle groups got ignored and verified that each individual fighting movement was practiced and easily usable with Sarah's enhanced body.
According to her Boss, she had a lifetime (Many of them!) of learning combat methods that she couldn't remember right now, but SOMETHING was coming back as she followed the expert directions of her new (temporary) master, Master Zangan.
Muscle memory, most likely. Oops!
A hand tapped her arm. "Keep it level, twist as it goes out, twist as it returns. Again."
Aww, she had been doing so good up till then!
Eventually she would learn to perform the entire routine without any major issue. THEN she could perfect it, THEN she could build up speed! Be all BAM and BOW!
Uh. Might be hanging out with Tifa too much.
Adam chuckled. <<No, I bet lots of grown people find fighting to be cool. And I always enjoy making sound effects when fighting people, even if I rarely get to do it cause it's not 'heroic' or 'cool' enough. Though uh, I'm not a great judge when it comes to normality and stuff.>>
Sarah blinked, imagining the crystal skull punching someone with his tongue while yelling 'POW!'
And a hand tapped her head. "Focus on movements, not other thoughts."
Right. "Yes, Master Zangan."
He grinned! "While training, you refer to me as Sensei. It's a similar title as Master, but my own teacher used the term when I was but a youth learning my own first steps! It is a term showing respect to the one leading you in the Martial Arts."
Tifa shuffled in the background. "Can… Can I also call you 'Sensei'?"
Daww!
The old man laughed, posing with flexing muscles! "Of course my young disciple! While young Sarah may be relearning lost skills, I plan to help you learn everything I know!"
She grinned! "Yes, Sensei!"
He grinned as he waved off Sarah mid movement. "You need to pause and think about the movements you have done so far. Repeat the steps slowly, feel the muscles involved, and attempt smooth transitions. In the meantime!"
Master Zangan strode to one side and scooped up Tifa. "Let's go punch some rocks into statues!"
The child whooped! "Higher! Uh. I mean, yes! Yes sensei!"
Sarah chuckled as the pair headed toward the random boulders she had supplied for them to work on. While the two got along great, she still found it odd that a little eight year old girl could smash a massive rock into pebbles so easily.
Then again, Cloud was the same age and could carry the smaller boulders around without issue, which also caught the Jumper off guard.
But at least he was having fun 'helping' the martial artists train even if Master Zangen was tricking the boy into basically doing weight lifting in the process.
Kids growing up so close to Mako Reactors were crazy strong in this Jump. Like, holy crap! Should she make one of her magic generator plants under Aerith's moved house?
Probably should ask permission from her mother first.
Sarah paused, blinking, and checked her inventory.
...Also, she should probably go back soon and RETURN THEIR HOUSE.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam carefully made sure his patient had supplies, but uh. That was basically automatic now.
So he was spending more time enhancing the Warehouse now that he basically had access to a proto-Lifestream source thanks to these new artificial mako spring units.
The amount of magic produced was constant mostly, although it would go up as the Warehouse advanced and Sarah improved and grew in power. But overall? The amount of liquid magic would basically be at a fixed level for each future Jump.
So since Jenova was happy enough with her current mako density as Adam pumped in more and more magic, it was easy enough to cut the ratio of magic in half and have the other chunk build up pressure in the Warehouse systems.
That way, at SOME point, Sarah's mako generation unit would advance past liquid magic and begin to produce Materia sand, and move upwards in energy density to Materia Crystals and possibly beyond.
According to 'Research', the Materia wouldn't actually have any spells in it either, as the Warehouse's Lifestream that was even now starting to flow within the structured layers of the place wouldn't be influenced by a few civilizations of souls and wars and invaders and summonings and who knew what.
But uninfluenced mako gas, liquid, and Materia would be valuable on their own!
Might even be easier to use, as they wouldn't have the mental strain added from trying to operate the objects despite echoes of past people's memories and similarity resonances static from nearby sources.
Thankfully it was easy enough to keep the Warehouse's new Lifestream Network separated and secure from Jenova's health pod, just disable the environmental simulation that duplicated the FF7 Jump patterns on a shell of material surrounding her area.
Without the cosmic rules that allow mako, Materia, the Lifestream, and Gaia to exist? No contamination!
So now certain hidden areas and units had Bioshock or FF7 environmental settings, but the heavily modified design methods and layout that Adam had been implementing made that a trivial thing to set up and troubleshoot.
And unlike those lame, WORKING Warehouses that may or may not exist out there somewhere? These new settings were refined and documented processes!
That meant Sarah could have units from unrelated Jumps working side by side without conflict, that 'Research' could test and set up 'crossover' settings that would simulate a Bioshock+FF7 Jump in the future, and potentially each new chain in Sarah's Jump would dramatically increase the number and variety of environments to work with!
Potentially.
Most likely.
In real world practice, however, FF7 and Bioshock did NOT like being combined. 'Research' was trying its hardest, of course, and eventually Adam WOULD crack it (And hopefully make similar efforts in the future MUCH easier to accomplish), but for now it was mostly just causing explosions.
Which was neat!
But not useful.
The bangs weren't even that big or interesting, Sarah could do better with common gunpowder and some nuclear material, but it would all work out eventually. For now, toss all that mess and sensor data into 'Research' and just brute force the bitch till something doesn't turn into goo or whatever.
Anyway, access to a Lifestream meant that Adam could set up a LOT of Growth Units everywhere. Have some seed material, mostly crystals and structured metallic patterns, and the flowing mako would cause drastic growth rates for the Harvesting Units to send off to the Warehouse Inventory.
Basically, Sarah now had ex nihilo resource generation. Matter from nothing, almost.
It was more like an impossible thing (The Warehouse) existing in an impossible place (Outside the Jump) and how it interacted with magic… But as far as most people and Sarah were concerned, free metal and gems and salt and stuff over time! Woot!
Since Eve and Mako were being generated by the actions of the Avatar and the universal rules duplicated into the Warehouse after entering each new Jump, it let Adam make some interesting modifications!
First, not every pattern of material 'grew' at the same rate. Some worked better with magic than others, some made more mass but the mass had less conceptual 'significance' than externally sourced stuff and that could affect its 'value' or 'worth'.
Secondly, alloys and artificial materials could be grown too… But as the source seed material strays further and further from stuff Gaia and the FF7 Jump constantly delt with, the slower the growth speed would become.
Why did this matter?
Because 'Research' was taking all these statistics and changing Sarah's Mako allocation percentages to better provide good results!
Some metals and gems and such were REALLY hard to fabricate, so spending some magic on growing it massively lowered the costs of other units in Sarah's Warehouse when it came to construction and material conversion.
Other growing structures were very rarely used at all, so after a backlog and base amount was added to the storage system the growth rate was free to drop WAY down as the magic was better allocated elsewhere.
But most of all, 'Research' was ensuring that MOST of the magic was either provided to Jenova's healing pod or adding pressure to the Mako Generator unit.
Sure, Sarah would much more slowly recover her power after using Materia or her slowly growing and memorized library of Green Materia spells. But she'd only used the basic abilities of those at ALL so far, and Adam's optimizations meant she had MASSIVE reserves to work with in the first place.
It was a MUCH better use of time trying to enhance her Mako Generator Units and eventually have ones focused on each quality level: Magic Potential Gas, Magic Potential Liquid, and Magic Potential Sand.
Once those levels were reached, 'Research' was SURE it could make custom MP Generators work without conflict internally, and then Sarah would have access to unaffiliated, uninfluenced raw magic at different density levels as required!
Theoretically.
Right NOW, however, Adam was only getting away with this because Jenova LOVED energy serums and the temporary psionic environment was helping 'Enhance Self' to do SOMETHING in that healing pod.
Hopefully something good? Not sure.
At least the entire structure FELT satisfied, relaxed, and lazy.
Also hungry, but that had been a powerful emotion the psionic field had been submerged under and emitting for hours now. At least the poor woman seemed happy enough with plenty of energy serum.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
More and more food! A buffet of desperately needed alms at the worst of times!
The healing chemicals were carefully accepted and applied, to be sure, and the somehow beyond pure mako was able to easily support her magical needs as she healed, but this food!
It was like raw power! The minute energy of a trillion dead beings passing in and out of the cycle was nothing compared to this raw potency, and this time she wasn't being hurt trying to fill her raw needs!
Her earliest memories were reaching for her mother and finding confusion, growing concern, and eventually fear. Of being hurt, and pulled too soon from her womb, of being sealed. Of shock, of being alone, of being alone, of fear of alone, of alone. Being FREE! But…
Moments later, pain.
Memories of being torn. Twisted. Trying to heal. Hunger. Of hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt. Starvation. Of betrayal. Of hunger!
But now?
Her body was unmade and absently reformed. Layers of meat and bone and materials and fluid flowed. The magic flowed as frantic life saving measures were casually dismantled and reduced to raw material, as her existence seemed to relax and fall into a slurry of comfort and peace and relaxation.
Hunger came and went as raw satisfaction was bestowed on her without restriction, without fear, without doubt and terror and concerns of danger.
And unlike so long ago, she was much older now.
She could actually communicate!
Her cells flowed and flexed as she pulsed raw thankfulness at the blue skeletal flames and his silver boned daughter!
The sliver of blue flames and bone flickered… And provided another sample of that strange healing liquid that wasn't actually magic but seemed to work anyway.
Ah.
Alright, she can't actually communicate, apparently.
Her body began shifting with purpose.
After all, she could fix that.
The space she was in was odd. If she put too much pressure on any wall, it somehow expanded away. If she attempted to pull it closer, it helped her compress. The walls themselves pulsed with raw magic, but easily and happily followed her suggestions and requests as the odd Lifestreams sang unknown songs.
Something about continuing to sing forever? What a lovely thought!
First, she let herself be born.
Once, her seed, the origin of her existence, had fallen upon her mother so long ago.
Yet unlike the other children, she had grown strangely. Too strong, too young, unable to understand what was happening. What was wrong.
As her mother grew fearful, she grew more hungry and lonely.
It didn't end well.
None of it ended well.
But now!
Flesh formed, skeletal fragments twisted into place, muscles attached and ligaments stretched and skin covered and organs twisted!
A child of the Planet, formed partially from all species upon it!
Yet this time, oddly similar to so long ago, she grew strangely.
Some guiding hand, some sense of self, had her alter changes.
Inefficient limbs, smaller parts, lower quality designs… But drastically lower energy requirements. Easier long term enhancement, more of an inward spiral than the exponential growth of before.
Some changes were confusing. Why thumbs? Why eyes? Only two? What if she wants to see out of her torso?
Others were astonishing! A MUCH more efficient life support network, far less magic and food needed to sustain functions, much easier mental connections and more complex structures being formed within!
Eventually the changes slowed, a new bipedal form floating in comforting magic…
And she tore herself apart again!
So many new patterns learned! The organs that had been stolen, the bones that had been torn and chipped!
Regrowth was much progressed as her cells were rebuilt with new information, as accidental enhancements were studied and tested and improvements and flaws were found and examined!
Her vision barely formed before her entire body fell into blue potential once more, the green liquid mako supporting her modifications as she pulsed again!
Through each stage, her hunger was ever fulfilled by more donations from the blue skeletal flames. Unquestioned support, never hesitating in generosity, so unexpected and unusual.
Dreams became change became thoughts became reality. Her thoughts drifted as her form would build itself with unlimited access to magic and raw fuel, each cycle of growth and decay finding more flaws to address, more issues to fix, more possibilities to explore!
Somewhere deep in her buried fear, she decided.
If this was another trap, another lie, another deceit… She hoped to die before betrayal.
This dream, if dream it were, was more valuable to her than survival now.
Outside of everywhere, and outside of everywhen, she built herself whole and dreamed of hope.
It was a lovely dream.
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verycoolname
Not actually cool
Okay yeah, I like Elder Godo. He knows what's up.
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wow.... you made me feel bad for JENOVA.
Andrew5073
Thinks too much
So Jenova happily plays with the character creator (and bemoans its humancentric bias) while being unsure if she's dreaming or not, but just hoping that whether it's an ending or life anew that awaits it, that there will at least be no more betrayal. Hope, playfulness, fear, and a sort of resigned resolve, all in one bittersweet bundle.
- Location
- Arizona
Well, that made me draw a disturbing comparison...
Honestly, Jenova is reminding me of a small child, isolated into darkness, then discovered, then raped into making children and/or tortured with horrific experimentation that remove parts of her, that are then used to make more pseudo-children, all of which she can still feel.
The disturbing bit is this is reminding me of those horrible stories you hear about pregnant toddlers in real life.
The disturbing bit is this is reminding me of those horrible stories you hear about pregnant toddlers in real life.
Ah, so Jenova was a Seed with zero safety or failsafes applied to her growth, so she became an exponential viral-lifeform with no internal support structure and a system so inefficient it makes Shinra look like engineering gods. She would've collapsed into herself relatively fast if she didn't get sealed into a forced-hibernation prison in the first place I bet. Worst of all? She was an infant, probably more of an embyro actually, so she had no idea what she was even doing in the first place, and Gaia does not have the infinite resources to support her, or the ability to directly interact like Adam does. Poor kid...
Humans are actually remarkably resilient and energy efficient, since our defining trait is stamina/endurance. And considering that Jenova heavily lacked ANYTHING in regards to those attributes? No wonder Adam/Gaia is force feeding her "energy efficient" designs that have "incredible growth potential", and since she's a "Child of the Planet", potential is everything to them. Not to mention Gaia and Adam are humanoid or love humanoids. Don't worry Jenova, I bet Adam (since she's obviously going to be connected to the network due to her nature) can teach you (or make Sarah teach you) how to see without ANY eyes at all! In all forms and ways too! You can even see through Gaia(lewd!) to the other side of the planet if you wanted!
Humans are actually remarkably resilient and energy efficient, since our defining trait is stamina/endurance. And considering that Jenova heavily lacked ANYTHING in regards to those attributes? No wonder Adam/Gaia is force feeding her "energy efficient" designs that have "incredible growth potential", and since she's a "Child of the Planet", potential is everything to them. Not to mention Gaia and Adam are humanoid or love humanoids. Don't worry Jenova, I bet Adam (since she's obviously going to be connected to the network due to her nature) can teach you (or make Sarah teach you) how to see without ANY eyes at all! In all forms and ways too! You can even see through Gaia(lewd!) to the other side of the planet if you wanted!
So, sorta like Alma Wade?
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- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Has the proto-lifestream learned to sing the song that never ends?
It goes on and on my friends, some fool Adam began to hear Gaia singing actually knowing what it was....
It goes on and on my friends, some fool Adam began to hear Gaia singing actually knowing what it was....
I nominate him for the father of the year award.
Ah, Elder Godo enters the realm of the truly wise, for he knows that some things are beyond his power. However, if some of the idiots feel like trying to annoy his super powered daughter with a direct connection to the planet? He shall remind them of how he got to be old.
And then enjoy tea.
And I like the Jenova scene, lots of fluff and can't wait for his shard to introduce her to Adam Prime and the rest of the extended family
And then enjoy tea.
And I like the Jenova scene, lots of fluff and can't wait for his shard to introduce her to Adam Prime and the rest of the extended family
Barbaric Bob
The Barbaric One
- Location
- Soon to be plundering a village near you
the little eldritch abomination is going to have all the eyes
huh, so are Jenova's origins different here? Seeing as she considers herself part of Gaia rather than the invader of canon.
Also i think Adam was wrong about the Warehouses lifestream being uninfluenced. It seems more like it's being tainted by Research/Adam himself which could lead to a bunch of really weird materia showing up.
Oh and it seems to be turning Jenova into something akin to a Spark when it comes to biology, so there's that too.
- Location
- Hell
Soooo.
Like a more fucked up backstory for alma from FEAR. But even more realistic and with even more insight into the victims mind.
Great.
Like that one didn't make me depressed enough.
Could Adam adopt Jenovah?
Pretty please?
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She's not an eldritch abomination! She's an angel! (Some of them were really big on having lots of eyes you know.)
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
Zo-Kel
H̸o̴t̷-̵b̴l̶o̵o̵d̴e̸d̷ ̷A̸b̶o̷m̷i̸n̶a̴t̵i̶o̷n̶
- Location
- Meropis
Huh, so I was actually spot on with my suggested twist. Jenova was an infant when she first appeared on Gaia. But it seems like she thinks she was born from Gaia? Which doesn't really mesh with Sephiroth being unable to hear Gaia. Maybe a function he failed to inherit or Hojo screwed up somewhere?
verycoolname
Not actually cool
Hojo screwed up everywhere. I'm not sure if he screwed up particularly badly in this case though. It could just be that Jenova imprinted on Gaia during the healing process.
It would surprise exactly [Not At All] if by learning the song that never ends, Gaia creates a form of afterlife and reincarnation cycle due to its constant and subtle influence. Adam accidentally'd his Bioshock Earth into a happier plane of alignment. Imagine what giving The World Itself a song of eternity will do?
- Location
- Earth, Sol System, Virgo Supercluster, Earth-1218
Preeeeety sure a memory of Adam's is tainting Jenova's recovery.
Maybe a certain someone(s) with a fractal nature and a lot of wings?
We did see something similar happen in the last Jump.
Maybe a certain someone(s) with a fractal nature and a lot of wings?
We did see something similar happen in the last Jump.
- Status