Not necessarily, ot could be that their better sensors confirmed it's existence, and what they did with it could differ, they could have declared a too risky branch of research, as a mistake could potentially harm them (although stuff like the Siberian might be capable of protecting them from it, it still removes large patches of space as food), or maybe some shards are specialized in it for stuff ranging from reality manipulation to energy generation, to maybe even weapons.
But they didn't need to encounter the effect 'in nature' to confirm or disregard the theory.
Except the effect should only apply to one universe at once
And entities can split part of themselves off or create new entities, so even if it was dangerous to research they could keep throwing shards and new entities at it till they figure it out.
But I did say 'likely', its possible they wouldn't have found an answer.
Interestingly, appears on forums for me (using Chrome on Windows 10), but cannot be placed in the URL bar or the Google Search bar. A bit of googling identifies it as Unicode Character U+2028. It is SUPPOSED to be a kind of New Line character, and not be displayed, but apparently Xenforo 2 doesn't read it properly.
Interesting. As far as I know, it either wasn't there in the Beta version, or my device actually does read it correctly. I'm leaning towards the latter, as pretty much every subsequent case where people tried to show what they were talking about showed up as a fairly normal blank space to me, and not as an unknown character. Including the one in this post. I'm on an iPad, and I suspect @Alivaril uses a Mac or an iPhone for writing, based on past complaints about "autocorrupt" when responding to Beta reading/corrections, though he's free to correct me if I'm wrong. So this might be a Mac/Windows or iOS/Desktop incompatibility problem. If he's using a non-Chrome browser, as I am, it could also be due a browser difference.
However, the character could also have been transferred from whatever program Alivaril writes in. I know I've had some weird sh*t crop up with copying text from the Notes app into SV before. Specifically it double (or even triple) spacing between paragraphs, but in a weird way which has sometimes caused spacing to disappear entirely when the text is modified, if the extra space isn't deleted before changes are made. If Notes uses that character, both Alivaril and I use the app for writing, and the iOS version of Xenforo reads the character semi-properly, that would explain the problem. But I guess confirming the details with Alivaril would probably be a good idea, least I be proven to be entirely off-base with my suppositions.
We've already seen that the shards are capable of energy-to-mass conversion. So there's no need to worry about a big crunch or whatever--they can just turn excess energy into more mass for more stars and such.
So I just read through the story again, and something I completely forgot was a bit where Hestia said that surely her next child will be less troublesome, right? At which point it cut to a Pulse segment. I'm sure that this isn't foreshadowing of any kind and it's better not to worry about it.
Interestingly, appears on forums for me (using Chrome on Windows 10), but cannot be placed in the URL bar or the Google Search bar. A bit of googling identifies it as Unicode Character U+2028. It is SUPPOSED to be a kind of New Line character, and not be displayed, but apparently Xenforo 2 doesn't read it properly.
Interesting. As far as I know, it either wasn't there in the Beta version, or my device actually does read it correctly. I'm leaning towards the latter, as pretty much every subsequent case where people tried to show what they were talking about showed up as a fairly normal blank space to me, and not as an unknown character. Including the one in this post. I'm on an iPad, and I suspect @Alivaril uses a Mac or an iPhone for writing, based on past complaints about "autocorrupt" when responding to Beta reading/corrections, though he's free to correct me if I'm wrong. So this might be a Mac/Windows or iOS/Desktop incompatibility problem. If he's using a non-Chrome browser, as I am, it could also be due a browser difference.
However, the character could also have been transferred from whatever program Alivaril writes in. I know I've had some weird sh*t crop up with copying text from the Notes app into SV before. Specifically it double (or even triple) spacing between paragraphs, but in a weird way which has sometimes caused spacing to disappear entirely when the text is modified, if the extra space isn't deleted before changes are made. If Notes uses that character, both Alivaril and I use the app for writing, and the iOS version of Xenforo reads the character semi-properly, that would explain the problem. But I guess confirming the details with Alivaril would probably be a good idea, least I be proven to be entirely off-base with my suppositions.
I suppose I could just test the hypothesis on my end, rather than wait on data from Alivaril. In point of fact...Let me just copy something random from one of my numerous notes files...
Note said:
-Vinea: Can be used to find witches and hidden things.
o.o; I'm guessing it somehow ended up in there when I cleared the wrong text color for QA and subsequently replaced it with the normal pink. I don't know why it would cause that, but it was in the right place for that incident.
Well damn. There goes that hypothesis. I mean, assuming you saw the original character as glitched. Ah well, that's just how things go. Still suspect it's probably an artifact of the program used to type the post in the first place. It's just not the same one I have.
o.o; I'm guessing it somehow ended up in there when I cleared the wrong text color for QA and subsequently replaced it with the normal pink. I don't know why it would cause that, but it was in the right place for that incident.
Just like someone facing their crippling phobia helps them see reason and not at all make them afraid of more things as well. Right, got it!
Also, QA and RESPONSIBLE ADULT does not fit in the same sentence. And the fate that we have seen so far is a raging alcoholic...
I want Dreamer to get better, but I want that to happen in its own time, not through peer pressure.
I love how, in this Queen Administrator is actually better at being a human being than Taylor is. Think about that for a moment, before screaming in existential horror.
Thank you for such a lovely image, i hope that you get devoured by Hounds of Tindalos. Excuse me as i exit existence.
All this is funny and all, but i need to get an answer on this. Did they just say to Lili's face that they are planning to give her a shard? Welp, soma is boned. They are going to get obliterated outbof the fucking map because if anime has taught me anything, is that small girls have the highest Blaster ratings. Lili using a shard similar to Legend's to imitate the Starlight Breaker when?
I... don't think so? It is possible but.. uh... my read on things...
I sort of think that maybe they said that they would make her into a shard. Familia should be siblings, right?
I... don't think so? It is possible but.. uh... my read on things...
I sort of think that maybe they said that they would make her into a shard. Familia should be siblings, right?
Arguably, you stop existing. Otherwise, you can't change time, because changing the timeline would just been killing everyone in one and spinning up new instances in another.
An unpleasant silence fell in the wake of Dreamer's unexpected pushback and Lili's decision to hide in the bathroom. Hestia seemed disproportionately concerned by Dreamer's reaction. Queen Administrator did not place enough weight on her own misgivings to think of said reaction as a genuine problem; despite Dreamer's token revenge attempt, the former human had agreed to Queen Administrator's demands. Optimization of the human grieving process could be performed after Dreamer stopped doing horrible things to her own software and/or hardware.
Fortunately, Hestia was still sitting down. Queen Administrator re-laid her head atop the goddess's lap and deliberately established eye contact.
"Dreamer will be fine, and past precedent indicates she will react poorly to immediate attempts at emotional support. However, nothing said so far has been sufficient to push me away from an apparent change in race. Do you have any additional arguments to make?"
Hestia blinked and silently stared at Queen Administrator in momentary incomprehension. Eventually, the goddess finished her processing, giggled, and raised her voice.
"Lili? Could you come back, please? It's nothing bad, don't worry!"
Hestia began stroking Host's Queen Administrator's hair in the moments before the door to the bathroom creaked open. Lili's hesitant footsteps soon followed, and Hestia craned her neck to look at the pallum without dislodging Queen Administrator.
"So, um, welcome home," Hestia began carefully. "Sorry about all the fuss, and thank you very much for helping the Familia like this. We're, um, not in the best of financial states right now, especially with all the Friendmaking."
Hestia lapsed into silence, presumably to give Lili a chance to speak. The goddess only continued once it was clear Lili wouldn't be replying aloud.
"I think we were talking about a race-change, weren't we? I've been thinking and I don't want to just say yes or no outright. I admit my instincts for avoiding notice are made for normal people; however, you're all already grabbing everyone's attention and—well, we already know you're probably going to wind up leveling up absurdly early, Administrator. Lili's new skill means she might follow. So if you're going to keep doing attention-grabbing things, maybe we should just… get it over with?
"But that's a general strategy. I'm more worried about how all three of you want to make drastic changes to yourselves. What is it that you actually want out of all those changes? Because it might not be as nice as you think it is, and if we're going to pretend you were something else all along, then we can't have you switch more than once."
Queen Administrator shifted and wondered if she was supposed to get up. She couldn't really see Lili from her current position and humans generally thought direct line-of-sight was important for conversing, didn't they? Then again, Hestia probably would've said something by now if Queen Administrator was being noticeably rude. Still, the Monarch shamelessly stayed silent and waited for Lili to go first. She would rather her sibling had the opportunity to think up original arguments instead of simply following QA's example. Plus, Queen Administrator could subsequently calibrate her own points based on what Hestia found acceptable or unacceptable.
The lingering silence indicated that Lili was intelligent enough to have the same idea. Less stubbornness, though; the pallum broke before QA did.
"Lili doesn't like the way she is," the Supporter confessed. "No—Lili hates it. Having a Friend helps, but Lili is still smaller and weaker than almost everyone else. She knows some adventurers will happily take advantage of her, too. Even better people simply don't notice Lili or her troubles; Lili often can't get through a crowd without being stepped on. Lili understands that she won't have as much trouble once Lady Dreamer's blessings let her grow strong, but Lili would become powerful despite being a pallum. Lili wouldn't be helped by being a pallum.
"Besides, Lili likes what Dreamer said becoming a shard entailed. Lili is only alive because she was smarter than horrible adventurers. Lili would take the change just for that."
Hestia's face scrunched into something resembling a frown. As Lili's reasoning was complementary to QA's own reasons, the shard chose to speak before Hestia could muster a response.
"Humans are heavily flawed. This state of affairs can be rather enjoyable; the high number of flaws allows for a proportionately large amount of ongoing improvement. It is also true that most of these improvements do not require deliberate bioengineering. However, the existence of 'demihumans' allows the addition of Friend-like traits to an otherwise human vessel. Such changes are not absolutely necessary, yet any short-term social effects will most likely be outweighed by the long-term benefits from even a marginally enhanced vessel.
"As previously mentioned, I also consider such characteristics to be both aesthetically pleasing and a method of subtly demonstrating my previous hard work. While those both remain true, they are not my primary motivation. The fact remains that I can improve my body, so why shouldn't I? I am breaking no rules and am technically not changing species at all. Optimization within constraints is effectively my duty; these are simply different constraints than I'm used to working with. If some humans want to make themselves obstacles to progress, then that is their own business and something to be worked around. Their recalcitrance is not in and of itself a reason to stop."
Queen Administrator paused and reconsidered her last point. She was piloting a squishy mostly-human body; she wouldn't automatically win every conflict. Acting like she would automatically win was a good way to lose.
"What do you believe may happen if we draw too much attention?" Queen Administrator asked. "We could make proper attempts at concealment if the negative consequences of scrutiny are sufficiently threatening."
The shard wasn't exactly dedicated toward stealth, but she plenty of experience with pre-debut host preparations. Now that QA was piloting a squishy host-body, it seemed reasonable to apply similar logic to her own life.
"War Games," Hestia promptly answered. "Familia-versus-familia combat with money or even people on the line. They can't force us to accept outright, but they can make it really unpleasant for us not to accept. We, um, have Hephaestus and Miach to supply us with essential adventuring gear, and Demeter isn't the sort to stop providing food just because of political pressure. But the laws in Orario have always been… less than perfect. Deliberate insults and provocation would probably be pretty common. Kill-stealing, too, and maybe the occasional thrown object. If they want to be especially blatant, they could resort to pickpocketing, burglary, or even outright kidnapping or assault attempts."
Hestia inhaled deeply and let it out in an unhappy(?) puff of air.
"Dreamer's curses aren't a good enough deterrent to allow actual safety. Some idiot is going to try their luck, whether it's of their own volition or because some other Familia is puppeting them. And, um, I'm not even sure Dreamer can curse them after we've accepted a challenge; everyone would say we sabotaged the other team. So that leaves us with a battle where you'll be outnumbered and can't actually kill people. We probably won't need to deal with any first-class adventurers, and your Friends seem scary enough to fend off level twos. Level threes could subdue you with speed alone, though, and I don't think your Friends are fast enough to keep up."
Queen Administrator released an amused nasal exhalation. In QA's experience, most host-level threats could be dispatched through the application of sufficiently large swarms of Friends. Humans seemed well aware of this fact; a large number of humans were terrified of arthropods smaller than their own fingers.
"One: The presence of unbroken glass indicates that they could not travel faster than a properly optimized Friend. Two: Sir Kara and Lady Sable are optimized for strength, personal durability, and general protection against non-human foes. We do have proper Hunter-killer designs should they prove necessary."
The goddess rapidly raised both arms in an X shape.
"No. No killers. That would be as good as losing; you're not supposed to kill people in a War Game. Even if you won, they could steal you away if you actually did kill somebody. And even if you could theoretically make powerful new Friends, you'll still need Magic Stones for them. We might not have enough time to collect those. And, um, even if we win, we'll still need to deal with social ostracism. Those provocative insults I mentioned? Hearing them everywhere you go could, would, wear you down. Most gods only like an underdog until they think you're getting arrogant; they'll happily crush you after that. Or try in Ishtar's case, I guess."
Queen Administrator imitated Hestia's earlier unhappy huff. The physical dangers remained as unthreatening as ever, but Hestia did have a point about potential social consequences. Host Dreamer had only recently exited one damaging environment; having Orario turn into semi-hostile territory would likely delay or even reverse her recovery.
Fortunately, not all problems were equally threatening.
~ ~
Hestia was having a hard time not banging her head against a wall. She understood that Dreamer and Administrator were ridiculously powerful, but so were some other people. The more power they displayed, the more likely it was that someone genuinely powerful (Freya) would actually try to steal them. Administrator seemed physically incapable of comprehending that fact.
At least the monarch was letting her hair be petted. Hestia hadn't expected that right for a few more weeks at the very least.
"Assume the physical threats are of no concern," Administrator began.
No! That is not an assumption we can make! Hestia internally screamed.
"How can we prevent the social consequences from becoming problematic?"
Hestia blinked, thought over the last week, and wondered if that was even possible. Administrator's problems ran the gauntlet from threats of genocide to suspiciously monstrous pets and everything in between. Hestia was trying to avoid attention specifically because close examination would not be good for Orario's opinion of the foreign monarch.
Still, the goddess was increasingly convinced that Lili and Administrator would be changing races no matter what Hestia said. Damage mitigation seemed like it was her best option. Worst case scenario, they could set a War Game date for a full month or two away. That would probably give Administrator enough time to level up and make a pile of Friends besides. Unless Dreamer continued her refusal to help with that? Hestia certainly hoped not.
"Charity, maybe?" Hestia tried. "Or maybe some sort of a petting menagerie with cute, explicitly non-combat Friends? Like, some small creatures who aren't as intimidating as your cats. If you make it into an actual location that people can visit at any time, I think that would be the first thing that came to mind instead of whatever the rumor of the week is."
Hestia winced as a thought occurred to her. She hated to help that board of a witch, but if it was for Administrator…
"Loki might be willing to help with that," Hestia forced out, the words causing her almost physical pain. Even if it benefitted both of them, Loki would still hold it over Hestia's head. "I'm pretty sure she has the space to spare."
Queen Administrator dragged her head across Hestia's lap. The goddess stared blankly at her first child for several seconds before the position registered: QA was tilting her head while laying down. Avoiding an unstoppable fit of giggling took all the willpower and self-control Hestia possessed.
So! Cute!
"The standard archival and processing suite for Newborns will likely be far in excess of what Lili requires for a significant period of time."
Wait, how is this related?
"We can repurpose that capacity for additional Friends until Dreamer learns how to make dedicated emulation suites of her own accord," QA continued. "The extra may be sufficient to grant a Friend to each of Ishtar's victims. Canines seem to be the preferred creature for emotional support organisms. Would puppy-friends be adequate for the 'charity' suggestion?"
Hestia's mind hiccuped. That was, what, a hundred self-maintaining puppies? Even if Administrator was going to be giving them away, there would still be a short window where Hestia would get to interact with an absurd number of cute, tail-wagging canines.
…Then again, even Aiz's kitten had been a little off. Hestia would need to make sure the new gifts didn't go straight for the uncanny valley. Was normality something Administrator could actually manage? Dreamer had talked about an 'archive' of some sort, implying they could record how past Friends were made. It had to be some sort of a dream-library, didn't it? If so, Hestia felt she could finally understand how shard society got to be so messed up. Hestia had seldom visited it herself, yet the realm of dreams was infamous for harboring impossible nightmares and malevolent monsters. Securing a stable sanctuary within that place would inevitably require an in-depth study of minds and the systematic weaponization of willpower.
Dreamer herself had talked about how shards could modify their own minds; that was only one step away from learning how to change other people. The mess with Ishtar demonstrated how easily a single Spirit could enforce their will on a rather large group. Why wouldn't that also hold true when Spirits dealt with each other?
Administrator had even said it to Hestia's face, right? The child had talked about how Dreamer didn't have 'overrides for forced obedience' installed yet. As if magically enforced control was something normal and that everyone would be subject to it sooner or later. It was no wonder that Queen Administrator had gone unresponsive after learning that the person holding the reins was no longer around. Needing to obey even the most loathesome of edicts couldn't have been good for either of Hestia's first two children.
...Actually, what was even the point of those laws if they allowed coercion, murder, and all the other things her children previously had to guard themselves against? Was the control just there so that their stupid, horrifying atrocity of a meritocracy could remain intact? Peasants couldn't rebel if the very idea of rebellion was banned, and ends justifying means was a mindset that was far more prevalent than Hestia would prefer. Becoming as gods was both ambitious and distant enough to 'justify' quite a few atrocities.
There was also that whole business with Dreamer apparently achieving the goal of their society. Queen Administrator had said it would take a few centuries to actually get the process right, but the fact remained that they could apparently ascend to something approximating divinity. Given Dreamer's track record, Hestia wouldn't be surprised if that method required the assistance of a Falna.
Queen Administrator had all-but said she wouldn't, or couldn't, tell Hestia about the whole ascension thing. But if they were going to be playing around with divine power, Hestia should at least make sure they didn't get caught.
"Um, I know this is a bit of a subject change, but it is important. You and Dreamer aren't doing anything that would be sensed by the gods, are you?" Hestia carefully probed. "It doesn't matter if you think it'd be legal under the current rules or not, because they might change those rules just to deny you."
Administrator rolled her head across Hestia's legs in what was probably intended as a "No."
"'Death, time, and a god's power' are all to be avoided," Queen Administrator reported. "We have no intention of infringing upon any of those. Since our true selves are elsewhere, we will not be interfering with death in the event of replacing our local extensions or those of our Friends. I do not have any premade mechanisms for interfering with time; the energy costs are prohibitive. Dreamer's prior retribution further indicates that we may block or even subvert the effects of divine power without incident."
Hestia worried her lip and wondered where Administrator had gotten that list from. The Fates, perhaps? They seemed like the sort to encourage any people trying to replace them; she remembered them trying to ask for mortal assistants a few times. Plus, Hestia couldn't remember the last time she'd seen them at a party. She could easily see them helping a few future goddesses avoid early detection.
Hestia stopped, blinked, and shook her head in wonder. Not two weeks ago she'd been desperately asking random strangers to join her Familia, and now this: finding out that her children weren't only ageless, but also stubbornly undying. Dreamer had called her new body a puppet, yet Hestia hadn't realized that would extend to even their old body. Although, Hestia imagined that they'd still need one of them to actually make new bodies. If both Dreamer and Administrator 'died' at the same time, it wouldn't matter that they weren't technically dead.
...Actually, how close to godhood were they really? Administrator said the first step was the hardest, but how would they know? Centuries was quite a long time for a project to be going on. Hestia couldn't count the number of times that a simple organizational project was supposed to take a few months, only for it to drag on into years or even decades. An estimate of centuries made it little more than a dream.
Admittedly, the meddling of the Fates did indicate that Hestia's children might actually succeed at one point. That was Future Hestia's problem, though. Present Hestia should really be focusing on the possibility of her entire Familia outwardly changing into renards and internally opening themselves up to outside attacks.
...She wished she could change herself that easily and hold on. Why was she so hesitant to let Lili change when Hestia herself had wanted to be different for most of her existence? A height change might not be as extreme as a race change, but the basic idea still stood. She just had to make sure it was actually safe for them.
"Changing into a shard won't make Lili more vulnerable to mind control, will it?" Hestia checked.
Administrator's lips twitched open as she made a peculiar noise. That was a giggle, wasn't it? Coming from Administrator, it had sounded almost foreign. Hestia wanted to hear her like that more often. Just because Hestia was learning how to interpret Administrator's muted moods didn't mean she'd object to more human ones. Or more happiness in general, for that matter.
"Humans don't have any active defenses against intrusion at all. It's honestly pitiful. Lili and you will be far safer once you're shards."
Um. Okay, well. Condescension isn't a very good place to start, but I suppose it is a start.
"Gods don't change," Hestia began slowly. "I don't think most Spirits do, either. Shards sound like you're the odd ones out when it comes to personal modifications. Besides, wouldn't that run afoul of the warnings to not meddle with a god's power? This isn't exactly a biological vessel that I made like you can. This is me, just... constrained, a bit. If I die down here, I'll just return to Heaven in this exact shape and size. It's hard to explain, but my existence is... shaped like myself, I guess? I could use my Arcanum to put on a temporary mask — Heaven knows Zeus did a lot of that — but it's not very comfortable or stable. We'll revert sooner or later and the longer we put it off, the more painful the whiplash."
Administrator incremented the angle of her head. Hestia automatically pushed Administrator's skull back onto her lap; that couldn't be comfortable.
"You are capable of learning new information and acting upon it. That is itself a change to your former condition."
Hestia shook her head.
"We're physically unchanging," she corrected. "No pregnancy, no aging, and no bodily changes. Not even a suntan. We don't grow strong from exercising or fat from eating too much..."
Hestia trailed off and frowned. In Heaven, that was certainly true, but she wasn't so sure about the mortal realm. Cleaning the house had become a little easier than when she'd first started, and Loki did keep using all those barbs about blobs of fat on Hestia's chest. Maybe the gods could change a little.
"That is not what I meant to convey," Administrator disagreed. "You're storing the information somewhere, and the act of storage must inevitably make physical changes."
The goddess stared blankly at her child. She was pretty sure that wasn't the way it worked. It wasn't as though people's heads got bigger as they grew old — unless you were talking about egos, anyway. The soul changed, sure, but that was hardly a physical change.
"I have no idea what to say to that," Hestia admitted. "But, um, I think I'll pass on the soul changes? I'm not that attached to the idea of being taller. I can't even guarantee it wouldn't count as me using my Arcanum."
Hestia bit her lip and made a snap decision.
"None of us are to talk about the idea of modifying gods with anybody else, okay? Ever. I still don't think you could actually change me, but if people even thought you could alter us for the better, that also means you could make us worse. That's the sort of threat that might actually prompt a rule-change despite the difficulty of one."
She forced herself to relax lest she begin squeezing Administrator's hair. Honestly, the idea terrified her a little, too. Not because she thought Administrator would abuse such an ability, but because the rest of Administrator's homeland had shown a disturbing inclination toward using their powers for evil. Hestia would gladly accept her own unchanging status if it meant she'd still be safe.
"So, I think we've gotten off-topic and that's completely my fault. I'm sorry. If you think you can handle the consequences, I won't be the one to stop you from changing yourselves, just — maybe spend the rest of today thinking on it? There's no real rush and I don't want you to make a decision you'll regret later."
Both Hestia's children automatically agreed. Lili wandered off immediately afterward, apparently satisfied. Administrator, though? She didn't seem to have any intention of moving off Hestia's lap.
'Doesn't do anything for me,' she said. I think you're wro-ong~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Introspection might be a necessary evil. Might. Dreamer was less than sold on that point, and would rather like to add an additional 'but' to the end: but it wasn't particularly pleasant. It was much easier to just block earlier memories and pretend everything was perfectly fine. More comfortable, too. For example, she could call the goddess housing them 'New-Mom' without dwelling on how Dreamer didn't actually feel the love that should be associated with such a role. Dreamer also wouldn't have had to dwell on how the literal alien was developing greater attachments to specific people, New-Mom included, than Dreamer herself was. Detachment had its downsides.
Her child-body's recent emotional breakdown demonstrated that more childish wetware introduced more downsides than she'd initially anticipated. Locating more would require an in-depth comparison between suppressed memories and the ones she kept, though, so that was something she wouldn't be doing for a while. However, with only a few minor changes, it seemed as though the perks would still outweigh all downsides when it came to regular use.
Undoing suppression would be… trying, to say the least. Even with some partial ongoing self-medication, Dreamer expected to spend more than just a little time crying. It would be nice to say that it would be a temporary matter that she could move past, but the problem was that people could be total bitches. A child crying in public was mildly uncomfortable; a teenager doing the same was a cause for societal disapproval. Because people were assholes.
Really, most of what she wanted to do ran into that sort of problem. Her child-mind had torn into her teen-mind for catering to societal expectations, but the fact of the matter was that Dreamer would be doing that either way. What else did you call literally becoming a child so one could safely engage in 'childish' activities? Most of the age-gated activities Dreamer thought of doing were only available to younger individuals, not older ones. That state of affairs might change with sufficient exposure, but it wasn't as though Dreamer would be forced to age at a rate of one human year per year. If she got tired of being a kid, she could just multiply her child-vessel's rate of growth and wait until she was older again. It might confuse some people and make them uncomfortable, but such thoughts would probably work themselves out once she told them her actual age.
Besides, it would make it easier to start her escort service and wow that sounded bad. Protection business? Also bad. Chaperone wouldn't send the right marketing message, and bodyguard hinted at a more complete protection than Dreamer intended to offer. Safeguard service, then? Such a name seemed innocuous enough. Anyway, people would have a much harder time arguing with an eerily intelligent child than they would if she was a teenager.
Besides, maybe she could avoid thinking about the past if she kept herself busy. That was what you were supposed to do, right? Suck it up and keep going? Except that was from the same set of cultures that thought public tears were not OK, so perhaps they were full of it when they came to mental health.
Bleh. Whatever. At least she'd found a way to reuse all the excess Newborn-shardware her body kept trying to grow: move preexisting personalities into them. It was definitely a temporary solution, but 'temporary solution' was Dreamer's middle name.
…Wait, did she even still have a last name?
~ ~ ~
The dining hall of the Loki Familia was infamously loud. Under ordinary circumstances, Tiona would be contributing to the noise. These were not ordinary circumstances. Queen Administrator was odd, there was no denying that, yet her younger sibling was all the stranger.
Tiona's knowledge of inheritance was clashing rather horribly with what she'd seen. Administrator and Dreamer simply looked too similar to be half-siblings; Dreamer was clearly a mini-Administrator. But if they were full siblings, then they should've both possessed renard traits. Racial traits didn't just skip generations like that; they could be more or less pronounced, but they'd still be present in some form or another.
And then there was the way Dreamer had changed her own appearance. The obvious answer was that Dreamer deliberately chose to imitate Administrator's form. That idea was boring, though, so Tiona cheerfully chose to ignore it. Half the fun of gossip was finding the most ludicrously insane semi-plausible ideas possible before she shared them with other people. She wasn't interested in actual facts; sharing those felt too much like revealing secrets.
So, could Administrator also shapeshift? She had seemingly needed to relearn how to use weaponry, right? And she did a good job picking it up afterward. That implied a different form than she was used to fighting with. Even just lacking a tail would do terrible things to a person's balance.
It also explained why they'd chosen to kidnap Liliruca out of the blue: shapeshifters would want to help one another. Tiona couldn't really share that piece of evidence, though, so she shouldn't dwell too much ooonnnnnnn dammit. Even if Dreamer had shifted a little outdoors, the Hestia Familia's home was isolated enough that Dreamer's self-alteration might still qualify as "secret." But no, the kid had changed her hair color a few times while they were trying on clothes, right? So it couldn't be too big a deal.
Tiona nodded decisively and went back to stuffing her face with food. It was a tried-and-tested method of covering up her grin, she knew. She wanted to start sharing her idea ASAP and couldn't wait until someone asked if they could see what Administrator really looked like. Would the monarch treat them to a blank, confused stare or would Tiona get front-row seats to one of the now-infamous exotic insults? Only time would tell!
Looks like Hestia is getting closer to the truth behind Shards. That comment about information being physical could be the final puzzle piece to figuring out exactly what the Shards are doing.
