John grinned! "There!" Finally done! Now he could focus on the hotel side of things…
Jessica sighed. "No, there are still too many inputs. Please simplify it more."
Oh come on!
~~~Pocket System~~~
A series of small person sized devices in a row, each simplified down to a couple of buttons only. "NOW I'm done!" Sheesh! What a HASSLE that had been!
His sister tilted her head. "Can't a person climb into your hopper? The one not hooked up to our personal water supply I mean."
Nah. "Not unless they stepped on the pipes over here and shimmied all the way up there and… And…"
She gave him that look. Damn it. "I can fix that."
~~~Pocket System~~~
Jessica walked around the newest prototype. "Hmm."
John felt smug! "There! Now NOTHING can go wrong with…"
She pointed to the side. "What if the water input gets unplugged? Or if the machine falls or is pushed over?"
Then… Then the Water Source Block would flood the bakery and most of his facilities. And the equipment would then begin to endlessly produce Bread or whatever to add to the new unintended soup of an underground building.
…Shit. "I can fix that."
Easy enough, just need more safeguards…
~~~Pocket System~~~
The entire set up for each machine was so condensed now that half the components didn't actually exist. Sure, it was exploiting how powerful Belief interacted with electronics and technology, but whatever.
John kicked the nearest box. "The hopper has a series of NON-SHARP dividers within, preventing people or pets or small creatures from entering it. The machine can't overflow or operate without needed materials. It only activates when the storage chest is closed AND empty, and only fills itself up to capacity."
He glared at the stupid things. "Plus they are bolted to the damned ground now."
Absently he added a nice wooden label over each chest sized machine, just above where it was hooked up to a pipe and with a (currently closed) hopper for raw materials. One sign per 'Crafting Box', marking what the machine made.
There. "It self-sterilizes, self-repairs, self-purifies, and will actively fall apart and re-Spawn here if someone steals the thing and leaves the property. If someone somehow removes parts from this thing, which shouldn't be possible, the new parts will NOT spawn a duplicate machine but will dissolve into non-toxic energy particles."
His sister was giving him a very amused look, but WHATEVER. "At this point, the damned things can nearly run themselves… But they won't, nor can they theoretically be possessed or haunted or turned into a puppet or whatever. Not easily, at least."
Anyone who manages to overcome all of that was WELCOME to do whatever the FUCK they wanted with the stupid things!
Fucking. Done. "Can we move on now?"
Jessica grinned. "Well…."
Oh for fucks sake! "Sis! Don't mess with me on this!"
She chuckled. "Fine, fine. Yes, this will work… And yes, you've done an amazing job designing all of these things."
Well of course he did. Woo. Huzzah. "Can I go work on the hotel/apartment complex? The parking system might have already been constructed, but other than that, Safe Harbor, and our bakery I haven't even STARTED on finishing up Relaxing Retreat yet!"
Jessica rolled her eyes. "I'm just making sure that…"
John tried his best puppy eyes.
She returned his look… And sighed. "Fine."
It was super effective! WOO! "THANKS SIS LOVE YOU BYE!"
Finally!
Dashing past the idling metallic women who had been watching his construction efforts so far, he ran through the underground corridors towards the mostly unfinished Relaxing Retreat.
It was pretty easy to tell when you moved from one section of Doe's Park to another, thanks to the lighting.
For example: Safe Harbor for example had transparent ceilings with water above it and painted reinforced material keeping it all contained, making the place feel like it was under the ocean. Doe's Dough had fake sunlight through the 'skylights' and 'windows' that showed fields of growing wheat. As for the Relaxing Retreat…
With a grin and a slide John stopped within the large open underground corridor that led to the soon-to-be-fully-constructed Relaxing Retreat. The artificial moonlight gave the entire area a just after dusk feeling to it, something soothing and calming.
Hopefully.
Then again, night time wasn't exactly a calm time for local residents of Sunnydale, now that John thought about it… But too late now, the soft blue effect of the area was awesome and he was going to keep it.
Actual normal light was provided by hidden Torches and such down here where the Iron Golems and future customers wandered, but the walls and ceiling were going to STAY with the moonlit night scene theme! Heck yeah!
To make up for it, the Fleeless Market was going to be set up with a sunrise environment, with ambient noises more common to a savanna than an industrialized town like this one… But to John, the brightly lit night of a full moon was the ambiance he wanted for their own hotel/apartment complex/employee housing district.
It also fit the park itself, in his humble opinion! Running from one side of the facility to the other, you would be underwater at the pool, pass through the market in the 'morning', reach the bakery during the 'day', and end up over here at the end for 'nightime'!
Plus, having the housing facility area be over here at the end ALSO meant less foot traffic passing by as customers wandered around. Sure, the rooms would all be heavily insulated and sound proof and all that jazz, but this layout just felt right to John.
Besides, it had taken seconds to set up that stupid 'Fleeless market' (A bunch of stalls with power and water plus some restrooms), and it had taken FOREVER to satisfy Jessica at the bakery, he NEEDED a chance to relax over here!
A thought allowed him to casually shift all Iron Golems out of the very rudimentary sleeping area of the park, which was not much more than a thematically fun night corridor right now anyway, and he could get started.
A few layers of 'hotel rooms' for temporary guests. Nothing complicated, just basic options with bedrooms and kitchens and utilities and bathrooms and so such… Sure, other places would consider such options restricted for their Presidential Suite or whatever, but these things were basically free to construct and cost basically nothing to operate, so a few extra features shouldn't be a big deal.
Cough.
Anyway, the hotel rooms are all designed for single occupants, or couples willing to share. So… Basic stuff, really.
Now the employee residences… A mixture of them. Some big enough for a family, some only large enough for individuals, a couple of huge community spots for them to mingle, some hidden passages so they could get to work or resupply the facilities without having to mingle with the guests, that sort of thing.
John absently reinforced the materials with Iron Blocks and other Essence materials the deeper he continued to construct, so none of it should collapse or whatever despite how large the many options turned out to be… Should he add another park down here?
….Nah, keep it simple for now.
That said, the movie theater entrance could be upstairs… That felt like a night time activity, right? Maybe a dance club too. But then people would always be wandering over here and that would disturb the whole sleepy vibe he was going for in the first place…
Right, strange or not? All entertainment and stuff like that would be over in the daylight section with Doe's Dough. Might as well make that a policy for now on too… Any future shopping stuff would be shoved over into the morning area with the Fleeless Market as a sort of 'adult area', all entertainment activities and restaurants and food stall and stuff would be held in the daylight section with Doe's Dough, and everything sleepy (If anything fell into that category) would end up here in the Relaxing Retreat.
So… maybe a moonlit park WOULD be thematically correct here after all? Yeah, like a meditation area! It would be easy enough to set up some night time beach scenes and a fake forest and an open field and stuff with a walking path through it and some picnic spots.
Not under the housing though, up here on the top layer so everyone can enjoy it.
John happily hummed as the walls expanded and twisted and reformed and the ground continually vanished and stairways and elevators and ramps spawned as required layer after layer.
SO much better than trying to fix those stupid 'Idiot Proof Food Production' boxes!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Jessica blinked as her brother ran frantically away from her nit picking and teasing to rapidly begin reforming reality and shifting unimaginable amounts of material without effort.
…She might have pushed things a bit too far.
Oops.
Best give him time to unwind a bit. If he did anything TOO absurd she could mention it later after he stopped twitching and calmed a bit.
Which was fair, because she ALSO remembered how unnerved she had become back when she first started working at MiB. Babysitting had been HALF her jobs, after all… An alien or human might be 'mature' or 'thousands of years old', but more often than not they would end up being self entitled brats that needed someone to poke them when they did something unreasonable.
…Although she did feel a bit guilty for teasing her brother near the end of his 'Teen-Proofing' sprint of reinvention.
And based on the looks she was getting from a few of the sexy vine covered warriors around here, Jessica wasn't the only one who had noticed. "Yeah, yeah… I might have gone a bit too far."
A nearby metallic demoness silently chuckled as one of the rare human warriors shrugged without concern.
Which was fair. "At least these things should be safe to use now? The kids just need to dump a bag of flour or potatoes or something in the hopper and then move the finished product out front to the counter."
No concerns about spoilage, or not being 'fresh' or warm… They just had to make sure the kids had proper hygiene and gloves, then thanks to these amazing tiny boxes they would be good to go!
Oh. Shit. "Forgot we were going to actually charge people for this stuff. Right, I need to set up a cashier station. And organize some ATMs down here… Get some computers and scanners and…"
Damn it, she had thought she was DONE for paperwork today! "I better let John know before I head out to deal with this."
One of the tiny Iron Golems, a young lady that looked like a small fairy, flew around her in circles in silent excitement. "Oh? You'll let him know?"
The little one flew up and down in agreement and hyperactive enthusiasm!
…Which was good enough. "Thanks. The rest of you will keep an eye out for anything dangerous while I'm gone though, yes?"
Several creatures began shifting deadly looking weapons… Which was both reassuring yet deeply disturbing. Weren't Iron Golems only supposed to toss Hostile people around a bit?
Then again, considering the people of this Town that Jessica had interacted with SO far…
Well, a few individuals might deserve being bashed once or twice. "Again: Thanks everyone. I'll be back soon."
At least the new parking garage and connected underground tunnels made getting back upside and out on the road much more convenient now. Safer too, with the new iron guards… Mmm.
No, focus! Get to car, stop by Sunnydale High, go shopping, stop by the mayor's office for those permits and licenses, then get back before John does something too insane to the place.
Right! Let's spend a LOT of dead grandparent money and get all the bits and pieces these new facilities would require to open up! Let's go half of team Doe! Hoo-rah! Hoo…
Jessica nearly stumbled as the nearby iron goddess of sex appeal and death twitched her hips that special sort of way while she was passing by… Then smirked at her stunned expression before they sauntering off.
…Damn.
Did… Did the Iron Golems all have this much personality and sass earlier?
Those poor, unsuspecting high schoolers. They would NOT be prepared for… Any of that.
…Perhaps she should have focused more on child proofing the iron goddesses around here than messing with her little brother as he tried to simplify his cookie machines.
Then again, considering how hormonal SHE had been back in high school? The new employees would probably LOVE being unprepared for all of… This. Damn.
As Jessica resumed walking through the connecting paths to her car, she was slowly beginning to realize that the first major hurdles for the new Doe Park might not be lack of employees or hungry monsters or monstrous humans or malicious hidden crime bosses, but more the upcoming shock and fluster from concerned parents and prudish visitors.
She was… Not entirely sure how to deal with that overall realization.
But maybe she should have seen this coming?
After all, the large number of sensually nude iron women currently lounging in the 'Adult Swim' pool area probably should have been a big warning sign to begin with.
A wonderful, mind warping, and totally awesome warning sign. Mmm.
No: Focus.
Right! For now? Buy cash registers and stuff for her little brother to Pocket and improve and duplicate. Get all the facilities down here set up with cell phone signals and wifi and internet, maybe set up a computer lab space somewhere, stuff like that.
She could worry about religious parents rallying and hosting protest parades at some later point, if any of them managed to live long enough in this town to organize something like that.
