Dr. Allium Cepa tapped his notes as he hummed. "But you are concerned it may be more."
John nodded at the onion. "Yeah, I've never reacted like this to transferring to a new Realm… It worries me. What if the girls go through this?"
The doctor adjusted his spectacles. "Worries can be burdensome, and not always helpful… Especially in this case. After all: You do have one difference between your situation and theirs."
Hmm? "Like what?"
The vegetable made a note. "They went through the adjustment process simulation. Both for their avatars and the newly crafted Borg flesh variants. You have not."
John blinked… No, that wasn't right. "Hang on doc, I was the FIRST one to go in the simulation!"
Dr. Cepa hummed. "As an infant, learning to adjust to a body composed of thousands of components. Not as a biologically enhanced humanoid crafted from peak Borg research and study." He pointed the pencil up towards the ceiling. "As I said: A difference."
Huh. "So when I showed up in Hollyrock, I went from learning to handle thousands of digital inputs and corroding biological signals… Directly into an enhanced form that I had no preparation towards."
He nodded. "Over stimulation which stacked nicely on top of your unorthodox exit from the last Realm and the standard dissociation of being reformed within your destination."
So the girls WOULDN'T be at risk! "Thank goodness."
The onion glanced at something John couldn't see, and sighed. "While I would like to spend more time covering my concerns about your dependency on your 'Pocket Pals', maybe address other issues such as the talking vegetables…" He sighed. "I'm afraid our time is up."
John blinked. "Already?"
Dr. Cepa nodded. "Your new body may have been the cause of recent issues, but it is also the solution as well. Very impressive recovery rate, I must say… It is quite astounding. I'd schedule our next appointment, but as a dream figment I'm concerned that my notes won't remain after you regain consciousness."
Oh, that bit. "Nah, it's fine! Just store a copy in my Pocket and it will translate them into some sort of memory fragment you can refer to later."
His therapist blinked… And chuckled. "Very well then. I'll see you next time, if such is in the cards. Stay safe, John."
John grinned! "I will! And thanks for being my first actual dream, I've been a bit worried about trying out this whole 'going to sleep' thing since I escaped the… I mean, I haven't actually been 'sleeping' for a long while, so this 'collapse into unconsciousness' experience was all a very pleasant surprise! A great way to dip my toe into the water, so to speak."
His medical onion waved him off with a friendly smile as existence began to blur and fall apart to wakefulness.
Now uh… What else was supposed to happen?
Fall asleep/get knocked out/drop into unconsciousness, check!
Dream/Get trapped in night terrors/Zone out, check…
Ah right, he was supposed to forget most of it after waking up, right?
…Meh, might as well skip that bit.
[[Confirmed: Dream documentation implemented.]]
Sweet!
Yawning, John opened his eyes… Uh. "Hello?"
The white haired baby just stared at him with her little pink outfit and pink bow, apparently caught in the middle of lifting John's couch to reach her toy.
Side note: Apparently John was on a couch now. "Hi! My name is John Doe!"
The baby (Infant? Toddler? Help, John didn't know how to kid!) moved her fist into her mouth. While still holding up the furniture he was laying upon, one made mostly out of solid rock.
So uh. Super babies were a thing here. Along with the talking animals and living dinosaurs and stuff. "And uh… It's nice to meet you?"
She hesitantly shifted the weight in her off hand, before moving her fist out from her mouth. "ga."
John nodded. "And it is very lovely to meet you too, young lady! Speaking of young ladies, have you see a Ms. Pebbles around recently? About my height or so and… Oh dear, I'm a teenager now." Crud.
It looks like he forgot to specify what AGE he would be in this new Realm, along with neglecting to have a body or prepare for the massive shift in Bodies.
Late teenager too, maybe even at twenty or twenty one… With a Body he hadn't adjusted to in a new Realm with his girls having just custom designed their OWN beyond-perfection physical avatars.
Screwed. Metaphorically, if not literally.
An exasperated sigh broke his inner thoughts. "Roxy! What have I said about moving furniture in the office?"
The little girl's eyes sparkled as she dropped the couch with a BAM!, ignoring it entirely! "Da!"
A massive mountain of a man moved with unnatural speed as he swept up the youngling. "Baby girl, if your momma sees you breaking another couch I'm going to be sleeping on what's left of it!"
She cooed as she patted his face, something that would break teeth on a lesser person that he lovingly ignored as he turned to face John. "Oh! Glad to see you're up already, Pebbles was really worried when you passed out like that! Thankfully I was in the area already since it was a slow shop day… For such a tiny guy you sure are a hefty fella!"
Huh? "Oh, right, sorry. My new Body is like super dense and stuff…" No metallic skeletal structures or anything, but the bones were beyond strong and compressed even before you considered the impossibly condensed musculature.
The friendly giant chuckled as he bounced his grinning girl in his arms. "No worries. My wife might not be into the heavy lifting thing, but I've always been handy when it came to moving stuff around. Just like my little slugger, right girl?" "Da!"
John slowly stood, still adjusting to the odd rules of this reality. Gravity felt both too powerful AND too weak, as if just the right type of effort could negate it entirely. The air was a bit too clean and too dense, but that was getting easier to ignore. "Like I said to your little one there, I'm John Doe… Great to meet you!"
The man chuckled. "Bamm-Bamm Rubble, and this little feisty one is my darling Roxy… Our other little man
Chip is with his mother, but he'll be back soon since she has a busy day today and has to go to some meetings."
John carefully stretched his new Body, testing it as he calibrated his default limitations… No wait, that wasn't required anymore. Dang it, you aren't a Drone now, John! "Sorry to be such a bother, with the whole collapsing thing."
The guy snorted. "Nonsense! Everyone has a rough day every now and then… Now sit back down and let me get you some water, if my Pebbles sees you rocking about she'll think I haven't been keeping an eye on making sure you are alright."
The cutie in his arms was waving her fist in agreement, or maybe just out of enjoyment at being so high up. Either/Or. "Da!"
Bamm-Bamm chuckled! "You tell him girl! Proper rest is important, especially if you get hurt! Now let me go get you something to drink."
With FAR too much grace for someone that massive, the wall of a giant moved off to apparently ensure John was properly hydrated while his little daughter babbled happily.
If nothing else, it at least gave him time to look around a bit.
It was some sort of office building, one crafted from massive slabs of stone with no obvious joints or segmentations… As if someone had just carved a chunk of planet and decided to use it instead of floorboards or paneling. The nearby windows brought in the sounds of a bustling city, and the smell of street vendors selling snacks.
As for the room itself? Tastefully decorated. A few animal skins, some furniture, nothing exotic.
…John slowly turned back to the window. No glass, just open with some curtains nearby that could be closed.
He stared.
There was a traffic light. A manually operated one.
It was operated with levers.
By a
monkey.
…Yeah, this Realm was a bit weird.
Glancing at the door the giant and baby had wandered off through, John walked over to the opening. "Hey uh… Mr. Monkey?"
The creature blinked and glanced to the side. "Huh?"
Yep, that was a talking monkey. "Hi, I'm John! John Doe."
The animal blinked. "And I'm workin' here, kid." He glanced back down to the busy streets with annoyed stone cars and shifted the levers. "Move along, boy. Not every Monkeysaurus can land a gig like this one, I'm not putting it at risk to jibba jab, you get's me?"
Oh! "Sorry, Mr. Monkey… Saurus…"
Was he part dinosaur?
Were ALL monkeys here part dinosaur?
Which part?
…That was probably a personal question. Yeah, best not to ask. "Have a nice day!"
The signal light monkey grunted. "You too kid. HEY! IT SAYS STOP, YOU ROCK HEAD!"
John blinked at the driver now shouting at a monkey traffic signal.
Huh.
Moving back to the couch, he began to have serious thoughts as he began to argue an internal debate.
WAS it worth bringing his sister and the girls out in this silly Realm? It didn't seem that dangerous, just odd… Plus they handled that duck version of Monty Python's Flying Circus pretty well, so it shouldn't be THAT much of an issue hanging out around here…
His thoughts were disrupted as the mountain returned. "Here ya are, little fella! Drink this, sit back a bit, and you'll feel right as rain before you know it!" "Da ba."
John smiled as he accepted the stone cup that somehow weight too much and basically nothing. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
Unsuspecting, he took one sip…
It. Was. Amazing! "Wow, that is GREAT!"
Bamm-Bamm blinked as John continued to gulp down the rest of the water. "Uh, I mean… Sure?"
No really, this stuff was astounding! Raw power flowed through it like a mix between a sports drink and some sort of energy booster that actually worked… Each sip was basically enhancing his entire system, and he had NO clue why.
[[Borg organic materials are able to identify, isolate, and consume energies within devoured resources at a rate far more efficient than prior Bodies. The range of energies and materials that can be detected, consumed, refined, and processed is significant.]]
But why such a RUSH!?
[[Borg optimized flesh is VERY efficient. Local populations are able to process less than 1% of contained energy matrices when materials are devoured.]]
…So it isn't that this is some sort of miracle drug or something, just that even 'normal' stuff could have extraordinary effects when refined by his new Borg body. "That was delicious. Could I have a refill? Or could you show me where you got this from?"
If it was a pond or something, John was going to jump into it!
[[HOST is NOT encouraged to submerge the newly Crafted Body directly in this enhanced variant of water, as the adjustment rate and adaptation percentage has not…]]
Oh yeah, time to go swimming!
[[HOST is NOT encouraged, AT ALL, to submerge the newly…]]
Wait, if water was THIS fucking amazing… "Didn't your wife mention that you sometimes bring snacks to this office?"
The man blinked at the (apparently VERY thirsty) guest in his wife's office break room. "...Probably?"
John's eyes began to glow, not that he noticed that. "Can I have a snack?"
[[HOST IS NOT ENCOURAGED TO…]]
Bamm-Bamm blinked. "I mean, sure? I mean, it's nothing much, just some basic junk food to keep my wife from being peckish before she can get home. Nothing too filling or complicated."
His grin was apparently growing to disturbing levels as the power infused in his Body continued to be processed. "Oh, that sounds perfect right now…"
[[Initiating emergency tattling protocols: HOST designated 'sister', unit Jessica Doe.]]
Oh COME ON! Don't be a spoil sport!
[["...John?"]]
Shit!
John gave the concerned man a much more sane smile and held up a finger. "Sorry, one moment please."
'Sis! I was just about to contact you! How's the emergency tattling protocol test working out? Any issues with the connection or…'
[[HOST has been rapidly devolving in rationality and ignoring multiple…]]
EEP! 'HUSH YOU!'
[[Confirmed.]]
[["...Do you want to tell me yourself, or am I going to have to check the logs?"]]
Shit shit shit. 'Tell you uh… Tell you what?'
[["System, please provide the most recent activity logs of my younger brother."]]
…Crud.
~~~Pocket System~~~
Bamm-Bamm watched the strange young man slowly slump back onto the couch, no longer brimming with a disturbing amount of hyperactivity and now looking very chastised and abashed. "...You alright, little man?"
His daughter was sucking her fist again as she watched the ongoings, but the boy only held up one finger. "I might be grounded… That or local food and drink might technically be considered a narcotic and have severe side effects to those of my organic composition. Or both, depending on how I can argue this."
…Uh. Well alright then! "Should I still get the snacks?"
The young man's eyes (literally) lit up again… And dimmed. "Maybe later, apparently."
Huh. "Maybe you uh… You should lay down for a bit longer?" Did craziness wear off?
John sighed. "Yeah, that might be for the best. Might even take a nap… Yeah. Talk to you later, Bamm-Bamm. Bye little Roxy!"
His little arm full of sunshine waved the fist she wasn't sucking on… Daww! So cute!
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