[X] Agree to make some Guardians for the local authorities.
-[X] Immediately.
"...Okay. Sure. Where's the entrance to the basement? And may I have a clean knife or other sharp object to work with, as well as whatever scrap metal and tools you can spare?"
Danny initially appears surprised by your response, but recovers remarkably quickly. You don't think taking Host's hand was really necessary for showing you, yet you let him lead the way regardless. In the process, you notice how much stronger he is than Host, a problem you decide is in dire need of fixing. Hosts should be more physically fit than the average non-host.
It turns out Danny Hebert had an old bathtub stored in one corner of the basement. Why, you're honestly not sure. If the sheer amount of unused trash in Host's basement is any hint, perhaps Host or her father are fond of hoarding obsolete objects?
Regardless, you turn into one of your smaller versions of dragons, cut one limb with a claw from another, and let your blood slowly drain into the plugged bathtub. Nine separate shifts to nine separate creatures are necessary before you have enough to make a pair of Guardians. Dismantling a few dusty metal objects donated by Danny gets you the metal you need and a tiny basement window in one corner, once uncovered, provides enough sunlight. Host's fuzzier forms provide the needed electricity.
Host seems to think big or small eyes are cute, but you can't make their eyes too big since seeing gunk fall in the goo around them is just icky. Lots and lots of tiny eyes, then? You have more than enough experience getting them to coordinate and properly share information.
Since these Friends are intended to assist in local lawkeeping efforts, you think it'd be a good idea to sacrifice speed and agility in favor of sheer survivability. A multilayered shell should help prevent incoming projectiles from reaching anything important. Meanwhile, you may be able to fit a larger number of small friends in a given area, but they're somewhat lacking as far as immediate instinctual intimidation goes. You'll need to make them bigger than most humans.
Bipedal locomotion would help humans sympathize with your Friends, but it's not really the best for balance purposes. You'll give them quadrupedal movement with the option of using two or more arms should their legs be disabled or lost.
"Are local law systems built around deterrence or rehabilitation?"
Danny, who'd been watching from several meters away, flinches in surprise. He recovers quickly enough and appears to give your question due thought before answering.
"A mixture of both in theory, but villains escape from jail within weeks of being caught. Are you planning on making jailers?"
You shake your head and get back to work. Still, you're glad the local conflict system evolved into one of its better versions. It's a shame you can't simply tell Danny Hebert that. Giving Hosts multiple "lives" helps ensure...
You stop your train of thought and work hard to keep your displeasure off Host's face. Where did that term come from? How does it make sense at all? Why did Host's vocabulary know to convert a given concept into it?
No matter. You'll trust in :MOTHER:'s planning, as always. At any rate, giving hosts multiple chances helps ensure they can learn from their mistakes and become better hosts as a result. Moving straight to lethal measures should only be done if the life of an allied host or Host herself is threatened.
Still, nonlethal doesn't necessarily mean nice. Unless this Cycle has a ludicrously small number of healers for some reason, which you sincerely doubt, grievous bodily harm shouldn't cause permanent damage. You give your creations four toxin-injecting spike launchers, one on each arm. Making a proper paralytic that wouldn't harm internal organs is somewhat difficult. You can only easily delay such harmful effects for eight hours or so. More than enough time to fetch a healer, you feel. The ball-jointed arms themselves are given independent tracking abilities and ended with claw-tipped manipulators to help grip objects or foes.
Coloration proves to be the most difficult decisions thus far. Although bright colors are often a reliable sign of toxicity... no, actually, you think that'd be an excellent warning to send. You leave the natural brown-black coloration of your Friends in place and simply add some extra poison sacs underneath their skin. It should help them synthesize more toxin if necessary, spray at nearby foes if injured, or simply act to warn would-be enemies that they're facing something particularly dangerous.
Reproductive systems should, of course, be avoided. You do want to make a profit off these. Their growth cells are similarly destined for destruction; it'll somewhat lower their greater lifespan, but you don't want anyone to be able to replicate your Friends. You can always repair them yourself if necessary.
You input the various traits desired, roll around as a large feline to get the requisite electricity, and rub up against the purple eggs of your creations to transfer it. They crackle and begin to faintly glow within moments.
Job completed, you revert to Host's original form and look back at Danny Hebert, who... doesn't look very happy? What?
You follow his gaze and frown at the lingering liquid around the eggs. Your efforts did get a little outside of the bathtub, but is he really that bothered by the spill? You suppose his house is surprisingly neat considering its state of disrepair, yet such a fixation on cleanliness seems rather counterproductive. Everyone will be fine as long as they aren't enough to drink from strange puddles on the ground. If they are that dumb, you think the human race would benefit from losing that particular genetic strain.
"I know the incubation fluid is disgusting, but it'll evaporate within an hour or two. Please try to ignore it? The Guardian should finish growing long before then."
Danny swallows and closes his eyes.
"...What are they going to eat?"
"Sunlight and water," you answer proudly. Getting that to work across all species had taken some effort. "They'll need to rest for approximately a quarter of their lives to properly digest stored energy, but as humans need even more than that, I don't believe it will be a problem. They'll also need airborne microbes and heavy metals to replenish their poison and toxin supplies after use. I believe there is an adequate supply of such metals located in or under the shores of Brockton Bay, to the point where merely drinking water from the bay may be sufficient."
Danny exhales and holds his face in both hands. You aren't sure why the action provokes anxiety from Host.
"This is my life now," he mutters.
An unpleasantly hollow sensation forms somewhere behind Host's chest.
"...You don't like them?"
Danny twitches in what you're starting to suspect is a signal for emotional or mental pain.
"It's not that, it's..."
Danny hesitates, visibly struggling with even basic parental guidance.
"Bio-tinkers are both rare and feared. None of them have ever had your 'my own regenerating blood' loophole and too many use other people to make up the difference. If they were autonomous robots with the exact same functions, I'm not sure it'd be as bad as..."
Danny waves vaguely in the direction of your eggs before directing an unidentifiable expression toward Host.
"I don't want people to view you as a monster."
You glance back at the innocuous pair of eggs before crossing your arms. You don't need to adjust Host's face for unhappiness; it seems to have done that already.
"Intimidation is a perfectly valid method of avoiding conflict. So what if my Guardians might be scary? That's the point. Fear exists for some very good evolutionary reasons. Hosts will understand and the opinions of non-hosts are irrelevant."
There's a brief pause before Danny holds up one hand, his face reflecting an odd mixture of surprise and fear.
"No, stop, wait. You want to implant those in people?"
Host's face morphs oddly as you try to puzzle out Danny Hebert's words. There exist different types of fear and fear of the unseen has an unpleasant tendency to backfire. You honestly hadn't planned on making any sort of implanted parasite whatsoever, nor any non-symbiotes smaller than Host's head.
"What are you talking about? No. How would that even work? They'll be larger than most people when they're done growing."
Danny visibly relaxes, but still looks somewhat confused.
"...'Hosts?'"
Oops. When in doubt, lie. At least, you think it's a lie? Your memories of even such a close date are alarmingly blurry. Your next words might even be true.
"I heard one of the medical practitioners saying my powers had 'infested' my brain. Since it can let me do all these nice things, I prefer to think of them as symbiotes instead. That makes powered people 'hosts.' It makes more sense than referring to powered people as articles of clothing."
Danny still appears dubious of your justification, but seems to accept it for the moment.
"...Right. If you use the term around someone else, be sure to explain that first, sweetie. Bio-tinker and that word just don't really go well together."
Danny looks back at the eggs before sighing.
"Can't you start out with something cute? I know you think monsters have their place, but you can't close that box after opening it."
"Loyalty and the ability to protect others are cute," you object. That's something you'll never budge on. "Also, boxes that can only be opened once seem flawed and in dire need of redesign."
Danny stares at you for several seconds before falling back on his extensive practice at ignoring Host.
"We could get you some sort of computer modeling programs instead, I think? You can use them to get a second opinion on what you want to make. Please? You're missing the memories of why this is a bad idea."
[] You think reconstructing them in such a way would more than quadruple their assembly time. No.
-[] You're the host, not him. He's just the controlling parental unit who doesn't want to let his daughter make nice things.
[] Grudgingly let Danny guide you through making cuter Friends and Guardians no matter how frustrating it might be.
-[] Ugly-cute is good enough; even if Danny weakly objects, start production as soon as you have one he finds even remotely acceptable. Perfection is the enemy of adequacy.
-[] Since neither of you knows how to use human computer modeling programs, you expect this to involve at least one shopping trip and multiple days of effort just to get started. At least it'll give you some father/daughter interaction while Danny is hovering around Host...
--[] Make a Caretaker for Host before then, intimidating though it may be.
-[] Danny is making things too difficult; draw your Friends instead. You have plenty of practice guiding your hosts in such.
[] Write
