Capture Target

Okay~  I’ve almost got it all ready!  So, if you see a new girl in or near your neighbors house, or one that’s peeking into your windows, call her cute, okay?

What are you -- no!  It’s not random!

Look, it’s -- argh.  You wanted me to take care of your family's stalker, right?

Right.

That’s what I’m doing.

So if you see a new girl that you’ve never seen before instead of your neighbor, make sure you call her cute.

…Yes, it’s important!

Hrmph.  Fine.  I’ll get somebody else to do it… either way, it’ll all be taken care of, okay?

Good.

Now, where were we for storytime…

---

So, I was pregnant with Brutus, and that was a thing that happened.  After that was done --

-- eh?  No, there’s no reason to -- okay, look.

When it’s with non-fertile eggs, that’s one thing.  It’s hot, they get laid, my mind gets blasted with pleasure.

When it’s with an actual child, a lot of that changes.  Particularly in this case.  The biggest two are the actual birth and the motherly instincts.

The birth isn’t actually as pleasurable when the kid is alive.  See, uh, it’s -- um --

Basically, when giving birth to eggs that have nothing alive in them, there’s no real risk if the mother passes out due to insane amounts of pleasure bombarding their body and mind.

But if the kid is alive and needs, say, milk, that’s counter-productive.  So the mother needs to be aware enough to give their child what they need to live.

So after Brutus was born, I felt such a strong burst of motherly instincts it felt almost like being brainwashed, as I held the little pup up to my breasts to feed.

The pregnancy had lasted maybe a week, and it was a bit awkward when I explained to Yuki and Shimizu how it wasn’t a lizardman inside of me, but it was more or less fine.  I did more shifts in the milking barn, I spent time with the three rulers, and caught up on my reading.  Then I gave birth, and, uh.

…Well, I, uh, I kept Brutus.

…What?!  

He was adorable!  And he was my precious son!

Ugh, whatever.  Look, ultimately, it’s not as hot as other things that happened to me.  So it happened, the end.

…I decided to name him and keep him just after giving birth to him, why?

…Oh.  Oh, um, I see what you mean.  Ah… Okay, maybe that is kind of hot or – or actually really hot, but still!  Moving on.

Afterwards, I got pregnant with a lizardman child, and --

-- ugh!

Look!

Yes, it was hot!

Yes, it was another gang rape!

But I’ve already told you about being raped by lizardmen!

I was having sex daily, do you really want to be told how Shimizu was fucking me three hundred sixty five times every year?!  If nothing else, it would slow down this story to a crawl!  I need to be selective when choosing what to share, to ensure maximum hotness instead of things getting samey and boring!

Can we move on now?!

…Good.

So.

I got pregnant with a lizardman child.  I showed it off to the three rulers.

And then the goddess of Alchemy came down for a little chat.

Yeah, now you see why I was trying to move forward, huh?

Hrmph.

---

Before I talk about what happened, I should explain a bit about the shards of divinity.  What they can and can’t do, and the limitations therein, as it’s going to become increasingly important.

Each shard is, themselves, inviolable.  No shard can directly impact any other shard.  Their power then spreads out around them in a kind of aura, with each shard having the same ‘weight’ as any other shard -- these auras then compete in reality at large, but we can ignore most of that for the moment.

Now, this, naturally, means that all of every reality should be a constantly messy state of chaotic flux, yeah?  When a reality is formed, the three large shards of an Axiomanager split into a total of 63, and the one small shard forms the core of the reality itself.  These 63 shards in that reality's chief god then, almost every time, get gradually split among various weaker gods to help handle managing various details.  Like the speed of light and the strength of gravity; you know, things like that.

So why don’t these shards constantly compete?  Every errant thought from a god should send chaos through their entire area.

Well, that’s because shards of divinity automatically work together.  It’s part of what they are; they prefer cooperation, over conflict.

So as an example, a lot of the raw details of a reality are handled by the single shard at the core.  Everybody else with a shard knows that, so their auras don’t impact anything ‘real’ unless they have strong, active intent -- and even then, they do it in a way that minimizes conflict.

On top of that, because all shards work together, if a god wants to ‘do something’ in a specific location, they’re most likely not using their own, specific shard.  They’re using whatever shard is closest to that location.  They send an automatic request to that shard, and the shard runs whatever program it needs to to complete what was asked of it.

Now, finally, we get to why shards can’t, for example, scan for other shards.

This is actually the core reason why I claim that shards ‘make simulations real’.

When a god wants to scan for something, they send out a request that all shards in that reality hear.  Every shard then scans for this item or object or event, and sends the results back.

But if you request the location of the shards themselves, you get back nothing.  It’s the same process as asking the central processing unit of a computer to share its current state.  It can’t do that, because in doing so its state changes.  It’s like spinning your eyes to look inside your skull.  Even if you could manage that, all you see is darkness, because there’s no light there.

In this way, each and every divine shard is inviolate to every other divine shard.

Whatever is at the core of each shard is something that not even the gods are aware of.  Maybe Axiomanagers know -- but if they do, then the knowledge escapes them by becoming a god or translating into a reality.

Now, this means that shards can not scan for other shards, detect other shards, predict other shards, create other shards, destroy other shards, or even really interact with them in any way other than politely sending a request to do something that doesn’t involve shards.

This is also why gods can’t kill other gods; the shard itself can hold all the data of a god, and a request by a random shard to, you know, kill the god it’s held by naturally isn’t going to be obeyed.

There is one exception to that specific rule.

But that’s not relevant right now.

What is relevant is that that means that if a god interacts with you directly?

If they physically show up to talk to you, or otherwise make an effort to hide what they’re doing from other gods?

They’re actively messing with every other god there is.

Because shards are inviolate.

What happened during the conversation is undetectable.

How it impacts predictions is indiscernible.

And the only reason to desire those things is if you’re hiding something.

So when Argenta decided to personally talk to me, I rapidly realized that things were getting out of hand.

---

Argenta was waiting for me one morning inside my bedroom, deep into the lizardman pregnancy, when I woke up.  I was drugged up due to the overactive maternity hormones, so I didn’t even notice her as I struggled to turn my body so I could stand up from the bed.

My huge belly was getting in the way, but any attempt at getting frustrated at it was wiped away by an almost unnaturally soothing sense of maternal pride.

It was, ah.

…Rather addicting.

But!  That’s not important.  What is important was that when I saw her in my room, I let loose a startled shriek as I -- um -- well it wasn’t really a ‘jump’, it was more of a ‘startled bounce’, but still.

Argenta was -- Okay, I can’t say ‘mousey’.  None of the goddesses are ‘mousey’, the chief god wouldn’t allow that, but she’s mousey for a goddess.  Her breasts would be almost reasonable on a mortal, though her hips and ass made up for that.

She had vivid violet hair held in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing a simple robe that covered just about everything.  The only ‘sexy’ thing about it was that it would be easy to remove.

…And the magic boob-socket that all clothing has in MISSY.

That will never not baffle me, no matter how hot it is.

Argenta seemed -- hrm.  I should probably relay the entire conversation for you, word for word.  Okay.  Let me just refresh my memory first, and…

…Yeah… okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

It went like this.

---

After my shriek, Argenta seemed mostly amused, though I could see a flash of annoyance in her eyes as she rubbed at one of her ears as she said,  “...Maybe I should have knocked.”  She shook her head and continued with, “Elizabeth Elsie Livia Ambrosia, I am Argenta, the goddess of Alchemy, and I would like to talk with you.”

There really isn’t much one could say in response to that.

So I just gave a mute nod.

That seemed to satisfy her, as she conjured up a couple of chairs -- one for her, one for me -- and with a wave of her hand, deposited us sitting on them.  And then she began to talk.  “Lovely.  Now, I know you’ve had a chat with Bernette; back when you had sex with Kaiser.  I was hoping you could tell me about that interaction you had.”

After a few seconds of fumbling, I just told her, “Well, ah, she showed up, and seemed to be really into watching me get fucked?  Gave me some commands in exchange for a blessing?”

Argenta gave a small nod, and asked for a few more details -- which I gave.  I didn’t doubt she’d know if I lied, or even tried to hide information from her.  Gods can’t directly read thoughts, but they can easily read emotions, and I wasn’t nearly good enough at controlling mine to try.

When she was satisfied, she smiled at me and said, “...Lovely.  Thank you, Elizabeth.  You’ve been immensely helpful.  I’d offer you a blessing in return for this, but you already have mine… is there anything else that you’d rather, instead?”

My answer to that was:  ‘Give me a mountain of gold pretty please and thank you’.  But, I knew she wouldn’t give me that.  

So instead, I took a few moments to gather my thoughts, drumming my fingers on top of my belly.  What I ended up saying was, “...While I am, primarily, seeking the blessings of all the gods, what I’d truly appreciate from you is any information you can give me about the Land Grab.  Anything I should be wary of, or aim for.  I’d appreciate the wisdom of one of the oldest goddesses in the world.”

I didn’t say that because I actually thought she’d give me something useful.

No, I asked that because I wanted to know what she wanted me to know.

Argenta seemed pleased by my flattering words, and though I’m sure she could tell that I wasn't saying everything I wanted to -- it could easily be chalked up due to nerves.

Because, uh.

Goddess.

Argenta smiled at me and said, “I’d suggest being careful of the Empirical Empress.  She’s backed, directly, by Roberta, the goddess of Technology, who has been acting…”  She pursed her lips.  “...More… actively loyal… to the god above gods, than most of us.  On top of that, I’d suggest you be wary of the actions of Modesty, goddess of rape, and her cohorts.  They seem to have some interest in you, and I’m not sure why.  Other than that…”

Her smile turned a bit softer, and more genuine before she continued.  “...Be careful.  This Land Grab is more dangerous than most, but I suppose you already know that.  I’d tell you more if I could, but… we all have our orders.”

Argenta stood and smiled.  “All of this has taken place in a single moment, so don’t worry about the time we've spent talking.  I’ll see about talking around and pulling some strings to help you get your blessings.  Just keep this talk a secret unless I say otherwise, okay?”  

She gave me what she no doubt thought was a friendly wink, before she vanished along with her chair.

…And then I was lifted up by an invisible force and placed back on my bed, before my chair vanished.

I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling the little puppy Brutus try to scramble up my belly as I began to process what just happened.

---

Okay.

So.

So so so so so so… so.

That conversation set off so many alarm bells that I just -- I nearly panicked.  It was only the artificial calm that the erotic pregnancy hormones were inducing in me that kept me from doing so.

Let me start with the most alarming part of that chat:

Of the goddesses under the chief god, in all of the Alchemical Corruption series, there are two that do the most good work in limiting the harm the chief god does on the world.

Modesty protects the mental wellbeing of as many people as she can, starting with her changing how rape works in MISSY.  She does a lot more than that, too, but that's easily the most important.

And Argenta is the one that keeps the world, physically, together.

The entire plot of Alchemical Corruption One was predicated on how much of a mess the alchemy system used to be; it was far too easy to ‘corrupt’ to a horrifying degree.  Starting with Alchemical Corruption Two, Argenta took control of it, and since then alchemy has always been one of the core tools at solving problems.

If it wasn’t for Argenta, the MISSY would be a much more dangerous place.  If it was even still a place and didn't just, have a supernova blow up the world, or a false vacuum collapse happens, or something.

On top of that, both Argenta and Modesty have a history of undermining the chief god's commands in subtle ways.  Modesty does so much more often and much more blatantly, but Argenta has done so for longer, and whenever it’s critical.

So whatever was going on with the gods, those two should have been on the same side.

They had different approaches, sure, but they both wanted to limit what the chief god did.

But they weren’t.

They very blatantly weren’t.

In fact, given that Bernette went to talk to me, and Argenta noticed that and then talked to me herself, implied that Argenta and Modesty were in the middle of an outright war of information control.

See, shards can’t detect shards.  So Argenta would have had to notice the effects of using a shard, which would have taken -- frankly?  I suspect that Bernette tried to hide her interaction with me, so it would have taken a lot of effort and a lot of suspicion on Argenta’s part to even realize something happened, let alone what, where, and with who.

And then she came to talk to me.

Which would mess up future predictions that Bernette and Modesty would have made.

That was also alarming.

And then, oooooh hoho, and then, there’s the fact that I, apparently, was at the center of a divine conspiracy!  I had no idea why Modesty and her friends were interested in me, but they were.

And Argenta didn’t know why.

In fact, I doubted that Argenta even knew that I was from another reality -- if she did, I suspected she’d have mentioned it.

And then there was Roberta!  Why would Roberta aid the chief god?  Roberta was an Atlantean, the only goddess that was from Atlantis, the nation that actively hides from the gods.

I glanced at Brutus, who had just managed to crest the peak of my massive belly.  He looked so proud of himself.

I just heaved a tired sigh.

For a moment, I thought that things would be much simpler if I just gave up all of this ‘thinking’ nonsense and became a proper broodmare.

…The thought was, to be honest, far more tempting than it should have been.