Crystalized Munchkinry - Arc I - Chapter 05 (Patreon)

He greeted the new year with a quiet reminiscence of the trials and developments of the past four years.

From the outside, it would have looked almost uneventful.

Most of his effort had gone into Anti-Thinker defenses, while in the background, he continued managing the expansion of processor cores alongside energy and matter generation systems.

The Shard-to-Shard and Network communication modules had also been constructed, though they remained unused for obvious reasons.

On Earth Bet, however, everything appeared peachy.

Taylor was growing into a bright, inquisitive child. Annette and Danny’s marriage was functioning well, the Bay continued its steady decline toward instability, and life overall proceeded along its expected trajectory.

Taylor's relationship with Emma was adorable.

The two girls spent nearly all their time together, inventing elaborate games and shared fantasies that shifted constantly with their imagination.

He could understand how Taylor would collapse after Emma turned against her.

Relationships of that intensity would leave a lasting mark on a person, for better or worse, and whatever followed would shape Taylor significantly when the event that changed everything happened.

So he recorded everything.

He separated particularly meaningful or endearing moments into dedicated archives, reasoning that in the future, once Taylor had processed her experiences, she might find value in revisiting them.

He also made a small personal note that if Taylor ever required training scenarios or simulated targets for combat practice, Emma’s preserved 3D model would be technically useful.

On his own side, progress had been steady.

He successfully completed a system designed to protect his crystalline body from large-scale scanning by spoofing incoming observational data. To external Shards performing planetary scans, his presence would resolve as nothing more than an empty, unremarkable world.

This had been the easier of his objectives, since it did not require concealing actions from humans or other Shards, only intercepting and rewriting specific types of detection signals.

If fully effective, it would prevent any Shard from identifying him through standard databank queries.

The system itself manifested physically as vast crystalline towers embedded into the planetary surface, each functioning as both receiver and emitter.

Incoming scanning signals would be absorbed, processed, and then returned with carefully constructed false results.

Each tower contained its own processing core, and all of them were linked to a central coordination node consisting of a simplified core, a data bank, and standard energy and matter generation systems responsible for maintaining synchronization and compiling global outputs.

The system was also adaptive.

It could distinguish between different types of scans and adjust responses accordingly.

For example, if another Shard searched for a rare material absent from their planetary variant, the system would not simply return a ’No Shard here’ message, but instead a consistent “no material present” result, preserving plausibility across multiple layers of inquiry.

They could also work as an aerial defense if need be. Shards were not the most mobile attackers, but there was an off chance that one of them could stumble upon his dimension or even target himself.

Additionally, the towers were not purely passive.

They were capable of functioning as a defensive network in the event of external intrusion.

While Shards were not typically mobile attackers, he accounted for edge cases, including accidental discovery or deliberate targeting of his dimensional space.

Alongside this, he designed supplemental anti-air and shielding systems to protect his main body from conventional threats, primarily human or Tinker-derived attacks.

These defenses would not be effective against Sting-like effects, but against most other known threats, they would be more than sufficient.

In the worst-case scenario, his body itself was robust enough that only an extremely large-scale force would cause meaningful damage.

Failing that, he'd just have to tank it. His body was rather robust, so it would take something enormous and strong to cause any noticeable damage.

Against Shard-based interference, he intended to escalate directly, either by forcing communication channels open and flooding them with corrupted or irrelevant data, or by attempting partial takeover of opposing processing systems.

In extreme cases, he could even overwhelm them with energy output, though outcomes would depend heavily on real-world variables that the Simulator could not yet model with sufficient accuracy.

Parallel to this, his off-world expansion project was progressing well.

Multiple alternate Earth-like dimensions were now partially covered in a distributed network of cores, extractors, and data systems, forming the foundation of a far more scalable infrastructure.

The Simulator itself had improved dramatically, operating several hundred times faster than its initial configuration, which was already capable of computational throughput exceeding all Earth Bet computer systems combined.

He had even constructed a secondary Simulator dedicated to optimizing the primary one, resulting in further iterative gains, though diminishing returns were already becoming apparent.

At this point, each additional improvement required exponentially more resources for progressively smaller benefits.

Still, the system as a whole had become something genuinely formidable.

Using this expanded computational framework, he turned to his next major challenge: ensuring Taylor remained undetectable by Earth Bet scanning systems.

The first step, hiding the Corona, was relatively straightforward.

He applied a localized version of his existing spoofing technology, creating a narrow shielding field around the relevant structures that intercepted and rewrote incoming scan data.

In theory, even highly advanced Shard systems, including Panacea’s, should fail to detect its presence.

The second step was significantly more difficult.

He could theoretically extend a broader field that simply erased all meaningful data around Taylor, creating a localized blind spot in all observational systems.

However, such an approach would likely be conspicuous in itself, effectively marking Taylor as something worth investigating.

The alternative was to replicate his more advanced shielding architecture on a biological scale, but he lacked sufficient certainty regarding how Taylor’s developing brain would handle the associated strain.

Current simulations produced inconclusive and occasionally concerning results.

For now, he decided to postpone the decision until her neurological development progressed further, while continuing research into non-invasive alternatives that would not risk damage.

If successful, the end result would render Taylor effectively invisible to all precognitive systems.

Fortunately, he still had approximately eleven years remaining, which left ample time for iteration.

With that thought set aside, he shifted his focus toward a new priority: understanding the capabilities of the Sting and developing viable countermeasures.

Taking a temporary step back from Anti-Thinker systems, he hoped that distance and recalibration would provide the insight necessary to approach the problem from a new direction.

Date:2002 March 13th - Wednesday - Earth Bet TimeDay 2833 - Wednesday - Administrator Dimension Time

Working on Sting made one thing increasingly obvious: for all their scale and apparent sophistication, the Entities were still fundamentally constrained by something that looked uncomfortably like instinct.

Sting itself was not a single attack so much as a multidimensional propagation event.

When fired, it did not travel through space in a conventional sense; instead, it unfolded across a broad, partially randomized distribution of dimensions, spreading its trajectory through layers of reality in a pattern that was effectively impossible to predict or fully intercept.

No Shard had the resources to maintain perfect shielding across every dimension it occupied at all times.

Even the Entities themselves only deployed full-spectrum protection when they had prior warning of an imminent strike.

That was also why Flechette’s ability appeared to bypass defenses entirely.

It did not need to ’pierce’ a shield in any conventional sense – it simply reached through unguarded dimensional layers, where the protective coverage did not exist.

Whatever layers were defended could be accounted for, while the rest of the unfolded path inevitably found an exposed route.

Unless a Shard specialized specifically in dimensional shielding, some portion of a Sting attack would always slip through.

The only entities capable of maintaining full coverage were those kept in close proximity to the Entities themselves, meaning he was unlikely to encounter them under normal circumstances.

However, if Zion ever identified him as a threat, those defenses could be activated almost immediately.

Even then, it would not guarantee true invulnerability.

The attack’s randomness meant that ’perfect defense’ was less a solved state and more a constant, expensive balancing act.

In theory, a sufficiently powerful system could brute-force coverage across all relevant dimensions, but the sustained computational and energetic cost would be extreme.

Worse still, the attacker and defender operated under the same constraint: Sting required enormous resources to execute.

The bulk of that cost came from generating the projectile itself, especially when creating it from raw energy rather than an existing medium.

Imbuing a pre-existing object, such as an arrow or similar carrier, was significantly cheaper, but still nontrivial.

An additional cost came from maintaining trajectory coherence while the attack unfolded.

Without continuous correction, the attack could be deflected or diluted across alternate dimensional paths, reducing its effectiveness.

Finally, and most importantly, there was the computational burden of resolving the unfolding pattern itself.

Each activation required real-time calculation of a multidimensional divergence process, distributing the attack across a vast set of possible pathways.

Most Shards capable of using Sting could only deploy a single instance at a time due to these constraints.

Parallelization was typically beyond their sustained processing capacity.

This was where he diverged from the baseline.

He had, by now, access to computational and energetic resources that were plausibly comparable to an Entity under certain conditions.

Probably.

So he built seven weapons armed with Sting.

Each design was iteratively tested through the improved Simulator before implementation, refined specifically as a precautionary countermeasure against Entity-level escalation scenarios.

Alongside them, he constructed a separate interface module designed to allow Sting effects to be applied indirectly to Taylor’s future offensive capabilities.

He did not, however, grant her direct control over that subsystem.

That decision remained firmly in place.

Taylor, as it turned out, had developed an enthusiastic imagination when it came to long-term ’plans’ during her sleepovers with Emma, some of which involved increasingly elaborate and deeply questionable ideas about dominance over the entire population of the planet.

He had no interest in encouraging that trajectory with additional high-end destructive capability.

Nobody should like ponies that much.

Also, having Emma be the moderating influence during those hypotethical conversations, was a truly weird experience.

On the issue of Taylor’s brain not being robust enough to handle the strain of concealment, he arrived at a solution that was, by most conventional standards, dubious.

In principle, it was straightforward: genetically modify her neural tissue to increase its structural resilience, allowing it to withstand sustained interface load without degradation.

Fortunately, the human brain continues to undergo significant developmental changes well into early adulthood, typically stabilizing only around the age of twenty-five.

In theory, that developmental window could be leveraged, allowing him to integrate his modifications into the natural growth process rather than imposing abrupt changes.

His simulations suggested the effects would be relatively modest in outward terms.

Aside from enabling full precognitive obfuscation, the changes would likely manifest as slightly improved synaptic response speed, enhanced learning capacity, and increased cellular endurance within neural structures.

Even if detected by human medicine, it would almost certainly be dismissed as statistical variance rather than anything worth investigating further.

After a period of internal deliberation regarding the ethics of unapproved neural intervention, he concluded that, in this specific case, it was preferable to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

Especially since he was already planning to alter her physiology during her Trigger event, he could plausibly attribute any earlier modifications to that same process if ever questioned.

The timing would need to be carefully controlled so that all changes completed shortly before her Trigger, ensuring system stability and minimizing unexpected interactions.

As a secondary benefit, the concealment framework would also provide resistance against certain Master and Trump effects, which he considered a nontrivial improvement in long-term survivability.

From there, he expanded the scope of modifications to encompass her broader physiological development.

These changes would be introduced gradually over the course of a week to allow physiological acclimatization and avoid drawing attention from medical monitoring systems.

Rapid alteration risked destabilizing homeostasis or triggering unnecessary scrutiny.

He briefly considered the process in terms reminiscent of cultivation frameworks, a kind of structured optimization cycle applied to biology rather than mysticism.

The initial stage would involve purification: removing biological inefficiencies and accumulated damage without producing any dramatic or externally noticeable byproducts, which he considered important for maintaining a normal hospital environment.

The extracted material would be stored and broken down into usable components within his systems.

From there, he would rebuild her physiology toward a baseline of optimal human performance: the functional equivalent of perfect health maintained through idealized lifestyle conditions.

No superhuman augmentation at this stage, only restoration to an upper natural limit.

Emergency protocols would remain in place, however, including localized quantum stabilization of biological structures if catastrophic injury occurred.

The goal was stability first, enhancement second.

This baseline improvement would, incidentally, provide her with increased coordination, endurance, balance, and general physical resilience that would persist independently of her later Shard interactions, assuming she survived long enough for those systems to matter.

He even incorporated a limited regenerative component by enhancing natural cellular repair pathways.

It would not allow rapid limb regrowth, but it would meaningfully reduce blood loss lethality and improve recovery from injury.

As a small but satisfying side effect, it would also reduce minor nuisances such as nail-related injuries, which he categorized as low-priority but high-frequency inconveniences.

And best of all: no hangnails.

Hormonal regulation adjustments were also included, designed to stabilize neurochemical fluctuations over time and reduce vulnerability to depressive states.

He supplemented this with planned behavioral support strategies, although he acknowledged that his qualifications in psychology were entirely theoretical rather than practical.

He intended, eventually, to encourage her to attend sessions with a properly licensed professional.

Additional safeguards were added against biological Master influences.

Multi-layered filtration structures were embedded into hepatic processing pathways to neutralize foreign biochemical agents before systemic distribution.

A secondary circulatory modulation layer was introduced to alter cerebral blood flow distribution under specific threat signatures, increasing metabolic resilience in the brain.

Finally, an adrenal-linked countermeasure compound was implemented to suppress biological control attempts upon detection of foreign interference, designed to deactivate harmlessly in normal physiological states and naturally flush from the system under stress hormone release.

He was taking no chances with Taylor's safety.

From there, he constructed her Thinker framework.

This included enhanced memory formation, increased cognitive processing speed, and accelerated learning pathways.

The implementation relied on crystalline substrate emulation of neural structures linked through the Corona interface, allowing parallel processing support without directly overriding biological cognition.

A controlled bleed-through mechanism ensured that natural neural development would gradually improve over time, reducing long-term dependence on external augmentation.

He also designed a comprehensive linguistic integration module, granting immediate comprehension and production capability across all known languages within his data access range.

Which was all of them.

He loved the concept of All-Speak.

Writing, however, remained dependent on physical practice due to the inability to meaningfully replicate fine motor skill acquisition without direct behavioral experience.

The multitasking system functioned by distributing cognitive load across auxiliary processing structures while maintaining a unified conscious focus layer.

From Taylor’s perspective, this would feel like rapidly shifting attention rather than simultaneous thought streams, while underlying processes handled background tasks autonomously.

He added a limited spatial storage module as well, functioning as a personal pocket space interface accessible through intentional activation.

Initial capacity was set to approximately ten cubic meters, sufficient for personal items and meaningful possessions without encouraging excessive accumulation of ethically questionable materials.

He didn’t want Taylor to develop murderhobo tendencies.

A portal interface module was also implemented, adapted from his own inter-Shard communication systems but scaled and safety-restricted for human use.

These would allow transit to predefined coordinates under his direct control, with strict access gating to prevent unsupervised activation.

For aesthetic clarity and cognitive comfort, he initially assigned a warm, non-threatening visual framing to the interface, though this remained configurable and could be suppressed when stealth requirements demanded it.

Taylor would not be able to independently open portals.

She would instead communicate intent, and he would handle execution externally, both for safety and to prevent unintended attention.

Aesthetic considerations, such as decorative color schemes, remained secondary and adjustable depending on operational context.

These systems collectively formed her Mover, Thinker, and Brute support framework.

For a laugh, he added a low-impact Changer subsystem.

Allowing controlled alteration of hair and eye attributes, including color, texture, and regrowth functionality in cases of damage.

It served no strategic purpose beyond cosmetic flexibility and minor survivability benefits.

For a while, he considered adding a small environmental modulation effect – something like a localized, barely perceptible breeze that would always catch Taylor’s hair at just the right angle to make it look improbably dramatic.

He dismissed it after a moment of thought.

It crossed the line from “useful system optimization” into “cosmetic intervention for his own entertainment,” and even he could recognize that it was unnecessary complexity.

Though he totally planned to turn her hair to a garish color whenever it was entertaining.

Maybe have her wake up one day as Rapunzel and one day as bald.

It would be great fun watching her reactions.