DxD: Celeste 7

DxD: Celeste 7

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Commissioned by Althero and Chaosbrain

Wordcount: 2000

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As much as I wanted to spend time around Devils in skimpy outfits, Hyoudou needed space to grow, learn, and gain practical experience. So, after a bit of training, I set him on his way to his hometown to investigate possible supernatural individuals and contact them without dying. Of course, I gave him the necessary things to stay alive and call for help just in case, as well as a bracelet monitoring his vitals attached to some guards, but beyond that he was on his own.

He had a safety net that’ll save his life, but besides that the situation was his to succeed in or fail miserably at.

Meanwhile, I focused on my project with Azazel and my own personal project.

Given the fact that I’m the Aspect of Creation, with several engineering and software degrees, as well as years of experience in making stuff… the projects were both successes.

Surprisingly, though, I encountered a hiccup with my own project.

Nothing bad.

But somewhat unpleasant.

…

Azazel looked at the sitting Drone before him with a critical eye, while the Drone looked back at him with a large, mono-eye in return.

“So… what’s the issue with the lifeform that you created treating you like a supreme being that wants to give you everything? It sounds like you got it right this time.” Azazel lounged in one of my lab’s chairs, while I ran diagnostics on the latest of a dozen Drones that I created. They weren’t anywhere close to the standard that I was used to, but they were a bit better than the kind CORE first made to create powerful shock infantry. I’d planned on making assistants capable of using the power of supercomputers to speed up my research and fill in the blanks for all the tech that I knew, but didn’t commit to memory, since I never expected to be thrown in an alternate dimension decade in the past. “It’s better than my Homunculi being snarky and not interested in me, I think.”

“I built them to be people, individuals, and capable of reason, just like CORE did. The plan was to create a race of equals with humanity that filled in the weaknesses.” With all the apocalypses going on because of humans back at home, the fact that CORE created AI and a whole race of living machines and didn’t unleash an apocalypse in the process was to be lauded. However, that wasn’t all that CORE did. They turned the Drones into partners, gave them rights, and treated them as equals to the point that they work with humanity without issue and protect humanity without a thought, even though they could just fly off into space and never return. CORE’s Drones decided to stay and help fight for humanity from the moment they were made to the moment that Aspects began to clash. That was an achievement that usually went under the radar, even though I’d failed to keep Heaven together no matter how hard I tried. “I didn’t mean to make them into devoted followers out to do everything I wanted, Azazel. That’s wrong.”

Before Azazel could continue to poke fun at me, the Drone spoke up.

“It is because of those beliefs that I chose to be who I am.” Self-cognizance, reasoning, and logic was all there. I’d even coded in what I could about emotions, even though CORE only developed that code later when Drones started uploading into Homunculi bodies, returned, and started helping with it. I chose to implement a basic version at the start, but it was starting to look like a mistake, since it was flaring up hard now. “How could I not be grateful and devoted to one who created me and seeks to see me become better and free of their own accord?”

“Seems about right. I’d have liked that instead of what I got when I came to. I came into existence and had a job right at the start.” Azazel didn’t hesitate to backup the Drone and walked up to it and gave it a pat on the back. “Man, you’ve got it good. Dad’s learned from everything that happened to us and now you’ve got it made, little brother.”

“Don’t assume anything about them. They’ll choose whatever they want to be and have on their own terms.” I glared at Azazel only to receive a smug look of superiority from him and a grateful nod from my Drone. A headache started forming right behind my eyes. Li could explain this a lot better and change both their minds with a smile and a handshake, but that wasn’t my area of expertise. Talking really wasn’t my forte. I preferred building and making guidelines to follow. “C’mon, that’s just being reasonable. I’m not being nearly perfect enough to blindly follow to the ends of the earth! That’s Li’s schtick!”

My Drone tilted their rectangular, mono-eyed head side to side at that statement, as they accessed files about Li in their memory banks.

I had a dark premonition build in the back of my mind as my Drone stayed quiet for a while.

“Creator… I believe that these files should be better secured.” My Drone sent me something through the direct interface between them and the computer. Instantly, upon looking at the file, my blood ran cold and I instantly wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “Please, don’t use personal equipment to program me and my future siblings.”

It was an honest request bereft of any slavish devotion from my Drone, which I should’ve been proud of.

Instead, I was mortified and wondering how to best throw myself into a singularity.

Azazel, naturally, laughed as he figured out what happened.

I didn’t give him the opportunity to gloat and started typing fast and loud on the keyboard.

This should’ve been the day I got my first assistants and true workforce, but I was getting laughed at by one of my kids, while my newest kid advised me to keep my folders secure.

It was the worst.

…

My secret, underwater base was a lot more difficult to create, because I lacked a lot of advanced materials. CORE did a lot of research and development in the background that created an industrial base capable of supporting a lot of highly-advanced equipment. It was the basic stuff that I never had to do before, because it was already done for me. Things like developing the right material for an underwater dome, creating the robust life support systems that could keep everyone inside safe, and all of that was done for me before, whereas in my new world I had to do it all from scratch.

Thankfully, being the Aspect of Creation gave me some leeway, and after I got assistants and funds, I could get my production lines in full gear and developing a real slice of home in this world.

Homunculi cores, sans personalities, worked as energy production for the vast facility until I could get some fusion reactors up. Production of certain alloys and arcane-enhanced materials started up at a good pace and started increasing as I streamlined the processes and expanded assembly lines. I developed a few weapons I didn’t know I’d miss until I didn’t have them available, such as coilguns, chemical throwers, and stealth fields, and worked on more advanced pieces of kit like directed energy weapons, Light-enhanced fusion weapons, and fabricators.

Coding and developing for the fabricators took the most time for me, but with my Drones developed and with a few dozen interlinked supercomputers cooled by the ocean, they could assist me heavily and developing what I needed. The main issue was the fact that I didn’t know I was missing something until I needed it, since back home it would be readily available, but with AI help I reduced research, development, and fabrication time from days to hours.

Why was I doing all of this?

To what end did I plan to use my massive industrial base hidden at the bottom of the ocean?

Well, that’s where the information I gathered along with Azazel came in.

Things weren’t as peaceful as they seemed in this world.

Not by a long shot.

Firstly, Ouroboros was functioning here, and they most likely had Ophis had on their side… and I didn’t have Sheridan around to convince her to turn to video games and be a good girl. Going against Ouroboros was going to be difficult on my own, especially if they had the same interdimensional fortresses and labyrinths fueled by Infinity Spheres at their disposal… and it’d be pretty bad if they managed to resurrect Lucifer.

Heck, Lilith alone was probably going to be a problem, especially since Azazel couldn’t find any news about her being dead.

Then, there were all the myriad machinations that were in play for Ouroboros all over the world.

The Jade Empire didn’t exist in this world and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. True Vampires like the Tepes family were in play, but I couldn’t find anything about the larger, more powerful Asian vampire faction anywhere on the continent. The Beast Tribes were also not massed up nearly as much as I expected and they seemed scattered, rare, and practically didn’t have any political influence whatsoever. Then, of course, there was the fact that Ghouls didn’t exist here either.

I thought that this place was a funhouse mirror of my own world, but now it was looking a lot like a faded reflection, and Azazel didn’t like the thought of his universe having less than where I came from. Sure, he appreciated the fact there wasn’t any Chimera, or past civilization that put code into the very fabric of reality, but large chunks of history, culture, and entire species being missing worried him a lot.

It worried me too, since I didn’t know if they just didn’t exist, or if Ouroboros just decided to conduct genocide for sport over the last few centuries.

I wouldn’t put it past them.

Anyway, with all the unknowns that I’ve found, and the possible dangers arising, my first move was the create something that would really let me get a grip on things no matter how dire.

While Li could stumble on a national treasure of a sword, ascend her into being a hot and powerful woman, and go to town on any foe, I needed more than that.

How much more?

About three hundred thousand tons more.

Yeah, it was a lot, but that was what I need to compete.

I built my Vimana back home and so I knew it well enough to rebuild it here. While the industrial base I constructed could help me branch out towards other fields and develop more things, in the end my goal was to get the vessel that I needed to really use my power in combat. It didn’t have any Infinity Spheres, but I made up for it myself, and it was going to pack a bigger punch because I would.

And, it wouldn’t just have firepower.

It was going to allow me to get anywhere on the planet in less than two hours, since its crew will be me, Drones, and a few homunculi. Not only that, but its hold was going to be filled with an entire airwing with payloads capable of felling Chimera, but also keep up with the fastest of Angels. Finally, besides incredible mobility and strike force, its protections were top-notch and capable of dancing with the likes of other Aspects with me at the helm.

Later, I’ll put a fabricator inside it, whicha’ll be able to scavenge wrecks and pump out armies, but for now it was enough.

This was what I needed to start bringing he fight the threats I found on this Earth.

And, I was going to hit them with everything I had.