CHAPTER THREE-HUNDRED EIGHTY

Doppler’s name for me fills me with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, sure, I kinda created him. Even more than the other scions, I didn’t just spend mana, I practically invented him. Skynet was another name I had briefly considered, but quickly tossed. A lot of the scions start taking after the names I give them, and I definitely don’t need to bring that sort of trouble here.

So I guess there’s a bit of pride in being called his creator. It also feels really unearned. I considered trying to impress on him that while I might be a creator, I’m not the Creator, but I didn’t want to weigh him down with my baggage. That, combined with the progress on the cathedral has me questioning things, I guess. Is this the road to hell being paved with good intentions?

Still, I guess the fruits of the labor are the best way to judge, and I think these fruits are pretty sweet so far. Doppler is intensely curious about all sorts of things, so he’s already fitting in great with the nerd squad. I don’t think he’s going to be focused on any of the specific crafting they’re into, but he seems genuinely interested in learning what they’re doing. It’s a good thing, too, if he’s going to be translating for them and helping them teach.

With how well he talks, I actually checked to see if he somehow picked up the Voice title, but that’s still the exclusive property of Teemo. It wasn’t too surprising to see that, since Poe can talk, too. But a Voice isn’t just about talking, it’s about being able to talk for me. I can’t speak any more clearly to Poe or Doppler than any of my other scions. So I guess you’re still stuck as the only one lucky enough to hear me directly, Teemo.

“Good. I’d hate to inflict your insanity on anyone else, Boss,” he answers with a cheeky grin. Right now, he’s wandering the various shortcuts, making sure the plants are doing their jobs properly. They do pretty well, but it looks like he can’t fully wash his hands of maintenance just yet. At least it gives him something to do.

Like preparing the shortcut for moving my core to the cathedral, which is another reason I’m feeling all broody. The cathedral itself is looking great. My followers are amazing craftsmen, and the hexagonal basalt with the hexagonal quartz tiles really gives the place its own look. It almost feels kinda cyberpunk, but without the neon. Which is kind of a big part of cyberpunk, come to think of it.

It’s just way more than I deserve. I was happy with just a literal hole in the wall, and if I thought I could still get away with it, I’d still be in there, even if Queen would be feeling more than a little cramped. Having a cathedral is a lot of pressure to live up to everyone’s expectations, and it’s tempting to try to just run from it.

Not that I really can. I can run a dungeon, but I can’t run, even if I try to stay in that weird sideways plane with the souls and everything, or the afterlife I made. But even more than not being able to run… I don’t really want to run. I didn’t seek to become this, but here I am anyway. I could take the opportunity and bury it, or I can seize it and try to do as much good as possible.

It’s still scary, but I’ve been doing alright so far, right? No inquisitions, no crusades, no chaos and revolutions. I haven’t been a god of change for too long, but I feel like not immediately kicking any of that off is probably a good sign. I’m still nervous about the other pockets of followers I can feel, but they’re striking to the love and self-improvement doctrine, too. So no schisms is probably another accomplishment I can probably claim, as well.

It’s easy to worry myself in circles, but I feel like I’m getting better at noticing when it’s not going to be productive. Putting it aside is still hard, and worrying about it occasionally is probably healthy in the long run. I take a moment to focus, detach myself from the panic, and look at the worries in turn. Some can be pretty easily dismissed as just nerves, some deserve some deeper thought later, but none need my immediate attention right now.

My followers and my dwellers are doing well, so I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Don’t get all obsessive and micromanagerial on them. Trust them and lead them as best as you can. It’s been working with the dungeon, and it’s been working with them. Look for improvements, but don’t obsess!

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My little pep talk to myself helps a bit, and I think gives me a bit of perspective. Doppler doesn’t mean anything extra by calling me creator. He probably doesn’t really get the concept of a dad, or he does and isn’t emotional enough to apply the label to me. Either way, my aversion to him calling me that is a me

problem.

And the cathedral is similar. They might intend it for me, but that doesn’t mean it is. A funeral is for the living, not for the dead. My followers can build the cathedral for me, but they’re the ones who will be using it. Lead by example. I’m always telling them to help and to love, what better way to set that example for them than to make sure to use the cathedral for the people?

Sure, it’s not as big as the hold will be, so it can’t be for all the people, but I can still make sure it sees actual use, instead of becoming some hubristic monument to me. It’ll take a little bit of adjusting, but that’s as simple as digging some more… and having Coda make sure it won’t collapse. It had mostly just been a big open central spot for them to come and see the core and hang out together, with a couple extra rooms for whatever little things might need to be done.

But I can put in a library for my followers. I can put in a kitchen to feed the poor. I can put in a hospital of some kind to help the sick. I even have access to most of those rooms! It’s still in my territory, after all. I can’t let my followers do all the work! I should pitch in, too!

I’m just glad there’s several blank sections of wall for me to be able to put access to the rooms. They were left blank for more murals for my next set of denizens, and the next and next after, too, but I’m not worried. However many enclaves I end up making, I know we’ll have room for their stories. Teemo can expand the space as needed, and the vines can do the upkeep.

I’m tempted to make yet another scion to be able to man the kitchen, but I resist that particular urge. For one, Doppler might like to cook. Even if he doesn’t, I’m sure I have plenty of dwellers who’ll be more than happy to run the kitchen. I wouldn’t put it past Larx to do it. His cookies are building their own legend, and I think he might have fun with a bigger kitchen to play in.

I plan out a new kitchen, plotting out a bunch of ovens and such. It makes me want to figure out how to make natural gas or something. We could probably make electric ovens and stoves and get by with using the go juice and some denizens, but I think if I go that route, I should make an actual electric spawner of some kind. No, we'll use normal fire to cook with. For now.

I already have… well, technically I have quite a few libraries with the signs I’ve made. I can’t go just talking through them, but I can still put up the sort of things you might see on a road sign or on someone’s office door. Then there’s the announcement board on the porch, not to be confused with the hanging quests. I haven’t had too much to announce ever since Teemo became my Voice, but still.

And, of course, there’s the library in the crypt. Honey has her own labs and such in there… but I think she’d be over the moon if I made a library for her to keep that wouldn’t require people to go slogging through undead to reach. I know I’ve seen her sneak off to the delver’s guild library more than a few times, my little nerd bee.

I don’t technically have access to a hospital or clinic or anything like that, but the unlock price is practically just a song. Thanks to the deal with Order for the Harbinger, I can pay to unlock all sorts of things, and the more I’ve worked on a thing, the cheaper it is. Between my healing slimes, the medic caste of antkin, and the titles Queen and Thing earned in the fight with the Maw, I’ve apparently done enough to get a steep discount on healing rooms. I plan out a moderate area somewhere between a large clinic and a small hospital, though I make sure to leave plenty of room for expansion. There’s probably some other god out there that specializes in healing, but I have a whole caste of antkin who like to heal, not to mention my various priests who can do it, too.

I make a few more notes for what I want to accomplish with the rooms, wanting Coda to look over what I have planned to make sure it’ll actually do what I want, and feel a blooming warmth and happiness. It only takes me a moment to recognize it’s coming from my High Priestess, Aranya. The red kobold is smiling brightly as she stands in the cathedral, feeling my plans changing for the area.

I’d feel a little bad about changing things at the last minute, but she probably was expecting something. Very few plans survive around a god of change, and she probably gets that even better than I do.