Home is an important thing for everyone. It’s a place to rest, a place to hang out with friends, a place to start a family.


    If anyone threatens mine, they better be prepared to feel the wrath of a thousand suns bearing down on them.


    -Asuriel, 2037


    The next few minutes were a whirlwind of being shown where a few important things were. Until each of us got our own room, (except for the twins who were completely fine with continuing to share as long as they got more space).


    I ended up in a plain room that felt… sterilized more than anything. There wasn’t any furniture other than a basic bed and a nightstand. The connected bathroom was bare except for a few basic toiletries as well. Luckily, Alannah had dropped off a bunch of my pillows at my request and nothing else.


    Dropping all my stuff in here at once would be a mistake for multiple reasons, most of it being related to getting distracted.


    “Pyri, can you get me some pajamas of some sort?” I asked while ogling the really comfy looking bed.


    What style do you want?


    “Shorts and a loose tank top please,” I answered as I began pulling armor plates off my jumpsuit, “Not so loose that I have wardrobe malfunctions though.”


    Already accounted for that. They’ll be on the bed when you’re done stripping.


    Pyri had mercifully just ticked my number down a point for the ‘Class 0 Sleeping Garments’ which appeared on the bed without a box.


    Rather than instantly go to them, I was struggling to get the jumpsuit off of me. I was losing grip on my wakefulness quickly, which apparently hampers your jumpsuit disrobing abilities.


    I eventually got the suit off of me, and dropped it into the pile containing the rest of my armor and boots. The air against my skin carried a chill with it as I quickly pulled off my underwear as well, and made my way into the bathroom in search of a shower to wash off the exertions of the evening. All things considered I didn’t do too bad with washing and drying my new hair under Pyri’s coaching (and a few newly bought Sam-grade hair care products).


    Leaving the bathroom refreshed and relaxed with incredibly soft hair lightly smelling like flowers, I reached the bed with my new pajamas. The shirt had some sort of picture on the front I was too sleepy to parse. The shorts had a triangle shaped hole in the back that seemed to be Pyri future proofing my pajamas for after I finally got my tail.


    Most importantly they were very cozy.


    Finally clean and dressed for bed, I got underneath the covers and started to fall asleep.


    Except I couldn’t.


    Her voice kept ringing in the back of my head. Blatantly misgendering me, treating me as if I was worth less than the dirt on her boots.


    I choked out a sob as tears streamed down my face.


    “Why didn’t she want me?” I quietly croaked into a pillow.“Was I just not good enough?”


    I didn’t fall asleep for several minutes after that.


    ***


    If you ever want to know what bliss is, it’s a nice bed with a multitude of pillows. Rough, smooth, squishy, or hard they all feel great. Fortunately for me, bliss is eternal.


    I woke up all on my own, a bit surprised I wasn’t woken up by someone else when there was so much work to be done this fall after the rain delayed us for two weeks last month. Blearily, I reached over to grab my glasses from the nightstand and put them on. Everything felt slightly off, but I couldn’t place it whatsoever.


    A quick check of the time and-TEN AM?!


    I jolted out of bed and scrambled to my dresser to find my room entirely bare. I wasn’t in the right room at all.


    Spark. Before you completely lose your head, remember what happened yesterday.


    Why was there a voice in my-


    I froze.


    “That wasn’t a dream?”


    It wasn’t, you are in fact, a Vanguard now.


    Pyri paused to let my waking up brain process things for a moment before continuing.


    You might want to go eat so we can discuss the other half of your transition still needing to take place.


    I looked down at my pajama-clad self and decided I didn’t care if I was only in my pajamas right then. I wanted food, and I was damn well going to get it.


    The first steps out of my room were hesitant, a mix of the fact that this was a new place, and more importantly.


    I had no idea where to go.


    “Pyri?”


    Go right, and turn left at the end of the hallway.


    “Thank you.”


    Following Pyri’s direction yielded results beyond my wildest dreams. A kitchen and dining room that currently contained a chef who was talking to Benny about something on the stove top while Evie and the twins were all eating scrambled eggs and toast at the table.


    My stomach loudly gurgled at the heavenly scent, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. I could tell the only thing keeping the twins from rushing me for a hug was the food right in front of them.


    “Ah Mademoiselle Graham!” The chef guy greeted me, “I see you have risen from your slumber at last! Come come! Have yourself a delicious breakfast before you do any of the extreme levels of paperwork you will likely end up swamped in!”


    “I uhhhh, hello? Mr. Umm…”


    Nailed it. Perfect greeting Spark.


    “Oh how rude of me!,” he gasped, then offered his hand. “My name is Luc Dubois! Chef extraordinaire and father to the most delightful voidling in the world!”


    I shook his hand, “So you’re Inque’s dad?”


    “Indeed!” He half shouted with a flourish of a wooden spoon in his left hand. “Enough small talk! Get yourself some breakfast and eat to your heart’s content!”


    Not wanting to upset him, I grabbed a plate and started heaping eggs onto it alongside a few slices of toast.


    Spark you might want to stop now.


    I paused, ‘Why?’


    Because you’re not used to portioning for your current body. You won’t be able to eat as much.


    I flushed a bit red as I tacitly agreed by walking over to the table. Knowing how I tended to eat when I got really hungry, neither the twins or Evie said anything other than a small greeting.


    The eggs were so unfairly delicious. It wasn’t especially fancy, just scratch made scrambled eggs with little bits of ham in them with a side of toast smeared with-


    “Is this peach jam?!” I cried out in joy.


    “Ah yes!” Luc beamed with pride. “I find peach jam to be an unsung delicacy, and prefer it over other types.”


    I eyed the food with a look that did nothing to hide my hunger. “If I wasn’t so hungry I would hug you right now.”


    He chuckled in response, before making a shooing motion with his hands. “Don’t let me keep you from your meal! Bon appetit!”


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    As I devoured my food, Summer eventually had enough waiting for a day and decided that now was the proper time for question asking.


    “So Spark,” she ventured, “what are you going to do today?”


    I came up for air, “I’m going to discuss options with Pyri, and then finish out the rest of my transition today.”


    Autumn chimed in, “how long will it take this time?”


    Evie placed the phone down on the table where everyone could hear.


    [If Spark approves the current list as complete it should take around five days.]


    I stopped the others from asking if she was being serious or not and asked the more important question.


    “What’s the shopping list I’m looking at?”


    [First let’s look at what you already have. Yesterday you purchased a large amount of the infrastructure needed for this operation, which will allow you to dedicate more points towards bootstrapping your body even further.]


    [Firstly, you will need to purchase the remaining hardware to allow the BioShifter to do its job, this includes two more generators, and four more batteries at the same cost as before. After that, you will need to acquire Nutrigel cartridges for the BioShifter’s built-in injector so your body doesn’t starve mid operation.]


    A few spinning holograms of the object appeared on the table. Built in holographic suite maybe?


    [Next up, you will need various raw elements for the BioShifter to work with. Then various organs and bionic blueprints. These include; the tail, ears with a vastly improved auditory system, retractable claws for the hands and feet, a bioelectric generation organ, a medical nanite production organ, bionic skin to provide protection from various forms of damage but primarily extreme heat sources like your electricity or Vanguard SkyFire’s incendiary bombs, and most importantly the MK XIV Vulgoran Bionic Suite.]


    “Take a breath Pyri!” Evie scolded. “We aren’t going anywhere right now!”


    [I’ll have you know that I don’t have lungs, and most of that list is self explanatory in nature and would take entirely too long to get through in detail.]


    Evie looked sternly at the phone, “And why would it take too-“ Autumn tapped her and pointed at me, who was currently vibrating with excitement. “Nevermind.”


    [To expand on the Bionic Suite, alongside the general enhancements to your entire body, it will render you entirely immune to electricity and allow you to instinctively control where the excess travels in your body.]


    “So wait,” Summer interrupted, “This means Spark will become an electric type Pokemon then?”


    [After this she will be more of an electric/flying type.]


    I screwed my face up in confusion, “Wait what do you mean ‘flying’?”


    [I compiled the request you made for flight yesterday into this ‘shopping list’. I can strike it if you want, but all that will change is two dream learning lessons will be pulled.]


    I shook my head, “Nah, personal flight is exactly what I need, what''s the entire set of courses?”


    Instead of speaking it outloud Pyri just put a list on my glasses.


    Custom Lesson: Basic to Expert Movement and Agility


    Lesson: Class I Melee Combat Incl. Claws


    Lesson: Class II Vulgoran Engineering


    Lesson: Class II Vulgoran Weaponry


    Lesson: Class I Aerial Movement


    Lesson: Class I Personal Flight System Piloting


    [Your dream learning will start at the top of the list and follow it in order. Anything you don’t finish while in the BioShifter will be finished in naps outside of your regular sleep schedule.]


    “Why not just run it while I sleep regularly?”


    [Because you will only get a quarter of the rest undisturbed sleep gives you.]


    I could only give out a short ‘Oh’ before a door opened somewhere, and the sound of bickering filtered through the door.


    Turning, I saw Inque and Alannah coming through the door, Cryo in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, while Inque was wearing… a maid dress?


    “Good morning everyone!” Inque greeted as the pair came up to the table.


    A chorus of ‘mornings’ later and I asked the question on all of our minds.


    “Inque, why are you wearing a maid dress?”


    Xey gained an impish smile, “’Cause I want to! Also, Sky wants you in the med-bay. It’s about your BioShifter thingy.”


    I ruffled Autumn''s hair and received a pout in return as I stood up, “Sure, I was figuring everything out for the last half of my transition anyway.”


    “You’re not allowed to start that thing up until we all get hugs goodbye!” Evie warned me.


    I held a thumbs up, “Wouldn’t dream of missing out on hugs from y’all.”


    I quickly rinsed off my plate, thanked Luc for the breakfast, and followed the pair out of the room.


    “I didn’t realize you were French, Inque.” I said, hoping it wasn’t a sore subject.


    “Yeah,” xey answered, “dad moved us out here right after I was born. Landed a gig in some fancy restaurant here in Indy, until Asuriel and Shadowtag had a date there and offered him a job here ‘cause they liked his food so much.”


    “Asuriel and Shadowtag were dating?” I asked.


    “Married actually,” Alannah cut in, “the way Luc and Inque tell it, the two were perfect for each other. No one who was around back then likes to talk about it too much. The Ft. Wayne incursion took a lot from Indy that day.”


    “I see.” I paused for a bit to parse whatever the hell my brain was turning over in my head, “Honestly, it makes sense in a weird deja vu sort of way.”


    The pair both gave me an odd look. Alannah’s didn’t really have anything behind it, but Inque’s expression felt like xey were trying to flay my soul open, to learn everything that lay within.


    I didn’t get a chance to ask what that was about before we stepped through a door and into a surgeon’s wet dream.


    Various medical appliances were placed throughout the room, each one having tubes of gunk sticking out of them with various fill levels. A surgical suite was in a sealed off box on one side of the room, and all the way in the back was my BioShifter, with a SkyFire standing in front of it with her tail slapping against the floor in an agitated manner.


    I then noticed that the batteries and generators were all mounted into shelves surrounding the machine, with room to spare.


    “Wow,” I exclaimed, “Y’all didn’t have to bring this in here without me.”


    Sky turned around and gave me a smile, “You were tired and needed the rest.” She pointed at an unattached cable, “You can make it up to me by plugging that cable in.”


    The cable she was referring to was the one meant to plug in underneath the user console.


    The only reason I found it yesterday was because Pyri was helping me.


    I snorted as I got down on my back to get a proper angle on the outlet, “Oh that’s easy cheezy, the plug is just under this bit of the console here, Sky.”


    She blew a raspberry at me, “Please, we’re off duty, no need to refer to us by our Sam names at home.”


    I looked up at her when she didn’t continue, it took Alannah elbowing her to get her to realize she didn’t actually tell me her name.


    “Oh uh,” she said with a growing blush, “my name is Azure, Azure Jones.”


    “Nice to meet you!” I responded as I pulled myself off the floor, “My name is Spark Graham.”


    Azure and Alannah both jokingly gave me handshakes, but when I turned to Inque that look was back on xeir face for a few seconds before xey pulled xeir mask out and put it on, then shook my hand.


    Taken aback by xeir odd behavior, I sent a questioning glance to the others and got shrugs in response.


    Whatever, time to finish what I started yesterday.


    “Alright Pyri, I didn’t see anything on your list that I didn’t disagree with.” I grinned, “go ahead and buy it all!”


    Would you like the itemized list, or do you want to continue skipping those?


    “Just give me the total cost.” I answered. “Can always look at the more detailed list later!”


    Fair enough. The Batteries and generators will appear next to the places where they should be shelved. The Nutrigel will need to be brought into the BioShifter itself. Everything else goes into the organ repository underneath the entrance walkway, or the elemental injector next to the console.


    New Purchases!


    Spark’s Vulgoran Transition Shopping list x1: 13,630


    Points Reduced To: 4,481


    True to Pyri’s word, the batteries and generators all popped into existence around the shelves. Next to the console a giant circular container holding a large amount of sludge appeared. Next to that four insulated containers of various sizes appeared, each marked with a neon blue biohazard symbol.


    The sound of something clunking inside the chamber told me exactly where the cartridges got teleported to, and the console dinged before sending me an ‘upload complete’ notification.


    Rubbing my hands together, I stepped towards the elemental slurry container and heaved it up and into the slot, plugging it in with a satisfying ‘ker-chunk’.


    Azure cleared her throat before I could get the ramp up for the organs. “We’re gonna go get your cousins in here before you hyper focus your way into that thing. Will you be able to handle moving all of this alone?”


    I gave her a thumbs up before lifting the walkway and opening a refrigerated drawer and started lifting things in.


    Having gotten my answer the three of them left me to it, and I soon fell into that familiar rhythm. A constant march forward until the task was done. The generators and batteries themselves didn’t add too much difficulty to the cabling which was a welcome surprise that led to me finishing up in record time.


    As the flow bled away, I turned to see Summer, Autumn, and Benny all clapping while Evie stood there with an unexplained grin. My three teammates were all staring at me with shocked looks on their faces.


    And they were all blushing for some reason?


    Mentally shrugging at that, I walked over to the console, put in the command to begin spooling everything up, and walked over to give my cousins all hugs.


    “Okay you three,” I said to the kids, “You behave for Evie you hear me? This means you do any chores you get, you do your homework, and you go to bed when told to, okay?”


    I got nods from all three and I quickly scooped them all up into one last hug.


    I looked at Evie and booped her nose. “Please don’t fight with anyone while I’m not here?”


    She rolled her eyes and lunged to pull me into a hug, “No promises. You also reminded me that we need to figure out school for the kids once you get out.”


    “No kidding,” I grimaced. Things were going to get a lot more adulty for the both of us.


    I then gave each of the three magical girls hugs and thanks for everything, before turning and walking up the ramp of the machine that would pare away another layer of my humanity.


    “Welp here goes nothing.” I muttered to myself as I walked into the chamber.


    Spark?


    “Yeah Pyri?”


    After this operation you will have quite a lot on your plate, are you ready for that?


    I could only grin as I began stripping out of my pajamas.


    “The universe may want to spit in my eye, Pyri, but I damn well know how to spit right back.”


    Pyri chuckled through the link she had to my brain.


    I will enjoy helping you do so. Starting the BioShifter now.


    For a moment, nothing happened, until a heavy curtain of darkness began to quickly fall over me as my consciousness faded, leaving not a spark behind.