Carl woke up to an empty warehouse with a single book and a keg sitting next to him. There were lights on, but the empty concrete floor and the echoing sound in the empty warehouse freaked him out a bit. Good thing there wasn't dripping water somewhere. Now that would really be spooky. Looking at the book sitting next to him, he saw it was the Book of Kelsor that he purchased before entering the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world, and the keg was his Root Beer keg.
"Well, looks like I did end up leaving on time." Carl spoke to the empty warehouse. "I wonder how the girls are taking it?"
Looking around to see if he could find anything to explain his current situation, Carl soon found a terminal against one of the walls with a touch screen. He moved in front of it, and pressed on the screen, lighting it up with text.
Reading the brief explanation on screen, Carl soon learned that the empty warehouse was his Dimensional Warehouse. It was a place for him to store his gear and take it along with him as he jumped from world to world.
The informational screen informed him that as long as he was on his jump chain journey, the worlds he left behind would be frozen in time until he returned to visit or stay, or until he ended his journey.
"Well, that's good. That implies I'll have the opportunity to go back for the girls at some point." Carl smiled. He would miss them while jumping worlds, but he figured at some point they would have a reunion.
Turning his attention back to the information presented, he learned that this 200ft x 200ft warehouse was his to do with as he wanted, aside from a few rules governing how he could utilize it.
Anything that he would bring into the warehouse he would get to keep through the jumps to different worlds. If he died in a jump world, then he would be returned to his original world with everything he had earned from jumping.
"So…I have the possibility to return to my original world, then, even though I died in a car accident there. I guess nothing is really impossible for whoever set this thing up, after all. And death isn't the end for me, but it would be the end of my jump chain. And if I died before figuring out how to get the girls in on my jump chain, then I'll never see them again."
Despite having the safety net of death in a jump world not being the end of him, Carl decided that he would go into each jump world with the mentality that death was not an option. Death would forever separate him from his girls. He would survive by any means, and have his happy reunion one day.
Turning back to the screen after making that promise to himself, Carl read that any gear that he purchases for a jump would automatically follow him to his warehouse at the end of the jump.
"Thankfully I didn't lose my root beer." Carl commented with a smile.
Additionally there was a key that will return to him if lost, that when put into any door will open a portal to the warehouse. He was the only one who can take the key out of the lock, and the gate will be open as long as the key is in the lock.
"Well, that's a nice feature, being able to access the warehouse from any jump world. Too bad I didn't have this warehouse set up before I left my library, weapons, goods, and money in the last world." Carl sighed. It had been a really pleasant surprise to have money to work with when he first got into the world. It totally made up for his lack of memories starting out.
Carl, of course, realized that being rich doesn't solve every problem in life, but it sure helped make a lot of problems just go away. Just ask Batman, who had the superpower of Being Rich. He was able to fully fund his spandex hobby due to Being Rich.
Once more returning his attention to the terminal, Carl read the rules.
"The doorway can't be closed when I'm in the warehouse? Damn, anyone can get in. I'm gonna have to do something about that. A few misdirection spells at the very least to keep people from noticing the doorway." Carl trailed off in thought. He already felt very possessive of his warehouse, and wouldn't tolerate just anyone coming in to waltz off with his stuff. Stuff that only amounted to one book and a keg so far, but hey, it's his castle.
"Living people can't be stored in the warehouse?" Carl chuckled. "Hey Bob, where do we keep the stackable sidekicks? Aisle 13, left hand side." Carl laughed a bit at his joke, then looked around at the empty warehouse. With no one around to enjoy his jokes, or at least tell him his jokes were dumb, the delivery fell a bit flat.
Shrugging, Carl continued. "Other people can enter the Cosmic Warehouse, but they leave when I do. I guess that's one way to end the party and kick everyone out."
"When the door to the warehouse closes, time stops inside it. Hmm, there are some cheating possibilities with that one. Food won't spoil. Timers won't count down. Not that I plan to use my warehouse to temporarily disarm a bomb. What happens if it blows up my stuff? But at least the option is there."
"Only one door can be opened at a time. Hmm, I can see how that could be abused if I could open as many doors as I wanted. I could totally set up a kickass shipping company on one of these worlds using my warehouse as a nexus for shipping. It would totally kill the competition." Carl imagined, before moving on to the last rule on the list.
"The gateway to the warehouse is only as big as the door that created it. It sounds restrictive at first, but just off the top of my head there are a number of ways around that rule. Rolling warehouse doors and hangar doors come to mind. They would just take a lot more effort to close than normal doors, but I could store some big stuff in my warehouse using those oversized doors. Heck, I could even custom build a big door for that purpose."
"And it looks like I'll have 150 cp to work with to redecorate my Warehouse. That's not a lot, based off the cp I had available when I was going into the Buffy world. Well, let's see what's available." Carl said as he hit the next button.
[JUMPCHAIN SUPPLEMENT: COSMIC WAREHOUSE]
On the screen in front of him were three sections. Utilities, Structures, and Miscellaneous. Everything was priced 10, 20, or 30 cp.
"Well, at least 150 points should get me a decent amount of stuff at those prices." Carl commented as he looked at his options.
In his first scan through what was available in the Miscellaneous section, he saw that there was an option to return to any world he has spent time in before for 10 more years for 20 cp.
"Well, at least I can go back to get the girls. But it looks like I can't take them with me unless I have enough Stasis Pods. Just going back for 10 years and 5 pods for Cordelia, Harmony, Amy, Marcie, and Fred would be 120 cp. I would also like the option to take the rest of the Scooby Gang or Angel's crew with me, though. That will get damned expensive."
"And I need to get this place set up first." Carl commented while looking around at his empty Warehouse. "Cordelia would kill me if I grabbed them and had nothing but an empty warehouse for them to stay in." Carl commented wryly. "Besides which, time is paused on that world. It doesn't really matter to them how long it takes me to make a decent setup for them for when they join me. Okay, as long as I keep jumping, I can gather more cp and be able to go grab them at some point."
First things first, he needed to start setting up the Warehouse. Turning his attention back to the options, Carl started picking out what he would purchase for now.
"Okay, Electricity 10 cp and Plumbing 10 cp are a must." Carl commented. "If any of the future worlds I'm going to are abysmal, I'll at least always have the basics of running water, sewer pipes, and electricity."
"Heat / A.C. is nice, but not a necessity. I can always bring in portable AC units, or bundle up. Even having a fire pit isn't impossible. I would have to clean up the ashes, but not a big deal."
"Local Net 30cp adds a secure link to the current universe's internet, if it exists. On the one hand, not completely needed, but having a safe place to retreat to and being able to continue communicating and researching is very nice. Fine, I'll take it."
"Ooh, Force Wall 20 cp adds a force field to the gateway that seals behind me. Perfect. Oh, a footnote. Might not keep all threats out, like lasers could possibly still be shot in? Well, better than nothing. As long as it will keep people from entering, it's worth it. And once I get some materials to work with on the next world I'll work on putting up some magical alarms and defenses."
"Gravity Link 10 cp will lower or turn off the gravity for easier lifting." Carl looked at his empty warehouse and then looked at the single book and keg by his side. "Well. Zero g would be hella fun, but I'll save the points for something else for now."
"Moving on, free Shelving, yoink." Carl set up the shelves in one corner of the warehouse, and placed his Book of Kelsor and Root Beer Keg on it in a satisfied manner before moving back to the terminal.
"Okay, next I'm getting that Medbay 20 cp, since it can 'fix up anything that still has a pulse'. That can save my life, at least. Hopefully."
"All the options in Structures look nice, but unneeded at this time. Terminal 10 cp to keep track of items stored in the warehouse." Carl looked sarcastically at his only items sitting lonely on the shelves. "Robots 20 cp as a storing and retrieving service. Yeah, not needed for now."
"Housing 20 cp, a fully furnished home. Hmm, I'll probably get some housing. But for now I'll see what else is there. I'll come back to you if I still got points." Carl said to the Housing option.
"Workshop 10 cp, full of tools and parts. Still have nothing to fix for now, maybe later."
Carl moved down to the Miscellaneous section, and then immediately purchased Portal 30 cp. "Since Portal replaces the key, and portals can be opened on any surface, I'm taking that. No more door restrictions for me, thank you very much. Plus, if there are any threats in the future that I can't handle and need to run from, I don't want to play out the stereotypical horror scene of fumbling my key at the door while the enemy is about to kill me, dropping the key several times, and only barely getting to safety at the last moment." Carl sarcastically smiled at the imaginary scenario he was thinking of.
"Okay, I've got 30 points left. I'll take the Food Supply for 10 cp. What good is a safe place if I starve to death?" Carl rhetorically asked.
"20 points left. Getting a single Stasis Pod for 20 cp now would let me bring someone in on my future jumps to help out. Tempting. But the set up is still lacking. I'm better off building a decent Warehouse and saving up points to go get the girls first. If they found out I brought someone else in before them, I would be in the doghouse for sure."
Carl shivered in fear. The girls' retribution when they learned he had done something boneheaded had been legendary. It had involved Nair, hair dye, and many other torture devices invented by women for the torture of men. He still shivered in remembered pain at what they'd done to his toenails.
"Yeah, let's make sure to bring them in before anyone else." Carl firmly decided.
"Loft 10 cp allows me to stack structures on top of each other. Well, when I start gathering more stuff that will be nice."
"Hardsuit 10 cp is basically like that exoskeleton loader that Ripley used in the Aliens movie. Don't need it for now."
Carl looked back over the list to see what he could spend his final 20 cp on.
"I'll choose the housing. That way if I do need to take refuge in here, I will have all the amenities." Carl nodded in affirmation and finalized his selections.
[JUMPCHAIN SUPPLEMENTAL: BODY MOD]
[Want to look different? With this Body Mod, you can change your "default" appearance and body's performance for all future Jump Worlds. Note that your choices scale with age, so muscle definition, strength, and body build may not be as prominent or developed when you are only 10 years old, as compared to when you are 20 years old. If any Jump World causes you to change into a different species, you will appear as that species' equivalent body type. Have fun with it!]
"Creating a default body, huh. How many people would kill to get the opportunity to change their appearance without plastic surgery? Another thing available in the jump chain that if bottled or packaged in technology would make me absolutely filthy, stinking, rich." Carl laughed.
"Okay, they gave me a budget of 600 cp. Let's see what choices they provide me with."
"First, I got to choose between a build: Light, Medium, or Heavy." Carl looked at his options. "I'll go with what I got now, Medium for 0 cp." Carl nodded. Since this would be a permanent thing, he didn't really want to drastically change himself. "Don't want to make myself unrecognizable to the girls."
"Okay, next choice is a body type. Bodybuilder 100 cp is focused on strength and endurance. It adds tier 2 Strength, tier 2 Endurance, and the Height 1 perk."
"Athlete 100 cp focuses on mobility, agility, and flexibility. Gives tier 2 Speed, Tier 2 Dexterity, and the Flexibility 1 perk."
"Next is Charmer 100 cp. They aren't as physically adept because they focus on appearance. It gives tier 2 in Appeal, tier 2 in Shape, and the Endowed perk. Mostly form over function, I'll pass on this one.."
"Bestial 150 cp is a furry form. I'll pass."
"I spent 10 years in the last world using magic and hit and run tactics. As awesome as it would be to make my default body slayer strong, I much prefer to be speedy and avoid danger while blasting it at range." Carl picked the Athlete body type.
On the next page Carl was faced with choosing Stats and Perks. Aside from Speed and Agility due to his body type purchase, all other stats were tier 0. Each of the Stat tiers cost 50 cp.
Looking at some footnotes, he discovered that not buying tiers in a stat wouldn't decrease his physical fitness from what it was now, it would just add to it if he purchased a tier.
When Carl read the description of the Strength tiers, he was very glad he hadn't chosen the Bodybuilder body type.
"Tier 4 only gives me strength to lift three times my own weight easily, and I would have 'Rippling muscles'? Thank goodness I didn't pick that. Through exercise I can already match tier 2 by being able to bench press over 250 lbs. Tier 4 wouldn't even really get me up to Slayer strength. Relying on speed is definitely the better option." Carl concluded.
The tier 4 Speed stat caught his eye, and as he read the tier description, a smile slowly grew on his face.
"Do you want to be Usain Bolt fast?" Carl questioned himself in his best salesperson voice.
"Yeah!" He answered himself in a normal voice.
"Do you want to be Usain Bolt on a motorcycle fast?" Salesman voice.
"Hell, yeah!" He answered more enthusiastically.
"Then buy tier 4 Speed today!"
"Okay!" Carl cheered before busting up laughing.
After Carl calmed down, he resumed going over the purchase his body mods.
"Okay, buying one more tier of Speed for 50 cp, to get to tier 3, added on to my native speed should get me close to Usain Bolt on a motorcycle. Not there, but close."
"One more tier of Dexterity for 50 cp to get to tier 3 should get me close to 'Mirror's Edge skills, wall running, zipline, rolling from falls, etc.' Sounds exciting." Carl purchased them with a big grin on his face. "I can now run around the city yelling Hardcore Parkour!"
"Having a good exercise regime in the last world so I didn't end up a vampire's snack had unexpected gains. I can already bench 250 and run a 5k like it was nothing, so I'll pass on purchasing Strength and Endurance tiers. Let this be a lesson for myself: hard work is never not rewarded."
Carl paused for a second to make sure his double negative statement actually made sense. Nodding to himself that it did, in fact, make sense, Carl moved on.
Looking at the Sense stat, that included Situational Awareness, Sight, Smell, and Hearing, Carl bought tier 4 that let him hear and see outside the normal spectrum. "Can't defend against what I can't detect. And there's no exercise that can increase my senses. This way I'll always have tier 4 as a baseline." Carl commented to himself happily.
Because Carl was a typical dude, in addition to his exercising to not be vampire chow, he didn't worry too much about the shape he was in. He was already excellent shape, so he decided not to buy any tiers of the Shape stat.
But he did spend 50 cp for tier 1 in Appeal so he'd never have acne again. Ever. Even typical dudes didn't like getting pimples.
Carl then bought the Metavore perk for 100 cp. He liked the idea that he wouldn't have to worry about his fitness due to either overeating or not eating a balanced meal. If he ended up in a Jump World with famine, for example, or just really bad food he wouldn't lose his physical fitness edge.
"And the last 50 cp goes to Endowed for those extra 2 inches down there. I wasn't really ashamed of my size before, but it wasn't anything to be super proud of either. But now. Heh heh. The girls will have a nice surprise when we finally meat again. I meant, meet again." Carl laughed.
If only he could bottle that Endowed perk and sell it in any of these worlds. The amount of money he could make for a male enhancement that actually worked was astronomical. "Ah, well. It's probably for the best. I'd never get any peace or quiet with the number of people that would try to steal that particular secret so they could get in on the money making. Or just so they could use it themselves and brag."
The moment Carl hit the finish button, he blacked out.
When Carl came to, he found himself on a bed. A very comfortable bed. It was just about the best bed he'd ever slept on. He almost didn't want to get up.
He suddenly remembered the last thing he had been doing before blacking out, and immediately sat up.
He looked around the room that he found himself in. It looked like the master room of the housing he'd purchased for his warehouse. It had been fun to design the 8 bed, 8 bath, house that came complete with a fully stocked kitchen with a walk in freezer, a dining room, an entertainment room with a nice theatre movie setup, and an office with a sweet Mahogany executive desk and shelves for his personal library.
He didn't really need the office. There wasn't any paperwork or anything here in his Warehouse. But he liked having one. It just made the house feel…complete.
"Well, that was nice of whoever it was to put me in my bed, instead of leaving me on the concrete outside." Carl idly commented. He didn't know if his jump chain was automated or not. Aside from that voice at the very beginning, he'd never directly talked with whoever was in charge. And that voice could have been a system or A.I. voice for all he knew.
But Carl went with the assumption that he was being watched by higher powers. It wouldn't change his actions, because he assumed they just wanted to watch and be entertained by what he would do.
Looking around the room, Carl marveled at his new senses. He could see miniscule things across the room clearly. More than perfect vision was amazing. He could even see the warmth surrounding the lights in the room. He could even trace the wiring in the walls from the electricity running through it.
It was all very distracting. "Is that how Clark Kent's vision was? With the added embarrassment of seeing through people's clothes, skin, muscle and bone?" Carl laughed at himself for comparing himself with Superman. He was nowhere near that guys league yet.
"I'll just have to work on adjusting to this new sight. Maybe even practice ignoring a bit of the input unless I focus on it. But having it and not needing it is so much better than not having the ability in the first place."
Focusing on his hearing, Carl tossed a pillow behind his back. He easily located exactly where it landed from the sound alone. The sound of a pillow landing let him track it. "Totally Badass!"
And once he'd seen the room, he almost had a 3d spatial map in his head, keeping track of exactly how close or far everything was that he'd seen. It wasn't exactly a map, more of an instinctive feeling of where everything was, but the map analogy was the closest he could come to describing it.
Carl got out of bed and took a shower while humming some songs. He was quite happy with his physical improvements so far, and he hadn't even tested out his speed or agility yet.
Getting dressed once more, Carl toured his new house in satisfaction at having a comfortable property. It was…security. Peace of mind. No matter how crazy the jumps would get, he would always have this warehouse and this house to be a place he could retreat to and relax.
Now he just needed to fill it with books, movies, music, and games so he wouldn't get too bored.
Carl left the house, and saw that the terminal, which was situated near his door, had a countdown to the next jump. He had 5 more days to relax before the next world.
Carl relaxedly stretched, looking around to cement the spatial dimensions in his mind.
Now that Carl had more space outside of his house, he began testing his new body.
In the last world, because he had decided on taking a magic route, his focus had been on learning and practicing his magic. He still worked out, lifting and running to keep fit, but he knew he'd never be strong enough physically to handle demons. Working out was just a means to keep himself fit enough to survive until he could zap something with his magic.
But now, his speed and agility were really impressive. He was running around his warehouse, having a blast at how fast he could go. "Nearly Usain Bolt on a motorcycle indeed!"
Looking over at his two story house, he ran directly at it, then wall ran to the top. He grabbed the edge of the roof and did a flip onto the roof. Then he started jumping from his house to the shelves nearby, and from shelf to shelf. Finally he jumped from a shelf to the warehouse wall, slid down the wall, and rolled to his feet once more, standing still. He wasn't even breathing hard.
"Awesome." Carl breathed with a huge grin on his face. "Absolutely brilliant."
Well satisfied with his new base body, Carl entered his house and went to his kitchen to make some food. He saw his Root Beer keg already on its stand, like it was just waiting and hoping to be able pour him a frosty mug. Obligingly, he grabbed a glass mug from the freezer and poured himself a cold one.
He fondly patted his Keg on its imaginary head in approval. "Best root beer ever, Creg the Keg. That shall be your name from now on." He anointed the keg with a name.
Maybe he was a bit obsessed with root beer?
"Nah." Carl decided. "You can never have enough good root beer. Best use of cp, ever."
He continued sipping from the blessed mug of divine root beer while he fixed a simple breakfast.
After eating a filling breakfast omelet, Carl looked around his house. He saw his lone book, the Book of Kelsor, sitting forlornly on the bookshelves in his office.
He moved outside his house and looked around his Warehouse. His quiet Warehouse. His very quiet, boring Warehouse.
"It's too quiet." Carl muttered to himself. "No music. No movies. Only one book. No games. This is going to be a long five days." He muttered in dissatisfaction. "Wonder if I can jump early?"
Carl moved to the terminal that had the countdown timer and pressed the screen. A pop up showed up, asking if he was sure he wanted to jump early.
He once more looked around his empty Warehouse. He thought about his girls in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world. They were frozen in time, so they weren't waiting. But their reunion wasn't getting any closer for waiting here in his empty Warehouse.
He decisively clicked yes.
The next screen that showed up said he was going to jump to a Pokemon world.
"Well, let's get started." He hit accept.