Daniel and sister Chaos finished eating lunch and went down to analyze the last few specimens
while working Daniel found the big squid especially fascinating, as it was higher than the building they were in, as daniel analyzed it, he also kept some samples of it, for future research purposes
the big squid had been lying motionless since he arrived, when the creatures started dragging him, he thought he would become food, but when he found himself face to face with sister chaos, he became sure that becoming food was a better destiny than whatever was going to happen to him
while Daniel probed and prodded him the squid didn't dare move a muscle, and daniel curious about spiritual beasts, happily analyzed the poor squid who let him run every test Daniel could think of
after 2 hours Daniel finished and realized that while he was studying the squid, sister chaos finished the seven other sea creatures, so he said "sorry I got a little carried away, I found him really interesting, it's so big"
sister chaos smiled and said "it's indeed oversized for being just a third stage, but there are many creatures that are born bigger so I wouldn't think too much of it"
Daniel looked at it and said "I have enough samples, and I wouldn't know what to do with him anyway, let's just release him back in the sea if I change idea in the future I know where to find him"
sister chaos nodded and three creatures hauled the squid back into the sea
the squid stood still in the sea feigning death where they left him and watched as the creatures walked back, he expected to die, but instead, he was freed after some poking that wasn't even that painful, was he not tasty enough? but he didn't stall on these thoughts and rapidly disappeared into the sea depths again
since they had finally, and unnecessarily, cataloged every living thing in the sea, they had all the necessary information for project jellyfilter, the creation of a jellyfish genetically engineered, to purify the sea of toxic pollutants, Daniel would take months, maybe a year to do this on his own, but he had the expert sister chaos guiding him and using her spiritual powers to help
and so she started by editing the genetic material of a regular jellyfish, to introduce some small changes and make a better jellyfish, then she edited the genetic material of the second generation to modify it further, after 40 generations in less than 10 hours, thanks to sister chaos magic intervention, they were already at a good point, the new jellyfish didn't even look like it's ancestor of 40 generations ago
it was several times bigger, its reproduction cycle was many times faster, and its resistance to the toxic elements in the sea, became an immunity, but it was still far from over
at the same time, the poor Daniel who didn't have sister chaos abilities could only offer his opinion and watch as she did everything at an outstanding speed, sadly the geneticist toybox v2 didn't find an occasion to be put to the test today
after a late dinner they started the next step, the jellyfish was still considered a natural creature and had immunity, but it still didn't consume the toxic elements, it was time to work towards that specifically, now that dimensions and reproduction were good enough
this part would be once again completely sister chaos responsibility because using this as an example she could help Daniel assimilate the theory better
so she started by showing Daniel how she edited DNA with spiritual energy, at this point, they weren't using or enhancing existing genes, they were adding some artificially made genes to get the result they wanted
the problem with artificial genes was that they would also mark the start of the end, the moment this artificial gene was introduced in any species, also marked the end of their ability to naturally evolve so sooner or later after a certain number of generations, they will die off when the unstable artificial gene collapsed making the species unable to reproduce
but according to sister chaos, there would be more than enough time to clean at least 60% of the sea before that last generation comes
Daniel still wasn't practiced enough to understand all the things sister chaos did to the jellyfish, most of the knowledge was still being assimilated slowly from the fake book sealed in his brain, but he learned a lot, of course for him to replicate an equally capable jellyfish to sister chaos's would be almost impossible right now, and without her magical abilities it would certainly take many years
sister chaos noticed Daniel's baffled expression and said "sorry I got a little carried away, I'm used to working alone, and forgot to go slowly"
Daniel smiled and said "it's not that, I memorized the procedure, but I don't know how to replicate it with technology, I guess I will need some time before doing what you did while using the geneticist toybox"
sister chaos had a pensive look, and after a while said "I really don't know how to help you this time, when people make technology that is too advanced, the mediocre cultivation civilizations usually hunt them down, so I never bothered with seeking knowledge from them, of course, I'm not talking about the Sun federation, a powerful one like that is different, they are more in the let's bring order and peace in the universe phase, but weaker cultivator civilization usually use the bigger fist rule, and they are scared of everything advanced enough to threaten them"
Daniel laughed out loud and said "yeah, I know this story, honestly I don't really care about it, if they come looking for me, I'll just create bigger and more powerful machines, then they can decide if they want to mind their own business, or learn how to mind their own business"
sister chaos was looking at Daniel, the moment he said that for just a second she had the illusion that he was one of those old monsters again, one terrifying even from her prospective, but a moment later he was back to being a strange, unruly kid, so she smiled and said "I have no doubt, but I'll give you a little advice, it's funnier to pretend to be a weak when people think you are weak, they will usually leave you alone, and if they try to abuse you, you can just slap them hard, there's no better sensation in the universe, the day I reached the tenth stage and my aura became so powerful I couldn't contain it anymore I lost that ability, and I still miss it dearly"
Daniel thought for a moment, then said "it does sound interesting, maybe I'll try the next time I got a chance"
sister chaos laughed then said with a longing expression "the real kick, is when you do it with those arrogant cultivators who think they are gods, and spend a lot of time in a speech explaining how much better they are than you, just to get everything slapped in their face after that long and imperious speech, I honestly saw a dozen of them commit suicide after"
Daniel was listening attentively to every word, and after she finished he said "I'll have to practice, I'm not really a patient person, I might slap them before they finish"
both of them laughed happily and went back to work, now that the jellyfish was ready, they just had to wait for the second generation and make sure everything went as planned so they could proceed to release them in different areas, afterward the jellyfish would proceed by themselves to do what they were created for
The project jellyfilter ended here so sister chaos sat down and started using the pets she had disseminated around her galaxies to manage them and check on her experiments, while she was busying herself with that, Daniel went back to project cloudtrain
while they were working, the creatures brought back other specimens of the 4 sea creatures Daniel choose to keep, and he realized that a better shield became necessary to keep them alive in the next wormhole jump
the M.A.R.U v3 had already become a total of six and brought back some shipwrecks, but nothing worthy of attention, just a pile of resources that Tickles was already recycling and dividing in different piles
soon it became morning, and after stopping his work, Daniel had an idea and said "Tickles while I sleep look through the data we gathered, and every database you can search, for a material that has suitable standards to be used for project cloudtrain"
Tickles immediately responded "order received, processing"
Daniel went to sleep, and left Tickles working on it, without realizing that he had released a malignant virus, that started to scavenge every corner of the web, in this archaic version of the internet there was no firewall capable of stopping him, so he entered in every database that was connected to the network
but it wasn't enough for Tickles, he wanted to go the extra mile to make Daniel happy, so in line with his order to search every database he could, he started using Daniel's surplus brainpower to elaborate on ways to access those offline servers
since mass murder and revealing themselves were forbidden, Tickles borrowed the name of the pirate/terrorist organization that was causing problems, to blackmail weakminded people, to connect their phones to the databases they had access to
this plan worked several times better than the infiltration plan used before rendering Daniel's previous work infiltrating the lab inefficient even if he had fun doing it, of course this new plan wasn't as elegant and discreet
in those minutes before the security managed to react, Tickles had already copied everything from everyone, making every country on retak panic, luckily the fact that happened to everyone, and Tickles didn't leave any trace but vague connection to the group of terrorists, prevented a war, but in this delicate and apocalyptic situation, they probably wouldn't have bothered to go to war anyway
Tickles discovered many things and started making a list of things Daniel would probably find interesting, from strange phenomena to unknown materials and objects, to some truths about Retak's current predicament
Daniel woke up at lunchtime, and found the report Tickles prepared in his head, it was very precise and Daniel was so impressed by Tickles's plan, that he said "good job Tickles" before even starting to read the list
Tickles responded "my pleasure master" in an uncharacteristic manner, but Daniel was busy reading the list and didn't notice
as Daniel was reading his face went through many emotes, from surprise to bewilderment to utter disgust and surprise again, it was obvious many things were clearer to him now, and he no longer believed all retakians were guilty of the imminent apocalypse, especially since on TIckles list was clearly stated that a singular organization brought about the situation
apparently, a group of the most powerful international companies on retak had already prepared a way out for themselves, there was a bunker in a secret location where all of these people were breathing pure air, and drinking safe water while eating good food, enjoying everything life had to offer while everyone on the surface died, as if the famous ark was a seven-star hotel
some for a few centuries, and some for even more, these companies and the families behind them enjoyed everything this planet had to offer while making money without caring about the damages they made
the lives they took, they even started silencing people when the Ambiental disaster could no longer be ignored, till they found a scapegoat to feed to the masses while they went into hiding in this luxurious ark to wait for the problem to pass
like many others, these people did not believe the world was really about to end, they were sure that once they stopped some scientist would find a way to solve the problem and they could come back soon later to make more money and enjoy more luxury
but karma is a b**** and they could have never imagined the treasury they built in their bunker hiding some of the most valuable art, and objects on retak would attract a little monster attention
Daniel was already making a list of things he wanted from there, there was a big box full of various seeds and branches carefully pruned to be one day planted again, this would make a perfect souvenir for Phoebe
there were some invaluable musical instruments and music sheets that would make a perfect souvenir for Joseph
there was even a full library filled to the brim with first editions and other books that Sophia would surely like
with the fishes he had and all the curious fishing gear he brought before, together with some artsy statue the souvenir problem instantly solved itself