Ivar nodded, "Crimson Moon System sounds fitting. Thank you for setting all this up, Selene."
Selene smirked, "Don't get too full of yourself; I largely did this for myself as well. I can spend more time surfing the web now."
Ivar looked confused, "Surfing the web?"
Selene suddenly became enthusiastic again, "Right! I didn't tell you yet! It seems that this entire planet is connected through some kind of electrical information network they call the internet or cyberspace.
And the best part is that I can interact with that network without having to use extra energy or expose myself to any possible gods! It is truly a fascinating place.
There are still plenty of places in there I cannot access, but I managed to gather a lot of information that I am still in the process of transferring to you and with time, I'll get better at breaking through some of the protections in this cyberspace.
That is also how I disabled the security camera in this building."
Her teacher outfit suddenly changed into hot pants, a crop top, an open hoodie and a pair of headphones as she stuck up two fingers in a peace sign.
"I am now what this world considers a hacker or edge runner, except better because I don't need any of the same equipment; all I need is for you to be near any device connected to cyberspace."
She gained a thoughtful look, "I suppose if I were being truly accurate, this world would probably consider me an artificial intelligence and try whatever they could to kill me."
She regained her enthusiasm, "Anyway, I greatly enjoyed surfing the web. There is just so much there to see! Which reminds me, I understand why you left that uplink in the previous place, but we need to get our hands on a new one!"
Ivar smirked, "Alright, alright, I get it. I'm glad you found something you enjoy, and I'm sure we can get one of those uplinks; just don't forget why we are here."
Selene gained a serious look, "Don't insult me; I am no less committed to this than you. It's just that after 3,000 years of basically nothing changing, I can finally enjoy something new! I mean, honestly, the vampyr and therian societies barely changed in those 3000 years.
I will never forget why we are here, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself along the way."
She smirked as she glanced at the cute woman lying unconscious on the bed, "I'm sure you'll find some ways to enjoy yourself, too."
Seeing he had touched a nerve and preferred to keep Selene a friend, especially while she was being as cooperative as she had been so far, he quickly threw up his hands, "Alright, alright. I didn't mean anything by it."
Ivar gained a thoughtful look, "You're not wrong, either. These humans have made some tremendous technological advances in these years, while the people of Máni barely changed in that regard.
I'm not saying the humans did better, as Máni's focus on personal strength is not without its benefits. Still, perhaps we should have given the humans more freedom so they could have developed our world technologically, while vampyrs and therians focussed on strength."
Selene shook her head, "Maybe, but while this world is certainly fascinating and has many creature comforts, it is also not without its flaws. Evil has more places to hide, and I prefer a more natural environment.
You may think that weird because of my love for cyberspace, but to me, that place actually feels very similar to a wild jungle where instincts run wild."
Ivar nodded, "I agree; all this concrete and technology is not my thing so far. But I'll have to get used to it. Anyway, what can you tell me about this world? I know you're transferring the information or whatever, but give me the cliff notes."
He was clearly already being affected by the information transfer as he now knew what concrete and cliff notes were.
Selene nodded, "Alright, well, as I said before, this world is called Earth, and its planetary movements are more or less the same as Máni, which means that it should have been about 3000 years for Earth since the therians and vampyrs left this planet. just like it is for Máni, give or take a century.
Assuming this is indeed your original home planet, anyway.
Currently, according to this planet's calendar, it is the year 2215, and we are in a city called 'New Los Angeles' or NLA, as most people call it. Earth is divided into several consolidated nations, and NLA is located in something called 'The United Cities of America,' or UCA.
Apparently, it was once called 'The United States of America,' but at some point, it transitioned into a theocratic empire and annexed two neighbouring nations named Canada and Mexico.
In response, the other nations on Earth started banding together into several consolidated nations: the South American Federation, the Socialist Chinese States, the African Bloc, the Arabian Federation, the Oceanic Sovereignty and the European Democracy.
For a moment, it looked like the entire world might erupt in a devastating war, but then there was an uprising in the American Theocracy, and it broke apart into the UCA.
There are still parts of the UCA that consider themselves theocracies, and most of the land between the large cities is barely governed, but that uprising led to a reduction of tension across the world.
At least, that's the official story, but there are rumours of more going on. I don't know anything for sure on this, though, but if the world was in danger of being wiped out, it's possible some gods pulled strings behind the scenes."
By now, Selene had once again changed to her original, tight, revealing red and black clothes and sat down on Ivar's lap.
"Anyway, enough about that; I also found some more evidence that this world is your original home world, as there is a lot of mythology about shapeshifters and vampires, which I assume are therians and vampyrs.
Plus, there are also stories of moon goddesses by the names of Luna and Selene."
This information caused Ivar to frown a little as he said, "I wonder what kind of place your sister and Aurora ended up in then."
Aurora was one of the few people he cared about, and he would prefer she stay alive.
Selene shrugged, "No idea, but I don't think there is too much reason for concern. If it was truly a death trap, I doubt the original Luna and Selene would pass the location on to us."
Ivar nodded, "Sure, but who knows what might have changed in 3000 years? Anyway, did you discover anything about people achieving strength beyond that of soldier-level mortals?"
Selene shook her head, "Not exactly; plenty of rumours and such, but if there is something like that, then it's not common knowledge. I'll keep searching, though; I have still only discovered a small portion of cyberspace."
Ivar nodded, "Good, do that. Regardless of whether such methods exist, however, I will have to be careful. This world has plenty of technology that could harm me even after I grow stronger."
Selene wholeheartedly agreed with this sentiment.
He continued, "I suppose the best first step, based on what we know now, would be to gain a foothold in this city before we expand to conquer the world as a whole."
He looked at the unconscious woman, "Hopefully, she'll be able to provide me an introduction somewhere. The fact that there are people after her certainly suggests she's involved in something I could use to my advantage."
Selene nodded, "Right. And on that note, I think she has entered the last stages, and whatever she is besides human seems to be having an effect."
Ivar started paying closer attention to the woman, who had now begun sweating and twitching at the same time as her body started changing.
A pair of wolf ears sprouted from the woman's head as a tail came out of her lower back. Her muscles became more defined, and while her hands mainly remained the same, her nails did change to be more like claws.
So far, she looked like a half-done transformation to Gale Wolf, leaving both Serene and Ivar unsure of what was happening.
But then, a pair of large and majestic feathered black wings sprouted from her back, causing her to be pushed off the bed and onto the floor.
When all seemed to be done, her eyes suddenly opened, revealing blood-red, wolf-like eyes.
After a moment of accessing her memories about what happened before she fainted, she jumped up in a panic, not knowing where she was while her body felt strange and unnatural to her.
Unfortunately, she was not yet used to her new strength and almost hit the ceiling, causing Ivar and Selene to chuckle as they watched the spectacle of a new therian being born.
Newly converted therians always had trouble controlling their transformations at first.
The woman fell down to the ground and, to her credit, landed relatively gracefully before she started looking around, trying to get a grip on where she was, but since she was still transformed into whatever she was, her broad wings were trashing the room, which was only confusing the woman more as she wondered were those things on her back came from.
Eventually, Ivar had enough of this and moved quickly as he grabbed the woman by the throat and pushed her up against the wall; he growled, "That's enough. The novelty of watching you adjust to your new body wears off fast. Calm down. Now."