Warning: spoilers for the Hans Stahlberg Saga.
A couple of weeks after the battle against the MetalliX, Erwin arrives at his Faucheuse Foundation branch, his robot fluffy Asimov accompanying him this time, greeting Gilda as they enter the lobby.
Hershey, Erwin’s organic fluffy, is spending the day at Calvin’s apartment, hanging out with the Korkea family’s non-powered fluffies.
The ones with powers are working with their assigned partners: Marley with Calvin, Snowball with Judy, Piccolo with Andre. Mallow is training with Ms. Munroe.
Yeah, Andre isn’t Piccolo’s owner, but they have the same powers and Andre is one of Calvin’s closest friends.
Plus, they’re both in the Rubber Band.
It’s not long after Erwin reaches his examination room that his first patient of the day is brought in.
Void, bringing her kitsune fluffy Michael in for another check-up.
“What’s up, Doc? You know the drill.”
“Of course, let’s get him on the scanner.”
“Yu nee anee hewp, doctow?”
“No, Asimov, but thank you for asking.”
So Void opens Michael’s carrier, carefully lifting him up, his three tails wagging.
“Mike-uw wub upsies.”
And she hands him over to Erwin, who places him on the Stahlskanner.
ping!
“He’s in good health, Void.”
“I was expecting that, but it never hurts to be sure, right?”
“Das ist es, was ich immer sage. So, how is the training coming along?”
Michael smiles.
“Am guin gud, dok-tow! Wook!”
Then the kitsune waves a hoof, and an image appears in the air.
A blurry, waxy image of a fluffy, chasing a blurry ball.
Michael smiles bashfully, dispelling the illusion.
“…Am stiww a wowk in pwoh-gwess.”
Void pets Michael reassuringly.
“Well, you only crossed Threshold X a short while ago. Kyle and Niek have been doing it for longer. Still, it’s actually kinda funny. My brother got powers, my band all got powers, now my fluffy has powers, and I’m still a normo. Erwin, didn’t you guys recover a machine that can force people over Threshold X?”
Erwin nods.
“Yes, but it doesn’t work anymore. It tapped into Vulcanus’ power, and he’s dead.”
This is not entirely true.
Extensive study of the Enlightener and the Stones of Octavo, of which three have been located, has revealed to the Nerd Squad that the Enlightener could be powered by a Stone instead.
After all, Vulcanus gave humanity the potential for Phenomenon X, and the source of his literally Earth-shattering power was a Stone, making the Stones of Octavo the indirect origin of Phenomenon X.
But the ChaotiX and the Cabal have both worked to cover this fact up.
They’ve worked hard to use their powers responsibly, and to establish a good reputation for X-Positives. Someone creating an army of X-Positive jackbooted thugs would destroy everything the ChaotiX has strived for.
Even the most benign people could be corrupted by the power of an Omega Class. Calvin knows this well.
He knows how corruptible he is, too. He’s seen the worst case scenario with his own eyes.
And that’s what keeps him from going too far.
Void shrugs.
“Well, maybe I’ll cross Threshold X on my own someday.”
“It can happun at anee time.”
Void and Michael depart, after Asimov hugs Michael goodbye.
It took a while, Asimov couldn’t stop touching the fluffy tails.
When they’re gone, Erwin summons the mechanical arms to disinfect everything Michael touched.
Including Asimov, who didn’t mind being sprayed with disinfectant.
Erwin’s next patient is brought in by Tommy and Blueberry. A feral mare, a pink and purple pegasus mare, currently in the helpless stage of her first pregnancy.
“Mummah wub babbehs, babbeh wub mummah…”
She isn’t a Fluffy Cartel mare, she’s from Branca’s herd, but Blueberry offered to give the mare a ride into the city for a check-up, being the only fluffy in his forest with a blipper. In his Blaukörper.
Pierre is busy, meeting with his half-alien grandsons Voilet and Bleu, who are currently back in space prison. Which is why Tommy and Blueberry didn’t simply bring the dam to Pierre’s cabin.
Blueberry, as the smarty of the biggest herd in the forest, sees the other herds not as a threat to his dominion, but instead, as potential allies. He’s met Jeremy Logan, who told Blueberry that alloys are stronger, and the drug dealing smarty took this to heart.
Blueberry hopes to unite the herds of his forest, and maintains good relations with the smarties of the other herds. Nobody gets screwed over like that one black smarty did.
Those smarties may very well become the senate of the world’s first fluffy nation-state.
As the humans tend to the mare, Blueberry chats with Asimov.
“Su, did yu hab fun in da Staw-kaw-pew?”
Asimov nods.
“Wuz fun. But da Bwauw-kaw-pew hab a Oh-may-guh Cowe, wite?”
Blueberry shakes his head.
“Bwuebewwy had dat fing takun owt. Bwuebewwy nu am gunna nee it ev-wee bwite time. Am a bit oba-kiww fow dai-wee aff-aiws.”
“Faiw enuff, Bwuebewwy. Teww da hewd dat Asimov sed hewwo.”
Blueberry cracks a grin.
“Yu gutta bwippew buiwt in, wite? Yu can teww dem dat.”
“Again, faiw enuff.”
ping!
Erwin smiles.
“A healthy litter, I think. And of course you’re healthy too, sweetheart.”
The mare seems happy to hear that.
“Thank yu, mistah dok-tow. But, um… can soon-mummah awsk dok-tow a kwest-yun?”
“Of course.”
“Wai am dok-tow fwuffy made of metaw?”
“He’s a robot, dear.”
Tommy laughs.
“Erwin, man, you know I don’t trust calculators. But our robot pals are alright.”
Erwin chuckles.
“Be grateful you missed the battle in Shanghai, Tommy. We saw plenty of robots who weren’t alright.”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t their fault, man. That square Hans programmed them to be evil.”
Blueberry nods sagely, looking up at the two humans.
“Jus wike Hans cawn-dish-und Kiwk tu be ebiw.”
Then he takes a moment to sigh.
“How cud Hans du dat tu him own babbeh? Bwuebewwy wud neba du dat. How am Kiwk duin, bai da way?”
Erwin shrugs.
“Still in stasis, being deprogrammed. Des is sure that Kirk’s real identity is still in there, just very deeply buried. And he’s the best telepath I know of, so he should be able to break through the façade.”
“And when Kirk wakes up, man, it’ll be sayonara for Projekt Schatten.”
“He am awn him way.”
Tommy and Blueberry depart with the mare, and Erwin gets his examination room ready again.
His next patients are Cream and Cheese, two mares who have been living together at the Foundation.
They’re best friends, and their new owner, one of Helen Jackson’s rich friends, couldn’t bear to separate them.
The rooms here have one-way mirrors, so prospective owners can observe the fluffies without disturbing them, if need be.
Erwin places the two mares on the Stahlskanner, one by one.
ping!
ping!
“You’re both healthy. I’ll miss you two, y’know.”
“Cweem wiww miss dok-tow tuu.”
“An su wiww Cheese.”
Erwin pets the mares, and their new owner smiles.
“I think you’ll both love it at my place. My husband owns a successful cream cheese business, funnily enough. But Doctor, may I ask you a question?”
“Of course you can.”
“I noticed a group of purple fluffies in one room. Are they up for adoption? I’ve got a friend who loves purple.”
“Unfortunately, they’re not available for adoption. We’re keeping them close to monitor them. It’s, ah, a ChaotiX matter.”
That matter being that the purple fluffies were sired by a certain purple stallion with the power of persuasion, and the ChaotiX wants to be sure that his offspring didn’t inherit that too.
“So why was that Henry chap standing guard outside their room?”
“It am a wong stowy, wady.”
As a mechanical arm pops of Asimov’s back, waving at Cream and Cheese, the lady laughs softly yet merrily.
“A robot fluffy? Most amusing! Did you build him yourself, Dr. Stahlberg?”
“Indeed, madam.”
“Doctow wuz bowed, dat am wai Asimov am hewe.”
The lady starts laughing even harder.
When the lady stops laughing, Cream and Cheese depart with their new owner, promising Erwin that they’ll be good for her.
And Erwin once again prepares his examination room.
Not two seconds after the mechanical arms retract into the ceiling, Konba and Bugsey bring a badly battered stallion in. Erwin can guess what happened to him.
Erwin directs them into the regeneration room, and quickly puts the stallion in a vat.
“What did you do to the abuser, boys?”
Konba cracks a grin.
“Well, I wanted to show her how we do it on Vajarsi, but Bugsey here had a better idea.”
Bugsey grins too.
“The classic one lump or two bit. The stupid bitch said three. She’s fine, but she’s got a really bad headache right now. Bellikose webbed her to the ceiling to wait for the cops.”
Erwin chuckles, and Asimov laughs.
“Well, I can’t say she didn’t have it coming.”
“She am pwob-ab-wee wan-in sum as-puh-win wite nao, doctow.”
“That might not help, Asimov.”
Bugsey looks at the vats, admiration on his monochrome face.
“These things are pretty neat. Us Tuuni don’t really need them, though. There’s not a lot of things that can actually injure us. Oh sure, we can get hurt, but we can walk most injuries off.”
Konba grins again.
“As for us Saingans, whatever doesn’t kill us just makes us stronger. That’s not just a figure of speech. Any Saingan who can recover from a near-fatal injury will enjoy a power boost.”
“If onwy fwuffies cud du dat, huh doctow?”
Erwin laughs.
“If fluffies could do that, they’d be unstoppable by now.”
Konba shakes his head.
“Actually, there’s diminishing returns after a while. It’s not like I could have become a Super Saingan by just being injured and healed over and over again.”
Bugsey scratches the back of his head.
“I wonder if it’s possible to become a Super Tuuni?”
“Am yu nu powah-fuw enuff awweady, Bug-see?”
Then all four of them start laughing.
Later in the day, on their way home from work, before stopping by Calvin’s place to pick Hershey up, Erwin and Asimov stop by Faucheuse Tower, to check in on someone else’s patient.
In Valerie’s lab, which occupies multiple floors of the Tower, Valerie leads Erwin and his robot fluffy into a room containing a large black stone coffin, covered in glowing rainbow-colored lines, an omega symbol on the lid.
“Uncle Des just finished another session with him. Progress is being made, Erwin. But it might take a while.”
The walls are covered in screens, displaying various statistics and diagnostic information.
Asimov pokes the Omega Casket with a metal hoof.
“He nu am awake in dewe, wite?”
Valerie shakes her head.
“No, we thought he’d had enough of that. He’s in an enchanted dreamless sleep. Uncle Des wakes him up for deprogramming sessions.”
Erwin places one hand on the lid, a rather sad expression on his face.
“I hope he doesn’t have to stay in there for much longer. He’s family. And another victim of Hans. He didn’t deserve any of this, you know. He didn’t deserve to be turned into a weapon.”
“I know, Erwin. But if I can be completely honest with you?”
“Sure, Val.”
“He’s going to need a haircut when he wakes up. Cal is right, his hair does look ridiculous.”
“An he am gunna nee nyu cwothies tuu, cuz dat aw-mow am suuuuu ed-gee.”
Erwin chuckles, the snarky comment relieving his sorrow.
“True. I think Niv called dibs on that armor, though.”
“Hey, Niv cud wock dat shit.”
Valerie smiles.
“Well, Niv is partial to black and red, like most vampires. Which makes sense when you think about it.”
“Val, we’ve gotta get going. Gotta pick Hershey up. Let us know if anything changes here, alright?”
“You didn’t even have to ask, Erwin.”
So Erwin and Asimov leave, the robot fluffy eager to tell his special friend about his day.
Often, Erwin will simply leave his fluffies alone at home together.
Asimov is far more capable than a fluffy of flesh and blood, can take care of Hershey by himself, can easily contact Erwin if something comes up, and, of course…
Erwin doesn’t have to worry about coming home to find Hershey pregnant.
The Goodfellows have many interesting functions, but they can’t do that yet.