Eye-Deku huffed and forced himself to a sitting position. He was actually butt naked, which was unusual. Luckily he wasn’t a newborn—he was probably somewhere between 6 months-2 years old. It depended on the Dimension and how long humans lived what his starting age was… luckily, his adult mind always stayed with him.
Eye-Deku looked around. He seemed to be in some sort of cargo hold. There were tons of boxes and bags around him. The wooden floor rumbled slightly behind him, which could mean a wagon or train.
Eye-Deku carefully pulled himself up on his feet. With a mental command, he summoned his usual green baby onesie on himself, no longer butt naked. He looked around again. He realized he could only see due to his really good eyesight. In reality, it was pretty dark. Where was the little light coming from?
Eye-Deku waddled ahead, looking around. He looked at the writing on the boxes. It looked like a fantasy script, almost… pre-Babelion? It was off with some art lines and dialect, but it was definitely Pre-Babel.
Eye-Deku stopped in surprise, nearly falling due to baby balance. Or lack of. He put a hand on the written characters, trying to push for the power. But there was none. This was just a language that had evolved on its own.
But how.
Did this world have Babel, or was this a coincidence?
Click clack.
Eye-Deku spun, looking around for the source of the sound. He could hear distant whirring, almost like a… machine.
Eye-Deku waddled along, using the boxes as support. He felt his baby body’s instincts and problems trying to overcome his brain. While there were plenty of times he would enjoy a new youth, he was possibly in danger. Right now was not a time to let baby instincts take over.
So he bit back a scream of terror and helplessness. Eye-Deku forced himself to waddle ahead. He looked around, trying to spot the machine. But he didn’t see it… but the sounds were getting louder and louder. As well as a thunk thunk thunk.
Robot.
And it was after him.
Maybe a security bot?
Eye-Deku spotted a gap between boxes. His chubby baby body barely fit. He scooted in, going into the shadows. He warmed up some of his magic to be on the safe side.
Thunk thunk thunk!
Eye-Deku bit back a whimper, being as silent as he dared.
A porcelain foot slammed down in the space outside the crack. Eye-Deku bit back a scream of terror. He forced himself to be very, very quiet.
Another foot joined the first one. There was a lot gentler. Eye-Deku realized he heard the sound of gears. So this was a robot. But why have a barefoot robot running around the place? Even for security, that was weird.
“Come out by the command of the Goddess.”
By the command of me, FUCK NO!
Eye-Deku remained silent, casting a cameo spell around himself. Now the robot should not be able to see him. Even if powered by a goddess’s magic.
“Come out by the command of the Goddess.”
OK, it wasn’t moving. It knew he was there. Could he remotely hack it?
Blonde hair appeared. Eye-Deku braced himself as a doll like an old-styled theater mask appeared. Only voids were the eyes, but Eye-Deku knew the thing could still see. He knew when people Watched. The doll stared, but was unable to see him.
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It stood up. “Come out by the command of the Goddess.”
The doll walked away. Eye-Deku forced himself to stay a few minutes. He tried to remotely See through the doll’s vision sensors. But he got a rejection error.
The doll’s footsteps stopped. There was a horrible scraping and wet sound, probably as the thing twisted. “Attention. Come on out. Come on out!”
Then a horrific snap.
“Free… me…”
Eye-Deku blinked in horror as he heard a pathetic whimper. Was that from the doll? Or nearby?
“Attempting to override a Doll is a blasphemy to the Goddess! Come and your punishment will be swift!”
“It… lies… she… lies…”
It was the Doll.
A human was in the Doll.
Eye-Deku was filled with pure rage.
How dare anyone do something like that?!?
Eye-Deku forced himself to calm. He didn’t know what he was getting into. Whoever put that poor woman in that doll may be only human, or it may be one of the beings more powerful than him. He couldn’t go out without the deets.
“Come on out! Come on out!”
Clang clang clang!
The Doll stormed up to the crack, and looked inside of it again. Blood was pouring around its feet. Oh yeah, this was some Five Nights at Freddy’s shit. And that poor woman wouldn’t last long.
Eye-Deku’s heroic instincts bristled. He debated a quick Adult Growth. He could, for short times, return to his adult form. But it took a lot of power, especially before he had a chance to establish himself in a world.
But it may be the only thing to save that woman.
Eye-Deku got ready to scuttle out, but got a strange alert on his sensor. Attention! There is a Claimed Soul inside the Doll.
Eye-Deku blinked. Claimed Soul? That meant the human was already dead. And claimed by a god or goddess. But why was a Doll like that bleeding?
“Come on out! Come on out!”
Confirmed: the Doll only had limited vocabulary. Eye-Deku had a guess what it wanted to say was “where are you”. But it was stuck on a loop.
“Run… away… before… she… finds…”
The Doll basically collapsed. The soul inside had “died” again. Eye-Deku could still sense it, but it was very weak.
Eye-Deku slipped out, looking at the fallen Doll. Its outer shell seemed to be made of some sort of porcelain, but one not easily shattered. Blood spilled from the inside at the waist, and Eye-Deku could see intestines within. But now he released something else—there was a strong smell of perfume, probably to cover decay’s rotting smell. The Doll had been fashioned out of a body. Maybe that was how it was tapping on its host’s soul.
As much as Eye-Deku wanted to dissect the thing, free the soul, then study its internal mechanics, he had to move.
Right now, he was an orphan baby inside an unknown world. One where Babel never rose, and used robots freely.
Did Adam and Eve never take the Fruit?
Eye-Deku needed to find out more.
Especially if he was to reach adulthood once more.
Eye-Deku also needed to find a family. The few Dimensions he had been raised in orphanages = no. Fuck no.
Eye-Deku continued through the stacks of boxes and supplies. He checked on some of the open boxes and bags as he passed. Despite there being robots, he was finding things more of a fantasy nature: scrolls, magic balls, wands, alchemy equipment, crystals, etc. Even some of the more generic life items, like tents and food, had enchantments on them. This world was mostly magic-based.
There was a moan.
Eye-Deku looked around. And decided to take a chance. His vocals were not the best at this age, but he didn’t need them to be. He called out, “Buh-buh?”
Silence.
Then a: “Huh?!?”
Eye-Deku waddled towards the very human voice. He rounded a corner to see a man sitting against some boxes. He wore simple clothes: a tank-top, and some sort of brown version of shorts. His feet were bare, but Eye-Deku saw leather boots nearby. There was also a bottle, which may be why the man was groaning.
The brunette man said, “Shit… this is a worse hangover than usual… I got to stop drinking with these assholes.”
Eye-Deku dropped the cameo shield. He had to ham up the baby part. The OP-Isaeki part could come later, once he had a family.
Eye-Deku waddled out, allowing himself to sniffle. “Buh buh?”
The man looked over at him in shock. And now, Eye-Deku recognized him. There had been one man to raise him, Dimension over Dimension. A gift from the All-Creator, he guessed.
Roscoe Ford.
Eye-Deku’s father.
Eye-Deku whimpered, allowing tears to roll down his cheeks. He reached out to Roscoe. “Dada…?”
Roscoe seemed extremely shocked. That was reasonable. He just came from a drinking binge to have a baby walk up to him. One with green streaks in his hair and freckles.
But every Roscoe could recognize their son at a subconscious level, even from another universe.
Roscoe jolted out of his shock and quickly came over. He picked up Eye-Deku. “Hey, buddy… how did you get here?”
Eye-Deku grabbed the tank-top and nuzzled his face into Roscoe’s neck. He smelled something familiar. Roscoe’s husband used a certain type of bleach. And, ho boy, was that in the tank-top.
Roscoe rubbed his back. “…shit. How badly was I passed out?”
Roscoe sat on the box. He sighed, then said, “Art will kill me.”
Eye-Deku whimpered, “Dada…?”
“It’s OK, buddy, I’m here. And soon, we’ll be home with Papa.”
Eye-Deku perked. Talk about easiest adoption ever. Must be something to do with local magic.
Oooooo, Eye-Deku had so much to learn!
Eye-Deku said, “Papa?”
Roscoe wiped his eyes. “Yep, Papa. Do you know who Papa is?”
Eye-Deku tried to get it from his baby vocals: “Arrrrrrrf!”
Roscoe laughed. “Right, Art.”
Eye-Deku smiled and laughed.
Well, despite the creepy Doll, this was a decent start to his new life!
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