"Really!? We all just kinda thought that was a rumour to make you look even cooler."

"What? Oh no, I really was awful, I worked around the clock and forgot to give myself time to mature. When school starts again, you'll fall into routine, but remember to keep yourselves disciplined and get to know each other."

"Sounds great, but we can't have guests..."

"No, luckily before I leave on my trip, I'll be building a recreational facility, does everyone have your slates?"

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : HEY YOU TWO, NEED A POLL ADDING TO THE DATA SLATES, "WHAT WOULD THEY LIKE TO SEE IN A RECREATION FACILITY?" CAN YOU DO THAT ON SHORT NOTICE? ]

He sent the message as he was asking if they had them and as if offended by the fact Carl asked rather than simply assuming they could do it, everyone's slates beeped and the "Poll System" was added.

"Well there you go, need all the votes compiled by midnight so waste no time..." With that he just gestured a bit for them to scatter but they confused and he gave them an eye-roll. "...No fighting, first to the door gets the room."

With that, the kids suddenly disappeared. The doors for the ground floor suites face into the open, but the upper floor suites were only accessible through the four elevators which he could see were currently being used for group negotiations as they ascended.

That said, there were still a few hanging around him.

"Hey guys, what's up, a bit nervous?"

They looked at each other, nodded, then one stepped forward as the silently elected spokesperson.

"Our parents..."

Carl wasted no time, he placed his hands on the boys shoulders. "Listen to me, I can't make promises I can't keep. That said, I swear I will do everything in my power to find and bring your families here."

"Can we still speak to them?"

"Look, I have no issues with that. The only thing you need to consider is that our relationship with the faction controlled by the committee is tenuous and fragile, if things go badly, it could cast suspicion on them as spies. Lucky for you guys, you'll be contracted and unable to break it, so you won't ever need to worry about accusations like that."

"You mean like a devil pact?"

"I mean I want to say no... Look just don't sign anything Lillim gives you unsupervised."

The kids chuckled a bit, then went towards the building, but still there was one who lingered near him.

"Something else?"

"Err, yeah, I don't like big groups... How did you speak to them all so casually."

"Oh! That!..." Carl looked around then leant in with an ominous, schemey manner and whispered the answer. "...I just looked over their heads, or at their bag straps... You're mad if you think I'm acknowledging all eight hundred of them."

"You did better than I could."

"You know what? I doubt that. People are definitely my biggest obstacle and I have a habit of ignoring people when I'm focused on something else. You guys are only seeing the best me for the job because this has my focus."

The kid's head tilted to one side, then he nodded and walked away wordlessly, leaving Carl to wonder if he helped or not as he looked at the slate with a list of those in his group.

"Total, eight-hundred."

Carl's head grew dizzy the moment he read it.

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : IF THAT ASSEMBLY WAS ANYTHING TO GO BY, YOU GUYS DON'T LIKE BIG GROUPS, HANG IN THERE GUYS! ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KLAIRE : DO WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR AGE RIGHT NOW? ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : I AM YOUNG, BUT I'LL KEEP MYSELF IN LINE. INSERT MESSAGE THAT SIS WOULDN'T LIKE HERE. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : KYUBI, MAYBE WE SHOULD REMEMBER WE NEED TO TALK LATER. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : THANKS, I'M NOT SURE HOW YOU GOT SAID INFORMATION, BUT I KNOW YOU HAD A CHOICE AND THAT WAS IT. ]

Carl didn't like have to keep her emotions contained, but a young Kyubi was not a good combination with what was essentially a mass refugee camp.

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : STILL A BIT CONCERNED WITH SECURITY, IF I PUT A WYVERN ROOST ON TOP, WOULD THEY BE WILLING TO ACT AS SECURITY? ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : I THINK SO, BUT THEY WILL BE GROUCHY SHARING THEIR TERRITORY WITH SO MANY OTHERS. ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : WHAT ABOUT IF YOU INTRODUCE THEM TO EQUINOX AND TIAMUTAEL? ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : HMM... I THINK THAT WOULD WORK. KNOWING THEY ARE BEING WATCHED BY THE DRAGON-GOD HATCHLING REGARDLESS, NOT TO MENTION THE ONE THAT EQUINOX SERVES, SHOULD GIVE THEM ALL THE MOTIVATION THEY NEED TO BEHAVE. ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : I'LL PUT THE FEAR OF THEIR GODS INTO THEM AS WELL, NO DRAGON WOULD RISK ANGERING THE UNIFIED APEX OF THEIR KIND. ]

Carl smiled, then glanced around and added the wyvern roosts with practically just a thought.

The children all watched as wyverns were portaled in, one for each of the towers given a roost and then in the distance, a colossal five-headed dragon, swelled into existence before it's booming voice brought them all to find sanctuary on the roosts.

"You are hereby charged, by order of your gods to guard these towers and their occupants with your lives. We do not care about your pitiful pride or petty bickering, but fail in your duty and we will reevaluate having created you."

The transferees watched in awe at the spectacle, then something else seemed to happen to the wyverns which caused them to lay flat and purely submissive and a familiar voice sounded out as a white and black dragon they had never seen began to grow and wind its way through the residential area.

"She does mean all your gods as well, including my future master. Shame me before him and you will pay dearly, of course he may simply send you to the core of a sun."

"Tiamutael, don't you even think about doing that Mister!" Carl shouted suddenly.

'Hey! Why am I getting in trouble!? Equinox said it and I get in trouble with all three of you...'

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : I VOTE KLAIRE. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : I VOTE KLAIRE. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KLAIRE : WOW, THANKS. ]

Carl ignored the distractions after that and got to work assigning all of the eight-hundred suites.

This group were all sixteen year olds, so kids, but big enough to be trusted to have some basic ability to care for themselves and Carl was in the middle of assigning a suite to a girl when she awkwardly struck up a conversation.

"Hey, why do we get our own suites by the way? wouldn't it be easier to treat each floor as a dorm?"

"You'd think, but no. There are nineteen thousand under-sixteens, we are outnumbered completely, that means we need to give you the benefit of the doubt..." Carl explained before rambling a little bit about wishing he could have grabbed the off-station staff to balance the numbers a bit.

"It's a bit scary having so much room..."

Carl laughed at the familiar sentiment, apologising with a gesture when she got embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just that I said the same thing when I first moved in with Madam Director Leanna. Think about it this way, you have a lot of space for the first time, use this to make an informed decision about whether you want to room share or live alone when you move to the homeworld."

"I'll do that, sorry, you have lot to do and I need to do some thinking."

"No worries, but yeah I guess I do..."

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : GUYS, I'M GOING TO CREATE SOME BACK UP FOR US. THEY WILL BE GIVEN THE ROLE OF TRANSFER ATTENDANTS. ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : WHAT DID YOU HAVE IN MIND? ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : LESSER FORMS OF AEGIS, THEY'LL HAVE STATS LIMITED TO FIVE DIGITS, BUT I'LL GIVE THEM A REPLICATION ABILITY, EMPATHY ABILITY AND ONE TO MONITOR VITAL SIGNS. ]

[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : INSPIRED, BUT PRODUCING NINE-HUNDRED WILL LEAVE YOU DRAINED. I SUGGEST YOU RETIRE AFTERWARDS TO RECOVER. YOU HAVE EXPENDED A LOT OF STRENGTH TODAY, YOU MAYBE ENDURING IT, BUT YOU WILL FEEL IT TOMORROW IF YOU DON'T. ]

'When did Grandma become such a worry-wort?' Carl finished getting all of group 7-1 settled, then returned to the transfer station and turned his new creation into yet another distracting spectacle.

This species was more androgynous than Aegis, who skewed slightly more towards female. "I'll call you the Aegis Legion, report to Aegis, Sis and the operation leaders for briefing and equipping and get the-..." Carl wobbled slightly, Lillim's warning proving more true than he expected. "...Get these people settled and make sure they are comfortable..."

At that point, Tiamutael brought the family back together one-by-one as soon as they were finished with their groups, then returned them all home as soon as they were all together.

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