“Hey, everyone.” Faelyn said pensively. “We’re going to be doing things a little differently to start the stream. TTS is off until I say my piece, so don’t freak out if your donation isn’t read or something, it’s just that I can’t afford to get sidetracked right now.”

  He paused, reading over chat. By and large they were concerned, but a few people had guessed what he was about to say. “First, let me stress that I’m fine. We’re not going to be seeing huge changes to the stream or anything…well, I guess technically there’ll be a huge change, but it doesn’t feel like it.”

  He took a deep breath before continuing. “As some of you have guessed, yes, I’m choosing to join the Swarm permanently. I wasn’t planning to, but after stream yesterday, my mothers called me and we ended up meeting up for breakfast and had a conversation about the future. They convinced me that it would be best for me to join the Swarm.

  “As things stand, it is my belief that the chances they are worse for the people than the current rulership is near zero. The gods are helping keep them honest, and the leadership do seem like genuinely good people. And…well, you all have seen how things are; the chance that the Swarm loses the war is low. So, with my opinions unlikely to change, it was pointed out that there wasn’t much point in keeping a neutral point of view when I’ve already put out all of my thoughts.

  “And, as you know, I just…like my other body better. It’s stronger, faster, more energetic, and even aside from all of that, just being in it makes me happy. Now, before I go through with this, a few notes; first, this means I’m unlikely to be on Yasato until the Swarm reaches it. Permanently joining the Swarm means giving up on the systems built into World Saviors, most notably the revive feature.

  “And I know there are a lot of people who would jump at the opportunity to kill me if given the chance, just because of what I’m doing. So, we’ll have to settle with exploring Ratha, but that’s hardly settling when it’s what I’d be doing anyway. Second, my online presence; the Goddess of Hearth has told me that I’ll retain internet access and the ability to stream. I don’t know what form that internet access will take, but at the very least the channel will continue on as it always has.

  “And, finally, money; if you’ve been paying close attention, you would know that the Swarm plans on doing away with regular currency in favor of some sort of universal basic income and fair compensation for extra work done? I’m a little fuzzy on the details, I’ll ask more later, but the point is that regular money isn’t going to be important to me anymore in the same way.

  “That doesn’t mean you should stop donating, though; I’ll be handing control of my finances over to the Church of Hearth, and the money I get will be used for charity, and…probably to pay my editors, we’ll see. But the point is, your money will go towards good causes, and even outside of that, I did receive that Skill that gives me buffs when I receive donations, so it’ll still help me personally to an extent.”

  Faelyn paused, eyeing the system message that would transfer him over to Fae’s body permanently. He took a deep breath, then gave the camera his trademark winning smile. “I’ll see you all on the other side.” He said, then initiated the transfer.

  Fae smiled as she opened her eyes, a feeling of rightness settling over her. She might have just been imagining it, but she felt more connected to herself than she ever had as Fae before, more grounded in reality. “Well…looks like we’ll need to change the channel name, seeing as how I’m not much of an elf anymore.” She joked. “I’m going to turn TTS back on now, I’ve seen that a lot of you have questions, so ask away. I’m going to start heading back to Ilex’s capital, so I’ll answer on the way.”

  The first message came through almost immediately. “Your mothers convinced you to do this? Why would they? Won’t it make them see you less? Aren’t they worried about the Swarm at all?”

  Fae took off into the air. Now that she had committed, she wanted to get back to the capital as fast as possible so she could settle her mothers without delay. They did, and none of those are concerns. Fae told her chat. They did it because they thought it was what would make me happiest, and we’re headed back to Ilex’s capital so we can head back to the Swarm’s capital. The Goddess of Hearth has graciously offered to place them next to me when they first log in, at which point I will convert them. And they’re trusting my judgement on the Swarm, just as I’m trusting their judgement that this will make me happiest.

  “You didn’t seem to need much convincing.” Her text to speech observed.

  I just needed it from the right people. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t trust chat to advise me on major life decisions. She watched as the chat filled with the obligatory cries about how she hates them and never listens to them, smiling faintly. Now, I’m going to ask something a little big of you all; I know with the sheer number of people in my audience that at least some of you have to be magical engineers. My mothers want a way to watch my stream without normal access to the internet, do any of you know how to construct a device that would tap into the wavelength I’m putting out to stream?

  I’m going to be trying myself, and there’s a real possibility I develop a Skill that will let me transmit to specific people, but I want my mothers to be able to have this comfort. I can guarantee that this won’t be used to further the Swarm’s goals in any way, that would leave us open to premature reprisal from players, so don’t worry about that. This is just to help ease the transition for my mothers.

  “Okay, but how do we get any information to you?” Her text to speech asked.

  Drop me a message on whatever platform you’re watching on, I’ll look through them for the next couple of weeks. Fae replied.

  “Are your mothers really fine with moving to such a primitive plane?” Her text to speech pressed.

  Rude. Yes, this plane isn’t as technologically advanced as the ones we come from, but it’s still young. And, in a year or two when the Swarm starts getting into Yasato, I expect to see an unprecedented leap in technology on both sides. Until then, my mothers are content to read and watch my stream.

  “Both sides?” Fae’s text to speech asked.

  Both sides. Fae confirmed. Have you not been watching? They’ve already started automating things via conversion, and I fully expect biological tech to become the new norm for anything important. Probably not like, personal computers, phones, or game consoles, but server mainframes, cars and hoverers, lawnmowers, tractors, perhaps even mobile buildings. The possibilities are endless.

  “Doesn’t getting swallowed by your car sound kind of gross?”

  Fae rolled her eyes. That’s not how it works. There should be a highlight video of when I watched Lia fight against the Lord of Monsters, the perspective of that was from inside a shipgirl, it looked mostly like a normal battleship. And from what I’ve heard you enter magically instead of physically, provided they’re in a humanoid form. Otherwise, it’s more like getting on a regular vehicle. I’ll have to see if we can tour one soon.

  “What’s your plan after getting your mothers here?”

  Well, I’ll try to tour a shipgirl first, after that I was thinking of checking out the route of the road they’re planning on building between the Spine and the rest of the civilized world. It’ll be something of a return to form for the channel, you newbies will get to see what I was doing before World Saviors.

  Fae settled into a comfortable rhythm, talking with her chat and flying back towards Ilex’s capital. This morning she had been feeling unsure, but now…now she was surer than ever, and she was loving every second of it.