The true power of what you'd done really hit you again. The entire world had become, as in the woman world, nothing more than blobs of clay for you to shape into whatever you wished. Their identities, thoughts, forms, everything, no longer existed.
The people in China, India, some islands in the pacific you'd never heard of, that island off the coast of India that held the only surviving isolated tribal people, your old first grade class, people who'd been fighting wars in the middle east, otakus in Japan, the filthy rich in their mansions, the broken and poor in their camps ... Now just standing around like figurines waiting for you to eventually give them a state of being.
Oh no. What about people who'd been driving cars? Flying airplanes? Manning submarines? Astronauts?!
It was also at this point, with Gwen loving hugging you for effectively bringing her into existence, looking at the endless identical gray figures standing and smiling waiting for you to do the same, that several pieces of basic logic struck you.
You remembered a documentary you'd seen as a teenager, about how things would go if humanity simply vanished one day. And you felt a chill go down your spine.
How long before the power plants ran out with no running them? What about heating? How long was the market going to stay stocked? What about the farms? The trucks carrying the food? The factories processing it?
Wasn't there supposed to be a deadman switch installed that would launch all the nuclear weapons if it stopped getting signals and thought therefore that Washington was destroyed?!
And dimly, you realized you'd never get that sequel to your favorite movie that was supposed to come out next year?
'OH FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!' Exasperated the voice of the woman again in your mind, Gwen obviously oblivious to it as she continued to hug you, eagerly awaiting your response. 'I was expecting you to go wild by this point! I guess I should be impressed at you actually THINKING about this! Okay, look, your blank dolls are standing at attention for you to sculpt them here because it's what they're here for.
"The farmers are still going to farm. The truck drivers will still carry the food to where you're used to finding it. Your toys at the power-plant are still going to keep the utilities running. Better than ever, they won't sleep, tire out, take breaks, complain, simply carrying on their purpose to keep your world running. Perhaps a mercy given some of their miserable lives. You're not going to freeze or starve to death. And your blank canvas would have still landed their flying machines. And those who controlled your fate and could have had you killed and had your corpse never found if they felt like it, are still going to send the signal to your superweapons not to blow up your world. You humans have created a rather impressive infrastructure with one layer on top of another layer on top of another layer. Most humans in the developed parts of the world didn't seem to even appreciate how much of their day to day survival was due to supply chains and infrastructure. Points to you for actually realizing that. But don't worry. Your blank canvas' will continue to provide the needed aspects of living for you. Oh! And as someone who can move up and down and sideways through timelines... your better off NOT having seen that movie!"
Your head swam at everything the mysterious woman had thrown at your mind all at once, apparently your basic needs were still going to be taken care of.
"Master, Evan, are you alright?"
"Gwen, what do you know about about the woman who gave me the ring?"
"Only what you know master. I am your creation. That she appeared in your house, offered you the ring, and explained what it was for," Gwen answered.
You wondered if she was a goddess, a demon, an alien, a sorceress, or just some bored science from the year One Million After-Christ.
You look up and down the street. The rest of the blank gray creatures still smiling at you. It wasn't creepy like some might think. Their details were so plain that instead of being in the uncanny valley they'd dipped in and climbed out the other side. There was so little human about them that the human traits that remained made them more endearing than alien.
All standing at attention, naked, plain, smooth, gray, in neat rows along the sidewalks. Now most your waves of drama had worn off, you did realize something important. More than a few of the people in your neighborhood had families. And yet, all of the blank canvas' were the same size.
'Oh that was a little extra detail I added,' said the woman's voice in his mind. 'I wasn't joking when I said I'd made all your blank canvas' the same. That goes double for pregnant women if you catch my drift, two for one sale! They're all the same height. All of them. They have no way to tell what they had been, became what they were doesn't exist. That's because they're not men or women, nor young or old, nor Asian or European. They simply ARE. Don't even try to think of them as being human, they're just your raw material to build your world. Like these houses... they don't belong to anyone anymore, okay, not precisely right, they all belong to you after all.'
You looked again at the hordes of gray plain figures, you couldn't hope to guess who they'd all been. You look back at the generic mass produced home that Gwen had been standing in front of when she'd been exactly the same as the rest of the raw clay.
You'd given Gwen powerful magic, now to put it to the test.
"Gwen, using your magic, change this house into one worthy of you."
"As you command oh Master!" The kitsune bowed, and strutted up to the plain white house with a car, lawn mower, and a rusted solid tricycle lay. Blue flames flickered into being at the ends of her tails. As she swept with her tails, which seemed to briefly grow bigger as she touched the half mowed grass. The blue flames spread, turning the grass into a large zen rock garden. As the flames spread, the white picket fence became a bright red with elaborate carvings that should have taken a life time to make.
Then she reached the house, the overhang turning into a tori gate as the blue flames spread over everything. Remaking everything outside and within to reflect its new owner. The entire house took on an obvious oriental style. Tassel hanging from corners, beautiful engravings on every surface, sliding doors with no locks... what use did she have for them? The blue flames finished with two stone bases on either side of the short steps leading up to the house.
Gwen turned around, and puffed her chest forward, and spread her tails like a peacock.
"I have done as you wish Master Evan, I have shaped this house to one worthy of what you have made me. Does it please you?"
"WOW!" You let out. Seeing Gwen use the magic you'd given her to remake the house someone else who hadn't been her lived in, and now resembled her completely. "That's amazing!"
"You commanded me to become a ninetail who could perform 'cool' magic, I was proud that I have performed as you desired of me," Gwen bowed.
Gwen and her house looked like something out of a Japanese fairytale. You looked at the endless rows of identical gray creatures, and the houses that had been plain and identical even before you'd wished to rule the world. You wonder what you could do with the blank canvas' and the empty houses they each stood in front of.
He the closest house that had only one figure in front of it. You'd deal with groups later.
The unit was identical to what Gwen had been, like the billions of others that were now just clay for you to shape how you wished.
"Unit, I command you, become a green short-stack clever, deceptively-strong goblin, with black hair, gold piercings, tattoos, and a snarky but loyal personality."
"As you command my master," the unit said in its identical voice.
Its body grew short, like it was indeed just clay being smooshed down. The split round shapes of a bottom and breasts grew out from its bodies. It's gray colors turning green. Long pointed ears points out sideways grew from its head, and long black hair grew from its back. A large nose grew from the middle of its face as visible fangs emerged from its mouth. Toes formed, that formed black nails like those now on her hands. Obvious muscles formed on her body giving her a body building shape as her breasts grew and grew in contrast to her short height. Her eyes grew and the centers became bright eyes. Obvious female traits and a belly button followed next.
Gold rings formed and pierced her ears, nose, and belly button, finished by her nipples. A red spiral dragon tattoo formed on her black and went down one arm.
The goblin grinned at you with a glint in her eye.
Realizing you'd left it off, you added, "Your name will be... erm, Helga."
"Yo got it Master!" Helga smiled, nodded, and saluted. "Great job! Thanks for wiping out whatever human existed before me, and using them as raw material to create me! Totally great deal for me! Not so great deal for them, BUT WHO CARES?! Do you Master? I certainly don't! So long sucker! This bod is to die for! Ha ha! So you wanna have some fun boss? Or do you wanna continue customizing the rest of yer playthings? Gonna be fun to watch I'm sure!" She looked at the pretty white house and then stuck a thumb behind her.
"Hey! Foxy! Care to spruce up these digs to more my style?"
Gwen looked at you. Well, you had certainly created Helga to be more willful than Gwen. You nodded.
Gwen stepped passed Helga, and swept her tails at the house. Passed the aged and decayed swing set, and the small forest of pink flamingos, as the blue flames from her tails consumed them. The grass if anything became more patched, rugged, and weed ridden. Piles of animal bones formed out of the ground. The fence likewise becoming one of bones and tanned leather and red paint marking them as Helga's domain.
As the blue flames consumed the house, the entire building, it gained a stacked stone foundation, followed by elaborately crafted walls of leather, bones, and black goblin hair used as thread, hanging lamps. And weapons from daggers to longbows, also clearly home made, but done with such craftsmanship that they'd have sold for a fortune to people who cared for such things.
It smelled of pee, sulfur, and blood.
Helga grinned ear to ear, showing off her needle like teeth. "Oh yeah! Great job foxy! This totally rocks! Thanks boss man! I'm at your command! Oh yeah, I guess I already was, but this makes it all formal like ya know?! I can't wait to see whatcha do with the rest of these brainless smucks!" She gestured at the other units.
Gwen herself, looked rather uncomfortable with the wild 'devil may care' nature of the place she'd crafted for Helga, and inched closer to you.