Better Expansion Through Science
Commission from Overlai.Returns.
One took what work one could find in this job market. It didn't need to be glamorous as long as it insured that one need not subsist on instant ramen.
And so Lucien was currently extremely satisfied with his current job, which was... janitor for Silverclaw Labs, an up and coming pharmaceutical research and development company. It was a better job than it sounded like; the people were nice, and what's more, they actually respected the work he did. When you worked with all manner of strange and experimental chemicals, you were nice to the people who had to clean up your messes.
And they were nice enough to relax the dress code a bit for him. The bat anthro looked himself over as he, with some difficulty, did up his modified jumpsuit. His large, leathery wings made conventional clothing problematic on the best of days, but he did the best he could. And the giraffes thought they had it rough...
He pulled out his smartphone to check his schedule for the day. He was assigned to patrol the fourth floor labs today. That lifted his spirits somewhat. They got up to some pretty messy stuff there, but he rather liked the people who worked there, and they always had the best snacks. And their bathrooms were always nice and clean. Not like those monsters who worked on the second... he suppressed a shudder and moved on. Best not to think about it.
Lucien's initial rounds didn't take terribly long. He pushed his cart around the halls, scrubbing what needed to be scrubbed, picking up the odd bits of trash, acknowledging the polite greetings he received, and absconding with a croissant from the break room. He liked to get the easy stuff out of the way first. His workday really began when he got to the lab proper, especially since they didn't make rubber gloves that fit his unique appendages. The work was really messy, and there were occasionally spilled canisters of things with warning labels that had a lot of fine print. But thankfully, he hadn't had to work with anything too nasty yet.
Some time later, Lucien would remember thinking that thought, and he would regret doing so.
He pushed open the door to the main lab, and saw two lab-coated scientists - a young male goat and an older female lizard - poring over a tablet together.
"No, no," said the lizard, pointing at something. "If we mix that into the formula the whole thing turns toxic. Some side effects are inevitable, but we can do without projectile vomiting."
"That only happened once," replied the goat, tapping the screen a few times. "And I said I was sorry."
"So what kind of mess are you two plotting today?" said Lucien, as he approached them. Both of them looked up, and brightened when they saw who it was.
"Afternoon, Lucy," said the lizard. Lucien grumbled.
"I do wish you wouldn't call me that, Tasha," he said, though not too harshly. It was all in good fun. "How's it going around here? Am I going to find another week-old hoagie in Gord's desk?"
"The scary part is, that wasn't even my hoagie," said Gord, shuddering. "But hopefully not. You wanna see what we're working on?"
"Always," said Lucian, nodding. "It's about time for my break anyway."
Tasha and Gord motioned for Lucian to follow and lead him over to the back of the lab, where something luminous and green was bubbling in a large condenser.
"Oh wow," said Lucian. "There is definitely some serious science going on in there."
"I know, right?" said Gord. "For the first time in my career, what we're doing actually looks like movie-science."
Tasha gave him a playful swat upside the head with her clipboard. "Some of the eggheads from the biology department have been working with this newly-discovered variety of fungus," she said. "It has a lot of interesting properties, but most promisingly, we think it may have some applications as a fertility supplement, so we've been working on isolating a number of compounds found in it."
Lucien blinked a few times as she continued. He understood perhaps one in five words once Tasha got started on a project.
"Give him a chance to breathe, Tash," said Gord, as he put a pair of safety goggles on and handed Lucien his own pair. "We're about to begin another extraction process. Want to stick around and watch?"
"Why not," said Lucien, as he somewhat awkwardly slipped the plastic goggles over his eyes. "If only so I can have a head start on the inevitable cleanup when it goes pear-shaped."
"Oh, ye of little faith," said Tasha, flashing a toothy grin. "All set, Gord?"
"The compound is at the perfect level of alkalinity and is remaining stable," said Gord, taking a seat at a console.
"Excellent," said Tasha. "Administer the catalyst."
Gord tapped a few buttons, and a mechanical arm deposited a vial of viscous fluid into the canister. After a few seconds, it began to bubble.
"It's working!" said Gord. "We should be able to distill-"
The bubbling started to grow more intense. Gord and Tasha shared a look. Gord shrugged. The canister began to vibrate, and the liquid began to glow. Tasha took a step forward, examining it.
"This... is not the sort of reaction we had predicted," she said. "Fascinating. We'll have to-"
The canister lurched, and a large crack appeared down its side. Before anyone else had a chance to react, Lucien lunged forward and shoved Tasha out of the way just as the canister ruptured, spewing forth a wave of green and a cloud of thick smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Lucien was standing there, his clothes and fur soaked with the stuff.
"...Lucien?" said Gord, peering out from under his desk. "Are you okay?"
"...yeah," said Lucien, after a few seconds. "I'm fine. Feels kind of... tingly."
That was the last thought in his head as he blacked out.
~*~
Lucien felt himself wake up slowly. His vision was blurry at first, but slowly, a green blur in front of him came together into the form of Tasha standing above him.
"Tasha?" he managed, his voice hoarse. "What happened? Where am I?"
"You're in an examination room," said Tasha. "Do you remember what happened?"
Lucien racked his brain, thinking. "I got some... green stuff on me," he said. "One of your experiments went..."
"Horribly awry," came Gord's voice from behind him.
"Hush," said Tasha, her voice narrowing. "You've been blacked out for a few hours. How do you feel?"
"...Tingly," was the best Lucien could come up with. And it was accurate. His head was swimming, too. He also felt kind of... chilly.
"Where are my clothes?" asked Lucien, almost as an afterthought.
"We had to burn them," said Gord.
"Your vitals are all stable," said Tasha quickly, before Lucien could worry too much. "But the compounds are having some... odd effects on your body chemistry. We're monitoring you constantly."
Lucien groaned as he started to sit up, and found it more difficult than he had anticipated it would be. He felt... strangely heavy. Then he looked down at himself. As he sat upright, his stomach started to churn, and it looked... strangely swollen.
"Now, um, we have kind of a... strange question," said Tasha. "When was the last time you... which is to say, um... have you, in recent times, engaged in... erm..."
"When was the last time you got laid?" said Gord, rolling his eyes as he stepped into Lucien's field of view.
Lucien felt himself blush. "Um, is my private life really-"
"Please answer the question," said Tasha, not quite meeting his eyes.
"...last night," he murmured. "It was just a casual hookup, nothing too special..."
Tasha and Gord shared a look. Lucien's stomach gurgled again.
"...what aren't you telling me?" said Lucien, narrowing his eyes. "The suspense is killing me. Just rip the band-aid off already."
"There's a mirror to your left," said Gord. "Stand up and take a look."
Lucien did so, stretching as he rose. Several things occurred to him as he examined his reflection. The first was that he was naked as the day he was born. But the second thing he noticed, not long after, was the small, round swell that was forming in his stomach. It almost looked like he was...
"...you're fucking with me," he said, putting a hand on his middle. He felt movement within.
"There were some physical changes as well," said Tasha, putting a hand on the bat's shoulder. "I'd say that congratulations were in order if I had a sick sense of humor."
Lucien felt his face flush as a million questions tried to fight their way out of his mouth all at once. The first one in line was "How?!"
"Well," said Tasha. "The chemicals, when mixed with the-"
"Without the technobabble, please," said Lucien, folding his arms. He was feeling warm all over now. Something twitched between his legs, but he ignored it.
"The fungal extracts caused some kind of rapid mutation to your body," said Gord, bluntly as always. "You've now got a functional approximation of a female reproductive system, and the residual DNA from your partner has knocked you up. We're not sure how, we're not sure what other effects it's going to have, and we don't think it's reversible, so we're monitoring your vitals and, basically, waiting to see what happens."
The room went silent enough to hear a pin drop. Lucien sat back down, staring at his reflection. He still felt warm and tingly. His hands ran down his body, over the bump in his middle, down to his groin. As his hands brushed across his genitals, he shivered a bit. They were more sensitive than ever. Curiously, he felt around a bit, trying to think about baseball as he did, until one hand lifted his scrotum up a bit and felt underneath. There was something new there. Something warm, wet, and even more sensitive than his junk.
"...I appreciate the honesty," said Lucien, his features blank. Part of his brain felt like he should be freaking out right about now, but somehow, he... wasn't.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," said Tasha earnestly. "Silverclaw will be covering all your medical expenses and then some. But... with your permission, we'd like to run some more tests. We haven't begun testing the compounds on sapients yet, so if there's anything useful to be found out-"
"So, wait," said Lucien, waving his hands. "You just want to use me as a science project? What makes you think you can just-"
"Silverclaw is prepared to give you a ten thousand dollar bonus in your next paycheck on top of everything if you agree to this," said Gord.
Lucien froze in mid-rant.
"...alright, you can just," he said, nodding. "What do you need me to do?"
"At the moment?" said Gord. "Just sit and wait. And occasionally let us take samples of various bodily fluids."
"...not the weirdest thing I've done for money," said Lucien. He felt his stomach tighten, and a tingling sensation ran down his spine.
"How are you feeling?" said Tasha, coming closer. "Physically, I mean."
"Warm," he said, resting a hand on his belly. "And... um... kind of..."
"Horny?" said Gord, earning him a dirty look from Tasha. Lucien blushed, but nodded.
"Speaking of samples," said Tasha, producing a small plastic cup. "We could use one right now, if you want to... relieve some pressure."
"We'll give you some time alone to take care of that," said Gord, patting Lucien's shoulder. "Push the green button on the wall when you want to call us back."
With that, the two scientists quit the room, leaving Lucien alone with his thoughts. And his arousal. He looked down again. It was just as well that they had left the room when they had, because he already had a semi.
Lucien gave the room a quick scan. There didn't seem to be any cameras or the like in the room.
"Hell with it," he said, flopping back onto the examination table and gripping his hardening member in one fluid motion. The increased sensitivity was still there, so he decided to milk it for all it was worth, rubbing in long, hard strokes. Sighing happily, he closed his eyes and let the pleasure wash over him as his cock grew to its full, modest length.
Lucien stroked lazily for some time, before squeezing tighter and picking up the pace. It had never felt like this before, every sensation magnified. Little jolts of pleasure went down his spine with every stroke, and he was getting so wet...
...wait, wet? Lucien stopped for a moment, confused by this new sensation until he remembered his new part. Right. That was something he would have to get used to.
"No time like the present," he said, lifting his balls aside with his other hand to explore his new orifice.
He started by gently tracing the outer lips, and nearly fell off the table. Was it like this for everybody who had one of those? It was a wonder that they could get anything done at all... patience went out the window, and he quickly went knuckle-deep into his new pussy as he stroked his cock with his other hand.
Lucien was so caught up in the pleasure he was feeling that he completely ignored the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It quivered a bit as Lucien picked up the pace, and there was a sense of... pressure. He didn't slow down until he felt something brush against his arm.
He paused for a moment, looking down at his belly. He gave it a poke. It quivered again, and there was that feeling of pressure as it puffed up, like he was breathing out hard... but it stayed puffed. He swallowed heavily, reaching out for the green button when it happened again, growing out a little bit more. And as it did, he felt that urge again.
The green button could wait. Lucien, driven by some primal desire, needed to feel good now. He started stroking himself again, and it might have been his imagination, but his cock felt like it was growing longer and thicker in his hand. As he stroked, his belly continued to swell. Rather than worry him, the sight of his midsection slowly growing fully and fully only increased his arousal.
The bat let out a moan as he stroked faster, one hand rubbing his belly while the other continued to squeeze his cock. It was growing faster, now, and he swore he could feel something moving inside. He felt heavier all over, too... he leaned up a bit. His cock, which had never been small, was definitely getting bigger in his hand, and beneath it, his balls were swelling too. He let his hand trail downward to give them a caress, and moaned again. Everything felt so damn good... he didn't want to stop!
He started to jerk himself off again, faster and faster, and felt his heart rate increase. Something was definitely building up, and he decided to let it go, letting out a cry as he came, his cock spurting blast after blast of his hot seed onto the floor in front of him. He panted as he fell back, massaging his still-swelling belly as his head spun. When Lucien could see straight again, he looked down. His cock was still rock-hard, and what's more, it had nearly doubled in length and girth, sitting atop a pair of balls the size of grapefruits.
Lucien reached over for that button again... and stopped. He, after all, hadn't gotten Tasha that sample she had wanted. It was currently all over the floor.
"Guess I'll just have to make more," said Lucien, grinning to himself and gripping his cock, as once again, his belly started to pulse.
~*~
"He's been in there for almost an hour," said Gord, looking at his watch. "How long does it take to fill a cup?"
"He's going through a lot," said Tasha, drumming her pen impatiently. "We need to give him some time to process it."
The two of them looked at the door. Gord's watch beeped as the hour came and went.
"I think that's enough processing for now," he said, making for the door.
"I'm inclined to agree," said Tasha. She stepped up to the exam room and swiped her keycard on the door. "Hey, Lucien, how are you-"
The two of them stared in dumbstruck silence at the vision before them.
If there had been any doubts as to Lucien's state, they were now dispelled. His belly could not be mistaken for anything but a pregnancy, swollen up to the size of a beach ball. And if that wasn't enough, it would move periodically, as its contents wriggled around. But that wasn't all that was different about him. His hips and rear end had grown along with the belly; they were so wide now that they only just stayed on the table. And between his newly-thickened legs were a pair of balls almost as big as his belly, above which was a penis whose length would have made a bull elephant stop and gawk, fully erect and periodically twitching. Drops of thick, green-tinged come continued to steadily drip to it... which explained what Gord had just stepped in.
"...Lucien?" said Gord. "Are... are you okay?"
"I'm better than okay," he said languidly, running a hand across his middle. "I feel fantastic!"
The two scientists shared a look.
"Well then," said Tasha, "I'm just going to... take some samples."
"Take whatever you need," said Lucien, sighing happily as Tasha walked up to him. She pulled a stethoscope off a nearby rack and slipped it on, placing one end on his belly, which twitched as soon as she touched it.
"There's definitely something in here," she said, moving it around. "And it's active too."
"Yeah," said Lucien, leaning forward a bit. "It's started moving around a lot in the last few... oof!"
He suddenly winced, leaning forward as his belly tightened, pushing outwards again, but this time, rather than tightening, the pressure seemed to release somewhat. He spread his legs wipe as a gush of thick fluid poured out from beneath his engorged scrotum, splashing onto the floor below.
"What... what was that?" said Lucien. His belly was steadily pulsating now, in and out, and every few seconds, he felt all of his muscles tense up.
"I think your water just broke," said Gord, trying to peer between Lucien's legs, with little success.
Lucien winced again, spreading his legs apart as far as he could.
"We need to call somebody," said Tasha, tossing the stethoscope aside.
"No!" said Lucien. "I... I need to push! Right now!"
Before either of them had a chance to react, Lucien tensed up again. Instincts he never knew he had were telling him what to do, and he listened to them, taking a deep breath and bearing down as hard as he could. Another gush of fluids came forth from his nethers. "It's coming!" he cried. "Oooh, it's comiiing!"
"Don't just stand there," said Tasha, grabbing one of Lucien's legs. "Help him!"
Gord followed his superior's lead, grabbing ahold of Lucien's other leg and, with Tassha's help, spreading them as far apart as they could. Lucien, in turn, scooted forward a bit more, letting his groin slide off the edge of the table. He moaned again as he pushed, feeling something move inside of him.
"Does... does it hurt much?" said Gord, as Lucien rested between pushes.
"N-No," said Lucien, his tongue lolling out. "Feels... feels good!" With that, he took another breath and pushed again, his stomach tightening.
"I can feel it!" he cried. "It's coming out! Help me... catch it!"
Tasha relinquished her place at Lucien's side and knelt down in front of him, trying not to think too hard about what it was she was kneeling in. With some care, she lifted his balls up, where indeed, a head covered in green-tinged hair, the same color as Lucien's, was almost fully crowned. Lucien moaned as he pushed again, the baby slipping out further and further. Right above it, his cock throbbed anew.
"Keep going, you've almost got it," said Tasha, as the head slipped further out, inch by inch.
Lucien reached down, groping his balls and rubbing his cock as he pushed and pushed, feeling the baby slip out of him, more and more. Every one of his senses was afire with ecstasy, and he didn't want it to ever end. But finally, he felt his cock erupt once more with his latest push, and in one final torrent of birthing fluids, the baby slipped free.
"It's out!" said Tasha, standing up from between Lucien's legs with a little bundle wrapped in her lab coat. "It's a girl. A little baby bat girl."
Weakly, Lucien got up and looked at the little squirming bundle. It was, indeed, a black-furred baby bat. She looked up at her, her eyes the same color as Lucien's. He smiled.
"There are so, so many things we still have to learn about this stuff," said Gord, as he swabbed up samples of the various fluids strewn about the room and put them into test tubes. "You've been through a lot, but we'd appreciate any help you could give."
Lucien looked down at his newborn daughter, then around at the mess he had made, and finally back to Tasha and Gord. He only had one question for them.
"Can I do that again?"