FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Looking back on the situation, Dee wondered if there was a possibility of a solution that could have resulted in a better outcome than what she had managed to accomplish. What had started out as a simple, routine checkup on a refueling depot had somehow managed to turn into a disaster. She laid flat on the cold metal interior of the robot that had managed to capture her, slightly twisting her torso and wishing that the mechanical beast hadn't been programmed with enough intelligence to remove her prosthetic limbs; she was truly helpless without them, and that knowledge both angered her and made her feel more than a little hopeless. After all, all that she could do was lay there and wait for the next Virtual Reality Simulation to begin -- at least the designers of the bot were kind enough to include that feature. Still... if she could choose to view anything, it would be to review the events that had taken place prior to her abduction-maybe if she could see them all again, she could understand where she had gone wrong...

Maybe if she could understand that, she would be able to figure out a way to escape.

"Thoughts recognized-scanning for memory data." The clean, robotic voice that she had heard every time the VR Simulations started spoke out again. Dee frowned slightly as she felt a groggy haze overtake her. "Memory scan successful. Virtual Reality Simulation beginning in ten seconds."

Another twist of her torso and Dee simply resigned herself to the fact that she was once more going to be subjected to whatever whim the being responsible for the robot's programming had... if they hadn't coded the robots with the capacity to devise their own.

"Nine... eight...seven..."

At least, if the robot really did have the programmed intelligence to stimulate her memories, she would be able to review and assess the situation-perhaps she would be able to ascertain a means of escape...

"Six... five... four..."

Even if she couldn't, it would be nice to imagine for a moment that she wasn't trapped on this cold floor, helpless, limbless... all because she had wanted to create a colony away from all the troubles that had been happening on New Attica. For a moment, her heart gave a lurch-she hoped that her crew was doing better than she was; surely there weren't any more of these damnable robots floating around?

"Three... two..."

There had to be a way out of this... there just had to... Dee knew that she just had to factor in every moment, and something would come to her. It had to...

"One... Initializing Memory Recollection simulation now."

---

"What do you mean, there's a problem with the fuel depot? What kind of feedback readings are we talking about...?" Dee's hand came to her hip and a frown graced her features. The rat had honestly hoped that there wouldn't be any major problems with the colonization initiative that they had funded -- the plans had already been mapped out. They were scheduled for a routine maintenance and check-up within the next few weeks. Still, to hear that there were faulty sensors or issues with the depot itself...

"I don't know what could be causing it," Foo's ears twitched back and forth for a moment, and then he handed Dee the sheet of paper, "But it looks like there has been some kind of interference with the equipment. It could be something as simple as some sort of debris from the asteroid belt..."

"But you know that we're going to have to check on it." Dee gave another small sigh-she hadn't intended on going until the colonization ship was at full capacity; she wanted to take the entire crew. However, she knew that a smaller ship could be ready to go within a few days. They had been tinkering around with building scale models of a full colonization ship, mainly the engine at full size with the rest of the ship at a one-tenth scale. Though she would have rather waited for the actual launch expedition... she knew what she was going to have to do.

"Foo, can you tell the others that we're going to have to form a small party to go and see what's going on with the readings?" As she said it, the pony let his mouth curve into a little lilt of a grin. Dee couldn't help herself, "What's so amusing?"

"Nothing... but you know they're going to argue about who gets to go, since the TinCan will only offer life support for four. You are thinking about running one of the scale ships out there, aren't you?"

"Well," Dee gave a small grin, "It does kill two birds with one stone. It's all right though," She waved at Foo, signaling him to follow her so they could round up the rest of the nakama. Foo was right, there was going to be a bit of an argument about who got to go and who would stay to monitor the situation from ground side. "Maybe we can play for it..." A game of Diplomacy could always be enjoyed, after all...

---

"I still don't think it's fair that Foo just gets to go," Fum grumbled slightly, which caused the anteater beside him to give the lion a long look.

"Why do you complain? You're going as well." Zot shook her head slowly, her peaceful expression perhaps even more tranquil due to the fact that she was also a part of the team.

"Because he didn't have to trade off a week of sex just to get his berth on the ship?" Though the words were phrased as a question, they also seemed to be answered with Fum's tone.

"If you catch the error reports instead of bartering yourself for sexual favors," Foo gave a playful grin, "Maybe you'll get an auto slot on the crew next time." And before Fum could say anything else, Foo added for extra measure, "And no thoughts of revenge, you know I'm right."

"You know he'll be plotting it anyway," Bletch made his comment almost thoughtfully as he finished putting away the thought stimulation cap that he had just used, which had secured him his own spot in the little expedition team. The others had already disbanded, going their own way to make sure that everything was prepared for the departure of the team.

"As much as I'd like to continue to listen to this little pout fest," Dee interrupted as she gave Fum a long look, "I think we have more important things to worry about... like getting prepared? I want to leave within the week."

"We're honestly lucky that we had the prototypes ready to be modified for the venture," Bletch mused. "It's almost like it was fated to begin with. I knew there was a probability, but I hadn't really thought that it would come up so quickly."

Dee gave a small nod. In truth, there had been a very optimistic part of the rat that had held genuine hope that they wouldn't have to do any preliminary expeditions. She wanted everything to return clear so that they could begin their colonization. Though she didn't say it aloud, the thought of a peaceful place to live was just...

"Just out of reach, but I'll get there yet." She muttered the words under her breath, which caused her crew to look at her. Giving a grin, she gave a little wave of her hands. "Get to work!" Chiding them for just standing there, she turned and left herself-she had to make sure that all components of her taur suit were functional, since she intended to wear it for the excursion.

---

The functionality of her taur suit would be more than helpful on this trip, and the rat found herself glad that she'd put it through its paces and familiarized herself with its operation to be sure that it would be more of a help than a hindrance. The day of their expedition's launch was looming over her head, and Dee found herself going over each and every detail of the TinCan, of the error report, of her crew and their duties-she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding every time she looked at the tenth-scale ship and thought of where it was destined to travel soon. However, she shook it off, determined to make absolutely that everything went smoothly for the launch of the expedition; Dee wasn't going to let anything stop her from attaining her goal.

Dee, however, found sleep eluding her on the night prior to their scheduled launch date. Perhaps it was the sound of the feral-robotic hand that she had taken as a type of pet. It was ticking back and forth across her desk, pacing almost as though it could sense her emotions; of course, that was ridiculous-after all, robotics were not pets, they could not sense their master's distress. Perhaps it was the fact that she continued to pore over every detail of the upcoming mission.

The course was plotted. They would reach the refueling station with minimum interference.

The ship was completely fueled and all systems had tested as 'go' for launch. With the schematics breaking down the mass of the TinCan to five percent engine, five percent command and control, living space, and life support for the crew, and the remaining majority for the fuel tank, Dee knew that they had prepared their most efficient ship for the task. Her taur-suit had been thoroughly tested; she would be able to forego using any of the gear on the ship.

The reports had been read numerous times-the exact location from which the error had occurred was mapped, charted... and only a short walk from their destination airlock. As soon as the errors were evaluated and solved, all systems would be go for full-scale colonization.

However, regardless as to how many times she went over the details in her mind... she couldn't shake that impending feeling of trouble that tugged at the back of her mind. Giving a small groan, she turned, letting one hand form a fist to punch her pillow before closing her eyes again. She had to get to sleep... she wasn't going to be at full capacity to function for tomorrow's launch, otherwise.

"... one more thing to add to the check list-rested crew to make sure that things ran smoothly..." She muttered the words aloud as the tick-tick of the robotic hand seemed to sound in agreement.

---

"Prepare for launch in ten... nine... eight... seven..."

Dee's hands came up to make sure that she was securely strapped into her seat-the countdown sounding over the TinCan's intercom system ringing loudly in her ears. The seat that had been modified to properly house her taur prosthetic form was more comfortable than she had expected... though, her organic back was stiff from a night of tossing and turning; everyone else seemed bright eyed and ready to go-Dee didn't say a word about her misgiving thoughts the night prior.

"Six..initiate main sequence..four...three.."

"This is exciting, isn't it? It's been a while since we've been out on an expedition like this one." She could hear Foo's voice in her headset, and she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. It seemed as though she was the only one who was anxious about the trip. The others seemed to be absolutely stoked that the launch was happening. Dee turned her head, letting one hand push a few strands of blue hair from her face.

"Yeah, it'll be good to check progress first hand." She gave the pony a small smile. Even Zot was uncharacteristically cheerful-her usually Zen-like behavior had momentarily been dropped, Dee could see it in the sparkle of her eyes as the countdown went on.

"Main engine start.."

Dee's hands gripped tight to her chair as she felt the first vibrations of the engine kicking on.

"One...Launch."

That looming feeling made itself known one last time before a shout from Fum ("Here we go!") pushed it aside. After all... the rat did love the times when she could venture into space; she loved the openness of it, the silence, the calm and still atmosphere.

'There's nothing to worry about.'

As that thought passed through her mind, the thrusters of the spacecraft gave lift and the rest of the nakama watched as the ship lifted up, pushed past the atmosphere... and winked out of sight.

---

It was an uneventful trip, the flight to the refueling station. She'd figured that it would be as much. Dee and the nakama aboard spent their times playing smaller games of Diplomacy (Fum managed to sell himself as a sex slave to Dee for an entire week-but, of course, that was a completely different story)... they had gone over graphs and charts, checked their docking procedures, and recorded information about the flight logs of the smaller scale ship. Just as she had thought, the ship worked perfectly. They encountered no errors, and nothing of note, save for a trip that seemed to take entirely too long.

Things truly became interesting as they approached the refueling station. Though she'd seen charts and photographs, the actual sight of the automated complex coming into view caused Dee to appreciate what robotics could really do. Since there was no way for any ship to make it from new Attica to the asteroid belt, they had been forced to construct a refueling depot at mid-point; the fact that it had been completely built by robots was what caused Dee's amazement. It was huge-large enough for people to live on it, had they so chosen... however, it was just a way-point on the journey to somewhere much better. Dee's eyes flickered across the metal surface, and for just a moment she imagined her new home... away from the struggles of Earth and New Attica.

That image in her mind was enough to make her anxious to land, eager to figure out the problem... ready to get back to New Attica... determined to see her new home after.

"Is everything clear for the docking sequence?" The rat turned to ask Bletch as the ship slowly began to descend towards the metal surface of the station. She busied herself as she asked with checking her taur suit to make sure that all systems were completely functional. The fox gave a nod, eyes scanning over the panels as they continued to narrow the distance.

"All systems are green. Atmosphere is stable, oxygen levels are survivable. We're clear to touch down."

Dee gave a small nod, her voice ringing out stronger. "Everyone pack up and get ready -- let's get on, get things fixed, and get ready to leave." Her voice was hopeful-visions of her new home still danced brilliantly in her mind as the rat turned her gaze forward to the metal landing dock that was rapidly drawing closer.

---

Though Dee had intended to be the first to step off of the ship... it seemed that Fum had picked this as the day to get his revenge-perhaps it was because Dee spent some of their flight time collecting on her winnings from their game of Diplomacy; after all, a girl had to exercise her appetites, and since Fum owed her the sex, she didn't see why she couldn't collect while en-route.

Perhaps it was simply that today was the day that Fum had woken up and realized that he had yet to get his revenge... and the rat knew that the lion was tenacious about such things. Regardless, it seemed that they had no sooner landed than Fum dashed out of the ship, half bounding. Both Dee and Zot looked at one another-the lion was foolish... though the error reports had turned up nothing about the artificial atmosphere and gravity , that didn't mean that it was okay to simply take it at face value. However, Fum was their test subject... because he seemed to hit the ground with a slight bounce and come out just fine.

"Come on in, the water's great!" His voice was cheery, but at the same moment that he waves jauntily... it seemed that he lost his footing on some slick, metallic looking liquid. The lion fell flat on his ass with a confused look on his face. Be any of the crew had time to say or do anything (other than a brief laugh from Bletch), the liquid gave motion and snaked it's way up Fum's body. The lion clawed, but it seemed to simply slip through his fingers... and slid beneath the collar of his suit. Fum gave a wide-eyed expression of horror and continued to claw at his chest.

"What is it? Get it off of me!" And again, with no regard to any malfunctions in the atmosphere, Fum jerked his shirt open, ripping his breathing apparatus from his mouth as he did so. One deep gulp of breath gave Dee a sense of satisfaction that the artificially produced oxygen was certainly breathable, and then the rest of the crew was running from the ship to help their companion.

The liquid had settled into two bubbles over Fum's nipples. It seemed that as they watched, it attempted to take on the color of his fur as best it could. The liquid, still metallic, seemed to sink into his flesh and then settle... Dee watched as his nipples turned argent in color while the lion pawed at his chest in distress. However, his fingers seemed to have no effect on the material. In fact, it seemed as though it had completely fused with his skin.

"What in the hell was that?" Bletch asked, looking curiously at Fum's chest. Though the situation was certainly serious, as Zot stepped forward to scan Fum's vitals, they were all relieved to find that everything appeared completely normal. The anteater continued to check all vitals for the next five minutes as they stood, waiting to see if something was going to happen. Dee couldn't help but wonder if this was part of the reason that their reading had turned up errors... what was that material?

Quicksilver? No... how could anything foreign have found its way to the depot, to begin with?

"My nipples are itching..." Fum seemed more prone to pouting than worrying about his body, as though he were more pissed that his revenge had ended up costing him some type of alien molestation than anything else. Though Dee didn't like any member of her crew being harmed... she couldn't help but to think that it was a good lesson for the lion to never be too hasty.

"I see no unnatural symptoms-nothing is reading differently on his body. It's as though whatever the material was has completely infused with his makeup." Zot's wise voice seemed to be a final call that they could continue on with their mission as she stepped back from Fum. The lion gave his nipples another rub and then winced.

"There's something wrong with them, they're so sensitive!"

"Maybe you shouldn't promise yourself as a sex slave to Dee next time -- does she take it too rough on you?" Bletch gave another grin, which earned him a swat from the lion. However, giving his nipples one last rub, he refastened his suit.

"Zot, can you keep your eye on him. If anything starts to go wrong... we need to head back to the ship. Otherwise... let's finish what we came to do so we can get home. Fum, we'll have your... ah..." She gave his chest a small look and then laughed very softly, "Argent nipples analyzed further back on the ship and when we get back to New Attica."

Fum did nothing other than to give her a dirty look; Dee knew that she deserved it for the small sound of laughter in her tone... but really, Fum shouldn't have jumped out of the ship without thinking...

---

They had walked for a few minutes before Zot mentioned something. The anteater, who had been keeping a close eye on Fum as though she could sense something, suddenly stopped the party with her soft voice that rang clearly through the artificial air. "Fum, I think there's something wrong with your chest."

The lion, who had been complaining under his breath since they had started walking, stopped and looked down in horror as though he were terrified to see what Zot was speaking of. Dee's own eyes traveled to the same path, and the sight before her was enough to make her let out another snicker-as far as horrors went, this one was pretty funny.

"... what in the Hell is this?" Fum's voice was outraged-the lion pulled his shirt from his chest once again... and the sight that met his crew was enough to make everyone start laughing softly under their breath... "Breasts?!"

Little A-cup breasts were forming on his chest... their little silver nipples were perky in the cool air. Suddenly, Dee realized what the argent liquid had been... Some type of nano-technology that had fused with Fum's very skin... to create breasts. Of all the people that it happened to... it seemed hilarious that it was Fum. Of course, they would work to reverse the process... but now that they knew what it was, it was going to be easier to solve.

She hoped.

The small little voice whispering in her head that it might be a little harder than that gave her a small ounce of worry. The overwhelming feeling of unease from before suddenly flared up. As though to feed it, as she watched, Fum's new nipples grew harder... and before her eyes his breasts seemed to expand.

"They're growing? Zot! You have to stop this! I can't have breasts."

Bletch's voice rang out softly, though the snigger could be heard easily, "You might be able to barter your body away even easier with the new features."

The lion looked as though he were going to kill Bletch. He actually made to charge him. Zot, however, stepped in front of Fum as though to stop him from making a foolish mistake; Dee watched everything that transpired from there in slow motion.

Fum tried to stop mid-charge, but it seemed that both his momentum, and the fact that his breasts gave another near quiver before expanding to what had to be at least a D-cup, sent him tumbling straight forward and into the anteater who stood like a great wall. The rat watched as that great wall toppled straight over, flying back three feet before landing on her back on the ground. It was only after her landing that Dee noticed the puddle of liquid-y black material. For a moment, Dee simply hoped that it was some oil... something that had somehow managed to spill a few hundred feet away from the refueling station. However, she watched with widened eyes as the liquid gave an almost human shudder and curled around Zot's legs like an alien lover. Showing no resistance, it began to slip and dissolve through the material of her pants-Dee could tell that it was touching the flesh below as Zot quickly unfastened her garments and pushed them down with grace and a lack of humiliation that only the anteater would possess. Just as Dee had thought, the black liquid was now curled around Zot's thighs.

"Zot, get it off of you!" Dee's voice was both alarmed and concerned. Fum pushed himself up just as quickly, scrambling and trying to use his already half removed shirt to wipe the liquid from Zot's legs before it was too late. The liquid, however, seemed to have other plans -- as though it had initiated some type of sequence that it had been priorly programmed for, it curled straight around Zot's thighs, easily slipping around the fabric of Fum's shirt, and headed straight for the opening between her legs.

"Oh my G-" The anteater was cut off as her eyes flared wide. No amount of Zen like grace could stop the gasp of half horror, half pleasure that escaped her throat as the black liquid slipped into the opening of her core and seemed to fill and expand every inch of her body. Dee saw it swirl out along the folds of her vagina, curling up over the little bud of her arousal... before stopping. Zot fell back against the ground, her back arching as though the feeling of the invasion was both the most horrible and most pleasurable thing the anteater had ever experienced.

"Zot, what do you want me to do?" Fum seemed unsure of himself. Bletch, who was now beside them, seemed to have the same expression. There was nothing that they could do without first fondling the anteater. Zot was still writhing on the ground and letting out small moans. However, she seemed to compose herself after a moment, pushing up to her elbows and gazing down the length of her body.

"It's not... doing anything." Zot sounded slightly breathless, but composed nonetheless. Dee approached her, coming to kneel beside her.

"It's not moving?"

"No, it seemed to mold to the shape of my body and just... stop." Zot slowly let her fingers trail between her legs to give the black liquid a small prod. It rippled, and that ripple sent Zot arching and falling back again. A long, low moan escaped her throat, and then she let herself lay completely still. "I do not think that it would be wise for me to move until we figured out how to remove this."

Dee frowned slightly-it was obvious that they weren't going to make it to their destination... then again, it was just as obvious as to what had caused the error readings. There were things that had somehow managed to creep their way onto the refueling station; if any of those liquids had somehow worked its way into the gears, the fuel stations.. any of the more intricate components... it would have easily given off an error reading. The only thing that Dee was now concerned with was getting her crew off of the platform before something else strange happened. She looked between Zot, who was laying perfectly still on the ground now, to Fum, who seemed to be sporting a DD-cup bosom. There was no way that she was going to leave them alone with just themselves. At the same time, she didn't want them coming back to the ship with her; Zot couldn't move... and what if it was movement that was making Fum's breasts grow? Her eyes then shifted to Bletch, and the rat knew what she needed to do.

One hand came up, brushing blue hair from her gaze before touching her ringed ear for a moment as though in contemplation. "Bletch, can you stay here and watch these two? I'm going to run back to the ship and send a message to New Attica, and then I'll come back with stretchers."

"Dee, I don't think you should go alone." Zot's voice even came out more careful than usual, as though she were truly afraid of even speaking aloud. However, Dee was having none of it.

"There's no way you can move, and I'm not going to risk Fum getting so large that he can't even fit into the ship-"

"Hey!"

"So what I need you two to do is just sit still... we've found the problem in the refueling station... we need to find a way to remove this liquid... That's all that there is to it. I'm not risking anything happening to the two of you just so that we can get to the colony sooner." Her compassion for her crew seemed to show clearly through her voice for a moment, and it was that compassion that caused them to cave. She looked to Bletch for a moment, and the fox gave a nod.

"I'll protect them. You just hurry back. We can't have any of this happening to you, too."

Dee gave a small grin, "You can practically see the ship from here. If I start screaming, you come running, hm?" As she said that, Dee began to retreat.

It was only as she looked back, and saw the seriously concerned expression on three faces that she realized how high the possibility was of such a thing happening. The feeling from New Attica, the one that had her stomach twisted into knots and her entire body feeling sick... it had returned in full force. She just wanted everyone safe and back on the ship. Whatever was going on, it needed to be handled... and quickly.

By keeping her eyes open and her senses alert, Dee made sure that she didn't accidentally trot over any amorphous entities... for that matter, she didn't see any suspicious puddles of liquid on her way back. It was too much to hope that there had only been two of them, and that they had (albeit in a horrible way) managed to isolate them so that the contamination of the refueling depot could be handled quickly and efficiently. Still, the possibility was there; analysis of the substance would give them a better idea of its properties, which would allow them to scan the depot to make sure that each and every trace of contamination was eradicated.

The ship was already in view, and Dee was happy to see that she wasn't growing extra breasts, nor had she been filled and invaded with liquid. On the contrary, the rat was moving along at a full out run, and nothing had harmed her as of yet. She managed to board the ship with no trouble, though she checked her entire frame first to make sure that no liquid particles had somehow managed to travel along with her. Once she was satisfied, she opened the door.

As the door was closing and the shadows began to engulf her, something sprang from the darkness. Dee, in a very uncharacteristic manner, let out a small scream and brought her hands up to defend herself immediately... and just as soon felt utterly foolish-the robotic hand that she had brought with her (it had practically refused to stay home) simply crawled up her body and wrapped itself around her shoulders like any small pet would do. She gave a small little laugh, glad that no one had come with her simply so that there had been no witnesses to that scream, and then made for the communication center on the ship.

It took no time at all for Dee to punch in a message to send back to New Attica and the rest of her nakama. It was short, and to the point:

Some type of liquid nannite-based infestation on the refueling depot has to be the cause of the error reports. The liquid seems to fuse with organic hosts. We will bring back samples so that it can be further analyzed. Prepare for emergency removal upon our return.

-Dee

As soon as the message sent, she made her way to the medical bay and grabbed two of the stretchers there-they would unfold and help Bletch and herself to get Zot and Fum safely back onto the ship... and then they would simply have to put them into an isolation holding cell until they got back to New Attica, so that whatever it was on their bodies wouldn't spread. They would get everything figured out, eradicated the menace to the fueling depot, and be to the new colony before the end of the year. She kept telling herself this over and over, and in doing so, managed to calm that feeling in the pit of her stomach so that she ventured outside of the ship with her confidence fully restored.

It was perhaps that overconfidence that caused her not to notice the odd shadow cast from the ship to begin with. Elongated, stretching further than it should have... Dee took a step out of the ship, scouring the ground for any sign of liquid puddles.

It was only after the fact that she realized she should have been looking up.

Metallic tentacles stretched out and grabbed hold of her from behind before Dee could even think to have a reaction. She let out one loud, long yell of fury and started to beat at the tentacles with her hands. It seemed as though she offended whatever the thing was, because five more tentacles sprang forward, these with smaller and more intricate attachments. They slipped around her arms and she felt the smaller attachments work for a moment before the very unpleasant sensation of her limbs being removed overwhelmed her. Her legs kicked for a moment, and she let out another scream.

"Bletch! Fuck!" That was as far as she got, however, because the tentacles shifted her body so that she was pointed head first at the bottom of the machine. Whatever it was, it was as big... and she could see a whole gaping in front of her, looming and dark; glints of moisture caught on the lights of the ship, and Dee had one more chance to start a scream-she thought she heard the faint shouts of her crew as well-before she felt herself being pushed head first into that darkness.

It was the strangest sensation that she had ever felt. there was no resistance of her arms, since they had been unattached-when she tried to kick her legs, she realized that they had also been removed from her frame during her struggle. Dee could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed horror as the dripping core of the machine slowly began to suck her inside of it. She felt her head and then shoulders suck inward as the reverse contractions pulled at her; whatever metal the machine was made of from the outside, the inside seemed to be a construction of liquid filled sacs, maneuvered by the machines to pull her further inward. Her nose twitched at the smell of disinfectant-she could only imagine that the liquid inside of the machine's sacs leaked out slowly to make sure that whatever it brought inside of it was completely sanitized.

Dee wanted to scream, but she was afraid to open her mouth. She twisted her limbless torso as best she could, but it seemed to only help with the suction. Pulse after pulse, the contractions slowly sucked her body upward so that she could feel the warm and wet channels of the machine sucking her further and further inside. She felt it as her torso slid completely inside of the machine, until all that was left was her tail-she tried desperately to grip at something... to do anything to stop herself from sliding inside of the machine... but she found no purchase. Instead, she found herself being pulled further into the channel like some oddly reversed breach birth.

She had no idea how deep the tunnel that sucked her up was, nor how long it took for her to be lifted through it. She could feel the cushioned, water-filled sacs continually working and convulsing around her-she had no wiggle room, no space to do anything really other than to feel herself slide up along the channel towards the unknown destination. However, finally, she felt her head break free of the pulsing walls. Her eyes opened wide, trying to see anything that she could-the clear liquid that surrounded her was thick, heavy... and as soon as her head burst through, more mechanical arms sprang forward from the inside-she felt tubes being pushed past her lips as a breathing apparatus was placed in her mouth so that she wouldn't drown in the fluids. The discomfort of feeling another tube gliding further inside of her until it hit what she could only imagine was her stomach made her want to wretch. However, her body was finally pushed inward completely and she found herself floating through the liquid (because try as she might, she couldn't swim) to the bottom of the container. She was fastened in place by a length of metal wrapping around her tail...

"Subject acquired. Initiating body scan now-insemination process in progress." Dee wanted to open her mouth, to scream out her rage and protest... but she could do nothing as another one of the mechanical arms sprang from the underside of the artificial womb and articulated toward her body. Her clothing was cut away from her frame and neatly piled into the corner... and as she watched in horror, the arm returned with a narrow tube in its grip. She felt pressure for a moment between her legs, and then did scream, causing bubbles to fly up and through the liquid surrounding her as the breathing apparatus on her face expelled the air. The tube was inserted into her core. She felt hot liquid being poured up the channels of her vaginal walls and straight to her uterus.

"Insemination process completed. Subject is detained and will be held for further study during gestation period."

Gestation? Insemination... this thing was trying to get her pregnant? What in the Hell was going on?!

The rat tried to twist her body, but found herself completely immobile. Her voice came out authoriative and curt, "Release me!"

Nothing.

"Initiate captive release sequence!"

Again, nothing.

"God damn, it let me go you beast!"

Nothing...

Dee had found herself well and truly trapped. She was full of disdain as she watched a pile of body parts that she knew to be her limb being pushed through the channel as well and then neatly piled in the corner of the large, liquid filled room.

---

"Memory Retrieval Sequence ending now... scan complete-subject is non-fertile. Hormonal treatment will begin now. Decontamination levels at 100%."

The smooth, mechanical voice that traveled so smoothly through the liquid of her prison poured through her ears. Dee was snapped back to reality. Only a few short hours had passed since she had been abducted... she had hoped that her crew would have found a way to rescue her by now... but she hadn't heard anything. Other than that, nothing had transpired-she felt neither hunger nor thirst, but she equated that to the tube that had been slipped into her stomach... it was obviously feeding her some type of nutrient. For that matter, she had felt no urges to relieve herself-the mechanical arms had tubes for everything.

She had only had time to think about everything that had transpired since their landing... and Dee had come up with a few conclusions. This machine and everything that she had found was obviously some part of pregnancy experiment. The artificial breasts were self explanatory -- she could only wonder if poor Fum was lactating... and the liquid that had attacked Zot had filled her inner channels and taken a mold that was... well, and exact replica of the robot that now held her captive.

It was all so obvious now. It was really just a shame that she hadn't been able to put two and two together before she'd gone and gotten herself captured.

She let her eyes drift open as the virtual reality head set was removed from her face... her gaze slipped to the pile of limbs that would have helped her to escape so easily. Ten toes, fifteen fingers...

Wait... Fifteen?

Dee suddenly realized something-two legs and three hands were laying in that pile! Her voice rang out through the apparatus, "I am so stupid!"

As though the hand had been waiting for her acknowledgment, or as though it had been offended by the entire process, it finally seemed to perk up.

"Come here, please? Come on... Good hand..." The fingers twitched, drumming against the floor through the liquid... and then slowly it began to work its way in an odd waving, near-swimming motion towards Dee. The rat could have cried from relief...

It worked until it was against her chest, and Dee was glad to see that the mechanics of the robot didn't seem to care about the motion. The hand itself seemed restless to see its master kept as she was... however, it all seemed thrilled to see that her arms were no longer attached. It sidled up her body and worked itself up against the bare joint, much like a cat rubbing against its master... and then, it began to attach itself to Dee's frame.

Dee laid there quietly, not fighting the motion, not wanting to give the robot any alert to what was happening. It took a few minutes, but she could feel the fingers flex, though they then wanted to move to rub against her own face-she knew how odd it must look... a hand attached to the stub of her arm... but the fact that she had something to trip with now... she felt hopeful.

"Shh, behave and I promise when we get out of this, you can sleep in the bed with me for the rest of your existence."

She began to think of the most logical way to get out of the situation that she was in. Contrary to what would have happened in any popular story, there wasn't simply a motherboard with the words "Eject" in big red letters. She had to think...

The system seemed completely focused on keeping things sanitary, keeping conditions perfect. She was honestly afraid that moving too much would simply cause the machine to remove her limb again... and find a more secure way to keep her stationary. She certainly didn't want that.

Of its own volition, the hand began to drum sharp nails against the floor... she shook her wrist, trying to get it to stop, and then was met with a sharp feeling of pain as claws raked for a moment at her bare side. They could have easily drawn blood, but it was more of a warning bite, like one would receive from a pet that they had irritated.

"You little son of a..." She began to growl at the hand... but then the realization of how she could escape dawned on her so quickly that she wanted to kiss it. Without giving the machine time to process her new situation any longer, Dee sat up as well as she could in one quick movement and focused all of her strength into punching straight through the skin of the floor with the hand. She knew that it was a long shot, that there was a chance that she couldn't penetrate... or that it would simply close itself back up...

But she had to try!

She felt her hand meet the eerily human-like sac of the 'womb'... and then she felt her claws dig in. Using the strength of the mechanical arm, she pressed harder... and gave a shout of triumph as she felt her nails slice through and watched as the liquid of the sac began to drain through the small hole that she had made.

On cue, the mechanical voice began to sound.

"Warning, warning. System breach-contamination levels at 20%! Fluid levels decreasing! Abort subject and return for repairs!"

She didn't have time to think, let alone react -- in a great, nearly vacuum-like rush, the liquid around her began to pull forward, back through the channel that had sucked her up only moments prior. She felt herself give a jolt, watched as her unattached limbs spun wildly in the moving liquid... and then found herself being pushed, bottom first, back through the channel as the breathing apparatus and tubs were nearly ripped from her throat in a painful jerk.

She could only hold her breath and tuck her hand tight against her chest as she was expelled-the process was much faster, like a toilet flushing water down pipes. Before she knew it, she felt her tail and bare cheeks hit the air, and then felt her body tumbling down... down...

It was only then, with her eyes shut tight, that she realized she had no idea how far from the ground she was.

She was answered quickly, however, as she fell with a loud 'oomph!' as the artificial air in her lungs rushed out of her. She gasped, breathing in gulp after gulp of air... and opening her eyes. The sight that she was met with made her want to laugh...

Liquid drenched and looking shocked, Bletch stood in front of her. From the door of the ship (which it seemed she hadn't moved from) she could see Fum standing there... with breasts that came to nearly E-cups. The sight was so funny that she began to laugh aloud.. and found that she couldn't stop.

"Did it drive her insane?" She could hear Fum's voice and the concern that it held... but she kept laughing.

"I don't care!" She felt Fletch pick her up and half drag her onto the ship... Fum darted out and picked something up off of the ground, and in a quick movement, the door was closed behind her and she was safely behind the walls of the ship with her friends.

"What in the Hell happened, Dee? And why is that thing attached to you?!" Bletch's voice seemed to hold panicky-she could assume what had happened.. he had tried to rescue her, but come too late. The robot seemed to have stayed in position, so he had retrieved Zot and Fum and brought them to the ship... and then come out to help her... when she'd all but found herself expelled on top of him.

"I'm so sorry..." She finally managed to suppress her laughter and began to explain what had happened -- Zot, from the corner, still laying on her stretcher, looked on with wide eyes as she did.

---

"I'm sorry that the machine gave birth to me on your head, Bletch..." Dee concluded her story after what seemed a good hour... in that time, Bletch had retrieved a towel for her and began drying her frame off, while wrapping up her exposed torso with another.

"I'm just glad you got out... I didn't know what I was going to do." Dee gave a small, impish grin-the situation could have been so much worse than it was... as it was, she was afraid of what the 'hormonal treatment' that had been initialized was going to do to her body. She wanted to get back to New Attica and have a full checkup.

As it was, there was one more problem. Her head turned and she saw the hand securely attached to her arm... and seemingly pleased as punch with itself. On one... she could hardly think the word, but she did... 'hand'... it had saved her life. On the other, the functionality of not having an arm was truly imposing a problem.

In a soft, cooing voice, she began to speak gently to it. "Listen... you and I need to have a little talk..."

And as though it could sense her motives, it turned, gripping tightly to the fur on her side-if it had eyes, Dee was sure it would have been glaring at her.

From behind the isolation room that both Zot and Fum were in, she heard laughter. Bletch joined in... and Dee gave a small sigh. It looked like they weren't out of the woods just yet...

Still, at least they could handle a rogue hand.

As the hand gripped tighter to her wet fur, she added a little afterthought, as that feeling of dread piqued in her stomach once more...

She hoped....