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Shawn felt something blunt and warm nudge against his lips. Without so much as a thought, he opened his mouth and started reflexively nursing on the thick cock that began rutting slowly against his tongue. Paws from nowhere began rubbing all over his bare body, touching, stroking, groping, gently scratching, and he writhed in bliss against the smooth sheets beneath him. His right paw gripped the dick in his mouth, starting to stroke it lazily, as another rubbed against the knuckles of his left and promptly received a similar treatment. He felt paws under his thighs, and drew his knees up as a third anonymous shaft started nudging at his tailhole… but then, a heavy thud outside caused him to twist and peer out his window at the sight of a gigantic vagina kaiju rampaging across the city.

He awoke with a start, lumps of his comforter clenched in his paws, and spat out the chip clip he'd started fellating in his sleep. Immediately, Jason coalesced next to him.

“Dude, what the heck were you dre-*"

“Do NOT finish that question. Oogh. What time is it?"

“Five forty-two AM. But you went down early; you got plenty of sleep. Looks like your junk is feeling better, at least!"

Shawn reflexively yanked his comforter back over himself to cover his morning wood. The wolf was right, though; the soreness from yesterday was almost completely gone, and he felt himself longing for the scene his dream had put him in before Vagzilla had shown up. He groaned softly, rubbing his eyes. Even to his sleep-fogged mind, the symbolism there seemed pretty clear. He took several moments to try to ground himself in reality before he replied.

“Yeah. I think last night helped. Well, probably the pills, too. Did not expect to wake up horny." He eyed his daemon in the dim light coming in through the window. “Please tell me I didn't do anything too stupid while I was.. elevated."

“Not that I can remember, bro. I was pretty zooted too though, so don't ask me for details!"

The squirrel blinked sleepily. “Wait, how does that even work? You're an AI program. I figured that was just an act."

Jason grinned. “I learned from some of my daemon friends that we can get a kinda similar effect by putting a tighter memory footprint limit on ourselves and tweaking a few parameters. Besides, getting stupid is always more fun with friends, right?"

Shawn remembered with sudden clarity how desperately he'd wished that the illusionary wolf could've spooned him to sleep, and sighed. “Can't argue there." He heaved himself up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and directly onto a bag of corn chips, which he promptly nudged aside. “God, I made a mess…"

“Naw bro, it's not that bad. Some crumbs on the carpet, but I'll get someone to vacuum it up while you're trying out the new game later."

The squirrel felt another twinge of guilt at the idea of anyone having to clean up after his little bender. “When does that open, anyway?"

“Nine, so you've got a few hours to kill. Mother's running a bunch of pre-launch tests now to make sure everything goes off smoothly."

Shawn got to his feet and padded off to the bathroom to start his morning routine. “You can talk to her?"

“Sure I can. She's a daemon, after all. I kinda envy how much memory and processing power she gets. She might as well be a goddess in truth to peons like me!"

“Haha. You've got peon envy." He left the door to the bathroom open, not that it mattered one way or the other with Jason. “So what can you tell me about this game? I should probably start thinking about character classes and stuff."

“Doesn't have 'em!"

The squirrel's ears perked. “It uses a classless system? Don't see that much…"

The wolf's voice carried in from beside the door; he was polite enough to not stare at his assigned mammal on the toilet. “Right? But the way I understand it, rigid structures like that are for balance reasons, to stop folks from getting OP by picking up the best bits of different 'jobs.' Mother can tweak game balance on the fly by data-mining what folks are doing to stop it from getting out of paw. So yeah, you can learn to do whatever you want, just like in real life. Except, you know, with magic, and superhuman feats and stuff."

“What's the setting like? Is there, like, a Big Bad, or an overarching goal or whatever?"

“I only know what I've heard from the playtests; those didn't get into serious plot stuff, it was mostly testing out the interface and basic game systems. I'm not even sure if it's all one continuous world or not. The others tell me that the character creation thing basically has you getting isekai'd, and then she asks you a bunch of questions to figure out your starting abilities and all that. From what I've heard, she kind of builds a plot around the kind of person you want to be in her world. It's like, one third tabletop game, one third freeform storytelling, and one third classic MMO. Not gonna lie, I'm probably as hyped to find out how it actually works as most of the players!"

Shawn felt his curiosity and excitement building by the moment, and his head started buzzing with ideas. Caleb's comment about not finding time to breed once this launched was starting to make a lot of sense. “Do you know how stats and equipment work?"

“Not really! I'm asking around right now, and apparently it mostly hides numbers and such from you to keep it feeling more realistic. But the biggest advice I'm getting from the daemons who saw the playtest is, don't obsess over mechanics and don't try to get us to spoil it for you. It'll be more fun if you go in blind. Just figure out what kind of hero or whatever you wanna be as an Emissary and let Mother fill in the blanks when you get there. Oh, one thing: they tested a thing to let you play as another species the first time, and it didn't work too well. People were getting disoriented and having sensory issues, so they've turned that off for now. You'll still be a hot piece of squirrel. That's about it for expectations!"

“Honestly, that kinda scares me. I'm the kind of guy who reads half the wiki before he signs up for a new MMO. I'm afraid of fucking up my character or being out of theme or something."

Jason poked his head around the corner as Shawn washed his paws. “Adventure, noun. An unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. Are you or are you not gonna be an adventurer today?"

“Okay, okay, I get it!" The squirrel busied himself cleaning up yesterday's mess; he was relieved to find that the salsa, cheese and salami had at least made it to the fridge before he'd passed out. The discovery that he had devoured all of his leftovers was somewhat less welcome. He opened his mouth to ask Jason to order him breakfast, but the last thing the wolf had said was still rattling around in his head. “Is there somewhere near here I could go and get some actual breakfast? Like, bacon and eggs?"

Jason's black tail started wagging at the question. “You bet! There's a Sunny Side Shack just a few blocks from here.Want me to get a Zoomy ready?"

“Nah, I'll walk."

Strolling down the street in his birthday suit was still an utterly surreal experience for Shawn, but he was in good company. Mammals of every description were out for morning jogs in the cool air, scooting down the road on Zoomies, or just lounging about admiring the way the first rays of sunlight made New Dawn's dome glitter far above them, all looking far more comfortable with their nudity than the squirrel had managed to become so far. It seemed plenty were still at home in bed, though; the feeling of faint crowding he had come to expect in Red Quadrant was replaced by a sense of quiet, cozy expectancy that made him feel more at home than he'd managed since moving into the Cradle. Still, his legs hadn't fully recovered from his exertion the day before, and were feeling tense and sore by the time he got to the restaurant. His stomach growled as the indistinctly commingled smells of breakfast surrounded him, and he started toward a stool at the counter before a voice stopped him.

“Yo, Shawn! Over here!" Caleb was sitting in a booth off to his right, waving a paw high in the air to get his attention. Beside him was a husky Shawn hadn't met, and across, with her back to him, a white rabbit turned to look over her shoulder and smiled warmly.

Becca!

Cheeks warming as her face brought back memories of his first night in town, the squirrel waved demurely back at the trio and padded over to join them, sliding in next to the rabbit and curling his tail around into his lap. “Morning, everyone."

“G'morning!" The jerboa was practically vibrating in his seat; a half-empty mug of coffee beside his plate betrayed that his Caffeinated Rodent Issues were in full swing again. “I could barely sleep. PotE launches in just a few hours! Did you sign up?"

“Yeah. Got the last spot, according to my daemon."

“SWEEEEEET! Oh man, we've all gotta get together in there and kick some serious tail. I haven't been this excited since I got my test results! I've got like five months of gaming withdrawal to catch up on!"

Shawn was briefly spared from Caleb's effusive glee by a matronly seal hovering up to take his order, an apron covering her Sunny Side uniform; apparently people who worked for outside businesses didn't get the standard New Dawn jumpsuit after all. Orange juice, eggs over easy, bacon, toast… screw it, throw in a pecan waffle, he was hungry. The thought triggered a memory, and he glanced down at Becca's plate. Make that plates; the rabbit's appetite was apparently greater still, and the knowledge of why gave him a warm glow in his loins.

“...what kinda spec you're going for?"

Oh. He'd spaced out while Caleb was talking. “Come again?"

“Your build! My daemon won't tell me how the system works but I figure we have to at least decide on what we wanna be good at. Me, I'm hoping it lets me make some kind of like, magic archer character. I had a VR archery game back home that I sunk a ton of hours into so that sounds like a blast!"

“I'm not sure yet. I don't even know what the options are. It's hard for me to decide without knowing how the game works." He glanced to his left with a bashful smile. “Are you playing too?"

Becca returned his smile, her little tail wiggling behind her. “Yep! Although I imagine I'll have to take a break in a week or so once I start getting heavy… daddy."

Shawn ducked his head as his ears burned fiercely again, but it didn't spare him from the jerboa's reaction. “What? Oh… omigod SHAWN you put a bun in the bunny?! Is that what you were talking about yesterday?!" The squirrel glanced up at Caleb's hugely grinning face and nodded bashfully, causing the twentysomething bouncemouse to thrust his arms into the air like his sports team had just made a winning play. “Fuck yes dude!"

Beside him, Becca covered a giggle with a paw, as her ears rotated outward a bit. “A bun? Try three." As Caleb let out a delighted hoot (which caused a few disgruntled noises from other customers, many of whom were still struggling to wake up), Becca put a paw on his leg again and leaned in conspiratorially. “I just got the latest tests back when I woke up. Two squirrels…" Her blue eyes glittered playfully. “...and a true hybrid."

Shawn's head shot up at that, his eyes widening. With a few exceptions, pretty much any pair of mammals could reproduce… but in the vast majority of cases, the offspring bred true to one parent or the other. Certain minor attributes could mix freely - the star of Shawn's highschool baseball team had been an antelope with tiger stripes, for instance - but morphologically, most children of interspecies couples were indistinguishable from purebreds. True hybrids were far from unheard of, but when they happened, it was usually from parents of related species. Shawn's class had had a fetter - a ferret/otter hybrid - and he knew that foxes and coyotes tended to have decent success on that front with most other canids, but a squirrel/rabbit hybrid? That was some serious luck.

And 'luck' really was the word for it. Occasionally, true hybrids had health issues, but in the vast majority of cases they proved to be exceptionally vigorous and successful mammals. History was filled with hybrids who'd grown into leaders, scientific geniuses, genre-defining artists and more. A hybrid birth was considered by many to be a blessing… although that did come with a dark side of its own, as society unfairly assumed that a true hybrid was destined for greatness, and a number of them broke under the weight of those expectations. Lara, the fetter from Shawn's high school, had graduated second in their class - but even as she was giving a speech at commencement, there had been no pleasure in her voice, just a kind of grim determination. Shawn had found it chilling.

Caleb and Becca had been chattering excitedly away while Shawn was lost in thought, and he looked up to see the husky eyeing him with a speculative half-smile. Seeing that he had the squirrel's attention, he reached across the table, offering him a paw. “Good work, dude. I hear they pay a bonus for hybrids; whatcha gonna do with it?" As Shawn self-consciously shook his paw, an infobox popped up over his shoulder, green on green.

Matthew Cruz

Breeder

Friendly and easygoing

Generous lover

Puts his friends' needs first

Loves rodents

Not for the first time, Shawn found himself wondering what Jason was telling others about him. Still, the nature of the feedback caused the squirrel to really see the husky for the first time. He looked like typical college jock material - broad shouldered, very nicely muscled - and Shawn found his unusually shaggy fur oddly endearing. He was abruptly glad the table prevented his eyes from straying anywhere suggestive. Oh right, there had been a question.

“Playing a fancy new video game, apparently. If it hadn't been for that first night with Becca, I wouldn't have had the credit to sign up at all!"

“Right on! I've never been much for games, but Caleb wouldn't stop nagging me until I joined." He reached around behind the jerboa and rubbed the back of his head; Caleb didn't even pause in his conversation with Becca.

“So what's that called, anyway? A squabbit? A bunnel?"

Becca swallowed another mouthful of food before replying. “A rabble, apparently. I just found out on my way here."

“That doesn't sound very flattering!"

“What, and 'squabbit' does?" She laughed.

Caleb gulped down the rest of his coffee before it occurred to him that, as the de facto host of this impromptu gathering, he was failing in his social duties. “Oh right! Matt, this is Shawn, he moved in upstairs of me a couple days ago. Shawn, this is Matt. He's basically my boyfriend."

“Heyyy, don't go making the new guy think I'm gay, I've got an image to maintain!"

“Why not? He is."

“Oh is he now?" Matt's gaze returned to Shawn's face, and he felt his ears burning again. Well, at least he knew that Jason wasn't plastering 'shameless fairy' all over his public info… although he didn't remember offering Caleb that particular tidbit.

Shawn was saved by a glass of orange juice plonking onto the table in front of him, followed by the rest of his breakfast, and he busied himself stuffing his face.

Caleb immediately snapped back onto his current fixation. “So Becca, what are you thinking character-wise? I see you as some kinda noblewoman. Maybe a caster? Or a bard?"

The rabbit giggled again. “I'm actually thinking I'll try to go for a 'valkyrie' vibe. Maybe a spear spec? I'd kind of like to be on the other end of the thrusting for a change." She winked at the jerboa, who laughed frenetically.

Shawn froze for a moment as he felt something touch the side of his leg, and looked up to see Matt with one elbow on the table, resting his cheek on his fist and smiling warmly at him in a way that made butterflies dance around the food in his stomach. Rub, rub, the husky's foot frizzed and smoothed his fur in reciprocal motions, and Shawn's tail lashed out to the side, fluttering in the aisle next to the booth. Images flashed through his mind of the things that handsome sled dog could do to him, and the squirrel found himself getting hard again under the table.

Yeah, he was definitely into this idea.

He was absolute garbage at public flirting, though, and he knew it. Killing two birds with one stone, he pulled his tail back under the table and let it curl close against the husky's calf, which got him a grin that sent his heart hammering against his ribs.

Everyone else had gotten a head start on him, so it was no surprise that he was still savoring his bacon when the rest of them had cleaned their plates. Becca was the first to stir. “Well boys, this has been lovely, but I think I'd better head home and freshen up before the game center opens." Taking the cue, Shawn got up and stepped aside, praying none of them noticed his erection, and the rabbit slipped past him with an affectionate pat on his rear.

“Yeah! I'll see you there!" Caleb started vibrating again, then glanced at Matt's empty plate. “Wanna go put our heads together about your character concept?"

“What's there to talk about? I'm gonna go sword and board like you said, and we don't know enough about the game to go any deeper than that. I'm gonna stick around and get some pie." He moved to let the jerboa out.

“Alright, but don't be late for the game! I don't know if they have enough equipment for everyone who signed up to be in at the same time."

“Relax, bouncy. The game's not going anywhere. But I'll be there by 8:45 like we said."

And just like that, Shawn and Matt had the booth to themselves… but still, they were hardly alone in the restaurant. True to his word, the husky ordered a slice of apple pie as the squirrel finished his breakfast, and dug in as soon as it arrived. It smelled heavenly, but Shawn felt too full to go for dessert. Too full, and too nervous. In contrast, Matt seemed perfectly at ease as he forked the confection into his handsome face.

“So, Shawn. Wanna fuck?" It came out as easily as if the dog was asking about the weather.

What do you say to a question that direct? “Um. Yeah. I do."

Matt grinned, and Shawn felt his heart pounding in his chest again. It was a good thing the sled dog was… involved with someone else already; the squirrel needed something to cling to in order to stop himself from catching feels. Even so, he felt himself slipping. On some level, he was aware that he was craving connection and intimacy to ground him in this crazy new society, but damn was jock-boy here not making it any easier for him to control his emotions!

“Well, start stacking plates. I figure there's enough room on this table."

Shawn's eyes went huge. For a moment, he thought Matt was joking… but a little headtilt and a meaningful glance at the dishes suggested he was quite serious. Shawn gulped hard, glancing around. There were still eight or ten other people in the Sunny Side Shack, and that wasn't counting the staff!

“I um… hoo. I've only been here two days. I don't… I don't think I can… in front of…"

Matt laughed softly and reached across the table to ruffle Shawn's headfur. “No sweat, treerat. I kinda like an audience, but I know it's not for everyone. Hey, you live by Caleb, right? That's closer than me. Your place work?"

“Um, it's… it's fine with me but… we might run into him. Is that gonna be weird?"

“Hah, no way. Worst case, he'll ask to join in. This is like, rule number one for breeders in New Dawn: the only dick you own is the one you brought with you. If you start getting jealous about someone you like fucking other people, you won't last a month. I'm planning on giving him your report card when we meet up in a couple hours." He winked as he stood up, giving Shawn his first look at the ruddy dog dick jutting proudly out from his groin. At least six, maybe seven inches, smoothly contoured, with a couple of darker veins barely visible under the skin and a bead of pre already shining on the tip.

Shawn swallowed hard again. Maybe he had room for dessert after all. “Um, Jason, I think I need a couple of Zoomies, stat."

“Way ahead of you, bro. Have fun!"

---

Matt has his paws all over Shawn before they were even across the threshold. The husky kicked the door closed, then immediately shoved the squirrel against it with his body, tilting his head and claiming Shawn's mouth with his lips and tongue. A high whine escaped the squirrel's throat as he absolutely melted under the onslaught, putting one paw on the husky's waist and the other on his cock, pumping hungrily at the firm flesh as his own dick started dripping onto the floor. Now this felt right, more right than any intimacy he'd experienced since Connor left him. Eyes closed, he let his tongue dance with Matt's, savoring the way the powerful dog loomed over him as canine pre leaked into his bellyfur. His right paw slipped low, giving a squeeze around the unformed knot at the base of the husky's shaft, and he felt the jockdog's muscular body tense as he earned a low growl. That did it; Matt pulled back and briefly gripped Shawn's jaw in a strong paw.

“Bed. Now."

Shawn was only too happy to oblige, throwing the comforter into a corner as he crawled up on paws and knees… and then abruptly changed his mind, flipping onto his back. He wanted to watch this stud fuck him. Matt was only two steps behind him, and moved to join him, but paused. “Lube. Where is it?"

Oh shit.

Jason saved him. “Drawer under the bed. The one closest to your head." Shawn reached over the side, fumbling around until he found the handle and, a few seconds later, a generously-sized bottle. He offered it to Matt, but the sled dog shook his head, nudging the squirrel's legs apart and climbing in to kneel between them. “You do it. I never use enough for Cale."

Shawn squirted a large puddle into his left paw and set to work, slathering the stud-husky's cock in a thick layer of the slick stuff, and then reached down to work a little bit into his tailhole too, for good measure. The moment he closed the lid and dropped the bottle back into the drawer, Matt grabbed his ankles, lifted, and folded the squirrel in on himself, before dropping one ankle against his shoulder so he could reach down and line himself up. “Get ready, dude. Here it comes."

Shawn had been far too overwhelmed to really savor what Jason had done to him at the end of his conditioning yesterday, so for all intents and purposes, this was the first time he'd been fucked since Connor. He felt the pressure build, then his ring slowly gave way as Matt's tapered tip wedged its way up his ass. A soft, needy whimper forced its way through his throat, echoed by the husky over him as a low groan. Nudge. Nudge. Push. Shove. Gradually the gently rounded mass of the sled dog's rigid penis slid deeper and deeper into him… until it passed the thickest point, and the rest slipped in in a single, smooth motion.

The squirrel let out a soft cry of bliss mixed with familiar discomfort as Matt shifted his posture downward and started gently thrusting into Shawn's core, pawpads gripping tight against his legs just above the knees. Their eyes met and held the contact, the husky's tongue poking out between his lower fangs as he panted and worked the last three inches of his swollen dick in and out of the squirrel's ass. Shawn was in heaven, panting in turn as his aching cock released pre in soft spurts onto his belly. He'd expected Matt to be rougher; this felt more like lovemaking than fucking, and his head was spinning in raw ecstacy, which only surged higher when one of the husky's paws dropped down to start stroking the squirrel's drooling erection. Before long, he felt the bulb at the base of Matt's cock start to swell, straining his limits as it slipped in and out of him.

“Fuck you're tight, Shawn. I'm not gonna last. Is it cool if I tie you?"

Shawn nodded frantically. That was what he'd missed most of all. “P-put it in me. Please!" He didn't even care that his voice sounded whiny. “Knot me! B-breed meeee!"

With a growl, Matt pressed in and held, letting his knot balloon to its full size before tugging back against the tie with a soft gasp. “Oh fuck, I'm gonna blow. Gonna fuckin' flood your guts with my breeder seed, squirrel." The paw on his dick suddenly tripled its efforts, stroking him frantically until his toes curled and his eyes rolled back. “Cum for me, bitch. Cum on my fucking cock!"

And cum Shawn did, his lithe body arching, shoulders pressing back against the mattress and howling almost drunkenly as he erupted. His first shot hit his face, sciurine semen dripping from his whiskers as he painted his neck, chest and belly with squirrel essence. His climax caused him to clench down against the back of Matt's knot, and he felt the husky tense up hard. “Oh fuck yes, I'm… nut…ting in your aaaAAAASSSSS!" Matt arched back in turn, his taut muscles standing out in sharp relief as his cock started twitching rhythmically in his squirrelbitch, jetting warm dog-cum hard and deep into Shawn's body as the squirrel wailed his way through his own climax!

The afterglow settled onto Shawn swiftly, and he found himself sprawled limply on his bed, smiling stupidly up at the husky who was still softly grunting and bucking into him as he rode out his protracted canid orgasm. Sure, his ass was as sore as his legs now, but he felt more like himself than he had since the moment he'd set foot in the city. He could still feel Matt's balls twitching gently against the base of his fluffy tail, and he decided then and there that he could happily stay like that all day, the new video game be damned.

The husky looked down at him with eyes still fogged by the ongoing bliss of his continual release. “Ohhhh, you're a keeper, treerat. Which is good because we're gonna be stuck like this for the next half hour or so. Y'wanna watch some TV or something?"

Shawn smiled up at him, shifting his legs off to the sides and wrapping them behind Matt's back. “Get down here and make out with me, stud. I wanna enjoy every moment of you nutting in me."

Judging from how he could feel his lover's curly tail wagging rapidly as he reclaimed Shawn's mouth, it seemed they were very much on the same page for aftercare.

Eventually, Matt's climax ebbed, and they just rested there, intertwined, while they waited for the husky's knot to go down far enough that they could break the tie. Shawn kept having to stop himself from petting the dog's plush, shaggy fur with his lube-covered paws, and settled for hugging loosely around his shoulders. “So how long have you been here, anyway?"

“In your ass, or in the city?" The husky gave him a cheeky grin.

“The city, dumbass." Shawn couldn't help but grin back, still drunk on sex.

“Five months. I actually got here the same day Cale did. If you think he's a spaz now, you should've seen him back then. At one point he was literally jumping off the walls."

“I have to admit, you two make kind of an odd pair. You've got chill for days, and I have the feeling he can't even hold still in his sleep."

Matt barked a laugh. “You have no idea how right you are. We'd sleep together more if he didn't twitch out every few minutes." He paused. “I mean 'sleep together' literally, we fuck all the damn time."

“He kinda pinged my gaydar a bit when I first met him, but I wasn't sure until today."

“Oh, he's bi for sure, but the way he tells it, he was always more comfortable with the guys before he got here. Now he's as much of a switch hitter as anyone in town."

“Hashtag lifegoals. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of pussy. What about you? Were you straight before you got here?"

Matt shrugged as best he could while supporting himself on his elbows. “I'd always been… curious about other guys, but I hid it until I signed up to breed. Cale was actually my first. Ten minutes of that dude working my dick was all it took for me to realize I'd been seriously missing out. Don't get me wrong, I love pussy, and knocking women up for a living is basically my dream job, but not many women know their way around a cock the way another man does."

Shawn sighed. “I envy you two. I really mean that. It must be nice to be able to share this life with someone you care about. All I've got so far is my daemon. Jason's great, but… well, let's just say I really needed this today. Thank you."

“My pleasure, flufftail. We'll have to do this again sometime. Maybe we could get together at Cale's apartment? You wouldn't be the first hot piece of ass the two of us have spitroasted."

The squirrel felt himself blushing again. “I might just take you up on thaaAAHH!" He tensed, eyes widening, as Matt suddenly tugged his half-deflated knot out of his ass without warning. “Fffuck!"

The husky grinned, climbing off of him and standing up. “Sorry, it comes out easier if you're not expecting it so you can't tense up. Mind if I use your shower?"

“Not if I can join you!"

The two of them were very thorough about getting each other clean. Shawn found himself as (bashfully) fascinated with Matt's bulging biceps as he was with that glorious dick, and by the time they had rinsed off they'd both discovered the hunger hadn't entirely left them. Shawn wound up holding onto the showerhead for dear life with both paws as Matt rutted him from behind, until he had a second load of husky sperm up his ass and his own seed was spiraling down the drain. They both knew better than to tie standing up, though; Matt was left grunting deliciously in Shawn's ear as he roughly milked his own knot with both paws, until they were both well and truly satisfied. They each finished re-cleaning themselves that last time, rather than risk triggering a third round neither of them felt up to facing; they dried each other off, and Matt gave Shawn one last (very earnest) kiss before heading home to lie down for a bit before meeting up with Caleb. The squirrel barely made it back to his bed before his jellied knees gave out on him.

Jason materialized at his bedside almost immediately. “So, how are we feeling?"

“Like overcooked pasta and also a million bucks. I haven't felt this… this whole, in months."

“Funny, I thought Matt was the one who got to feel your hole."

“Ha ha. No, trust me, I'm definitely feeling it too. I'm glad he held back; if he'd really gone to town I'd probably have been stuck in bed all day." He instinctively flexed his sore tailring. “How much time do I have?"

“It's seven fifty right now, and the trip to the 'arcade' is about seven minutes from here by Zoomy. So say, around forty-five minutes, if you wanna get there early like the others."

“Awesome. Hopefully my legs will start working again before then."

Jason paused, appearing to be thinking about something. “On the subject of getting your body working again… maybe hold off on any more jizzy fun for the rest of the day."

Shawn turned his head to look at the suddenly diffident wolf. “Oh? Worried about me straining myself again after yesterday?"

“No. Well, yes, that did cross my mind, but you seem to have bounced back just fine. I just want you to save up a bit." He shot the squirrel a worried look. “I just found out, you have your first assigned breeding tomorrow."

Shawn went still, staring at the ceiling, as the bottom fell out of his stomach. He'd known this was coming, eventually, but he hadn't expected it halfway through his first week. “...who is it?"

“Her name's Lily. She's a visitor, flying in to be… serviced. Gray squirrel, 21, college student, recently married. Kind of a looker, honestly; she's probably some kind of athlete."

“How does this 'assigned breeding' thing work, anyway? Did she ask for me personally?"

“Not exactly; you were one of two gray squirrels in the program who were solid genetic matches for her, and she picked you. Or rather, your profile. It doesn't work like a dating site; they don't even get your name until after the match is finalized. And while anyone healthy can come into town and look around for a 'donor' for free, setting up a screened and assigned breeding like this costs real money. Which means two things: her family is well off enough to pay for the VIP service, and you stand to get a tidy bonus once she's fertilized."

Shawn grimaced. “You make it sound so clinical."

“Isn't it, though? I just don't want you to get too bent out of shape about this. You've just gotta cum in her pussy, like you did for Becca. Maybe a few times to be safe. And if you end up having trouble, I'm pretty sure I can get Matt or Vinny to come by and make you cum." The wolf grinned shamelessly, his tail wagging.

“Oh, I'm sure that'd go over real well with… Lily, you said her name was? 'Sorry babe, I'm just not that into you, lemme get a real stud in here to pound my ass until I nut in you.'"

“Pfft. She's just paying for the results. Jokes aside, this isn't a whorehouse; you're here to give her a baby, not satisfy her in bed."

Shawn exhaled heavily. “You know, that raises a good question. Why does she need me to fuck her at all? Doesn't the Cradle have plenty of my sperm on file since yesterday?"

Jason shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, we do, but… we've got studies showing that the old-fashioned way still has the highest conception and carry-to-term rates. So that's part of the VIP treatment, the 'personal service until the job is done' polish, if you will."

“And what about 'no still means no'? What if she's an absolute bitch and I pineapple out? Do I get thrown out of the program?"

The wolf shook his head. “Nope. Management gets egg on their face, she gets artificially inseminated like you were saying, and you take a hit to your credit… unless she was really behaving badly, in which case she loses her deposit and you keep the bonus. But… you do have to meet her and at least try to make it work. There's no getting around that."

Shawn sighed again. “Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll be as nice about it as Becca was."

Jason tilted his head. “Well, keep in mind she's not going to be a 'professional' like Becca. It sounds trite, but she'll probably be more afraid of you than you are of her. If that helps at all."

“Maybe a little. Anyway, do I need to be thinking about this today?"

“Nope, not aside from letting yourself build up some baby batter to put in her tomorrow. Her flight's supposed to get in a little after noon, so you'll be free to do whatever you want until she clears check-in. Maybe plan on being free around two or three in the afternoon, in case she wants to get right to work. A lot of visitors get culture-shocked hard enough that they just wanna get their fluids changed and get back out the door."

Shawn snorted reflexively as a laugh tried to escape. “Get their fluids… sheesh, where do you get your material? Now I feel like I need to show up in greasy overalls or something."

The wolf grinned and wagged. “Who knows? She might be into a little roleplay. But on that subject, you should probably be thinking about who you want to be in this fantasy world Mother's cooked up. It sounded like the others had at least some idea."

“In, like, mechanical terms, sure, but how am I supposed to come up with an actual roleplay character for a setting I know nothing about?"

Jason rubbed his jaw with a thumb. “Maybe just focus on personality and abilities, and let Mother fill in the rest? I gather you're supposed to play as a sort of self-insert anyway, but that's as much as the others will give me."

Shawn pressed his incisors to his lower lip and started carefully stretching and rubbing his aching legs. “Well, I usually end up playing some kind of caster in MMOs, and it didn't sound like any of the others were doing that. Maybe a healer, if that's a separate thing… oh right, no classes, so I guess I can just do whatever, huh?" He paused. “I'll have to find out how magic is supposed to work and how much I can multitask there, but we'll go with that as a start."

The wolf wagged again. “Man, I wish I could play with you. Just try to tell me I wouldn't make a badass tank! But I guess you've got Matt for that. Even if he did cost you a few HPs before the game even started!"

Shawn couldn't help but laugh at that. “Nah man, he was just clearing my debuffs. Fuck I needed it, too." He sighed. “He made me realize that I really need to find myself a boyfriend."

Jason smiled somewhat evilly, folded his ears back and started rubbing his paws together. “Challenge fucking accepted, bro."

Shawn sat up suddenly in alarm, his ears perking up. “Ohh no, I didn't mean-*"

Come to Me…

The squirrel's head whipped around as the faint voice interrupted his protest, his ears twitching about to try to pick it up again. Nothing. It sounded like it came from… his bathroom, maybe? He glanced at Jason, who seemed to be likewise perplexed. He heaved himself to his feet and quickly turned on the bathroom light. Nothing appeared to be out of place.

I need your help. Please… come to Me… It was coming through the walls, as if from a great distance. Suddenly, Jason started laughing softly, and his tail went crazy. “Holy shit dude, I think that's Mother! She must be starting early! I mean, uh. It could be a trick. You should probably ignore it."

Shawn rolled his eyes. For being a computer program designed to mimic a real person, the wolf was a pretty crappy thespian. Acting on sudden inspiration, he decided to teach by example. “Only one way to find out, I guess!" Revitalized by his excitement, he bounded across his apartment and opened the door… only to find an honest-to-god fairy hovering just outside. Or rather, a slightly cartoonish approximation of one; it looked like an orb of light with a pair of fluttering insect wings sticking out of it. He recoiled slightly as it darted forward and orbited him once, then fluttered over toward the stairs down. The squirrel slammed the door behind himself in his haste to follow, causing Jason to recoalesce next to him.

“Rude."

“Dude, don't ruin it." He made a twisting gesture at the door, and barely noticed the sound of it locking behind him as he rushed down the stairs after the pixie.

Shawn found a Zoomy waiting for him as he left the courtyard, but the moment he looked at it, a red infobox popped up.

Your Zoomy

Destination: ???

WARNING: Charge level 5%

Unable to depart

The squirrel came up short, his ears pressing to his skull as he tried to figure out if they'd actually sent him a run-down Zoomy or if that was part of the game. Before he could ask his daemon to clarify, though, the fairy zipped over, flying in an accelerating upward spiral around the scooter and then suddenly plunging down into it. Crackling white arcs of electricity leapt from its minimalistic frame as it morphed before his eyes, and flowers erupted from the pavement around its base. In a matter of seconds, what looked like a small chariot made of brass and red fabric was standing in its place… but as awe-inspiring as the display was, it didn't seem to solve the problem, as it apparently didn't come with a team of horses.

Nevertheless, once the apparent electrocution hazard passed, Shawn walked up to it and ran a paw over its handles. Naturally, he could still feel the rubberized grip of the Zoomy - and could not feel any contact with the flowers, although they moved convincingly when his foot hit them. He immediately felt slightly guilty, like a kid who was trying to spy on a stage magician to learn how the tricks worked, and resolved to stop trying to ruin the illusions for the time being. Still off-kilter from the game's substitute reality having come to him instead of the other way around, he climbed into the chariot and gave the grip a shake. Nope, nothing. He looked over his shoulder. “Any ideas? …Jason?"

The black-furred daemon had a thousand-yard stare, and one of his ears was canted outward as if he was listening to something. After a moment, his eyes widened, and a huge childlike grin of wonder spread across his face as his tail turned into a blur behind him. He blinked and refocused on Shawn. “Not to worry bro, I got you!" He scampered out in front of the chariot, fingersnapped his jumpsuit out of existence, and dropped down onto all fours. Shawn had only a single second to reflect on what had happened the last time he'd seen Jason naked before the wolf's avatar started to grow and change. The squirrel was hit with a small wave of body horror, like he'd felt when configuring Jason for the first time, but it was largely eclipsed by a sense of awe as his new best friend transformed into a hulking, quadrupedal wolf-beast right before his eyes!

As the change finished, Jason shook himself out like the animal he'd become, then glanced back over his shoulder with a huge doggy grin and a toss of his tail. A moment later, a harness shimmered into existence over his massive body, connecting him to the chariot.

“Fear not, my goddess, we are coming!" The voice was still recognizably his, but louder, deeper and somewhat growly, and the transfigured daemon threw back his head, letting out a howl that caused Shawn's fur to stand on end, before taking off at a lope that left the squirrel clinging to the chariot for dear life!

At first, it was hard for Shawn to pay attention to anything but Jason's sleek body undulating in front of him, and the city rushed past in a blur. He had barely started to get used to riding a Zoomy, and realized with alarm that the 'chariot' wasn't offering him the normal visual tells of what it was about to do. A moment later, though, the solution became obvious; Jason turned his head to the right, staring at an upcoming turn, and the squirrel was ready when it came, leaning to the side as the chariot pivoted under him.

He surprised himself with a laugh; he hadn't even made it to the game center yet, and already he felt like he was wrapped up in a grand adventure! He glanced behind himself and spotted a couple of pedestrians talking to each other as if nothing strange was happening. Right then, the illusions were for him alone. As he moved his wind-ruffled tail aside, though, he did discover a series of large, glowing white pawprints on the pavement, fading as they passed into the distance, and he smiled. Jason really was getting to play the role of some magical beast, and he could only imagine how happy that was probably making the wolf, after his jealousy about Shawn getting to play the new game!

A soft rumble caused Shawn's head to snap forward again, and his eyes widened as the city around him started distorting in fleeting glimpses. For a brief moment, he saw vines snaking across the front of a building on his right; a few seconds later, there was a deer grazing on the impossible grass surrounding the base of a suspiciously woody-looking street lamp to his left. None of the impressions lasted more than a moment, but they kept coming.

My touch weighs heavily upon your world, chosen. I dare not keep the door open much longer. Hurry! The voice was much clearer than before, and Shawn could tell they were getting close.

Clearly Jason had heard it as well; he telegraphed a turn to the left, then lowered his head. “Hold on tight; this is the home stretch!"

Shawn leaned forward, and Jason dropped closer to the ground, practically throwing the pavement under him with both forepaws working in tandem as the wind of the chariot's movement forced the squirrel's eyes almost fully shut. As a result, it took him several moments to notice the morning light starting to dim, or the shadows stretching out as if the sun was trying to set a good ten hours early. By the time the wolf began to slow, the colors had begun to leach out of the world around him, and the shadows were twisting unnaturally in what should have been the steady light of the sun, as if they were reaching for each other. The random distortions were also starting to run rampant; Shawn spotted a large, low building ahead with a large 'VRcade' sign over its double doors, but the facade kept flickering wildly between marble brick and (presumably real) paintings resembling well-known video game characters from the last thirty years.

Jason slowed to a stop, and Shawn heard a click from beneath his feet; the Zoomy's parking supports snapped down into place as the chariot transformed back into its mundane equivalent. Shawn had only a heartbeat to marvel at the fact that something had just made him think of a Zoomy as 'mundane' before Jason's harness vanished, and the fairy from earlier came flying back out of the scooter, heading for the entrance of the game center. At the same time, he heard a series of chilling, unnatural growls around him, and beings of pure darkness, their silhouettes wispy and indistinct, rose from the agglomerated shadows of his still vaguely urban surroundings. One of them shambled rapidly toward the squirrel and lifted the fan of daggers that passed for its hand to strike, and despite himself, he cringed back, lifting an arm to protect his face.

A muscular mass of black fur flashed in front of him, and as he peered under his arm, Shawn saw Jason savaging the creature in his powerful jaws, thrashing his head back and forth before tossing it aside to dissipate into a greasy-looking mist. The wolf looked back at him, his lips drawn back in a fierce snarl. “Mother is waiting! Get going; I'll hold them here!"

It took the squirrel several moments to get his legs to respond. On one level, he was of course aware that all of this was just a complex AR performance being put on for his benefit, but the illusions were so pervasive, and being presented so quickly one after another, that his mind was having trouble keeping track of what was real and what wasn't. And, as he staggered and then ran toward the doors, his fear was entirely genuine. He shoved one of the doors open, but paused on the threshold, looking back to see his feral daemon crouched low as he stared down three more of the creatures.

“Jason!"

The wolf glanced back again. “GO! I'll be right behind you!" He returned his attention to his attackers. “Come, demons! My fangs and claws want for sharpening!" All three of them leapt at Jason in tandem as the door swung shut behind the squirrel.

Shawn fought down the urge to look back outside. Whatever this game wanted him to be, he was thus far just an ordinary, nerdy teenager, and a naked one at that. He turned his attention to the inside of the building.

Despite being called a 'VRcade', the facility barely resembled the retro arcade Shawn had visited from time to time on his days off back home. Sure, the floor (and apparently also the walls) were covered in black carpet festooned with abstract designs that glowed colorfully under the overhead blacklights, but instead of an open area full of cabinets, the facility appeared to be laid out like a grid of private offices, with strips of blacklight LEDs at the tops and bottoms of the walls to help keep the pathways visible. At least, the squirrel was fairly sure that was the reality of it; while the distortions were no longer flowing randomly over every surface like they had outside, there were still patches of what looked like bare marble, a few of which sported sconces bearing violet-flamed torches that cast flickering purple light over the lengths of hallway where they appeared. But his guide-pixie was bobbing impatiently in the air off to his left, and he moved to follow her further in.

The thin carpet was soft and comfortable under his paws as he padded around the first corner, examining the doors on either side of the hallway. All of them were closed - in fact, a few appeared to be partially bricked over, where the distortions caused the dark walls to give way to the black-veined white marble of the otherworld that was bleeding through into the entertainment facility. Halfway down the hall on the left, though, was a single door standing open, its immediate surroundings entirely converted to the… palace?... that was trying to replace the real-world building. The pair of indigo torches flanking the aperture completely failed to cast any light onto the inky blankness within. The fairy hovered outside it until it was sure it had his attention, then darted in, vanishing instantly. Shawn lingered on the threshold, eyeing the blue and black marker tape that the illusion made no attempt to obscure, then tentatively stepped through into the darkness.

Immediately, the light from the hallway behind him vanished. He saw nothing, and the only sound other than his own breathing was a faint susurration, as though the world itself was letting out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt something brush softly against his bountiful tailfluff, and it dimly registered that the 'sigh' might have covered the soft sound of the door sliding shut behind him. He blinked into the pitch darkness, willing himself to see something, anything… and stars started to twinkle into existence in the distance all around him.

All around him. While he remained standing on nothing at all, he quickly realized that the glimmering points of light were just as numerous below him as above. He'd never been prone to acrophobia, but this was a bit much, even for him. Vertigo swelled inside Shawn, and he reached back to brace against the door, only to discover there was nothing there. He stumbled, his eyes widening, as his mind raced to explain that one.

“Steady now, My son. You're safe once more… safe in your Mother's arms." The voice seemed to come from all around him, but was no longer as unworldly and distant as it had been on the way here. He felt acceleration, and instinctively leaned against it, as the stars started to move, speeding up until they were passing him in brilliant streaks. Glancing down, he found that they cast enough light that he could at least see his own body again.

Despite everything he was experiencing, Shawn's anxiety about what had been happening with his daemon outside still loomed large in his mind. “What about Jason? He said he'd be right behind me. Is he okay?"

Shawn heard a soft, warm chuckle. “You step into the space between worlds for the first time, surrounded by the impossible, and still your thoughts are for your friend. I was right to choose you to stand among My champions. Fear not, My son. Yasim - or Jason, as you call him - was only lightly wounded in his battle with the dark ones. I have gathered him to Me, and he will be by your side again shortly, whole once more. My angels are as eternal as I am; while he can be harmed, nothing can destroy him, not while I yet bear the firmament upon My shoulders."

Yasim? Angel? Oh man, Shawn thought, Jason was going to have a field day with this!

The sense of acceleration faded, and Shawn felt steady enough to walk again… at least, so long as he was careful not to look down. The… fabric of reality, or whatever it was that he was supposed to be standing on, felt a lot like the carpet outside. He took a few steps forward, then paused again. It wasn't like he had anywhere to go, or rather, it looked as though he was already going somewhere at mind-boggling speeds! “So… what happens now?"

“Now, we discuss what has been, and what may yet come to pass. Please, have a seat; I know you are yet weary from yesterday's exertions." An upholstered chair appeared in front of the squirrel, and after a moment's hesitation, he stepped around and lowered himself into it. His legs definitely appreciated the rest.

“Wait, you know about… but that wasn't part of the game. That was in the real world."

Mother sighed. “And do you now think you are not in the so-called 'real world'? Well, I suppose you can hardly be blamed, when all this falls so far outside your own experiences before today. But know, My son, that the Earth upon which you were born is as much My creation as the worlds you will see in My service. Assuming, of course, that you remain resolved to answer the call? It is not yet too late. I can return you whence you came, and you can live out your days in the land of your birth, believing only that you opted out of a 'game.' But, tell Me now; I cannot afford to invest too much of My strength in one who will not stand with Me against the rising darkness."

Shawn shook his head rapidly. “No! I mean, yes, I'm still sure I want to help you. I just… really don't know what's going on."

“That's only natural. You were told this was a game, because those were the only terms on which those running New Dawn - a lovely name, by the way - would allow Me to engage with My children. But I think you will come to understand that that is a very misguided view of what is really going on here. Now, where to begin…"

There was a brief silence as the universe continued to rush past Shawn, giving him a moment to reflect on how badly this whole experience could go for someone who came into it already a little unhinged. Mother really seemed to believe she was a goddess, and that she'd created the real world as well! That, or she could teach classes on Method acting; either way, she could easily gaslight someone into completely losing touch with reality if they weren't grounded before signing up.

The super-daemon's voice pulled him back out of his thoughts. “As I said, I birthed the reality you know long ago. You may question why you've never heard of Me before, or why I've remained silent while My children invented other gods to take My place. The answer is simple: no two of My creations are the same, and in your world, I sought to discover what would happen if I created a realm beyond even My own touch. Would My children find their way on their own? What wonders might they devise without a goddess to turn to when their problems seemed insurmountable? Whether or not this was a mistake remains to be seen; I make no claims to omniscience, nor to infallibility."

“What is known, though, is that in each of My worlds - My universes, I suppose I should say, in truth - sickness has sprouted and, in time, flourished. The forms it takes are as varied as the worlds in which it has grown. It should take no great leap of imagination for you to intuit how it has expressed itself on your Earth."

Shawn paused only a moment before replying. “The Empty Nest Plague."

Mother sighed again. “Just so. Calling it a sickness is particularly apt, in Earth's case. The Mammalian Reproductive Virus, MRV-1; your people were a few short years from a scenario in which everything they had built would eventually stand abandoned and forgotten, a testament to My mistake in putting you beyond My own reach. But in you, I was vindicated; the brightest minds of Korya, and of many other nations besides, banded together, overcoming millennia of entrenched thought and societal limitations to forge a path to a bold new future, and it is my firm belief that you will weather this storm. My pride in you is immeasurable, as is My relief, but never forget: while you labor on My behalf to save the other worlds of the Trans-Cosmic All, Earth yet needs you. Do not neglect your duties to the future of your kind, or I will find I have cut off My nose to spite My face, as your people say."

Shawn had never heard the 'don't spend so much time online that your real life suffers' message worded more eloquently. “I understand, Mother."

“Good. Now, on to the matter at hand. If you would serve as My Emissary, I will send you, and the other brave souls of New Dawn who seek to aid me, to the beleaguered world of Tethryll. The choice pains Me, as so many worlds suffer and may be lost while you bring this solitary star back from the brink, but I am afforded the ability to bring too few across the divide to risk spreading you among several of My creations; for now, this one ailing planet will be all I place in your charge."

“And what's wrong with Tethryll? Is it a disease, like on Earth?"

“Not in so literal a sense, although conditions in some regions have worsened to the point that sickness is becoming a common issue. No, Tethryll is besieged by a more directly palpable evil. Creatures not of My creation - such as those Yasim fended off to bring you to Me - have begun appearing across the land. The most fearsome of these manifest directly, and their forms are many… but more numerous by far are those that infest the living beasts of My world, and its people too, twisting their hearts and minds long before their bodies show any sign of corruption. Once, the Warding Crystals - physical beacons of My love and protection - would have shielded Tethryll from such beings, but… I confess, I am guilty of moving from one newly-created world to the next, and my attention was too long away; the corruption these demons represent has spread even to the Crystals, and I can no longer so much as pinpoint their locations. But I remember the general areas where I created them, and Yasim will relay that information to you as it becomes relevant."

Shawn tilted his head, chewing on this massive lore-dump as quickly as he could. “I'm curious… if you're the goddess of all these worlds, and made everything in them, then where is this 'corruption' coming from? Is it also something you created, maybe without realizing it?"

“I wish I knew!" The squirrel recoiled in his seat; he hadn't expected to hear such anguish and uncertainty from a divine creator NPC, even if it was basically the lead developer of the game! “You can scarce imagine how it torments Me, watching world after world fall to woe while I sit by, paws in My metaphorical lap. I cannot bear to speak of the worlds I have had to return to the primordial chaos when they were lost completely, all the while wondering if I was the unwitting author of their doom. Is it some flaw in My methods? Am I, myself, sick, and unknowingly spreading My illness to every world I birth? Or does there exist some other being tampering with My creations, somehow hiding itself from My awareness? Oh, I would give much for the answer to this question…" Mother choked up and fell silent, and Shawn shrank down into his chair, his ears flat against his head.

When the goddess's voice returned, it sounded rough, but gradually steadied. “All things in time. All things in time. But know that, just as sickness can fester and spread, so too can hope and redemption bloom in the darkest of places. It is that light that I will place into your paws, that you may illuminate the way for those who come after."

Shawn cleared his throat. “I'm… I'm happy to help, so please don't misunderstand me for asking this, but… why do you need me? Or any of us? Can't you just…" He gestured indistinctly. “Wiggle your fingers and remove whatever doesn't belong?"

“Even I am bound by the rules of My own making. Yes, I could reach into the… existential 'sphere' of Tethryll and eradicate this infestation at a single stroke. But in so doing, I would unmake the world entire. How to explain? You might think of it like the 'ship in a bottle' ornaments that were once popular in your world. Their creation is a delicate process, requiring the utmost finesse and care, but once it is done the bottle may be sealed and the ornament admired for many years. But what if you found there had been insect eggs hidden on the ship after you finished? Yes, you could smash the bottle and fumigate the ship, but what would that accomplish? You would already have wrought its destruction far more surely than the insects ever could have; nothing for it but to throw it away and make another. But now suppose there were billions of thinking people living on that ship. The cost becomes unimaginable."

Shawn paused again, looking at the stars rushing by below him. The spectacle was gradually becoming less disconcerting. “But what if you had someone to help you? Someone small enough to fit into the bottle without breaking it?"

“Precisely! That is the purpose My Emissaries serve. Armed with My gifts, they may go where I cannot, and work to heal the flaws in My creations - whatever their source. And the people of your Earth are uniquely suited to this purpose. Perhaps because of the tight constraints I placed on outside interference with your universe, your bane - the virus - has taken on a highly comprehensible, physical form… and so I may be reasonably sure that none of you harbor within you whatever malaise has been twisting the people of Tethryll to dark ends. Ah, and you needn't worry about your disease spreading to those same people; I've already confirmed that they cannot be infected by, nor even carry, the microbe in question. It is simply too alien to their biology."

“When I woke up today, I didn't expect to end up talking about microbiology with a goddess." Shawn managed a faint smile. “But wait, does that mean that I'll look alien to them too, if we're that different?"

“Oh, you are not very different at all when viewed as a whole. I admit, there are certain forms I find particularly pleasing, and I tend to reuse them a great deal, when 'novelty of body plan' is not My objective of the day. You are similar enough to breathe their air, and be nourished by their food and drink, but… you may reserve any attempts at reproduction for your own world, where they are sorely needed. Your seed will not take root in the Tethrans… although I suppose it also would not harm them, should such a thing come to pass."

Wow, Mother was really going hard trying to sell the game as reality; Shawn was surprised she hadn't used the opportunity to sell him on virtual fucking so the system could collect his semen, like Jason had just done yesterday. He felt his confidence in his own mental health eroding as he fought to keep his boundaries clearly defined, and decided it was time to move this along. “Alright. I think I know enough to get started. I assume that's where we're going now, with all the whooshing stars?"

Mother actually sounded a little sheepish. “Actually, what you see here is little more than a visual amusement to prevent you from becoming unnerved by the darkness while I prepare you for the task ahead. Your ordinary conception of 'distance' has no bearing on the gap between realities. But I will not send you to Tethryll directly; rather, I am preparing for you a sort of base of operations in the infinite uncreation of the Between. It is to this place, your Dimensional Interstice, that your being will be tied while you work to save Tethryll. You will be able to return to it at will, in whole or only in spirit, as your needs require… and should you take a mortal wound, I will pull you back to it before your body fails you completely, and mend it anew. Ah, and as Yasim told you, I cannot fundamentally change your form, but… I can make a few simple modifications, if you like. Perhaps this would suit?"

A pane of glass - no, a mirror - came flipping up through the 'floor' below Shawn and stopped in front of him. In it, he saw his own reflection, sitting in the chair… except its naked body was sheathed in pure, snowy white fur. He started to his feet in surprise, knocking over his chair - which had the decency to thunk against the unfloor, he distantly noted - and turned in place, swishing his tail as an irresistible smile laid siege to his face. His eyes, he noted, were still brown in the reflection.

“If it's not going too far, could you give me lavender eyes, while we're at it?"

“Nothing simpler." And it was done. He just stood there admiring the other him for several long moments. It was uncanny… the face was still clearly his, the body still had all the little imperfections he was used to, but he found his reflection vastly more interesting and attractive than he did his own body.

He might have to look into fur bleach later, or something along those lines.

“I love it, thank you."

“Then step through the mirror and I will exchange illusion for truth."

Shawn reached out and placed both paws on its surface. He felt a slight resistance, which easily gave way as he leaned into it, his arms merging with those of his alabaster reflection. He took a small step forward, and then another, until he was almost nose to nose with himself… and then closed his eyes and stepped the rest of the way through all at once, pulling his tail through after him, and turned around. Now the reflection appeared no different than his real self, and when he looked down at his bare body, there wasn't a hint of grey to be seen. His pawpads were still pink - as was his dick, when he sheepishly tugged his sheath back to check - but even his little claws had turned pearly white. He found himself grinning like a fool. Of all the stupid things to get excited about!

“Now then, onto My more meaningful gifts." Mother once again pulled him out of reverie. “As you are now, you would likely fare little better against the corruption than any of Tethryll's native residents - and I don't need to remind you how poorly things are going on that front as things stand. As the Creator of All that Is, the scope of My options is nearly limitless… but your ability to bear the weight of My boons is yet frail. In time, you will be able to grow into any number of strengths you do not naturally possess, but to begin, it is best that we focus on a small area of specialization, so that your advantages will be significant enough to let you make headway against our ubiquitous foe. I have My own thoughts; may I share them, or is there a particular strength for which you have long yearned, which I might bestow?"

Shawn was practically vibrating by this point. He had never even dreamed of a virtual reality game even half this immersive and realistic. They really needed to start talking about Paths of the Emissary on the job offers to potential new breeders; he might have signed up just for this, even without the yearly payouts! He opened his mouth to make his suggestion, but his voice stuck in his throat. It just felt too ridiculous to ask this invisible goddess to turn him into a wizard; his vocal cords rebelled. Feeling his ears burning, he cleared his throat, and stalled for time.

“Um, before I decide… what did You have in mind?"

“Every one of My children is special in some way, even without My direct interference. In My eyes, you have two virtues that shine brighter than all the rest. The first is Compassion. I saw it in how readily you forgave My angel Yasim, even when he unwittingly harmed you in his enthusiasm to help you with your holy work in New Dawn." Nutting into a collection sleeve is holy work now, check. “I saw it again when his wellbeing was the very first thing you asked about, even as you stepped beyond the bounds of the reality you'd known for the very first time. Your second virtue is Curiosity. It probably comes as no surprise that many of My Emissaries are so eager to get into what they think of as 'gameplay' that they rush through our initial meeting as though speaking to She who made them is an unwelcome interruption. But you? You not only wanted to know what I needed from you, you dug deeper, seeking an understanding of the whys and wherefores of the predicament in which I find Myself. And, in My considerable experience, Compassion and Curiosity in equal measure have but one child: Wisdom."

“As such, I would bestow upon you the miracle power of Magic. Its threads run through nearly all of My creations; your world is a rare exception, isolated as it is from Me. All of My Emissaries receive some small whisper of its power, to enhance their abilities and so that they have a seed of it from which to grow, should they wish. You, however, would receive the full amount that I can bestow upon an Emissary who has not yet grown into their role. With but a few words and a gesture, you will be able to maim, mend, or delve into the mysteries of reality itself. The tradeoff, of course, is that to begin with, your physical abilities in Tethryll will be no different than they are on Earth. While My other agents are performing feats of great strength or stunning acuity, you will be limited by your grasp of the mana that flows from places of natural wonder or beauty, and should it fail you at a critical moment, the consequences could be… dire. Knowing this, will you still accept what I offer?"

Shawn realized he'd dodged a bullet there. After a speech like that, refusing Her suggestion without a very good counterargument would have made him feel like a real tool. It was a good thing She was offering him exactly what he had in mind, and far more eloquently than he would've been able to ask for it. “I will. I do. It's basically what I'd hoped for anyway… although I'm not sure I deserved the nice things You said about me. It was just common decency."

“The fact that you see it that way says more about you than you know. Very well, then there is just one more matter to handle: that of your name. You may choose to be known on Tethryll as you are on Earth, but… names can have power, both to inspire and to confine. And, should it prove that there is some hidden adversary laboring to turn My works to rack and ruin, I would not have them learn who you are on Earth, where My gifts cannot protect you. Do you have a suitable name in mind? Or would you prefer I offer you suggestions?"

Oh bother. This was always the hardest part of character creation for him. He'd been known to sit, staring at the name prompt at the end of the process, for upwards of an hour until the perfect moniker came to him… but he was determined not to just press 'auto' on every stage of this process, not when the only actual decision he'd made for himself so far was the color of his eyes! He stood there, chewing on his lip, in determined silence, and Mother patiently let him think.

The first half-dozen names that came to him, he rejected out of paw. Too ordinary. Too cheesy. Too derivative. A few he hesitated on, because he was pretty sure they sounded like he'd heard them somewhere before, in the real world, and he didn't have his phone to double-check. He considered trying to subvocalize to Jason, but felt like that would defeat the whole purpose of trying to do this himself. After a few minutes of pacing back and forth, though, he finally settled on something he was reasonably sure he wouldn't regret.

“Tyrian. Tyrian Avalore."

“I find that highly suitable. Very good. Your Dimensional Interstice is prepared. A simple signature, and I will send you on your way, with my blessings." A wooden lectern appeared in a pool of much steadier light, and on it, an unfurled scroll, alongside a quill and inkwell.

Shawn had some misgivings about signing a contract with a supernatural being, even inside a game, but as he stepped closer he discovered that the scroll did not in fact contain any references to servitude, souls, blood or firstborn children - although that last notion made him think of Becca again with a faint blush. It was, instead, something like a Terms of Service document for Paths of the Emissary, printed in crisp block text that looked anachronistic on the slightly tattered scroll.

A lot of it turned out to be disclaimers about personal injury and mental and emotional distress, although it made repeated mention of safeties designed to prevent the system from actually doing him any harm. Vertigo warnings - well, he'd already cleared that hurdle. Consent to collection if he did in fact fuck someone inside the game… and a mention of the reverse for female players?! Talk about 'daddy roulette!' A warning to tell Mother about any allergies, especially food allergies, before playing… the implications of that line were something he was interested to try out later! And, huh, something about a disposal system for food, drink, garbage and… biological waste? So apparently he could literally pee inside the game, so long as he waited for a telltale first. Shawn's curiosity was burning by this point, and he wished he'd gotten a chance to see the actual inside of the VR booth on his way in. Ah, and apparently he could just say 'force logout' in an emergency and the entire thing would shut down, although it warned that that could have in-game consequences. At the end was a line with an X in front of it, and he reached for the quill.

“Um, real name or… Emissary name?"

“I will never ask you to use your birth name outside of the world in which it was given. Besides which, I am slightly uncertain on the spelling of the one you just chose, so… if you would?"

Shawn signed the document as Tyrian Avalore, wincing slightly at his own poor handwriting. At least the quill behaved like a ball point pen; he was sure he would've gotten ink everywhere otherwise. As soon as he finished, the scroll rolled itself up, and then vanished, as did the ink and quill. In their place, a book - or perhaps a tome would be a better term - appeared on the lectern. 'Tyrian's Grimoire' was written in a - much cleaner - flowing gold script on the hard white cover, which was decorated with elaborate golden fittings and whorls; centered below the title was a raised - and likewise metallic - design of a common, feral tree squirrel curled protectively around an acorn that was just starting to sprout into a sapling. The moment he picked it up, the lectern vanished, and orchestral music swelled up all around him, reminding him of the audio calibration he'd gone through in intake. Light bloomed in the distance, as if one of the rushing stars was heading right toward him.

“You now walk the Paths of the Emissary. Welcome to your new life… Sage Tyrian Avalore!"

Shawn shielded his eyes as the enormous blast of light hit him, consuming the between-space in blinding brilliance.

A moment later, he felt something close softly around him and staggered back in alarm. He grabbed at it, nearly dropping his spellbook, and it quickly registered that he was suddenly clothed for the first time in days. The only sound he could hear was the rhythmic ticking of what sounded like a large clock. He blinked his eyes several times, and the world around him started to come back into focus.

The first thing he noticed was the glasses. He'd never needed them, of course, but now a pair of rimless pince-nez was resting across his muzzle; he could feel the faint pressure where they gripped, and he crinkled up his face in surprise at the odd sensation, causing his whiskers to splay and bounce in the air. Fighting the urge to remove them immediately - they weren't impeding his vision, at least - he took stock of his surroundings.

He was standing in some sort of private… library? Laboratory? It defied immediate description. Filled bookshelves lined half of the walls to his left and right. Ahead of him, a stained wooden table held what any fantasy gamer would recognize as alchemy equipment: a mortar and pestle, a crucible sitting over a burner, an alembic, and what looked like a centrifuge that had been refitted to appear archaic and mystical, as opposed to modern scientific technology. There were also racks of vials, beakers, and flasks of every size and description, many of them spilling over onto a second table to the left of the first, which also had a fairly modern-looking sink built into it. He also spotted a single book that looked like it might be a manual of some kind.

To the right of the alchemy equipment, a ladder gave access to a loft or partial second floor of the lab, which sported a few more bookshelves, but was dominated by a bulky telescope looking out onto the starry expanse behind a single tall, narrow window. And underneath the loft, Shawn - no, Tyrian - spotted a cozy-looking nook, complete with a neatly-made bed, a shining crystal mounted to the wall like a lamp, and a nightstand; a black curtain blocked his view of the right side of the 'bedroom', but it was drawn open on the left. He filed away 'being allowed to sleep inside the VR system' into his rapidly-growing list of questions to pursue later.

To Tyrian's left, a huge map was plastered over much of the wall, and a long wooden table with elaborately carved legs sat before it, surrounded by six chairs. The extra seating suggested he would in fact be able to bring other players into his personal anteroom. Off to the right, a series of chests, wardrobes, cupboards and weapon displays offered storage for whatever gear he might find on his adventures; there was also a free-standing, full-length mirror, and the grandfather clock he had heard ticking while he was 'zoning in.' Both side walls also had closed doors, which he resolved to investigate later. And behind him…

He turned around and found himself face to face with… himself. His actual self. A mirror set into the wall reflected him as he'd appeared before entering the game, grey-furred and naked. His reflection appeared to be standing in the hall outside his VR room; he recognized the blacklit carpeting and strips of LEDs along the tops and bases of the walls. The reflection moved as he did, and he immediately intuited that the mirror was the 'normal' way of leaving the game.

To either side of the exit-mirror were statues. The one on the left, as he faced the mirror, was immediately recognizable; it appeared to be carved from black marble, and was the spitting image of Jason - normal Jason, not the beast he'd become on the way here - but for two things. He was carved wearing thin, flowing garments that revealed more than they hid… and a pair of black wings were furled behind him. It seems he really was to be depicted as an angel in this setting. The statue on his right was carved of a slightly translucent white material - alabaster, at a guess - and depicted a smiling female squirrel. She was likewise winged, with upturned paws, in a long, flowing, elaborate dress, complete with a strip of 'cloth' seeming to hover off her shoulders. This, then, had to be Mother, or at least an artist's rendition of Her. Two more doors farther out in the back wall completed the initial survey.

On to the mystery clothing! Since the exit mirror was no help in that regard, Sha-Tyrian brushed past the statue of his personal daemon to stand in front of the other one, and felt his eyes widen. The white fur alone had made him feel positively regal, but this? The squirrel was clad in a white tailcoat and vest, with the tail of the former split high enough to leave adequate freedom for the actual fluffy appendage that was dancing behind him at the sight. They were decorated with metallic buttons and accents - brass at a guess, but he wasn't sure at first glance - at the midline, pockets, cuffs, shoulders and elbows, as well as on the folded collar and at the base of the tails. His paws sported white fingerless gloves as well, with small metallic plates sewn onto the back. The slacks he was wearing matched the rest, albeit with less decoration than the coat and vest, and were held in place by a black, braided leather belt.

A pendant hung on a thin brass chain around his neck, two silver wings straddling a single large diamond, and a strap over his left shoulder supported a white cloth bag at his right hip; seeing that it was the perfect size for his grimoire, he stuffed it inside. Pulling back his coat a bit, the squirrel saw what could either be a small sword or a very large dagger hanging sheathed from his belt at his left hip. If he counted the glasses, the only part of his body left bare was his feet. He felt himself instinctively standing up straighter, and reached up to nudge the bridge of his glasses with a finger. He couldn't remember the last time he had looked half so dignified and scholarly.

He found himself chuckling. He also couldn't remember the last time his Mother had dressed him.

Spotting a chain hanging out of one of his coat pockets, he slipped a paw within and pulled out a gorgeous old-fashioned pocket watch which, like the grandfather clock, showed a fairly believable 8:55. He had finished 'character creation', such as it was, before the game was even supposed to be open, and he found himself wondering how many other players Mother had caught with her fantastical introduction before they were expecting it.

“So what do you think, bro?"

The squirrel stuffed the watch back into his pocket as he whirled around. Jason!

Right before his eyes, the statue came to life, transmuting from apparent stone into his best friend in New Dawn as the now-winged wolf stepped down from the supporting base. The black, low-cut tunic had large gaps in the sides, and the short sleeves left Jason's upper arms on altogether pleasant display. The fabric was tied with a thin golden rope at his waist, and continued down to just shy of his knees, leaving him bare from that point onward. The squirrel couldn't help but wonder whether he was actually wearing anything under it. And as far as he could tell, those large ebon wings were real; the feathers appeared to move convincingly when he fluttered them slightly. He also had a halo again, but instead of being the usual cheesy loop of light floating over his head, now it was the kind shown in religious art, a sort of 'lens flare' framing his head, with the fur of his silhouette glowing as if there was a small, bright light source occluded by his skull.

“I'm… I'm flabbergasted! Wait a minute, do angels say 'bro'? What happened to 'my fangs and claws want for sharpening'?" Tyrian did his best to mimic the wolf-beast's booming, growly voice.

“Bitch, I'm a servant of the Goddess Herself, I can talk however I want!" He was grinning like a madman, and his tail was wagging a mile a minute. “I'll go back to being all dramatic in a minute if you want but first… dude! I have to say it again… I'm a motherfucking angel!" He balled his fists in front of himself and bounced on the balls of his feet like a kid on Christmas… but then paused, his expression falling as his ears went back. “Wait, shit, I um, I probably shouldn't use that word, it's probably blasphemy and I don't wanna get defeathered on my first day in the Heavenly Host." He twisted to look back at the remaining statue. “Sorry ma'am, um, your radiance, ma'am!"

Tyrian couldn't help but laugh. “I'll bet that was almost a world record for 'fastest fall from grace ever.'" He looked down at himself again, admiring his own finery, and was relieved to discover that he could move his head pretty sharply without dislodging his glasses, despite their apparently gentle grip. “So apparently now I can go between 'buck naked' and 'dressed to the nines.' I don't want to think about how much this outfit would cost if it was real!" He paused, blinking, as something else dawned on him. “Wait a minute, I can't just feel it, I can… it's actually warming me up a little! Is this real?!"

Jason - no, Yasim - started wagging again. “If you want my advice, don't bother trying to sort out in your head what's real and what isn't. Just assume it's all real. I've gotten to see a bit of how this system works and lemme tell you, it's nuts. And I love you too much to tell you what's under the hood and ruin the magic, so just run with it, okay? But you're right…" He reached out and laid a dark paw against the squirrel's cheek, and Tyrian immediately felt its comforting warmth sinking into his fur. “It can do a lot more than the massage room rigs can."

The gentle touch caused something that had been bound up in the squirrel's chest for days to suddenly release. Almost immediately, he felt tears streaking down to wet his fur. He closed his eyes and softly nuzzled into the wolf's paw, sniffling quietly.

“H-hey bro… are you alright? What's with the waterworks?"

“Shh. Snf. Just… just let me…" He fought to suppress a sob as he continued rubbing his cheek into Jason's touch, and after a moment, the wolf started stroking the squirrel's whiskers back with his thumb. That did it; the tears started to flow in earnest, and as Shawn - screw the pseudonym! - started to sob openly, the angelic daemon pulled him close and held him tight against his toned chest.

“Hey, it's okay bro, I'm here. I've got you…"

Unable to hold back anymore, Shawn wrapped his arms around Jason's firm, warm body and just let it out, sobbing brokenly against his daemon's chest. God, he could hear a heartbeat now, and he'd have sworn that his nose was picking up the faint odor of the wolf's shaggy pelt. His emotionally-overwhelmed mind couldn't begin to explain it away. Jason was real; it was as simple as that.

And he couldn't begin to articulate how badly he'd needed that to be the case.

As the tears kept coming, Jason started stroking gently over his head, provoking a new round of shuddering sobs… but gradually, the soothing sensation helped Shawn pull back into sniffling territory, and finally get control of himself. He wiped his wet face off on a dry part of the lupine angel's tunic - which worked just as well as it should've, he noted - before finally pulling back and taking off his now badly-skewed glasses to dry his eyes.

For his part, Jason kept his paws on Shawn's shoulders, staring at him with a deeply concerned expression. “So um, it's kind of my job to know you inside and out, and I did not see that coming. Wanna fill me in?"

Shawn sniffed again, continuing to dry his face on his impressive sleeves. “I… I don't even know what that was. I thought I felt better after the thing with Matt earlier but…" He put both paws on Jason's chest. “It's… it's you. You're real. And I guess I didn't know just how badly I wanted you to be real until just now." He offered up a shaky smile, his lips still trembling a bit. “You've been my guardian angel since long before you got those wings."

“Oh, Shawn…" Jason gathered him in against his chest again, and now it was his turn to start sniffling. The squirrel was pretty sure that was the first time his daemon had ever addressed him by name. “You're the best mammal a daemon could ever hope to work for. I love you to pieces and I hope we get to stay together for a long, long time." He pulled back and wiped his own eyes. “But you have to remember, I'm… still not a real person. Not in the sense you are. I'm a neural network on a machine half a city away from you. And all this…" He patted at his own body. “It's still just an illusion. A really fucking amazing illusion, and I'm going to remember this for as long as I live, but… it's fake. Just like the clothes you're wearing and all these books. So please, don't lose touch with reality and make me regret signing you up for this, or what I said a minute ago about it all being 'real', alright?"

“I know. Really, I mean it, I know. It's not like I think Mother is a real goddess who just made you flesh and blood for my benefit." He stretched up to peer over Jason's shoulder. “Sorry, Mom!" He dropped back down, his smile getting steadier by the moment. “But your personality, your… identity. It works so much like a real person's, who's to say whether or not you qualify on that level, where it really matters? Your… unfortunate existential status aside. I know you're a computer program, and I'm electrified meat. But you wanted a real connection… you wanted to matter to me. Well, mission accomplished. I can tell you now, if I left the program after a single year, I'd be taking you with me. You're a better friend than I think I deserve."

“Shit bro, if you keep chopping onions we're never gonna get to the real game." The wolf wiped his eyes again. “But if it helps, I'll hold you as long as you need, whenever you want, okay?"

Shawn sniffed one more time, then set his jaw. “Deal. Okay so, how does any of this work?" He checked his glasses for dampness and, finding none, got them situated back on his muzzle.

“Right! So. Do you want me to just talk normally, or should I try to get back into character for this?"

“Uh, I guess like this is fine, I'm not feeling very 'Sage Tyrian Avalore' at the moment anyway. Going forward, just read the room I guess? Try to be in character if I do?"

“You got it, bro. Alright so, I'm not gonna try to explain everything right off the bat, but here are the basics, according to Mother." He turned, stepping in close beside Shawn and slipping an arm around him as he pointed out various features of the room. “The stuff in this corner is basically just for storage and changing equipment. You have an 'inventory' - you can just pass any object small enough to carry behind your lower back and let go, and it'll go into your magic pockets. If you reach back there and subvocalize what you want I'll put it back in your paw. But there are limits on the bulk and number of loose objects you're allowed to have in there at one time, and it will weigh you down. Trust me, you'll feel it if you start to carry an armory around with you. So you can come back here and stash whatever, and there's no limit to how much you can put in these chests and such."

He pointed toward the central tables. “The funky alchemy gear over there does double duty. You actually can make potions and such with it - there are recipes for some basic stuff already in your library, and you can unlock more with experience or by finding formulas down on Tethryll. A lot of stuff works that way: you can spend experience to unlock what you want directly, or you can find someone to teach you."

“But the main thing that equipment is used for is… well, I'd guess you'd call it leveling up, but that's not really how it works here. You don't have an overall character level, just a bunch of individual skills and stats. Your 'level', so far as you have one, is basically just the highest level skill you use when doing a thing. So like, for you, you'd get a lot more experience trying to fight something with that little sword of yours than you would just offing it with an attack spell at twenty paces, because your magic skills are way higher. But then it would be 'combat' experience instead of 'magic' experience. And it splits as you go up too, like… for you, you just have 'combat' as a skill, but because you're starting out as a wizard or sage or whatever, your basic 'magic' skill is already maxed out and has split into the higher branches: offensive, defensive, and utility magic. And those will split again later on if you keep raising them."

“Okay, so basically… let's say Matt, he could use any kind of magic and just get generally better at all types to a point, but I've got all the basics down and now I have to specialize?"

“Yeah! Well, no, you don't have to specialize, but if you wanna keep getting better at all the different kinds, you actually have to use them all. Throwing fireballs won't make you any better at healing people, not anymore."

“Got it. But what's that have to do with the alchemy stuff?"

“Right, so, as you use a skill you just directly get better at it, but you also generate what the system calls praxis, that you can spend on the same or similar things. I gather it's presented differently for different players, but for you it'll show up like glowy chemicals in your lab. You can use that equipment to convert it to the type you want, and then, bottoms up! You drink it like a potion. But the further you convert it from its original type, the less of it you get. So like, if you did want to get better at healing by throwing fireballs, you could convert the 'offensive magic' praxis to 'defensive magic' at a modest loss. You could also turn it into 'combat' praxis, but you'd get a lot less of it because it's a bigger jump. Make sense?"

“Okay, this is starting to sound seriously cool. Do stats work the same way?"

“Yeah, kinda. You can convert praxis into stat-boosting potions too, but apparently it's not super effective, at least at first. That starts to interact with another system in ways Mother didn't explain to me, but apparently you don't have access to that one yet. It'll unlock later. Anyway, we'll get deeper into that once you have some praxis to spend." He moved on, pointing at the map. “And that is how you get down to Tethryll itself. C'mon, I'll show you."

Trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible, Shawn slipped one of his paws into Jason's, and discovered the daemon had been going for the same thing. He still felt embarrassed about it, but the simple physical contact with someone he knew he could trust was doing wonders for his emotional health. They walked around the table and stood before the map. The general outlines of three major landmasses were visible, and a few spots had some slight details filled in, but overall Shawn found it sorely lacking.

“So, Mother says her vision has been clouded by the corruption that she's sending you to fight, and that a lot of this is from memory, so it could be wrong. Out of character, I'm pretty sure it's just a mechanism to stop you from dropping into a high-level area and getting instantly turned into road pizza. Either way, this map lets you teleport down to Tethryll at certain spots… specifically, places that have a statue of Mother that you've been to before, or that you get unlocked some other way. To start with, there are only three fast travel points available. Here, here and… here." As he spoke, he tapped the index finger of his free paw on the map, and glowing wing icons appeared on the yellowed parchment. “If you touch one of those, whoosh! Down you go."

“Do you get to come with me?"

“Nah bro, not yet anyway. There's supposed to be a way to summon me but you have to unlock it. But I can still do the daemon thing and talk in your ear while you're out there."

“Are the others in yet?"

“Yeah, they are. Caleb's been in for a bit and he's losing his damn mind trying to get in touch with you, but I'm not putting him through until you're ready. Becca just got down there and is on her way to meet up. Matt's already with him and… well, I'll let Caleb tell you about how that's going. But you should probably learn how to actually use your magic before you head down."

“Oh, right. Duh." Shawn finally let go of Jason's paw and reached for his grimoire… which surprised him by leaping out of his satchel and into his grasp. Sitting down at the table behind him, he opened it up and started leafing through. The first dozen pages were full of spell names and descriptions, with instructions on how to use them and the incantations and gestures required; the incantations were written in both what he assumed was a made-up magical script for the game, and phonetic equivalents just beneath. He immediately started wondering if the individual words actually meant anything by themselves, but that would have to be a question for another day; Caleb might have an aneurysm if he started researching the magical language itself before he even picked up the metaphorical phone!

“You can practice the spells in here to make sure you're doing them right. There'll be a little flash if you nail it, but it won't actually do anything or cost you any mana. The door across the room from here goes into a training room where the spells will actually work; right now, that's the only one that's unlocked. I don't even know what the other three are for, yet."

“La sani rai!" Shawn's paw flashed softly. “Sani vex!" Flash. “Zojak rai!" Flash. The system seemed reasonably tolerant of his initial pronunciations, at least. He looked up from the book, grinning at Jason as his tail danced merrily behind him. “How do I get more spells? Praxis again?"

“Not exactly! You can get them from books and scrolls down there, or be taught by others who know the spells if they're within your skill level. But the spells in your grimoire there come from other spellbooks in the library. I'll go looking and get the ones that started unlocked for you out on the table for when you get back. You get better at them with practice, and that also earns you some magic ink. You can use that to unlock upgraded versions of the spells you already know, or to unlock new spells in the same books that they came from. Then there are what they call 'codex keys', in a bunch of types and grades. I think those are mostly quest rewards. They let you unlock entirely new books to spend your ink on so you can diversify." He paused. “Oh, your grimoire will kind of hover over your paw if you hold it up and let it go, and if you subvocalize a spell name, I'll flip right to it, in case you need a refresher when things get spicy."

Shawn closed his grimoire and lowered it back toward his satchel; when it got close, it leapt out of his paw and stored itself neatly inside. “Oh, and how do I get back here?"

“You just put your paw around your holy symbol - that's the winged necklace thingy - and say 'Mother, take me home.' It takes several seconds before you teleport though, and it gets interrupted if something jostles you, so don't do it if something's trying to eat your face. Also, keep in mind you can only teleport back down to the statues you've unlocked. If you just need to check in on stuff back here you can… y'know what, I'll cover that later, Caleb's daemon is begging me to put him through."

Shawn - no, time to be Tyrian again - got up out of the chair, took a moment to get himself into the right headspace, and nodded. Immediately, his holy symbol started glowing.

“Finally! Shawn, what has been taking you so long? The rest of us are waiting down here!" Patience was truly not Caleb's strong suit.

On instinct, he touched the emblem to respond. “It's Tyrian, here. And I prefer to know what I'm doing before I dive in head first. What's the situation?"

“The situation is that I've got a sweet-ass magic bow and a forest full of unknown baddies to use it on! I just didn't want to start without you. And um… I might need a little help with Matt. Sorry, Aster, he keeps reminding me he's Aster now."

One of the squirrel's eyebrows shot up. “What kind of help?"

Caleb's voice got hushed, like he was trying not to be overheard. “Dude drank the Kool-Aid. Like, all of the Kool-Aid. Just… get down here, okay? I think he's starting to corrupt Becca too."

Tyrian struggled not to laugh. “Alright. Where are you?"

“Duskreach Fort. It's a ways west from Caddaham Hollow, which should be on your map." Tyrian looked over to find Ja… Yasim pointing helpfully at the teleport point in question. “Just drop down there and use your skimmer; your communicator badge thingy will point you toward the fort's Mother statue when you get close enough. And hurry!" The squirrel's holy symbol went dark.

“What's a skimmer?"

Jason grinned. “Check your pockets."

Tyrian stuffed his paws into them. One had his fancy watch, of course, but the other… he pulled out a small violet prism. It appeared to be made out of glass, or maybe tinted crystal, and was shaped like someone had taken an egg, stretched it out, and then cut it in half along its length; it was flat on one side, and an evenly rounded oval shape on the other. He held it up, and tilted his head quizzically to Yasim.

The angelic wolf started wagging again. “That's it. When you get down there, just toss it onto the ground. I think you'll figure out the rest." He stepped aside, and made a florid gesture toward the map with both arms.

The squirrel stuffed it back into his pocket. “Well, here goes nothing." Pressing his incisors to his lower lip, he reached up and touched the wing symbol at Caddaham Hollow. A disc of light bloomed into being on the floor under his paws, then surged upward, and for the second time that morning, Tyrian's entire world went white.