FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“I've told you, Mike, I transferred the last bit of payment for the repairs before I left," the ginger twenty-six-year-old said as he leaned back in the pilot's chair, his eyes not leaving the window in front of him, as he saw other ships fly around him. His hands were resting lazily on the controls, ready to grab them at a moment's notice, but relaxed and willing to let the ship's autopilot handle everything for now.

“Well, the mechanic keeps calling me about how we stiffed him, Keith" the synthesized voice of his partner came through the ship's intercom, crackling a bit due to the distance between the ship and where the transmission was coming.

“Ha! If anything, he stiffed us" Keith Coolidge said with a chuckle as he moved around a bit in the chair to try and find the comfy spot “Pretty sure he charged me twice as much as he should have for the work he did on the ship"

“I keep telling you we need to buy a new hauler," Mike said, and despite the lack of visual elements to the call, Keith knew his husband was rolling his eyes “People just don't carry the parts for it anymore, so, of course, he charged extra"

“Yeah, I'd buy that if he actually replaced anything" Keith grumbled “I'm convinced he just slapped some hyper-glue and sealant tape on everything and called it a day… Plus you know that this old girl has things modern ships don't."

“I know, I know," Mike said in a tone that made it clear it was a discussion the two have had many many times over. Keith chuckled, but before he could say anything else, the lights on the chair's arm beeped and blinked blue.

“Ugh, gotta hand up," Keith said as he sat up a bit straighter “Got an inspection…"

“Right, hope they're not too rough on ya," Mike said with sympathy clear in his voice “Love ya, talk later"

“Love you too," Keith said with a smile as he hung up the communicator and let out a sigh “Righto… Time to talk to the asshats.." he mumbled as he tapped the blinking blue button.

“You are attempting to leave the Sovereign Territory of the Othrys system" came the automated voice of the Border Security “State your name, citizenship, and occupation"

“Keith Coolidge," the ginger said in a flat tone “Citizen of Othrys, planet Kronos. Occupation is Scavanger."

Keith had gone through this particular routine so much he could do it in his sleep. It was one of the costs of living in the Othrys System Republic, one of the most calm states in the galaxy. Through the past thousand years, humanity had left its cradle in the Solar System and spread outwards through the entire galaxy after the discovery of Tunnel FTL drive and never really looked back. Nowadays, humans were spread through the entire galaxy, settling and building up on every habitable planet they could find, and even those that weren't in the case of particularly daring and crazy. And when enough planets shared some kind of culture or ideals they tended to unite into a Sovereign System, of which there were so many it got difficult to count and each was unique in its own way. Some horrible and some near utopian.

Really, living in Othrys wasn't that bad, Keith knew that. Clean cities, fair laws, good standard of living. Kinda came with being known as the Cultural and Humanitarian Center of Humanity's various states. Most people in Othrys studied to become great artists, musicians, medics, and scientists. Most people.

And Keith wasn't most people.

“Accessing…" the computerized voice of Border Security said, “Please stand by for Organic Security Officer…"

“Of course…" Keith said with a sigh as the line went dead for a second, only to be picked up by a rather gruff and bored-sounding voice.

“So, you are heading out to pick through the bits, Scavver?" the officer said

“Yes," Keith said, rolling his eyes “And I've got all my permits up to date and signed"

“Huh, sure. Just upload em" the guy said. Keith sighed and hit a few buttons on the ship's console, uploading the forms to the guy's ship. Scavengers, or Scavvers as most people called them, weren't exactly the most popular vocations in the galaxy, especially in societies like Othrys that prided themselves on being highly educated, high-class society. And people who went into space to pick through old shipwrecks and old alien ruins for valuable salvage and old alien artifacts weren't exactly high on that list.

“Right, everything seems to be in order," the guy on the other said “Try not to trespass into Shiva Empire territory, we've gotten way too many idiots who decide to go and poke through their wrecks, and it's always a headache."

“No worries there," Keith said with a shiver. The Shiva Empire was one of the biggest Sovereign Systems in the galaxy and one of the nastiest. A bunch of expansionists, military-obsessed nutters who were only not actively conquering everything because every other system put immense pressure on them. And they did not take kindly to people who trespassed in their space and they certainly didn't appreciate scavvers looking for a payday. “I'm heading in the complete opposite direction from them"

“Good. Got enough headaches to deal with. Now move along, you making a line" the officer said as he cut the comms.

“Real friendly guy…" Keith mumbled as he grabbed the ship's controls and activated the thrusters, flying forward and officially out of Othrys. He twisted and manipulated the controls a bit, flying the ship further out before bringing up the communicator and dialing his husband again.

“So, everything went fine then?" Mike asked as soon as the line connected

“Considering the fact you're talking to me and not a Security Officer who doesn't get enough personal time, yeah" Keith joked as he piloted the ship towards the minimum safe distance to FTL. “But anyways, was just giving you one more call before I tunnel into FTL and wanted to talk one last time. I have a good feeling about this tip, the guy seemed really convinced that Ghost Ship he stumbled across could be worth something."

“Thanks, Kit" Mike said “Wish I was there with you"

“I know," Keith said with a sad nod “Wish you were too, but honestly it's for the best you stay home."

“Ke-"

“Mike, we're not having this argument again and definitely not having it over a comm unit," Keith said in a serious tone “You had a full-on panic attack last time, Mike. A really bad one."

“It wasn't that bad…" his partner said

“Mike, we had to turn around to leave and I damn near had to sedate you," Keith said in the same serious tone. Keith usually scavenged with his partner, but a few years ago, Mike got caught in a collapsing tunnel that cost him his arm and legs. While he had gotten holographic prosthetics that pretty much allowed him the same functionality he had before, he was still working through the mental trauma he got as a result of it. Most of the time, it was something the two of them could work through, but the last time it had been a rather serious one, and now the ginger wasn't taking any chances. “Plus, I paid for those sessions for you with Dr. Hypatia already. And you know she doesn't do refunds"

“Fine," Mike said, the tone of his voice making it clear he was throwing up his arms in defeat which made the ginger pilot grin a little “Have a safe trip, Kit"

“Thanks, Mikey," Keith said. The comm unit cut off a second later, and Keith typed in the coordinates of his destination.

Tunnel Drive…Online came the voice of the ship's computer Drive warmed up…Coordinates accepted….Tunneling in 3…2…1…

Keith gripped the sides of the chair tightly as the entire ship lurched forward and blasted ahead, a rainbow of colors replacing the blackness of space as he entered the FTL tunnel. Keith kept a tight grip on the chair for a few minutes before letting go with a sigh and unbuckling himself.

“Right…inertia dampeners still holding…" Keith mumbled as he stood up and shook his head. “Computer, estimated time to arrival?"

Calculating….Estimated arrival time is…4 hours and 40 minutes

“Right… guess I better go get some shut-eye," Keith said with a small yawn “Set alarm for 4 hours and thiry minutes" There was a small beep as the computer accepted the command. Keith yawned again and headed for the back of the ship to try and get some extra sleep before he got to the rather hard work of scavenging.

---

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Keith grunted as he woke up, blinking and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as the dull sound of the alarm rang out. He hit the off-button on the panel next to his bunk as he sat up, but the beeping continued.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Oh come on…" he groaned as he gave the panel a smack and hit the button again, this time with more force behind it. A second later the beeping stopped, the only sound being the background hum of the Tunnel Drive. “Finally…" he said, rubbing his eyes as he stood up “Just one more thing in this tub that needs fixing I guess…"

The ginger scavenger yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he stood up and stretched, his eyes traveling around the small quarters. The ship he and his husband owned wasn't exactly what people would call a luxury vessel. Most people would charitably call it a 'flying hunk of scrap metal'. It was old, around seventy years out of date and almost every piece in it just wasn't available on the market anymore, making repairs a complete pain in the ass which often ended with jury-rigged repairs.

“One day we'll be able to get a new ship…" Keith mumbled as he grabbed his boots and slipped them on with one hand and tapped the panel with the other. It beeped for a second and a small rectangular box dropped out, which he grabbed and jabbed into his neck. He shivered as a wave of energy rushed through his body and any sense of drowsiness evaporated from his body. “And someday we'll get a ship with a coffee machine instead of using WakeUp Stims…" Keith mumbled as he chucked the now empty box into the garbage can in the corner of the room. Keith and his husband were always hard up on credits, mostly from where they lived. Living on Orthys was not cheap, even in the relatively less affluent area where the two had their apartment. Combine that with the fact the two needed to buy equipment for their scavving trips, repairs on the ship, and the day-to-day ways they needed to spend money, the two were not in any position to buy a new spaceship. Keith let out a small sigh as he stood up, grabbed his belt off the table next to the garbage can, and stepped out of the quarters, the door sliding shut behind him, leaving him back on the ship's bridge, the never-ending rainbow of FTL blasting through the windows.

“Right, let's take another look," Keith said as he took a seat again, tapping the controls on the armrests. A second later, a hologram flickered in front of him, showing a map of the Milky Way Galaxy.

“Computer," Keith said “Give me a description of the area."

Accessing… the computer said as the map zoomed in on the area the ship was heading According to the Orthys' galactic map, the territory is currently determined as 'Non-Viable'

“Meaning its useless for colonization or industry" Keith mumbled

Correct. All terrestrial planets in the sector are too hostile for colonization. Gas and Ice Giants are considered unviable for fuel extraction due to isolation.

“So, it's the middle of bumfuck nowhere," Keith said with a small smile. “Means no chance of anyone getting annoyed at me. Not counting the guys at the bar anyways" he turned back to the map “Give me Galactic Archeological records of the area. Who lived here?"

Accessing… the computer beeped as the map of the galaxy began to be separated into separate colors and names. Keith's eyes washed over some of them as he waited for a response. The galaxy, as much as people could figure out, worked in a cycle of some kind. An alien species became advanced enough to spread out amongst the stars, they would expand, colonize, conquer, go to war, and then, eventually collapse. So far, archeologists have identified four previous alien civilizations that had expanded through the galaxy, with hints of there being even more in the distant past. While the idea of the cycle was something theologians and philosophers were fascinated by, for Keith it had a much simpler meaning.

Alien tech was worth a fuck-ton of credits to the right buyer, no matter what species it belonged to.

Results found. According to the Pan-Galactic Archeological Organization, this sector belonged to the Cok'ex species.

“Cok'ex?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow “Not familiar with those… Elaborate"

The Cok'ex were one of the smaller galactic communities, as far as current research shows. They are believed to resemble humanoids, with large horns on their heads. They were extremely advanced, with cybernetics and robotics being extensively used throughout their civilization, but no working examples of their technology have been recovered to date.

“Heh, well then that sounds perfect," Keith said with a grin. A ghost ship in an area that barely any humans really cared about, but was once the territory of one of the most advanced extinct alien civs? That had the sound of a perfect payday to him. He tapped a few buttons and deactivated the hologram.

Warning. Arrival imminent. Brace for Tunnel-Exit

“Here we go," Keith said with a grin as he grabbed the controls “Time to get rich!"

He grunted as he was jolted forward, the rainbow of colors evaporating back into the normal star-speckled blackness of space. He groaned a bit and shook his head as he started piloting the ship himself.

“Right time to get a look around…" the ginger mumbled as he tapped on the controls “Launch Scanners"

Understood the computer answered and a THUD rang out across the ship as the ship's multi-directional scanners were launched.

“Okay, let's take a look at what we've got here…" Keith mumbled as he tapped a few more buttons, a hologram of the system popped up in front of him. The scanners were designed to pinpoint the location of anything manufactured when scanning, so he just gave it a second as he stared at the holograms of the planets and the star of the system he was currently in. Then, a small red dot appeared on the hologram and a PING rang out through the ship's speakers.

The ginger's grin grew as he grabbed the controls and began to fly over to the coordinates the scanners had given him.

“Time for payday," he said with a grin as he boosted the engines.

---

“Right…" Keith mumbled as he stood in the airlock, making sure he had all of his gear “Flashlight… check. Holo-armor… check… emergency blaster…." he tapped the side of his belt and let out a sigh “And this is why you do checks every time, Keith" he said as he reached over the to the small locker next to him and grabbed a small pistol. He tapped the top of it, and the square on top glowed bright green and hummed lightly “Right, blaster is charged in case of emergency…" he muttered as he slipped it into his holster and stepped closer to the airlock. “Computer, is the scan of the vessel complete?"

Yes the computer answered Scans show the vessel's structure is intact but there is no breathable atmosphere within

“Right, breathing equipment then," Keith said as he turned back to the locker and began fishing through it “Sealed environment or vacuum?"

Sealed and pressurized. Scans do not show any risk of structural weakness in the hull, so a breach is unlikely

“Huh, guess these guys built their things to last then," Keith said as he grabbed a pair of goggles and a breathing mask, slipping both on. “Power readings?"

Minimal the computer said Archeological records show that Cok'ex vessels have extensive power storage, meant to keep a ship active for centuries. It is likely that backup reactors or capacitors are active on the ship but are disconnected.

“Hmm, that could be handy or dangerous," Keith said, crossing his arms and then shrugging “Well that's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it." he walked up to the door and activated the Airlock Cycle. A loud hiss rang out all around him as the door behind him that led back to his own ship slammed shut and sealed. A second later, the door in front of him opened with a slow his. Keith took a deep breath as the atmosphere of the ship rushed in, the mask converting the alien atmosphere to oxygen and nitrogen for him to breathe. He pulled out his flashlight and stepped out of the airlock and onto the alien ship proper.

The ship's interior was big, clearly built for beings far taller than Keith could ever hope to be. He pointed his flashlight upwards and could see catwalks and doors leading to other areas of the ship. The walls and floors were made up of dark green metal with no sign of visible light fixtures on them, at least none that Keith could see. He took a deep breath and ventured deeper, the clacking on his boots on the metal floor echoing all around him. He shone his flashlight over everything, seeing if there was anything to grab.

“This ship is… surprisingly spartan…" he mumbled to himself. He couldn't see any decorations, flourishes, or any real personality of any kind. The ship seemed to be built with utility as literally its only function. “These aliens must have been really boring to talk to…" he said, shaking his head and moving deeper into the ship, passing under the catwalks. As he walked, he felt his foot hit something. Out of reflex, he pulled out his blaster and pointed it at whatever he hit, alongside his flashlight. “What the…" he mumbled, slipping the blaster back into his holster and crouching down “Is that a glove?"

It was indeed a glove. A rather large one, made of what seemed to be hard black rubber with green lines. Frowning, Keith gave it a poke with his boots before reaching down and grabbing it. “Wow, this thing is surprisingly heavy for a glove" Keith mumbled as he held it in his hand “Weighs about as much as my blaster…" he pointed his flashlight to the inside and grinned as the light illuminated a maze of green circuits all through the inside of the glove. Almost every inch of the thing's interior was covered in them. “Oh, you alone are gonna make this trip worthwhile. I can get tons of credits for alien computer parts!" Keith said with a grin as he patted it. He carefully slipped it onto a small loop on his belt and after securing it, kept going forwards.

“I might have just found a piece of power armor…" he said to himself, thinking out loud as he passed through an open door and into the ship's darkened hallways. “If that's the case, there's probably even more in here somewhere, I doubt they just brought along one glove…If I can get an entire suit of the stuff, we'll be set for years! Hell, if I do that, I could afford to come back with a full team and properly strip this thing! We'd be set for life after something like that!"

He was lost in his musings, so he didn't notice where he was going until he ran smack into a large sealed door, making him almost fall on his ass.

“Gah..Shit, focus Keith" he mumbled, shaking his head “Don't get lost in your head while scavving" he took a deep breath and looked around a bit.

The door was massive, almost twice as tall as him and like the rest of the ship, was made of dark green metal. Frowning, the ginger leaned closer and knocked on the door gently, listening to the sound to see how thick it was. “Well nuts…" he mumbled “I'm not cutting through that with my blaster…" he moved his flashlight over to the walls around the door, and smiled a little, seeing a small bulb next to it. “Right, the door is motion activated," he said, reaching down with his free hand to tap the glove “So getting it open means turning the power back on… Or I could just go…" he glanced back at the way he came in, then down at the glove resting on his belt and smirked. “Yeah, I'm not leaving without a full suit of this stuff. Guess it's time to track down the backup generator."

---

Keith let out a contented sigh as he plugged a wire into another socket, smiling as he felt the hum of power moving through it.

“Perfect" he muttered “Just a few more and this thing will be done." It hadn't taken long to find the backup generator which was in the large room where he first entered, and even less to crack it open and start rewiring things as necessary. He held out his right hand, and a small hologram of an identical generator appeared out of a projector in his hand. It was an image of a Cok'ex's generator from the museum back home, which had been jury-rigged to work. “Right, now all I need to do is….shift one more plug…" he mumbled, doing that with his free hand “and hit the reset button!" he jammed his thumb on the bright blue button next to the mess of wires spilling out of the generator.

The thing hummed and the wires began to glow bright neon green, power flowing through them. A few sparks blasted out the side of it, making the ginger scavver scramble back a bit out of reflex. A second later, the lights on the wall flickered and began to glow in different shades of green, and many parts that were pitch black began to turn on with alien characters.

“Perfect," Keith said with a grin as he scrambled back to his feet and wiped the dust off his body. He turned around and headed back to the hallway he had been at before. He reached the door and grinned as he saw the bulb shining green “Heh, guess I can guess what this species' favorite color is" he said, chuckling as he walked up the door. The light blinked blue and the door hissed open. “YES!" he cheered, dashing inside to see what exactly was his prize for this trip.

Inside was a series of tubes, six in total, two on each wall except the one with the door. Five of them were occupied, much to Keith's joy. He walked up to the nearest one, a massive grin on his face as he looked through the transparent material.

Inside the five tubes were massive figures, almost three times as tall as Keith and built like professional bodybuilders. They seemed to be made of the same shiny, glossy material as the glove he had found earlier. They mostly resembled humans, except for their heads which more resembled a bull, with a snout and a pair of massive horns pointing out of the sides of their heads. There weren't any visible eyes, but from the light reflecting off them, the ginger could tell that in place of eyes, there were screens.

“Five entire suits of Cok'ex's gear…" Keith said with a huge grin on his face as he looked around. All five of the figures were identical, down to the smallest detail. He rested his hand on the barrier, thinking of how much these would be worth as soon as he got them out. “Now…where's the release switch…" he mumbled to himself as he looked around, but couldn't see anything. Each of the tubes was completely free of any sort of panel or interface, the only thing on them apart from the transparent material being a soft blue light at the base, similar to the one by the side of the door.

“Damn it…" Keith mumbled as he took a step back and looked around the entire room in more detail. Again he didn't see any panel or form interface. All there was were some wires connecting the tubes to the ceiling “Great, controls are probably on the bridge or something…" he shook his head as he looked at the tube separating him from his prize “Why would you put the controls to the armory on the bridge? That just seems needlessly complicated…" he tapped the transparent material, frowning a bit as he heard the 'thunk' echo out across the empty room. “Hmm…I might just be able to cut through this…."

He pulled his blaster out of its holster, aiming it at the tube, and pulled the trigger. A loud hum rang out from the weapon as a bright green beam blasted out of the barrel, sparks flying out as it began to slowly cut through the material in front of him.

“Right…" he mumbled as he increased the power output, the beam shifting to red as the heat increased “There we go…. Just a bit long- GYAH!" Keith's words were interrupted as he felt something cold and metal wrapping itself around his arm. A second later, he felt another one attach to his other arm, the sudden tightness around his wrist making him drop his blaster “W-What the hell!?" he shouted, looking down at his arms, going pale as he saw that it was two metal cables with green glowing lines on them, much like the rest of the tech around him. He looked behind him, his eyes going wide as he saw that the empty tube had hissed open, and the cables had come out from it. Around it, bright orange lights were flashing and a very soft, almost unhearable buzz was ringing out of the walls. “S-Shit…" the ginger mumbled as he saw the back of the tube opening up and more cables shot out towards him. Two wrapped themselves around his ankles, tightening around so much he wouldn't be able to wiggle free at all. The scavenger barely had time to react as the cables retracted, dragging him into the tube

“GAH!" he grunted as his back slammed into the wall, the tube closing with a hiss around him. “W-What's going…"

Aoinga gadlea Mandgayu a voice intoned in an alien tongue that Keith didn't understand a single word of.

“L-LET ME OUT!" Keith shouted, trying to break free of the cables, but unable to move a single inch from the wall.

Aoinga gadlea Mandgayu the voice intoned again, either ignoring Keith or unable to understand him period. The tube shifted, changing from transparent to an opaque dark green. Keith's eyes went wide as that happened, leaving him trapped in darkness, but that did not last, as a few seconds later, a series of bright green beams appeared on top and bottom of the tube and began moving towards him.

“Shit!" he hissed, wiggling as he tried to break free “Shitshitshitshitshit!" he closed his eyes and braced himself as the beams reached his feet and the top of his head.

There was a loud buzzing sound and the smell of something burning as the beams crisscrossed over his entire body. As they moved, they turned his clothes and any hair on his body into ash, which was rapidly sucked up by a built-in vacuum cleaner on the ground. He was left completely nude and free of hair in the tube after the first passing of the beams, and his blaster and the glove fell to the ground, clanking against the metal floor as they now had nothing to hold on to. The scavver opened his eyes slowly as he heard the sound of the items hitting the floor and looked around. As he did, he moved his head and realized what the beam had done.

“Fuck!" he groaned, shaking his head “That's gonna be a pain in the ass to fix…" he looked down at the floor, his face going a bit red as he saw his freckle-covered bare form, but he focused on the floor and the items on the ground.

Kjadad mnad…Edaknag the voice spoke again as a series of blue beams formed on the ground, scanning the items. The ones touching his blaster turned bright red and flashed, and the smell of burning flooded Keith's nostrils again as it was reduced to ashes.

“I'm so fucked…" he mumbled, trying to wiggle free again with no dice. The beams hitting the glove however, changed to green and a high-pitched beeping noise rang out instead. An arm popped out of the ceiling and picked it up, moving it closer to Keith

Kioad….gadn keatpo the voice said one more time before the glove lit up, the green circuits on the glove starting to glow a bright green, as did lines on the surface of the glove. It hissed as it opened up as well. The tubes holding Keith's arm began to move as well, forcing his hand forward and into the open glove.

“W-Wait, what the fuck are you doing?" Keith stammered out, more confused than anything at this point. The machine, once again, ignored his words. Instead, it put his hand into the glove, which hissed and slammed shut around it. He blinked and wiggled his hand, barely able to even make the gloves twitch due to how much larger than his own body it was. A second later, the glove hissed and opened, the tendrils forcing his arm back against the wall. The trapped scavver let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head.

“R-Right…this thing is probably some k-kind of Power Armor station…. Thought I was a recruit or something…. G-Guess it figured I wasn't one… H-Hopefully it will let me out now that it sees I don't fit into the- GAH!" Keith hissed as he felt something jab into his left butt cheek, followed by a small amount of heat.

Dakre agda….bamda the voice said as from the ceiling, a pair of arms appeared and moved downwards to Keith's body.

“Um…" the former ginger mumbled, eyeing the two arms, which seemed to have some kind of device at the tip instead of a claw like the one holding the glove “Are you gonna be the thing that lets me out?" he asked with a nervous smile on his face. There was no answer from the machine, instead the two arms pointed at his arms and shot out a bright purple laser. The scavver's eyes went wide as he saw that, but all that happened when the beams hit his skin was a light tingling running across his muscles. The beams moved up and down across his entire arms, from his hands to his shoulders. Before he could say anything else, the tingle transformed into a pulse of arousal and pleasure ringing out from his arms, making him shiver and moan rather loudly, his dick springing up, hard as a stone.

“W-What the fuuuuuuuuuuu…." he moaned, biting his tongue to stop himself from moaning. He looked over at his arms, blinking as he saw that they were…growing. With each pass of the laser, the muscles in his arms grew more and more, taking him from his normally twig-like build and closer to something akin to the arms of a bodybuilder. He heard some more whirring from above, his eyes going wide as more of those arms dropped down and fired the same purple lasers across his body.

One beam hit his chest, stomach, and shoulders, and began to move back and forth across them, the muscles underneath the beam being sculpted into a perfect six-pack, his chest into a firm pair of pecs that anyone would be jealous of. His shoulders shifted, becoming broader to fit not only his larger chest but also his new arms, which now looked perfectly at home with his more sculpted chest.

The next two beams hit his legs and a very similar process began there, whatever had been injected into his behind allowing the lasers to mold his body as they saw fit. He blinked as he felt his bare feet touching the floor of the tube, his legs having gotten longer as well as more muscular, his feet being made bigger to match his new height and build. He moaned as the changes sent another wave through his system, making him shiver in place and close his eyes, trying to find anything to focus on besides the sensations the beams were sending through his body.

After what felt like an eternity to him, the arms retracted back into the ceiling and the haze of arousal finally began to lessen, though he was still panting as he blinked his eyes open and leaned his head back forward. Panting, he looked down at this body and gasped, seeing his new build properly for the first time. The only thing that reminded him that this was his body he was looking at was the freckles that dotted his skin, because aside from that his build was nothing like the beanpole he had been when the cables had dragged him into the tube, now more akin to a professional weightlifter or strongman than the skinny scavenger he had always been. There was a hiss as cold air rushed into the tube, making him both shiver and moan as his now sensitive skin felt the cold air hit it.

“W-What the…." he panted, shivering as he looked at the glove, which opened up again with another hiss. His arm was moved forward again and his hand slipped into the high-tech gear, which closed around it. This time, it was skin-tight against his now bigger hand and arm. He blinked and wiggled his fingers, seeing that there was no resistance from the rubbery material thanks to the micro-motors in the glove. “R-Right…I-I fit the armor now….And that's all I've got on me…So can I just go now?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling of the tube.

Dakng….gadnab Yuakhda the computer spoke. Before Keith could even react, his other arm was brought forward and another glove was slipped on, hissing as it was sealed up

“T-The hell!?" he shouted as both his arms were slammed against the wall again “W-Where did that come…" his eyes went wide as he saw an opening in the ceiling of the tube, where new pieces of the suit were being produced in front of his eyes. He saw a pair of boots being assembled in front of him, starting with a glob of the rubber-like material taking on the needed shape, then circuitry seeming to grow out of the rubber, then the micro-motors forming and finally another layer of rubber, which had the glowing green lines the gloves did. As soon as they were done, they were brought down to the floor and opened up with a similar hiss to the gloves. “S-Stop!" he shouted as the cables holding him lifted up his feet, slipping them into the boots and sealing them before bringing them back to the same spot as before. He groaned and tried to move his toes, but unlike the gloves, he was met with a lot of resistance. He couldn't move his toes an inch. He winced and shivered as another jolt of pleasure rang through him thanks to the cold air.

“W-What's next?" he asked as he looked up, gasping as he saw the suit's mask being assembled and lowered. It looked exactly like the ones he'd seen on the other suits, a large horned mask with a muzzle and a screen for eyes. The arms turned it around and opened it as it approached his head. The cables forced him to bend forward, and the mask was right in front of his face. His eyes went wide as the mask was fitted around his head his mouth being forced onto a small mold for his mouth at the base of the mask's muzzle, which connected to his nose as well, the hiss that rang out making it clear it had been sealed around his head. He then felt his body being shoved back into position. Felt being the keyword as he couldn't see anything inside the mask, only hearing the sound of his breathing through the mask's filters.

Ddatea ad came the voice again, muffled. A second later, the mask began to glow green as it turned on. He shivered as he felt something being placed into his ears and light-flooded into his vision as the screen turned on, showing just two blue dots in front of him

“Whas happnenin…" he mumbled around the mouthguard.

Bda-uange adaptation complete the voice said, now sounding in an understandable language Updating visor UI with translation for ease of drone efficiency

“Drone!?" Keith said, trying to break free of the wall again with renewed effort, but it was still in vain. Even with his new build, the cables had too tight a hold on him.

Subject of Non-Cok'ex origin. The voice continued, now sounding like it was coming from inside Keith's head Drone Work Suit adapted to new physiology. Commencing full suiting procedure.

Keith blinked and then shivered, moaning loudly as he felt something cold flowing out of the pieces of the suit he was wearing. Unseen to him, more of the rubbery material was flowing out of the mask, gloves, and boots and coating the rest of his muscular body in the outfit, manufacturing the suit on his body as the individual pieces had done before. The lack of hair on his body meant there wasn't a single obstacle as the base rubber formed, coating every single pore and spot of his skin. His still-hard dick was encased and entrapped in a large bulge between his legs. A second later, the circuits and micro-motors began to form on the rubber as well, feeding all the telemetry into the mask, with a HUD forming around the two blue dots that dominated his vision, giving him a readout of his surroundings and the status of the suit's integrity. And finally, one final layer formed on top, giving him the same glowing green lines that all Cok'ex technology shared.

Finally, the cables holding his body in place released him and he stumbled forwards blind, leaning against the tube as he reached up and grabbed the suit by the horns, attempting to rip it off.

“Geoff me" he said, tugging again and again in a vain effort to get the material to give and let him go.

Error. Subject non-complaint. The voice said Adjusting parameters to match…

Before Keith could even wonder what that meant, he felt the motors in the suit seize up and freeze him in place. A second later, he felt a light tickle in his ear as what entered before began to work.

Accessing biological memory storage….the voice said Accessed. Beginning total memory wipe.

“Wait wh-" the words died in his throat as suddenly everything became hazy. His memories disappeared instantly, flashing before his eyes for a split second before evaporating into nothingness. He blinked and tried to shake his head as a sense of confusion and panic began to form “W-Where am I? W-What's going on?"

Memory Wipe succesful

“W-What?! Memory wipe?!" he shouted

Error. Subject emotional levels elevated. Compensating. The voice said as the guy in the suit felt a tickle in his ear.

“W-What do you mean compenssating? What are you…." he blinked as he felt his emotions…drain away. Anger, fear, confusion, everything just drained and evaporated out of his system.

Emotional Center accessed. Emotional Suppression System installed and fully functional.

The guy formerly known as Keith just stared ahead blankly as the voice spoke, the words being processed by his mind but not really generating any response beyong the logical understanding of them.

Beginning Drone Program Upload…. The voice said as the figure felt his arms being moved back to his sides and being made to stand up straight. While that happened, the tickling on his ear returned and information flooded his mind.

He….It was Worker Drone Alpha. The first unit made by this vessel since it was abandoned by its organic occupants. Information on the workings of Cok'ex techonology, engineering and everything required to keep this ship functional, as well as all the abilites and functions of it's suit flooded into it's now empty brain. A second later, the screen in front of it's eyes flickered to life, showing the transparent material separating its recharging tube from the rest of the ship.

Drone Alpha. Report status

“Drone Alpha operating at 100%," it said in an emotionless, synthetic voice through the mask's built-in speakers “Previous data has been wiped. Emotional Suppression system is fully functional. New data has been uploaded with no errors or corruption"

Stand-by for structural analysis of the vessel

“Understood," the drone said with a nod, as a hiss rang out and stepped out of the tube, it's heavy boots clunking against the metal floor.

Structural analysis complete. Errors in superstructure detected and uploaded to Drone Alpha's systems. Begin repair routine then report to recharge pod when task is complete.

“Orders understood," Drone Alpha said, the path being highlighted on its HUD “Begining repair routines immediately" it began stomping through the halls of the ship, the only thing in its mind was its work and nothing else.