FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Jake woke bright and early the next day, even though it was a Saturday and he wouldn't be going in to work.

He showered and shaved and brushed his teeth and when he was done he went over to the dresser and grabbed the GoPro off of it. He'd fallen asleep with it on, so it had recorded until it ran out of space, or ran out of charge. He wasn't sure which would have happened first, but it didn't really matter.

He plugged it into his laptop and it began charging through the USB connection while he downloaded the video from it and began to edit it. He cut out the most repetitiously boring parts, but kept as much as he could. He came to the part of the video in which he'd had a discussion with Rick about the 'aliens'. He wondered what the cat would make of that. He briefly thought of editing that part out, but it made him feel queasy and even a bit dirty just thinking of doing it. He loved the tiger and he didn't feel right about hiding important things from him. He decided in the end to just leave it in and it could be a discussion point for them after the tiger had watched the video. He needed to begin to impress upon the cat how important it was for them to find a way for the tiger to let the human race know that the 'aliens' were kind and friendly and meant them no harm whatsoever.

After cutting out the other boring parts he ended up with a seventy five minute video by the time he was done. He hoped the cat would like it.

He ran it through the tiger's efficient compression routine and saw that it would just barely fit in Curiosity's memory, but it should be OK.

He booted up his laptop and sent out the script to the rover to get it to aim the camera down and take an image every minute. The cat had said he wanted to talk early, so hopefully he'd already be watching and would come into the picture soon. Jake couldn't wait to see him again, even if it was just an image of him on the laptop. He felt so attached to the big cat already he just couldn't get enough. He wished there was some way they could stay in contact all day, every day.

He went and got some coffee and made waffles again while he waited through the six minute delay before the images would start coming down. Even if the cat was watching for him it usually took several images before he could finally get in the hangar and into position.

When the laptop beeped with the first image, Jake was surprised and happy to see the tiger was already grinning up at the rover's camera and holding his tablet up. The message it had for him said, "Good morning, my love. I hope you are well. I've been so looking forward to your arrival that I've been waiting here in the hangar for you. There is an important video waiting for you in your robot's memory. Please download it immediately before we do anything else. I will await a message from you indicating that you have it. Don't watch it just yet. I have more to tell you first."

Jake smiled. He loved surprises and this cat seemed to be full of them. He couldn't wait to find out what was so important about this next video. He quickly sent the command to Curiosity to send him a complete dump of its memory.

While he waited for it to come back he finished his waffles and went for another cup of coffee.

At long last the laptop beeped to indicate the data from the robot had been received. He ran the file through the decompression scheme to make sure it wasn't corrupted or anything. It came through cleanly and he saw that it was another decently long video file. He did as the cat wished and didn't open it up to play it yet.

He quickly typed up a reply to the cat for the robot to draw and said, "I have the file. I haven't watched it yet. I've sent you a video back. Please retrieve it from the rover."

He added the command to send the GoPro video he'd prepared for the tiger up to Curiosity's memory along with the script to draw out his message and he injected the data into the rover's command stream. He followed it up with the commands to begin taking images in a one minute loop again.

After six minutes the first image came back and the cat was already walking out of frame to retrieve the GoPro video. Two images later the cat was holding up his tablet and it said, "Thank you, Jake. I have your video. It looks like it's wonderfully long! I cannot wait to view it! I would like to do so immediately if you don't mind, as I am anxious to see it. In the meantime, there is something I need you to do..."

He waited another minute for the next image from Curiosity. He assumed the cat was going to continue his message. There was only so much text that could fit on a tablet and still have it be readable in the image coming back from the rover. It was such a clunky way to talk, but still it was much better than how they had started out with nothing but emojis and math symbols. They'd come such a long way already thanks to the brilliant tiger and his powerful computers.

The laptop beeped with the next image and the cat's tablet said, "I hope that you will not be alarmed, but I now know where your home is. After you showed me where you were when you smiled up at me from the bench, I programmed one of my orbital imaging swarms to watch for you from that point on and track you. It followed you from space as you rode your bicycle back to your home and again to work the next day..."

Jake's heart began to beat a bit faster. Orbital imaging swarms? Did the cat have satellites orbiting the Earth? Was that how he'd managed to get such incredibly detailed images of Jake outside the building? It certainly made more sense than being able to get that sort of detail from all the way out at Mars. That would likely be impossible. So the tiger was actually spying on him from space? Was he some sort of stalker?

As he thought more about it, it didn't really bother him. The tiger was all alone out there and Jake wasn't always available for him either, just as the tiger wasn't always there when Jake hoped he'd be. Could he really blame him for wanting to feel even more of a connection by tracking him with his technology so he'd know where Jake was at any given time? It wasn't like he'd be able to actually watch Jake inside his home or office or anything. He just wanted to know at any given moment where Jake was on the Earth. Come to think of it, Jake would love to be able to know exactly where the tiger was on Mars at any given moment. It was slightly creepy to think he was being watched from orbit ever since that day he'd waved up from the bench, but really, if the cat had intended anything nefarious, he certainly wouldn't have come out and told Jake that he was doing it, he'd just keep it to himself. He decided in the end that it really didn't bother him at all. He loved the cat and certainly didn't mind if he was watching him. The fact that the tiger had come right out and told him about it sort of made it all OK.

The laptop beeped again. The message from the cat said, "I did it so that I could feel more connected with you. At a word from you I will stop doing it immediately if that is what you wish. After giving it more thought I also didn't like the idea of sending you items that might be intercepted by others in a public area. I saw in the images that the area behind your home is surrounded by large trees as well and looks to be part of your private space that your dictionaries refer to as your yard..."

Jake wondered what this was leading up to. The cat had told him yesterday that he'd already sent another shipment with something they would both enjoy, and that the shipment had gone out the day before, which would make it due today. Did he send it straight to Jake's house? He hoped that was the case, if only it meant he wouldn't have to go far to get it. He wondered if it was wise though. What if someone saw the drone coming in? He supposed if they did, he could just say he was fooling around with model rockets or something. The drone was so small he doubted anyone would think twice if he told them that. They'd simply accept it.

The laptop beeped. "You needn't worry about the drone being detected by your people. The composite materials its made of allows your radar technology to pass through it. I have also programmed it to make the most silent approach possible, though it will not be able to completely mask its sound. Your next delivery arrived at your planet a short while ago, but is still hovering a few hundred thousand feet above your house. I have commanded it to land now, and it will touch down in just a few of your minutes..."

Jake started to become excited. Not only had another delivery been sent, it had already arrived! He wondered what it might be.

The next image arrived. "I will have any future deliveries happen during the bright daylight from now on as it will be nearly impossible for anyone to see the blue exhaust from the ion propulsion against the backdrop of the blue sky. They will hear the sound of it, but it will be brief. The video you retrieved earlier will explain the contents of the drone. It will serve as an instruction manual of sorts..."

Jake was becoming more and more intrigued. What the hell was the next delivery that it actually needed an instruction manual? His finger itched to click on the video to start playing it right away, but the cat had asked him to wait, so he would wait.

The next image that came said, "When the drone arrives, I would like you to keep it, in case you ever need to send anything back to me. I have not programmed it to return to me, but I can command it to do so at your request. Remove its contents and take them inside. Once you have them in hand, watch the video you retrieved earlier and it will explain everything..."

Jake was becoming more excited with each bit of the cat's long message. He would get to keep the drone and have it on standby? That was actually a good idea. With how quick the thing was they could send small items back and forth with arrival of the delivery inside of two days. They could likely do a lot with that capability.

The laptop beeped with the final part of the cat's message. "Once you've completed watching the video and are ready to use your new gifts, feel free to drop in on me immediately. I am looking forward to it immensely. I will be waiting in my room and that is where you'll first see me. I am going to go there to watch your video now. Goodbye for now, my love. We will be seeing each other shortly."

The cat was waving up at the camera while he held up the tablet. Jake sent the command to tell Curiosity to aim the camera up and go quiet for the time being.

He was becoming truly excited now. What exactly did the cat mean by "feel free to drop in"? How the hell was he going to drop in on the tiger while he was in his room? How exactly were they going to see each other? Was today's delivery actually a complete communication system of its own that included imaging? Could it be a real live video phone of some sort? Would he be able to talk to the cat in real time without using the rover at all?

He suddenly heard the familiar buzz of the drone as it approached. He ran out into his back yard. He was on a cul-de-sac and his yard was very large. It was surrounded by tall trees so it really was very private. It should be quite safe to have the drone land there. Nobody was likely to even notice it, except for the sound it made.

He looked up and watched for it, but it was so small it was actually difficult to find. He finally spotted the dark speck high up. He saw that after dropping from its great height it had brought itself to a hover again while still fairly high in the air so it could then drop silently to near ground level. It suddenly fell silent and went into free fall as its drive shut down and then just before it came in contact with the ground the thrust ramped up again and he heard the loud buzzing sound again, but now the drone was just above the level of his lawn, so even if anyone heard it they'd never be able to locate where the odd sound had come from. He saw the grass right underneath it being flattened and blown around, but somehow it wasn't getting scorched. The bright blue-green exhaust of the thruster must somehow not be excessively hot.

The four short legs underneath the small craft extended as it settled to the ground and went quiet. As he approached it, the hatch on the side opened up. He reached in and retrieved the same type of wide cylinder that the cat had used to deliver his dirty socks and large dildo the day before. He closed the hatch and heard it latch shut.

The drone was small at no more than three feet tall, and the shape and color of it, sort of dull charcoal grey with a bulbous shape at the bottom and a more narrow cone-like shape stretching up to a rounded point at the top, almost suggested one of those small, portable back yard fireplaces. Even if anyone ever saw it sitting there, they likely wouldn't give it a second thought. It certainly didn't look anything like an interplanetary delivery rocket. He decided to simply leave it where it was rather than try to move it or conceal it. He'd ask the cat later if it was OK to leave it exposed to the elements. It looked to be made of some sort of light weight composite plastic just as the cat had suggested, so he assumed it would be alright if left outside.

He carried the cylinder into the house, excited to find out what it contained.

He sat down at the kitchen table and popped the top off the container and reached in. He found a long, hard flat case inside that sort of looked like an extra large version of a hinged case for glasses. Underneath that he found two black tubes made of some kind of smooth cloth that felt almost like silk. He wondered what they might be for. They looked almost like the shape of a condom, tubular and sealed at one end, and about the right size that he could slip one over his erect penis and it would be very snug, though perhaps a bit too long. He was curious about it and he took one in both hands and pulled at it a bit. It stretched easily in every direction. He imagined it would probably even be able to stretch over the tiger's much larger erect penis. Was this some sort of sex toy? He smiled as he looked them over, and he wondered how the heck they might be used, and why he would need two of them. He put them down on the table.

He picked up the hard case and looked at it. It was a good ten inches wide and four or five inches back to front, split along the middle and hinged at the back like a clam shell, so he lifted the lid and looked inside. There was a foam liner with a few things embedded into molded depressions in the foam. One looked sort of like a credit card, but was a bit larger. It was smooth, clear, hard plastic with no markings of any kind. He took it out and looked it over, but he couldn't figure out what it was for. It was sort of like a clear plastic playing card or something.

He put the card down on the table and pulled out the next item stored in the protective foam. It was a black rectangular box about the size of a deck of cards. It felt hefty and solid. He could see no hinge on it so it wasn't designed to open up. It had no features on it at all except that along one edge it had a long slot. He noticed there was something in the case that had been underneath the black box. There were four small plastic connectors there. He pulled one out and had a closer look. One end of it looked like it would plug into the slot on the black box. The other end had a row of metal connectors that looked like electronic prototyping sockets to plug wires into. He realized the black box was the object he'd seen on the work bench in the tiger's "day in the life" video! When he'd seen it there it had one of these plugs connected to it with several wires leading to other devices. This was the device that the tiger had said was "for talking"!

He set that aside and pulled out a very small round case that had been stored in another depression in the foam. He opened it and inside he found two sponge-like plugs that looked like simple ear plugs. Were these going to be his speakers for their new method of communication? Were they interfaced to the black box? Maybe the small clear plastic card was the video display? He wondered how it would all work.

The next thing embedded in the foam was a small white cross. That was what it looked like at first, but when he pulled it out of its foam bed, he saw that it was actually a tiny micro drone exactly like the one he'd seen in the tiger's video! He became excited as he looked it over. It had four arms, each about an inch and a half long, with just a small, thick disk that joined them all together at the center. At the end of each arm was a tiny vertical pod with a tiny nozzle at the bottom. They were flopping loosely on their gimbals and they tilted this way and that as he turned the tiny device in his hand. At the front of the disk were two small holes that were spaced evenly apart that he assumed were cameras, or perhaps a camera and a microphone. Was the cat going to be able to use this to see into Jake's world?

He carefully set the drone down on the table and reached into the case once more. The last thing inside of it was another small case that was about the size of a small container for a pair of contact lenses with a separate lid on each side. He flipped one of the lids up to look inside and, sure enough, it was a reservoir with what looked like a contact lens floating in a saline solution.

He started to become more excited as his mind raced to figure out what the heck this was. Could this actually be the display devices? What was the card for then?

The cat had said that the video would explain the contents of the package, so he queued it up and hit play.

The tiger was standing in the workshop Jake had seen in his previous video. The cat smiled at him and began to speak. To Jake's delight, he heard the wonderful resonant growls of the tiger get immediately translated into English! The cat really was full of surprises! It appeared they had already proceeded past the need to flash text messages to each other on their tablets! It was hard to believe, but the English voice he heard didn't even sound the least bit robotic or artificial. The voice was deep and clear and it sounded completely natural like anyone he might meet on the street. The enunciation was so perfect it sounded almost like a professional voice actor's voice. It was slightly boomy and rich and had an almost growly nature to it. It actually suited the big cat perfectly.

How the hell had the tiger's computer managed to do such a great job of figuring out how humans speak? Jake had sent over an audio dictionary, but the voice in those samples was nothing like this, and it wouldn't show how to string words together into complete sentences that sound so natural. The big cat's translated voice sounded so perfect he would never have believed it wasn't an actual human speaking to him if he wasn't seeing a big tiger speaking to him while hearing the English voice. It was slightly annoying to hear the tiger growls and the English voice at the same time since they were very close to the same rich tone, but if he focused on the English it wasn't too distracting.

He listened to what the cat had to say. "Hello, my love. I am thrilled to inform you that the project I've been working on for quite some time is finally complete. We are both going to benefit greatly from it. I am most excited about it, as it will help me to feel as though you are truly right here with me on this forsaken world, and, more importantly, it will allow me to sometimes feel as though I am over there on your crowded world with you. I have longed for companionship, and this is as close as we are likely to come, at least for the time being."

The cat reached down and picked something up, then he brought it up to the level of the camera he was looking into and showed Jake one of the tiny white micro drones and said, "You've already seen this device. It's the same as the one that I used to create the video I made for you. There's one floating before me now that is taking this video. You now have one of your own over there. Through that drone I will be able to follow you about your home just as you followed me in the video. We can leave it in its autonomous mode, or I can control it from here in real time. The one that is currently recording this video over here is also yours from now on, but it will remain here with me. It will be following me around in its autonomous mode, but if you like you can also control it from over there with the control card I provided for you."

The cat reached down and brought up the clear card that Jake had found in the container. "This device will come to life the moment you hold it correctly. It has been programmed to activate automatically and tie itself to your biometrics, and it will answer only to you from that moment on. In order to activate it, you need only grasp it firmly with both hands, and place your thumbs tightly against its surface so that it can read the variations in the surfaces of the skin that your dictionary refers to as thumbprints, as well as any fingerprints that make contact on the back of the card. Once it has read yours, it will recognize you as the only authorized user so that if it falls into the wrong hands, it will not even come to life. Before you activate yours, I would like to show you its basic functions. Its quite simple to use, really."

He set that card down and brought up another one that looked like it had already been activated. It had two large blue circles that took up most of the space on the card's surface, and a few small icons along the top and bottom edges. The cat pointed at the blue circles and said, "These two areas are used to control the camera drone if you ever need to do it manually. Simply place the tips of your thumbs at the center of the circles and slide them side to side or up and down. The circle on the left controls up and down motion of the drone and can be used to manually turn the drone left or right to face a different direction. The circle on the right can be used to slide the drone left and right by moving your thumb to the sides, or move it forward and back through space by moving your thumb up and down. In order to keep you feeling connected to this world, the drone will normally also use the movement of your head to control its orientation any time you don't have both thumbs pressed onto the circles. Gyroscopic sensors in your display devices that I will be showing you later will detect even the slightest movement of you head, and the drone over here will respond precisely to your movements. If you simply set the card down or hold it by the edges so that your thumbs aren't in the control circles, you will find that turning your head side to side, or tilting it forward or back will cause the drone to precisely follow that movement, allowing you to look around this room freely. There won't be many occasions when you'll want to control the drone with your thumbs, but I'll give you a quick demonstration in case you do."

The cat turned the card in his hand and placed his thumbs on the circles and began to slide them around. Jake saw another small white drone lift up into the picture and slide left and right, then turn this way and that, then finally it began to fly forward, all in response to the cat moving his thumbs on the controls. Jake smiled. He'd always loved RC gadgets ever since he was a kid, so controlling the drone would be a simple matter for him. It controlled exactly the same way as some micro RC helicopters he had. It looked like fun.

The cat then took his thumbs off the card while the drone floated in front of him. He then turned his head left and right and tilted it forward and back and even cocked it to the side. The drone perfectly matched the movements of the big cat's head. He even bobbed his head forward and down and then back up again and the drone perfectly mimicked that motion in absolute synchronicity. It was absolutely incredible. He could see that if he were actually seeing through that drone's cameras and moving is head in the same ways over here, it would be as if his head was over there and following the same motions!

The cat then batted at the drone hard with his big paw and it flew across the room and whacked into the far wall and bounced back and settled into a hover again. The cat said, "You needn't worry too much about damaging the drone by bumping into things with it or accidentally hitting it. They are incredibly resilient. It can operate in nearly any conditions, even underwater. The thrusters give off no heat so you needn't worry about any danger from them. The drone uses a very tiny version of an ion propulsion system that is fueled by antimatter. I'm not certain if your race has yet learned how to harness that fuel, but I know that you understand what it is since it appears in your dictionaries. In case you aren't fully versed in it, I can tell you that it is quite safe in our implementation, yet quite powerful. There is enough antimatter stored in this small drone to last it its entire lifetime, so it will never need to be refueled. There is enough that if somehow it were ever converted to energy all at once, it would create a blast that would leave a crater the size of a small city. If I left this one hovering under its own power like this, it would stay that way for approximately fifty of your years before its fuel supply was finally exhausted. As such, it will never really need to be turned off once activated, though you can turn it off yourself if you wish to get it out of your way by using the small white cross icon on the control panel. That same button is used to power it back on." The cat pressed the button and Jake saw the drone begin to go down until it was off camera. He presumed it landed on the floor.

The cat then held the small plastic card closer to the camera while pointing out other buttons that were lit up on it. "These other buttons are not for controlling the drone, but rather for the other items I've included in your kit. One of those things looks like two small sponges. They contain the audio drivers for the package. You will be inserting them in your ear canals and they will let you hear my voice, and they will also pickup any sounds you hear and transmit them back to me so that I get fully directional stereophonic audio of everything you hear as though it were me hearing it myself. You will also be hearing what the drivers that are already inserted in my ears are hearing. All of the audio transmissions going back and forth between us will be going through the main control interface that also came in your kit that looks like a small black rectangular box. That box will handle the translation of either of our languages into the other, while passing all other sounds through without processing them. You can store the black box anywhere. It's location is not important. It has other functions that I'll need you to enable for me, but we won't be dealing with that right away. I sent it along with four prototype connectors so that we can modify the box to do other things for us in future. For now, keep the connectors with the box, and put the box away in a drawer and it will quietly perform its functions. It is also powered by antimatter so it does not ever need to be turned off and will keep running at all times.

"In order to avoid the somewhat irritating effect of hearing both my natural voice and the translation trying to override each other in your ears, as is happening in this video, the translator box will actually not transmit my natural voice to the audio drivers in your ears. It will cancel that part of the audio waveform out, so that you will only hear the human translated voice and not my own, and I will hear only the translated voice as well and not yours. I've had the computer inside that small black box listening to dozens of your entertainment transmission stations from a very wide radius of hundreds of miles around your area simultaneously for days now. It can listen to a great many voices at once and learn from them all in parallel. That is how it has learned every nuance of how words are pronounced and how speech is inflected in your language in your local dialect so quickly. It used those voices to create a conglomeration that will not sound like any one of them but will be unique to me, with coloration to match the natural timbre and sonic qualities of my own voice so that it will sound exactly as though I were the one speaking your language with my own vocal cords. Over time, as the device listens to you, it will learn the qualities of your voice as well. Eventually the translated voice it presents to me in my language will also be colored to perfectly match your own sweet voice, and to me it will seem as if you yourself are saying the words in my language.

"Many of our devices have this sort of intelligence embedded in them. We use something which can most closely in your language be described as 'trapped artificial intelligence'. It is a self-learning neural net that is highly intelligent and is allowed to grow unrestrained, but only within the confines of a specific device for a specific purpose. It cannot escape, and it cannot learn anything outside of whatever it is fed. The TAI in your translator box has trained itself to understand your language and how it is spoken and that is its only purpose. It can even pronounce words it's never heard before nearly perfectly, because it has gleaned the rules of pronunciation and learned why things sound they way they do in your language, and can then deduce how new words should sound based on those rules. In effect, it has learned to speak your language in much the same way as a child of your people would do as he grew up, but the TAI has done it at a wildly accelerated rate while it sat here on this bench plugged into your people's transmissions."

Jake was impressed. The cats were truly advanced. He looked forward to getting the full effect once he had the earplugs in. He imagined it would be perfect stereophonic audio since each ear canal gets a speaker, and it would sound just like he was hearing his sexy cat speaking to him in English! He couldn't wait to try them on.

The cat reached down to pick something up and held it up to the camera. It was the two sponge ear plugs. "These objects you will find in the kit contain the devices that will act as audio drivers for you. It will require some trust on your part to use them. The sponge-like objects are not the drivers, they are only the carriers used to insert them in your ear canals. The audio drivers are very tiny to the point of nearly requiring a microscope to see them, so they cannot be handled directly. You will need to insert these sponge carriers into your ears, one on each side. Which side is which is not important. The devices will automatically adjust so that you get appropriate right and left audio once they've settled into position. The trust is required on your part because these are essentially microscopic robots that will inhabit your ear canals from this point forward. Your people will not have the technology required to safely remove them. I need you to trust me, my love, and go ahead and place the sponges in your ears. In just a few minutes you will hear two audible cues, one from each side in succession. When you hear those cues, the audio drivers will have successfully maneuvered into position against your eardrums and you may remove the sponges and discard them. Please go ahead and insert them now. Pause the video until you're ready to proceed."

Jake didn't even hesitate. He trusted the cat completely, and this was just too cool to resist trying it out. He paused the video and picked up the ear plugs. The sponges were conical, so he inserted the pointed side into his ear canals and pushed them in as far as they would easily go, then he waited. Nothing happened for a few minutes and he began to wonder if it was going to work, then he heard a beautifully clear bell ring softly in his left ear, then a second later he heard the same bell in his right ear. He smiled as he pulled the sponges out and set them down on the table. The sound had been so remarkably clear it was like the bell had been rung right beside his head. The technology was fantastic.

He hit play again on the video to get it rolling and the cat then picked something else up and held it up to the camera. It was the case with the contact lenses in it. "This is the most important part of the package. These are display devices that also double as cameras. They will sit on the surface of your eyes and through them I will be able to see what you see. You can control them with the icon that looks like an eye on your control card and it will select which video source is displayed in your eyes. One press of that button enables the display and it will show you a feed from this camera drone recording me now that I will always be keeping near me from now on. You will be able to control this drone through your control card so that you can move freely around the room or anywhere within the base, or even anywhere out on Mars if you so wish, though at present the drone does not have the ability to open doors or work the airlocks on its own. If you don't control the drone manually, you can still watch me through its cameras and it will behave using the same TAI that was controlling it when I made the video for you. It will keep me in frame and follow me around automatically just as the one I've sent to you will do, but it will also respond to your head movements so that you can look around. While you are seeing my world through the drone, it will also be the source of your audio so that it seems as if the drone is your head in this room. The audio is fully directional so you will know where the sounds are coming from. Another press of the source select button will switch the displays so that you will see what I'm seeing through my eyes, which also have a pair of these devices on them. At that point the audio you receive will be coming from the drivers attached to my eardrums. Another press of the button will disable the displays and you will see and hear nothing from this side. In that mode nothing will be transmitted to me, either, so you can have your privacy if you wish it."

Jake was blown away! He would actually get to look through the drone as if he was right there in the room with the cat! This was incredible! But it had to happen in real time, or it just wouldn't work. He hoped the cat would explain that part of it.

"I'm not sure if you noticed when I showed you the image of you smiling and waving up at me when you were on the bench, but the image was taken at a very high resolution. Once I found out about the intelligent life that exists on your planet, basically as soon as I found your robot here, I ordered several large swarms of tiny satellite drones to head over to your planet and take positions in orbit so I could have a look and begin to learn something of your people when I had some time available. Each swarm consists of thousands of tiny drones that are only a few times bigger than these white ones you've seen. Each is capable of taking a very high resolution and highly magnified image on its own. The TAI of the swarm will intelligently knit the thousands of images together into one image that has an exceedingly high composite resolution. If translated to the equivalent system of measuring pixels like your people do, the image would be comprised of a square that is approximately thirty two billion pixels per side, yet can be focused down to a size that would cover roughly ten square meters at the surface of your planet. The resolution is so great that I can zoom into that image to the point of looking right into your eye and mapping out the microscopic capillaries on the retinas at the back of your eyes.

"The computer used that image to program these devices to produce images for you that will be in perfect focus. They will be very high resolution as well, beyond what your eyes are naturally able to reproduce, so everything will look as though you're seeing it through your own eyes and not through an artificial display. The cameras on the drones we'll be looking through possess the same extreme resolution capabilities, so you will see no artifacts at all. The image of you looking up was also used to precisely map the shape and size of the lenses on your eyes. These devices as such must each go into the correct eye, but once you have them in place, they will fit so precisely that you will not detect their presence. They will keep your natural lenses oxygenated and will allow your natural tears to pass through. As such, they will never need to be removed unless you find some reason to. You may leave them in while you sleep, bathe or swim. They will not require cleaning or maintenance of any sort. Since they fit so perfectly they will not be easy to remove, but if you need to you can do it with some effort by simply pinching at them with completely dry fingers. It's an unpleasant task so I recommend you not do it unless you feel you have to."

Jake was once again amazed. Complete displays that fit right onto his eyes like contact lenses!

"The cameras on the drones we will be using are stereoscopic so each eye will receive a dedicated image. The drones will manipulate the images coming in to them so that, even though their cameras are only millimeters apart, the stereo images will appear to have been recorded at precisely the same distance apart as the devices in your eyes. As a result, you will have complete depth perception and utterly realistic immersion as though you were seeing things here with your own eyes. The display devices in your eyes will detect when you blink or close your eyes and they will shut down at those times. This is done mainly to preserve your sanity. It can be disconcerting to close your eyes but still see reality around you as if they were still open. The button on the upper left of the control card that looks like a closed eye can be used to temporarily disable that effect if you wish. Holding that button down will turn the displays back on even if your eyes are closed.

"The button on the upper right corner of the control card that looks like a small box within a larger one is the mode select. It will select between the two ways of displaying the image to you. The normal mode for the displays will be to show you the feed in a small box that floats in your field of vision. This allows you to see what is around you as normal, but also look at the small box of the video feed to see what's happening at this end. A tap of that button on the control card will switch you to full display mode. I recommend you not press that button unless you're seated, at least until you've practiced with the displays for a while. The sudden shift can be very disorienting and may cause you to harm yourself if you're in motion when it happens. You will quite suddenly shift from seeing whatever you're seeing over there, to seeing exactly what the drone that is following me here is seeing, or what my eyes are seeing depending on which display option you selected earlier. Even if you don't have the control card in hand you can always shift back to the small box mode from the full display by clenching your eyes shut hard and shaking your head side to side a few times. For safety reasons, there is no gesture control to automatically engage the full view. It must be done through the control card."

Jake was thrilled! This sounded like the absolute perfect implementation of virtual reality! He would actually get to be right there in the room with his gorgeous cat. He'd be seeing everything directly through the cameras of the drone! He couldn't wait to try it.

"Please be sure to be seated when you start to work with the displays for the first time. They will not be showing you anything until you activate your control card, but once you activate it, you will see the default view pop up. The default is for you to see through the small drone that is following me displayed in the small floating box to the left of center of your vision. Once you see that image you will also hear what the drone is hearing. Activating your displays will also automatically activate mine at this end so I will then be able to see into your home through the drone I've provided you, or through your eyes using the cameras in your display devices. I love you, Jake, and I am not shy, so please feel free to come right in whenever you feel like doing so. You need not ever ask my permission. I require no privacy from you, though I may occasionally instruct the drone to look away if I am performing an embarrassing bodily function while it watches. I hope that you will want to be here with me nearly all of the time from now on. You will be able to take me with you anywhere you go.

"I have suspected that you are an engineer, just as I am, so I expect you are curious about most everything, just as I am. In case you are wondering about the power source for the displays and the audio drivers, I will explain in brief. They are too small to utilize antimatter containment so they use a different source. They each have their own nanoscopic generators on board. They have thermoelectric, kinetic and gravitational generators that will keep their tiny batteries charged essentially eternally so long as you are alive and or in motion. They will use the heat and movement of your body to produce microscopic amounts of electricity. The acceleration force of your planet will also be used as a constant source of power when the gravitational generators convert that force to electricity. Those three sources combined will be more than sufficient to power the devices for as long as you live."

Jake couldn't believe the level of sophistication of the cats' technology. It was truly impressive.

"If you are ready, you may proceed to insert the displays into your eyes. Please wash your hands thoroughly first to avoid transferring any bacteria onto your eyes. Simply sit down, hold the small case that contains the two devices so that the indented curve between the two wells is towards you, and the outward curve is away from you. That will have them oriented for your left and right eyes so you can put the left most display into your left eye and the other into your right. Your eyes are slightly different in size and shape from each other and the devices are tuned to fit your individual eyes down to microscopic perfection, so it is important that you not mix them up for best results. Pause the video and put them in now."

Jake paused the playback and got up and ran to the bathroom to wash his hands thoroughly, then ran back into the kitchen and sat down. He was excited to try them out.

He oriented the small case the way the cat described, then opened the left well and dumped the contents out into the palm of his hand. He'd never worn contacts before, but it didn't seem like it should be too difficult to figure out. The small clear lens had an obvious curve in it, so he had no problem figuring out how it needed to go in. He put it on the tip of his finger and held it up to his left eye. The moment he touched it to the eye he could feel it attach. It felt just slightly uncomfortable until he blinked a few times, then he couldn't even tell it was there. He did the same for the right eye and it went in just as easily.

He looked around, but noticed no difference whatsoever. He naturally had slightly better than 20/20 vision and he noticed no improvement of any sort, nor any degradation.

He hit play on the video again and after a moment the cat said, "Assuming you now have the displays in your eyes and the audio drivers in your ears, you are ready to join me. Simply pick up your control card and hold your two thumbs firmly against it and you will see its display activate and it will lock its biometric recognition to you alone. From that point forward it will remain activated and you simply need to pick it up and use it as needed or set it down anywhere. If you have any further questions about any of this, you will be able to simply ask me, since the default mode of the displays will show me to you and allow you to hear me, and it will also allow me to hear you and see through the drone that I sent to you or through your own eyes, depending on what preference I choose over here. That is all I needed to say in this video. I will see you as soon as you activate your card. I look forward to it more than you can imagine, my love. Goodbye."

The video ended there.

Jake was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He picked up the small plastic card and pinched it with both hands so his thumbs were firmly against the surface, and it immediately lit up. It now had all of the controls displayed on it that he'd seen in the tiger's video, but he still didn't see anything on the displays.

He remembered what the cat said about the button that turns the whole system on and he pressed it to enable the display. He was immediately greeted with a box floating in space in front of his vision just slightly below and to the left of center. He couldn't believe the clarity of it. Right there in the center of the small box was his tiger! The big cat was lounging on his bed with his tablet in his paws. He suddenly heard the accompanying audio too, and in it the cat was roaring with laughter as he watched something on his tablet.

Even as he'd pressed the button to activate the displays, he'd also heard a slight hissing and saw the tiny white drone come to life and it lifted off the table and positioned itself squarely in front of Jake and slightly back to keep him centered in the frame of its camera vision. The cat must now be able to see Jake through the drone at this end!

Jake was absolutely blown away by the clarity of the video and the sound. The way the video in the box worked was perfect too. If he kept his head fairly still he could glance down and to the left to watch the box, if he moved his head side to side, the box would move along so that it was always to the left of center and below. The audio from the cat's side even sounded like it was coming from the direction of the small box, rather than just appearing in his head! He looked at the card and he pressed the box within a box icon that was on the upper right corner and with an incredibly disorienting swoosh, the small box expanded to fill his vision, and he quite suddenly found himself right in the room with the cat! It was absolutely incredible! It was completely three dimensional and absolutely artifact free as if he was seeing it with his own eyes and was actually right there on Mars in the room with the tiger! Even the audio now fixed the cat's position in the room even if Jake turned his head left and right. It was completely directional as if the drone were an extension of his head. He was thrilled beyond belief!

The tiger was still laughing and he looked over at Jake as if he was right there in the room and said, "Hello, my love! I'm so glad you've finally joined me! I've been watching your video. I haven't gotten very far into it yet. I've been replaying this part near the beginning where you showed me your wonderful cat and its robotic technology. What is this YouTube? I must have it!"

The tiger roared with laughter again as he watched the cat batting away at the hex bug and Jake chuckled and said, "I had a feeling you'd like that one. It struck me as a perfect example of the difference in the level of advancement between our robotic technologies, and also between the level of evolution of our cats."

The big cat paused the video he was watching and said, "Indeed. I doubt your cat's robot is quite as sophisticated as mine are. Its somewhat on a higher level of entertainment than mine, though, and that is certainly an important distinction. So, how do you like your new toys? Am I coming in loud and clear?"

"Incredibly clear. I'm right there with you! I'm at the edge of tears over here I'm so thrilled with all of this. The first thing I have to ask is, how is this happening in real time? Obviously you can't transmit a radio signal faster than the speed of light. Is it some sort of quantum entanglement or something?"

"Precisely so, yes. The devices use communication technology based on the entanglement of electrons that come from a pool that I create here. There are electrons in traps on the devices that you have that are entangled at the quantum level with electrons in the small black translator box I provided you. The box in turn contains electrons that are entangled with others in communication equipment I have back here. Any change to their spin state is instantaneously reflected in the state of the electrons here, and vice versa. It allows us to exchange information instantaneously and it completely ignores distance. The communication does not travel through space and as such cannot be affected by time, and it is immune to any sort of interference and it cannot be intercepted. You could be deep underground, yet we would still be able to talk with no change in the quality of the communications between us. Since the devices use only a small number of entangled electrons, it takes only a few trillionths of watts of power for us to communicate across vast distances. We do not need any sort of signal amplification, since there is in effect no signal being transmitted through space. My people abandoned radio waves for communication purposes long ago. The reason it took me so long to first get back in contact with you through your strange robot after the storm blocked its transmissions is because it took me quite some time to figure out how to properly amplify your radio signal. It is an ancient technology to my people that was long forgotten. I'm happy that I was able to figure it out though, because it also led me to being able to listen to your entertainment transmissions as well, and those proved quite useful, as well as soothing to me at times."

"I was wondering about that. I was also wondering why you chose to use the backup circuit on the rover when it was completely dead, while the main circuit was up and functional. If you hadn't done that, you and I would probably never have reached this point. If you'd used the main circuit instead, my government would have been the ones you were communicating with instead of me and we wouldn't have gotten to know each other on such a personal level."

"I was nervous about interfacing into your robot's communication bus," the cat said, "I was afraid of possibly damaging it since its technology is so ancient and seemed quite fragile, and I wasn't sure I could repair it if I broke it, so I might have lost contact with you forever. I noticed the backup circuit was completely isolated from the main one, so I felt it was safer for me to work with that one. It was simply that I was trying to avoid wrecking your machinery so I used the unpowered, isolated circuit to experiment with different methods of amplifying the signal from the transceiver that was connected to that circuit. My people have a phrase that guides our behavior when it comes to doing risky things that translates to 'protecting your tail' and that was all I was doing."

Jake chuckled and said, "We have the same sort of phrase here. We call it CYA, or 'cover your ass'. It's an important precept that keeps us somewhat out of trouble. Wow, so you were just being careful, and that's what allowed us to talk in private! My government is fairly nervous and paranoid with respect to the technology that your race possesses, so, to be honest, they would have done everything possible to try to get information out of you without giving any more back than they could get away with, and I felt that would slow down the process of learning to communicate a great deal. I'd been dreaming of having some way to communicate with you alone first so that we could exchange knowledge freely and openly before they would get in the way of that process. You made that come true! They don't actually know that you and I have been communicating. I've been keeping it a secret from them. They're waiting for the robot's main transmitter to be able to punch through so they can begin trying to communicate with you themselves."

"That is interesting. I was wondering how it was you were able to communicate with me on such a personal level without your government interfering. I was pleased of course, since I am simply an engineer and was lonely and bored and extremely curious about you, but I am in no way an official representative of my race, and I would not know how to begin to approach any sort of diplomatic discussions with your people. I would likely say entirely the wrong thing and get myself into trouble. I have no wish to be the representative of my entire race for you people. I have quite enough responsibility as it is."

"We need to talk about that at some point though," Jake said, "My people are nervous and extremely paranoid by nature. At least, our leaders are. My government can't understand why your people aren't reaching out diplomatically even though from their point of view, you've walked right into our back yard and taken up residence there. We don't need to discuss it right this minute, but we need to do it at some point. We have to figure out a way to placate them and make them feel safe. It won't be straightforward since we have to do it without revealing the fact that I've been talking to you without their consent. Doing so is quite a serious crime and the punishment for me would be severe. We just need to find a way to signal a benign intent to them from your people and make it quite clear you intend no harm and will respect our boundaries."

The tiger nodded and said, "I am willing to do it, but only with your guidance. In any case, I am quite happy that things worked out as they did. I would not have been comfortable speaking in any official capacity to your government, especially at the outset when we would be unable to communicate effectively and things could easily have gone awry. I was extremely pleased to find whoever it was at the other end seemed so much like myself. I convinced myself early on that you must be an engineer, just like me. I assumed you were the one who'd built the robot I found abandoned and damaged on the surface. Your level of intelligence and your ability to solve problems quickly showed you to be almost the mirror image of me, and I'm an engineer, so I assumed you were too."

Jake smiled and said, "That's exactly the way I was thinking you were from this end. The way you fixed up our rover so easily even though it was alien technology suggested you were an engineer, as did your immediate display of the prime numbers when you first showed yourself. That was brilliant! All of the subsequent events that led to the two of us talking here and now, happened just because of that amazingly clever way to start. I felt you were a genius right from that first moment, and you've proven me correct every time we've communicated since then."

The big cat smiled and said, "Thank you, Jake. I'm honored and deeply flattered to find that you see me that way. I knew you were exceedingly intelligent from the first sets of drawings you sent back when I showed you that I'd set your robot up with its own display device so that you could use it to communicate with me through drawings. I realized that you must have been thinking along exactly the same lines since you were immediately ready to take advantage of the drawing implement I'd attached to your machine. I'd expected it to be days before you could finally program it to draw anything meaningful for me. I certainly didn't expect it to take mere hours, followed immediately by hours of prepared drawings to efficiently teach me your people's symbols for mathematics. You had clearly been working on the problem long before I made it possible for you to follow through. I was completely thrilled!

"The approach you took to quickly teach me all of your mathematical symbols was itself quite brilliant, and very easy for me to follow. I could not have come up with a better way to do it myself. The fact that we've arrived at this point so quickly is as much your doing as mine. We certainly couldn't be doing this so soon without your idea to send me so many versions of the dictionaries of your language along with the tables needed to decode the digital representations into your alphabet. You had thought of absolutely everything before I even began to think about what it was I might need from you. The illustrated dictionaries kick-started the process of learning the language through my computer's image recognition capabilities, and the audio dictionaries gave the translator TAI what it needed to start to learn the audible part of your language. You are truly clever to have thought to include all of that data in one package. It was absolutely everything I needed to make this happen."

"Well, I can't tell you how happy I am that we've got this far. It feels to me like I'm actually right there in the room with you. It's truly amazing."

"Have you tried taking manual control of the drone yet?" the tiger asked.

"Not yet. Right now I'm in full display mode, so all I'm seeing is what the drone is seeing and everything on my end is blocked out. I'd have to switch back to the video in a small box in order to look at the control card you provided me so I could find the controls."

"No, Jake, that's not necessary. The displays in your eyes are tuned to the output of the control card's display as well. Simply hold it up in front of your eyes, or look down at it in your hands. I assume you haven't tried that yet or you would already know that it becomes superimposed over what the drone is showing you from here so that a ghost of the card exists in this room in precisely the same location and orientation relative to you as the one in your room over there."

Jake hadn't even thought to try that. He held up the card, and there it was, floating in space between him and the cat right about where it must be in Jake's kitchen. He turned it this way and that and the superimposed image of the card turned precisely to match his movements. It was incredible! He suddenly noticed there was a slightly blurred dot on the control card that corresponded with the location of the thumb on the hand that was holding the card. He took the card in both hands and held it over his lap while looking down at it. The micro drone in the cat's room dutifully tilted its view downward to track Jake's head movement. Now he could see the same fat blurred dot on each side on the control card where each of his thumbs were. If he took a thumb off the card, the dot began to fade and shrink as he moved his thumb away from it until it disappeared altogether. As he moved his thumb closer the dot reappeared and grew as his thumb got closer. He was able to hover his thumb over the card and see precisely where it was going to land if he pressed it down on the card! It was an absolutely brilliant design! He felt around for the table which he couldn't see in his world, but when he found it he placed the card down on it and left it there. The image of the card remained. He then reached for it and even though he couldn't see his hand, somehow his brain properly guided it to the right area and he was able to pick the card up again. It was fantastic, and actually worked quite a bit like the wireless controllers for his HTC Vive VR display.

"This is truly fantastic technology. It's a lot like something we have over here that we call room-scale virtual reality. Your technology is leaps and bounds ahead of course, but if ours percolated for a couple of decades I think we'd get close to this level. I love it! I really need to thank you, uh, I'm sorry, but I can't pronounce your name, so I don't know how to refer to you."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I've neglected to give you anything to work with. My name would be quite unpronounceable to you, just as your is to me. I've actually programmed the translator to accept a nickname I've given you. It's a single word in my language that sort of loosely translates to the phrase 'my sweet pet' in your language, which I realize may actually seem a little odd to you, but has some sentimental meaning for me. Trust me when I say that it expresses my deep love for you. In any case, I have programmed the translator such that when I say that word in my language it translates it to 'Jake' for you. There is no direct translation in your language that matches my formal name, but I've discovered that a nickname I've had since I was a child actually does translate to a word in your language. I would like it if you would call me by it. When I was a child my greatest love was hunting for the animals we use as food. I spent most of my free time doing it and as such, everyone began calling me by the nickname 'Hunter'. It would make me feel good to hear you calling me by that name as it has sentimental meaning for me much like the word I chose to use for your name. It would invoke pleasant memories of childhood, friendship, and home for me."

Jake thought it actually sounded like a name someone might give their pet cat, so it felt a bit strange calling him that, but he didn't want to upset the big cat by telling him that. If being called Hunter would make him happy, then Jake was more than happy to comply.

"OK, I'll call you that from now on. I want to thank you, Hunter, for giving me this incredible technology. I'm right there with you now, and I will continue to be there no matter where I go!"

The big cat chuckled and said, "Yes, that is why you'll want to familiarize yourself with the mute function on the control card. You can press it to cut off our communication whenever you want your privacy, otherwise, if you don't press it, we'll always be together and I will have the pleasure of being right there with you as well. To you it appears as if you're sitting right here in my room with me. To me, I am currently sitting across from you in your home since I am looking through the eyes of the drone in your kitchen and I too have switched to full display mode. Obviously, if you go out of your house, you will need to switch off the drone or signal it to stay behind so it won't follow you. I assume your people have no such technology yet and it might draw unwanted attention."

"We actually do have a version of video drones, but ours are many times bigger and quite noisy and not really intelligent. I think if someone saw this one they could easily be convinced that its simply new technology that I'm testing out, but I suppose it would be best to just leave it at home most of the time. I could have it follow me if I do something relatively safe like go for a bike ride or something, but I couldn't take it to work or people would ask questions. I would still have you with me, but you'd simply be seeing things through my eyes instead of actually seeing me."

The cat said, "I would absolutely love if you would bring the drone along as you ride your bicycle. There is no greenery here other than my small hydroponics garden and it would be wonderful to feel as though I was out exploring your world under the bright sunshine right alongside you."

Jake smiled and said, "I'd love to have you along with me. I had a feeling you'd be missing the color green being stuck over there on Mars. There's a section in the video I made for you where I take you on a bike ride through a forested area near the base of one of our mountain ranges in the evening."

The tiger grinned and clapped his paws together and said, "Terrific! You seem to know me so well already, you wonderful man! It warms my heart to know you were thinking of me that way and worried about what I might be missing. I can't wait to watch it!"

Jake chuckled and said, "Well, it's certainly a poor substitute for the drones and I might not have even bothered if I'd known you were going to spring this incredible surprise on me today. I would have just waited so we could go out with the drone and you could experience it live in full 3D like you were floating right beside me. We should do that later actually. It's a beautiful day out today and I won't need to go into work today or tomorrow."

"Wonderful! I would love that!"

"Me too. This is truly amazing display technology. When I have it in the mode where the image is just a box, I have no problem seeing it and I still can move around in my own world so I could safely ride my bike or go for a run while the display is active. The box is big enough to get in the way of some things I might want to see I suppose, but I'd only need to turn my head a bit to see what's behind it."

"You can relocate the box as well. If you hold the middle button at the bottom of the control card with your left thumb when you're in the box view mode, you can then slide your right thumb around to move the box to wherever you want it to be. You can also quickly move it between four different locations without the controller by rapidly blinking your eyes three times, then immediately flicking your eyes to one of the four corners, and the box will move in that direction while always keeping the center of your vision clear."

"That's great. I'll play with it later. Right now I want to stick with the full view. I love that I'm right there in the room with you."

"I love it too. I've been so lonely, and at last I feel that I'm no longer alone. I have a brilliant, beautiful companion with me. I'm not even stuck on this desolate planet anymore. As I said earlier, my displays are now showing me the full view of what the drone is seeing over there. To me it seems like I'm sitting across from you in your home, and as I look around that is what I see surrounding me. It's so bright and light and refreshingly non-artificial looking. It's truly wonderful to be there with you."

"Well I'm enjoying it just as much as you are. It's a magnificent gift. Thank you very much."

The tiger smiled warmly and said, "You are most welcome. Speaking of gifts, did you enjoy the ones you received yesterday? I hope my scent wasn't offensive to you."

"Are you nuts? It was amazing! You smell absolutely fantastic to me. Better than I could have imagined. So incredibly, powerfully male. I was so aroused by it I nearly popped just from the scent of you, without even touching myself. You smell just as incredibly attractive to me as you look. You'll see when you reach the end of the video I made for you just how much I enjoyed your dirty clothes."

The cat grinned and said, "Wonderful! I look forward to watching it, but I'm enjoying just talking with you right now, so perhaps I'll finish watching the video later on. I wonder, though, if you would like to play with the other gifts I sent along with the display and audio devices."

Jake realized he'd completely forgotten about the small black silk tubes the cat had sent over.

"You mean the small cloth tubes? I'd forgotten all about those. You didn't mention them in your instruction video. What are they for?"

"They are remote tactile sensors. There are nano machines woven into the fabric that will excite the nerve endings on your skin. They also act as muscles and can cause the fabric to squeeze quite firmly, or release, or even expand to quite an extreme amount. They are essentially a way to transmit sensation across the gap of space between us. The intent is for you to put the sensor over your penis. Let's try it out. I think you'll enjoy it quite a bit. It's sort of the last piece of the puzzle for the two of us to truly feel connected to each other, though we're nearly forty million of your miles apart from each other. Switch yourself to the picture box mode so that you can safely move to your bedroom. Bring one of the sensor socks with you. You'll only need the one for now."

Jake pressed the corner button on the control card and the display switched to the floating box to the left of center and he was back in his kitchen again. He grabbed the silk socks from the table and went over to his bedroom and got on the bed. He noticed the tiny white drone automatically floated through the air to follow him. He put one of the silk tubes on the beside table, but kept the other ready in hand.

"Get undressed, my love," the tiger said, "Get comfortable on your bed, then bring yourself into a state of arousal. Once you're ready, slip the sock over your penis and switch back into full view."

Jake quickly undressed and threw his clothes on the floor and got comfortable lying on his back. He saw the big tiger getting undressed in the small window that floated in his vision, and the site of the muscular cat fully naked almost immediately brought him to full arousal right away. He grabbed the tiger's dirty shorts off the nightstand and held the crotch up to his nose so he could once again inhale the amazing scent of the big cat even while gazing at the tiger's amazing package in the video display. Jake played with his cock lightly while enjoying the sights and scents, and that quickly got him as hard as he could get. He slipped the silky tube-like sock over his penis and it had to stretch to fit, but once on, it hugged his penis tightly all the way to its base. He touched the button on the corner of the control card to switch to full view again, and he was instantly transported back into the tiger's room on Mars. He dropped the card on the bed beside him and said, "OK, I'm hard as rock from the scent of you. I've slipped the sock on. What now?"

"One moment, my love. It helps with the immersion if I position myself so that I seem to be right there between your legs as you lie on your back. I've made another replica of your wonderful penis and attached it to a small frame that will hold it in position here on my bed. It will also help with your immersion if you hold your penis at its base so that it is standing straight up like the replica I have here. Your brain will immediately make the connection while you look down and watch me play with it and it will think that the penis I'm manipulating over here is actually yours."

He watched the cat get in position on his bed. He had the dildo that was a perfect reproduction of Jake's cock sticking straight up right at the level where it would be if he was lying on his back on the cat's bed. The tiger than reached over and picked up a sensor sock identical to the one Jake had put on his penis, and the cat slipped it over the fake penis. He then picked up his tablet for a moment and fiddled with it, then set it back down. Jake immediately felt an odd sensation all over his penis like his skin briefly tingled, then it settled and faded away and it felt just a shade cooler, as if the sock had disappeared. At the same time he saw the sock on the dildo in the tiger's room suddenly go extremely thin and hug the dildo, conforming to absolutely every surface feature like a second skin, and he realized that must be exactly what had happened to the one here on his penis. The tiger then smiled at Jake as he reached out and squeezed the socked dildo gently.

Suddenly, it felt as though the tiger had his paw right on Jake's cock! He couldn't believe it!

"Do you feel that, my love?"

"Yes! I can feel your paw on my cock! This is incredible!"

The cat chuckled and said, "It is. The sock is completely water proof, and becomes quite slick when wet, just like natural skin. It can handle any sort of rough treatment, too, and is completely washable. Now, just lie back, relax, and enjoy."

Jake got comfortable and watched as the beautiful cat took the dildo by the base with one paw, which Jake could clearly feel on his cock, and then the cat took his other paw and began to rub it up and down the dildo while turning his big paw this way and that to give him lots of sensation. Jake could feel absolutely every stroke as if the cat were right here with him and was actually squeezing and stroking his cock. The cat ran his big thumb up and down just under the head of the dildo and Jake could feel that same thumb running up and down the underside of the head of his own cock. This was absolutely unbelievable!

The cat then brought his mouth to the tip and planted a tender kiss that Jake felt right there on the tip of his cock. It was amazingly realistic. He stopped analyzing the technology and allowed his brain to convince himself that he was right there in the room with the cat, and the cat was about to perform fellatio on him.

The big cat then moved his head down and slurped Jake's penis into his mouth. Jake moaned as he felt the wonderful sensation of the tiger sucking him in. He could feel not only the cat's slightly rough tongue as it pressed and probed and ran itself against the underside of his penis, but he could also feel the warmth and snugness and wetness of his mouth.

The tiger began to slowly bob his head up and down and Jake reveled in the sensation of the big cat giving him head. He heard a slight hissing off and on and he realized the tiny drone floating in his room must also be aimed down at his crotch and moving up and down in unison with the cat's head, so that what the tiger was seeing was Jake's belly moving towards and then away from him, just like he was here in the room with Jake and sucking his cock instead of the fake one! What an incredible piece of technology!

Jake was so turned on at the sensation of being sucked by the beautiful cat that he wasn't going to last very long at all. He moaned and groaned and began to squirm as the cat increased the suction and the speed at which he was bobbing his head.

"I'm close already," Jake breathed, "You're so incredibly attractive to me. It feels so great to have your mouth on me!"

The cat lifted his head off and said, "It feels wonderful for me too. I feel the warmth of your tumescent member in my mouth, not the artificial dildo. I can actually feel your throbbing heat on my tongue as though I were right there on your bed with your cock in my mouth. I'm not ready for you to reach your release yet, though. I want you to feel yourself inside me, just as I long to have you there."

The cat reached over and grabbed a small bottle of lube and he squirted a large dollop on the palm of his paw and tossed the bottle aside. He then reached over and wiped the lube around the head of Jake's penis, and he immediately felt the cool, slick wetness of it. The tiger then maneuvered himself so he was squatting over the representation of Jake's erect penis and hovered there for a moment. To the cat, it looked as though he were actually here getting ready to impale himself on his lover's cock.

Jake's heart began to beat rapidly as the muscular cat then lowered himself down. Jake was right there in the room with him and his brain had him fully convinced that the cat was lowering himself onto Jake's penis. He felt the head of his cock come in contact with the cat's warm anus and he felt the tiger repositioning himself until he was more comfortable. The cat then reached back to grab his tail and pulled it a bit to open his hole more, then he settled right down onto Jake's cock and he felt the amazing sensation of the cat's anus spreading open and sucking his cock right in and squeezing it tightly.

The big cat moaned and tensed a bit as Jake's wide cock head spread his ring, and then relaxed as the head breached completely and the tiger's anus closed onto his thick shaft. The cat took a deep breath and lowered himself down and Jake felt the warm, tight, inviting warmth of the cat's hot rectum suck his cock in right down to the root.

Tears welled in Jake's eyes as he was suddenly overcome with joy at the feeling of being right up inside his beautiful cat. "I love you so much, you gorgeous tiger. I can't believe this is happening. I'm right there with you. This is incredible!"

The tiger smiled down at him and said, "It is wonderful for me, too. I have longed to pleasure you myself, and to be pleasured by you. The sock is stimulating me at this end too and I can feel your wonderful living warmth inside me. Now keep quiet and simply enjoy it, my love."

He slowly began to lift himself up, and while he did so he clenched his anus hard and Jake immediately felt the increased pressure as the cats asshole clung tight to Jake's cock while the cat lifted up. Just before the head of Jake's cock would exit the hole, the cat stopped and began to lower himself down again and Jake moaned loudly at the wonderful sensation of his cock being sucked right back into the tiger's tight, hot tunnel.

The big cat began to work his own cock with his right paw as he slowly increased the rhythm while he rode Jake's cock. The cat was enjoying this just as much as Jake. As the cat gazed down, he was seeing Jake lying there beneath him back here on Earth and to him he was actually right here in Jake's bed, riding his lover. The big cat groaned and suddenly Jake felt pulsing waves coming from the tiger's rectum as the cat's orgasm slammed into him and he roared as a massive jet of cum shot out of his big penis up into the air.

Jake couldn't take it anymore and he felt his own orgasm rapidly boil up as he watched the incredibly beautiful, muscular tiger riding out his own orgasm. The idea that he was about to shoot into his gorgeous tiger overcame him and he immediately grunted and his big nuts tightened up as he felt the cum race up his shaft and the head of his cock expanded as a long rope of cum shot out. He could feel the pulsing waves of the tiger's orgasm as his rectum clenched and released Jake's shaft in rhythm with the waves of ecstasy he was experiencing and it drove Jake further into his own orgasm. He grunted and gasped as wave after wave washed over him and he shot everything he had up into the tiger's bowels.

The two of them moaned and groaned together as they rode out the waves of electricity. The cat could feel Jake's warm cock head pulsing inside of him and Jake could feel every clench of the tiger's anus as it tightened and released along with every pulse of his powerful orgasm.

At last the pulses slowed and he began to come down. The tiger slowed down and then settled back down onto Jake's cock and held still.

The beautiful cat stared right down into Jake's eyes as he said, "That was magnificent, my love. From my point of view I was actually riding your beautiful cock. I cannot wait until we do this in reverse."

"So it works both ways? I can put the sock onto the replica you sent me of your amazing cock?" Jake asked.

"Oh yes, you most certainly can. It will easily stretch to conform, and then use its own electronic musculature to perfectly adhere to every feature of the surface so that it can't slip off. That's why I provided you with two of them. You can actually have one on your cock and also slip one over the representation of my cock that I sent over to you while I have one over my cock and over the representation of your cock so that we both can pleasure each other with our hands or mouths at the same time if we wish. The word we normally call the technology that these sensor socks are made of translates to 'second skin' in your language. You'll find that when the fabric gets wet it feels on your tongue exactly like wet skin. You will be able to lick my cock and I will feel it over here and I can lick yours at the same time and you will feel it there. I look forward to exploring all the ways we can interact with each other. I had a most wonderful orgasm already, though, so I won't be ready to try that for a little while. Let us just relax for a moment. I've been so excited to finally have you with me that I actually awoke quite some time ago. The pleasure we just enjoyed has made me feel very sleepy. If you don't mind, I would love to take a short nap in your bed with you. Of course, for you, you will be joining me right here in my bed."

"That would suit me perfectly. Over here we call that sort of short sleep a catnap."

The big cat chuckled and said, "How fitting. I do like many of the aspects of your culture and I look forward to learning more about it."

The cat slowly lifted himself off of the dildo and Jake felt the tiger's anus release his cock. He couldn't believe how realistic it was. The nanos in the sock's fabric had reproduced the sensations perfectly. The tiger pointed at the sock on the dildo and to Jake's shock he saw that there was now a long extension above the tip that looked like the full reservoir of a condom. The cat smiled and flicked at it, and Jake felt the tip of his cock get tickled. He felt down to his cock and found the exact same reservoir there, but on his side it was actually full of the huge load of cum the tiger had drawn out of him! Out of curiosity he bent it and squeezed it and flicked it around, and he actually saw the same reaction over there in the tiger's room! The nanos were perfectly replicating everything in both directions!

He tried to pull the cum filled sock off, but he couldn't do it. It really was like a second skin, perfectly sealed over his own skin. He saw the tiger pick up his tablet and tap at it and suddenly the sock released on both sides of their link. He carefully pulled the cum filled sock off, and then dropped it to the floor next to the bed.

He rolled onto his side and got comfortable on the bed, and the tiger positioned himself similarly on his bed after having removed the dildo contraption.

Though Jake couldn't see anything here in his own room, he heard the faint hissing of the drone that was giving the tiger his look into Jake's world as it moved and tilted to give the big cat the same view as he would get if he were lying on his side in bed here with Jake. It was all so incredible. So much like they were right there in each other's rooms.

To him it seemed as if the big cat's beautiful furry face was right there in front of him as they lay together in the tiger's bed on Mars. He itched to reach out and touch him, but he knew if he did his hand would pass through thin air and the illusion would be broken, so he resisted.

His heart swelled as the tiger's jade green eyes stared right into Jake's eyes and he said, "I love you very much, my sweet man. I look forward to spending a great deal of time with you from now on. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for ending my loneliness for me. I could not have dreamed up such a perfect companion if I'd tried. I love every nuance of you. You are every dream I've ever had of the perfect male come true in one package."

Jake smiled and said, "I love you too, Hunter. I can't tell you how happy I am right now. I've longed to be over there with you, and this feels almost as if I really am there. It's not quite the same, but it's so tantalizingly close."

The cat smiled back at him and said, "One day, we will begin to work on the problem of bringing you over here if that is truly what you would like. It would not be an easy problem to solve and there may be some small risk involved in any attempt we make, but I can already think of a possible way that we may be able to do it. It will not happen for quite some time though, so we will have to make do with this for the time being."

"This will do just fine for now. It's already beyond my wildest imagining and it was an incredible surprise. I love it!"

"Good," the tiger said, "I'm so happy to have been able to please you. I can't wait to receive the items you sent back for me. They will be arriving tomorrow. At last I will be able to fill my nostrils with the scent of you to complete our intimate virtual immersion. I look forward to it immensely."

"I can't believe this is all happening," Jake said, "It's like a dream come true."

"For both of us."

They lay there and stared into each other's eyes for a while, until finally the warm post-orgasmic lethargy dragged them both down to sleep.