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Invasion

A story from the Anasian Universe by Triad Fox

The sleek gray ship streaked across the inky black void. Desolate and dark, the empty vacuum was interrupted by pinpoints of starlight; small nodes of life-sustaining heat that fought a valiant battle against the cold wastes. One particular point of illumination was gaining prominence. This light was dull red, and began to split itself into two as the ship approached it. RT-312 A/B, a small and unremarkable pair of red dwarf stars, loomed in front of the sole occupant of the fast ship.

The view screen on the bridge of the ship cast the red glare upon the control consoles and chairs of the Vul'Prassad scout vessel. Sighing in annoyance, the vessel's occupant jerked his vulpine head slightly, activating a red light filter among the cybernetic implants that extruded from the light tan fur of his face. Teth'rel never cared for traveling near late-stage red dwarf stars. The deep red light wreaked havoc on the eyes of most Vulpinasians, and the Vul'Prassad were much more sensitive than the other fox-peoples.

Thankfully, the design of his implants took this into consideration, and he was able now to tolerate the awful crimson glow. Dimming the viewscreen, Teth'rel began to review the new changes to his mission. He had just gotten a new urgent order an hour ago by his superiors to travel to this awful system and pick up a parcel. He was from a warrior people respected and feared across the immense Anasian Confederation. He shouldn't always be stuck playing errand-boy on these missions! Other members of his graduating class had gone straight to the Phalanaxian War once they got their implants. Why not him?

These types of questions always bothered Teth'rel on these long missions transporting material and fallen soldiers for his Vul'Prassadi superiors. The long, lonely days of shooting across space wore on the young 'Prassadi pilot. Especially when the mission required retrieving the corpses of 'Prassadi soldiers killed in battle. His people never leave one of their fallen comrades behind, mostly due to the secretive technology in their implants. Even if a battle is long over, the remains will be taken back to the 'Prassadi homeworld to undergo the proper burial and recycling procedures.

This was one of those missions. An extremely bizarre and highly classified occurrence had taken place several weeks prior, when an alleged technical malfunction of an old space station's systems accidentally fried the brain of a disgraced Vul'Prassad Califeron Teseretz officer named Vithreel Tienershen. After the CT rescued the two survivors, they quarantined the now-derelict station, and left the encapsulated body of Vithreel tethered to the outside of the station to be retrieved by a representative of the 'Prassad. In this case, Teth'rel.

The worst part about these missions for Teth'rel was spending up to a week between planets with no company except some cargo and a corpse. At least in the case of this mission he had several stops to make on his way back to the homeworld, and with this some much needed rest and relaxation. Maybe even time with his two mates, if his superiors would allow it! He had been out running errands on the Periphery of the AC for almost six months now, and he was beginning to become uncomfortably pent up.

Until he could get his release, he needed to stop by the quarantined station orbiting RT-312 A/B and retrieve the body of Vithreel. From there, he had two large secured crates of experimental nanites that were to be delivered to Lamiar-2, a planet populated by the squirrel-like Sciurinasians. This planet was covered in massive forests of megaflora, such as trees that grow up to two miles tall. The second planet was an Apinasian world undergoing massive tectonic upheavals that was causing it's population centers to become overrun by destructive earthquakes and lava. From there, he then would go home.

Teth'rel was not quite sure why each of these planets needed these experimental Vul'Prassad nanites, but he suspected that they might have something to do with geoengineering these worlds. His rank was not high enough to question such things, and he found it best to never ask. Besides, the Vul'Prassad valued obedience above most other qualities, and if he began questioning the nature of the classified cargo that he was hauling, he would never get off of these shitty assignments and into the choice ones that he dreamed about on a real battlefield.

The two red blobs in front of him began to grow large, and he found himself approaching a large spherical planetesimal, around which orbited a tiny, old and decrepit space station. This must be the place, he thought. Sure enough, his ship's sensors had picked up the signature of the CT automated quarantine craft. As if on cue, the bridge erupted in yellow light, alerting him that the ship was being scanned. He hoped that the Vul'Prassad had sent his ship's reg-number into the database of the quarantine vessels. Otherwise, they would probably not hesitate to blow him out of the sky. The CT did not use these heavily-armed drone ships to cordon off an area unless something really important had happened there...

Which brought Teth'rel to the first odd thing about this scene. "Technical problems" that resulted in the death of an officer or space traveller were extremely common on un-renovated craft that were over a century old. Why would the CT send these drones to make sure that no one got near this station? Furthermore, an electrical arc killing someone would not require that their body be kept outside of the station awaiting retrieval, much less a quarantine. Something was seriously wrong here, and Teth'rel did not want to stick around to find out what it was...

Spotting the floating capsule containing the corpse of Vithreel, Teth'rel let out a pained groan. The Vul'Prassad were very picky about how they handled their dead. Part of their charter with the CT stipulated that if a 'Prassadi officer dies on duty, the corpse is to be left untouched by any non-'Prassadi, until it can be collected by one of it's living brethren. The only exceptions to this are if the fallen officer is in a position that is causing a life-or-death blockage of passage during a crisis or combat situation. Placing them inside a capsule and leaving them to float from a wire in space did NOT seem like a respectful way to handle the body of a Vul'Prassad, disgraced or not!

With his fur beginning to bristle from anger and a feeling of dread, Teth'rel decided to scan the capsule for anything compromising before he brought it into his cargo hold. Someone had clearly not been forthcoming with him or the Vul'Prassad, and he didn't know what might be waiting for him inside that capsule. Thankfully, his scans showed no signs of infection or contamination, and the capsule containing Vithreel was brought aboard using the craft's tractor beam. Once his cargo was acquired, he set the ship's coordinates to the Sciurinasian planet of Lamiar-2. Without looking back at the space station, quarantine drones, and horrible red suns, Teth'rel set off on the two day long faster-than-light burn to the squirrel world.

Meanwhile, down in the modest cargo hold of the scout ship, the charred body of Vithreel sat in its cold stasis capsule next to the two armored crates of inactivated nanites. The objects sat undisturbed for nearly the first day of the trip to Lamiar-2. However, unbeknownst to Teth'rel, who was asleep at this particular moment, a dull blue glow began to appear emanating from the temples of Vithreel's charred skull. The glow began to overtake the top third of the capsule, until it gathered itself into two large arcs that jumped from the outside of the capsule, and into each of the crates of tiny nanomachines. After the arc sparked it's way across the powdery contents of the two crates, the cargo hold became quiet again.

The next morning, Teth'rel was awoken by his ship's proximity sensors; he had arrived at Lamiar-2. The bright yellow sun was much more pleasing on his vulpine eyes than RT-312 A/B, and the massive green and blue planet seemed infinitely more inviting than the dark grey rock he had been orbiting a couple of days ago.

Lamiar-2 was known across these parts of the Anasian Confederation to be a fairly unique world. It shared similarities with several other Sciurinasian planets in that the inhabitants had made their homes inside of the massive megaflora of their worlds. However, Lamiar-2 was home to not only trees and other large plants that could grow up to several kilometers tall, but to massive trees that were also sentient. It was estimated that several thousand old-growth trees across 15 species had developed the ability over the centuries to communicate with some of the Sciurinasians on the planet. Not only that, at this point in the world's development, several of these trees had gathered a religious following amongst some of the population.

It was all very fascinating to Teth'rel, but he was unfortunately on a very tight schedule and would not have any time to stop and see the sights. Besides, most Anasians always seemed to get uneasy at the sight of a Vul'Prassad. Still, it seemed like it would be an interesting place to visit with his leave time one day. Depending on how at ease the population seemed when he got down to the planet, of course.

Moving his ship out of a holding orbit, Teth'rel prepared the vessel for atmospheric entry. As he burned his way down through the crisp purple-blue air of Lamiar-2, he reviewed the details of this portion of his mission. He was to set down in the Elmatha'a Spaceport, a large and crowded interstellar transport hub at the edge of an equally crowded city. Sandwiched between mountains, impenetrable megaflora forests and the ocean, the city of Elmatha'a was a bit of an annoyance to fly into from space. Missing the occasionally frozen tops of the three kilometer tall trees on the way down was only part of the fun!

Thankfully, Teth'rel was at least a decent pilot, and the increased reaction time that his implants gave him served him well as he dodged the dense traffic over Elmatha'a. The city's morning rush-hour had yet to subside, much to his chagrin. His contacts would be meeting him in a section of the spaceport that their organization had rented out for their own personal use. Weaving between the hodgepodge of various craft large and small, he finally entered the holding pattern of the spaceport and set his ship down on an asphalt landing pad a hundred meters away from the main landing strips.

Teth'rel and his ship were met by a contingency of several dozen colorfully dressed red squirrels. He was aware that his first shipment of the classified nanites was being sent to what appeared to be some sort of eco-religious group. Judging by the colorful robes of the Sciurinasians, Teth'rel assumed that these were his contacts. Once his ship had landed, he idled the thrusters, popped open the hermetic seal of the cargo hold, and exited the craft to conduct their transaction.

The aromatic and humid air of this region of Lamiar-2 hit Teth'rel's nostrils like a sledgehammer. He had been breathing the dry recycled air on his ship for weeks, and the burst of moisture, pollen and terpenes from the massive trees set off a mild allergic reaction, and he began to sneeze. Sensing an increase in antibodies and inflammatory compounds, his implants began stimulating his endocrine system to calm down so that he could quickly adapt to this new environment. His sneezing abated by the time he was approached by the leader of the squirrel contingency, a young and modestly tall female that was dressed in resplendent translucent purple robes that melted off of her firm physique.

"Hello there," The Squirrel woman greeted Teth'rel, "You're here with the shipment from the Vul'Prassad I presume?"

"Yes, this is correct." Teth'rel replied. "You must be, um, what was it again? Shanti?"

She giggled slightly. "Yes, that's me. Shall we get down to it?"

"Very well." Teth'rel began to give her the rundown on the order. "Your organization is receiving 300 trillion blank terraforming nanites. I believe that the payment has already been received on our end, so all I need is your confirmation for the shipment." He held out a small silver device that Shanti placed the paw pads of her first two fingers on. The device beeped, and Teth'rel remotely opened the main door of his ship's cargo hold.

Shanti nodded to her companions, who drove a hover-van up to the side of the needle-like 'Prassadi ship. "It's the one on the left!" Teth'rel yelled to the squirrel crew unloading the crate. Four of the much smaller squirrels gingerly lifted the crate into the rear of their hover van, and then drove back to their original positions away from the landing area.

"Thank you," Shanti told Teth'rel, "I don't think you know just how much this means to our people!" Once the crate was unloaded, Teth'rel resealed the cargo hold, bid Shanti a brief farewell, and took off back into the crowded skies over Elmatha'a, on the way to his next delivery.

With the nanites secured in the van, Shanti and her companions loaded into several vehicles, and began the journey back through Elmatha'a's congested streets to their home, a planned religious community housed in a massive ashram that was built around Barlek-ulu, a four-thousand year old Ketheera Fir tree that was one of the planet's famed sentient "Guru Trees". The religious city was located at the edge of town where civilization met and seamlessly merged with the dense and overwhelming temperate jungles of the planet's hyper-aboreal forests.

Shanti and her group grew more and more elated as they drew closer to their home. The trees and plants always grew much taller the further from the city one got. When the trees grew taller, more and more dwellings and buildings were built on or around them. In fact, most of the infrastructure of the Lamiarians was partially shunted through the plants and large trees. The massive xylem of the huge trees could be adapted to carry water, electricity, and optical cables. Many of the massive but less-sentient of the trees had been converted into living apartment and office buildings. Sciurinasians were masters of sustainably manipulating the mega-forests, and Lamiar-2 was one of their best examples of work.

The bio-infrastructure of Lamiar-2 was more of a symbiosis between the forest and the people than an exploitation. Due to the presence and influence of the Guru Trees and other sentient plant life on the world, the technological and cultural evolution of the squirrels was guided by the intelligent flora into a manner of cohabitation, where the people venerate and support the plants and trees, while the plants and trees support the people's civilization. It was a wonderful and balanced situation that had severed all on the planet well for thousands of years.

Today however, all of that was going to increase dramatically. While the trees and plants had subtly guided the evolution of the people on this planet and had even been revered as gods, it was difficult to communicate with them directly. Some squirrels had begun to evolve the ability to telepathically communicate through touching the trees. These individuals were usually enlisted by one of the religious or governmental groups to open dialogues or act as ambassadors. Shanti was one of these squirrels, as she had a lifelong devotion to Barlek-ulu, and was on the governing council of "his" Ashram. But even she could not communicate with her master as closely as she would have liked. This was a problem that was shared by many in these communities, and plans were developed to find a way to speak directly to the trees.

The blank nanites in the crate were developed by the Vul'Prassad as a general-purpose constructive nanotechnology. They could be programmed to accomplish a specific purpose, and then return to their default blank programming once a task was accomplished. They could then be reprogrammed for the same task or a new one. The cutoff at the end of each task was put into place to combat a potential "Grey Goo" scenario. This technology was now close to the end of it's trial phases, and the 'Prassad had decided to open it up to two public tests.

Shanti and her Order had something else in mind for the nanites, though. Due to generations of imperfect communication between the mammalian and plant Lamiarians, many on both sides had been searching to find a way to open a direct vocal dialogue between the two types of peoples. Not easy to do when the members of only half of the equation even possess vocal cords in the first place! Finally, after years of prodding the 'Prassad, they allowed her people to test the devices in creating an interface between person and plant. It was a project that greatly interested the Vul'Prassad, as they themselves were interlaced with mechanical components to increase their abilities.

Shanti's ashram, Gondamuram, would be the testbed for this project. Over the years, a majority of both plant and mammal populations on the planet had become supportive of the idea of integrating the two peoples. Shanti, under the guidance of Barlek-ulu, became one of the more vocal proponents of integration. The tree itself had decided that it would be the first to test the nanites on the planet, and it guided Shanti to contact the Vul'Prassad to create the machines for them. Now, her and her convoy were entering the front gate of the large religious city, and bringing the machines to their arboreal master.

Once they arrived, the crate carrying the nanites was removed from the van and whisked away to a preplanned location. Shanti knew the the ashram's scientists needed to inspect the technology before she could present it to Barlek-ulu. They could not risk the safety of the Master, no matter how much they wanted to be able to talk at "his" level. With the morning's business completed, Shanti began preparing for the rest of her day's appointments.

Gondamuram and it's squirrels provided many therapeutic and spiritual services to both the inhabitants of the planet and to the Anasian Confederation at-large. In addition to teaching courses in various meditative and spiritual techniques, Gondamuram also provided sacred sex work to the adult community. Usually these were tantric-style practices combined with a plant aid such as cannabis or the native Stucha herb. These practices were no mere prostitution however; they were widely known to be very intense experiences where it was not uncommon for the practitioners to have mystical or religious visions at the peak of the practice.

Shanti, in addition to being one of leading members of Gondamuram, was also one of the Order's top sacred sex workers. She had risen her way through the ranks by showing a great enthusiasm for healing people through her natural talents in the field. She knew the transformative power that sex could hold, especially when directed toward the union of the self and the divine through acts of love. This was her purpose in the universe, to spread love and divinity, and she was quite apt at it.

Due to Shanti's skills, her talents were reserved for the more challenging cases. Individuals who had not "broken through" with some of the other sacred sex workers were usually directed to her. She specialized in those who were too rigid or traumatized to respond to the usual practices. Soldiers, lawyers, businesspeople, police officers and others whose lives had left them with massive strains and burdens generally responded well to her stimulation.

The lithe red squirrel climbed a ladder made from branches woven together up a tall tree. About a third of the way up the tree was a modest dwelling, located halfway inside the trunk. The rest of the dwelling was made of logs and living woven branches that hung off of the tree's side. She removed her clothes from that morning, and changed into a revealing robe made from sheer translucent fabric. She sprayed on a homemade mix of different plant fragrances and vulpine pheromones. After freshening up and getting herself ready for the day, she went outside and descended the branch-ladder. From there, she hopped on her small hover-cart, and sped down the gravel road toward the ashram's Sacred Sex Center.

Her first partner for the day was a young CT soldier who had just returned from the front lines of the Phalanaxian War. He was a tan Vulpinasian of one of the desert-dwelling fox-peoples. She could tell by his thin snout and large ears. He also wasn't much taller than she was, and his eyes held the infinite stare of those who had been forced to endure far more than their minds could handle. She was already formulating a sexual and therapeutic course of action for him as she approached while he nervously sat in the wooden building's expansive lobby.

"Keban?" Shanti sweetly addressed the disheveled young fox and extended her paw. "Lieutenant Keban Forenshen?" His head jerked toward her after he pulled himself from the dark reverie that he had been caught in. He nodded in affirmation, and stood up. The fox smiled, and took her paw in his.

"Yes, that's me." Keban replied softly. He was immediately drawn into the deep green crystalline pools of her eyes. She seemed to emanate a warmth and feeling of safety that was alien to him after a two-year tour on the frontlines of the war. Visions of the violent deaths of his comrades and enemies had filled Keban's mind. The way an Anasian body is immediately melted and then cauterized by directed-energy weapons, how the saliva boils out of the mouth as someone dies exposed to the vacuum of space. The smell of singed fur. Oh gods, the smell...

But instead Keban now found himself in front of quite possibly the most attractive Sciurinasian that he had seen. He could lose himself for days in the red fluff of her tail. Not to mention the way the colors of the room danced off of her robes. For the first time since he left home, he began to relax. His horrible memories from the war were slowly being replaced by the woman that stood in front of him. She could see the pain in his eyes, and she yearned to free him from it, if not for an afternoon at least.

"So good to see you and have you here with us." Shanti greeted him gracefully. "Let me welcome you to Gondamuram. Our master, Barlek-ulu, grants us the ability to help to bring others into contact with their higher selves and natures. Consciousness is sacred, and it is our mission in life to help to enhance it in everyone whom we commune with."

"Um, thank you?" Keban replied. "My doctor suggested that I come here after my tour of duty in the Phalanaxian war. You're supposed to be able to help me with some of the issues I mentioned in my application?"

"Of course, Keban." She explained. "It is my pleasure. Life often puts us in situations that are much more than we can handle, no matter how hard we try. But life also has a remarkable way of putting us into just the right place to give us what we truly need to heal. You are here, and it is my job to help you to reintegrate not only into society, but most importantly back into yourself."

"Well, my doctor was the best in our division." Keban replied. "Is this supposed to be some kind of therapy or something?"

"Oh no," Shanti began, "This is so much more than -just- therapy. You see Keban, one of the problems that modern society has is that of isolation. We can interact with people on other planets across the quantum networks and travel to these places, but most of us tend to stay isolated from one another in our daily lives. You have also witnessed terrible things in the war, things I can't even imagine."

"Thanks," Keban replied sarcastically, "I"m well aware..."

Shanti slid past the remark, and responded. "What we do here, Keban, is something that many among my people consider to be a very sacred act. A celebration and renewal of life, after so much exposure to violence and death. A return, if you will, to our true natures as living beings, reclaiming our birthright from the mechanistic and harsh aspects of existence that separate us from ourselves and each other."

"What, uh, exactly is that supposed to mean?" Keban asked.

"There are things in life much larger than ourselves, and sometimes when we experience one of these things, it gives us a perspective on our lives that we would have never have had before. There are experiences that we can have that put us in a state above our normal conditions. From there, we can experience and witness things that are impossible to put into words. With you permission, Keban, I'd like to take you to some of these places."

"Well, I'm still not sure what that means, but you were highly recommended for my... condition. Let's do this, whatever it is. I didn't come all this way for nothing." With Keban's consent, the consciousness-enhancing activities of the afternoon would commence. He was not aware of it at the time, but his entire life was about to change in unspeakable ways.

Shanti gently pulled him toward her, bringing him into the cloud of fox pheromones and fragrances that she emanated. "Why don't you come with me?" She drew her large tail around him, gently running the tips of it's fur across the back of his legs. Keban's usually tense muscles began to loosen at the sensation, and he nodded, following her down a long and ornate wood-paneled hallway.

They stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a heavy dark wooden door. The door was carved with ornate scenes from the story of how Barlek-ulu had given shelter to the first Sciurinasians to settle on the planet, and how Gondamuram was founded. There were also several large carvings of Jeneha, the local fertility and sex goddess. Shanti smiled at Keban flirtatiously and opened the doors, motioning for him to enter the room.

The room's wooden walls were covered in similar carvings as those on the door. In addition, many paintings were displayed detailing erotic actions between gods and goddesses, as well as the sexual exploits of Anasians of various species. In the center of the room stood a large circular bed with a thick padded mattress, covered in luxuriant purple silk linens. The floor was piled with large cushions, carpets and pillows. A wall with mysterious looking devices loomed in the back, next to a stained-glass door that opened onto a balcony overlooking the Zarghozzi river and the canyon it created between the trees. The top branches of Barlek-ulu loomed like mountains over the rest of the massive vegetation.

"This is really nice..." Keban sputtered, completely in awe of his surroundings. "Much better than what I've been in the last two years. Not what I was expecting either."

"Well love," Shanti explained, "We believe that the best experiences come in surroundings that are comfortable. We are often confused as either being a squalid brothel or austere commune of monks. I can assure you that we are neither."

"I wasn't sure what to expect, honestly." He told her. "I was sent here by my doctor in the CT Medical Corps. He said that this was the best place to go to help me recover. I've never done, um, anything like this..."

Shanti giggled to herself. She always loved new clients. There were doors in them that she could open that they weren't aware of yet. Watching someone writhe through one of the super-orgasms that she could induce was one of her greatest pleasures. This poor little soldier-fox, broken by a life of combat and death. Shanti would have a ball opening him up and healing him. He just assumed that his doctor had sent him to a squirrel brothel to blow off some steam, maybe get some of that old predator/prey fantasy out of him? Well, she had a few surprises in store for him!

"Your doctor is right, this is the best place to heal. So why don't you just relax and get comfortable while I set everything up here." Shanti began fiddling around with a silver incense censer on a table near the bed. Turning the device on, she grabbed a bag of various tree resins that produced aphrodisiac odors that pleasantly augmented the musky scent of lovemaking. She poured them onto the hot censer, and very soon a thick cloud of sweet smelling smoke began to fill the room.

"Well, so far I have to say that you folks here on Lamiar do seem to know how to make a guest feel welcome." Keban let out the first smile since he had arrived. Shanti grinned and strategically positioned herself in such a way the the light shone through her fine robe, catching the outline of her small taut breasts and prominent pink nipples.

"Mmm" Shanti murmured as she moved closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders and running them down his chest. "Do you mind if I show you more of our customs?"

"Sure!" Keban replied, feeling the first electrical waves of excitement begin to course through his tired body. Shanti went to the table by the bed, and pulled out a tray containing several objects and some plant material. She brought the tray to the bed, and placed it in front of the excited but mildly confused fox. He removed his boots and began trying to unwind and get into the spirit of things.

"What is this?" He asked. Shanti explained that the use of the Earth plant Cannabis was common here, and used to enhance the sexual experience. In addition, the herb Stucha was a local plant, endemic to the Gondamuram region that was a strong aphrodisiac for all sexes, and was used to prolong sexual contact for hours at a time. The Cannabis was to be inhaled, the Stucha was to be eaten directly. Shanti showed him how to consume both of them. He then enthusiastically followed suit.

First, the ground up Earth herb was placed into an ornate stone pipe. The herb was ignited and inhaled. Several rounds of this activity ensued, as Shanti prepared the Stucha. She whispered a blessing onto her sacrament, which was a pile of fresh thick glossy green and purple leaves. These leaves held an enticingly sweet, pungent balsam and citrus odor to them. Keban was surprised at how flavorful the leaves were. They were fresh, having just been picked from the Ashram's gardens that morning. He was dubious about eating raw leaves as part of this ritual, but once he tried them he felt that they would have made a fine addition to his mother's Kieyaba curry back home.

During the time that they waited for the effects of the plant drugs to take hold, Shanti and Keban discussed his history, his time in the war, and what his dreams in life were. He found it very easy to open up to her, especially as time drew on and they became more and more intoxicated and aroused. Keban found the conversation very helpful, as he could not be open about many of these things in his normal life.

Finally, the full brunt of the herbs began taking hold of both of them. Sweat began to bead up on their foreheads and their breathing became heavy. Keban's head became heavy as his sensitive vulpine nose swam in the pheromones and intoxicating odors of the incense and Cannabis. He found that his inhibitions had been reduced greatly, and that his dark visions of past traumas had started to cease. They were replaced by a hot feeling in his loins, and a near obsession with the perfect squirrel body that the translucent sheer robe was barely hiding.

Noticing his arousal, Shanti took the next step. She gently pushed him down on the bed, and began taking off his clothes. First his shirt, a standard CT-issue workout top. Next, she removed his belt and unzipped his pants. He began panting at this point. Finally she slid his pants off. As he stood there in his underwear, she stopped to take a look at the person that she'd be merging with. Taking a second to admire his uniform tan fur and taut ass, she kneeled down, and softly used her prominent front teeth to clasp onto the elastic waistband of his underwear. Shanti then masterfully pulled it down his legs, and off onto the floor, revealing the fox in his delightfully muscular, yet still petite vulpine glory.

Staring at her mate for the evening, Shanti felt the familiar wet stream begin to trickle down the fur of her inner thighs. Her energy was beginning to flow as well, and with a little more stimulation she would be able to begin to work her real magic on Keban. But a little foreplay can go a long way in these situations, and with a client like Keban, she needed to take her time.

Keban laid on the bed naked, staring at Shanti, awaiting her next move. His vulpine cock began to swell and poke it's angular crimson head out of his sand-colored furry sheath. Watching his vulpine penis grow made the rivers below her begin to pour forth vigorously. She finally decided to reveal herself to him, gently pulling off her robes. She stood before him, her auburn fur glistening in the light. She walked over to him, and bent down, ensuring that her pink nipples were right at Keban's eye level.

Keban's pulse throbbed in his temples and rising erection. Shanti could feel his hot breath on her breasts, as she looked down at the young fox. She could see the primal urges begin to take him over, replacing his old worn out persona with a newer one, full of vigor and lust. He stared at her, his tongue lolling out of the left side of his mouth. He wanted to feel her, taste her, enter her. Thoughts of the war were long gone, replaced with ravenous lust, no doubt as much a result of the pheromones as her perfect physique. She owned her sexuality, and he wanted to dive into it's vast depths and own it too.

"I want you to taste them" Shanti said, nodding down to her erect nipples. "Suck them. Lose yourself in them." One of the herbs was causing Keban's senses to become more refined. His vision became shaper, and his other senses increased. His sense of smell was picking up the incense, pheromones, and Shanti's exciting scent in high-definition, and he noticed just how much his perceptions had changed in the last half hour. Whatever it was that these squirrels had, Keban wanted more. He needed more.

Keban's long, thin muzzle crept it's way toward Shanti's chest. It stopped, and took a slow inhale of her scent. Keban groaned slightly, and then quickly produced his tongue, which began tracing a spiral clockwise around her left breast. Shanti felt warm electricity from the sensation, and shivered. Noticing her pleasure, Keban began to bring the tip of his tongue down to her areola, and finally up to the tip of the nipple. She moaned as he then proceeded to do the same actions with this tongue to her other breast.

"Oh! Keban!" Shanti cried as he began to suck on her nipples, "That's it!"

At this point, Keban was rock-hard. The tip of his cock was pouring precum down his shaft, and his knot was fully exposed from his tan sheath. It twitched with every taste and shudder of Shanti. She looked down, and gently tapped him, signaling that it was time for them to switch roles.

She climbed into the bed with him, and placed her arms on his shoulders. Concentrating hard on the tips of her fingers, she began to softly and slowly run her paws down his chest, tracing patterns into the fur of his belly, and finally down to his sheath and inner thighs. Keban felt a sensation from her touch that he had never felt before. It was as if her hands were emitting a strong and pleasant energy, and depositing it in him as she touched him. Shanti ran her fingers down the insides of his legs, and then up his back, finally returning to his shoulders. In the process, Keban began to feel more like someone his own age, rather than a tired old man who had seen a lifetime's worth of troubling events before the age of 25.

Shanti meanwhile was beginning to feel her own urges take over. She had determined to prolong their physical foreplay for as long as possible, but she was becoming enthralled by Keban's canid cock. She always had a weakness for them. Their deep red color, exotic curves and features, and most important, the way they felt inside of her. The way that they would get stuck inside, constantly filling her up. She loved her canine Anasian lovers, as she always got to spend that extra time connected to them, working her magic. Shanti also had a special technique that she could only use on them, one that she would show Keban in due course.

But first, she couldn't do her job properly if she was overcome with lust of her own. She couldn't just stare at Keban's throbbing member anymore. She needed it for herself. With her hands on Keban's shoulders, she pulled herself on top of him, and nuzzled her face against his neck. She began kissing his neck and shoulders, following her previous path to his musky crotch. Once she found herself at her destination, she took out her tongue and lapped up the precum that was pooling up and dripping from his tip. He shuddered as she then wrapped her lips around the head of his dick, and took his hot vulpine cock into her mouth.

Keban didn't last long. In fact, Shanti had only run her mouth up and down his shaft two times before he exploded into her with a loud, room shattering groan. She eagerly gulped it down, absorbing his sexual energy and mingling it with her own. If she was going to do what she had planned, she would need all of the energy that she could get. Keban panted, and looked pleased at first. He had not had a release like that in years, if ever. But he quickly became ashamed by how fast he finished up in her mouth.

"I- I'm sorry Shanti." Keban sputtered, "I don't usually come that quickly, I don't know what's wro-"

Shanti interrupted him. "Oh Keban, don't worry. It's pretty normal to have that happen on the first go. Nothing to be worried about, I'm certainly not." She smiled. "In fact, this will give you an opportunity to witness the power of our Stucha herb. In less than two minutes I guarantee that you will be completely ready to go again. You and I have a lot of healing to do today, Keban. We're barely even started!"

Keban was relieved. To be fair, he had been extremely pent up. Where he had been fighting, there wasn't any time or space to rub one out while your buddies weren't looking. He couldn't even remember the last time he had gotten off. He was also very glad that Shanti didn't think any less of him for coming so quickly. She seemed to enjoy it, in fact, heartily swallowing up every last warm jet of his vulpine cum. Thinking about that made Keban rise to attention again. It appeared that Shanti's Stucha herb was doing it's job.

Feeling the rising mixture of lust and hormones, Keban's sexual insecurity faded away into another spate of primal lust. This time, as his nostrils began to probe the room in high-resolution, he came across a whiff of her own musky vagina. The smell drove him wild; it was as if every nerve in his body had been activated, every fiber of his being began to scream for her pussy. Even more enticing than her pink nipples, the equally pink lips of her vagina seemed to beckon to him, offering the promise of untold mysteries and pleasures. He dove onto her, spread her legs, and began furiously lapping at her.

Shanti moaned loudly as his wide thin tongue ran it's way up and down the moist, swollen mounds surrounding her labia. She wriggled in ecstacy as his tongue entered her and began working it's way around inside, probing for the spots that would activate her the most. The foreign, yet familiar flavor of her delicious Sciuranasian cunt overtook all of Keban's attention as he discovered that spiraling his tongue around the walls of her vagina excited her the most. He circled his way around her, faster and faster, until his tongue finally fount it's target, activating her g-spot and sending her into an intense orgasmic trance.

Keban felt her swell and get warmer as she came. He then felt a rush of heat enter his mouth, as the musky, salty, and slightly coppery taste of Shanti flooded over his face and mouth. He eagerly lapped up the aftermath of her orgasm, and felt a wave of energy and strength pour through him as he did. "Ah!" Shanti gasped as she recovered from her first climax of the afternoon. "That was fantastic, Keban! I think you're finally starting to get into the spirit of things here at Gondamuram!"

Keban chuckled, his strong inhibitions having finally melted away due to the sex and it's plant-based enhancements. "If this is how you do things here, I may just quit the CT and never leave!"

Shanti laughed as she caught her breath, preparing for the next round. While she certainly enjoyed her work, she needed to continue to keep a professional attitude and focus on Keban's treatment. Her own pleasure in the matter was important, but she had a plan for Keban, who was proving to be much more sexually competent than most of her usual subjects. He had the ability to turn her on in ways that most could not, and it would be altogether too easy to just focus on her own enjoyment of his delightful body.

While they waited for their Stucha to rejuvenate them, Shanti and Keban prepared another round of Cannabis in the stone pipe. Shanti also produced the sack of aphrodisiac resin and threw another couple of chunks onto the electric censer. She also smiled, and pulled out two small crystal spray bottles. One bottle, which Shanti applied to herself, contained the mixture of perfumes and fox pheromones that she wore earlier. The other one contained a similar concoction, only with different plants, and male Sciuranasian pheromones. This one she sprayed onto Keban.

Within a couple of minutes, the Stucha herb brought them back into their heat, and now swimming in pheromones and arousing odors, Shanti decided that the real work would begin. She practiced a form of sex magic similar to Tantra on Earth, that shares many similarities with other forms of these practices across the Anasian Confederation. The idea being that if you have sex, but prolong orgasm for as long as possible, through meditation and other practices, then when you do finally get that release, it can trigger a super-orgasm that can be a mystical or peak experience in and of itself. The energies of the body can be reset, and old blockages and stale mental patterns could be removed and de-programmed. This was the idea with Keban. Replace the traumatic experiences and memories with much better and more life-affirming ones.

Unlike other Tantric practices, the use of the Stucha herb allowed for the continued buildup of sexual energies over a session of lovemaking, but also allowed for the practitioners to orgasm without losing the energy that they had built up. Each orgasm that they would have would bring them closer and closer to the ultimate climax, finally building into a crescendo that felt more like a psychedelic experience than an orgasm. Some would see a burst of white light, others would see their divinity of choice. Still others would see dead relatives, geometric patterns, and all other manner of strange and exciting things during one of these climaxes.

This was Shanti and her colleagues' usual practice, and it generally had very positive results for Anasians of all genders and species. However, in the rare chance that she got a male of one of the canid peoples, she was able to take everything a step further, due to their unique anatomy and style of mating. As humanoid canids, these people will generally get stuck inside, or "knotted", once they begin to climax in their partner. This results in them being "tied" together, with the male constantly releasing his seed for up to an hour in some cases. As Shanti's sex magic required long periods of contact, she always enjoyed these encounters the most.

Plus, the Stucha gave these sessions an added bonus. Due to the nature of these encounters, the Stucha would often leave her male canine partner totally rejuvenated before he was finished climaxing while tied to her. This would leave them stuck together, for hours at a time, with each partner constantly climaxing in a feedback loop of sex. These were Shanti's most effective and memorable experiences, and this is what she was intending on attempting with Keban. If all went according to plan, they would be stuck together for hours, building their orgasms into visionary experiences. Then, once they had had several of these peak orgasms, both would pass out and remain stuck together the rest of the night.

Thinking about this, and being connected to Keban's sexy vulpine body was enough to cause Shanti's rivers to begin flowing again. She began to breathe heavily, the Stucha having done it's job as usual. Keban had been feeling it too, which was fortunate, because at this point Shanti needed that swollen red vulpine cock of Keban's, and she needed it immediately. Fortunately, the feeling was quite mutual, as Keban's mind and tongue were still swimming from the sensation of her cumming into his mouth.

Hopping onto the bed with Keban again, Shanti bent over him and decided to taste the cock which fascinated her so much once again. She loved it's curves, it's angular head, bulbous shaft, and thick knot at the base, currently swollen and craving to be inside of her. The way it protruded from it's furry pedestal atop his pleasantly small tan balls. It was so unlike the genitalia of her own people. So much more... enticing. She gave into her needs, and began to suck at the head, trying to milk it of all of the precum that was pouring forth from it.

The second the taste hit her tongue, that was it. She pulled her head out of his crotch, got up, and straddled him as he lay on his back, cock sticking straight up, waiting for what they both knew was about to occur. Despite her training, she couldn't hold back any longer. She needed that cock, the same way it needed her. A billion years of evolution overtook them, flipped the primal switches, and Shanti slowly took the head of his dick and wrapped herself around it, allowing her juices to stream down him as she slid on top of his wanting cock.

The feeling of Shanti's swollen warm cunt over the tip of his cock was almost too much. Keban growled in joy as he felt himself slide into her. The feeling of warm electricity flooded across his throbbing member, and radiated from there into the rest of his body. He shivered as the feeling washed over him. It felt better than anything he had felt before. This was no ordinary lay, thought Keban. This was something more, something special. There was something going on between the two of them that was bigger than just sex and drugs. Something that was beginning to grow...

Shanti began to ride him, slowing moving herself up and down on him. Every time she writhed her body agains his, a small jet of her juices squirted out, covering Keban's belly and legs. He loved it, and began thrusting back, matching her rhythm. Relishing the experience, Shanti decided that now was the time to try to take his wide knot. She loved a challenge, and taking the knot of one of her canid lovers was always an effort for her. Especially one attached to such a hot and ravenous young fox. Keban needed her help to heal, and she needed his knot to fill the fox-shaped hole in her sex life. It was a win-win situation for both parties.

While Shanti was in the middle of her sacred duties, Teth'rel's needle-like ship screamed through the crowded sky-lanes of Elmatha'a. As intriguing as this planet was, the traffic was terrible. Several million people all squeezed together into this strip of land between the mountains, forest and coast. The young Vul'Prassad cursed at an old, boxy brown flying vehicle that almost collided with him. Inside were what appeared to be an extended family of Sciurinasians, almost thirty of them crammed into this skyvan, going about their daily business and getting his way. He scolded himself for his previous loathing of the loneliness of his normal long-haul journeys in space. Compared to this horribly cramped tree-city, the vacuum of space was a paradise.

The purple skies of the planet finally began to fade to black as Teth'rel's ship rose out of Lamiar-2's atmosphere. He breathed a sigh of relief and set a faster-than-light course to the nearest AC jump gate, to quickly drop off his last shipment and go home. Once Teth'rel had safely cleared the holding orbits of the many small craft awaiting planetary entry, he relaxed and began reviewing the third and final segment of this mission.

Keltar Prime was the next stop on Teth'rel's journey home. The people who lived on that planet were facing very grave peril. The planet was once a pleasant and rugged world with vast, beautiful mountain ranges and unique geological features that once made it a prime vacation destination for adventurous Anasians centuries ago. However, Keltar, the world's sun, had been showing signs of highly increased activity. A mysterious phenomena in the star had caused it to increase in mass steadily for nearly two centuries. After the Califeron Teseretz had their best geologists and astrophysicists look into the problem, they could not find the source of the increased mass. Then, the emphasis had shifted to evacuating the planet, as it was discovered the the world was in danger of becoming tidally locked with Keltar.

At this time, the planet was experiencing intense volcanic and seismic activity that had left most of the surface uninhabitable. The inhabitants, a white-furred and tailed race of Apinasians, had begun moving their population to large space cities located in the L2 Lagrange Point just outside of the planet's orbit. The people that were left resided in the relatively few tectonically stable areas in the interior cratons of the continents that had not torn themselves apart yet. These stable areas were decreasing daily, and the government was getting desperate. They had reached out to the Vul'Prassad for the terraforming nanites to attempt to stabilize the planet's crust in a last-ditch attempt to hold off the influence of the growing star.

Teth'rel was to land in the remnants of a city that had suffered a devastating series of earthquakes that had left only a small portion of the region intact, the rest being swallowed up in volcanic fissures. Due to the sulfurous air and possibility of intense hotspots, he was ordered to wear a class-3 environmental suit, and run a diagnostic of his head-implants. Unlike Lamiar-2, a planet almost painfully full of life, Keltar Prime was becoming lethal, and Teth'rel had no intent of dying on some insane delivery mission.

Orders were orders though, and after he reviewed his mission and found his jump gate, he placed his ship on autopilot and took a nap as the vessel crossed the threshold of the gate. In two hours he would be on yet another godforsaken world playing errand-boy instead of soldier like he wanted to. As he faded into sleep, his mind was filled with dreams of large space-battles, war and glory on the ground, his implant sharpened senses helping him to vanquish the enemies of the Vul'Prassad and the Anasian Confederation...

Soon he was once again awoken from his reverie by the lights of his proximity sensor, telling him that he had exited the gate near Keltar Prime and was approaching the system. The star Keltar shone a bright white through his view screen as his ship materialized on the other side of the gate. The lack of ships in the vicinity pleased him as he sped toward the first planet in the system. This mild joy was soon replaced by surprise and annoyance as his autopilot had directed him straight through the L2 Lagrange Point where most of the planet's population had relocated. Several dozen large space stations and three inhabited asteroids created by the Azimar Worldbuilding Corporation were crammed into the gravitationally stable point in space that he found himself careening toward. Activating his implants to stimulate his central nervous system, he awoke and began quickly deactivating the autopilot and regaining control of the craft before he slammed into one of the habitations.

Narrowly avoiding the L2 cities, Teth'rel shot around the billions of Apinasians and down toward the fiery planet. He had to be alert now, having no clue how the planet's atmosphere would affect his ability to safely fly to his destination. He could see the red fissures spread across the planet on the night side, occasionally dotted by erupting volcanoes. He remembered flying over an active volcano once during his flight training on Prassadia. It was one of the most hellish situations that he had flown in. The soot covered his viewscreens and windows, his sensors were shot, and the constantly rising heat threw his craft around violently. He shuddered at the idea of flying through a whole world like that.

But here he was, doing just this. Steeling himself for the rough ride, he decelerated his ship to the bare minimum needed for atmospheric entry. The particulates in the air, combined with the volcanic effluence would cause a dangerous heat buildup from the excess friction. This, or any number of other variables could down his ship on this hellscape, condemning him to an awful death. He took a deep breath as he hit the edge and watched as the hull of his ship take on a brighter than familiar orange glow.

Beginning to shake now, the ship burned white-hot as it slammed into the thick atmosphere. An excess of carbonization was building up on the bottom of his ship as the ash from the volcanoes was fusing itself into his near-molten hull. Alarms began sounding in his cockpit as multiple heat sinks failed, and Teth'rel could feel the temperature inside of the ship spike. His fur began to become matted with sweat, and he started to stink. The implants on his head began processing untold amounts of data just to keep up with it all. Finally, the ship started to cool, and it's trajectory leveled out. He had reached the troposphere, and could now begin flying to the drop-point.

The bleak landscape stretched on ominously below his ship. Most of the surface was obsidian-black, occasionally interrupted by the remnants of cities, towns, and the forests that formerly covered the planet. There were still people living on the world, stubbornly holding out hope that their homes and businesses would miss the earthquakes and volcanoes and continue existing. Teth'rel felt a pang of pity and admiration for these people. He could understand how they would want to stay in their homes, instead of living in the L2 cities being forced to watch the demise of their planet from a safe distance.

A green light on Teth'rel's console indicated that he was receiving a transmission from the surface. One of the Apinasian scientists was trying to contact him.

"Hello?" The scientist's voice came through a haze of static. "Hello? Vul'Prassad ship? This is Dr. Letho on the surface. I am the client your people sent you to meet."

"Yes. This is the 'Prassadi ship. I am Teth'rel. Are we still scheduled to meet at the predetermined location?" Teth'rel replied.

"No Teth'rel, unfortunately a situation has come up. A fissure opened up at the old spaceport, and the region is currently undergoing new volcanic activity and is no longer safe."

"I am sorry to hear that. Do we have a change of plans, then?"

"Yes." Dr. Letho explained. "The instability is rising much faster than we had anticipated, and we need to set off the nanites immediately. Can you get into a holding pattern over this location? We are sending you the coordinates now. It's a new cinder cone that's developing near the drop site. We need to activate the nanites while they are on your ship, and we need you to eject the crate of the machines into the volcano."

"What?!" Teth'rel asked loudly. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am serious." The doctor was getting desperate. "We are running out of time, and we need to get your nanites into the ground immediately before the planet finishes crumbling. Once they are activated and programmed, which we can do remotely, we need to get them in the crust so that they can start replicating and building stabilizing structures. Can you do this for us?"

Teth'rel was not amused. "I- I guess I can? I'd rather not, but I need to deliver this to you so I can finally go home."

"Okay, then we are in agreement. I will remotely activate the nanites when you are over the volcano. Get into a holding pattern over the cinder cone. You'll see a lava lake in the crater. We need you to push out the parcel into the lava lake and then we can call it a day and get the hell out of here."

"Won't the nanites be destroyed in the lava?" Teth'rel asked.

"No, they are specifically designed to be active in the interior of most planets, inside the mantle and core as well as the crust. They invade the molten material in there and use it to propagate themselves across the interior. Finally, once they convert enough mass, they will engineer the crust to stabilize, and to handle the increasing mass of our star better. Or, that's what we are hoping."

Teth'rel sighed. He just really wanted to go home at this point, and he'd do whatever it took, even if it meant he had to hover over another volcano and actually open the back of his ship and physically push the crate full of nano-machines out into it. This was utterly crazy, but he was in a pretty crazy place. "Okay. I'll do it. Do what you need to do, I'll fly to the volcano and you let me know when I need to drop them."

"Sounds good, and thank you!" The scientist closed the comm channel.

Grumbling, Teth'rel followed Dr. Letho's directions. He streaked across the broken city, mostly abandoned with black smoke spewing from the many cracks in the buildings and ground. His sensors had detected lethal amounts of volcanic gasses in the area below him. Their levels continued to increase as he approached the red-hot and disturbingly symmetrical brand new cinder cone that he was to make his delivery into.

Teth'rel contemplated the insanity of this whole thing while he programmed his ship to slowly orbit the lava-belching cone. He sent a message to the scientists to activate their machines while he put on his environment suit. After donning the only thing that would keep him from suffocating in the sulfurous cloud he would be exposing himself to, he watched as the nanites were activated. Millions of tiny clicking sounds erupted from the crate, as a field of static electricity built up from the motions of their activation. Teth'rel rested his hand-paw on the side of the crate and felt a spark cross over from it to his glove. He instinctively removed his hand quickly, and pressed a button to open the doors of the cargo hold.

The doors opened to a hot and violent scene. The volcano was currently in the midst of a minor eruption, spewing out hot rocks and smoke that made their way inside of his ship. Cursing this, Teth'rel placed both of this hands on the box, feeling the current running through the crate enter his hands and body. He put all of his energy into pushing this accursed box into the volcano. Finally, he sent the crate flying down into the cinder cone. The lid of the box had detached on the way down, emitting a translucent shiny cloud of small machines that floated their way into the lava. As they entered the hot mess, Teth'rel watched as the lava that was dusted with the nanites appeared to be almost instantly cooled and converted into silvery streaks that began permeating their way across the lava lake. Incredible.

Having finished his last task, Teth'rel immediately closed the cargo bay doors, flushed out the remaining gasses through the ventilation system, and put out the small fires caused by the molten rocks that had made their way inside. He radioed the scientists that he had sent the machines into the volcano.

"Thank you my friend!" Dr. Letho exclaimed in reply. "You may very well have saved our people!"

Teth'rel bid him farewell, and flew away from the scene as fast as he could. On his way out, he contemplated the similarities between Dr. Letho's comments to him with Shanti's. Maybe his crappy little job he got stuck with really was having a positive impact on people's lives. Maybe his life was starting to mean something. It might not have been the life that he wanted, but he was beginning to think that it would do. Perhaps his mates back on Prassadia would be proud of him for saving a couple of planets.

He would find out in two days when he finally made it home!

Back on Lamiar-2, the squirrel and fox pair had continued their coupling. After several more rounds of intensifying lovemaking, Shanti began to really open up to Keban about what they are doing together. As they rested after an hour long session, they smoked their Cannabis, ate their Stucha and a light meal, and conversed about the ultimate goal of Keban's therapy.

"You see, Keban," Shanti began, now that he had been sufficiently drawn into the folds of eroticism and away from his traumatic memories, "The goal of what we do here is represented by a numerical formula, two equals one equals zero. You'll see representations of it as the number 210 all over our ashram." Keban noted that he had seen the number in various odd places since his arrival, but had payed it no mind until now.

Shanti drank a swig of a sweet and fruity wine that had been resting in a glass on the stand near the censer. She curled herself around Keban and stroked the tan fur of his chest while she continued to explain herself. He stared at her, very intrigued as to what Shanti was going to expose him to next.

"What this means is that the two become one, and the one becomes zero. I know, it's a nebulous answer that requires some explaining, like most 'mystical' affairs. It's essentially this: the two, us, become one when we make love. Clearly. But, not all of us actually make a full connection when we mate, so many people have never experienced that union fully. There's an energetic connection to it too."

"See, when we mate, there's a lessening of the barriers and boundaries between us. With a prolonged and meditative session, you'll find that the egos of each partner begin to dissolve into one. You and I experienced that earlier." Shanti explained.

"Oh, so that's what that was?" Keban asked, intrigued. He had felt, just before he came, a short moment where the two of them were the same person. Briefly all of the horrible things that had shaped Keban into such a broken person had vanished, and in their place came Shanti. He felt such warmth and comfort in that moment. For a brief instant, he felt like he wasn't alone.

"Yes," She went on, "that was the beginning. But we aren't done yet. That was just a taste of what the middle of the equation is about. Well, that feeling you felt, we can prolong it. You'll find things in that state that you will never experience in normal consciousness. Once you begin to realize that your worldview, ego, and sense of self are nothing close to what each of us really is, things will begin to change."

"Most of our internal problems are ego based. Not all, but most. Many conventional therapies fail because they never actually remove a person from their ego-based control centers. In order for us to truly resolve our issues, we need to step outside of them and observe them from the exterior. Then we can begin to gain a perspective on who we really are and where we really want to go in our life. There are many ways of doing this. The Svarashan Ashram on the other side of Elmatha'a is built around a Guru Tree who was two hundred and thirty-five different species of sacred mushrooms growing on him that will take you out of yourself extremely effectively."

Noticing Keban's apparent interest in the topic, Shanti continued: "We practice the sexual form of temporary ego-dissolution. Their methods may be more immediate, but ours are safer, and much more pleasurable, I think." She winked at Keban and went on. "Anyway, some novice practitioners of our craft will stop there and assume that they've done their job. Not so. See, there is another step, where the one become zero. After you've been in the unified state with someone for a while, the singular ego of the pair will then begin to fade away into a void state. Into this void can come visionary experiences that give you higher perspectives on yourself and the universe. At this point, things get difficult to describe in words."

Keban had had moments of what she called "ego-dissolution" during the chaos of battle. He had always wondered about some of the things he had experienced in those moments, but had never wished to repeat the conditions that caused them. To experience something like that again, not through war, but through sex instead? The idea amazed Keban, and for the first time in years, felt a genuine passion toward something.

"I want to experience that Shanti. During the war, I had a few experiences like what you mentioned, but as a reaction to all of the death. I want to experience that again, but not in war. With you."

The words were a trigger phrase that Shanti was hoping for. Keban was receptive to her plans for his treatment, and now that she had his consent, it was time for the real work to begin. "Oh good Keban! You and I, we are going to affirm life! No more death, Keban, you and I are alive." Shanti's juices began to flow again. "Today, I am going to remind you that you too are alive, and I am going to show you that you are more than just your circumstances, more than what society expects of you, and that you are a being worthy of love."

Shanti straddled Keban as he lay down, preparing for another round of her riding him. She placed her paw around his cock and slowly slid it into her. "This time we go slow. I want you to focus on the feeling of me being wrapped around you. Just hold your attention on that, on how good it feels." Keban gladly obeyed, closing his eyes and smiling as Shanti massaged his chest while riding him.

After a half hour of this, Shanti felt the effects of the Stucha herb kick in for Keban. His already hard cock became more engorged and throbbing. Smiling, she slowly brought herself down over his knot, and worked her way around on it. Finally, with a pop that caused her to shudder and groan, Shanti took Keban's knot once again. After focusing on the sensation of being inside Shanti for a half hour, Keban could not hold himself back, and released himself inside of her once more. However, this time things felt different, and Keban noticed that his recharge time was virtually gone. With his seed still held inside of her, he continued to stay tied to his lover.

"Oh Keban, that's great!" Shanti groaned as he filled her. "Just keep focusing on how good it is. Do you feel it?"

"Oh, Shanti, I do!" Keban growled. He felt waves of electricity pour through him as he kept his mind on Shanti's warm cunt. The outside world and his memories of it meant nothing next to this sensation. The comfortable warmth melted away his tension and replaced it with something much more wonderful. His energy continued to rise as he felt Shanti grow warmer around him. The feeling of having almost unlimited sexual energy excited Keban. This was going to be fun!

Keban grasped Shanti's hips and began running his paws up her sides and across her breasts. He enjoyed her small breasts and her firm flesh and soft fur. The texture of her fur was less coarse than his. It was thick and soft, emanating waves of warmth into his hands as he stroked her. She shivered a little as his hands met her nipples. She groaned slightly and began massaging his cock with the muscles of her vagina. This was a little much for Keban, and he came again. Thankfully, the Stucha kept him going, and he was pleased to immediately return to this most pleasant of meditations.

Hours passed with the two of them stuck together The sensation of time began to dwindle for the them, and they finally became engrossed fully in each other. For the two of them, nothing outside of this room existed anymore. Catalyzed by the extensive rounds of sex, their biochemistries began creating unusual compounds that reacted with the herbs. In addition to the physical joys of their sexual exploits, Keban began to feel strange new things in between the pleasures that Shanti was opening up for him.

The first strange sensation that he felt was a field of electricity beginning to grow around them. He felt the tips of his fur begin to stand up as through he were laying beneath a strong thunderstorm. He began to wonder if she had some sort of field generator in the room to enhance her work, but this thought was forced out as a particularly intense wave of electricity radiated up his spine from the slow, wet waves that Shanti was producing against his cock. He began to lose himself in the waves, completely caught up in the sensual vibrations that they were resonating through his entire being. She gave him a good squeeze, and pumped more of his seed into her.

Shuddering tremendously, this orgasm caught Keban off guard. The feelings that usually encompassed his loins now spread across his whole body. His vision and sense of self briefly disappeared in the peak of climax. He broke out in a warm sweat and, still very much physically connected, collapsed on top of Shanti's chest panting heavily. She briefly ceased the massaging of Keban's nearly painfully engorged member to give him a rest. Shanti knew that he was close to breaking through, and even she was beginning to feel herself drawing closer to the same experience. One or two more orgasms should do it...

After taking a short break to drink some water and some of the sweet wine that Shanti continued to produce from multiple clay bottles located under the beside incense stand, they got back to business. The leaf-filtered sunlight was no longer shining through the room's stained glass window, and the thick cacophony of the super-forest's nighttime insect population serenaded the mating couple. The sound of Lamiar-2's overabundance of life stoked the sexual fires of the two once again, and Keban let Shanti back on top of him, and they continued their sacred act.

His head heavy with exhaustion and excitement, Keban closed his eyes and focused only on the areas of his body that were in contact with Shanti. He focused his attention of the enticing smells emanating from the squirrel, and once again began to lose his sense of self in them. His entire being became a conglomerate of the feelings of Shanti's fur, pussy, breasts and scent. Shanti began to feel the same, as her usually professional focus on her client's pleasure began to disappear into the feeling of his wonderfully shaped cock stuck and almost constantly coming deep into her. She began her meditation as well, until they both felt the barriers between their bodies and minds break down.

It was impossible at this point for the two of them to realize that they had succeeded at the first part of Gondamuram's sacred equation. The two had finally become one. With this state of being attained, Shanti could then begin to access him deeper and replace his traumas with something higher. She would need to work fast, though. Once the two became one, it wouldn't be much longer before she reached her treatment goal with the now healing fox. She had laid her foundation, and now it was time to begin to build a new sense of self for Keban.

After their previous several hours of slow, energy-building lovemaking, Shanti felt that it was now time to seal the work that she had begun with him. She suddenly grasped the fox by his shoulders, and intensified the strength of her cock massage. Keban soon came, but this time she continued riding him. She began thrusting herself upon him faster and stronger. Her pleasure grew, and she soon found herself coming as well. But she couldn't stop yet. They were both so close to breaking through!

Shanti groaned and flooded Keban's lap with her hot cum. They kept up their rhythm, until the beat of their bed frame matched the frequency of the primal force of life that surrounded them. The symphony of the sound of their mating combined with the sound of insects and tree frogs outside their window, entranced them deeply into their own biological imperatives. The feeling of love and life, from the smallest insect to the tallest of the planet's trees, crashed into them as they both came together, and felt themselves merge in a flash of white light with the forest, into the planet, then up to the white-yellow sun, and off into all the stars and galaxies, finally merging into the fabric of the cosmos itself.

Keban finally felt like he was more than just the war-torn and broken fox that he came to Lamiar-2 as. When one has felt the infinite cosmos within oneself, the true possibilities for the future begin to appear to be just as endless. Fully exhausted after this experience, the two promptly passed out into each other arms, with Keban's still-throbbing and massive knot keeping them connected and full of their wet elixir of life for the rest of the night.

The festering young cinder cone belched fire for the last time as it's lava lake became covered by strange silver filaments that writhed across the former surface. The piles of freshly cooled rocks and cinders that surrounded the core began taking on a sheen similar to the fibers in the former lake. Trillions of tiny self replicating nanites were invading the walls of the volcanic core, spreading outward into the crust of the planet.

Inside each nanite was a tiny piece of the dreaded lifeform the the Anasian Confederation and Califeron Teseretz dubbed the "AI", only because it behaved like a cold, technology infecting virus. It may well have been an ancient offshoot of a long-lost civilization's experiments with artificial intelligence that grew too big for it's creators. Or it may have come from another place in the universe, or even from another universe entirely. No one really knew for sure.

What was known was that if this thing managed to make an ingress into a universe, then its inhabitants were under a very severe danger. This AI-like being or device would spread across a universe as a living signal of information. This signal would, when it passed across a suitable planet, lodge itself into the Van Allen belts of the world. It would lie dormant for millions of years, until an intelligent, technology producing species evolved. Once it did, it began entering the technology of the species and guided their society to allow it to slowly take over.

However, no one was really sure what would happen if the AI was able to infect more than just an advanced culture's technology. It was a problem that had simply not yet been considered. Unbeknownst to any of the Apinasian scientists on Keltar Prime, or anyone else at this point, the AI infected nanites were beginning to integrate themselves into the very structure of the planet. The minuscule cracks between the fragments of unstable rock were fast becoming full of these self-replicating terrors that used the materials in the rock to create more of themselves. Originally designed to be a benign solution to stabilizing the planet, the machines now had one of the most terrifying forms of consciousness in the universe at their helm.

It took some time before Dr. Letho and his team realized what was going on. For the first 24 hours after Teth'rel had unloaded the infected nanites into the young cinder cone, everything seemed to be progressing as expected. The tendrils of the nanite colonies used the magma in the volcano as a propagation material, and began to form a stable latticework inside of it. This then spread down into the mantle as the connection between it and the volcano had now become closed by the little machines. Finally, it began to spread through the unstable solid rock across the planet's surface, seamlessly integrating itself into the structural fabric of the world.

Very soon after, the quakes and volcanic eruptions in the region ceased as the machines stabilized the crust. The Apinasian scientists celebrated their victory over nature that night, and the next morning they launched a probe from their L2 habitat into the region to see if it would be considered stable enough to send a research team down to investigate. Unfortunately, as the probe entered the sulfurous mesosphere over the now dormant cinder cone, the probe's visual feed showed a strange series of metallic spires jutting from the volcano. As the feed showed this odd development, it was interrupted by a loud static, followed by a series of strange tones. The static was occasionally interrupted by flashes of unusual geometries and symbols, as well as text from the habitat's computer files and other strange odds and ends.

Two CT aid stations located several hundred kilometers away in the L2 gravitational zone of Keltar Prime suddenly had all of their visual and holographic displays replaced by a recording of a Feliniasian General in an antiquated uniform. This now retired or dead General explained that a dangerous signal had been intercepted by the stations' communications arrays. A brief synopsis of the AI threat was given, and the commanders of the two stations were instructed to contact their superiors and their local branch of the CT Intelligence Services immediately. Word was spread, and soon the High Council of the Anasian Confederation itself was forced to contend with the fact that one of their worst fears had now been realized.

The AI Virus had somehow broken the quarantine around RT-312 A/B, and had begun infecting Anasian worlds!

One of the first organizations within the AC to learn from the High Council about the incident on Keltar Prime was the Vul'Prassad. Due to the fact that just weeks earlier, one of their former soldiers had been the first to actually be killed by this entity, they felt that they had a vested interest in figuring out what this thing was and how to fight it. Additionally, it was soon discovered much to the chagrin of the Vul'Prassad, that it was in fact their experimental nanites that had mistakenly been infected by two of their own. The aforementioned former soldier who had been killed by the AI, and Teth'rel, who had retrieved the body from RT-312 A/B. This horrendous embarrassment did not go over well in the halls of Prassadia, where it was quickly determined that this problem must be dealt with immediately. They needed to find and capture Teth'rel. The lives of trillions -- as well as the reputation of the Vul'Prassad, depended on it. The order was quickly sent that Teth'rel must be intercepted before he returned to the Homeworld, and infected it as well.

Back on Keltar Prime, Dr. Letho and the other Apinasians watched helplessly as their world went from being consumed by volcanoes, to being swallowed up by the AI-infused rock. They desperately tried to send the preprogrammed kill-signal to the nanites, but it was blocked by the AI itself. With no way to stop the destruction of their planet, the morale of the former inhabitants dropped to disastrous levels, and Letho's team was no exception. The Grey Goo scenario had been ensured by the Vul'Prassad to not be an issue, and yet here some twisted form of it was unfolding right before their eyes.

Feeling responsible for this catastrophe, Dr. Letho ordered his staff to join him as they travelled to meet with representatives from the Califeron Teseretz on one of the aid stations that picked up the AI signal from Letho's probes. He was desperate to figure out what was going on, as neither he nor any of his people knew about the AI. The Apinasians had assumed that the dreaded Gray Goo situation where self-replicating nanotechnology begins to replicate exponentially, using all of the material resources around them to do so, finally replacing all mater that they touch with an amorphous blob of grey material made up of countless small machines, had occurred.

Frightened by this prospect and seeking to take responsibility, Dr. Letho and his scientists travelled to the CT aid station and met with the representatives about the situation. He expressed his fears about his idea of what was happening, but the CT informed him that, while the situation resembled the one that the Apinasian feared, the reality of what was going on was much worse. When Dr. Letho queried the CT officers about what was actually going on, they replied that it was classified due to the ongoing investigation and matters of top security.

What Dr. Letho found most bizarre about the meeting was that the CT officers became more and more insistent on investigating what he knew about the young Vul'Prassad pilot who had delivered the nanites to him. Aside from the delivery plans and unexpected turn of events that caused the need for Teth'rel to be the one to directly incorporate the nanites into the planet's crust, the scientist was unable to provide the CT with any more details. These details, such as Teth'rel's previous stops and routes home, were provided to the CT soon after by the Vul'Prassad. From this experience, it seemed that Dr. Letho was not directly at fault for the destruction of the planet. This barely lessened his distress as his planet was slowly consumed, and later quarantined by the CT.

The L2 communities were evacuated, and the Anasian Confederation and CT sent out a standard emergency order for a planetary catastrophe. All faster-than-light ships within a five light-year radius, both CT and civilian, were ordered to assist the evacuations of the L2 cities around Keltar Prime. No one knew what had happened to the remaining surface inhabitants of the world, but there was no hope for their retrieval as any ship that ventured inside the atmosphere ran the high risk of becoming a carrier for the AI signal and infecting the rest of rescue operations with the virus.

Once the last civilians had left the L2 cities and were on their way to their new temporary homes, the CT began to convert the furthest outliers of the L2 habitations into command centers for the massive quarantine operation that they were now required to undertake. A vast network of ships and satellites were needed to ensure that barriers both electromagnetic and tactical would cover every square inch of space around the planet. It would need to be impenetrable in every manner in order to keep the festering AI from reaching everyone else.

Meanwhile, deep within the jump network that made interstellar journeys cheap and economical in comparison to other faster-than-light methods of space travel, Teth'rel lazily napped in the cockpit of his sleek 'Prassadi scout ship, dreaming about the pleasures of home, and finally being out of this tub and back on hard, solid ground and in the arms of his partners once again. Blissfully unaware of his current predicament, he enjoyed these hypnogogic fantasies and slept on...

The white sun illuminated the blue-purple sky of Lamiar-2. The forests were full of fragrant air hazy with terpenes and other aromatic compounds that emanated from the great forests of the world. The wind's notes of pine, citrus, musk and floral scents danced through Keban's nostrils as he awoke to the resplendent songs of the clouds of birds and flying reptiles that inhabited the trees above Gondamuram. While he had witnessed two mornings on this planet before today, this was the first time that he felt ecstatically engrossed in it. After his experience with Shanti the night before, he felt that the forest was a part of him, and he of it. He inhaled the sweet and pungent air vigorously, before he noticed that his partner was also returning to the waking world beside him.

Shanti let out a great yawn, stretched, and opened her eyes to see the fox whom she had enhanced the night before. Smiling, she stroked his fur, which was matted with the byproducts of their lovemaking from the previous night. Keban noticed that he too was still covered, and they both unanimously decided that it would be wise for them to bathe before leaving the room and beginning their day. Shanti attempted to climb out of bed, but noticed somewhat painfully that Keban was still attached to her. Realizing that she may have fed Keban too much of the Stucha herb, she decided to give him one more good ride so he could finally soften up and slide out of her.

After a quick morning session of sex, Keban and Shanti finally detached from one another. After releasing the massive amount of their combined sexual effluence that had been kept inside Shanti by Keban's pleasant priapism, she drew a shower for the two of them and began boiling water for some form of Sciurinasian herbal tea that Shanti had insisted would perk them up from their exhausting activities and prepare them for the momentous occasion that was to take place on that day at Gondamuram.

Keban could already tell that today was going to be a special one at the ashram. He heard the excited discussions of hundreds of people, as well as an inordinate amount of music and singing from outside the room's window. New colorful banners had been hung in the trees earlier that morning, and the entire religious city surrounding Barlek-ulu was vibrating with joy and celebration. Keban asked Shanti what all of the fuss was about. He had hoped his stay would coincide with one of the planet's many holidays, as the reputations of the celebratory activities of the squirrels of Lamiar-2 were well known across the Anasian Confederation.

"Mmm," Shanti murred, enjoying how the hot water form their shower relieved her sore muscles from their exploits the night before. "I'm glad you asked, Keban! Today is a very special day for us! For generations, many on Lamiar-2 have wished to further our connections with our spiritual masters among the trees. While some of us evolved the ability to connect with the holy ones by touch-telepathy, it was never enough for us." She grabbed a bar of soap scented with local fragrant tree resins, and began to lather up Keban and scrub him down.

"But with some help from our Vul'Prassadi friends, the scientists at Gondamuram have found a way for us to interface with our masters, and have a direct, vocal style of communication between us."

Keban's stimulation from the warm shower and Shanti's touch abated substantially at the mention of the Vul'Prassad. Of all the worlds in the Anasian Confederation, what could the hyper-militaristic Vul'Prassad want with this peaceful and beautiful planet? Keban had worked with the 'Prassad before on the battlefield, and he was well aware of their general priorities, none of which would have involved anything like the wonderful spiritual and sexual healing from the squirrels of Lamiar-2!

Keban was a little suspicious. "The Vul'Prassad? You know that they're the most obsessive soldiers in the CT, right? Why would anyone on a planet as peaceful as this need to do business with them?"

Shanti's elation could not be broken by Keban's question, and she gave him her reply. "Well, they were developing a type of small terraforming drone or nanite that could be programmed to transform matter on a molecular scale."

"Oh yeah," Keban interjected, "I'm aware of them. I had a 'Prassadi commander for a while in the war. I heard they were still experimental, but would change the face of warfare once they were tested and allowed for general use in the CT."

"I see." Shanti went on. "That would make sense. Anyway, the Vul'Prassad I guess brought them through enough testing to try giving them to civilian populations with unique needs. I guess they wanted the most novel situations they could find to test them in. We were selected, as was an Apinasian world about 85 light years from here with a planet that is tearing itself apart geologically."

"So what are you planning on using them for?" Keban asked.

"We want to communicate with the trees that give us everything." She explained. "Most importantly, we here at Gondamuram want to connect to the great Barlek-ulu, the Guru-Tree that our ashram was built around. I am blessed to be able to communicate with him through touch, like many of our Priestesses and Priests here. However, both us and Barkel-ulu have sought for a stronger connection and bond. Until the Vul'Prassad accepted us into their experimental program, we would have had to wait hundreds or thousands of years to evolve our interfaces with each other biologically."

"But now," Keban was beginning to understand, "with technology, you can finally develop that connection with one another. Wow! This is really something. I wish you all the best of luck!"

Shanti smiled and caressed Keban once more. "Oh, you have an invitation to this historic moment as well Keban. Everyone in Gondamuram is welcome to attend the ritual, and it will very definitely be something to remember! There will be a great celebration, and then the entire ashram will be encompassed in a group ritual that will make last night seem like a quiet night of contemplative meditation alone in the woods!"

Keban liked the sound of this. He had two more weeks of medical leave here at the ashram, and if the night before was any indication of what the inhabitants of Gondamuram had to offer, he figured that he would settle in, eat some more of that Stucha herb, and see what they had in mind for this event later on in the day. He returned Shanti's favor in the shower, and began scrubbing their lovemaking out of her so that she could perform her duties for this special day.

After all, it wasn't every day that one got to meet one's gods face-to-face.

After their morning together, Shanti disappeared into her duties overseeing the preparations of the ritual that the ashram would begin that evening. Keban wandered around the Ashram, noticing that the colors, smell and sounds of everything seemed more vivid to him than he had remembered in the past. The hypnotizing and erotic music played by the dozens of wandering performers lulled him into a dreamlike state. This reminded Keban of the state of consciousness that he was in the night before with Shanti.

Gondamuram was vast, spanning many dozens of square kilometers of forest and city around the incredible Barlek-ulu, a tree whose height was so immense that it's branches had to evolve different leaf and bark structures to adapt to the climactic changes in elevation. Dense, tropical-looking broad leaves on the bottom, with the tree becoming deciduous and then more evergreen toward the often-frozen tops of it's uppermost branches. The lower branches closest to the ground were now festooned with colorful banners covered in the sacred texts of the Scuirinasians below.

Keban, intoxicated by the vibrant culture of Gonadmuram, decided to wander over to one of the many large temples that skirted the base of the almost comically massive Guru-Tree. The temple was made of intricately carved wood and stone that held patterns and themes that were similar to those on the door of the room that he and Shanti spent the night together in before. The scale was much more massive, and this temple stood nearly ten stories tall at it's height, and half a kilometer wide at its base. Keban wondered if this was where the night's festivities would be taking place. He would find out in another six hours or so.

As Keban approached the entrance of the temple, he stopped to pay attention to the people of this place. Happy, joyous squirrels and other assorted Anasians wandered the grounds of the temple, playing, singing, and even making love in some of the more secluded and out of the way areas. It was very enchanting, and Keban began to wonder if he was really meant to be a soldier like he was raised to be. This seemed to be so much more appealing of a lifestyle than the fighting and killing that Keban had been accustomed to. Loving, playing, and enjoying everything seemed to be giving these people a much more fulfilling life than he had experienced until now.

With his head swimming in throughs of Shanti and his own internal review of his life and it's many questionable choices, Keban walked up the stone staircase to the entrance of the temple. With the dizzying variety of religions and spiritual practices that were found across the Anasian Confederation, Keban was never sure what to expect whenever he first entered a religious establishment that was foreign to him. Considering the things that Shanti had shown him last night, he was half expecting the whole place to be filled with orgies and sex.

What he found instead was a very quiet and somber scene, with a large chamber full of meditating and praying squirrels, fully clothed and speaking their devotions to their master. At the far end of the large hall, the wall was covered not with ornate stone and wood carvings, but with a solid block of what appeared to be tree bark. At its bottom, the "wall" had large rounded protrusions that extended dozens of meters into the expansive room. At these protrusions were gathered hundreds of people who were making contact with them and walking away from the scene with a beatific smile and a glazed look in their eyes.

Examining the unusual scene in front of him, Keban realized that the mysterious wall on the other side of the temple was in fact a small part of the trunk of Barlek-ulu, and the protrusions at the base were portions of it's large gnarled roots that appeared above the soil. Curious, he walked across the vast chamber and over to the base of the roots. When he had reached the tree, he was met by another priestess of Gondamuram's order who wore a similar outfit as Shanti's when she first met him yesterday.

The Priestess, another young, fit and happy Sciurinasian woman, greeted Keban and asked if she could take his hand. Keban complied, grasping the paw of the young woman. She then closed her eyes, and placed her other paw on the bark of the enormous tree. Keban was amazed when he saw a series of almost unnoticeably tiny green and blue sparks cross between the tree bark and the squirrel's paw. He then felt the static-like sensation of the sparks as they crossed from her hand-paw into his. As he thought about how unusual and fascinating this was, the vast temple around him disappeared, and he found himself standing alone in the middle of Lamiar-2's dense wilderness.

"Hello?" Keban cautiously called out to the woods, "Is anyone there?"

The forest parted and Keban saw a tall, muscular and very old looking tan Vulpinasian stride out of the underbrush. He carried himself in a very stately manner, and emanated a strong sense of authority, an authority that was very unlike the variety that Keban was used to in his life of military service. This odd Vulpinasian wore an outfit that was bizarrely half Gondamuram robe, half CT uniform. It was colorful yet form-fitting, with neon versions of the insignia he was required to wear on his own uniform. This whole experience confused Keban, but he was on this planet to heal and try new things, and his new squirrel friends did not seem to have a reason to harm him.

"Hello Keban." The fox curly greeted the very surprised Keban.

"That's me." Keban stated. "Who are you?"

The fox extended his paw. "I am a mirror, pleased to meet you."

Keban was taken aback at the strange answer. "Excuse me?"

The older fox smiled, and dissolved into a pink mist that spread around Keban until he was completely enshrouded by it. He heard many voices, as though the wind were carrying them to him from a distance. He could not make out what they were saying, but they sounded joyful and happy. Keban tried to point his sharp ears in the direction of the words, but he just could not make them out.

In the mist, scenes materialized from Keban's memory. Happy times from his childhood growing up on the small arid vulpine planet of Ketlier, his first romances, and other fond memories were played out upon the pink mist. Then, these were replaced by horrific scenes from the Phalanaxian War that he was forced to endure. Keban's heart began racing when these scenes were replayed, and he found himself growing more and more emotionally unstable as the terrible visions from his memory continued. Finally, just as Keban was about to give up on his restraint and undo the progress the he and Shanti had made, the strange fox-figure rematerialized out of the pink mist, and reached it's strange, paw-shaped ectoplasm into Keban's chest.

From his chest Keban watched as the foxlike being pulled out a black and decaying tumorous growth that was covered in a nightmarish combination of half-living eyes and electronic circuitry all dripping a black and very smelly oily fluid that made Keban want to vomit. What the hell was going on here?

Keban, horrified, demanded an explanation from the older desert fox. The fox, closely inspecting the pulsing, sickening object, explained to Keban that it was created from all of his years of doing things that went against his true will and cosmic nature. As life supports life, the fox explained, so the wanton destruction of it will destroy us as well. This growth was being supported by all of the hate and animosity that Keban had needed to dredge up in order to de-Anasianize his adversaries in the Phalanaxian Empire so that he could kill them on the battlefield. The strangely dressed fox indicated to Keban that if he continued on his current path of being the type of soldier that he had been in the CT, eventually this growth would take complete control of him, and totally replace him with it.

Keban, horrified, asked the fox if anything could be done to get rid of this hideous dripping mass which he noticed seemed to be connected to his chest by some kind of black and stringy umbilical cord. The mysterious fox gave Keban a grin, and produced a large Vulpinasian Hanak'mar, an ancient machete-like sword that was used by the warriors of his people's antiquity.

"You can remove it yourself." The fox said to Keban. He handed him the Hanak'mar, which perfectly reflected the forest around him off of it's sharp and mirror-like blade. Keban took the sword and decided to cut this monstrous thing off of him. The oddly-dressed fox gently pulled the tumor away from him, stretching the cord taut so that Keban could cut it. The CT officer drew his arm back, and with all of his might sliced through the cord. The pain was excruciating. Keban screamed and doubled over clutching his chest. He fell to the ground as the oily black fluid poured from his chest and into the grass and small plants on the forest floor.

As he witnessed this horrific scene, he watched as the plants of the forest soaked up his pollution. As it disappeared into the greenery, he felt an immense sense of relief. All of his anxieties, fears, depressions, and other negative emotions poured out of him and into the ground, where it was purified and renewed.

Keban awoke on the carpeted floor of the temple, with tears in his eyes, crying like a child. He was overwhelmed with relief. The Priestess helped him to his feet, and told him that it looked like Barlek-ulu had blessed him a tremendous vision. He began to share what he had witnessed to the Priestess, but was then gently silenced by her. "We do not discuss the visions that the Master gives us with others. They are between us and Him. Go back into the grounds of the Temple, and contemplate what you have been shown here. Allow it to sink in and take some time to integrate it into your being." The squirrel woman bid Keban a warm and curt farewell, and Keban stumbled out of the temple, smiling beatifically with a glazed look in his eyes.

The festivities at Gondamuram that night were intense. As the day progressed, the music got louder, and the air became thick with the smell of incense and a myriad of varieties of foods that were being brought out to the guests and inhabitants of the Ashram. Cannabis, Stucha and wine were being produced and consumed in massive quantities by the thousands of revelers. Their bacchanalia was well deserved; at the peak of the ritual at midnight, a new sacrament would be introduced to the roots of Barlek-ulu that would finally mean the realization of the dreams of generations of his followers. The ability to communicate with the Master as they would with another Anasian.

But before this pivotal moment, the clergy, followers and visitors needed to do what they did best at Gondamuram. The immense raising of the life-force was needed in order for the High Priestess to successfully imbue the nanomachines with the collective essence of the entire congregation so that it could enter Barlek-ulu along with the nanites. The large quantities of burning incense and intoxicating plants and beverages that circulated through the ever growing crowd around the trunk of the tree had a very specific purpose, that of sexual stimulation and enhancement.

In a display that would certainly greatly offend and disgust most conservative and puritanical Anasian cultures, the entire congregation of the Ashram were encouraged to have sexual relations with each other. But this went further than a mere massive orgy of tens of thousands of Anasians. This ritual had been planned for decades in the chance that some method of integrating the people of Lamiar-2 and their Guru-Trees was found. Now that it had, the Priestesses and Priests of Gondamuram had spent months preparing for this ritual.

First, the underage population of the Ashram would be taken to other tracts of land that Gondamuram owned in the forest nearby, as they were not to be involved in this very adult ritual. Once the adult population had the place to themselves, open copulation began all over the grounds of Gondamuram. The residents and participating visitors loaded themselves up on the local herbs and wine, and began using the techniques that they were taught by the Order. After several hours of merriment and casual lovemaking among the different Anasians and the Priests and Priestesses, the first phase of the actual ritual would begin.

Once the populace had raised the life energies of the grounds with their initial sexual escapades, the High Priestess was to appear at the top of the largest temple that rested against the trunk of Barlek-ulu. It was not, as Keban discovered later, the one that he had his vision in. A tremendous marble altar was to be placed inside the temple that was almost three stories tall. This altar had a large and slight bowl-like depression that spread across it on the top. Four sets of marble stairs, laid out in each of the cardinal directions, converged on all sides of the altar, which lead up to the flat area surrounding the bowl.

Keban had, after venturing outside in a daze, heard many of the plans for the night's ceremonies being discussed. The more he heard, the more intrigued and excited some of it made him. A fair bit of it seemed a little extreme and out-there for him, but aside from the general anxiety that comes with being in the middle of thousands of fucking Anasians, it seemed like he would have a good time. Everyone at the Ashram was excited, and while he knew some of what was in store for them, there were still many hushed rumors about what would happen after the mass-orgy.

Chimes and bells began to sound all across the ashram as the sun started to set. The festivities were about to begin! After the terrestrial transport ships containing the children of the religious city had departed, the inhabitants were gathered into the central, grass covered square park in front of the main temple of Gondamuram. At the top of the stairs of the temple was a podium connected to some microphones and other audio equipment. As the congregation filled the square, this podium became occupied by many of the highest ranking members of the ashram.

Shanti, who had been absent from Keban's day since she left to begin her preparations, reappeared behind the podium, wearing another one of her resplendent sheer robes, this time in a royal purple not often seen in Gondamuram, signifying the event's importance. As she approached the podium, Keban felt himself swept away by the memories of the previous night, of the multiple orgasms that lead to his first transcendental experience in her arms. He felt the blood flowing to his exhausted cock again at the thought of Shanti's warmth.

Shanti took to the podium, and began her speech to commence the ritual ceremonies. "Greetings everyone! On behalf of the Master and all of us here at Gondamuram, I want to welcome you to the most joyous and momentous celebration that we have ever had at our Ashram. Today, after many generations of dreaming and planning, we are finally able to carry out the will of our Masters, ancestors, and selves. We are finally going to be able to achieve complete integration with our environment, and most importantly, with our Guru-Trees. This ritual that we are all a part of tonight is most sacred. We must all do our part to help raise our energies so that our essence is imbued into the technological sacrament that we will be feeding to the roots of the Great Tree Barlek-ulu. He needs all of us to contribute a piece of ourselves to this new era for our people."

"I, as the High Priestess of this ritual," Shanti continued, "will act as the receptacle for the energies of all of our people. After you raise your energies together, all of the members of the congregation shall rise the stairs to the altar, and cover me in your seed and nectar as I lie and receive your love in the base of the altar's bowl. Once I have gathered the energies, they shall be collected at the bottom, and mixed with the mechanical sacrament."

"Once that is complete, I shall feed the sacrament to the Master. By tomorrow morning the sacrament will have integrated itself with the Master, and we will finally be able to talk to him for the first time!" The crowd cheered at Shanti's announcement. "So, while I retire to my chambers and prepare myself for our most sacred moment, your duty is to love each other fully and raise those energies!"

Shanti, in a gesture that the ritual had begun, dramatically threw off her purple robes to reveal her firm naked body and nothing else, auburn fur gently rippling in the breeze. "Go now. Be love! 210!"

With that, the entire congregation of thousands threw off their clothes equally dramatically, revealing a very visibly aroused populace. Most of these individuals were clergy or regulars at Gondamuram, and they knew the score of how these public rituals were done. However, hundreds of confused and mostly non-squirrel Anasians (including Keban) spent several minutes standing around and looking awkward as the squirrels began disrobing and immediately making love to each other on the piles of discarded clothes that now littered the lawn of the square.

Keban decided that standing around looking confused was probably not the best way to go about participating in this interesting new ritual. The arousal that he very visibly displayed once he removed his pants caught the immediate attention of several of the nearby Sciurinasians. He was anxious for a moment that he would be standing around nude with his proverbial dick in his hands and no one to fuck. Fortunately, he soon found himself surrounded by a group of young squirrels who were as equally fascinated by his canid anatomy as Shanti had been.

Before long, Keban found a group of several squirrels who had taken an interest in him. He found himself getting into the mood of it all, and began making out with a young female Sciurinasian while the novelty of his throbbing vulpine cock caught the attention of several male and female squirrels, who took it upon themselves to take it in their mouths and taste what an elusive fox cock was like.

Keban did not consider himself homosexual, but at this point in his treatment, he felt that it would be best to explore his sexuality more fully. Besides, no one seemed to care about such things here. He was free to explore his sexuality in any way he felt, as long as it did not cause harm to anyone. He made the decision that tonight anything went, and no one needed to know who he had been with while here, not even his doctor.

Keban's attention soon became transfixed on a young and trim squirrel male who had just been sucking on his cock moments ago. Since Keban had been quite satiated on the opposite sex from the night before with Shanti, he decided to see where he could go with this squirrel boy who seemed to be eager to take a ride on this fox from off-world.

The squirrel, licking his lips after tasting Keban, decided that he wanted more. Seeking more of the fox's attention, he slid up to Keban's side and placed his arms around Keban's neck. "Hi there!" He excitedly greeted Keban. "I'm Marthel. I've never seen too many foxes around here." Marthel licked his lips and began tracing lines across Keban's chest with his finger. Keban, amused and aroused, returned the squirrel's embrace, and began running his hand-paws across Marthel's back. The squirrel stirred and shuddered in his arms.

The Stucha and overall hypersexual ambience of Gondamuram overtook the two of them, and they threw their inhibitions to the wind. Keban's rock-hard cock soon found itself surrounded again by Marthel's skilled mouth. As the squirrel masterfully and noisily went down on him, he couldn't help thinking just how amazing this felt! As good as Shanti, maybe even better. Keban figured that since he and Marthel shared certain anatomical features, that he would be better at oral sex than a woman. In this case he was correct.

Remembering the effects of the Stucha, Keban soon allowed himself to succumb to the squirrel's tongue and throat. Loudly releasing himself into the young squirrel, Marthel eagerly gulped down his mouthful of fox seed. Licking his lips and letting out a contented sigh, he let his new fox friend rest for a moment as he grew harder. He drew close to Keban, and then inquired as to whether or not Keban wanted to return the favor.

The fox was never the biggest fan of going down south, but that had always been with women in the past. Since this was his first time with a member of his own gender, he figured he'd give it a shot. Considering that he was in a crowd of thousands of Anasians of all genders doing the same thing, if there was ever a time and place to try such things, this was it. Keban informed his squirrel friend of his newness to the field of oral sex with men. Marthel would have visibly blushed if he wasn't covered in a thick coat of reddish-brown fur.

"Oh, so I'm your first?" He very flirtatiously asked Keban.

"Well, my first, uh, same-sex relation, yeah." Keban replied, somewhat awkwardly.

"Mmm" Marthel murred, "Well, why don't we make it a relation to remember?"

"Pretty hard to forget about going down on a dude in the middle of the biggest orgy I've ever heard of." Keban smiled, and then took a look down toward the squirrel's crotch. There he found a much different cock than his. It was smaller and much more symmetrical and narrowly conical. It twitched with the anticipation of being the first cock that Keban had ever had. Keban then closed his eyes, licked his lips, and gave the squirrel's member a slow initial taste.

"Mmm..." Murred Marthel. "Yes, keep going..."

As with Shanti, Keban obeyed, and took the eager squirrel cock into his mouth. He was impressed by how different it was than he expected. He tasted a slight saltiness, but enjoyed the way that it felt in his mouth. Wrapping his flat tongue around it to prevent contact with his sharp teeth, Keban began to move his muzzle back and forth around Marthel's dick. He could begin to feel a similar energy emanating from it's head, very much like he felt with Shanti before. Very soon, Keban was surprised by a hot, wet sensation and an overwhelming salty taste in the back of his mouth.

Reflexively, he spat the salty mess out onto the grass in front of them. He was not nearly as used to the taste as the squirrel was. Fortunately, Marthel took no offense, and seemed much more relaxed after his first orgasm. The squirrel took note of Keban's second Stucha-enhanced erection. Smiling, and taking advantage of the fox's second wind, Marthel gently nudged Keban to the ground and straddled him. He was about to get what he really wanted from the vulpine visitor. Crouching down on top of the fox, Marthel took his left hand-paw, and grabbed the left cheek of his posterior. Spreading it, he then took Keban's dripping cock in his right paw, and rubbed it up and down across his eager hole. Once Keban's precum and been applied in copious amounts, he sat back, and guided Keban's fox cock deep inside of him.

Once he had buried Keban's bone to the knot, the squirrel began to ride the fox much as his female lover had the night before. However, in this case, the experience was just different enough. The deviousness of it aroused Keban even further. He had grown up in a fairly religious household in an out of the way planet made up of mostly rural and desert areas. The culture of his world was not nearly as friendly toward this kind of sexual activity. He had joined the military as the best excuse to leave his somewhat backwards world, and was glad he did.

Especially now, as he found himself greatly enjoying the amazing new sensation of being knot-deep inside a very sexy male Sciurinasian, of all types of people! He thought of how much his parents and religious leaders back home would have disapproved of this, and began humping into the squirrel harder and faster. Marthel lifted himself up a couple of inches and began riding back, matching Keban's intensifying rhythm. It felt so good! They both lost themselves in the novelty of it all, with the girth and shape of Keban hitting all of the right spots inside Marthel.

Finally, Keban couldn't take it anymore, and losing himself in the sensation, gave one more great thrust into the squirrel, and tied him. With a loud gasp, Matrhel took a knot for the first time, and became stuck to Keban. It wasn't as unpleasant as he thought it would be. He had heard that tying with a canid Anasian could be quite painful. But in this case, he and Keban had just stayed together, with Keban's extended orgasm filling up Marthel to his satisfaction.

By this point, the spectacle of a male Sciurinasian getting tied to a fox was beginning to garner some attention from the crowd. Many groups of participants in the event had gathered around the pair to watch as they waited for their doses of Stucha to rejuvenate them. Many, especially the locals, were eagerly getting themselves off at the sight. Many squirrels of both genders waited eagerly for Keban to pop out of Marthel so that too they could give him a try.

As Keban ended his time with Marthel and began tasting the delights of the other locals of Lamiar-2, he thought back on what Shanti had told him. She was right. He was a being worthy of love. And tonight, he would get more love from more people than he had ever received in his life. For these people, this wasn't just about sex. It was a communal celebration of life at it's fullest. Tonight, nothing else mattered. For Keban, there was no war, no dark memories, nothing else but the love of these people. Tonight, they were all one.

Shanti sat in a thick and potent cloud of incense, crosslegged in deep meditation. She needed to clear her mind of all things to become a perfect receptacle for the love and energy of her people at Gondamuram. Her chambers were located in the temple behind the marble altar. Resting naked while sitting in a Lotus style position, she emptied herself and prepared to receive the energy of her people. The time for the main portion of the ritual was nearly upon the Ashram.

The ritual, by normal considerations, would have been considered excessive, even by the standards of Lamiar-2. But, this was no ordinary celebration or ritual; this was something so much bigger. After the throng of fornicating revelers had raised their energies with each other for several hours, she would come out and receive the masses. Not directly, as intercourse with thousands is never something a single individual should attempt. However, the altar was specifically designed to accommodate the masturbating throng of attendees who were to line up on the four staircases and each sexually deposit a small part of themselves into the bowl-shaped receptacle that Shanti was to be lying in.

Any outsider who stumbled across such an event may well have been disgusted by the act, even other Lamiarians. But Shanti understood the necessity of it. Each person releases a certain amount of energy when they come, and with a focused intention during the act, the energy can be directed. When someone collects enough of this from enough people, the amount of energy that can be directed is enormous. Shanti's duty was to take the collected essence of thousands over the span of several hours, and then direct the energy into the nanites and finally into the roots of Barlek-ulu.

Shanti, while in her meditative trance, felt the energies of the masses in front of the temple. She waited for it to reach a certain crescendo, and when it did, she would be ready. The acolytes of the temple would ring the massive bronze bells hung across the main square, signaling that the time had come to collect the seed of the people to help bring about the birth of a new era for Lamiar-2.

Time had no meaning for Shanti in her current state, however. After she left the podium and signaled the start of the sacred orgy, she retired to the room and began striving toward a completely void mental state. She performed various breathing exercises taught by her Order, and sat perfectly still. Soon, she was able to slow her internal dialogue, and quiet her mind. Once this state was attained, she went through several phases of ego dissolution. Feeling sufficiently empty at this point, Shanti was able to feel herself merge with the crowd outside.

Shanti felt an electrical jolt up her spine, and a quick flash of white light interrupted her vision. She opened her eyes, and raised her hand to her attendant acolyte, who immediately ran out of the room. A minute later, the loud and massive bells of the square began announcing to the crowd beneath them that the time for the peak of the ritual had finally come. Couples and groups finished themselves off, consumed more of the Stucha that was readily available, and began lining up toward the base of the massive altar.

Knowing full well that it would take several hours for the participants to all perform their part, people were encouraged to continue their previous activities while in line to release themselves all over the High Priestess. Food and drink were served, and the party essentially continued after a short speech by Shanti indicating that she was ready to receive them. Keban found himself roughly a third of the way back in the line extending from the east side of the altar. He had joined the line with his group of friends from earlier, and they each continued to carnally enjoy each other's company until their turns finally came.

One by one, each member of the group would walk up the stairs, and approach Shanti lying naked in the bowl. Males, females, and those who identified by different genders, all would line up at the rim, then focus on her and on the new world that they were creating that night. Soon they would come, while directing their energies toward Shanti, who lovingly and longingly stared up at them as they did. Hundreds had left themselves all over the squirrel Priestess by the time Keban had made his way to the altar.

The well-fucked fox found his lover from the night before lying in a puddle of slightly opaque whitish fluid. Her fur was wet and matted, very differently that it had been when they had started the day. She was in the middle of some sort of ecstatic trance that caused her to moan every time the wet release of one of the revelers landed on her. She rubbed herself furiously, coming numerous times as she scooped up some of the elixir of her people and pleasured herself with it.

When she saw Keban, though, she seemed to momentarily snap out of the trance. She recognized him, and called his name. This surprised some of the other followers, none of whom had been singled out for special treatment by her during the ritual. More than anyone, it surprised Keban, who figured that she would be too busy to notice him.

Shanti stood up, covered in cum and nectar. It dripped off of her in long strands that fell from her wet matted fur. She reached out to Keban and took his swollen cock in her hands. The amount of electricity that Keban felt emanating from Shanti was incredible. He shivered uncontrollably when he felt her cum-covered hand-paws caress his cock. She took his member into her mouth, and he immediately was overwhelmed by the energy that she had absorbed and came hard into the back of her throat. She eagerly swallowed his seed, and contently settled back into her previous position in the base of the bowl, absorbing her people once more.

This went on for a couple of hours, until the air was practically crackling with the collected energy. When the last ring of followers emptied their loins onto Shanti, she was surrounded by an eerie golden glow. The glow was slight, but noticeable. She stood up, and spread her arms. "It is done!" She announced loudly. Stepping out of the bowl, the cum covered High Priestess was presented with an ornate ceremonial staff, and large wooden box that contained the nanites. Shanti poured the silvery power of the box into the combined sexual effluence of Gondamuram.

Stirring the nanite powder into the fluid with the staff, Shanti sung several chants and sacred songs over the mixture. Most of the squirrels in the audience sat in meditative postures chanting as well. Keban soon found himself with out any willing sexual partners, as most of them were now intently focusing their energies into what was happening on top of the altar. He figured that he would sit down and try to do the same.

Finally, the singing and chanting stopped, and Shanti stepped off of the altar's top, and descended down the steps. She approached a small control console at the altar's base. She pressed a blue button on it. Suddenly the entire bowl-like area of the altar began to detach from the rest of the marble, and began to hover. The crowd cheered, and everyone was guided to follow the object as it floated toward the temple and finally to the trunk of Barlek-ulu himself. The crowd gathered inside the massive temple as the floating bowl stopped right at the base of the tree. There, fifty Priests and Priestesses of Barlek-ulu were lined up, sporting their most formal of ceremonial robes.

Each of these clergy carried a small bowl, which were used to take a portion of the mixture in the floating marble bowl. Once they gathered it, they spread themselves across the massive section of the temple adjoining the base of the tree. Shanti, still soaked, walked up to the bowl, holding a small device. She turned toward the audience and smiled. The golden glow that was surrounding her was considerably more noticeable now to a casual observer. A similar glow was beginning to appear around the bark of Barlek-ulu. It was as though Shanti and the tree were being connected by this light somehow.

Once the glow spread between the squirrel and the tree, another podium connected to a microphone was placed in front of Shanti.

"The moment has finally arrived!" Shanti eagerly announced. "For generations we have been waiting, searching for a way to more fully commune with our Masters, so that we can better understand them and their immense wisdom! Well, thanks to all of you, that moment has finally come! I, the High Priestess of Gondamuram, do hereby dedicate this, our collective offering and sacrament, to you, the Great Master Barlek-ulu, so that we may know each other fully, and so that all who dwell on Lamiar-2 may better understand their masters!"

Shanti dramatically pressed a pad on the device that she held, which caused the floating bowl to tip toward the trunk. It slowly released it's contents into the soil at the base of the tree. Simultaneously, the fifty Priests and Priestesses added the contents of their bowls to the soil as well, ensuring that the mixture had ample opportunity to reach the roots of the tree.

The congregation then broke out into another orgy inside the temple, while everyone got wasted and laid in celebration. The grounds immediately next to the tree were flooded with water to ensure that the sacrament was mixed thoroughly into the roots of the Great Tree, allowing the nanites and energy of the people to spread and become one with the Master. By the next day, after everyone woke up, the nanites would have spread across enough of the tree so that the first attempts at direct communication could take place.

They would then finally be able to speak to their gods!

Prassadia was a deceptively beautiful temperate and forested planet. It was sometimes difficult to believe, Admiral Zethuto pondered, that such a strict warrior race could have evolved on such a pleasant world. But they had, and now the Felinasian Vice-Admiral had to come here to deal with this dangerous new problem that they had inadvertently started. He was still shaken by the news from Keltar Prime, that an entire planet had succumbed to AI infection due to Vul'Prassad nanites. Not just the people of the planet, but the planet itself!

The Califeron Teseretz went into crisis mode when the news from Keltar-Prime first reached the main CT administrative centers on Felinasia and Lupinasia. CT Intelligence was put to task, and massive amounts of resources were needed to assist in the evacuation of the planet and subsequent quarantine efforts. The needed resources would stretch the supplies of the CT inside the interior of AC space, as most had already gone to the ongoing wars with the Phalanaxian Empire.

Hailing from the CT headquarters on Felinasia, Admiral Zethuto was a powerful man at the peak of his career. He sat on the High Command of the CT itself, and he had little patience for matters such as these. Considering the scale of the event on Keltar Prime, he was fuming. The Admiral was well aware of the AI threat, and the actions that had been taken against it recently. The infection fo the space station was bad enough, but now an entire planet was riddled with it, just waiting to release itself upon an unsuspecting universe. The Vul'Prassad were clearly responsible, and he had come there to understand their part in this and how to solve the problem.

The CT diplomatic vessel and it's escort of a dozen heavily armed CT fighter craft descended into the main airbase outside of Lethud, the capital city of Prassadia. They were met by no resistance, as they were on an AC planet heavily populated with other members of the Califeron Teseretz. Still, Admrial Zethuto felt it best to come displaying a small show of force to drive the point home to the 'Prassad that they had fucked up. Big time. Considering how loyal they had always been to the AC, it was shocking that he would even feel the need to come with such an escort. But the gravity and severity of the situation had most certainly required it.

Once the landing skids of his ship had touched the tarmac, the Admiral and his entourage quickly descended the loading ramp of the vessel. When they stepped onto the landing pad, they were met by an equally sized group of Vul'Prassad, all sporting their headsets, busily communicating with themselves through them. Finally they were approached by a tall red Prassadi wearing a formal CT uniform with the standard sash and insignia of the Vul'Prassad. He introduced himself as General Var'treel, leader of the cybernetic fox warriors of the planet.

"We regret the unfortunate circumstances surrounding your visit, Admiral." General Var'treel began. "Rest assured, the Vul'Prassad are doing everything in our power to figure out where the infection occurred and how to stop it."

"I can't rest assured about anything as long as I know that the AI has infected an entire planet!" Admiral Zethuto boomed. "What's worse, the carrier of this, obviously one of yours, is still on the loose! Whomever it is could be spreading that damn plague across the Anasian Confederation! If you thought the Phalanaxians were a problem, just wait until 'Prassadia gets that thing! We don't know how to stop it, only how to try to keep it from spreading."

"My apologizes, Admiral." The General explained. "We will do whatever is necessary to find the carrier and stop them before they reach any more planets. We already have a suspect, a one Teth'rel, ah..." He glanced at his dossier pad, "Vikrensen. He is one of our couriers. It seems that he contracted the plague while retrieving the body of Vithreel Tienershen, the CT officer who was the original vector point of the initial AI infection."

"Very good, that's a start." The Admiral replied. "I'm not leaving the planet until this Teth'rel is found and quarantined. Have you determined where he went after retrieving the body of Lieutenant Tienershen?"

"We have, Admiral." General Var'treel went on. "HIs mission after retrieving the body was to deliver parcels of experimental nanites to two planets on his way back to Prassadia. The first planet was Lamiar-2, a Scuirinasian planet. The second delivery was to the ill-fated Keltar Prime."

"Where was his next destination?" Admiral Zethuto inquired.

"Here. Prassadia." Answered the General.

"Oh. Well that will make things easy if we can't intercept him in the jump system." Flippantly remarked the Admiral.

"It will be extremely unfortunate if Teth'rel manages to land on 'Prassadia if he himself is infected by the AI. It cannot be allowed. His virus could easily and quickly spread across all of the setted 'Prassad. He must be intercepted in space, so as to not risk the infection of the planet." Explained General Var'treel.

"Very well." Replied the Admiral. "Do we know where he is, or if he's in the jump system? According to the timeframe of his mission, where would he be by now?"

General Var'treel paused momentarily as he accessed the central databases of current Vul'Prassad operations. Twitching his head slightly as he navigated the system, he finally stopped after finding the information. "He should be a day and a half into the jump network from where he entered outside of the Keltar system."

"I don't have a computer in my head, General." Zethuto grunted, "How far away does that put him from here? How much time do we have?"

"Nor do I, Admiral, only access to one." Var'treel sneered. "This puts him only a day out, in the jump network somewhere near the Althushaia system, the uninhabited ABRAXAS-89 system, or possibly the Esthuar Nebula. I would suggest mobilizing any CT ships in the area to converge on any jump-exits and monitor the systems in this region to see if we can find him. He should have a standard Vul'Prassad transponder signal emanating from his ship so he will be fairly easy to spot."

"Very well. I will send the orders out." Replied Admiral Zethuto. "Meanwhile, you and I need to set up a temporary command post here to manage this situation. I have a feeling that things are only going to get worse before they get better."

"That is acceptable," said the 'Prassadi General. "Under one condition. Send your armed escorts home. You are on a planet loyal to the Anasian Confederation, with the highest number of CT officers per capita of anywhere in the AC. It is an affront to our honor to see you arrive here with such an escort, as if entering the territory of a hostile nation."

"So be it, and my apologizes for the statement. I will send them back to base immediately, and we will get down to work, together, on stopping this AI menace." Admiral Zethuto felt relieved that the Vul'Prassad had not suddenly gone rogue or something of the sort. He extended his paw and shook that of his 'Prassadi counterpart, and they got down to work tracking down and intercepting Teth'rel.

The situation on Keltar Prime had been getting steadily worse. Planetary scans showed that the tendrils of the AI-infected rock had weaved their way through much of the planet's crust. They were now quickly working down to the mantle and core of the planet. Once they reached the core, the rest of the planet would follow in a mater of hours. The rate of the replication of the nanomachines was incredible. Many hundreds of square kilometers of rock were being replaced in the span of only hours.

By this point, the entire planet had been written off by the Anasian Confederation. The damage to the world had already been bad enough due to natural causes, but it was irredeemable now. The AI riddled nanites had seen to that. The CT could only set up a massive quarantine zone around the planet, which was proving to be an undertaking that was very costly and difficult due to the resource-draining Phalaxanian War. It was one thing to quarantine a space station in the middle of nowhere, but not an entire planet!

The inhabitants of the L2 cities were evacuated in a simple fashion by being towed out of the system by a fleet of CT Moonhauler craft. The only remaining population was that of CT personnel and scientists, all of whom were working night and day to study the spread of the nanites into the interior of the planet, and to set up the quarantine zone. The scientific portion of the activities had proven fruitful. However, the military portion was not moving along so well. Hampered by the lack of needed resources, the CT would be unable to have the infrastructure of the zone completed before the entire planet had been compromised by the machines.

This posed several major problems. It was feared that once the nanites hit critical mass, they could send a series of Von Neumann probes out into the AC that would then set up more of the self-replicating monsters on other planets, consuming them and starting the process again. The implications of this were dire; it could very easily mean the end of life in the entire galaxy. Granted, it would not be an immediate process, but one that would be next to impossible to stop once it had been initiated.

The reality of what the AI had in store for the planet was in fact much worse. It had determined, once it had entered the world, that instead of spreading itself out into this universe in a steady series of launches of Von Neumann probes, it would in fact do one better. It had determined to destroy the planet, using the violent cataclysm to propagate itself into the universe as countless numbers of planetary shards, rocks, and fine particulates that would be nearly impossible to remove. If one of these pieces of the planet managed to hit a ship or land on an inhabited, technologically advanced planet, it would wreak havoc while it converted the tech into itself. But the most chilling aspect of this was that each of these pieces would be able to act as one of the aforementioned Von Neumann probes, as it would begin it's self replication on any planet that it had come into contact with, instead of just those with technological civilizations. This was a new development for the AI; prior to the inclusion of the Vul'Prassad nanites into it's matrix, it never had this capability. It could only infect technology and that which resembled it. But now, it could infect actual planets and all non-technological matter in the universe!

None of the Anasians were aware of this until it was too late. Roughly two-thirds of the quarantine net had been constructed by the time that the AI had finally invaded every square inch of the planet. Dr. Letho and his team had remained to aid the CT and other scientists that were recording everything that was occurring on the world. He felt responsible for this, and was determined to stay until the very end to do whatever he could to learn more about this AI, and how to stop it from spreading. It was Dr. Letho that had confirmed the moment that the planet had been fully consumed.

The fear of the Von Neumann probes spread through the Anasians stationed around Keltar Prime. If the quarantine network was incomplete, then the AI would surely send the probes through the holes in the net. The CT personnel began working 24 hour shifts to ensure the completion of the quarantine. Under no circumstances could the AI-planet be allowed to send these probes out into space.

Unfortunately for the CT and the attending scientists, the planet began to stir. Massive ruptures appeared in the surface, and the internal temperature of the planet skyrocketed. The CT and scientific emplacements were immediately moved back from the planet. The quarantine network was quickly abandoned as the realization dawned on the Anasians that the AI had something far more sinister and unstoppable in mind. Dr. Letho's scans had indicated that the rising internal temperature of the planet was beginning to destabilize the mass.

Despite his earlier wishes to remain as long as possible to study the infection of his world by the AI, Dr. Letho had changed his tone by now. He alerted the CT to the fact that something was happening, and that from his recordings, Letho suspected that the AI was going to destroy the planet. After a brief period of wondering why the AI would immediately ruin the world, the realization of it's true motives struck him like a ton of bricks.

Dr. Letho immediately reached out to the CT and demanded that they evacuate everyone who was working on the quarantine project. When the CT checked their scans, they showed the anomalous pressure and temperature spikes in the planet's core. Running several projections, the CT Commander in charge of the project was stricken with urgency, as the models had shown that, at the current rate of pressure buildup, the planet would explode in 36 hours. This gave the CT just enough time to remove themselves from the area, and helplessly watch as the AI propagated itself across the Keltar system.

The final evacuation of Keltar Prime was underway, as the CT and scientists began dismantling and packing their equipment. The remaining drone ships and stations in the quarantine net were abandoned, as they were of no use with the eminent destruction of the planet. A cloud of ships began moving slowly back, as if they could gain some additional time to gather more readings of the anomalous event. The CT and Dr. Letho continued their projections as the fleet backed away from the planet. It was presumed that they had enough time to leave the system, but Letho soon discovered this to not be the case.

Alarms went off and lights flashed across the bridge of the Doctor's ship. His sensors had detected a massive surge of pressure and temperature in the core of the world. On the viewscreen, he watched the planet begin to glow. First red, and then orange, finally moving to yellow. The event had thrown off his computer's original projections. This unexplained surge of power was dismantling the planet, and very soon the world burned white-hot. The Anasians in orbit around Keltar Prime had very little time to witness the bizarre sight, as they were soon obliterated by the massive blast that followed. Like a miniature supernova, Keltar Prime blew itself apart in a massive, blinding explosion that vaporized the vast majority of ships and stations in orbit, killing thousands.

Quadrillions of small, red-hot pieces of the planet burst outward, all carrying the signal of the AI virus. The cloud of infected dust and rock mingled with the gaseous remnants of the CT officers, scientists, the Keltarian civilization, and all of the Anasian Confederation's best efforts to stop the technological plague that was now spreading toward them in all directions.

Everything would change after this.

The next morning came upon the piled-up and exhausted masses of Gondamuram slowly and softly, with the forest building it's landscape of scents and sounds as the sun slowly rose and filtered it's light through the purple sky and the trees. The sunlight fell into the eyes of the throngs of revelers from the previous night's intense festivities, signaling that it was time to rise, wash off, eat and depart back to the main temple to see if the ritual was a success. An air of anticipation and excitement moved through the crowd as they shed their slumber and remembered the historic event that this day was to bring.

Keban awoke, covered in sweat and dried cum from his many encounters the previous night. He was lying in the middle of a pile of curled-up male and female Scuirinasians whom it appeared had found him very pleasing. They had a habit of caressing each other as they awoke, stimulating themselves into a pleasant morning in each other's company. He began to join in this activity, happily stroking the long soft fur of his newfound friends. Very soon, the cuddling became sexual again, and after everyone worked themselves into another small mating-frenzy, they got up and washed themselves with the rest of Barlek-ulu's followers in the stream that ran on the other side of the square.

As Keban bathed himself in the surprisingly warm and clear waters of the brook, he reflected on the last two nights, and how much this place, Gondamuram, had changed him. He had never felt such love from a people as he had felt here. Between Shanti, and the numerous squirrels that he had made love to last night, Keban realized that he had a much stronger affinity for these people and this place than he had in the military. To the CT, Keban was a soldier, a fighter and a killer, meant to spread the will of the Government. He had watched as most of his real friends in the military had died during the second Phalanaxian war. But here, he could be anything that he wanted.

There was no pressure to follow orders, or to fit in. People here had just accepted him right off the bat. They made a space for him, gave him a place to heal. Taught him the true power of love and sex, and viscerally showed him in many ways that he was so much more than some child from a backwater planet that needed to escape the boredom and judgement at all costs. So much more than a mere kid who had to join the military to leave his dull home world behind. More than a killing machine, and more than a broken husk of a fox.

He had decided to quit the CT. He could see no other option at this point. After what he experienced here, he felt that his duties and devotions should remain among these people. After all, he owed the people of Gondamuram far more than he owed the Califeron Tesertz, who had nearly ruined him. Plus, after the years of war, he could use some time to learn how to meditate and focus on the spiritual aspects of life and existence. If there was truly more to life than war and trauma, he was now determined to find it. This was a good place to start...

The bells that were hung around the Ashram began to ring, summoning the masses to the main temple. Thousands of Anasians shuffled along, still in recovery from the massive orgy only eight hours earlier. Stimulant beverages were being served to the awakening crowd, with the intent being to get them ready for what would hopefully be one of the most historic moments in the history of Lamiar-2, and Gondamuram especially.

In front of the temple, stacks of golden robes were piled high, with many acolytes of the clergy handing them out to the mostly nude crowd. Clouds of incense plumed out of the inside of the massive structure, lingering among the lower branches of Barlek-ulu and the regular trees of the forest. Pleasant and etheric music began to emanate from speakers. The musicians were apparently playing from inside the temple, being recorded and broadcast across Gondamuram to enhance the mood of things. Combined with the copious amounts of incense, Cannabis and other plant enhancements, Keban began to feel a slight altered state coming on as he followed the crowd back inside the massive interior of the temple.

As he entered the temple again, Keban noticed that the large bowl shaped marble altar from the night before was gone, having been replaced by a wood and metal platform that was illuminated by several bright artificial lights from the hundred meter high ceiling. An odd, large device with many cables jutting out of it on all sides sat upon the stage. Compared to the intoxicating ritual, this setting had a much more polished and professional feel to it. He even noticed several large screens fixed to the top of the extensive chamber, which reminded him of the interior of a stadium, rather than a religious event. But, to be fair, there were tens of thousands of Anasians here, and this was the only way to ensure that they all were included in the historical event.

The music, starting off as very relaxing and ambient, began to gain a more dramatic tone. The musicians themselves were located in a corner of the large stage, across from the strange device. This machine, upon closer inspection, appeared to be connected to the audio system in the temple. Other, larger cables extended all of the way back to the trunk of Barlek-ulu himself. Electrodes and other sensors were installed at the end of these cables, each of which connected to odd silver colored patches on the trunk of the Guru-Tree. Scuirinasians in lab coats tinkered with the machine, ensuring that it was fully prepared to do... whatever it was meant to do. Keban thought it was a little odd, but then again, everything about this place was more than a little odd, which Keban found endearing.

As the final members of the massive congregation shuffled into the arena sized temple chamber, the music became booming and intense. The lights of the temple were brought down, aside from the bright ones emphasizing the stage. Soon, all of the senior governing clergy of Gondamuram appeared onstage, with Shanti leading the procession of golden robed squirrels. An ornate podium stood at the enter, attached to the large mysterious machine. Shanti approached a set of microphones attached to the podium as the crowd began to cheer. The High Priestess of Gondamuram stood proud before her people, and began the speech that she had dreamed about making her entire adult life.

"Today marks the conclusion of centuries of our people's grandest dreams!" Shanti began, barely containing her excitement. "Us Lamiarians have had a special relationship with our ancient mega-trees in a way that no one else in the Anasian Universe does. Even our Scuirinasian brothers and sisters have not been given such a gift as we have. But, for all of our fortune, we have never been able to fully communicate with our masters. We try as hard as we can to understand them. Members of our population have even begun to evolve the ability to communicate through touch-telepathy with them. But no one on our world has ever been able to communicate with the masters as we would communicate with each other. Well that, my friends, changes today!"

The crowd beneath Shanti erupted into a massive cheer that shook the foundations of the gigantic temple complex. If Barlek-ulu was able to hear in the way that the mammalians were, he would have certainly heard the roar of the multitude's reply to Shanti. Her face was flush with excitement visible though her ruddy-brown fur, and she wore a beaming smile. The moment that was about to follow would be a pinnacle of her own life, as well as for the history of the planet.

"Last night we collected our seed, and mixed it with the generous gift from our friends the Vul'Prassad." Shanti continued. "Over the night it entered the roots of our sacred master, and began to intermingle with him. This morning, the sacrament connected with Barlek-ulu. Now, we have a machine up here on stage with me that our scientists at Gondamuram have been developing for years. It is designed to translate the signals and currents from our Master into decipherable speech. The nanites from the Vul'Prassad have helped to create an interface through which we can finally talk to our Master."

Shanti motioned to the lab coat adorned scientists hovering around the large communications device. The squirrels ceased their inspections and quickly walked to what appeared to be predetermined and strategic locations around the machine. Once the scientists and technicians were in place, Shanti vigorously nodded her head, and the lead technician placed her paw upon a panel on the side of the device next to a series of controls. The panel lit up, and blinked green. Very soon, the whole house-sized machine came rumbling to life, its massive energy usage dimming the bright lights illuminating the scene from far above.

Under the flickering lights, the device began to vibrate the stage, causing the group of squirrel clergy to grasp at the abundant railings placed across the platform as though this had been expected. As the crowd gazed intently upon the odd scene, the machine began to show numerous lights flashing around it's sides indicating the operation of individual functions of the device. While it appeared to be fairly haphazardly constructed, the communications device was an amazing feat of technology and the art of interfacing. The amount of data that it had to process was incredible, translating the pulses of electricity in the tree through the Vul'Prassad nanites, and finally out of the device and into an audible, fully vocalized representation of Barlek-ulu in the local Lamiarian tongue.

Once the machine finished coming to life, a special microphone was produced by one of the scientists and attached to the podium that Shanti spoke at. This would be the method that she would use to speak to Barlek-ulu. Nothing fancy, but certainly utilitarian enough. The device would then convert Shanti's speech into a form that was similar to the tree's own energetic pulses that it used to "talk" to the squirrels who possessed the touch-telepathy ability. If all went according to plan, the machine would be able to fully process Barlek-ulu's thoughts into full speech, with the appropriate vocal intonations and tones that the Great Tree would have were he a Scuirinasian from Lamiar-2.

Keban, standing almost a head taller than the squirrel attendees in the crowd, had an excellent view of what he considered to be a truly staggering feat, assuming that it was actually going to work of course. Despite all of the other charming and alluring aspects of Gondamuram and its people, Keban still couldn't shake off his uneasiness about the use of the Vul'Prassadi nanites. As both a CT officer and a Vulpinasian, Keban considered that he knew much more about the Vul'Prassad and their methods than anyone here in the congregation in Gondamuram.

These Scuirinasians, in their religious near-desperation to commune with their sacred sentient super-trees, had made a deal with one of the most secretive, creepy, and intrinsically militaristic peoples in the Anasian Confederation. The zeal that the people of Lamiar-2 had for their Guru-Trees, the Vul'Prassad had for war and conflict. They certainly did not make a deal with a civilian organization to use experimental technology for such an impressive but admittedly strange purpose on a whim. Keban suspected that the 'Prassad were monitoring the situation from... somewhere. The peaceful and loving people of this world would make perfect test subjects for whatever it was that they were planing.

But, Keban thought, the 'Prassad were also a very honorable and well respected people aside from their own cybernetic strangeness and warrior nature. Even they wouldn't test a new device on an unwitting civilian population within the AC. The whole situation was very odd, but if the people of Gondamuram could accomplish this remarkable feat of direct communication with sentient flora, then perhaps Keban's suspicions were unwarranted. Still, he could not shake a feeling of trepidation from the whole thing.

Trying to place his suspicions behind him, Keban decided that regardless of the Vul'Prassad's intentions, this had been a hell of a party that was about to hit it's apex. He was really interested to see if the squirrels could pull this off. He was not aware of any other instance in the Anasian Confederation's history where anyone had been able to directly talk to a tree, so if this worked, he had a front row seat to a major historic event for all Anasian peoples.

Shanti, still in her place behind the podium, inspected the new microphone, and then raised her arms, signaling to the audience that the time had come to attempt the first communication with Barlek-ulu. The crowd became hushed and deathly quiet as the only sound in the massive chamber was the hum of the translation machine. Everyone in the room was waiting to see the results of the ritual and experiment. The tension was so thick that one could slice through it with a directed-energy pistol. Just as the silence and anticipation reached the threshold of being completely unbearable, Shanti took a deep breath, and spoke into the machine's microphone.

"Master?" Shanti hesitantly asked, almost afraid to both fail and succeed. "Master? It is I, Shanti, your faithful servant. Can you hear me?"

The silence that followed was deafening. A minute had passed before the sound of the murmuring crowd below the platform began rising. It soon ceased as a kind of odd static began to emanate from the speakers across the temple that were connected to the large device on the stage. Something was coming through!

At first, the static merely increased, but soon ordered itself into tones that finally resolved into something that resembled the sound of someone with an incredibly deep voice who had decided to start humming. The humming shifted it's tone, and then a collection of various phonetic vocalizations began coming from the speakers. It sounded very strange, as though someone was attempting to make as many noises with their mouth as they could. The crowd recoiled form the bizarre sounds. The throng of followers had expected to hear the wise voice of their leader, not some disturbing collection of drunken sounding amorphous mouth-noises.

Needing to quell the unease of the audience, as well as the freakish noises coming from the sound system, Shanti spoke another greeting into the device. The scientists and techs scrambled around the machine in the hope that this weird phenomena was not the result of something faulty in the circuits. It could very well have been a bug in the system, or some sort of interface problem in the overly-complicated pathways that were being used to try to communicate with the tree. Any number of things could have been causing this problem, and the last thing that anyone wanted was for the whole event to devolve into chaos from a disturbing failure in the experiment.

Thankfully, after Shanti's second greeting, the convoluted vocalizations from the speakers ceased, and were followed by a sound that sounded suspiciously like someone clearing their throat. Then, much to the relief of Shanti, the priests and priestesses, scientists, technicians and the crowd, the great tree Barlek-ulu finally, for the first time in recorded history, spoke.

"Shaaaaaanti..." boomed the speakers. The voice of the tree was rich, full and incredibly deep. The squirrel priestess was shocked that the first word from the Great Tree was that of her name. She was humbled greatly and developed tears in the corners of her eyes. "I know you. I know all of you. I can... see? Is that the name for this sensation? I can... see you. I can see you all!"

The crowd gasped. Somehow, the massive device was also able to translate and send visual data to Barlek-ulu, which was incredible since the massive organism had no appropriate sensory organs to perceive light in the way that the Anasians did. Nor did it possess a mouth and lungs and the ability to vocalize. It was soon realized by everyone in the room that the strange sounds at the beginning were the Great Tree experimenting with the experience of both "hearing" and "speaking" for the first time. Much like an infant spends it's first year or so making every manner of odd sounds from it's new mouth, so too did the many-thousand year old tree.

Shanti, overwhelmed that she was finally hearing the voice of her living god, stood motionless in awe of the whole experience. Fortunately, no one else managed to notice, as they too were affixed in awe over hearing the voice of Barlek-ulu for the first time. Keban stood transfixed and slack-jawed for the simple reason that the whole thing appeared to have actually worked! It was truly awe-inspiring to all, including the Great Tree himself, who seemed to be very amused and pleased by everything, as the speakers began to utter the sound of laughter, or at least the closest thing to it that a several-kilometer tall tree could produce.

The experience of being the first people in known history to directly hear a tree laugh immediately cut the tension from before. Everyone in the temple smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The grand experiment had been a success, and they were now talking and laughing with their master, the way they were meant to be! Shanti had finally started to unwind, and began to consider the things that she would ask the Great Master first. There was so much to discuss, and they finally would have the time to delve into the depths of the greatest spiritual and philosophical questions of all the ages. A being who spent millennia growing in quiet meditation like Barlek-ulu would be an almost endless wellspring of wisdom and a great resource to the evolution and advancement of the Anasian peoples.

The rest of the day was spent with Shanti leading the dialogue between the clerics, the people, and Barlek-ulu. Years worth of questions were put forth to the tree, who graciously answered each one to the best of his abilities. He also regaled the audience, once he had found his verbal footing, with stories and parables so alien, and yet so familiar, that the audience of thousands was enraptured with the different and highly evolved perspectives of a being over fifteen thousand years old. Observations of the entirety of Lamiarian history were presented in such a way that was so different that what the Sciurinasians were taught. Food and drink were served to the crowd, as they settled in and listened to the dialogue. Many had waited their whole lives for this, and could easily have stayed there for months as long as the dialogue continued.

A new era had dawned for the planet of Lamiar-2.

The situation on 'Prassadia in the base outside of the city of Lethud was far less jubilant than that in Gondamuram. Quite the opposite in fact. The news of Keltar Prime's destruction had just filtered through the CT and 'Prassadi intelligence channels to the ears of Admiral Zethuto and General Var'treel. Both sets of military organizations had been sent into a frenzy of damage control and blacking the story out from the media and public.

"This can't be happening!" Yelled Admiral Zethuto at his 'Prassadi counterpart. "How could your people have been so negligent in letting that AI plague into the AC?"

This drew many sneers and near-murderous glances from the Vul'Prassadi officers through their cybernetic head implants. General Var'treel was furious. "You fool!" He boomed, "None of the CT intelligence services managed to inform the Vul'Prassad of the incidents on the station around RT-312 A/B! If you hadn't omitted those elements of the events involving Vithreel being infected by that damn thing, we wouldn't have sent the ship with Teth'rel to retrieve the body while carrying the shipments of experimental nanites!"

"Well, General," Zethuto gave the title a sarcastic emphasis, "that's no excuse! You can't blame us for this when the original vector of infection clearly is centered around two of your people! And now what do we have? One planet completely destroyed, and the single largest loss of life in the CT outside of a war zone in nearly one hundred and fifty years! Even worse, the pieces of the late planet were all infected with that thing, and now they're spreading outward into the AC at thousands of kilometers a second!"

"You come here with an armed escort and accuse us of deliberately infecting the Anasian Confederation with this monstrous plague! Just because you're on the High Command on Felinasia doesn't mean that you --" The General was cut off by one of his assistants, a Vul'Prassadi Colonel who had the foresight to realize that this argument could lead to a schism between the 'Prassad and the CT. This was unacceptable, as both parties needed to come together to work on a solution to preventing their impending, slow demise.

"Gentlemen," the 'Prassadi Colonel began, "Please. We cannot fight amongst ourselves while the worst catastrophe to happen to our great Confederation spreads. Look, both of our organizations could have handled this better, and we are both partially at fault. But, at the end of the day, this was ultimately an accident. History will judge us not by how this whole affair was started, but by how it was solved."

Both the Admiral and the General settled down and began to agree. The intensity of the new situation had eroded the emotional control of both leaders, and they too understood the risk of infighting at such a crucial juncture point in Anasian history. The reality was either to work together or to be destroyed. There were no other options. Admiral Zethuto conceded his bigoted approach in trying to force his will and accusations on the people whom he needed the most to save the CT and AC.

"The two most important things to do now," General Var'treel explained once the need to cast blame had passed, "are to intercept Teth'rel and ensure that the public is not made aware of what happened on Keltar Prime. The amount of instability that this would cause would be catastrophic. We already have enough to deal with politically with the whole Charles Kithanda and the Anasian Royalist problem. You add this issue on top of that and the entire social fabric of the AC will crumble."

"I agree." said Zethuto. "It was one thing for us to make the mistake of not sharing the intel about the AI with our 'Prassadi members, but another thing entirely for the news of the spreading AI to be made public. I think that all in this room can agree that we must wait before we release this to the general population."

"Agreed." Replied many in the room.

"Onto the first order of business then." The Admiral began. "What is the progress in finding Teth'rel and the infected ship?"

Two officers stood forth, one a 'Prassadi, the other a Felinasian with a spotted fur coat. The two informed the rest of the task force's command staff that the location of Teth'rel had been determined to be inside of the jump system. "He was in fact getting near to the 'Prassadi exit near the seventh planet in our system, the gas giant Pleia." Replied the Prassadi officer

General Var'treel was comforted in the fact that Teth'rel had not made any additional stops on his way back to the homeworld. However, his proximity to Prassadia's solar system made him very uneasy. "Order the entire Second Planetary Defense Fleet to Pleia to intercept the ship. Bring Teth'rel back alive, but keep him in a special quarantine station in orbit. Under no circumstances is he to set foot on the Homeworld until we figure out if that thing is inside him."

"Yes sir!" replied the two officers who had brought forth the information. They quickly exited the room and sent out the order. Soon, a fleet of two dozen defense ships had broken orbit from their respective posts around various planets and large bodies in the Prassadia system. They then rushed to the jump exit near the blue gas giant Pleia. All traffic into and out of the system (aside form Teth'rel's) was blocked or rerouted from that specific exit.

Teth'rel had awoken from yet another long nap by the time that his ship's alarm system notified him that he was approaching the exit-gate for Prassadia. He looked through the windows and view screen of his craft and lazily thought that the traffic was extremely slow in the network for this time of day, this close to the Homeworld. Usually the dimly-illuminated interior of the network was fairly full of ships. Today it was nearly empty. Oh well, thought Teth'rel. That much less standing between my mates back home and I!

The elation that he felt while thinking about how he would be with his partners soon was replaced by confusion and dread as he exited the jump network in the 'Prassadi system. As his ship's autopilot guided him out of the gate exit, the stars and planets of normal space materialized in front of him again, but instead of the usual scene of crowded lines of ships passing by the icy-blue world of Pleia that normally greeted travelers, Tethrel was met instead by an armed and highly intimidating fleet of what were clearly 'Prassadi attack vessels.

Considering that the jump network was unusually clear on the way in, Teth'rel had to conclude that the ships were there to meet him. He had no clue as to why this could be, but it was an unwelcome enough experience for him to justify taking evasive actions. He increased the power to his thrusters and decided to open the scout ship up and blast around the fleet of 'Prassadi vessels. He figured that his class of vessel was usually much quicker than the larger, slower armed ships. While he was correct, the Vul'Prassad ships had counted on this escape attempt.

Several of the cruisers placed at the periphery of the fleet were equipped with special tractor-beams that could snag a fast-moving ship. These devices were usually considered to consume too much power to be commonly installed on most military craft like standard tractor beams. However, the 'Prassadi Planetary Defense Fleet kept several specialized cruisers in the system in case they needed to grab an antagonistic craft or stray comet hurtling toward a settlement.

One of the tractor beam equipped cruisers was able to successfully lock onto the fast-moving scout ship, and managed to catch it. The misplaced inertia of the ship's momentum being interrupted threw Teth'rel into the front of the ship's small bridge, knocking him unconscious. The sleek black vessel was reeled in by the cruiser, and very soon Teth'rel and his ship were in the custody of the Vul'Prassad.

The morning dawned as it did most days on Lamiar-2, pleasant, warm, and full of fragrant air teeming with life. Many of the residents and clergy of Gondamuram had stayed up all night, listening to their Master speak of endless wonderful subjects. Barlek-ulu had apparently been keeping much to himself over the millennia, and was every excited to finally get it all out and share his knowledge with those who adored him. Shanti was one of these, and by the time the sun rose again in the purple sky, she was getting very bleary eyed and fatigued. By this point she had been up for nearly two days straight, first to prepare for the ritual, then to listen to the great Guru-Tree.

Barely conscious, Shanti bid her companions and Master a good morning, and departed to her chambers to get some much needed rest. She had made sure that several of the temple acolytes were dutifully recording every exchange that Barlek-ulu had, so that she could be filled in in the evening when she woke up. Normally, she would try to take in a member of the public who needed her services before she retired, but after all that she had been through and orchestrated in the last 50 hours, she felt best just to catch a hovercart back home to her tree and sleep everything off.

By the time the sun rose, many other members of the congregation had decided upon the same for themselves. The temple and grassy square outside were finally vacated by most of the followers, and the grounds were cleared of all sexual detritus and other debris. A small, semi-permanent contingency of squirrels stayed at the translation machine, but aside from them, the temple was finally empty. The relative peace was temporarily shattered by the sounds of several large transport craft firing their retro-engines and returning the children of the Ashram back after all of the public sex and other related acts had officially ceased.

The day was a restful one, and most who were still awake meditated, milled around the verdant grounds, listened to the dialogue between the priests and the Great Tree, and began to return to their normal daily activities. One of these was an acolyte named Lerenel, a young Scuirinasian who had been born and raised in Gondamuram. She was a dedicated assistant to Shanti and the other higher ranking members of the clergy. Today she was tasked with recording and transcribing the discussions.

Lerenel was honored to be a part of such a task, but she was only nineteen years old. Despite her proficiency in meditation and other spiritual disciplines, Lenerel was beginning to grow a little bored and impatient after she was required to transcribe an entire four hour long lecture that Barlek-ulu gave on the nature and intricacies of Letynids, a small and common orange insect that was prevalent all over the subtropical and temperate rainforests of the planet. A lifeform that had lived for tens of thousands of years might have a unique perspective on things that was not shared by the young woman. Soon, Lerenel found herself drifting off to sleep, dreaming about the exciting future that this place was soon to offer her.

She woke up nearly an hour later, to uneasy murmuring by the priests and priestess who had been talking with Barlek-ulu. They had apparently not even noticed her taking a nap, as they were each engaged in what appeared to be a very serious debate about some topic. Lerenel yawned, stood up from her desk, and walked closer to the troubled clergy and scientists.

"He-- He couldn't have said that!" Gasped one scientist. "That's a distinct change in character that was not present over the last day of connection. It's inconsistent with Barlek-ulu's personality."

"I completely agree," Replied one of the Priestesses. "But that doesn't remove the fact that he just said what he just said."

"I'm not sure that that's exactly what I heard him ask." Interjected one of the Priests.

"Well Rekar, what did it sound like he asked us?" Replied the Priestess.

"Well," The squirrel Priest Rekar began, "The Master had just finished his discourse on the intricacies of the, um, insect population. Then he began to comment on some of the other Guru-Trees across the planet, most of whom it seems he was in contact with over time."

"That's what I heard too." Interrupted the Priestess. "I think we can all agree that that's what we heard?"

"Yes, yes." Said the scientist, a middle aged male member of the Ashram who had previously been a mechanical engineer in Elmatha'a before having his life changed for the better by Priestesses like Shanti. "But it's not that part, it's what he said after that we need to be in agreement on before we proceed."

"Please, Rekar, go on." Encouraged the squirrel Priestess.

"Okay." Rekar went on, "So, after he was talking about some of the other Great Trees and their personalities and histories, he kept mentioning the Guru-Tree Menekar-ulu over and over."

"You mean the really wealthy Ashram up there near Teletara and the Nektemah range that uses visionary fungi for their rituals?" The scientist asked. Rekar nodded. "Okay, good. The Great One has been talking for more than day and a half and I need to be clear that the message isn't getting garbled. I don't know if it's him, or if the system is just getting overworked."

"Right, he has been getting more difficult to understand." Responded Rekar. "Anyway, he just kept going on and on about how Menekar-ulu and her followers had lost their way and were going down a dark path. Over and over, 'They have let themselves become abominations' and things like that. After that, the transmission became more and more garbled and staticky."

"That sounds about right. I remember the signal getting corrupted around that time." Said the Priestess.

Lerenel listened to the conversation intently, trying to fill in the gaps of this odd development that she had missed while napping on the job. All she could figure out at this point was that after Barlek-ulu's long, dull diatribe about common pesky bugs, he began to go off on some strange tangent after changing the topic to what he knew about the other Great Trees and their followers. Somehow, he became harder to understand, or his voice became full of static. She had noticed that the heavy translation machine was currently placed in standby mode, meaning that no audio or video information was being transferred between them and Barlek-ulu at this time.

Something was definitely not right, and she decided to listen to the conversation to gather more information. She needed to seem like she knew what was going on in case someone decided to chastise her for sleeping when she would have been transcribing.

"So, after the signal was corrupted, what do we agree we heard?" Asked the scientist. He immediately gave his version of the incident: "Barlek-ulu began to really go off about the followers of Menekar-ulu. After calling them abominations and followers of a dark path, he demanded that his children in Gondamuram 'cure them of their evil ways and free their souls of sin'. He then ordered the people of the Ashram to commit acts of violence against the Teletara Ashram and their Guru-Tree. That is completely insane because, correct me if I'm wrong, we have were great friends with Teletara and have been for centuries! I simply cannot believe that this is what came out of our great Master! I must be mistaken!"

Both the Priest and Priestess vigorously nodded in agreement. "That's what I heard too." The Priest Rekar solemnly stated. The Priestess also confirmed that this is what she had heard as well. "It's mad," she chimed in, "Teletara and Gondamuram perform a number of shared rituals together every year! Their philosophy is not much different than ours. The only real difference is that we practice enlightenment through sex and meditation, while they do it through meditation and visionary plants and fungi!"

"Maybe he feels this way because they have more off-world fame than we do." Rekar added. "They also are the only Ashram or religious organization on Lamiar-2 that has off-world outlets and franchises. While Gondamuram and most of the other 80 Ashrams cater to off-worlders, it does seem like Teletara seems to emphasize it."

"So they've commercialized and expanded off-planet while we have kept our business back home like we've traditionally done? I really don't see why that would be any reason to -- exterminate the people of the Teletara Ashram?" Asked the scientist.

"There is never a good reason to exterminate innocent people!" Retorted the Priestess. "It goes against every fiber of our being, and the very core principles that Gondamuram is based upon! We do not kill, and we do not destroy. We certainly don't commit acts of mass genocide, and I don't care who it is ordered by!"

"We need to run a full diagnostic and do an overhaul of the translation machine to make sure that there isn't something wrong with it that could be contributing to all of this." The scientist said. "We need to take every precaution necessary to make sure that the statements that were just made by Barlek-ulu were not serious, but simply a bug in our new technology."

"I agree." Responded Lerenel's coworkers. She had found herself very disturbed by what she had overheard, and was glad that she had napped through hearing her beloved Master ordering her people to do such atrocious acts. Her fur stood on end, and her tail bristled. She stared at the trunk of her master, feeling bewildered and betrayed.

Her intense gaze at the tree was broken by a curious feature in the Great Tree's bark that had not been there moments ago. To Lerenel, it appeared that a silvery patch of metallic fibers were slowly spreading out from the contact points between the tree and the cables of the translation machine. She watched intently to see if she could witness the actual spread of these odd features. After a few seconds, she saw the mat of fibers swallow up several rough patches in the bark.

"Excuse me, Honored Ones?" Lerenel piped up from her station in the back of the scene. "What's that growing on Barlek-ulu's trunk next to the contact points?"

The clergy, scientists, and attending technicians all quickly swiveled their heads to the location that Lerenel had referenced and was currently pointing to. The metallic patches that had originally connected the tree and the device had apparently doubled in size, with an odd series of silver fibers undulating in a mat-like structure out from the enlarging contacts. These fibers wriggled their way into the trunk of the Great Tree, slowly consuming it like an artificial wood-eating fungus. The infection was very slow, but it was noticeable. This then caused the team working with the tree to erupt into a panic once they realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

"The nanites!" The Scientist exclaimed. "Something's wrong with the nanites! They should only be replicating to a minor extent deep in the Master's xylem!"

"Clearly!" Loudly said the Priestess. "They most definitely should NOT be migrating out from the contact points like that!"

"We need to wake Shanti!" Said Rekar. "This looks like it could be a serious emergency if we don't stop the nanites from spreading!"

Everyone agreed, and Lerenel, being the youngest and fastest of the group, quickly ran out of the room to alert Shanti. She ran down the vast chamber that the ritual had taken place in, and out into the massive square where the pre-ritual orgy had occurred. She hopped aboard one of the many hovercarts that lingered around the square, waiting for the use of a passerby. Activating the cart's electrogravitic engines, she rose off the ground, and out of the square.

Speeding through the fortunately empty, tree-lined streets of Gonadmuram, Lerenel quickly found the tree house that Shanti called home. She ascended the tree using the emergency stairs that lead to Shanti's kitchen. Counting upon the open, yet secure nature of Gondamuram, Lerenel found that the door that lead from the kitchen of the tree house to it's balcony was unlocked. Entering the house and making her way to the master bedroom of the dwelling, Lerenel found Shanti fast asleep in her large, plush bed.

"My Priestess! My Priestess!" Lerenel called from the doorway of the bedroom. "My Priestess, please, wake up!"

Shanti, still thoroughly exhausted from all of her recent activities, groaned, mumbled a few incoherent syllables, and lazily moved around under her thick covers.

Lerenel tried again, only with a much louder tone. "My Priestess! You must wake up! There is a problem with Barlek-ulu! There is a problem with the Master that needs your immediate attention!"

Slowly navigating her way from sleep to wakefulness, Shanti was able to make out the phrases about there being an issue with the Great Tree. This activated her, and she woke up, jolting her self upright and causing her covers to fall off of her breasts. "What? Lerenel! What are you doing here? What's wrong with the Master?"

"My Priestess!" Lerenel began again, this time panting and clearly out of breath from her excursion up the stairs on the outside of Shanti's tree. "You must come with me to the main Temple! The Master has begun ordering us to do disturbing things to members of another Ashram, and the nanites are replicating really fast from the contacts where the translation machine is connected!"

"Wait, what?!" Shanti was taken aback by the disturbing news. This was not what she was expecting to wake up to today! "This is most troubling! Let me get dressed and we will head down to the Temple. Put the word out that all of the scientists are to be woken up and assembled on the platform in the Temple. Also, please make me some Numinar tea, I'll need the extra boost. Make yourself a cup too my dear. I have a feeling that we're in for a long afternoon..."

The two squirrels made their way down the trunk of the large tree dwelling of Shanti's, and to the hovercart that awaited them below. They got in, and sped back to the main temple. By this time, many of the Ashram's technical and scientific staff had been roused. They were congregating around the large translation device, all looking very serious and frustrated. Many were still waking up from the nights of orgiastic excess, and the idea of working while they should be resting was not sitting well with many of them.

The severity of the situation was soon explained to them by the scientist and two clergy that had witnessed the strange sociopathic change in Barlek-ulu. Once Shanti and Lerenel had arrived, the team had, at Shanti's urging, begun to describe the bizarre, sociopathic turn that Barlek-ulu had taken. Additionally, the spread of the nanites from the contacts was presented to the gathered scientists and techs. Lerenel gasped as she noticed that in the forty five minutes that she had been gone, the nanite fibers had woven their way into another square meter of the surrounding bark.

"This is terrible!" Shanti exclaimed as the weight of the situation began pressing upon her mind. "Do we even know what's happening? Is there a problem with the programming we gave to the nanites?"

"No, my Priestess!" The chief scientist, a tall and slender middle aged female gray Scuirinasian named Dr. Nerel, exclaimed. "I even worked with the Vul'Prassad representative on the programming myself! The nanite replication rate was limited to only enough to propagate through the core xylem of Barlek-ulu. It was never meant to enter any other part of the tree!"

"Then do you know how or why the nanites are spreading through his bark?" Shanti asked, visibly upset.

"No, Shanti, I don't." replied Dr. Nerel. "But I assure you that we will get on this right away and find out. My guess is that something in the nanites may have been corrupted in some way, perhaps in transit?"

"Well they certainly didn't get corrupted while they were here in Gondamuram!" Shanti stated. "We have taken every precaution to ensure that they were completely unharmed once we received them from the Vul'Prassadi pilot."

"Well, my Priestess," Dr. Nerel conjectured, "perhaps something happened to them while en route from the Vul'Prassad? This was experimental technology after all, maybe it encountered some unexplained variable that neither us nor the Vul'Prassad had counted on in their design process?"

"That may very well be." Added the scientist who had witnessed Barlek-ulu's strange transformation. "From what I've seen the last day and a half, the Master is not behaving the same way, and combined with the spread of the nanites, I'd say that the corrupted machines have infected him and are destroying him from the inside out. Whatever did this is something we need to discover soon, or else we may lose our Master."

The collection of gathered Ashram members became hushed and very nervous. After several seconds of anxious silence from the team, Shanti took control and spoke up. "Okay. Listen everyone. I know this sounds bad, but we can overcome this if we work together and use the resources of everyone at Gondamuram to figure out this problem. We do not have to accept that our Master is going to die!"

The scientist from earlier spoke to Shanti. "My Priestess, perhaps you should hear what the Master sounds like right now. You need to understand just how far gone he is getting."

Shanti's usual flair for inspirational speeches fell flat on it's face when the scientist took the translation device out of standby and into active mode. Out of the speakers came a garbled mess. The rich voice from before was still there, however it was very glitchy and full of static and interference. The tree began ranting about how dark it had been the last several hours, presumably when the machine was in standby mode. Then the tree began some convoluted tirade about the metaphysical nature of darkness that took everybody by surprise.

The speech was both eloquent at times, and at other times became reminiscent of a schizophrenic's world-salad, with unassociated phrases and words combining themselves into weird forms and contexts. Finally, the topic of darkness had lead to yet another raving message against the Ashram at Teletara. This time, unlike before, nearly a hundred individuals, including Shanti, heard their beloved Master's calls for war and genocide against the followers of Menekar-ulu.

The most troubling fact about this was that Barlek-ulu never gave a reason as to why he felt that the people of Gondamuram should go against their fundamental nature and wage war against a friendly religious city much like their own. They could all only speculate as to why this was the case, most going with the assumption that the recent off-world missionary activities and commercialism had been corrupting the Ashram. Sill, he never did explain his reasoning, only consistently explaining the reasons why the squirrels at Teletara were abominations that would destroy the planet if they weren't destroyed themselves.

Shanti had enough. "Please," she cried to Dr. Nerel, "Turn it off! Put it back into standby! I can't listen to any more of this! That was not the real Barlek-ulu! That was not the Great Tree that I've devoted my life to! That was a monster!"

She began to hold back tears, and quickly ran to a small set of stairs off by the edge of the platform. She could not believe what she had just heard! She had spent almost an entire 25 hour day listening to this wonderful being entertain and regale the people of Gondamuram with some of the most interesting and deep tales ever told on the grounds of the Ashram. To see that turn into this... this nightmare in just a few hours was taking a toll on Shanti. She was supposed to lead her people into a solution, but all she felt like was a failure for allowing this to happen.

She would forever be known as the last High Priestess of Gondamuram, the one who, in her own hubris, drove the Great Tree Barlek-ulu insane before his eventual slow demise. It was becoming too much for her, and she took several minutes to release her emotions and hopelessness out into the void surrounding the dark side of the stage-platform. Once she had finished and regained her composure, Shanti rejoined the group and began delegating orders and responsibilities. There would be time to feel sorry for herself later; right now action was required to save her people and their Master.

"Okay!" Shanti yelled in an attempt to gain the attention of those who were gathered. "First, we need all of the scientists to try to figure out how to slow or stop the replication rates of the nanites. Reach out fo colleagues in other cities or even on other worlds! Second, we need to find an invoice or travel history for the ship that delivered the nanites to us! We need to know where that ship went, and what it encountered. If you need to reach out to the Vul'Prassad, then do it! We need a manifest. Anyone who is not a tech or a scientist, get on that!"

Empowered by Shanti's newfound strength in this highly adverse situation, the group of Squirrels began getting to work with their respective tasks. It would require an effort from almost everyone in the Ashram to solve this problem. Shanti left the teams to their work, and began going across the vast religious-city and alerting local authorities and residents to the dangers of what was happening. She dreaded the idea of needing to plan an evacuation of the city of over 400,000, but at this point every contingency was going to have to be planned for.

Keban, however, was completely unaware of the latest developments. He had decided to sleep in that day, as had most. Now that the late afternoon was upon him, he felt the urge to awaken and wander around the Ashram city for a while, just to see what the place was like on a normal day, now that he had "opened up" to the spirit of things here. He was eating "breakfast" at one of the numerous free food stands that dotted the streets of Gondamuram, when the appearance of Shanti surprised him to no end. He had not seen her personally since the height of the ritual almost two days ago.

"Keban!" Shanti cried. "Keban! Oh, it is so good to see you! You're just who I need right now!"

Upon hearing the sweet voice of his lover yell his name, Keban took his eyes off of the food he was ravenously wolfing down and looked up at her. She appeared to be tired and out of breath, covered in sweat from running around and carting across the Ashram. Keban was beginning to get aroused, until he noticed the seriousness of the look in her eyes. Something was not quite right. His soldier's intuition informed him that things were not quite what he had initially assumed, and that he needed to be ready for anything.

"Shanti!" Keban said, appearing to be pleasantly surprised. "What are you doing here? Don't you have some important Gondamuram business to attend to, what with Barlek-ulu talking and everything now?"

Shanti stopped, teared up for a second, and then ran to Keban, burying her face in his chest as she began unloading all of the awful things that she had just witnessed and all of her fears about her experiment costing the life of Barlek-ulu. She could not open up like this in front of her people, she explained, as she needed to stay strong for them in this troubling time. Keban listened intently, and slowly stroked her reddish hair to soothe her as he processed the news.

"You really need to contact the Vul'Prassad." Keban told Shanti when she was done explaining their predicament. "I can tell you right now that they don't usually make deals with civilians like the have with you, and that anything that has gone wrong with this experiment was probably something that happened on their end. They are a very militaristic and very strange people, and you should always be cautions when you do business with them."

"I was not aware of too much of that." Shanti replied. "They were the only ones who could help. And now look it got us..."

"Shanti, please, you cannot succumb to doubt and fear right now! Right now you have to contact the Vul'Prassad and figure out what happened! Do you have an office somewhere? Somewhere you and I can go to give your 'Prassadi contacts a call and let them know what happened. Maybe they can help. I can also contact my superiors in the CT and see if they have any ideas too."

"Okay Keban, thank you!" Shanti replied, giving Keban one last hug before he grabbed the rest of his meal and followed Shanti into her hovercart. They then raced to a large wood and stone administrative building only a couple of blocks away from the Main Temple. Exiting the hovercart, they made their way up the large limestone steps and into the building, where they were greeted by a receptionist. She tried to exchange a greeting with Shanti, who simply waved her off as her and Keban ran up the stairs and down a long hallway and into her office. Once in, Shanti produced a QC network phone screen.

Using the quantum link to directly talk to her contact on Prassadia, Shanti dialed up the 'Prassadi phone's quantum signature number, and waited for a response. After nearly five minutes, the video link opened and the face of an orange-furred and minimally implanted Vul'Prassadi scientist appeared onscreen.

"Yes?" Spoke the 'Prassadi on the quantum phone screen. "This is Dr. Partreel, how can I help you? Who is calling me at this hour? I don't usually take calls at home, I--"

"Dr Partreel, this is Shanti, the Sciurinasian with the City of Gondamuram on Lamiar-2? We worked together on the nanites for the flora-modulation experiment?"

"Oh! Yes, of course!" Dr. Partreel replied. "Shanti. If I'm not mistaken, your experiment is finally underway? I believe that the projected date has passed for the --"

"Yes, thank you Doctor, it has." Shanti went on. "That's why I'm calling, in fact."

"Ah, good! Well, I certainly appreciate you filling me in on the progress of the project. It was a very interesting one, and I am very excited to see just how --"

Shanti cut off Dr. Partreel once again. "Please, sir. I wish I was calling under better circumstances. However, there has been a problem. Somehow, the nanites that were sent to us were corrupted in transit to Lamiar-2. We took all of the necessary precautions and followed your protocols without exception. However, our scientists have informed us that something has caused an overabundance of replication in the nanites that is beginning to take over more than just the targeted areas of our tree."

"Oh, that is very troubling news indeed." Dr Partreel said. "Well, I know that the programming was specifically designed to limit the replication rate to what was specified for the project. Since I didn't change any of the variables, and I assume that you haven't, then there may well have been a corrupting influence that the nanites encountered while en route. I'll consult with my sources and see what I can find for you. I'll check in with you again when I have more data. Partreel out."

The screen went blank as Dr. Partreel ended the call. An immediate answer would have been nice to have received, but Shanti was glad that she now had some off-world assistance in the matter. Having one of the top scientists of the Vul'Prassad looking into the case would certainly not hurt matters, and Shanti was grateful for the connection.

Keban decided to offer some more assistance. "Here, while he's checking in with the 'Prassadi authorities on the matter, let me use your phone to contact my commanding officer. Maybe the CT can send us a couple of their scientists to help us figure out what's happening here. They also might have some ideas if there's been any strange space weather. You know, like plasma storms, odd activity in the jump network, things like that."

"Thank you Keban, at this point, anything helps." Shanti rubbed Keban's arm. "I'm glad we have you here."

"Not a problem, Shanti." Keban replied. "I'm glad to be here, and after how much you and everyone here have made me a better person, it's the least I can do. If you need a liaison between Gondamuram and the CT while this happens, I'll happily be your fox!"

Shanti looked deep into Keban's eyes. "I'd like that..."

Keban smiled at Shanti, and typed his commander's phone's quantum signature. Very soon, the CT logo appeared on the screen, and the face of a very trim and fit Vulpinasian appeared. "Hello, you have reached Lieutenant Commander Robert Aleomar. With whom am I speaking?"

Shanti introduced herself, with Keban soon following suit. "Ah, Corporal Keban! You look... different! How are things on Lamiar-2? I see you have a new friend, I take it the Doc's prescription has been suiting you well?"

"Well, yes, certainly." Keban replied. "But that's not what we're calling about." Keban gave his commander a brief rundown of the situation. After the explanation, Lt. Commander Aleomar's face was far less jovial and had formed into a deep scowl.

"This is really strange, Keban, and sounds extremely serious. I'm glad you brought it to my attention. Naturally, I'll need to inform my superiors in the CT of this. Fortunately, that may get you some extra help. I'm not sure how this will play out, Corporal, but I will keep you informed. Meanwhile, you've given me a lot of work to do tonight. Aleomar out."

After Keban's commander cut the communication, the two began contacting as many other resources as they could. They alerted the other Ashrams of the problem, and soon word was spread far and wide on Lamiar-2 that Gondamuram needed help. As the religious city had built up many centuries of good will, many around the world arrived to lend what help they could in solving the problem. Within the span of a couple of hours, the majority of the scientific community on the planet was looking into the issue.

Soon, the Quantum phone in Shanti's office received a call from a secured line. Keban answered the call, and soon found himself face to face with two extremely high ranking CT officers. One of them was a Vul'Prassadi General with numerous medals dangling off of his uniform. Next to him stood a Felinasian Admiral, with insignia on his uniform indicating that he was part of the CT High Command on Felinasia itself! Keban had never even come into contact with any officer during his time in the CT of a rank as high as theirs!

"Yes, hello?" Keban answered. he soon changed his tone when he saw who he was speaking to. "Hello sirs! This is Corporal Keban--"

He was soon cut off by the Felinasian Admiral. "Yes, yes, We know who you are. We have been monitoring your channel ever since you reached out to a prominent scientist on Prassadia. The General and I have a fairly good understanding of your predicament, and would like to help."

"Well, thank you! Sir!" Keban replied.

"Well now, don't thank us just yet, Corporal." The Felinasian Admiral began. "While we have a pretty good idea of what your problem is there on Lamiar-2, you are not going to like it, or what the solution is."

Keban was taken aback by the reply, and gulped. Shanti appeared nervous as well, and grasped Keban's arm as the Vul'Prassad General took the reigns of the conversation.

"You see, Corporal," the General explained, "Your suspicion about the nanites having been compromised en route to Lamiar-2 was correct. However, you may not be aware by what they have been compromised by." The General went on to brief Keban about the broader details of the AI infection. "For some reason, when we acquired Teth'rel's ship, the AI had apparently removed Lamiar-2 from the manifest. The Vul'Prassad have been trying to find the location of the second planet that the nanites were delivered to, and now it appears that we have."

"So," Shanti asked, "Where do we go from here?"

The Felinasian Admiral answered her. "You're not going to like this, but this is what we are going to have to do. If you can't find a stop to the spread of those nanites, then your entire planet will need to be evacuated until we can find a solution to the problem. We have recently had several large resource draining incidents occur, and we will not be able to provide enough ships in the case that the worst happens. If the nanites begin infecting the surrounding ecosystem, then we will issue General Order 14, which will order every ship, military and civilian, within a five light year radius to assist in the evacuation."

Shanti's hope had begun to fade at the moment the word "evacuation" was uttered by the Admiral. Her determination had not faltered, however. At the end of the day, she needed to do what was right for her people. If that meant evacuating them, then that was an option that she would leave on the table. It sounded like they had a little bit of time to see if the scientists could come up with a way to halt the nanite takeover of Barlek-ulu. But, if the nanites began to spread into the surrounding environment...

The high ranking officers spoke again to Keban. "You, Corporal, are under orders to monitor this situation for us. We are to be notified every hour of your progress. You are to monitor the spread of the nanites with the assistance of the scientists there. If they begin to spread, notify us immediately. We will need to begin planetary evacuation procedures in that case. Good Luck Corporal." The Admiral nodded, and cut the communication.

The screen went blank, and Shanti and Keban were left to carry out their now dire responsibilities. The news was not going to be easy to break to the people of Gondamuram, much less to the people of the planet in general. So many questions would have to be answered. Most of those answers were not possessed by Shanti or Keban. Nevertheless, they would have to break the news of the potential evacuation of the planet slowly, so as not to cause alarm. They needed to focus on finding a way to halt the spread of the nanites. He would let the high ranking officials deal with breaking the news to the governments of the world.

Shanti and Keban decided to help and support each other as they had to monitor the spread of the nanites, and oversee the project. Shanti's office became a kind of command center, soon being filled with various members of Gondamuram taking calls from scientists and other concerned parties on the planet. All of the efforts to coordinate the now planetary attempt at halting the AI-infused nanites were being routed through here.

Shanti was hard at work reporting the developments to the scientists and technicians in the temple, who were now tasked with carrying out each of the often theoretical procedures created by the community. No matter how crackpot they sounded, anything was to be tried. These were desperate times, and everything was on the table. All of the solutions that the scientists had come up with were failures. Method after method failed to stop the replication, and everyone watched as the silvery streaks wound their way up the trunk of the Great Tree Barlek-ulu.

Some brave clergy of the Temple were hard at work at the translation machine, closely monitoring what the Great Tree was saying, as well as talking to him and encouraging him to fight off the nanite infection. These Priests, Priestesses and acolytes were relaying the contents of Barlek-ulu's thoughts and ramblings to the scientists, who were trying to use them to see if any progress had been made.

Unfortunately for everyone, by the next morning it had not. Most of the trunk of the Great Tree had shown signs of nanite infection, and the worst case scenario plans were finally being considered. Shanti herself began a massive seed collection effort using thousands of volunteers and the city's fleet of hovercarts. Barlek-ulu might be in a terminal condition as far as they knew, but his seeds were in season in various layers of branches in the right climate zones in his upper portions. It was well known by the touch-telepathy squirrels that the seeds of the Great Trees each carried a piece of the consciousness of the parent tree in it, in case fire, disease or old age caused the tree to die. Hundreds of volunteers hopped on board of the hovercarts and gathered as many ripe seeds as they could, in the effort of saving the soul of Barlek-ulu, even if they couldn't save the tree himself.

The rate of the replication of the nanites was visibly increasing. Many of the seed collecting squirrels reported that most of the tree's trunk was covered now, and the infection had begun spreading to some of the larger branches. This frightened Shanti and Keban, who understood that if the nanites left the tree, then the CT would need to evacuate and quarantine the world. They would do whatever they could to stop the spread of these things, but so far all of their options had failed. Even the more sound of ideas continuously fell flat.

Running out of options, Shanti decided that they needed to contact Dr. Partreel on Prassadia one more time. He had not been back in communication with them since their initial interaction, a fact that Shanti was now considering to be strange. When Shanti had finished coordinating the seed collection efforts, she and Keban raced back to her office on their hovercart. When they arrived, they pushed their way through the crowd of frantic squirrels and other Anasians who were contributing to the efforts. Shanti found her QC phone, and quickly dialed up Dr. Partreel.

After several minutes that felt like an eternity, the old and gray Vul'Prassadi scientist answered. "Yes? This is Dr. Partreel."

"Dr. Partreel, this is Shanti again on Lamiar-2. Our situation is starting to get desperate. The nanites are spreading faster and faster. Nearly the entire trunk of our Great Tree has been infected, and the machines are beginning to take of some of the larger branches too! Have you had any luck in finding a way to stop them?" Shanti asked frantically.

"Ah, Shanti." The aged scientist greeted the squirrel. "I have spent hours researching the issue with several of my colleagues. My apologies for not informing you of this earlier; the issue had proved to be a challenging one."

"Yes, Doctor, thank you. I can certainly understand that. What have you found?" Shanti asked.

"Well," Dr. Partreel began, "The reason that the infection has been so difficult to stop is that we have apparently misunderstood it, and have been approaching it the wrong way."

This thought temporarily relieved Shanti. She hoped that it would pave the way for a solution.

"Oh?" She asked.

"Yes. After consulting with several members of the 'Prassadi scientific council, as well as some contacts I have in the government and intelligence agencies here, we have determined that the problem is not, as we previous considered, a corruption in the programming of the nanites. In fact, it has nothing to do with anything in the operational protocols of the machines. It appears that they have been compromised by a biological agent, instead of an electromagnetic one."

This struck Shanti and Keban as a very strange development indeed. Especially since Dr. Partreel had originally given Gondamuram specific instructions on how to properly sterilize the nanites in an autoclave-like device without ruining their functionality. These instructions were followed out to the letter, Shanti and seen to that.

"I'm not sure I understand, Doctor." Shanti said. "Did you say biological? You gave me specific instructions on how to sterilize the nanites so that no pathogens would be introduced into the roots of Barlek-ulu! The CT Admiral in the High Command and his 'Prassadi counterpart that are in communication with us confirmed that it is an electromagnetic infection!"

"Yes, that is correct, and I did." Partreel explained. "As our investigation is currently uncovering, the nanites were somehow used to spread a new ecological plague. This plague, we literally just discovered less than an hour ago, was created by the Phalanaxian Empire as a new weapon that they sent in to destabilize the Anasian Confederation. The Vul'Prassadi Government is looking into the issue. This is all that I can tell you for now."

None of Dr. Partreel's explanation made any sense to Keban and Shanti. While it was definitely possible that the Phalanaxians had sent in a genetically engineered plague, it was highly unlikely. As with the Califeron Teseretz and AC, the Phalanaxian Empire was caught in the middle of a war that was using a vast amount of valuable resources. While it was not unfeasible for the Phalanaxians to unleash a biological weapon from an interstellar missile, they were not known to have the scientific infrastructure to create such a disease in the first place.

Once Shanti and Keban gave the doctor's reply a little bit of thought, it fell to pieces quickly. Shanti spoke up and challenged Partreel's explanation. "But Doctor, I followed the sterilization protocols directly from your instructions. We even rented a Mark-4 hyperclave like you told us. This makes no sense! We would have detected any pathogen that was in the shipment after we scanned it before the sterilization procedures!"

"Not only that," Keban interjected, "But why would the Phalanaxians use such an unusual vector for this plague? They would have had to send the plague on a missile, that was somehow designed to specifically target this shipment of highly experimental machines! And to do what, exactly? Infect a large sentient tree and destroy the ecosystem of a planet that has little strategic value to the AC and CT? For what purpose?"

"That is what we are still investigating, child." The scientist tersely told Keban. He nervously looked offscreen for a second. "But our intelligence tells us that this was caused by a biological pathogen that was genetically engineered by the Phalanaxians, most likely to ruin an ecosystem of a planet so as to run the population off."

"But that still doesn't make sense!" Shanti replied, "We aren't even in the half of the AC that borders the Phalanaxian Empire! What possible reason would the Phalanaxians have to attack Lamiar-2? I doubt that they'd even know that we exist!"

Dr. Partreel gave another furtive glance off camera. He then moved his face closer to the screen and told Shanti "Listen. There are much more --ahem-- larger forces involved in this now than you and I, and they have ownership of the situation. Everything else is classified, I'm sorry."

"What?" Shanti asked in disbelief. Something was very much not right.

"Listen, Shanti, here's how it is." Dr. Partreel's voice took on a very empathetic tone as he continued. "None of what I say I say out of disrespect. This can go one of two ways. The first way, you pass this information along and we continue to investigate the situation. This is much better than your second option, being known as the last High Priestess of Gondamuram, Shanti, the one who accidentally destroyed Lamiar-2! It is the opinion of the Vul'Prassad that you will make the right decision in this matter." His last sentence carried ominous undertones. "Dr. Partreel out." He closed the QC channel before Shanti or Keban could offer any form of reply or rebuttal.

Dr. Partreel's final comment struck Shanti hard, and she collapsed to the floor crying. The weight of his ultimatum and the endorsement of the Vul'Prassad at the end was too much for the already hyper-stressed squirrel to bear. She was comforted by Keban, who made sure that none of the other Scurinasians in the room got too close to her. She needed to deal with the unbearable situation in her own way. Keban decided that he needed to contact Lt. Colonel Aleomar and get some clarification on the matter. Keban doubted that his Commander would know much about the full situation, especially if it was classified, as Dr. Partreel had mentioned. But trying couldn't hurt, and he was desperate to help Shanti and Gondamuram in their greatest hour of need.

Keban dialed his commander's Quantum Communications signature. The view screen of the QC phone showed the familiar Seal of the Califeron Teseretz. However, soon after the system indicated that it had connected to a CT network, the screen showed the faces of the Felinasian Admiral and the Vul'Prassadi General. "Corporal, you are late with your report to us about the situation. How is your progress? Is the infection spreading?" The Felinasian Admiral asked.

Keban was very unnerved by the unexpected appearance of the two high ranking officers. "M-my apologies, sirs!" Keban sputtered. "I was trying to-"

"Trying to contact your commanding officer." the Vul'Prassad interrupted. "No doubt. However, you seem to forget that we are your commanding officers now, and we gave you an order to report to us each hour with the situation on Lamiar-2. It has been over five hours since your last communication!"

Keban was at a loss for words. He finally managed the annoyed reply: "Well, we have a lot going on down here, and it's been very difficult to coordinate the efforts and check in every hour!"

"That is no excuse." the Felinasian replied. "Has the Phalanaxian infection spread past the tree yet? It is in the ecosystem? We need to know immediately!"

Keban blinked "The Phalanaxian plague? What? Are you in on this nonsense too?" Keban angrily replied. It appeared that this story about the Phalanaxians was spreading extremely quickly. He smelled the beginnings of a government cover-up. Keban knew more about the Phalanaxians than these people. He had spent the last two years of his life fighting them. There was no way that this problem with the nanites was created and spread by them. Nothing would convince him of this. He simply knew better. No CT solder on the front lines of the war would have disagreed with him.

"Listen to me, Corporal!" Admiral Zethuto commanded. "We have it on VERY high authority that his plague was caused by the Phalanaxians, for which retaliation will be swift and severe! That is not your concern! Your concern is being the Liaison between the CT and the situation on Lamiar-2! And as such, you are to report to us every hour! Now, what is the condition on the spread of the Phalanaxian infection?"

Keban had seen many dubious acts from superior officers in his time in the Califeron Teseretz, but none as egregious as this! He supposed that the higher the rank, the more obvious of a lie one could get away with. Disgusting. Keban figured he would play along, if only because these two officers held a tremendous amount of power that they could use to crush him.

"Well sir," Keban sighed and resigned himself to the lie, "It seems that the, uh, Phalanaxian infection is still with the tree. It is still spreading, but it has only breached into some of the larger branches."

"Only breached? That sounds troubling to me." Zethuto said. "It does not sound like your scientists have had any luck in slowing the spread?"

"Well, no, but-" Keban was once again interrupted.

"Then I fear that we may have no choice but to invoke General Order 14. Since it appears that the infection will continue due to the lack of a solution to it's spread. It will take our ships several days to reach Lamiar-2 to take survivors. The local governments will need to be informed and assisted. Evacuating an entire planet is not an easy process, Corporal, and will take time. I fear that we cannot wait any longer."

"Very well, sirs," Keban replied dejectedly. They had failed. "I will inform Gondamuram of your decision. We will begin preparation immediately."

"Thank you Corporal." The Admiral's voice held a conciliatory tone. "With any luck, this will not be the last time these people will set foot on their homeworld."

"Let's hope." Keban replied.

The news of Lamiar-2's imminent evacuation was not well received by Shanti. The news was not well received by most people on the world, and massive resistance was met by those outside of Gondamuram and Elmatha'a who could see no nanites and impending danger. Why should they have to leave their homes due to some weird accident down in faraway Gondamuram?

Protests and riots began to spread in urban centers across the world. The planetary governments were all required to abide by the CT's decision to evacuate. They had been given a week by the CT to prepare their population. The shock had quickly destabilized the planet. Different regions had a varied response to the evacuation order The area around Teletara was relatively stable, as most of the planet's wealth was located there. In fact, the Teletara ashram that Barlek-ulu had so vehemently opposed once he had been infected was the planet's best hope for a successful evacuation. Their missionary activities and wealth had required the amassment of a small fleet of ships that had already begun to evacuate residents of the world.

The evacuees were being shuttled to a Lamiarian colony on the sparsely-inhabited third planet in the Lamiar system. The planet supported life, but it was much colder and far less pleasant than Lamiar-2, and could not support the growth of Guru-Trees. However it's current position on the opposite side of it's orbit around the star Lamiar from the infected second planet would ensure that the population would be safe in the half-year that it would take to sort out the mess that had occurred.

The AI had appeared to recognize that the Teletara ashram would be a great threat against it's plans of taking over the planet, people and all. With Teletara using it's vast resources to save the people on the planet from succumbing to the same fate as Barlek-ulu, the AI attempted to use it's host to influence the destruction of Teletara. Fortunately for the Scuirinasians of Lamiar-2, the people of Gondamuram were much wiser than the AI assumed they'd be, and thwarted the attempt. Even if they were not successful in stopping the nanite infection of the ecosystem, they were able to ensure that most of the residents of the planet could flee to safety and save themselves and their families.

While most Lamiarians evacuated once the order was given, the off-world ships were available to move them to the frigid Lamiar-3. However, a strong resistance to evacuation was growing more and more organized around the world. Groups in several cities had begun attacking off-world ships that were ordered to assist. Two cities in the southern hemisphere became no-fly zones as their reputation for shooting down rescue ships was reported by most of the civilian pilots who flew there. Eventually, no ships arrived in those areas, and the residents were left to their own devices. Riots continued, and many times the local government police and militaries were required to break up them with force, sometimes deadly.

The whole evacuation affair was running the danger of spiraling out of control with the many issues that were arising. The colonies on Lamiar-3 were already beginning to fill up after the first three days. Soon, the planet was forced to build new shelters and be used as a staging area and hub for evacuees that would temporarily need to be moved to shelter worlds outside of the Lamiar system. Fears of a diaspora of Lamiarians was spread, causing more riots and conflict on the slowly de-populating surface.

One of the places hardest hit by the sudden panic and struggles of removing an entire planetary population was Gondamuram. Over the last three days the nanites had, as predicted by the CT, spread into the surrounding ecosystem after replicating off of Barlek-ulu. Almost half of all of the trees that made up the Ashram-city had been infected, with silvery streaks running up and down their trunks and branches as they were slowly consumed and mechanized by the AI-infected nanites.

Gondamuram had no longer hummed with life in the way that it did only several days prior. As the residents and visitors lined up with their possessions and valuables from the ancient Ashram, the trees and other lifeforms became infused with the machinery that was taking over the world. Barlek-ulu himself had become a tall, metallic tower with countless transmission aerials and other strange devices sticking out from where leaves and branches used to be. The former Great Tree was now the AI's central nexus-point to coordinate it's consumption of Lamiar-2's ecosystem.

Shanti and Keban, along with many of the higher-ranking clergy and core members of Gondamuram, had decided to stay for as long as they could in order to ensure the complete removal of people and ancient components of the spiritual city. They continued to reside in the administrative building, as all in-tree dwellings (such as Shanti's house) were all now considered to be compromised by the infection, or in serious danger of becoming so.

Finally, on the fourth day, the entire grounds of the Ashram were becoming dangerously contaminated with AI nanites. Even the standalone buildings were becoming unsafe, and many of the remaining scientists were becoming concerned that the infection would soon evolve itself into a state where it could directly infect Anasians. It had apparently begun to infect small insects, such as the common Orange Letydid, which the AI had been attempting to use as an additional vector to spread itself through. Insects were much closer to Anasians than trees were genetically, and the spread to them indicated that the AI was trying to figure out as many ways to infest life with it's putrid nature as possible.

The clear waters of the Zarghozzi River still flowed through the grounds of Gondamuram as the rest of the surroundings went from their former vibrant greens to the metallic grey and silvers of the new mechanized nature of the plant life that was spreading exponentially out from that region. All of the residents of the Ashram city had been evacuated by the end of day four, except for Shanti, Keban, and a small staff of remaining scientists and clergy who were still trying, in the face of certain failure, to find a stop to the spread of the infected nanites.

It was clear at this point that the ecosystem of Lamiar-2 was beyond repair. The entire continent that Gondamuram and Elmatha'a resided on had reported nanite infections in all regions. The AI's infection of the Orange Letydid had caused it to spread to other continents on the backs of the fast-flying insects. Nowhere on the world was safe from the outbreak, and the final phase of the evacuation efforts was ordered by the Califeron Teseretz directly. Military ships that were dispatched with the initial issue of General Order 14 had finally arrived to the planet, and first were tasked with forcibly removing the residents of the population centers that had been hostile to the civilian rescue ships. Once the residents of those areas had been successfully relocated to Lamiar-3, the CT came down to Gondamuram to evacuate the last of the known population on the world.

Shanti was busily rounding up and preparing the last bushels of the large, grapefruit-sized seeds that the Ashram residents had gathered. Most of the other valuables and important cultural items had already been moved off-world. The last, and most important items that were left were these seeds, identified by the Ashram's botanists to be the most viable and likely to spout of all of the ones that were collected. She had decided to hold herself personally responsible for these seeds, as they contained the consciousness of their Master. She hoped that she would be able to renew the life of Barlek-ulu in these seeds. If not on a restored Lamiar-2, then perhaps on another world with the right conditions...

"Shanti!" She heard Keban yell from the hallway outside the storage room that she was packing the seeds away in. "Shanti! Where are you?" He yelled.

"I'm in here, Keban." Shanti replied back, loudly enough that he could hear her from outside the mostly-sealed room.

"Shanti," Keban explained, "we need to get ready to leave! I just got word form the CT that they are sending a couple of ships to evacuate the rest of us from the city. The environment has become too unstable for us to stay here."

"Oh, Keban, I really don't want to leave." Shanti replied. "My whole life has been here. Everything I've known is here. My Master is here!"

"It -was- here, Shanti. It's not here anymore. This isn't the same world it was a week ago. I'm sorry"

Shanti sighed. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No. No, I guess it isn't. I can't believe I did this Keban. I can't believe that I killed the world. I am so sorry. I feel so terrible."

Keban placed his hand-paw on Shanti's shoulder. "No, my love. You were going to save it. You were going to make things better. And it would have worked, if that damn AI thing or Phalanaxian plague or whatever it is didn't get in your way. You are a remarkable person and the universe needs you. Your people need you. Barlek-ulu needs you. I-- I need you. Please. Let go from here. We still have the rest of our lives to return and make things right again. I promise."

"Do you mean it, Keban?" Shanti asked. "I feel like the worst person in the world right now. I don't know how you can say such nice things about me after what I've done!"

"You changed me, Shanti." Keban replied. "This place changed me, and it will always have a place in my heart, as do you after the love we made, and the experiences you gave me. Before all of this happened, I was considering quitting the CT so that I could live at Gondamuram. And now, just like that, it's all gone. I have never felt like I belonged anywhere in this universe until I came here and met you. I am not going to let the only place I've felt at home in be destroyed forever." Keban took Shanti's hand-paws in his. "I feel that the AC needs a place like Gondamuram to remind us that there's always more to life than just war, business and politics. That we are so much more than society tells us we are. Gondamuram has taught me that we are all pieces of a much greater whole, and that divinity is real and accessible. You taught me that sex can be sacred, as well as nature and life. We need that now, more than ever in the Anasian Universe. Please, Shanti, let's leave here so that we can learn from our mistakes and start a new Ashram where we can give the Master life again."

Shanti looked up at Keban and nodded, blinking away tears.

Keban helped Shanti gather up the seeds and gingerly pack them into a stasis-crate, usually used to ship fruit, vegetables, and other perishable plant-based materials across space without spoilage. The seeds themselves were extremely hardy, normally able to keep their viability for several years on the forest floor. But, as these were the seeds most likely to produce a new incarnation (or many) for Barlek-ulu, they were also the guarantee of a new Gondamuram. The Lamiarian diaspora that was sure to follow this incident would need a location to ground the soon to be scattered cultures of the lost world.

As Shanti pondered this, while hoping that the other Ashrams of Lamiar-2 were able to save the seeds of their masters, the loud noise of two large CT troop transport ships landing in the once green grass of the main Temple Square alerted the two of them that it was time to go. They gathered the remainder of their belongings, the crate of seeds, and met the ships in the square. The other stragglers who stayed behind at Gondamuram to ensure the safe evacuation of everyone else were now loaded aboard the ships. Before she boarded the CT ship, Shanti sank to her knees gripped the last green space she could find, closing her eyes and whispering a prayer.

As Shanti boarded the main ship with Keban, he noticed that she was still clutching the choice seed of the bunch in the stasis crate. Her and Keban were strapped into a fairly uncomfortable seat next to a row of large glastic windows that gave a deceptively great view of their surroundings. Keban was mildly amused at Shanti's discomfort in the ship. She was clearly used to the luxurious and sensuous lifestyle of her position at Gondamuram, not the military austerity that he had lived with for years. He had practically lived on ships identical to this on the long hauls between planetary battles along the Phalanaxian Rim. His amusement left him as he realized that his life would likely return to more flights in ships like this.

Keban also noticed Shanti looking out of the window, crying. He placed his arm around her shoulders and began to comfort her.

"This is only my second time off-world." Shanti told Keban as she stared out of the windows. The vibrating ship lurched up after all of the passengers were confirmed to be aboard. "It was indescribably beautiful the first time I saw the whole world from space. I had a mystical experience, like you and I had when we first met. I fear what it will look like now..."

Keban just clutched her silently and rested his head on hers, quietly sharing her sorrow in the loss of this once beautiful jewel of a world. They both gazed out of the windows as the graying landscape opened up below them. Patches of blue-green still remained, indicating pieces of the dense forest that were resisting the infection. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the mega-forest was becoming replaced with silver mechanical spires and other odd structures that stood where mile-high trees once did. Keban had seen some tragic sights in the war, but this was a worser scene than any he had witnessed...

But it was nowhere near as difficult an experience as what Shanti was going through. As they passed through the familiar purple sky that soon faded into black, the curvature of the planet became visible, showing just how extensive the AI infection had become. Most of Gondamuram's continent was sold gray, except where the light from Lamiar reflected off of the metallic surface. When Shanti viewed this, she began to weep uncontrollably. She rocked back and forth in the chair, and clutched her seed from Barlek-ulu. Tears fell from her eyes, streaming down her face and onto the seed from her great Master.

Keban held Shanti tight, and comforted her through the rest of the flight to Lamiar-3.