FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Ten - The Real Research Hypothesis

August nervously tapped his pen on the conference table as he waited for the video chat to come online once more. The tiger struggled to keep his heart rate down as much as possible before the video link connected, unfortunately that wasn't very long as the screen was suddenly filled with the face of a very stern looking falcon sitting behind a rather large desk. "You know why I called you into this video conference," the man said as he looked straight into the camera. "This last report that you sent me is worrying at best, how the hell have you gone from one of these tentacle monsters to two?"

"It's... actually four now, General Percine," the tiger replied, cringing slightly when he saw the frown on the beak of the other male deepen intensely. "We're actively looking to see what is causing people to get drawn to the Bal'Kar, from what we can see that there might be a mental component at play here that we can't test. We know about the controllers and how they can cause insatiable lust, but there might be another psychic component in play. So far there haven't been any biological precursors that we've seen, and we've been screening pretty hard."

"You know that after the death of Major Amaro we put a lot of faith that you were going to be able to continue this insane idea of yours, Dr. Winters," General Percine replied sternly. "Now it appears that we may have made a grave mistake that has put an entire military facility at risk. There has been more than one advisor here that says we need to shut the entire project down and evacuate the entire base... now it's your turn to tell me whether they're right or wrong."

"They're absolutely wrong, sir," August said as confidently as possible. "Even though we had a few setbacks with our program we've been getting a lot of progress in our research. With the tightened protocols we shouldn't see any more incursions, and so far it appears that there are no more breaches when it comes to the Bal'Kar. We've also restricted people coming into the cavern and set up new rules that they can't be in the same area when researchers come in for sample collection."

There were a few moments where the falcon continued to stare at him, then go back down to the paperwork that was in front of him. "At this point it feels like pulling the plug is going to do more harm than good," the General said while he scribbled something down on the paper. "However, from this point forward you're going to have to review your evacuation procedures in case this hits the fan... and I'm also going to send you a lockdown plan as well."

"Lockdown?" August replied as he swallowed hard. "We don't have a lockdown plan."

"One has been created in light of the current problems that you've had in the past few weeks," the falcon stated. "My secretary will be sending you a copy in the next hour or so and I'm going to have you review it and confirm the training before the night is out. Hopefully it won't be needed, but we can't let a potential Bal'Kar infestation get loosed to the nearby population."

Even though the idea of such a dire plan was unnerving to the tiger he didn't let it show as the general asked him if there was anything else he needed. "Well there is the matter of the information on Dr. Sarkov," August reminded just before it looked like falcon was about end the transmission. "The only reason why this deal is continuing to work the way it has is because we continue to feed the Bal'Kar this information, if we don't come through on our end there's no reason for them to be as reasonable as they are. I trust that our rather sophisticated spy network has found something that I can give them?"

"You know as well as I do that Sarkov has gone to ground along with his accomplices in a manner that makes it almost impossible to track," General Percine said with a huff. "That being said we do have a bit of information that might be of interest to them, I'll make sure to send it over along with the lockdown plan. And don't forget, Dr. Winters, there's a lot more riding on this little experiment of yours than just your research, we're going to need to see some progress soon or we will divert our resources elsewhere."

August nodded and before the tiger could reply the connection was cut off, leaving him sighing in his chair as he slumped over. It had gone just about as well as he had hoped, meaning that the army hadn't come in and shuttled them all out before nuking the area. This also gave him precious time to figure out just what was going on with his staff to prevent more people from turning to the Bal'Kar. Even though there hadn't been any more requests to venture into the caverns he had been informed of, there was definitely a greater number of incidents regarding lewd behavior that have been circulating around.

About an hour later the tiger once more sat in his office, reviewing not only the new lockdown procedure for the second time, but also looking over the information he was about to present to Serathin on the number one enemy of the Bal'Kar. General Percine had been right to call it thin, August thought to himself as he finished the last of the relatively few pages and rubbed his temples. While he wasn't sure what was going to happen he knew that he had to present something to the tentacle creatures, especially since their numbers had quadrupled. If they had half a mind to they could easily let loose a rampage within the base, and every day he wondered if any of their preparations would be enough to stop them if they did...

A ding interrupted his thoughts and he realized that it was time, August turning on his video call monitor to see that he was being hailed. When he answered it he saw Serathin's face taking up most of the screen, the draconic sabrewolf in his guise form so that they could speak. Ever since the last incident where people were succumbing while down in the caverns the researcher had decided the best way to communicate was through the interlink, and though it was clear the Bal'Kar weren't happy about such methods, they thankfully agreed to talk through such a thing and not short out the system with their extract.

"Greetings from your friendly hive neighbors," Serathin said with a smirk as he waved. "Have I mentioned before that this is a truly primitive way of communicating with one another? It's a wonder how you lesser beings manage to get anything done."

"You've only said something every time we've talked since we installed the system," August replied as he rolled his eyes despite himself. "In any case I have the latest information that I'm going to send you through the link, if you haven't shorted out another tablet it should be appearing in your e-mail shortly."

Serathin nodded and August watched nervously as the hybrid looked over the information on the tablet that was next to him, his eyes flashing over the information for a few minutes before the smirk on his face faded slightly. "A bit bare on the details I see," Serathin said as he set the tablet back down on the nearby table. "I do hope that your higher-ups aren't being disagreeable on our little arrangement, I would hate to have to end our deal prematurely."

"I assure you that they're still behind this," August said, trying to keep himself composed as he saw the look on the face of Bal'Kar. It was the gaze of a predator sensing weakness in his prey, which according to the monstrous creatures was everything that wasn't them. "Considering you want our help I would imagine that you and your kind know that tracking down Dr. Sarkov is not the easiest task in the world."

There was a moment of pause as the hybrid continued to stare at him, then his muzzle broke out into a grin as he chuckled. "I suppose you are correct," Serathin replied. "In any case I want to make sure that we're still on the same page, I know that-"

August was slightly startled by the sudden silence of the other creature, the smirk on his face disappearing as he appeared to look off in the distance. It was something that the tiger had seen before, the sabrewolf sensing or receiving something through the Bal'Kar hivemind. Even though he wanted to know what was going on he knew better than to ask, Serathin would either keep it to himself or tell him once he was done. When Serathin seemed to snap out of it his entire body shuddered with the lust that no doubt accompanied the message, then looked back at August as he stared at him with those green eyes.

"It appears that we're about to have a test of our relationship," Serathin stated simply as he leaned back in his chair. "All I have to say right now is that whatever happens was not intentional."

Suddenly August tilted his head up as he heard an alarm go off, one that caused a shudder to go through his entire body when he realized that it was the contamination alert. He immediately cut off the call with Serathin and got on his radio and got a hold of security to figure out where it was tripped and his heart dropped to his chest when he got the location. He pushed his way past other researchers and avoided obstacles before he finally got to his destination where a group of security personnel were already stationed. August was quickly dressed in a hazmat suit before he passed the guards and made his way to the mess hall.

"How many reported?" August asked the lizardman who had taken control of the door protocols.

"Three so far," the lizardman replied as he looked into the mobile security camera view screen. "Luckily they had an early lunch and most people were still in their work stations. Had they started to transform ten minutes later, who knows what the body count would be."

The tiger nodded and sealed up the last of his suit. "I suppose that's something," August grumbled. "How far are they in their transformation?"

"One of them is pretty far along," the lizardman said. "The other two were infected when they went over to help after they thought it was some sort of medical emergency, though it wasn't long after that the biological sensors tripped, so at least we know that those are working somewhat."

"Not enough to sense an infected researcher," the nearby orca joked before a harsh look caused him to shut his mouth.

"Okay, I'm going in," August instructed. "Make sure you maintain a biological seal and get ready to transport three individuals to the caverns and sterilize this room. I want this entire sector quarantined, nothing other than security comes in here, and even then it's in full hazmat and nothing less. Got it?"

All the guards there nodded and the tiger took a deep breath before standing in front of the door. He motioned for the lizardman to open the door and as soon as the guard released the lock on it August stepped inside. For a brief second he was almost knocked over by the air curtain that they had activated to keep any spores contained in the room before striding forward. When he got inside he found that most of the area looked the same as it did before, save for one corner of the room where the tables and chairs had been tossed into the wall and into other areas.

It was there that he saw them, the one that was transforming into a Bal'Kar had been a badger female, though that was rapidly becoming harder to distinguish as her head began to crest against the ceiling. Currently she had her tongue, which was now fully a slurper, shoved down into the throat of the male lion that was still closer to the beginning of his transformation. As his throat began to bulge; however, no doubt from an egg that the creatures seemed to enjoy passing from one to another, August could see that it was fueling his changes as his hand that pressed against the wall suddenly cut into it when his fingers fused together and turned to bright white bone. The one that the tiger really wanted to talk to, though, was the aquatic dragon that was crawling away from the two, leaving a trail of bio-extract as his arms were already a shiny black as well as his feet.

"Hey, focus up here," August said as he got in front of the infected male, seeing that his eyes had already started to glow with a bright green around the edges. "Tell me what happened here."

"I... I don't know..." the aquatic dragon replied, his words garbled slightly from his thickening tongue and the green ooze that was leaking out of his mouth. "I was just coming in for a snack and I saw the other two talking when the badger started acting weird. At first we thought that she was having a heart attack or something because she kept clutching her chest... but when the lion guy attempted CPR those tentacles..."

The draconic creature let out a low moan as he tried to pick himself up, the green drool trailing down his chest and disintegrating his clothing as his wings began to shudder and bend. At first they were just flapping in the air, but as August began to back away he saw that they started to wiggle in an unnatural manner as the sea-green scales shifted into something darker. Before his eyes he saw the membranes of the appendages curl around itself like an unseen hand was rolling them up as the tips grew thicker. The dragon male scratched deep furrows into the steel floor as bulges formed on his mutated wings, the now tentacle-like structures writhing in the air as they opened to show the eyes of fully-formed controller tentacles.

The second that those strange eye stalks seemed to gain some sort of semi-independent thought the thrashing and the moaning of the dragon immediately stopped, his eyes widening as his own Controllers doubled back on him. "I can see it now..." the transforming male spoke with newfound clarity, though his voice was growing even deeper now as his neck began to shift and grow longer. "The badger was part of the observation deck crew and mishandled a collection container... the spores got into a seam on her suit..."

Though August desperately wanted more explanation it was clear that whatever will the dragon had was quickly eroded away by the sheer force of the hivemind that he had been connected to. By this point his eyes had turned completely glowing green as his muzzle pushed out further while tentacles grew out and draped down next to his extending slurper. Even with the hazmat suit on the lust in the room was palpable and it was clear that even with the area being as big as it was, having three fully grown Bal'Kar was going to test the occupancy to its limits. As he turned to leave; however, he heard a low, almost growling voice shout at him to stop and turn around.

"Remember our deal, August," the transforming dragon said, though the tiger was certain that it was at the very least being heavily influenced by Serathin through the Bal'Kar hivemind. "You now know this infection was an accident, which means that you will respond accordingly to it. If you do not... then neither will we."

August just nodded as he continued to back away from the growing three Bal'Kar, the aquatic dragon turning back from where he had been trying to get away from the two and slithering towards them. With his back turned to the tiger now he could see that he was already starting to form the spore spire on his back between the two controller tentacles and that his rear was exploding with growth. The sound of metal crunching against metal could be heard as the monsters succumbed to the lust that was no doubt flowing through all three of them, seeing breeders and slurpers being shoved into transforming orifices as the tiny tendrils of green that made up all of them stretched out to receive them. Soon it became hard to figure out who was who anymore as their slimy tentacles all wrapped around one another, sliding in the growing pool of bio-extract as August left the room.

Once he had gotten through the air curtain and the door was sealed up behind him he saw that the lizardman was working furiously on his tablet, the others already gone to go and secure the sector to make sure that no one was going to accidentally stumble in. "How long until the containment teams get here?" August asked, frowning slightly when the security guard didn't answer him before going over and shaking him by the shoulders. "Hey, how long?"

"We... were actually told of another order..." the lizardman replied as he looked away for the briefest of seconds before working on his tablet. "As per protocol we had to inform General Percine about the breach and he told me to initiate the lockdown and then escort you to a safe location before the furnace floods the entire sector with plasma. I'm sorry... but he outranks you."

August looked at the guard in shock and spun around the lizardman to see that he was in fact activating the burn protocols that Amaro had installed in order to eradicate any Bal'Kar incursion. "You... you can't..." the tiger said angrily as he felt his hands ball up into fists. "If we destroy these Bal'Kar then the others will retaliate..." when August saw the lizardman not react his mouth curled up into a snarl. "But I'm guessing that's the point, they're going to frag the entire facility... but I'm not going to let you!"

The defiance of the researcher was short-lived; however, as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of the pistol drawn by the guard. "Please don't make this harder than it is," the lizardman said as he continued to work with one hand while keeping August at bay with the pistol. "You know that I have to respect the chain of command, and you see what is happening with these creatures. If we don't stop them now they're going to spread through this entire facility in minutes... we have to stop them right now!"

The frown on August's face deepened as he saw the look of deadly determination on the lizardman's face as he continued to go through the procedure of activating the plasma furnace. As the tiger continued to contemplate what he was going to do next to stop this disaster from unfolding he suddenly saw the look on the guard's face suddenly turn to shock for half a second before his eyes rolled back in his head. As the lizardman crumpled to the floor he found Nate standing right behind him with his gun in his hand, grinning slightly as he leaned against the wall. "It's about time I repaid you for helping me with Amaro," he said between panting breaths.

"Nate, you shouldn't have..." August replied, though deep down he was grateful at the panther's appearance as he went over to the control console that the lizardman had been using and revoked the burn order. "You may have just saved us all... looks like he was about four command prompts away from turning this entire area into molten slag. Also you shouldn't be here without a hazmat suit, you know how dangerous this is."

"All things considered I don't think that getting turned into a Bal'Kar is necessarily a worse fate than what I have waiting for me now," Nate replied. "You're just lucky I was coming down to help you out when I saw him pull a gun on you. I suspect that this isn't going to really bode well with the facility community."

"Or the higher-ups," August replied as he made a few more prompts in the command console before breaking it in half. "I knew that they had lost faith in us but I didn't think they were going to go this far with it... granted having a Bal'Kar exposure didn't help. There's definitely going to be a chewing out waiting for me when I get back... to my office..."

August trailed off when he saw the panther start to sway, moving forward just in time to catch the other male before he fell to the ground. Even though he had managed to wrap his arms around the other feline the tiger fell to one knee to support the weight, feeling Nate trembling in his arms. Whether it was some sort of seizure or stroke related to the cancer he didn't know, but it was clear that the exertion of getting down to help him had taken his toll. As much as he wanted to grab his radio to call for help the awkward position that he was in would force him to drop the panther to get it, and that was not something he was willing to do.

Time passed agonizingly slowly as August continued to hold Nate close, unsure if this was the last time... but eventually his breathing normalized and his body went limp in his arms. Once he was sure that the panther was still alive he gently started to lay him down while going for his radio, only to find a hand stopping him. He looked up to find the three Bal'Kar back in their guise forms, stopping him from using it before shaking their head. Once August stopped reaching for it they passed by him and hoisted up Nate between the three of them, the aquatic dragon giving him a wink with those green eyes before carrying him back towards the door.

Even though everything in August's mind was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, especially since they were so recently changed and could infect the exposed male with a single touch, he let them continue the kind gesture all the way to his bedroom. The tiger continued to follow close behind and watched them put the panther back into the bed. Once they were done August immediately told them to head towards the observation deck and the three Bal'Kar nodded, not even resisting a little bit as they moved back through the facility once more. Even though they weren't making a fuss August called into the monitoring department and told them to put the biological contaminant sensors on full sensitivity and get the sterilization systems ready.

When they got to the observation deck the dragon that kept watch over it looked up and saw the three sets of glowing green eyes that caused him to nearly fall over in his chair. August told him to vacate the area and once he was out he activated the airlock to get the three new Bal'Kar inside of the observation deck and into the cavern. August was thankful that he was at least inside of his own hazmat suit so that he could escort the three to their destination without having to wait, especially when he could see that the lust of the newly changed creatures was starting to get to the newest members of the hive as they looked at one another eagerly. Whether it was of their own will, though, or the will of the hive, they managed to contain themselves so that they could head into the observation deck, which those working there were as shocked as the dragon that controlled the door to see the three walking through.

Once August had gotten them on the elevator, which they had to do one at a time to make sure that it didn't break, he immediately went over to the supervisor of the observation deck. "I want you to bring the elevator car back up here and disable the whole thing," he instructed him, the other workers looking at each other with a mixture of shock and confusion as the tiger continued on. "Once you're done with that I need you to all to evacuate this area... we're going to be shutting down this entire sector and quarantining it to make sure that was just happened doesn't do so again. The second that you're out of your hazmat suits I want you to go to the infirmary to get yourselves checked out, as well, and to tell them that they're going to get a lot busier very soon."

Though the other continued to look at one another in confusion eventually they nodded and got to work, and though August wanted to be there to see the quarantine take place he had far more pressing issues to take care of first. Once the airlock was closed and his suit was decontaminated he ripped it off as quickly as possible and shoved it into the bin before running out of the observation wing and back towards the dormitories. With the all-clear not yet sounded he didn't run into anyone all the way, which was just fine for him considering how frantic he no doubt looked as he made his way to Nate's room. When the tiger got there he was out of breath, stopping for a moment to regain himself as he looked to see that Nate was still lying there on the bed. Mentally August cursed himself for not checking in sooner or sending a doctor down his way, but he knew that the Bal'Kar had to be taken care of first and that he needed to be there in case something happened.

When the doctor did finally come in and give Nate a check it wasn't with good news, even though during the course of the examination the panther did finally wake up, it was clear that the exertion not only of this day but the past few weeks had taken its toll. August didn't need to hear the full explanation to see the writing on the wall, they were running out of time far sooner than anticipated. After another round of medication to help Nate go back to sleep the tiger slumped into a nearby chair and put his hands against his face. Even though he knew he had a situation to deal with concerning the contamination breach that should get his personal attention he just radioed in to his second in command and relayed the new information about shutting down the compromised sector as well as the observation deck, as well as that he needed to initiate the new lockdown procedure.

It was a hard call, but August knew that the incursion from the higher-ups to meddle in his affairs wouldn't be the last, and he needed to buy all the time he could get. With the Bal'Kar on one side and those who wish to destroy them on the other the tiger could feel the pressure building, but he felt like a breakthrough was close at hand and he couldn't stop now. To do so would mean Nate's demise... and that was something that he couldn't allow to happen. Even so August could still feel the weight of the world on him as he laid his head back on the chair and stared vacantly at the ceiling...

August didn't know how long he was staring up at those blank, white tiles, but his head snapped up suddenly when he heard movement. "August..." Nate said, his voice weak as the tiger rushed over to his bedside. "There you are..."

"I'm here Nate," August replied as leaned over and watched the other feline stir to life. "What's wrong, what do you need?"

"What do I need?" Nate asked, his voice quickly becoming stronger as he suddenly turned his head and looked at August with glowing green eyes that caused him to gasp. "I need you..."

Even though the tiger attempted to say something all he could do was open and close his mouth in sheer terror as Nate slowly started to sit up, his bed sheets becoming damp with spots that were a translucent green color. Those bastards... August thought to himself as he watched the cloth covering the panther begin to swell with growth that definitely wasn't there before. Those three had infected Nate and all he could do now was watch as the panther continued to lean towards him while his body lengthened.

"Do not be afraid..." the transforming feline said with a hiss as he quickly closed the distance between the two as Nate's tongue began to extend past his rubbery lips. "You must join us... become one with the hive, you know that it's inevitable..."

Before August could do anything he began to feel those tentacles wrap around his body, slithering all along his form from Nate's expanding body. There was nothing he could do but squirm as he continued to get coiled around, though Nate remained gentle with it they were still tight around him. When the tiger had tired of fighting it he looked to see that Nate's head was gone, replaced completely with that of a Bal'Kar as that slurper tongue stretched out. Despite the terror of the situation August felt incredibly aroused from the feel of the rubbery body against him as that thick green tongue began to push into his muzzle...

August let out a loud gasp and a cry as he suddenly bolted up from his chair, the intense emotion of the dream still cascading through his body as he looked around. The Bal'Kar was gone, instead when the tiger looked around he saw that the panther was still lying there hooked up to machines and completely unconscious. When he attempted to get up out of the chair he had fallen asleep on he realized that the tentacles he had felt was a blanket someone had put on him while he slept. Once August checked to make sure that the panther was still stable, though it was hard not to look at him as the thought of his erotic dream flashed back, he left the room and went to the control room.

"Dr. Winters!" the tiger heard the second he walked in as a grey-furred wolf in a lab coat came up to him. "How's Nate?" August just shook his head and the lupine caught the hint and coughed before continuing on. "Well it wasn't easy but it seems that people are taking the lockdown in stride, however the guards are refusing to work until they talk to you, and we're down on researchers losing those three to the Bal'Kar."

"One problem at a time, Marko," August said as he immediately sat down at one of the workstations. "Enjoy your respite now... because it's probably only going downhill from there."