Birthday Wishes

by Bawdy Bunny

Act 1

Chapter 1

5 months and 7 days before Birthday.

"Today is a big day. Huge actually. Well..." I thought, "... only maybe. I mean, who would guess that the most important thing I'd ever purchase in my life could be some food coloring from the supermarket?" I nervously chuckled out loud as I stared with far too much intensity at the different dyes available.

On the simple clunky looking app I had quickly constructed for my phone I entered in each dye, preparing to randomly shuffle my purchase above a big button labeled "Pick One". When I pressed this little button, I might very well be breaking the universe.

That was the theory, or one way to look at it anyway. Once I clicked this button a signal would be sent to a faraway server returning a truly random number result generated from a purely quantum source. If the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics was right, then that small choice alone would split the universe into multiple copies each with one of the different possible results that would soon cascade events into me picking up either the red dye or the blue dye. It was said that both versions of reality existed out there somewhere in the multi-verse but neither could ever interact with the other, according to theory.

This had all been done before, sure. But what was new was, if my version of the theory was right, I might just be able to change my decision after I made it. That meant changing history itself. There were some experiments that hinted at this, like the Delayed Choice Experiment, but I'd be modifying real history and not just some silly lab experiment.

It sounded crazy, but I had worked for over 10 years on this theoretical framework and I could find no flaws in the math, overturning decades of assumed bedrock solid science. I was fully aware my research dove into territory that was interpreted as quack science by the community, but I had checked the predictions against all known scientific results and there were no violations. I had even gone further by predicting the results of new experiments still underway long before their results solidified.

I already had enough to write my own ticket in the academic community, in theory, but I hadn't published. For one, I wasn't an academic anymore. My ideas were outlandish enough I had already been named "the deviant" by my professors and that was it. No jobs for me. Pushed out by the gatekeepers of the industry before I even had a chance and relegated to a boring day job safely away from the "real science".

But I was going to show them all. That is, if I'm right. I was only going to ever get one shot to deliver my argument. If I'm wrong or even just not convincing enough, nothing I post will ever be considered again, ever. I couldn't let that happen. So, not only was I writing theory, I was experimenting too. That's what took up so much of my time. I was having to learn how to be an experimentalist from scratch. Now, since I was the only one who is running it, only I would know if it failed. At least this way I'd get a chance to try again if I fucked this up.

Reassuring myself, I pressed the button.

"You're universe has picked the 'Blue Dye'", the app displayed.

"Here we go…", I thought as my heart skipped a beat at the simple result. To think this all started from a fit of a fever induced hallucination all those years ago. From hallucination to inspiration to long years of seemingly pointless work and years of questioning my own sanity. Today I'd find out if I was out of my mind and had wasted all this time.

I picked up the simple box of food coloring and headed straight to the cashier. I didn't order anything else although I was tempted looking at my favorite candy bar on sale. The science took precedence today.

My little 2nd floor studio apartment was messy like that of a hoarder's with strewn clothes and half finished take out of god knows what else piled in stacks towering to waist height. A good portion were the books I had collected and scattered throughout wherever had been convenient. There was no consistent theme with subjects ranging from programing and science to anime, manga, comic books, and even some furry porn. My life was a mess. I used to be a lot cleaner of a person, but my banishment from the scientific community hit me hard and I just lost the will to live like a human being, not that I had ever wanted to.

In fact, I'm convinced that I was blacklisted so hard because of just one certain professor's hatred towards me when he shoulder surfed some furry art doodles I made in my notes. No, I shouldn't dwell, that era was done.

Now I lived alone. Very alone. But as painful as that was deep down it allowed for a lot of focused work. At least when the depression I suffered from didn't have me gaming or watching of ViewTube videos until I passed out each night.

There were well worn and cleared trails to go through the apartment that allowed access to the kitchen, the TV, the bedroom, and the bathroom and not much else. They were about the only places that were remotely clean and I followed the one into the kitchen to fix myself a glass of water. Unceremoniously I opened the food dye box and poured in a healthy amount. The water clouded with the dye and slowly began to change colors. A little stirring with a dirty spoon from the sink and I was ready bringing it back with me to the bedroom. I felt my heart beginning to beat faster in anticipation.

In the corner of my little bedroom across from my bed was a folding table with my laptop on top, wires rolling across the top wherever they'd fit next to a strange looking pile of open circuit boards, fiber optic cables, and a loose computer power supply, all wired together in an undecipherable tangle. A pair of books on building and programming your own electronics at the corner of the desk.

This was it. The magnitude of this little test would determine the fate of my entire life... maybe. Setting down the glass on the books beside the bundle, I took the lone un-plugged wire that had been soldered into the mess and plugged it into my USB port of my computer. Flicking the power switch on the power supply and a tap of the power button on the laptop a second later, and I was in business.

The source code was in front of me and I checked it once over as I retrieved the receipt from the store. On it, it clearly said "Blue Dye 0.99". Good. All set to go. I had to act fast. The amount of time from the purchase might be a factor. Still I had to admit, I was scared. If I pressed this button and nothing happened... well then, maybe I am the looser I worried I was. Doomed to be alone forever.

I must have taken a half-hour reading and re-reading the source code before I finally worked up the courage to push the damned button. The build ran through and popped up a console window.

"[Device connected]: Do you want to reverse your fate?" It read.

"Gods damn, why did I program it to do that again? Oh well..." I said and tapped the "Y" key and pressed enter. The moment I did the fan on the power supply wired into the homemade mad science experiment spun up higher.

The console started echoing lines every few seconds, "Retrieving random quantum event from server...

Event FC50E557-3534-4DB7-83AA-362F5BA0FC79 found.

Enter Event Name: Blue Dye / Red Dye

Applying changes...complete.

Done."

That was it. I blinked and felt... let down. I looked around and didn't see anything different. Glancing at the water it was Red like it had always been. Looking at the receipt it clearly said "Red Dye 0.99" above the "Candy-50% OFF 0.50". Well shit. It didn't work.

I sat back in my chair looking back over everything. I knew I had thought this through. Could I have wasted the last 10 years, really? That's when I about kicked myself. "If history HAS changed, how would you know about it, dumbass?" I swore to myself. I contented myself by taking a bite of the candy bar from the store.

I especially felt stupid because I had known this was a possibility. Even planned for it. I went back to the code and found the spot I had reserved. Adding this part back in complicated this test something fierce to keep the console from changing too, and in the spirit of science I had wanted to eliminate as many variables as possible, but oh well.

This time I didn't check things nearly as thoroughly but just ran the modified code letting it build while I munched on the candy bar.

"Retrieving random quantum event from server...

Event FC50E557-3534-4DB7-83AA-362F5BA0FC79 found.

Event Options:

Red Dye

Blue Dye

Identifying current bit: Red Dye

Please Validate bit. Trigger change [Y/N]?

"

The console stopped waiting for my input, even though it was dumb I checked the glass and the receipt again verifying that it was in fact the Red Dye that I had chosen. Without even much thought I entered "Y" and my life was changed forever.

"...Triggering change.

Applying changes...complete.

Done."

My stomach growled. I should have gotten something to eat. I'm going to have to order something from the delivery guy again. I looked at the glass on the table, the Blue dye the same as always. Looking at the console my heart skipped a beat. It clearly read "Red Dye" for current bit. I could have sworn that had said "Blue Dye" What the hell?

I looked back at the receipt and verified, "Blue Dye 0.99". Still the same. My heartbeat began to skip with excitement or terror. I wasn't sure which. There was no way I would have skipped over the validation if it wasn't correct. So... did it change? Did it work and I just couldn't remember? And what about the first time I ran this? Does this mean I changed history not once but twice?

In a bit of a small panic I scribbled onto the receipt "Red to Blue to ?" and I re-ran the program. The mild sound of the fan humming on the power supply ground in my ears like nails on a chalk board in my mind. The whole time I stared at the glass on the books expecting it to change colors in front of me only glancing away to double and triple check the bit reported.

"Identifying current bit: Blue Dye

Please validate bit. Trigger change [Y/N]?

...Triggering change.

Applying changes...complete.

Done."

The console stopped scrolling and after a moment or two of seeing no changes from the water's Red color I looked back. Down on my receipt next partially over the top of the candy line item it read "Red to Blue to ?" My brain broke.

I don't know how long I was catatonic like that, but when my brain picked it's jaw off the floor it spun up with a flood of thoughts I had to struggle to slow down, "It changed, it has to of. I don't feel any different. I don't remember writing that." After a second, a truly relevant question popped in, "Hey wait, why DON'T I remember that? Why didn't the receipt change but I did?" I looked back at the console at the "Identifying current bit: Blue Dye" at the start of the last run and paused considering.

I had written the note based on what I saw in the current bit. I stood up and paced forcing myself to consider further, "That result is based off the search algorithm. It's not a simple look up. It actually uses the information from the Inverse Complexity field readings pulled from the multi-verse framework..." I trailed off as I realized what I had done. I was using the multiverse itself as a sort of external memory device. Any event that occurred that was anchored to the change event was included in the change-set just like Schrodinger's Cat being attached to the radioactive particle in the box. The receipt didn't change what I wrote because the actions were exactly like asking the cat about what happened! The cat certainly remembered their version of events even if the rest of the outside world didn't. There were now two different versions of history just as if the cat had gone into the box in one universe only to pop out in another. A choice I had made for it outside of the box and after the fact.

I fell back onto my bed which was still littered with clothes and mostly porn. I had done it. It worked! "Wait, did it?" I said aloud, my heart hammering, and glanced back at my hodgepodge mess of a desk before I took a deep breath and allowed myself to consider thing step by step reassuring myself that I couldn't be losing my mind. I had been too methodical. No, this was real. I had modified history and I even had a receipt.

"I was right." I whispered into my body pillow suddenly pulling it tight against my face feeling suddenly a hundred pounds lighter and screaming for all I was worth. I couldn't hold it in, I leapt up and began running through the trails laid out in the apartment skipping and jumping and screaming at the top of my lungs.

It only took a few seconds of this before a thumping was heard from my floor along with a muffled shout. "SHUT THE FUCK UP - UP THERE!"

That was enough to curb my exuberance, but not my smile.

"Fuck the budget, I'm getting a steak tonight." I left the apartment faster than I ever had before and skipped down the apartment stairs.

As I waited for my food to arrive at the Applebee's down the street my mind daydreamed of accepting the Nobel prize for a new Theory of Everything while flipping my old dick-hole professor the bird, my face on Time magazine in that famous Red/Blue style, and having billions of dollars by making machines that could change the very fabric of history. Buyer's remorse would be a thing of the past. Hell, you could "undo" a failed date. I bet I could set it up so you could change even deeper aspects of history, our slogan could be "Change ANYTHING!" my mind cheered.

The world seemed to suddenly go cold and silent when it struck me a few seconds later.

I could change anything. Don't like the president, try another. Want someone dead? A little nudge to the timing of when they left the house would could put them right in line with that car that just happened to have a flat and flip. Total accidents would be anything but. Totally untraceable. Think humanity is overrated, well there was that bottle neck back in the day, a little nudge to history there and, who knows, maybe racoons would be the dominant species.

The way I modified the framework that made history, well, history was just an accumulation of choices made in time. Bits. Just bits. Change the right bits and you really could change anything. It wouldn't even take that much to do it. Sudden images of hundreds, thousands, even millions of people all modifying reality at a whim. Collectively their conflicting requests would rip the fabric of reality apart.

I may have proved my theory right, but I had found AND developed probably the most powerful weapon on the planet, maybe the universe.

"Oh, fuck." I whispered aloud.

Of course that's when the food finally arrived and I was left looking at a delicious looking steak that should have been a huge prize, but all the flavor was already gone.

There was no telling anyone about this. Not a single other person could know. If they did, they could literally do anything they wanted. It was a genie with almost no limits. Unlimited wishes. And if someone truly evil got their paws on it...

What should have been the best tasting steak in my life, left a sour taste in my mouth.

Chapter 2

1 Week before Birthday

The last five months I worked harder than when I was a teenager working part time, going to school, and taking after hours classes to try to win a full ride scholarship.

I no longer cared what the academics or anyone else said. I knew I was right and I didn't need the glory. Not at the price of the inevitable destruction of the universe.

But that didn't mean I could ignore my own discovery. I had to build it into what it could be. I had to make it real. Someone had to. When I was done I could protect the world from the emergence of other versions of my invention to protect us all from destruction. Besides, I could also change anything, have anything, BE anything! Honestly, how could I resist? If I couldn't share my creation with the world, then I wanted to give myself the best gift anyone could receive. The best birthday gift ever. So, I was hauling ass trying to get everything done in time.

The worst part was the stress. I couldn't rely on or even blame anyone else, this was all on me. There was no guarantee that someone else out there wasn't on the heels of the same discovery. It had happened plenty of times throughout history. The genie was out of the bottle, so-to-speak, even if I hadn't told anyone yet. And if I wasn't the one who finished a device like this first or if anyone else somehow stumbled upon what I had and finished before I did, then it was Game Over. My life would be over, perhaps the world soon after.

After my day job and on weekends I'd spend at least a few hours refining the software and the hardware design. Working to make the system more usable. Occasionally I'd have the obligatory self-induced moral debate over if I was really doing the right thing building a fully functional Reality Hacker's Toolkit, but every time it came down to controlling what I had wrought before anyone else could do it for me. I was saving the world, and in no way was I doing this for myself, probably, maybe. Ok, perhaps just a bit for myself. But that was just the perks of being first, right? If I really was first.

What I had done, might have been ahead of the game, or there might already be someone out there who could modify things as they saw fit. After all, how would anyone know? With this in mind I created, bit by bit, a simple but powerful tool using nothing more than the discoveries I had made that night. I simply found new ways to leverage them.

The new equipment was much smaller and looked far more professional. A little box with flashing indicator lights that looked an awful lot like an old style modem from the 1980's. I had been able to reduce the form factor, update its processing capability, and improve its capacitance for history alteration - which did actually seem to have a very foggy upper limit based on the tests I had run.

I could also now control the whole thing remotely using a phone app of my own creation. I could type or whisper into it to do all the same functions as the main application on my laptop and they'd get relayed back to the equipment and the desktop version wherever it was, usually. And I could use the camera to point to someone or something and tag them as an entity. So, I could affect anything I could see even if I didn't know the name.

Perhaps what took me the longest amount of time was developing a safe way to allow the operator, that is myself, to continue to remember what was changed without the need to write everything down or print it out in the log file. It seems minds had some complex quantum interactions that made it less easy to record on than the back of a receipt, who'd have guessed.

But the part I was most proud of was the new Natural Language Algorithm. It could use natural language to do a search for whatever you entered and automatically create a changeable profile around that entity. That search worked off of history itself by pulling details, ranking, categorizing, and even labeling as necessary all on its own. Want to know who shot JFK, no problem, run a search on the historical event, select the entities involved in the event, namely the shooter and the target, and get a read out on each of their details. And presto! Seems the guy's name was Carl. No title listed though. I'd have to fix that sometime.

One daring night I was daring enough to change the shirt of my old professor's website photo, and his hair frizzed over as well. Seems he now had forgotten on that day there would be pictures. I have to cross my fingers and hope that's all it changed.

It wasn't perfect, however. Sometimes the natural language search came up with similar terms in different contexts that were not what was intended. That's bad enough, but what's worse is that subtle changes lead to dramatic unexpected changes and it gets worse the further back I change or the bigger the change.

That scared me the most the first time I really saw that, but I implemented an "Undo" feature soon after. Even though I got lucky and didn't change anything about my life, I never want a repeat of the "doesn't have a cow" incident again.

I shook my head trying to shake off the memory. "That poor executive lady went from throwing a fit because of a hair in her food to being an indigent farmer tossed out of the place when her pet cow broke free and rampaged through the restaurant and into the kitchen where, if the sound was any indication, she lost her cow." I murmured to myself.

Clearly there really were no limits to the power I had now. But the device could only deal with so much.

I kept my testing limited and sparse as I developed it. I didn't want to abuse the power. Most of the time they were tests and things that didn't involve me directly. The unpredictability of the entourage changes just seemed impossible to clamp down. I was terrified that I might somehow, even with all the safety's I had so far enacted, would change history and wipe out either myself, my discoveries, or something I cared about.

I had solved most of the problems easily enough by creating protected entities quite a while ago, although those extra entourage changes kept popping up in some tests. I still hadn't had the courage to try the effects of the device on myself at all until about a week before my birthday when I altered my history to buy a house.

That... may have been a mistake.

I had wanted to give myself a birthday gift and I had thought it was a fairly safe change. I'd give myself what I really wanted if it worked as expected. It was just a "test" I told myself. Just a useful and practical test. I'd Undo if there was anything wrong.

The only downside was the sheer number of conditional parameters I had to set which made the change the most complex I had ever attempted and that pushed the hardware to its limits. A side effect of that was that it seemed to shorten the range of the Undo function.

"As long as I don't wait too long to Undo, everything should be fine. ", I told myself.

As soon as I had triggered the alteration, I had found myself in a completely new place with my laptop on a counter top. I was also suddenly standing instead of sitting which is an odd feeling to say the least. The realtor was just handing over the keys and a bundle of documents I had no idea what were and, after some pleasantries, she walked out leaving me a bit dumbfounded. Looking through the documents, I had somehow purchased a million-dollar home on a fixed 30yr mortgage with payments higher than three months of rent at my last place.

At first, I had thought I was now rich or something, but I had no clue as to my finances or job or anything like that. I had been careful to protect my existing memories from any historical alterations but this time I realized that had a problematic side too. I didn't know anything about my new life.

"Well, at least that is something I could fix. And I've got a great house! I don't know if I'd luck into something this great if I tried again." My voice echoed into the large empty room of my new mansion. So, I decided I'd declare my test a success. As long as the changes weren't too severe though, I should be able to just fill in the blanks and move on.

But first thing's first, fix the bug. And it turned out that adding the feature to merge memories from both versions of history was much more trivial than I feared, even if it was a bit scary to activate for testing. I'd have liked to get back the memories of how my other-self got the house, but the damage was already done.

Chapter 3

Birthday

For the next few days I felt like an imposter taking over someone's life as I searched everything I had access to. My cell phone, thankfully, only had the app on it being protected and thus unchanged. All other aspects were open to alteration including the contact lists and the automatic logins for my various accounts. But what I found there only left me with more questions.

I no longer had a job. Or at least not one that I could see any regular payments from. Rather there was this large lump sum that came in a few months ago, almost all of which went to the down payment for the house but no indication where it came from. I called my old job and they said I had just quit one day out of the blue. Beyond that, nothing.

I couldn't find anything about where the money came from. I was about ready to "Undo" and try again even if it was a lucky break, but too much time passing caused the function to error out with a Seek Failed - Entity Not Found Error.

I could probably fix that, but even if I did, there'd be no way to cleanly find the exact branch from history without knowing absolutely everything that changed. I was stuck.

"Fuck", I said as I burped and tossed the empty bottle of scotch into the backyard pool I was resting besides, my half-eaten birthday cake fell off the side from my sudden uncoordinated movements.

My last plan to get answers failed. It was a "brilliant" plan to get shitfaced drunk for my birthday and call up family members and friends from my phone's contact list to ask what the hell I was doing in this house. The idea had made sense at the time, use the cover of my birthday as an excuse to get drunk, and being fucked up as a cover to hide the fact I really couldn't remember. But now I was feeling the effects of both depression AND downright vomit inducing sick.

Seems I had always been a bit of the lone silent type and didn't share anything with anyone.

My phone rang and I ignored it, not up to talking given how close to throwing up I felt at the moment. It rang again a moment later when I was on my way back into the kitchen to splash some water on my face. But I ignored it then too.

The third time I finally picked it up and yelled, "What the fuck do you want?" and a gruff voice I had never heard before almost growled back slowly to me, "Where the fuck is my money?"

At that very moment, even drunk as shit, my eyes shot up and I instantly knew I had done fucked up even harder than I had thought possible. My "Oh Shit" meter was going off the rails as my addled mind struggled to put the obvious pieces into place, but my mouth was faster than my brain, "Wadda you talking about? You mean my money?"

Some working part of my brain screamed at me "A FUCK TON OF MONEY DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN OUT OF NOWHERE!"

There was a long pause but I was like a deer in the headlights. "You mean to tell me you don't intend to honor our arrangement?" his voice was slightly strained but blood chillingly calm.

What the hell was this? A drug dealer? A money runner? Fuck! What the hell did I get myself into?

I think the sudden adrenaline must have begun to clear some of the effects of the alcohol because I heard myself nervously say, "Actually, I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"Yes, I think there has. I'm sending The Wolf there to talk it over with you." he said as I audibly swallowed not liking the sound of that, "Don't go anywhere."

"Uh, do... do you know where I live?" I asked in stark terror having about shit myself.

"I always keep track of where my money goes." he said cryptically before hanging up.

"Fuck me!" were the only words I got out before vomiting into the kitchen sink.

I was in trouble. I was in big trouble. I tried to run through my options but my brain wasn't working as fast or as clear as it normally did. I was fucked. I was so very very fucked.

And then the obvious hit me. "You've got a genie dummy. Make a wish! Fix it!" I thought.

I had built the thing. I knew well how dangerous the thing could be if not used extremely carefully. Even a minor fuck up could lead to serious consequences. And today I was just full of fuck ups. Although, even I had to admit, that looked like the only way I was going to survive today.

Setting down my soiled towel I opened up the laptop and began to try to find the slightest modification I could make to make things better, at least temporarily.

I tried to search for "The Wolf" but got an Entity Not Found error. Fucking thing still couldn't do titles or nicknames. I tried using the phone number from the caller id to get a trace on the, whoever it was, and it came back with an Out of Bounds Error which meant that whoever it was had used that number on many phones and my system wasn't able to return them all.

"Damn it! I'd be able to fix this, but there's no time!" I said aloud.

My mind was in overdrive working feverishly on solutions to survive. I figured I had less than a half-a-hour to an hour before I was body bag material. "I need time, I need allies, I need... a friend." I rambled aloud when the epiphany struck.

"If The Wolf was on my side, then he'd be able to talk on my behalf. Let them know this was a big misunderstanding and get whatever this fucking situation is lifted long enough that I can fix it." I thought to myself.

Quickly I prepared the query in the system on my phone. I didn't know who "The Wolf" was for the system to identify but I could still tag them with my phone using the phone's camera. The idea was simple. As soon as I saw him, tag him with the phone and hit enter completing the search "The Wolf is my best friend and wishes me no harm."

Seems simple enough. I had the query ready to go for several minutes just waiting with the camera active the whole time for the moment he arrived. I was half afraid he'd knock down the door so I watched from the window. When the car pulled up, I had taken my photo. I didn't need a clear shot of him thankfully, as I selected him as an element within the car. "The Wolf in is my best friend and wishes me no harm."

I didn't have a lot of time before I met my end, so I just ran it.

"Applying changes...

Done." the device reported.

I let out a sigh of relief and waited by the door fumbling together the story I was going to tell in my mind.

The knock at the door wasn't a pounding, it was gentle but firm. "That's a good sign.", I thought.

With a deep breath I slowly opened the door. Standing there was a 6-foot-tall anthropomorphic wolf wearing a suit coat with no shirt, and he was ripped. If he had been human, I'd have said he was a part-time gym rat but his fur hid the extent of how defined his muscles were. His fur was almost all black with dustings of white except below the whiskers on his muzzle and chin where his fur made it look like he had dipped his muzzle in snow. Bright and deep yellow eyes with large irises made his look stark and sharp.

He should have been frightening, but with a shocking realization I remembered I had known him most of my life. I instantly knew far more about him than I ever thought possible. Despite his size and build, he was actually a little younger than me. I knew that muzzle, hell I knew his family. They used to live up the block from me as a kid and he used to get picked on at school for being one of the rare wolf-folk in the world. It was a common problem for the wolf-folk. We became friends when I stopped a group of kids his age throwing dog treats at him and we got to know one another.

He had followed me all the way through high school, staying close whenever he could, and we'd hang out afterwards. After high school he had to go help his family with something and we had lost touch until recently. It got fuzzy after that.

I didn't say a word, but surprise must have been clearly written on my face as he pulled out a small dark purple paper wrapped box with a neat silver bow complete with the ribbons from his coat pocket.

"So..." his voice was deep, deeper than my memory reported it used to be since we were kids. "...Happy Birthday, I guess."

The fear washed away before I even knew it and I couldn't help but grow a faint smile.

Chapter 4

A New Day

"So, let me get this straight, prior to me getting out of my car we weren't friends and I wasn't even one of the Wolf-Folk, and in fact the Wolf-Folk didn't even exist?", the anthropomorphic wolfman standing in the living room looked skeptical which I only knew because I'd known him since childhood. A childhood that technically hadn't even existed until a few minutes ago. It was all very confusing to the lay person.

"Well, technically, it was another universe... you know what, yeah, for simplicity sake that's good enough." I stumbled on my words. Better scientific communicators than I had crashed and burned trying to explain the more simple aspects of the framework of quantum mechanics, I wasn't going to top any of them anytime soon.

"And, so, until just a few minutes ago you were never my best friend? The best friend who stayed with me all those years? So, where did my friend go?" he asked, a dangerous curl on his muzzle.

I shook my hands back and forth, "Whoa, hold up there." I rubbed the bridge of my nose trying to gather my thoughts. "I'm still your friend. I remember your real name, Max. I remember when those bullies were after you. I remember stepping in. I remember our whole lives together. What I also remember, however, is a life that is completely without any of that."

His ear twitched in irritation and I noted that he kept his tail overly tense, clearly trying not to give away his true emotions.

"So you're my best friend in the world, whom I haven't seen in years, and also a complete stranger?"

"Well, to me, so are you?" I said catching him by surprise his careful control of his features faltering for just a second.

"Explain." his tone was measured and controlled, professional.

I took in a deep breath and went slowly. "I haven't seen you for years, yeah? During that time you undoubtedly changed. I didn't even know you were working for, uhm, the boss guy. Well, while you were doing your thing I had my own experiences. Unfortunately, much of my time since I last saw you is a complete blank to me while this whole other life is in its place."

"So you said. You also said that you were this genius scientist and changed reality with your cell phone. I think I'd like to see you try that.", his tone radiated a note of danger.

I pulled out my phone and navigated to the app remotely connected with the device I invented that started this whole mess.

As I worked a quick plan, I monologed as if I was an undergrad giving a presentation, "If you remember, I said that the program was remotely controlling a special device I created that uses the very q-bits our universe is created with as the quantum computer, applying a series of entangled quasiparticle quantum circuits into the surrounding holographic..." I saw his eyes glazing over and took a breath and readjusted, "Ok, super simple. So have you heard people talking about how the universe is nothing more than a computer program?"

"I saw some news article headline a while back, but that's just bullshit.", the Wolf said crossing his big strong arms. Strangely, in that moment I noticed his shoulders seem puff out as his tailored suit moved with him and I couldn't help but wonder how it didn't rip with all that muscle in there. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, but Wolf took it the wrong way.

"So, what? We're all just part of some, what, video game?", the Wolf's eyebrow rose.

I sighed, "It was a metaphor that happens to be pretty damn accurate. There is no big computer out there running the universe, not that I know of anyway, but in effect, I've hacked the source code the universe is based on. I can change just about anything."

"Anything? So you can make it so I wasn't treated like a total outcast growing up? Maybe take away the teasing and the bullying I had to endure for years?"

"Well, actually. Yeah."

"Prove it, fix that shit and I'll believe you."

"Whoa, remember how I got into this mess? It's best to keep it simple. Think, think of it like an evil genie. It'll give you anything you ask for, but you have to be super careful because it'll give you exactly what you ask for and there are often consequences that come with that."

"Like not remembering you were supposed to flip the house to the cartel?" he said.

I was confused for a second, but just a second and gulped, this was the first I heard about that but the pieces were already snapping into place. I had made the adjustment to get the house. The me, the other me, had apparently been depressed and desperate. He must have reached out to the local cartel here and got involved in some kind of money laundering scheme. He would have technically had the house and I quantum leaped all Sam Beckett style right into him and whamm-o, wish fulfilled.

"Shit.. that all makes sense. Why didn't I think of that earlier?" I chastised myself.

The Wolf for the first time look confused and off balance himself. "You, you really didn't know?"

"I told you, a week ago I didn't have the memory function setup so all of my other version's memories were just gone.", I sighed sitting down on the carpet and leaning back against the wall.

"So, uh... are, are you still you?", his demeanor was totally different. He was concerned without an ounce of offense in his tone.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Tell me," he gulped with a hint of fear, actual fear I knew him too well for him to hide it not that he was doing an especially good job of that right now, "do you like me?"

I stood up with total seriousness and walked over to my best friend in the world and hugged him tightly, "In one sense I may not have been your friend a few minutes ago, but I am now. I remember when you were going through all that, hell I remember being there and going through that shit right along side you. In all the ways that matter, I'm still your best friend. In a way, our friendship is the only reason I have some kind of anchor to this world right now. I mean, without you I wouldn't know anything about Grace, remember her?"

He chuckled and blushed. Wolf had introduced me to Grace when we were in high school. We had dated for a few weeks until she ended up sleeping with the both of us in an ill advised exploration of Marijuana infused edibles. She left me after that and Wolf had been so apologetic. I had forgiven him pretty quickly, but thinking back on it now, I realize he had still blamed himself.

"Alright. So show me how this thing works." Wolf finally said with a much more easy smile.

"Oh right, I had this queued up." I said as I pointed to the living room bare of all furniture.

"I had to include you into the parameters to make sure we both remember what's about to happen. So, are you ready?" I asked.

"Uh, sure, so.. what the hell!?" He gasped as suddenly, and he couldn't tell exactly when, two folding chairs were just there in the middle of the living room. Strangely enough, he could remember the fact that there had always been folding chairs there since the moment he walked in.

"Were.. were those there before?" He asked stuttering slightly.

"Nope. That's what it looks like when you alter reality. If I hadn't added you to the reality alteration parameters so your memories of the other universe wouldn't have been preserved, you wouldn't have even noticed the difference."

"Holy fuck..." his voice was only a whisper but it trailed off into the silence of the room too slowly not to be heard.

"So, my best and only friend in this world, what do you want to change?" I asked beaming.

Chapter 5

The Wolf

• The Wolf (Max Katz)

I was born Max Katz, but for as long as I can remember I've gone by "The Wolf". My parents were among the first generation survivors from Poland in World War II. So while they still had a heavy accent, I didn't. So there was no reason to tease me other than the fact of how I was born, as I was born one of the Wolf-Folk, an anthropomorphic wolf, like my parents before me. I was only the second generation of such people and we were still somewhat rare. Especially on the west coast of the U.S. where I lived my whole life.

I never forget a face. It's a necessity for a guy like me. In my youth I was a bit of a lone wolf, no pun intended. I admit that I had a hard childhood. Not just because of the poor neighborhood I was born in, but because of the fact that I had no friends. Oh, I had a few people who hung out with me, but I was only the third or fourth most important person in those cliques. I was the kid that everyone dragged along if at all. Hell, the few friends I ever had, I only got to know because they were other Wolf-Folk like me. They never would have spoken to me otherwise.

When I grew up and left the ghetto I never forgot the faces of my old friends. I never forgot the faces of the kids that used me as entertainment. In a way, I was very glad that I could never forget them. It made it easier to be an enforcer. Faces are hard to forget.

That's why I recognized the face of the man sitting in front of me. I had gone to school with him from first through twelfth grade. He was a nice guy, if a bit nerdy, but almost as much of an outcast at school as me even more-so than the other nerds in our class. He had also been my best and only real friend in the whole world. Right up until I screwed up and after one wild night, I had cost him his girlfriend who he once told me he loved.

I am a very good judge of character. I can read people like a book. I remember how he behaved in school and how he acted every year that followed. That incident with Grace had ripped his heart out and there was nothing I could ever do to fill it, though I desperately wanted to. Now that I've met him after all this time, I can see how his personality has changed and how his attitude has matured.

"So, my best and only friend in this world, what do you want to change?" He asked, a smile on his face like he had the power to give me anything I wanted.

He couldn't. Not really, or at least he shouldn't. Just a moment ago he seemed to manifest a pair of folding chairs in an otherwise bare living room awaiting move-in from a future tenant. But it could have been a trick, it had to be. It was almost unthinkable that it could be otherwise, because if he was telling the truth, then he had the power of a god.

Still, he was asking. I so badly wanted to make him love me like I loved him, to take the pains away from my life. If it was a trick then, that was something he would never be able to do. He'll make some excuse and I'll know I'm being played. If he does, however, then maybe I can finally fill the hole that he left when we parted ways after high school. But, I couldn't just ask him any of that.

He started to look impatient as I thought, I had to answer, "Very well, since you pointed it out, can you make it so we weren't bullied as kids?"

He looked bashful, "Uh.. that's dangerous. I already told you that the bigger asks come with huge unpredictable risks."

An excuse, god damn it, I don't know why I let myself believe, "I figured."

He must have read something in my body language, I could never control my reactions around him very well, and he suggested something else instead, "But, what if we made more Wolf-Folk? Maybe then it wouldn't have been so bad?"

I was taken aback, again. This new version of my best friend in the world was nuts. He's clearly eating his own bullshit because it really would take a god otherwise. But, oh gods above, but what if? What if he really could?

"We could try that? And that wouldn't be dangerous?"

"I didn't say that. But I went through that shit same as you, or at least I remember going through it. And it's bullshit. If I remember right, Wolf-Folk were lab experiments from back in the 40's right? Right? Actually, I need your help on this one because although I seem to remember that fact, I think I only remember it because it played a role in our lives together. There is so much I can't remember it bothers me."

"Well, you've got it right. Nazi experiments on undesirables, the super soldier program. Everybody knows this."

"Yeah, well, I barely know some of that. I should know a lot more, but it all feels so far away. I think, you know what, fuck it. I can't get back to my original version of reality, and now that you're here I don't think I could bring myself to even if I could."

That made my heart jump suddenly, fluttering back as I struggled to regain my composure.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, "Ok, so if we're going to do this, we're going to plan this out. Cover every detail. Sit your fluffy butt down, we've got a lot of work to do."

And with that, I could see my old friend shining through and I finally let my guard down, and seemingly for the first time in years, I had hope.

Chapter 6

Furday Eve

• The Wolf

We got to work brainstorming and talking about what we wanted to keep and what to get rid of, but I had to break to call the boss to let him know everything was alright. I did something I never dared to do in the past, I lied. Sort-of. I simply told him that Elliot had simply gotten drunk and forgotten to call him back. I heavily implied a bit of strong arming, but he got the point he wanted, the situation was being handled. I think it helped that the housing market had been going up these past few days something fierce, so the locked-in asset of the mansion was a bit of a relief. It meant he wasn't loosing money, yet.

I seriously hope I was making the right call here, because it would be dangerous to cross the boss not to mention the cartel. At least, Elliot hadn't tried running off with the money.

But then, if this actually worked and his best friend was now a nearly literal hacking god, then it shouldn't matter.

As I sat back down we went over what we came up with, "So, we decided we can't let the Nazi's create too many Wolf-Folk or they might win the war. And we ruled out the process being spread because that would probably mean slavery. But what if it was a virus?"

"A what?"

"A virus. I have this interesting memory from my old life. A pandemic. It doesn't seem to have happened here, or at least I can't find any evidence of it online which I think I would since it shutdown like the whole world for a few years."

"How did me becoming a Wolf change that?"

"No idea. See, small little changes lead to the strangest big changes in the background. It's nearly impossible to predict, which is the whole problem. But what if, what if we used that to our advantage here?"

"How so?"

"Well, the process you remember was originally some kind of hybrid-embryo thing, yes?"

"Yes. It's a bit of a legend within our people that the First Mothers, who were all implanted with hybrid embryos were the ones to speak out for us in the early days. Ensuring that we were granted the same rights as the other children."

"Right. You're not a slave now because those mothers stood up for you guys. Well, that, and I suspect the world had a foul taste of rights abuses from evil empires about then. But now, and hear me out here, what if the way the Nazi's did it was through a virus instead? It would spread throughout the world, be hard to contain and convert a fair number of fetuses into hybrids."

"It's an interesting idea, but would we still be accepted?"

"Well, if it doesn't work right, I do have an undo command."

"I thought you said you couldn't go back."

"I can't, there's a time limitation on the feature. We can only use the feature for a limited amount of time."

"How long?"

"Depends on the ask, but in my debugging earlier I came up with a function that should do the trick. I'll apply it to the base code to get a handle on how much time we have. But in principle, do you like the idea?"

I thought about it, really thought. The common cold went through the entire population, would that mean that there would be no more humans, I asked as such.

"I already thought of that. I was going to add a stipulation that kept it contained to a certain gene. I have to look the gene up online, but that would contain it to a portion of the population safely. Also, I was going to make sure there was a vaccine developed within a few years. That should give it enough time to spread across the world enough to create enough of a population you shouldn't be considered easy to hate."

It was a risk. I don't think Elliot knew people like I did, they certainly could be outbursts. But if it was as spread out as he suggested then humans could even be in the minority. I suddenly felt a little excited imagining Elliot a Wolf-Folk like me.

"Ok, let's do it."

I had expected to have to come back later, but with all the talking I got to the end of my shift and Elliot was nearing completion, so I ended up staying at the mansion with Elliot. The boss seemed happy I wasn't letting him out of my sight, so I stopped worrying about that bastard all together. With any luck, by tomorrow morning, I wouldn't be in his employ anymore and never would have been.

I retrieved a few blankets I kept in my trunk to hide, uhm, anything I needed to hide from glancing eyes. And both me and Elliot shared a spot on the floor together. We had to bundle up and without thinking I stripped completely naked as I never went to bed in anything but my fur. Elliot saw my nudity and blushed brightly and my heart reached new highs I never thought it would reach ever again in this life.

I tried to hide my own excitement and slid into our shared spot on the carpet under the thick and rough blankets. Elliot was in nothing but his boxers and the silver pendant I had given him for a birthday gift, but as I pulled up next to him, I could distinctly tell he wasn't completely flaccid.

I actually felt a bit sorry for Elliot right now with me putting him in an awkward position especially sense he couldn't hide his arousal from me if he tried, but it was more than understandable. I hugged him close and put myself between Elliot and the door, my sensitive paws feeling up and down his chest slowly. I kissed the top of Elliot's head, "I'm not a true wolf, but I still have a thick enough pelt of fur to keep you warm."

"It's softer than true wolf fur too." he said as he pushed closer to me rubbing into my fur.

I was sporting a full-on erection at this point, and I felt bothered by the body heat I was getting from Elliot's back as it wasn't making it easy on my self control. I felt his hands clasp at my body and then he spun around pushing his boxers off him, our front's touched and I felt Elliot's cock brush against me, grazing over my junk, making me moan.

He smiled then and I pulled him in for a kiss. We had just a little bit of time before we changed history and it was possible this might be our last time together truly, so I figured we could make the most of our time. As we kissed I lowered my hands to stroke up and down Elliot's body, feeling his muscles. This brought our chests into full contact, and I drank in his scent, and that made me harden even more. I loved the way he smelled, his body even more.

I carefully and slowly decided to take the little risk, I pulled myself up and let my knees rest on either side of Elliot's head. I stopped a little bit short of letting him have my penis in his mouth, instead allowed my furred balls to rest in his face.

He looked up at me, "What?" he asked.

I looked down at him, and then pushed myself forward, "You want to try and make me cum?"

He may be nearly as inexperienced as a virgin, but could he really not work up the courage to get me off?

I think he wanted to, but wasn't sure which way to go, so I grabbed the blanket and threw it over my head giving him some extra room to work with. I felt Elliot's hot breath on my junk, so I assumed he did that on purpose. I moaned when I felt his mouth open, and a wet tongue touch my sack.

I felt him rub his face through my hair, even wrapping his arms around my thighs, and my suspicions were confirmed that he had done this before, but with other people. Maybe actually with a Wolf-Folk before, and that added a new spike of interest.

Elliot started to suck on one of my balls and then the other, nibbling and rolling it over his tongue. He licked at my sack and I moaned, enjoying the wet heat of his breath on my private parts. I felt his hands grip my ass, and he pulled me in closer, I moaned as I felt his face burrow into my fur finding that little patch of skin right in the center before he licked it.

The sensation tickled and I laughed. He stopped and moved up, and I was momentarily afraid I might have ruined the mood, but he gave me that silly stupid smile of his and that's when I kissed him, deeply. I pressed my body weight forward and onto his back, my aching shaft was throbbing at full and it was driving me crazy.

When I felt his hand against my naked shaft rolling up and down and tickling the fur on my sheathe, I shivered simultaneously understanding where this was going. Sure enough, he arched his back as I worked with him to guide his legs far enough back to expose my target, and, very tenderly I pushed myself inside him.

I felt like I was stuck in slow motion. I hadn't even thought about it until this very moment, but I had not had sex with anyone since that night with Grace and of course, Elliot.

I pushed myself in further and deeper, filling him up more and more. I felt Elliot's legs wrap around me, giving me full complete access to his tight hole. Without thinking I pulled out and back in and as I did I felt Elliot pull my dick into him as well, it was almost as if he were sucking me into him, it felt exquisite.

I thrusted into him and Elliot thrusted back, giving me a full sensation, his cock rubbing against my furry stomach. We thrust back and forth in perfect harmony and I felt the pleasure build up, deep within me. We were breathing together, almost panting, and I continued to shove myself into him.

I was so close, my mind was struggling to think straight, my breath was coming in little gasps and whines, and my eyes were getting dizzy, swirling in circles as if I were drunk. My hands gripped Elliot's hips and I slammed myself into him and as we both came together.

I felt my pelvis strike his ass and as I felt that, my cock erupted and all I could think was: "YES, fuck yes." I felt Elliot's dick erupting all over my stomach and chest and I let my cum flood his bowels. I had this sudden vision of us doing this over and over again as Wolf-Folk while I was hoping I was impregnating him with my seed, because that would be something. I made an exhausted chuckle thinking about how such a thing would have been impossible to me a few hours ago and now I was letting myself believe anything was possible. I felt like a kid again.

I collapsed looking down at Elliot, his eyes were closed, his chest was heaving, he looked happy and satisfied. I felt my dick soften inside of him, and little by little, I fell out of him. I took the blanket and covered us up, and we lay there, happy and wracked with the afterglow of sex.

I played with Elliot's hair and made noises of contentment, and he mumbled things like, "that was amazing," and "we're good together."

Finally, I said, "I want you to remember all of this if we change history."

He nodded as if he understood, and I knew he probably did.

Chapter 7

Furday

We slept, but I woke up feeling a little bit more comfortable. I had almost forgotten about being a Wolf-Folk feeling so alone in the world I had contemplated suicide, and now I was in the bed with the man I loved, and everything felt like it was meant to be. I looked over at Elliot and we had moved during the night but somehow I ended up still curled up around him. I kissed Elliot awake and he smiled and said, "I guess that works."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're a better alarm clock than my phone."

I kissed him again, "Your phone can edit history like a Word document, and it can't even do an alarm clock right?" I shook my head slowly in mock disgust.

"I love you," he said as he chuckled and cupped my face in his hands.

"I love you, too." I replied.

We kissed again, but then I remembered we had a big decision to make. We were going to change history, literally change history. By the end of the day, the Wolf-Folk would not be so rare, and I secretly wanted my wonderful Elliot to join me.

We had talked yesterday about making me human, as that honestly made the most sense, but we quickly realized the truth. Being a Wolf-Folk was too much a part of who I was, and even with all the torture I suffered, I wouldn't change it for the world. Strangely enough, it was almost as if it had been destiny but apparently Elliot's life, his other life where he invented this miraculous device, he was something called a Furry. We didn't have that, although I had heard about Furnatics who liked to chase Wolf-Folk around just because they were Wolf-Folk. I myself had turned away more than a few advances from those types, but they didn't seem like bad people. And, now that I think about it, they all seemed to share the same deep longing and I think I was beginning to understand what that was.

With Elliot more than happy with the idea of leaving his humanity behind, we made our plans to phrase the wish as best we could.

I say "Wish" because that's how I tried to think of it. But when I looked over his shoulder after he got out of the shower, using me and my fur as his towel which I didn't mind in the least, the "command" he was creating looked more like a business plan, complete with itemized sub-conditions.

"Ok. This is definitely the most complicated command I've ever used with this thing. That comes with a risk. But I've passed it through the debugger function and the estimated time we'll have to undo the command is approximately 19 hours."

“So, we have 19 hours to decide whether to stick with the world as it is or take this new version of reality as our own?"

"Are you prepared for that?", he inquired, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Yeah, let's do it."

And without further preamble he hit the button and changed everything.

There was a moment of nothingness, as if someone had frozen everything in place. I wasn't sure if it lasted a few seconds or a few minutes. But suddenly, everything changed. I jumped up off the sofa and looked around. Nothing about the world was the same.

We were in our living room, except it was completely different. It looked like a real, functioning home but certainly not the mansion we were just in. It was cozy and warm, not empty an barren. My eyes scanned the room, and everything seemed to have a story to tell. Photographs and souvenirs from across the world were mixed in with a variety of family projects, things Elliot and I had worked on together, which made me smile. It was as if we'd been here for years, as opposed to seconds.

No wait... Elliot was the wrong name. Had her name changed? Her? I reeled through my memories glancing at pictures. There was a cute Rabbit-Folk girl just a little over half my size standing next to me in front of the CERN building in Switzerland. We had gone together as part of our post doc-

I froze and considered that for a moment. I was was on the fast track for tenure. I was a fucking academic!

Ellie looked just as surprised as I did. "Oh, wow, this is great, this house is so much better." she said. "What do you think?"

"It's great," I said and looked out the window at the lush green grass that splayed out before us. "This isn't the mansion. We're nowhere near where we were before."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess the command was so specific it had to put us somewhere else."

I nodded back. I understood. Here I had a job at Fermilab, an apartment in Chicago, and the world was so very different than before. Here I had a great life, a wife, and a better home. The world as a whole definitely seemed better. I didn't feel like I was being played or tricked. Everything felt different.

"But, what about being married? Do you regret it?" I asked half fearing the answer.

Ellie's eyes went wide and she looked down at her self for the first time. I think she was just beginning to realize how much she had changed.

"Holy fucking shit! I'm a girl, and a bunny! How the hell did that happen?"

I knew the answer as if it were taught to me years ago in grade school, the memory just came with called. "The Nazi virus. It spread to the animals and they became carriers. People who caught it from an animal would undergo the alterations for that animal."

"Oh yeah..." she said getting a glassy eyed look, "I remember now. Holy shit this is weird. The thing is I still remember us meeting in grade school, I fought off those bullies, and that hasn't changed, has it? Because that was in the command. It had to have happened that way or we wouldn't have met the same way."

"Yeah, I remember that. You were human, and a guy then. What happened?"

We both seemed to remember at once and spoke at the same time, "Grace."

I summarized out loud, something my new me did constantly at the lab as it helped me work through problems, "You were still human in high school, but Grace was one of the rabbit-folk. That orgy. Holy shit, I remember now. The world did develop a vaccine, but that just stopped airborne and simple contact infections but it was still a part of the Fur-Folk's immune system. If you got pumped with too much of a viral load, you could still change. Sex was the most common way for that to happen but only when the Fur-Folk was already sick from some bug."

"And once one of the Fur-Folk, you can't be re-infected so you weren't affected. Jesus. But why am I a girl?"

"The virus works on full size adults. Changing a gender is trivial at that point."

"I just realized that, yeah. And now even cancer is a curable disease. Holy fuck, that's amazing."

"If I recall correctly, the ratio of humans to Fur-Folk is somewhere around 40 to 60. We're in the majority." I rubbed my furry chin in thought.

Ellie nodded, "That's right. Or, at least what I remember. That's why we have full rights, just like we asked for."

"Jesus, we really have changed the whole world." I said in astonishment looking back over the house before thinking to ask, "Do we still have the 19 hours you predicted?"

She checked, "Well, it's 18 hours and 24 minutes. So I was close, but that should be enough time." She glanced up with a gleeful smile, "Wanna explore a Whole New World?" She sang the last few words from the Disney film that now didn't even exist in this world, not as it was anyway.

I nodded dumbly with a stupid grin on my muzzle.

"Well, don't just stand there all day, let's go outside and explore!" Ellie said as she started to walk out of the front door.

I ran after her and she stopped dead, half in and half out of the door. She looked afraid and apprehensive, but she couldn't stop herself from seeing more, I wouldn't let her. Before she could change her mind, I grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way out.

It was warm outside, but the air wasn't so thick and the green grass felt wonderful under my paws. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent of the world around me. It smelled fresh, inviting and clean. The air was thick but it was a good feeling. It was beautiful day.

I looked at my wife, who was busy looking around, but her cute tail twitched with excitement and that made me smile. The sight brought memory after memory of me mounting my wife. My wife, holy shit. I had really gotten everything I asked for and then some.

She looked back curious why I had paused. I made a 'thumbs up' motion and started to walk off. I kicked my feet a little and picked up the pace to a light jog naturally shifting my heel up to walk on my toes, but honestly, I could have run. Ellie did, however, running circles around me with boundless energy.

Our neighborhood was a solid middle class affair in the suburbs of Chicago. Our apartment was in a collection of identical motel sized buildings that looked a bit like three story homes with too many rooms. We lived on the first floor which cost extra due to the attraction it had to a number Fur-Folk, especially rabbit-kin.

Finding the main sidewalk, I held Ellie's little rabbit paw in my wolf's paw as we walked side by side, I marveled again at how small she was.

"Do you remember it? The change?" I asked reminiscing.

"You mean, when I became like this?" She blushed, "Yeah. It's so strange. Also being married. I never did answer you earlier. The part of me that remembers getting married doesn't regret marrying you in the slightest. The part of me that remembers being your friend seems to approve as well."

"But?" I asked, my heart clenching a bit.

"The part of me that never knew any of this, the part that never dreamed it was possible to become the girl of the relationship let alone a bunny, he's uhm... how should I put this, confused? Yes, confused."

"So you, what, all together you love me less now?"

Her head snapped to meet my eyes harshly, "Don't you dare. I love you every bit as much as the day I said, 'I do.' and don't you forget it!"

I blinked taken aback and she relaxed.

"I keep thinking about the time I changed. Like this other me that is confused is trying to dance around what happened."

"So what did happen?"

"Well, after that little romp with Grace there was that period where I felt absolutely awful. At first I thought I had just come down with a bad flu. But then when the body aches started happening and I started flushing just about everything through my system, I went in. They tested me and told me I had been infected."

She sighed, "I remember vividly the hell my parents put me through when they found out. They were so mad with me and with you, and especially Grace."

"I think I remember that. It's strange having two distinct memories of the same event. It's disorienting. But, yeah, your parents called mine and gave me hell, but poor Grace." I shook my head as we walked. They had actually sued Grace's parents for negligent infection. A law that hadn't even existed before. Thankfully it was dismissed as everyone was underage and consenting.

Ellie's ears drooped for a moment, "Yeah."

"Anyway," she continued, "during that whole ordeal I was going through the change. I got sent home to change and over the next few weeks I lost almost half my body mass. What's strange is that what I remember most now is the time I spent in the toilet, but back then I also remember I was so heavily focused on watching my cock vanish. That was something, let me tell you."

I looked around to see if anyone was around listening to our language. The apartment had a fair amount of land around it that was open with manicured laws and green trees, but just about a few hundred feet away was the gas station and attached shop. I could see a whole family of mice almost half as big as Ellie scurrying around a car while the mother tried desperately to coordinate the madness and the father pumped gas into the car. As he did, he looked and caught my gaze and nodded stoically as if all was right in the world, which as I considered felt like the truth.

"I remember measuring it almost hourly. My balls lost all the hair I had gotten in puberty and my cock thinned and shrank. It was millimeters a day, but I was counting each and every one as it went, and I was dreading it the result the whole time."

"Did it feel bad? I seem to recall that the virus wasn't painful."

"Oh it felt amazing, especially towards the end. I think I jerked off a thousand times over those few weeks. Part of that, I'm sure, was my increasing libedo on account of me becoming one of the Rabbit-Folk. But I think I also wanted to get a lifetime of use out of it first."

"I can imagine." I couldn't, that was too extreme for me to picture.

"I also remember, I was usually thinking about you." She blushed brightly and I noticed her ears were turning red. "I don't even know why I feel so comfortable telling you. But, yeah, I couldn't help but dream of you coming by and plowing me over and over again like that first night we were together."

I blushed a little myself at her admission. "Have I lived up to your expectations?"

"Oh gods yes!" She exclaimed.

"So which is better, sex as a guy or a girl?" This is something I used to wonder about back in the old version of the world.

"Well, I can only speak for Rabbit-Folk, but it's girls all the way. As I said, I masturbated constantly, so I saw the transition, I felt it. As my cock continued to shrink and I got fur in strange places, I got way more sensitive. And the orgasms themselves changed. They became, how should I put this, broader instead of higher. And the bliss, oh gods the bliss. A long lasting slow burn that is like cuddling into the most perfect blanket in the world. I mean as a guy, I'd get relief with a kick, this, this seems so far above that."

"How so?" I asked getting just a bit turned on with her description and maybe a little jealous.

"Well, like I said, I got way more sensitive, and my balls popped inside me one day. That was probably the most terrifying day of the whole process too. I remember thinking I looked like a naked mole rat with his balls cut off. But that's when rubbing down there got so much nicer. Tender and almost tickling at first, and when I started to open up and could rub my finger deeper, I was instantly hooked. I kept pressing deeper into myself to my limit and beyond over and over again."

"Is that why you can handle a big guy like me?" I asked, "I honestly thought you had a fling with some horse or something before you finally worked up the courage to ask me out."

She blushed, "Well, that was the start of it. After my mom, uh, found a mess I left we ended up having our first girl-to-girl talk and we ended up going to an adult store."

"You didn't! With your mom?"

Her ears were bright red again, "With my mom. But she had become so supportive now that I was her daughter and she ended up buying me a xylophone of dildos and other toys."

I laughed hard at the image of it. "If my dad bought me a bunch of silicone pussies to fuck I doubt I'd have been able to, knowing where they came from."

"Yeah, well, I was going through some pretty big changes. And my whole sexual orientation was changing, you've heard about that, and it's worse for us Rabbit-Folk on account of that weird unending cycle of estrus we go though."

"No kidding, I heard even the males have that problem. I remember an article I read once where they predicted something like 20% of the Fur-folk will be Rabbit-Folk within 50 years just due to the breeding. Do you ever regret it? I mean, it was a 50/50 chance you could have ended up a wolf versus a bunny, you know."

"I don't think I would have become female if I had become a wolf like you. But, you know what, I'm glad I am." She beamed and stated to pickup her pace as almost started to skip her way along the sidewalk. "Besides, how else am I going to have your pups?"

She stopped suddenly, ears as stiff as flag poles and I missed a step myself. "You... you want kids?"

Her ears were red, "I didn't even realize it until I said it, but yeah. Yeah, I do. I've been wanting them since we moved into the apartment. The whole reason we were holding off was because life was too busy, but now..." she trailed off, "... you know, I was dreaming about it. Recently. It's really been on my mind."

"You know, technically you didn't have those dreams." I was on autopilot playing for time. I was reeling at the idea of having pups. We could too. That was something we had made sure the conditions of the command that changed the world allowed for, only now it affected a population that was far more diverse than what we were envisioning.

"Fuck you, you're you and I'm me. Even though we have these new lives and these new memories, they are as much as a part of us as anything else."

I was taken aback by her reaction and I went to stem the bleeding before it got worse, "What I mean is... you know what I mean. I love you and I know for a fact you love me. It's just- We don't have the language to really explain all this." I gestured to the city around us.

She held her angry face for a moment, but it cracked under a smile, "You never would have made that argument before. You know, when you were a big beefy hunk of wolf meat. But, you know what?" she pulled me to a stop and used her grip on my hand to bring my muzzle lower, "I love lanky geek wolf even more than hunky 'offer you can't refuse' wolf." And then she kissed me.

I held her muzzle to mine and I kissed back deeply.

"So", she said as she pulled back, "wanna have kids?"

My head was rushing but there was only one real answer and it left my muzzle before my brain could catch up, "With you, yes. Always."

She kissed me again and I pulled her into a hug, fully knowing I had just effectively jumped out of the plane and there was no going back. I was going to be a father, it was only a matter of time.

Chapter 8

Big Decision

-Ellie

The command we applied to the world gave us a little over 18 hours to decide if this was going to be the world we were going to adopt as our own. Over eleven hours in, and I was ready to sign on the dotted line.

On some level this surprised me. After all, I had gone through the most changes when the world changed. I could clearly remember being Elliot, an academic outcast, and a male human one at that. I had been alone my whole life as Elliot, and after a whirlwind few hours with Max, The Cartel Wolf, that seemed like most of a lifetime... only now did I feel whole. From what we talked about, we both did.

After a bit of wandering and some digging through our own histories we found that the world had been quite different from the ones we originally remembered. In a strange way this put me and Max on equal terms since my original world was long gone and now his was too.

The silly mutt didn't even notice that he lost something like 80 pounds of muscle when we arrived. He had looked like a body builder before, but now he's lanky and his fur is far more unkempt.

I don't blame him for not noticing. For my part, I had lost almost half my height and my masculinity and I still didn't notice until he brought up our marriage, which I vividly remember. I swear the memory felt so alien in that moment, the realization that I was the one wearing the flowing dress and moreover that distinct feeling of the lack of panties I left off on a dare from my maid of honor, which was of all people, Grace.

Thinking back, I had a pretty good life. I was married all throughout college and Max followed me like the puppy he is. Before this whole thing, I was secretly worried I had crushed his agency or something and drove him to follow along. It was one of the big reasons I hadn't pressed for kids. I didn't want to force him into something he couldn't leave. But now I know better. With a whole other life I could remember and him almost jumping my bones the moment we saw each other after years, as guys no less, it was clear he was in love with me. Just me. It made my heart swoon.

I was right about him folding to my suggestion, though. He did it so fast we spent the rest of the day figuring out if this was a world we could approve enough of to even bring kids into it. This was no small commitment to say the least.

We were only able to have kids because the virus made it possible. Children were taught that the virus was only making changes that were, for the most part, superficial; which Maxwell disagreed with, as Fur-Folk seemed to have some natural instincts and reproduce in litters even if reduced in size. This virus had a 100% viral delivery efficiency. That's simply unheard of. The fact that it could deliver alterations to every cell in the body or replace the ones that it couldn't, all without killing the host was astounding. Underneath it all, however, was the same old human DNA. Entire chromosomes could be shut off by the virus during transition and, over time as the body replaced cells, major parts of the unused DNA disappeared.

Partners of completely different species could still mate and produce kids, although the species usually represented the mother unless they used invitro intervention to pre-infect the embryo. A human and a Fur-Folk would always produce a Fur-Folk child and would invariably convert the mother if she wasn't already a Fur-Folk. In some cases it was possible for the male to get away without being changed but it was rolling dice that was not in your favor every time. Kids could have parents of different Fur-Folk types and that was natural, but the sub-species they represented would always be either that of the mother or the father, never both, and it was heavily biased towards being that of the mother.

Those odd ball kids were born matching the father were originally thought to be from a strong genetic line, which many guys still took pride in. Science had determined that the guys who got that win there were actually just lucky and impregnating the egg before the mother's own viral load came down on the developing fetus. Once infected, no additional infections could take place which was why you could end up with mixed sub-species litters. It was actually getting more common for would-be parents to take control of the process and do in-vitro infection to get the specific result they wanted.

Me and Max decided, if we were going to have kids we needed to play fair and we would try on my next monthly cycle. But, even though the option to have kids was perfectly feasible, that again left us with the decision on if it was morally justifiable to have them in this version of the world.

The world, as it turned out, was a world. There were good things and bad things. Fur-folk made up most of the population and there were hundreds of phenotypes most people just called sub-species. The virus' ability to hop across species was phenomenal. It worked by running through a hosts' genetic code and copying specific parts of genes which, for most people, dictated how their own genome would react. Moreover, it played some kind of "rebuild it from the inside out" script used by certain animals like jellyfish. There were plenty of scientists that still think aliens gave it to the Nazi's.

Even now, after decades of direct study, they still couldn't figure the whole thing out. Still, genetics had gone so much further in this world than the last. They were behind in other things, however. They had computers, thankfully, but their cell phones were at least 10 years behind. Their A.I. was almost non-existent. Their drugs, of the kinds we could remember, were severely lacking. That was one area neither me or Max were certain on, but the pharmaceutical technology seemed to be way behind.

Limited meds was a big "Con" in favor of leaving, but overall the health of people was good. This was in no small part because the virus essentially reset the age of the people infected to just after puberty and slowed the aging process through some kind of remnant of that same process running in the background. Estimated lifespans were up near 120, so that was a big "Pro" in favor of staying.

Also, Fur-folk were apparently immune from cancer. Not a single cancer case in any recorded Fur-Folk since they appeared. Even those who had cancer would lose it on transition, if the process didn't kill them first. On average the process was fairly safe for anyone below 50.

It was now common practice to offer "transition" to those who had developed cancer, type 2 diabetes, and a variety of other ailments who could undergo transition and get a fresh start. However, it didn't make the Fur-Folk immune to them all. Many of those ailments, like type 2 diabetes, could come back. But it was a welcome "do over" for many people and a heavy temptation for those facing the end to make the jump.

The biggest downside to this world, in my opinion, were the zealots. Human separatists that had already caused so much death and destruction in random acts of violence. Now with most of the population already covered in fur one of type or another, most of them stayed silent. But it was clear that there was still some issues there with random incidents happening every so often. Humans had mostly taken to living in exclusionary communities and there was plenty of political drama around those too that was still ongoing.

There was also the wars. When the Fur-Folk pandemic originally hit, it stopped all activity world wide for a couple of years, even on the war front. This, plus some old fashioned spying, led to the U.S. not being the one to detonate the first nuke, but the U.S.S.R.

Back when the virus first escaped German control it hit the country hard and even Hitler was infected. No one knows what he became, however, because he was shot and body burned before any details got out. But that didn't stop the virus from getting out. Within a few weeks there were cases popping up all over the world. They had basic quarantine procedures which helped slow it down but it didn't stop it. Especially when the Fur-Folk didn't die but instead became infection vectors whenever they got so much as a cold.

Almost a year later, the allies pressed their advantage with a skeleton crew of the healthy soldiers, this officially ended the war in Europe.

The Soviet Union had, during the downtime, worked hard on the bomb using stolen plans and a lot of sidelined manpower. They had just finished a prototype or two, never even tested it, and saw this moment as a chance to gain power.

In an attempt to have influence during the negotiations, they showed off their strength on the allies by bombing Berlin with their prototype nuclear weapon even though the war was supposedly over. They claimed they had bioweapons ready to deploy, although there was no evidence of this. The U.S. was outraged with the destruction of their soldiers and generals which were posted in the area, so they declared war on the U.S.S.R. The allies were on track to follow, but the U.S. didn't wait.

The U.S. put together a counterattack with a nuke they flew from the mainland and bombed Moscow a week after, which the Soviets did not anticipate. This caused Russians to develop a deep-seated hatred for the western world, which has lasted for 80 years and counting.

With the world reeling at not one but two nuclear powers, the U.S. then turned around an gave Japan the unconditional surrender ultimatum. They tried to negotiate same as last time, but the U.S. would have none of it and within three days of Moscow, Hiroshima was nuked.

The rest of the world came together real quick after that and put huge pressure on both countries to come to an agreement. The Geneva convention now contains a clause specifically about nuclear weapons promising isolation for any country that tries it, ever.

In a way, the cold war is still on for this world. That was a huge "Con" and we had to sit and discuss it. Ultimately we decided if the nukes were ever launched, we'd take the risk and end the war ourselves by making sure they never fired or something. Until then we had to have hope that the Geneva convention holds, although it's never been more uncertain.

Over all, we liked it here. The environment wasn't nearly as fucked, mostly on account of so many of the citizens being able to smell the pollutants and much more heavy environmental restrictions in place due to just that. It was still a problem and people were still protesting about not doing enough, but they didn't have the experience of seeing it from another world's perspective.

"Ok, what's the tally?" Max asked.

"12 Pro and 5 Con" I reported reading from a pad of paper with the tally.

"Alright, now what do you think?"

"I like it here. I didn't even think to add this to the Pro column, but my experience in the other world developing the theory that made the device possible, will give me big insights on the experimental side of the current theories. I should be able to produce a steady flow of papers that'll generate actual interest on a regular basis, so we shouldn't have to worry about the grants for a few years." I rationalized.

"I like it here too. Sadly, I still remember being bullied but that was from my old life. In this one, we had the regular high school crap, but that was about it. There's a part of me that's still super repressed because of where I came from, but this new me didn't have any of that. It's clear that old life isn't going away, but I feel like I can maybe put it behind me here."

"Alright, decision time. Do you want to stay or leave?" I was asking this specifically because I wanted Max to make his choice his way, without my opinion biasing him.

"Yes. I want to stay.", he spoke quickly and firmly which surprised me he never used to be that assertive in his lanky nerd version.

"Seems you may still have use for The Wolf after all, eh? As for me, yes, I want to stay too. We lucked out here, I don't think we'll find a better world and I'd rather not give up this one on the chance for a better one."

"It's settled then. Welcome home." he said his tail wagging.

"Great, that's settled. Now how about some celebratory sex?"

His entire body went stiff, "What?"

"Oh, come on. I'm a woman now. Sure I have memories of all the deliciously sexy things we've done together, but I haven't actually experienced it for myself. I want to try out this new life and live to the fullest."

"I, uh.. uh.." he looked uncertain, probably because we both knew I ran out of birth control pills yesterday when the old version of him forgot to pick them up at the store, "I, uh, actually think that's an excellent idea, Doctor."

Any reservations blew away with the wind and we drew together and kissed, him having to lean way down to do so until I suddenly felt his paws under my arms and I was suddenly in the air, muzzle to muzzle with him.

I was going to love my new life, I just knew. Best birthday gift ever.

Chapter 9

Family of Fur

Me and Max called in sick although we had missed most of the work day already before we figured out we had to do that still. We were going to be "sick" tomorrow too, which left us ample time to explore our new bodies.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror admiring my new naked form. I was an anthropomorphic bunny girl, covered white with flashes of brown fur scattered throughout. I spun around and showed off my tail wagging instinctively as though I had it from the day I was born. My new legs and feet were semi-digitigrade allowing for movement on both my toes and what would have been my soles of long feet. Max was the same way.

Bent over I traced a claw tipped finger down my slit which was already slightly wet with moisture. Other than a rather puffy labia covered in short fur, the pussy itself looked human. I ran my finger forward until I bumped into my clit and twitched at the sudden sensitive sensation. My memories indicated that I seemed to be overly sensitive. Thinking about it, I chalked it up to not being fully in sync with my new body given the memories of being a human male that were still very fresh.

Max knocked on the door and came in right after as naked as the day he was born, pausing to lean forward and kiss me on my muzzle as his eyes studied me up and down.

"I can't wait to put my pups in you." he said as he traced one of my long rabbit ears with his paw, which made me shiver and push up against him.

"Well, you're going to have to wait. I'm not in season for at least another few weeks."

Max shook his head with a mischievous smile. "I just remembered something." He held up his other paw and in it was a small glass jar with two oblong blue and pink pills in it. I recognized them instantly. They were known as Heat Inducers and worked with a variety of Fur-folk including mine.

"Aren't those illegal?" I asked in awe, "Where the hell did you get those?"

"First of all, they're not approved yet but that doesn't make them illegal to have. They're nearly impossible to get, but I have connections." He winked emphasizing his last words.

"And when did you get 'connections'?" I made air quotes.

"Guy down at the lab knows the guy who came up with these. Apparently the inventor's super frustrated at the government for dragging their paws on approving it. He's convinced they're holding it back to prevent a population explosion, so he's been trading batches to his friends."

"Uh, huh... sure. Not illegal, huh?"

"Nope. Unethical, sure. Could he get his license pulled? Yep. But not illegal."

"You haven't been on this world long enough to have done this today, you've been planning this for a while, haven't you?"

He blushed, "Truth is, I've been thinking about having kids for a long time. I would have said yes years ago but you always seemed so afraid of the topic."

He picked up on that, damn. "So how do these work? It's not like I can read the label. I only know of them through the news."

"Take one. It induces full blown estrus within 20 minutes and rumor is it's quite a fun ride once you're there. They stay in effect for a few days, so no alcohol or other drug use during that time. Okay?"

I took a deep breath taking the offered jar. I was going to be pregnant soon.

I slid the pills from the jar and tossed one back without ceremony, pausing only to cup my paw under the sink just long enough to get a sip of water to help wash it down.

"Ok, you next." I said wiping my muzzle.

"What? No, I don't need it."

"Oh no Mr. Wolf. I heard plenty about these little beauties. For males it makes them unstoppable fucking machines with a low refractory period. And it'll work for your species too, so no trying to feed me excuses. If we're getting on this ride, we're both going the distance."

"Uh... I probably should have mentioned it, but he also warned judgement under heavy rut might lead to, um, ill advised decisions."

"What the hell does that mean?" I looked at him angrily.

"What they said was, 'Take one of these beauties and you'll fuck anything with a hole even if you have to go through a wall to do it.'"

"Well, shit. We should be fine anyway. We're already staying home tomorrow, just write an e-mail extending it for another two days just to be safe."

He nodded in agreement and sat down to write. Five minutes later I supervised him taking a pill himself, which for him apparently required a tall glass of water.

"Never learned to take pills?"

"Actually, I'm expecting to be severely dehydrated before the night is out."

I laughed and pulled him close rubbing myself up against him and enjoying the sensation of his fur sliding through mine.

I was beginning to feel it, it was making my whole body feel warm and tingly, and I liked it.

We kissed again and I suddenly felt my arms go around his neck and pull him down on top of me. I had never been particularly fond of being on top in the past, but this time it felt great to be in total control as I pulled him over me, wrapped my thighs around his waist and ground myself up against his furry crotch. The erection that had been growing since we first touched me and I felt it grow thicker and larger against my abdomen.

This was amazing. I could feel every sensation in my new body. The soft fur sliding against mine, my paws against his back, the warmth of his tongue exploring my muzzle and the smell of his cock which was pushing up against me and my new sex organs.

I was almost totally out of my head with lust as I slid my paw down his furry torso and played with the tip of his cock until it was shiny wet with pre-cum. I swirled it around before working a finger up inside his of his sheathe teasing his cock to fully come out and play.

A minute later, he slid his forearms under my thighs and lifted me up. I saw his wet cock pressing against my new sex and I wanted to feel it inside me.

I grabbed his ass with my legs and pulled him towards me so all he had to do was push to get inside me. Max did, and my body accepted him fully in one smooth thrust.

I was crazy for sex and I fucked him like I was lost in the throes of a drug-induced orgy, which I was. I bucked and wiggled, squealed and hollered, scratched and clawed. Every new sensation was like a firecracker going off and my perception on everything was heightened. I couldn't help but wonder if this was what being a rabbit, a real feral rabbit, was like.

I was frantic with orgasm after orgasm and I didn't care how many times I came, I just wanted more and more. I writhed and bounced on his cock and it felt like my whole body was going to tear apart as it went through orgasmic high after orgasmic high. It was all I could do to hold onto him for dear life and I nearly lost my grip on him a few times. If we had been feral, and a male wolf had been fucking me like this, I would have been lucky to survive.

I could just tell that tonight was going to be a lot of fun and I was already having the time of my life.

I really did not know how long I had been going at it, but I finally realized that the world had become much darker and the room was lit only by our fireplace and the reflection against our eyes.

Between breaths as I rolled off him and collapsed on the bed feeling tingly all over I mumbled, "I do not know when I have been that exhausted and yet have it feel so wonderful."

"What?"

"I'm not sure how many orgasms I had, I lost count after a while."

"Me too." he said flopping back and panting.

"The sex is awesome, but its getting a bit repetitive." I said.

"I should hope so, I've been breeding you enough to repopulate the city." we both chuckled, "But if you want to shake things up, I could always call a friend."

"You wouldn't dare!" I said embarrassed before a thought occurred to me, "Wait, who? Who would you invite into our bed?"

With an evil smirk he said, "No one that hasn't been in it before."

"Holy shit, Grace?! Is Grace in town?"

Last I heard Grace was doing a corporate executive job back in California.

"She is. More specifically, the company she's working for has placed her here to handle something with a local branch. I bumped into her a few days ago when I left for lunch."

"And you didn't tell me? Nevermind. I'm in. Call her."

An hour later Grace, more of a pure white rabbit version of Ellie than Ellie, was at the door looking somewhat bashful but that washed away real quick when Max, without warning me, answered the door stark naked, cock at full extension.

"Hey Grace, long time no see. Why don't you come in and have a seat." and as she staggered stunned through the door he added, "You can sit anywhere, even on me." and he tapped his cock, she went beet red and then she saw me.

"Hi Grace. I'm so glad you came by. I can't wait to lick that delicious cunt of yours. It's been years." It took a second or two but I put a paw over my muzzle surprised at what I had just said.

"Oh gods, you're in heat aren't you. Wait, both of you?" She looked at Max. "The pills. Holy shit, you're going through with it, Ellie?"

"Yep. Wham bam, pups in you mam." I said, again surprised that I didn't seem to have full control over my lips.

She looked between the two of us and smiled bashfully, "And you thought of me? Oh, how sweet."

Setting down her jacket and purse. She turned to Max, "Let me make a phone call or two and I'll be right there with you." He nodded and took off to the bedroom as excited as a child.

I hadn't seen Grace in years so I came up to her, "You really alright with this?"

"Sweetie, I felt horrible after what I did to you. After you and Max actually became a couple and even got married, I began to realize what I missed out on. I'm not about to miss this chance."

She dug through her purse but didn't produce a phone, instead producing another tiny jar, this time half full of the impossible to get pills.

"Where the hell did you get all those?" I asked.

"Where do you think Max got them from?" she said smugly.

"You're the guy who knows the inventor?"

She chuckled, "That's me. The business I work for is the pharma company funding the thing. I met the guy, who is also a very talented male rabbit by the way, a little bit of friendly sex, and the rest is history."

"But, if you take those, Max is going to put a bun in your oven."

"I've been dreaming of that for ages hun. And right now you're not really in a position to argue. All I have to do is suggest a good pussy licking and-"

"You son-of-a-bitch, I'm in." I said instantly and rushed forward to kiss her. She reeled briefly but then pressed forward and held me tight returning the kiss before breaking it off.

"A few more minutes sweetie. I still need to take mine."

"Then we can be pregnant together."

"Oh we'll be pregnant alright. I doubt Max told you but these beauties amplify our natural tendencies to have litters. You are not just fertile, you're super fertile."

"Oh gods that is so hot. Are you going to impregnate me too?"

She looked confused for a second and laughed, "Oh, if only I could."

"I can make it possible, if you want."

"Sweetie, the drugs are affecting your judgement, I can't get you pregnant. You're a girl, and so am I. That's not how that works."

"I can change things, make it so you can." I waved at her to go back to her pills and phone, "Get ready, I'll go get the thing."

"The thing?"

"The device. The wishy thingy."

Grace chuckled and shook her head as I took off to the bedroom. Max was there looking super eager and impatient.

"What's taking so long."

"Grace needs a cock."

"Grace, what?"

"She needs a cock. A penis. A fuck-stick. She wants to fuck me and I think we should let her. Oh, is that okay hun?"

"Uh, sure. Pretty sure I knocked you up already a dozen times over. But how are you, oh... OH!" and he laughed. "Does she know you can really do it?"

"I said I could, but she didn't belive me. I'm gonna give it to her anyway. Something that small ought to be simple to undo if she doesn't want it."

Turning everything on I entered the simple command into the computer and got everything ready with a little something extra so we all could have some fun.

When Grace came into the bedroom, she was naked and her white fur was pristine except for a tiny patch of brown right at her slit, the perfect accent to a perfect lapin body.

"Ready?" I asked holding up my phone to set the target.

"Ready for what? Oh, you've got a filter that can give me a cock. Oh that's novel. Sure, how do you want me to pose, like this?" She spread herself out but I didn't care, I clicked accept and confirmed the command and her expression instantly changed.

She looked straight down and noticed that her clit was bulging and it began to split down the middle with the top one growing larger and larger at an exponential rate while the other seemed content to tuck itself in at the base of a growing shaft.

"Oh my merciful gods." she whimpered as indescribable pleasure flooded her mind. I was almost tempted to make her orgasm right there just to help her through her confusion.

Her clit exploded into a full sized cock complete with a white furred rabbit sheathe that leaked juices around as she moved, pulsing and jerking to life. A few seconds later, she had an impressive, rock hard cock the size of Max's and she could feel every sensation it sent her. It almost looked comically big on her.

"What... What did you do to me?" she asked, shocked and probably feeling a little betrayed but also clearly aroused.

"You wanted to fuck me." I said softly. "I thought it would be easier if you had the right equipment."

"Fuck you, that's a big cock." she said, her mind practically burning with lust and confusion.

"Then fuck me." I said

"Can I? I-"

Max stepped in, "Baby, you don't need to ask permission, you already have it."

"But, I-"

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"More than you know, it's a dream. Holy shit I think whatever happened burned the leadup for the pill in record time."

"Pill?" Max asked already moving up behind her and gently masturbating her cock with one paw while teasing her slit with the other.

"She wants your baby." I said matter-of-factly as I came up to her and kissed Grace deeply, my paws rubbing against her tits teasing her nipples. That woke her up and she slid a paw down to my soggy pussy searching for and then teasing my clit.

Max looked shocked for a moment, but relaxed and kissed the side of Grace's muzzle and whispered, "I'm game. You want my child?"

"Yes." Grace said drowning in lust. "Fuck me, fuck me now."

Max began to comply, leading her over to the bed pulling her away from me.

She waved at me, "Ellie! Get over here you slut, we have unfinished business. Get to licking or get to pogo-sticking."

Grace had trouble standing but we helped her to the bed, I laid down first and she laid down on top of me and was soon lapping away at my vagina as I licked her new cock while Max positioned his cock and entered her cunt with a single thrust from behind.

It was gentle enough at first, but I knew just how hard Max could go and I knew that wasn't it, "Harder." I said, commanding Max watching from my position his balls slap into her cunt missing my muzzle by centimeters.

Grace leaned over and looked at me askance.

"Do you want to feel good or do you want to waste the best fucking in your life?" I asked.

"Make me moan, but let me be inside of you."

That was a request I could grant.

Pulling back from her cock and spinning around so my own pussy was rubbing up against her new shaft I began to rub soaking wet lips up and down the shaft. I kissed her teased her nipples again, and moan she did.

Max's thrusts began to extend, and at first I thought it was him, but then I realized the truth. Grace was beginning to thrust herself, her novice cock looking for something to sink into. Her unpracticed thrusts growing more refined as though she was being carefully guided and trained by a master.

I arched my back slightly to better position my pussy in line with her cock and it slid halfway in without resistance.

Her thrusts became more frantic but she still took her time and every lunge was like a direct contact shot to my G-spot. "Holy shit. You learn fast." I muttered.

Within a minute, I was howling and Max took the opportunity to get behind Ellie, guide her hips up, and drive into her with everything he could muster.

She came instantly, squeezing the shaft buried within her and then experienced something unique as her orgasm echoed through her new cock, pulsing with broken thrusts as her pussy spasmed around the future father of her cubs.

It was too soon for me, but her orgasm triggered something in me and I experienced a brief orgasm of my own. I allowed myself to relish the flowing seed of my first girlfriend into me. It was unlikely she could impregnate me given what Max and I had already done, but it was certainly possible, and I intentionally lost myself into the dream of carrying her litter as she carried Max's.

The next few days were a blur of sex, food delivery, and snuggling while watching DVDs to relax between sessions. As it was, the pills were beginning to wear off and me and Max would have to go back to work soon. Grace, for her part, would occasionally sneak away to write an e-mail but was otherwise was planning to spend the rest of the week living with us.

"So, are we, uh, a family now?" Max asked a bit shyly.

What he was asking, not really subtly, was if we should keep Grace. Max may love me most, but I could tell he loved Grace too. And maybe the idea of his own harem excited him as well.

I studied Grace and saw the subtle tense in her body language. She was afraid of my answer. That told me all I needed to know.

"If Grace is fine with it, I am too." I said confidently.

Grace seemed to shudder and relax, but she didn't even stop to think about it, "Yes, please. I'd like that very much."

I leaned in and kissed Grace and Max took the hint and did the same wrapping his arms around us both.

Chapter 10

Cheaper by the dozen

The next day me and Max had to head down to the lab. I had to catch up with the others there. I hadn't heard a peep from them about the test we ran on that first day I missed, but I already knew what the results were going to be. They were just being nice and not bothering me while I was sick. Which is stupid because if the test had worked they totally would have anyway. They were horribly mistaken on some of the interacting properties of the particle scattering they expected, but they were in for a treat. There was a particle they had never seen before yet I knew existed and exactly where to find it. The subtle evidence of it should be in the data from the test run buried under a mountain of noise.

Max was in a different department working more directly with the accelerator and all he missed was the cleaning effort that started yesterday. Lucky him.

It was only that afternoon with both me and Max came home together to find Grace still walking around the apartment naked.

"Why aren't you wearing anything yet? It's been all day." I asked.

"Two things. First..." she opened her arms as if she were a chief presenting a new dish which directed our gazes at the large but flaccid cock hanging above her pussy.

"Oh." I said.

"Yeah, nothing I have fits anymore. Which brings me to my Second point, I don't have any clothes."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Max said. He was the one who literally ripped Grace's clothes off to fuck her on the second day when she tried to go out to get food rather than ordering delivery.

She rubbed his nose playfully, "Don't you worry 'bout that. I was going to need new ones anyway now that I can't exactly go around outside showing off my figure like I used to. Speaking of which, " she looked directly at me with eyes that belonged on a predator and not the 4 and a half foot rabbit, "how the hell did a computer program give me a cock?"

I blushed looking away and rubbed the back of my head, my own rabbit ears drooping as I realized just how much I had fucked us under the influence of those pills. "About that, how familiar are you with the Many Worlds theory?"

Turns out, nothing. And it wasn't her fault either. When I went to look it up, it didn't exist. Everett never wrote that thesis and it hadn't been pressed. There were conjectures that pushed much of the same idea, but they were taken to be more like "tools" rather than a full explanation. Over the next few hours I had to explain all of it to Grace. Max too, even though he was now an academic himself he never saw the original theory and although he knew it existed from media never went too deep into it.

"Bottom line, you can rewrite any aspect in history?" Grace summarized.

"That's over simplified, but yeah." I said.

"And why exactly are you not a fox billionaire with a suit of armor?"

I blinked in confusion before the memory surfaced. Iron man was made into a fox in the 80's and marvel had stuck with it. "Wow, forgot about that. But no, I can't just do anything. I already told you about how even tiny changes can lead to big unexpected ones you didn't want. For example, when I wrote the command that made Fur-folk, the original intent was to only have more Wolf-Folk."

"You? You are the reason why we have Fur-Folk? And no one knows this, how?"

"Unless I specifically set it up in the command, you change with reality."

"So what, I have had this cock my whole life now? I think I would have remembered that."

"Well not necessarily. Regardless, the other day when I gave you that thing, I was not in a proper head space. I just modified reality for you to grow it."

"So it's not limited to changing historical events. You can change the now?"

I raised up a finger and then thought about it changing my mind, "Holy shit, you're right. I never thought about that. I had never designed it to do that. That means..."

"That means we could change just about anything and not affect the wider world? No risk?" Max asked.

"I wouldn't say there's no risk. But I'm up for experimenting."

"How about you magic up me some clothes then? Or make it so people can walk around naked?"

"That last one would necessarily change history." I cautioned.

"We do have an 'Undo' command if anything goes wrong. What's the harm in giving it a try?" Max asked.

"Well, then what are you pussy footing around for, it'll be fine!" Grace's tail was twitching in excitement.

"Ok, ok. But can you give me a couple of hours? I want to put in a safety feature."

"Whatever makes you feel better, hun." Grace smirked, "Unless you want to give the delivery guy a show, you had better be quick though."

The pizza guy got a show before I was done updating the Undo stack within the source code, but I had to play it safe. To be as safe as possible, I made the Undo work just like a word editor. You change something, you can undo it. Change a few things to try them out, and as long as no one link broke, you could undo the whole lot and get back to where you were. I updated the estimated time counter to show the shortest of the timeouts so you knew. I also tacked on a quick reset button on the interface so you could set the last "save point" for the universe.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Awesome. I want to see where this goes." Grace bounced excitedly.

"Anyone have any requests?"

Max stepped forward, "I actually have one. I'd wonder if you could set it so I had was a herm?"

This caught me by surprise, "What?"

"Well, I heard what you said about the orgasms being better as a girl, and then you made Grace here one, so I thought maybe I could try it out too?"

"Oh my god, that is just the best idea. I could give you pups of my own.", Grace was matter-of-fact about it.

I wasn't super comfortable with the idea of Grace putting pups into my man, but if she was going to be part of the family going forward, it was only fair.

"Alright, I'll set it up. But," and I pointed at Max firmly, "you have to live with the consequences if you choose to do this or you take too long changing your mind, got it?"

"No problem."

I went and used my phone tagging Max and setting it up for him to spontaneously turn into a hermaphrodite. Like Grace I didn't set it up to change the past, more like the future, gradually over the next few minutes so he could really feel it like I did. And, just to fuck with him, I made him super sensitive, upped his libedo, and made him super fertile and virile. On a lark, I added a conditional for the future so that if he ever got pregnant, he would come to term in hours rather than months yet give birth safely every time. If he wanted the experience, he was getting the experience.

"All set." I called out looking back seeing Grace already pounding him in the ass, his eyes tight with the pain of a dry fuck. I turned around and added a quick little bit at the end of the command that we were all self lubricating, adding our tags to the mix.

"Oh gods, I have never been on the bottom before." Max said as Grace pounded him with her cock.

"Get used to it. You're my bitch now." Grace teased.

I ran the command. In my distracted mental state, I may have accidently applied all the changes to all three of us.

My clit stood at instant attention the moment the command ran, and like Grace's transformation, started to swell. It was much slower than hers however and I wasn't spared the buildup of mind-numbing lust that came along with it. Looking over to Max, I could see his eyes going wide as he must have felt something similar.

Grace for her part just moaned and continued pounding away her eyes rolling back, falling further and further into a wild rut.

After so many years living as a woman, I couldn't believe it when I saw my penis beginning to return. I'd mostly accepted that I was going to stay female forever, but here I was watching my manhood come back. It was a strange mix of nostalgia and shock. Although I hadn't wanted to change back, it was happening anyway.

With years of experience as a boy before I changed, not counting the different lives I'd already lived, I certainly knew what to do. I crept up to Max and started licking his burgeoning pussy.

I observed as his scrotum slowly disappeared into a new wet opening as I tasted them. He was appearing increasingly like a wolf version of Grace with each second that ticked by. The greatest of both genders. My plan was straightforward - once I had grown my own penis enough, I would inseminate my beloved husband and give him a shock he won't soon forget.

"Oh, it's fucking fantastic!" Max shouted, his voice much higher from as his chest started to swell into distinct lumps and his tail flagged high.

Grace was going to town on Max. She was still a girl but with a huge cock between her legs. When I had given her a cock I had based it off of Max's, as a Rabbit-Folk her cock was super-sized but was an exact copy of Max's without the knot. She was focused on fucking Max's ass, but she never let up on the orgasms herself. She was having so many it was starting to get hard to tell where one ended and another began.

I decided my cock was big enough and Max's pussy deep enough to get started and I slipped myself inside my husband. He gasped and looked down surprised. He knew he would end up with a pussy after this but hadn't realized I was going to fuck him with a cock of my own.

"Hey, you wanted kids, remember" I whispered to him and he smirked.

"Bring it on, stud." Max shot back, his voice a little higher than usual.

I started thrusting, slowly at first and then harder. I pressed my lips to his and started to suck and thrust at the same time. Our tongues fought for control and he relented for a moment, his lips opened and he started moaning into my mouth. I felt his pussy start to grip my cock and I knew he was close. I sped up my thrusting and we both moaned loudly as his pussy gripped and released me over and over and over.

"Oh gods Ellie, you weren't kidding about this being amazing. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to being just male after this." Max mumbled to me between gasps.

I looked over Max's shoulder to Grace who had her long rabbit ears completely folded and her eyes rolled back into her head still lost in unending bliss. I had a feeling she felt the same way if not more so and given I had now mistakenly given myself the same treatment, this family was about to have two rabbits and a wolf for parents of gods know how many kids.

"You had better decide quick. I may have tweaked the command to speed up the pregnancies a bit." I had to take a breath as my body insisted I keep thrusting and I had to whence when Max's new pussy clamped down on my cock suddenly. "By the end of tonight, if we don't undo this quick, we'll all be giving birth right here in this apartment."

Max's eyes went wide, "Oh my gods."

For a second I thought he was mad at me until I felt his muzzle kiss me hard with all the passion and thanks as a man dying of thirst gave to a water bottle. His pussy clamped down hard against my cock and my own pussy spasmed in response. Then Max's pussy spasmed as if echoing off of mine and Grace honked out a distinctly rabbit like sound telling me Max must have squeezed her dick while she was fucking him.

What followed was a resonating of half-thrusts, moans, groans, and a simultaneous orgasm from all three of us. And unlike every orgasm I had in my life before, especially back when I was purely male, this one didn't seem to want to quit.

Each of us rolled through our own orgasm in sync with each other as if we were connected at the hip or something. It was magical and I wished I could bottle it.

Grace collapsed on the bed, spent, with Max falling on top of her. I started to roll off of my husband but he kept a hold of my cock, trying to keep it in his pussy. I kissed him, and he kissed me back with all the love that a man could ever have for a woman.

"Gods, I love you." Max said dreamily between our kisses.

"I love you too. And remember, this is probably the last normal day of our lives." I said and he chuckled.

"What about the last few days has been normal? Gods, I love that you are a mad scientist." He said as I pulled out of him.

Chapter 11

Growing pains

The orgy lasted for hours before we were too exhausted to continue. I crawled around the bed to locate my new wife, because Grace was certainly part of the family now, who I found curled up on the floor. I could barely make out she was breathing, so I lifted her gently and took her to the bed. I placed her beside Max, who had fallen asleep on his back. I didn't have the heart to move him so instead I just curled up beside him on the bed that was left and drifted off to sleep myself.

I woke sometime later and could feel painful stretching sensations in my abdomen. I slowly and gently removed myself from Grace and Max and searched through my bag. I found my phone on the floor and looked up a number for a delivery service. My mind was much more clear than it had been before and I realized that in short order we would be three very very hungry and very pregnant herms and were going to need a lot more than pizza.

I heard a very wolf-like yip from the bed. I looked over and saw a tail, furry and bushy, moving back and forth. Max's long sexy legs were a foot shorter than they were before and his beautiful face was much shorter than it had been. His hands were a bit shorter but still looked similar to what he had before. And then there were his tits, large and round somewhere between D and E cup sized at least and almost looking swollen enough to spring a leak.

Looking through the internet of this world was like looking at websites from the beginning century and finding anything was frustrating. It looked like delivery services were hidden or maybe non-existent. That would not do.

Opening my command app I edited history a tad to make delivery services from grocery stores with online storefronts a more common thing and I ran it.

Checking again, I found the nearby grocery store now had a mobile website friendly storefront. Although it was nothing fancy, it allowed me to order groceries complete with the option for same-day delivery.

"Gods, this program of mine was going to spoil me." I thought to myself.

After making my choices and leaving instructions to knock, I got back into bed with Max and Grace. They both had small but noticeable bulges suspiciously on their bellies. Seems we slept through the morning sickness part entirely, which I was thankful for. Whatever I had done to us was super draining, however, and I fell asleep as soon as I settled in against my lovers.

*****

I woke once more early in the morning to hunger pains and temperature changes. Max and Grace were curled up close to me and had a sort of glazed over look in their eyes. I could feel movement from both of them and it felt like my stomach was bottomless. I didn't even bother to take my phone out of my bag, I just knew we'd be getting a delivery soon.

"Morning hun." Max whispered to me as he tried to avoid waking Grace even more as she tossed and turned.

"Oh god, I'm so hungry." Max said, "I went to order a pizza but they're not open yet. I think I emptied out the fridge too."

"Don't worry, I placed an order with the grocery store last night and we should be getting it soon." I whispered back giving him a soft little kiss.

I was right, not fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door. That made Grace stir awake, but her fur was unkempt and looked like she had gone through the tumble dry of a commercial clothes dryer and needed an intravenous transfusion of coffee.

I called out that the door was unlocked, I was expecting the delivery. Then I called out to the delivery person and ordered them to leave the boxes and go. The sound of them landing hard on the table when he placed them there told me the boxes were heavy and a pain to move. I couldn't be bothered with that hassle and kept dozing off still in bed until I was awakened by the sound of the boxes being opened and bags rustling.

"Is it OK?" I asked noticing a wolf sized space on the bed had opened up.

"It's good. Gods your amazing Ellie." Max replied with a familiar deep resonating voice munching on the potato chips I ordered.

"Sounds like you found something to eat." I said and watched as the words seemed to wake Grace up from her morning stupor like I had flipped a switch on her.

"There's food?" She asked with a dry throat, and was suddenly heading out towards the living room showing me her ass fur was just as unkempt as the rest of her. It made me chuckle. I figured I had better get something myself or I'd go hungry.

Within a few minutes we were all scavenging around the six boxes of food I had ordered opening and unceremoniously munching as we went. I had put it all on the credit card, so I knew me and Max would be feeling it later but this was less of a want and more of a need anyway.

Max gave out a feminine "Eeep!" and put a hand on his growing belly.

"Oh gods, Ellie, is Max pregnant?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, I may have done something stupid last night had put a fast forward on our pregnancies."

"How fast?" She said with a note of fear.

"By this afternoon." I said bashfully.

"Can we survive it?" Grace asked.

It was a reasonable question. Grace had never been dim. She may not have been a scientist like me and Max but she knew that the body wasn't designed to go through changes that quickly.

"I put a stipulation in that we give birth safely to healthy babies. That somehow seems to have covered it."

"Are you sure?" Max asked clearly concerned rubbing a paw on his growing belly.

"We should be feeling negative effects already otherwise."

*****

It was the weekend, so no need for work. We passed the time watching some TV shows. Grace ended up curled up in Max's lap and I ended up curled up in hers. Max had gone to the bathroom, I could hear him peeing, and when he walked back in his belly was now extended in a full dome. I ran into the bathroom just a few seconds later with my own sudden need to pee, I didn't even bother to close the door.

"It's happening faster than you said." Max said a bit worriedly.

"We'll be FINE." I said reassuring Max.

"Speaking of FINE." Grace said, "I need to pee."

A few minutes later Max stood up and tried to walk to the kitchen but fell flat on his face.

"Shit, I'm clumsy." Max said and then really gasped in pain as the pups growing in his belly made their displeasure known. "Gods, oh gods. Oh shit.. oh shit.." he said gasping.

It took minutes for them to calm down while me and Grace tried to calm both Max and the unborn pups gently laying Max down on the bed.

"How do you girls put up with this?" Max said looking pained.

"Welcome to womanhood." Grace said smiling.

I chuckled but Grace pulled me aside smoothly so Max wouldn't notice, "What are we going to do when it's finally time? Are we going to have them right here? Shouldn't we, you know, go to the hospital?"

"Do you want to explain how max got pregnant or why your medical file undoubtedly lists you as a female Rabbit-Folk yet you have a cock that would put most bucks to shame?"

Grace groaned, "You're not making this easy Ellie. So what the hell are we going to do?"

"I have the undo command, maybe we should use it?"

She looked back at Max who looked much more at peace now rubbing his own pregnant belly in something resembling awe and contentment. I saw too and instantly knew we wouldn't be able to bring ourselves to do it.

"Shit. Well if it's any consolation, the command did ensure we'd be safe." I said.

"Yeah, well, I prefer to be doubly safe. Prepare another command to make sure we stay that way for at least a while, but don't run it. If anything goes south you can trigger it and make sure everyone will be ok."

"What if I can't run it when the time comes?" I asked.

"Show me how to use the app, or better yet, install it on my own phone."

It was probably a bad idea, but I did as she asked without thinking anything of it installing a copy of the app on her phone and showing her how to use it.

***

We were all pretty much lounging around the apartment. We were all showing unusually massive dome bellies which was starting to get in the way of things at this point. The aches and pains were a constant problem too. With none of us being able reach the higher cabinets or much will to move unless necessary, we took to emptying out the grocery order I had placed this morning.

Between the bottomless hunger, the near constant trips to the restroom, and the aches and pains paired with the onset of exhaustion searching for more food, I was nearing my limit.

Max knew I couldn't take it much longer, so he called up the grocery store again and ordered a few meals to be delivered. The earliest delivery time they could get to us was in an hour. The food arrived pretty quickly, but it wasn't enough and I had to call them again and I ordered a dozen meals to be delivered.

Grace showed her wisdom when another delivery arrived at the door, this one from some other store with tons of baby gear for new infants.

I looked at her in surprise and awe, none of this was cheap, "Grace... this..."

Grace looked smug, "Someone had to think of the kids. I didn't know how many we were going to have to I kinda of just bought up whatever they had in stock."

I hadn't thought of any of that, which surprised me. Usually I was better about such things. But then, thinking over my life as a Fur-Folk, the children of this world tended not to need as much being a little more robust than plain humans.

About an hour and two boxes of cereal later, I was half-way through my third when I got stabbing pains deep down I recognized as cramps.

"Oh gods..." I said as I cupped my belly trying to lift and relieve some of the pressure and willing the pains deep blow my paws to fade.

***

Maybe we were lucky, maybe it was part of the magic of the command that kept us safe, but we each entered labor separately that day. I was first by a solid couple of hours, but it was within the span of the first 30 minutes that my water had broken and my cramps were nearly driving me unconscious with how frequent and how big they were. And then suddenly, it didn't hurt so much anymore. The cramps were still there, but instead of pain I started to feel a trembling pleasure of building orgasmic bliss every time it happened.

When I saw Grace looking a bit sheepish, I knew she had used the app. Oh well, it was better than trying to call an ambulance at this point.

The delivery went about as smooth as one could hope. Each of us took turns on the bed when it was our time and gave birth to baby after baby. I had four, two wolves and two rabbits, which was on the high end for rabbit-folk without assistance. Grace was next and had two wolves and a rabbit. Max ended up having three rabbits and two wolves.

A dozen. We had a dozen children between the three of us. Grace had the idea of using a permanent marker to write on their foot pads so we could keep track of who was who's and in what order. At that age, their tender little pads took the ink with no trouble through it wouldn't last for more than a few days.

Chapter 12

A Bigger House

All the blankets in the apartment were scattered throughout the bedroom and there were wolf pups and rabbit kits everywhere. Many of them were crying, but each of us was nursing one of them in turn while sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Twelve, holy crap Ellie. What did you do?" Grace shook her head unable to keep her ears aloft she was so tired. We all were.

I blushed and felt deeply ashamed, but what was done was done. No one suggested undo that event, and in fact, I think I pretty well ruined any option to use the Undo command for any of it.

What made me feel even more embarrassed was the fact that Grace stepped up so well during that whole fiasco. It was her that added a command that made the births painless and she was the one who came up with the idea of marking the little ones as they came. Otherwise it'd be almost impossible to know who's was who's.

"I'm sorry, guys. It was a dumb prank mixed with an awful mistake."

Grace, who was sitting right beside me, rubbed my head fur never letting go of the little doe nursing on her. "Don't beat yourself up over it too much. I had my own life changing fuckup a while back and although life was never the same for any of us, things turned out pretty good I think. This could be the same."

Max chimed in, "It's a lot of kids. But I love each and every one of them already. There's no way I could bring myself to Undo any of it. I wouldn't even risk major changes now."

They both nodded as I hung my head in shame.

"All that's left to do is to figure out what to do now." Grace said switching the little doe who had begun to fall asleep with another more cranky wolf. She winced as he clamped down on her tit. But his sudden nursing helped silence one more voice from the choir.

"I'd hate to suggest it, especially given what I just said, but given that's how we ended up in this situation, how about we wish us up a bigger house?" Max offered.

"That wouldn't be enough." I sighed, "We'd need the income source to support the house and the kids. We've got twelve of these guys, we'll need wet nurses and nurse maids, and-"

Grace broke in to continue, "-and butlers, and fancy cars. I get it. You do realize that you don't need to use the wishy thingy to do any of that, right? Just part of what you've done is enough to change the world a dozen times over without any magic commands. Jesus Fluffy-Ass Christ, we're all fucking herms now who just popped out 12 kids in a weekend. Just going on a talk-show tour would line your pockets enough to get by. And you told me the other night you might be able to bring in all that media from the other universes. That alone is worth billions. And that's just off the top of my head!"

A couple of the kids started to wake and we all went stock silent for a short bit to let them settle.

"I also have a Theory of Everything that would put us on the map. It might take too long to get attention for the community on that, but it would happen." I said.

Someone knocked on the door, it was Max that set down his little wolf girl and stood up. "So, we have options. That's good."

"Hun, put on some clothes, or at least the bathrobe. I don't want to have to bail you out while caring for 12 kids." I said.

Max diverted to the bathroom and got his robe on which now dragged on the floor a little.

Whoever it was knocked again and Max navigated the minefield of children and soiled blankets to get into the living room and rush to the door.

He left the bedroom door open though so with my excellent hearing and full attention I was able to pickup the distinct voice of Ms. Wollman, the apartment complex property manager.

"Oh shit, it's the landlord." I whispered to Grace and gently turned to set my latest customer down onto the bed. "Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't fall." I said as I hurried into the bathroom and grabbed one of the larger towels and wrapped it around my waist. Coming back out, I picked up the little buck and let him continue nursing before heading towards the door.

"I tried calling you several times already. We've had noise complaints all around your unit all the way up the the third floor. You're lucky I haven't called the police." Ms. Wollman growled at Max. She was a Wolf-Folk like him, but much more rotund.

Max looked subdued and a bit terrified, but his ear twitched and must have seen me approach through the corner of his eye because he stiffened up and spoke assertively in a voice as close to his old one as he could manage, "Look, I apologize about the noise but there is no reason to call the cops. My wife just suddenly went into labor and started giving birth so I had to make do here."

This shocked Ms. Wollman enough I could hear her choke on her next words already leaving her muzzle. She paused to recollect her thoughts for a handful of seconds and then it was right back to angry landlord, "Nice try. I've seen Ms. Katz as recently as a few weeks ago. She is not pregnant, or at least certainly not ready to give birth."

I smirked and thought, Showtime. I quickly schooled my face into that of concern and stepped out from behind Max. I got my first good look of Ms. Wollman today, she was wearing her professional office attire but I knew for a fact she didn't work weekends which meant she had come in special for this. Too bad I was about to send her packing.

I stood there with the baby nursing against my breast looking worn and haggard, which wasn't much of an act because I was, "I'm sorry Ms. Katz, maybe I should have mentioned it earlier but as you can see, I'm a mother now."

Ms. Wollmans jaw dropped wide open, and for a Wolf-Folk that was a hell of a sight. For me, though it triggered a deep imbedded instinct that made me uncomfortable, yet inside I was celebrating.

"I, uh, I, uh..." She kept looking back between the two of us before the fight drained out of her and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry Ms. Katz, I didn't know. Are you alright? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

"Oh, it was rough there for a while, but I'm fine. See?" I shook my little one a little which he didn't appreciate but thankfully went right back to nursing.

"I really think I should call an ambulance."

"No need. Yeah, this one caught us a bit by surprise but we'll be heading to the hospital shortly. But there's no need for an ambulance. After all, those things cost quite a bit and I have kids to think of, now." Max said stoically.

"Kids? As in more than one?"

Max rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, the others are sleeping in the other room. Don't worry, we'll take care of it."

Ms. Wollman shook her head again and chuckled, "My gods Ms. Katz, you've got to tell me how you were able to fly that under the radar."

I chuckled, "A girl has her secrets. But, maybe later I could let you in on some of them?"

That got her, she smiled back at me without an ounce of the landlord persona she put on for her renters.

"Well, I'll let the other renters know that this was a one-off. But please do be mindful of the others around you. And maybe later, I could show you some bigger units?"

And there's that persona again. Oh, well. "Sure Ms. Wollman. But how about later? We're a bit exhausted right now."

"That I can see, and smell." She chuckled, "Alright then, good luck with your new little ones. Bring them by the main office sometime, I'd love to get a picture."

"Thank you Ms. Wollman. You have a good day." Max said as he closed the door slowly.

We both waited a few seconds as we listened for the tell-tale sounds of her hard shoes moving down the walkway out of immediate earshot and we relaxed.

"We're going to need a bigger house." I said.

Max gave me a perplexed look and said, "You think?"

Chapter 13

Corporate Sponsorship

"Ugh, what are we going to do?" I groaned.

Just over the course of the last few days myself, Grace, and Max had all become herms, gotten pregnant, and gave birth. Now we had 12 kids between in an apartment designed for a single couple.

Using the device that made all this possible wasn't an option. After the landlord's visit, I had checked the device to see what our options were. The timer for the Undo command was negative meaning the window to fix things had ended. There was no going back, which oddly made me feel quite a bit better knowing our children weren't in any immediate danger.

Grace, once again, came to the rescue. "Well, we can't all stay here. I'm sorry, hun, this apartment is just too small. But I've got a house we can use."

Max's ears perked and then cocked in confusion, "You have a house? But, aren't you here just temporarily for your company?"

Grace chuckled, "I may have undersold my position a bit. I'm not just the representative of the company, I'm also one of its founders."

Both our mouths gaped open, "You're fucking kidding me!"

"The rabbit who invented the fertility pills, Benedict Brady, is someone I met in College when he was working on the formula. See, after that whole lawsuit thing, I ended up studying law and passed the bar all while taking classes for my chosen career in Pharmaceuticals. Ben was the geneticist that was on the edge of a major discovery for fertility and between the two of us and another Pharma guy named Randy Winters, we made the first doses. I took up responsibility for getting the company started and negotiated the contract with the parent Pharmaceutical company. It's the parent company and Ben that everyone knows because of that article. Randy has stayed pretty quiet and out of the lime lite this whole time, but his folks used to live out here. I've been staying at his parent's old place since I got here. I've been doubling as the role of executive sales woman from then on."

"Jesus, you were never that much of a student before, what changed?", my question was innocent and honest but I instantly regretted my wording.

Grace just smirked, "Yeah, my parents didn't take the whole lawsuit thing well and the way I coped was to spend just about every waking moment at school after that. Anything to limit the time I spent at home."

"You don't think he'll mind?", Max asked.

"Don't worry about that. It's a big place.", she smiled with a devious grin, "You'll like it."

Grace ended up borrowing some clothes from max, which made her look very strange. I found a dress, but none of the panties felt right so I went commando. I offered another dress to Max but he insisted on wearing his old baggy clothes regardless. He looked like he was wearing something from his old buff form.

Max wasn't happy about it, but we were forced to load all the kids into his full size Ford. None of them had any protective seating and they were protected only by plastic bins which we had repurposed from the closet storage. Many of them weren't happy, but there was nothing we could do about that right then. Grace drove and me and max tried our best to keep the kids calm and relaxed.

Thirty minutes later and we pulled up at a mansion and a few minutes after that the kids were almost all passed out on the California King size bed of the master bedroom.

Grace waved her hands outwards to the expansive house, "Over 9,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms all on a 10 acre lot with an estimated value around 3 million."

I couldn't whistle now that I was a rabbit, but I wanted to, "Jesus Fluffy-Ass Christ!"

"I had no idea you were doing so well.", Max agreed.

"To be fair, like I said earlier, this house isn't mine. If it weren't for the fact I was getting to stay here for free I'd have gotten something closer to business district and certainly smaller. This is way too much house for my lonesome."

"Are you sure it's going to be ok? I don't want you to get into trouble. We set those kids down on the master bed and I'm not certain they wont destroy it.", I was concerned Grace was sticking her neck out too far here.

"This was and this is how he put it, 'a spare house' he inherited from his parents." Grace said using air quotes, "When his parents were killed by extremists a few years back, Randy took up the role of the silent finical backer of our little group. But, since then, we've already gotten more than enough outside investors to keep the company going for quite a while without having to worry about another round of funding. Even though the company hasn't made any money, as of yet, my stock value is somewhere in the area of 2.3 billion. Even if Randy threw a fit, and I doubt he would, I'm sure he'd buy a few shares to pay for the house."

"You're a billionaire!", Max gaped.

"Only on paper. However, I have a generous salary right now and a Master Black Card if things really got tight."

Max turned to me, "Ellie, maybe you should make polygamy legal. I want to marry Grace."

I laughed, "I'm tempted."

"No using the magic thingy. From the stories you've told me and from the clear side effects if not done perfectly, it's clear there is a significant risk to using it that needs to be considered. I don't want to wake up only to find out I don't have my babies anymore."

Both me and Max very solemnly nodded. Neither of us would dare risk that.

Grace continued, "That being the case, there will be no more fertility pills. Not only do we have more than enough children to deal with right now, but the loss of judgement under the influence could be exceptionally dangerous."

"Then we'll want to do the same and avoid other drugs and alcohol as well. Anything that can raise the temptation is a risk. In fact, Ellie, could you put a lock on it?"

"Sure. That's not a bad idea. I'll add password protection. But who should have the password?"

Grace shook her head, "The password protection is a fine idea, but I don't think we should restrain use to any single one of us. After all, things could have gotten a lot worse if I hadn't stepped in when I did during your labor Ellie."

I nodded, "Fair enough. I'll add additional security to the codebase and compilation tools as well. I'd been meaning to do that for several worlds now."

Grace raised an eyebrow at that but didn't address it.

"If that's settled, we really need to talk about the kids. We need cribs, more diapers, food and everything else. I don't think I can nurse all of them.", Max said.

"Clothes. Gods I need clothes too.", Grace tightened a belt that was way over the limit to keep her pants from falling off.

"If we're not going to use the device anymore because of the risk, we'll need to find some way to get these things. I don't think there are any delivery services that can help us with technology the way it is right now."

"I've got a phone. I can make a few calls if I have to. In the meantime, I at least have some clothes here at the house that might fit me even if they might be a bit uncomfortable. You two sit tight."

She was already turning to leave when I stopped her, "Grace, you... you're a life saver in more ways than one. I... I love you dearly. I've always loved you, and I never stopped loving you."

Grace blushed red hot, "I never stopped loving you too.", she looked up at Max, "Both of you. I... that whole incident back then, it kind of screwed up our lives but, but maybe it was for the best. I wont lie, it was hard, real hard. Now, though, I have everything I had ever wanted." Her stance firmed and a fire built in her eyes and voice, "And there's no way in hell I'm going to let any of it go. Not one little bit."

I pulled Grace over and kissed her. It started gentle but it quickly became fierce and deep, her arms reaching around and holding me tightly. In that moment I could clearly imagine the pain she had gone through, the loneliness and the constant fighting.

She let go and had to wipe her muzzle which made her blush and chuckle, "Gods I love you. I love you both so very very much. Keep the kids safe and don't let those marks wear off. I'm going to get something that'll work a little longer along with a bunch of supplies. In the mean time, start thinking of names. I'll be at least a few hours."

Grace put on one of her dresses and left taking Max's car, her own being back at the apartment.

"It feels like destiny doesn't it?", Max said introspectively as she left.

"Makes me wonder if one of us used the machine at some point in the future and we're living through the changes in history now."

Max's eyes widened, "Holy hell, what a mind fuck!"

I laughed.

Chapter 14

Three months of parenthood had done what the United States government, a cartel hitman, and the laws of quantum physics had failed to do: it had brought Ellie, Max, and Grace to their knees.

The acoustic separation of a nine-thousand-square-foot mansion turned out to be a comforting myth. Sound carried, especially the high-pitched yips of wolf pups and the percussive thumping of rabbit kits testing the structural integrity of the floorboards.

The living room looked less like a billionaire's estate and more like a chew-toy testing facility that had suffered a catastrophic containment breach. Shredded memory foam littered the Persian rug. The legs of the antique mahogany coffee table bore deep, serrated teeth marks.

Max sat on the floor, his slate-grey fur matted with dried formula. He held a squealing pup in each hand, handling them like unstable dynamite.

"Luna, drop it," Max growled, though his voice lacked any real alpha authority.

The pup, a ball of charcoal fuzz, clamped her jaws tighter around the rabbit ear of her brother, Thumper. Thumper, a hybrid kit with long ears and a wolfish snout, let out a shriek that shattered the morning calm. He kicked his powerful hind legs, catching Max in the chest.

"Ow. Shit," Max muttered, prying the siblings apart. "Grace! We have a hostage situation in sector four."

Grace emerged from the kitchen, sliding on the hardwood in socks, her tail swishing aggressively to maintain balance. She carried three bottles warmed to precisely ninety-eight degrees. A rabbit kit hung from the back of her oversized t-shirt, claws dug into the fabric, riding her like a backpack.

"Feed the resistance," Grace said, tossing a bottle to Max. He caught it one-handed and shoved the nipple into Luna’s mouth, silencing the wailing instantly.

"Where is Ellie?" Grace asked, popping a bottle into the mouth of the kit on her back without looking.

"Study," Max said, breathless.

The single word hung heavy in the air, heavier than the diapers piling up in the mudroom.

Grace’s ears perked up, swiveling toward the heavy oak door down the hall. She handed off the last bottle to a wandering pup and marched toward the study. Max scrambled up, dumping the feeding infants onto a pile of pillows, and followed.

They found Ellie standing in front of the wall safe. The painting that usually covered it—a generic landscape of a fox hunt—leaned against the desk. Her hand hovered over the digital keypad.

Her white fur looked dull, her rabbit ears drooping low on her skull. Dark circles under her eyes spoke of seventy-two hours of fragmented sleep.

"Ellie," Grace said sharp warnings in her tone.

Ellie didn't turn. "It would be so easy. Simple syntax. babies.sleep_cycle = 7pm_to_7am. Execute. Done."

"Step away from the safe, El," Max said, moving slowly, his hands raised.

"Thumper has colic," Ellie whispered, her fingers convulsing slightly near the keys. "Or gas. Or existential dread. I don't know. But if I tweaked the biological parameters just a fraction... increased the melatonin production gene..."

"And then what?" Grace crossed the room, her movement fluid and predatory despite the domestic exhaustion. She placed a hand on Ellie’s shoulder. "Then you fix the spilled milk? Then you edit out the teething? Then you code us a nanny because we're too tired to interview one?"

Ellie leaned her forehead against the cold steel of the safe. "We have a god machine, Grace. And I’m wiping vomit off my whiskers at 3:00 AM."

"It's a bazooka on the coffee table," Max said, coming up on her other side. "You don't use a bazooka to open a jar of pickles just because the lid is stuck."

Ellie let out a long, shuddering breath. She slumped, her weight falling against Grace. "I’m just... I’m so tired."

"We know," Grace murmured, nuzzling the top of Ellie’s head. "We all are. That's the job. We signed up for the biology, we have to live through the biology."

Max looked at the safe. The laptop inside was a dormant nuclear core. As long as it was within walking distance, the temptation to rewrite their struggles would never fade. It was an addiction waiting to relapse.

"We can't keep it here," Max said.

Ellie looked up, panic flaring in her pink eyes. "We can't destroy it. The world... we made big changes. If something glitches, if the genetic stabilizing vectors fail in ten years, we need a terminal."

"I didn't say destroy it," Max said. "I said we can't keep it here."

Grace nodded, her eyes narrowing as she ran calculations. "He's right. If it's in the house, we'll use it. Eventually, one of use will snap. Maybe for sleep. Maybe for money, or to win an argument, or to fix a bad haircut. And the ripples will start again."

"So, what?" Ellie asked. "Bury it in the yard?"

"Too accessible," Grace said. "I have a trust structure set up from the old timeline. It’s still valid. There’s a private depository in Zurich. Gold bars, art, sensitive data. Offline storage. Climate controlled. Biometric access only."

Ellie rubbed her face. "Switzerland?"

"Too far for impulse edits," Grace said. "But close enough if the world starts melting."

"We have to send it," Max said. "Today. Before the twins wake up from their nap and we change our minds because we want silence."

Ellie stared at the keypad. She typed in the code. The lock chirped, and the heavy door swung open. The laptop sat there, sleek and innocuous, a silver deity resting in the dark.

"Get the box," Ellie said softly, "I'll get it ready."

---

The 'Post & Parcel' center sat in a strip mall between a vape shop and a discount mattress warehouse. It smelled of packing tape, dust, and the faint, ozone scent of fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.

The bell above the door jingled as the trio entered.

They drew looks. While the reality shift had integrated Fur-Folk into history, seeing a six-foot-four wolf in a hoodie, a statuesque she-wolf in designer leggings, and a rabbit-woman carrying a heavy cardboard box was still enough to make the customers in the queue stop scrolling through their phones.

Max stepped in front, using his broad shoulders to carve a path to the counter. He glared at a teenager who held up a phone to take a picture. The kid lowered the device and suddenly found the floor tiles fascinating.

Grace flanked the rear, her golden eyes scanning the perimeter like she was guarding the President, not a laptop.

Ellie placed the box on the counter. It was wrapped in layers of brown packing tape, unassuming and ugly.

The clerk, a man named Gary according to his nametag, didn't look up from his computer immediately. He popped a bubble of gum. "Domestic or international?"

"International," Ellie said. Her voice wavered. She cleared her throat. "International. Priority. Zurich."

Gary looked up. His eyes widened slightly at Ellie’s twitching ears, but he recovered quickly. Minimum wage didn't pay enough to question the demographics of the customer base. He grabbed a measuring tape.

"Contents?" Gary asked, extending the tape measure over the box.

"Electronics," Max said quickly.

"Vintage electronics," Grace corrected, stepping up. "High value. We need the maximum insurance coverage available."

Gary typed lazily on his keyboard. "Max insurance requires a declared value and an inspection if it's over five grand."

"It's a prototype," Ellie said, her hand resting on the cardboard. "Proprietary heavy hardware. Opening it voids the warranty and potentially corrupts the magnetic storage."

Grace slid a credit card across the counter. It was the heavy, black titanium kind that made a distinct thunk on the laminate. "Put it down for forty-nine thousand dollars. That's the limit before you need a customs inspector, correct?"

Gary blinked at the card, then at Grace. "Uh. Yeah. That's right."

"Then do that," Grace said. "Tracking number sent to three separate emails. Signature required. Adult signature. Photo ID verification upon receipt."

Gary printed the label. The sound of the thermal printer rasping against the paper was loud in the quiet shop. He peeled the sticker off and slapped it onto the box.

ZURICH SECURE DEPOSITORY.

Ellie stared at the label. Underneath that cardboard and bubble wrap sat the command line for the universe. She could stop this right now. She could grab the box, run back to the car, and tonight she could program the kids to be potty trained instantly. She could program herself to never need sleep again. She could delete the existence of mosquitoes while she was at it.

"Ma'am?" Gary asked.

Ellie realized she was gripping the box so hard her claws had punctured the cardboard.

"Let go, El," Max whispered, his breath warm near her ear.

Ellie retracted her claws. She exhaled, a long, shaky sound. She pushed the box across the counter.

Gary took it. He tossed it onto the conveyor belt behind him. It landed with a dull thud next to a package of keto snacks and a return box of shoes.

"Receipt," Gary said, holding out a slip of paper.

Grace snatched it before Ellie could. "Thank you, Gary."

"Have a nice day," Gary said, already looking past them to the next customer. "Next."

They turned and walked out. The automatic doors hissed shut behind them, sealing the god-machine inside with the bubble gum and the packing peanuts.

---

The air in the parking lot felt thinner, sharper. The distinct lack of weight in Ellie’s arms made her feel like she might float away.

Max unlocked the Ford Explorer. The chirp of the alarm was mundane, grounding.

"You okay?" Max asked, leaning against the driver's side door.

Ellie looked back at the storefront. Through the plate glass, she could see the conveyor belt moving. The brown box slid through a rubber curtain and vanished into the back room.

"I feel naked," Ellie admitted. "I feel... helpless."

"That's called being alive," Grace said. she opened the back door and slid onto the leather seat. "Welcome to the real world, honey. Consequences stick here."

Max opened the passenger door for Ellie. She climbed in, buckling the seatbelt over her chest. The fabric pressed against her fur.

Max started the engine. The radio blared a pop song, something inane and repetitive. He turned the volume down but didn't switch it off.

"So," Max said, putting the car in reverse. "Monday."

"Monday," Ellie repeated.

"The twins turn one. Well, one in accelerated growth time," Max said, checking the rearview mirror. "Cake. We never decided on the cake."

"Meat cake for the pups, carrot cake for the kits," Grace said from the back seat, checking her phone. "I already ordered them from that human bakery in Naperville that doesn't ask questions. They think it's for a quirky dog wedding."

Ellie laughed. It was a dry, small sound, but it was real. "A dog wedding. God."

"Hey," Grace said, lowering her phone. She held up the receipt, waving it slightly. "You know, if the truck crashes, or it gets lost in a sorting facility in New Jersey..."

"Don't," Max warned, glancing back.

"I'm just saying," Grace smirked. "It's insured."

"Not sure what good that would do? It's like insuring the universe for a 49k payout if it breaks. I don't think we'd care about the money." Max said flatly.

"No, but it'll keep them from treating it like their other packages. Hopefully give it just that little bit more care, you know?" Grace replied.

"If it gets lost," Ellie said, looking out the window as the strip mall receded, "then I guess reality is finally stuck the way it is."

She watched the 'Post & Parcel' sign disappear around the corner.

"Good," Max said. "I like exactly how it is. Messy."

"Expensive," Grace added.

"Loud," Ellie finished.

Max merged onto the highway, heading back toward the chaos, the diapers, and the noise. Back to the unedited, raw footage of their lives.

Behind them, in the back of the shipping center, the conveyor belt halted. The brown box sat amongst the mundane cargo, silent and waiting. The label gleamed under the harsh industrial lights, a single tracking number the only tether left to the power of a god, waiting for a truck that would arrive in twenty minutes. Or maybe twenty-five.

It depended on the traffic, and for the first time in a long time, no one could change that.