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Virtually Real Chapter 62: Outta Time.

Prowl-Ar Leader of the Shadow Runners can shift into black tiger, bull, and wolf forms

Reaper: The black fox incarnation of Death. Bonded to Prowl-Ar and using him as his avatar in the physical world.

Genesis: The incarnation of Life.

Magdalene: The incarnation of Emotions.

Jordan/Wolf: Ship's doctor can shift into wolf, werewolf, and tiger forms

Kyle: Created from Red XIII's game character he can shift into his original form, eastern dragon, lion, wolf and werewolf forms.

Shock: reporter turned team diplomat can shift into a fox and a wolf.

Rider: Team therapist can shift into a sabretooth and a wolf.

Dash: Synth care taker of the teams children

Mahan: Ship's AI computer

Luca: Scientist and drone expert. Perpetually horny Sergal.

Ampre: Luca's Synth assistant. Identifies as female.

Rin: Prowl-Ar's adopted daughter lynx shifter.

Ryu: Rin's boyfriend human but seriously considering becoming an Eastern Dragon

Chiyo: Ryo's mother.

D'Artagnan: Wolf's nephew and newest adoptee into the growing family after his parents dumped him out at Furry Embassy.

Leon: Prowl-Ar's oldest son. Created using DNA from the lion Evan in the House game.

Zephyr: Prowl-Ar's second oldest son, by only a few minutes. Created using DNA from Talon in the House game.

Taro: Prowl-Ar's third son from his second pregnancy created from the rabbit Bit in the House game.

Erik: Prowl-Ar's fourth son created from the DNA of the Thylacine Tas in the House game.

Frost: Prowl-Ar and Kyle's son created in a game glitch and given life by his parents. Can shift into an Eastern Dragon, an otter, or a hybrid of the two.

Trace: Prowl-Ar's son based on his son from one of his stories and given live using the Evolver. A tiger leopard hybrid. Brown with caramel stripes

Tye: Trace's Twin brother. Full tiger but yellow with red stripes.

Nature: Prowl-Ar's foster brother from the same program as Trace and Tye. Their mate.

Brooke: Former otter medical drone that's been upgraded to full sapience.

Fenrir Ulfgar: The God Fenrir of Norse mythology. He turned his back on fate for the love of his soul mate.

Raulin: Fenrir's mate, a human looking to be in his twenties except he is over two hundred years old having been sustained by Fenrir's divine power.

Vexy: Dragon shifter that set off to be the first Terran to reach another star system.

Kohan: Vexy's emotional support otter that was transformed into a furry, given life, and eventually became Vexy's mate.

Raid, Shadow, and Legend: Vexy's three kobolds.

It seemed Luca had shifted my project onto Rin and Chiyo. Not that I minded, once Rin explained his current focus. It wasn't just prosthetics he was working on. What had started as a project to create protogens had evolved into finding a way to integrate synthetic tissue and biological tissue with the aim of safe organ transplant without the risk of rejection or multiple surgeries. Basically "plug and play" parts for the human body.

Though he hadn't cleared the project with me I let Rin know that I approved and when he felt it was at least 95% effective, he could release the organs, but not the tech or methods for creating them to Shadow Runner approved hospitals for clinical trials. I doubted he would however, Luca was a bit of a perfectionist and likely wouldn't start testing until the parts were at 99%. And even then he'd keep fine tuning during the trials until he was sure they were perfect.

I had to admit he might be a bit over-sexed but he never let that interfere or effect his work. Though after going through the synth catalogue he might occasionally make it the focus of his work. I would never have imagined the number of options he had created, or found different vaginal modules. Of course that might have more to do with my lack of imagination for such things.

While the three of us worked on Dash's parts Ryo and Shock spent time in the model shop. Actually it was more of a workshop than a store. Though Chiyo admitted she still had kits that weren't available to generate yet. As the only model shop on the colonies the main company negotiated a deal with her. They wouldn't attempt to press copy write and trademark infringement suits against the Runners for manufacturing their intellectual property if she would rebrand her shop as a Gundam Base so they could use it in promotions as the first Gundam Base on the colonies. Chiyo countered that since there was no sales on the colony they didn't have a leg to stand on but she would accept the rebranding on the condition they would send her the CAD files for new kits the day the kits were released for sale.

When they weren't watching me I put in a call to the company president and formally apologized for using their designs for the MAS game and promised a fully functioning Haro drone for their corporate office.

He graciously accepted but requested I rename the colony Side 7. I, of course refused. And countered with painting a life size Deathscythe Hell on the hull and sending photos and holographs for promotional purposes. He liked the idea but thought, all things considered, the original Gundam was a better choice.

That completed I got back to work. Actually allowing Dash to shift was just a matter of a collapsible frame work to connect the synthetic muscle and ligaments to sheathing around high capacity pistons instead of bones. Admittedly even lengthened there wasn't a lot we could do to rapidly expand and contract the musculature in his arms so even though they would allow for a normal quadrupedal gate they would always look a bit small. Though this wasn't far from how some western dragons were depicted anyway. If Dash wasn't happy with them we'd return to the drawing board at a later date.

The neck and tail vertebra remained the same but we replaced the rubber disks with semi-rigid nanite foam that could expand and contract as needed.

His head and body unit would remain primarily the same. Luca had designed the hip to be able to ratchet between several options, presumably to make it more adaptable depending on the chosen leg type. Whatever his reason after a few minor software adjustments we had it so that it would shift depending on the chosen form. I also added in a little surprise of my own, but that would mean physically modifying his body at installation.

Perhaps the easiest upgrade, though it would also be the most expensive to my reserves, was working smart cloth nanites into Luca's synth skin design and smart metal into the armor plates.

The hardest part was the actual programming allowing for all these new parts to link up with his neural network so he'd be able to control it at will for a rapid and smooth transformation.

Strangely, now that I was feeling better and I should have been fully focused on the designs, I ended up distracted. Both Rin and Chiyo even told me to stop daydreaming about my mates and focus on the work. The problem was It wasn't my mates I was thinking about, it was the game and getting to Egypt.

I had to wonder if I was as hornier than Luca. I mean, this was a project for one of my mates, therefore much more important than a couple of slaves in . . . a . . . virtual. Another question to consider why was I thinking there was more than one slave? I was only after one of Anubis' jackal warriors, preferably one that just didn't fit in?

"Dad, if you don't focus I'm going downstairs and telling Shock what this secret project really is." Rin threatened.

In the end she made good on her threat. However Shock just laughed and admitted he knew what was going on since I absolutely had to see Luca right after he made the request in the game.

***

Once finished we returned to the ship. No one welcomed us back. I could tell Wolf was overjoyed, but he was also still angry with me when I told him I'd considered ending my life. Still, as soon as the shuttle sat down I felt his presence in my mind like a warm hug. No matter how angry he was he certainly wanted me to stick around. I wouldn't tell him but next chance I got I planned to put more life-force into our gem bond so that it couldn't be blocked.

It had taken time to convince Dash to let us install upgrades; especially considering how delicate switching out his neck unit would be. I'd considered doing the upgrades in VR but decided to set up a clean room and get Wolf's help. After all it was more like surgery than drone repair.

It was even more obvious how angry Wolf was by the fact he refused to speak to me relaying his orders through Shock. Naturally, besides for that, everything went smoothly.

We decided to move Dash to VR once finished for the integration phase. It was a risk, but I kind of hoped Aphrodite would show up now that I was prepared. Hurting me was one thing, but her actions hurt my mates and I wouldn't let that go.

With a mutual nod Shock and I reactivated Dash.

"I thought you were going to upgrade me. I'm not noticing a difference. And why here of all places? I don't know if either of you realize this but I don't care for VR games. Reality is better."

The fact you don't notice a difference is a good thing. It means the new modules are working correctly. Open and integrate software file titled 'Shock's Gift' to understand what has been changed."

Shock scowled at me, but didn't say anything. It took a little less than fifteen minutes but it felt like hours. I'm sure it felt even longer to Shock.

"The world has changed a lot since our time." Hephaistos said, next to me. Shock didn't react so I knew I was the only one seeing him. "Don't worry about my wife, she is well contained. I don't know how your mate did it but those scars seem permanent. Quite the feat for a mortal. Oh and your Fox doesn't have to worry about any form of payment. The fact that the other gods are laughing at her is making Aphrodite extremely mad and she's working out that anger on me. By the Gods, angry sex with the Goddess of love is almost too much. If not for my stamina from working so long at the forge I'd be overwhelmed."

I didn't roll my eyes, but I wanted to. It was Rin and Chiyo that did all the work. I ignored the compulsion to tell him that as Dash came back online.

"Am I understanding this correctly?" Dash asked.

"Activate it and find out." Shock said.

Dash shifted. His neck and tail lengthened, is back legs shortened slightly and his forearms lengthened. Finally his synthetic skin took on a slightly denser scale formation. Overall the transformation was about forty-five seconds. It took longer than our transformations but not by much.

"This is amazing" he said, as he bounced around a couple of times and then took off running around the cave. He immediately tripped. "Okay, so maybe I should learn to walk before trying to run in this form."

"Good, now open file 'wishful thinking'."

Moments later wing spars extended from his shoulders once fully extended the smart cloth skin combination filled in the openings in the wings. He flapped them a couple times.

"Do these work? Can I really fly?"

Shock laughed and pointed out Dash was hovering a foot off the floor.

"As part of the upgrade I installed antigravity generators. They get you in the air and you can control your movement with the wings."

"Wow, I didn't even think of that, I only knew he wanted to shift." Shock said grinning madly. I could only imagine what he might be thinking and it was al dirty.

"This was your idea?" Dash asked, as he flew over to Shock and wrapped him in a hug.

"One of two requests he made." Hephaistos said, appearing to everyone. "This second one I was able to accomplish with Aphrodite's help, think of it as an apology, of sorts for her actions." He held out a ring made of green crystal."

"Dash, will you be my mate?" Shock asked kneeling in front of Dash.

"No!" I yelled as I lunged toward the ring hoping to get it before Dash could touch it.

I opened my eyes I was against the wall on the far side of the cave with Shock and Dash staring at me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Anubis "Not yet, you still owe me. Anpu, can you stop this?"

I glanced to my other side where Reaper was also holding me. "Not for long. She planned this rather well. He hasn't properly rested to recover for some time. We need to anchor his soul while his body recovers. I've called for help I only hope he arrives quickly enough."

"He is here." Anubis stated.

I glanced at Wolf as he ran in and then there was nothing.

***

I opened my eyes and groaned. It was dark, exceedingly so.

"Welcome back Love, You really had me worried."

Wolf had leaned over me and I could see the pain and exhaustion in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I knew better, but I hoped to stop it."

"Stop what?"

He already knew, I could tell that much. He wanted me to explain; probably to see how much I remembered. "I tried to stop Hephaistos giving that ring to Dash."

"Why? Shock requested it as an engagement ring. Do you not want them to be mates?"

I let out a dry laugh, "Far from it. I just didn't want them using that cursed item."

"Cursed?"

"Hephaistos said Aphrodite procured it for him. I'm not surprised that harpy was involved, and I can even guess how she did it. If she didn't come up with the plan herself then Genesis helped her. Something like 'I can help you get revenge on them.' Don't get me wrong Genesis isn't evil he just doesn't value individuals the same way we do. Plus he really hates his brother."

"Okay now you've lost me, who is Genesis and who is his brother?" Wolf asked.

"Genesis is the Kah Har of life. Because his domain is all living things. Individuals aren't overly important. The powers that his gem gives is the ability to remove the life force from anything alive and place it in another. In the proper hands that ability can be used to transfer a small amount of energy from a healthy person and transfer it into someone injured or sick to heal them. In the wrong hands it can remove the life force from every living thing. I don't know the range though. That's what happened. The shard was a trap to steal all my life. If not for the intervention of Anubis and Reaper I would be dead. Oh and the gem has one other ability it and its shards can give life to any non-biological being."

"Meaning Dash is alive?"

"Yes, but then he always has been. Really all it means for him is that he is telepathically linked to us through the gem and listening in as well."

"What? I can't sense him." Wolf said in surprise.

I attempted to bump up the power of Wolf's shard, but I had no energy to tap. "He's part of the mental network. Aren't you, Dash?"

"Master Prowl-Ar, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've tried to remove the ring but every time I did it would move. Now it's fused directly to my brain case and if I try to-"

"Don't! You are more important than getting rid of that shard. Just remember what I told Wolf about it. The gem usually takes life energy from the one using it however you use a different form of energy, even if you are alive now, that means the gem will likely drain Shock first."

"I'll be careful!"

I nodded, not that he would see it. "So, Love, how long was I out this time?"

"Technically you still are, at least your body is. Your mind has been in a deep state of sleep for two days. We've continued the game but everyone other than the two of us have portalled forward for safety. The only reason we're still here is because you wanted a jackal slave and I'm going to make sure you get one. It's the least I can do since I'm the one that set up this nightmare world."

"It's not-"

"You just go back to sleep and recover. I'll wake you once we reach Egypt."

***

I woke gradually, but this time I knew I was actually awake. I was on a boat. Not an ocean going vessel, with its rocking in the waves. This was certainly a river barge. I was on a bed on deck staring up at the stars. They weren't displayed correctly. They were out of position from both modern times and the twentieth century.

"So you are alive?" The voice was smooth and seductive, perhaps a bit hypnotic, but at the same time certainly masculine. The sort of voice that could easily have Kyle, Rider, and perhaps a dedicated top like Luca begging to be used. Hell, four non-sexual words and I was already getting hard. I silently sighed, with a voice like that there was no way the God's would gift him with good looks as well.

There was a chuckle in my head, "Enjoy yourself, my mate. I think he's the one you made this trip to find. And to be honest If they are willing I intend to take his lover as my own tonight, so that they remain a matched pair." Wolf encouraged me.

I felt furry hands stroke across my bare belly "Father was right, I do find you rather attractive, for a human. Ordinarily I find your kind unappealing."

I looked at him in the moonlight He was definitely a follower of Anubis but he was just a little bit off. His ears were shorter and, while still pointed, were slightly rounder. His muzzle was shorter and broader. Perhaps a wolf jackal hybrid. His fur was jet black, not as dark as my wolf but his black clothes with gold patterns and gold jewelry . . . I gasped as I ran my own hand across his chest. He was nude, at least his chest and arms were, and the gold was actually the color of his fur. I wouldn't say he was more attractive than any of my mates, but I had no doubt the combination of his looks and his voice put him above my other slaves. I felt wetness on my leg and glanced down.

He was dripping pre from the device locking him in his sheath. "I . . . The Gods decreed that an obscenity such as I will never be allowed to breed, not even with my male lover." His smooth voice took on a deep sadness.

"If you agree to become my slave I will take you to a place where the Gods don't have dominion. I'll remove that device."

"Will you do the same Malhoket? He is in the same type of situation except he is the son of Bastet."

There was a feline yowl from the front of the boat. "He has already agreed, but be gentle they are virgins. And before you say anything, I'm being gentle and remaining human. He just wasn't expecting a human to stretch him so much. Use more oil than your partner thinks he needs." Wolf warned.

"I think your lover has a head start."

He whimpered.

"Don't worry. Just because they've started doesn't mean you're being left out. Now, how about we start with you undressing me?" as he removed the vest I was wearing I reached down past his cage and massaged his pucker. He jumped, but quickly relaxed and for a moment had a faraway look. "You've done this much before."

He move down and removed my kilt, obviously I'd been dressed as a traditional Egyptian noble. "Yes and a little- Oooooh." He moaned as I slid a finger in. It was likely intense and possibly slightly painful since it was un-lubed. "Not that! We used our tongues. Our fingers aren't like you humans." He jumped as I found his prostate pulling completely off. "In father's name what was that!"

"Did you like it?"

"Yes! Can you do that again?"

"It isn't magic. Yes, I can do it again, but this time we really should use some oil so there is less-" He trust a small jar into my hand and then straddled me in a sixty nine position. "I- I've never tasted human before." He said running his long tongue over my member cleaning it of the pre I'd been leaking. "Huh, I thought humans would taste different, but you taste almost the same as Mal."

I guessed Mal was the name of his feline lover. I figured now likely wasn't the time to tell him that I was also probably more cat than human. Still not to be out done I collected some of his pre from his cage and tasted it. There were subtle differences but he tasted very similar to Wolf. Something about that set off an alarm in my head but I ignored it. Instead I oiled my fingers and started working his hole.

It didn't take long to wort up to two fingers. My own groin was so coated in slobber I doubted any amount of oil would make any difference.

Suddenly he spun around and before I could warn him he hilted himself on me letting out a yip of pain. I gasped at the sudden heat. The first thing to come to mind was that he had a higher body temperature than my mates. The second thing was that I needed to breed him hard and fast. I had to make him mine, not my mate, I had mates, no I wanted him as my subordinate, my pet, my plaything, my slave.

_"That's not a thought you should be having for our time, but I can't say I didn't think the same thing. Shall we make them ours together?"_Wolf mentally asked.

Calmed and in control again I agreed and we changed positions. We had the two lovers between us, Mal was of course feline but he had identical markings, if not for their species they would be twins. The implied incest nearly set me off, but I was able to keep control. Their cages clanked together as we bred them. I started to think how unfairly they'd been treated when I felt Wolf's lips on my own. The welcomed intimacy broke my control and he smiled at me as we orgasmed together. As we pulled out the cat and jackal quickly moved to the bed I'd been on again in a sixty nine formation and started cleaning each other of the mess we left.

I sat on the deck feeling exhausted again.

"They-" Wolf started.

"They are your responsibility now."

I glanced up and scrambled backward grinding sand into my naked crack I tried to cover up but Anubis just laughed.

"I judge the dead, and contrary to the temple depictions everyone comes before me in the nude. Don't concern yourself."

We were sitting in front of a small fire. The moon was still in the same place so this was just a different location in the game I'd been transferred to.

"He's confused. Are you sure he is worth our time?" For the first time I noticed the jackal, the one seen in statue form all over Egypt representing Anubis.

"I am sure Anpu. In a moment I'm sure you'll understand why. Reaper, why don't you show yourself?"

"Because this is wrong. You're breaking rules that should never be broken. Rules that shouldn't be possible to break."

"I did tell you I was bringing them here."

"You said Egypt. I took that to mean the one in the game. Not bringing their minds back in time to Egypt and placing them in other bodies."

"That is me. Anubis, what have you done? I can't be in the same place at the same time the danger to all life." The Jackal chastised, the God.

"Is minor in the grand scheme and has already happened for Reaper. Humanity will call them the great plagues of Egypt and it marks the decline of our time but it is something I must do."

"I don't understand how you can be me when I have no memory of this." Reaper interrupted.

"Because we locked these memories away obviously. I don't understand why I'd break my bond with Anubis to bond with a human."

"I would agree with you except, likely influenced by this night I was compelled to bond with him. I don't regret it." Reaper replied. He said, something else and I guessed he obscured what he was saying from Anubis as well because he looked as confused as I felt.

As they continued Anubis turned back to me. "As you might have guessed I have brought you back in time. Not an easy task and it is only for a single night and limited to the funeral barge. This is a combined projection in our minds. Here I can talk to you on equal grounds, not as a God but as a father."

It clicked, that alarm I felt, no matter how I'd worked with the VR computer settings all NPC pre and semen tasted the same. The jackal's had a distinct flavor. "Why did you do this?"

"I could say it's because you owe me for all the help I've given you, but the truth is I'm being selfish and subverting the will of the other Gods. Kebohtet is my son, but he is also mortal. I- I coerced a priestess of Bastet into-"

"I get the picture. You got horny and found a human to-"

"No, because of my role I'm not allowed such things. I did it because I was angry at Bastet for becoming pregnant by one of my priests. I never considered the consequences. The gods were angry with the both of us and decreed that both children would be mortal and would be permanently locked away at their tenth year." Further they would be raised in the temple and only know the priests." Anubis laughed, "Both of them were slipping out of the temples at night when they were five years."

I was surprised as Anubis wiped his eyes. He looked up at me, "I've never been able to tell him but I love my son, I want you to know that, but I also know he is about to die by an assassin's blade. The reason I brought you and your mate to this time was to forger a link between the two of you and them, which you did. They will serve you well and be as loyal as any of your mates."

"You said are about to be killed do you plan on tricking me into copying them from the game into real bodies?"

"No, they have to be killed for time to progress correctly. You see the Gods made them mortal so I would have to judge them. How does one fairly judge one's own son? Especially having watched him his whole life and knowing he is going to fail. I have made arrangements with Anpu, your Reaper will remember and understand once you've returned to your time. When you do you will close the gate to this realm locking our access to your world once more. This is for the best. It will keep Fenrir and my sons safe. Just, please make sure they know that Bastet and I love then, we always have and always will."

I was back on the barge. Then just as suddenly the VR unit shut down. Wolf and I both puked.

"What is happening?" Wolf got out between retches.

"VR lag." I answered out loud. "And time displacement sickness" I said mentally. "Mahan, immediate medical response VR lag, medium effects."

"Brooke is already on her way and I'm dispatching assistant drones."

"Mahan I'm already on site. Jordan is sedated and I'm putting Prowl-Ar under now." I felt the pressure of the injection and for once was happy at the feeling of slipping into unconsciousness.

***

As I expected, I woke in the infirmary.

"Not bad, you were out less than twenty-four hours." Brooke said, as she started to unhook me. "VR lag, usually lasts much longer, even in minor cases."

VR lag? How was that possible we were only in there a couple of days VR time and a couple of hours in real time. VR lag wasn't a concern until months had passed in the game. "How is Jordan?"

"Jordan? Who is that?"

My memory was hazy, was I forgetting something? It certainly felt like it. But there was no way I could forget my mates. "Jordan, one of my husbands." I could hear my heart monitor speed up. There were gaps in my memory but also images. I started to panic. Had I created it all in VR? It seemed something I'd do. Create a virtual family so I wouldn't feel lonely anymore?

"You might, but if you'd stop focusing on your panic and concentrated on your links you'd realize everyone is fine and very much real." Reaper stated.

"Brooke, you should know better. Get out, you're suspended until I'm well enough to think of an appropriate punishment. Just know, whatever I come up with, it's going to be worse than what Kyle did to you." Jordan said, groggily.

"Whatever, you'll change your mind the next time you're too incapacitated to play doctor." She said, as she walked out.

"Love, how did you put up with her for so long?"

I laughed, "And that's the softer kinder version."

He huffed. "So this is VR lag?"

My memories were starting to return. "No. This is something much worse. Mahan, deep scan check to be sure your records match the archive."

"I've detected no Chrono anomalies. Are you sure there was a time breach?"

"Yes. Start scan from ten thousand years before the first Egyptians began worshiping Anubis, Bastet, Isis, and Osiris to present."

"There was one but you dealt with it and locked the information so that I cannot access it."

_"I can explain. I took full control of you long enough to create two cloned bodies and leave them on a barge anchored on the Nile, bringing the original individuals here and placing them in suspended animation. There were also two human assassins killed by the two I was sent to retrieve."_Reaper explained.

"Tiger, what's going on?"

"The Nile events didn't take place in the game. Anubis somehow shifted us, or our minds at least, back in time. We were inhabiting the assassins sent to kill Keb and Mal."

"That's sick. First we win their trust and then we, or the ones they thought were us, killed them."

"No, Reaper says they're here on the ship."

"How is that possible?"

"I'll explain that later, the question I have is what do we do with them now?"

"We wake them up."

"Then what? It's not like we need priests and we can't keep them as slaves."

"Why not? There is nothing in the rules against it, as long as they act as slaves of their own free will. Who knows, given the chance, maybe they'll choose to move to one of the colonies. We can't know, for sure, until you revive them.

I nodded, "Mahan, please inform every adult on the ship that they need to attend a meeting in two hours."

"Understood."

"Why wait so long?"

"Because Reaper needs to show me where they are hidden."

"Okay, you do that while I go lock down and delete the mythical world from the records. I'm sick of all these other gods causing problems."

I nodded and slid out of the bed only to barely catch myself before I fell. "Yeah, just as soon as I can stand on my own."

***

I stared at the stasis pods. Part of me, a large part, hoped the encounter with Anubis had been just another part of the game. Seeing Keb and Mal, looking much the way Wolf and I left them, proved otherwise. The fact that the pods had been set to open just after I arrived was also upsetting.

"That is a coincidence. My past self only had the date. No way of knowing the time." Reaper said.

"Don't. Just don't. My head hurts trying to deal with the fact you were bonded to Anubis at the same time as me."

"I've bonded with quite a few others. It's just most were corrupted by my power. Also we weren't bonded at the same time. It just seems that way since you jumped back in time."

"But two of you in the same time."

"Three actually. Anpu, Reaper from your first trip, and current me. You think you have problems? Try learning a version of yourself locked away knowledge and abilities, which could only be unlocked once meeting myself again after millennia."

There was a click and a hiss of air. Keb said something, but the sound of the front of his tube lifting drown it out.

I screamed and Keb howled as pain shot through my shoulder. I was burning! I could even smell it. Keb stumbled forward and I caught him. The pain ceased immediately.

"The ritual is complete, your contract is consecrated."

"What freaking contract?" I yelled looking at Reaper. However Reaper had transformed into Anpu.

"The contract you made with my master Anubis to take Keb and Mal as your slaves. Once you have made them immortal you will no longer require constant physical contact."

I let go of Keb only to have the pain return immediately. I grabbed his hand and the pain stopped again. Then I noticed a new marking on Keb's left shoulder, three white slashes of fur. I glanced at my own and found a brand in the shape of an ankh. I bet if I shifted the brand would be golden fur. There was a second click and hiss "Jordan! I need you to send me a mental picture of your location for immediate teleport."

"No. You haven't-"

"Then numb your left arm and shoulder now, while you still can. We're coming as fast as we can."

Mal started screaming and I grabbed him teleporting to the hall outside the infirmary. I made it, God only knows how. "Mahan, where is Jordan?" I yelled as I hit Mal with a fast acting sedative.

"I'm right here. I was in the conference room. What is going on? The numbing agent is barely curbing the pain enough for me to keep from passing out and my healing nanites can't-"

I grabbed his hand and placed it on Mal. Both seemed to relax. I pulled Keb after me as I started a batch of healing nanites based on Keb's DNA."

"Contract is now completed in full, masters. Lord Anubis wishes you an eternal life together." Anpu said, before changing back to Reaper. "Prowl-Ar, if that is anything like how you feel when I take control of you, I owe you a massive apology. Even if it was a past incarnation of me; that really sucked." Reaper said shaking himself in disgust.

"Information, please." Wolf said.

"Sorry Love, it seems Anubis left us a little parting gift, and I say that sarcastically. It seems we have to remain in physical contact with our 'slaves' until they are immortal like us."

"And if we don't we burn?"

"Seems that way. You likely have an ankh brand on your left-"

"Right, it's on my right shoulder. Just like the red crescent moon that is on Mal's right shoulder. This is not going to make our mates happy. You know that, right?

"Yeah, slaves in a game is one thing but here in reality? No, not something I want. I'd planned on getting the two of them set up on the R2 colony with a life of their own."

"Not going to work. If I'm understanding my new memories correctly even after you're able to be apart you will still need to renew the contract every . . . um turning of Khonsu? Oh, once per moon cycle or suffer eternal agony. Sorry." Reaper whimpered, a first as far as I knew.

"Great, sex once a month or else. Please tell me you deleted all the backups for that world." I snarled.

Mal mumbled something groggily.

"What are you doing?" Wolf asked.

"Setting up the nanites-"

"You've done that already what are you doing now?"

"I'm generating four bio-mimics."

"What are those?"

"They create a signature identical to the one they are loaded with. Basically if anyone is trying to track me I can put this on a drone and use a second to mask my signature and whoever is tracking me will go after the drone."

"Have you used that to avoid us?"

I looked at Wolf. "Never." I could tell he wanted to ask Mahan but didn't want to accuse me of lying. "Mahan when was the last time I used a bio mimic?"

"Over a century ago, would you like a precise date?"

"No! Love, you didn't need to do that. I believed you." Wolf insisted.

"I know you did, but I wanted you to be sure your faith wasn't misplaced."

I continued modifying the unit. For this to work it would need a bio patch to make it seem like our skin was still touching as well. "Keb can you pass me that bottle?" He just stared at me. "Keb I need the bottle."

Again he just stared. "Can you understand me?" Still no reaction other than a confused look. Then it hit me when Anubis transferred our minds back in time we were inhabiting bodies from that time and our minds used their knowledge to understand ancient Egyptian. Now we needed a language download.

_"Close your eyes and concentrate on the gem. There's a reason you called it the gem of wisdom and knowledge. You can pull the language from it. You'll still need to use your other methods to teach Mal and Keb English and French."_Reaper informed me.

I did as he said and gasped. It wasn't like the implantation machine. Once waking up the mind adapted to the new information. With the gem it was just there like I'd known it all the time. "Keb and Mal, I apologize. In my arrogance I thought you knew our language."

"Master, what is going on? First you accepted us as your slaves then you changed into different people."

"Different dead people." Mal added.

"Next thing we know you are above us in a sky boat telling us to join you. When we got aboard I got really tired then I woke up and I was in so much pain. Now I just want to know what is happening." Keb said.

"We are many years, um floods, in the future. Your father asked me to make you both immortal so that he will never have to weight your hearts. You've been asleep for a very long time. When you woke up we discovered an added curse. In order to ensure you always remain loyally at our sides we've all been branded. The brand burns unless we are in physical contact. I'm doing my best to create a way to give us some room to move around. Now please pass me that bottle so I can culture some skin cells."

***

I sat at the conference table waiting for everyone to arrive. The brand itched like mad but at least it didn't burn. I noticed that Wolf and Mal were maintaining contact. Unfortunately Keb seemed a bit scared to do the same. Likely scared I'd reject him if he tried. We'd had a bit of an argument on the trip up to the conference room about slavery, yet he still insisted that he was my slave and Mal was Wolf's.

The first to arrive was Kyle. He looked a bit confused, considering Keb was in his place but he moved to my other side and sat down. "I thought you said no more people from the game crossing into reality."

"M-master? Is he a god?"

"That isn't English and my translation nanites aren't working, what did he say?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, this is Kebohtet or Keb. Keb, this is one of my mate's, Kyle and no he isn't a god."

"You mean you have more mates besides Jordan?"

"I have five mates in total."

"Oh." He said, sounding a bit depressed. "But he's like Mal and I does that mean he at least has a God for a parent?"

"A lot is different since your time. Kyle is actually from another realm and can take on several different forms, just like Jordan and I."

"What?"

"We'll get into that once everyone arrives."

After that we sat quietly. Rider arrived next. He glanced at Mal and Keb, quirked an eyebrow, but took his seat quietly. Next to arrive was Fenrir and Raulin. They took their seats, but Fenrir looked at me and frowned.

Shock and Dash entered, but they were so wrapped up in each other I doubt they even noticed any of us.

Trace, Tye, and Nature entered next and took their seats. All three grinned at wolf and I. I could almost see the thoughts running through their dirty little minds. I waited a couple of minutes, "Mahan, is Brooke coming? This is a meeting of all crew members."

"I'm here, though I really don't know why." She said, as she entered. Like Fenrir she walked around the table where she injected Keb and then Mal. The itching ceased immediately. "There, they've been upgraded. Now I'm done. I'm officially requesting transfer to the R2 colony as soon as possible."

"What? Why?" I asked in surprise.

"You really need to ask? You've got Jordan so I'm just . . . extra. I want to go and be useful."

"You want to go and see if your girlfriend will be able to accept that you're a drone." Mahan interrupted.

"That is private information!" Brooke yelled.

"Transfer approved." I said immediately.

"Everyone looked at me in surprise."

"Wait, you mean that?" Brooke asked.

"Of course. You are a fully actualized AI, which means you're free to choose what you want to do. Just remember if things don't work out you've always got a place here."

Brooke sat down looking stunned. "I didn't think you'd agree. I- I was prepared to tell Angela that I probably wouldn't be allowed to immigrate to the station. She- she doesn't even know I'm a . . . was a drone."

"Well then, before you make the move I suggest you actually talk with her. Keeping secrets like that isn't the best basis for a relationship. Besides, if I tried to stop you how could I justify Frost's choices-"

"Yeah, way to go there daddy Kyle." Shock laughed.

"Or Rin sharing an apartment with Ryo." I added.

"Wait, what? She's living with Chiyo. She and Ryu have separate rooms."

"No, they're living together in the apartment above Chiyo's apartment. You mean you missed that fact?"

"Hah! No more digs about Frost!" Kyle yelled.

"I hate it, but you're right it must have been their other parent that was the problem." Shock said, coldly as they both turned to look at me.

"Moving along, Brooke, I think it's wonderful you've found someone. Just be open and honest and I'm sure she'll understand. If that doesn't work blame Prowl-Ar for everything." Wolf said, grinning at me.

Brooke just nodded still looking rather surprised and confused.

"Okay, before one of you decides to make me into a tiger skin coat, the reasons we're here is to announce that the gate to the mythical realm has been closed and deleted. Hopefully that mean's the only god we have to deal with from now on is Fenrir."

"Don't forget about me." Reaper reminded me.

"And Reaper, of course." I added.

"What is the story behind these two? Rider asked.

"I guess you could say they are a little parting gift. This is Kebohtet, the son of Anubis, and his mate Malhoket, the son of Bastet."

"And they are out of the game because?" Kyle asked

"Because they were never in the game. Anubis pulled Jordan and my minds back in time to ancient Egypt. We weren't suffering from VR lag. It was time displacement sickness. As some of you know I traveled back in time to set up the system monitoring station. What you might not know is I didn't come directly back. I made stops along the way to correct time anomalies so that the world would be the way I left it. As it turns out one of those stops was to pick up Mal and Keb."

"Then why are we just now meeting them?" Shock asked.

"Because I didn't know about them until Anubis dragged our minds back in time."

"That doesn't make sense if you picked them up." Dash responded.

"It does if you consider I wasn't in control." I replied and everyone automatically looked at Wolf.

"Hey, it wasn't me."

"Reaper was in control of Prowl-Ar's body. I've been unable to access my files from that time for the same reason. To do otherwise would have disrupted the time continuum." Mahan explained. "So for all that time Keb and Mal have been here on the ship in hyper sleep waiting."

"I thought you wanted to go to Egypt in the game for a slave." Shock reminded me.

"Again, that was my fault." Reaper interrupted. "Before bonding with Prowl-Ar I was bonded to Anubis. The part I had locked away compelled Prowl-Ar to travel there so that Mal and Keb would become his slaves. Jordan bonding with Mal just made things easier."

"So now what? Are you going to transfer them to a colony-" Rider started to ask.

"NO! We belong to our masters. We can't be separated or we'll all die." Keb yelled.

"It seems Anubis gave us a parting gift when he made them our slaves. All four of us were branded. If we get too far from one another it starts to burn."

Fenrir got up and rounded the table. "Let me see." He said, running his finger over the ankh on my arm. "Hmm, and you're bonded to Kebohtet?" I nodded and he checked the stripes on Keb's arm. "Yes, this is some powerful magic indeed. I'm surprised you can be as far apart as you are. I have no ability to change this."

"Part of the curse was making the two of them immortal."

"Yeah, so Anubis wouldn't have to see us again." Keb growled.

"Don't ever think that." I said, sadly. "I can't speak for Bastet, but I know without a doubt that Anubis loved you both deeply. So much in fact He dragged Jordan and me across time in order to save you both from the God's judgement. Not just his duty, but I got the feeling none of your Gods were happy with your birth. Understandable, I suppose, since the only offspring between the gods and mortals was supposed to be the pharaoh."

"That does make a lot of sense from what I was taught in mother's temple." Mal said.

"What I don't understand is why Anubis felt he needed to make you our slaves. Slavery as an institution has been abolished in this time." Wolf said.

"But you talked of owning slaves." Keb said.

"Yes, we own slaves in a game. It is a created world where the characters are not real." Kyle stated.

"As long as I get to stay with Keb I don't care if I'm a slave or not. It's a step up from how I'd be punished when I had to sneak out of the temple to be with him. Even being forced to have sex with Jordan once a month isn't really an imposition, it was actually really good."

"Wait until you take his knot for the first time. You'll be rethinking that idea the next morning. And craving it again by afternoon." Shock said with a laugh.

"I don't understand. Human's don't-" Mal started, but went silent as Jordan shifted.

"We've all been modified to be able to shift forms. Something that you two will likely be able to do soon as well. Having a human form is often an advantage when dealing with others. The only one's here without a human form are Dash and Brooke." Wolf said.

"Not to interrupt, but we have a problem Captain." Mahan announce.

"Oh, I should point out you are onboard a . . . um, sky ship. That voice is Mahan the ship's intelligence. What is it now, Mahan?" I asked.

"Three things, one a massive time wave is approaching. Two, we received a message from Vexy. Three, we have a Class One First Contact emergency in progress."

"How close-" I felt the impact of the wave. Like I was being twisted, turned inside out, pulled apart and put back together by a doctor that left parts out. I thought I was going to throw up. Actually from the mess my nanite uniform was cleaning up I had vomited. "Check origin point! Did we lose anyone?" I think I yelled.

"There have been some interesting changes detected. They are minor and not of current concern. Wave approaching Mars."

"Dash, Raulin, Nature, and Brooke go make sure the kids are safe! Mahan, what is the change?"

"Your body has been altered like Jordan's. And we have a few more crew members." Mahan reported directly to my nanites.

I looked around the table. There were my mates Kyle, Shock, Wolf, Rider and Dash. Our soon to be former medic Brooke. My Kids Leon, Zephyr, Taro, Erik, Trace, Tye and my son-in-law Nature. Then Fenrir and his mate Raulin. And finally Wolf's new brother Kebohtet and my brother Malhoket, thanks to Anubis. "Everyone is here. Was this because Anubis tampered with the timeline?" I asked.

"I will discuss this with you later." He switched back to speaking aloud. "No, Keb and Mal would have died within hours of being removed from the time stream if this had been caused by Anubis' actions. However the fact you are carrying a litter of four cubs is new to this timeline."

"Genetic scan. Who is or are the fathers?" That was something new. The timeline wasn't yet set meaning some new memories were still missing. I thought I was past the premonition of carrying Snowie's cub maybe this was destiny after all.

"Two are Kyles, one is Nature's, and one is Jordan's. They are about as far along as Jordan's three and Dash's two."

"Three?" Wolf said in surprise. That made sense. My memories said he should have only two of mine.

"Two?" Dash said, at the same time. That one didn't track I knew Dash was having two this time.

"Jordan is carrying two of yours and one of Rider's cubs."

"I- I'm going to be a father again?" Rider said, looking stunned.

"Dash is carrying synths based on your DNA pattern and Shock's pattern. The wave has passed Mars with no discernable changes and is approaching the colonies.

"Fuck! I'm an idiot. Mahan engage lifeline protocol on Haro, R2, and Silverbolt now!"

"Time displacement generators spinning up. Wave has hit R2 colony. Haro generator at 40 percent, 50, at 65 percent. Firing pulse now. Time pocket formed, wave has missed Haro station."

"Thank God. Rin is safe." I sighed in relief.

"Wave approaching Furry station, pulse generator is at full power, firing, wave has passed station with zero changes."

"Mahan, what about Angela on R2 station?" Brooke asked.

"R2 station, despite being unprotected, is completely unchanged. One moment according to the records your 'Angela' wasn't listed as a furry before the event. Also you never told her of your status as a former drone. She now knows and is willing to have you move in with her. You are only on the Runner to get official transfer papers. Now everyone give me a moment the wave is approaching the moon."

We all seemed to relax. No matter what changes happened to the moon and Earth we'd survive it. Sure I might be pregnant again, plus Dash and Wolf might be having a couple more kids than we had expected, but otherwise we all came out safe. Still, why did Mahan say there were more crew members if he just meant the new babies we were carrying?

"The wave has passed the moon. Captain, there is now a small colony of, for lack of a better term, kobolds. They have a small settlement on the surface and extensive cave systems underneath. According to the new timeline the colony was set up by Vexy before he left."

"Oh wow, does that mean they're going to worship me, as the only dragon, until Vexy returns?" Zephyr asked.

"You are most certainly not the only dragon." Kyle reminded him for the millionth time.

And as usual he replied "Noodle's like you and Frost don't count Pops."

"That's strange there has been a single change on Earth. Captain, this is something you may have to deal with privately as it is a time paradox."

"What is it?"

"The individual known as Vexy never joined the Runners. He and his husband are living happily on Earth. It seems he had the option of joining us but instead chose not to get involved with the chaos that surrounds us. Meaning that currently there are two of him in existence."

"Do you still have the message from Vexy?" I asked.

"Yes. Playing it now."

"Hello Earth! Check it out, I'm the first human to travel to another star system. Welcome to Alpha Centauri. We've just arrived and dropped the altered space beacon. We'll start exploring shortly. I just wanted to say to everyone that didn't believe in me, look at me now losers."

"We're getting a special anomaly reading." Kohan said, in the back ground.

"What? Let's check it out. Just don't-"

"It's inside the ship! What did those three nightmares cum on this time?" Kohan yelled.

"The message ended there." Mahan said. "It is also the origin point of the time wave. As well as the smaller anomalies I've been detecting over the last year. It seems something happened that sent the Dragon's Hoard back in time 100,000 years. Seeing as that was plenty of time to return to the Sol system given their lengthened lives we can only assume their propulsion systems were destroyed. I also need to point out the time wave had no discernable effect on the two alien ships approaching the colonies."

"Everyone, battle stations. I've got to manually reconnect a couple of systems; that I'd hoped we'd never need."

"Yes sir!"

***

I walked down a corridor. It looked like any other but I knew it led to a dead end.

"Captain, I know what you're planning and you cannot save the lost crew members." Mahan said.

"Like hell I can't. You think I don't realize the alien ships are part of the time distortion?"

"It's not that. You'll lose more than you'll gain."

"Vexy, Kohan, Raid, Shadow, and Legend are crew; they're family. I'm not going to abandon them.

"No. Vexy, or Venox as this timeline's version calls himself, never joined the crew and he's living happily on Earth. Plus you'd lose-"

"I know, I'd lose the additional children we're carrying. But-"

"No. There is something about the other timeline you need to know. When you and Kyle decided to start a family Kyle didn't want you using his DNA due to it being too much like the ending of his game. As he told you he was afraid. So instead you had me create the needed DNA from four-"

"I know, from four of the characters from the House game. Then after Shock and Frost's creation we raised them in VR so that they would be adults. Since they were developing certain sexual proclivities and I realized I was massively uncomfortable with the thought of them having underage sex."

"In the previous timeline you haven't yet altered yourself to carry children and those four do not exist."

I stopped. "What?"

"If you try to rescue Vexy you will lose Leon, Zephyr, Taro, Erik, and six unborn children. That's ten verses possibly three kobolds since Vexy and Kohan exist in this timeline already and as far as we know right now those three trouble makers might even exist on the moon."

"I- I." I honestly didn't know what to do.

"Dad? Please let this be working. I don't know if you can hear me. You said we could communicate through these gems. The ships out there are calling for us to turn over all synths, research, parts, information, and individuals who've worked on them immediately; or they are going to decompress the colony. Dad, the colony needs you here now. I'm taking Ryu and Chiyo to the junkyard in my racer. Thank goodness you equipped it with a cloak. But Luca said he would stand with the people of the colony and the synths."

"Don't worry Rin. We're on our way." I teleported to the bedroom. "Mahan, open the merge pod. No one gets away with threatening my daughter."

"What do you mean, they're not communicating with us."

I slid into the unit and pulled on the helmet. Mahan, I'm ready. Go for merge."

I was flooded with contradictory information but I pushed it aside. One of us was in danger. I jumped, this was nothing just a hop closer to the sun. I positioned myself to appear between the threat and my charges.

As I glared at them with all my sensors I ran out my teeth, two massive rail guns, I'd chew these interlopers to pieces. No I extended all weapons emplacements. If they wanted to make threats I'd show them what happens when I'm angry. I turned on all transmitters tuning them to every conceivable wave length and roared. "I am the Shadow Runner, Messenger of Death, Protector of Sol and you will back away or be destroyed!" I was disappointed as they powered down their weapons and reversed course.

"Tiger." Jordan called.

"He's not here."

"Yes he is. It's time to come back to us." Kyle and Shock's voices joined in.

I growled, those invaders were still a threat.

"Tiger, we need you." Dash, Rider, and Fenrir joined. "You wish to protect us. Listen. Listen to what is within you." Raulin's voice was there now as well.

What were they saying? I knew what was in me, I'm the shadow Runner they were all inside me. There was a tiny thumping, No, four of them not fully in synch with each other but still . . . I gasped as I pulled the merge helmet off. I ran my hand over my slightly distended belly. "That was close little ones."

"If you're done acting like you're a god get down here where you belong." Kyle yelled, making me cringe.

I lowered the pod and took my place as captain. "Shock, try hailing them now."

I looked around the bridge and was surprised it was rather empty.

Fenrir was at the navigation console, Rider at weapons, Shock at communications, and Kyle in the second in command seat.

"Where-"

"Wolf's with the kids, or more appropriately he's pulling D'Artagnan out of VR in order to get him into protection with the rest of the kids. Keb and Mal are assisting him. Your older kids said they would be more use elsewhere and took off. I- Tiger, I think the time wave may have adversely affected me. I can't remember the names of the kids you had before we met. I remember implanting the memories of raising them in VR though." Shock said.

"I'm sure it's because of the stress. Just focus on contacting those two ships." I ordered. That was a conversation we'd need to have, or maybe avoid having later.

"Another ship coming in." Fenrir announced, "It's the Bad Luck."

"I see we have visitors and thought you could use a little help." Tank radioed. "Seems a lot has been happening while we were in altered space on our regular trip to Mars."

That meant they were unaffected by the time wave.

"Two more ships coming in." Rider said in surprise. The first is about the size of the Bad Luck.

"Admiral, this is Captain Torch, the Yip Yap stands with you. You defended us when Earth thought we should be eliminated and now the council of kobold clans stand with you."

"This Is Earth Defense XS-IV Dreadnaught Halcyon, We barely made the lift, but we are here to defend humanity. Even if it is all just for show. I'm sorry to say about all we can do is act as a sacrificial shield or a battering ram."

"Your ships are negligible. We have studied your technology and improved it. You are no threat to us. Now turn over all synthetic life forms, information concerning their creation and modification, as well as all scientists involved with their creation."

"Another ship coming in, same trajectory as the intruders. It's big!" Fenrir yelled.

It was maybe five kilometers long, roughly double the size of the Runner. Still I had larger in the junkyard, I wasn't intimidated.

"We do not wish to destroy you, but if you force us-" A new voice said, likely the fleet commander joining the battle once he had assessed our strength.

"If some alien ass thinks he can make demands he's better think again. Admiral, this is Captain Trace with Tye aboard the Archangel. We are in position to top this big ass."

I grinned to myself. That meant they were directly behind the alien ships ready to ram a full load up their engines.

"Admiral, Zephyr and Captain Erik here. The Phoenix is ready to dive."

So they were above.

"Captain Leon and Taro, with the Thunderbird, ready to go for the soft spot.

They were pointed up at the alien's underbelly.

"Sorry about this, Dad- I mean Admiral! Frost reporting in. Captain Snowie has taken control of the Andromeda Ascendant. He hopes you don't mind if we borrowed it. We're on Papa Shock's side."

So they were on the left.

"This is Captain Chiyo of Gundam Carrier Albion in final position. Rin is on the Catapult with Zero and Ryo is backing her up with the Epyon."

Of course Rin would choose those two suits. "All ships decloak, but hold position. Let's show them what they're dealing with." I took a breath and let it out, I took a second. "Shock transmit this on the frequency they've been using."

"No. I reject all of your demands. You've studied my tech, good for you. Guess what, it's not, strictly speaking, my technology. Even I don't know its full capabilities. However, I'm willing to bet it will be more than enough to destroy you. Now before I send you back where you came from, I'd just like to know who you are and why you're trying to abduct so many of my citizens."

***