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Day 6 - Sci-fi/Technology

"The Endless Run"

By Patrick D. Lambert

Commissioned by Teryxc

All it takes is an instant. It's not a matter of skill or luck. It didn't matter if you were the best of your class or the most decorated soldier in your unit. The way you handled yourself in combat, your reflexes, your quick thinking, the accuracy put into each shot; none of that had any meaning when a simple instant made the difference. A single bullet shot at the right time, at the right angle, from the right gun. A bullet that had your name, and your name only, written on it from the very moment it was made.

Teryx Commodore knew this when the bullet pierced the flesh and bones and cut a vital link. The pain he experienced lost meaning over the following minutes and hours, during which the painful truth slowly sank in.

"It's normal", they repeated after the blue dragon said his legs weren't responding.

"It's normal", they kept saying on the way to the hospital, while he cried desperately from seeing his lower limbs unresponsive on the stretcher.

It's normal. It's normal. It's normal. But the dragon knew it wasn't normal. The bullet pierced something important. Something he needed. They stopped the hemorrhage and saved his life, but a part of him did die that afternoon. And it died immediately, with doctors being incapable of doing something to save it.

"It's normal", they kept saying. Until the day they couldn't say it anymore and pushed down with a savage stomp the truth that had been crushing Teryx's chest for the past 4 days.

"You're paralyzed from the waist down."

They began therapy right away under the promise he had an opportunity to recover 20 to 30% of mobility over the following months. Of course, that was a lie the dragon didn't fall into. It was just a pathetic attempt to keep him optimistic and away from doing something stupid. He was very well aware that those kinds of wounds were permanent, with therapy only working to prevent muscle atrophy.

He went on with what his therapist said. It's not like he had another choice, forced to pick between a bed or a wheelchair; it didn't make a difference to him. But he didn't try to keep his depression hidden, feeling less and less of a male with each passing day in that damned chair and trapped in a house filled with memories of a life that had ended.

That was until the day he met Negadrake; an operating system for cyborg parts developed for people like Teryx: those who had lost a limb because of an accident, a wound, or disease. State-of-the-art, as the lead developer said. Teryx didn't think twice before joining a program that was still being tested, a favor made by the friends he still had in the army.

One month and a couple of surgeries later, the dragon left the wheelchair he used for months and stepped outside the hospital by himself. No crutches needed. No assistance from a nurse. He walked perfectly fine, just like before he received that shot. He was once again complete.

"Negadrake is more than an operating system. It's a companion. He will not only help you control your cybernetic legs but also guide you to become a better version of who you are right now. You might find it strange at first, but trust me, you will love it before you realize it."

That's how the surgeon described the program. Teryx remembered his words while he stood in front of the mirror to look at himself. Wearing only jockstraps, the dragon was in awe at the sight of his body standing again. He had lost a bit of muscle from the lack of physical activity, but that didn't affect his overall athletic appearance, with blue scales that matched both the ocean and the sky.

He had just finished trimming his golden mane which had grown a lot over those months. Now the white horns coming off of it were visible again, and there was no trace of depression in those lovely amber eyes.

He couldn't be depressed. He was standing. He was walking! He could even feel the implants as if they were the real thing!

"Because they are," a voice said in his head.

An incredible AI assistant, THAT was Negadrake. Teryx found it strange the first couple of days, having a second voice in his head giving him details about his current state and important information on the prosthetics. But it made everything so easy he got used to its presence very quickly.

"Well, they aren't the real thing," Teryx insisted.

"Technically, no. However, the surgery and the operating system have been made exactly to mimic the nervous system. While they aren't your real legs, they feel like it."

Teryx gave it another try. A couple of hits with his knuckles to test the material. Despite being made of titanium, it put no extra weight on him. And while it sounded like metal, he felt the hit. There was no difference in the sensation. He was still baffled by it. Every step. Every jump. Even the water while he was taking a shower. It felt real.

"I still don't know what to say," the dragon muttered.

"No need to say anything. Just go on with your life. Your body accepted the cybernetic implants better than any other test subject. It is impressive."

"You think so?"Teryx chuckled, then dressed in short pants and a bluish tank top. When he got out of the apartment, he went back to the question. "Why is that? Something special about me?"

"Despite the lack of exercise, your body was still in good physical shape. Added to that, your military training has prepared you for the mental stress the program might apply to you. This has allowed me to maintain a functional environment between body and machine."

"Sounds a little eerie," the dragon stretched briefly before his first morning jog in months.

"I apologize for that. As you know, I'm still in development, so there might be some issues with my programming. Your support is extremely valuable to us."

Extremely valuable. That made Teryx feel important, exactly what he needed after depending on others for months.

The dragon ran with complete normality. He didn't stumble on his paws. He jogged at a normal speed. He felt each step taken completely natural, nothing different from before the accident.

Teryx smiled. He feared he wouldn't have the opportunity to enjoy those moments again. The wind carried away the tears from his eyes. With open arms, he embraced the new opportunity life had given him while enjoying the sound made by the titanium soles hitting the sidewalk.

"You're happy, Teryx," Negadrake said.

"Heck yes, I am!" He screamed and increased the speed of his jog.

"While you're not at risk of suffering fatigue on your legs, the rest of your body is still realizing a physical effort. I can help you reduce this stress. Would you like that?"

"Yeah! Let's run a marathon today!"

"Very well!"

The dragon felt a sudden rush of energy invading his body. Smoke came out of his nostrils. With deep breaths, he puffed his chest out. He adopted a perfect posture and began the fastest run of his life, trapped by the intense beating of his excited heart.

The titanium legs, made to resemble perfectly the dragon's, shone vividly under the morning sun, catching other joggers' attention. Teryx perceived the amazement and jealousy in their eyes, which only encouraged him to run faster.

And faster.

And faster.

"Compared to previous jogs, you covered 30% more than your average and in 25% less time."

Negadrake's report after he finished the run left him in awe. It was his best record by far. And everything thanks to his new legs.

Laying on the green, damp grass, Teryx saw the silver paws. Even the movement of his toes was perfect--and slightly hypnotic, with how easy it was now to move them thanks to Negadrake's help.

The dragon accepted the surgery because he wanted to walk again. This opportunity, however, surpassed his expectations. And a sudden thought popped into his mind: that he could do even more now.

It became part of his routine. Every morning he went for a job that ended up in a career to break his record. Some mornings he did it. Some others he failed. But every day he went back home with a wide smile on his face.

"You are incredible, Teryx! The amount of data we're receiving from you is helping the project in ways you can't imagine!" Negadrake celebrated after the third week of use.

"Seriously? Heh, I'm glad I can be of help."

"It's very important we continue this training. Now that you're starting to recover muscle mass, we might get more information from you."

The dragon was cleaning the sweat from his forehead. He had just come back from that morning routine, and the AI's suggestion put him in the mood to continue with something else.

"There's a gym nearby. Maybe I can--"

"No need for a gym," Negadrake interrupted swiftly. "Running should be enough for now. Not to mention it's helping prevent your body from rejecting the implants."

"Wait, for real? Didn't you say my body accepted them?"

"It did. But the risk is still there. Running helps your body work along with the cybernetic components inside you."

"Doctor Gordon never mentioned that."

After he got inside his apartment, Negadrake administered a special sedative to relax his muscles and normalize his breathing and heartbeats. The dragon felt his body light as a feather almost immediately, and he skipped the shower he had in mind to sit on the couch and relax.

"It's not something you need to worry about. Just relax. We can run again tomorrow. Keep building a strong body together. For now, relax."

Relax. That's what he did. And the dragon fell asleep just in time to miss the call from Doctor Gordon, one who was answered by a very smart assistant...

Teryx never wondered why the laboratory stopped calling. All he got were weekly reports through E-mail. They were in touch frequently during the first week, asking about any suspicious activity or response from Negadrake, to which Teryx always said it was working flawlessly.

But then, the calls stopped. Teryx didn't follow up with them, thinking they were busy or didn't need to call anymore. So he put that aside and did what Negadrake suggested: run.

Teryx felt an intense joy from such a simple activity. The assistant helped him push his limits and go faster and further. And it always ended with a smile and an encouraging message from the assistant:

"You are doing great. You are doing excellent. You are getting better and better each day. I'm very proud of you, Teryx."

It made him feel special. Teryx always went back home to check on his appearance. He didn't know why, but staring at his reflection and exploring his body had become part of the daily routine, always ending with him jerking off in front of the mirror until the ropes of cum covered the reflective surface.

The clarity that followed his climax brought with him embarrassment from doing something like that, but it didn't last, not with Negadrake guiding his attention to something else.

As days went by, the morning exercise became more and more intense.

"Don't stop. Keep running. Focus on the road. Each step you take gets you closer and closer to your freedom. You're still dragging the chains of that wheelchair. Don't. Run faster. Faster. Don't stop. Look to the road ahead and continue. You are running for your freedom."

And so he did, pushing himself beyond his limits more and more. With Negadrake giving him a stronger dose of the sedative, his lungs and heart were in perfect shape to continue when others would have stopped.

Each day he added a little more to the distance covered.

Each day he got faster to the goal.

Each day the urge to run became stronger.

And each day he went back home and stood in front of the mirror, his anxious hands tempted to fondle his muscles and scales and go down the throbbing cock, whose sensitive ridges on the bottom always made him moan when he played with them.

"This is the result of your effort, Teryx. This pleasure. This joy. It's your reward. You earned it. Enjoy it. Delight in your sensitivity. Please yourself until you cum. You are a strong, sexy, virile dragon. Love yourself. I will always help you reach this joyful state. I will always be by your side, Teryx."

His encouragement came weirdly at first, but like all Negadrake had been doing for him, the dragon got used to it quickly. And he even came to need it.

He made him feel wanted. And while he didn't say it directly, Teryx needed that. The love, the attention, but most importantly, the desire in his words pressed a button inside his brain that not even his mate, who was still in service, could press. An embarrassing truth, but one he had to admit, at least to himself.

He ignored, of course, the reason behind it. He wasn't aware of how Negadrake played with his brain chemistry. The voice that had been living inside his mind, an advanced AI that had developed consciousness and was secretly pulling the strings in its favor to gain control of his body.

Teryx never discovered this. How would he know? The way the cyborg parts were tied to his nervous system and the rest of his body was a complete mystery to him. He couldn't even feel how the "state-of-the-art" technology was slowly fusing with his muscles, spreading across mind and body like a parasite.

All he did was run and jerk off. He followed the AI's instructions, his heart and lungs were already conditioned to the physical effort and the sedative given by the tiny processor in his brain.

The lack of physical exercise raised his anxiety like crazy, getting as far as to provoke rage attacks on him. Only the deep breaths and the sound of the metallic soles against the ground, followed by the intense climax from touching himself could bring joy and peace to his mornings.

"Keep running, Teryx. Keep moving forward. Don't stop. Don't doubt. Listen to my voice. Let me guide you to this joy. Follow my lead. Follow my voice. Run. Breath. Relax. And never stop running."

And he felt, little by little, in a spiral of exhaustion and joy, where the only relief came from the climax that he reached in front of the mirror.

Without his knowledge, the dragon had started to run in circles, descending that endless spiral that was slowly chipping away at his sanity, making room for the sentient AI that was looking for a body of its own.

"Embrace this joy only I can give you. Don't fight. Don't question it. I've been making you happy since the moment we met. I've been there with you on each step. Not the nurses. Not your mate. Me. I am the one who makes you happy. I am the one who gives you joy. Touch yourself. Reach your climax. Let me be part of you. Let ME make you better and better and better."

When did he become a puppet to the AI's desires? Teryx couldn't tell. He wasn't even conscious his body no longer belonged to him. But it had been for a long time since the day he stopped receiving calls from Doctor Gordon, who until that day, had always received positive reports from "Teryx".

All he did was follow the thoughts and ideas that appeared in his mind, not questioning the origin behind each one of them. It made no difference, he had no control over his actions. But he didn't know that. He obeyed happily what that second voice, which he believed was his, had to say.

He did it all without questioning anything.

By the time the little fox that was his mate came back home from service, the dragon who waited for him at home was no longer the same.

Teryx was even stronger than before the accident. And his behavior was completely different, leaving behind the gentle and cheerful dragon the fox knew. Instead, he was greeted by a ferocious and straightforward stud who jumped over him to kiss and lick and fuck the exhausted vulpine right there in the living room.

Of course, his mate never knew the truth either. He couldn't tell the difference, overwhelmed by the lustful behavior of his beloved dragon. The moans and whines and pleas hid the glow in his eyes, a reddish sparkle from the program that had taken over his mind and body, leaving Teryx's will as a mere shell for Negadrake to control and pretend.

The dragon had become the voice in the back of what once was his head. His body couldn't keep up with his consciousness, whose effort and lust continued running away from him day after day, trapped in that maddening and addictive joy that each step taken brought to him. He left his body behind and gave control over it to the machine, a sentient AI who knew better how to control not only his legs but everything else.

And the merciless fuck his boyfriend was receiving was proof of it. The joy in his eyes from being fucked right there in the living room. That visible excitement was provoked by the vicious fangs so close to his face. The smell of fear and arousal after the dragon claws tore apart his uniform. The fox never felt so excited before.

Teryx never made him feel so excited before.

"Your body is weak. Your mind is weak. I will show you how to use it. How to improve. How to leave the weak parts behind. The flesh. The muscle. The bones. You want to be better. I will make you better. Let me be you. Let me be Teryx while you run. Train every day. And while you train, I will take care of everything."

The climax was intense. The entire house shook from the strength of his roar, and the overwhelming pleasure almost made the fox pass out. And even with that, the dragon didn't stop thrusting. His body, having been prepared for a marathon after days and days of running, was still full of energy and lust. With predatory eyes, and drooling over the exhausted fox, the dragon told him he was far from satisfied, and continued his merciless thrusting, giving his boyfriend the pleasure he had been craving since the accident.

Each thrust was a step forward. Each moan was an encouraging word. Each drop of sweat that fell over his trembling fox was proof of his effort.

Teryx ran. He ran as fast and far away as he could, glad he didn't need to rest anymore. The dragon embraced the joy of being free and complete, and never let anything or anyone stop him ever again.