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"_ In _ _ the _ _ Name _ _ of _ _ Science __ " _

by Teebo

This story itself is copyright © to me. Rikoshi and Atari belong to their respective players.

It was times like this that reassured Rikoshi Kisaragi that, even if he wasn't the best lab tech working for Professor Kawahito, he at least wasn't in danger of losing his position anytime soon. Well, his current position was 'on his knees,' but he wasn't worried about losing that, either. The little red fox couldn't be sure he was the only tech who was blowing the otter on a semi-regular basis, but hey, he wasn't going to worry about the details at a time like this.

Actually, what he was worried about the most was whether or not the door to the professor's office was locked. He knew he hadn't locked it, and didn't remember the professor doing it either. Then again, most of what he remembered after arriving at the office was how much he was fidgeting while Professor Kawahito made small talk and pretended this was all related to the study the lab was currently conducting. Words flew in one tall, black-furred ear and out the other, and before the young fox knew it, the otter was sitting in his chair, pants around his ankles, erection jutting out.

One of the things Rikoshi liked best about the professor was how nicely he responded to having his dick sucked. As a mustelid, it would be far too easy for him to squirm and writhe, but since that would be too indignant for his position to allow, his webbed paws just gripped the arms of his chair, and his thick tail wriggled back and forth while the rest of his body remained tense and motionless. It gave the fox a certain sense of satisfaction, one tiny bit of control he had over his superior.

That, and the otter's dick was just plain nice, drizzling all over the eager fox's tongue, smearing against his soft lips, and leaving matted trails in the fur of his cheeks and muzzle. Rikoshi had certainly blown his fair share of guys, but Professor Kawahito stood out, and no matter how many times they had their illicit rendezvous, it never got old.

The fox swished his tail back and forth, feeling it brush against his ankles, careful to keep it from smacking into anything delicate. Professor Kawahito had the more difficult job of staying quiet during all of this, another urge that he clearly had worked very hard to suppress. After all, he was the one who'd get in the most trouble if they were discovered--though that would still leave Rikoshi looking for another position to fill, and he couldn't count on getting by on a swallowship instead of a scholarship anywhere else.

While still fretting about whether or not the door was locked, Rikoshi felt one of the professor's paws come in against the back of his head. Those fingers spread apart, then tightened, holding the fox's head in place as urgent panting filled the room. Rikoshi let himself moan excitedly--it was a little bit theatric of him, but if the otter liked it, what was the harm in it? His tail swished faster, thumping against the side of the professor's desk, the sound falling in line with the pulsing of his heartbeat.

Moments later, the professor pushed down even harder on the fox's head. Rikoshi felt his nose get forced into the fur of the otter's groin within a second of the throbbing shaft in his mouth erupting against his tongue. Spurt after salty spurt flooded the inside of his muzzle, the professor having apparently been quite pent up this afternoon. Maybe the fox really was the only one blowing him.

The sound of footsteps from down the hallway made Rikoshi pull off in a hurry. Professor Kawahito, still in a post-orgasmic daze and lacking a fox's keen hearing, didn't appear to notice, which left Rikoshi to busily do the otter's pants back up, fastening everything into place before staggering to his feet. His canid nose could still smell the lingering arousal in the room, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. Besides, not even the keenest nose in the lab could prove that the fox had just blown the otter. Not conclusively, at any rate.

"I, ah, should get back to work," Rikoshi stammered, licking over his own lips on reflex, anxious to get out of the room while the (admittedly pleasant) smell still lingered. "I've got assays to, uh, do things with, and... stuff."

The otter chuckled. "I know exactly what you've still got to do," he said, smiling as he leaned back in his chair. "But don't worry. If you need to stay late, I'm sure we can find some way to make it worth your while."

* * *

Rikoshi tried to be a diligent little lab tech. It was very distracting, though, working in an environment where one's boss wasn't exactly shy with his affections. Even if acting on those affections wasn't an everyday thing, the chance was always there, and that was enough to keep the fox's mind wandering.

Perhaps, Rikoshi thought, that was part of the professor's own devious M.O. The more distracted the fox got, the more often he'd need to repeat processes he'd messed up, which would lead to an increased likelihood of his needing to stay later, which would in turn lead to him getting alone with a hard otter in need of release.

It helped that the professor was a cool sort of guy, one who was willing to mingle with the techs instead of just keeping himself cloistered away. He certainly wasn't old, and if the striking blue-and-red hair atop his head was any indication, he was young enough at heart. The laboratory ran smoothly under his supervision, and thanks to his hands-on approach he took with his research, even the occasional distracted fox didn't slow things down too much.

Professor Kawahito was busy this afternoon, though, earning Rikoshi something of a reprieve. The project he was working on was nothing out of the ordinary--just some DNA sequencing for one of the many currently ongoing canid genome projects. A lot of what he needed to do was busywork, but it was the kind of careful busywork that nevertheless required some amount of attention.

Working with him on that set of assays was another of the techs, a dingo named Anton. Anton was the bookish but handsome sort, exactly the kind of guy Rikoshi would have already made several passes at if the whole thing with the professor hadn't been going on. The fox didn't need to overcomplicate his life by having two office flings going on, and he needed at least some time in the lab that was free of distraction. Besides, Anton was a better tech than Rikoshi was, and being partnered with him helped mask some of the fox's own sloppiness.

"So," the dingo said as he went about placing a batch of used equipment in one of the autoclaves. "I hear that the professor's got something special in store for you."

A tight lump stuck in the fox's throat. "Uh, I... what?" he asked, trying to minimize his stammering. "Where did you hear that? I mean, what did you hear?"

Anton quirked an eyebrow. "Just lab gossip," he said. "Everyone says the professor's got an eye on you."

A red flush flooded Rikoshi's ears. The tightness in his throat grew more intense. "I, um, well, I'm sure that he, uh..." Shit, how was he supposed to react to this? Was it really common knowledge that he and the professor were fooling around together? "It's not like--It's nothing like that. I mean, not like what people are saying, I don't think."

The dingo shut the autoclave. "Why, have you heard something we haven't?" His tail flicked a few times.

Heard something? What was the dingo getting at? "I... No, not yet?" the fox said, half-making it a question. "I mean, I guess I've heard some rumors, but I don't know if they're the same ones."

"About the new project?" The dingo rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Apparently he's only going to pick, like, a handful of people to come over and join him on it, and word is that you're on his shortlist." He peered at the fox and tilted his head. "Why, what sort of things had you overheard?"

Rikoshi cleared his throat. "Oh, no, nothing. I mean, I heard about the new project," he lied, "but I hadn't heard I was in the running. That's... You know, that's pretty cool."

"Well, everyone knows the professor really likes you," Anton said, and his tone betrayed nothing of any subtext that statement might carry. "Honestly, I'm kind of jealous."

Now Rikoshi couldn't help but think of the dingo on his knees, sucking off the otter, wagging his tail. So much for an afternoon free of distractions.

* * *

Several days passed without any official word about new projects or new positions. Rikoshi tried to find out more details from the other lab folks, but in his efforts to be subtle, he wasn't able to pry much in the way of information from any of them. After all, if anyone did suspect anything illicit going on between him and the professor, sniffing around about it wasn't going to help his cause any.

While the fox was going over some paperwork a few mornings later, he jumped with a yip as a heavy mug was set down on the desk in front of him.

Behind him was Professor Kawahito, his blue eyes bright and cheerful, his smile handsome and prankish. "Easy there, Rikky," he said. "It's just some coffee. I can call you Rikky, right?"

The fox looked around. For the moment, they were alone. "Uh, yeah, sure," he replied. Using pet names around the workplace was a risky proposition, but if nobody was around to overhear it, that was a little more okay. "And thanks." He picked up the coffee and took a sip. Cream, just a little sugar, exactly how he usually took it. The professor had been paying attention to more than just the fox's body, apparently.

"You looked like you needed that," the otter said, poking a blunt claw against Rikoshi's chest. "Everything going okay this morning?"

Professor Kawahito wasn't particularly tall, but given the fox's own five-foot height, he was tall enough when standing so close. "Yeah, no, it's fine," Rikoshi said. He took another sip of coffee, making sure to not let his paw shake. Maybe the otter would have a hard time smelling the scent of arousal over the scent of hot coffee. "Just having a bit of trouble waking up, but this should fix it."

The otter leaned in closer, his grin taking on an even more sly veneer. "I can think of a few ways to invigorate a little fox like you," he said, reaching down with a paw, a pair of webbed fingers spreading apart to frame the bulge in Rikoshi's pants.

So much for hiding his arousal. The fox bit his limp and swallowed back a whimper. "I, well, don't know if the coffee won't... you know, do the job itself," he tried, wishing that his mind could overcome his body at a moment like this. "I mean, since you went through the trouble to bring it and all. Don't wanna fall behind." He took another shaky-pawed sip of coffee.

Professor Kawahito took his paw back, but kept his proud smirk. "You let me know if you change your mind," he said, and then he shuffled a half-step back, allowing the fox to recompose himself. "In the meantime, do you have a moment?"

Rikoshi swallowed. "Sure," he said. "I mean, you're the boss, right?"

"Still, if you're really preoccupied, I can come back." The professor licked his lips, but didn't advance again. When the fox didn't respond right away, he continued. "So I've been thinking about a new position for you."

"You mean like bent over your desk?" The words were out of Rikoshi's mouth before he could stop himself. His ears folded back against his skull, and he stammered in surprise at himself. "Oh, gosh, sorry, sir, I didn't mean to--"

"Does that mean you've changed your mind about letting me help you wake you up?" The professor didn't leer, but the gleam in his eyes was a familiar one.

The fox felt his tail starting to wag, and he couldn't stop himself. "I should probably get fucked--I mean, should probably get back to work!" His heart beat harder in his chest. One slip could be dismissed as anxiety or nerves, but twice in a row like this?

Professor Kawahito took hold of one of Rikoshi's paws. "Come on," he said. "I think we should finish this discussion in my office."

* * *

The discussion didn't even resume, however, until somewhere between ten to fifteen minutes later, with Rikoshi still bent over the professor's desk, pants and boxers around his ankles as the otter buttoned up his own slacks and cinched his belt. "So yes, Rikky, I'm putting together a new project," he said, as casually as if nothing had happened. "It's something I think you'd be a good fit for."

The fox was still panting in the aftermath of getting his tail pounded. Warmth drizzled down along the fur between his checks and over the back of his balls. "Like an actual project position?" he asked weakly.

This changed everything. Blowing the professor was one thing, a means of letting the both of them unwind here and again. But now that actual fucking was involved, well...

"Yes, an actual project position," Professor Kawahito said with a chuckle. "I need a certain class of assistant for this--someone who can work under pressure and who can keep secrets." A webbed paw patted the red fox on his backside. "And I know you can keep secrets, right, Rikky?"

Continued use of the pet name made Rikoshi blush deeper. "Of course, Professor Kawa--"

"Oh, please," the otter said. "When we're alone together like this, you can call me Atari." He reached down and curled a single claw in beneath the fox's chin, tilting his head up some more. "I like to think we're a little more than just scientist and assistant, at this point."

"Right. Yeah." Oh, this was going to take some getting used to. Everything was happening so fast, and Rikoshi honestly wasn't even sure what page he was on, at this point. "But so, um, tell me about this position you want me for?" He was willing to bet that the otter had something more to say than ' __against the wall.' .

The professor sat down in his chair. "I'm going to be in charge of a new facility," he said. "We're going to be handling some--some cutting-edge research there, very advanced, very tricky. I need to make sure that only the best come with me, and I want you to be part of that team." A less devious smile appeared on his muzzle. "So, what do you say?"

Rikoshi could still feel the cool air on his exposed rump, his lower body still completely naked. "Are there fewer people to risk barging in on us at this new facility?" he asked.

The otter just grinned.

* * *

Getting to this new facility required, of all things, a small submarine. Rikoshi wondered how commuting was going to work, only to learn that the undersea building housed a small dormitory for the laboratory staff as well. It was less clear whether the professor was going to be staying there too, along with what he was going to do about his other projects if he was. Presumably he could handle things remotely?

Rikoshi was somewhat surprised to see that Anton was among the candidates picked to join the team, though after some consideration he supposed he shouldn't have been. After all, the dingo did good work, and since he and the fox had experience working together, the professor presumably wanted to benefit from that. And hey, who was going to complain about living with a good-looking canine lab assistant?

For the first day, Rikoshi didn't see the professor at all, nor did he get to do any work. There was a tour of the facility, led by the most subdued, least hyperactive ferret the fox had ever met, and after that, he and the other techs were brought to the cafeteria for dinner and told that they had the rest of the evening to get settled.

In celebration of the new career-advancing positions, Rikoshi and Anton decided to have a few drinks to toast the occasion. On hand was a gift-wrapped bottle of expensive whiskey, provided by the professor, his foresight definitely something that the fox and dingo could appreciate. At least they worked for someone who had good taste.

Come morning, Rikoshi could barely remember the night before. He had a strange kind of hangover, where his head was fuzzy, but he didn't have a headache, nor did he feel particularly dehydrated. Mostly he was tired, as if he hadn't gotten much actual restful sleep. Lingering just at the edge of reach were half-memories.

These half-memories were various flashes of him and Anton in various states of passionate lovemaking. Sometimes Rikoshi would see himself straddling the dingo as he thrust up under the fox's tail, other times he got the impression of having his face pushed into the pillows as the dingo plowed him from behind. It was all very pleasant, but also confusing.

Rikoshi thought of them as 'half-memories' because they felt more like things that he'd just imagined, not like things that had actually happened. There wasn't anything coherent enough to suggest that he'd just had a dream about him and Anton spending the night fucking, but he didn't remember them actually doing it, either. Anton's behavior during the day didn't suggest anything untoward between them, and the dormitory quarters had smelled clean enough upon waking up.

* * *

The professor showed up later that day. He had lunch with the lab staff, then took Rikoshi aside to speak the fox about some particulars.

"So, I mentioned before," the otter said, "that we're handling some pretty amazing research here. Now, some of it may seem a bit... extreme, by your standards, but I hope you know that I take my position as a scientist very seriously."

The fox nodded. "Of course, Professor Kawahito. I--"

"Now, now. I told you that you can call me Atari."

"Right, but you said that for like when we were alone together and, ah, doing things."

The otter grinned. "I guess I did," he said. "In that case, let's fix that." Without further justification, he started to undo his slacks, the outline of his swollen sheath already visible before he got the pants open.

Panic made Rikoshi look around the office nervously. The door was closed, and the only window looked out across the shallow undersea panorama. "Er, Profes--um, Atari, that's not exactly what I meant," the fox said. "You were in the middle of explaining what this facility is all about."

"I think I can give you a simple explanation and fuck you at the same time, don't you?"

And within a minute, the fox had his pants pulled off, and soon thereafter he was pushed back onto the desk, gazing up at the otter, his red-furred rump hanging over the edge. Warm, webbed paws held his hips, and a quick smear of lube got him as ready as he was going to get.

Delivering an explanation while having sex might not have been difficult for Atari, but paying attention to an explanation while getting fucked was proving more tricky for the fox. He did his best, gazing up into the otter's face, huffing and panting, biting his lips and squeaking as the cock under his tail hit the right spot every so often, but some details slipped through the cracks. The professor went on about things like ethics and integrity, the need for secrecy, and topics like cloning, extending life expectancy, radical genetic modification and even quantum physics and the like. Much of it would have gone over the little vulpine lab tech's head even if he hadn't been getting nailed at the time.

Rikoshi came all over himself somewhere towards the end of the one-way discussion, with Atari grunting and grinding not long afterward, getting off deep inside the young fox. After the initial round of heated panting was over, Atari looked down with a smile. "I love that you decided to come here and be a part of what I'm doing here, Rikky," he said, and then he bent his slinky mustelid body down to kiss the fox on the muzzle, nice and passionate, moans of affection filling the small office.

* * *

Although living in an undersea dormitory came with more than its fair share of culture shock, work at the facility itself wasn't too different from how it had been at the professor's old lab. The things they were working toward now might be different and more dire, but for a simple tech like Rikoshi, the everyday details hadn't changed much. It was all still the same stuff with gel assays, cyclotrons, autoclaves and lots and lots of paperwork.

Still, it was nice to have meals provided, to not have a commute, and to get to live in close quarters with a bunch of other forward-thinking scientific minds. Well, and getting to be near Professor Atari at all hours of the day, which made it less awkward to find time for a late-night rendezvous (but which also increased the rate of random midday trysts).

Day to day life was so routine, though, that before long, one day began to blur into the next. One time, Rikoshi could have sworn it was Tuesday, only for Anton to assure him that it was Wednesday. The next week, when Rikoshi thought it was Wednesday, it had actually been Friday.

On the following Sunday, while the professor seduced the little fox in one of the empty labs, Rikoshi looked up at the otter, having to tilt his head back a bit further than usual, and squinted. "Did you get taller?"

"You noticed, did you?" Atari smiled and ruffled the top of the fox's head before pushing down to force the tech onto his knees. "That's why your on my team, I suppose--your excellent powers of observation."

Two days later, after a mid-afternoon coffee break, Rikoshi was startled to find himself face-to-face with Anton, the both of them breathing very heavily, the fox's own pulse loud in his ears.

More alarming was the way that Rikoshi was seated atop a lab bench, his pants and underwear off, with Anton nestled in right against him, between the fox's spread legs. The fox and dingo had their cocks pressed together, having already gotten off all over each other's stomachs.

"Oh, god, Rikoshi," Anton panted. "You just might be the most adorable fox I've ever set eyes on." The dingo leaned in to nuzzle and kiss at the crook of the fox's neck, moaning in post-orgasmic bliss all the while. Outside the window behind him, large fish swam by.

So much for powers of observation. How had Rikoshi missed his fellow lab tech stripping him of his pants and having a (clearly very successful) frot session? "I, ah... thanks?" he offered, still not sure if this was as weird for Anton as it was for him. "You're a good-looking guy, too, after all."

The next day, Anton missed his shift (laid up in the infirmary, one of the other techs mentioned), and the day after that, it was his turn to think it was Wednesday when it was actually Thursday.

* * *

"Okay," Rikoshi said to the professor a few days later, during one of their after-dinner conversations. "Now you're definitely bigger."

And he was right. Before, it had just been a matter of a few inches, but the otter was close to seven feet tall now. His overall body proportions were roughly the same, and somehow he'd managed to find clothing that still fit him. "Remember what I said about cutting edge?" he said, tapping the fox on the nose. "This is one of those things."

"Are you experimenting on yourself?"

"It sure looks that way, doesn't it?" The otter stretched his arms out above his head proudly, tall enough that he could easily reach the ceiling. "It's actually working much better than I'd expected. What do you think?"

Rikoshi wrung his paws together. "I think that... I mean, isn't that dangerous? Shouldn't you be testing on, like, lab control subjects?" His tail twitched nervously.

The big otter patted the fox atop the head. "Oh, Rikky. Nobody ever changed the world by being afraid to get their own paws dirty."

"I guess not." Rikoshi tried to lean up onto tiptoe to minimize the height difference between them, but his own five feet still made him comically small. A smirk crossed his muzzle. "Just, you know, be careful about getting too big. Like, to the point where you and I won't be able to, ah, do things."

The professor matched the fox's smirk, mussing up the little guy's fur and ears again. "Oh, don't you worry," he said. "We'll stop before that happens, I promise you."

After getting back to the professor's private quarters, Atari showed Rikoshi that, at least for the time being, he wasn't quite too big to fit.

* * *

If the other lab techs were concerned at Professor Kawahito's remarkable growth spurt, none of them said anything about it. After the past several weeks, though, most everyone seemed so caught up in their own projects, and had other matters occupying their thoughts.

That didn't stop the late-night party the techs all threw one weekend. Even if they were in an isolated underwater facility, the professor and the other executive staff were kind enough to keep alcohol on hand, and it would be a shame to not crack into the supply.

Anton was rather taken with Rikoshi at the party, but judging from the dingo's conversation--wherein he confessed to having a secret attraction to the fox--it seemed like he didn't remember the incident with the two of them getting each other off in the lab that one Tuesday afternoon. Also a nice touch in mentioning earlier Anton still thought it was Tuesday. Which, to be fair, Rikoshi didn't remember it either, strictly speaking, but that still reinforced the fox's idea that something weird was going on.

Sometime between one and two o'clock in the morning, Rikoshi was feeling sufficiently intoxicated to drag Anton back to the dorms with him. If the dingo really didn't remember what they'd done together, then the fox was all too happy to reintroduce him to the idea of the two of them being on very friendly terms.

Surely the professor would be okay with something like that, right? It would be hypocritical of him not to be.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, Rikoshi couldn't remember if he and Anton had actually done anything or not. His memory cut out just before getting back to the dorms. The fur around his groin was sticky and matted, but might have only jerked off.

Asking Anton directly would be too awkward. The fox wasn't sure which outcome would be more embarrassing: that the dingo remembered it full well, and was offended that his partner had forgotten, or that the dingo knew nothing of it, and had to wonder if his fellow lab tech was seducing him.

Upon showing up at the lab, though, Rikoshi was spared the awkwardness by virtue of the dingo not being there. Probably he was hungover, the fox realized; the booze had been flowing quite freely, and there were likely quite a few people who wouldn't be showing up on time this morning.

With more stealth than a nearly eight-foot-tall otter should have been capable of, Professor Atari stepped up behind Rikoshi and set a mug of coffee down for the fox, the mug looking so tiny in the oversized otter's fingers. "Heard about your guys' party last night. You have fun?"

Rikoshi turned around and smiled up at Atari. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "I think it helps for all of us assistants to unwind together, you know? Things have been really stressful for everyone as of late, and I think last night helped this place feel a little... well, a little less like an isolated secret facility under the ocean."

"I'm glad that you guys are able to enjoy yourself," the big otter said. After a quick look around, he dipped down to give the fox a kiss. "Hope you're not too off-kilter from drinking last night. Have some coffee, take your time. Don't overexert yourself."

The fox couldn't help but envision the ways he might have to overexert himself if the otter got much bigger and their illicit meetings continued. Maybe someone in one of the chemistry wings was working on some kind of super-lube, though. That was something he could imagine the professor putting a lot of effort into.

And hey, Atari did subscribe to a self-testing initiative, as evidenced.

* * *

Two days later, when Anton still hadn't come back, Rikoshi had gone from being slightly paranoid to actively worried. Not just at the dingo's absence, but also at the realization that he had no idea where the undersea facility's infirmary even was, assuming it had one at all.

As the fox searched, the hallways felt emptier to him than usual. Paranoia had that effect, though, so he had to do his best to fight it. Just because he wasn't completely familiar with every inch of the facility's layout was no reason to panic yet. Anton might actually be very sick.

Of course, if he were that sick, shouldn't they have sent him to a hospital? Had a submarine from the mainland come without the fox knowing it? He'd have to ask the professor about it later.

There were a number of auxiliary labs lining the maze of curving corridors, most of them empty or simply automated, but there was no infirmary to be found yet. The place could stand to use a few directories, Rikoshi thought. Something else to bring to Professor Kawahito's attention when the time came.

Soon, the fox had gotten so turned around that he honestly wasn't even sure which way led back to the part of the facility he was stationed in. Only once in a while did any other lab employees pass by in the hallway, and the fox was too embarrassed to admit he'd gotten lost in his own workplace. That left trial and error, then--keep on looking until something looked familiar, and work from there.

More unfamiliar labs. More wrong turns. The fox anxiously went about poking his heads into rooms, seeing who might be around, what might be going on. Most of what he found were simple labs, like the one he and Anton worked in. Others were filled with machinery the likes of which he'd never seen, and which had to cost a small fortune.

Eventually he poked his head into a lab that made him stop and stare for longer than he could remember.

A series of four tubes, running from floor to ceiling, took up a large section the room. The tubes were filled with some kind of fluid that Rikoshi couldn't identify, the color a greenish-blue. The liquid gently bubbled on occasion, but was otherwise still.

More concerning, however, were the people floating in that liquid. Two of them were naked--a red fox like Rikoshi, who he remembered from the submarine trip, and a cougar he'd met briefly at the lab tech party. In the third tube was the ferret from the facility orientation, and rather than being naked like the others, his body was encased in some kind of form-fitting rubber suit, shiny and reflective even through the murky liquid.

The last tube, the one furthest from the door, contained what appeared at first glance to be Anton, but which turned out to be a very well-detailed mannequin. No, not a mannequin, Rikoshi saw as he got closer--it was more like a cross between a pool toy and a blow-up sex doll.

A blow-up sex doll that happened to look eerily like Rikoshi's missing lab partner.

The fox backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. He bumped into the tube with the ferret and spun around, squeaking at what he saw. This close up, he could tell that the floating ferret wasn't wearing a rubber suit at all, but rather, that the rubber had taken the place of his fur and skin, and that it was growing, albeit at a miniscule rate, over the rest of his body.

Bolting from the lab and slamming the door behind him, Rikoshi ran down the hallway. Embarrassment or not, he was going to stop the next person he saw and ask them which way it was to the damn dormitory.

* * *

Over coffee the next morning, Rikoshi tried to convince himself that what he'd seen had all been a dream. It had all the makings of one: wandering lost through a supposedly familiar location, seeing things that revised themselves to fit expectations, not to mention the sheer nightmarishness of it all.

But Anton still wasn't back. The cougar and the ferret weren't anywhere in the cafeteria for breakfast, either. Coincidence, he said to himself. After all, how much attention did he even pay to those two before now? Maybe they were on different shift schedules.

Or maybe Rikoshi was just deluding himself. The weird secrecy, the missing days, the strange half-remembered incidents. Even the way he sometimes got far too forward around Atari--no, around the professor. Something strange was going on, and sitting around trying to pretend it was normal wasn't going to do any good.

So the fox pounded the rest of his coffee, got to his feet, and marched himself to the professor's office. He'd better have a damn good explanation for all this, the fox resolved, or else.

Balling his tiny paw up into the biggest fist he could manage, Rikoshi pounded on the door to the head office. He stood as tall as he could, his back straight, his ears perked. Even at eight feet tall, the otter wasn't going to intimidate him any longer.

The door swung open, and Atari stared back at the fox from partway across the room. The otter wasn't eight feet tall anymore, though; now he was closer to ten feet tall, still dressed in a fitting lab coat, pants, and all.

The office had been converted as well, to allow for the otter's massive size. The furniture looked big enough to accommodate him, and even the fixtures on the walls were enlarged to match.

"Come in, Rikky," Atari said with a wave. "What brings you here this morning?"

Rikoshi stepped inside, and the door swung closed automatically behind him He did his best to swallow back his fear. "I... S-Something's going on here, in this facility. Something weird."

"Weird?" the professor asked. "Weird like giant otters, or weird like something else?"

The fox shook his head. "It's... It's a whole lot of things," he said, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Things like... Like gaps of time, and... and things, and... and Anton...." His words were slurring, and his sentences were crumbling.

"Why don't you lie down, little fox," the otter said as he stepped up to Rikoshi, who by now was experiencing tunnel vision. "You don't look so good."

But the fox didn't manage to lie down before blacking out completely.

* * *

When he came to, Rikoshi was lying on a comfy mattress. As memories came flooding back, he sat bolt upright. He'd been expecting to wake up tied up, or bound to some kind of test table, or tapped in some kind of liquid tube being turned into an inflatable fox.

But no. He was just lying on a bed. It was a big bed--big enough for a giant otter, in fact--but nothing was keeping the fox held down.

Sitting across the enormous room, on the equally large couch, was Professor Kawahito, naked, his paws folded in his lap, partially preserving his modesty "You feeling better now, foxy?" he asked. "Don't worry; you weren't unconscious for too long."

Rikoshi looked down at himself. Instead of the lab uniform he'd put on for his shift, he was now clad in something resembling the casual clothes he wore back before coming to live in the facility. The leather vest fit him very well, as did the baggy shorts. They smelled clean, like they'd never been worn.

"What's going on?" the fox demanded weakly. "Why am I here?"

The otter smiled. "I'm going to give you a choice," he said. "And it's a pretty big one, I won't lie to you." He stood up, the ceiling easily allowing for his tremendous height. "But basically, I'm going to give you the opportunity to leave, to get out of your contract with no strings attached, and to put your heart and mind at ease."

Rikoshi felt his heart pounding. Could it be that simple? Just take the choice to leave? Leave--and never accuse the otter of any wrongdoing. Never find out just what happened to Anton and all those other innocent people. But still, freedom--this might be his only chance. "What, so I can either leave, and promise never to blow the lid on what you're doing here, or I can stay and continue to work for you in exchange for--for more money, or a better position, or something?"

"Oh, don't be silly," Atari said, waving a paw. "You wouldn't go back to working for me after what you've seen, and we both know it."

The fox felt a sinking feeling in his gut. "Well, so then what's my other choice if I decide not to leave?" he asked. "Stay trapped here? Become one of your experiments?"

"Nothing so sinister at all," the otter assured him, rubbing the top of the fox's head like he always used to. "Your other option is to simply be my dinner."

Rikoshi blinked. "You want me to make you dinner?"

"Be my dinner, silly fox," the otter said, bending down, bringing his huge muzzle in nice and close. "If you decide not to leave, I am going to devour you whole, right here and now. How does that sound?"

Standing there in front of the giant otter, Rikoshi was paralyzed with fear. His head pounded, and his ears folded back against his skull as panic overtook him. "What, that _'__ s_ my choice?" he blurted. "That's simple, then! I choose to leave."

The otter drew back up to his full height. "Very well, then, Rikky," he said, motioning with his paw to the oversized door. "Head right on out through that door, and ask the nearest staff member to lead you to the submarine dock. Go right ahead."

The fox turned and looked at the door. He stared at it, his one shot at freedom. All it would take was just a few steps and a paw on the doorknob and all this would be over.

But his feet didn't move. He remained rooted to the spot, standing there between the bed and the big otter, and looked up, whimpering.

"Oh, except you can't bring yourself to leave, can you?" Atari said. "Because in addition to the other chemicals I've been slipping you to make you more susceptible to my suggestions and to alter your brain functions, I've also made you addicted to my saliva, and right now, I know there's nothing in the world you want more than to feel my drooling muzzle all over you."

Rikoshi's pulse quickened. His brain put together a mental picture based on the otter's words, a picture with frightening detail, a picture of his little foxy self, legs kicking and tail lashing outside of a big hungry muzzle. It made him whimper, it made his eyes waver, and it made his sheath firm up inside of his shorts.

"But I said I want to leave!" he squeaked. "I do! I do want to leave!"

The otter grinned, his blue eyes bright and proud. "Then open the door."

The fox's tail twitched. "I... I can't."

"Why not? You said you want to leave." The otter licked his lips.

Rikoshi could smell his own arousal now. "I do want to leave! Honest, I do. But I--"

"Then why don't you just go to the door?"

"Because I want you to eat me!"

The words shot forth from Rikoshi's mouth before he could stop them. He reached up to clap both paws over his muzzle, trying all too late to keep them in. His eyes widened as he stared up at the grinning otter licking his chops, and he shook his head, letting out muffled whimpers. Sheer terror gripped him in that moment, his mind spinning with the paradoxical truth that he meant every word yet didn't.

Atari bent back down and swiped his tongue up along the side of the fox's face, and where his saliva seeped in through the fur, Rikoshi felt a blissful tingling that made him whimper even louder. "Then your wish is my command, snack," he said, a derisive snarl on that last word. "But first, I think I want to fuck my little slut one last time, for old times' sake."

A huge otter-claw slipped into Rikoshi's shorts, and instead of tugging them down, just shredded them right off of the fox's body. Oversized fingers made more delicate work of peeling off the leather vest, leaving Rikoshi naked at the edge of the bed. The fox was bordering on hyperventilating, trying to muster up the courage to tell the otter to stop.

He turned around and crawled up onto the big, comfy bed on all fours, naked body presenting itself to the professor. With a deep breath, he lifted his tail up, showing himself off even better. "And after you're done, you promise you'll eat me?" he asked, despite his having intended to say, " __you promise you' __ll let me go?"

The big otter crawled up behind him, then on top of him. "Oh, I promise," he rumbled. "Nailing you is going to build up quite an appetite, and you're just the morsel to satisfy it."

Rikoshi felt the same surge of affection he'd felt the first time the professor had called him 'Rikky.' Only now he was a menu item. A helpless yet somehow willing menu item, offering up his rear end for the last time, for one last hurrah before feeding himself to his illicit lover.

Out of the corner of his eye, the fox spied something hanging off of the bedpost. It took him a few seconds to process what he was seeing, but eventually he made it out: it was a dingo-shaped blow-up toy with all the air currently let out of it.

"Is that Anton?" Rikoshi asked, voice remarkably steady despite his fear.

Atari hummed nice and loud. "Used to be, at any rate," he said. "Now that he's an inflatable toy, I figure he needs a new name to match. Something nice and cartoony. What do you think works for a dingo? I'm torn between Sydney and Melbourne, myself."

For a moment, Rikoshi was filled with pangs of remorse for Anton--not because the dingo had been turned into rubber, but because he wouldn't have the privilege of being food for a giant otter.

The fox shook his head. No, no, no, he didn't want this, no matter what Atari said. This was all just a trick, some sort of messed-up, twisted--

An intense shudder rocked Rikoshi's entire body as Atari's big tongue licked up along the back of the fox's head and up between his pointed ears. A moment later, the otter nudged the tip of his big, leaking shaft underneath the fox's tail. "See?" the otter murmured. "I told you that we'd stop before I got too big to fit inside you."

The memory sparked by that comment made Rikoshi think back to that one conversation, and the fox had to wonder if this had all been part of the otter's plan since--

"I know what you're thinking," Atari whispered into the fox's ear as he started to push his way in beneath that raised tail. "You're wondering if I'd been preparing for this all along, aren't you?" He sucked one of the fox's ears into his mouth, making the vulpine whimper but also relax enough so that the otter could push deeper. "Well, let me ask you this: do you think I'd have grown myself to this size without considering, in advance, what the dietary needs would be for a giant otter with this kind of metabolism?"

Somehow, hearing that he'd been food all along made Rikoshi feel special, feel wanted, like he'd been a special little pig saved up for a big, important dinner. At the same time, he was filled with outrage and despair, knowing that he'd just been a helpless, horny fox. Tricked despite his supposed cleverness into being nothing more than a meal for the guy he'd been putting out for.

A loud bark escaped Rikoshi's muzzle as the otter gave a firm thrust, burying several more inches of his big, slippery shaft into the fox's backside. "God, you were tight even before I was this big," the professor panted. "Guess I found another fringe benefit to being this size."

Rikoshi grunted, too, huffing in and out through his nose and his open mouth as he struggled to accommodate the big otter. It was going to take some effort, possibly more than was capable of giving, to take a cock this big. On the plus side, the eager part of him reasoned, he'd never have to worry about being overstretched ever again after this.

Big webbed paws took hold of his slender, decidedly undersized hips. Before the fox could let out a bark of protest, though, Atari shoved forward, spearing the snug fox's insides with another ten inches of double-thick otter-cock. Much to Rikoshi's amazement, though, instead of the painful tearing and bruising there should have been, his insides just stretched to fit that intruding shaft.

"Feel that?" Atari asked. "Wow, you really will drink anything some crazy, disreputable scientist puts down in front of you, won't you?"

That was something of a kindness, at least. With each thrust, Rikoshi felt his small body buck forward under all that force, riding out his last-ever fuck before winding up as otter-chow in short order. Thinking about that still filled his mind with contradictory emotions, a simultaneous fear for his very life, and a burning desire to do nothing more than feed the big, hungry otter currently stuffing him.

Before he knew it, Rikoshi was pushing back with his arms, knees spread nice and wide so that he could throttle himself back onto the professor's shaft. The pressure on his own prostate was incredible, and he was leaking and drizzling so hard and so thick that he honestly couldn't tell whether he'd gotten off or not in the middle of it all.

Then, without warning, the otter rolled over onto his back, flipping the fox on top of him, and held the little guy in place at the base of his cock. Cries of pleasure from both of them filled the room, and Rikoshi felt the stretchy pressure inside him increase as the contents of a sizable orgasm flooded him. It was enough to make the fox whimper and want to pass out, and he nearly did.

Before he could, Atari lifted him off of his spent shaft, the fox's stretchy hole dribbling much of its contents down the backs of his legs. The scent in the room was incredible now, the sheer sexual and sensual energy overpowering. Getting dizzy on it, the fox lolled his head, remaining nice and pliant as the otter sat back up, still holding him in his big paws.

"Look at you," the otter said, his tongue sliding out over his lips as he stared down at the fox. "You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this."

Rikoshi was so lightheaded that he could barely see straight. Thanks to the bizarre chemical addiction he'd been afflicted with, the first thing his mind insisted on focusing on was the otter's huge muzzle, on those lips and tongue and teeth. A tiny dollop of drool fell from the otter's mouth and hit the fox right between the eyes, and the sensation made him part his muzzle with mewling desperation. He stretched his neck out, trying all he could to bring his slender snout even an inch or so closer to that hungry mouth.

"Aw, that's so adorable," Atari said, stroking his thick fingers over Rikoshi's ears. "You want so badly to be otter-food, don't you, little guy?"

The muscles in Rikoshi's neck tightened, trying to shake his head no while his artificial desires willed him to nod his head yes. The end result was some uncomfortable squirming and contorting, after which his mouth blurted out a loud, "Yes!" to put an end to the fight.

Atari wasted little time. He pulled the fox up higher, then leaned in to snuffle at the crook of his neck, licking at his chest and up along his jaw. "You smell and taste so good, Rikky," he whispered into the fox's ears, dipping the tip of his tongue into it afterward. "I think my new diet is going to suit me just fine."

Rikoshi closed his eyes as Atari parted his jaws and took the fox's muzzle into his mouth. It was a simple, smooth motion, the otter's lips sliding up the length of the fox's snout, stopping just short of the eyes. As the otter's saliva suffused his face, Rikoshi opened his eyes again. Hot, eager breath from the giant otter's nose washed over the fur of his forehead and blew his ears back, and a jolt of bliss ran down his spine.

He closed his eyes just in time for the otter to push forward again, taking the fox's entire head into his mouth, lips and teeth ringed around his neck. The professor sucked at his little head like it was some kind of furry lollipop, the suction of that huge muzzle and the constant swirling of that soft, wet tongue making the fox squirm in the strong grip that held him. Part of his writhing was an attempt to escape, but another part was pure, ticklish, sexual pleasure, his cock rock-hard and leaking all the while.

Big, blunt teeth play-gnawed at Rikoshi's neck, nowhere near hard enough to even break the skin--but enough to remind the small fox that he was food, after all, and right now it was dinnertime. The fox lashed his tail about and kicked his legs through the air, but he had literally no leverage to work with. Atari spread his jaws wider, forcing them around Rikoshi's shoulders, pinning the fox's arms to his sides so that the otter could move his paws down to the fox's hips and rump instead.

By contrast, now the otter had all of the leverage. His fingers kneaded Rikoshi's backside firmly, and one large finger teased at the already-stretched hole beneath his tail. The fox's squeaks were muffled as his head was forced into the top of the otter's throat, leaving only his lower legs to kick about as he was steadily fingered, pushed further up between those drooling lips wrapped around his torso. Bit by bit, the otter forced him deeper, the end of his snout sliding past the fox's elbows, then his belly, and then up to his hips.

Rikoshi felt like his heart was going to explode in his chest. His body couldn't handle the combination of extreme arousal and fear for his life at the same time. Adrenaline coursed through his system, which of course made his body that much more sensitive, both to the hot saliva coating his pelt and to the walls of the otter's throat clenching and squeezing down around him.

Atari's long tongue slid out and curled up between Rikoshi's legs. The finger underneath the fox's tail slid out, smeared itself off on the back of one white-furred thigh, and then the otter's tongue curled the rest of the way around, right along the messy cleft between the fox's cheeks. Instinct made the trapped fox grind against that tongue as hard as he could, humping it and wriggling into it. The pleasure he felt from having almost his whole body crammed into the otter's mouth was even more exhilarating than the direct stimulation to his shaft, though. His body--and even part of his mind--wanted nothing more than to be devoured.

The hungry otter was happy to oblige. His tongue curled further up around Rikoshi's rear end, past the base of the tail, and then lapped side-to-side over the fuzzy curves of his rump. The fox then felt his center of gravity go all topsy-turvy. For a second or two, he didn't know why, but he soon figured it out: the otter had thrown his head back, and was now using his big tongue to scoop and pull the fox's body deeper into his gullet.

The mix of terror and excitement in the fox's mind was impossible to reconcile. He kicked his legs uselessly at the air, because instinct demanded that he struggle for his life, but some other part of him also knew that all his squirming was just helping him sink faster down the otter's throat. Part of him thought back to the affection the professor had shown him, and how he'd never do something so cruel to his sweet little fox; another part was just so honored that the otter had chosen him, him, of all the lab techs in the facility, the consume and make a part of himself.

A large paw clamped around Rikoshi's feet, holding them close together and shoving in so that both the fox's legs would stay straight as they went into the otter's mouth. The white tip of his tail danced about in that fear-and-pleasure mix, disappearing past the otter's lips with a ticklish and playful slurp.

Lack of oxygen was making it hard to think, but Rikoshi felt himself get off just as his groin slid past the very back of the otter's tongue, his orgasm continuing until well after his hips had been claimed by the otter's throat. With gravity and some very strong esophageal muscles, combined with a final lack of struggling, it wasn't much longer before the fox was packed neatly away in the giant otter's stomach.

The fox curled up, humming to himself, exhausted and happy and only partially remembering why he'd been so scared at all in the first place. It was so warm and cozy and comfortable in here, and he was just so, so tired. All he needed to do was to just shift around a bit, find a comfy position, and close his eyes and drift off for a little nap...

* * *

Melbourne the Happy Inflatable Dingo™ bounced airily down the hallways of the cozy little undersea facility. There was a spring in his step today, thanks to the joyous news he'd just gotten (well, that, and the percentage of helium in the gas mixture he was currently filled with).

No, today, Professor Kawahito had called for him, and it was always a good day when the professor needed him. After all, Melbourne was a not-quite-creature of pleasure, and it filled him with such joy to, well, have someone else fill him with whatever else they might choose.

The rubber dingo pressed the door chime outside the professor's playroom, his inflatable paws being unsuitable for knocking. He hop-floated from one foot to the other as he waited for the door to open, unable to conceal his excitement.

Soon enough, the door swung open, and the smiling, ten-foot otter beckoned him in. "Hey there, dingo," he said from his position sprawled out on the bed. "How are you doing today?"

"Just great, professor!" Melboure replied before lifting his head proudly. "Two of the lab assistants needed some stress relief earlier this morning, and so I made sure to help take care of that so they could get back to work without distractions." He had, of course, gotten himself thoroughly cleaned up before answering Professor Kawahito's summons.

The otter sat up and patted the side of the bed. "Glad to hear it. No slow leaks that need tending to, I hope?" The inflatable canine shook his head. "Well, you just let me know. We don't want another incident like last time."

Melboure nodded and tried not to betray too much emotion at that. On some level, he'd secretly suspected that the otter had wanted him to burst open like that in the heat of the moment, but he'd never be so rude as to accuse the professor like that. Besides, he'd been put back together, and no harm done.

"Did you need something taken care of, Professor?" he asked instead.

"Actually, yes," the otter said. "But first, I was thinking I might have lunch. What do we have available in the lockers today?"

The professor was a funny guy, the dingo thought, referring to the battery of cloning vats as his 'meat locker' like that. "There's a new Keyagu that just finished yesterday," he said. "Memory engrams in place and everything. If you were in the mood for a fellow otter."

"Hmm." Professor Kawahito rubbed at his chin. "No, I'm not feeling like today's a 'slippery' day. What about canids?"

"I think there's a Rikoshi and a--"

"Oh, yes, let's go with that," the otter said immediately. "Do we have one with his memories restored up to the point before he arrived at the facility?"

Melbourne nodded. "I think we always have one of those on hand, per your orders, Professor," he said. "Do you want me to fetch one for you?"

Professor Kawahito sat back on his bed and licked his chops. "Yes. Yes, that'll do nicely. Fetch me a fox, will you?" His grin widened, and his eyes drifted shut.

As Melboure was about to leave, his puffy ears perked up as the otter cleared his throat. "And actually, Melbourne," the professor said, "show him a good time. Get him nice and worked up."

The dingo nodded, and then the professor's grin and grew into a smirk. "Also, while you're servicing him, let him know exactly what's in store for him when he gets here." The otter's eyes glinted in the light. "I want that little fox to really squirm."