FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ DRIFT _ (Dog Days) Written by Leo_Todrius Commissioned by Dariuswhitefur

[December 31st, 2095]

The dull pounding of the klaxon echoed through the long hallways of the space craft, timed perfectly to the amber flashes of the warning lights that provided the only illumination to the otherwise dark space. The terminals were dark, even the emergency lights were malfunctioning. Every so often sparks erupted from various consoles, the shower of embers floating slowly in the gravity free environment. The ship was nearly lifeless, save for the one occupant pushing himself along the walls to get back to the cockpit.

A gray hand reached out for the panel next to the door, the fingers spreading with webs between them as the panel was gripped and pulled back. A faint white light filled the interior of the hydraulic box, making it possible to see what one was doing. The unusual hand pulled down a lever with some effort and the mechanical door next to the panel slid half way open.

The figure wrangled himself over to the doors, sliding both hands between the gap in the door to push it open further. The door started to budge, but it wasn't quite enough. The man's long, greenish gray tail whipped around to steady himself as he repositioned before two long toed, webbed feet curled around the door panels, his big toes gripping just like thumbs.

With some effort, the man shoved the doors open the rest of the way, giving him access to the cramped cockpit. The figure pulled himself through the doorway, drifting over the highly reflective floors - floors that showed his reflection in perfect clarity. He was five feet and nine inches tall and lean despite his gangly limbs.

The traveler was an amalgamation of countless forms, but his face was human for the most part. Still, the unique features stood out quite a bit. His nose looked rather canine, moist and black. His ears were hairless but stretched into points, looking canine as well. Three gold hoop rings swung from the right ear. His hair was bushy and royal blue, matching the patch of fur on his chest, though several small green horn like extensions stuck up through his hair, looking almost reptile in nature.

The man pulled himself around the pilot's chair, moving to slip his tail through the slight gap as he rested into his proper place. The gold rings hanging from his black nipples swung against him as he changed direction once more. As the chair recognized an occupant, one panel on the console flickered to life, showing a system schematic of the ship.

"Welcome back Dustin. System status is severe." The automated voice chimed in, sounding pleasant despite the calamity.

"Tell me about it..." Dustin said, closing his eyes for a moment to rest, healing some of his wounds.

"Propulsion is offline. Artificial gravity is offline. All Architect modifications are offline. Quantum Slingshot drive is offline, battery packs exhausted-" The automated voice rattled off.

"Drake, I didn't mean literally..." Dustin murmured, taking a slow breath, his eyes still closed, "Did we make it?" he asked, afraid to even look.

"Astrometrics and Navigation are offline." The computer responded. Dustin figured it was time to look with his own eyes. His lids slipped open, revealing the eyes beneath. One was a vibrant violet color, the other solid black and ringed with gray, gray that continued down in a single line as if a tear had carried the color over his otherwise human colored skin, skin that looked normal but was rough, almost like the surface of a shark.

Dustin looked up through the windows of the cockpit, his eyes widening as a slight, hopeful grin crossed his lips. Even the three faint gray lines on each side of his neck flared, his gills fluttering as he felt such excitement. After facing so many perils, so many experiences, even the wrath of those that had once helped him... he had made it back. He peered through the window at the world that had once been his home, a world he had been forbidden to ever return to. He looked up through space at the world known as Earth.

It felt good, humbling, heart warming. Even if he was to die, right there... it would almost be worth it. It still felt so strange to be looking at his own world. Dustin had left Earth five years ago, a hobbyist and enthusiast, one of the most daring explorers. It hadn't taken long to realize the vastness of space was a lot more populated than he expected - and a lot riskier. His first visit to an alien world had nearly wound up the same way... It had started him down a long road of change and discovery. Dustin had lost his humanity, but he wasn't going to lose his species. They had to be warned before it was too late.

[June 16th, 2091]

Warm cream colored lights shone across the composite panels that lined the hallways, the touch screen consoles shimmering with the yellow and orange interface that Dustin had grown so accustomed to... though there were far more instances of blue and green after the ship's recent 'modifications'. Dustin moved down the hallway, his jade green eyes focused on the tablet computer before him. In many ways Dustin looked like the poster boy for earth. His blonde hair was cropped short, darkening a little without the sun to keep it bleached. He was a hundred and fifty pounds, though with the ship's gravity turned down a little he found it easier to move through the halls... Halls he had been checking and double checking during the entire faster than light journey.

It was hard to believe that an alien race had upgraded his ship to handle the rigors of intergalactic space, but keeping that secret from his species, allowing them to develop at their own pace... Dustin had never felt quite so alone. Still, that isolation was what he had signed up for when he built his own ship and set out to explore. Still, finding hidden aliens in orbit of mars had not been on the mission plan. The discovery had been an accident with a high cost, but it had come with the gift of an ancient technology. The Architect tech had integrated seamlessly into the Drake. Dustin had completed his first quantum slingshot and everything seemed to be fine. Still, Dustin left nothing to chance.

"Computer, double check radiation levels." Dustin called out as he approached the bridge.

"Cosmic radiation present in zero point zero, zero, zero four percent of expected levels." The automated voice replied.

"Okay, shielding is great." Dustin smiled, "And reactor status?"

"Proximity alert." The computer replied.

"No, I asked for-" Dustin froze, realizing how foolish he had been. The ship suddenly lurched and Dustin fell forward onto his face, sliding along the floor a few feet. He pushed himself up and broke into a sprint, approaching the cockpit doors that parted as he slipped in, leaping around his chair to settle down into his chair. Dustin's view was full of the view of a green planet with purple oceans, though another ship hovered just in front of his, a blue vortex of light enveloping Dustin's vessel.

"Forward velocity increasing." The automated voice announced.

"It's a capture web. Does everyone have one but me?" Dustin groaned, opening a channel, "Attention alien vessel, I mean you no harm. I come in peace, please release me. If this is your sovereign territory, I would be happy to depart." Dustin said.

"Identify... Yourself." Came a response soon after.

"I am explorer Dustin Steinbar of the Drake." Dustin replied.

"Not your name, where are you from? You have Class 5 Architect systems but your ship design is unfamiliar to us." The voice replied.

"I... was once from a planet called Earth, Sol system... ACH Region 10,829." Dustin replied, hesitant to give out Earth's location but he knew first hand that it was a protected zone. No one could contaminate Earth's culture with anything from beyond, not even him.

"You are from the forbidden planet? You... this is fantastic! This is, oh fantastic! We have so much to ask, so much to learn. We will bring you to our capitol city, give you fuel and food and... Oh yes!" the other voice sounded so fantastically excited. Dustin blushed a bit.

"Then... treat the Drake gentle, she's been through a lot. But what of you? Who are you?" Dustin replied with a meek smile.

"Oh yes, of course, yes! Gentle... And we're the Retrievers." the other voice said before the channel went dead. Dustin sighed a bit more. They were too excitable. He could already tell it was going to drain a lot of energy just to keep up with them all. He gazed out of the window, looking at the planet beyond as they broke through the atmosphere. The northern hemisphere was nearly one solid interconnected city but it wasn't at all like Earth. There weren't any sky scrapers, just a vast network of roads and paths and rivers webbing between large domes and hexagonal buildings. It was a completely distinct culture; one Dustin was going to get to meet first hand.

****

The Retriever vessel swooped down through the atmosphere, a trapezoidal shaped central core with four repulsor engines sticking out from the sides, extending out in front of and behind the craft. In many ways it looked like a headless sphinx, forged out of an aluminum silver color. Blue light pulsed as the craft cut its decent and focused on forward momentum, dragging behind it a craft of very different design in the blue capture web.

The Drake had started out as a human exploration vessel focused on trips within the solar system. The design focused on a long central core with expanded sections that bulged out at alternating intervals. Added to that, the bow of the ship curved down, wide at the top and back and pointed at the front, dipping down a bit. In many respects it looked like a mechanical eastern dragon, though the ship had been named after Francis Drake.

The spindly nature of the human ship being towed had been fortified with the Architect technology. The white hull had been coated in a crystalline composite, making the ship glisten with a pearlescent quality. The engines had been completely reconfigured, leaving a trail of green particles as it tried to keep itself level.

The two ships turned and descended further, lowering toward a wide platform at the outskirts of the vast city. The dome on the platform was off center, covered in various orange and brown scripts of an alien language. The drake was lowered down, conventional landing gear extending. The legs hissed gently as the shocks compressed and the ship came to a stop. The capture web faded, the smaller but stronger Retriever vessel landing on hard points extending from the bottom of the ship.

Up in the cockpit, Dustin's heart was racing. He had met the guardians but they weren't quite... alien, or rather they were too alien. This somehow felt like first contact to Dustin, his first chance. Dustin rose up from his chair, adjusting his 'uniform' of sorts. Dustin hadn't been part of any official department or alliance. He wore polymer black sneakers, blue denim jeans with cargo pockets and a black utility vest, though it had a mission patch with the Drake's emblem over his heart. Dustin moved for the cockpit hatch before he froze.

"Computer, atmospheric makeup?" he asked.

"76.4 percent Nitrogen, 21.3 percent oxygen, one percent krypton. Remaining gasses at trace levels, non-lethal. No detected pathogens or allergens." The computer responded.

"Then it is time to meet the locals." Drake said, pushing out of the cockpit, moving down the long hallway to the first intersection. He reached out and traced his hand along the console. A rectangle of the floor outlined in yellow lights before the floor dropped down, panels lifting out to form stairs.

Dustin stood at the ramp for a long moment, soaking in the monumental occasion. This wasn't just meeting an alien race, this would be setting foot on an alien planet for the first time. With that in mind, Dustin ran a hand over his short blond hair before he started to descend. The tarmac around the ships dominated the view at first, but in the distance he could make out green trees and purple waters. It was close to home but not quite... but he also saw something else, boots.

As Dustin moved down the steps, he saw more and more of the two people that no doubt came from the retriever ship. Thick black boots with rubber curved claw tips at the ends, black jumpsuits that were a bit puffy... clawed, furry hands... and then Dustin stopped, coming eye to eye with the aliens... aliens that had heads almost identical to canines back home. The Retriever on the left stood tall and proud with thick black fur, his ears pointed above his head, his eyes a deep amber. He looked like a civilized black wolf, but his friend... with his fur steeped in shades of caramel and dark chocolate, he looked almost like a German Shepherd.

"Retrievers..." Dustin murmured, finding the irony impeccable. While Dustin seemed a little amazed at their appearance, the Retrievers looked truly shocked at his.

"He's... one of the primates. He piloted the craft? He spoke?" The German Shepherd looking canine murmured.

"Are you the only species on your vessel?" The black wolf asked. Dustin looked even more confused at that question rather than asking his crew compliment.

"There is only one species on my ship." He replied. The black wolf's ears went flat against his head before he looked at his partner.

"Then... we were wrong, all of our theories. He isn't a pet..." The wolf whimpered.

"We can't leave him out here, what if someone sees?" The other asked. The wolf nodded, turning back.

"If you would come with us, we have refreshments inside." He offered.

"I don't even know your names yet." Dustin said, sensing that something was very off kilter with their meeting.

"I am Mahigan, this is Lobu... and you are Dustin?" The black Wolf asked.

"Yes, that's right." Dustin replied. Mahigan nodded.

"Right this way, we will explain inside." Mahigan said, gesturing to the building with a paw. Dustin figured he was already in for a penny, might as well go for the whole pound. He turned and began moving toward the structure, the other two close behind.

****

Dustin had been shown into a comfortable room inside the main structure. Many of the rooms seemed like domes as well, though the way the floors were constructed he wouldn't have been surprised if they were spheres. Still, comfortable red cushions ran around nearly the whole room and a red carpet covered the floor except for a holographic projector in the center. Dustin settled himself as Mahigan prepared the projector. Lobu appeared a moment later with a cart. On it was a variety of biscuits and meats and a pitcher of what Dustin hoped was water.

"So I take it I wasn't what you expected at all?" Dustin asked, pulling out his mobile scanner, aiming it at the food. It took a moment for each item but no harmful elements came up in any of the scans. Feeling a bit daring, Dustin picked up one of the pieces and popped it into his mouth, expecting it to taste like chicken. The flavor that erupted tasted far more like the paste from a crab puff instead, quite rich.

"Well, you see... The Thola have been to your world before, many years ago... and so have we." Mahigan said.

"The Thola?" Dustin repeated back, the translation implant not getting every word.

"Our species, our kin." Lobu replied.

"Then you aren't all Retrievers?" Dustin asked. Lobu almost laughed.

"No, that is our career, though it was when we visited your world as well." Lobu replied, looking more somber at that part.

"We went to your world in secret, to retrieve clues as to why your planet was forbidden. Once there, we found a common species all over your world, but everywhere they were we saw your primate ancestors. They gave our kind feasts; they carved statues of our kind, followed in the wake of our soldiers. We assumed... you were pets and that our kin communicated telepathically." Mahigan explained, pressing the projector. After a moment an image appeared of dogs moving through a battlefield of yurts.

"Brave soldiers..." Mahigan murmured.

"Mongolian dogs of war..." Dustin whispered, not pointing out that they had been used to limit human casualties. Mahigan changed the image, showing a totem pole with a wolf on the top. Lobu sighed wistfully.

"Such devotion." Lobu said.

"Well, that part is true. The native Americans viewed nature and animals as sacred and..." Dustin hesitated, "Did you interact directly?" he asked after a moment. Lobu growled.

"Of course not!" he replied, though his ears soon flattened.

"We didn't contaminate your culture, but we came back with our findings. Shared them with the grand council, but they didn't take news that we had broken the treaty well. We were demoted from cultural retrievers to... debris retrievers." Mahigan said.

"But with you here, we can show it was worth it, that we were right!" Lobu said quickly.

"We can't with him looking like that..." Mahigan shot back.

"Well, if he's from the same planet as the common species, we could augment his DNA with ours and they could still trace his lineage to the forbidden planet." Lobu said. Mahigan seemed to grow quiet to consider. Dustin was a step behind. The last time he had heard about augmentation, his ship had been turned into some sort of human-alien hybrid. Still, the words sunk into his head a moment later.

"You want to turn me into a dog man?" Dustin asked.

"Much more than that, an ambassador from your planet to ours. You could teach us so much of your ways, your culture, your technology and society. You would be treated as a king with a home and food and toys and-" Lobu was silenced by a paw going up.

"Assuming you wouldn't mind staying here." Mahigan said. Dustin considered for a long moment.

"I'll admit, not having any home to return to is hard... but turning myself into a... a Thola, that's a big step." Dustin whispered.

"Then we'll show you some of our world before you decide. We just have to be careful." Mahigan said. Dustin took a moment before he nodded.

"Hard to say no to a tour." He added before he lifted his water glass to a toast. The two canines looked at the human and then each other in confusion. Dustin blushed and lowered the glass, sipping at it a bit.

****

The door to the Drake's observation room slid open as Dustin all but stumbled in, moving over to the pile of cushions and blankets he had set up some time ago. While he used his own quarters under normal circumstances, there was no risk of meteoroid impact or hull breach on the planet's surface. Dustin collapsed back onto the cushions with an exhausted and elated smile on his face, gazing up through the transparency to the stars and moons above.

The day had been amazing. He'd seen the natural splendor of the world, he'd been fed to the point of being stuffed, he'd heard fantastic singing. At the back of his mind, Dustin wondered if one day the wolves and dogs of Earth would evolve enough to sing like that. It had been a whirlwind tour but it had also been fraught with a bit of discomfort. After all, he was proof that the theories about Earth were wrong.

Dustin wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. He had set out from Earth in search of the truth, humans loved the truth... but they were guilty of shying away from inconvenient truths all the same. It was no different here. Dustin felt guilty about forwarding a lie, but at the same time the idea of having some place to call home again, some place to return to on his studies. It was a tempting offer.

As Dustin started to close his eyes and surrender to sleep, his thoughts took him in another direction, to the fantasies of childhood. He'd watched internet streams about werewolves and selkies and mystical creatures, even imagined to be them from a time or two. Dustin smiled a bit, wondering what it would be like to be canine. But he didn't have to wonder, all he had to do was agree and he would know what it was like and have a home again. The space traveler tugged his blanket tighter to his chest. It sounded too good to pass up, he had to do it.

[June 17th, 2091]

The doors to the Tholan genetics lab slipped open, revealing a very different sort of room. Dustin moved in just ahead of Mahigan and Lobu, a bit surprised by the stark change. He had started to wonder if the Tholans had evolved out of being color blind and over-compensated by making every dwelling robustly shaded, but the genetics lab was devoid of almost any color. Everything was stainless steel, glass or matte black. Even the tanks of chemicals were opaque, save for tiny windows showing muted greens and blues.

The three moved toward the center of the room where a portion of the ceiling and floor were circular glass with four metal columns around the outer edge. Dustin studied the mechanism, noting what could have been covers for recessed equipment or emitters of some kind. He swallowed a bit, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.

"So... this will turn me into a canine? Or, rather, a Tholan?" Dustin asked.

"The genetic augmenter will study your DNA and try to couple the fragments you share in common with your... canines... with approximated DNA from our species. It will not make any selections that will harm you." Mahigan explained.

"What breed will I be?" Dustin asked.

"We don't know. The machine will select whatever fits your genetic profile the best." Lobu said. Dustin gave a gentle nod, stepping up to the mechanism before he looked over his shoulder at them.

"What do I do first?" he asked.

"You must disrobe." Mahigan replied. Dustin blushed faintly at that, but he did understand. It was a medical procedure after all, doctors would make him disrobe... and he didn't want to be genetically coupled to a vest. Dustin unzipped his utility vest and pulled it off, his fairly muscled arms slipping through the sleeve holes. He handed it to Lobu before he reached down for his pants.

Mahigan looked at how hairless the human was. It had been something to see his face, but his hairless chest and barely fuzzy arms... He shook his head gently, wondering how poor Dustin stayed warm at all. Still, the wolf considered the human's form, how he looked like a canvas upon which his life was painted. He could see his muscles, built up a bit despite his frame as a testament to building the Drake. The unique butterfly shape scar on his back right shoulder was no doubt another memory, one Mahigan wondered if Dustin would share one day.

Dustin's fingers deftly unfastened and unzipped his jeans before he lowered them, stepping on the heel of his left shoe to peel it off with his toes before he did the same for his right foot. He half-stumbled out of the pile before hooking his finger under the waistband of his underwear, hesitating before pulling them down as well.

"Oh, there's your fur!" Lobu said before reaching out. Dustin yelped in surprise and then shivered as clawed fingers dragged through his blonde bush. Still, his embarrassment didn't help any with his manhood. He was still nervous about being naked in front of them... though the contact of another man's hand soon had the opposite effect as blood began rushing into his shaft, making it swell and grow longer. Mahigan had been ready to bat Lobu's paw away before he paused, sniffing the air, a smile crossing his lips.

"I see." Mahigan said gently.

"I'm very well aware that you see." Dustin said, turning around to step between the columns of the augmenter. Lobu looked at the human's ass cheeks, tilting his head.

"How do you go to the bathroom, your bottom is too tight... I never realized the tail keeps it all from collapsing into the middle." Lobu said.

"I can go to the bathroom very well, thank you, I just never had to lift my leg to do it." Dustin said.

"Lobu, stop making Dustin uncomfortable. Any evolved species is going to be able to do that sort of thing." Mahigan chastised. The brown canine's ears went flat before he nodded.

"Would it make you more comfortable if we were to disrobe?" Lobu asked. There was a soft zip and then the sound of fabric cascading to the floor. Dustin turned around in disbelief, only to see that Lobu was now naked. The same caramel fur that covered Lobu's nose and cheeks and eyebrows drifted down his throat, across his chest and all the way to his furry sheath and fuzzy balls. Dustin found himself staring at Lobu's sheath before he blushed and turned back. Dustin's back arched in surprise as he felt a paw brushing his shoulder before a furry chin rested on his shoulder.

"What I meant was that I see where your... desires lay." Mahigan said softly. Dustin turned to look at the wolf but instead ended up bumping noses. Mahigan opened his muzzle and gave Dustin's lips a soft lick. Dustin nearly melted on the spot.

"You mean that I... like... men?" Dustin barely said it out loud.

"Yes, that was what I smelled. Or rather your arousal." Mahigan said. Dustin swallowed before nodding gently. He hadn't even told anyone on Earth, the idea that another race could pick up so easily was stunning... but it was also a good sign. They embraced the concept. Perhaps this world would be an even better fit than he thought.

"Let's get started. It's time to be reborn." Dustin said. Mahigan nodded at that, moving over to the consoles. Dustin looked down as the circular glass beneath him lit up a bright white, but then he watched an aura of colors spiral up around him before sinking into the ceiling. The light began to tingle across his skin before Dustin grabbed onto the column, panting softly as his muscles tensed.

The screens around the room flashed to life as readouts of his DNA and composite molecules were displayed. The database began running compatibility checks a thousand times faster than the Drake's computer could process and soon the entire process had started. Dustin looked around the room before he stopped, looking at the metal bar he was holding onto with his left hand. It was reflective enough to see himself in, though a bit warped with the curved surface.

The first changes were subtle, seeming not too far out of the ordinary. Tiny soft hairs began pushing out of Dustin's chest, ringing his nipples and spreading across his pectorals. The hair on his arms and legs thickened and his bush began growing up his stomach in a thickening treasure trail. Even his ass cheeks started to get fuzzy. Dustin grinned a bit. He didn't mind the idea of being a little more hairy, though he knew he was on his way to a full fur coat.

Despite the effort, Dustin pulled one hand off of the support bar and brought it up to his cheek. His fingers felt smooth flesh for an instant, followed after by rough stubble that soon softened. Dustin's cheeks grew soft with the lengthening stubble, the hairs seeming invisible at first until they were a bit longer. Dustin grinned, loving the idea of a beard... but something else soon caught his attention - a white streak in his hair.

It had started like a highlight before bleaching out to a crisp snowy color. Dustin reached up to run his fingers through his hair, feeling the short spiked strands starting to stretch out. The white began to spread as well, the blonde draining out of the hair. He watched in wonder as the color disappeared completely, giving him pristine white locks that were growing longer by the second. The pigmentation change didn't stop at the end of his scalp, continuing across his stubble and then down his chest hair.

"I guess I know what color I'm going to be." Dustin whispered to himself, though he heard no response. Mahigan was hard at work at the controls, but Lobu was usually more verbal. Dustin turned to see what Lobu was up to, gasping as he saw the canine was working his paw up and down his very canine sheath, watching him change. Dustin blushed more though it wasn't visible beneath his white fuzz... but his manhood swelled more, thinking Lobu had the right idea.

Dustin was about to say something when his ears started to pop . He grunted as his hearing disappeared and he felt his hair shifting around. As his white hair grew out to the nape of his neck, Dustin's ears migrated up his scalp, growing out into points as white fur grew out over them. New muscles formed around the base of the ears before they poked out from the top of his head. The sudden return of sound was almost overwhelming, though Dustin could hear so much more, including the wet sound of flesh on flesh as Lobu masturbated.

The changing human grinned a bit, though his muscles twitched and shifted as he did so. The reason why became apparent as his teeth started to push out with rapid calcification, forming fangs and reshaping his gums. Dustin's mouth was even pried open as his interlocking sets of canine fangs formed two particularly aggressive bottom fangs jutting up. With the teeth changing, it seemed natural that his lips changed next, turning from pink to purple and then black... but so too was his nose changing.

Dustin had to breathe through his mouth a bit as his nostrils tilted up and faced forward, the flesh growing black and moist while the fur on his cheeks spread out more. The white fuzz covered his nose, surrounded his eyes and spread across his forehead before disappearing into his lengthening mane of white hair. Dustin looked down, seeing the fur was thickening across his body as well. The flesh of his arms and legs disappeared beneath the fur as it grew longer and thicker and the core of his body was getting coated well.

Ever the explorer, Dustin was fascinated by the change, but a sudden pain caused his eyes to snap shut. He grunted and grabbed onto the support bars to keep himself up, moaning as his jaw popped and shifted, his face starting to push forward. The bones of his skull and jaw reshaped, extending as his mouth moved forward. His jaw elongated and his nose changed dramatically. The curve of the bridge of his nose became a more uniform angle as the nose lengthened to match the forming muzzle.

Lobu and Mahigan both watched in awe as the human's flat, primate face gave way to a furry Tholan muzzle. Soon his nose quirked just right, his ears twitched and his eyes opened back up, just as vibrant green as before. Lobu looked at Mahigan, a bit surprised. No Tholan had green eyes, though it would give credence to his origins from Earth. Dustin, however, was too busy panting and recovering from the formation of his muzzle to think of anything but that. He gripped the bars tighter, at least until he felt something sharp poking into his palms.

Dustin looked at the bars, then his hands, watching them change. His fingernails had grown out, but now they were truly changing. They honed into points and sharpened, curving into claws. The white keratin turned brown and then stark black, contrasting with the fur that grew over the back of his hands. Parts of his palms and fingertips swelled out into paw pads before fur grew in between them all.

The changes were amazing to all three, but still the basic instincts couldn't be ignored. Dustin felt an itch on his lower abdomen and went to scratch, suppressing a yelp as his claws found a sensitive nub of flesh. It felt like his nipple, but it was in the wrong place. Dustin looked down, brushing the fur back, revealing that sure enough it was another nipple. A quick exploration of his torso revealed that he was indeed the proud owner of six now.

"Oh yes, look at his cheeks!" Lobu declared from behind the explorer. Dustin tried to look over his shoulder but he couldn't. He could, however, feel the changes. His ass cheeks pulled apart, revealing his tight muscled pucker as his tail bone started to stretch out. It started as a thin furry white cord of flesh but as new bones grew in and muscles connected, the fur grew out longer and longer.

The tail stretched to six inches, a foot, then two, then three. Every foot it grew longer, the thicker the fur seemed to get until he had a full white tail swaying behind him... but it wasn't the only surge of flesh. Dustin groaned as he felt something hot and wet spreading over his shaft. He looked down, watching a furry white sheath spreading over his cock, but the shaft was changing even ahead of the sheath.

The flesh of Dustin's manhood grew brighter and brighter red, looking almost furious. The flesh changed, becoming tighter and more sensitive, but the most distinct change came as the mushroom shaped head of his phallus suddenly stretched out and tapered to a point, curving a little bit like a pepper. The very sensitive red head disappeared beneath the furry white sheath as Dustin's balls got a similar coating, seeming a bit larger than they had before.

"Nearing completion." Mahigan commented, watching Dustin with appreciation. Dustin tried to run through his head what was left. He had the head, torso, hands, cock, tail and legs of a white wolf. That just had to leave his feet. He looked down to see his hairy human feet, but not for long. His toes stretched longer, his heels shrank away to force him onto the balls of his feet and his toenails sunk into his toes before emerging as claws. The fur grew thicker and thicker until ever detail was obscured - except how big his feet were getting. Dustin watched in awe as his feet grew from his normal size nines to size ten, eleven, thirteen, sixteen and then finally seventeen before they came to a stop.

"Wow..." Dustin whispered gently, looking up at the others.

"Process complete." A deep automated computer voice stated before the light field collapsed. Dustin took a step out of the augmenter before he looked around, spinning a bit.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Amazing..." Lobu whispered, drooling from both his mouth and his cock. To Dustin's surprise, Mahigan knelt down before him. Dustin wasn't sure what was happening at first until the black wolf's thick tongue slipped into his sheath. Dustin grabbed onto his shoulders to stay upright as his hard wolf cock was licked. Before long the sloppy red shaft pushed out into Mahigan's waiting maw.

The black wolf bobbed his head up and down, slathering it with saliva. Dustin tried to hold on, to resist, but it was too good. It was his first blow job as a human or a wolf and the sensations were too fresh. His orange sized wolf balls tensed up before his cock pulsed and let loose a load of his sperm into Mahigan's maw. Mahigan licked Dustin clean before licking his lips. He looked up with deep amber eyes. Dustin looked back wordlessly in awe at what had just happened. Mahigan slowly grinned.

"You taste so sweet." The wolf grinned. Dustin grinned wide at that, feeling oddly proud.

[June 28th, 2091]

Dustin had never studied so hard in such a short amount of time as he had to meet the Tholan Grand Council. He had tried to ask what was appropriate to wear, but Mahigan and Lobu had wanted to emphasize his humanity. Dustin's comfortable jeans no longer fit, nor did his boots, but it was hard for a vest not to fit right. The doors opened and Dustin moved out onto the council floor wearing only his black utility vest, the black material contrasting starkly with his fur while the mission patch seemed to compliment his white fur.

With his new canine hearing, Dustin could pick up the murmuring in the gathered leaders. Rumors and then a press release had spread word of his existence. Footage from satellite telemetry had shown the arrival of his ship, its unusual design and readings. The Tholans had met other space faring races, just not one from the Forbidden planet. His presence would change everything.

Mahigan and Lobu had taken their seats on the lowest level of the council chairs which rose up around the spherical room like an amphitheater. Dustin made eye contact with them before he moved to the middle of the room. This was his first test, his first challenge. He had to address the people of Thola and tell them about Earth... and if he could do so while convincing them that canines were the dominant species on the planet, Mahigan and Lobu had a chance to escape their disgrace and lives of rooting through the garbage. Dustin took one last look around the room, seeing Tholans that looked like Saint Bernards, Dobermans, Shiba Inu and even other breeds. It was quite surreal... but it was also time to start.

"People of Thola, I thank you for coming today and allowing me a chance to speak to you all. While I am sure you have heard by now who I am, let me introduce myself properly. My name is Dustin Steinbar. I am an explorer from Earth who set out to the stars. Much like you, I am now bound by the Guardian's treaty and can't return home... but I am sincerely grateful to you all for the chance to share my culture with you." Dustin said, sliding the converted memory chip into the slot before him.

The air above the projector flickered before Earth's solar system appeared, the planets circling in an accelerated pattern. In addition to the solar system, a display of Earth and its moon appeared along with a montage of pictures, providing context to where Dustin would begin. Dustin brushed his long white hair out of his eyes as he prepared to continue.

"Earth orbits a yellow dwarf star and is the only planet in the habitable region, though we hope one day to terraform the planet just beyond our orbit called Mars." Dustin explained, "While we have limited colonies on the moon, we are still a species very much in the infancy of space travel. Still, the drive is within us to look to the heavens, reach out our hand and... try to... grab it." Dustin hesitated, his words trailing off as he heard a growing rumble of voices in the crowds.

The grand council had started to talk among itself, looking around at each other. Many of their ears had flattened and Dustin could smell scents Mahigan had trained him to associate with fear, anger and confusion. Dustin felt quite worried about their reaction, wondering what had set them off part way into his presentation. He reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes but stopped dead. The hair wasn't white anymore... it was blonde. Dustin looked at his hand, seeing the paw pads retracting as well, leaving his fingers and the back of his hand hairy while his claws started to surface on his fingers, looking half way between his canine talons and his human fingernails. A soft breeze was spreading over Dustin as well as he started to shed, his fur thinning out.

"Retrievers! What is the meaning of this?!" A large Saint Bernard demanded, rising to his feet before he strode down. Mahigan and Lobu shrank down in their seats. Other Tholans had moved forward to look at Dustin closer. Dustin pulled the chip out of the projector and slid it into his pocket, blushing a bit... but the heat in his cheeks soon came with a dramatic pain. Dustin called out as his face started to retract, the bones shrinking and his teeth flattening.

Dustin fell forward onto his knees as his cheek bones returned to normal and his nose tilted down. The fur had shed from his ears and they had tried to shift back to where they belonged... but they hadn't quite reverted all the way. Dustin's ears remained canine shaped, slanting out from the side of his head, furless but quite animal in shape. The fur disappeared from Dustin's forehead and upper cheeks, then around his eyes and the bridge of his nose. The hair across his body thinned out, no longer looking like fur but being quite hairy in general.

The most drastic change came as Dustin's sheath pulled back, the furry flesh retracting and disappearing... but his hard, sensitive red cock didn't change at all, remaining fully exposed without any protection. Dustin panted hard, lying on his side as his tail retracted and his feet reverted... at least most of the way. His heels came back, his toes shrank but they were still huge and his toenails looked like claws. The changes seemed to slow, leaving Dustin mostly human but with some distinct alterations. He rested on the floor, half naked, shivering, feeling embarrassed, afraid and ashamed.

[June 29th, 2091]

Green particles erupted from the Drake's engines as the ship powered up. The craft lifted off of the tarmac, hovering long enough for the landing gear to retract before the ship shot forward and arched up, the dragon shaped craft leaving the atmosphere of Thola behind. Dustin watched the sky grow from blue to purple to black before the ship had pushed into the empty void of space itself.

Dustin rested in the chair for a long moment before he pushed out of his chair and walked out of the bridge. Once more he wore his comfortable blue jeans, though the groin was bulging a bit. He had stuffed a silk cloth around his canine cock to keep it from rubbing against his underwear, it was still too sensitive.

The pilot turned and moved into the first pod behind the bridge, an over-glorified bathroom. It had a toilet, shower and chemical shower depending on the need. It also had a mirror and Dustin's hygienic belongings. Dustin rested his hand on the edge of the sink basin, looking at his reflection. His hair was down to his shoulders and a bright blonde. His stubble was almost thick enough to be a beard. Both were impressive, almost as impressive as what a hairy man he had become... but it wasn't him.

The buzzing of hair clippers came soon as Dustin powered them up and began working through his long locks. The excess hair drifted to the floor in thick chunks. It took several minutes but Dustin reclaimed the short cropped hair he had always had. He reached up and ran a hand over his fleshy canine ear, wishing he had kept the fur there at least. It would have been more attractive. Still, Dustin had to move on.

"Computer, begin log." Dustin commanded as he moved out of the bathroom and headed back down the long halls of the ship.

"Commence record." The automated voice of the Drake responded.

"June... twenty ninth, twenty ninety one." Dustin said before pausing, "I have been ejected from the Tholan system pending a full inquiry. The plan my friends Mahigan and Lobu devised backfired. In light of my partial reversion, they told the council everything; that they used the augmenter on me, that they lied about their scientific findings. It was everything I had been afraid of before my change; it was what my gut told me. I was so eager for a home that I ignored what was bound to happen." Dustin explained, pushing through another bulkhead. The white panels of the halls were interrupted by transparent glass with white stripes horizontally from the waist down. Beyond the glass on the left was the garden block, on the right a medical facility. Dustin continued on, heading back even further.

"The council was shocked that the retrievers would compromise science in such a way, falsifying evidence. Turns out they would have been satisfied with me as I was, even if their egos were hurt that canines were merely a pet species. They were reassured about our laws and social constructs to treat them humanely though. Still, I can't get over one thing." Dustin said, reaching to open the next bulkhead.

He resumed walking, moving past two cargo bays secured with thick metal doors and giant block numbers '05' and '06'. Dustin slowed down and turned to the left at a smaller intersection, moving out into what his actual quarters were. They were spacious with all the amenities, though the bed looked a little unconventional. The 'blanket and sheets' were attached on three edges in case of gravity failure. Dustin moved over and flopped down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"It turns out in all the species that originally signed the Guardian treaty... genetic augmentation is permanent. They can change their genetics but it sticks. Me, however... turns out my genetics are more aggressive, fight the change as best it can." Dustin sighed, his eyes closing at the thought of losing another home. Still, curiosity propelled him forward. His eyes slowly opened wider, "I think that might be one of the thousands of reasons the Guardians are still there, watching Earth. We're different, we're unexpected, we're unpredictable. I guess there's as much mystery in me as there is in the galaxy." Dustin said before rolling onto his side.

He gazed out of the window, watching as the stars seemed to shimmer before streaking away into an aurora of green and blue haze flowing over the ship like ocean mists. He never got tired of seeing the interstellar medium displaced by the quantum slingshot, though it meant there was going to be a lot of time to think, a lot of time alone.

"I've set course for another culture, another chance. My dog days of summer are behind me and I'm going to lick my wounds a bit. I've lost a bit of my humanity, but then again it isn't as if I could go back anyway. All I can do is drift on the wind, see where it takes me. I have to keep a positive attitude. I just hope Mahigan and Lobu will be okay. I can't imagine what being demoted from junk retrieval would be. Anyhow, this is Dustin Steinbar, signing off. Computer, end log." Dustin said with simple resolve.