FSE

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Iolvin stirred in the comfortable limbo between sleep and waking, but a shift in his posture immediately reminded him of his recent injuries. "Gah! Fuck."

"M'lord?" Zoë hovered over her new master as she cradled his head in her kneeling lap. "How can I help? Is it your chest?"

"Zoë? Right, that really ~did~ happen..." Yoyo looked up for a moment, but cranked his head to the side again nervously when his gaze filled with bare tits. "Uh, don't you have any clothes you can wear? I'm not... used to the whole nudism thing."

"S-Sorry, m'lord. We don't own clothes here. What we have is loaned out as needed, for protection mostly."

"So that get-up from earlier was a work uniform or something." The otter focused his eyes on the other body still curled up in front of him and smiled as the Major fought for the blanket. "Well can you use your uniform since you're helping me now? I'm not against you being yourself, but it would help if I had some time to adjust."

"Oh... Well I don't know." Zoë combed her fingers through her owner's hair and fur, helping him to relax so he wouldn't aggravate his injuries. "We can ask before we leave though. The clothes are in the armory."

"Well Carbon's still asleep, so why don't you go ask while we wait on him." Yoyo shifted himself a tad and noticed his half-mast manhood wedged between the hybrid's thighs. "Her. That'll take some effort too, I guess."

"M'lord..." The human girl huffed out an apologetic sigh. "I'm afraid I can't do that. It's my duty to never let you out of my sight." She noticed a slight wheeze in Carbon's breathing and leaned in closer to hear better. "Is she alright?"

"Alright?" Yoyo reached a paw out and placed it on the center of Carbon's chest. "She's struggling to breathe. Think she needs her mask?"

"No... Fibre's medicine always lasts her all night." Zoë pulled back the blanket to give her a better inspection. "She's not glowing as much. We need to warm her up."

"Warm her up? What makes you say that?"

"You don't know? How long have you known her?" Zoë gave Iolvin a puzzled look and then lost her composure with a cough as she noticed his morning wood poking out from Carbon's legs. "Right, you barely knew she could be a girl. Well if she gets too cold, she goes to sleep for a long time. It's hard to give her that special air when that happens."

"And we don't have a supply since we're stuck... ~wherever~ we are." Yoyo got the hint that his erection was bothering Zoë, so he took a moment to pull himself free and tuck it behind Carbon's back. "Well cover her back up and see if there's anything warm we can get her. Fire, food..."

"Tea. We always have tea in the morning." The human stood up and went for the curtained doorway, but froze in place when she remembered her place. "I can't leave your sight unless I have permission, and I still have to be able to hear you. But the kitchen's pretty far so..."

"Well I can't leave Carbon since I'm keeping her warm."

"Zoë, honey?" A soft, female voice permeated the curtains. "Will... ~his lordship~ accept a guest? You sound like you could use assistance."

"We'd be glad for some help, yeah. Just give me a moment..." Iolvin checked around the edge of the mattress and found his pants, then quickly shimmied into them. "Right, it's okay to enter now."

On cue, the woman stepped through the curtains and revealed herself as a sibling of Zoë by their similar appearances. "My lord, we'd really appreciate if you'd accept our daughter--"

"Mom... he already accepted my debt. We took care of everything last night."

"Oh god, Zoë! You don't know how happy I am to hear that!"

"Um... We have a problem still, ladies." Yoyo gasped in pain as he sat upright, but at least it didn't feel like knife stabs like the previous night. "Carbon needs to keep warm, right?"

"Right!" Zoë looked back to, presumably, her mother and she grasped her shoulders. "Did you make the tea yet? Fibre's getting cold again and I can't leave to--"

"It's alright, honey. The water's on right now, so just give me a minute." The woman quickly walked over to Yoyo and planted her lips on his for a long kiss. "Thank you for helping my little girl. Our whole family is in your debt... uh..."

"Iolvin, ma'am. Iolvin Rivet."

"Thank you, Lord Rivet. My name is Chie, and I'm Zoë's mother." The Chinese woman smiled as she nudged against Yoyo's lap, then stood so her crotch remained in the otter's line of sight. "If there's anything else you need, just ask. Anything to please my daughter's savior, after all."

"Mom!" Zoë quickly shooed her mother out of the room, red flushing her face and chest. "Sorry about that. Technically the whole family owes you and... she thinks it would help if she..."

"Oh. That's awkward." Yoyo laid back down and snuggled up against Carbon again. "Wait, how would that help?"

The hybrid mustelid finally stirred from the final stimulus and groaned out in a barley audible tone. "If you knock up anyone in the family Zoë's free to go. Life for a life."

"Gods, I thought you were in a coma or something." Yoyo let out a sigh of relief and pulled in closer to Carbon. "Good to see you're alright. But what's that you just said?"

"First, I'm not alright. I don't handle the cold the same as other furs. I could use some tea or a fire, actually." Carbon reached between her legs and corrected Yoyo's raging boner in his pants. "Second, paws off. I haven't done anything like that as a girl in years. You're not getting into my pants, Private. And third..." She rolled around and looked at the otter face to face. "...well, there's a few rules I forgot to mention. But can we focus on something hot right now?"

"Not the best choice of wording there..."

"What? Fuck wording; I'm freezing here." Carbon nudged away, sat upright, and stole the entire blanket for herself. "Just find some candles or something and forget about all the tits around you for a minute. And where's my suit? That helps a lot."

"Suit..." Iolvin looked around the bed and spotted the odd one-piece in the far corner. "Over there. Oh, and Chie--uh, Zoë's mom--is getting some tea ready."

"Chie? Misses Vl?ek doesn't even let ~me~ call her that." A lone tendril stretched out from beneath the blanket, the bud on the end finding purchase on Carbon's suit. "So what, you planning on taking her up on that little offer? You seem like you're more... a Zoë type. Young and innocent with big knockers, you know?"

"You might be a chick but you've got the mouth of a horny sailor." Iolvin sat himself up as well and stared right into Zoë's ample chest. "More a personality thing than looks for me. She does have quite the rack though. So, there's other rules to this thing between us?"

"Nothing unexpected, actually. Basically if you ever vow before a higher power to become equals then this debt is nullified." Carbon threw the blanket over her head and started getting dressed in private. "She also only owes you the life of one of her own blood, not simply her own. I've seen people sacrifice children in a nearby tribe. They take it too seriously."

"So she can have a kid too, which we can't really do since I'm sterile. Dee might like that, though..." Yoyo forced his eyes to the doorway when he noticed his erection coming back for reasons other than just waking up this time. "Or we can take a vow?... Oh, you mean get married?"

"Or something similar." The hybrid emerged from the shelter of the blanket, this time clothed and with tendrils hidden. "I'm guessing Adrian ~wouldn't~ like that though."

"Nope. We'd have one fiery otter on our paws."

Misses Vl?ek then scurried into the room with a tray full of cups as well as a small kettle. "Oh, you're awake! Good to see you again, Fibre." She set down the tray and promptly filled the cups with steaming hot liquid, green tea from the color. "Here, have some of this. I know how our cold nights can be for you, dear."

"Yeah, I'd hate to go dormant on you guys. Not fun when there's a cave-in by the front." Carbon took her tea and forced down an almost-painfully hot gulp. "Thanks, Misses Vl?ek. So what's the progress on that, anyway?"

"They're working hard on clearing it so we can get to the farms. I haven't checked with the men today though." Chie stood up once the tea was served and went back for the door. "I'll ask my husband, though I suspect he's been working all night too."

"Thanks again, ma'am."

"It's that bad?" Yoyo took his tea but soon set it down once he realized it was too hot at the moment for his tastes. "We have a plan or something?"

"The front entrance is the only way we can realistically leave the building. There's air vents and things, but none of it's mapped." Carbon frowned as she checked over her air supply. "I'm sure it'll be cleared soon. I can get Ex to help too. Just focus on gathering whatever Zoë needs for now."

"Well all she's got to wear is that pair of dainty panties. She can't go to the elevator like that, can she?"

"And you can't go like ~that~ either." Carbon nudged his muzzle towards Iolvin's crotch. "Even here, it's still impolite to have a raging boner in public. You know Zoë's duties include ~that~ too, right?"

"Thinking of Dee here, actually. Besides, it's just morning wood. Happens almost every morning to me now that I've got those things in me."

"Well, I can leave if you need to take care of that. Just do something, because the clock's ticking."

"You don't need to go. You've seen it all anyway." Yoyo unzipped his pants and wrestled out his hard cock. "I'll just knock one out and we can get going."

Carbon lowered his voice when he spotted Zoë quietly eying the otter's spire from the far corner. "It'll help things between you two if you let her do her job. This is her purpose in life now. Just saying."

"But Dee..." Yoyo caught a glimpse of the girl as well and couldn't help but assume she was troubled by something. "Fine. Dee has to get used to her anyway. Hey Zoë, want to help me out here?"

"M-Me? I thought m'lord wanted to be alone..."

"Nah. Perfectly good time to get to know you better." Yoyo stopped moving his paw along his length and sat back on his arms to give the human better access. "You can do whatever you want, so no pressure. Want to give it a try?"

"It'd b-be my honor, m'lord."

"Well he's been eying those tits of yours, so maybe try using those." Both of the others suddenly stared at Carbon after his suggestion. "What? My girl friend here has wonderful tits. Be a waste not to use 'em."

"Y-You've had big ones t-too!"

"Well that was a special case. These puny things are my natural size and I like being myself, Zoë." The hybrid reached out a paw as Zoë knelt down and jiggled one of the girl's breasts playfully. "And don't be embarrassed. I'm just a bit jealous. You should be proud of those suckers."

"I'm not... uh..." Zoë sat back on her heels and sighed. "I'm nervous. You know I've never done this before."

"Well I'd show you but..." Carbon reached out and grabbed Yoyo's manhood without notice. "Just get this between your tits, squeeze 'em together, and move around. Might want to suck him off a bit to get him wet first, though."

"Suck him...?!"

Carbon flushed indigo in her cheeks as she looked to her friend, then to Iolvin. "I'll just have to show you, huh? Private, I'm only doing this for her sake... And maybe because you remind me of someone. Don't think too much into it."

"Oh, no complaining here. You're just helping a friend." Yoyo sat back up and reached for a pawful and then some of Zoë's tits himself. "Besides, if you're helping her you're helping me. I take personal favors seriously."

Zoë then reached out and took Iolvin's cock for herself. "No, it's not okay. It's my duty, so I need to learn on my own. Thanks, but I've got this, Fibre."

"Oh... Well go right ahead. Mind if I give some pointers though?"

"Uh... sure."

Carbon ran her paw over Zoë's head, raking her claws through her black hair and pulling it back for her. "The key is to enjoy yourself. Don't push yourself too hard. You know?"

"But it's not about my enjoyment--"

Yoyo ceased his fondling and instead chose to gingerly pull Zoë's chin so their eyes met. "Wrong. I always want my partners to have fun too. It even sort of turns me on even more."

"Fun..."

"Just take your time and watch the teeth." Carbon collected the girl's hair in a grasp behind her head. "The rest is up to you. That's sort of the point of a blowjob." Carbon then shot a look to her side and rolled her eyes at Eve. "Well that's how ~I~ see it, you insensitive brat."

"She still gets on your nerves?" Zoë took the brunt of another glare from her friend, getting the hint to get down to business. "Alright... I'm on it, Fibre."

Zoë dipped her head forward and gave Yoyo's tip a tentative lick. "That's it. Take it easy... even though we do sort of have to get moving..."

The human groaned in frustration, opened her mouth, and took the first hew inches of Yoyo's cock. "Don't go too fast for yourself, now." Yoyo hissed in pleasure as the underside of his tip was teased just right by Zoë's tongue. "Shit... Just keep that up, kiddo."

"See? It's not that hard." Zoë paused for a moment and then started bobbing her head back and forth slowly with a bit more confidence thanks to the other two's encouragement. "That's right. Not too deep now. Just use your hand...s with the rest." Carbon looked over at Yoyo and shook her head. "Just how are you and your sister so freakishly huge?"

"Ah... Good genes?" Yoyo shut his eyes as those hands started joining in on the fun, one squeezing across his forming knot. "Mmm... We weren't quite twins though. Believe it or not, I was the smaller one until we were changed."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I knew what that was like, the whole twin thing." Now that Zoë was getting into a groove, Carbon released her hair and draped it over her back. "You two seem to get along well enough. I'm guessing it's always been like that though. Right?"

"Well... no, actually." Finally Iolvin couldn't hold back anymore, his paw resting on the back of Zoë's head to guide her along. "Ooh... Uh, well Lulu wasn't herself a few years when she lost her leg. Things were seriously bad there, and... Ahn... Well we weren't very alike."

"I'm... sorry to hear that. Anything I should be aware of?" Carbon smirked as Zoë went a bit too fast and learned from a gag not to push herself. "How did she even lose it? Her leg, I mean."

"Don't--Ah!--Don't tell her I spilled the beans... Damn... I'm about to cum, Zoë." Yoyo grunted and then let go of Zoë's head so she could prepare herself, but she just kept on the straight and narrow. "It might be a lot, kiddo. Sure you want to take it in your--?"

"Mmhmm!"

"Guess the tits'll come later. Good job, Little Wolf."

"Oh gods..." Yoyo lurched forward and then immediately fell flat on his back. "Fuck, I'm there! I'm cummin'!"

Zoë's eyes went wide as she bit off more than she could chew. Iolvin erupted like a fire hose in the girl's mouth, quickly filling her throat and sinuses to the point that magenta-tinted cum was flying out her nostrils. She immediately pulled her head back and coughed out what she could, not at all concerned with the massive loads of jizz roping across her face and hair. Finally when Yoyo gained back a semblance of control, he selfishly took his cock and aimed it down to release the last few pints of cum all over Zoë's hefty chest.

"Ah, damn... That was a good one..."

Carbon sat back wide-eyed in amazement for a few seconds before finally reaching forward to grasp his friend's shoulders and calm her. "Shit, man. As impressive as that is, you didn't need to choke the girl."

"Sorry about that. I can sort of control the amount, but you were distracting me at the end there." Yoyo sat back up and leaned in to give Zoë a quick kiss on the forehead, his own taste be damned. "You did a good job there, kiddo. Oh wait, what did she just call you?"

"Little Wolf" Carbon snorted in odd disbelief as she watched Yoyo lick his own cum from his lips. "It's what her last name means in English. That's her nickname with the other guards."

"Oh, that's pretty cool. Kind of an honorary fur thing almost. Not that I'm against humans, kiddo."

"I won't judge your values, m'lord. I just aim to please." Zoë coughed a few more times, but rather than take a breather she went back to licking her lordship's cock clean. "Please... Mmm... Please forgive me for stopping your conversation, m'lord."

"Oh, don't worry about that. And please, don't call me that. My name's Iolvin."

"B-But--!" Zoë groaned as she lapped up the last of Yoyo's spunk from his cock. "I mean... Yes, Lord Iolvin."

"Nope. Just 'Iolvin'. Or 'Yoyo' if you don't mind. I'm sort of used to that." When the girl's expression shifted from concerned to distraught, Yoyo explained himself. "I won't have you as a simple slave. I just can't. If you're going to serve me, I'd only be able to look myself in the mirror properly if we became friends in the process."

"Your... friend?" Zoë stood up and paced about the small room in short, quick oscillations. "As you wish... Iolvin..."

"How about you let her call you by your little title while in town though?" Carbon stood as well, but chose to lean back against a wall so she could inspect Iolvin's body better. "I'd rather people here think Zoë was behaving as they expect. You know, leave a good impression and all that. Don't want to complicate things for her family and all."

"Sure. I can suck it up for her sake."

"Thank you. Now, you were telling me about Ilaria's leg...?"

"Right. Ya' had to remind me of that." Yoyo quirked his head as his chest was eyed up by the hybrid, but he remembered Carbon's odd vision. "Well technically it was a car accident. Her car broke down and she went to fix the engine, but... a truck driver wasn't quite awake and nudged her car. It... Uh..."

"Damn... No, don't finish that. I don't want to bring back any bad memories."

"I was in the passenger's seat... Just, uh... Be happy you weren't. It took everything I had to slow the bleeding without breaking down." Iolvin paused in remembrance and shook himself back awake. "Well it took few days and an infection to bring in the surgeon. And if you ever repeat any of this it'll just take ~me~ to take your own leg. Don't make my big sister cry, Carbon. Ever."

"I get it. I get it." Carbon acted out zipping up her lips and then slumped down next to Yoyo. "I realize it's a tender spot. You've got my word I'll keep it to myself." She poked a digit into Yoyo's side and smiled. "Losing a leg sucks. Being hurt sucks. Oh, and you're healing almost as fast as I do, by the way. Care to talk while we walk?"

Yoyo tucked himself pack into his pants, then removed his shirt and draped it over Zoë's shoulders. "Sorry about the mess. Button that up and it might not show though. Come on, let's get moving."

"Well her mother's acting fine. We should pay her father a visit before we leave though."

Zoë looked out the room through a gap in the curtains and frowned. "Looks like he's working though. I can't believe he isn't even phased by what's happening to me."

"No, knowing him he's trying to control himself." Carbon helped Yoyo to his hindpaws and then went for the doorway. "He's been against the whole life debt thing ever since his father earned one... and had to walk. I'm sure he's upset."

Iolvin broke free of his assisted walk and hobbled on his own until he found a decent way of shifting his weight that produced results. "Over here, I'm guessing?" He briefly paused to admire an ornately decorated column in the hallway. "Wait, where the hell are we? This looks like a courthouse."

"A scientific, legal, and military library actually. How astute." Carbon paused as well and pointed upward to a crack in the tall marble ceiling slabs. "The floors above are covered in rubble from when the bombs dropped. Air still gets through, but it's rad-filtered through all that fine dust."

"And staying down below the earth keeps us warmer, especially when the wind kicks up. We're so lucky to live here, even if it ~is~ a pain to work the farms above."

Yoyo quirked his head at such a foreign concept. "So you've been down here since the Reclamation War?"

Carbon dipped partially into a well-lit room and shook her head. "No... since World War Two. You don't take history classes in college?" She let out a long sigh and moved onward through the threshold. "Czechoslovakia was hit with the fifth and sixth bombs, right? The Czech Republic was wiped out and only the Slovak Republic remained. Hell, Prague was ground zero for number five. Sadly these humans were stuck here when the quarantines went up."

"Fuck... That's some shit, isn't it?"

Zoë jogged on ahead to the doorway but made sure she didn't break line of sight with her owner. "We do what we need to. Hey, Dad? Did I hear you working in here?"

"Ah, Zoë!" A burly ginger-bearded man hobbled out of the room and embraced his daughter tightly, a large leather apron smearing soot into Zoë's borrowed attire. "Your mother told me the news. I was so afraid you'd be thrown out like all the other furred ones always choose! Thank god you were saved by a real gentleman!"

Yoyo made his way over and extended a paw, regretting the gesture when his arm was nearly ripped off by the surprisingly-strong man. "My name's Iolvin. I'll try to take good care of your daughter, sir."

"Nonsense! We're like family now!" The man lurched forward into a strong hug, which was both a welcoming gesture and a test of constitution for the injured otter. "Call me Cyril, son. Welcome to--"

"Dad! His Lordship is injured! Remember?"

"Ah, I'm sorry about that..."

"Mister Vl?ek..." Carbon walked deeper into the room and pulled back a thick protective drape, revealing an anvil and some kind of furnace. "...have you been up all night? And working, to boot?"

"Oh, yeah. Guess you caught me there, Fibre." The large human made his way over to his workstation and picked up a long, thin item with some tongs. "I had a special order to work on, but after hearing the news I..." He quenched the item in a bucket of blackened liquid and then produced it again. "Well the Elder's son won't like this. I spent all night making something for you instead, my little girl. If his Lordship would allow you to own it, that is."

"For me?" Zoë looked to her owner for approval and then moved over to her father once she received a nod. "What could possibly make you break an order?"

"My finest work yet, and hopefully ever to come." Cyril wiped the item clean and then fiddled with some kind of wiring on one end. Then he slid it into a scabbard of some kind and presented it to his daughter. "I figured I couldn't protect you myself, so I'd give you a means of protecting yourself."

"You... made me a sword...?" Zoë took the weapon and eagerly freed it halfway from its sheath. "A rapier, just like mine when I was young. And it's so light and balanced! Oh, but it's still charred, dad..."

"She's carbonized and blued. That's what took most of the night." Cyril sat down on a bench with an exhausted huff and pointed to the dark metal of the blade. "She's harder and lighter than anything I've ever made before. I know you like to go wide on the ripostes so I gave her thin edges along with the point. And best of all, it'll always stay black. Well, until you get close to the core anyway."

"You know how I like a good game of hide and kill, Dad. She'll serve me well." Zoë re-sheathed her rapier and gave her father a kiss. "Thank you so much, Dad. And I'm sure his Lordship thanks you too, since now I can protect him with... her. Wait, she's a girl?"

"She was so elegant and beautiful, I just couldn't see her as fit for a man's title. I didn't name her yet though. It's better luck if her new owner does that."

"A name..."

Carbon smirked as her friend started to quint in intense thought. "One will come to you soon enough. Now if you don't mind, I have a collapsed entrance to investigate." She exited the room and pointed further down the hallway. "We'll be leaving from the metro stairwell. We're on the first basement level right now and there's two more floors of rubble above that, so the metro line acts as the front door."

"Milla! That's perfect!" Zoë's suddenly bright expression morphed into one of embarrassment. "Sorry. I just... thought of a name..."

"What's that? Czech?" Carbon looked to her side and nodded a few times as Eve passed him the possible translations. "Graceful fits the bill, alright. That's a beautiful name."

"Women and their weapon names. Thought Lulu was the only one that did that."

"If you don't want me to name her..."

"I never said that. You go on and name your sword if you like it." Yoyo threw a paw behind his head and gazed up at the crumbling ceiling, suspiciously breaking eye contact with the girl. "I mean, I had nicknames for my bass and violin when I was younger. No harm in it."

Carbon perked her head up at the mention of musical instruments. "Ooh, you still play them? That sounds like fun."

"Nah, I mean... I do every now and then. Lulu quit when her guitar got crunched up in her car and... Well, the band hasn't been the same since." Yoyo looked to his side and spotted Cyril bringing a rudimentary towel to part of his chin, wiping some transferred jizz away. "Ah, sorry about that! I wanted to clean up your daughter before leaving but we didn't have anything to..."

"Don't worry about it, my lord. I expected you two to have fun last night, and so it's my fault for not getting Chie to bring a wash cloth and water. Please, forgive me."

Zoë huffed out a relieved sigh and snatched the cloth from her father. "I'll gladly clean myself if you wish it, m'lord."

Carbon walked over and guided the cloth to an affected spot of her friend's hair. "I told you he'd be a nice patron. There, you hair looks better now." She gave back the cloth with a smile and then stepped out of the room again. "Now come on, you two. I's like to hear about this band while we walk, too."

"Oh... Well it wasn't much. My sister was guitar and vocals, and Robyn was on drums. We had to take up instruments in our middle school and we swapped in high school." Iolvin quickly took the cloth once Zoë was done with her face, then slid it and his paw down her shirt. "Uh... Sorry. Gotta clean in there too. Don't need you chafing."

"Thank you, m'lord."

Yoyo nodded with a smile that was soon shared. "Just looking out for you, Zoë. So where was I?" He followed the Major, but made sure not too go fast enough to out-pace Zoë's line of sight. "Ah, right. Lulu tried the trumpet, then the cello, than the flute. Picked a new one each year, and she was good with them too. Shame she gave up on all of them."

"That really is a shame." Carbon paused in a nearby doorway and gave Chie a silent nod. "So her accident sucked her will to practice? How'd she even find the time before that? She seems like an athletic fur too."

"We used to practice together. I can play anything she can and vice versa. easier to learn that way, for us anyway."

"So you can play ~six instruments~? That's impressive."

"Nah, I just remember the basics of most of them now." Yoyo met eyes with Chie as well, but forced his eyes downward when she gave him a sultry expression. "Uh... Well Lulu seemed to like when we played. I really wouldn't mind getting the band back to--"

A sudden loud rumble and shaking of the ground stopped everyone in their tracks. Carbon was the first to respond, Eve giving her a probable source of the disturbance in her vision and causing her to look through the floor. "That was the metro tunnel. Fun's over. We need to see what they hell they're up to down there."

Carbon took the lead and Iolvin quickly followed. "Zoë, keep up. We'll say goodbye to your family later."

The human threw her cleaning cloth back into her father's workshop with an apologetic face, then picked up into a sprint behind her master. "As you wish, m'lord."

The three rushed down two flights of stairs and emerged in a rather clean and well-maintained subway terminal. Waiting right there for them was Carbon's pet robot, which she immediately ran next to so she could touch his leg. "They didn't convince you to help. Good. Fill me in, boy."

Yoyo came up next to the machine as well, a bit confused by the way Carbon was closing her eyes in a meditative manner. "What's up, sir? They mess with your robot?"

"No." Carbon slowly opened her eyes and then hopped down onto the tracks, the robot slowly following her lead. "Ex says they've been clearing by hand, so that wasn't them. Something's happening on the other side."

"Yoyo easily hopped into the trench as well and helped the smaller Zoë down using his large stature for support. "The ~other~ side? Who would be messing around outside?"

Carbon stopped in her tracks and faced Zoë, grabbing the girl by her shoulders. "Zoë, what were you doing so far from home yesterday? Why are you guys expanding your patrols?"

"Nobody told you?" Zoë checked with her patron for clearance to talk, which she received with a firm nod. "We've been attacked almost every day since you last came. They almost reached home a few times, so we've all been on patrol--the whole guard, without shifts."

"Damnit, hon. You should have mentioned this earlier." Carbon continued forward until she came across the blockage and a few dozen humans who were clearing rubble by hand. "This was caused by an attack, wasn't it? They've never pushed this aggressively before. So why now...?"

"I don't know. The attacks started the day after you left though."

"They knew I could help protect you then. But they wouldn't know I was here without some sort of radar system..." Carbon looked to her side with a firm, grim expression. "They're getting help. And... you guys must have done something to warrant that help."

Again the whole area shook, large boulders and slabs of concrete rolling down the side of the blockage. "Woah! Watch out!"

"That's not explosives." Carbon stepped just a foot to the side, calmly allowing a hundred pound chunk of concrete to fly past. "It's more like excavation equipment. Hey, can anyone tell me how long this has been happening? Anyone?"

A dark-skinned man stood once the rubble settled and gave the Major her answer. "Since the rise of the sun, Fibre. It hasn't been this strong though."

"Eve, what's your take?" Carbon nodded a few times to her side and then turned around, slapping Ex on his shin plate. "Right. Everyone back! I'll let Ex dig. Okay? It's unsafe for people right now."

The robot slowly slumped his legs forward and began heaving large pieces of debris to the side. Another quake triggered the top level of rocks to come rolling free, but strangely the robot was unphased and undamaged as if his bulky frame was made of unworldly materials. Mere seconds later though, another rumble sent the top half of the blockage slamming down. Ex tried to hold his ground, but a large slab slid right into his center of gravity and knocked him over.

When the dust settled, several figures projected through the light and haze breaking through the new opening. Then one of the figures rushed forward and tripped, sliding down the rubble on his ass. "Iolvin! Gods, you're alright!"

Yoyo took off toward the mess in a sprint once he recognized that voice. "Dee!"

Adrian stood back up, only to be tackled back to the ground with hugs and kisses. "I'm so happy you're safe!"

Yoyo tried to help his mate to his hindpaws but bucked from the pain in his back. "Agh... Fuck, shouldn't have done that."

"Are you hurt?! Yoyo...?!"

"Couple of broken ribs. He's healing fast though." Carbon pulled the smaller otter up in Yoyo's place, allowing the larger to right himself at his own pace. "How'd you get in here so fast? We didn't have any equipment on the ship."

Ilaria climbed down the rubble more cautiously, and with good reason since she nearly slipped her fake leg out from under her on the way. "We've got nanites. Remember?" After dusting off her pants, Ari took a better look at the citizens of the library. "Okay, that's a lot of humans. ~Naked~ humans. What the hell?"

"Think of it as a nudist colony." Carbon dusted off her suit and then gave Ex another tap, telling him to right himself and stand to the side with the glowing touch. "Just go with it, please. We're on good terms, so I respect their customs. We need them, guys."

"Oh. Well I can deal with that. When we visit our mom's side of the family it's not much different, anyway." Ari gave her twin a playful tap on his nose as she passed by and out of the dry haze. "So you got yourself hurt, lil' bro? No wonder we lost you on radio."

"We had to beg Lilith to tell us where you would have gone." Dee finally beat the dirt and dust off his own ass before looking back to the hole they'd made. "Then we found the entrance blocked so that took a while. We did bring something to help though..." He made a calling gesture and then a small, green robot came glowing through the dusty hole. Dee took something it was carrying and then the automaton dissolved into a fine mist and swirled into his lower back. "Here, Major. Lilith said you'd need this."

"You're a life saver!" Carbon took the gift and fiddled with her air system, replacing a similar cylinder with the new one and then fixing her mask to her face. "I was getting worried for a minute there. Good for another pawful of hours now thanks to that."

"That's good and all..." Yoyo peeked over the top of the rubble and then looked back to Adrian. "...but what the hell was that thing?"

"I got desperate to reach you and... I sort of just thought about getting help. Poof, worker robots."

"I think he took my idea of making tools a step further. But hey, it got the job done." Ilaria took a few steps forward to see past the dust and snapped her vision to Zoë's shirt. "Hey, this one's wearing your shirt."

"Hmm?" Yoyo turned to check what his sister was talking about but flinched when something bounced off the ceiling at high speed. "The fuck?"

"Get down!" Carbon lunged over to Ex and tapped the machine, causing it to stand in the newly-excavated hole. "That's gunfire! Retreat back!"

The humans panicked and headed back to the stairwells, but Zoë stayed firmly in place. "Stay behind me, m'lord! I'll protect you!"

"No, we're getting out of here first." Yoyo let the human draw her sword, but pushed her back behind a solid column to keep her safe. "Carbon, you better tell me you've got a gun!"

"Better. Ex, time to rock and roll." Suddenly a hatch in the robot's shoulder snapped open and something shop out the top, landing in Carbon's paws. "You take this and get the guards below us." She chucked the item--a large shotgun--over to Yoyo and then climbed atop Ex. "Open up, big boy!"

Iolvin gave a nod, cocked the shotgun, and headed for the stairs. "Come on, guys. We're going this way. You coming too, Sir?"

Carbon gave Ex a few seconds, the robot opening his chest compartment like some kind of cockpit. "Right behind you. Now go!" The hybrid hopped inside and was sealed tight, then piloted Ex to spin and face the gap. "Come and get it, assholes!"

"What the fuck's going on?"

Yoyo pushed his twin through the stairwell door to keep her moving before giving her an answer. "Not sure. Apparently there's other humans fighting these guys. Zoë, where's the guard room?"

"Down and to the right."

"Who?"

Yoyo shook his head and rushed the others down the stairs, heading right once he hit the bottom. "I'll explain later. Just move!"

The group eventually hit a dead end, coming up to some kind of dimly-lit storage pit dug out of the foundation. "Guess that's not right..."

Zoë caught up to her master and pointed the opposite way. "Because we're turned around. I meant right from the way we were facing, m'lord."

"Then what's this place?"

Ari stooped down over one of the open barrels in the room and quirked her head. "Hey, isn't this oxydium? It glows the same."

"Don't know, don't care." Yoyo backed out the room but was greeted with a rusty rifle to the face, causing him to immediately empty double-ought buckshot into the unlucky marauder. "Fuck! Guess we're holding this room!"

"I don't think that's--" Zoë went wide-eyed and thrust forward with her rapier, swirling the tip to rout another foe's gut as her master cocked his gun. "You know what? Screw the warnings. It's not safe out here, Lord Rivet."

Iolvin backed up into the storeroom, forcing Zoë to follow just as another rifleman fired against the door frame. "Watch it! Everyone hide behind something. We'll hold the door."

"Me too, Yoyo." Ari formed a large knife out of her nanites and pressed her back against the edge of the door. "Dee, give those bots some blades or something and send them out there!"

"I can try but--"

"Incoming!" Yoyo yanked Zoë back again as a slew of slugs riddled one of the storage casks. He poked out into the hall and fired a shot, then reeled back to cock the shotgun again. "You guys can stab things when I'm out of bullets."

Yoyo ducked behind a set of barrels just in front of the door and readied for the next enemy to round the stairs. When he lined up that target however, Zoë freaked out and kicked the tip of the shotgun barrel upward. "No! Fibre said we can't use guns in here!"

"What?!" The otter smacked her aside and took his shot, downing a pair of combatants with a lucky blast. "The hell's wrong with you?"

Then one of the two raised his rifle and loosed a large volley of lead and steel into the storage room. Iolvin cursed as he dodged the shots, not only because he'd failed to take down the enemy but also because one of the slugs ripped into his right arm. By the time he'd regained control of his firing paw, he realized he'd mistakenly pulled the trigger whilst the shotgun faced somewhere inside the room. Then the low ultraviolet light humming through the room brightened.

Yoyo landed hard on his back clutching his most recent injury, but his attention was fixed instead on the state of the room. "The fuck?"

"Anyone hit?" Dee looked up from one of his macro nanite bots he was preparing, and he too was concerned with the rising energy of the room. "You guys hear that whine?"

"Ah! Yeah, a ringing?" Ari confirmed.

"Guys... I could use a paw..."

Without giving anyone a chance to help the hurt otter, a harsh rush of air sucked anything loose into the center of the room. Then after a slight pause, the flow reversed with exponential effect. Without a lick of flame to be found, the whole room exploded hard enough to slam barrels, furs, and humans alike into the walls. The room fell silent, and all of the light dissipated. The entire lot of oxydium also rendered itself dull and solid, crystals scattered about like ice rampant in a freezer.

"What... What the fuck was that?" Ilaria was the first to come to her senses, picking up the shotgun that had found its way by her body. "I got the door. Someone, check for injuries."

"I was shot." Iolvin sat upright while his eyes focused in the dark of the room, but he snapped to his senses and crawled to Adrian's limp body. "Dee! Babe, you alright?!"

"Nnn..." Dee fluttered his eyes awake from his sudden unconsciousness. "I think I'm alright..."

"Lord Rivet?" Zoë grabbed her sword with a groan and limped over to a figure in the center of the room. "Who's this? Is she one of your friends?"

Adrian swapped roles with his mate, resting him against the wall so his injuries wouldn't worsen themselves. "Someone was in the middle of that? Let me take a... look..."

Ari pumped the shotgun and then started loading a few spare shells that were clipped to the stock. "Looks clear for now, guys. What's going on back there?"

"Ashe?" Dee dropped to his knees and held the limp body of the wolf over his lap. "She's pretty banged up. But how'd she get here?"

Yoyo gave up on trying to stand up for a look and created a monocular scope out of his nanites to see across the room. "Damn, she singed half her beautiful hair off. Wait, did she maybe sneak in with a suit?"

Dee looked over the Arctic wolf and finally realized she wasn't wearing the same outfit as earlier at all. "She changed clothes...?"

"Dee, you still got your radio? Call Lilith."

The fair-furred otter did as he was requested and clicked his radio, sighing in relief as some static squelched through the line. "Lilith?"

"Roger."

"Why'd you let Ashe run off on her own? That's totally... reckless..."

Ashe opened her eyes, her brilliant blue eyes, and met her gaze with Adrian's. "Nmm... Who are you, handsome?"

Adrian scurried back away from the girl, kicking his radio and sending the wolf rolling in the debris of the room. "No fucking way. How the fuck?" He stared back into Ashe's terrified eyes with his own bulging out of his head, his radio confirming the impossible.

"What the hell you talking about? Ashe is sitting right next to me."