Chapter 12
Chapter 12.
"How long have you been proficient compromising electronic systems?"
Man, I hate job interviews. It's called hacking. "I stole my parent's ship when I was 9, they never caught on, my Dad just thought the hour counter was defective. I had to convince the onboard AI into thinking it was compromised, so it would shut itself down. Then, I just flew it manually. I progressed from there."
"Tell me about your parents."
I wonder how many questions there are going to be. "Mom and Dad owned a cargo shipping corridor; sector B3 in the beta quadrant, the whole length." I pause, thinking. I still miss them, their ship was destroyed during the Frageli conflict of '97.
"They were away most of the time, while I was growing up. My brothers and sisters didn't think it was cool to hang around with me, I liked reading too much, and I taught myself everything I could get my paws on."
My interviewer nods. "Elaborate. How old were your parents, what were they like?"
"Urn. Mom was like a white wolf, five years younger than my dad. I really don't remember their birthdates, as I haven't celebrated them in a long time." My ears splay. "March, August, '50 something. Dad looked like me, but darker, timber wolf." I suddenly remember the first thing he had taught me, lefty-loosy, righty-tighty. Simple words that had taken me so far.
"He taught me a lot about mechanical starship operations, systems repair. Kicked me out of the service bay a lot, though. Go find your mom, I'm busy. That sort of thing. Mom, she did a lot of data entry. Think she started as a visual programmer for an insurance company."
"How's all that feel?"
Why does he keep asking me that? He's asked me that, like, a dozen times... "Urn. What?"
"How real is it, Arrrick?"
I jump out of my seat, like I'd been shocked. "Er, ow... Zach? Man, that hurts." I hold my head in my paws, remembering, now. We're modifying my mind. It's done wirelessly through my wetware, I just sit in a chair and he pours in the data, then asks me about it. My name triggers me back to reality, but it's becoming difficult sorting out what's real and what isn't. I keep waiting for the 'saturation point' he mentioned to arrive. The point at which I don't snap out of it. I'm a little scared of that, it's when my old self vanishes, locked away for the next decade. So long as I'm still aware of this process, I know I haven't reached that, yet.
Zach peers up at me. "You're doing really well, better than I did. Someday, this part won't even be necessary."
"Couldn't you just modify me while I was running as software?" I ask.
"No, we can't do that. Only a fraction of your personality was loaded when you were virtual. Your full conscious and genetic memory, including your instincts, all that has to be present for modifications to integrate properly. We don't yet have the computing power needed to run your whole brain virtually. If we did, what would be the point in living in the flesh?"
I nod. "Well, I need to take a break," I say, as I stretch out. "My head hurts." I look at my arms and hands, wiggling my fingers. I shake my head in amazement. I just can't get over the idea that I'm actually in a new body. How awesome it feels, my strength and reflexes are unbelievable. A predator's body, as opposed to a hunter gatherer.
"We can take a break. Let me know if the pain doesn't go away, I can give you something for it." Zach sniffs in my direction, watching me closely.
"So all this is going into my language center? Why there?"
Zach points at a holoscreen beside his desk. We're in a small business office, clean and tidy. It's a useful prop he uses to help me feel like I'm being interviewed when he asks me questions to verify integrity. I stare at the image of a brain in a canine skull. A substantial section in the front slides forward and expands.
"Think of all the languages you could learn, if you sat down and really tried. That's all unused space. Rhenthar were most heavily fortified in that area, allowing a canine species to communicate vocally. More than barking and howling, it was their weakest area.
I see another canine skull beside the first one appear, it's smaller, and a pea sized section peels away from the front. "Ok. But my head isn't any different in shape, I see the skull is a little bigger, but..."
"It's all in the density," he says, pointing. ''See that area? Five times the regular
mass of neurons is in the same region. Your entire brain has slightly more neurons than a human, but it's less than half the size."
I shake my head. "This isn't helping my headache. Every time you say my name, I snap out of this... weird state. What happens if someone says my name later on? Surely, there's a Rhenthar out there I might meet whose name is Erick."
Zach sighs, being patient. "Right now, it's open ended. We're not finished. At the ten year point, it could be a problem, but before then, it wouldn't do anything. It would be a real issue at twelve years, but we'll take you in at ten, to be safe, and use a cascade recall event. The trigger for that is safer, it'll be tied in to your sexuality. It'll be in your genetic memory."
"Sexuality?" I stare down at my sheath, smirking as I remember when earlier I tried going down on myself, easily putting my whole length in my mouth. It wasn't everything humans thought it was. Sharp teeth, and my prick is very sensitive. My tongue feels good, but it's only enough to frustrate me. Opposable thumbs are the end-game of masturbation. I look up.
"How's that going to work?"
"Well, we'll force you into a really deep recall, repetitively. A dozen climaxes, every day... for a week, should do it. That will tear your mind apart."
My eyes go wide. "Holy shit. I can do that? I mean, five times in a day is the most I ever did as a human, and I got blisters from it." I laugh.
Zach cocks one ear sideways. "Well, no. Close to that, you could do on your own. But this would be a timed event. I haven't finalized the procedure, but I'm leaning on you being in a modified coma, at the time. I've got the next ten years to perfect it."
"Aww. There's no fun in that." I grin.
Zach stares at me with a serious expression. "No fun? After, the inverse is necessary. Climaxes will become dangerous to you, your genetic memory needs to be left alone while your personalities mesh."
"Hunh." I say, pondering. "So... no getting off, for a while?"
Zach nods. "For a few years, yes."
My jaws part and my ears twitch. "A few, as in three?" Zach nods. "What? No, you put me in this body, which I'm in love with, by the way, and you're gonna put that collar on me. You expect me not to jerk myself off for three whole years? While... I, me, come to my senses? As soon as I recognize that collar, it's over."
Zach shrugs. "There could be some exceptions, maybe once every six months, perhaps. But, I haven't found a way around this. Now you know another reason why I rushed my own process, it wasn't just that I hated the collar."
I lean my paws onto his desk and stare closely into his blue eyes. "Look. I know my own self control. That's beyond anything I can do." I shake my muzzle, "that's just... insanity!"
Zach narrows his eyes. "Good to know." He stares back. "There are preventative measures we can take. Say, locking wrist bands tied into the collar, motion activated. Triple axis accelerometers, pattern recognition. You'd be punished for trying."
My ears go sideways and I swallow. "Yikes. Hurf." I look down, my sheath is bulging. "That's... not going to make me any less in the mood, let me tell you!"
Zach tilts his muzzle. "You're into chastity? But that wasn't in any of your websites or discussion forums. You never purchased anything related to that."
I laugh; still amazed so much research could be performed on someone 600 years ago. Teh intarwebz.
"I'm not making this up. I just... hadn't gotten around to it. I was too focused on my genetic research, trying to find a way to have this," I pulled at my sheath. "It was, and is, a big fantasy of mine, though. It's control, and you know I like that."
Zach's eyes lose their focus. "Heh."
"What?" I sniff, but scent is still too vague to mean much to me. He hadn't dialed up my olfactory senses to full strength, yet. The instinct to turn to my nose was present now, though.
Zach brushes his whiskers back. "Oh, just thinking. Something else, another slaver mod. Could be useful, maybe."
"What is it? Some sort of canine chastity device? I'd love to see what that looked like."
Zach's ears flatten. "You could call it that."
My interest heightens. "What is it?"
Zach gets up. "Follow me."
We walk out of the office and into chaos, through his work areas. So many machines
and computer looking things, some with only tight isles to pass between. Occasionally, my fur catches and snags on corners and sharp protrusions. It's like wearing really baggy clothing, but worse. We duck under a machine with a ton of cooling fans, it blows hot air at my head as I pass under, making my fur ripple.
He stops at a big work surface, picks up a clear plastic bag and hands it to me. "Watch your claws..."
I inspect it; it's about the size of a football. Full of clear fluid, it has what looks like a black coiled up whip, inside. I set it back on the table, quickly, when what's inside moves, sliding its coils around itself. "Yikes! That's alive!"
He points at it. "It's called a 'site. It goes in here-" he points at the tip of my sheath. "It's a parasite. And I mean, in there," he gestures. "All the way, it anchors itself in the bladder. That's the male version."
My whiskers twitch, "whoa."
He nods. "Whoa is right. It's used on sex slaves, eh... keeps them interested, sort of jerks them off steadily, all the time. Area behind the knot calcifies, hardens. Its host can't reach climax, can't stimulate themselves. Keeps you on the edge, always. And I mean, always."
I pant at the idea, woof. I grin at Zach. Sounds like fun.
"No, Arrrick. It would ruin you. Maybe you think you'd like it, but you wouldn't, not after a month, certainly not after a year. It's impossible to remove without killing its host. That thing is permanent."
"Hm." I ponder. "Maybe it is out of my league."
Zach nods. "You don't want that, trust me. But I am researching it, I might be able to dial it back, kill off its stimulator branches. Have to see if they regenerate."
Zach leans forward and squeezes my sheath, it's still pretty full. "Would you like that? Hmm?" He says, squeezing at the base. My knees grow weak, I tilt my muzzle at the floor and whimper. So horny.
"Wearing something, forever..." He goes on, "making orgasms next to impossible..."
I look up. "Completely?"
Zach shakes his head. "No, they could still be possible with electronic means."
"Hurf. Sounds like a lot of control." I pant harder.
Zach holds up a claw. "Oh. And you can't pee with it on, either."
"What?" I stare at the clear bag, and it's slowly moving contents.
Zach nods. "Yes. Have to self cath with a penetrator device, each time. Prevents slaves from marking their territory. It's for the owner who's really interested in messing with his slave's head. You wouldn't believe what that cost," he points. "It's a creature built completely from scratch. Same maker as the collars, likely. They're extremely rare."
I laugh a little. "I've played with catheters, a few times."
Zach stares at me seriously. "I am not surprised." He looks away and rubs his chin. "Arrick, I really want you to be happy."
"Well, so do I!" I smirk.
"No, I mean, your happiness is important. But, er. Hottest... he's sensitive to attitudes. He feels shame and guilt easily, though he likes to tease and control. But if you aren't totally happy... He's a true alpha, is instinctually tied in to his packmate's well being."
"Rhenthar have packs?" This is new,
Zach shakes his head. "No, not usually. It's just an old throwback from wolves, there's some wolf in every Rhenthar."
I make the connection. "Is he a wolf?"
Silence.
"You can't say, can you." I smirk.
Zach shakes his muzzle. "No, said too much, already."
"Zach, are you him? I just have to ask."
"Me?" He laughs. "No. I am nothing like him." He reaches down and squeezes my sheath again, right at the sweet spot. "But I certainly like you."
I step a little closer, fumbling with his in response. It feels firm in my paw. "How's all this work?" I squeeze some more, he grunts. "I'm dying to go further, see what this is like in action."
Zach points his ears like an airplane, and stands a little taller. He nods. "Come."
I follow him back to the padded area I had been decanted in. He hands me a flexible
plastic measuring tape.
"Measure your neck." He sounds all serious.
I stare at the tape, noticing both sides are in centimeters. "All metric?"
Zach pauses. "Yes." His eyes open wider, "oh, you used the imperial system, back then. I read about that, once."
I shrug, and run it around my neck, holding the spot with a finger. "Forty-eight centimeters."
Zach picks up his collar, the one he showed me earlier. "Was that measured tight? It has to be tight." I feel some pleasant anxiety building, as I see where things are headed.
I run the tape around again, tight this time. "Forty-six."
Zach nods, he taps a few buttons on the collar. It whines a sharp, rising pitch, then splits open. He looks at me and bares his teeth. "Time to make some more sockets." He points at the floor in front of me. "On all fours."
I watch the collar expand in size in his paws, and I'm all grin. "You really wanna play?"
Zach shakes his head. "Not want. Required. You're fully matured, twenty-six years old, equivalent, right now. Think you live this long, not play with someone once?"
I think about that. "I guess. I would have a boyfriend, or two, by now?"
Zach covers his eyes with a paw. "Eeesh. Forgot. Good that you reminded me. Rhenthar very promiscuous, all canines are. The whole intent behind the Os penis, knots, tying, is the evolved ability to ensure sperm has chance to reach egg, competitively. Before the next in line fucks bitch."
"Er. Do people just... walk around having sex in the street?"
Zach laughs at me. "No. Canines like sex, but, privacy is instinctual, competitive. Want all to self." His eyes narrow and he leans forward. "Right now, have you all to self." His grin sends tingles going down my spine.
"So." He continues, pointing again." Get down on all fours. Now!" He growls long and deep. I think he looks cute, doing that.
I stretch out, clearly not taking the bait. "I dunno, Zach. I think I'm stronger than you."
I don't notice him draw close to the ground, he leaps at me, and though he is small in size, his weight knocks me onto my back. I land hard, completely surprised. I bring my paws up to push him away, but the collar snaps shut around my neck before I can stop him. It beeps twice and he climbs off me. I pull at it, hurf, it's tight. It feels very warm to the touch, smooth. It's heavy, and feels better than anything I've ever made, for how solid it is, it's surprisingly flexible.
I try to climb to my feet, but my legs buckle, I fall onto my hands and sit there with my eyes shut tight, while what feels like a painful seizure rocks my body, it in no way associates with my neck, like the collars I had made. This is a whole body experience. It's only for a moment, but when it stops suddenly, it's almost worse, somehow. I stagger forward and gasp. I look up at Zach with a whimper. My prick feels cold, it's sticking out from my sheath.
"That's its lightest setting. This is only the beginning, of the rest of your life." He walks up to me and reaches between my legs, pinching behind my knot, the area still covered by my sheath. I buck my hips, surges of pleasure make me shut my eyes in ecstasy.
"What-" I cringe and convulse, the world presses down on me, most of my muscles jerk and spasm, then release. I pant and hang my muzzle, staring at the floor. My knot is throbbing, and clear fluid trickles onto the floor in spurts. The sensation fades away, rapidly, though.
"I didn't say you can talk. The collar will recognize words, but you can certainly whimper, whine, bark, and howl. Whimper for me, Arrrick." He pinches behind my knot, again, sliding his paw back and forth two, maybe three times. My knot fills back up, climax builds... and builds... then fades away when he stops. The desire to fuck becomes overwhelming, the tightness of the collar, the control, my fur, my body, it's too much!
"See, a human would be done, past this point already. But you're canine, Arrrick. Things just getting warmed up." He repeats the process, but this time I furiously hump his paw, digging my claws into the padded surface. I- would- fucking- push- past. His paw lets go. I spurt and dribble. Holy fuck, I'm blind, I'm so aroused. I have to grab something, anything!
I turn and look at Zach, growling my words. "I have-" another intense seizure cuts off my speech, my body quakes and my arms shake. I bare my teeth, clenching my jaws shut tight. Then the
collar releases me, once more. I pant and whimper, soft but then louder, much louder!
Zach nods his approval. "That's more like it." He gets up and walks in front of me, then gets down onto all fours, I see that his knees can't touch the ground, either. He wags his tail back and forth, slapping my muzzle with it. He turns his neck and looks back at me. "Take me, if you want me."
I stare at his pink pucker, his big curled tail flagged off to the side. I don't even have time to think, I leap onto him and grab his narrow hips with my hands, and poke around blindly, I can't see where I'm at. I think I feel where the tip of my prick is, and assume it's lined up correctly. I shove forward and feel tight warmth surround me. Zach lets out a hiss, and pushes back against me. I thrust a few times, and my knot sinks into him all the way.
The ecstasy I felt earlier was but a taste, now it skyrockets. I thrust a few more times, but can't pull out, his hole feels like it keeps getting tighter and tighter. I hug his body as hard as I can and try to pull out.
Zach yelps. "Unh, you're tied! Don't try to pull out, you'll really hurt me."
My tail keeps shifting around rhythmically, my ass clenching tightly as surge after surge passes into my mind. I think I hear his words, I think I know what they mean. I give little forward and backwards movements, which he seems to like. They certainly feel incredible, to me. I still can't open my eyes, my orgasm is so intense. My mouth waters, his tail is hard up against my stomach. I have never felt something so tight, so delicious. And it just goes on... and on... like it won't ever end.
I reach under and grip his sheath, near the base. His knot is already swollen, but one touch from my paw and his body tenses up under me, his tail twitches against my stomach and he sprays on the floor, making little whimpering noises of his own. The feel of him clenching down on me is amazing.
I lick at his ears and nibble on his neck, stuck tight inside him, holding him, hugging him. It's the best feeling in the world. This is living, this is the meaning of life.
"Ohh, Arrrick. So lucky, you and hottest, both. I'm so glad I found you."
I was so glad to be found.