FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After saying yes to Niari's proposal, i hated having to sit in the car with her, since i wasn't aloud to cuddle with her or anything. We drove straight home, and Niari playfully carried me inside. Once through the door, we walked hand in hand to the living room again, where everyone was still talking amongst themselves. Tsutsukii was awake too, and talking up a storm until we entered the room. Only Aielle recognized the flower in my hair though, i could tell, since her jaw dropped at the sight.

"You're back! So what was the walk all about?" Cassia asked. I tried to say something, but i was too giddy to get it out right.

"Iria and I are engaged." Niari explained. "I was growing the erishan losus in her hair for a few months now, and I finally gave it to her." The room was suddenly filled with the congratulations of everyone.

"That's amazing you two!" Aielle cheered.

"Wonderful news! for as little as i've known you two, i thought you'd make a great couple." Cassia explained.

"That's great to know, i'm happy for you two!" Tsutsukii added.

"What does engaged mean?" Fey'sel asked.

"It means we're getting married, silly." Niari laughed.

"Oh, good for you!" Fey'sel said.

"Anyways, it's starting to get late, and i think Iria and I would like a bit of time to ourselves tonight. Would anyone mind if you slept at Aielle's and Fey'sel's tonight?" Niari asked.

"There's no problem in that." Aielle said.

"If you wish to be alone on your engagement night, then you shall be." Cassia agreed. Everyone else agreed as well, and after a little more excitement and chatting, Niari and I were soon the only ones in the house.

"Hey, Iria?" Niari asked.

"Yeah?"

"You know, a little while back, when i said that i knew the time that we'd rock the bed a little bit?"

"Uhuh...?"

"Can it be tonight?"

"Of course it can, love! There's no night better than tonight! Just... promise you'll be careful with me...? I've never done this before...."

"Really? Well then, you're in for a lot of fun then, c'mon lover girl, we're going upstairs." Niari then swept me off my feet, and carried me up to the bedroom. I was giggling, both excitedly and nervously. eventually we got to the bedroom. Never before had i thought that my own room looked so alien. Niari placed me on the bed, and then lied on top of me. "Trust me, Iria... i would never hurt you."

"Okay...."

"Good." she pressed her lips to mine, and i closed my eyes, folding my ears back.

* * * * *

I woke up the next morning cuddled up close to Niari. We held each other gently in each other's arms. Niari soon enough looked into my eyes as she opened hers, and smiled.

"Good morning, love." She said, kissing me right after.

"Good morning, hon." I responded.

"Last night was great... we should indulge ourselves a little more often."

"Sure... but before that, i need a shower. You coming?"

"Why would I not?" She giggled, pinching my butt playfully, making me squeak. We were soon enough in the bathroom. With the hot water running, we were both under it and cleaning each other's fur. Niari constantly teased me, gently pinching and spanking me. I got her back a few times, at least. Finally, when we left the shower and fixed each other's hair, we started walking our way down to the living room again, dressed in nanomaterial once again.

"So Iria...." Niari started.

"Yeah?"

"Now that we've done something that i've wanted to do... should we go out and do something you want to do?"

"Like what?"

"Well... i've been thinking about it, and I know how much you've been wanting to adopt a Nirin."

"I thought you weren't an animal person."

"For you, i will be."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course!" I might as well have pounced her then. I hugged her tightly, giggling happily.

"Thanks Niari!"

"C'mon then, let's go adopt one."

"Yay!" I cheered childishly. I've always wanted to adopt a Nirin. They're small, flying creatures which are fluffy, and adorable. They kind of look like what humans call dragons, just a lot fuzzier, and smaller. We soon enough left the house, and Niari drove us to an animal shelter. It wasn't that far away, only about 10 minutes. The shelter didn't look too nice, but when we got inside, there was a counter, and behind a glass wall, there was a multitude of Nirin flying around and playing, and a couple, which were most likely the adults, which stayed on the ground, nursing some of the younger ones.

"Hello there, welcome! What can I do for you two?" The girl behind the counter asked. "Looking to adopt?"

"We are, yes!" I said.

"Well, as you can see, we've got plenty of playful Nirins here, feel free to pick one out." She said. I then walked over to the window, while Niari continued to speak with the girl. There were couple dozen of them behind the glass in their little, artificial habitat. There were small, plastic trees, grass, a pond, which was constantly occupied by at least one nirin, and multiple food and water dishes. They all looked very much the same, except for the adults. But one of them caught my eye. inside a fake, hollow log, there was a nirin lying there, away from all the others, and alone. I couldn't see why it was there... but it reminded me of what i used to be like.

"Excuse me...?" I asked.

"Yes? have you made your decision?"

"Do you see that little log there?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a little one hiding in there... could we adopt them?"

"Sure thing, give me a second." The girl then went through a door, soon enough appearing in the habitat, she carefully picked up the stark white nirin, and left the habitat.

"Why that one?" Niari asked.

"Did you see it? It looked completely alone...."

"Hmm...? Oh, i see. You made a good choice, Iria."

"Alright, here she is. Before you take her from the shelter though, i'll need you to sign a few papers for her. You might also feel obliged to buy some food and dishes for her while you're here." The girl suggested as she returned with the little nirin.

"We will." I said.

"Okay then. Here's the papers." I had the papers read and signed quickly enough while Niari picked out some food and a couple dishes for the nirin. "Alright, thank you. She's a little under 2 years old, so be gentle with her. Her right wing is also a little damaged from birth, so her flying will be a little odd.

"That's okay." I said.

"So, what are you going to name her?" I thought for a second, then looked at Niari.

"We did this for you, so you can name her anything you'd like." Niari responded. The girl gave me the little nirin. I held her gently, and she looked into my eyes, trembling, and scared. I held her against my chest, and pet her gently, and she stopped shaking. I felt something from her, similarly to how Niari and i speak without words. She told me quietly, and with pictures, but she told me her name.

"Viri... how about Viri?" I suggested.

"I'd say it fits her pretty well." The girl said.

"It's a lovely name, Iria." Niari agreed.

"I think she's taking a liking to you." The girl giggled. "Look." I looked at Viri, and she had changed her fur pattern to look like mine, as well as her mane, which ran from between her four ears down to the tip of her tail, to a bright cyan, like my hair. She was the very definition of my past, in my eyes... and i needed to take care of her. I hugged her, trying not to squish her, and i felt her purring.

"Okay, with all the paperwork done, and food and such bought, there's one more thing you might want to do." The girl said.

"What's that?" Niari asked.

"She's going to need a collar."

"Oh right!" I said.

"We have a few here, if you're interested in any of them?" I walked over to the collars on the wall. There were a few nice ones, but a lot of them looked very ugly for something as pretty as Viri. Seemingly out of no where, very jumped out of my arms, and landed on the floor, somewhat clumsily.

"Viri!" I panicked as she fell. She got up, and trotted over to a collar on the lower hooks, and bit it, trying to pry it off, but failing. I'm not sure how, or why she did that, but the color she was tugging at looked very nice. I kneeled next to her, and took her off the collar, and then took the collar off the hook. "I think she's picked it for me." I giggled.

"Is that the one you're getting?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." We eventually had the thing paid for, and a cute little pendant with Viri's name on the front, and our address on the back. With all the paperwork done, and everything we needed to buy, bought, we made our way back into Niari's car. Viri rested on my lap, and i pet her gently. She panicked though, as the car turned on.

"Oh... Viri, come here girl." I said, picking up Viri and hugging her again. She trembled, but calmed down in my arms again. "The car's not going to hurt you, don't worry."

"She's going to have to get used to a few noises, isn't she?" Niari asked.

"Probably."

"And what did that girl say about her wing?"

"Apparently it's damaged." I gently lifted Viri's right wing. Right away, i could tell that it was almost dislocated, so i put it down. "There's no way she can fly with this. No wonder she was all alone. She couldn't keep up with the others."

"Maybe we could give her a second chance? Cassia still has that life water stuff."

"Yeah... lets do that. I hope it works on her." I lifted Viri up to my face, and she looked into my eyes curiously. "We're gonna try and let you fly, Viri." I gently kissed her little nose, which she then shook her head, probably wondering what i just did. We arrived at home soon enough, and we brought Viri inside.

"Can you text Aielle that we might need Cassia over here?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'll set up Viri's things." I let Viri down onto the floor, and walked to the living room. She followed me clumsily, but kept up with me. I saw that she tried to fly a couple times, but she couldn't. I pitied her for that, but i hope that we can help her with Cassia's life water. I set up her food and water dish in an out-of-the-way spot in the living room, and filled them both. "Viri, come here! You can eat here." I'm not sure whether she understood her name, or she just knew what the food smelled like, but she came over and sniffed the bowls, then ate some of the kibble. I pet her gently as she ate. When she was done, she turned around, and climbed up my arm, quickly getting up to my shoulders. She nuzzled my temple, and gently curled her tail around my neck. I giggled, and gently pet her again as best as i could with her in that position. I went over, and sat on the couch, and just at that moment, Niari walked into the living room.

"Cassia said she'd.... Pfft, look at you! Viri really likes you, doesn't she?" Niari laughed.

"I know, she's adorable." i giggled. "But anyways, what about Cassia?"

"Right. She's going to walk over here, so she'll be here in five minutes."

"Alright."

"So, how's Viri doing?"

"Pretty well it seems. She can't fly though. She tried and failed."

"Oh...."

"Mhm. I'm glad we know Cassia though. Viri deserved a second chance, after two years of being grounded."

"I wonder how many people ever noticed her in the cage before us."

"If she was in that little log the whole time, probably not many. I just happened to notice her."

"Well, i'm sure that she's happy you did." We talked for a little while longer about Viri, but quickly enough, we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"That must Cassia, i'll get it." I said.

"Alright then." I walked down to the door, Viri still on my shoulder. I opened it as i got there, and, as expected, Cassia was there with her arms held formally behind her back..

"Hey Cassia, i'm glad you came."

"Good morning. Who's your new friend?" She chuckled.

"Her name is Viri," Viri was currently leaning out towards Cassia, probably trying to sniff her, "She's actually the reason i asked you over."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Come inside, i'll show you." I led Cassia to the living room, and I sat on the couch next to Niari.

"Hey, Cassia." Niari said.

"Good morning, Niari."

"Look, Cassia." I gently pulled Viri from my shoulder, and put her on my lap. She wanted me to let her go for a second, but i stroked her fur a couple times and she calmed down. I gently lifted her deformed wing, and showed Cassia. "Right here, her wing was made deformed from birth. I wanted to ask you if we could use some life water on her, to give her another chance?"

"Hmm...." Cassia kneeled down, and inspected Viri. Viri reciprocated, trying to sniff her. "I'm not sure. The life water is very precious."

"Please? It's hard for me to see her try to fly, but never getting more than a few centimetres of the ground...."

"Alright." She sighed. "We can do this once. I'll need to dilute the water though, i'm not sure how strong of an effect it will have on such a small thing."

"Thank you, so much, Cassia." I gently hugged Viri, to which she tried to snuggle up to me.

"Should i get some water?" Niari asked.

"Yes. I should need two glasses." Cassia said.

"Alright then."

"Iria, are you any good at chemistry?" Cassia asked.

"Just give me some numbers." I said.

"Okay. One drop of lifewater will change about ten kilograms of water, which is pure life water, and is perfect for living things as large as us. I need you to find the ratio between your mass and Viri's mass, and find a molarity which should be perfect for something Viri's size."

"Alright, will do." And so I left the living room, and found the data that Cassia wanted. "Okay. it should come around to a molarity of 0.14 M."

"Alright, perfect." Over the next couple minutes, Cassia used a drop of life water to create the pure life water, and she diluted it with the other glass.

"Alright, here. have her drink this." Cassia said, offering me the glass. I took it, and offered it to Viri, holding it close to her.

"Okay. Here Viri... drink this." She sniffed it a couple times, and started to lap up the life water. She didn't stop for a while, but during her whole drink, i watched her wing start to reshape and mold itself back into where it was supposed to be created. At some point during her drink, she fluttered her wings, and perked up. I gave the glass back to Cassia, and she took it. Viri flapped her wings once... twice, three times, and then jumped to my shoulder, and clean off into the air. She flew a few circles around us, making excited little noises. She ended her little flight by clumsily crashing into my chest, but i caught her. She cuddled closely to me, and purred audibly. I hugged her, tears forming in my eyes for her happiness.

"Thanks, Cassia... You're amazing...." I sniffed."

"It's my pleasure." She responded. Niari touched my shoulder, and i leaned against her."

"On a side note, with Tsutsukii awake and well, and her memories starting to return, Aielle was planning on taking her back to her home planet."

"Oh?" Niari responded.

"Yes. She used to live on an isolated little planet named Cranitus. It's around half an hour away from here with your ship." Cassia explained.

"That's good."

"She said she wants to see you two before leaving though, since you had a part in saving her life."

"That's okay, we can do that. Iria's probably going to want to show off Viri anyways."

"Quiet, you." I said. "You know I will." I acceded. Viri wiggled out of my hug, and made her way up to sit on my shoulder again, wrapping her tail around my neck.

"Anyways, if it's okay with both of you, i'd like to stay for a bit while they make their way over here soon." Cassia asked.

"Sure, that's fine. Her house was probably a little crowded anyways, with everyone there." Niari said.

"I'm fine with that. But anyways, i think i'm going to take Viri out in the backyard. I'm sure she wants a better place to fly around in."

"Alright, i'll probably meet you out there in a little bit." Niari giggled.

"Okay." I stood up, and walked to the sliding glass door, which was in the same room still. I opened it, and stepped onto the soft grass outside. I haven't actually been out here much since we bought the house. It was one of the main reasons I wanted the house so badly, but i never did anything with it. At least Viri loves it, since the second she was outside, she jumped from my shoulder, and started to fly circles around the yard. I giggled, and watched her fly in excitement. She landed in the tree at the corner of the yard, and the only way i could spot her there was that her tail still poked through the leaves, which was quickly replaced by her head as she turned around. I waved at her, and she jumped out of the tree again. I raised my arm, and she flew towards me. She landed on my arm, but landed with too much speed, and she swung herself upside down, curling her tail around my arm as to not fall.

"You need to learn how to land, silly." I giggled. "I'm sure you'll get it soon enough. C'mon, try again." Viri climbed on top of my arm, and leapt off into flight again. She repeated landing on my arm, and taking off again several times. I continued to encourage her, not sure whether she understood me or not, but i was there to reward her with a gentle scratch behind the ear when she nearly did it. Soon enough, she was perfectly able to land. When she landed properly for the third time in a row, i stopped her from trying to take off again, and held her in my arms like a child. I playfully poked at her, and she responded by attacking my hand. she never used her claws, which told me she was just playing too.

"So, what's happening?" Niari asked a second after opening the slide door.

"I was just helping Viri learn how to land after flying. She was very clumsy with it, but now she's doing great." I explained.

"Awesome. While you were out, Aielle and everyone else showed up."

"Oh, crap." We both quickly got inside, and shut the sliding door. Just like Niari said, Everyone was back here again.

"C'mon, Iria, introduce us to Viri!" Aielle insisted the second she could. Viri climbed up to my shoulder again, looking at all the different people in the room. I couldn't tell if she was curious, or scared. Probably a little of both, really. In fact, i could even feel what she was thinking about with her this close to me. I never felt it before, but... it was interesting to say the least. I knew that a lot of animals on Reatha shared the same ability to communicate without words, but i didn't know that pets would do it with their masters. I gently told Viri that these were my friends, and that they wouldn't hurt her or myself. It was a simple statement, but also very complicated. Viri didn't speak kathish like me, nor english, but in pictures, and emotions. I tried my best to show her memories of my friends, which apparently worked, since she flew from my shoulder onto the coffee table, and started to investigate everybody.

"Aww, she's adorable." Aielle said.

"She looks exactly like you!" Tsutsukii giggled.

"She's really cute. why didn't you tell us about her before?" Fey'sel asked.

"It was kind of an 'in the moment' thing, Fey'sel. By the way, Fey'sel, have you seen Crystal lately? I haven't seen her." I asked Fey'sel.

"She's gone out on her own. I don't know where, but she said she'd visit us once in a while." She responded.

"Iria?" Tsutsukii asked.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Why does she look so much like you?"

"It's a thing that Nirin can do. They have an ability to shift their colors, and i guess she wanted to look like me after we met." I explained the best i could.

"That's interesting."

"So how've you been feeling anyways? I never really got the chance to speak to you since you woke up?"

"I'm feeling much better, thank you. Ever since that... thing was taken out of my head, i've been feeling better than ever. I can remember things now, and I can sleep properly! You have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to know and want sleep, but your brain just denies it."

"I can only imagine how much that would affect someone."

"Mhm. But aside from that, Aielle was planning on taking me home today, and i wanted to give you a final thank you and farewell."

"Well, it was very nice knowing you, Tsutsukii. Just be careful not to run into people like Varea again.... By the way, how did you manage that?"

"I explained that to everyone else yesterday... It's still very difficult to remember that, since it was only for a few minutes before i lost my memory. But I was on a small shuttle, travelling to a neighboring solar system with a selection of random others. We were suddenly stopped in the middle of travel, and no one knew why. That's when space seemed to split open, and we were pulled inside the ship, known as the black hole, I believe. Once were were in, we were gassed, and i think i was the only one who survived. The gas put me asleep right away, and i never saw anything of the others since then."

"Did you know any of them?"

"Probably not. Still the memory is a little fuzzy, since it was my last conscious moment of panic, so nothing really processed right."

"I understand. But anyways, we don't need to talk about this anymore, i've had just about enough of keeping the memories of that damned ship." Viri then jumped onto Tsutsukii, sniffing at her hair.

"Ah! uh, hi, Viri...?" Tsutsukii started awkwardly. I laughed, and pulled Viri off of her.

"Silly girl." i said.

"So anyways, Iria, would you like to join us on the ship, maybe?"

"I'd love to, but Niari and i have had enough space travel for a little while... especially after what happened."

"Oh, I understand."

"We can still keep in touch though, you're a fun person to be around. Do you have a cellphone or anything?"

"I believe I do, back at home."

"Alright then, i'll give you my number before you leave."

"Great!"

"Iria?" Cassia asked.

"Hmm?" I responded, turning my attention from Tsutsukii.

"What are you going to do about the Fallen void?"

"Well... Hopefully nothing. I've had just about enough of the shit that happens to us in space."

"Fair enough, but Varea told me that there were more of my race on that ship. Everything she said was... strange to me. I have mixed feelings for them."

"I would love to help out, but i don't know if we'd survive another run in with her. I've already pissed her off enough, and it's better when she doesn't know where we live."

"...I understand."

"I'm sorry, Cassia, but i'm not willing to help you with that, not now at least."

"Why later though?"

"Did you see how many people were on that ship?"

"Fair enough."

"Hey, you know...." Tsutsukii interrupted. "I do know every inch of that ship."

"Really?" Cassia asked, almost breaking her composure with excitement for once.

"Yeah. I could probably make a floor plan by memory."

"Were there others like me on that ship?"

"I think there is. I've told you before that Varea says there are, but i was never allowed to see them."

"Why not?"

"She said that they might break me somehow...."

"Hmm... with that chip implanted in your head back then, it's possible with Aasariin consciousware."

"I have no clue what they were like, or how they were kept where they were, but it disturbed me to know that there were people on board which i wasn't allowed to see. It's the only room i've not seen."

"The only room? So they're imprisoned somewhere?"

"It would seem so."

"Hmm...."

"Hey, Cassia?" I asked.

"Yes?" Cassia responded, turning to face me.

"Speaking of consciousware, would you let us go have those things researched?"

"Right now?"

"Yes, please. It could be very useful, in case we're planning on going out again."

"Well... I suppose then."

"Should i take Tsutsukii home while you do that?" Aielle asked.

"If she's okay with it." I said.

"I am, yes." Tsutsukii replied.

"Okay then." Aielle confirmed.

"Okay, i know just the place where we can study your consciousware." I said.

"I'll stick around here this time, hun. I think i'm gonna get some more rest. You'll probably find me in the bed when you get home. I'm also a little burned out from adrenaline after giving you that flower yesterday." Niari said.

"Alright then, sweetie." I giggled. "Alright Cassia, shall we go?"

"Yes, i'm ready." Cassia replied.

"I'm gonna take your car Niari, that okay?"

"Sure, just be careful with it." She replied.

"Don't worry, I will be." Without further ado, we all then headed off to follow the paths we set before ourselves for the rest of the day. Aielle drove Fey'sel home before taking Tsutsukii to the spaceport, Niari stayed home and rested, and I took Cassia to the university where we first studied the life water, and Viri came along for the ride too. Speaking of which, i was interested to see if Auin found out anything about the life water. An hour almost passed before we arrived at the university once again. We got out of Niari's car then, and walked into the building with Viri on my shoulder. Minutes later, we found Auin back in the chemistry room. Before we got up to him though, Viri jumped off my shoulder, and started to look around. I paid her no mind for now, the lab's clean enough for her to wander.

"Auin! How're things going?" I asked him. He was clearly flustered. His hair was all over, and there wasn't much sleep present in his eyes.

"Huh...? Iria! it's been a little while since i've seen you. That fluid you gave me the other day... I can't for the life of me figure out what it is, or how it's made." Auin explained.

"Oh, well that's too bad."

"What fluid?" Cassia asked.

"Oh, who's your friend?" Auin asked.

"Oh, this is Cassia, as well as Viri. Don't mind Viri though, she's just curious."

"just make sure she doesn't knock anything over." Auin warned.

"Nice to meet you, Auin." Cassia said. "But what is this fluid you're talking about?"

"It's the lifewater you explained to us. Auin, Cassia is one of the race who invented that fluid."

"Really? Can you please tell me how it's made?" Auin asked, and almost got onto his knees doing so.

"I wish i could, really. But it's been kept a secret from all but a few eyes of the Aasariin." Cassia explained.

"Aasariin...?" Auin awed. "You mean... the ancient civilization, Aasariin?"

"Well, yes and no." I said. "She is part of them, yes, but she's also not all here. She's still got a case of amnesia."

"Well, that's no good. We need to have you remember all you can, the amount of technological advances we can achieve with someone like you here!" Auin almost squeaked.

"I'd love to, but i'm not one for science." Cassia said.

"We are here for something related though. Cassia has some technology imbued into her blood, consciousware, she calls it. We wanted to have someone here extract it and study it." I said.

"You're giving me quite the load to work with young lady. I'm sure i can help, but i've got all my time fixed on this at the moment. Why don't you ask Sarien, or someone in the robotics department? I'm sure they can help." Auin explained.

"Oh, alright then. Thanks for your time, Auin, it was nice seeing you again."

"It was good seeing you too, Iria." He ran his hand through his hair, and turned his attention back to the little vial of life water still on his desk. I called Viri from scavenging around the room, and she flew to sit on my shoulder again.

We found the robotics department quickly enough with the help of the secretary at the front of the building. Inside, there was at most a dozen crude robotics projects being worked out by several students. We asked one of them who the instructor was, and he pointed him out to us. Walking up to the supposed instructor, I introduced myself.

"Excuse me? My name is Iria Reyes, could we have a minute with you?"

"Iria? Iria, it's been a while!" He said

"Wait, Aiori? Is that you?" I laughed, suddenly recognizing my old friend. He was much taller than I was, by about 7 centimeters at least. His fur was a dark red, accented with some orange stripes and yellow scales. His hair was also a pure red, as were his eyes. We hugged each other tightly, not having seen each other in a few years. Aiori was one of the new friends I made after getting together with Niari.

"It's so nice to see you again. Say, how's Niari been? And who's your little friend?"

"We've both been doing pretty well recently. We've had a few mishaps in space, but we're intact. And this is Viri." I laughed, letting go of him. Viri decided to jump onto Cassia, whom then took her in her arms and held her while Aiori and I caught up with each other.

"Mishaps?"

"Yeah, i'll tell you about them later, but I've come here to ask you something."

"And what might that be?"

"Well, as you might have noticed already, I have my friend Cassia here with me."

"it's nice to meet you." Cassia introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you too. If it hasn't become obvious already, my name's Aiori." Aiori shook her hand. "So, what is this you're wanting to show me?"

"Cassia has something in her blood which she calls consciousware. As far as i'm aware, they're similar to nanobots, but they're much smaller, and we were wondering if you could have a look at them?"

"I certainly can, i'm intrigued. Do we need a syringe to take a sample?"

"I can handle that, just find a microscope or something similar." Cassia claimed.

"Right then, give me a minute." Airori excused himself to search for his tools.

"You're okay with this, right?" I confirmed with Cassia.

"Yes. if it will help us find my people." She said.

"I'm sure it could help with that, and many more things too."

"Yes...." She sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"I feel like you're oblivious to my people being trapped...."

"I'm not, Cassia." I gently took Viri from her, "I would love to try and find you people, but no one here is able to in the condition we're in right now. You've seen first hand how many people are on that ship. Not even a regular military grade ship filled with marines could take it on and win in a rescue mission."

"Fair enough...." She sighed again.

"Alright, I've found what I need for the tests." Airori claimed as he stepped in front of us again. "But if you don't mind, I'd rather do this in a quieter room. The students here aren't the most subtle bunch." He whispered, chuckling a bit.

"That's alright, wherever works best." Cassia said.

"Okay, follow me then." Airori then led us out of the room. Carrying his small device, he then led us into a small room which seemed to be just a regular office, with the added pristine whiteness of a lab. He then set up his device on a table which was up to his waist. Viri found little perch on top of a cabinet, where Aiori didn't seem to mind her nesting for a while.

"Okay, if you're ready Cassia, I've got the machine set up."

"Alright then." Cassia said. She raised her forearm slightly, her palm facing upwards. In a couple seconds, what seemed to be a fine dust started to break from her skin. Seconds later, they coalesced into a small pile on Aiori's desk. Aiori took the next couple minutes to study the dust.

"This is... This is incredibly small." Aiori awed.

"How small would you say?" I asked.

"Maybe... 20 nanometers across."

"Wow."

"What's even more interesting, is that they're all different. None of them are the same."

"That's because if we wanted them all to do the same thing, we'd be trying to make technology smaller than atoms. It's undoable. So therefore, we created billions upon billions of smaller machines to act as a myriad of larger ones when they work together." Cassia explained.

"That's... This is... Absolutely phenomenal. Do you know how to make them?" Aiori asked Cassia.

"As far as i'm aware, they can create themselves if I tell them, and have enough material."

"What materials? I'm sure we have plenty enough here."

"Just grab them as I say them, and we should be okay."

"Alright, i'll take you to the storage." We spent the better part of half an hour scavenging through the university's storage to find the right elements for the tiny machines. Finally we were back in the office again, with a few different things in front of us.

"Okay. I' not too sure how to do this, but it's worth trying, at least." Cassia claimed. She then started using her tiny dust-like machines to explore the materials on the table. nothing seemed to happen for a minute, but then we noticed a little pile being built on the table next to the materials. Soon, the pile became bigger and bigger, soon reaching maybe two cubic centimeters with of little bots.

"Okay, i think that's enough. If they're about 20 nanometers each, there might be a good..." He brought out a calculator, and tapped in a few numbers. "Uhh... 100 quintillion bots there."

"Okay then." Cassia agreed. "This should be plenty, anyways."

"Do you know how to activate them?" I asked.

"I believe they use both sunlight and body heat to run, and to recognize a host, they use a blood signature. So all you need to do is inject them, i believe. With a liquid, of course."

"Are they safe to inject into a body?"

"They should be. At worst it should only burn for a few seconds after injection, after that it should be fine."

"What about the body's immune response? Won't it try and remove it?" I asked.

"They're so small that it wouldn't be recognized, but they will imitate your blood so the immune response doesn't notice it." Cassia explained.

"Alright then. I'm willing to test it out, if that's not a problem with anyone here?" I volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Aiori asked. "I'd really hate to see you in pain if this goes wrong."

"I'll be fine. I'm sure Cassia knows a way to extract it if it goes wrong."

"The only way to extract it in a sensible amount of time is to have then activate inside of you, which i don't know if it will work as of yet. Hopefully it does though. So if it doesn't work, the bots will be stuck in your bloodstream for a while." Cassia explained.

"I'm willing to risk that if it means an advance in technology." I claimed.

"Okay then, i'll find something to fill a syringe with so we can do this as well as possible, just wait in here while i get everything." He then left the room again, and came back after about ten minutes with a sealed container of some chemical. "Okay, i thought it would be a good idea to use a mild painkiller as we inject it, so it doesn't end up burning too badly if it goes wrong by any means." Airori explained.

"Alright then. So, how're we doing this?" I asked.

"Alright, uhh.... You just sit here and lay out your arm for me. Hopefully this goes well." Aiori hoped. I could tell that he was afraid to try it on me right away.

"Don't worry about it, Aiori." I said, giggling a little.

"Worry about what?"

"I'll be fine. I can tell that you don't want to end up hurting me."

"Yes, well... We haven't seen each other in a long time, so i'd hate to have you in pain the first time meeting you in a while."

"Just don't worry about it. I'm asking for this, so it's my fault if anything goes wrong."

"Alright... if you say so." Very quickly enough, I was sitting next to the table and resting my arm palm up on top of it. Aiori made some short preparations with the syringe and such, mixing the painkiller with the small machines to create an odd looking solution. There wasn't much in the syringe at all, but I was still slightly scared about how it would feel. It seemed like an eternity, waiting for Aiori to have everything ready, but when he did, my heart started to race, and I swallowed with a slight fear. I didn't like needles in the first place, so it creeped me out even seeing the syringe when he brought it in, but now that he was going to inject the bots into my bloodstream scared me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aiori asked. I looked at him, then the syringe, then him again.

"Yes, I'm sure." I swallowed, bearing myself to him. I had to look away when he started to insert the needle into my arm. It felt cold, and I hated it, but thankfully it only lasted a few seconds. As he injected it, the liquid felt cold. Extremely cold, in fact.

"What was that liquid you put in the syringe?"

"Diluted lidocaine. It's going to feel numb for a while, sorry about that."

"Well... better than a burn." I tried poking where he injected the bots, but felt nothing. I hated feeling numb, it was weird. Right then, i started to feel a slight burn where the lidocaine hadn't reached yet. It wasn't horrible, but it was slowly getting worse and worse. I voiced my pains with a grunt, clenching my fist and teeth together. Viri jumped onto my lap, and nuzzled me. I thought that she understood my pain, but I couldn't tell with how it blurred my vision.

"Something wrong?" Aiori asked.

"the lidocaine isn't working very well." I grunted. I started to really feel the burning now, even where the lidocaine was numbing my arm, like it just ate it. It started to spread to my whole body, and it felt like glass tearing apart my nervous system.

"Iria, are you alright?" Aiori panicked.

"N...no...." I said, my eyes watering from pain. I then passed out. the last, muffled words I heard were Aiori and Cassia crying out my name, and Viri whimpering.