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Standard adult entertainment warnings here: please be of adult age and not to be offended by homoerotic acts or adult fantasy. If you are alright with that, please proceed. Constructive comments, grammar correction, and thoughtful suggestions are welcomed.

Diaries of a Xenobiologist

Chapter 1. Paradise Jellyfish

Part 1

“Hey Manny, we're getting a call from the union rep," a voice echoed in the cockpit.

“Tell Darx I'm done playing footsie with him. I'm not getting stood up again!"

“Manny, it's not Darx. It's commander Spotter. He says it's urgent and he'll add a bonus payment, double our normal fee and half of it upfront."

“Fine, transfer it to my comm station." The monitor on the tanuki's left changed from text output to a display of the commander. A tall and regal looking leopard, Commander Spotter had been a provider of many high paying jobs but with equal danger. He was known for being a skilled diplomat and respected military figure. “Hey Commander, what's got you so worked up that you'd call me right when I started a holiday?"

“My sincerest apologies, Manny. I must say this opportunity couldn't be more convenient for the both of us. You're on your way to Tamar IV to stay at the legendary pleasure moon, the Pearl of Venus?"

“You are certainly well informed, what's that got to do with this job?"

“Well, I'm afraid to say there's something odd going on at the resort planet. We are contemplating a sector wide quarantine, but to do so would cause economic havoc. We have an agent that reported something odd going on before we lost contact with him about an hour ago. We need someone we can trust to report in on what's going on there. I hope you can see that not only is your destination maybe suspect to hazard. But if you pull this off right, imagine the favor it would get you on top of this nice bonus we're offering on the Pearl," the leopard said with a quick wink.

Manny signed and shook his head at the commander. “You already have me in a corner and now you want to beat me down with flattery? Fine, I'll take the job. What's the report deadline?"

“Your first report needs to be within the first twelve hours of arrival. Additional reports may be needed based on what you find. We have withheld further transport to the Pearl until we reestablish communication. Please take every precaution, though this is an official job, the owners of the Pearl would like your best discretion."

“Aye, confirmation of contract being transmitted now. Dr. Manny free-lance xenobiologist at your service."

“We eagerly await your report. God speed," said the leopard. With that, the image shut off and was replaced with his text logs. Manny let out another sigh and got up from his seat.

“Blue, what's the ETA till we get to the Tamar IV system?"

“We're just less than an hour, Manny."

“Okay, I'm gonna grab a quick shower. Blue, once we're within range of the moon, initiate a docking request and park the ship."

“Acknowledge, enjoy your shower,"

“Wanna join?"

“You want me to pilot the ship or fulfill random fantasies that the whole reason you wanted to take a vacation was to change it up a bit," the voice said in a stern tone.

“Aww, I'm just having a flirt is all," Manny replied as he walked to the shower compartment. He took off his jumper and gave his characteristically large scrotum a gentle massage. He really needed to get his suit modified, but just never got around to it. He gave his dark circle eyes a rub as he gave himself a once over. He started to get a few white spots around his muzzle and his bushy dark brown fur accented his slightly pudgy frame. He swished is banded tail and activated the shower. As he let the perfectly hot water soak into his fur, he thought about his partner in the other room.

Blue was a remarkable entity. Manny had discovered it during the Elysian incident half a decade ago. Blue was an extra dimensional entity that had found its way unwittingly into Manny's universe. The breech between dimensions caused a rift that destabilized the now quarantined Elysian system that had been embargoed by all major intergalactic authorities. The rift had been closed, leaving Blue stranded in this universe but left some permeant distortions in space-time over the region now deemed uninhabitable. Blue manifested itself in Manny's laboratory at the time on one of the research labs located in Elysian Prime's orbit. The entity appeared as a spinning blue crystal that seemed to give the impression of facial expressions that matched its frantic voice as it spun and pulsed soft light from its core.

“I'm so sorry, it was my first time trying to jump. I told the instructor that I wasn't sure about the target lock linear time offset switch was engaged or not. The bastard was too busy chatting up that floozy from Andromeda…." The crystal stopped spinning for a moment and began rotating the other direction. “Well it appears I really screwed up. This place is about to implode into a subspace inversion and from what I can tell, that's consider bad for life forms such as yourself. As an apology, I will preserve your life."

Without another word, Manny found himself suddenly on his ship and launched into space. Blue seemed to be able to interface with the ship's controls and pulled Manny out from the collapsing space. They were apparently the only survivors of the incident. Manny wondered what could have happened to his colleagues but understood part of his agreement to have his current freedom was to not return to the system. It turns out Blue had similar interests as Manny in both avid researchers of xenobiology. Blue believed it would have eons to catalog this universe's various life forms before it would make an attempt to return to its home universe. The entity also seemed to have formed a genuine relationship with the tanuki and considered him its best friend.

Manny lost track of time as he heard Blue announce their ship entering orbit of the Pearl. The raccoon dog shook his fur out of instinct before engaging the dryer. In a matter of seconds his fur was freed of excess water and he threw on a pair of board shorts and a tropical shirt. He struggled a bit with the last button that poked out a bit beneath his belly. Grumbling, he settled with leaving it unbuttoned and grabbed his equipment packs. He had an impressive array of tools that he augmented with some recommendations from Blue.

“Manny, the ship has been docked and the ramp is deployed. I'll keep contact with you from your personal communicator and provide any assistance from the ship that I can," Blue said with a brilliant spin and flip.

“Thank you, Blue. I'll report after checking into my room," Manny said, giving the crystal a gentle pat. Manny made his way down the access ramp and took a belt path to the closest resort city hotel kiosk. There the holographic desk clerk took the form of a lovely doe with a bow on one of her long ears. Manny produced a registration token and slid it onto the desk.

This activated the clerk. “Welcome to the one and only Pearl of Venus resort city. This moon's unique orbit allows one hemisphere to always face this system's sun. Perpetual paradise!" spoke the doe in a gentle voice. It flickered and then the doe looked down right at the tanuki and smiled.

“Welcome, Dr. Manny. You're staying at the Twilight plaza. Beautiful place at the edge of the sunlight. The days are short, and you have a perpetual sunrise and sunset. I am Cherry, your personal concierge and trip advisor. May I answer any questions you have about your stay?"

“Not at the moment. I'm ready to drop my bags off in the room and rest for a bit."

“It's been my pleasure."

Cherry smiled and nodded. A shuttle arrived from around the corner and picked up the platform Manny and his bags rested on. It swiftly launched over the main city and crossed various micro islands with sparkling beaches. The sun neared the horizon but never set. Manny could see a beautiful purple and red sky that stretched along an endless coastline. The hotel was built into a cliff facing the horizon. The pod slid the platform and its occupants into the hotel lobby. There didn't seem to be anyone else around.

This was beyond unusual. There should be all sorts of visitors out and about on the beaches and plaza balconies with accompanying debauchery. Manny made a quick survey of his front desk. His room key lit up and the platform began to move by conveyor belts build into the ground. The belt ran up the side of the wall and the gravity fields above kept everything relative to the belt floor in place. It was a smooth slide all the way to his door where it opened and placed his items in a neat storage area at the entrance.

The tanuki pressed his comms button and Blue immediately answered.

“Manny, I'm sure you've noticed by now, but none of the major public areas have any sentient lifeform readings."

“That appears to be correct and something I'm quite afraid of. Can you do any more detail scans?"

“Sorry boss, the Pearl's planetary net is scattering high band frequencies. We won't be able to do anything more complex than scan for general signs. Anything else, you'll have to make do with your current equipment."

“Roger that, please send an initial report to the Commander. I'm going to start poking around and at least get a damn drink while I'm here," Manny said as he began to open his cases.

“Initial report sent, be careful Manny. I'll see if I can collect any additional information from the local networks."

“Thanks Blue, Manny out."

Manny strapped a belt pack on, having to lift his belly a bit to get it to clip. On the back of the front door was a small circular panel that showed the other side of the door. Manny tapped it with a paw and a directory appeared. Scrolling through the listing, he found the general lounge and bar on the ground floor and set his destination. The door slid open smoothly and the belt platform began to transport him straight across the hall and down the side of the building.

The raccoon dog let out a soft sigh as he watched the horizon continue to glow with the deepest indigo and violet skies he's ever seen before. His fur ruffled a bit as a warm breeze hit him from the coast. It was oddly dry for this area's tropical climate modification net. Manny approached a grand arch made from great branches of coral. The Dusk till Dawn bar was a flash with various soft lights emanating from a cavern like ceiling most likely part of the natural cliff the hotel is constructed in. As he hopped off the pad, he could see a few other visitors for the first time.

Manny scanned the room. It seems like there were only four other occupants in the bar. Two college girls from Meneb II, they wore matching sweaters with their sorority name. Manny stopped trying to read it once the symbols started to wrap around their other side. On the other side of them was a taller tiger. The Menebians seem to have a thing for the big cat, which didn't surprise the tanuki. Menebians have similar feline features such as ears and tails. The last person to complete the group seemed to be a hooded figure standing next to a table with a few boxes on top.

Manny ignored everyone and walked straight up to the bar. Before the holographic bartender could fully form, the tanuki asked for a double of Aldebaran whiskey. The hologram flickered once and formed into a smiling sheep with wool puffed out along his collar, complete with a black bowtie. The sheep gestured and a glass appeared on the bar. The bottom was equipped with a filling port and a rich green liquid filled the bottom of the glass. He thanked the bar sheep and downed the glass in a single gulp. The pleasant burn and buttery flavors of the beverage went down smooth. The hologram smiled and gave Manny a polite bow. The tanuki turned around and looked back at the others.

The tiger and sorority sisters continued to chatter back and forth. The hooded figure stood there silently, just staring at the table in front of him. Manny started with the table. He glanced over the table top. A tiny pyramid of stacked, plain white boxes was displayed next to a signup document. He could already see the label on the top of the digital forms and grimaced. It was a multi-dimensional marketing company. The figure pulled its hood back to reveal a slightly husky lizard. The sales lizard attempted to say something to Manny before he started to back pedal and cut off with a quick “Nope, not interested!"

“Please, sir! Free samples just for a promotion. No signup or contact info required!" said the lizard. The sales lizard grabbed a box from the stack and tossed it at Manny. The tanuki swatted it out of the air and it landed right back on top of the table.

“No, thank you!" Manny stormed off while the lizard frowned and pulled the hood over its face once more.

Manny felt a bit bad being so rude to the lizard, but he was sick and tired of all the multi-dimensional marketing ads popping up all over the quadrant like a plague. The authorities shut down one of them, two more spring up. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became because he ruined a potential opportunity for information. He was still on a mission and needed to figure out what's happened to all the other guests. He turned around to see if he could salvage something useful.

“Listen, I'm sorry about that. I'm just not a fan of your company."

“It's alright, not the first time I've had that reaction," said the lizard. “Would you still like the free sample?"

“Eh, what are you giving away exactly?"

“Oh, it's the latest fad, they're called fidgeters! They're revolutionary, ecofriendly, and cruelty free!"

“Alright, but what are they for?"

“Well, ah-mh… frankly, they're for self-pleasure."

“Makes sense, this being The Pearl and what not. Pretty much the primary tourist attraction," Manny said, opening the white box and rolling out a small white ball. “How's it work?"

“It's very simple. Remove the device from the box, and simply press against the area that you wish to stimulate. It will radiate a pleasurable tingle and then it will spread from the target area for full body enjoyment! Afterwards it will expire, and you recharge it simply by letting it soak in some water. Completely ecofriendly."

“Well that's quite interesting. How long have you been here?" Manny asked as he stuffed the box away in one of his pockets.

“I actually just got here a couple of days ago. Parent company needed me to fill in and restock the booth."

“Oh, has it always been this kind of…vacant?"

“Not sure, first time at the Pearl."

“Well thanks again for the sample," Manny spun around and made a line for the Menebians and tiger.

They all shared a loud laugh, and all turned to face Manny at the same time. “Well hello there," the tiger said. The two girls smiled brilliantly in sync with each other.

“Hi. I'm sorry to intrude, but you wouldn't happen to have seen any other guest?" Manny asked.

“I've been here for just a day myself, but these two lovely ladies have been here for about a week now," the tiger said, leaning towards the two sorority sisters.

“Oh em gee, you didn't just share our business with this new guy?" said one of the Menebians.

“My dear, I apologize. Perhaps I should leave the introductions to you," said the tiger with a polite bow.

The two Menebians took a moment as they both made an attempt to position themselves in front of the other to speak first. Finally, one let out a soft sigh and took a foot back. “We're the Sullivani Sisters, I'm Silvia and this is Salara. We're the owners of Multiverse Makeover."

“Um, pleasure to meet you all. I'm Doctor Manny. May I ask how long has everyone been here?"

“A doctor?!" Salara exclaimed.

“It means he probably has money," Silvia said in a hushed voice, gently pushing her sister back.

“Yes, well it's not that important, just my first vacation here and figure I'd inquire about other's experiences. Can't trust most of the reviews now a days with those rogue AI's posting garbage everywhere," Manny said with a shrug.

“Indeed, well I've only been here for about over a day myself. Lovely accommodations, just a bit sparse on the company," said the tiger.

“Oh, so it's not just me. So no one's seen anyone else?", Manny asked in general.

“We've been here for about a week. Looks like vacation season must be coming to an end around here," said Silvia.

“Well, I guess I might try to inquire with the staff," Manny said as he looked around for a comms panel.

“You may find a bit of difficulty with that. I tried to order room service outside normal hours of operation, and it doesn't seem like anyone outside the automated services is available. I wonder if they're on strike," said the tiger.

“So has no one seen another soul?" asked Manny.

“There's been a few others when we got here, there's this really cute Klingon I noticed at the bar the first night," said Salara.

“Salara, for the last time, that's a tv show. They're actually called Ringons," Silvia corrected her sister.

“Right…So I guess they must have left. What about the beaches?"

“I'm afraid they've been closed. Apparently, none of the safety personnel every opened them after their last maintenance schedule," said the tiger.

“Ok, well this vacation sounds like it's going down the drain quick. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you all the remain here. I'm here under the authority of the United Systems to investigate the Pearl," Manny said.

Suddenly his comms burst with activity. “Manny! The general called for discretion," Blue chirped.

“I know, Blue. And that's why I'm going to need you to monitor everyone while I investigate. If anyone attempts to leave, I'll need you to stop them."

“…Acknowledged," Blue replied.

“You can't hold us against our will!" the tiger protested.

“Listen…wait, who are you?" Manny asked.

“Reginald, Reginald Tollbart," he said with a sharp gesture at the tanuki. “And I like to see you stop me," Reginald said, pointing his finger at Manny.

“Listen, Reginald. I'm not going to stop you. The voice belonging to the thing talking through my comms will stop you. As of right now you have no idea what it could be. It's just a disembodied voice. What could it do to stop you from leaving? Could it wait for you to leave this room to incapacitate you? Could it simply disintegrate your body from orbit? Maybe rearrange your organs and turn you inside out by your tail? The real question right now is are you willing to find out?" Manny said in a cold voice.

The tiger stood there attempting to think of a response only to come up empty. Manny walked past him and ordered another drink from the bar. Reginald looked over at the Sullivani sisters and then back at Manny. “I think I'll stay here, to keep these ladies' company," said the tiger in a low voice.

“Thank you for your cooperation, I'll be back to check on all of you shortly," said the tanuki. He set his empty glass down and proceeded out the bar. Everyone else just looked in silence as Manny left, swaying his bushy tail on the way out. Exiting from the Dusk till Dawn archway, Manny tapped his comms. “Blue, please tell me you've dug up anything useful?"

“Sorry Manny, it's been a bit slow. The main computers are locked in a diagnostic cycle. Someone is intentionally making this difficult for us."

“Great...Any info on Spotter's agent?" Manny asked as he stepped on the transport pad.

“Yes, I was able to access the room listing. He's just down the hall from your room. It's door 1220."

“On my way there now. Keep an eye on the people at the bar with the ship sensors and send another update to Spotter."

“Sure thing. Manny, please be careful," Blue urged.

“But Blue, that's why I have you," Manny said. Blue left the comms channel open for another second before cutting the line with what sounded like a huff.

Manny hit his comms again. “Fine, I'll be careful. I also still need you for a moment. Could you override the lock on door 1220?"

“Yes, there appears to be a custodial override...and done," Blue said.

With the door unlocked, Manny took a quick trip back to the Twilight Plaza. The transport pad dropped the tanuki off right in front of door 1220. Manny reached into his pouch and produced a small hand scanner. He waved the device over the door handle and checked the output. The readings indicated a large biological mass inside the room but could not provide any more details without a sample. At least the readings indicate breathable air and normal temperatures. The tanuki reached a paw out and pushed on the door handle. The door swung silently open.

Part 2

Manny opened the door to the agent's room. He put up his scanner and pulled out another instrument that looks like a short two-pronged fork. As he pushed into the room, nothing looked out of the ordinary. As he took a step in through the small hallway towards the bedroom, he could hear something groaning. The room was dark, the lights dimmed low and something seemed to be moving on the bed on the other side of the room.

There was a soft beep from the scanners as Manny laid eyes upon the mass his instruments detected. There spread out on the bed was a seven-and-a-half-foot tall stallion. He was completely naked aside from what appeared to be a huge jellyfish wrapped around the poor thing. Tendrils wrapped and moved all along the horse's body. The bell of the alien jellyfish encased the horse's entire head. What seemed to be its oral arms was a thick, white opaque center stalk that disappeared into the horse's mouth.

The tanuki looked down at his scanner and verified nothing else was in the room. He moved to the side of the bed and tapped the end of his fork instrument against one of the light blue tentacles that snaked around the horse's body. After info started flooding into his scanner, he tapped the fork against the horse. His eyes widen in horror as he recognized some of the genetic sequences. He slapped his comms and in an urgent voice, “Blue, we got a problem."

His comms buzzed back, “Manny! Are you in trouble?"

“No, not exactly. I just found residue from the Elysian incident here in the room,"

“That's not possible, the sector is quarantined by the union. Nothing should have ever made it out other than you and me."

“I guess you see why this is a problem. I gotta clean this up now, send a priority message to Spotter. Let him know there's been a breach. I need to get to work now," said Manny as he looked back down at the horse.

“Encoding transmission now. Manny, what did you find?"

“Working that out now, looks like someone modified a sentient jellyfish species we were working on back on Elysian. Thankfully they don't pose any immediate harm, but I have a feeling these are the cause of the garbled life sign readings and why we can't seem to find any of the other visitors. The commander was right to put this place on lockdown, but now I have to wonder how much about this he knew before sending me to investigate. Spotter's not telling us everything, which I get. This, however, is different. This is..." the tanuki trailed off for a bit.

“Manny?"

“Nothing, we'll get to the bottom of this eventually. I've analyzed the DNA sequence and I've modified the scanners to pick it up. Reconfigure your scanners to my parameters and see if you can locate everyone."

“Got it...Readings are coming from everywhere now, looks like most people are in their room. They're all barely moving, Manny."

“I'm trying to figure that out now, I'm going to need a moment," Manny said as he started to pull out more equipment from his pouch. He attached a bio monitor to an area of the horse's chest that wasn't covered with tentacles. His scanner started spitting out all the foreign chemicals and enzymes it found in Spotter's agent. In the horse's blood, Manny found tranquilizers, paralytics, dopamine enhancers, endorphins, and synthetic oxytocin. The jellyfish's tentacles released a cocktail of various agents as it stung a creature's flesh.

Manny stepped back and continued to study the alien with another instrument. He took out a metal disc and ran his finger down the outer rim. It emitted a column of light and began to float. He used his scanner to move the disc over the horse. Where the light hit, the horse's skin and muscles became transparent. The tanuki jumped back when the horse shuddered violently for a few seconds before going back limp. A quick glance at his scanner show the horse just had an orgasm.

The xenobiologist could see a fine network of filaments extending from the main column lodged down the horse's mouth. They were drawing all the enzymes and hormones from the poor agent as his orgasm died quickly and began to build up again as the tendrils wrapped and stuffed in his massive horse cock began to squirm and pulse once more. The damn thing would just leach him dry eventually, but at an agonizingly slow pace.

All that the alien sucked out of its host seemed to concentrate into a sac in the bell. Where the hell did these things come from? He speculated they must have a larva phase that would turn into a polyp form. For now, Manny worked quickly to find how to safely remove the jellyfish. He found his answer when he tested a sample for temperature changes. When exposed to near freezing temperatures, the tissue loses cohesion and they dissolve into inert proteins and water. Manny radioed Blue to tap into the environmental controls to drop Pearl's climate temp down.

“There's a problem Manny, I can't override the diagnostic cycle from here. There's a terminal that you need to access, and I can take it from there. I'm sending you the coordinates now."

“Got it, I'm on my way now," Manny said as he saw the data feed into his scanner. The terminal was located down a maintenance shaft at the end of the hallway. Manny followed his scanner as he found the access panel to open the latch to climb down. He had made if halfway down before something blocked the light above him. The tanuki looked up and saw the two Sullivani sisters. They were covered in environment suits with something dark blue in their hands.

“Sorry Doc, we can't have you messing around with our new market," said Silvia.

“Nothing personal," said Salara.

They dumped the blue blob down the shaft. Manny slid down the ladder as fast as he could, but the blob had already splashed over his face. He felt something burn his skin beneath the fur before fading to numbness. He fought to rip the thing off him as he could feel something whipping against his body. It was a bigger version of the jellyfish he found earlier, and the damn thing was already starting to paralyze most of his muscles as the tentacles continued to wrap and constrict around the tanuki.

Shit, shit, shit. Just, need to….make it to the panel.

Manny stumbled forward and through the blue tinted goo, he found the console with the reboot prompt on its display. It took everything he had to tap the restart button before succumbing to the toxins. Manny's body twitched and felt the continued burning sensation as the jellyfish began to attach itself onto him. The tanuki could only lay there, completely helpless against the alien that began to push its feeding arm past his open muzzle. Manny could only groan as he felt the slimy thing worm its way down his throat and settle in his stomach. More tentacles snaked their way around his vulnerable body.

One tentacle pulled his fluffy tail up while another slapped right against his pucker. The sting burned like hell before quickly turning into a more tingling sensation. The tanuki could only groan as he felt the thick thing push past his ring and slowly into his bowels. As it explored deeper, there was only the spread of the tingling sensation. Manny's body twitched as it brushed across his prostate, feeling the nub swell and react to the invading appendage.

His cock had long since spilled out of his sheath as two tentacles wrapped around the raccoon dog's base while another tendril pushed down his hard, leaking cock tip. It spread his urethra wide open and kept pumping more and more of that slimy length into every opening on the tanuki. Manny could only huff and twitch occasionally as it continued to fill him. Two thinner tendrils snaked into Manny's ears. They burned as they pushed all the way in, and his vision exploded with blue light. Manny started to cum, his entire body shuddering as the jellyfish began to milk him for all it could.

Time seemed meaningless as all the tanuki could feel was the rise and fall of every orgasm the jellyfish inflicted on him. Eventually this larger version began to pump something through its hollow tentacles that were stuffed down Manny's cock, ass, and mouth. It started to fill the raccoon dog with its larva. White lumps started to push past his stretched holes and deep inside his warm body. A few hours would pass before Blue's reboot of the environmental systems finally caught up to the maintenance access tunnel. The alien jellyfish dissolved, and Manny laid there for a long while before he could stand up.

“Manny! Please respond!" said a buzzing voice

“Blue, I'm here," Manny groaned.

“I'm relieved to hear that. The scanners were disabled while I override the climate controls. When I couldn't reach you on the comms, I figured something must have happened."

“Yeah, something did. No time to explain, where are the Sullivani Sisters?!"

“Don't worry about them. I have them locked in an elevator with the gravity shut off. I've taken the liberty of reaching out to the commander and reporting the incident. I'll update him that you're no longer missing."

“Thanks Blue, I'll return to the ship in a moment. I just need to…lose some weight real quick," Manny said blushing a bit. His belly and balls were swollen with the jellyfish larva. He'd have to try to push out as much as he could before he could fit through the access latch. He could feel his pucker was already loose when he stood up. Gravity started dropping the firm gel spheres out one by one, all covered in a blue tinted slime. Manny couldn't help but moan as the round bumps popped one after another over his tender prostate.

His cock was hard again, some of the chemicals suppressed any discomfort as he felt his orgasm build, pushing the jellyfish spawn out from his nuts. He came, blue stained cum spurted violently before being plugged by a white lump. The next spurt popped the sphere out and then another, and another. Manny emptied as many of the jellyfish larva as he could before dragging his tattered and blue stained self out and to the transport pad. He made his way to his ship and had just enough energy to lay on the med bay table. “Blue, extract the remaining foreign bodies. I think I'm ready to…" and Manny passed out.

A few days after the incident. The Pearl was opened for business once more. Commander sent a cleanup crew to scrub the place. Manny sat in his lab, studying some samples when Blue chirped over the comms. “Manny, Spotter's calling,"

“Patch him into my lab," said the tanuki. His screen blinked on and there was the leopard.

“Manny, I see you've recovered," said the leopard.

“Yeah, surprisingly these things were designed to be cleaned up easily. Now let's cut to something that's been bothering me. Why didn't you tell me this was related to the Elysian incident?" asked the tanuki.

The commander looked uncomfortable for a moment before he cleared his voice. “I didn't know for sure, Manny. I swear. The higher ups asked for you and I thought it was just because you had a vacation already planned."

“The Sullivani sisters were the ones running the business of pushing out the sex toys that lizard gave me. Those things are a modified version of one of the specimens I studied on Elysian. These things are supposed to be extinct and yet I just got off a moon full of them. How serious are they taking this?"

“Very seriously, I assure you. But as you know, we can't talk about this. The public can't overhear any mention of this so all we've done is shut down their business as a Ponzi scheme."

“Spotter, this means someone else is alive. Someone else made it out of the sector other than me and they took samples with them,"

“Manny, we can't talk anymore about this. If we get anymore leads, rest assured you will be informed. You're right, someone else must have made it out, and that means this whole quadrant could be at risk."

“I can't let that happen. I won't," Manny said. “Till then, I'm going to enjoy my vacation."

“I wish you the best, Manny. By the way, your payment has been sent, also the owners of the Pearl wanted me to extend their gratitude for getting rid of this problem. Your current and all future stays here will be free for life."

“Thanks Spotter, I think I'm gonna start relaxing right now," Manny said as he walked over to a stasis jar.

“Thanks again, Spotter out," said the leopard before the screen turned itself off.

Manny pulled the ball out from the jar and rolled it around in his palm. He grinned as he walked into his shower and turned on the warm water. He set a timer to switch to cold water after a few hours and watched the white ball start to turn blue in the water. “At least I've got a new toy for my troubles," said the tanuki as he reached to shut the door to the shower.

“Slut," said blue as the doors clicked shut. If Blue had eyes, it'd be rolling them at Manny.