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NATURE CALLS: JOHN'S MOTIVATION

Motivation. A word in the English language that derives it's essence from the everyday physical phenomenon known as motion. The meaning itself implies that someone or something will be set in motion, by influence of thought or outside forces. Sometimes both. It is most often seen manifesting in discussions concerning actions taken by people under the strong influence of their own emotions. In this chapter of John's continued story, we will bare witness with him the power of Nature, in it's unshackled form, as a strong motivator of people's actions.

The only sounds echoing inside the closed sleeping chamber were that of a man moaning loudly and another grunting aggressively, while additional familiar sounds of wet flesh sliding and slapping filled the gaps with their own presence. The air was heavy with arousal inducing infusion. Morning sun filtered into the chamber through semi clear red colored plant tissue panels, that resembled wide oval flower petals in shape. The chamber itself was round and just big enough to hold four big burly men comfortably. The floor, which was solid and made of wood, was bright beige and only measured about eight feet across. The plant tissue walls curved out from the floor and then curved back in at the top, connecting with a very thick stem. There were many tendrils descending from the stem. Some were retracting back up inside the stem itself and some were still attached to the three men inside the sleeping chamber. The walls and floor were thoroughly coated with syrup, that was slowly sliding down and into tiny receiving holes along the circular edge of the floor. The red lighting level inside was subdued, making two of the very dark and burly men look like they were as dark as a moonless night sky. Both of them were hanging in midair and kept suspended with various tendrils wrapped around their arms and legs. Aside from having a belly, both of them were built just as solid as a packer. Like all of the resident men of the No Tech Swamp, they also had thick full beards. Their hair was quite short and excessively curly, like the people that once lived in their ancient homeland of the Congo. The third one had brown curly hair on his head and at his crotch, with a small treasure trail running a little up his belly. He was also clean shaven and had a rather two tone skin complexion, indicative of those living in Acolyte farming communities. Clearly defined tan lines marked the halfway point of his biceps and thighs, leaving the skin on the rest of his limbs to be decently tanned. Aside from the round gurgling belly, his overall build was that of a fit man, that was very active in outdoor physical activities. His main interest demonstrated in the form of camouflage style clothing and boots laying on the floor, alongside a heavy duty crossbow. Thus brings us to why this man is now here and impaled on the cock of a burly man, while being filled with the same syrup that was on the floor and walls.

There was signs of his previous multiple normal orgasms, tracing white/pink wispy swirls within the syrup pooling on the floor below. All that was coming out of his cock now was a continuous trickle of the same syrup as on the walls, being steadily pumped into his gut by the one grunting aggressively and tweaking his own very large nipples. His belly was also round and being filled by a tendril lodged in his ass. The one doing the grunting didn't care to see what was happening and was content to keeping his eyes closed. The other darker man was nearby and simply watched, while also enjoying the presence of a tendril lodged inside his ass and filling his own bulging round belly. He rubbed it with satisfaction and occasionally chuckled, while using his other hand to slowly masturbate himself just enough to keep the syrup running out of his cock and keep the internal filled capacity restricted to just his gut. The tendrils lodged in the ass of both darker men were holding on via three flexible triangular sections, that each sealed themselves against the skin. It was like wearing underwear with no front, for the one being pleasured and filled by these specific tendrils. All three were slowly recovering and enjoying the after glow of a very intense breeding and filling session, that previously was forcing syrup to come out the paler man's mouth as well. He was finally becoming coherent again and began rubbing a round belly, that gurgled with what was previously being pumped completely through his body. He had trouble forming words and just floated and moaned.

The one filling him was the younger of the two darker siblings and grunted each time with vigor, when his throbbing cock wound trigger the prostate of the paler one and make the man's ass convulse once more around his fuck stick. His name was Adongo and emerged from their shared mother after his twin brother Atsu. Both had lived a very long time and were the elders of the gorilla tribe that lived in this swamp. Their age began manifesting, as the lighting inside their shared sleeping chamber became brighter and the gray in their body hair became accented. Both had an otherwise boring night patrol, until they came across someone hiding in the dense morning fog, that always manifested as the sky began getting brighter. The hidden person turned out to be the one Adongo was currently filling. He was caught illegally hunting boar in the swamp and thus was apprehended. Like all men who live outside the swamp, he knew the risk of coming here uninvited and to actually do harm. Such men became special guests of their special place and became fuck toys as a bonus.

Atsu and Adongo then heard a familiar deep hooting sound outside their sleeping chamber. The paler man, who they later found out to be named Frank, moaned again and opened his eyes.

“What is all the noise about?" Frank asked, before opening his eyes and looking around.

“Easy there. I'll go see what is happening. Your only concern is here." Atsu assured.

He then stretched and reached out to one of the wall panels and gave it a single stroke with his finger. The vines began lowering all three men to the floor. Adongo let out an exasperated sigh, before extracting his cock from Frank and then helped the bloated moaning man find solid footing on the floor. He also promptly caps Frank's ass with a butt plug. The tendrils finally let go of everyone and began retreating back into the stem above, as a wet seal breaking sound is heard and the individual wall sections begin slowly pulling away from each other. Normal colored sunlight begins flooding inside and the sounds of singing birds, along with the hooting begins to pour in as well. Frank and Adongo remain where they are, as Atsu walks out into the morning light. The hooting then abruptly stops, just as the eyes on all three fully adjust. Both twins look out past the rubber tree branches and see a familiar floating square platform, in the open air pathway cutting through their part of the swamp.

“We have packer visitors." Adongo observes.

“They also have guests and..." Atsu squints his eyes “...they look to be... coated."

Both twins look at each other and grin and then hear Frank.

“Pa-... Who?" Frank then belches.

“Not your concern at the moment. You will be going to The Atrium for now and then we will come for you later." Atsu instructs the man, as Adongo escorts the semi coherent man towards the brother. The sleeping area closes back up and takes on the appearance of a huge red glass globe for a Tiffany lamp. Except this globe is twelve feet wide.

The surrounding living space is completely open to the rubber tree branches beyond, that support the thirty six foot wide wooden platform they are currently standing on. The two brothers then lead Frank the opposite direction of where Atsu was looking out, towards a short connecting eight foot wide square platform. Just beyond it is a single brown triangular wall panel, measuring twelve feet at it's bottom widest point, kept clear of the moss covering it's other connecting companions. There were barely noticeable hand prints, flanking the sides of a faint vertical line that cut the panel in half. Both brothers reach forward and put their hands over them, which briefly flicker. They wait a moment and the line splits the wall cleanly, as the two panels slide out of the way. Waiting on the other side was a nine foot tall naked black gorilla, displaying a semi hard cock as thick as a man's arm.

“So. Who has earned a stay at The Atrium?" The gorilla with the shiny black fur asks.

“He says his name is Frank." Atsu starts.

“We found him “visiting" the swamp with this." Adongo finishes and holds up the crossbow.

“Well, aren't we ambitious." The gorilla taunts and levels his face with Frank's.

The man's eyes then get very big and the gorilla lets a smirk appear on his face.

“Wait... Your... A Gorilla." Frank observes and then gets a nervous grin on his face.

“Hello. Frank. I'm Tau and you are my guest for the day."

“We made sure he was properly prepared, before handing him over to you Tau." Atsu assures.

The shiny black gorilla acquires a wicked grin on his face, then raises back up and looks down upon Frank. He then grabs his cock and gives it a quick squeeze. The man's jaw drops open as he watches it grow to a length of twelve inches and then begin to rise up, as it got hard and began to drip syrup. Tau folded his arms and was delighted that his presence intimidated the man enough to make his syrup stimulated cock actually soften and drop a little. Tau extends his hand towards Adongo and spreads the fingers wide open. The elder gorilla chuckles and places the crossbow in the hand. Frank gains more coherence and watches as Tau gently closes his hand around it, then puts the hand behind his back. A loud snap and crackle is heard. Frank and the twins see broken pieces and a few metal parts fall behind the towering primate's legs. The ends of the severed drawstring drapes itself over the broken weapon. A couple tears break free from Frank's eyes and trickles down his cheeks.

“The weapon no longer serves you. Your purpose for coming here gone. We will give you a new purpose and you will leave here a better man, with a practical weapon." Tau assures the crying man.

The crying then stops and Frank risks looking up directly into the gorilla's eyes.

“You... You won't... harm me?." The man asks in between sniffles.

“No. That is not our way. We do not destroy lives for personal motivations."

“So what is going to happen to me in there?" Frank asks and looks around the gorilla.

“What happens in The Atrium is actually entirely up to you. You won't be harmed. But you will learn some much needed life lessons about what it means to be a real man."

Frank wipes his face with a forearm and nods, realizing he likely could be in a worse place right now. Tau then extends his other hand towards Frank and opens it.

“Come. Your learning starts now." The black shiny gorilla invites.

Frank reluctantly takes the huge hand and allows himself to be led through the open door and carefully steps over the broken crossbow pieces, eyeing them with a look of utter disbelief. Tau notices him looking at the broken weapon.

“That will find a new use. We do not waste resources here." Tau assures.

The man then looks back up at the other two that brought him here, as he walks further beyond the threshold of the open door with the gorilla. They simply looked back and smiled, as the two panels of the door began sliding closed again.

“To the visiting packers brother?" Adongo asks Atsu.

“Yes. Let's see who they brought with them this time." Came the response.

Both turned away from the door and proceeded towards a suspension bridge no wider than eight feet, that connected to a identical platform in another nearby rubber tree. It was unoccupied, as were the next few they walked through. The further they walked along the massive curving wall of moss covered triangles, the closer they got to the sound of a waterfall. Then they finally arrived near the waterfall itself, that was flowing out of a twenty four foot wide hexagonal opening in the massive curving wall. The next platform they stepped onto was also hexagonal in shape and had no rubber tree supporting it. It had the same dimensions as the opening in the wall and anchored in place, by being firmly attached to that second panel. It's vertical place was maintained by combination safety rails and suspension vines from branches above, that appeared to be growing out of the massive curving wall. They had the distinct look like they were part of a banyan tree. Possibly from beyond the wall.

Atsu and Adongo stood and waited patiently as the huge shimmering square floating platform began closing the distance to their spot. They changed their form during the wait and expanded into twelve foot tall gray gorillas. Once it softly made contact with the platform they were standing on, they immediately greeted Harsha and Kiran with warm hugs. They stepped onto the platform and greeted the same way by the other five packers. Everyone was being careful not to step on the sleeping men with the round gurgling bellies, during the quiet social exchange. Everyone chuckled at the mild Velcro sound being made, as feet raised off the platform. Atsu walked up to one of the corner organic columns and let his syrup trigger the feeder inside. It extended and connected with his cock.

The platform then began slowly descending and hovered close to the waterfall on its way down. Each packer took turns of walking to the edge, to fill their trunks with the water and began the process of washing away the syrup residue on everyone. The gentle spraying of the water and the sound of the waterfall, effectively eased the men awake again. Pleased with the results, the packers then reverted to human form and set down next to their sex companions. The twin gorillas then did the same, after Atsu gave the floating platform a bit more syrup and instructions. John slowly opened his eyes and raised up into a spread legged sitting position, cradling his round belly.

“Where are we now?" He asked groggily and blinking in the waterfall mist.

He then noticed two new people onboard the platform, that were darker than the two burly Hindi men sitting next to him.

“John. These two wonderful men are Atsu and Adongo. They are twin brothers and elders of the gorillas living here." Harsha introduced, as the twin brothers nodded with mention of their names.

The platform then began moving away from the waterfall and floated mere inches over the rippling active river flowing away from it.

“Greetings John." Atsu started.

“Welcome to..." Adongo continued.

“...The Kingdom!" Both finished loudly and with arms raised to the air.

Loud deep hooting erupted above the platform, from the nearby rubber trees. John looked up and his jaw dropped. He had never seen so many black furred creatures in one location in all his life. There had to be at least twenty gorillas up in the trees. Some were hanging from branches and swinging. Others were standing and beating their chests with one fist, while thrusting the other into the air. A couple nearby were hanging upside down and thrusting both fists past their heads. He noticed there was a very extensive network of suspension bridges connecting all the trees flanking the river bank. Some of the bridges even spanned across the river itself. So this is what Jane felt like, when meeting Tarzan's family for the first time. John then looked back down at the twins and noticed something vaguely familiar about them. Their hair was gray everywhere. Now that he thought about it. The two darker men he saw earlier this morning, on the jog to the watercraft, also had gray hair. Atsu caught the quizzical expression that appeared on John's face, then smiled and shook his finger.

“I believe we met earlier today... if only in passing."

“Were you two the one's I saw with the other man at the picnic table?" John asked them.

“That was most definitely us." Adongo answered.

“I take it your guest is still here then?"

“You assume correctly." Both twins answer in unison and grin.

“Will I be seeing him again?"

“Most likely. He is being assessed by Tau for now." Atsu answers.

“Assessed? What? He will eventually be put to work here or something?"

“Yes." Came the unified answer.

“They frequently do that." Harsha whispers into John's ear.

The platform then came to a stop and lightly bumped a wooden boat dock, that matched it in size and shape. Everyone started getting up and began departing the platform. John and his four escorts were at the front. He looked back right when the group was clear of the boat dock, to see the floating platform swiftly rise and then depart into the air all by itself. The gorilla twins announced and pointed towards pitcher plants sitting at the base of vertical banyan tree roots, That lined the half circle three sixty foot wide clearing. Directly ahead was a path that led into the jungle brush. The six men with the gurgling bellies politely excused themselves and picked a plant. Just as the last one sealed up around them, a loud splash erupted from the nearby waterfall. Everyone turned their heads and watched as a figure twice the size of a fully transformed elder emerged through the wall of water. Soon more splashing was heard, as five more identical walking forms soon emerged behind it. All six of them slowly made their way towards the boat dock. The group simply waited near the pitcher plants.

At a distance, the giant things appeared to be twenty four foot tall men, sporting tight form fitting off white armored suits. Their walk was slow and steady, as they made their way through the knee deep water. They came to a full stop by the boat dock, assembling into a perfect line and facing motionless towards the group. Closer inspection shows that the off white armor of the suits is actually individual sections that fit together and mimic the exact form and shape of exposed top layer muscles of the body. A body with rather robust muscle structure, to handle a lot of weight and lifting. The dividing seams in between them pulses and ripples with a purple light. The heads and necks were the only visible parts that differed from the human template. The necks maintained the armor-with-seams look, while at the same time took on more robust structure at the back and curved forward a bit, before connecting with a horse head. The armor-with-seams look stopped here. Although the entire head matched the proportions and contours from a horse, there were no visible highlighted seams. The color in the seams then changed to blue and the figures leaned forward over the dry land, bringing their knees forward onto the ground and their hands soon followed, shifting the torso position to horizontal. They then became motionless again and waited with the patience of a statue.

This new position afforded closer visual inspection of the head by the observer. The eyes had absolutely no pupils and looked like solid polished glass ovals set in the sockets. The nostrils looked normal enough and had a faint blue glow coming from inside them. There was no definable location for a mouth and the mane on top was kept short, with its individual hairs standing straight up. The mane had a rather hypnotic ripple effect roaming across it, matching the color in the seams. The closer proximity also yielded a curiosity in the body structure. The crotch area was devoid of genitals of either type. It sported a more developed lower delta muscle structure appearance, giving it the look like underwear with a front bulge. The sound of several footsteps and some moaning was heard further up the path beyond the group, just before a line of men manifested from the jungle brush.

John had just emerged from a pitcher plant and found himself a little torn at what he saw. He was not sure if he should run over to the giant horse headed things on their hands and knees, then gush over them like some giddy tech nerd... or stare and chuckle at the interesting display of men, walking out from the trees and being led by a familiar looking gray haired gator man. It was Ben. The men following him were all fairly young and in good shape, as well as all six of them sporting round bellies and moaning occasionally, while holding them. Sam was bringing up the rear. The six men had a familiar far away look in their eyes and had to be occasionally reminded by Sam to follow Ben. Both gator men just nodded John's way and grinned, as they passed on by and led the six men on up to the first giant horseman machine, resting on it's hands and knees right by the boat dock.

“Everyone in single file. Nice and easy." Ben announced, as Sam helped the men line up next to each other. “We were going let you go today and then leave with the incentive that you should know better than to make trouble in the No Tech Farm Valley."

Everyone that had rode the floating platform gathered behind the row of guys now and politely snickered very softly, as Ben made a spectacle of himself and humiliated the men with mere words.

“But you were not content with just being a typical college boy or frat boy nuisance. Oh no. For what ever reason you proceeded to actually wreck and destroy property. Disrupt the peaceful happy occasion that is the yearly Harvest Festival of the Kansas district." ...and here we go Ben.

John looked up and saw they were gaining an audience with the other gorillas of The Kingdom.

“As if that wasn't enough. You inconsiderate-waste-of-skin-spineless-brats, who likely never had a proper dad to intervene and give you proper structure in your lives, decided that one place just wasn't enough!" That line echoed through the clearing. Only gurgling bellies were heard briefly.

“Please..." One of the men dared to start and got a hard stare from Ben. He went silent.

Ben sighed heavily with exasperation. Then proceeded to get in each man's face.

“The Kingdom received word today that you have been on something of a road trip and causing the exact same precious-darling-get-your-rocks-off-in-the-screaming-cheerleader's-pussy-as-fast-as-you-can chaos you boys seem to frequently delight in!" Yeah. That echo silenced everything. Birds too.

Ben then composed himself and went back to just standing in front of the men.

“One bit of news got my attention especially and thus why you are here right now."

Sam walked up next to Ben and finished for him.

“One of your chaos inducing visits actually resulted in a bad fire that nearly destroyed the whole village. A meeting was held. Even the Mayor of Kansas City attended via Nexus link. Yeah, you have done enough damage to even get his attention. Some other important people from all over the district also attended via Nexus link. Until you adequately assist us with the rebuilding of the burnt village AND repaired major damage done elsewhere, you have officially been remanded to the custody of The Kingdom and it's work camp program."

Sam nudged his head and was soon joined at his side by the elder gorilla twins. Deep hooting briefly erupted overhead, as the two took their place in front of the six men, then jointly raised their hands into the air and looked up to their captive audience. The hooting stopped. Both of them lowered their hands back down and looked at each of the six men right in the eyes with a hard stare.

“Good evening gentlemen." Atsu and Adongo spoke deep and loud, then took turns.

“By the legal authority of the Kansas district, you have been found guilty of these charges."

“Willful Disruption of Organized Public Events!"

HOOT

“Vandalism and Destruction of Property!"

HOOT

“Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Pharmaceuticals!"

HOOT

“Wreckless Endangerment of Lives!"

HOOT

“You have been presented with the reality and consequences of your irresponsible action!"

The hooting then decreased to a low volume and became a chant that pulsed like a heart beat, as each of the six men were individually escorted into place under each horseman machine and right in front of the crotch area. Each man was given final words from the twins, as the pulsing color in the seams changed from blue to green.

“You will remain our property until all damage caused by your disruptive action has been mended and you yourselves have been successfully rehabilitated. Serve us well. Be rewarded."

The bulging lower delta of the crotch area then split open and peeled away to the sides. The exposed dark blue lubricated interior dripped with syrup. The familiar scent of infused air hovered in the air, stimulating every cock nearby to throb hard and trickle syrup, as a familiar normal size equine phallus descended from the interior. Each man was turned around and walked backwards towards the hanging phallus, as familiar gripping type tendrils descended and wrapped around their torso. A larger tendril, with a familiar bulging bud then descended and the moaning man's head was tilted up to meet it. The bud split open and extended it's center phallic appendage, along with the breathing tendrils. Blue flower like petals extended outward. Once the smaller tendrils made contact, the rest of it pushed forward and sealed itself against the man's face. The gripping tendrils began lifting the man up off his feet and pull him up into the dark blue lubricated interior. Ben made sure to remove the butt plug and Sam helped to cradle the bulging belly, as the man was guided onto the throbbing equine phallus. Two very fat tendrils descended and were guided over the arms. Both gator men watched as the upper half of the man was lifted higher and disappeared into the interior. Two more fat tendrils appeared from behind him and were guided over his legs, as one final fat tendril appeared from beyond where his upper half disappeared. It displayed a blunt end that split open into three familiar type triangular sections and extended a sounding tendril seeking a source. It was guided towards the man's cock and the thin organic sounder carefully sunk inside, as the rest of the tendril was maneuvered into place and took the man's entire crotch inside its lubricated cavity. The man moaned loudly from inside, as the phallus began slowly sinking deeper inside and the rest of him was pulled up into the dark interior.

Syrup began dripping more readily and flowed over his body, as two unseen thick fleshy organic walls then closed after him. The outside armor then reversed it's peeling motion and sealed back into place. Both gator men stood and waited for the confirmation that everything was fine inside the passenger cavity. The glow within the seams then turned yellow. They stepped away as the organic horse man machine animated and began rising back up onto it's feet, into it's original standing position in the knee deep running river.

HOOT. Then the hooting went back to the chant, each time a man was successfully attached and the horse man machine responded positively to his presence. Atsu and Adongo then transformed into their twelve foot tall gorilla forms and looked up into the trees, while taking turns announcing again.

“Today brings a close to the old life that made them destructive men!"

HOOT

“Today brings to these men a chance to give back what they took away from people!"

HOOT

“Today brings us hope that we can help them become better men!"

HOOT

“Today brings them a beginning to a new life.!"

HOOT

“A better life!" Both exclaim and raise a joined fist into the air. They are answered with the collective sound of many fists pounding chests. The hooting chant resumed once more, as the yellow glow and pulse of all six horse men changed to orange and their armor panels then changed color to a compatible green color to blend with the surroundings. Harsha and Kiran, along with the other five packers, began giving everyone hugs. They waved their trunks, as they departed for the boat dock and a swiftly approaching floating platform from the sky. At first John was puzzled how the platform even knew to come here and then saw the tusks bands had a familiar rainbow shimmer dance across them briefly. Neat. Harsha then pointed at John and had him approach the platform. Jack and Brian just shrugged when being looked at with a questioning gaze. He then walked over to Harsha.

“There is someone inside that could use a friend again young John. Atsu and Adongo told me about him, while you were inside the pitcher plant and we watched the machines approach us. We are confident you can help him find a little direction in his life and real purpose."

“Inside where?" John asked.

“Inside a place the men here call The Atrium. It is behind you and beyond the trees."

“I'm not sure..." John started.

“So much of you flowed into me and through me, on our way here. I know you well enough now to be confident that this is something you can do. I believe in you young John."

The packer gently took both of John's hands and then bowed to press his curled trunk into the back of them, before lowering the hands and stepping back a little. Harsha then put his hands together flat and bowed towards John, before turning and joining his brothers on the platform. The other six packers then reverted to human form and proceed to sit on the platform in a meditative lotus position. The moment they closed their eyes, John heard a thrum come directly from his side. The moment he turned his head, the nearest horseman machine animated and turned towards him. The other five mirrored the movement and stopped when it did. He couldn't help but stare and be impressed, while also wondering about what was happening inside them with the human cargo. A familiar organic sound brought his attention back to Harsha, as a fleshy tendril had just attached to his cock. The packer closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. The tendril began feeding, as he simply bobbed his head towards John. The platform slowly rose up and positioned itself vertically at the same height as the hips of the first horseman machine, then floated over to the front of it, while maintaining a safe distance of about twelve feet. It then rotated and faced away from the machine, towards the flowing direction of the river. Just as the platform began to slowly move forward, the thrumming in the horseman machines increased slightly and they fell into perfect walking formation behind it, matching it's pace.

Once the line of machines had cleared the boat dock John was standing on, their walking pace increased and they marched briskly behind the departing packers. The hooting overhead had raised to a volume he could feel in his chest and matched the marching pace of the machines. John remained in place motionless and kept watching until nothing could be seen but the river and jungle itself. Tears began forming and running down his cheeks, as a mix of various emotions flowed through his mind. Some flowed with each other and some conflicted with each other. Two hands gently descended on his shoulders, one from Jack and one from Brian, before slowly rubbing them. He simply bowed his head and sobbed, as the two gator men pulled him into a joint hug and held him. The hooting overhead fades and then stops, as the captive audience breaks up and everyone disappears into the tree canopy.

“A guest awaits our arrival." Atsu announces.

The twins then assume a classic feet-and-knuckles posture in their massive form, before walking towards where Ben and Sam were waiting and quietly chatting with each other on the path in front of the jungle tree line. The birds overhead finally resumed their singing, to break the silence. Brian and Jack escorted John towards the other four, while staying at his side and giving words of comfort.

The walk along the path was fairly uneventful. John was treated to a brief auditory history of The Kingdom and the great effort to cultivate it into the modified African jungle it is today. Changes to the standard jungle template were pointed out and described. He was in much better spirits and comfortably walking on his own in between the twin gorillas, as they began going over the details of The Kingdom. Brian and Jack hung back with Ben and Sam, while quietly prattling among themselves.

“The Kingdom as a whole was structured to be a penal colony, that exists in tandem with local authorities. Although it was the first one created, it is not the only one. Many other ones exist and are managed by men like us." Atsu starts.

“It is also exists as a more “attentive" ecosystem as a whole. Many of the exotic plant types you have encountered elsewhere in the swamp are mild compared to the ones that can be found off the many paths that weave through the jungle itself." Adongo added.

“We strongly advise only experienced residents venture through the jungle without an escort by one of us. The encounters here can be quite unpredictable. This is an intentional cultivated feature and proves to be quite effective for dealing with more determined trespassers." Atsu finishes.

“Don't forget the accidental explorers as well Atsu." Ben chimes in from behind John.

“Is there really a difference?" John asks, after looking back at him briefly.

“The difference is in how they conduct themselves and thus their obvious intent. If they manage to make it past the huge reed field and avoid us or The Garden, then they are either very fortunate accidental visitors or someone that has serious intent to make trouble here in The Kingdom itself. We are always watching from above and very good at assessing the individual unplanned visitor situations. Body language can say a lot about a person's attitude and intent for coming here, when they are exposed to the stress of dealing with exotic situations." Adongo answers.

“Thanks to Jack and the other gators, I'm beginning to understand the situation with the trespassers especially. But considering the reputation this whole region has with people on the outside, why would any normal person be ignorant enough to even risk exploring The Kingdom itself?"

“Maybe that is a question we can ask him." Jack suggests, pointing a finger ahead past John's face and right at a man, that just appeared out of the jungle brush directly ahead of them on the path.

Everyone stops and just looks right back at the slim built clean shaven pale bald man, who himself was looking right at them and seemed to be unable to move. Additionally, he had all the signs of someone who didn't belong there and would be more comfortable in a city office, with his sweat soaked Khaki shorts and green polo shirt. Although he did have a fisherman's hat on, there was no sweat soaked hair snaking down from under it. The man also appeared to be a little burdened with the backpack strapped to him. At least he wore sensible tan outdoor hiking boots... and matching thick socks up to his knees. Atsu and Adongo remained still as statues and said nothing.

“Let us handle this guys. Everyone stay put." Jack suggests and nudges John to follow him.

Jack and John slowly approach beyond Atsu and Adongo. The man himself moves and takes one step backwards. He looked quite nervous and kept glancing between the giant gorillas and Jack.

“Easy there Luke. It's me. Jack. I realize how weird this situation looks, but I can assure you no one here will harm you." The man takes another step back. Jack and John then stop approaching.

“Those. Those... are gorillas. B-b-b-big gorillas." Luke finally said.

“Not much gets past that inquisitive mind of yours." Jack complements and chuckles.

“You..." Luke swallows hard. “...have some explaining... to do... John."

“Well, hello to you too Luke. What brings you this far into the No Tech Zone?"

“He has been following you guys and manged to keep himself hidden all this time. Sam and I have been tracking someone off and on, ever since you and John got here. He always managed to stay one step ahead of us. He has left no signs of doing any damage or bothering anyone." Ben answered.

Jack glanced back and gave both Ben and Sam an annoyed look.

“Tho-those two... in back. The-... are persistent." Luke points right at them with a shaky finger.

“We do our job, as Kingdom appointed security for the swamp. We needed to know if you were a threat or if you were just another accidental explorer." Ben informed Luke.

Jack and John could hear Atsu and Adongo sigh with relief. Good. The situation is not hostile.

“So, Luke. Why are you following John and me?" Jack asks.

Luke relaxes a little and takes a drink of water from his hiking canteen. Everyone waits patiently for his response, including three more gorillas observing silently from overhead. One of them spots something moving within the nearby brush, and tosses a twig at Sam. The gator man notices and looks up and watches the gorilla pantomime laughing and then runs a hand down the back of his neck. Hyena. Both of them then smirk at each other and nod. The moment Luke opens his mouth and begins prattling on about his stalker story, Sam whispers the immediate situation update in Ben's ear. He then swiftly exploits another opportunity, as Luke pauses and wipes sweat from his head with a rag, by repeating the update in Jack's ear. John hears it and rolls his eyes.

“There are hyenas in The Kingdom?" He asks Sam quietly over his shoulder.

“Been here for as long as the swamp has existed." Sam answered.

“So what do we do?"

“Watch." Came the joint response from Atsu and Adongo, masked with a short inhale.

Luke pauses and looks at the giant gorillas suspiciously, then puts his hat back on and pockets the rag in his shorts.

“...that is the whole story why I am here now. The observations I reported back has changed some things. The USGS has classified Jack as a lost asset and thus employment will be terminated immediately. Jack is to report back to his new office and be reassigned to logistics work there, while a new and more dedicated field ag-... Aaaaaahhh!"

A very large light green hyena, with dark green markings, leaps out of it's hiding place and pounces at Luke faster than anyone could blink. The momentum of the leap knocks them both to the ground. Luke recovers first and runs back into the brush, with the hyena right behind him. The surrounding foliage became quite animated, as a lot of choice words were shouted, along with hyena “laughter" and screams. Atsu and Adongo chuckle deeply and loudly, while remaining still. John went to move towards Luke and was immediately stopped by Jack's arm.

“Do... not... move." Came the warning from Ben, as hands gently settled on his shoulders.

John relaxed and sighed. “Why not?"

“Because the hyenas here don't like to be disturbed." Sam whispered into John's ear.

“So... the hyena is likely one of those animals that got displaced during the Echo Event?"

“One of a few that adapted and now live here in The Kingdom." Ben answered.

“Is Luke in any real danger then?"

“Not really. The evolved hyenas of The Kingdom don't eat meat." Jack assured.

Everyone heard the sound of tearing fabric and then saw a single backpack fly through the air.

“Got it." Adongo announced and raised his massive arm, catching it in mid air. He then handed it down to Jack and both nodded. Brian stepped around John and helped Jack with the process of slowing unpacking the things inside it.

“Looks like the beast cared very little about what was inside and only damaged the straps." Brian observed, while looking things over and setting them down on the ground.

“The hyena cares nothing about human toys. Only the human himself." Atsu observes.

John let his gaze linger beyond Brian and Jack on the animated brush a bit longer, then finally joined in on the unpacking task. Ben and Sam politely excused themselves and were helped up a rubber tree, by one of the three gorillas keeping watch over the developing situation. John briefly glanced up.

“So how long has the airborne escort been with us?" He nudged his head toward the tree.

“The Kingdom has eyes everywhere in the trees. Very little is missed or not seen." Adongo answers, before mirroring his twin's action and sits down.

“So the ones up in the tree likely saw the hyena before us." John guesses with a flat tone.

“Correct." Both answered in unison.

Everyone then pauses, when the commotion finally stops and they briefly hear the sound of rushing air. John is the first to look up from the group inventory task and notices a large white expanding cloud obscuring the area around the location of the moving vegetation. The frantic movement and sounds from the vegetation then slows down and stops. Now what?

Overhead, the three gorillas helped Ben and Sam move quietly into place and get a better view of what was happening to Luke. The location was perfect and allowed them to look directly down over where the expanding white cloud was hovering. All five of them sat in the tree and patiently waited for the cloud to finish expanding. Within a couple minutes, the cloud managed to engulf an equivalent spherical radius of twelve feet and then stopped expanding, as it began to thicken and establish dominant air presence around where Luke and the hyena were likely located. Visibility began dropping rapidly and the group of five took this cue to begin quietly climbing down out of the tree. The further down they descended, the more obscured their view of the outside area became. They also briefly noted that the smell of the air was swiftly loosing depth and texture, as the scent of maple began dominating the space around them. They had suspicions and then got confirmation from their own cocks, which were getting hard rapidly and began dripping.

“Uhm, Jack. What are they doing?" John asked. “I thought the hyena didn't like being disturbed. It sure looks like Ben and Sam are about to do exactly that."

Brian and Jack briefly stopped what they were doing and looked towards the are of the cloud.

“Whoa. That cloud got pretty large and dense fast. Those two are taking a big chance. But if they are careful enough, their presence should remain concealed. If they happen to screw up and get discovered, they will just have to do deal with the hyena the best way they can." Brian observed and chuckled. “Even if they remain hidden from the hyena. There is still the cloud itself and judging from it's growing density, it will be enough."

“What threat does the clou-...?" John gets interrupted.

His nose immediately reacts to a familiar maple scent and feels his own cock get hard as quickly as when he was surrounded by the infused air in the white zone near the seed pool. This didn't make sense. Shouldn't the intense smell be inside the cloud and not outside? He glanced down to confirm he was not the only one affected and saw that both Brian and Jack's cocks were also hard and began dripping. The scent in the air was intensifying rapidly. The cloud should be surrounding them by now. This didn't make sense. He then heard two very large cocks wetly slapping bellies, beyond Brian and Jack. Atsu and Adongo were just setting there motionless and doing nothing. He then noticed Jack set the backpack on the ground and Brian do the same with what was in his hands, before both of them drew close to John and jointly hugged him.

“Get ready buddy. This will get interesting." Jack whispered into his ear.

At the final word, the cloud itself rapidly grew super dense and took on the appearance of a huge twenty four foot wide cotton ball, partially sunken into the ground. John could swear he heard fast movement in the brush around him. He then heard distinctive long sharp whoops all around him. More hyenas. A lot more. Then the “laughter" came from the same vague locations. His eyes spotted more cotton balls manifest in the distant brush and noticed they were moving. He focused on one moving the closest to his general area and recognized one of the whoops come from right inside it. The hyenas were creating these things? How? He then noticed each of the moving cotton balls burst and the whiteness rapidly expand outwards, engulfing the surrounding area in a familiar infused white fog. The lighting started to rapidly drop, triggering Brian and Jack's eyes to glow amber as they stepped away a bit and began looking around. He spotted faint signs of more pairs of glowing green eyes floating in the distance beyond the gorilla twins. They both looked back at him for a visual check and then turned their heads back forward, displaying eyes that glowed red. He panned his head around and saw even more pairs of green eyes. Now he was getting a bit nervous. The two gator men raised a finger to their mouths to be quiet, just as the fog finished its expansion and then began to grow much thicker than what he experienced back at the white zone. The air infusion grew more intense as well. He shook his head a little and was finding it very difficult to think coherently. He was actually beginning to experience the same mental state as when he was inside the plant pod and he had yet to be milked. His cock now throbbed quite hard and had a steady trickle of syrup coming out of it. His vision was loosing focus, just as he noticed the fog grow even thicker and soon saw nothing but the fog around him. He then heard a whoop very very close to him and then felt a cold nose brush his thigh. He struggled to hold onto his coherent thinking and then felt puffs of air make contact with his ass. That was all it took.

The impulse to bend over and offer his ass to whoever was attached to that nose, popped into his head and he complied. He reached forward for something to brace his hands against and made contact with fur. It felt so soft and wonderful. He had no idea what he was touching and let himself bend completely forward until his whole chest was resting on it, with his head resting sideways on top of what was obviously a narrow mane running down it's back. He smiled to himself and began slowly petting and running his fingers through the fur. He occasionally puffed out air to move tickling mane hairs out of his face. The puffs on his ass was replaced with a long warm textured appendage, that was lubed and very flexible. It was also very wide. A tongue began stroking upwards across his exposed anal opening and pressed hard into him on each stroke. Eventually it successfully pressed hard enough to go inside him and began probing and licking his depths. The fur presence under his chest shifted and slid to cover his belly. There was something stubby attached, that twitched and then moved to the side, as his throbbing cock made contact with a familiar circular warm pulsing presence. The tongue then retreated and his lower back felt the same fur brush against it, before slowly sliding up it. At first he thought he was about to be mounted like he was some dog, but this did not happen. The sliding continued until his whole back was covered and felt fur make contact with his arms. This he could at least see in the really dense fog with his sideways resting head and recognized a very large foreleg sitting vertical only inches away. It was easily as thick as one of his legs and it had socks. Rational-coherent-thinking-John would have pondered whether or not he should let a hyena, big enough to have only its chest fur make contact with his back, mount him while bent over a normal size hyena. Simple-minded-and-horny-beyond-rational-thought-John pondered how deep the cock would go in him and how great that would feel sliding across his prostate.

His answer came soon enough, when he felt something pointed tap against his cock and balls, then again just below his anal opening, leaving behind evidence that it produced syrup as well. It then came back and found his twitching hole. The leg in front of his face moved a little, as he felt the pressure of the pointed tip slowly open him up. The hyena under him shifted slightly and he felt his cock begin to push in and open them up. The leg moved again and more cock slowly slid inside him. The pointed tip made contact with his prostate and paused. It pulled back a little and then slid forward again. The forward motion did not stop, as more continued to slide inside him with little resistance.

He seen pictures of hyena cock and was familiar with how elegantly smooth they were. They were made to slip inside whoever was on the receiving end, with very little discomfort to associate with the experience. It kept sliding in him, until he felt the back hips glide across his own and the twitching pointed cock head stop roughly under where his stomach was at. The hyena on top then stopped and the one under him shoved back hard, burying his own cock all the way inside them. John found himself without the ability to control himself and then felt the syrup flow out his cock in a steady flowing stream. He then felt his whole body begin to warm up as syrup was now flowing into him and throughout his belly. Past experience had him completely loosing his sense of self and surrendering to being used at this point. This time, he was past that point, the moment he bent over and let that tongue sink inside him. John never felt anything like this before. Words were consistently failing to describe his current mental state. He had this intense feeling of feeling so empty and wanted nothing else but to be filled again. At the same time, he physically couldn't possibly feel more full and needed desperately to be milked empty again. The warmth then spread up his throat and began flowing over his tongue. Being pressed between the bodies gave his belly no room to expand and thus the syrup simply got pushed on through his system and out his mouth. His own brain soon began behaving as if he was thoroughly exhausted and began the process of slowly shutting down his conscious mind.

Rational-coherent-thinking-John would have found this a bit disconcerting.

Simple-minded-and-horny-beyond-rational-thought-John simply didn't care and wanted more.

He then began slowly slipping away and eventually fell asleep.

“John. John? Come on buddy."

“You have to wake up now. Please wake up. It has been a whole day. Why isn't he waking up?"

“We have no way of predicting this level of exposure."

“He will wake up, when his own mind thinks he is ready to wake up."

“Well that is fine thing to say."

“You are not being clear headed about the situation."

“Oh my mind is very clear and pondering how I'm going to explain this to the USGS."

“Surely similar field situations like this have occurred at other No Tech Zones."

“Similar ones actually have. It is simply not talked about."

“And what exactly is similar to being used like a milking cow for giant hyenas?"

“Well, its actually not milk. We have been over this already. They live off of..."

“...syrup. Yes. I know exactly what the stuff is now. Thank you."

“Then I don't understand the reference."

“It's an ancient Earth farming tradition."

“Humans used female cows to mass produce milk for subsistence."

“Isn't the process itself a variation of slavery?"

“Animal cruelty at the least."

“It is by current animal welfare laws and declared illegal centuries ago."

“This is true. My home country was tragically among the last to do this."

“Some might have enjoyed it. I would love to have syrup come out my nips."

“Really? Your making kink fantasy comments at a time like this?"

“It even briefly became a sexual thing, during the transition years."

“Really? Milk in no way should ever be a sexual thing."

“I think it was psychologically related to the breast feeding fetish of heterosexual men."

“Oh yeah. I remember this being discussed on a camping trip years ago."

“Some very interesting experimental kinks were explored in those days kid."

“Unbelievable. I'm about to loose my job and you four are discussing history and fetishes."

“Hey. We all have our way of dealing with things like this."

“Everyone distracts themselves to a certain degree. It's a psychological fact."

John groaned a little and began to respond positively to the banter filtering into his waking conscious mind. He felt a hand gently cradle the top of his head.

“Vitals are looking good. He is finally coming out of the deep sleep."

“These modified Slates will definitely prove useful to The Kingdom."

“Oh good grief. Is he going to be okay or not?"

“Patience. The body sets it's own pace for recovery."

“We don't rush these things, like people outside the swamp proceed to do."

He groaned again and began slowly opening his eyes. The familiar smiling face of Jack was hovering in his vision on the right. Further clarity showed Brian and one of the gorilla twins just beyond him on the left, eyeing a functioning Slate. He tried to focus on the thing and could make out his name in backwards letters. None of the animated statistical graphs were flashing red. Good. John certainly felt well. In fact, it was the best he had felt in a long time. He had a long and very solid rest.

“How do you feel John?" Came the question from Brian, as he glanced up from the Slate.

“I actually feel great. Maybe a little out of it still. I certainly slept well." John answered.

“Good. What is the last thing you remember?"

“I was walking in between Atsu and Adongo, on a path through a jungle. I think."

“Okay. Go on." Brian encouraged and glanced back down at the Slate.

“We were simply walking the path, while I was being told more about The Kingdom itself and then got briefly interrupted by Luke kind of appearing out of nowhere. He looked a little exasperated and flushed too." John chuckles, while looking beyond Brian and spotted the man hovering behind him.

“We can talk about him later. So what happened next?"

John briefly laughed, when recalling the next thing.

“Everyone got to see Luke get pounced by a very large green... hyena?." Luke rolled his eyes.

Everyone chuckled.

“Yes. That really did happen. Go on." Brian encouraged.

“Well as Jack can tell you. Luke was just being... Luke and immediately picked himself up and attempted to run away, into the brush. He can't help it. The man hasn't had much exposure beyond the city and is just now learning about the world outside its limits." John looked at Luke and grinned.

“I'm going to the ledge, to get some fresh air and look at more normal scenery."

Luke through his hands up in the air and did exactly that.

“Didn't I just catch a glimpse of his pale naked body being exposed to the world?"

“The frail little daisy has been adjusting. It has been slow though." Came Chester's voice.

John couldn't see him and figured he was somewhere in the background beyond Jack's head.

“Let's get back on track John." Brian advised.

“Sure." John complied.

“After Luke disappeared from sight, you remember anything different happen after that?"

“Considering what I have already learned and experienced here, nothing all that different. Jack made sure I stayed in place and wait out the funny encounter. All sorts of ideas was going through my head, about how that was going to end. Ben was good enough to help me with eliminating the more gruesome possibilities. What was left certainly made my cock firm up. I then noticed fog begin to appear roughly where the hyena chased Luke into the brush. It did seem odd that it was very localized. Then a familiar maple smell began floating through the air. It was intense too. Then we got quick confirmation that Luke was soon going to have more fuzzy friends to deal with, when we heard more hyenas in the jungle brush. The rest is... very difficult to remember."

“Well try anyway. Even if it is just a tiny fragment." Brian encouraged.

“Well... let's see. Once the other hyenas got closer, the nearby fog expanded and got really thick. The maple scent was also getting very strong and was soon the only thing I could smell. My cock began throbbing very hard and was leaking syrup steadily. I also began to feel a little light headed. Was grateful for you and Jack being there for support. The hug helped a lot."

“Anything happen to you after that?" Brian inquired.

“Hmm. Just that the fog began to get thicker and I think maybe it simply overwhelmed me. Don't remember much of anything else after that. Just feeling very sleepy and then falling asleep. I guess you two did your job and made sure I didn't fall to the ground and hurt myself."

John blushed a little and chuckled.

“Okay. Thanks for the input. How about you simply stay put for now, then get some food and drink in your system. Jack can help you up and over to the dinner table for that."

Brian gave John a pat on the thigh and then shut off the Slate, before getting up and walking out of site with the gorilla twin. John noticed that what he was laying on had a little bounce and felt very comfortable. It also had a very pleasant fragrant mint scent coming from it. Jack helped him upright and gave him a chance to get stable in that position. He panned his head around and found the surroundings familiar. Was he back at the gator village? No. The lighting is all wrong. The air is heavy with the smell of tropical fruit and plants. He could also hear a waterfall in the distance, as well as various birds. There were a lot of people here and all were in human form. One was not familiar. Ben, Sam and Tom were quietly prattling on about something with Craig and Jake. Brian and the gorilla twin were now way over at the opposite side of the social area and discussing something with the other twin and the new gorilla man. Chester was with Luke over by the eating table to the right and looking outward beyond this village. There was no sign of the elder gators. They were likely still engaged with affairs at the Harvest Festival. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer sight of seeing Luke stand next to Chester naked and not be self conscious about his slim body. The man must have had one very interesting experience with the hyenas. His personal outlook permanently changed. John then looked down and noticed his sleeping surface was one giant leaf, with edges that curled downward and a surface as soft as velvet. He then looked to his right beyond Jack and saw an identical leaf sitting vertical. His vision was beginning to get better.

He then moved his head to the left and then around to his back, before turning it the other way just as far. This was not the gator village. His spot is where the sleeping chambers would normally be placed. Instead it was a twenty four foot wide round platform, with no bridge and it connected directly to the main social area. There were three more identical beds sharing it's space. Most of the social area looked the same, except it had a second open balcony area to the left of the prattling group of five. That is where the tropical smells and bird sounds were coming from. He would explore that later. He looked up and saw that area was still the same, with the hanging glow crystals. John was hungry. He carefully and slowly raised himself up onto his feet. Jack was right there with him and helped. Both of them engaged in a long hug and then made their way over to the dinner table. John took a quick glance down through the lift hole, beyond the vertical roots in the middle of the social area, while passing it. Yup, just as far up. There were no familiar smells of fresh Cajun cooking at the table, but the cold served spread was colorful and looked quite appetizing. Several oval tree bark bowls, filled with various salads and fruits lined the middle of the long table. Each set place had a shallow plate/bowl, accompanied by smaller bowls that fit in a hand. No cups? Ah. Of course. Utensils were also seen and looked to be made of very hard pale wood. There also seemed to be a lack of actual chairs. Simple wood stools were in their place at the table. Jack escorted him to the one end of the table and he sat down. While looking to the right out beyond the ledge, he spotted a familiar reed field and distant treeline. This was where he passed through earlier, when being carried by Max. Where Chester and Luke were standing, is where he remembered seeing two gorilla men hooting and thrusting a fist in the air. Jack sat on a stool to his left and gave his resting forearm a tap. John just looked at him and smiled, as Luke took a seat directly on his right and Chester right next to him. Atsu and Adongo sat opposite of each other at the other end, leaving the seat between them empty. The new gorilla man then sat there. Brian took his seat next to Jack and Tom next to him. Ben and Sam sat opposite of each other, with the gorilla twins. Craig and Jake sat in between Sam and Chester. John then noticed a Hindi man, with gold bands on his forearms, appear beyond Jack where the platform lift was previously absent.

The man fancied having a long well groomed beard. Nothing excessive. It simply covered his throat and extended no further. Nothing distinctive about the eyes, as they simply matched his dark skin tone. Maybe a little darker. The man walked right up to where John was sitting and exchanged greetings with Jack and Brian, before they shuffled down one seat towards Ben and he sat down next to John himself. One glance at the Hindi lettering on the gold bands told him it was Harsha.

“How are you young John? I am very pleased to see you awake again. You look well rested."

The man smiled and had beautiful teeth as white as the ivory of the tusks seen earlier.

“I seem to be okay. More hungry than anything." John responded and returned the smile.

Firm wooden tapping was heard at the opposite end of the table and whatever quiet prattling had started, respectfully stopped. The new gorilla man stood.

“Greetings John. My name is Tau. I am pleased to see you are well. On behalf of The Kingdom security force, I bid you welcome. I am the one that found you and the others in the jungle by the way and saw to your safe return from there. My apologies for the unplanned interruption that did occur. The hyenas consistently remind us they are the masters of the jungle."

There was shared emotional sentiment with the final part of the statement and chuckles flowed around the table as Tau set back down. The casual quiet prattling resumed.

“Tau is the head of security for the entire No Tech Zone. But most importantly overseas operation of his own special place I told you about." Harsha speaks softly towards John.

“Ah. The Atrium. Right?" John inquires back.

“Yes. That be the place."

“I remember you telling me about meeting someone there. Has the hyena encounter changed that plan for today?"

“It only delayed things. He will also be joining us soon and serving the drink."

John gave Harsha a curious look. The packer chuckled.

“The man is simply tending to his assigned duties, while working here within The Kingdom."

“Oh. Ooooohhhh. He trespassed here."

“In a way that does not set well with the gorillas. Nothing as harsh as what the six men were put through by the river. No animals or people were harmed. However he did have intent to do harm. The city judiciary committee were informed. He will be staying here for a short while, as per the rules of The Kingdom. He should be arriving soon. The drink is wonderful, by the way."

At those words, the sound of rolling wooden wheels was heard. Harsha turned to look behind him and John followed his line of sight, to a single fit naked man pushing a large wooden four wheel cart. It looked to be utterly ancient and yet very solid. The size of the two forward spoked wheels easily brought them up to a man's waist. The following swivel spoked wheels were no bigger than a man's forearm is long. The thickness of all four wheels was the width of one's own foot. The support frame was a simple wooden open box frame structure, with cross pieces as thick as a man's thigh and vertical pieces that brought the top of it up level with the larger wheels. Set inside the box frame was a large and familiar soft textured square trough. These were always black and served as temporary homes for starter plants. Setting in the trough was a organic looking translucent orange colored globe, surrounded by ferns and had light beige plant like vines crisscrossing it's surface at random angles, anchoring it to the trough it set in. There were four spicket like extensions extending upward out of the ferns in a “S" shape. They were also light beige in color and most likely how the liquid inside the globe was extracted. The liquid itself captured the light in a way that made the globe itself glow orange.

“Beautiful. Is it not." Harsha observed, as the cart was brought to a stop a few paces behind Brian. The man pushing it remained in place and politely nodded his head towards Tau, who returned the polite nod. He then walked over to John and asked for his small drinking hand bowl. The man looked and sounded very familiar, but the buzzed haircut made it difficult. He smiled after being handed the bowl and promptly departed towards the drink cart with it. The spickets appeared to be elastic in nature and remember their original shape, after being pushed down to dispense the liquid.

The man came back with the bowl and handed it to John, then turned and looked towards Tau for something. Tau from the other end nodded and the man then faced John again and spoke.

“May I sit with you?" John knew exactly who this was and had trouble finding words.

“I think John would like that very much Frank." Now John was on the verge of crying.

Harsha then got up and offered his seat to the man, then briefly disappeared and came back with another stool for himself. John somehow kept the tears back and managed to find words.

“Here. Let me scoot over and then you can sit right next to me. That way Harsha can have his place back." John sniffled briefly and half laughed. Everyone else at the table chuckled.

John shuffled closer to Luke and actually got greeted with a smile, before looking back and making sure Frank fit in next to him, with the offered stool from the packer. Luke actually smiled at him. That was...okay?... considering how pissed he looked earlier, before being pounced by the hyena. He then looked towards Tau, who raised a recently filled drinking bowl into the air and smiled back at him. John returned the gesture and smile. Everyone else then got up and gathered around the drink cart, then return with their own filled bowls. Harsha was the first to depart and return with two bowls, handing one of them to Frank. John was not sure where to start and searched his mind, while Harsha was sitting back down. He then found the words, that wouldn't cause him to break down into tears.

[] “When did you cut off all your hair?" He asked, while running a hand over Frank's buzzed head.

“That is part of the system here within The Kingdom. The men serving here are not allowed to have their hair back, until they have proven themselves to be real men again." Frank answered.

“That would explain why the rest of the hair on you is so short as well."

Frank nodded. He then took a offered bowl of salad from Harsha and retrieved what he wanted before handing it to John, who did the same and passed it to Luke. The man happened to smile at John again, before passing the bowl to Chester. Yeah. Something definitely happened earlier in the brush. A story to be sure.

“It's really different here. Especially the penal system they use." Frank commented.

“Oh, I am aware. I got to see what happened to the six college boys, that made themselves famous in the Kansas district with their disruptive visits to the farm communities."

“Wait. You said six. Like the same six that was frequently on the Nexus news postings this last year, for local vandalism?"

“That would be them."

“So what happened to them? Because they did some pretty messed up shit."

“They were escorted outside The Atrium and put inside Golems." Harsha answered.

“Wait. That is what you guys call those huge horse headed... machines?" John asked.

“The name was deemed worthy of their purpose and it fits the ancient legend."

“I'm sure the ancient people who created the legend would have some choice words about what form those things have taken on now." John commented and shared a smirk with Harsha.

“Well that will be an experience that will stay with them for life." Frank observed.

“That is the idea." Harsha added and patted Frank on the shoulder, before he resumed eating.

“So if you were not there with the rest of us, how do you know about the Golems?" John asked.

“Due to me being simply charged with attempted illegal hunting. My punishment is to assist with the creation of the Golems in The Atrium."

John paused while chewing some lettuce, then finished and took a big drink.

“So that really was you laying on that table, being filled by the gorilla men then."

He sat the drinking bowl back down rather firmly and looked away beyond the table.

“Wait. You were the one that was riding on the back of someone, as they passed by me that morning? My mind had yet to be overwhelmed by what was happening to me, so I at least was thinking coherent enough to wonder if that really was you. I... I'm not sure what to say now."

John paused some more, then excused himself from the table. He walked over to the platform lift and stroked the vertical root downward, after getting on. He heard footsteps follow him. Thump.

“Hey. Don't you think that was maybe a little rude?" Frank asked after dropping down onto the descending platform.

“Rude? I politely excused myself from the table, instead of just getting up and walking away. Rude is when you disappear for two years and don't bother to tell the love of your life, where you are or why you disappeared to begin with." Tears began to form in John's eyes.

“Not fair. You know why I had to leave the Acolyte farm community, where we both grew up."

“You could have left with me and lived in the city. My new job could have easily..."

“...you know me better than that. I don't depend on people to make my life work. Besides. I hated the city. My world was the open countryside. So when the death threats started coming in..."

“...death threats?"

“Yes! Death threats!"

Frank immediately stomped off the lift, the moment it came to a stop. John remained silent and quietly followed Frank out beyond the village support trees and to the edge of the nearby reed field. The man at least stopped there and didn't keep walking into the water. A captive quiet audience lined the open ledge behind and above them. Tau quietly made his way behind the group, over to Harsha.

“So they have a past together. This could be helpful for Frank." He quietly observes.

“On that, we are in agreement." Harsha replies without even looking back.

“Did you plan this or know about Frank?"

The elder packer slowly turns and looks right at Tau.

“I had no idea you had taken on a new charge for rehabilitation, until I was informed the morning we all gathered for the Golem ritual... by Atsu and Adongo themselves. They told me of what they learned about the man, as his knowledge was carried by the syrup through their system. Most of the memory fragments were too guarded and impossible to translate. But the one concerning John was still being accessed while Frank was with them. The man was thinking a lot about John during the session. All sorts of wonderful and beautiful memories. They were in love. They were together."

“I see. This information you have now given me will help me better assist Frank with repairing the damage that made him into the hunter that trespassed here days ago." Tau smiled.

“Mind if I ask a favor of you?"

“Sure."

“I would like to borrow Frank and have him travel with John and me to the boars."

“How does this help me and my task with rehabilitating him?"

“You approached me yesterday and confessed to having difficulty with helping Frank reconcile with his recent past. What he went through that made him into the man that was found."

“Go on." Tau encouraged.

“Healing the rift between him and John will help with that."

“So why do you need to take them to the boars?"

“Because John will need help with recovering memory of the entire day he was with the alpha hyena. He will learn very soon, that it is now two days after that encounter. It is only fair he knows what happened. We both know the boars are the most proficient at such things."

“Perhaps I can help as well?" Luke chimed in very politely.

Tau simply stood there and thought about it for a while.

“I will allow this. But only if Atsu and Adongo approve of it."

“That sounds fair enough. Please let me know soon."

Both nodded at each other and Tau returned to the gorilla twins.

Back down on the ground and by the reeds, John was hugging Frank and crying.

“I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. But your dad was the community elder. I stood absolutely no chance of staying in your life and risked having that man persistently interfere with it in his own sadistic creative way. We would have ended up miserable together in the city and you had an opportunity to actually get free of his influence, with no suspicion." Frank assured.

John pulled away and nodded, wiping his face with an arm.

“He was surprisingly easy on me and was convinced me going to a place you hated would be sufficient for getting my head cleared of those memories. He referred to it as being freed of your corruptive influence. Of course he also had to banish you from all acolyte farm communities as well."

Both got a good laugh out of that one.

“Yeah. Your old man never did anything halfway." Frank commented.

Frank and John then decided to rejoin the others and finish a much needed dinner. The captive audience above returned to the table and resumed their eating. On their way up on the lift, they could hear causal banter and prattling above them. There was also the occasional sound of a bowl or stool being set down and scooted. Once their heads had cleared the visual thresh hold of the opening in the floor, they could see everyone had indeed gone back to eating dinner, during their slow trip back. Harsha was waiting right by a vertical root with freshly filled drinking bowls.

“You two had a most constructive conversation. I am most pleased to see this."

The elder packer handed them the bowls and bowed his head. Both of them accepted and returned the gesture, before quickly drinking half of the contained orange liquid. They slowly made their way to the cart for refills, with Harsha close behind them.

“Say Harsha. What is in this fruit juice?" Frank asked.

“I believe Atsu said it is a mix of Mandarin Orange and Ruby Red Grapefruit. He might have mentioned there is Coconut Water in it as well."

“Are sure that is all that is in it?" John inquired.

“Ah. The bit of bite to it. The fruit juice mix is allowed to sit within indirect sunlight for a day and then chilled. That part was my idea." Harsha grinned.

All three got a good chuckle out of that and made their way back to the dinner table. Everyone else had finished eating and were engaged in their own private chat, while shuffling what was left of the food to John's end of the table. Him and Frank has just sat down, as each of them brought something down and then gave them both a hug. Harsha simply nodded and smiled. John immediately began eating with the same passion as the morning of the first change, while maintaining a sufficient level of politeness with each passing person. Tau was the last to approach and brought the good news Harsha was expecting.

“Atsu and Adongo approve. Frank may go with you and John to The Hollow."

E P I L O G U E

Frank, Harsha and John finished their dinner, then began discussing the plan the elder packer had for the to see the boars in the nearby sector. John found out that their share of the swamp was called The Hollow and that he would see why it was given that name, the moment they arrive there. Brian and Jack made sure to join them and was updated on the changes the elder packer had in mind for the visit. This also included finally updating John on his current situation and some explanation for why he seems to have trouble remembering the missing day and what happened after the hyena encounter. Luke made it a point to finally join in on the conversation, when this part of it started and was surprisingly helpful with sorting out some of the encounter details... as best as he could remember himself. John was understandably conflicted about what happened to him that fateful day and was all for what help the boars could offer in retrieving those lost memories. He needed to know and understand what happened to him.