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Fiber Optic Bundles of Joy Part 12
🕑 Added 2016-10-27 07:56:59 +0000 UTCThaminga rather liked the look of the little shop shi was in, the mink had some fine things here including the curious garment shi was wearing right then. It looked and felt like liquid gold, some kind of poly-mimetic nanoweave that felt like silk and was stronger than Kevlar, even reshaped itself as necessary and self-repaired. Granted, there was no way shi could afford the garment (which resembled a slinky dress at the moment) but all shi had to do was win this dice game as soon as the proprietress returned with their fourth player. Meanwhile shi nursed a rather pleasant fruity drink, and tried hir level best not to stare at the aged horse across from hir the man was nude apart from a fez, which somehow made him seem more naked than if hed just left it out entirely. So far shi was holding hir composure on that matter rather well.
They made an odd pair, the saggy and potbellied horse vs. hirself. Thamingas features mostly resembled those of a fox faced bat, white furred, but with a pair of horns growing behind the enormous ears. This was not helped when shi got a look at the gentleman accompanying the mink up for their game. The otter was immense looking less awkward than shi though he ought to considering. He probably had as much mass to him, shaking and wobbling with each step, as the other three of them combined. Settling at their table took him a moment, the otter had to gently ease himself to the floor while Thaminga momentarily forgot not to stare.
The game began promptly as the blubbery water cat settled himself in. It took precisely one round of the table for a cold chill to run down Thamingas spine, shi immediately realized thered been an assumption about how the betting worked here an incorrect one that spelled serious trouble the moment shi found hirself called out and was proven a liar.
Four more passes of the cup shi watched hirself end up in deeper exhaust than shid started - this had sounded all manner of simple at first and how hard could it have been to fool and old horse and a show owner? Shi eyeballed the elevator panel on the floor, glancing at the otter who had lost as well albeit not as badly and wondering how likely making it to the door was. The decision was just sparking into life when shi felt something pinch at hir neck, and found hir attempt to stand and run turning into a face-first dive into the pillows around the minks gambling den.
***
Consciousness was reluctant to come back to hir, and frankly it wasnt a very friendly guest when it did. Thamingas head was pounding, not unlike a hangover without the fun of getting smashed first. Shi found hirself in a distinctly uncomfortable room, and a damn small one something with a round wall shi was resting up against. The bat creature reached hir hands out as shi slowly opened watering eyes. Hir reflection stared back from a curved transparent aluminum wall, the other side of which rather like the shops main room albeit with the gates shut on the far side. Thaminga tried to stand, only to find a ceiling preventing hir from straightening up and that the walls were too narrow to stretch out properly this was a sealed canister, and shi was inside it!
..And the Mink was outside, turning her aged but elegant smile toward her captive and starting a lazy saunter across the shop.
Bad little girl mostly girl anyway dress like girl. Girl like dress? Girl get very intimate with dress, very soon promise that.
Thaminga looked down briefly, shi was indeed still sporting the liquid gold gown, which was hir best guess at what the blazes the mink as going on about. The white furred predator loomed tall over the canister in spite of hir short stature, making the captive bat-creature feel all the more cramped and small as hir decidedly unsavory smile crawled up and down Thamingas skin.
Very fine material, no? Very hard to acquire. Very expensive, and hard to make new. Feels like oil and silk on body.
The Mink bent low, placing a small blue disc on the side of the transparent canister. Then she took two steps to the side and applied another repeating the process until four were set up at equal distances. Thaminga found hirself shying away as much as shi could during this, but also hideously constrained by hir transparent prison. Unable to really move properly, and starting to feel some alarming aches in hir knees and shoulders.
And in body-
The Mink clapped her hands, grinning fit to show the kind of teeth one could crack bone with. The blue discs began to hum at the sound, hum and glow softly, filling Thamingas prison with a hazy, azure radiance that shi fearfully found shi was able to feel as much as see. It buzzed against hir skin, leaving the bat/fox creature curling hir arms around hir stomach and whimpering. When hir hands pulled back after the nauseating wave passed, shi noted the material felt curiously sticky in fact it clung to hir paws and wasnt letting them uncurl from hir body. An attempt to peel hir thighs apart met with the same result, like the dress had turned to powerful rubbery glue, bonded straight to hir skin and starting to tingle something fierce.
What the hell are you doing to me!? You cant do this, I have-
Thamingas breath caught in hir throat as the tingling turned into a fierce numbness, hir body slumping heavily against the bottom of the canister, limbs refusing to respond to commands the cold fear from earlier racing across hir bones like fire.
You have nothing girl I checked. You also are nothing. A little exotic maybe, but slave markets too troublesome, totally untrained. Much easier to do this. Take two rarities, make better one! Pliant one. Obedient one. Just have to let assimilation set in properly first.
Assimilation? Thaminga looked down at hirself again, the fresh terror of what the numbness might imply rushing like wildfire through hir neck, shoulders and then no further. Shi well and properly couldnt feel hir arms or legs.
They werent there to be felt.
Hir arms were still clutched around hir middle, but somewhere just past the elbow shi saw the gooey golden fabric of hir now-traitorous garment meld with itself. Possibly worse still, hir thighs were still thoroughly glued together or had at this point simply merged into one bonded extremity but the gold coating was sliding lower as shi watched. It crept over hir knees, down the stretch of hir calves and it felt like watching a holovid of something happening to another person. Except of course for just how damningly real it made it to not be able to feel or move the limbs when shi knew they were hirs.
Thaminga slid just a little further down the wall of the canister, breath coming in ragged gasps as shi felt a lack of pressure in hir chest make it difficult to inhale. With the lack of breath came a haziness to hir vision, a deep drowsiness shi couldnt ignore just about when shi was feeling hirself slip out of consciousness entirely Thaminga would swear shi saw hir feet, merged down to the toes, begin to melt like ice cream in an overheated station pod.
***
The first things shi was aware of after that were pinpricks, little electrical points of light. Shi reached out, or tried to but with what? Thamingas thoughts tried to gather themselves, to come up with some useful course of action, but every attempt met with a disconnected feeling. Like floating in sensory deprivation tank, while getting the benefits of a nice massage.
Feeling hir entire body clench with all the excruciating intensity of a cramping muscle was a rather rude end to that experience. On the bright side, when shi felt the urge to scream it worked there was a reverberating grating sound that filled hir awareness sounding a trifle hollow, perhaps still inside the canister? Thamingas next notion was opening hir eyes, which just about worked nearly.
The sight was hazy, like vision after a long time spent crying, or too much sleep. It also flickered like bad video, and seemed to be wobbling like it tended to after shi finished a negotiation session with a certain bull shi was fond of. The only saving grace of this was that as Thaminga concentrated on trying to see more clearly, squinting so to speak, the sight did indeed clear up a little. Shi just wished it hadnt. The curvature of the mostly transparent canister was indeed still in front of hir, with a faint reflection to it a reflection of an amorphous golden mass with a face that resembled hirs in only the vaguest of ways.
That rippling, feedback screech tore through the air in the canister again, interrupted by the outside of it turning a dull gray a hazy silhouette in the rough shape of the Mink was outside it in moments. Then came a dull thunk, possibly a kick at the side of that which contained hir? Thaminga tried to concentrate a little harder, tried to collect hirself, and then the sight in the walls (much clearer a reflection now with the silver gray coating) hit home again. That gold, melting heap was hirself and the moment the fear rushed into Thamingas mind in full force hir vision blacked out once more replaced by the same disconnected sensation as earlier.
Shi wasnt precisely sure how long shi stayed like that, panicking quietly in hir mind repeating mantras trying to once more literally collect hirself. Every time the bat-like woman managed to make the mass hir body had been reduced to see again though there was hir reflection waiting, and things fell apart once more or perhaps shi was just having that as a nightmare. That might be the one thing shi was hoping for most here, waking up back on hir ship this certainly wasnt the kind of place one could expect a rescue.
Thaminga was actively arguing the likelihood of this being real or not, whether it meant shi needed to try to pull hirself together again to face hir own lack of a face, when shi heard something. Not audibly per se, the canister was muting all sound outside thoroughly at this point, but there was a buzzing inside what shi had become that seemed to constitute sound, or some close approximation thereof.
So you seem to be in not just a pickle, but an entire jar thereof.
Shi felt something that reminded hir of watching the wave forms of music, and realized it might just be the surface of the gold nanotech/biological slurry that Mink monsters dress had left hir as vibrating. Thaminga didnt have a response to that right off, fear and disbelief were warring in hir to a degree that brooked silence. From hir anyway.
You in there? Sorry I didnt speak up earlier, but the woman in white out there was watching then she muted the canister and went to have a smoke upstairs though so the screaming was a good idea.
Hir reaction was something akin to trying to swallow, which mostly just created a body-wide ripple and gave hir a momentary headache. Shi couldnt breathe, had nothing to breathe with, but the next moment or two was dedicated nonetheless to the same kind of mental cleansing shi practiced in so many board rooms and bedrooms. Then shi simply thought loudly.
~Yes, it did get us some privacy. If you dont mind my asking, just who are you and what- whats happening to~
Thamingas thought process trailed off, hir internal voice breaking down like snow in a summer storm under a wash of anxiety and desperation. That, and maybe just a little kernel of hope.
~Can you.. help me? Whoever you are?~
Shi could swear shi felt the presence in there with hir smiling. It was kind of warm, like the way a child would laugh at a game they were enjoying, and just managed to take some of the edge off the horror shi was keeping a tenuous grip on.
Pretty sure, yeah. So this is going to feel really weird? But uh, just think accept Im sending some basic driver software and an unlocked framework template that should get you enough motor control to at least get to the front door when the lid opens. Understand?
Thamingas first and only thought there was no of course, the terms were familiar enough sure but what the hell did tech terminology have to do with hir? The instant shi finished that thought, or rather had it finished for hir by the interruption, a body-wide itch settled into the golden puddle of hirself that left hir awareness lashing out, shi actually felt hirself splash against the walls as hir mass thrashed, but some part was still focused enough to recall what to do. Some part, the one that could smile and nod past sexist, racist jackasses who had a little too much power and money, held on and thought (screamed) the word accept into the wide, open spaces of hir mind.
And the itching stopped.
Replaced by a cool, traveling, popping sensation. It felt a little bit like adjusting ones neck after a long nap. Little pockets of hirself that clumped together and stayed that way, others that held hands end to end, like a string of ants marching in a line, from one clump to another. Shi felt another set of pops, all in a row like a string of pearls. Two more, with longer strings, each of them thickening slowly Thaminga began to think shi recognized this. Shoulders, a spine, hips then yes, two more on each end, elbows and knees, shi found hirself doing something that felt like inhaling and resulted in the liquid bulk of hirself coalescing somewhat clinging to the slowly growing flexible mechanical framework. The ankles and feet came next, wrists but Thaminga felt no fingers form rather just a flat extremity at the end of hir arm. Hir face was largely featureless as well, and in the reflection of the canister wall shi thought shi resembled nothing quite so much as a solid gold mannequin
But shi wasnt needing to actively concentrate to do this. It held, as soon as shi had it the form held. An attempt to touch the wall resulted in hir arm reaching out, pressing into the gray surface, flattening out a little as it did but reforming into a rough hand solid as soon as shi pulled it back.
~So, not much strength, but enough solidity to move.~
Basically, yes best I can do right now. The port I found to speak through only allows streaming really small data packets so I couldnt send anything more complex. We get you out though and I can get that fixed. So, heres the deal Ill be waiting outside the shop youve gotta get out and get to me.
Thaminga felt hirself ripple in a moment of panic, felt a dread crush of helplessness, but it was a moment. Nothing more. He could open the door, whoever he was shi had to walk through it. When had that ever stopped hir before? Shi put hir hands to the walls of the canister again, looking for a seam for the lid though there didnt seem to be one.
There did however appear to be a tiny fracture. Hairline, near the top. Shi pushed.
It felt like unraveling, a thread of hirself peeling away that shi could still feel and touch with, which was pretty much exactly what it was. Thaminga pushed gently, watching the mass of hir hand shrink steadily, but painfully slowly. It would be minutes, at least, of doing this to get loose. Could shi risk that, or was it worse to move quickly and risk making noise by damaging hir container further? There was no movement that shi could see on the outside, which probably meant hir captor was still busy indulging. For now? Slow.
Seconds stretched into minutes. Minutes in which Thaminga desperately wished for something solid, both in terms of knowledge of hir situation and hir actual body. The puddle of hirself outside was growing slowly but surely, and then came the stroke of brilliance. Why in Chromes name would hir ability to see be limited to hir face under the circumstances? Thaminga closed hir vision focus, concentrating instead on the still deepening mass outside, and shi felt precisely what shi wanted eyes opening.
The strangest part of it might be that the view was mouse-eye level, as the old term went. Thaminga was seeing the room from the absolute bottom of the floor upward but shi could see it dammit. The elevator was indeed at the upper level, and the shop empty locked, probably. All shi had to do was get hirself out and make it to the-
There was a dull thunk, the sound of gears shifting and magnetic brakes unlocking. Thaminga found that in spite of whatever had just been done to hir shi could still feel fear just fine, a cold chill in hir not-bones. Shi was obvious as all hell there, gold and shiny that made the snap decision a great deal easier. The fox-bat thing, or former shi was going to have to devote some time to figuring out what to think of hirself as species-wise when shi got half a chance pushed harder on the crack shi was taking advantage of. The sound of metal creaking and stretching was a horrible thing, not unlike hir own digital screams minutes ago. It definitely roused the Minks attention by the sound of it, a half-drunken slur of surprise, but Thaminga felt the flow of hirself increasing rapidly more than half the mass shi was composed of was out.
As the last streamers of body were congealing into hirself, Thaminga saw the pirate fashionista glaring down at hir.
No! No escaping! Shiny fool is mine now! Get golden butt back in canister like good little mark!
Re-assembling the crude skeletal structure wasnt quite as instant as shi would have liked, but the Mink wasnt terribly coordinated right now and that bought time. Thaminga saw the proprietress dive off toward hir, trip on the elevator edge, and land on a display of evening gowns while hir shoulders and spine began to congeal out of the golden morass. There were two problems left as shi saw it the door and the white-furred bitch.
Shi was assured the door was handled for hir if shi could trust whoever had spoken earlier. Theyd helped though, right? Good start. Hir hips were just about ready to stand on, but the Mink was also nearly disentangled from the pile of garments, swearing up a storm in the process.
They stood at roughly the same time. Pirate fashionista glaring daggers at the gold mannequin figure that Thaminga had become for the moment and Chrome shi wanted to fix that but fast Thaminga taking a shaky, experimental step forward that sparked the rooms powder keg of tension off abruptly. The Mink dove, and the fox bat bolted. They met in the middle, sort of Thaminga felt hirself destabilize and warp, curiously without pain, felt the tingling texture of the Minks dense fur as shi just kept going while the pirate grappled with hir mass and yanked, pulled, but never quite seemed to manage anything meaningful in terms of inconveniencing her quarry. Indeed, nothing much interrupted the pair as Thaminga made headway toward the doors apparently hir body was plenty strong in addition to flexible shi barely even felt the drag of the Mink behind hir. All that was left was the door-
And it hissed open the moment Thaminga and hir cargo were within a few feet of it revealing a sphere of some kind on the other side, coffee colored with and without cream, which shi found hirself a little too steadily mobile toward to stop before shi walked right into the thing. The mass was pliant, soft, warm rather like a pillow in most respects, and ticklish in the same way the Minks fur was. Said mass was hovering just about two feet over the ground.
Until it wasnt.
The weighty bulk landed on the station deck with a wet slapping sound, right on top of Thaminga and hir pursuer. The Mink gasped loudly after all the air was forcibly ejected from her lungs Thaminga on the other hand felt the bulk of hirself disperse into a flat but cohesive mass something that left hir cross-eyed for a brief moment and yet still not in pain.
Okay that was interesting what the heck is
Shi looked up, trying not to be distracted by the squirming of the Mink under hir, half-covered in whatever had landed on them. There was a voice from above that drew Thamingas attention as shi slowly drew in the fluid expanse of hir body to get it out from under the-
Oy! The hells the sodding idea dropping me?!
And dropping on me!
Thamingas body was mostly extricated, leaving hir with hir featureless hands leaned into the thing the fuzzy.. body. Shi looked up slowly, finding hirself face to face with the otter who had been in the game with hir. Only several times larger. That mass which had splattered hir and still had the Mink pinned down was the mans belly, easily the size of a small cargo pod and the rest of him was a nigh-formless heap of flesh. Furthermore, on his belly shi saw a point of orange light that sparked a curiously familiar sensation in hir neck. A buzzing.
The orange dot grew first into a circle, then it sprouted twin triangles on top, a white crescent moon on the bottom, and two dark spots above that. It was a face of sorts, maybe? When the voice chimed out into the stale, station air shi definitely recognized it. The tone if nothing else irreverent but somehow benign, friendly.
Arent we shiny? Glad you got out of there alright! Call me Red. This is Joseph, you met him earlier.
Still beached here boss, you planning on fixin that prompt or-?
Thamingas body was still rearranging itself, shi felt still putting the nodules and threads in place to move with finesse, but shi managed a step backward. When shi spoke it wasnt with vocal chords, but more hir entire face vibrating.
~Youre the one who helped me.~
Simple enough statement, but shi saw the glowing fox embedded in the otters belly fur nod, or bob up and down anyway.
~And you said you can get me back to normal?~
The bobbing stopped, shi could see the Otter growing just a trifle annoyed up above them thank Chrome it was hard to tell where shi was staring given hir lack of genuine eyes right now.
Now I never said that but I think we can help you back to a happy medium. If youd like. I might be able to help fix you even more, over time, if you want to hang around with me, Joseph here, and my mom? We have a ship you know and a fair bit of money.
Thaminga hesitated, but that left hir looking down at hir hand. There were no fingers, no paw pads, shi had no ears no real face no horns. Software for fluid nanite suspensions was a crazy thing even for experts to toy with, but that voice that was an AI if shi ever saw one, and it sounded brilliant. Shi had just started to reach hir hand out toward the bright visage in the fur when a voice below hir wheezed out a few pained, damning words.
I. Invoke. Pirate. Court. ..shiny bitches.
Reds luminous visage and Thamingas golden ones looked down, seeing the conscious-but-coughing Mink glaring triumphantly as the stations camera bots immediately began to descend upon them, and the Enforcers of the Code werent going to be far behind. Meanwhile, from between a pair of comfortably swollen, pillowy cheeks the color of heavily creamed coffee came two words.
Bloody hell.
