WilliamDArand
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System Overclocked 2 -ch15-
🕑 Added 2023-07-22 03:33:23 +0000 UTC“And here we are!” Goodie announced. “Honestly… the old Hab was ruined. It reeked of smoke, ozone, and the seals weren’t working as well as they should after being exposed to space.”
There was a thump and the carrier’s entrance slid open.
“So I went back to who made the Hab originally,” Goodie continued. “Apparently the designer had moved on to a new company. They make luxury Habs. When I showed up with the old Hab they were surprised.”
Walking out of the filter and airlock, Wrench frowned. He looked around to the Hab enclosure. Everything really looked how he expected it to.
It looked identical to the Hab he’d left. Everything was as it should be.
Even the night-light settings he’d put on were still active.
Then he put his attention to what mattered to him.
Or more specifically, to the filter and the seals.
“They took the old Hab, built a new one off their luxury lineup, and modeled it after the old Hab. Everything should look exactly the same, they even cloned all the settings you’d put in. The whole thing is just… it’s just… better quality and new,” Goodie finished with a laugh. “They didn’t even charge me for it. I just had to promise to mention the Hab if anyone asked about you, Wrench.
“Though I admit I did buy a few upgrades. Nothing you’ll notice but it gives me peace of mind for my Hume.”
He laughed at that, now understanding what had happened.
“In other words, Lady Goodie showed up with a black market Hab, they recognized her, saw her title, and scrambled to make a connection,” Wrench summarized and bent down to start tapping at the touch screen pad attached to the filter. “I get it. I get it. It makes perfect sense and it’d probably be something I’d want to do.”
“Knowing you, Wrench, you had the same thought I did. They just wanted to make friends,” agreed Goodie. “Now… your Hab-mates just went to sleep an hour ago according to the Hab schedule. You can all just go to sleep.
“I’m going to put the Shelter Hab in and settle it as well as that… ah… breeding… Hab? Harem Hab? Goodness that was a lot of very attractive Solo Hume.
“I’ll just put them all into the Shelter Hab and put that Hab off to the side. Never know if we’ll need a temporary Hab or an isolation Hab.
“You’ll have to help me find the one you wanted me to later, Wrench. In the morning we’ll do that. Alright. I have work to do. We’ll catch up more in the morning.”
Goodie pulled the carrier away after making sure all three Hume had left the airlock. Then she left, vanishing as she did whatever it was that made it hard to see Tongsta through the Hab glass.
“I’m so… so glad to be home,” Seventh groaned as she left the carrier and set foot onto the field that covered this part of the Hab. “I wasn’t here that long, but it was… it’s home. So very much home. I’m going to go to sleep.”
Seventh didn’t wait around and started walking away. Heading up the field toward the Pens.
Stripe watched Seventh leave before turning to look at Wrench. He’d only noticed it because while he was squatting there pecking at the panel, he could see them out of the corner of his eyes.
“She didn’t sleep while you were gone. At all,” Stripe murmured. Then she leaned down and surprisingly put a kiss against his cheek. “Neither did I. I… I was worried. Very worried. I’m honestly exhausted, so I’m going to go to bed as well. Don’t stay up too late. If you can’t sleep, see if they have the sleepy time tea in the system in the Ducts. That’s where I got it for you previously.”
Stripe also moved away, leaving him standing there.
Shocked at the sudden touch of her lips on him and suddenly wondering if he should try to follow her.
She glanced over her shoulder at him and caught him watching her.
“Goodnight, Wrench,” she said, as if to gently push his thoughts back. That his thoughts were directly written across his face.
Things were moving ahead with Stripe. It was a slow pace, but he was happy with it.
And it’s not like I mind.
She tells me to go see Seventh often enough, and then there’s Dusky.
It’s not like I’m all bent out of shape from a sexual place.
This is fine.
The response he got from the filter’s panel was rapid and positive. To the point that he couldn’t deny that this was most certainly a much better filter than what’d been here.
With a grunt, Wrench stood up and wondered what to do with himself.
He felt energetic and not the least bit sleepy.
Unfortunately he’d slept for a while before Greedy caught him. Right now his sleep schedule was somewhat backwards.
Sighing, he decided to go do some Fixer maintenance checks. The Hab might be new, but there were always things to look into and check.
Sometimes especially with a new Hab.
Often what a Tongsta thought something should be, didn’t quite pan out in actual use. More often than not it had played into the number of Hume in a Hab.
Putting his hands in his pockets, Wrench began to walk toward the Ducts.
As he walked, he noted the rock he tended to speak to Goodie at was there. Exactly as he remember it, in fact.
“I wonder if they just took everything out of the old Hab for her, or remade everything to be the same,” mumbled Wrench to himself. “Could be either. Couldn’t even tell you which it is. Suppose it doesn’t matter. If it’s exactly the same to me, then it’s the same to me, even if it isn’t.”
Walking along, he upward and could see the aerial Hab above him. A distant canopy of vines, branches, tree tops and a number of false path-ways put there specifically for Grae.
Wrench realized then that the Hab makers had put in the same trees that existed previously, added some, and made sure they actually reached up to the aerial Hab above.
Looking at the distant edges, he in fact couldn’t see where the aerial Hab would have connected to the original Hab.
Maybe they built the whole Hab as one piece.
The aerial component is now actually part of the Hab.
Raising his eyebrows, Wrench decided to check the aerial Hab first. Which meant he needed to go up the Skybridge’s stairwell and check the sensors on the Duct platform.
His thoughts turned to Tickaht.
“Oh yeah, I needed to check the atmosphere for her. Should probably do that now before I get to anything else,” said Wrench, feeling immediately better for having a direction he could act on.
Smiling he detoured in his original direction.
Instead of the Ducts, he went to the Pens.
His goal was to get into the cafeteria and get two oat bars and two bottles of water. While it was unlikely that Tickaht would be awake, he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to make friends with her if she was.
If she wasn’t, he’d just leave it out for her to find in the morning. She wouldn’t doubt who’d left it for her and it’d do just as well as if he’d been there to hand it off in person.
Entering the cafeteria he found two people inside of it, surprisingly enough.
It was Duchess and Sparkle, sitting side by side and playing what looked like a board game.
Duchess was a short, extremely full figured School Deme with brown hair and grey eyes. She was at best four foot tall and it made her bust and waist disproportionate given her stature given their size.
Sparkle on the other hand that was actually just above average on height. She was a beautiful platinum haired School Hume that was similar to Duchess in being extremely overly built in her hips and bust, but was additionally eerily pretty.
Both were staring at him wide eyed.
Then before anything could be said, Sparkle bounced out of her seat and rushed over to him. In a flash she had him wrapped up in a hug and was plastered to him. Her hands pressed tight to his back and holding on tight.
A second after that Duchess was doing the same, though at his side and obviously lower. The two School were excitedly squealing.
“Shhhh, don’t wake anyone,” Wrench said with a chuckle. One arm around Sparkle and the other hand resting on Ducheses head. “Shhh, hush. It’s okay. It’s—”
Sparkle kissed him then, her hands grabbing him by the head and holding his face against her own.
So surprised at the act, he just stood there and stupidly kissed her back.
After a handful of seconds ticked by she released him.
“Welcome home, Wrench,” breathed the beautiful woman.
Duchess thumped him on the chest.
“Bend down so I can do the same,” growled the diminutive woman.
Once more acting without thinking, he bent down to her height and was kissed by her much in the same way Sparkle had. Though she’d slipped her tongue into his mouth briefly as well.
Given that he’d actually done a few sexual things with Duchess he wasn’t surprised at her being more aggressive for a School than Sparkle.
“Alright, thank you for the greeting. You two go back to your game. I’m just doing Fixer things,” he muttered.
“Oh. Okay,” Sparkle whispered, smiling from ear to ear while watching him. Not for the first time he wondered if she was much more intelligent than she let on, and hid it all away. “Gadget’s kept everything in good order but it’s obvious she’s confused and worried. I’m sure she’ll be happy for you to check over things.”
Wrench could certainly believe that. She only recently left the home she’d grown up in. Then was dumped into a Hab that was significantly technologically ahead. Only for the head Fixer to vanish.
“Yeah, I’m working on it,” promised Wrench. Neither School had released him yet. “I apologize for pulling away, I’m not trying to be non-School like. I just have work to do.”
Sparkle and Duchess both looked surprised, then guilty. Their smiles remaining stuck to their faces as they separated away from him. Slowly they pulled away from him, though their hands didn’t leave until the last moment.
“You’re our School, but you’re a Fixer,” Sparkle declared, her hand having just left his face, though it trailed upward to flick a lock of hair backward. “It’s understandable. We’re just very glad you’re back. Goodie kept telling us she was looking for you endlessly. We never lost hope.”
“She found me,” agreed Wrench, moving over to the dispenser. He quickly tapped in his request for two oat bars and two bottles of water. He hesitated, then also got a hunk of protein jerky. Given her teeth, he had to believe she was a meat eater. Jerky would hold better and could be eaten later, too. “Stripe and Seventh are back, too. We’ll catch up more in the morning. Alright?”
“Okay,” Duchess said with a small bounce. “It’s so good that you’re back. So good. Everything’s been okay without you, but it wasn’t the same. Dusky will be really happy.”
Wrench felt his smile twist somewhat.
Dusky always fit in a weird space in his head.
She treated him extremely well and with unapproachable understanding. The problem was that as far as he could tell, their relationship was just an agreement with her.
A deal that they made for her School to come here and be in his Hab.
He couldn’t deny she was attractive. Practicaly incomparably so.
Added to that, that he was attracted to her wasn’t in question.
The problem was he wanted more than just sex.
Well. Stripe is my emotional goal. We’re moving toward that.
Surprisingly, Seventh seems to be moving in the same direction, just a bit backwards.
Maybe… maybe Dusky could end up… in a similar place? Ah well.
Time to move.
Grabbing his items, he waved at the two pretty School and went to the Ducts. He entered the Skybridge access point and started going up the stairs quickly.
He made it to the top without too much issue and only realized that when he arrived, that it hadn’t even bothered him.
Pausing at the door he pulled up his Systems to check on a stray thought.
Sure enough, his Muscular and Skeletal System were still in over-drive for his lower body. Though it didn’t seem to be draining him of calories either, nor was he ravenously hungry.
On top of that, his Respiratory system was also still running at a high level. Working at a peak optimal state to use any oxygen it could get with an extraordinary level of ability.
Hm.
I wonder if there’s no issues with my lower body because the muscles are already there, it isn’t that hard to maintain? I just increased their efficiency, rather than their size?
Is my lungs doing as well as they are for the same reason? It’s all efficiency.
Let’s… replicate it.
Tapping at his chest and upper body, he quickly pushed his muscles and skeleton for his upper body into an overclocked state equal to the way his lower body was.
He didn’t feel any different while he stood there, nor did it seem to make a change. As if his body was just doing what it was supposed to, but better.
Moving to the Cardiovascular system he shifted his ability to move oxygen, nutrients, and blood at a much greater efficiency. Moving it up to a point that felt right and didn’t seem to cause any issues.
In fact, no sooner than he had it set, then he felt better.
That with most of his Systems working at an overclocked state performed better when everything was, rather than just certain Systems.
“I’ll… mess with the Endocrine and Lymphatic Systems later. Gently. Carefully. I don’t want to go through that again. Though uh… let’s fix those taste buds,” mumbled Wrench and dismissed his window after giving himself back his sense of taste. Then he opened the door and stepped out onto the Skybridge Aerial-Hab access point.
It was cooler up here and the air once again felt fresher somehow.
Wrench didn’t see any Grae nearby. He made sure to look up as well as Tickaht had dropped in on him from that direction once.
She wasn’t there.
Letting out a soft huff, Wrench shook his head and walked over to the low wall next to the access panel. He put down the oat-bar there, the jerky, and the bottle of water as well.
Taking a bite out of his own oat bar he went to the panel and opened it.
Setting down his bar above the panel he leaned in and started looking over the display and the sensors. With a finger he poked at the screen and slowly went through the system.
Everything looked good.
He confirmed all the sensors were seated, active, and sending data. He did note that the sensor for temperature readings was reporting a lower number than the ideal during the day for a Grae.
It only took a tap or two to shift the temperature to the ideal range.
Then he closed the panel.
Shockingly, a Grae was perched on the wall right above the panel. Squatting low on it and staring at him.
“Rensh,” said the Grae, her eyes slowly widening and rounding out.
She was humanoid-like with pale-ash colored skin, a wider mouth than normal, and short white-hair that was surprisingly tied behind her head. It looked like it’d been done with a strip of fabric from a shirt.
The fully black sclera of her eyes and the red pupil were trained on him.
As ever, Wrench had a hard not time not staring at her well endowed chest. All four of her breasts, in fact, as Grae had two more than a Hume.
That and given the height difference he was eye-level with the truth that Grae had a womanhood that looked almost identical to a Hume’s.
As if realizing what she was giving him a stage-show, Tichak’s face grew a faint redness in the cheeks. Her legs came together slowly until her privates weren’t visible anymore.
She let out a low honking laugh, her eyes widened, and she gave him a small grimace, turning to look in a different direction.
Ah, she’s embarrassed. She chuckled, smiled, and can’t maintain eye contact. Because a male was staring at her privates.
Very much sentient.
“Hey Tickaht,” he said, doing his very best to pronounce her name correctly.
Keeping his eyes on her face, he stood up and then held a hand out to her. There was no reason for her to stand like that and it’d be easier if they were standing in front of one another.
Tichak looked back to him curiously and took his hand with her clawed fingers, then stepped down. She’d understood his desire, thankfully.
“I brought you a few things, you know,” Wrench said and gestured to the oat-bar, jerky, and water. “How’re you doing by the way? You okay Tickaht?”
“Tickaht—” started the Grae followed by a long line of hoots, whistles, clicks, and honks. They were all at a normal volume and were obviously a language. It was a wonder people didn’t understand that it was previously. “— Rensh?”
Surprised at the sudden question, and the fact that she’d held his hand and moved to the pile of items, he wasn’t sure how to reply.
Tickaht had quickly picked up the jerky and was now happily chewing at it. Her entire disposition shifted immediately. She gave him the Grae-smile in about as wide a fashion as possible. Her eyes were widened to the point that he thought they might fall out of her head.
Then she moved her chin around, curled her lips which showed off her teeth, then stuck her chest toward him and shook her shoulders.
He’d seen this move once before and had lost the war to not stare at her chest that time. This time, it’d nearly happened again, but Wrench had held on.
He somehow managed to prevent a repeat and kept his eyes on hers.
“Rensh!” Tickaht proclaimed while still chewing and held up the jerky. Then she moved in uncomfortably close to him. She put the spittle covered end of the jerky to his mouth.
Given he’d drank what was likely piss-water not long ago, eating Grae spit didn’t seem that bad. He took a bite from the proffered jerky.
Tickaht put her free hand on Wrench’s shoulder and held onto him. She gestured with the jerky and made a hooting noise.
“Jerky,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s jerky, Tickaht. I take it you want more of that?”
“Jury,” Tickaht said, her nose wrinkling. “Jurrrry. Jur-key. Jurrrrr-key.”
Wrench grinned, chuckled, and then put his left hand on Tickaht’s shoulder. He then pointed to his mouth with his right hand.
“Tickaht, watch Wrench’s mouth. Okay? Watch,” he said, the Grae’s red pupils moving from his hand, to his eyes, then his mouth. She was staring hard at his lips. “Jerky.”
“Jerky,” repeated Tickaht it was nearly perfect. “Jerky.” she said, though this time it was perfectly clear. Strangely so, in fact.
“Good. That’s exactly it,” he congratulated her.
She rewarded him with a grae-smile and a low honking laugh.
Shaking the jerky at him, she made a whistle that ended in a slight honk.
As she made the noise, Wrench had stared at her mouth. Her tongue and lips.
He did his best to imitate the noise. Then tried it several more times in a row.
Tickaht blinked several times, her head tilting to one side. She had a shocked look to her as if he’d just grabbed two of her breasts and was actively fondling her.
“Good,” she said, her mouth forming an entirely different word than what she’d said.
Opening his mouth, Wrench hesitated, wondering what in the world was going on. Then his brain turned on.
Grae had implants just as Hume did.
“Tickaht, good,” he said.
Tickaht stiffened up in front of him, her entire body going still.
“Wrench, good,” she offered in return.
“Good jerky, Tickaht?” he asked.
To which Tickaht slowly nodded her head.
“Jerky good, Wrench.”
All the while they spoke, he’d been staring at her mouth. The words she was saying was most certainly not in his own language. If he was right, she was experiencing the same thing.
Tickaht spun away from him and set the jerky down. She picked up the water bottle and held it up in front of herself.
He already knew where she was going.
They were about to play a long game of “what is this” as they figured out each other’s language.
“Ah… wait,” he said and nodded his head. He took the bottle from her and tapped the bottle itself. “Bottle.”
“Bottle,” she repeated and then immediately said the word in her own language.
“Bottle,” agreed Wrench, then stated the word in her language as she’d said it.
“Good, Wrench,” Tickaht breathed out in a whisper. “Good, good, good, good, Wrench.”
Honking with laughter, Tickaht grabbed her upper pair of breasts and make a wheezing hiss noise. She even gave them a small shake.
Holding his breath for a second, Wrench then said the same word she had. He repeated it twice more.
“Breasts. He offered up awkwardly. Your upper breasts, in fact. Since you have two pairs,” he amended.
“Breasts,” Tickaht said. Holding her boobs. She made a whining noise followed by the word breasts.
Wrench repeated the word he was nearly certain meant upper and provided the cross translation. “Upper breasts.”
“Upper breasts,” she repeated, giving him her Grae-smile.
She then grabbed her lower pair and said a word that sounded similar to a nasal honk followed by “breasts.”
Once again, Wrench repeated her word, then his own “Lower breasts.”
“Lower breasts,” Tickaht proclaimed, laughed loudly, then patted him excitedly. “Good, Wrench. Good, Tickaht.”
Wrench pointed back to the interior of the bottle through the top. He splashed some of the water into his palm.
He wanted her to know that the whole thing wasn’t just a bottle, but the outside only.
“Water,” he tried, realizing it was going to be a long night. Filled with likely mistakes.
Comments
Drew Risch
How fun! God I love this story so much. Even ignoring the plot, the entire concept of humans (and other sentients) as pets is just so fascinating!
William D. Arand
Huh? What's his fate? I'm fairly certain nothing has happened to him?
Matthew Paulin
I like this story, but now I am less enthused to read it, knowing Wrench's fate
