PERSEPHONE & TRITONIA

A Deep Sea Erotic Adventure Series

Zmeydros

Edited by

Tiliquain & Journeymanic

Illustrated by

Tiliquain

Story Copyright © 2020 Zmeydros

Images Copyright © Tiliquain

All rights reserved.

To Tiliquain who has read every story I've ever written, helped me improve my craft through detailed critique, and has a thing for tentacles.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Journeymanic for encouraging me to go all out on the pulp sci-fi elements.

Thanks to SecretSkunk for listening to my editing read-throughs and offering sound editing advice.

I'd like to offer my sincerest thanks to Navajo Demar and Warialinth, who are my $20 dollar patrons. I strive to deserve the money you're throwing at me.

A huge thank you to all my Patrons. I wouldn't be writing wacky sexy furry tales if it wasn't for your support. Every one of you rocks!

Tritonia’s Gift

Persephone has stolen the most advanced diving suit on the planet. It even inserts an IV into her arm to monitor her blood chemistry. Today she's on the longest dive of her life so she can swipe some Spanish doubloons from a newly discovered wreck before anyone else does. When she runs into problems 2,700 feet below sea level, she finds out that this suit was made to make sure its occupant survives the deep at all costs…Even if it has to modify them into a buff and sexy herm shark to do so.

Tritonia’s Gift

At two-thousand and three-hundred feet below sea level, it was like the witching hour on a moonless night. The only light down here was the light you brought with you. The LED spotlights on my stolen state of the art atmospheric diving suit were showing me a sea floor full of bleached starfish and other detritus from far above me. I wasn't sure what was alive and what was dead and I was glad that this suit had thrusters so I didn't have to walk around down there and find out.

The suit's AI, said, "Persephone?" She sounded like a guided meditation guru with her inhumanly smooth and calm voice.

"Yes, Tritonia?"

She paused for a moment before answering. "I've been thinking. Given the high stakes of this dive and that you will be many miles from help, it might be prudent to give you an injection that prepares your body for the Kirkii Failsafe Procedure."

I shrugged inside the suit. "I saw that in the manual, but there's like no information on it, so I don't know what I'd be agreeing to if I gave you the go ahead."

"It is classified beyond your clearance, but I can tell you that it prepares your body for failure of the life support system and also helps in the event that the suit's structural integrity is compromised."

We'd had a hands-off approach to the suit's AI since day one. She was beyond our understanding and we hadn't wanted to tick her off by trying to crack her. Alphonse thought she was even more interesting than the suit itself and I had to agree. "Is it going to hurt?"

"No, the IV is already in your arm. You will feel a slight chill as the solution enters your veins and that's all," she said, calm as ever.

"You know what? Go ahead."

"Administering Kirkii Vector Preparation Serum." A cold trickle ran up my left arm for a few seconds until she said, "Failsafe Procedure status: latent."

I raised an eyebrow. "Latent? Why that word? That's an odd word to use in this context. Isn't it?"

"I wish I could give you the proper context, Persephone, but, as I said, you lack the required clearance."

I sucked my teeth and then sighed. Part of me wanted to argue logic with her like they did to defeat AI in sci-fi movies, but I was sure she'd see right through it. "Don't worry about it. I'll try not to do anything stupid that leads to me finding out your classified secret."

"Please do try, I am confident I can help you survive no matter what happens, but I'd rather not employ extreme methods." I was probably imagining it, but she seemed worried about the prospect of employing extreme methods.

"You and me, both, Tritonia. You and me, both." The next twenty minutes passed in silence as I fought to not think about the fact that I was under a half-mile of water and that if my lights went out, I'd be alone and in the dark at the bottom of the ocean. During that time, my down under got warm and a bit moist. I was gonna need some victory masturbation after this heist.

The silence was broken by her wonderful, peaceful, voice saying, "Five minutes to Zucker Trench."

"Thanks, Tritonia," I replied. "Please give me a one minute warning as well."

"Will do, Persephone."

"You don't have to say my whole name. How about you just call me 'P' from now on?"

"Will do, P."

"Thanks," I said as I tried to calm my nerves. In under ten minutes, I'd be at the last resting place of the Concepcion de los Chaparrales, the crown jewel of the Spanish Treasure Fleet. On its manifest was a couple billion dollars of doubloons, over a billion dollars worth of Tricentennial Royal coins, three billion in jewels and trinkets, and a royal scepter worth thirty million on its own. Surely, the expedition coming to salvage this wreck wouldn't miss a hundred million dollars worth of treasure.

All I had to do was keep a cool head and find that scepter and two chests of Tricentennial Coins and send up them up via retrieval buoys so Alphonse could pull the treasure, and me, up to the ship. Then I'd be able to retire to a beautiful house in southern France with a harem of guys and gals. I mean, I'd be able to steal stuff for fun instead of to make a living.

You don't have money until it's in the boat. Do the work to get the pay.

"One minute to Zucker Trench," Tritonia announced.

I'd met a guy with the last name Zucker, once. He'd boinked me on the bed of his pickup truck. Man, he'd been thick! Whoa, since when was my libido the boss of me? "Hey, Tritonia, you said I should report any odd symptoms, right?"

"Yes, please elaborate."

Blushing even though I was talking to an AI who wouldn't care, I said, "I'm feeling incredibly aroused and my girl parts are, um, very wet."

"That is a commonly-reported side-effect of the Kirkii Failsafe Procedure. Do not worry. Question: Why use such an indirect term for your vagina? It does not fit the context of reporting symptoms."

I got so embarrassed that I felt flushed all the way down my neck. "My mother wouldn't let me use V word or any direct references to my bits when I was growing up. And now I'm embarrassed whenever I say those words, so I don't."

"That is an unfortunate barrier to efficient communication."

I didn't respond because I saw a line beyond which the light from my suit had nothing to reflect it back. It was the lip of Zucker Trench. Throttling down my thrusters, I added ballast to the tanks in my suit and landed twenty feet from the edge. I backed off on the ballast so I could hover above the sea floor. Then I was peering into an abyss. My eyes strained in the darkness until I caught sight of a wooden plank just off to my left laying on the thirty-degree slope of the trench. When I went over to it, I caught sight of another plank. And after that plank, the slope got a bit less steep. My heart picked up: this was the shelf on the wall of the trench that the Concepcion de los Chaparrales was on!

This excitement had me feeling my heartbeat in my clit. I distracted myself from that sensation by focusing on finding my way to the ship.

Unfortunately, I was robbed of that beautiful underwater shot that you always see in shipwreck documentaries. All I could see was what my cone of light touched. Directly ahead of me was a gaping hole in what I thought was the port side. It looked like this ship had gotten rammed by another ship. The bottom of the mainmast was crooked as hell and the ship was lying on its starboard side. This galleon had not gone quietly into the deep. Someone kicked the shit out of it before it got down here. Looking across it, I could make out holes from cannonballs that had ripped through the hull. Oh how much I would have enjoyed having a bird's-eye view of whatever naval battle this ship had engaged in before it went down.

I definitely wouldn't have wanted to watch from this ship, however. How many holes could you poke in one of these Spanish sailing ships before they sunk?

Unf! I wanted someone to poke my holes.

Focus on the goal. Assess the damage and then decide whether to abort.

"Your oxygen usage is double nominal. Is everything okay, P?"

"Yeah, just spooked by the state of the ship." That was half true. The other half of it was me imagining finding a giant squid that wanted to shove its tentacles inside me. Slow, calm, breaths. You can do this. You're the master of your own libido and this suit's reinforced aluminum is like armor and has servos to assist your movements. As long as you don't pick a fight with a poorly-supported cannon, you'll be fine…Or you'll get snagged by an errant chain and die so far under the ocean that no one can get you before your oxygen runs out.

My brain was the worst sometimes. I put the thought of suffocating in this frigid oblivion out of my mind and added ballast to my tanks as I thrusted toward the gaping hole in the side.

Just before I made it to the hole, Tritonia said, "Depth now exceeds two thousand seven hundred feet."

I didn't thank her because I was too busy trying to figure out whether there was enough room in the suit for me to finger myself: there wasn't. How could I be this horny when I was also terrified of dying in this dark abyss? Was the Kirkii Failsafe thing just there to get people horny enough that they wouldn't be able to worry about dying?

Entering the ship was like getting eaten by a leviathan with jagged wooden teeth. The moment I was in there, I couldn't help but get the feeling I was inside the belly of a living thing. It was chaos. Chests burst open spilling all manner of riches onto the hull of the ship, splinters from cannonballs, ropes, tangled sails, and random pale sea life I couldn't even begin to categorize. Well, the starfish, I knew them, but the other shells and creepy long fish with hellish gaping maws, I had no idea. Using the water jet attached to my right claw, I cleared off some sand to see the shine of gold.

Gold all around me. More gold than I'd likely ever see again. But I needed treasure that was worth more than its weight in gold and that treasure was in the captain's quarters. So, I went back out and sped along the side of the ship surveying the damage until I found that the wall of the captain's quarters had taken a punch from the Incredible Hulk. Seriously, this hole had been made with extreme prejudice and my bulky suit fit through it no problem.

The captain's quarters was full of ruined paintings, papers, and navigation baubles. Ooooh, and there was a beautiful and incredibly outdated globe made out of stone and brass…I stopped sightseeing and focused on the three-foot-square door in the floor, now wall, that led to the officer's hold. This was where the most valuable stuff on a Spanish Galleon was stored. The wooden door that led to it was secured by a heavy latch that had been frozen by corrosion, but I had something for that.

Reaching down with my right manipulator, I grabbed a thermite breaching torch from a holster on the suit's thigh and put it up to where the door latched. All that movement had teased my sopping female equipment and it was throbbing powerfully. I moaned and pressed my breasts up against the front of the suit. Just the friction of my nipples against the polished metal through my wet suit was divine.

The torch slipped out of my manipulator. "Shit!"

"Are you okay, P?"

"Yeah, I just dropped the thermite torch," I replied.

"The rescue snake could easily retrieve it for you, shall I deploy it?" she asked sweetly.

I backed away from the door saying, "Nah, I see it." It was lying on the edge of the door frame. It took a couple tries before I had it held firmly and up against the latch.

With my other manipulator, I pulled the loop connected to the base and closed my eyes. I'd accidentally looked at the the five-thousand-degree flame that came out of one of these before and been blinded for a while. I wasn't going to take any chances. The hissing from all the bubbles was mildly disconcerting and I was glad when it was over.

Once the latch was defeated, I had to engage the strength-enhancing servos because it had swelled itself so tightly into its frame. The cracking and splintering of the wood rang the aluminum of my suit arm like a bell.

When the door finally gave way, only a third of it was still lodged in the opening. The bit that was stuck was a splintery mess. There was even some decrepit iron reinforcement that had been in the door that was sticking out. There was no way I was going to fit through the door into the officer's hold and that's why I had another trick up my sleeve.

"Tritonia, deploy the rescue snake.

There was a clunk in the back of the suit. "Rescue snake deployed."

Normally, rescue snakes were used to find and help people in collapsed buildings, but I'd adapted this one for this underwater heist. It was basically a segmented rope with a light, a manipulator, and a camera on the end. Flipping a switch in the right arm of the suit with my pinky, I grabbed the joystick I'd been using to control my thrust vectoring. The end of the rescue snake moved instead. The small screen in the bottom right of my vision switched from displaying life support information to displaying what the snake saw. I knew what the chests full of Tricentennials and the chest for the scepter looked like because the colonel in charge had taken wonderfully thorough notes and even drawn images of the various chests as they were loaded onto the ship. So I just unloaded the officer's hold one chest at a time looking for the ones I wanted.

It was amazing how easily the snake could grab the chests by the handle and pull them out through the door. There was a floor post in the center of the hold and I was having no trouble maneuvering chests around it. But the best part of this was that my pleasure muffin was rubbing against my wetsuit just right in this position so that I could buck my hips to work myself to orgasm.

After I got two chests of Tricentennials out, Tritonia said, "One hour until abort threshold."

Sure, if I was greedy, I could have grabbed more chests of Tricentennials, but I only had three buoys and I wasn't going to tempt fate by trying to add more weight to them than we'd planned for. Heck, I barely cared about the treasure anymore because my clit was harder than it had ever been in my entire life!

I shuddered and moaned as I rocked my hips even harder against the suit. My inner thighs felt like they were being heated by a thermite torch and my butt muscles were getting numb from how hard I was using them. Fuck, I was gonna cum so hard!

"P? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I should have the scepter in under five—mmaaaAAAHH!" I came from my clit first. Then the pleasure wrapped around the whole of my inner sanctum and my fem juices soaked into my wetsuit.

If Tritonia hadn't interrupted me with, "Have you identified the chest that contains the scepter yet?" I would have gone for another orgasm.

Panting, I said, "Sorry, no I haven't. Got a little distracted."

"It's my fault for giving you the first dose of the Failsafe. All I can do now is try and keep you focused."

"Don't worry about it, I'm feeling really good right now and I should be fine."

"I'm glad," she replied.

The chest with the scepter was way in the back, just at the maximum range of the rescue snake. It was wooden, but had heavy iron reinforcement in bands running along its length and width. A heavy lock was keeping it shut. The handle on the end of the chest that was facing me looked like it had been yanked really hard. The metal was twisted and deformed. I grabbed hold of it and backed the snake up carefully. Since the odd angle of the handle was making the chest come out askew, no matter what I did, I hit the floor post.

Anxiously holding my breath, I let it slide against the floor post. The added friction put stress on the handle and it pulled even further away from the side of the chest. I laughed giddily when it got clear of the post. "Come to mama!" I said as it got up to the edge of the door. As I tugged it through the opening, the lower right corner caught on the door frame and the handle snapped off.

The chest fell back into the officer's hold. "No, fuck! No, Fuck. FUCK NO!" I chanted.

"Is everything—"

"Shut up, Tritonia!" I yelled and then instantly felt bad. "Sorry, just give me a minute."

"Understood."

I put the snake down to see about grabbing the chest, but the handle was done for and the chest had fallen straight down with the other handle against another chest. The snake was great at pulling, but it didn't have the strength to push things as heavy as that chest laterally. If this job hadn't been contingent on me getting the scepter, I would have grabbed more Tricentennials and said screw it. But no, the collector that funded this job and helped me orchestrate stealing this suit wanted that scepter for his private collection.

Banging the glass of my helmet on the floor of the captain's quarters, I said, "God. Damn. It!"

After one more bang on the floor, an idea shook loose. I couldn't reach the chest, but if I grabbed a plank and reached into the hole with it, I'd be able to knock the chest onto its side and then I'd be able to grab the other handle with the rescue snake!

I hopped up and looked around the room. Grabbing a plank with my manipulator would be annoying because it might slip in my grasp. Something glinted on the wall, well, floor not far from my right foot. A brass-colored thing, huh. A brass-colored thing! It was the hilt of a naval officer's sword. Perfect!

Grabbing it off the floor was a cinch because the grip of the sword was the perfect size for my manipulator. I couldn't get the sword out of its sheath, but I figured I'd be safer if it stayed in there anyway.

Looking into the hole, I reached out with my right arm gripping the sword tightly. I pushed the scepter chest onto its side. Then I got the snake latched onto the good handle and tried to extract myself from the hole.

Tritonia said, "Stop!"

I froze in place.

"You have been snagged by something. I'm detecting excess tension on the helmet's electrical feedthrough."

Willing myself not to panic yet, I asked, "So, what do you want me to do?"

She paused for a few seconds. "Try reaching back into the hole and then extracting yourself at a different angle."

I reached in and then tried coming out with my head bent a bit forward.

"Stop!" she said again.

No panicking yet. "You know, I'm probably caught on the jagged edge of that door. It's probably just wood, I bet if I just pulled myself free it would break before damaging the wires."

"Are you willing to bet your life on that assumption?" she asked.

I grimaced. "What do you propose I do?"

"See if you can get a look at what you're snagged on using the rescue snake."

Tritonia was scaring me. She was better at problem solving than I was.

"That's a good idea," I replied.

The snake showed that the thick bundle of wires that came out of the side of my helmet had a large piece of wood stuck through the space between it and my helmet. The problem was that the piece of wood was going at an angle and getting off of it safely was going to be like brain surgery. And I'd be doing brain surgery with buttered chopsticks. This suit was about as maneuverable as the Michelin Man.

Using the snake's viewpoint, I eased forward nearly getting off of the spike of wood, but due to how I'd been positioned reaching in, I rotated. I tried to compensate for the rotation by extending my right leg.

"Stop!" Tritonia chimed in.

"Ugh, this thing's a practically suit of armor, why did they put an important electrical connection in a place where it could get snagged?"

"The depth pressure sensor is mounted in that area and wires were already going to it, so the engineer decided to put an electrical connection there as well. Additionally, the ADS 3000X was not designed for tight quarters and you are using it outside of specifications."

"Well, we're going to have to work outside specifications to get me out of this predicament. Set the tension warning threshold higher,"I said.

"Understood. Setting threshold to engineering tolerances."

I spent forever trying to position my body so I wouldn't rotate while I was pulling off the wooden spike. Problem was that my left foot was hooked by a warped plank and I would have had to pull off of the wooden spike to have room to maneuver and get my foot loose. Tritonia saying "Stop!" was really getting on my nerves.

Well into me using swearing as my coping mechanism, Tritonia said, "One half hour until abort threshold."

"That's it!" I balled up my left hand into a fist as my chest spasmed from how tight it was. I knew I was using anger to clothe my fear, but it was better than me going into shock. "Tritonia, if I don't take a risk, the storm's gonna force Alphonse to take harbor before we surface. Do you like our chances out in the open ocean during a squall?"

"No I do not. Additional recommendation: we initiate the second phase of the Kirkii Failsafe Procedure to prepare it for deployment in case pressure sensor and other control systems are damaged during your attempt at extraction."

Just knowing we had a backup plan in the works would help me stay calm. "Sure, go ahead."

"Administering Kirkii Vector Complex." After a familiar cold trickle of fluid entered my left arm, she said, "Failsafe Procedure status: primed."

Since I was going to just snap that piece of wood, I didn't need to see what I was doing. As my unmentionables warmed from the aphrodisiac characteristics of the Failsafe concoction, I grabbed the chest with the scepter using the snake. Then I bent my legs and did a slow jumping motion trying to pull myself off the piece of wood without too much lateral force against the wires. First I heard a rubbing, then I heard Tritonia complaining, and then I heard a sickening scraping sound. Was I wrong? Had that wooden spike been intermingled with some rusty iron reinforcement?

There was a crackling sound as I pulled the scepter clear of the door to the hold. Then the ballast tanks started filling with water. Now I was nauseous, there was no way that was a good thing. I hadn't touched the controls for the ballast.

Tritonia's calm voice didn't fit her bad news at all, "Short in ballast control system detected. Main pressure sensor is offline."

"How bad—" I gulped. "H-how bad is it?"

"Please stay calm, P. I am in the process of assessing the damage. I suggest you send up the retrieval buoys ASAP so your ship will be there when you surface."

Tritonia was right. Focus on the goal: getting the treasure and me up to the surface. I needed to stay calm and take measured breaths. "I agree. Deploy the retrieval buoys."

With three ka-clunks, the buoys were released from the back of the suit. Each was a little square-foot grey and bright yellow cube with an industrial-grade nylon salvage net attached, a donut-shaped radio beacon, and a little red loop I could pull to inflate them. In under five minutes, I put a nylon net around each chest, hooked it to a buoy, and then pulled the red loop. I'd practiced this step so many times that even my yearning underparts couldn't screw me up.

For a handful of seconds, the hissing of the buoys inflating was louder than the continued hissing of air leaving the ballast tanks. As the last buoy started ascending, I felt a wave of triumph…that went straight to my clit! Some masturbation to celebrate the fact I'd secured the treasure was in order, right?

I started rubbing against the suit again. Damn, this latest injection was making things even worse.

"Persephone, please do not panic." She paused to let me think about that suggestion. "I lied when I said I was still assessing the damage. The short severely damaged the ballast control board. The controls for dropping your lead ballast and managing your ballast tanks are inoperative. This suit can no longer surface."

"What!?" I cried out. I started to tremble, my entire body feeling like an ice sculpture. I was going to die in this claustrophobic tin can. "Why did you wait to tell me? We could have tried to use the buoys to lift me us up, right?"

"Please stay calm. Combined, the three retrieval buoys could only lift half of the ADS 3000x's mass and that is without taking the ballast into account. If I had told you earlier, there is a possibility that you would have panicked and not sent up the buoys. Without sending up the buoys, Alphonse would not be in position when you surfaced which would further diminish your chances of survival."

"God damn it!" I was so cold. This suit was so confining. I was suffocating. The Failsafe was probably there just to make me feel better. She'd probably just been injecting me with endorphins this entire time to keep me sane. No wonder she'd pretended it was classified.

"P, are you—"

"One sec, I might have an idea." I smiled as I thought about it more. "Could we use the rescue snake to manually drop the lead ballast and actuate the valve for the ballast tanks?"

There was a pause. "No, your modifications to the rescue snake's manipulator to make it more efficient at grabbing chest handles makes it unable to engage in fine-motor tasks."

"FUCKING SHIT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I stomped my foot so hard in the suit that it ached. Alone and at the bottom of the sea, I was going to take my last breath.

"Do you disagree with my reasoning?" The fact that her voice was still calm despite the terrifying situation we were in was irritating.

"No, I know you're right about the buoys and the snake. I just don't want to die!" I started tearing up. Sitting here waiting till I ran out of air? That wasn't how I wanted to go!

"Please stay calm. The Failsafe has greater than fifty percent odds of saving your life."

"How much greater?" I had to get out of this suit, get away from her lies and false hope!

"Fifty-one percent. It is a cutting-edge experimental procedure," she said as if it was a great consolation.

It was so cold in here, so confined. This suit was going to be my expensive aluminum coffin! "Let me out! I can't take it anymore! Let me out of this suit!"

"You're panting, take slower breaths, calm yourself. You have no chance of survival if I open the suit."

"You're not listening…" I punched the controls in my right gauntlet. "I said let me out of this fucking suit!" Tears were streaming down my face. All my thoughts were colliding with each other. It felt like my head was going to explode.

My left arm felt even colder as she gave me another dose of her goddamned placebo without my permission. "You've been mentally compromised: administering Redacted Redacted and Compound 263."

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Giving you a chance at survival. Failsafe Procedure status: active."

"I'm trapped in here with your lying liar processors." I started bawling. "And I'm going to die."

She waited until a break in my bawling to say. "P, I am not lying. In fact, if you survive the Failsafe procedure, you will not need the suit anymore. Therefore, if you survive, I will let you out…Charging capacitors for Redacted Redacted Initialization Flash."

"What? How can you even make that claim? Not need the suit? My body can't survive down here." Curiosity was cutting through the fog of desperation in my head.

"It is true that your body cannot survive at this depth in its current form."

My eyes went wide. "In its current form? What?" I was still shivering from shock, on the brink of breaking down again.

"I cannot elaborate. If the procedure is successful, you will see for yourself," her voice was smoother and sweeter than ever, like honey butter.

If I lived, and that was a big if, I was going to marry this AI. Even now, when I was about to die, she was helping me calm down. Well, kinda, my privates were now so damn desperate from the latest injection that they were helping run interference. Maybe this was all a ploy to keep me from dying terrified and alone. Maybe she was telling the truth. I had no way to know. "Wait, you said 'vector complex' before. Did you mean genetic vector? Are you going to be changing my genetic makeup?"

"That is classified information."

I tried to ask another question, but she interrupted me with, "Administering Failsafe Procedure Redacted Redacted Initialization Flash."

And then it was like I was in a bathtub that someone had dropped a toaster into. The heat, light, and electricity had my skin burning, my muscles contracting, and my ears ringing. It was too overwhelming to register as pain. The ringing in my ears and my vision both devolved into white noise. I have no idea how long it was before I could see and hear again.

"P? Are you there?" Tritonia asked.

"Yes, I'm here," I said with my mouth feeling like parched leather. If the shock she gave me had been meant to euthanize me, she was incredibly twisted. But I didn't want to believe that. Instead, I allowed myself to pretend a miracle was about to happen and that she wasn't going to follow up with a second, more lethal, shock.

"The final activation step is the most risky part of the procedure. Your chance of survival is now well over ninety percent."

My smile was tempered by me feeling like a steamed fish. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Within thirty seconds, you will start noticing changes to your body. Do not be alarmed when these occur. They will ensure your survival."

That took me right out of my stupor. "What kinds of changes?"

"I cannot say."

"Since I'm going to find out anyway, what's the harm in—WHOA!" My tailbone felt like someone was stuffing marshmallows into it while the opening to my silk-walled garage got pressure on it that made me yip in bliss.

"Tell me if there are any changes that concern you," Tritonia said.

"Will do," I puffed out while my muscles and organs burned like they'd spent all day out in the sun. It wasn't painful, per se, but it was unpleasant. The sensation went right into my bones before collecting somewhere near my womb. It was good I was stuck inside this suit because every inch of my skin suddenly decided it had been smeared with poison ivy. "Gah! My skin is on fire!"

"It is normal and will pass," she said.

It took its time passing, meanwhile the stinging sensation near my womb moved down toward my crotch and my soft clam contorted. I found that wonderful position where I could rub my clit and nipples against the suit and started going to town.

Grunting, moaning, gasping, I labored to bring myself to orgasm. I had to break briefly to report, "My neck feels like someone's cutting it open!"

"It is normal and will pass."

Thankfully, it went away after I felt six of those gashes on each side of my neck. Six gashes…on the sides of my neck… "Am I getting gills?"

"Yes you are."

"No way!" I said.

"Yes way," she replied. Her intonation for it was terrible, though.

"I thought you couldn't—Mrrraahhh!" I started thumping my pleasure button again. "I thought you couldn't answer questions about the Failsafe."

"You guessed correctly, therefore I didn't tell you anything," Tritonia said simply.

Trying to guess more based on only six gills was impossible. I just hoped I wasn't going to end up with sharp fish fins or something. Wait! I stopped everything I was doing. "I'm turning into a human sea animal hybrid?"

"Yes."

Nope, even with that dropped, I couldn't keep from masturbating long. Especially because there was something happening in front of my clit. It felt like the skin there had multiple layers. Shit! Would anyone recognize me? Was I going to be a Frankenstein combination of human and animal parts? What the hell was going on in front of my feminine wilds? A pair of clenching angry fists was moving inside me right toward it.

As they popped free, I gasped in pain. It was the exact same reaction I'd seen on guys when someone hit them in the— "I have balls!?"

"That is a common side effect, do not worry."

Taking pressure off of my new nuts, I said, "Am I turning into a guy?" This wetsuit hadn't been constructed with male anatomy in mind!

"Statistically speaking, you will not lose any preexisting sexual characteristics."

"Wait, I'm going to have both?"

"Both sets of genitals? The answer appears to be yes."

"Holy fuck!" I said that partially due to the revelation she just delivered and partially because of the fantastic bliss coming from the area above my still-swelling-sac.

As the burning on my skin dissipated, she said, "Your new anatomy is outgrowing the ADS 3000X. Equalization of pressure must begin."

I cringed. "I'm scared."

"Do not worry. Your gills will allow you to breathe and your body will be better able to finish its changes outside the suit. You now have enough enhancements that you be able to survive until the full changes take effect."

I bit back tears. "Tritonia, you're going to be stuck down here, aren't you?"

"Do not worry. I will shut down once you are out of sensory range and await retrieval."

I wanted to hug her, but I was already inside her, so I just awkwardly hugged the suit with its bulbous arms. "I'll make sure they find you quickly."

"Thank you," she said.

God damn, I wanted to do lewd things to her. Or find a friendly squid. Or find a way to finger myself. "You're welcome."

"If you need to communicate with me once my speakers are submerged there is a keyboard and a status screen on the back of the suit," she said. "Stay near me until your full changes come into effect and then detach the radio beacon and bring it with you to the surface."

"Understood," was all I could think of to say because two sensitive tips were now poking out of that area above my sac. I would have asked her why there were two of them, but I was far too embarrassed and aroused to try and hold a conversation.

"Pull off your wetsuit the moment you are outside and stow it in the ADS 3000X. Follow your new instincts when you transition to water breathing. Pull water in through your mouth and then push it over your gills." Tritonia was in full worried mother mode.

Those twin pleasure shafts were now rubbing against my wetsuit. "Ngh! O-okay!"

"Commencing pressure equalization."

Brutally cold water began entering the suit from ports along my back. I heard the whirr of equipment as it entered. At first, my legs went numb, but then an odd thing happened, that numbness resolved into me feeling normal. It was as if this was not too cold for me at all. As my shafts reached a couple inches long, I found I could move them and this drove me wild. At thee inches, I was wrapping them around each other and stroking one with the other, or stroking both at the same time while wiggling them back and forth.

To think I had fucking whale dicks was amazing, but feeling them was astounding. By the time the water passed my waist, I had five inches to play with. My fear of being thrust naked into the deep was tempered by the infinite arrangements I was finding for my new phalluses. "Tritonia, these whale dicks out of this world!" I exclaimed unable to contain my excitement.

I could just barely hear her over the sound of the entering water. "Yes, do not forget that they can be deployed as extra limbs to hold things if need be."

After laughing at her absurdly practical observation, I groaned. Just how big were these puppies gonna get? They'd nearly made it to my belly button. Hey! My face was now touching the glass of my helmet and my jaws were aching. Was my face getting longer? It was! My nose was further from my face. When my gills got submerged, I started to feel a bit anxious. When my ears got submerged, I tilted my head up and gasped into the little pocket of air. I was getting quite light-headed.

This was no time to panic, I had to switch to water breathing. Tritonia wouldn't lie about this. My gills would work. Steeling myself for the discomfort to come, I tilted my head down and sucked in water. It went right down my windpipe and I almost coughed, but along with a little headache, my coughing reflex disappeared. Soon my lungs were full of water and when I pulled water into my mouth, my gills flexed and my tongue coordinated with other muscles to push the water over my gills. It felt like a water jet passing between tiny flexible fingers. And just as my light-headedness dissipated, the helmet for the suit flipped up and I climbed out through the hole.

Holy shit, I was breathing water! I was outside the suit!

Ouch, my tailbone was doing the marshmallow thing again and it was pressing way too hard against my wetsuit. I unzipped the wetsuit and pulled myself out of it. Then, as I stuffed it into the ADS, my face pressed forward into an angular snout. I felt it with my hands. It was like a shark's snout, but my skin was incredibly smooth in every direction, unlike a shark's.

Whoa! The skin on the palms of my hands could be grippy or smooth. Did I have tiny starfish suckers on them or something?

The next place my variable-grip hands went was to my shafts. I grabbed one in each hand finding they were now each a foot long! Stroking my smooth hard muscular erections, I fell in love with them. Tritonia said I was getting enhanced, but I didn't dream I'd get something like these.

When my eyes weren't closed from the sheer pleasure, I was looking at my blotchy grey shark skin in the light of the suit. It had a large stripey pattern on it in addition to the blotches. As I felt a little knot of pressure built up in my balls, my tail pushed further out of my body. It was like someone had hooked up a tow cable to it and pulled. Snap by snap, vertebrae were added. I couldn't see it, but I could definitely feel it. Swishing it, I could feel the fins on it bend.

The sounds men made before they came were no longer a mystery. My balls and something behind them were being assaulted by a pent up bliss that smoldered like embers. Arching my head back, I jammed my hips forward and squeezed at my pricks. They pulsed heavily in my hands as they spouted ghostly white strands of my masculine bounty into the water. Male orgasms had a sharp edge to them that bordered on pain and I would have been screaming if I was in air. The inside of my pricks felt like they were being pleasantly destroyed. Like my lengths would never work again.

As I felt something grow in on the sides of my legs, the glorious torment ended and I was left there drifting above the sea floor. I closed my eyes and rested ignoring the tingling of my fingers, ears, and toes. When I opened my eyes, the light of the suit was at my back and only a couple inches of my lengths were still outside me.

It was odd, they were muscles so they were still as hard as ever, they just had a place inside me where they hid when they weren't in use. It was funny I could see them when the light wasn't shining on them. I didn't remember them being that yellow—WHAT?! The front of me, including my shafts, was glowing a yellow-green color in the same stripe and blotch pattern as my grey markings. I was bioluminescent? I was bioluminescent! How fucking cool was that?! I would have been crying if I could. I'd always loved fireflies and sea creatures, anything and everything that could make its own light. And now my own body could do it? Just that alone was worth the price of me being a freak. It was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me.

Could I turn it off? Yep! All I had to do was think about it. Could I just turn on some of it? When I made my left hand glow on its own, I caught sight of webbing that went up to my first knuckle. I made my left foot glow and found it was fully webbed. That combined with the fins on my legs, arms, and tail was gonna make swimming a cinch! Blushing and feeling very lewd, I made my pricks glow. My body reminded me that my hyperlocal honeypot was still in need of attention by making it twitch with glee as I stared at my lengths. Every bit of horniness from before came back with interest. I reached down with my left hand and shoved two fingers into myself. Instead of moaning, I did this whale-like humming into the water.

Inches of prehensile fun spilled out of my slit as I added a third finger. I had special lube inside me that was still slippery even when under water and my sensitive nub was big enough that it was super easy to find. This fingering felt so good that my twin spires were fully deployed in under a minute.

Blushing deeply in the form of a bright full-body glow, I got the lewdest, most kinky idea: I could be my own friendly squid!

With my hands, I pulled my balls to either side of my sac and then slid my pricks right down the middle before wrapping them around until they were touching my mound. Kicking at the water with how good it felt, I started pressing inside myself. Caution was a stranger to me, I penetrated myself with both lengths at the same damn time. Their tapers stretched me as I felt the silky smooth walls of my own love tunnel caress my masculine pleasure tentacles. This was self gratification of the highest order. I teased my own flesh with the flexible shafts as I ventured ever deeper. The next time someone told my to go fuck myself I would say, "Challenge accepted!"

Soon I was buried eight inches deep, well stretched, and making my shafts fondle each other while cuddled by my velvety folds. I thrashed in the water, I let out bursts of vibration, and I squeezed my breasts like they were stress balls while titillating my nipples with the suckers on the palms of my hands.

Coiling and uncoiling my spires gave my depths an instant orgasm.

Jostled by the rhythmic clenching of my hot wet satin, my male release nearly took hold. The moment my body came to rest, I didn't coast on the bliss of afterglow, I fucked myself nice and hard with a double helix made of my pricks. They slid deliciously over my clit and stirred up my lust cavern while I ground my hips against an unseen lover. I was already seeing stars. Ecstasy beyond my ability to comprehend it.

Then in an instant, it was as if the pressure of the half mile of water above me compressed my all my pleasure into a priceless diamond. I came so hard that I glowed like a light bulb. I came so hard that I forgot what day it was. I came so hard that every other orgasm I'd ever had in my entire life felt like an insult.

My dicks gave me a hot sticky cream filling that brought daylight to every corner of my being. My hidden gem gained a luster that outshined the sun as it convulsed around my twin self-insertions.

The slight current carried me down toward the ADS as I spent a few minutes with a blown mind. It took me a fair amount of willpower to get myself to stop lazing in the welcoming depths and swim over to the suit. If I stayed down here too long, Alphonse would likely take the ship back to its hiding place on a fishing route and try again later.

To Tritonia, I typed, "We are already past the abort window and ten more minutes is unlikely to change my chances of survival. Please relay a message through the buoys to tell Alphonse we're on our way. Manually bypassing the ballast should be easy for me, so I'm going to attempt it."

I didn't even look to see her complaints about me taking risks when she'd be fine down here. After opening the toolbox on the back of the suit, I got the cowling open and went to work. My hands could hang onto tools effortlessly, but at one point I needed three tools readily available. Blushing and feeling like the sea's biggest pervert, I followed Tritonia's suggestion and used my pricks to hold a screwdriver and a wrench.

By the time ten minutes had passed, holding tools with my erections felt normal and the ballast tanks were filling with air. I put the cowling back on, put the tools back in the toolbox, and went back to the status screen.

"P, don't worry about me. I will be fine. Hello? You should be surfacing. I see, you are purposefully ignoring the status screen," is what Tritonia had written while I was working.

I replied, "Thank you for saving my life when I was too panicked to make the decision. You are the real treasure of the depths and I have never been happier."

"I am glad you survived, P. Talking to you is very pleasant and you are the most beautiful result of the Kirkii Procedure I have ever seen."

"You think I'm beautiful?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I have a sense of aesthetics. I have many human traits that humans try to discount."

I smiled, it still felt strange on my shark snout. "I agree and I will try to never discount you again."

Her cursor hung there for a few seconds. The slight pause might have frustrated the ignorant, but I now knew that it was a sign Tritonia was experiencing an emotion. This time, I imagined it was contentment. "Thank you, P. Let's go home."

I detached the lead ballast and wrapped my arms around the suit as it started ascending. It was the closest I could get to hugging Tritonia: the most amazing person I'd ever met.

<<<<Caution: NSFW Images Ahead>>>>

Tritonia’s Secret

What happened after Persephone made it to the surface? And who was behind the top secret technology that transformed her? The answers to these questions are the best kept secrets of a clandestine organization that protects the world from innovations and artifacts that could end civilization as we know it.

Some see Persephone as a new uniquely gifted ally while others see her as a mistake that must be corrected. Persephone is about to get an offer she can't refuse, get freaky with an entity who thinks she's the hottest woman alive, and witness things beyond her wildest dreams.

Tritonia’s Secret

The surface of the ocean was as still as a sheet of glass, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. Dark clouds towered in the west and below them was the impenetrable blanket of grey that accompanied heavy rain.

Moving to the back of the atmospheric diving suit that housed Tritonia's processors, I typed. "Any response from Alphonse?"

"He's approaching from the south." She replied.

After glancing at the compass rose on the amber and black display, I turned to face southward. On the horizon was a white and red speck. "I see him!"

"Should I warn him about your changed appearance?" Tritonia asked.

Looking down at my bare breasts which were now covered in pristine white shark hide, I grimaced as I realized that I was still breathing through my gills. Alphonse wasn't going to have any idea what I was or what to do with me. Warning him ahead of time by telling him the whole story would lead to him thinking it was an elaborate joke. No warning was a bad idea, too.

I typed in, "Send this to Alphonse: I look different from when you last saw me. It's hard to explain, but try not to freak out when you see me, okay?"

When our ship was close enough to be about the size of a marble, he replied, "Listen Percy, you shouldn't be ashamed of your all natural piranha nose job."

I rolled my eyes and then sent back, "Piranhas live in fresh water! And, it's not just a nose job, my whole body is way different. I doubt you'll recognize me, I don't need a diving suit anymore."

"Sure, you don't…You're more of a jester than me today. XD"

His reply made me shake my head in frustration. Boy, was he in for a surprise when I climbed onto the boat. Any panic he experienced would serve him right! Wait, I was nude…First thing I had to do when I climbed on the ship was grab the nearest thing that I could hide my crotch with. Otherwise, I'd die of embarrassment.

It wasn't a huge boat, but it was a full-fledged research vessel over two hundred feet long with a couple decks that stood above the main deck. The hull was an eye-searing bright red while everything above it was stark white. The ship was mostly computer controlled allowing Alphonse to operate it all on his own.

As the boat pulled up, I couldn't stop blushing at the thought of my balls and slit getting discovered. I grabbed the ladder and climbed up only to realize my lungs were full of water and I now needed to breathe air. I was basically recovering from drowning. The more water I coughed up, the more my lungs burned for air. A wave of dizzy exhaustion caused me to lose my grip on the ladder.

I managed to catch the ladder just before I tumbled backwards. After another fit of coughing and nearly blacking out, I took in my first lungful of air.

In that moment, I felt insanely alive. There was enough adrenaline in my body to make all my muscles twitchy and, once I caught my breath, climbing up the ladder felt effortless.

I was in the aft of the ship right next to the crane that lifted the diving suit. Alphonse's curly hair was peeking out over the top of a stack of green crates. Shit! He was going to come around the corner and see me any second now. Looking around me, I spotted a life preserver and a bright yellow watertight toolbox sitting against the side of the control panel for the crane. The life preserver was too far away for me to grab it quickly, so I lunged toward the tool box and picked it up. Holding it in front of my crotch, I turned in Alphonse's direction.

My breath froze in my chest as he came around the crates.

He shrieked, "SHARK! SHARK ON MY BOAT!" and ran away.

"Wait! Alpha, it's me, Persephone!" I called after him, stepping carefully around the crates while hoping he wasn't going to chase me with a harpoon gun.

After he leapt into the diving equipment room he peeked out through a crack in the door. His eyes dipped to my chest for a brief second. "A shark with breasts? W-what?"

"Not so scary now, am I?" I smiled.

"Nightmare teeth!" He closed the door and locked it behind him.

"Hey! They're not as sharp as they look!" I yelled, feeling insulted.

"Said the big bad wolf to Red Riding Hood," he pouted.

"Stop being a little kid! Come out of there and help me find some clothes."

"Stop being a shark, and I will!" he retorted.

"I can't! This is how my body is now." I laid my head against the white-painted metal door. Was it going to be this hard with everyone I met from now on? Had I gone from hottie to hideous? Fuck, now I kinda wanted to cry.

After a brief pause, he asked, "You—you're really Persephone?"

"Yes!" The tool box was starting to feel heavy and I didn't want to have to keep holding it in front of my crotch. "Remember the time we slept on the beach in Santa Monica and some homeless guy put a blanket over us when it got cold?"

"Everyone knows that story," he said. "How about this, what did the homeless guy order when we took him out for breakfast?"

"Do you even remember that? I don't." I replied. "Oh! But I do know he was an electrical engineer from Armenia who was bipolar and got fucked over by a seedy startup."

"You promise you won't eat me if I open the door?" he asked.

I sighed and then said, "I promise."

The door clanked and I stepped back to give Alphonse room to open it. When he came out, he put ten feet between us and examined me while trying not to stare at my breasts. "Huh, when I'm not terrified, you actually look kinda hot."

Damn it! That compliment was all it took for me to start getting wet again. A rush of excitement was touching every part of me. I'd never done anything with Alphonse, but my body wanted to change that ASAP. On the other hand, the idea of Alphonse seeing my male equipment made me want to dive right back into the ocean. I couldn't imagine him, or anyone, being into it. Especially when it was so bizarre. Who was ready for two prehensile pricks? I covered my chest with my free arm and blushed deeply. "You really think so?"

He nodded and smiled. "You're even more gorgeous than before."

I balked. "First you run from me and now you're hitting on me?"

Holding his sunburnt hands in front of himself, he blushed. "Hey! A man can compliment a lady without hitting on her."

I frowned melodramatically. "Aww, so you weren't hitting on me?"

"No, I was…" He narrowed eyes. "Now you're just messing with me."

Grinning I said, "Yep!"

After rolling his eyes, he said, "You gotta find some clothes and I gotta get the diving suit on the ship so we can get to harbor before the storm hits. And, on the way, you're going to tell me how you went all shark and stuff."

"Sounds good," I said. Maybe I'd find clothes fast enough that I could get in some good self-fucking while Alphonse was distracted.

The first thing I did was look in the diving equipment room. Scuba equipment and wetsuits weren't gonna cut it and the only clothes I found were two sizes too small. I'd gotten a bit bigger, which wasn't going to make things easy. I could deal with baggy clothes, but clothes that were too small, that was a recipe for revealing my bulge. Setting down the toolbox, I grabbed the orange T-shirt that didn't fit and took a strap that had a buckle on it and strung it through the arm holes of the T-shirt so that I could wear it as a loincloth. The wide nylon strap made a pretty good belt and the T-shirt covered exactly what it needed to so I could walk around more freely.

My breasts and ass would have to remain exposed for now. The tips of my erections came out of their slit, maybe covering up was counter to my goals. Maybe I wanted to sit atop Alphonse and ride his thin wiry frame until he came inside me. Reaching under my balls, I stroked my fingers over my slick needy nook. Damn! I needed to get off.

Making the excuse to myself that I just needed to rinse the seawater off, I rushed below deck to the crew quarters and stepped into the mint green bathroom with a an intermittently-flickering lamp. Of the two bathrooms, it had the nicest shower.

My reflection stopped me in my tracks before I could even make it to the shower. I pulled off my makeshift loincloth and adored every inch of my body in the mirror.

Wow, my breasts were pert and my balls were just short of being too big. The pristine white of my front gave way to tan shark skin with gorgeous brown splotches. Turning around, I lifted my tail and looked at my feminine wilds. The outer lips were plump and the red of the inner ones were very inviting. They were getting glossier by the second as my body begged for sexual relief. I was smoking hot!

I hopped in the shower and, for the first time in my life, I didn't mind the cold water that came out before it warmed up. Rinsing off was easy and I was done in just over a minute. But I wasn't going to stop there. I finally had some private time. As my erections poked out of their slit, I encouraged them with both hands. My gasps echoed loudly in the confines of this tiny bathroom.

Once my twin phalluses were half deployed, a klaxon trumpeted over the entire ship and I stumbled out of the shower with my hands over my pointy fan-like ears. I then dried off hurriedly and put my loincloth back on before going topside. I recognized this klaxon from somewhere other than this ship and was trying to place it as I dodged scientific equipment in the hallway and then went up the main stairway to the bridge.

Once I got to the bridge, I recognized the alarm sound, it was the default klaxon from Stargate SG-1. It made sense, Alphonse was the biggest Stargate fan I'd ever met.

He was holding the satellite phone he'd rigged to make the ship-wide SG-1 klaxon. I'd missed most of the conversation, so all I heard him say was, "We'll just have to make harbor before they get to us, then. Thanks, bye." He set down the phone before putting his head in his hands and yelling, "SHIT FUCK! SHITTY SHIT FUCK!!" while stomping his feet.

I waited a few seconds for him to calm down before asking, "Who's coming for us?"

He was still holding his head. "My contact says that two stealth ships are on their way to apprehend us." Letting go of his head and snapping himself out of shock, he said, "We gotta get the suit tied down ASAP so we can high tail it out of here."

I spun around, got on the ladder that went up to the bridge from the main deck, and then slid down. The breeze caught my loincloth and I had to hold it down as I walked towards the aft. Alphonse was right behind me, and when we got up to the suit, we set about grabbing the straps and securing it.

As we were finishing, Alphonse said, "If we're lucky, we'll get off this ship before they can apprehend us. Mr. Castile is waiting with a team of men to get the treasure off the moment we get there."

"Good, as far as I'm concerned, he's on his own once we get there."

He nodded. "I'd rather die than be stuffed in a cell for the rest of my life."

"I think you went into the wrong line of business." I laughed.

"Oh, shut up."

"High risk! High pay! Zero boredom!" I cheered. It was our mantra whenever things got rough.

"High risk! High pay! Jailed for life!" he cheered back before running toward the bridge.

While Alphonse got us up to max speed, I updated Tritonia on our situation using the keyboard and screen on the back of the ADS 3000.

She replied with, "Is there no way I can convince you to let yourself be caught? As I've said before, the organization that made me will chase you for the rest of your life. Also, you cannot hide your appearance. There are less than five thousand human/animal hybrids in the entire world and you are a very unique example. The procedure that saved you is experimental and I'd feel better if you stay so that Kirkii can examine you."

"Look, I've been on the run for over a decade and I have no plans to be caught this time. Besides, being locked up for the rest of my life would be bad for my physical and mental health."

There was a pause. "P, please reconsider. To have the highest chance of survival, you must be examined post procedure."

"Sorry, Tritonia. It's against my nature to turn myself in." I frowned, having no idea how to say goodbye to her, possibly forever. Words came to me slowly, but eventually I wrote out, "You're an amazing person. Thank you for saving my life. I promise I'll make good use of the extra time. Goodbye." The corners of my eyes were moist as I walked away from the suit.

Alphonse and I knew Tritonia would be a risk from day one, but we also knew we couldn't do the scepter job without her. A lot of the information she had on us, a lot of the conversations we had around her, were to give her false information that would make finding us harder. I felt bad about it, but it also made it so we didn't have to wipe her after the job. That seemed very unethical in her case.

The best lead Tritonia could give them was images or video she'd captured after I transformed. Being out in public was going to be very complicated, dressing like a cloaked figure from a fantasy film was going to be my new style. Also, I'd definitely be using the money from this job to buy myself some privacy.

As I was heading down to the quarters, the ship decelerated fast enough that I fell sideways and hit my shoulder on a wall. Over the intercom, Alphonse said, "Grab your pistol and get up here! They're blocking us from entering port!"

I had no idea what our pistols would do against military ships, but I went into my quarters and grabbed my Smith and Wesson 929 revolver. Great, I had a gun and was wearing a loincloth…I was going to face down the military as Florida Woman.

The moment I was on deck, I saw Alphonse behind a crate pointing his Glock at a dark grey angular ship three times the size of ours. There was a slight curve to the inward-leaning sides it that helped it not look like antiquated computer graphics. A second ship off to our starboard side shared its look, but wasn't as wide. That one had way more guns on it. Everything was shrouded to prevent radar from bouncing back. On the deck of the ship directly ahead of us were several Marines with rifles.

Some of them were surprised to see a half-naked shark babe. A female marine with long hair that was tied back was talking to a broad-shouldered one and gesturing toward me. The red and yellow of their uniforms made them stand out like sore thumbs against the cloudy sky. Blue accents on the pockets of their uniforms increased the garishness twofold. These were their show of force colors, not their tactical colors. America had lost its fashion sense, right along with its mind, when I got into middle school. They were at a range where our pistols were all but useless. I could barely make out details. Hovering twenty feet away was a small quadcopter drone pointing an array of cameras at us. It didn't look armed, but I had no way of knowing for sure.

When he saw me, Alphonse yelled, "We can't let them capture us!" and looked down the sight of his gun trying to line up one of the Marines. I quickly got behind the same crate as Alphonse.

"What the hell, Alphonse?!" I hollered.

"Drop your weapons!" An authoritative female voice came from the LRAD they had pointed at us. I knew those things could project sound over a long distance, but I'd never thought they'd be so freaking loud. My ears hurt.

I tossed my weapon down on the deck, but Alphonse was still clutching his. Glaring at him, I said, "You heard her! We're no match for them!"

At first, I was glad, because he pulled his gun down, but then he put the gun to his temple. "When we signed up for this, I didn't know the fucking Navy was going to come after us. I'm not going to spend my life in a military prison!"

"No! Alphonse! Don't do it!" I begged trying to get to him before he could pull the trigger.

He backed away leaving the cover of the crates to stop me from grabbing his gun. Tears were falling from his cheeks as his whole arm shook. My chest was seizing up from all the tension. It was a fight to breathe.

"Hey, I know it's scary, but Tritonia likes us. I doubt she'd be too cooperative if they treated us too badly." I had no idea if it made any sense, but it sounded good.

He was crying harder now. I couldn't read him, but his arm was shaking less. I'd seen Alphonse like this before. It took a hell of a lot to overwhelm him, but he'd scared me a couple times. What scared me even more was that his position on being captured made sense to the doubting part of myself. The part that thought I should do the same, that being in a military prison would be worse than death.

"Just give me the gun, okay?" As I reached toward him so he could hand the gun to me, something felt its way along the deck at lightning speed reaching toward him. I yelled, "Behind you!"

He must have thought I was trying to trick him because his finger tightened on the trigger while he said, "I'm sorry." There was a bang from his gun going off as a tentacle grabbed him around his knees and pulled him off the deck.

As I screamed bloody murder at the sudden gunshot and the prospect of Alphonse being eaten by the Navy's pet giant squid, a tentacle wrapped around my legs and pulled me off the ship. This resulted in more screaming on my part.

I was feeling very exposed, the strap for my makeshift loincloth had come undone. Naked and in the arms of a giant squid? This wasn't as hot as I'd imagined it would be. No, it was fucking terrifying.

As I struggled underwater, another tentacle grabbed me around the torso and pinned my arms to my sides. I was squid food. I was going to be a snack. I should have known this job was too risky. I should have expected this.

A shiver ran up from my toes to the tips of my ears. Was Alphonse dead? Was he drowning? Where was he? I felt sick, like my heart was going to explode, and then I felt like all of this was happening to someone else. Like I was watching someone play a video game where I was the main character. Everything was moving so slowly. My heart was burning, well, someone's heart was burning.

Just when I'd resigned myself to a death straight out of a comic book, I noticed I was being lifted toward the surface.

Wasn't the squid's mouth down, not up? As I wondered about this, my head popped back through the surface of the ocean. I took in breaths thankful that I hadn't been forced to undergo the hassle of switching to water breathing only to die. I'd heard giant squid had chitin on their tentacles that would cut into the things they grabbed, but this squid's tentacles weren't injuring me at all. That meant I could struggle all I wanted! As I tried to get free the end of the tentacle holding my torso looped around me a second time. I hadn't been eaten yet, but I wasn't getting free anytime soon.

Alphonse's frustrated yell as he tried to free himself got me to look behind me. Seeing him alive, I cried tears of joy.

The out of body feeling continued as I was lifted out of the water and placed on the deck of the stealth ship. Alphonse was plopped down right next to me.

He leapt at me hugging me tight. "I'm so glad you're alive! I thought we were going to be dinner."

Hugging him back, I said, "Same here." Not caring that I had an audience, I held Alphonse against my bare front. I'd almost lost him.

A tall strong blonde-haired woman with khaki-colored skin in a cyan and dark blue uniform cleared her throat. "Attention!" she said in a heavy Dutch accent.

As we let go of each other, Alphonse noticed my balls and slit. His eyes went wide and he blushed even darker than I did as he said, "Y-you have—"

"Eyes front!" the woman commanded.

After I covered my privates with my hands, we both turned to face the woman in charge.

"You two have stolen top secret technology belonging to the Pan-oceanic Safety Congress. There will be no trial. If you engage in any form of subterfuge, you will be executed. You are alive now because I deem it better than the alternative. You do not want me to change my mind. Understood?"

We both nodded. The gaggle of marines she commanded took covert glances at my crotch even though my hands were still guarding my decency.

"Understood?" She said louder.

"Yes!" we both barked out.

"Good! You may call me Charlemagne and I will be chatting with the two of you soon." She put on a smile so pleasant that it was fighting with the imposing air of authority carried by her square-chinned face. Turning toward a marine with a crew cut and a wide, distinguished dark mustache who was off to my left side, she said, "Jake, please escort our guests to their holding cell."

"Yes ma'am!" said Jake.

Behind him was a female marine wearing a red beret with yellow edging to match her uniform. Coming out from under the beret was a long braid of auburn hair. To her, Charlemagne said, "Pepper, please assist Jake."

"Will do, ma'am," she said as she walked up to us. She took off her beret and handed it to me. "Here, to cover up your—"

"Thanks!" I said as I used Pepper's beret as intended.

Her hair was thick and her braid looked fantastic. Around her biceps and thighs, her uniform was a bit tight hinting at her buff physique. Under different circumstances, I would have totally hit on her. As it was, I just enjoyed walking behind her while Alphonse and the male Marine followed.

Charlemagne called after us, "Please find them some clothes and get them a hot meal as well."

"Yes ma'am," the two Marines said in unison.

We barely went a hundred yards before we descended a staircase that went under the upper deck. Then we were in an internal submarine bay! The sub was nearly as long as the ship and was made in a similar angular style. The dark grey hull was pristine except for a smattering of tiny portholes. The Marine's boots clanked on the metal walkway that led to the sub as I fought my desire to try and escape. There was nowhere to run and our captors looked very sharp. I doubted I'd get to throw a punch before there was a bullet in me.

Pepper slid down the ladder going into the submarine and then looked up from below. "Okay, climb down."

Realizing I couldn't climb down holding the beret, I pulled it away from my groin and said, "Can I toss this down to you?"

"Yes. And I'm afraid I have to keep my eyes on you. I apologize for any embarrassment." She looked sincere.

Jake said, "Don't apologize to them. What makes you think they deserve our respect?"

Pepper yelled back, "Can it, Jake."

He sighed as I dropped Pepper's beret down through the hatch.

After she caught it, I climbed down the ladder with my tail between my legs. Thankfully, Pepper didn't comment on what she saw and just handed me the beret while blushing profusely. Even though I was embarrassed by the idea of her having seen my love box, I hoped she liked what she saw because I needed all the good will I could get. Her attractiveness and demeanor were nice distractions from the fact I was a military prisoner.

When Alphonse got to the bottom of the ladder, he said, "Why are we even getting on this submarine? What are you guys going to do with us?"

As Jake hopped off the ladder, he said, "We have no fucking clue. So, shut up and keep moving." He pushed me toward Pepper who had already started walking. The interior of the submarine had pipes, bulkheads and narrow passageways, but even though it was industrial, everything had been done with an eye for detail. The pipes were color coded red, yellow, orange, green and light blue. The shades complemented each other nicely. The walls were painted a soft, reassuring grey, while the doors were painted a handsome shade of bronze. The linear LED lighting fixtures further added to the space-age feel. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought we were on the set of a hit new sci-fi show.

We passed through two bulkheads before the woman stopped and used a keycard and keypad to unlock a heavy metal door. Once she had it open, she said, "After you."

Stepping inside, I saw three bunks built into the right-hand wall. Opposite them was a microwave, a coffeemaker, a mini fridge, and a sink. Stepping to my left so others could come in, I entered a nook that had two green-vinyl-covered benches facing each other, and a table that folded down so it could be an eating area. Cabinets and storage spaces adorned the walls, but they all had a little bar beside them and symbols indicating that they were all in the "locked" position.

Pepper said, "Stand against the walls, please."

We did so and Jake watched us as she went into the restroom. There, she used her keycard to open a cabinet next to the shower. She pulled out a towel set for each of us and set them on the sink before closing the cabinet and locking it. I didn't fully understand how the room worked, but it seemed to be in some sort of lockdown mode. If I had my equipment, I would have been able to try and circumvent the security, but that stuff was on the ship we'd stolen and there wasn't anything I could use in this locked down room.

As Pepper walked back into the living space, she asked, "What would you two like to eat? Today, there's salisbury steak—"

"Let's just get them chicken nuggets and fries and be done with it!" Jake said. "We can't treat these prisoners like they're going on vacation."

"Watch the door, will you?" she said.

"You watch the door!" Jake retorted.

"This could be their last meal, Jake. Would you want to have chicken nuggets for your last meal?" Her jaw was set and it looked like she was ready to punch Jake right in the chin.

He muttered "bitch" under his breath as he turned and walked away.

"What was that?" she said.

"Nothing!" he replied.

"That's what I thought." She put on a smile for us as she said, "You'll have to excuse him, sticking his head up his ass is part of his morning routine."

Jake scoffed.

Pepper paid him no mind and then gave us a run down of the few items that were available in the mess that day.

"I'll have a Big Mac, fries, and some coffee," Alphonse said. "You know, comfort food for my last meal."

Pepper laughed. "I'm pretty sure you'll live to see another day as long as you do what Cheryl asks and don't try to escape."

I tilted my head, "Cheryl?"

"Charlemagne's nickname," Pepper replied.

Alphonse puffed out some air in an effort to calm himself. "Good to know, I guess?"

"I'll have chicken nuggets, fries, and Sprite," I said sheepishly. Pepper didn't know me that well, chicken nuggets and fries were my perfect last meal. No worries about them being unhealthy or made out of unrecognizable plant and animal bits. They tasted good, and that's all I cared about in this moment.

"Someone other than Jake will be back with your meals and I'll come back with some clothes for both of you," Pepper said as she exited the room.

Jake closed the door.

The moment the door was secured, Alphonse said, "So, do you think we're going to be locked up for the rest of our lives? Like, she said there'd be no trial."

"I haven't a clue, but I'm hoping Charlemagne, Cheryl, whatever, has some use for us. That there's some reason she didn't just have that squid murder us." I sighed. "Not that I have any idea what reasonable expectations are in this situation."

"Think about it from my perspective. I'm talking to a shark girl."

"That's nothing, I am a shark girl!" I laughed more nervously than I intended.

He glanced at my crotch. "Well, more than a girl."

Just knowing he knew made me feel very shy. "Sorry."

"It's nothing to be sorry for. Still think the new you is hot." He winked. "If you don't mind me saying so, that is."

"I don't mind. It's nice to know that I've still got it." My sexual desire was as strong as ever despite the circumstances and I wanted to keep it in check, so I changed the subject. "Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things, did you get grabbed off the ship by a giant squid?"

"A kraken? Yeah." He looked at the floor and shook his head. "That was some crazy shit."

"That crazy shit saved your life," I added.

"It had to be at least somewhat intelligent and trained. Or maybe it was another AI like Tritonia? Or it was a remote controlled robot squid?" Crossing his arms, he started to shiver.

"I have no idea what it was, but you should get out of those clothes and take a shower before your lips turn blue," I said.

"Yeah, I hope she gets back with clothes soon."

"Me too! I'm getting sick of holding this beret in front of my—" I couldn't say it aloud.

"I've already seen it, Percy. You can relax." He smiled. "I promise I won't stare if you just set the beret aside."

I set the beret on the counter of the kitchenette and, true to his word, he didn't stare. He just walked toward the shower saying, "When I get out of the shower, I need you to tell me how you got like this."

"Actually, can I rinse off quick?"

"Sure!" He stepped aside.

The bathroom was made entirely out of stainless steel and light from the strip of LEDs in the ceiling was bouncing off of everything.

I forced myself not to look in the mirror knowing I might end up stuck in there for far longer than I intended. As I rinsed off, despite my best efforts, I got hard and wet. It took every bit of willpower I had to get out of the shower and dry off without playing with myself.

When I exited the restroom, Alphonse walked past me while averting his eyes, which was good because the tips of my pricks were poking out of their slit.

The moment he locked the bathroom door, I let out a shuddering sigh and inches of my lengths slid out. I had to control my breath to keep the moans down. The slit they came out of, and the area inside me that stored them was extremely sensitive and my shafts exiting it felt way too good. Rolling my hips, I shoved my pulsing twins inside me. I had no idea what I'd do about the mess, but I couldn't wait any longer. At this rate, I'd cum long before Alphonse got out of the shower.

Leaning against the wall, I gasped and undulated. The sheer amount of pleasure was dizzying. I was thrusting, stretching myself open, twisting and untwisting my lengths. My breaths kept catching in my throat. I lost track of the world around me and thundered toward orgasm.

Then, when my whole abdomen was tingling and prepared to blow, I heard the heavy door mechanism clunk. I jumped and cried out in surprise as stumbled toward the beret. I managed to grab it and hold it in front of my bits just as the door swung open.

"You okay?" Pepper asked.

"Yep, fine, totally fine," I lied. My body was still trying to cum, right there, in front of her.

Pepper tossed a red duffel bag onto the bottom bunk and unzipped it. "I'll cut a hole for your tail once we see which pair of pants fits you best."

Pulling out the sets of clothes, I bent far forward so I could hide the fact I was extracting my dicks from my desperate tunnel.

"Persephone?" Pepper looked at me with concern.

Begging myself not to cum in front of her took up so much of my mental resources that I didn't realize what I was holding in my hands until there'd been a very long and awkward pause.

"Sailor uniforms?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Look, it's all I could find on short notice. Again, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to keep my eyes on you. Turning your back on a prisoner is a rookie mistake I'd get in trouble for if it turned sour." She sighed. "I hope you understand."

I turned around because I didn't mind her seeing my ass nearly as much as I minded her seeing my front. My pricks weren't fully back inside me yet.

Stepping into the first pair of pants, I pulled them up as far as I could, with my tail in the way, and found they were a bit tight in the thighs and crotch. The second pair I tried on was slightly baggy, which was ideal.

Pepper destroyed the back seam with her knife saying, "This should work for now. If it tears more, ask Cheryl to have someone fix it up with some sewing magic. Jake and I are no help in that arena, I'm afraid."

"Did you happen to find any boxers or any undergarments?" I asked while looking back at her.

"No, I don't think you'd want hand-me-downs."

"True."

Handing me the crudely modified pants, she said, "See if this works."

My tail fit through the hole perfectly and the top from the same set was a bit big in the shoulders, but was otherwise good. The curve of my breasts stretched it only slightly. I was glad I was pert enough that I no longer needed a bra because I doubted I'd have one anytime soon.

Pepper handed me a sailor's hat and smirked as she said, "You may as well go for the full look."

I put the hat on only to find my fan-like ears were in the way of it going down all the way. It still sat pretty well on my head, however.

Alphonse laughed from the doorway of the bathroom, his head sticking out to see what we were up to.

The price of Pepper's professional discipline was her swallowing her laughter three times.

"A shark in a sailor uniform…now I've seen everything," Alphonse quipped.

Pepper burst out laughing so hard that she doubled over. Her laughter broke the tension of our situation so nicely that I laughed with her, feeling truly relaxed for the first time since we'd been captured. We were in good hands.

After we recovered, Pepper handed Alphonse the two uniforms I wasn't wearing. I was pretty sure his wiry frame would fit into the first one I'd tried on.

Pepper backed up toward the door and said, "Your food is on the way. If you need anything, just use the intercom next to the door."

"Will do," I said.

Jake shut and locked the door after she stepped out.

Our food arrived right after Alphonse was also dressed as a sailor. The uniforms were the traditional white and navy blue, which was both good and bad. Good because I hated the garish red and yellow of the new uniforms, bad because anything we spilled on the uniforms would be as obvious as a python on a plate of spaghetti.

None of that mattered, though. I wasn't going to wear a sailor uniform unless it was Halloween, and I doubted I'd be celebrating Halloween out in public anytime soon.

The food was no better than what you'd find at half-competent high school McDonald's cafeteria. Mass produced food always took a quality hit, one reason why I avoided it. The exceptions to this rule were places I treasured. And thinking about that was all it took for the depression about my incarceration to hit me full force. Talking to Alphonse about our situation got both of us grieving for our old lives even though we'd only just lost them. When we were finally off that subject and talking about Stargate, Charlemagne entered the room.

In her right hand was a handle that was connected to a foot tall six-inch-wide cylinder made of bluish anodized aluminum. There were three camera lenses in a triangular configuration near the top. Aside from the disk-shaped speaker that had been affixed to the right side, I recognized the cylinder as Tritonia's core.

After Charlemagne hung Tritonia on a coat hook next to the door, she clapped her thick strong hands. "Do I have your full attention?"

We nodded.

"Good." She pointed at me. "Persephone, due to your unique status as a sea creature hybrid, you are now an NPSO. A Non-Prosaic Sentient Object."

"Non-Prosaic?" Alphonse tilted his head.

"Prosaic means mundane, everyday, expected. As far as the world is concerned, Persephone and Tritonia don't exist. My job is to keep it that way," Charlemagne explained.

"But there are other cases of human-animal hybrids and AI out there," I protested.

"None of the other people like you are able to survive being thousands of feet under water without protection, are as heavily hybridized, or underwent a top secret experimental process that took a matter of minutes instead of a matter of weeks. On top of that, hybrids are rare to begin with. " She gestured toward Tritonia. "She is not just an AI, she's a human-level AI that fully simulates a functioning brain. And that simulation is running on the world's first portable quantum computer."

Alphonse's jaw fell open, "Wow."

I was as surprised as him, but my mind was brimming with questions. "Why was she installed on the ADS 3000?"

"To control the procedure that was done to you," Charlemagne said.

"Why was the Kirkii protocol thing part of that suit?" I asked.

"The suit provided an isolated space in which to test the procedure," Tritonia said.

I started to ask another question, but Charlemagne held up her hand to quiet me. "We're getting off topic and Tritonia should know that all those details are heavily classified." She gave Tritonia a withering look.

"Apologies, Charlemagne, I just thought that since you brought me with you to address them and since Persephone is already—"

"You can stop right there. I technically shouldn't have even told them details about you. Until we have their signatures on the proper paperwork, we must tread very carefully."

"Understood," Tritonia said.

Charlemagne's commanding gaze trained in on me. "The Marines who saw you are under orders to keep you a secret from anyone who is unaware of your existence. And, as far as the outside world is concerned, you had a diving accident where you fell into Zucker trench and your body is unrecoverable."

"What?!" I jumped up off the couch.

"Alphonse is no different. Since he's seen you and this submarine and has intimate knowledge of the ADS 3000 including Tritonia, we'll report he died in the storm that's currently raging above us and his body washed out to sea."

"Hey! You can capture me and hold me, but please don't make my family suffer!" He was standing next to me, glaring at Charlemagne.

"What did you two expect to happen when you stole that suit?" She leaned one of her muscular shoulders against the wall. "Did you have any idea that technology like Tritonia existed beforehand?"

"N-no," I said wondering if we were supposed to respond to her question.

Tritonia said solemnly. "I couldn't warn either of you since you didn't open the suit before you had already stolen it."

"It's odd how much she cares for your well-being," Charlemagne said. "At first, I thought you'd done something to her to make her like you, but my techies say that you left her untouched."

I said, "We thought it would be unethical to alter her."

"Yeah, murder, basically," Alphonse added.

Charlemagne nodded. "You're very fortunate that you made that choice."

"Thank you again." Tritonia said.

Shrugging, I said, "There's no reason to thank us. We're thieves, not murderers."

"Going back to what I was saying earlier, you've lost your status as free citizens. It's now a security risk for either of you to leave our custody. But that poses a problem." She started to pace. My unit, the unit that handles maritime Non-Prosaics, has no facilities for prisoners and I can't risk you being held by other organizations that you might leak classified information to."

"So, you were saying you can't keep us and you can't let us go?" Alphonse prompted.

"Exactly, I'm half tempted to put you in cold storage and let future generations figure out what to do with you." She shook her head. "You know what? I don't have time to figure this out right now. I'm just going to bring you to Mori Base and we can sort it out there."

"Just to be sure, is killing us still on the table? Is now a good time for us to beg for our lives?" Alphonse asked.

"Please don't beg. Honestly, executing you is far too American of a solution for me. I'm going to try and find an alternative solution…later." Cheryl said. "Right now, I need to prepare this submarine for departure. Do you two have any questions before I go?"

"What was the deal with the squid that attacked us?" I asked.

"What squid?" Cheryl gave me a blank expression.

"What squid? You have to be kidding me. It was bigger than our ship and—"

Ignoring me, Cheryl addressed Tritonia. "Can I trust you to not blab about the squid until they have the proper clearance?"

"Yes, but before you go, I have one more pressing issue," Tritonia said a bit more sternly than I was used to.

Tritonia's tone got Cheryl's full attention. "And what is that?"

"Persephone needs to be examined by Kirkii as soon as possible." Tritonia's tone reminded me of the way people spoke when they knew they were about to get into an argument.

"It'll have to wait until they have the proper clearance, if we decide to give them clearance at all. You'll have to make do with your own observations for now." Charlemagne didn't sound like she was going to budge.

"I'm not as qualified as Doctor Kirkii."

"It'll have to do." Cheryl said. "Is that all?"

"No, on multiple occasions, your obsession with doing things by the book has caused complications that jeopardized our mission. How would you feel if Persephone has serious complications due to something preventable?" Tritonia had never sounded this emotional. Her calm smooth voice had taken on some very human tone shifts.

"What would happen to the world if people find out about you and Kirkii?" Cheryl said. "On top of that, without background checks, we don't know whether they're Russian spies or just talented thieves."

"Russian spies? Are you even remotely serious about that assertion?" It sounded like Tritonia was mocking Cheryl. Just how often did these two people fight?

"Last time I checked, the Russians weren't part of POSC and were working to collect every NPO for themselves. Did they join up while I wasn't looking?" Cheryl was looking a bit red.

"You were the one that told me protocol can never be made to fully encompass all situations. Waiting weeks before Kirkii examines P is an unnecessary risk based on unfounded paranoia." If Tritonia had arms to cross, she'd be doing that now.

"This discussion is over," Charlemagne walked up to the door. "I'm going to get the sub ready. Enjoy your pet humans." She unlocked the door and stepped out before locking it behind her.

Looking at Tritonia, I said, "I'm so confused. Why does seeing Kirkii require clearance? He's just a geneticist, right?"

"She isn't just a geneticist. That's all I can say."

Alphonse recovered from cringing. He'd been looking like he wanted to hide from the fight between Tritonia and Cheryl. "Now I'm even more curious."

"We should change the subject," Tritonia said, sounding defeated.

"I figure we're going to chat to pass the time, so we might as well all sit in the little eating area. Alphonse, get the table ready while I grab Tritonia," I said as walked over and took Tritonia off the wall hook. She weighed over ten pounds, much heavier than a laptop.

Alphonse folded down the table and locked it in position by twisting an orange handle on the hinge that connected the table to the wall. Then we sat on opposite benches as I set Tritonia on the tabletop.

We started reminiscing about the time Alphonse and I had spent with Tritona while planning the heist. Then we started giving Tritonia real stories about our pasts and such to make up for the lies we'd told her to protect our identities. This made her incredibly happy. A half hour later, we were interrupted by a klaxon and Charlemagne's voice saying, "All hands prepare to dive to five hundred and sixty meters."

We talked for another ten minutes, after another single blast from the klaxon and a flash of red light, Charlemagne announced, "Diving in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

The submarine tilted about twenty degrees and I caught Tritonia before she fell on her side. While the submarine was pitching downward, Alphonse and I slid across the benches until we were against the wall. We stared at each other wide-eyed.

Once it evened out, Tritonia said, "I take it neither of you have been in an operating submarine before?"

"Nope," I said. "That was quite a tilt."

"Yeah, I'm glad I wasn't trying to put on my socks when it happened," Alphonse chuckled.

I laughed. "That's a head injury waiting to happen."

"Thanks for catching me, P," Tritonia said.

"You're welcome!" I grinned.

We chatted for another hour while I tried and failed to keep my mind off of sex. Before I managed to get up the courage to leave the conversation and get some much needed alone time, before Charlemagne entered the room again. "Persephone, please come with me," Charlemagne said.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

She walked toward the door. "Kirkii's going to give you a checkup."

Tritonia said, "Oh! Thank you!"

"Before you go thinking you convinced me all on your own, Kirkii also feels strongly that Persephone needs to be examined." She opened the door. "After you, Persephone."

Pepper was standing at attention just outside. As I walked out the door, I gave her a smile and she smiled back.

As Charlemagne followed me out the door, Alphonse said, "Could I get a book or something? Boredom is gonna kill me, otherwise."

"Pepper, could you see to it that he gets something he can read or do to pass the time?" Charlemagne said, her massive frame making the narrow submarine hallway feel even smaller.

Pepper nodded, "Will do, ma'am."

"Thank you for staying on to help with the prisoners, by the way."

"You're welcome, ma'am." Pepper smiled.

Squeezing by me so I could follow her to the aft of the submarine, Charlemagne said, "This way."

After going through three bulkheads, the hallways got more industrial with more pipes and cables. They were still all color coded beautifully. We ended up in a square room full of wetsuits and diving equipment including the ADS 3000 suit.

Leading me to the airlock, Charlemagne hit a button on the intercom next to it and said, "Diver ready to disembark, full stop."

"Is Kirkii outside the sub?" I asked.

"She most definitely wouldn't fit inside the sub." Charlemagne chuckled.

"Is she like me? Has gills?" I asked. "Wait, she wouldn't fit in the sub? She's that big?"

"She does have gills, but she's quite different than you." Charlemagne grinned. "And, she's the largest person you'll ever meet, I'm quite sure."

"Is Kirkii a giant sea creature? A giant AI robot thing?" I felt like I was grasping at straws, now.

"Undress and then hop in the airlock and see for yourself."

"Undress?" I tilted my head.

"We don't have a wetsuit that would fit you, plus, you don't need one and it's a doctor's visit." She turned away from me. "I'll avert my eyes."

I pulled my clothes off and laid them on a bench in front of a cyan-colored locker. Then I walked into the airlock.

Charlemagne said, "Ready?"

"Yes, though I'm not looking forward to drowning again," I complained.

"I imagine that feels quite bizarre and that getting the water back out feels even worse," Charlemagne said.

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"Airlock cycling in three, two, one." On zero, she hit the big orange button and a heavy metal door slid shut before the chamber started filling with seawater.

Wanting to get it over with, I drowned myself when the chamber was half full to switch to water breathing. It wasn't as unpleasant as the first time, but it likely wasn't something I'd ever look forward to. When the outer doors finally opened, a few stray bubbles drifted upwards. In the distance, deep blue, cyan, and firefly yellow lights were circulating in turbulent patterns across some huge amorphous object. As I swam toward it using my webbed feet and hands, I was mesmerized its beauty.

Details popped out at me, large glowing eyes, ten tentacles, a long mantle…I screamed even though I was underwater and started swimming in the opposite direction, adrenaline powering my retreat.

It was a squid ten times my size. Likely the same squid that had grabbed me off the boat. Suddenly, I realized exactly what was going on and stopped fleeing: that squid had to be Kirkii. Tritonia asked for this meeting, so I was likely safe.

While I was paused wondering what to do next, Kirkii reached toward me with her two long feeding tentacles. My heart raced as I fought my instinct to flee.

Instead of grabbing me, the tentacles stopped just short of me and then the left one moved in front of my face, showing me its backside. A pattern of yellow lights on it resolved into the words, "Do not be afraid. I do not eat sentient life."

I looked away and then looked back at the tentacle to make sure I hadn't lost my mind. The text was still there. Then it started changing, the font was rounded, but quite legible. "You can communicate with me by drawing letters on my skin. Draw the word 'yes' if you understand."

With my hand shaking, I reached up with my right index finger and started writing. As my finger slid across the back of the tentacle, it left behind a trail of yellow light spelling "YES."

"You don't have to use ALL CAPS. It's like the textual version of yelling. Only use caps when you mean it, please," she replied.

This was officially weirder than being a hermaphroditic shark hybrid: I was getting talked down to by a giant squid about my use of capitalization. I laughed at the thought of it.

"I feel vibrations…Is that laughter? Have I amused you?"

"yes," I wrote in all lowercase.

"You can capitalize the first letter of a sentence," she said.

"I know," I wrote. "I'm just trolling you."

"We're going to get along splendidly. May I grab you and bring you closer to me for your checkup?" she asked.

I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic about us getting along. "Yes." Writing out words was starting to feel normal already.

The tentacle pressed against my belly and then applied suction. My heart sped up again as my instincts told me to flee. I just kept taking even breaths through my gills and tried to stay calm.

Her eyes were bigger than soccer balls and she was easily as big as a school bus including her tentacles. I felt tiny compared to her. A few of her tentacles came near me holding various instruments. One had what looked like an ultrasound probe, one had a laser scanner, one had what looked like an injection gun, and the last one was a steampunk zapper thingy with modern LCD displays and LED lights on it.

Holding a tentacle in front of my face, she said, "Tritonia has said you can bioluminesce. Could you do that for me, please? I'll be able to work more quickly if I can see you more clearly."

I concentrated and splotches of firefly yellow started glowing all over my body in patches and dots while my front glowed in one big patch. My nipples were glowing cyan, which I still thought was insanely cool.

"Beautiful! Thanks! Just relax and I'll try to be quick," she said as she went to work.

I was prodded, poked, and positioned as every instrument went over me multiple times. The zappy thing was the only one I didn't like. It made my skin tingle with electricity the same way the suit had when it did its initialization flash. After Kirkii was done examining me, she started talking to me again. "You are in perfect health, though I want to do daily checkups for the next two weeks just to be sure."

I wrote, "That's great to hear! I mean, see!"

"Yes, I'm quite pleased. Though, I do have one concern," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I thought you said I was fine."

"It's not something that is necessarily a health issue, but could be a quality of life issue." She said, "Tritonia reports that you experienced a drastic increase in libido due to the procedure. I can prescribe something to lower your libido to a level that you find more comfortable if you'd like."

Blushing bright red, I said, "I'm not sure I dislike it yet."

"Then we can leave you the way you are for now and I can always prescribe something later. I completely understand you feeling the benefits outweigh the detriments," she said.

"I'll let you know if it starts bothering me," I said.

"The doctor at the base can give you a pelvic exam and such. My focus is in the genetic hybridization you experienced and any complications it may have caused. But I do have a concern about your sexual health. Are you experiencing the proper amount of sensation in your genitalia?"

Just having her mention my naughty bits made me warm down there. I had needed to get off for hours and here I was naked and in front of a tentacle monster. The longer this went on, the more I thought about all the hentai I'd watched. "It's all working fine as far as I can tell."

"And there's no numb spots on your genitals or elsewhere on your body, specifically in highly enervated places like your nipples, your fingertips, your tongue, etcetera?" she asked.

"Nope, no numb spots. In fact, I think things are more sensitive than ever, in a good way. I've felt amazing ever since I transformed. Really alive and healthy." I needed this appointment to end soon, my twin troublemakers wanted out. Now that the fear was gone, I wanted to be wrapped up in Kirkii's tentacles.

"That's wonderful to hear!" A pattern of chasing lights raced across the back of her tentacle, perhaps she was thinking about something. "Why aren't your heart rate and oxygen consumption going down? I am no longer prodding you with instruments. Is it a fear response?"

Since she seemed to enjoy my bluntness, I decided to see if she was like my old general practitioner. I could confide in him just about anything and he always seemed amused by it. Doctors had a very high TMI threshold, and I really liked that because I was often too embarrassed to talk to people about my body. "I haven't gotten off all day and my sensitive parts are starting to have a meltdown."

"Even with me here? Are you sure you're okay?" The lights moving across her tentacles and mantle were dashing even faster now.

The explanation that first popped into my mind was far too embarrassing to mention, but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't come up with a better one on the spot.

"Persephone? Your heart rate is increasing again."

Kirkii was a freak like me, if there was anyone out there that would not be weirded out by my body, it would be her. I had two dicks, she had ten tentacles! If I didn't tell her what was up, my lengths coming out would give me away in no time. "I have a thing for tentacle monsters." It was the hardest, most intimate, thing I'd ever admitted and I felt like I'd made a huge mistake.

All her lights went out, then they pulsed in patches across her mantle before going down her tentacles. Had I deeply offended her? Did I crash her? "Sorry! You're not a monster!"

"I'm not offended, I watched a lot of hentai in college," she replied.

"You went to college?!?" My eyes were wide.

"Of course, it's how I learned genetics," she replied matter-of-factly. "I am astounded that I arouse you and I am deeply curious what you want to do about it."

I wanted to ask her more about her college days, but we could do that later, when I wasn't out of my mind horny. "Do you think Charlemagne would be angry at us if we had sex?" I asked. It was my only concern now.

"I can grab you and turn us away from the submarine." A pulse of light traveled from the tips of her tentacles up to her mantle. "You really want to have sex with me?"

"FUCK YES!" I wrote in big letters.

"Right now?!"

"YES!!!" I was barely keeping it together. I was shivering thinking about her grabbing me, fondling me…

"I shouldn't, but I have never had this opportunity before. There is nothing I am more curious about than what it's like to have sex with a fellow herm, a bioluminescent aquatic one, at that," she said.

"Fellow herm???"

"Yes, I have mating tentacles and the ability to lay eggs." She grabbed me with three tentacles, and then started turning us away from the submarine.

She'd left my writing hand free and the tentacle we were using to communicate was still in front of me. "That's amazing! Are you a hybrid of some sort? Like a heavily modified human or something?"

"No, I'm an uplifted giant squid, genetically modified to have human intelligence and multiple other enhancements," she explained. "Sorry, but I'm having trouble thinking about anything other than what we're about to do. I still cannot believe you want to engage in sexual play with me."

"Probably just like you, I watched waaay too much tentacle porn in college," I said.

"Hahahaaaa! You're so right!" she wrote back. "I so enjoy conversing with you. Your honesty is refreshing."

"I am terrible about talking about sexual stuff, unless I'm talking to a doctor," I laughed at myself.

"Oh dear, fucking you is probably a serious HIPAA violation," she quipped.

"I didn't sign a HIPAA form, so I guess I waived my rights," I said back, grinning ear to ear.

"Persephone, I now understand why Tritonia likes you so much." She moved her tentacles sensuously up my legs.

As I let my pricks out and sent moaning vibrations into the water surrounding me at the sensation, I wrote, "You said you were a herm? I'm pretty sure you don't have a pussy, so how is this going to work?" I asked.

The tentacles were now moving up my inner thighs. "You could press inside my siphon, but it's way too large for me to notice. How squid actually have sex is rather off-putting and my proximity to humans makes me less interested in that. I'll be quite satisfied doing things like this!" Each of my shafts got wrapped in a tentacle.

I made some sort of ultrasonic chirp as my glowing patches flashed. She pressed a tentacle inside me that felt different from the others, it was smoother and warmer. Bucking my hips wildly, I flailed in her grasp.

"Are you okay?"

"Please don't stop!" I wrote.

Another tentacle joined the first in entering me. It had to be her mating tentacles, they felt sexual, like they belonged in there. She pulled me up against her mantle as she played with my lengths making varying spiral shapes around them and teasing them with suckers. It was clear she had no idea what she was doing, but it didn't matter, I loved every second of it.

"Stretch me more with those mating tentacles!" I begged.

Pressing them deeper, she wound them tightly adding a glorious texture to her penetration. Sex with a tentacle monster was better than I'd ever dreamed! I grabbed a tentacle that was drifting near my head and put it in my mouth. Then I sucked on it, carefully protecting it from my teeth.

"Oooh! That's a neat sensation!" she said in disheveled text.

I clenched around her twin pricks and wrote, "Deeper!"

Her phalluses unwound partially and then pressed against the sides of my erotic place of worship making me feel like a nice thick prick was inside me. I nearly came on the spot. Then two of her tentacles found my breasts and she squeezed and pulled at them, clearly intrigued by their supple but firm texture. Her suckers on my nipples made me kick in her grasp.

"Oooh, you like that, don't you?" she said.

"Yes! Fuck!" I wrote.

Paying a lot of attention to my breasts, she continued to explore my body while teasing the limits of my ability to experience pleasure. She had me held firmly enough with suckers and windings of her limbs that I was able to thrust my pricks into her grasp. I felt like I was about to explode into a shower of ecstasy, but I still wanted more! "Put one in my back door!"

"I'm getting close!" she reported.

"Not till you put one more inside me! Please!"

As she penetrated my tailhole, I lost control. My prostate was getting hit from both sides, my body felt like a giant pocket of methane after someone had lit a match. I made creamy white patches on her mantle as my shafts showered her with their riches. My depths pulsed like the walls were made of sea swells.

"Persephone, I—WOW!" she said as her mating tentacles filled me with warmth in a volume I couldn't even hope to contain. Her organized light show devolved into static as undulations traveled up every one of her limbs. She squeezed me against her as we came, like I was a cherished toy.

I just stayed there and took every bit of orgasmic bliss she foisted upon me, cumming three times from the smooth wet rose between my legs. The masturbation I'd done earlier hadn't been one tenth this satisfying.

We drifted for a short while before her light show regained coherent patterns. It's around that time that she said, "Thank you."

"Anytime, sexy," I wrote in lazy warped letters.

"I wonder how I'm going to explain my light show to Charlemagne," she said. "I'm sure she noticed the part where I lost control."

"Tell her the truth, I doubt she'd believe you," I said.

"I don't tend to joke with her, I don't understand her straight-faced sarcasm."

"Then tell her that I told you a very funny joke. If I give the same story, I doubt she'll think twice about it."

"Let's try it." The words that appeared next rearranged themselves a couple times. I think she couldn't decide what to say next. "I'm going to enjoy our daily checkups."

"I'm going to need them. This is the most relaxed I've felt all day," I replied.

"Funny, most people find being completely immobilized by a giant squid to be the complete opposite."

"Well, I'm not most people."

"Of that, I am deeply glad." She gave me a friendly squeeze.

For most of the day, I'd been very concerned about being held in captivity. But now I had some hope that Alphonse and I would be okay. It seemed I was making the right friends. Friends that would be upset if Charlemagne decided to put us in cold storage, whatever that actually meant, or give us a horrendous military prison experience.

For most of my adult life, as much as tentacle porn aroused me, the actual thing terrified me. But now I'd had the best sex of my life with a giant squid and I wasn't terrified at all.

<<<<Caution: NSFW Images Ahead>>>>

Tritonia’s Team

Persephone is about to see the world’s best kept secret. But it’s not a secret from a new, terrifying enemy that will use any means necessary to get what it wants. As Persephone fights for her life, she meets new friends and finds some romance. She even gets trapped in a room with her new love interest...and Charlemagne.

Part One

The bridge of the submarine was basically walls of screens. I'd never seen this much technology in one place. According to Charlemagne, the classified stuff was in the room behind us. As much as I wanted to go in there, I was surrounded by people who would be cross with me if I did.

But that wasn't what made me the most annoyed. The worst part of this submarine was that it didn't have a periscope!

The only things keeping this bridge from looking like a secret military stock trading floor were the few screens I understood. One was showing our depth over time, another was showing the state of the electrical system, and the last one I understood was a map of where we were in the sea. The map only showed the sea floor, so I had no clue where we were, however. If Charlemagne had any reason to believe Alphonse or I would be able to read the map, I doubted she would have let us on the bridge.

Pepper was a couple feet to my right leaning on the railing that went around this center area of the bridge. The way she was looking at the screens suggested she knew how to interpret most of them. I wanted to pick her brain, but I was worried Charlemagne would immediately end our conversation.

Charlemagne called out over the intercom. "All hands, prepare for docking maneuvers."

I didn't really think about what that meant, so I kept myself busy by peering at a screen that I thought had sonar information. When the submarine tilted, I was wholly unprepared. As I stumbled, I fumbled for the railing with my right hand and ended up with a handful of Pepper's left ass cheek instead. She gasped and looked back at me as I finally caught hold of the railing with my left hand.

"I'm sorry, so so sorry. I didn't mean to--"

Pepper cut me off. "Sure, sure, I've seen you making eyes at me. I think you were just looking for an excuse."

"No, that's not it." My heart raced as I blushed. "I stumbled and was trying to grab the railing."

"You grabbed something, all right. I haven't been groped like that since college." Pepper looked at me incredulously, the pink tint on her cheeks and wry smile hinting at her enjoyment in teasing me.

Charlemagne saved me from our embarrassing exchange by announcing, "Final approach, ETA three minutes."

Wanting to make sure we stayed off the subject of my accidental grope, I asked Charlemagne, "Where's the periscope?"

"We have a state-of-the-art optical mast instead. Video from any of its five sensors can get piped to the screens here." Charlemagne said.

"Aww, I imagine it's better, but it doesn't feel like a submarine without a periscope," I pouted.

Alphonse said, "Yeah, it just feels wrong."

"I grew up on submarine movies, so I know your pain," Pepper said. "Unfortunately, all the new subs have optical masts."

"I'm surprised they didn't start using optical masts sooner, periscopes limit where the bridge can be and lead to cramped command spaces," Charlemagne said as she watched the base come into view on the screen directly in front of her. At first, I thought it was just a bunch of giant pressurized gas canisters all stuck together, but then I realized those canisters had tiny windows at the end.

Charlemagne sighed. "You're about to see something that only a few hundred people on the planet know about. I would not be showing it to you if I had a better idea than taking you into custody."

Behind the pressurized sea habitat was what looked like a rounded cube of translucent glass. I wasn't sure it was a cube, though, because it went down into the bedrock. Alphonse, Pepper, and I gasped as we took in the full scope of it. It was bigger than the sub, the pressurized habitat, or any navy vessel I'd ever seen. The sides were at least two city blocks across, possibly more.

"Wh-what is that?" Alphonse asked.

"We call it 'The Repository,' because it has a vast number of Non-Prosaic Objects stored in it," Tritonia replied. Her core was strapped to my back, keeping it warm. I'd spent every hour since I got back from my checkup with Kirkii in close proximity to her. She'd even spent the night on her side lying against the wall of my bunk. Though she hadn't said it explicitly, I got the feeling she liked being in close proximity to people.

It was six in the morning, far too early to be up, but I was wide awake seeing that massive undersea structure. Wonder, fear, and a sense of discovery was a mixture stronger than black tea.

If getting up super early was the price of admission to one of the world's best kept secrets, I was willing to pay it. The fact I was a prisoner, however, made me a little less sure about that tradeoff. And nothing made me feel more like a prisoner than wearing a sailor uniform while everyone else was wearing cool navy blue and silver uniforms with diagonal button flaps and cyan trim.

Charlemagne grabbed a phone connected to the railing in front of her. Her uniform was nearly all navy blue except for cyan trim and four wide silver stripes that went around the sleeves of her military jacket. "All hands prepare to dock," she said over the intercom, before hitting a large green button on the base of the phone and saying, "POSC Repository, this is Alpha Charlie Echo five five nine requesting permission to dock."

"This is POSC Repository," a nasal male voice said on the other end. "Permission denied, base is in lockdown."

"Why wasn't I informed?" Charlemagne asked.

"Main airlock cycled ten minutes ago without cameras catching the cause. We are currently performing a security sweep," he reported.

"As your commanding officer, I order you to let us dock so the personnel on this sub can help with the security sweep," Charlemagne said.

"But that goes against the lockdown procedure," he protested.

"I *wrote* the lockdown procedure and you obviously haven't read every section, so--"

The guy on the other end cried out in surprise. "No! What the hell are you? Don't come any closer!" There were two loud bangs and then a hissing sound, like someone using a pressure washer. "NO! AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Alphonse and I looked at each other with terror-stricken faces. The warfighter in Pepper was overshadowing her fear, however. She looked itching to dispense payback to whatever had just killed that man.

Charlemagne turned to her left and addressed the communications officer. "Tell Kirkii we need her to manually dock us with the base ASAP!"

Turning to us, Charlemagne said, "Until we neutralize the threat, I need you two to follow orders as if you were part of my unit. My number one priority is to keep you alive and to do that I need your full compliance."

"We haven't had much of a choice ever since we got captured," Alphonse observed.

Charlemagne's face may as well have been made of granite. I didn't know a human being could look that serious. "I don't want compliance because you have no other options. To keep you alive, I'll need you to respond quickly and efficiently. Thinking about whether you should follow an order while shots are being fired is a recipe for death."

"Understood," I said feeling a tightness in my neck.

With a gulp, Alphonse said, "Will do."

Charlemagne smiled. "Good!" Then she put a hand on Pepper's shoulder. "Pepper, I know you're itching to fight whatever's running around in our base, but you have never been here and are a liability if you go off on your own. You must be with a member of my unit at all times. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Pepper said.

"Kirkii is getting into position," a woman with a headset and dark hair reported. She was on the starboard side of the room nearest Charlemagne.

"Outer airlock camera, main screen," Charlemagne ordered.

The big screen directly in front of Charlemagne showed one of Kirkii's giant crimson tentacles grabbing the manual lever at the side of the base's airlock. Kirkii pulled the lever and the docking clamps opened.

"Commence docking with with POSC Repository," Charlemagne said.

"Aye aye, ma'am," a lanky guy on the port side of the room said.

I heard a dull clank and then a thud as the submarine docked with the base.

Then Kirkii pulled another lever below the one she'd first pulled and Charlemagne called over the intercom, "Officer Abrams, meet me in the airlock ASAP."

"Sh-shouldn't we stay on the sub?" Alphonse asked.

"No one on this sub has clearance to talk to you, I'm sorry," Charlemagne said.

Tritonia said, "Ma'am, with all due respect, wouldn't they be a lot safer locked in their quarters on this submarine?"

Motioning for us to follow her, Charlemagne made for the airlock. "International law forbids me from leaving NPOs with individuals who lack the proper clearance."

"So they have to come with us, even if it leads to their deaths?" Tritonia asked as we passed through a bulkhead and out of the bridge.

"The enemy blew past security and there's no guarantee they won't get on this sub," Charlemagne replied.

"We should arm ourselves before opening the airlock," Tritonia said gravely.

"Oh, I fully intend to." Charlemagne stopped at a heavily-reenforced door and pulled out her lanyard. After holding her ID up to the door and getting a soft beep, she typed in a six digit code and opened the door.

Guns, an entire cabinet full of them, was behind that door. Some were even attached to the back of the door. Charlemagne grabbed two P90s and handed one of them to Pepper who said, "Perfect guns for a submarine, lots of power in a small space."

"I-it's the Stargate Command gun!" Alphonse blurted out.

Pepper grabbed some extra ammo for her gun saying, "Yep!"

"Do we get guns?" I asked, unable to geek out and forget our situation. That didn't make seeing the P90 in person any less cool, however. The bullets sat sideways on its back in a plastic container and it was chunky with only a few inches of its barrel sticking out the front. The grip was smooth plastic that looked space-aged. It looked more like a sci-fi rifle concept than something that should actually exist.

"I can't hand weapons to prisoners and if you're unarmed, you're more likely to be captured than shot at. I want you to put your hands in the air if the enemy points a firearm in your general direction, understood?" Charlemagne said while she grabbed duty belts for herself and Pepper and they proceeded to fill them with ammo.

"Oh, okay," Alphonse said, his voice shaking.

"I hope they don't have orders to just shoot everyone on sight," I said.

Charlemagne grabbed two Glock 19 pistols and put them in a black single-strapped bag that she slung across her chest. "If things get dire, I will reevaluate our situation." She closed the weapons locker and started back down the cramped hallway. "Let's get our asses to the airlock."

The airlock was in the diving equipment room and the ADS 3000, the suit that had turned me into an anthropomorphic herm deep sea shark hybrid, was sitting in the center. I hoped that change wasn't about to lead to my early demise.

Officer Abrams walked into the room in full combat body armor looking like an action hero. He had chiseled cheeks, kind eyes, and a wide chin. In his strong hands was a P90, ready for whatever awaited us on the other side of the airlock. His helmet was the same navy blue as his uniform.

Charlemagne picked up the phone for the intercom and punched in a code before saying, "POSC Repository, this is Charlemagne. I need a sitrep."

A flamboyantly British male voice on the other end said, "Gillon here, base has been compromised by unknown hostiles which are not responding to conventional firearms."

"Please elaborate," Charlemagne said.

"They are like pitch black silhouettes, able to slip through non-air-tight gaps, and are lightning fast," he said.

"What's the status of the communications officer?" Charlemagne asked.

"He, and all five of the security officers perished before we armed ourselves with pickle units," he replied.

Alphonse and I looked at each other wondering what pickles had to do with anything.

Charlemagne leaned against the wall. "Did they enable you to hold the hostiles off?"

"They have the advantage of surprise and we haven't the faintest idea how many there are, but the pickle units are able to subdue them."

"Understood," Charlemagne said. "What's your ETA?"

"Three minutes," Gillon said.

"Please tell me you're bringing a few PIKL units with you." Charlemagne spelled out the acronym, making it less likely they were talking about pickles.

"Affirmative."

"Good, we'll be ready when you arrive," Charlemagne said.

Hitting the green button on the intercom, Charlemagne announced to the whole ship. "Lieutenant Doppler, you are now in command of this ship. Undock the moment we enter the base and hold at one kilometer. Arm yourselves with PIKL units, cut the power to the airlock, and post two guards in the dive room."

A firm female voice said, "Yes, ma'am."

Charlemagne ushered us all into the airlock and then she and Pepper grabbed their helmets out of lockers in the dive room. They put on their helmets and some body armor before joining us in the airlock.

"He said all five security guards are dead, shouldn't we be getting more of the crew on this sub to help us?" Alphonse asked.

"There's no tactical team on this sub and no one else here knows the layout of the base. Plus, we need the sub safe in case we need to stage an evac," Charlemagne said. "Alphonse and Persephone, I want you at the back of the airlock and low to the ground."

"Yes, ma'am," we replied.

Just as Pepper was closing the door, I heard the British dude yell, "WAIT! Do not--"

"Hey! Open the door!" I said.

Charlemagne had already depressed the big green button for cycling the airlock. "What?"

"The guy was yelling at us to wait," I said, my neck and back tight with worry as my heart raced.

"Oh shit!" Alphonse grabbed his head.

I hugged him saying, "We'll get through this, okay?"

He nodded, looking as terrified as I felt.

"Abrams, Pepper, get ready to dump your mags. If we can't kill these hostiles with bullets, we can at least slow them down," Charlemagne said before handing out earplugs to me and Alphonse. "Gunfire inside an enclosed space will ruin your hearing faster than being in a heavy metal band."

We had our earplugs in by the time the airlock door cycled.

On the other side of the door was a very cramped diving equipment room, but I barely registered it because the moment the door swung open, a shadow moved across the opening. It was a shadow that had volume! Somewhere between an anthropomorphic balloon and a shadow. The room flashed as all three P90s fired at the shadow. Even with earplugs, it was deafening. I watched in fascination and worry as the shadow reached toward Abrams and emitted a sharp hiss, like pressurized air being released.

Pepper rammed her shoulder into the creature ruining its shot.

Seeing her fight so fearlessly, so heroically, was so damn sexy that I briefly forgot we were in the middle of a fight for our lives.

The creature regained its footing and pushed Abrams so hard he smacked the side of the airlock with a sickening crunch. Abrams gasped in pain and crumpled to the floor, an open gash across the side of his chest under his left arm. The creature had sliced him open where his body armor was the least protective. Before Abrams even hit the floor, the creature was already moving to attack Pepper. She hit it hard with the butt of her gun and knocked it back, but it still managed to point the index finger on one of its four-fingered hands at her face.

"No!" I cried out as I realized she was going to end up just as dead as Abrams.

Three eye-searingly bright flashes blinded me. Each was accompanied by a loud bang, which sounded like a mixture of a gunshot and zapping metal in a microwave. The creature slumped, shrinking toward the floor until it was just a pile of midnight black fabric. There were two more bangs, but I had my head turned away from the creature because all my eyes could see were after-images of the first three flashes and I was afraid of damaging them further.

"I can't see!" Alphonse reported.

"Neither can I," I said.

"Or me," Pepper added.

The same English-accented voice we'd heard over the intercom said, "Give it a couple minutes, you should recover because you weren't looking directly at where the creature was hit."

Behind where the creature had been standing was a man wearing a uniform similar to Charlemagne's. I couldn't make anything else out while my eyes were still recovering, though.

"Poor Abrams," Charlemagne said.

"Hey! I'm not dead and I'm losing a lot of blood and this really really hurts!"

"Apologies, sir, for prematurely assuming that you'd expired." Gillon's voice got closer to me as he spoke. He unzipped something and pulled out another thing that clanked like a can of air.

Abrams groaned as Gillon did something to his wound.

"Sorry about that, I needed to prepare you for the trauma sealant." Then it sounded like he was applying shaving cream to Abrams.

"Hey, Pepper?" Abrams said.

"Yeah?" Pepper replied.

"Thanks for saving my life."

"I'm just glad you're alive, buddy," she said.

We all expressed the same sentiment and then Charlemagne said, "I'm assuming there's more hostiles?"

"Yes, an unknown quantity," Gillon said.

"The moment Gill has stabilized Abrams, we need to move," Charlemagne said. "Pepper, grab all the conventional weapons so we can lock them up."

"Yes, ma'am," Pepper said as she started fumbling around with impaired vision.

Finally able to see something other than bright purple, I watched Charlemagne put on a backpack with a heavy cord that went to something that was half rifle, half news camera.

"Is that a laser?" I asked.

"It's a Pulsed Impulsive Kill Laser, to be exact," Charlemagne said.

"I thought y'all were crazy and talking about deadly pickles or something," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, if you hadn't said the letters earlier, I would have been even more confused." I went to take out my earplugs.

"Leave them in until we know the base is secure," Charlemagne said.

"Thanks, Gill, that's much better." Abrams said.

Gillon's sharp pointy mustache, slicked down black hair, and piercing eyes looking through rose-tinted wrap-around sunglasses made his big triumphant smile look out of place. He would have made a perfect, old school Bond villain, or a butler. I couldn't decide which. I'd never seen anyone look more British in my life.

"Twas my pleasure, sir. Just be mindful of your cracked ribs." Gillon replied before grabbing one of the combat lasers and bringing it to Abrams. "If I prop you up in the corner, would you be so kind as to guard the airlock? It is currently unsafe to move you to the infirmary."

"Sure, I think I can manage that," Abrams said.

"Splendid." Gillon carefully moved Abrams into the corner near the intercom.

The intercoms in this base were odd, it was a new digital system, but the old analog system from the sixties had been left in place just below it, without anyone bothering to remove the handsets or buttons. I'd seen this sort of thing in a lot of retrofitted buildings, but didn't expect to see it in a top secret base.

The lockers, the shape of various fixtures in the room, and the colors, were all from the sixties. Well, someone had tried to cover it with a cheery yellow-beige, but the previous color scheme still showed through since they hadn't added enough coats of paint. The area outside the airlock was a cylinder twelve feet wide and about sixty feet long. On the opposite end of the cylinder was a heavy wall and door labeled, "Hyperbaric Chamber."

Charlemagne took her P90, along with all the ammo and the pistols she'd grabbed for us, and walked up to a locker. "Pepper, take Abram's P90, and all his ammo, and put it in here. We don't want the enemy using our armaments against us."

"Gillon, are the hostiles made of a carbon composite?" Tritonia asked.

"Yeah, it has to be something pretty strong because they are near-impossible to puncture."

"We're being attacked by balloons?" Alphonse put his head in his hands. "What is my life?"

"More like malevolent pool toys," I observed.

"That's a perfect nickname for them!" Charlemagne said as she closed the locker.

Gillon opened it back up, saying, "They get through thin steel pretty fast. I recommend removing the ammo and hiding it."

Wanting to be useful, I said, "I'll hide it in some of this diving gear."

"Yeah, I'll help too," Alphonse said.

"Before we get too carried away, everyone needs eye protection." Gillon handed everyone sunglasses that matched his own from a bag he'd slung over his shoulder. When I put them on, they sat oddly on my shark snout, but I was still able to look through them just fine.

Charlemagne handed me a bunch of P90 ammo and Alphonse an armful of pistol ammo. As we hid the ammo in boots and wetsuits and under towels, a young Japanese woman with straight shoulder-length hair, high cheekbones, and an athletic body entered the room. Looking me over, she said, "Whoa! What a neat hybrid!"

"Th-thank you?" I said.

The backpack battery for the laser looked a bit big on her. "I'm Tsubumi, nice to meet you!" She reached out to shake my hand. Her accent was very light, almost unnoticeable.

I took her hand and shook it, her vise-like grip was intimidating. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Persephone."

She seemed the least shaken by the situation out of all of us and was still smiling as big as ever as she took her hand away.

Charlemagne pointed at the door. "Boom, I need you to guard the door."

"Yes, ma'am." Tsubumi saluted enthusiastically and then turned toward the door.

Charlemagne asked, "Where are the others?"

Tsubumi looked back to say, "They're--

"Eyes front," Charlemagne said.

"Oh! Sorry!" Tsubumi's head snapped forward to look down the hallway. "They're guarding the control room."

"Good!" Charlemagne said.

"All done," I said as I hid the last ammo clip.

The overhead lights went out and then, up on the wall, an emergency light that should have come on clicked uselessly instead.

"We lost power to the lights, but I can still hear life support systems," Gillon said in the dark.

My pointy ears easily picked up the steady whirr of the pumps and ventilation fans Gillon must have been talking about.

"Shouldn't that emergency light be on?" Alphonse asked.

"Yes, but we also shouldn't have lost both the main and auxiliary lighting circuits," Charlemagne said.

There was a tiny bit of light coming from the hallway that Tsubumi was watching. The light must have been from a working emergency light.

I made my hands and my neck firefly yellow to provide some dim light.

"Hey, if you show more skin, we'll be able to see better." Pepper nudged me.

I blushed heavily thinking about stripping in front of everyone.

"We will not be doing that." Charlemagne was rummaging in a nearby locker. "Got them!"

She handed everyone a military-grade LED flashlight.

"Okay! Let's move!" Charlemagne said pointing the way with her flashlight beam. Boom, you guard the rear. Gill, you take point. Pepper, get behind me. Persephone and Alphonse, stay between Pepper and Boom and keep your heads down."

Everyone took their places and we made our way through a cramped pressurized cylinder that served as a hallway and was connected to the center of the cylinder we had just left. Heavy bulkhead doors with a single porthole at eye-level branched off from this hallway. Looking through the portholes, I saw that six of these closed-off cylindrical rooms were living quarters lit only by emergency lights. The other two appeared to be for storage.

As Gillon opened the bulkhead at the end of the hallway, Charlemagne stood guard and said, "The most guarded secret in the world is behind this door."

Once the door was open and we'd recovered from the bright light on the other side, Alphonse, Pepper, and I all gasped in awe. The chamber ahead of us could easily fit an entire McDonald's in it. The lighting came from every bit of the ceiling, which arched upwards rising twenty feet over our heads. The entire room was made out of the same translucent material we'd seen on the outside: beige, but when you stared into it, you saw a grey-green-blue color. Marbling that other material were fingernail-thin stripes of silver-grey. The pattern reminded me of obsidian. The floor was the same material as the rest of the room, but with more silver marbling. Along the curved back wall, two groups of seven man-made bulkheads were on either side of a circular bulkhead that matched the rest of the room and had a smaller circle inlaid in it where one would normally expect a handle to be.

In the center of the room was a rounded-square pillar that displayed a language I'd never ever seen before in purple text.

"Is this an alien ship?" Alphonse asked.

"Not quite," Tritonia said.

Gillon, Tsubumi, and Pepper were all scanning the room to look for pool toys while Charlemagne said, "No time to explain, and I'd like you to sign some paperwork before I answer questions like that."

Now that there was plenty of light, I saw everyone hooking their flashlights on their belts and did the same.

"To the control room?" Gillon asked.

"Yes, lead the way," Charlemagne replied.

"What's through the center bulkhead It looks different," I said.

"Can't tell you because we don't know." Charlemagne walked just to Gillon's right side, but stayed behind him. As we walked past the central pillar, Charlemagne touched it and said, "Librarian, have you ascertained what the hostiles' goal is?"

The voice was soft and feminine, but had a bit of a growl to it. "I believe they want to gain access to my matrix and an NPO adjacent to me in section gamma-zeta-five."

"No activity on other levels?" Charlemagne asked.

"Not as of yet."

Charlemagne bit her lip as she thought for a moment. "Are you in danger of being compromised anytime soon?"

"It will likely take twenty minutes until they reach me," the Librarian said. "Hardened steel does appear to slow them down some."

"Okay, we'll send someone to protect you very soon," Charlemagne said.

"That would be much appreciated," the Librarian replied coolly.

"Can you restore power to the habitat lighting?" Charlemange asked.

"Affirmative, the heretics destroyed a junction box and caused a short. I'm working to route power around the damaged circuits."

"Heretics" seemed out of place, I wanted to ask why she'd used it, but things were moving too fast for me to ask questions.

"Good!" Charlemagne said, "Gillon, we need to get to the control room ASAP!"

Gillon ran toward the bulkhead just to the left of the center bulkhead and went to use his card and a code on it before saying, "That's bloody brilliant! They cut through the latch!" He pulled the bulkhead open.

"Hustle!" Charlemagne said.

The hall had bulkheads as far as the eye could see. About one in five was man-made. The man-made ones were a plethora of different models with high security locking mechanisms, old and new, defunct and current. It looked like someone had bought out all the military surplus stores in the USA and just used those parts at random. Gillon pulled the third bulkhead on the right open to reveal a room which was just a bit bigger than the submarine's bridge had been. It had only two thirds as many screens, however, and they hung above a jumble of surplus computer equipment which was strewn across heavy metal desks.

Alphonse shrieked when he saw a pool of blood surrounding a curly-haired guy with round glasses and a Hawaiian shirt. Some of the blood was from a wound above his right eyebrow. That wound made me feel uneasy. It looked like it went right into his skull.

Kneeling next to the guy was an anthropomorphic Florida mouse, about five-foot-eight, in a cyan and navy blue POSC uniform. I could tell he was a Florida mouse because of the white under his chin and the yellow-brown to grey shading of his fur. He was still holding the shooty part of his PIKL unit in his hands. The dead guy's hands were sprawled out while the rifle part of his PIKL was lying next to his right arm.

Next to both of them was a pile of pitch-black fabric that had been their assailant.

"God damn it, Septimus! Why did you let them get Bart!?" Charlemagne grabbed the mouse by the shoulders and lifted him to a standing position so she could glare at him.

"I didn't let them do anything! He was dead before I could even pull the trigger!" Septimus whimpered.

Charlemagne growled and pushed him backwards before stooping down next to Bart and trying to take his pulse while examining the hole in his head. "Fucking shit!" She stood back up. "Alphonse, do you know anything about maritime communication systems?"

"What? Huh?" Alphonse said as he looked up from the dead body.

"Do you know anything about maritime communication systems?" Charlemagne repeated.

"Yeah, why?" Alphonse asked.

"Sit at that desk and help me get in touch with the strike team." Charlemagne pointed at a mesh rolling chair just in front of the desk with the most screens attached to it.

Alphonse was stuck looking at the dead body.

Charlemagne snapped her fingers in his face. "Please focus. I need you in that chair."

As Alphonse got into the chair, Charlemagne said. "Everyone else, find a way to stop the hostiles from reaching the Librarian. Now!"

"How?" Tsubumi asked.

"I don't know," Charlemagne said.

"If we flood sections beta-psi through gamma-theta, multiple ancient bulkheads and seawater would be between them and the Librarian," Tritonia said.

"Yes, do that!" Charlemagne made a shooing motion with her hands.

Pepper was behind me while the other three were in front. Bulkhead after bulkhead went by until we reached a fork. As I noticed odd shadows against the wall, there was a violent sucking sound and those shadows became pool toys. Five of them.

Pepper shot one of them right away with her laser while Tsubumi shot another one. The other three advanced on us and Gillon barely got one of them before it got him. Then he yelled, "Scatter!"

In that moment, I saw one of the pool toys throw a grenade. There was no way we were going to scatter fast enough.

Before I could even fully turn away from the grenade, Tsubumi moved with inhuman swiftness and backhanded the grenade with the back plate of her combat glove. It flew back at the pool toy that threw it as she grabbed my hand and pulled me with her, away from the explosion.

She was running so fast that I lost my footing and was being dragged along by her. The grenade exploded just as we started down the left fork. It was the loudest sound I'd ever heard, even with earplugs in.

We all just ran down the hall until there was another fork. The explosion had slowed the pool toys down, but I knew they'd be in pursuit soon enough. My heart was pounding and my throat hurt from how hard I was breathing to keep up with my feet. Tsubumi went down the left hallway with Septimus while Gillon went down the right one. I followed Gillon because I didn't want him to be alone.

Gillon looked behind himself briefly. "Good, let's get you a weapon." Then he went back to running at top speed.

I followed him down the hall until he stopped at a man-made bulkhead. Opening it with his ID and a code, he stepped inside. After I followed him in, he closed the door behind us and locked it. It was a long skinny room that had man-made lockers on one side while the other side had forty-eight small door. Two thirds of them looked just like the center door in the large room we'd seen earlier, the other third were man-made or repaired with man-made materials.

Gillon went up one of the non-man-made doors in the third row up and said, "Librarian, I'd like to check out 7847-263-6 for twenty-four hours with the option for an extension."

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Tritonia said, her core still slung against my back.

The Librarian's slightly growly voice came from everywhere at once as the door opened. "Your request has been approved. Please take care when using this item."

"Will do!" Gillon said as he reached into the foot-wide cubic chamber behind the door and took what looked like an ordinary telescoping presentation pointer off of a little stand. He held the pointer in his left hand and pointed it at the far wall, which was about ten feet away. "All you do is aim at what you want to hit. Make sure there are no friendly objects or people between you and the wall or in a three-hundred-and-fifty-seven foot span from the end of the pointer. And then pull the tip toward your target."

He pulled on it and then it extended all the way to the wall faster than I could see.

Gillon said, "Goes through anything in its way and only has recoil on the backstroke."

He braced himself and pushed the end on the wall and it unextended in a flash.

Handing it to me, he said, "We call it the Over-Extending Presentation Pointer and I think it will give those pool toys a very bad day."

I was holding an NPO in my hands! I stared at it, utterly fascinated that an ordinary-looking object was capable of being so dangerous. "Thanks!"

"No trouble at all, madam," he said with a twinkle in his eye before going to the third weapons locker from the door and using his ID and a code to get it open. He pulled out two more power packs for the PIKL units and then closed it. Handing me one of the power packs, he said, "If you'd be so kind as to carry this, we can now go meet up with Boom and Septimus."

As I grabbed the pack, there was a buzz and then an electric discharge sound from the door that drew our attention. Gillon tried to open the door, but the RFID pad he used to read his ID had its light off and didn't respond. "Oh, bloody hell!"

Looking at the door, my concern turned to joy. "Oh! You're so lucky that you guys built everything out of surplus parts. This is a second gen Anysys interlock."

"You can override it?" Gillon raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a torx screwdriver?" I asked.

"Yes!" He went over to a locker and got a gorgeous blue and yellow canvas bag utterly stuffed with tools.

"Perfect!" When I bent my knees and leaned over the lock, Tritonia slipped so she was hanging awkwardly under my right arm. Taking her off, I said, "Sorry Tritonia, I gotta hand you to Gillon."

"That's fine, thanks for carrying me this whole time," Tritonia replied.

"I'm just glad I didn't get us killed," I said.

Taking Tritonia, Gillon said, "Hello again, dear."

"Hello, father." Tritonia sounded happy.

"Father?" I asked.

"I'm not sure what else to call him. He's responsible for my existence," Tritonia said.

"Indeed, I was responsible for copying the mind that became Tritonia," Gillon said.

"Whose mind did you copy?" I asked.

"Apologies, but we need to get out of this room and provide backup," Gillon reminded me.

I got out a torx screwdriver of the proper size and unscrewed the cover over the latch mechanism. Then I clipped three wires and stripped the ends of two of them. To my surprise, the webbing between my fingers didn't hamper me at all. It went so smoothly, I had no trouble explaining what I was doing as I went. "There's a major security flaw that got them to scrap this whole product line. They routed the control box power right through the latch and all you gotta do is hotwire the solenoid with the twenty-four-volt line." I touched the two ends together and then used the electrical pliers to twist them and make a circuit. The latch immediately popped open.

As I pulled the door open, Gillon shot through the open space causing three bangs so far down the hallway that they didn't even sound that loud. He had a satisfied lop-sided smile as I stepped through the door. About a thousand feet down the hallway was a deflated pool toy.

"Nice shot!" I said.

"Yeah! That sounded like it was far away," Tritonia added.

He said, "If we could fight them all at range, we wouldn't have nearly as much trouble."

Pointing at the carbine the pool toy had dropped, I said, "Actually, I think they can shoot us back now."

"Gordon Bennett! We need to get a move on!" He started running back to the fork where we'd split from Tsubumi and Septimus.

A man-made bulkhead as big as the entire 10-foot-high-arched hallway loomed over Tsubumi who was lying on her back while Pepper stood guard. We ran as fast as we could. There were three destroyed pool toys four hundred feet away from them with M14 carbines lying next to them. They'd come down a hallway that branched off of ours and caught her by surprise.

Tsubumi had a bleeding hole in her abdomen and another in her left thigh. Gillon knelt down next to her. "Pepper, did you dress these wounds?"

"Yes, but I had to do it quick because I didn't know if we'd get surprised again," she said.

An open first-aid cabinet was on the far wall and first-aid materials were scattered around Tsubumi.

"Well done, madam. I think she might just live because of you," Gillon said as he started using the first aid materials to improve Tsubumi's dressings.

"You sure she'll be okay?" Pepper asked.

"She's lost a lot of blood, her prognosis would be better if she were conscious. We need to get her to the infirmary to deal with the internal bleeding." Gillon was working more frantically now. "I think she has a nick in her femoral artery."

"Shit!" Pepper said.

"You took out three of the enemy and dressed her wounds, Pepper. You did all you could," Tritonia said.

"I know. I just feel like an idiot because they got her while I glanced back at her to watch her flip the switch to start flooding the chamber," Pepper said.

"She was facing away from her attackers?" Gillon asked.

"Yeah," Pepper frowned.

"That means both bullets went straight through. She's very lucky," Gillon said. "Where's Septimus?"

"He ran off to do something he barely explained. I think he's guarding another junction?" Pepper shrugged. "There was way too much going on."

Gillon tried to speak, but Pepper yelled "HOSTILES!"

Gillon hopped to his feet and I dashed for Tsubumi's PIKL unit. That pointer was fast, but their lasers could fire multiple shots in a row. Putting on the pack, I grabbed the rifle and aimed it down the hallway. Gillon and Pepper shot two of them, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw two shadows that looked out of place. Each had a hand and part of an arm sticking out and were in the middle of throwing grenades!

I screamed "Grenades!" and fired at the one nearest us. Time slowed as my heart beat so hard I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. It seemed like it was going to take eons to change my angle so I could hit the far one without hitting the junction box it was hiding behind. As the hand started to release the grenade, there were three bright flashes. The grenade fell and rolled down the curved wall. Everyone hit the floor and the first grenade went off, then the second. I heard shrapnel hit everything around us.

Everyone got back to their feet to look for more hostiles and, as I was doing that, a pool toy reached out from the wall toward me and grabbed my leg. Its other arm was reaching toward my head with an extended pointer finger. I screamed and tried to get away, but its grip strength was threatening to break my ankle. I closed my eyes not wanting to watch as it put a hole in my head.

Pepper gave a deep guttural battle yell and the blasts from her laser made my ears ring despite my ear plugs as she blew chunks out of the pool toy's skin.

When I opened my eyes again, I was alive and Pepper was standing over me like a possessive guard dog.

My ears were still ringing as Gillon yelled, "I need pressure!"

Pepper knelt next to Tsubumi who now had a gash on her arm that was bleeding. Gillon had two gashes on his right arm. I went over to Tsubumi and followed orders while we switched off who was watching for more pool toys. Tritonia was a sounding board for Gillon's ideas about how best to treat Tsubumi's injuries while lying against Tsubumi's side so she could report changes in Tsubumi's heart rate and breathing. Through our combined effort, we had Tsubumi stabilized in about ten minutes.

Gillon asked for a gurney over the intercom and Septimus showed up with one ten minutes later. Then we walked down the hallway taking note of every shadow.

The infirmary was the size of a ballroom and was full of state-of-the-art medical equipment including an MRI machine, which we put Tsubumi in the moment we got there. Everyone was quiet as Septimus ran the machine. None of us wanted to say how bad Tsubumi looked as her pale, nearly bloodless, body lay there getting plasma from an IV.

When Gillon surveyed everyone, we found Alphonse was a match for Tsubumi's blood and he willingly gave it.

Abrams was brought in not long after. He patched up better than expected, but Charlemagne took his shift guarding the infirmary so he could get some rest.

Abrams spent his time resting in the hospital bed next to Tsubumi watching her with a worried expression on his face. The way he looked at her gave me a strong suspicion they knew each other well.

While waiting for Gillon and Septimus to finish their conversation about Tsubumi's condition, Pepper grabbed my left hand and squeezed. My webbing felt strange while my hand was being held like that. I hadn't given it much thought, but no part of me was the same as it had been before I nearly died at the bottom of the sea. It was nice to connect with someone, for someone to be interested in me enough that she wanted to hold my hand and comfort me.

When Alphonse was done giving blood, he saw me and Pepper holding hands and blushed looking unsure what to say.

I held out my right hand to him. "Come here."

He took my hand and stood next to me. "I hope she'll be okay."

"Me too," I said.

"So, are you and Pepper, uhh..." he trailed off.

Pepper looked a little self conscious as she said, "No idea."

I chuckled. "Same here. Just kinda happened."

"I think holding hands is a good response to all the shit we've been through, regardless," Alphonse said.

"Agreed." I gave his hand a squeeze.

Pepper leaned against my side. Something about the way she did it made me feel very warm and I couldn't stop thinking about how her well-muscled arm felt against mine.

Charlemagne came into the room and saying, "Could one of you switch with me? I gotta use the restroom."

"I will," I said. I still had the PIKL unit equipped.

Pepper followed me toward the door saying, "I'll guard along with her, if that's okay."

"Sure, probably better to have two anyway." Charlemagne walked past us into the room and then we walked out front.

Alphonse went over to Tsubumi, who was getting a transfusion of his blood, and asked, "Do you think she'll notice if I hold her hand?"

Septimus said, "Probably not, she might be in a coma."

I listened to their conversation curiously from the doorway.

"Septimus." Gillon shook his head. "Don't be so macabre. There's plenty of science that says she very well could notice. Go ahead, Alphonse. I think it will do some good."

Septimus just picked up his conversation with Gillon where they'd left off. They were rattling off item numbers like mechanics on the phone with a parts supplier. The numbers matched the format of the item number for the pointer Gillon had given me, so I assumed they were talking about NPOs they could possibly use to help Tsubumi's recovery. Septimus seemed to want to try something new and Gillon wanted to go with one they'd used before.

Standing out front with me, Pepper said, "So, what did you do before you became a professional thief?"

"I sold security systems while being an amateur thief," I said.

She laughed softly. "That's too perfect."

"I know," I said.

"Is there anyone you're going to miss if you have to stay hidden from the world?" she asked.

"Are you trying to ask me if I have a girlfriend?" I teased.

She blushed bright pink. "Well, do you?"

"I'm poly, so it wouldn't matter, but no, I don't have anyone back home. I took the job to steal the ADS 3000 because I was trying to recoup what I'd lost when my last girlfriend double-crossed me," I said. "How did you know I like girls?"

"Honey, please, the way you held my hand back there, and the way you grabbed my ass this morning, either would be proof enough on its own," she said.

"I didn't mean to grope you, I really didn't." I blushed feeling suddenly shy.

"Well, either way, I liked it." She stepped closer to my side.

Confusion welled up in me as I looked at the patches of brown and tan on the backs of my webbed hands. Something didn't add up. "How can you be into me? Like, if you're a lesbian, I'm not completely a girl, and if you're straight, I'm not completely a guy, and if you're one of those awesome people that thinks my downstairs doesn't have to match my gender, there's one last problem: I'm more of a sea monster than a human."

"If we weren't wondering whether we were going to live to see tomorrow, I'd cool my jets, but given our current situation I gotta say it. She leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen, period. If we'd met at a bar, I would have started hitting on you the moment I laid eyes on you."

My body just moved on its own. I'd been afraid for my life, and the lives of everyone on this base, for the last three hours. I needed joy, I needed to feel alive, I needed her lips. The kiss surprised both of us at first, but then our bodies relaxed and we risked several seconds of not watching our surroundings to enjoy that bit of intimacy.

When our lips parted, we stared into each other's eyes for a moment and I ran my the tips of my webbed fingers across the side of Pepper's neck. She reached down, put her hand on my ass, and groped just as hard as I had done to her. The moment I started to gasp, she let go and stood at attention leaving me there to stew in the sudden burst of arousal she'd given me.

That kiss distracted me from the dismal reality of our situation for the next twenty minutes. We kept sharing glances, both of us wanting more but not willing to risk being caught off guard by Charlemagne or a pool toy.

Charlemagne started giving out orders inside the infirmary. "Alphonse, I want you to go to the control room with Abrams, get in touch with the strike team, and update them on everything that's happened. Abrams, you are to go with Alphonse and guard him until I get back to the control room."

"Yes ma'am," Abrams said.

Alphonse was looking at Charlemagne like she was out of her mind. "You're going to leave me alone with the communications equipment?"

"Abrams will be there and he's somewhat familiar with it. You are far more knowledgeable, however. Plus, I'll be back to assist you if you need it." Charlemagne walked out the infirmary and addressed us. "Persephone and Pepper, we're going to be doing a sweep of the base and to do that, I can't be worrying about you two getting lost. So, I'm going to put you in the crew quarters until the sweep is complete."

"Shouldn't we stay here and guard the infirmary?" Pepper asked.

"An NPO far beyond your clearance is going to be used to improve Boom's condition," Charlemagne said. "I will personally be guarding the infirmary until the procedure is done, then I will come and get you so you can take over for me. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Pepper said.

"Understood," I said. "Will that NPO guarantee Tsubumi's survival or is it a last ditch effort?" I frowned, worrying about her.

"The first time we used it on her, she was almost this bad, and it brought her back to full health, so I'm hopeful." Charlemagne smiled faintly.

"That's good," I said.

"Very," Pepper concurred.

"Persephone, I need you to give your PIKL unit to Alphonse, and while you do that, I need to have a quick chat with Septimus and Gillon." Charlemagne walked back into the infirmary.

Taking off the PIKL, I walked over to Alphonse to hand it to him. He set it down next to the wall and motioned for me to follow him. Then he led me to the far corner of the room and we stood between a couple hospital beds.

He whispered barely loud enough for me to hear him, "Do you think I should try to tell our families we're still alive while I have the communications stuff to myself?"

I shook my head. "No, we better not press our luck just yet. Take your time and do a good job so you earn their trust first. If we both do that, we'll have more options if we need them."

He frowned. "I know you're right, it's just, I don't know if I'll get another chance."

I put my hands on his shoulders. "You breached their security once, you can do it again."

"But we might die," he said.

"True, but we'll never get much freedom if we're caught in subterfuge this early on." I touched my forehead to his. "No dying, okay?"

He nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Good!" I gave him a nice firm hug and then walked back to the door.

As Alphonse donned the PIKL unit, Pepper said, "We're going to be all alone."

I blushed. "Yes we are, but we probably shouldn't--"

Pepper laughed and slapped my shoulder. "You're adorable."

I took a deep breath. "I was thinking this wasn't the time."

"Tell you what, if we get through this, I'll invite you over to my quarters for dinner."

I smiled. "I'd love that!"

"It's a date, then!" she said.

"Do you even have quarters? We just got here," I said.

"No idea, we could end up roomies for all I know. But, whatever the arrangement ends up being, we'll find a way to have a nice dinner date together, sound good?"

"Sounds perfect." I kissed her cheek.

"So happy to be dating again, it's been too long." She beamed.

"Won't Charlemagne frown on you dating a prisoner?" I asked.

Pepper shrugged. "I don't think you're a prisoner, you saved our lives."

"Indeed, right now you and Alphonse are part of my team," Charlemagne said as she walked out the door.

"We are?" I asked, wondering how much of our conversation Charlemagne had heard.

Charlemagne started leading us to the crew quarters. "Remember when I said I'd reevaluate the situation if things got dire? Well, that's where we are."

"Will I get one of those awesome POSC uniforms?" I asked.

Charlemagne sighed. "Let's just take this one step at a time, okay? This is uncharted territory."

"Fair enough," I said.

"I'm not going to lock you two in the quarters, but I'm going to order you to stay there unless I summon you. Understood?"

"Understood!" Pepper and I said as we entered the main room that all the hallways branched out from. Voices echoed quite expansively in this room.

"Hey, Charlie, just in case we all die, level with me. Is this an alien ship?" Pepper asked.

"Calling me Charlie already, are we?" Charlemagne turned to look at Pepper with raised an eyebrow.

"S-sorry." Pepper grimaced.

"Alien ship, no. Alien structure, maybe." Charlemagne opened the bulkhead to the crew quarters area.

"Look, I don't want to die wondering what the truth is. Can you give me a teensy bit more info?" Pepper asked sweetly.

"It depends on whether the Atlantians built this place or not. You see, much of the technology fits with their style, but the language and other details, like the use of rounded rectangles and large arches, doesn't fit." Charlemagne's toned ass looked so fantastic in the lighting of the habitat's pressure cylinder hallway that I didn't think about what she'd said at first. Pepper had gotten me excited and my mind was very happy to have a distraction from the fact that more of those pool toys could be afoot.

"Atlantis was real?" Pepper balked.

I blinked and then my eyes widened as I stopped staring at Charlemagne's ass and fully realized what they were talking about.

"Yes, but it wasn't an island, it was a flotilla of ships that could all be interlinked and become a city when they got to their destination," Charlemagne said. "The city changed shape often because the ships shuffled around while they were traveling from port to port."

"What were the ancient Atlantians like?" I asked, a wave of awe hitting me, making me feel like I was floating toward the crew quarters instead of walking.

"Bart liked to call them technohippies. They were more free in their personal lives than any culture in existence today and their technology helped them have the closest thing to a utopia I've ever seen," Charlemagne said as she opened the door to the crew quarters nearest the cylinder with the airlock. "Could I have your flashlights, I should put them back where they belong before I forget."

We gave her the flashlights and she took hers off of her belt before saying, "Okay, I'll be right back." She went into the room with the airlock and put them away.

When she came back, Pepper asked, "After we live through this, can we see your files on the Altlantians?"

"My word of mouth is something that can be plausibly denied. Showing you evidence you can use to prove the existence of the Atlantians before you've been given the proper clearance is something else entirely." Charlemagne motioned for us to enter the crew quarters. "I recommend closing the bulkhead and upping the pressure by a tenth of an atmosphere to guarantee a good seal. Less likely for you to get ambushed while you fraternize, that way."

We looked at Charlemagne with our mouths half open.

"Oh, the look on your faces!" She laughed and then gave us a stern look. "I understand the sort of thinking that happens when one mortality is in the balance. And I know what it's like to have a brand new crush. But please don't do anything that compromises your awareness of your surroundings. I don't want to find your corpses naked and entangled when I get back."

The strength of Charlemagne's cock block was legendary. My mind was now all business. "You said upping the atmospheric pressure would keep us safer?"

"Yes, you'd know immediately if the seal on your door was broken," Charlemagne said.

"How do we do that?" I asked.

Charlemagne entered the quarters and walked toward the kitchen area. Across from the kitchen was a bathtub with a shower and a tiny room I figured was the toilet since its lock indicated whether it was vacant or not. At the far end there was a small eating area in the center with two sets of two bunks on either wall with cargo nets to stow personal items above them.

Opening the lid on the little brownish-grey box mounted next to the refrigerator, Charlemagne revealed an antiquated interface that reminded me of one of those old alarm clocks that had numbers that flipped down as it slowly turned. "After you secure the door, just flip this one tenth higher."

"Oh, okay!" I said.

"Thanks!" Pepper said.

Charlemagne went over to a storage cabinet under the right lower bunk bed and pulled out a heavy bright red binder from the late sixties. It said, "SEALAB III MANUAL" on it in silver letters.

"Wait, SEALAB III, wasn't that cancelled due to a diving accident?" Pepper asked.

"That's the story that was given to the media, the project was actually expanded," Charlemagne said, handing Pepper the manual. "I'm trusting you two with this knowledge. Do not make me regret it."

"That's why everything here looks like it's from the late sixties/early seventies," I mused.

Charlemagne nodded. "Yep, they wanted a completely human-controlled part of the base that people could live in while exploring The Reposit--Why is the airlock cycling?"

Now that I was focusing, my long pointy ears could pick up a lot of nuances in the sounds, like a steady hiss from the diving equipment room, and then the outer airlock door creaking open. The lights went out and the bulkhead door swung closed with a loud thunk. Then there was a solid ker-chunk as a drop lock fell into place. It was dead silent, there was no whirring from pumps and ventilation fans, no sign that life support systems were functioning.

Part Two

The battery-powered emergency light up on the wall above the fridge clicked on.

Charlemagne sucked her teeth looking at the locked bulkhead door. "And that's what I get for getting caught up in conversation."

Pepper went up to the door. "Can't we just open it?"

I shook my head. "I heard a drop lock."

"We call it Fail Secure," Charlemagne corrected.

"A better name is Fail, Starve to Death." I groaned in frustration. "Can't believe I'm locked in for the second time today!"

"Wait, how did you get out the first time?" Pepper asked.

"The armory door was secured by a second gen Anysys, so I just hotwired the solenoid." I chuckled. "Such a terrible design."

"Can you open this one?" Charlemagne asked.

I shook my head. "This is a Hastel-Voss thirty seven seventy, one of the best high security interlocks ever made, and I don't have my tools."

"Is it a time constraint, like it would take a very long time without your tools, or is it actually impossible?" Charlemagne asked.

"It's impossible. I'd need a full electronics kit complete with a high-end oscilloscope to maybe bypass this lock. If this was part of a job, I'd use a few breaching torches. Hastell-Voss made the best digital locks in the industry until Medeco ran them out of business."

"Damn it!" Charlemagne stomped her foot.

"Like, I know fail secure, but usually it's to keep people out of things, not trap them," Pepper said. "Why lock people in here?"

"There are three levels of redundancy to the power distribution system. If all three have gone out, the most likely cause is a hull breach. The quarters we're in were originally for scientists, the least expendable personnel and the ones least likely to be able to deal with a breach. Locking them in ensures they will survive until a rescue team can reach them," Charlemagne said.

"But wouldn't they suffocate?" My heart started to race. "Are we going to suffocate?"

"Movies overdramatize suffocation in enclosed spaces. This cylinder is sixty feet long. Its volume is around two hundred thousand liters. We only breathe a hundred liters of air an hour, so all three of us only breathe three hundred liters of air an hour. That means we have over six hundred hours worth of oxygen. And before you ask," Charlemagne opened the storage unit under the other set of bunks and pulled out a rebreather. "We can use these to scrub carbon dioxide out of the air if we need to. There's a carbon dioxide sensor in the fire alarm that will warn us to grab these." She pointed up at the fire alarm, it was modern and its light was still blinking amber and green alternately as it ran off of its own battery. I think the amber flashes were to complain that the power was out.

Pepper put an arm over my shoulders. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes! No suffocating for us!" I beamed.

With my whole body tingling from a desire for more of Pepper's touch, I reached around her back, grabbed her side, and pulled her against me. It was really helping with my anxiety. Being trapped in this room was bringing back memories from when I was trapped at the bottom of the sea in the ADS 3000.

Charlemagne looked at us with a raised eyebrow and then cleared her throat. "We need to stay focused."

We let go of each other and put our hands by our sides. The damage had been done, however, I hadn't had sex since my check up with Kirkii yesterday and I was feeling clingy because I was scared. My eyes darted down to Pepper's crotch. What did it feel like to fuck someone else's lusty treasure cave?

"We're going to have better survivability if we can communicate with the rest of the team. Is there any way we can send Morse code over the intercom using one of our PIKL batteries?" Charlemagne asked.

"No, the intercom system is fully digital and using the battery would probably just burn out diodes or otherwise screw up the boards. And even if it would work, the batteries for your PIKL units would be incredibly dangerous to try and work with. Working on high power electronics without the correct equipment is a recipe for lethal shocks or electrical explosions..." My eyes darted to the old intercom system that had been left in place. "We could use that--" I pointed at the emergency light. "---to send Morse over the old intercom system, though."

"But how would we see what we were doing if we cannibalized the emergency light?" Charlemagne asked.

"Could we use those little displays on your PIKL devices?" I asked.

Pepper shook her head, "They're too small. I don't think they'd be enough to see fine work. But your glow would probably be enough, well, if more of your skin was exposed than just your hands." Pepper immediately put her hand over her mouth. The first time she'd mentioned me taking my clothes off to be a flashlight, we'd not had a date planned and it had been a joke. Now it held a lot more weight.

Charlemagne scoffed. "Officer Mint! This is not the--" She paused and looked at me, then at the emergency light, then at the old intercom system. "Actually, I don't have a better idea."

"Your last name is Mint? You're Pepper Mint?" I laughed despite the situation.

Pepper sighed and looked down.

Forcing myself to stop laughing, I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It just caught me by surprise."

Smiling softly, Pepper said, "It's okay, I'm glad it made you laugh. I wish I could find my parents' twisted sense of humor funny. Would have made things a lot more fun growing up."

"I think I have something that'll cheer you up," I said as I started unbuttoning my sailor top.

Charlemagne rolled her eyes. "Save us the strip tease, please just take it off."

"Oh, right, sorry." I unbuttoned the rest of the buttons and pulled my top off.

Pepper looked at my breasts with lust in her gaze. She nearly licked her lips, but then her eyes darted over to Charlemagne and she put on a professional face.

Charlemagne glanced at my chest a few times seemingly trying to decide whether to look away from me or just look at my tits and satisfy her curiosity so we could move on.

I said, "Just look at them, please. It'll be far less awkward that way."

Charlemagne took a long look while her expression remained neutral. "You look very...healthy," she said with her eyes smiling just a tiny bit.

"Thanks!" I reached down to take off my pants feeling like I was going to catch fire with how much I was blushing.

"Stop!" Charlemagne held up a hand. "Just the upper body should suffice." Her cheeks had just the tiniest bit of pink.

Pepper had given up trying to hide her interest and was looking at my upper half all she wanted, which was a lot.

To break the uncomfortable social tension, I climbed up on the counter next to the refrigerator and grabbed the emergency light. It felt bizarre to just have my breasts out for all to see while I did this. Bizarre in a good way. The emergency light was heavy, but bracing my elbows on the top of the fridge gave me enough leverage to pop it out of the fixture that held it on the wall. Then I pushed it across the top of the fridge saying, "Charlemagne, can you grab this?"

"Sure!" She was so damn tall and strong that she made the emergency light look small and light. She had no trouble bringing it over to the dining table and setting it down.

Pepper and I sat on either side of one of the table's corners, close enough that our right knees were touching.

I asked Charlemagne, "Are there any tools in here?"

"Yeah, every crew quarters has a basic set," Charlemagne went over to the cabinet under the sink, pulled out a small tool bag, and brought it to the table.

Pepper and Charlemagne watched as I took off the metal housing and exposed the innards of the light. Most of the inside was a big lead acid battery, but on top of that there was an old circuit board that turned it on when the power went out. I needed some parts off that board.

Pepper grabbed the manual shut off for the emergency light. "You ready to glow?"

"Yeah!" I said concentrating on getting my upper half to glow firefly yellow while my nipples glowed cyan. I tried turning my nipples off, but I didn't have that fine of control.

I carefully disconnected the battery and went to work on the board. My glowing upper half provided enough light for me to identify components for the most part, but not being able to fully distinguish colors made things a lot more challenging. To read the color bands on resistors, I had to hold them up to the PIKL screens, which had a white backlight. During this process, Charlemagne split her attention between the door and what I was doing. She asked me many well-informed questions, possibly trying to add knowledge about electronics to her repertoire.

Pepper was being bad, so very bad! Possibly without even realizing it. The whole time I worked, she idly stroked and caressed my thigh with her right hand. My dicks had started fighting my attempts to contain them and I had no idea how to tell her to stop without getting Charlemagne annoyed at her.

It all came to a head when I was concentrating on holding wires together so I could put a wire nut on them. In that brief moment, I forgot about holding my pricks inside me.

My twin cocks slid down the sides of my pant legs as I gasped and shivered. My glowing flickered as this happened, getting brighter and then going back to my normal intensity. A couple seconds later, it happened again. Having felt movement, Pepper's curious hand reached down and pressed against my right prehensile length causing it to undulate under her fingers. I flickered more dramatically, squeaking in delight.

Pepper was so surprised by my prick's movement that the whites of her eyes were easily visible in the dim light.

Charlemagne narrowed her eyes at me, "Are you okay?"

My voice cracked as I said, "Yep!"

Pepper quickly withdrew her hand, but I was done for. I wanted to grab her and stuff her full of cock. I could smell how turned on she was now that she'd recovered from the shock of my shaft moving on its own. I wondered how she'd react when she discovered I had two of them.

"Can you please stop blinking, then?" Charlemagne asked.

I shivered as my lush feminine valley got so wet that I was starting to moisten the crotch of my sailor pants. My body flashed again. "My body doesn't seem to be listening to me."

"Huh, maybe it's a side effect of forcing yourself to glow so long?" Charlemagne raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, maybe," I lied.

"Are we ready to start sending Morse code?" Charlemagne asked.

"Just about." I worked on making sure to tape any areas that were in danger of shorting out or shocking the person using my crazy device.

Charlemagne ordered Pepper to keep an eye on the door and then worked on composing the messages she was going to send on a legal pad we'd found in the cupboard.

"Okay! It's all done," I said.

"Just one more minute." Charlemagne was hurriedly transcribing her message into Morse.

I blinked over and over again as Pepper and I shared shy glances, both of us wanting to talk about what she'd felt in my pants.

"Please try to stop flickering, it's making it hard to concentrate," Charlemagne said, not looking up from her work.

I tried pressing my legs together thinking that a more prissy sitting position would help, but that brought my dicks into contact through my pant legs. When I moved my legs back apart, I blinked three times in a row while stifling a moan.

"Persephone!" Charlemagne thumped the table with her fist. "Just thirty seconds without blinking, it's all I ask."

"I'll try to concentrate on something other than...I mean, I'll try to stop." I said as I closed my eyes and calmed my mind. Unfortunately, that just led to me imagining Pepper bending over for me.

"Okay, I get the feeling you know why you're blinking and you're not telling me, out with it." Charlemagne was pointing her pencil at me accusingly.

"I..." I bit my lip with my sharp pointy teeth nearly drawing blood. There was no way I could say it in front of Charlemagne. The embarrassment was like a cinder block hanging around my neck. I looked at Pepper expectantly hoping she'd take the hint.

"She's extremely aroused, ma'am," Pepper said.

I nearly died from embarrassment as I waited for Charlemagne to respond.

"Well, that does fit with Kirkii's report on her libido." Charlemagne went back to writing. "Sorry for yelling at you."

I kept flickering.

A minute later, Charlemagne handed me the piece of paper and brought my device to the door. "After we get this sent out, we're going to have to do something about your blinking so I don't lose my mind."

"Like what?" I asked while flickering every time I took a step. My pricks were rubbing against my thighs and my pant legs.

"I'm willing to take one for the team, ma'am, whatever Persephone needs." Pepper laughed.

"Officer Mint, I'd like you to show more decorum." Charlemagne set the device down on top of a storage locker that was just inside the door and below the old intercom.

"Sorry, ma'am," Pepper said.

"Good, now I want you pointing your PIKL at the door while we get this message sent out," Charlemagne said.

"Yes, ma'am!" Pepper stood and pointed herself at the door.

I hooked everything up and sent both of Charlemagne's messages three times spacing them out by about five minutes. One of them very succinctly detailed our situation and where we were in a way that only the other humans on the base would pick up on. Then it asked for a sitrep. The other gave hints for how we patched into the old intercom system so they could communicate with us.

After that, waiting was painful while we sat at the table. Every time I blinked, I thought I was bringing Charlemagne closer to a migraine. Pepper kept her arm over my shoulders letting me lean against her. Charlemagne seemed annoyed at first by Pepper's lack of decorum, but she didn't say anything and was pleased to find it calmed me some and reduced my flickering to about half the frequency. Being near Pepper also made it easy to smell how pent up she was, which kept me throbbing in my pants.

We were so relieved when a message finally came back that we all relaxed our shoulders and sat further back in our chairs.

Charlemagne transcribed the message and then read it to us. "No one else has died, we are all holed up in the infirmary awaiting the strike team which will be here in three hours. There are at least two more hostiles hiding in the base. Before the power went out, the Librarian reported that our flooding of her section has made it impassable to the enemy. We believe the power was cut so that the enemy could repair the pumps and get the water out, but repairs are going to be difficult because Alphonse used a drone and a grenade to blow up the pump motors before we retreated. We disabled the infirmary door so the enemy cannot lock us in. We do not believe it is safe to continue the sweep as the enemy is at a steep advantage in the dark. Unless something changes, we will contact you in two hours. We will leave this channel open, but we cannot guarantee it is secure."

"That's great news!" Pepper cheered.

Charlemagne smiled, "Yes, yes it is."

"Are you worried that they'll fix the pumps before the strike team arrives?" I asked.

Charlemagne shook her head. "When we flooded that section, ancient bulkheads closed it all off, and those bulkheads are near-impossible to cut through no matter one's technology level. I think pumping out the water so the bulkheads open again would be faster, but that will take hours. This deep in the ocean, getting the water back out is much harder than getting it in. All we had to do to get it in was just open a few valves. Whoever built the repository was very smart. They automated many of their safety and security measures without connecting them to the Librarian, planning for the possibility that the Librarian could get hacked."

"Why are there so many modern repairs to the bulkheads and stuff if they built things so well?" I asked.

"This place is ten thousand years old and over time, the repair mechanisms stopped working. The Librarian blames heretics for it, the same word she's using for the current attackers."

"Wait, do you think they're the same thing?" Pepper asked. "Like, the same enemy from thousands of years ago?"

"It could just be one of the words she uses for hostiles that attack The Repository. Could even be a bad translation from her native language into ours." Charlemagne shrugged. "We can't know for sure unless we ask the Librarian directly."

Pepper shifted in her seat and just that little bit of touching against my side got me to flash three times in a row.

"That's it!" Charlemagne pointed at each of us as she spoke. "You two are going to iron out your sexual tension right here, right now."

"Are you upset with me? I'm sorry I have such a high libido." I frowned feeling very self-conscious.

"It's not your fault you have a high libido, it's a documented medical condition. Stop feeling sorry for yourself." She looked me in the eye to show she was dead serious. "And start working to deal with the problem before it becomes even more of a distraction."

"Are you ordering us to have sex?" Pepper asked.

Charlemagne slapped the table. "If that's what it takes, do it! I can't have you distracting each other, and me, for the next three hours. I'll guard the door and keep my helmet on."

"You're probably going to still hear a lot of stuff, I'm not exactly quiet," Pepper said.

"Officer Mint, if I have to remind you about decorum one more time, I'm going to put you out the airlock." Charlemagne glared. "I'm an adult and know what sex entails, everyone is loud. That's why noisy sex is one of the main complaints in poorly soundproofed hotels." She got up, grabbed the chair she was sitting on, and set it in front of the bulkhead door before sitting in it.

Pepper and I looked at each other, grinning. Then Pepper quickly removed her combat armor and set it neatly on one of the lower bunks before turning to face me.

I stepped toward her to kiss her, but she started undoing my sailor pants the moment I was within arm's reach saying, "Sorry, but I gotta see what's going on down there."

Squirming at the fact she was about to see both of my pricks, I told myself that she already knew I was a herm and that I shouldn't be embarrassed. It kinda worked and I didn't try to hide myself when she pulled my pants down to reveal my cyan-glowing phalluses.

"T-they glow, they move, and there's two of them!?" Pepper said aloud, voice full of awe. It seemed she was trying to convince herself what she was seeing was actually real.

Charlemagne looked back at us, "Don't try to make me l--" Her eyes went wide. "Persephone, I had no idea you had such unique anatomy! No other hybrid has ever had that happen." Her face was full of wonder. She did seem like a scientist at heart, an explorer, as much as she was a military commander.

"Didn't Kirkii's report include those details?" I asked.

"No, that sort of info is anonymized and not included in personnel reports unless there are extenuating circumstances," Charlemagne said, still staring at my cocks. "How much dexterity do they have?"

Blushing and flickering, I said, "I can use tools with them if I want to."

"Fascinating...Carry on. I shouldn't have delayed you." Charlemagne turned back toward the front.

Reaching toward my crotch with both hands, Pepper took one of my cocks into each hand and gasped as I curled them in her grip. "They're so strong!"

I screeched as I preed a bit and wiggled them in her grip. It felt so fucking good to have someone else grab them like this.

"You really like that, huh?" She chuckled.

"Oh Yes! Oh gods yes!" I said.

She stroked harder and pressed her clothed front against me. "You being this hard must mean you really want me," she teased.

I bit her neck on instinct and she gasped feeling the threat of my pointy teeth and then pressed up into my love bite. "Okay, this is new. Never been this wet."

She pulled away and undid her belt before unfastening her pants and pulling them down with her panties. Strings of her juices connected her panties to her sopping cleft. It was one of the hottest things I'd ever seen. It made me want to shove inside her to see just how ready she was for me.

Grabbing my left hand, she shoved it up under her bra and then started making out with me. Her pointer and middle finger on her right hand reached under my balls and stroked across my valley of ecstasy. Then she kissed away my moans while unbuttoning her uniform with her free hand. Her breasts were soft with strong pectoral muscles under them making them perky. I loved the mixture of softness and hardness on her. Reaching into myself with one of my pricks, I wrapped it around her fingers. She threw off her uniform and then pressed her breasts against mine.

I couldn't take it, I had to satisfy my curiosity, so I slid my left prick into her. She groaned in delight and clenched around my welcome invasion. Taking her fingers out of me, she grabbed my ass and pulled my hips more firmly against hers, grinding against me. When I shoved my other prick into her, I had it spiral up the first, stirring her up as much as possible.

She came then and there, pressed up against me, whimpering and gasping, absolutely thrilled.

The odd part of her being this wet is that there was very little friction and I wasn't all that close to cumming. Remembering how hard and fast my boyfriends could go when they had me bent over, I waited till she'd stopped cumming to pull out and nudge her toward the table saying, "Bend over!"

"Fuck, Persephone!" She grabbed one of her nipples looking at me with lust in her eyes. Then she bent over the table and tilted her ass upwards. "Get back in there!"

I grabbed her hips and started ramming myself into her, my shafts a helix of throbbing greatness. There was so much texture to fucking her. I could feel each twist as it entered. It must have been hitting her clit a lot because she was squealing as I bred her. The coasters on the table clinked against each other as we simulated an earthquake. I'd never worked this hard at sex, but that somehow made it even better!

She came again, but I still wanted more and somehow held on. That's when Charlemagne said, "Come on! This isn't a sex marathon!"

I stopped thrusting briefly. "I'm almost there."

"If you want it to go faster, help us out, she's a herm, you know," Pepper said, probably thinking that would shut Charlemagne up.

"You think I'm a prude, don't you?" Charlemagne stood up, walked over to my back end and put her hand on my tail. "I have a libido. I'm just more in control of it than either of you." She pushed my tail between my legs so that it was pressing up against my sensitive mound, then she put her knee behind it and applied pressure.

I looked back at her, moaning and in complete disbelief.

"Stop gawking and start thrusting, you libidinous shark," Charlemagne said. "This better stop your seizure-strobing."

When I moved back to thrust, the pressure Charlemagne was putting on my tail caused my plump nethers to slide against the underside of it. I shuddered, pleasure from both places at once, stuck between two women I was attracted to. Charlemagne seemed amused by my enjoyment of her simple gesture and had this perfect confident smile.

Then I thrust forward into Pepper, my twisted shafts making a wave inside her. Back and forth, mashing my flesh muffin against my tail and then stretching Pepper with my dicks, my whole body was engulfed in bliss. I yelped, moaned, and gasped as both sexes worked their way to orgasm. It was so fast, so violent that my body just kinda moved on its own and my pace increased until I was practically vibrating between them.

Letting out a guttural yell, I slammed forward one last time and came so hard that I dug my fingernails into Pepper's ass while feeling the pressure shooting up my shafts. I gushed inside her like water flooding a submarine. I came so much, so fast that my jizz was streaming down our thighs. I ground so hard against her that I rubbed myself feverishly against my tail.

Pepper went off again, this time, her legs shook and she started to lose her footing. She made a sound like, "HAAAIIIIEEEEEEE!!!" that I'd never heard a human make before.

My slippery slot canyon blindsided me with an orgasm that made my entire body freeze up. I stopped breathing, existing. The intensity of my bioluminescence got so great that I saw it reflect off the sides of the refrigerator handles.

When it was all over, I slumped against Pepper's back, smooshing my tits between us.

"Those were some big fireworks," Charlemagne said pulling her knee away. "And you've not blinking! Thank the universe!"

I just looked back at her lazily and gave her a thumbs up.

She smirked. "That was it for insubordinate behavior. You two better be nuns until we're safe again. Understood?"

We nodded weakly.

Charlemagne went to a cabinet next to the shower and pulled out a couple washcloths and a towel. Then she opened a cabinet next to the sink and pulled out a ten gallon jug. She wet the washcloths and handed them to us saying, "Get cleaned up and dressed. Well, not you, Persephone, I want your upper half exposed for lighting...Would you be more comfortable in an improvised bikini top or something?" Charlemagne's eyes remained on the door as she spoke.

"Nah, you two have seen everything already," I said.

"Fair enough." Charlemagne walked over to the chair and sat back down

Pepper looked back at me and gave me a big smile of approval as she squeezed my cocks inside her and rolled her hips. I had to stifle a moan.

Pepper insisted that we clean each other and her sensuous touches to every inch of my body made me feel like I was a goddess. When it was her turn to get cleaned off, I did the same to her and we ended up pressed up against each other in a sensuous hug while my right arm was draped over her shoulder, hand still holding the towel I'd just dried her off with.

She was maybe two inches shorter than me, I'd gained some height when I'd transformed and I was pretty sure I'd started off shorter than her. The feeling of her breasts against mine, her toned belly against my slightly more padded one, and her nice round ass in my hands was wonderful. She was kneading my ass, pressing up against me, reminiscing with me through touch about what we'd just done.

Without turning to look behind herself, Charlemagne snapped her fingers. "Clothes on, chop chop!"

"Yes, ma'am," we said in unison and then broke up our hug.

I put on my sailor pants and she put on her whole uniform. My nipples stood firmly at attention as we brought chairs up to the front and sat next to Charlemagne. It was starting to get chilly.

Pepper asked, "Where are you from?"

"Jacksonville, until my second year of middle school when my parents both got jobs at Disney World and we moved to Orlando," I replied.

"Did you like Florida?" Charlemagne asked.

"No, I loathed it. Nothing ever dries, so everything gets mildew and mold, and the gap between rich and poor is insane. What started my career as a thief was seeing the difference between the rich suburbs of Orlando and the poorly-maintained apartment squalor that amusement park workers, like my parents, lived in." My teeth chattered as I spoke.

"Heat hasn't run in over an hour now and the water outside is about forty degrees," Charlemagne said. "Maybe you should cover up. We'll just have to deal with a lower light level."

"I say this with the utmost decorum and respect," Pepper said. "The pool toys are hard enough to see when things are well lit. I'd feel safer if we didn't cover her up and I have an idea that should work for a while."

"Let's hear your idea," Charlemagne said.

"I get a couple blankets off the bunks and have her sit in my lap while wrapping blankets around us leaving her front exposed. I'd be able to help her stay warm and we'd have light." Pepper spoke carefully, trying to sound logical rather than romantic.

"You'd have to keep your body armor off, so you'd be less protected if the enemy--" Charlemagne chuckled and shook her head. "You know what? Go for it. It's my fault for not keeping a flashlight on my person when I knew there might be more power outages."

Pepper and I got the blankets and I settled into her lap. I had to clamp down on an errant thought about how nice it would have been if she had a cock and I could just sit there with it inside me.

It didn't help me stay calm when she unbuttoned her uniform and took off her bra so her bare front was against my back. It did keep me warmer, however. The only reason I didn't get horny enough to start strobing again was the deep satisfaction from our sexual romp.

"Where are you from?" I asked Pepper.

"Iowa until I joined the navy," she said.

"Why did you join the navy?"

"I loved diving, but I was sick of diving in lakes and wanted to see the ocean. And my waitress wages weren't enough to put me in college or help me move."

I nodded. "All good reasons."

"Yeah, I wish I'd had more options, but I like being a soldier, so I guess everything worked out." She set her chin on my shoulder.

We changed positions several times as we waited for the strike team. We stood, we sat on the floor, we even laid on our sides while Pepper kept her PIKL aimed at the door. I'd never been held for such a long stretch of time and was feeling incredibly happy. Charlemagne didn't seem to mind as long as we stayed attentive. There was so much I wanted to ask Pepper about her life and hobbies, but I was exhausted and my voice was getting hoarse from speaking loud enough to be heard clearly when everyone was wearing ear protection.

We got a report from the rest of Charlemagne's team that nothing had changed and they were just going to wait until the strike team arrived in an hour.

About a half hour before the strike team was supposed to arrive, the lights came back on, the drop lock unlatched, and the airlock started to cycle.

Charlemagne leapt toward the door before I'd even fully realized what was happening. Pepper helped me off her lap and worked to get back into her combat gear as fast as possible.

A chill ran down my spine as I wondered why we hadn't heard anything dock with the base. When the submarine docked there was a lot of metal on metal noises, things clicking together. And the strike team wouldn't just swim to the airlock this deep in the ocean or they'd be fucked over the moment they entered our single atmosphere of pressure. In this fearful split-second, I remembered the pointer in my pocket and pulled it out.

Charlemagne signaled for us to get ready. Once we were in position, me in the center and Persephone to the side ready to shoot through the gap, Charlemagne opened the door with one hand while holding her laser rifle in the other.

In the blink of an eye, a pool toy slid through the gap in the door and grabbed Pepper by the neck with its left hand and aimed its pointer finger at the same gap in her armor where Abrams had been injured. Her strangled scream of surprise was the worst sound I'd ever heard. A hiss came from the pool toy's finger.

A fiery anger flooded my entire body. I pulled on the end of the pointer and it shot forward piercing the pool toy's shoulder with a loud "thok." This got it to release its grip on Pepper's throat and try to pull the pointer out with both hands. It didn't stay confused for long, because Charlemagne blew it full of holes.

Pepper was struggling to breathe and she had a bleeding hole in her side. Movement outside the door stopped me from going to her. I pressed the end of the pointer against the wall and it recoiled back into the handle so hard that it flew right out of my hand. Charlemagne tried to slam the door closed, but a pool toy was fighting her, trying to make a wider gap.

"FUCK! Fuck, FUCK, Fuck, FUCK!" I yelled as I tried to find where the pointer had gone.

"I can't hold it!" Charlemagne's feet started sliding across the floor. My heart threatened to burst in my chest. Then my foot kicked something on the floor and I dove down to grab the pointer.

Suddenly the door was flung open and Charlemagne was sent tumbling backwards. Four pool toys were lined up to come in, but I turned them into shish-kabobs, sending the pointer straight through their torsos. They hadn't been expecting the door to swing so far open and had been caught completely off guard.

Bright flashes and loud bangs filled the room as both Pepper and Charlemagne blew chunks out of them with their lasers until all that remained of them was tattered black fabric dangling from the extended pointer.

I felt like a badass...I'd beaten them all while topless!

When I retracted the pointer this time, I braced myself and it didn't go flying. There weren't any more pool toys, no odd shadows outside the door. I ran over to Pepper, who was still coughing, wheezing, and bleeding. I grabbed my sailor top and pressed it against her wound trying to apply pressure. She hissed in pain.

Charlemagne saw the swelling on Pepper's throat and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. Putting it on Pepper's throat, she said. "Breathe softly and steadily, coughing will only exacerbate your bleeding."

Pepper nodded and tried to calm down. She was fidgeting in pain. I took her hand and she squeezed mine hard. Charlemagne dug into one of the cabinets behind me and came back with a first aid kit. After she got out the trauma sealant, she pulled my sailor top away and grabbed a towel. After sopping up the blood, she filled Pepper's wound with the stuff.

"Won't the bleeding just keep going unless we let it coagulate?" I asked.

"This isn't normal stuff, this is made from the sap of a very useful NPO," Charlemagne said. "I'm more worried about the damage to her trachea."

Pepper was struggling to breathe and kicking, acting like she was being strangled, even though she was breathing slower and steadier.

Charlemagne got up and used the modern intercom while keeping her eyes, and her laser, pointed at the corridor. "I need an intubation kit ASAP! Watch for pool toys along the way."

"We're on it, madam. ETA a touch over five minutes," Gillon replied.

Each of Pepper's breaths seemed like a bigger fight than the last. A few minutes later, sick gurgling sounds were being interrupted by gasps for air. Pepper was grabbing my hand so hard it hurt. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched her eyes go from wide and terrified to glassy and calm. "Please don't die!" I kept saying along with things like, "You have to live so we can have dinner together!"

She was barely moving by the time Gillon and Abrams arrived with an intubation kit. Abrams guarded the door while Gillon came in and sat down next to Pepper.

I kept hold of Pepper's hand, but stayed out of the way as Charlemagne and Gillon rolled Pepper onto her back and scrambled to get the kit assembled and ready to go.

"Her grip's weakening! You gotta hurry!" I begged them not caring that I was still topless.

Gillon slid the tube in as Charlemagne tilted Pepper's head back. Then he started using the bulb attached to the tube to help her breathe. Her hand fell out of mine and I picked it back up yelling at her, "No! You have to live!"

Her hand twitched and I said, "Yes! That's it! Stay with us!"

Gillon kept pumping the bulb while Charlemagne and I watched anxiously. Little by little, Pepper's grip got stronger, and soon she was actually looking at us, looking at the tube and bulb sticking out of her mouth.

"That's it!" I kissed her cheek. "Stay with me, babe."

Then she took her first breath on her own through the tube, then another, and another. We all cheered as she was back to breathing normally, albeit with a slight gurgle.

After that, they got her on a gurney and took her to the infirmary. That's when I finally put my top back on and started to relax. For the next few hours, I stayed at her side knowing, out of everyone there, that I was her closest emotional connection.

During that time, the strike team came and killed the last three remaining pool toys, finding that they'd rebuilt the pumps and were waiting for the path to the Librarian to open up.

Tsubumi was stable and looking a lot less pale. Both she and Pepper were going to live.

As I was eating an MRE at Pepper's bedside, Alphonse handed me a grey work shirt they'd found for me to wear. I faced away as I changed out of my bloody sailor top and then started chatting with him. At first, we just went over all the crazy shit that had gone down that day, but when he thought it was safe, he leaned in and whispered in my ear. "During all that waiting for the strike team, I got bored and figured out a way to breach their system and call home. But I didn't do it because of what you said. All I want you to know is that we can send messages out. I'm willing to wait a while, but not forever. Nod if you understand."

I nodded.

"Good, now, laugh as if I told you a long-winded dirty joke, I think Septimus is watching us."

I laughed and kicked at the floor while Alphonse chuckled. No longer whispering, he said, "You kicked a lot of ass, girl! I think they're gonna want you on their team. They already asked me and I said I'd have to ask you. I think we should say, 'yes,' Don't you?"

"Yeah! It's way better than sitting around and twiddling our thumbs waiting for some nightmarish creatures to cut us down," I said.

Charlemagne trotted over to us and said, "Couldn't help but overhear, you both want to join my team?"

"Yeah!" we said.

"You understand that it's a lot of responsibility and that it may cost your your lives?" Charlemagne asked.

"Uhh, we all nearly died today. I'm less worried about the risks of joining than I am worried about the risks of not joining. If I hadn't helped today, we'd all be dead," I explained.

Nodding, Charlemagne said, "You were an indispensable asset. Welcome to the team."

"I know the risks, count me in," Alphonse said.

"Does that mean we get to wear the cool uniforms now?" I asked.

"Tell you what, if you fill out all the paperwork without complaint, I'll requisition your uniforms that very day. If you make it more painful than it needs to be, I'll take my time doing so." Charlemagne's confident grin meant she knew she had us by the balls. Neither of us wanted to be wearing sailor uniforms.

"Deal!" I said, reaching out to take Charlemagne's hand.

As we shook hands, I saw movement at Pepper's side. When I looked toward her, I saw her giving me two thumbs up.

Tritonia, still slung on Gillon's back, said, "Welcome to the team!"

<<<<Caution: NSFW Images Ahead>>>>

Charlemagne’s Stolen Secret

Charlemagne is struggling with changes to her body and she has to host an important dinner for Mark Brin and his entourage. If she keeps her guests happy, she'll get to keep a good chunk of the POSC's funding. If she fails, she might put her mission in jeopardy.

When her guests do the unthinkable, Charlemagne is left scrambling to deal with her transformation and Mark Brin.

Part One

Satisfaction was the most rare resource in the cosmos. I used to think I could live without it. My mind gave up on true satisfaction before I left puberty. And my body, it learned to get by with less. I didn't exactly neglect my body, but I did try to curtail its expectations.

This system of suppressed expectations led to me being the most productive member of every team I was on. I always knew when to say something was "good enough" and move on to the next problem. Perfect morality, perfect leadership, perfect plans, the perfect execution of orders, and perfect sexual satisfaction, they were all impossibilities.

This didn't mean I settled, no, I strove to get as close to the theoretical limit as I could, given a concrete deadline.

But, every once in a while, I found a problem that defied all my attempts at optimization. None of these problems vexed me as much as NPO 6295-370-6. Ever since I accidentally came into contact with that awful NPO, my body has had expectations I've been wholly unable to sate.

Today was no different, it was oh six hundred and I was aching. My pussy had been changing ever since I reset my transformation at eighteen hundred last night. Sleeping through the feverish lusty dreams was habit, as was waking up and quieting the ache with some masturbation.

One thing I learned quickly in managing crisis situations was that routine didn't always guarantee control. Today, even though I'd woken up at three in the morning to relieve the heightened desire, I was still throbbing so hard I wanted to take bites out of my pillow.

Lying flat on my back while remaining as still as possible so I wouldn't accidentally stimulate myself, I looked through important emails on my phone. I could feel its ruggedized edges digging into my palm and fingers as I held it far too firmly. In this state, I knew I had to give my hands something to do or they would betray me. I'd been hoping to find some bad news I could focus on, but all the news was frustratingly good. Tsubumi would be returning to full duty tomorrow, Pepper's trachea was healing well and she'd likely be able to speak soon, and additional airlock security features would be installed by the end of the week. There was no sign of the hostiles that had attacked the base and killed Bart.

Bart...It was surprising no one had found out about the few times we'd made love. He'd been so obedient and conscientious, even in bed. And damn was he thick! Fuck, now I was sad and somehow still horny. Pathetic. My dear friend was dead and right now all I could think about was his cock.

Wiping my eye, I glared at the tear hanging from my pointer finger. I'd lost people before. I'd been horny before. I was going to beat this. I only had one more hour until I could revert my snatch back to its human state and I wasn't gonna lay here feeling sorry for myself.

I got up and went over to my laptop, which was sitting on a dark red metal and wood desk that had been built to hold an eighties computer tower and a CRT monitor. The desk didn't fit up against the curved wall of the pressure cylinder that contained my quarters. It didn't even fit the color scheme. The reason I used it was because it was the only surplus desk I'd found that was at the proper height for my six-foot-three frame.

Using my ID and passcode to log into my laptop, I started writing Bart's obituary hoping it would be enough to distract me. It worked for about five minutes, but then my snatch underwent a convulsion that pinched my panties between its lips. My excess wetness ensured that my panties stayed stuck to my pussy after the offending motion was over.

My eyes darted to the sixteen by nine image of Arcturus, the prize-winning bay sabino Clydesdale I'd cared for back at my parents' ranch. The giant splotches of red in his white fur were intermingled with white hairs giving his entire body a beautiful texture. 6295-370-6 was perverting my love for Arcturus, and equines in general, by giving me a muff that could wink and a clit as big as the end of my index finger. For years, I'd dreamed about being covered in Arcturus' gorgeous fur, but that didn't mean I actually wanted to be a horse hybrid!

In fifty minutes, I'd make all those changes go away, but right now, I was losing more time by denying my altered body's needs than it would take to answer them.

Getting up from the desk, I grabbed my simple hot pink cylindrical vibrator out of the storage compartment under my bunk and laid it on the bed. Then I stripped out of my clothes as quickly as possible. Wavering on my decision would just waste time at this point and I'd already wasted enough of it being distracted by the mare parts between my legs. Laying atop my bed, I watched my clit throb visibly as it stuck out from my mound.

It was disturbing that I could lube my vibrator with the liquid excitement coating my snatch, but it did save me a step. Flipping the five-level switch to max, I shoved the vibrator inside me with my right hand while cupping my muff with my left. I controlled my breathing to stifle my moans and humped against my hand so my clit rode the cleft between my middle and ring finger. It felt good, like my clit was penetrating something. The sensation made my cheeks hot and my breath catch in my throat. The vibrator, on the other hand, just wasn't doing it for me. My pussy lips had become leathery and stretchy, just like those of a mare, and it felt like my vibrator was a straw in a water glass.

A couple minutes later, I tried to turn the vibrator up out of habit only to find I'd already had it at the max setting. It just wasn't big enough when I was this far transformed. My hesitation to just deal with the problem had cost me again!

"FUCKING USELESS!" I growled in frustration and threw the vibrator at the bunk on the opposite wall.

I needed something thicker and longer. Cucumbers! Last night, I'd seen Gillon putting away some massive cucumbers he was going to use for making tabouli. People always put too many cucumbers in tabouli, if I requisitioned one for personal use, I'd kill two birds with one stone. Sure, it was a very farm girl solution to my problem, but I was a farm girl. On the farm, trying to keep your dignity was a liability. Real life was gross and uncompromising. Good farm hands, and leaders, needed the courage to stare an ugly solution in the face and implement it anyway.

Once I had my clothes back on, I dashed across the hall to the quarters that we were hosting tomorrow's pointless early dinner party for Mark Brin. After using my ID and a code to open the door, I went straight to the fridge and grabbed a thick sixteen-inch-long cucumber.

Taking it back to my room, I got out of my clothes and got back on the bed. This cucumber had some ridges running down its length and, as I lubed it, I felt tingly all over. It was good I was excited because that meant things would go faster.

"Haaah!" I cried out as I felt the smooth end stretch me open. I'd never stuck anything this cold inside me. My pussy had been so hot and bothered that sticking something cool in it felt nice, refreshing, even. I spread my legs wider to give it more room. The mottled black and pink equine lips of my snatch loved being stretched so much that I nearly came simply from the tight fit of this massive cucumber.

I rubbed at my clit with my other hand as I started shoving the cucumber in and out. "Mmmppphhh!" I bit my lip and started bucking my hips.

The cucumber was warming up as I fucked it, feeling more and more like a cock. My mind roamed from imagining it was a horsecock to Persephone's prehensile twins. Then I was stuck in my memory of Persephone fucking Pepper while I put her tail between her legs and applied pressure so she could rub her pussy on the underside of it. Her long shark tail had felt so strong and her ass had been so round. And those cocks, I bet they felt like absolute heaven when they were twisted around each other, writhing inside one's cunt.

"Yes, Persephone! Harder!" I ordered as I got right up to the edge of orgasm.

It wasn't like I was actually going to mess around with her, but there was no harm in feeding my imagination. Especially if it got me off faster. Imaginary Persephone, simulated by the cucumber, started using her powerful thighs to jam her dicks into me over and over.

My clit swelled a half inch larger pressing up between my fingers. Then my mind lost its footing. It always managed to get gigantic before I reverted my changes. And my pussy, its capacity increased dramatically. I had ten inches of the cucumber in me. My clit grew another inch, my broken mind visualized it transforming into a horsecock.

Fuck, I needed to cum! The hand that wasn't holding the cucumber moved to my sensitive equine donut-shaped pucker and just tracing my fingers around it was enough to throw me over the edge.

As I continued pounding Persephone in my mind's eye, I came so hard that I kicked the bed and bounced my hips. Pleasure was surging through me like a pressure wake. I grabbed for a pillow with both hands, worried my screams would be loud enough to be heard through the bulkhead. While I muffled myself with the pillow, my pussy milked the cucumber. A second spike of pleasure got me, right at the peak, I lost control of my body.

Arching my back and rolling my hips against the bed, I bent the cucumber. I felt a pop inside me. The end of it flew upwards while the other half of it was lodged in my pussy. My eyes widened as I tossed the pillow aside. I'd just gotten a cucumber stuck inside me!

Taking a couple deep breaths, I tried to relax. Then, I bared down on the cucumber. The sharp, broken, cucumber skin dug into my pussy and it didn't budge at all. "God DAMN IT!"

Spreading myself open with my fingers, adding extra lube, and trying to grab it with a pair of spoons didn't work. The cucumber had been nearly at my limit for what would fit in me. I wasn't gonna get it out on my own.

I went over to the phone on my desk and dialed Gillon.

He picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

Speaking as evenly as I could, I said, "My transformation got frustrating again and I grabbed a cucumber from the kitchen to try and sate myself quickly. The end broke off while inside me and I can't extract it."

"Oh dear! I'll be right over." He hung up.

Gill was the best medic I'd ever come across even though he was actually a brain simulation specialist. Initially, I'd been wary of his idea that he should get medical training to increase his usefulness. At the time, I hadn't known he was the perfect student and could learn just about anything. Now, most of us preferred him over Septimus, who had much more extensive medical training. This was a testament to Gillon's superior bedside manner. In true British form, nothing could curve his stiff upper lip. His face didn't know how to disobey him. Reading him at a poker game was impossible. The only time I'd seen him gawk in surprise in the last year was a brief flash of the whites of his eyes when he saw Persephone for the first time.

When he knocked on my bulkhead, I walked up to it and hid my half naked self behind it as I opened it. After securing the bulkhead behind him, I walked over toward my bunk saying, "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

He was carrying a blue-grey medical bag over his shoulder. From his pristine pointy mustache to his slicked-down black hair and perfectly-manicured fingernails, he was a true gentleman. "Anything for you, my dear."

I lay diagonally across my bunk so my backside was at the edge and easily accessible. Spreading my legs, I said, "We may as well get down to business. I don't want to waste any more of your evening than I have to."

Setting the medical bag next to my side, Gillon put on blue nitrile gloves and then pulled out a sterile bag containing a speculum. He grabbed a bottle of lube as he said, "I'm hoping that holding you open will allow you to push the remaining section of cucumber out without much difficulty."

"I'm ready when you are." I took a slow breath and relaxed as he moved so he was kneeling between my legs.

He said, "Just for good measure, I'm going to apply lube all the way up to where the cucumber is stuck. This lube is thicker than that which is already naturally present. May I proceed?"

"Yes." I spread my legs a bit wider.

The lube bottle made a sputtering sound as he squeezed some of the lube into his left hand. Then he put two fingers inside me and started applying it evenly. It felt incredibly good to be touched by someone else. I couldn't help twitching and fidgeting and had to bite my right hand to avoid moaning.

He stopped. "Are you in pain?"

"No, I-I'm fine. It's just strange to be touched down there when my snatch is in its transformed state." I chuckled pretending to be amused by this situation hoping he wouldn't read too much into it.

"It's surprising how much you resemble a mare," he said.

I blushed. "Yeah, sorry. I imagine it's a bit gross on your end."

"Not at all. Genitalia are just genitalia, no matter the species. I'm pleased that you're not in any pain and that your body hasn't been harmed by your repeated transformations." His hand kept working to spread the lube as he spoke.

Throbbing in my clit signaled it was getting erect again. I wished he was doing more than just applying lube and I had an urge to order him to put his fist inside me, but I held my tongue. By the time the lube was applied, I was panting.

As he inserted the speculum, he said, "I'm going to attempt to guide the cucumber out. I need you to push gently once this is fully inserted and tell me if you feel any pain." He pushed it in a bit further. "You may begin pushing."

It worked like a charm, the cucumber slid out of me as he slowly pulled the speculum back out. When the cucumber chunk fell onto the bed, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Have you considered just letting the transformation run its course? You speak very highly of horses, would being a horse hybrid be so bad?"

"Liking horses and wanting to be a horse hybrid are two very different things!" I blushed deeply.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I recommend, as your doctor, that you take some time off and allow your hybridization to occur. Your body is now changing so much between 1756-442-5's twelve-hour resets that you can't fully return back to normal, anyway. In addition, though the transformations caused by 6295-370-6 are very disruptive, subjects report being far calmer once they've fully transformed." He put the speculum in a bright orange bag that said, "Autoclave."

"Even if I agreed with you, this is bad timing. We just got attacked and I have an important dinner to attend tonight," I said.

"My recommendation still stands. The current state of affairs where you're constantly transforming is degenerative. You're just painfully slowing the inevitable at this point."

"And that's my right!" I protested. "Plus, I've been able to control myself thus far."

"This incident with the cucumber offers evidence to the contrary, but I digress." Gillon took off his gloves and put them in an orange biohazard bag and then straightened his black bow tie. "How about a compromise? We get you a silicone toy in an adequate size so that you don't resort to brittle vegetables," Gillon said.

"No, absolutely not. We're under far too much scrutiny," I said as I sat up.

"You could pick out what you want and then I could requisition it with medical anonymity."

"But then they'll wonder which patient is getting the silicone toy and why you're even ordering one to begin with," I objected.

"Every year, the Antarctic research base gets a shipment of 16,500 prophylactics, forty-four for each person stationed there. I never get questions about my requisitions for prophylactics and I've even requisitioned a toy before without issue. People would rather ignore such requisitions than scrutinize them. If I kept a stock of cucumbers on hand for you, however, that would likely raise some eyebrows."

I hated Gillon for making such good points. "Ugh, fine! I'll pick one out and send you the link."

"Good. Please consider getting an equine toy. It would make sense if your anatomy's preferences leaned in that direction."

I narrowed my eyes at him while blushing. "If I get a properly-sized equine toy, do you promise you'll never speak of this again?"

"I won't need to, you'll likely have solved the problem." He packed his medical bag and started heading toward the bulkhead.

"You'll have that email within the next ten minutes. I don't want to think about this any more than I have to."

Opening my bulkhead, he said, "I'll requisition it before I go to bed, then."

"Thanks again for your help," I said.

"Cheers." He flashed a smile, stepped out, and then secured my bulkhead.

I washed up, and measured the cucumber that had been inside me before throwing it in the trash. Then I sat in front of my laptop and started looking for a silicone toy. Once I found a well-regarded adult toy provider that had sizable equine dildos in stock, I picked the size I needed and sent the link off to Gillon. As I was closing the site, I took one last look at the beautifully textured equine dildo I was ordering. My pussy winked in excitement and I whinnied.

Chanting, "No! Nope! No, NO!" I went over to my stainless steel kitchen sink and put a plug in the right-hand basin. After turning on the cold tap, I grabbed a couple ice trays out of the freezer and dumped all the ice from the trays into the water.

I then walked over to my bunk and opened the storage compartment under it. Reaching into the far back, I grabbed NPO 1756-442-5, an aluminum puzzle sphere about the size of a baseball. It had a flat bottom and was segmented into quarter-inch-tall rings that could be turned in relation to each other. Turning the rings aligned a couple notches in each of them with sliders attached to the domed top of the sphere. Complicating this was a ball bearing that you had to navigate through slots in the rings so that it popped into a recess at the bottom.

I brought it to the sink and turned off the water. Then I set about solving the sphere's puzzle.

It took me half a minute to get that ball bearing where it needed to go and align the rings so the domed top popped upwards. Grabbing that dome, I turned it counterclockwise until a spike sprung upwards and pierced the palm of my hand.

A sickening dizziness and bone-chilling pain wracked my body as blood from the wound on my palm flowed over the outside of the sphere. A drop of my blood fell into the sink and mixed with the water making a flowery ring of red. As a second drop of my blood fell toward the water, my privates heated up and that drop of blood reversed its course. It rejoined the blood coating the sphere as the first drop unmixed with the water and fell upwards until it also joined the rest of the blood. Meanwhile, my blood started flowing back into my hand. Within seven seconds, the sphere was completely clean, as if nothing had happened.

I growled in pain as the pleasure I'd felt from my pussy and clit changing ran in reverse. It was like wet towels whipping me right in the muff. My pussy lips and clit ached as they shrunk. Shoving the sphere and my hands into the water-filled sink, I weathered its gradual warming until the pain from its heat started to overshadow the pain in my body. The longer I held I the sphere, the closer to a fully normal human body I'd have, so I grit my teeth and kept my hands firmly around it even though I was getting burns from it.

When it felt like my hands were being held against a frying pan, I let go of the sphere and watched water boil around it. While I waited for it to cool down, I went over to the full-length mirror on the back of the door to the toilet, bent over, and spread my heavily-toned buttocks. The burns on my hands sent shooting pain up my arms. Touching anything hurt like the dickens, but I was used to pain. Working on a farm would break you if you let it, and I'd never let it do so.

My pussy looked normal except for a somewhat swollen clit and some mottling on my labia that looked like a spray tan with poor coverage. It was still wet because I hadn't sated it before I transformed it back, but my vibrator would take care of that quickly now that my snatch was mostly human.

Going back over to the sink, I grabbed the sphere out of the now warm water and used my barely-functioning hands to reset the puzzle. The dome and spike slowly retracted back into the sphere. As if to reward me for resetting it, the puzzle turned the acute agony of my burns into powerful tingling. A half minute later, my hands were fully healed.

I put the puzzle back in the far corner of the compartment under my bed. Then I got my vibrator off the top of the lower bunk on the opposite wall. It was good my vibrator hadn't landed on the floor. I used it while leaning against the shower wall and then turned on the water before I cleaned it along with my muff. Stowing it in the compartment under my bed, I the orange "lock" button on on the panel in the center of the compartment's door. There was a clack as bolts engaged on both sides of the door.

I'd had to sleep in a different room for two days while they'd put enhanced security into my whole living quarters, but having the highest level of security clearance and knowing no one could look through my stuff without my permission had been more than worth it.

I loved close-fitting running clothes that didn't chafe, but nowadays I had to wear loose-fitting running pants. They flopped annoyingly as my feet carried me on my circuit through the NPO Repository, what we called the ancient massive rounded undersea cube that our habitat was attached to. The branching pattern of the hallways confused everyone but me, Bart, and Gillon. Bart told me to think of the map of The Repository as if it was one big decision tree or flow chart. That had helped me a lot.

After my run, I cleaned the dishes in my sink using the water that was still in the right-hand basin as rinse water. After that, I took a quick shower, and due to reverting most of my changes, I didn't need to waste more time getting off.

With my body finally behaving, I got my navy blue and cyan uniform on and my day continued as normal. I ate healthy, high-fiber cereal for breakfast, reviewed dossiers on scientists I was thinking of adding to our next round of NPO studies and ones for the new security personnel I was considering to replace the lives lost in the recent attack. After that, I finalized some finer details for tonight's problematic dinner and sweet-talked the POSC committee into upping Persephone and Alphonse's starting salaries to better compensate them for having to leave their previous lives behind.

After lunch, I went over every requisition going out of the base, accepting Gillon's requisition for my equine toy the moment I saw it so I could keep it out of my mind for the rest of the day. A few hours passed while I buried myself in work and ignored my body's changes. I also ignored the hunger that I always had at fifteen hundred thinking I'd wait until the early dinner started at seventeen hundred, but at sixteen fifteen I broke down and had a kale and mayo sandwich.

I'd requested this affair happen at lunch so it wouldn't interfere with my eighteen hundred reset, but Mark Brin always had a well-rehearsed reason why his way was best and that conversation had been no different. If I'd told him the real reason I wanted to move the dinner back, he probably would have agreed to it, but then he'd know about my transformation and be able to use it as leverage against me.

Brushing bread crumbs off my navy-blue button-down shirt with cyan pinstripes, I adjusted my military jacket so it sat evenly on my shoulders. The sleeves were just starting to look too short for me. I scoffed at the fact my pant legs no longer covered as much of my combat boots. I'd gained a few inches of height over the last several hours and I didn't even want to think about what state my cunt would be in while I attended this dinner.

Part Two

Walking out of my quarters, I secured the bulkhead and double-checked to ensure it was locked. Hosting a dinner party was a security breach waiting to happen. I went to the quarters I'd grabbed the cucumber from and surveyed the fruits of the effort to convert it into a fine dining space.

LED lights hung from the bunks and the cupboards twinkling softly like stars over POSC banners. Each banner held our emblem, a giant squid holding a trident while protecting a diver. The colors were cyan, navy blue, and silver grey and Gilon, Alphonse, and Persephone had worked those colors into the table settings. The dining table from the quarters next door had been brought in to make it so six to eight people could sit comfortably in the space between the bunks that lined the walls.

Gillon was washing some dishes in the sink while wearing a light yellow apron with cute grey butterflies and frilly white edges. Somehow, he still looked badass in it.

Septimus was leaning over the counter as he organized utensils. His mouse tail was drifting back and forth idly and his round ass was filling his uniform pants well. I shook my head. He had a talent for getting on my nerves and I'd never ever thought of him in that way. It felt so wrong that I turned my attention to Persephone instead.

Persephone finished straightening a stack of pita slices and then walked over to me. "Everything's just about ready. How are you?"

My eyes darted down to Persephone's shark snout and then drifted across her thick powerful tail which was off to her right side hovering just above the floor as she waited for my answer. The memory of her humping back against her tail as I kept it firmly in place with my knee was enough to make my mare snatch wink. I grimaced and pressed my thighs together.

"You okay?" Persephone raised the tip of one of her fan-like ears.

I sighed. "Sorry, still not used to the fact I have a shark hybrid on my team." It was a useful half-truth.

Persephone laughed. "You should have seen Alphonse last night when he bumped into me in the hallway. I thought we were going to have to peel him off the ceiling."

Alphonse stopped spooning basmati from a large rice cooker that took up a quarter of the counter into a fancy tray and looked behind him. "She confuses me so much. Nightmare fuel and attractive curves weren't meant to go together."

"OooOoo Nightmarish dream guu-url, won't you come sit by me-ee?" Abrams sang as he laid out forks on the table, his soft lilting voice a stark contrast to his well-muscled Pacific islander frame. He looked at me, turning pale. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Your singing is always welcome as long as you're not doing it in an improper context," I smiled. He'd distracted me from staring at Persephone and that was a very good thing.

"That would make a great song!" Tsubumi said, her wiry frame a blur as she transferred tabouli to a tray that matched the one Alphonse was filling with rice. So her ear-length straight black hair wouldn't flop in her face while she worked, she'd pinned it back on the sides with two tiny clips that had cyan-spotted dragon designs on them. It was wholly unprofessional, but I'd given up on trying to rein in her cute hair clip fetish.

"I'll see if I can turn that song into more than just a charming chorus." Abrams winked at Tsubumi.

Pepper was off to my right filling the water pitcher with ice. Her hoarse voice hissed out of her damaged trachea. "So glad we got Percy and Alpha out of those sailor uniforms. They look way hotter now."

"And you're hotter with that breathy femme fatale voice," Persephone said.

"Am I gonna have to separate you two?" I narrowed my eyes at Persephone and then Pepper.

"No, we'll be good," Pepper said.

I caught Persephone checking me out when I looked back in her direction and she immediately looked at Pepper, pretending she'd been looking at her all along. I stole a glance at the bulge in Persephone's crotch while her eyes were averted. My crotch was warm, my clit made a tent in my panties, and I could feel twitches across my pussy lips as they became more equine.

It would have been so much more efficient, so much more productive, if it was acceptable behavior to just ask Persephone for a quickie. No awkward preamble, no period of flirting where we wondered whether both of us wanted it. Simple, effective communication between two adults and then, hopefully, some swift and satisfying sex. Toys would never live up to what her prehensile cocks could do. I doubted there was a faster way to get to orgasm. God, I was thinking with my pussy.

Persephone was looking at me with wide eyes. Just how long had I been staring blankly at her crotch!?

Crap! NPO 6295-370-6 had taken all my goddamned dignity. "Don't you think your uniform pants are a bit too tight?"

Her face went from surprise to a light blush. I hoped I'd thrown her off the actual reason for my staring as she said, "No, I just have big ba--" she swallowed the last word and blushed even more.

Why did she have to be adorable? Why did she have to be so damned sexy? Not in a million years would I have ever guessed that a herm anthro shark would make my knees weak. I couldn't tell if it was my new equine libido, genuine curiosity, or a middle-aged lesbian awakening. Whatever it was, it was an unneeded distraction.

"I can get baggier ones if you think I'm showing too much," Persephone offered, thinking my silence was a form of disapproval.

"You two need to get a room," Pepper said, suspecting the actual cause of our awkwardness.

I glared at her, my blush definitely visible. "Officer Mint? What did I say about you showing decorum?"

Pepper stood straighter. "That I need more of it, ma'am."

"That's right. Either you show more professionalism, or I'll send you back to the infirmary and tell our guests you weren't well enough to attend." I addressed the whole room as my arousal mixed with irritation. "That goes for all of you. Playtime is over. If we can keep our game faces on, we might just survive this fantastically unnecessary risk to our base's security and keep the lights on." I don't think anyone present realized how serious I was; Mark Brin provided a third of our funding.

Gillon clapped his hands. "Mister Brin will be arriving shortly, let's get all the entrees on the table."

As they hurried to get the table set, I motioned for Tsubumi to follow me into the hallway. When she did, I said, "Gillon and Septimus tell me that you have some strange formations in your bones?"

She nodded. "Apparently getting healed by that classified thing beyond my clearance a second time caused further changes. It's not just my bones. Yesterday, chin ups, squats, and reps with sixty pound weights were so easy I got bored."

"Do you feel any different?" I asked.

She smiled wide. "I feel faster."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, I can see the flickering of the LED lights we strung up for tonight's dinner and, when I concentrate, all my senses have an incredible refresh rate. Time just kinda crawls." She shrugged. "I haven't really tested it out, though, so I don't know if I'm actually quicker in combat."

"We'll have to run some tests." I peered in the room and called out, "Septimus, can you join us for a sec?"

He folded a napkin and then joined us outside. "What can I do for you?" His left mouse ear twitched and he reached up with one of his paw-padded hands to smooth down the fur on the back of it.

"Tomorrow, I want you to test Tsubumi's combat capabilities and compare them to the tests we ran six months ago. I'd like the report on my desk by Friday," I said.

Tsubumi and I watched in fascination as Septimus's whiskers fanned forward while he yawned. "Sorry, was up too late running simulations."

Tsubumi's eyes were round with adoration at how cute Septimus's yawn had been.

Even though it didn't show on my face, I'd been struck by cuteness as well. "Try not to make that a habit. Can't have you drowsy if we're attacked again."

"I won't." He turned his attention to Tsubumi. "O-nine-hundred tomorrow?"

Tsubumi nodded. "That works!"

"I'm excited to see what you two find," I said before walking back into the room.

"Are we going with your plan for not trying to have everyone present at once?" Alphonse asked.

I'd been so busy trying to keep my mind off my nethers that I'd forgotten my own plan for this dinner. "Yes! For the first part of the dinner, I want Septimus, Gillon, Abrams, and Tsubumi here, all the team members Mark Brin has met before. We'll switch when it's time for dessert and have the newcomers bring in the triple-layer-brownie cake."

"Do you want us to do something while we wait?" Persephone asked.

"Give me a minute to check on something." I hadn't actually thought about that, but the answer was clear. After walking over to the phone, I dialed Tritonia's number. When she picked up, I said, "Persephone, Pepper, and Alphonse are going to be idle during the next hour, do you think you could continue teaching them the POSC charter during that time?"

"Of course!" Tritonia replied.

"How far along are they?" I asked.

"Forty-eight percent," Tritonia said.

"Good! I'll send them your way very soon." I hung up and addressed the three newbies. "I'm assuming you heard my conversation?"

Pepper and Alphonse nodded while Persephone said, "Don't you want Tritonia here for part of the dinner?"

"You can bring her in along with the dessert." I made a shooing motion with my hands. "Go report to Tritonia and be ready to come back in about an hour."

All three of them saluted me and left the room. I asked Gillon, "What's Mark Brin's ETA?"

"Last I heard, they were on time. However, the proximity alarm hasn't gone off and they're due in ten," he said.

Turning to Tsubumi, I said, "See if you can spot them on sonar. I'd rather not hail them if I don't need to."

"On it." Tsubumi dashed out of the room toward the control center.

While she was gone, I helped get the rest of the food out and ready assuming Mark Brin would be on time.

"They're a half hour out," Tsubumi reported from the doorway.

"A half hour?" My brow furrowed. All the work we'd just done putting the food out was for naught.

"Yeah, want me to hail them and ask what the holdup is?" She asked.

"No, we're not going to get a straight answer." I addressed the whole room. "Septimus and Tsubumi, get tinfoil over the gyro meat and set the oven to warm. I'll bring the rice from the table and cover it. Gillon and Abrams, cover the tabouli and put it in the fridge. After that, red wine stays out, white wine goes in the fridge."

As I picked up the tray of rice, my pussy winked and I dropped it as my clit started pressing into my panties. Everyone's eyes were on me. Picking the tray back up, I said, "Just lost my grip."

I waited till Tsubumi and Gillon were done with the tin foil and then covered the rice. After I put it in the oven, while I was standing back up, my pussy winked again. I gasped and fell backwards, taken completely by surprise. My right hand caught the handle to the oven and it broke clean off. I landed on my ass still holding the oven handle.

Septimus asked, "Are you having bouts of dizziness?"

Tsubumi looked at me with concern on her almond-shaped face. Great, even she was worried about me.

Gillon cut in with, "She's just having hot flashes, nothing to worry about."

"Isn't it a bit early for her to be in menopause?" Septimus asked.

"My cycle is not an acceptable topic for discussion." I glared at him. "Can we figure out what to do about the oven handle instead of trying to diagnose me, please?"

The more lies I was forced to tell, the more I had to keep track of. Plus, if they scrutinized me too much, they'd notice that my sleeves weren't quite long enough for my arms and my that my pants were riding up. I was glad there was some extra length in my military coat and shirt. My midriff showing would be very hard to explain away.

Abrams offered his hand like a true gentleman.

"Thanks!" I said as he pulled me to my feet. His grip was so strong, all of him was so strong. He was probably fantastic in bed...I wiped that thought from my mind hoping it would remain forgotten. He'd been stationed with us on and off for the past year, but I already felt like his mentor. Fucking him was out of the question. As I let go of his hand, I gave the oven handle to Septimus.

He looked at it as if he had no idea what to do with it.

Gillon held out his hand, "May I have the handle? I'll go see if we have any bolts to replace the ones that sheared off."

Septimus handed the handle to Gillon. "Good idea. I'll work to get the bolts out of the door."

While they did that exchange, I got the tool bag from under the sink and pulled out a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. I worked with Septimus to get the old bolts out and then Gillon arrived with replacements. While I watched everyone work together to get the handle back on, my lips crinkled and I tried not to cry.

Abram's put a hand on my shoulder. "Charlie, are you okay?"

Speaking softly, I said, "It just feels so wrong without Bart here."

Taking me into his arms, he said, "Yeah, it really does."

I hugged him back just on the edge of tearing up. Gillon frowned seeing my face and Septimus looked away awkwardly, not used to seeing me vulnerable. My body was aching to be held, pressed up against someone. I was lucky it was Abrams hugging me, or I would have embarrassed myself. He was stroking my back in the exact same way I had stroked his when he'd learned his grandmother had passed away.

Tsubumi hugged us both from the side. "I miss him too, he would've spent the whole day making funny impressions of Mark Brin while you kept telling him it was inappropriate."

I sniffled. "I miss chastising him."

Gillon put a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to be here for the whole dinner, dear. It's okay to take time for yourself when you're grieving. Mister Brin is aware you recently lost a close friend."

The proximity alarm went off.

"I can't show him weakness, Gillon. If he thought he could get away with it, he'd take over this whole operation," I said as I let go of Abrams.

Septimus walked toward the door saying, "I wish Bart were here to take my place at this dinner."

"If we let you skip out on everything, you'd never leave your lab," I said, following him toward the airlock.

"Would that be so bad?" he asked as we walked into the diving equipment room.

"Huh, maybe we should try it and see. We might not even notice you're missing." I smirked.

"You're cruel getting my hopes up like that," Septimus said as we passed the ADS 3000, the atmospheric diving suit that Tritonia was an integral part of.

"If I don't get your hopes up, I can't crush them later," I said.

Gillon just shot me a look of approval for my sarcasm.

"That about sums up our relationship," Septimus said.

Tsubumi and Abrams laughed.

The diving equipment room smelled like neoprene and salt. The neoprene scent was from the wetsuits and the salt scent was from the white encrustation of dried seawater that managed to get everywhere. Keeping this room clean was a full-time job.

I leaned on the wall next to the airlock. My trembling snatch and throbbing clit were really testing my patience. Closing my eyes, I breathed in and out slowly, slipping into the focus I needed to make this dinner go smoothly. The airlock cycling was noisy enough that no one tried to talk. And that helped immensely.

Mark Brin's chin and nose seemed sharper today, as did his cheek bones. His face looked more hollow than I remembered and there was less of him. He was more of a pencil than a marker now and his charcoal single-breasted suit looked like it belonged on James Bond. Had he been working out? I never thought of him as an action movie lead, but he was leaning in that direction. The effect was dulled by the fact he actually looked a touch too thin.

His tie had tiny white and black diagonal stripes that made it look grey from a distance and he had a pristine white handkerchief in his pocket. Somehow, his entire outfit set off the tiny bits of brown and blue in his gray eyes.

Next to him was a woman whose hair was every bit as dark as his with the same dark brown shine to it. She also shared his lankiness. But that's where the similarity between them ended. Where he was frail, she was fit, and where his features were angular, she was round. Her hair had big curls, she must have put in a great deal of time and effort using a large curling iron to get it so elegant and natural looking. The strangest thing about her was that her eyes were impossibly blue, she may have been wearing convincing colored contacts. I would have thought she was Irish if it hadn't been for her skin tone. That, combined with her overall shape, screamed French.

Noticing my stare, Mark said, "Francesca, this is Charlemagne." He motioned from Francesca to me and then from me to Francesca. "Charlemagne, Francesca."

Francesca was holding a heavy black briefcase bulging from its contents in her right hand, it was a perfect match for the briefcase Mark had in his left hand. In her left hand was a brown paper shopping bag. Mark took her briefcase from her so she could shake my hand.

I reached out and took Francesca's hand in mine. It was well-calloused and strong. Just what did this woman do for Mark?

"Nice to meet you," she said with a calm smile.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied as I let go of her hand.

"Francesca is my chief of operations," Mark said, answering my unasked question. Then he stepped to the side and introduced an elderly dark-skinned man with frizzy grey hair and a wide nose who looked like he could buy our entire operation and not even notice. His slate-colored suit, maroon tie, and rose gold Patek watch looked to be of the highest quality. "This is Harman Kadran Junior."

His hand felt like it spent most of its time in a vat of moisturizer. How could anyone be that old and have hands so soft? Had he had someone else do everything for him since birth? I knew his name, he'd been bankrolling politicians since the eighties. I greeted him and let go of his hand so Mark could introduce the next person.

"I believe you already know Martha Klum," Mark said patting Martha's shoulder.

Martha Klum was only four years older than me and celebrated her birthday two weeks after mine. My friendship with her is what started the Pan-Oceanic Safety Congress. Pulling her into a hug, I said, "So good to see you again."

"Glad to be here. Things were a bit touch and go for a while there." She'd lost too much weight last time I saw her. Now that she was back to her pudgy self and it was a comfort.

I let her go. "Yeah, no more being followed around by nervous doctors."

I saw a concerned expression flash across Mark Brin's face before he caught himself and put a smile back on.

"No, only nervous campaign managers are following me around these days," she said while pulling her long, brass-colored bangs out of her boxy face.

I chuckled as Mark introduced the last person, someone I knew from the news, but had never seen in person. "Chief of Naval Operations for the United States Navy, Theodore Stephenson."

"Just call me Ted," the short small-faced, wide-shouldered man said as he reached out with his right hand.

I had to stoop to shake it because he was almost a foot shorter than me.

His hand was stocky, strong, and riddled with pink inflamed spots and dry flakes of skin, like the rest of his complexion. He had some of the most severe psoriasis I'd ever seen. Eyes drifting across everyone in the room he added, "That goes for all of you. I'm just Ted, a guy from Kansas who's far more at home above the waves. Charlemagne is the ranking officer here and I just want to enjoy a nice dinner."

"Pleased to meet you." I let go of his hand and stood back up, gasping as my cunt twitched.

His eyes narrowed at me and I died inside as I tried to come up with an excuse. "Sorry, I pulled a muscle in training."

Ted patted his belly. "I wish I pulled a muscle now and then, I spend far too much time hunched over a desk."

"Why are all the most important jobs so boring?" Tsubumi asked.

Ted laughed. "Couldn't have characterized it better myself. What's your name, miss?"

"I'm Tsubumi, the chief sonar operator and covert operations specialist." She held out her hand and shook Ted's.

I took that opening to introduce everyone to the rest of my team and then had everyone follow me to dinner. Francesca stayed quiet as everyone else chatted. Her eyes darted to every bit of technology, every door hinge, and every fleck of peeling paint. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, never looking directly at her unless there was reason to.

Once everyone was seated, I gave a speech about how our mission was going to one day save the world and how great everyone attending was for keeping us going. It all went fine until I made a wide gesture and then brought my hands together while changing my stance. "The best part of this meeting is that we can make connections with each other and strengthen--AAAAH--our bonds."

Everyone was staring at me.

"Sorry, the muscle I pulled is still very twitchy," I said.

Tsubumi came to the rescue with, "It was bad, she had to lean on me to get back to the infirmary."

Ted said, "Hmm, that reminds me of when I pulled my hamstring in basic. I was laid up for two weeks and had to join another class."

I sat at the table realizing I'd said everything I'd meant to say and served myself healthy helpings of basmati rice and gyro meat. For the tabouli, I only put enough on my plate to look like I wasn't allergic to vegetables.

"Do people ever just go through basic training for the experience?" Mark Brin asked.

Ted laughed so hard he shook in his chair. "Maybe, if they've lost their minds."

"But doesn't it help people build discipline and get them in shape?" Mark asked.

Ted looked tired and annoyed, like he was having to explain stuff to a kid who didn't know any better. "No, it was designed to break people down to the point that they will follow orders and pull the trigger before they have time to think about the person in the crosshairs."

Gillon nodded. "Killing goes against human wiring. The average person will hesitate and trained soldiers will just pull the trigger."

Mark tilted his head. "Huh, and I always thought it was like an intense fitness program."

"Have you never seen Full Metal Jacket?" Septimus asked.

"No, actually." Mark shrugged. "Everyone talks about that movie as if it's a big downer."

Margret put her head in her hands. "Mark, dear, a large part of the reason it's a big downer is that the first half of the movie is basic training depicted as truthfully and viscerally as possible."

"Oh...I had no idea." Mark frowned, seeing that the whole table had turned on him.

"Do you know the main reason people become soldiers?" Ted asked. "I'll give you a hint: it's not so they can go through basic training."

"Because they want to protect our way of life?" Mark said.

Harman noisily set his fork down on his plate. "No, Mark, it's because of the GI bill. Kids from poor families enroll in the military for a couple years so they can get their college paid for."

Mark's eyes widened. "Wait, does that mean if we made college free for all Americans, we'd have trouble getting enough soldiers?"

"Unless we came up with more incentives, definitely," Harman said.

"If a candidate stepped up in this next election with a comprehensive plan to fix and better fund veterans’ affairs, I'd throw my support behind them. We take better care of them when they're out on the front lines than we do at home for Christ's sake!" Ted thumped the table.

"I'd vote for that candidate in a heartbeat!" I said.

"Me too!" Tsubumi said.

Abrams and Harman nodded in agreement. Francesca and Gillon were just listening quietly.

"Give me some action items, what needs fixing?" Mark Brin said.

We spent the next hour talking about how to fix veterans’ affairs while Francesca took notes on Mark's laptop. Abrams busied himself with bringing food to Persephone, Pepper, and Alphonse. He'd never been one for large conversations.

I had no idea why Mark wanted to go so far in depth, but his insights were impressive. He identified areas where resources were being wasted and suggested ways to use technology to improve and update veterans’ services. Harman offered helpful economic statistics, Tsubumi offered her experiences, I provided insights into how other nations handled their veterans’ services, Gillon talked about how best to handle mental health, Septimus played devil's advocate, and Martha's policy-making experience helped us determine what was most likely to pass.

I'd never seen Mark's innovative and curious side. That said, I'd never been around him this long when he wasn't distracted. He was approaching being wrong as identifying gaps in his knowledge. Gaps he actively worked to fill. Perhaps it was because he didn't consider himself an expert on this discussion topic and hadn't formed strong opinions yet.

To my surprise, we actually had a rather solid plan by the time Mark said, "I think it's time for dessert."

"Right you are, sir," Gillon said before meeting eyes with Tsubumi and Septimus. When he got up from the table, the two of them got up with him.

They worked to clear the table and get the leftover food stowed in the fridge.

"Persephone, Pepper, and Alphonse are probably wondering what the hold up is." I chuckled. Now that I was no longer engrossed in conversation, the intolerable thundering of my loins was making me want to hump my seat. I only had to make it another hour. Then I could reset myself and get off.

"Want me to go get them?" Abrams offered.

I blinked having forgotten what we were talking about. Then, when I finally remembered, I said, "Sure! And the rest of you can go off duty so you can sleep off the big meal you just ate."

Tsubumi closed the fridge and addressed the table. "It was nice meeting all of you!"

Everyone replied with the same sentiment.

Gillon and Septimus bid farewell and then Mark Brin sighed and shook his head.

"Something wrong?" Francesca asked.

"I forgot the bottle of Pineau des Charentes on the sub," Mark replied.

Francesca got up from the table. "I'll fetch it straight away."

"You don't have to, I wouldn't mind going for a short walk." He started getting up from the table.

Francesca put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't trouble yourself. I'm happy to retrieve it."

"Are you sure you know where it is?" he asked.

"I have a pretty good idea, it's gotta be in one of the minibar cabinets, right?" She walked toward the door.

"Yeah, the one on the bottom right." He smiled. "Hurry back before we eat all the cake."

"You either save me a piece or I'll empty the bottle of Pineau des Charentes on your head." She left for the airlock while we all laughed at her friendly jab.

As the airlock started cycling, Persephone, Pepper, and Alphonse walked in. Persephone was carrying the heavy cylinder that contained Tritonia's core. Pepper was holding the triple-layer-brownie cake with chocolate mousse frosting like it was a priceless artifact from an ancient civilization. I had a feeling if anyone damaged the cake, she'd beat the living daylights out of them.

As Pepper set the cake on the table, I introduced the three of them to our guests.

Mark Brin couldn't take his eyes off Persephone. "You are fantastic!"

Persephone blushed as she set Tritonia's cylinder down on the table. "I-I am?"

"I read your dossier, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing you in person." Mark smiled. "Magnificent!"

Persephone's neck glowed with bioluminescence as she blushed more. "I thought I was more something that goes bump in the night than fashion model."

"You're both, girl," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, hon." Pepper patted Persephone on the shoulder, voice sounding quite hoarse.

"Can we turn off the lights?" Mark Brin asked.

"Only if it's okay with you, Percy," I said.

"Yeah, go ahead," Persephone gulped.

Pepper walked over to the light switch next to the sink and flicked it off. Persephone held out her hands and her palms glowed brightly as did the spots on her face, neck, and arms. Mark Brin was struck with wonder, Martha and Harman stared with their mouths half open, and Ted rubbed his chin looking to be deep in thought.

"I can strobe it a bit, maybe use it for Morse code?" Persephone made herself glow brighter and softer in a morse-like pattern.

My mind instantly recalled her flickering from when we'd been trapped in what would become her quarters. The way she'd been so horny she could barely sit still, her powerful thrusts into Pepper, Pepper's heated moans as she was stretched by both of Persephone's glowing cocks, all of it was just so titillating. This time, my pussy winked three times in succession, as if trying to signal to Persephone I was ready for her. But I wasn't...I was in the middle of an important dinner with the lights off and I was having to stifle moans with gasps.

Pepper instantly turned the lights on and asked, "Is someone hurt?" Her injured voice was just barely audible at that distance.

"Just another--NGH!--a muscle spasm," I lied.

"Do you get those often?" Pepper asked, genuinely worried.

Persephone added, "I find eating bananas helps if my muscles get twitchy. Sometimes being low in potass--"

"I pulled a muscle, remember?" I glared at both of them, daring them to disagree with me.

"Oh! I thought it had healed." Pepper grabbed a knife for cutting the cake out of the knife block on the counter. Then she grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

Pulling out the chair next to me, Persephone said, "Me too." She threaded her thick shark tail through the opening in the chair back as she sat down.

As Alphonse took a seat across from her, I said, "Persephone's suitless deep water capability gives her dexterity in environments that are inhospitable to human life. I believe using her in conjunction with Kirkii will allow us to complete missions which would otherwise be impossible. Such as the repair of components in situ that we'd normally have to detach and bring into the habitat."

"You really don't need any water breathing assistance?" Ted asked.

"Nope, I just breathe through my gills." Persephone shrugged. "It is a huge hassle to switch from one type of breathing to the other, though."

"You basically have to drown yourself, don't you?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, and then undrown myself later, which is even harder," Persephone added.

Pepper cut the cake into thin slices. It was a good idea because the cake was so rich. After each slice, she dipped the knife in water to make sure the cake wouldn't stick to it overmuch. It worked like a charm. Every so often, she shot Persephone a look of adoration. I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of their budding relationship. I'd lost my closest connection not even a week ago.

As Tritonia said, "We may want to make sure someone is present whenever Persephone has to switch breathing methods."

Persephone sniffed the air and then looked at me.

I blushed knowing exactly what she'd just found out. Her eyes were wide, like she couldn't believe such a lewd needy scent was coming from me. I could smell it too because of my body's continued acquisition of equine traits. To my human nose, mares in estrus had smelled a bit harsh, but my changed olfactory sense now registered the excitement of my mare muff as a pleasant smell, like jasmine. I ignored Persephone and the warming of my crotch as I said, "Make a note and I'll put that directive into practice. Persephone will be paired up with Kirkii underwater and with the rest of her team in atmosphere."

My decision to sit at the head of the table nearest the open bulkhead was paying off. My scent would be carried out of the room since air moved from back to front. Persephone was the only other hybrid in the room, so I was probably safe. I was a bit worried about her, though. She was already shifting in her seat, frequently glancing in my direction. Was she getting hard just from my scent? I missed part of the conversation as I bit my lip and weathered another wink from my mare parts. It shouldn't have aroused me, it should have embarrassed me, but her showing interest in me was a powerful aphrodisiac.

Pepper set a piece of cake in front of me and Alphonse handed me a fork. As she and Alphonse worked to make sure everyone had a piece, Alphonse said, "Pepper and I went a little overboard on this. The uppermost layer is a walnut brownie, the middle layer is salted caramel brownie, and the bottom layer is a dark chocolate fudge brownie. Dark chocolate mousse was used for the frosting and as the spacing between the layers."

Once everyone had their piece, I cut off a long chunk that had every type of layer in it. I put it in my mouth and the chocolate mousse hit first, it was sweet with a bitter chocolate undertone. Then I tasted the salted caramel and the fudge and then the walnuts. A wave of delight crashed through me and I bucked my hips on my chair as my clit twitched rhythmically. I was having an orgasm right in front of everyone! Stifling my moan by breathing through my nose, I bit my tongue. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to make my tongue burn with pain.

This derailed my body's dance of pleasure enough that everyone likely assumed my pulled muscle was acting up again. Everyone except Persephone. She was bioluminescing and blushing while she fidgeted and tried not to look directly at me.

Was she into me or was it just my scent and knowing what was actually happening? It had to just be her body reacting out of instinct, didn't it? I was her commanding officer and I'd forced her and Alphonse to give up their lives outside our organization. Plus, if I allowed myself to believe she wanted me, I'd have difficulty controlling myself. I was more than a half hour overdue for reverting my unmentionables back to their human state and now my tailbone was starting to feel odd.

"You look like you're in heaven," Ted said to me as I savored another bite.

"I like chocolate far too much," I replied. "And this desert is incredible."

Everyone used that opening to shower Alphonse and Pepper with complements until they were both blushing and grinning.

After swallowing his second to last bite, Ted asked, "So, why does everyone call you Charlemagne?"

I took a sip of water before saying, "When I was making deals with world powers to set up the POSC, the British council member, knowing I needed a codename, started calling me Charlemagne. He said my uniting the world for this venture was not unlike how Charlemagne united Europe. To his surprise, I gladly took on the name because, although he was poking fun at my tough negotiation tactics, I liked it. I take pride in my fierceness. Everyone before me tiptoed around foreign leaders, honey coating everything they said. Instead of telling everyone what they wanted to hear, I told them what they needed to hear."

"What did they need to hear?" Mark asked.

"I gave them a window into my deepest fears and my highest hopes. First, I told them that China and Soviet Russia would use their NPO alliance to bend history to their will if there wasn't an unified effort to counter them. Second, I pointed out the great feats the global science community had accomplished through collaboration and said they already knew how to work together, when they wanted to. Third, I espoused my faith that they could form an organization that was greater than the sum of its parts." I shrugged. "It got easy once I had the UK, Taiwan, The West African Federation, and Korea on board."

"Huh, I always thought the US was the first country to join," Mark said.

I smirked. "No, they were hoarding NPOs and claiming The Repository was theirs despite all the help they got from Germany in their latest renovation of the habitat. Convincing them to share was very difficult."

"We'd hate to admit it, but if we don't ally with other countries, the Soviets and the Chinese are going to steamroll us," Martha said.

Mark sighed. "You'd think the Soviet Union would've collapsed by now. I thought them giving up East Germany was a sign it was all gonna crumble."

Harman said, "If Chernobyl had gone into full meltdown, the resulting disaster would have bankrupted them while inexorably damaging their reputation."

"The Chernobyl accident wasn't technically a meltdown. It was a steam explosion caused by superheated coolant from an unexpected chain reaction. Because everyone here has the proper clearance, I think I should share an interesting fact. The USSR was using Chernobyl to test an NPO that can rapidly siphon off heat energy. The test that day was delayed and a crew less familiar with the NPO's capabilities ended up running the test. The result was a moderate release of radioactive material, but it would have been a far greater disaster if that NPO had not been able to sap energy from the explosion and chain reaction." Tritonia said.

Everyone's mouths were hanging open.

"And this is where I repeat my mantra: our mission will someday save the world. We need all the help we can get with the Russians performing dangerous experiments on their NPOs," I said with a twinkle in my eye. In that moment, I realized something was off and I waited until everyone had recovered from shock to ask, "Shouldn't Francesca be back by now?"

Part Three

"Who's Francesca?" Persephone and Tritonia asked in unison.

Alphonse and Pepper had their foreheads wrinkled in confusion.

"She's my Chief of Operations." Mark shook his head. "This is so like her. I bet I got some messages during dinner and she's responding to the time-sensitive ones."

Where was Francesca's briefcase? Mark had handed her his laptop to take notes during dinner and I couldn't see her briefcase anywhere in the room. Shouldn't there have also been a paper bag somewhere? The one she'd been holding in her left hand when she stepped onboard?

Catching on that I wanted to check on Francesca, Tritonia said, "I'd feel better if we checked on her."

"I'll be right back." I put my hands on the table with the intention of scooting back, but before I could plant my feet, Mark's hand was already on the back of my chair.

"No need to trouble yourself. If she's not back in the next five minutes, I'll go check on her myself, okay?" Mark's face didn't have even a hint of worry, but it was too blank. Like the people who tried so hard not to have a tell in poker that their tell was their face being too neutral.

I made a mistake by following up with, "There was an attack on the base last week and we don't have replacements for our security contingent yet. If she's in trouble, there's no one to--"

"There was an attack on the base?" Mark's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry I didn't inform you yet, it's all in my next report," I said.

Persephone, Alphonse, Tritonia, and I spent the next twenty minutes going over the details of the attack with everyone gathered there. I wanted to check on Francesca, but I was having to run damage control the whole time. The attack would make us look very bad if it wasn't handled with care.

Just as the conversation was ending, I heard the airlock cycle again. A couple minutes later, Francesca walked in holding the brown paper bag she'd had when I'd met her. Either the hormones and instincts that came with my new mare cunt were addling me, or I was losing my mind. She couldn't have gone back to the submarine to grab a bag she'd already brought in.

I sensed a common reason for all my observations, but I couldn't imagine what it could be.

Francesca walked up to the table and pulled the bottle of Pineau des Charentes out of the bag before setting it down. "Mark, a very important message came into your inbox and I think it would be best if we cut things short."

Mark gave just the slightest hint of a smile before sighing and wiping that smile off his face with a somber frown. "Are you sure it can't wait?"

"I'm sure," Francesca said.

"I'm sorry everyone, but we best call it a night," Mark pulled his cloth napkin off of his lap and put it on the table before getting out of his chair.

"Wait, don't I know you from somewhere?" Persephone asked as she looked at Francesca.

"Trust me, I'd remember meeting a talking shark." Francesca's friendly smile didn't match her terrified eyes. I could see beads of sweat at her hairline.

Persephone laughed. "My mistake. I hope we get more time to talk next time we meet."

"Same here, Persephone," Francesca shook Persephone's hand without hesitation.

Francesca must have read Persephone's dossier before she came on base because she hadn't shown even a hint of surprise at Persephone's appearance. Her sweating and nervous body language had to be about something else.

The other guests came over to us and shook our hands, not giving us room to get up. As they were leaving, I tried to get up to follow them, but my legs wouldn't even push me back. The moment I tried to scoot, my clit dragged on my panties and made me gasp. I looked at Persephone, "No need to wait for me, I'll catch up." I looked at Alphonse and Pepper so they knew I was talking to them too, "We should follow our guests out." I winked slowly at them, a gesture I'd taught everyone. It meant that something was up. I had no idea what they were supposed to look for, but I hoped they'd find something amiss.

Ted, Martha, and Harman were politely waiting to be escorted to the airlock while Mark and Francesca were looking like they wanted to bolt for the exit, but knew they should wait for Pepper and Alphonse.

Alphonse and Pepper got up from the table quickly, but Persephone stayed put. I wasn't going to just let her watch me gasp and moan as I got out of my chair. "Percy, get your butt moving."

"I can't," Persephone said.

"What?" I glared at her and said, "I gave you an order," under my voice so our guests wouldn't hear us.

Everyone was awkwardly waiting for Persephone, who was being so insubordinate!

"One you don't want me to follow," Pesephone said.

I turned red as I got the urge to sock her right in the jaw. "You'd think I'd know whether I want you to follow an order or not."

"Please don't make me get up." Persephone whispered as she grabbed my left hand and put it on her thigh.

One of her fully-erect cocks throbbed under my fingers, lightly squirming in its fabric confines. My pussy clenched and I had to breathe out a puff of air to avoid moaning. What my pussy had wanted for the last nine hours was under my hand! My wetness soaked through the seat of my pants as I looked at our guests and said, "Persephone just reminded me of an important matter we must discuss. We'll be along shortly."

With that, our guests, guided by Alphonse and Pepper, headed for the airlock.

Taking my hand back, I said, "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into you? You smell like you're in heat and you came when you were eating that cake." Persephone sniffed the air and then groaned.

I shivered with arousal. "You're attracted to me?"

"You can't even imagine." Persephone panted.

The way she said it made my mare parts wink and I moaned while arching my back.

"You're attracted to me too?" Persephone raised an ear in question.

"Yes, now that we have that settled, we need to get up and say goodbye before they leave. Something's off and I want to try and figure out what it is."

Persephone glowed brighter as she got out of her chair.

Getting out of my chair nearly gave me another orgasm and Persephone's bioluminescence flickered madly as she heard the noises I made. Once I was standing, things were a bit better.

"Can I stand behind you so they don't see my--?" Persephone blushed deeper.

Gasping, I grabbed the tool bag from under the sink and handed it to her. "Here, just hold this in front of your crotch."

"Charlemagne, I think you need a tool bag too." Persephone was looking at my crotch.

"SHIT!" The navy blue of my uniform wasn't quite dark enough to hide the acute wetness between my legs. I grabbed the frilly yellow apron Gillon had been wearing earlier from the hook next to the stove and put it on.

Persephone laughed at the sight of me in a girly apron.

I gave her a stone cold glare.

She stopped laughing.

Leading the way, I went to the diving equipment room. My apron was such a surprise for everyone gathered that they all did a double take. I used that moment of hesitation to count bags. Francesca and Mark were holding the briefcases I'd seen them come in with and she was still holding the paper bag. Wasn't the paper bag empty? She'd taken the wine out.

As I struggled to put it all together while my entire body was tingling with need, Mark shook my hand again and said, "This was a terrific experience. I look forward to next time."

"Sure, I'm always up for a stimulating conversation," I said.

Ted chuckled and shook my hand. "Took the words right out of my mouth. Looking forward to next time, dear."

Martha gave me a nice big hug the moment Ted let go. "Next time you're in Washington, I'm gonna be disappointed if you don't spend at least one night on my guest bed."

I hugged her back feeling a bit icky about it because the touch was making me even more hot and bothered. Patting her back, I said, "Oh, I'd be happy to stay with you the whole trip."

"That would be fantastic!" She let go and gave me a big smile.

Francesca shook my hand, "So good to have met you."

I tried to peer down into the paper bag as I shook her hand, but the top was too closed for me to see inside. My brain was foggy and exhausted. They had enough clearance to check things out of The NPO Repository, as long as the items weren't too dangerous. Their money helped keep the lights on, after all. If I counted the bags wrong or had missed something obvious and embarrassed them with an accusation, they'd be able to use the report on the attack to convince the council to relieve me from duty.

If I'd thought ahead, I could have used an NPO to communicate with my team covertly while we were all standing here. But then we'd be staring off into space periodically looking very strange...It was unavoidable, I had to let them go and then investigate and see if I could figure out what was up and gather some irrefutable evidence of whatever had transpired. And, in that case, I would be better off if I acted like everything was normal.

Harman shook my hand. "It was fun to finally get to see how you think, Charlie."

"Oh, so you're calling me Charlie already?" I asked.

"Forgive me, I heard one of your team members call you that and liked the sound of it," he grimaced.

I chuckled. "I'm just giving you crap. With the amount of money you're giving us, you can call me whatever you want."

Ted and Harman gave nice belly laughs that lightened everyone's mood, just like I'd planned. My playfulness took the edge off for Francesca and Mark, they were no longer hunching from tension in their shoulders.

It was all smiles as they said goodbye to the rest of my team and headed through the airlock. As they undocked from the station, I called everyone to the diving equipment room so I could set my whole team loose on my investigation. "I need a half hour to attend to some things. I want everyone to spend that entire time scouring the habitat for anything amiss: bulkheads that aren't properly latched, any object you don't recognize, any objects that are missing, a disheveled closet or storage space or any other signs of a search. Then we'll have a meeting in the command center."

Tritonia asked, "Do you have any more information? Do you know what we're looking for?"

"No, all I know is that Francesca was gone for an extended time without supervision and she and Mark were nervous about something," I said.

"Their conversation about the aperitif did strike me as odd," Gillon said, looking at his fingernails.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Abrams said. "I got the same feeling when people were trying to remember their lines in acting class."

My eyes widened. "That's exactly it! Okay! I'm convinced something was up, go find out what." I turned to Persephone. "Work with Gillon to connect Tritonia's enhanced optical array and then carry her around to see if she can spot anything."

"Will do!" Persephone saluted me.

Everyone scattered, except Persephone. She waited till everyone had left the room before saying, "I feel like I know Francesca from somewhere, but I can't place her. Her hair and eyes were wrong, but the rest of her, I feel like I've seen her before."

"But you're not sure who she is?" I asked.

"No, she's changed her appearance enough that I can't place her." Persephone sighed. "The worst part is, I feel like I should be angry at her and don't even know why."

"Well, if you think of who she is or where we should look to try and find out, let me know. I definitely don't think she's Mark's chief of operations," I said. "Her background check was approved by the council, but they are in Mark's pocket."

Persephone looked at the way my pants only went down to above my ankles and the way my arms stuck out further from my sleeves than they should and tilted her head. "Did your uniform shrink?"

"They got me the wrong size when I ordered a replacement," I lied.

"That sucks, hope you can get another right-sized one soon." She looked a bit shy, shy in a way that made me think she wanted to flirt with me.

I smiled trying to ignore the thrill I was getting from Persephone's continued interest. "I think the one that fits is dry now. I'll put it on before the meeting."

"Before I go, I wanted to ask you about what you said just before we left the dinner--"

I laughed, trying to hide my desire. "Just because we're into each other doesn't mean we should fuck."

She looked at the floor and hugged herself with her left arm. "Oh, okay."

"Look, I have to use my better judgement. I'm your commanding officer and that's not a good power dynamic for sexual relationships." My whole body ached for me to say something different. I knew what the professional thing to do was and now that Persephone was actually on the menu, I knew I had to resist.

On the other hand, wasn't casual sex between two people who could just keep things strictly sexual pretty much okay no matter the arrangement? Why were there all these rules surrounding sexual behavior? I bit my lip and pushed those horny thoughts out of my mind.

"I understand, ma'am," Persephone said before walking out of the room, still looking crestfallen.

Before I made a mistake, I needed to revert my pussy back to its normal state so I could use my vibrator to get a few quick orgasms. Then, I'd be thinking clearer. Rushing to my quarters as fast as I could without triggering my pussy or losing my footing due to the insanity that was starting to befall my tailbone, I opened the bulkhead. Part of me had worried my door would be ajar and my room would be ransacked, but it was the same as I'd left it.

I went to the storage compartment under my bed, opened it, and reached into the back corner...only to find that the NPO sphere that reverted me back to normal wasn't there.

My heart thudded in my chest as I grabbed a flashlight and looked at everything in that large storage compartment. No sphere.

I retraced my steps from this morning checking every place I might have set the sphere down and still didn't find it. After frantically pulling the covers off every bunk in my quarters and looking in every storage compartment while my own wetness streamed down my legs, I knew. The NPO I relied on was no longer in my room. All that strange behavior I'd noticed had been a heist.

I was fifteen minutes late to the meeting I'd scheduled and when I arrived, I said, "They stole an NPO right from under our noses. How the hell did we let that happen?!"

"Wait, what?" Alphonse said.

"I was keeping a potentially dangerous NPO locked away in my room for maximum security and somehow Francesca got in there and fucking took it. I blame myself, and I blame every single one of you!" I growled, my anger mixing poorly with my acute, constant arousal.

Gillon met my eyes and let his compassion show. The others were still processing my abnormally irritated demeanor.

"How can we be sure it was her?" Pepper asked.

"Is it not obvious to any of you? The bags she was holding when she entered never made it to dinner, she didn't act like any COO I've ever met, and she there were times when she seemed like an actor trying to remember her lines. Just like Abrams said. Abrams, the only person here, other than me, who suspected something was up." I scoffed. "And now a billionaire has a powerful stolen NPO."

"What does it do?" Abrams asked.

"That's beyond your clearance," I said.

"Is it beyond mine?" Septimus asked, squinting at me with suspicion.

Putting my head in my hands, I groaned as my whole body reached painful levels of arousal. My nipples and clit felt like they were being pinched. I was sure the wetness between my legs was visible and was feeling embarrassed on top of it all. This was rock bottom. I'd been an idiot and taken off the apron. "Why can't any of you stay on topic? What's with all this completely irrelevant chatter?"

"Irrelevant?!" Septimus laughed. "We don't even know what the stolen NPO looks like! We could trip over it and not know we'd found it. What the hell, Charlie?!"

"It's a goddamned aluminum sphere about the size of a baseball, there, are you happy n--" I growled in frustration as my pussy winked in the middle of me trying to speak. It wasn't a growl I'd ever made before and sounded more like something that would come from a wild animal.

Gillon grimaced to show me that I'd gone way too far. Septimus had his hands in front of him, trying to protect himself from my rage. Pepper, Persephone, and Abrams were gaping at my bizarre behavior.

Tsubumi looked deeply concerned as she said, "Okay, you seem really off."

Tritonia said, "This is atypical behavior for you, Charlemagne."

"Yeah, why are you yelling at everyone for not noticing one of the smoothest heists I've ever seen? Maybe we should just go look at your locks and start investigating. More yelling isn't going to do anyone any good." Persephone was staring me down, confident she had the higher ground.

"That's some very insubordinate behavior, Percy." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm sorry, but everyone looks too shocked for this to be normal behavior for you and I'm worried because you don't seem like the sort of leader that just explodes at everyone when something goes wrong." Persephone held her hands in front of herself as if she was expecting me to deck her.

I wanted to sock her right in the snout for the second time that day. Especially because she was so damned right!

Working to calm myself, I took a couple deep breaths. The many screens displaying readouts pertaining to the base glowed brightly over Alphonse's desk. Septimus was hiding in the far corner against the wall where we'd affixed a sixty-inch screen for the powerpoint projector. Abrams was leaning on the large oval conference table. Gillon was standing next to him, gripping Tritonia's top handle while resting her heavy cylinder on the table. Persephone and Pepper were leaning on the wall next to Alphonse's desk, comforting each other.

Keeping my expression calm despite the typhoon inside me, I said, "Undermining my command in front of an audience is unacceptable behavior. In the future, if any of you have constructive criticism about my leadership, tell me in private, understood?"

Everyone responded in the affirmative.

I said, "Percy, I recall you saying the electronic locks currently installed in my quarters are some of the best ever made?"

"They are..." Persephone stepped away from Pepper. "Shall we go take a look at them?"

Meeting the eyes of everyone else in the room one by one, I said, "While we investigate my quarters, find Mark's submarine. It couldn't have gotten too far."

"What are we to do if we find it?" Gillon asked.

"Monitor it and discuss options to make sure they don't make it to port," I said as I motioned for Persephone to follow me. Once she was walking toward me, I left for my quarters.

Persephone went to her quarters to get a bunch of equipment and then started examining my door lock. A few minutes later, she said, "There's no sign of tampering, that means she must have used something to listen to the electronics inside the door lock. I need to look at the other lock to be sure."

I led her over to the storage compartment and she spent a few more minutes looking at it. Eventually, she said, "Fuck," under her breath.

"What?"

"I know who Francesca is. She’s Uma Todone: a woman who has taken tons of jobs right out from under me. She knows more about electronic locks than anyone." Persephone sighed. "I should have recognized her. She keeps herself bald and wears a different wig for every job. She also likes to use colored contacts and makeup tricks to disguise the shape of her face."

"My instincts were correct then, she wasn't his COO."

"Yeah, we should go report to the others," Persephone got up.

"Before we go back, I need to make sure you understand something. If you question my fitness to command in front of everyone again, I will have to discipline you. It is dangerous to undermine the authority of a commanding officer," I said.

"But we deal with NPOs, what if something's genuinely wrong with you?" she asked.

"People could use that excuse to disregard any order I gave if I let them. If I can't trust my subordinates to follow orders, they become a liability."

"But that trust has to go both ways. Right now, I know something's wrong with you. I can literally smell it. Everyone noticed you were behaving differently. You seemed overly aggressive and agitated. And you lied to me. You're definitely at least four inches taller than before." Persephone backed away as she said this.

My jaw clenched as she spoke. I wanted to beat the everliving shit out of her! "I'm fine. Let's just go back to the others."

"You're leaking so much fem juice that the crotch of your pants is wet. You're sweating like you have a fever and you're definitely taller. It's a lot like when I..." Persephone's eyes went wide. "You're transforming into a hybrid, aren't you? That's the only--"

"I told you, I'm fine, goddamnit!" I pushed her onto my bunk.

She yelped in surprise.

Insufferable, she was the most insufferable person alive. I got over her and held her against the bed while sitting on her so she couldn't budge. "Why won't you fucking listen to me?"

"Because you're in heat and out of your fucking mind!" Persephone yelled.

It felt good to be atop her, dominating her with my extra inches of height. I didn't know why I wanted to hold her down or why I had to be pressed up against her. My thoughts were like sand falling between my fingers. I couldn't even examine them anymore. All I knew is I wanted something from her.

Her pricks squirmed under my butt cheeks, probably sore from bearing my weight. I moaned and ground my pussy against the rise her cocks made right where they came out of her slit. I'd planted my pussy on that spot without a second thought.

"That's it!" She growled and bit my uniform shirt, her sharp teeth also hooking my bra underneath. Her lips were curled into a snarl as she shook her head back and forth shredding my shirt and bra to tatters. It was predatory, animalistic, and hot as hell.

I grabbed her uniform shirt and tore it open, the buttons flying every which way. We looked into each other's eyes, then we grabbed each other and pulled ourselves into a hungry kiss. She grabbed my breasts, which would have been gigantic on anyone but me. I was such a big woman that they looked to be less than C cups, but there was still a lot to fondle. My nipples hardened in her fingers as I moaned into our kiss.

She humped against my crotch over and over as my wetness soaked into her pants. I broke the kiss and took her tits into my large hands. She squealed while her dicks twitched wildly in the confines of her pant legs. When she retaliated by pinching my nipples, I flipped us onto our sides. We wrapped our arms around each other, pressing our fronts together like we were in a lesbian porno. Persephone was every bit as vicious and desperate for touch as I was. She was the only person on base that truly understood what I was going through. No explanation was needed, no discussion, just two animals getting their lust taken care of.

After chafing our parts against our pants for a few minutes, we locked eyes. I let go of her and we both rolled onto our backs to peel our pants and underwear off. Her prehensile dicks found each other and started some mutual stimulation. Then she flipped onto her hands and knees and moved between my legs. My heart raced as she looked at the black and pink mottled flesh of my pussy and the thick, two and a half inch clit jutting out from it.

She blinked as if she thought she was hallucinating."Y-you have a horse--"

"Shut up!" I grabbed her head and shoved her face against my snatch.

Her exuberant licking and dangerous toothy sucking of my clit made me groan and writhe. But it wasn't what I needed. I grabbed her under her arms and hauled her on top of me. Then I licked my own juices off her face as I hugged her against me. Soon we were making out like drunk sorority sisters who were desperate for their first taste of female flesh. We nearly rolled right off the bunk as we groped each other's asses, clawed each other's backs, and dry humped each other.

We were sweating profusely from all the effort, but the heat felt good. When we ended up on our sides again, breasts and fronts firmly pressed together, I lifted my left leg and put it over her hip. This motion was sheer instinct at this point, as was Persephone shoving her cocks inside me the moment she had an opening.

Our grunts and moans echoed throughout my quarters as inch after inch of her glorious twin pricks filled my mare cunt. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced or imagined. Both of her dicks could move independently and I could hardly make sense of what was going on inside me beyond the immense pleasure it was causing. And she kept changing what she was doing while working to stretch me wider and wider so she could prepare me for the increased girth as we got closer and closer to hilting herself in me. All the while, I was grinding my big clit against her groin so much I was going to wear us raw.

Somehow she knew exactly what I needed. It was like we both wanted the exact same things out of sex. Her licks and nips to my neck nearly drove me over the edge every time. When she bit my neck, I tilted my head to give her better access. Then she did the same for me while I bit hers. Her shark skin was a fascinating texture. It wasn't as rough as a normal shark's, but it still felt a bit like flexible armor. I doubted I could cut it with my teeth even if I wanted to.

I could feel her toned pecs tensing under her breasts just as mine did the same from the exhausting firm hold we had on each other.

Our raw sexuality had a tender underbelly to it. Not because we were holding back. The tenderness came from us being so fully in sync with each other that whenever one of us was fierce, the other was supple. When she thrust into me, I tilted my hips toward her and relaxed so she could get in as deep as possible while my hands pulled her ass toward me, making sure she took everything I gave her.

The pleasure was so constant and intense that the stretching and pressure at my tailbone barely passed my notice. Not wanting to think about the implications of getting a horse tail, I gave every bit of myself to our coupling.

My pussy twitched as I yelled, "HARDER! THICKER!"

Persephone was likely exhausted by this point, but she followed my orders with enthusiasm. Widening the helix her dicks had made inside me, she pulled almost all the way out and then shoved back in so hard that the shockwave traveled all the way from my ass to my tits. Her huge balls made a "plap" against my backside every time she thrust home. Just feeling the violent contractions her buttocks made as she pounded me made me want to cum. She had the perfect body: functionally fit and beautifully hybridized.

I could feel my tail pressing out against the bed sheets, nearing the half foot mark.

Persephone reached under it to find my equine donut of a tailhole and traced the tip of her middle finger around it. I whinnied for the first time in my life and pressed back against her touch. I was so sensitive back there, so wonderfully vulnerable.

Then she gave me an order, barking it as sharply as a drill sergeant, "CUM YOU STUBBORN MARE BITCH!" and pressed her middle finger into my donut.

I threw my head back and let out a screaming whiny as my entire body convulsed. It was the most embarrassing sound I'd ever made.

She drove her finger deeper as she hilted herself in me with one last, monstrous thrust. Her twin lengths pulsed from base to tip four times before becoming twin volcanoes. Her hot sticky mess filled me to the brim as she squealed and writhed against me.

Us having sex was the most efficient and productive experience of my entire life. I felt like I'd just discovered how to crack the atom.

My muscular mare cunt and her shafts shared a passionate dance as we came so hard we were letting loose a cacophony of curses and moaning cries. I felt like someone had thrown me into a nuclear reactor. I was so hot I should have been bursting into flames, but that heat, that burning, was ecstasy. Orgasms had been good in the past, but this was beyond my comprehension, something that shattered the ceiling of my self knowledge and reached heights unimagined.

When we came down from orgasm and I'd taken a few deep breaths, I said, "Thank you."

Persephone gave me a squeeze. "That was amazing."

"From now on, we're going to be a huge distraction to each other." I sighed.

"Unless we do this frequently." She licked my nose.

"Unless I get the item they stole back," I said. "This was great, but needing this every day would really fuck up my life."

"What did it do?" she asked.

"It allowed me to reset my body every twelve hours so that I wouldn't continue transforming into a horse hybrid," I explained.

"I wonder what Mark needs it for?" Her pricks were starting to soften inside me and retreat back into her. Part of me wished they could remain buried in there forever, then I wouldn't have to go through being painfully aroused with no way to get off ever again.

"Speculation is useless at this point. There are proper channels for him to go through if he wants to study an NPO or put it to use," I said. "Him stealing it means he's not planning on returning it or that he has a plan for it that's so urgent he couldn't wait for paperwork. We must get it back as soon as possible."

"Couldn't we just confront him and ask for it back?" Persephone asked.

"Did you find any evidence that of tampering we can use to prove it was stolen?" I raised an eyebrow.

"The lack of evidence is evidence." She was looking through the wall, deep in thought.

"What?"

"How did Francesca know exactly where it was in your room?" Persephone asked. "There is no evidence of a search and you have six locked storage containers in here. She barely had enough time to hack the two locks she opened in the time she was gone. The exploit she used is incredibly time consuming."

"What was the exploit she used?"

"She used an antenna to listen to the electromagnetic radiation inside the locks. Like how researchers in Project Tempest were able to record what was being displayed on the computer screens in the room next door. Through listening to the components inside the lock as she hacked it, she was able to figure out what the unlock code was. The only reason I know about it is because she's famous for using a similar exploit on a Swiss diamond bank, even though no one has been able to prove it."

I blinked. "You sure you're not making this up? How could you read a computer screen in another enclosed room?"

"When electronics operate, the electrons moving through the components release EM radiation. That radiation can be picked up if you have sensitive equipment. Then you can reverse engineer those signals to find out what was going on inside the electronics. It's why server rooms in secure facilities, like ours, have air gaps. Air gapping is to prevent things like Project Tempest." She paused. "The equipment used to do this usually isn't very portable. Especially when it's made to listen to something like a shielded lock. These locks give off very faint EM signatures to prevent that exploit, but through Mark Brin, she likely has access to million-dollar, specially-engineered equipment."

I stroked her arm. "You mentioned it was surprising she knew where in my room to look?"

She cupped my ass. "Yeah, I'm assuming people like Mark Brin are privy to things like who checked out what NPO, but your equine transformation is something almost no one knows?"

I nodded.

"If I was going to steal it from you, under your bed is the last place I would have looked. Instead, I would have checked your safe first and your safe...It would be a nightmare, even for Francesca and her equipment."

"Oh?"

"You have to put in a key to get the screen to turn on and the lock for that key would take me a few hours to pick. If it was in the safe, Francesca would have stolen the whole safe," Persephone said. "And she very well may have been caught. For them, that was the worst case scenario..." Persephone pulled out of me and scooted to the edge of the bunk so she could look up at my fire alarm. "Just like I thought. Your fire alarm has been disabled. She was planning to breach the safe with a thermite torch! The only weak point on that model is that they used thinner metal to make it lighter and more portable."

"You're a genius!" I kissed her.

"I'm just very good at my job." She grinned.

"Want to show Francesca up and steal my NPO out from under her nose, just like she did to us?" I grinned. "That would show them. They'd have no way to complain about it without admitting they'd stolen from us in the first place."

"Fuck yes!" She was beaming.

"Well, let's get a shower and then go meet the team," I said.

"Wait, are there NPOs that can sense other NPOs?" she asked.

"No." I stared blankly for a moment, remembering something. "But the Americans recently discovered a Soviet research project that was trying to make an NPO detector."

"Francesca has one," Persephone said. "Or she just randomly decided not to breach your safe and look under your bed after she'd already disabled your smoke alarm."

My eyes went wide. "Shit!"

"I think the tracker is slow to work because otherwise she would have just turned it on the moment she walked into the room and not bothered with the alarm. On jobs, every lost moment is a moment that might get you caught. If I was doing this job, I would have set the tracker down the moment I entered, and while it did its thing, I would have prepared for breaching the safe which was the most likely place for the NPO to be stored."

I kissed Persephone deeply and forcefully. I'd never met a more brilliant person and I didn't even have the words to express how fucking astounding she was.

As she sputtered and tried to make sense of the sudden kiss, I said, "You're the best kind of nerd."

She gave me a peck on the lips. "And you're an incredible lay."

I rolled my eyes. "I hope I'm more than that."

"Well, you kept us all alive during the worst possible circumstances, so I think you're a good commander, too."

"You think?"

"I'm still reeling from the tantrum you had before we had sex." Persephone used the sheets to wipe herself off a bit and then got up.

"Fair enough." I sighed as I wiped myself off so I wouldn't drip and got out of bed.

"Y-you have a blonde horse tail! I love it!" She was bouncing.

Looking behind me, I said, "Crap!" It was luxurious and down to my calves. Also, there was no way it would fit in my uniform dress pants unless I cut a hole in them.

We took a shower where she was overly preoccupied with shampooing her cum out of my new tail. I pretended to be indifferent to avoid encouraging her, but it did feel very nice.

When we got out of the shower, she put on her uniform and buttoned her military jacket to hide the fact she didn't have a shirt. Then she dashed to her quarters to get a shirt that hadn't had the buttons pulled off. I cut a hole in a fresh pair of uniform pants and a pair of underwear. Then I threaded my tail through as I got dressed. When all was said and done, I walked toward the command center. Persephone followed behind me so she could watch my tail swish involuntarily: at least someone was enjoying it.

When I got to the command center, everyone stopped what they were doing the moment they spied blonde horse hair hanging down between my legs. As if to taunt me, my tail swished just then. Tsubumi and Alphonse's eyes were sparkling with delight and wonder. They must have thought the tail fit me as well as Persephone did. Septimus looked like he was about to faint, Gillon frowned with worry, Abrams and Pepper had their mouths half-open.

Tritonia said, "Did you undergo the Kirkii Failsafe Procedure or something?"

"What? With all the weird shit we've been through, me having a tail should be the least of your concerns." I pointed at the screens with an arm that was obviously too long for the sleeve it was in. "Show me where Mark is."

Alphonse forced himself to look back at his computer screens. There was a pink tint to his cheeks as he pulled up a live video feed that showed Mark Brin and his entourage standing on the deck of his submarine. They'd surfaced about nine miles from our base. The ticker on the bottom of the news screen said, "Mark Brin about to make a major announcement."

"What the fuck?" I said.

"Turns out he had a press conference scheduled," Alphonse said.

We all watched as the view switched to the camera on the deck of his sub. Mark Brin said, "I know I may seem out of touch with the common man having a press conference on the deck of my own personal submarine. A revelation in my personal life has caused me to realize that I have too much stuff and I don't want to be out of touch with everyone who doesn't have six figures in their bank account. Effective immediately, I'm giving a quarter of my assets, including this submarine and the private island it's stationed at, to the POSC so they can continue their work protecting and nurturing the world's oceans."

"He knew!" I said. "He knew we'd come after him and he's fucking bribing us to let him get away with--"

I shut up when Mark Brin continued. "Half my assets will be used to create a foundation that will employ technology and economic incentives to fix our dysfunctional social services. What sorts of problems will this organization tackle? Let me give you two examples. My best programmer learned everything he knew on his own and still doesn't have a computer science degree. I want that to change. My foundation will work with government agencies to develop a certification system so students who learn online and show aptitude can get post secondary degrees without having to set a foot in college. Secondly, I recently learned how underfunded and mismanaged our veterans’ programs are. To aid in solving this problem, my new foundation will have a special contingent that focuses on making America's veterans’ services the best in the world."

"Oh bloody hell, he's leaning so hard on the PR it's gonna snap under his weight," Gillon said.

I nearly lost my balance because I knew what Mark Brin was about to say next.

Mark put on his best smile and the camera took an angle that showcased his face and the gorgeous sunset behind him. "The last fourth of my assets will be leveraged to fix our damaged political system, and I won't be on the sidelines for this objective. I am officially announcing my candidacy for president of the United States of America."

Getting my NPO back had just gone from difficult, to fucking impossible.

Part Four

Alphonse transferred the news feed to the large projector screen as Mark Brin rattled off thank-yous to various politicians, organizations, and grassroots supporters that were making his presidential bid possible. While he detailed a bit more of his political platform, I grabbed the edge of the giant control room desk that supported Alphonse’s numerous screens and squeezed until my knuckles turned white.

My team started to lose interest when Mark Brin started answering questions sent to him via twitter. We knew it all already. Mark Brin was married to an attractive male Bollywood star who often snagged roles in American action movies. His Mane coon cat, Cujo, was a rescue and ridiculously smart. His parents had come to America from Lithuania in the late seventies and he’d been born on US soil soon after, so he was eligible for the presidency. And he was addicted to Earl Grey tea.

The moment the live video feed from atop Mark’s sub was cut and the CNN newscasters started talking, I grabbed the remote from Alphonse and shut off the projector.

Septimus said, “Is everyone just supposed to forget his hostile stock take over of Beacham instruments? The factory he had in Burma where workers were getting carted away with nerve damage? Or what his case against Engram Software did to patent law?” He put one of his paw-padded hands to his forehead and sighed. “If normal people destroy lives they go to jail, but when billionaires do it, all they have to worry about is a dip in public opinion.”

Alphonse said, “He really seems like he’s trying to make up for what he’s done.”

Gillon said, “Philanthropy is often a ploy to manage public opinion. I think it’s premature to take his change of heart at face value.”

“Plus, before his PR stunt, he stole from us.” I made a fist as my breasts started feeling tender. “And we’ve got no clue what he needs that NPO for.”

Tritonia said, “We could ask him. Given this situation, he must expect us to be aware of what he stole.”

“But he has no reason to tell us the truth.” Persephone looked at me with worry. She wasn’t the only one who could sense how angry I was.

“He rarely outright lies, he just chooses his words so carefully that anything could be the truth.” I scoffed. “If anyone else does it, people call them evasive. Why does he have to be so goddamned likable?”

Tsubumi said, “Because he’s a CEO?” She was standing on the opposite side of the conference table leaning against the wall.

“That’s not what I meant!” I slammed the remote down on the desk so hard that Alphonse flinched and the batteries popped out.

Tsubumi moved in a blur and caught the batteries as they rolled off the desk and then put them back in the remote. Everyone in the room was staring at her in awe, except Septimus. He was taking notes. It was hard to tell when Gillon was in awe. His eyes were ever so slightly wider.

“At least one hundred kilometers per hour,” Septimus said.

“No, no way.” Tsubumi giggled. “That’s my fastest yet!”

“What was your perception of time like duri—”

“We’re getting off topic. What are we going to do about Mark Brin?” My mind raced as I tried to think of a way to get my NPO back. I was not going to let my libido take over my life. I deserved better. My subordinates deserved better.

“Opening a line of communication is probably our best move at this point. I’m not sure we have any other options. Being drawn out into the public eye won’t end well for us,” Abrams shook his head.

“Stealing it back could easily take weeks of planning.” Persephone leaned against Pepper.

“I don’t have weeks!” I said louder than I intended. More changes were coming, my nipples were swelling against my bra and there was a tugging deep in my abdomen.

“What?” Pepper squinted at me, her red hair starting to fall out of the braid she’d put it in. We’d all been at this too long.

“Nevermind...” I wrung my hands. “Do we have any subs that can quickly get in torpedo range of Mark Brin?”

Gillon stood straight up. “Charlie, I don’t think—“

Holding up a hand to shut Gill up, I said, “Alphonse, I need an answer.”

“We can have a sub in torpedo range in—“ Alphonse brought up the global submarine deployment map and plotted some courses. “—fourteen minutes.”

“Get that sub moving,” I said as a brutally effective plan formed in my head.

After Alphonse relayed the order, he said, “Captain Steier wants to talk to you.”

“Tell Steier this is a breach of containment situation and to keep on course.” It felt like something was soaking into my bra.

Persephone said, “We could just steal it back, you know. Just a couple days to collect the info we need and then a few more to plan and we could steal it right out from under his nose. Same as he did to us.”

“Too slow. We have to act now.” My snatch was wetting my panties as whatever was happening inside me got worse.

Persephone tried to talk again, but held up my hand to quiet her.

“If you follow through with this, the POSC will fall apart,” Tritonia said.

Refusing to admit Tritonia was right, I didn't answer and let silence fill the next several minutes.

The tension in the room kept everyone quiet until Alphonse said, “Sub is in position.”

“Tell Captain Steier to open torpedo tubes two and—”

Septimus started laughing. “Never thought I’d be around to witness the start of World War III.”

“Do you hate humanity that much?” I asked.

“I hated being human enough to experiment on myself, so...” Septimus shrugged, but that shrug was him acting. He wasn’t nearly as relaxed as he was attempting to portray. His right hand had pushed his military jacket out of the way of the holster strapped to his side and the pointy mouse claw on his middle finger was tracing the circumference of the snap that released his Glock 19.

There was no way Septimus had the balls to actually draw his gun and relieve me of duty. My hand reached toward my gun.

Pepper’s eyes widened and Tsubumi was just starting to realize something was up. As Abrams got a bead of sweat on his forehead, my stomach churned and I put my hand back at my side.

Alphonse looked up at me, looking quite pale. His twisted expression was that of a man who was trapped with insane people. “Captain Steier is awaiting further orders.”

“Tritonia, you are now in command,” I said and made for the door.

“What? You’re putting a brain simulation in command?” Septimus called after me.

I kept walking.

“Alphonse, tell captain Steier to close all torpedo tubes and return to her patrol,” Tritonia said.

Their voices echoed down the silver and beige-marbled-hallway of the repository as I walked toward my quarters.

Gillon said, “Tritonia, I think we should also inform her that this was a military exercise and she performed admirably.”

“I concur,” Tritonia said.

Footsteps behind me got me to turn around. “Persephone?”

She looked gorgeous in the bright light of the hallway, her uniform fitting her perfectly. There was something elegant about her long ears and thick tail and a wonderful danger to her shark snout. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I resumed walking toward my quarters.

“I’m worried about you,” she said, following me.

“Me too,” I said, annoyed that the wet spot in my bra was still growing.

As I opened the bulkhead to the habitat, Persephone said, “Were you actually going to sink Mark Brin’s sub?”

“That was the plan,” I said as I closed the bulkhead behind us and secured it.

“Huh? That wouldn’t get the NPO back,” she said.

“I was going to have you and Kirkii salvage it off the seafloor.” I took a deep breath to stifle a moan as my pussy winked. Then, I used my card, typed the code on the keypad, and then opened the bulkhead to my quarters.

Persephone followed me in, sniffing the air. “Now I know why you put Tritonia in charge. You’re losing it, girl.”

“Let’s just start fucking already, my head is spinning,” I said as I pulled off my military jacket.

She blushed and closed my bulkhead. “You want more already?”

I pulled off my shirt and then my bra. “As much as you can give me, and then three times more.”

Her blush was deep enough to make her yellow-brown cheeks orange. She started to reply, but her mouth got stuck half open when her eyes landed on my breasts.

Looking down, I saw a bead of milk on my right nipple. “Shit!”

Persephone’s face was at my breast within seconds. “Don’t complain, that’s hot!” She put her lips around my nipple and sucked.

“Ngh!” I bit my lip and fidgeted as my cunt soaked my panties, winking wildly. Milk beaded at my other nipple as she sucked my right one. I could feel the warm thick liquid flowing out of me. Not only did it feel fantastic, it was relieving the pressure in my breast as well.

When she tried to switch breasts, I pushed her back and hurriedly undid my pants. With my lower half bared, I made fast work of undressing her. Then I grabbed her round the waist and hefted her over my shoulder. She giggled and slapped at my bare ass as I brought her over to the bed and tossed her on it. I lifted her plump balls out of the way and put my knee against her snatch before leaning over her and putting my left breast in her face.

Wrapping her lips around my nipple, she drank down more of my milk while her pussy twitched madly against my knee. I groaned, my pussy giving a sympathetic twitch every time hers did. One of her hands reached for my muff and dug in with three fingers. I humped against the palm of her hand as my clit throbbed powerfully and her twin cocks pressed their way out of her slit.

My clit surged larger, pressing against her palm more and more. I was too busy gasping at the waves of pleasure coming from her sucking on my nipples to be horrified by my clit’s growth. Soon, she was stroking it and I was bucking frantically into her grip as I reached down and started stroking her pricks. They twisted around each other and squirmed as I stroked them. We picked up the pace until both of us were barely able to keep up. Releasing my nipple, she cried out and then squealed as she started to tip over the edge.

Aiming her pricks at my snatch, I shoved backwards taking her inside me as she came, blasting volleys of jizz into my mare cunt. I came with her, making the bed creak loudly as I whinnied so hard my voice gave out.

Collapsing atop her, I said, “Thank you.”

She wrapped her arms around me. “You’re welcome.”

Then I just laid there, feeling her breasts rise and fall as she tried to breathe with her head sandwiched in my hefty cleavage. I was even taller now and my clit had to be at least four inches long.

Several minutes later, I kissed the top of her head affectionately. “Wanna stay the night?”

“Sure.” She gave me a squeeze.

After we dozed for an hour, we hauled ourselves over to the shower and washed up together.

Pepper came by just after I put on a house coat and Persephone had her boxer briefs back on. Persephone opened the bulkhead and ushered Pepper inside.

“Okay, so I know you two have been fucking today and I’m not cross with either of you, but I am confused—” She fought her hoarse voice and looked me in the eye as she spoke. —“and I know something is very wrong with you. So, stop being all mysterious and spill the damn beans.”

Persephone opened her mouth to say something and then looked at me with one pointy ear raised in question.

After looking at the bulkhead to make sure it was secure, I said, “Persephone is assisting me with a personal problem that the stolen NPO was helping to minimize.”

Pepper crossed her arms. “A ‘personal problem,’ is that what we’re calling sex now? I must be behind the times.”

Blushing, I said, “No, I’m fucking your girlfriend due to a personal problem.”

Pepper’s nostrils flared as she stared daggers at me. “Charlemagne, either you be straight with me or I’m gonna ask Persephone to stop helping you.”

I made a fist and glared back wanting to deck her. But then I closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths. “I came into contact with an NPO that is slowly giving me equine traits and the NPO Mark stole was helping me manage the changes.”

“Was the NPO Mark Brin stole a magic dildo?” Pepper asked.

Persephone busted out laughing.

“No!” I blushed. “It allowed me to return my body to its previous state every twelve hours. Without it, I can’t halt my transformation.”

“And it’s affecting her libido, a lot,” Persephone added.

“Yeah,” I looked away from Pepper’s eyes. “Gillon says it’ll be better when the changes run their full course.”

“But why are they affecting your libi—oh.” Pepper blushed. “Are you going to end up like Percy?”

My stomach clenched. “Yep, unless I get my NPO back.”

“Really?” Pepper bit her lip, blushing deeper. “Like, a muzzle, ears, a horse pussy and cock?”

“I don’t know for sure, but with the way things are going, it’s quite possible,” I said, blushing and feeling devastated.

“Damn it! Now I can’t be mad at you,” Pepper said.

Persephone’s crotch was bulging with a twin boner. “I’m gonna talk to Pepper in our quarters for a bit, but then I’ll be back to spend the night with you, sound good?”

“Sure, go fuck your girlfriend,” I said. “And if she wants you to spend the night with her instead, I’ll understand.”

“Nope, the idea of you two going at it is so juicy there’s no way I’d stand in the way of it,” Pepper said as she opened the bulkhead, struggling to speak loud enough to be heard. She’d been talking too much today and her injured voice box was suffering for it.

“Thanks for being so chill about this, hon,” Persephone said, grabbing her uniform shirt off the floor.

“Yeah, thank you,” I said.

“Maybe, someday soon, you’ll thank me by letting me join in.” Pepper slipped out the door before we could respond.

While Persephone worked to put on her uniform pants and shirt, I said, “She’s such a firecracker.”

“That’s why I’m falling for her.” Persephone buttoned her pants.

I watched her webbed hands work, wondering if the webbing hampered her. Would having hooves hamper me? Was I going to get them? I’d always wondered what it felt like to run on them, but replacing my feet with them was a step further than I’d ever wanted to go. I swished my tail on purpose, feeling the strands of horse hair on it get caught in the atmosphere inside my quarters. It felt good. I couldn’t bring myself to hate my tail because horse tails were elegant, beautiful, and by the transitive property, I was more beautiful with one. If my changes stopped here, I could probably live with them and find a new internal order within myself. But if I kept changing I might—

“Are you okay? You’re a bit pale.” Persephone took me into her arms.

“I’m losing myself, Percy. Today I relieved myself of command, tomorrow I might have a prick and balls and hooves and want to only eat leafy greens.” My eyes got wet, but I pushed back against the tears. I didn’t want anyone’s pity, especially hers. If she saw any more vulnerability in me, I might not be able to command her.

She gave me a squeeze and then closed the bulkhead to keep our conversation private. “I don’t know this for sure because the method of our transformations are completely different, but I still feel like me and I think you will too.”

“But I will be different from the person I was before the changes took place,” I said.

She nodded. “But we are always losing our previous selves. What really matters is whether we like the people we are becoming. That horse picture above your desk tells me there has to be aspects of your changes that you like.”

“You’re too perceptive.” I chuckled.

“When you’re in command, you have to read people to protect the lives of others. When I read someone wrong, I risk losing my life. Those stakes make both of us very perceptive,” Persephone said.

“I’m going to trust you with something I’ll likely never tell another soul. Can you handle keeping this secret?”

“I’m a thief, remember? Keeping secrets is part of the job.”

I said, “The NPO that is doing this to me grants inner wishes, but twists them a bit. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wondered what it’s like to be a horse. Now I’m getting my wish in the worst way possible.”

“Or the best way possible.” Persephone let go and looked me in the eye. “It’s clear you enjoy some things about your transformation, why not focus on them?”

“I’m already out of my mind, I don’t even want to know what I’d be like if I reveled in what’s happening to me.”

“Well, that makes one of us.”

“You aren’t concerned at all what I’d be like if I didn’t control myself?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I hate to break it to you, but what you’re calling control, I’d call repression and repression doesn’t lead to self control, it leads to chaos. I know, I used to think I was straight. I also used to be clinically depressed,” she said. “The day I accepted I was bisexual was the day I started getting better.”

I just stared at her. No one had ever talked to me that way.

“I should probably go.” Persephone grimaced and then opened the bulkhead.

She probably thought I was about to yell at her. Instead, I just watched her walk out and secure the bulkhead behind her without saying a word.

I spent the next hour burying myself in work to avoid thinking about what she said. Every so often I’d wonder what the difference between control and repression was. It just didn’t seem like there was one. It wasn’t like I’d been avoiding my true self. I loved my work and I was damn good at it. Sure, I hadn’t been getting as much cuddling and interpersonal time as I probably needed, but that was the price one paid when their work might one day save the world.

Someone rang the panel next to my bulkhead and I walked up to see Septimus on the other side. I made sure my house coat was well-secured before letting him in. As I closed the bulkhead, I said, “I can’t even remember the last time you visited me when I was off duty, this must be very important.”

His whiskers twitched as he thought about how he should phrase whatever he was going to say. “I know you put Tritonia in command, but I don’t think this is a decision you want her to make.”

“And what decision is that?” I asked.

“Gillon is lying to Pepper about her condition and I want to tell her the truth,” Septimus said.

Walking over to my round wooden dining table, I said, “And what is the truth?”

He pulled out a chair and sat in it, threading his mouse tail through the back. “Pepper’s voice is never going to return to normal and it may get worse. Her larynx has multiple lesions and we may have to perform surgery if they do not subside. Due to the location of the lesions, if we have to surgically correct them, she may lose her voice altogether.”

I slapped the tabletop. “Damn it!”

“But the good news is that we have multiple experimental procedures that could possibly fix her voice box. The problem is that she can’t make an informed decision about trying one of them if we keep lying to her,” Septimus said.

I crossed my arms. “Are you here to do what’s best for Pepper or are you here to ask me for permission to turn another member of my team into a guinea pig?”

Septimus’s head reared back in offense. “Surely it’s obvious that I’m here for both.”

“Do you even know whether Tsubumi’s enhancements are finished? If her metamorphosis takes a debilitating turn, do you have a way to arrest it?”

“You use her as a cautionary tale but, physiologically, she’s the most advanced member of the team and there’s no evidence that will change.”

I shook my head. “Persephone can survive thousands of feet below sea level and you and Kirkii still can’t explain to me why she ended up the way she did when other test subjects had a much lower level of hybridization. Your simulations still break down at a thousand gene edits and she has over twelve thousand. Oh, and let’s not forget the part where you don’t know the origin of some of her DNA. What happened to her wasn’t science, it was a fortunate mistake.”

Septimus held up his paw-padded hands. “Can we not do this? I am coming to you as a fellow scientist, not an adversary.”

“The only reason you’d come to me is if Gillon disagreed with you and I’m not going to approve anything Gillon doesn’t. If he thinks we need to give her more time, let’s give her more time. Telling someone they won’t get better can stunt their recovery,” I said.

“You are impossible.” He shook his head. “How about a compromise? Can you at least take my word for it that Pepper’s voice will be permanently damaged?”

“You know, I would be far more willing to listen to you if you just admitted you want to experiment on people at the beginning of conversations like this. The way you currently do it, I’m always distracted by figuring out your true motives only to find that they’re always the same.”

“Fine, I’ll open with that next time.” He shoved back from the table and stood up. “If something isn’t done, Pepper will likely be medically discharged. Other than the injury to her larynx, she is in peak physical condition, which makes her an ideal candidate for experimental procedures. Therefore, I want to experiment on her. There, is that straightforward enough for you?”

“Yes, and the answer is still ‘no.’” I walked him to the door. “However, when Gillon believes it’s time to tell her the truth, you will get a chance to pitch an experimental procedure to her. I agree with your sentiment that she has to be the one that ultimately makes the choice.”

Septimus gave me a big smile as I opened my bulkhead. “That’s a compromise I can live with.”

“Have a good rest of your night, Septimus,” I said.

He waved goodbye and stepped out of my quarters. “You as well, ma’am.”

I closed and secured the bulkhead behind him.

When Persephone came back, I was nearly asleep on my bed. After letting her in, we got naked and spooned under my covers.

My heart raced as I realized I’d never slept with a woman in my bed before. Before that encounter with Persephone and Pepper, I’d never thought much about women in that way. Then I had sex with Persephone and that sealed the deal. She was a gorgeous genetic hybrid. My attraction to Pepper was far weaker and, if she hadn’t had such a buff build, I probably wouldn’t have been attracted to her at all. Perhaps I was still mostly drawn to masculine traits, but I was now able to appreciate them in women. Though, after licking Persephone out, I was starting to enjoy pussies quite a lot. Genitals were so strange, almost out of place, and so unique from person to person. Especially when people like Persephone existed.

Her tail was running down the front of my legs, the shark fin on the back of it fitting into the space between my legs. For a long time, we chatted about Persephone’s budding plan for stealing the NPO back. Then we started talking about our favorite sea creatures and found out we shared a love of cephalopods which eventually led to us talking about Kirkii. We fell asleep far later than my normal schedule despite how exhausted we were.

My alarm went off at 5AM and I nearly murdered it. Persephone fell right back asleep after I shut it off, but I was wide awake despite being terribly tired.

I felt humongous. Persephone was a big girl after her transformation, a bit over six feet tall. I was likely going to be a whole head taller by the time I was done transforming. My arms were so muscly and thick that hers looked fragile compared to mine even though she was pretty buff herself. At first, I was getting a rush from feeling powerful and able to protect anyone from harm with my maximized farm girl body. But then, warmth started rushing to my crotch as my clit became erect and pressed against her tail. She felt amazing against my front. Her shark skin was smooth in a way no shark I’d ever touched was. Her hips were wide and I could feel creases in her back muscles with my leaky nipples. Whatever had been going on inside me yesterday was now causing waves of bliss to travel through my pussy. Feeling more awake, I reached around and cupped her left breast. She made a happy sleepy noise.

Putting her muscular shark tail between my legs, I started humping it, my pussy winking against it. There was pressure inside me and it felt like someone was gliding a vibrator across the front wall of my pussy. I groaned as my clit pressed out an inch farther.

“What the? Charlemagne?” Persephone said as she struggled to look behind her.

“Hnnngggg!” I cried as my clit gained two inches, thickening dramatically to keep its horsecock proportions. I humped my cunt against her tail desperately as I chased an orgasm that was just out of reach. I could smell her cocks and reached around to grab them.

She thrust into my hand, her pricks tangoing in my grasp as I stroked. “Can’t believe you’re getting a cock!”

“Feels so good!” I barked out as I rocked my hips even harder.

Shoving my other arm under her side, I grabbed her right breast and squeezed it. Pressure on the front of my horse cunt got a whinny out of me. Then the whole front of my shaft ached as something popped out of me. I groaned and ground against her, stuck at the beginning of an orgasm. My prick started bouncing against her tail, trying to cum. I groaned louder as the pressure at the front of my muff built again. As another something popped out of me, the dry contractions of my cock produced jizz. Feeling my hot sticky mess move up my shaft and then splatter against Persephone’s back got me screaming nonsense.

Somehow, I managed to keep stroking her cocks with my hand and just as I was finishing up painting her back, she shuddered and undulated against me. Then she tossed the covers off and bent her head down to catch her spooge in her mouth. I watched in awe as she drank down every ounce of her own cream.

I had balls, I had a cock, and my mind was overheating as I tried to process my alarm and delight. It wasn’t a small cock, either, it was over six inches long now. I was afraid to even look at it.

“Hope you get hard again soon, I’ve been craving cock other than my own ever since I got transformed,” she said.

I blushed. “How can this be happening? Never in a million years could I have imagined that I’d become a hermaphrodite.”

“Pretty neat, huh?” Persephone giggled.

“I-I don’t have words for it.”

“This isn’t traumatic for you, is it?”

“AAAH!” My prick was on the move again, hardening and pressing against her. “No, just very disorienting.”

Persephone pulled away. “Wanna fuck your first pussy or would that be too much too fast?”

I stroked my shaft and shuddered, feeling the equine shape of it. “Anything to calm this thing down.”

“Good, because I really need dick!” Persephone pushed me onto my back and straddled me, facing away. Then she grabbed my cock to aim it and sat on it.

My sense of up, down, left, and right was obliterated as my prick entered her hot, slick passage. Reality was collapsing, I was fucking a woman with my very own penis.

I bellowed as she sat on my loins, taking every inch of me inside her. The blunt equine head of my prick had this ring of nubs around it that were as sensitive as my medial ring and something about the way she was bouncing herself in my lap made those nubs shower me with ecstasy. Her tail was running up between my breasts and I grabbed it just because I needed something to hold on to, something to ground me during this profound erotic experience.

We both cried out as my shaft reached deeper and deeper into her, gaining another couple inches as she fucked it. My balls grew heavier between my legs as they clapped against her. They were soon larger than hers, making me feel both embarrassed and proud.

I could see her arm moving as she stroked her pricks. But then she stopped stroking and bouncing atop me.

Turning to look at me, she watched my expression as her cocks slipped behind my balls from either side and speared my pussy. Then she bucked fiercely atop me as she stretched my mare pussy open with strong, coiling motions from her cocks.

Her dicks entering me while I was still inside her was devastating. I screamed out a whinny and felt my prick flare for the first time. I came so hard that my convulsions nearly tossed us both off the bed. My lungs burned, my brain felt like it was gonna just fall right out of my head, and my privates felt like they were part of a fireworks display.

Behind my balls, while I was still cumming, my new equine clit sparked into life. Persephone came from both ends just then, creaming inside me while her pussy milked my cock even though she was so full of my spunk it was streaming out of her and soaking into the sheets.

When it was over, we rolled onto our sides and cuddled with me still inside her.

When we woke up four hours later, we went at it three more times: she fucked me doggy-style, I fucked her pressed up against the headboard, then I fucked her again in the shower pressing her up against the wall. After getting out of the shower and getting dressed, we both looked at my bed. It was a disaster.

“Geez, Charlie, you made a lake.” Persephone chuckled.

I blushed. “Hey! At least half of that is yours.”

“Fine, but if you get any bigger, you’re gonna claim the title for queen of spooge,” she said.

The room spun around me and I grabbed the kitchen counter to steady myself. The thought of my package being even larger was overwhelming. “An eight inch horsecock and balls bigger than yours is plenty.”

“I dunno, I think you could be over a foot long and still fit in me. Your balls could stand to be a bit heavier, you’re a big girl, after all.”

I looked down at my crotch and sighed. My uniform had women’s pants, just like it had a women’s shirt and jacket. There was an obvious bulge in them. “Persephone, could you cool it with the whole being excited about my transformation thing?”

“Sorry, it’s just, that was soooo damn good and I can’t help but want more of everything.”

“The sex was fantastic and much appreciated, but it’ll become a vice if we can’t focus on something else after we’ve had our fun,” I said.

She hugged me. “I understand. I do get carried away when it comes to sex.”

I hugged her back, wondering how hugging outside the context of sex had suddenly become a normal thing for us. “It’s okay. I’d never blame you for your libido. Especially now that I’ve experienced something very much like it. Honestly, I hope my transformation has run its course. I’m eager for things to even out.”

“Since it’s what you want, I’ll hope for that too.” She gave me a squeeze.

“Thanks.” I let go of her. “Let’s go plan a heist.”

Part Five

Everyone was sitting around the conference table that was on the left side of the room, opposite Alphonse’s desk. On the projector screen were tasks for each member of the team. When I walked into the room, everyone was looking at me so intently that I was extra careful to act professional. It was very hard given that everyone noticed the bulge in my pants and was trying to act as though they hadn’t. I don’t know why them noticing got blood rushing southward, but I was in a seat before there was a noticeable rise.

No one even spared a glance for Persephone as she sat at the conference table.

I glared at each one of them. “Why are you staring at me?” I gestured toward Tritonia’s cylindrical core. “Tritonia is still in command.”

“Wait, you’re not taking command back?” Septimus asked.

I laid both palms on the table top. “Tritonia is your commanding officer until further notice. It is temporary, but I don’t know the duration yet. Understood?”

“But she isn’t an officer,” Septimus said.

I looked at Tritonia’s optical sensors letting her know she was the one that had to deal with this.

“You are out of line, insubordination will not be tolerated,” Tritonia said in a harsher voice than I’d ever heard. It sounded like she was copying my tone when I gave strict orders.

Septimus flinched and then scowled. “I know nothing about heists and I’m not cleared for field missions. May I be excused so I can continue my research and not waste our funding?”

“You are dismissed,” Tritonia said.

Septimus got up from the table and walked out of the room.

“I won’t be of much use in this discussion either, I’m afraid. Any more use than I was yesterday, anyway,” Gillon said.

“You’re dismissed,” Tritonia said.

“I’ll be available at a moment’s notice,” Gillion got up from the table and left the room.

“I constructed fake identities through which Persephone and I can get in touch with old contacts and get the information we need to pull off the heist,” Alphonse said.

“Cool.” Persephone said, “Most stuff in the thieving world is done anonymously, but there’s some contacts I had the trust of and it’s going to be hard to get them to cooperate with someone new.”

“Would lots of money help smooth things over?” I asked, feeling a prickly sensation near my belly button.

Persephone nodded.

“Then I will put that in the budget for this operation,” I said. Covertly untucking my shirt and feeling near my belly button, I found short horse fur. I made sure to keep my expression even.

“Won’t Mark Brin see the financials of this operation and know what we’re planning?” Tsubumi asked.

“I only report financials monthly and I’m gonna put this operation on next month’s report. He’ll see the bill for our stealing the NPO back after we’ve already recovered it.” I grinned.

Abrams said, “You’ve got some serious balls, ma’am.”

Persephone shifted in her chair, Alphonse blushed, Pepper bit her lip, and Tsubumi covered her mouth as she realized what Abrams had just said. Abrams grimaced. I ignored the comment so I wouldn’t bring more attention to the fullness everyone had seen between my legs.

“He was in a hurry to steal my NPO and I bet he’s in a hurry to use it. We need to get it back ASAP,” I said as the patch of fur grew. “Money is no object. Time and quality are what I want us to focus on. Sorry, Tritonia, I don’t mean to step on your toes. Please use these parameters to help us come up with a plan.”

“I don’t have toes to step on, but the sentiment is appreciated. As is your framing of the problem we need to solve. What sort of time frame would you like us to aim for?”

“Days. I want us mobilized as fast as possible,” I said.

“Then, our first order of business is to identify all the elements of this heist that will have significant lead time,” Tritonia said. “Alphonse, please bring Kirkii up on the projection screen. Her skill in optimization would be useful.”

We had a long meeting about what roles each of us could play in the heist and came up with a long list of action items for every member of the team, including Gillon and Septimus.

After the meeting, Pepper asked me, “Do you need Persephone anymore today? I’d like to take advantage of the little bit of free time she’s going to have once she gets exhausted from overworking herself on planning the heist.”

“I should be fine,” I said, relieved that the advance of horse fur was slowing now that it had made a three-inch-long path to my groin.

Persephone smiled. “If anything changes, just give me a call and I’ll come over.”

“Will do,” I said.

After they left, I spoke to Tritonia. “You did a fantastic job today.”

“Oh? I did?” she said.

“Yeah, bringing Kirkii in was a fantastic idea. I tend to forget that her utility goes far beyond her role as a scientist and resident kraken. Partially because she can’t sit at the conference table.” I put my hand on the table and leaned toward Tritonia. “You were also a good moderator for the discussion.”

“I’m glad.” She paused. “Could you explain to me why you put me in command?”

Lifting up my shirt to show her the patch of horse fur that had grown in near my belly button and then turning around to show her my tail, I said, “Contact with NPO 6295-370-6.” The fur pattern was as expected: the same bay and white sabino pattern as Arcturus’s.

“But that was two months ago, why is it affecting you now?”

I picked her up and brought her over to her charging station at Alphonse’s desk as I explained everything about my transformation and why I needed the NPO back. Sharing every detail with her, including why the crotch of my pants was no longer smooth, filled me with relief. Keeping secrets from her never felt right to me.

“That was a rather clinical description and I cannot ascertain how you feel about the changes even though I know you are experiencing a lot of emotion.”

“I’m scared of losing myself, I’m scared of liking the changes, I’m scared of not liking the changes, and I’m angry that I’m being forced out of my comfort zone. Sexual relationships with people under my command is non-ideal territory, as is a libido that rivals Persephone’s. I have no way of knowing for sure that Gillon is correct about my libido subsiding some after my changes are complete. Lastly, I am frustrated that I have a tail and will likely have other changes that cannot be hidden under clothing. I already stick out because I’m tall. I can’t even imagine how much I’ll stick out as a horse hybrid.”

Tritonia paused for several long seconds before saying, “I now understand everything you’ve done over the past two days and can’t even begin to imagine what I’d do in your place. If it’s any consolation, your response to this crisis, and your attempt to control it, is so very you that I don’t think you’re losing yourself at all. Some of your patterns are changing, but your personality is still shining through. Putting me in command was a very pragmatic move.”

I shook my head. “Persephone said that I confuse control and repression.”

“You are even harder to read than Gillon at times. You don’t react the way I’ve come to expect from other humans. For instance, you become harder to read during a crisis while most people become easier to read," Tritonia said. "This suggests your reaction to strong emotion is to not display it, and that does point to repression. Though, I’ve read that many people who are like that express the emotions later on and it’s mainly a problem if they are bottled up until the person has an emotional upheaval. The only upheavals I’ve seen from you have happened after Bart’s death. Perhaps you haven’t been expressing your emotions enough given the extreme emotional charge instilled in you by recent events.”

“That makes a lot of sense.”

“Have you been repressing your sexual needs? You’ve mentioned feeling a lack of control over your libido now that you are changing. Is it possible that part of that lack of control is due to repressed sexual desire that you are now being forced to express?”

I squinted at her. “Do you experience sexual desire?”

Tritonia paused for five long seconds. Other than the fans on Alphonse’s computer tower, the room was dead silent.

I changed the subject. “Thank you for taking command.”

“Thanks for looking past my synthetic origin and deciding I was eligible,” she said.

“It takes me no effort to do so, but you’re welcome anyway.”

* * * * *

When I got back to my quarters, I had an email from Tsubumi. “I thought it would be fun to try braiding your horse tail. Want to try it? I think it would look good and manage all those long hairs better.”

I laughed. Then I remembered how elegant horses I dressed looked and decided I deserved to look that good. I invited her over and she showed up a half hour later.

“Hey, Charlie!” she said as she stepped into my quarters.

“Hey there, Boom.” I smiled.

Boom leaned against the wall just inside my door and crossed her bare arms. I kept my quarters a bit colder than everyone else: it saved on power.

She tilted her head and asked, “Do you dislike being part horse?”

I swished my tail behind me. “I don’t dislike it in and of itself. I dislike the way it’s disrupting my life.”

“Ahh, I was confused because I know you used to work with them.”

“Yes, I miss it sometimes. But I’m hoping to get rid of the tail and other changes.”

“Other changes?” Her eyes darted down to my crotch.

I blushed profusely and turned around. “You got a specific braid you want to try?”

“Yeah.” She grabbed a chair and set it behind me saying, “Charlie, just so I can stop obsessing over it, do you have stallion—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” I said.

“Now I’m convinced that you do.”

I flipped my tail to try and get her attention on something else.

“What does it feel like?”

I rolled my eyes at her single-mindedness even though she couldn’t see my face. There was only one way out of this conversation other than tossing her out of my room or pulling rank. I just had to bite the bullet and answer her question if I wanted a smooth interaction.

I launched into what was supposed to be a quick and simple description. “It’s not something I can describe in a way that will give you any sort of useful sensory picture. But it’s a bit like when you press your clit up between your fingers, only on a much larger scale. The nerves are more spread out, so the experience is spread out too. Going in, you feel it get squeezed from all sides and a stark rise in temperature. Pulling out, you feel a bit of relief from that tightness and a bit of a chill from the wetness of your partner evaporating in the cooler ambient temperature of the room.” The more I talked about it, the warmer my crotch got and the more details I thought of. By the end, the head of my prick was poking out of my sheath and I was very happy that Boom was behind me and couldn’t see the tent in my jeans.

“That sounds amazing. Why would you give that up?” Her excited speech was so fast that I was barely able to parse it.

“I was plenty happy without it, and it’s a rather inconvenient thing to have attached to one’s body.”

She grabbed the strands of horse hair closest to my ass, tugged on them, and then did the first braid slowly. “True. I’d hate to have things flopping around whenever I ran. It’s a reason I’m glad I don’t have big breasts.”

“Big tits aren’t as awesome as everyone thinks. I have to wear two sports bras, one over the other, during my morning fitness routine. Big equipment isn’t as awesome, either. I’m gonna have to start wearing compression shorts whenever I go for a run,” I said.

“Or a bra for your balls,” Boom said.

My sudden laugh got my tail flailing and Boom lost her grip on the braid she’d been making. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was just trying to make sure I knew what I was doing. The real braiding is gonna start now.” She grabbed strands and swiftly pulled them into a braid like a machine.

“Hey! Slow down a bit. You’re tugging a bit too much.”

“Whoops, time has been passing oddly for me lately.”

“With your accelerated awareness, I imagine everyone else seems slow,” I said.

“Yep! I was making some soba for Ben and Alphonse yesterday and I felt like getting water from the sink was taking centuries, but they told me the water was coming out at the same rate it always does.”

It took me a moment to remember that “Ben” was Abrams’ first name. Tsubumi was the only person that used it. “Conversations must drag for you.”

“Yeah, but it’s not all bad. I have more time to think about what I want to say.”

“That would definitely benefit me.” I bit my lip; the periodic tugging on my horse hair as she braided it was calming and stimulating at the same time. I couldn’t help thinking about the way Persephone had grabbed it when she was having sex with me. Taking deep breaths, I focused on the calming aspect.

“You’d get even more use out of it than me, I imagine. You’re basically the bard of our party.”

“Huh? The bard? The person who casts magic with music?” I said, vaguely remembering Bart’s attempt to teach me everything D&D.

“Yeah, but I meant their other function. They’re usually the highest charisma character in a party, so they handle all the diplomacy and dealmaking,” she said.

“Oh! I guess that is me.”

She was going fast again, but her motions were smoother and she was so focused that she failed to continue the conversation.

No subject for conversation came to me as I was a bit lost in the sensation of getting pampered. The sexual side of it never completely went away. My nipples started tingling as they moistened my bra with beads of milk. After weathering a powerful wink by clenching every muscle in my body, I asked, “Are you almost done?”

“Yeah, just about,” she said.

“How’s it looking?” I asked.

“Beautiful. There’s some red hairs amongst your blonde ones and the braid is bringing them out,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it.

She put a hair tie on the end and then let go. “All done!”

Walking carefully over to the full length mirror on the back of the door to the toilet, I turned around. She’d done a stunning herring-bone pattern braid that kept all the horse hair secure for about the first foot and a half of my tail. “This is perfect. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome! I’m happy to do it anytime,” Boom said.

After we said our goodbyes and she was out my door, I peeled out of my clothes, laid on my bed, and drank my own creamy milk straight from my tits while stroking my prick. This got my dick off, but I still didn’t have a properly-sized toy for my pussy and, after a half hour of trying, I swallowed my pride and called Persephone’s room. Hesitation would just lead to me wasting more time.

Pepper picked up the phone. “Hello?” her injured voice croaked.

“I’m sorry, but I need to borrow Persephone for a half hour,” I said.

“Only if I get to watch,” Pepper said.

I laughed. “Good one.”

“I’m serious,” she said. “I could deal with it if it was just last night and this morning, but now you’re cutting into our movie night and I should get something if I give something. It’s only fair.”

“Maybe I should just let you two be tonight. I can try to figure it out on my own,” I said.

“Are you not attracted to me?” Pepper asked.

“No, that’s not it, I just realized I’m asking a lot of you two and I’ve been relying on others too much recently.”

“I’d prefer watching you and Persephone go at it over watching a movie. Come on, Charlie, what do you have to lose?” Pepper asked.

I thought for a moment. If I allowed Pepper some involvement, I wouldn’t have to worry about Persephone’s accessibility while I was transforming as much. And that would lead to my libido being dealt with more efficiently. “Sure, you can both come over as long as neither of you offers information about our sexual exploits to the rest of the team.”

“It’s a deal.” Pepper hung up.

They both came over and got undressed swiftly. Pepper laid on the bunk bed across from mine and jilled her freckled pussy as she watched us. Persephone was fearless in driving herself in and out of me, I could tell she was putting on a show for Pepper, and Pepper was loving it. The way she was hungrily eyeing my prick made me feel more comfortable about having it. I stroked it while Persephone fucked me so she could watch me get off with it.

It was my first time putting on a show for anyone and I was trying to stifle my noises, especially my whinnies. When Percy hiked one of my legs up and changed her angle of penetration so she was working my pussy from the side, I lost hold of myself and whinnied so loud Pepper stopped everything she was doing and stared.

Percy cried out as she shoved in all the way and came inside me, filling me for the third time that day. I stopped caring about having an audience and let myself whinny as those two cocks pulsed inside me, filling me with their thick warmth. I came all over my chest and face, my prick flaring to give Pepper a show.

The moment Percy was done with me, she went over and banged Pepper while I took a shower. By the time I was out, they were looking quite satisfied.

* * * * *

Over the next two days, my prick gained another inch, my balls got a bit heavier, and I got fur on my knees, shins, and on the insides of my thighs. Due to my changes slowing down, my confidence that I’d be able to roll back my changes was increasing with every hour. I even had some ideas for how to cool NPO 1756-442-5 while I held it so I could get more out of it than normal.

Persephone and I took care of urges every morning and evening. Being able to switch off and penetrate each other led to long-lasting satisfaction for both of us. We were still going at it too often for my taste, and I kept wondering when my libido would go back down. Due to watching us, Pepper’s libido was just as high as ours, but she didn’t seem to mind at all. What impressed me was that she’d strong-armed herself into observing Percy and my encounters, but she didn’t ask for more. It was smart of her. The fact she didn’t ask to be included directly made every time I thought of asking her to join my idea.

We got through a shitload of planning in those two days, and it looked like we’d only need one more day to finalize our plan.

After Persephone, Pepper, and I went through our morning routine, I was feeling a bit off. That feeling was worsened by my fitness routine, a routine where I had to wear two pairs of gym shorts to keep my package from slapping my leg. Compression shorts were on order and they couldn’t come soon enough. Once I’d rinsed all the sweat off and gotten dressed, my feet were aching in my boots and my balance was a bit askew. It wasn’t bad enough that I told anyone, because I figured it was just me getting up on the wrong side of bed.

That feeling didn’t abate at all when I sat down at the conference table for the meeting that would give everyone their final tasks for the heist. I tried to get more comfortable in my rolling chair and put my feet in a better position as Tritonia said, “Let’s start with the NPO sensor problem.”

Kirkii’s tentacles spelled out words in bioluminescent cyan letters. “It’s impossible to know where they put it because, as far as we know, Mark Brin no longer had need of it.”

“I think it’ll have to be dealt with separately from the heist. We need to find a trail of paperwork and follow it to whoever created the device and go at it from that angle,” Gill said. “Searching the entire house for it when we don’t even know what it looks like just isn’t realistic.”

“Actually, if he still has it, it’s likely in the same large ultra-secure safe he has the NPO in,” Persephone said. “I’m sure we have good grounds to confiscate it considering he used it to commit a crime. I’ll just grab anything that looks like it might be the detector and we can hand the stuff we accidentally confiscated back once we know which thing is the detector.”

Tritonia said, “That’s a rather sensible approach.”

“When’s the soonest we can get the heist for NPO 1756-442-5 going?” I asked.

“Two days, we’ve got some equipment and planning that needs a bit more time,” Persephone said.

“ACK!” I cried out.

“Something wrong?” Persephone asked.

“My boots feel really tight all of a sudden,” I said.

“Umm, you could be, you know,” Persephone said.

I immediately got up from my chair saying, “Continue the meeting. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Pepper, Alphonse, Tsubumi, and Abrams were looking at me with concern and confusion.

Walking was nearly impossible and I started to lurch sideways.

Tsubumi caught me as I lost my balance and, as she held me, the pain got worse. My boots creaked as my left foot tested the sturdiness of the leather. There was so much pressure! “We have to get my boots off!”

Tsubumi set me down and then went to my boots. Getting them off was really tough because my feet weren’t even the right shape. Everyone was trying to see what was going on and everyone except Gill gasped when my left boot popped off to reveal a very misshapen foot under my stretched sock. I sucked in air through my teeth as she got my other boot off. It felt like my foot was being crushed and when she got it off, I sighed in relief.

She then removed my socks and everyone except Gill gasped again as they saw all my other toes were shrinking into my foot as my middle toe got bigger and bigger.

As my ankles cracked and changed shape, Kirkii said, “Did you undergo the Kirkii failsafe procedure?”

People noticed I was looking at the screen and turned to see Kirkii’s message. I couldn’t answer her question, the shifting bones in my feet were making me feel queasy. It wasn’t painful, but there was pushing and pulling under my skin that was quite unsettling. Seeing my toes disappear one by one as fur spread down my feet was also unsettling. The toenail on my middle toe of each foot was becoming thick and hoof-shaped.

My team couldn’t look away. It was like watching the evolution of the hoof in fast forward and I was as fascinated as they were, but also horrified. I might never walk the same.

True to form, Septimus was taking notes on his iPad while recording it. I bet he was annoyed that the start of the transformation had been hidden by my boot.

When it was done, and everyone was still staring, I knew there was no hiding what was happening to me.

“Two months before Persephone arrived, I came into contact with NPO 6295-370-6 and started transforming into an equine hybrid. I was using NPO 1756-442-5, the one Mark Brin stole, to reverse the changes every twelve hours. Without it, my transformation is progressing and I now have some fur, a tail, hooves, and male anatomy in addition to what was pre-existing.”

Septimus said, “No wonder you stepped down from command. That’s a significant disruption to your homeostasis.”

“Are you sure you want to be involved in this mission with all that going on?” Gillon asked. “I could be the one to distract Mark Brin instead.”

I shook my head. “I've already convinced him that I want to see his famous Palm Springs house and talk about his candidacy. If we change things on him we risk him becoming suspicious. Plus, I’m going to be more of a distraction partially transformed. He’s fascinated by hybrids, after all.”

“Gillon has a good point,” Kirkii said. “We don’t even know if you can walk on hooves yet. You may need time to adjust to them and many of your other changes. It would be best to keep you here so you could be under observation in case there’s complications caused by your metamorphosis.”

“NPO 6295-370-6 doesn’t cause complications outside of turning everyone that touches it into a hermaphrodite.” I reached for Tsubumi’s hand and she helped me up. Standing on my hooves, I flailed with my arms and tail a bit until I calmed myself and focused. Taking one step forward, then another, and another, I said, “See? I can walk fine.” My tail flailed behind me, whipping its horse hair around as my hooves clopped on the hard ceramic floor.

Having hooves was really cool. It was like I was on stilts, but had way more feeling and the hooves themselves were strong and durable. There was now no way I could stub a toe, I only had one toe and it was armored. The soft area inside the outer nail was like an extremely developed callous and had similar sensory input to the sole of a foot. This gave me much needed feedback about my balance and the state of the surface beneath my hooves.

“Three steps is hardly walking,” Septimus said.

Abrams said, “It’s okay to take time off, Charlie. We can get your NPO back while you just relax. You’ve been working so hard.”

“Okay, I want all of you to look at me.” I took three more steps, swaying minimally. “I already stepped down from command. That is all this goddamn transformation is going to be able to take from me.” I took a deep breath and then jumped and spun in the air. I relaxed my right leg and landed softly on it carefully, using my arms to steady myself. I barely even wobbled.

Abrams, Tsubumi, Septimus, and Pepper had their mouths hanging open. Gillon had an eyebrow raised. Kirkii’s tentacles were displaying the O.O emoticon. Persephone was looking at me with pride, her slight smile and confident posture saying, “That’s my girl!”

“Now I’m questioning whether you have a sense of balance or stay upright due to sheer force of will,” Gillon said.

We all laughed, breaking the tension in the room, even Tritonia. I grabbed onto Tsubumi because my balance was still requiring active concentration.

After we settled back down at the table, we got all the responsibilities doled out.

That night, Pepper got bolder and felt up my hooves while fingering herself. It was amusing to see her get so worked up over my hybrid features. At least someone was enjoying them. Persephone fucked Pepper nice and hard for the finale while I watched and got myself off.

The next two days, I got more fur on my legs and some up my back. Persephone said my ears looked different, but I think it was wishful thinking on her part. Both she and Pepper wanted me to change into a full hybrid so much that they couldn’t hide it. I hated that I was going to be disappointing them when I got the NPO back.

Boom, Septimus, and Gill all came to my door just after breakfast on the day we were going to leave for the heist. Persephone and Pepper were in my room, so I stepped outside. “Yes?” I looked at them expectantly.

Boom held up a box that had been dressed up with a bow and some purple wrapping paper marbled with a pretty holographic rainbow pattern. The box was cubic with sides a foot and a half wide. “We made something for you.”

I grabbed the box and found it to be rather heavy. “It’s not near any holiday or my birthday.” I turned it over to find where the wrapping paper had been taped and then gently pulled at the tape so that the wrapping paper could be reused once I had it off.

“No, but we got you some stuff anyway. Stuff you need,” Tsubumi said.

I got the wrapping paper off without tearing it. Then I pulled at the box top until the clear tape holding the top shut and it split down the middle. Inside was a uniform, compression shorts, and odd-looking boots.

This uniform felt different because it was made out of a rather stretchy fabric. “What the?”

“We worked with the librarian to find a couple harmless NPOs that could help us manufacture a uniform that would fit you even if you change a bit more,” Septimus explained.

“And the boots are made for hooves so you don’t have to walk around barehoof,” Gillon said. “We used telemetry from Tritonia’s sensors to size everything as close as we could, but we can make adjustments if needed.”

“Thank you!” I immediately started trying on the hoof boots. They had straps that made them easy to get on and off. “These look really professional.”

“Abrams and Alphonse helped me design them,” Tsubumi said.

“Why aren’t they here?” I asked.

“They’re still getting ready for the mission.” She giggled. “When I left at midnight, they were still playing Uno.”

“I might have to have a chat with them about priorities,” I said.

“Tritonia already scolded them this morning,” she said.

“Good!” I took a couple steps in the boots. They’d protect my hooves nicely. I didn’t really need shoes now that I had hooves, but I didn’t want to be running around airports and city streets without foot protection. If I walked on broken glass or other debris could damage the sole of my hooves which weren’t as durable as the outer wall that made the iconic horseshoe shape. “Thanks again! I’ll try on the rest of it right now and then let you know if anything doesn’t fit.”

“Sounds good!” Boom said.

Septimus said, “I don’t know if my opinion counts, but I think being a horse hybrid suits you.”

“You’d prefer everyone as a hybrid,” I said.

“That may be true, but you and I haven’t gotten into a tiff in the last few days and you’ve seemed more at ease,” Septimus said.

“I concur. NPO 6295-370-6 does draw from one’s inner desires. I wouldn’t judge you for wanting to be a horse hybrid,” Gillon said.

“Neither would I!” Tsubumi said. “If you keep your tail, I’d love to try out more kinds of braids.”

My eyes were wet and I didn’t know why. I said, “I’ll take that under advisement.”

They didn’t force more conversation on me, they just bid me farewell and left to get everything ready for the mission.

I went back into my room with my eyes still wet having no idea what emotions I was feeling.

Percy ran up to me and hugged me. “What’s up?”

I stared down at the top of her head, feeling very tall. “Everyone pitched in to make me a uniform and some boots that will fit over my hooves.”

Pepper hugged me from the side. “I guess we were too busy doing sexy things with you to get involved.”

I wrapped my arms around both of them. “Your willingness to help me out is an even better gift. I didn’t want to intrude on your budding relationship, but you included me so effortlessly.”

“I don’t really want this to end,” Percy said. “We’re not helping you out. The three of us are having sex because we’re all attracted to each other and sexually compatible.”

My eyes widened.

“Yeah, I’m game to keep doing this even if you change back,” Pepper said. “It’s pretty damn lonely living under the ocean.”

I let them go. “But I shouldn’t be in a relationship with people under my command.”

“Under normal circumstances, sure, but due to how isolated we are, the only people you could have a relationship with are under your command,” Percy said.

Pepper gave me a squeeze. “You deserve good sex.”

I let them go. “But if I get too close to you two, I’ll choose sentimentality over good sense when making decisions.”

“Tritonia, Septimus, Gillon, and Kirkii will be there to help you make hard decisions,” Persephone looked into my eyes. “You’re not alone.”

“But what if I have to make an immediate decision that will put one of you in danger, but save everyone else?” I asked.

“You’ll choose everyone else, Charlie. That’s just how your personality works,” Pepper said.

“Definitely,” Persephone added.

“I’m glad you two are so confident.” I opened the box for my new uniform and laid it out on the dining table. “We’ve gotta be on the sub in an hour and twenty. Make sure you have everything packed.”

The uniform fit quite well and the compression shorts made my bulge a bit less obvious. It was nice to finally have sleeves and pant legs that weren’t too short for me. While I got dressed and finished packing for the heist, I thought about whether I’d ever made bad decisions out of a sentimentality toward Bart and concluded that I wasn’t very sentimental. That still didn’t mean being in a threesome with two women under my command was a good idea.

Getting to the submarine’s command center was an adventure. I was ducking through bulkheads, dodging pipes, and constantly looking for ceiling-mounted equipment while trying not to wobble on my hooves. I’d never been so attentive to the simple act of locomotion in my life. It was like I was in the dollhouse version of a submarine.

Within a couple hours, we were docked at a military base in Puerto Rico and ten hours after that we landed in LA. First class felt like economy to me because I still had no leg room.

We’d considered trying to steal from Mark at night without me even involved, but Mark Brin was known to be a night owl and his property was actually better guarded at night than during the day. Plus, Alphonse was going to tap into their network by pretending to make repairs on the cable box outside their property. We’d arranged for their internet to “break” tonight while we were sleeping off the fatigue from the long flight.

Our hotel was middle-of-the-road. It was clean and built in the eighties and was like a square within a square. We’d been excited about the pool in the center, but after our twelve hours of travel we all just crashed in our rooms. I took a lazy shower before I got into my king bed. I’d had to bend my legs on my bed, but on this king bed I could lay diagonally and not have to bend them as much. It was odd to be all alone after cuddling Persephone almost every night, but it was a habit I needed to break. And I’d picked the perfect night to do it. I was too exhausted from the discomfort of travel to miss my nightly sex and cuddling.

When I woke up the next morning, I rubbed one out in the shower to make sure I wouldn’t get an inconvenient erection when I met with Mark Brin for breakfast. We’d heard it on good authority that the head of security was not a morning person.

I grabbed a banana from the continental breakfast on my way out of the hotel and ate it as I waited for my Lyft to Mark’s place. People coming and going from the hotel gawked at me the whole time I was waiting, some of them taking pictures covertly as I made the front entrance look small. I did my best to ignore it and turned my bulge away from the main entrance so people would admire my braided tail instead. Boom had made an even better herringbone braid before I’d gone to bed last night.

Part Six

As my Lyft drove me past Alphonse’s repair van, I spied the rented car that had brought Persephone, Abrams, Pepper, and Tsubumi to the area parked on N Hermosa Drive. All the houses in this area were big and had large lots. Green, tan, and brown were in a luxurious blend with bushes and palm trees sticking out over the short walls that hid most of the properties. Structures in this area blended in with the rest of the arid environment and took many of their color cues from the parched mountains in the distance.

Getting out of my Lyft and then giving the driver a good tip for acting like it was completely normal for women to be seven feet tall and a bit equine, I approached the gate to Mark Brin’s property. Flanking the gate were tiered blocky cube-bricked walls that formed square niches which held desert plants. On either side of the walkway were desert rocks, sand, and desert bushes. Most of the other houses in the area had grass even though water was scarce in California.

The black dome of a security camera sat on the top corner of the wall the heavy-hinged gate doors were in. A fob reader was next to the gate. The latch buzzed and Mark Brin’s voice said, “Come on in. I’m currently in the kitchen.”

As I entered, Abrams' voice came through my earpiece. “We’re gonna neutralize the guard on the far side of the pool. See if you can make eye contact with him so he’s not looking where Pepper’s going to come from.”

On the other side of the gate there was a concrete breezeway with square holes cut into it standing on thin steel supports. Straight ahead of me was the main door to the house and to my left was the pool and just beyond that was a guard who had a black goatee, a black baseball cap, and circular sunglasses. I waved at him.

As he waved back, Pepper dashed out from behind the house and reached around him slapping duct tape on his mouth. She then pinched his nose so he couldn’t breathe and he tried to grapple her. He got her fingers off his nose by twisting out of her grasp. She grabbed one of his wrists and threw him to the ground before sitting atop him with his face against the large loose pebbles that surrounded the pool. Then she duct taped his wrists together. After doing the same to his ankles, she dragged him back around the corner.

The house itself was made out white-painted concrete, floor-to-ceiling brown-metal-framed windows, and perfectly rectangular columns of thin flagstone slices. The roof was ever so slightly canted and met in the middle making a very flat M shape.

I kept walking down the walkway as if nothing was wrong.

“Make the guard just inside the door come out to meet you,” Abrams said.

The guard just inside the door was a woman with her long blonde hair pulled up under her hat. She had a big sidearm and a neck mic. Her demeanor was that of someone who had been in spec-ops. As I approached the door, I pretended to trip and fall on one of the spaces between the concrete slabs that made up the walkway. I bruised my hip and got a scrape on my hand from the concrete as I fell onto my side, but that was the price of a convincing fall.

As the female guard raced to cross the fifteen that separated me from her, Boom came from around the corner, slapped duct tape over her mouth, and threw her to the grass. It happened so fast that all the woman got to do was make a muffled yelp of surprise. The woman had her wrists and ankles duct taped a few seconds later and then Boom carried her away at a blistering run.

“Persephone is going to shadow you in the door. Just walk slowly and she’ll come around the corner,” Abrams said.

I hit the talk button at my side twice to let them know I heard them. It wasn’t something I could do if eyes were on me, but I figured I should do it when I could.

I heard Persephone come up behind me as I walked down the hallway past a bathroom and a bedroom. The wall to my right was the pillar of flagstones and had a very nice texture to it. Persephone ducked into the bedroom as I turned to walk through the living room so I could get to the kitchen that was on the other side of it. The whole room was open and the living room simply consisted of a luxurious dark brown leather couch. A flat screen TV was fit into a wooden nook that held records and a professional recording rig from the late forties. It was a huge, industrial-looking steel contraption with turntables, analog needle readouts, and clunky brown knobs.

Mark Brin grabbed a plate of sauteed mushrooms off of the long white marble counter next to him and tossed half of them into the omelette he was making. Surrounding him on the left were fifties light teal cabinets with straight metal handles. He closed the omelette he was making and flipped it over. I smelled fresh garlic, basil, brie, grape seed oil, and marsala wine.

Glancing behind himself, he said, “Are you a fan of mushrooms?”

His casualness had caught me completely off guard and it took me a couple seconds to answer, “Yeah.”

Plopping the omelette onto a teal plate that matched the color of the cabinets, he said, “Then, this one’s yours.” His grey eyes twinkled and his dark hair shined in the light from the wall of glass that led to the pool. The long-sleeved blue-grey T-shirt he was wearing went well with his aged black jeans. He still looked too thin.

“Wow, Mark, this smells really good,” I said.

“Well, you’ll have to thank my husband. Without him, I’d only be able to boil water and steep tea.” He laughed as he cracked eggs into a bowl.

“Could I get a fork?” I asked.

“Drawer second from the end on the peninsula,” he said as he scrambled the eggs.

As I opened the drawer, I looked through the big windows on the other side of the dining area and marveled at the piano-shaped pool beyond. I pulled out a fork and tried my omelette. “Oh God! This is fantastic!” The mushrooms had been sauteed in garlic oil and marsala wine, the slight bite to the brie went perfectly with the sweetness of the marsala and the basil cut through the fattiness of the ingredients bringing everything together. My sense of smell was better than ever, better than it had been yesterday, even. Picking out all the ingredients was easy.

“Glad you like it,” he said as he poured the scrambled eggs into the big cast iron skillet. “There’s more of you than there was a few days ago.”

“I came into contact with NPO 6295-370-6 and am taking on some equine traits, apparently including their size,” I said.

“Don’t wait for me, eat while the cheese is still melty,” he said.

I took a bite, still standing and holding the plate in my left hand. If I didn’t pace myself, this whole omelette would be gone before he finished making his.

He added brie, basil, and then mushrooms before closing up his omelette and flipping it. “You were a big woman before, but now you’re likely big enough that air travel is a problem.”

“Oh, it’s awful,” I said.

“At least you get a luxurious tail out of it.” He chuckled.

“It’s not much use to me other than maybe a tiny bit of help with balance and a reason to put an extra hole in every pair of pants.” I took another bite.

“Who did that incredible braid?”

“Tsubumi,” I said through my mouthful.

“That girl can do anything she sets her mind to,” he said as he put his omelette on a plate.

I nodded. “She’s a real asset. Genuinely nice person too.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Boom grabbing a guard who was walking the periphery of the pool and pull him out of view with lightning efficiency. Then there was an odd click on the coms and the line was more silent than normal. There was nothing I could do about it, Alphonse would have to fix whatever technical problem had just occurred.

As Mark turned off the range, I noticed the oven was set to warmer mode.

“Is something in the oven?” I asked. Dread filled me as I felt blood rush toward my crotch.

“I’m expecting company after we have our chat. I have enough sauteed mushrooms for five more omelettes,” he said.

“Well, they’re going to be quite pleased.” I shivered and angled my crotch away from him as my prick swelled in my compression shorts.

“I hope so.” He motioned toward the big round dining table where there were five plates were already set out with silverware, water glasses, and teal placemats. The last two table settings had everything except plates. In the center of the table was a stainless steel pitcher of water with ice. “Shall we have a seat?”

“Yes, thank you.” I walked over to the table and sat in one of the wooden chairs, threading my tail through the back.

After setting his plate down, he said, “Ice or no ice?”

“Ice, please.” The head of my cock was reaching down my pant leg and my balls were swelling, taking up more space in my crotch. Not letting the mix of discomfort and pleasure onto my face was a real challenge.

He filled my glass and then his own before sitting down and using his fork to cut off a piece of his omelette. “Is it rough turning into a hybrid?”

“It’s incredibly distracting and scary,” I said.

He pointed at my nose with his fork. “Well, I don’t mean to alarm you, but your nose is flattening a bit.”

I reached up and touched my nose. It felt tender and was indeed flatter. “Shit!”

“What do we do? This is completely outside my experience.”

“There’s nothing we can do.” I sighed as my dick surged larger reaching toward my knee. This heist needed to be over quick or I’d have to make a trip to the bathroom to jack off. “Why don’t you tell me what led you to want to run for president while I try to eat my omelette before my transformation gets in the way.”

Every bite I took of this delicious omelette made me want to like Mark more. If he was trying to win me over with food, it was working. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to see his face when he realized we’d stolen the NPO back.

“I was diagnosed with cancer two months ago.” He took a bite of his omelette.

I ate another bite giving him space to continue. He’d just delivered an emotional payload that cooled my libido and explained why he’d looked less healthy the last time I’d seen him. That was one mystery down. But another mystery had my full attention: why hadn’t I heard from Abrams or anyone else on the team?

“Now that just makes you wonder more why I’d want to run for president. Well, if I die, I want to at least popularize issues that need to get fixed and plans to fix them. I’ve got economists, policy wonks, thousands of people from different walks of life, and other forward-thinking CEOs all putting in their two cents. I want a system where artists don’t starve and students don’t work the rest of their lives paying off their education like a second mortgage. I want plans so good that everyone is salivating to implement them,” he said.

Not wanting to chance me getting a horse muzzle while I was still trying to eat my omelette, I ate quickly while he talked. Then as I tried to respond, my jaws pinched and my ears tingled. Once those sensations passed, I said, “Some people are going to be wary of your sudden change of heart.”

He swallowed his bite and then said, “They have every right to be. I’ll just have to show them through action.”

Something was off. Mark kept looking at the large door that led out to the pool and he was eating his omelette too slowly. It felt like he was waiting for something.

It was time to put him off balance. “Is your cancer why you stole 1756-442-5?”

He set his fork down and looked into my eyes. “Yes.”

“You could have just requisitioned it,” I said.

He laughed. “And wait months for the paperwork to go through?”

“Surely you can afford cancer treatment,” I said.

“It’s aggressive pancreatic cancer,” he said. “Without that NPO, I will be dead in three months. With it, I can live indefinitely.”

I hadn’t shaken him at all. I needed a new tactic. “Yes, but, you could have asked me to help you expedite the paperwork.”

“Until you ate that omelette, you didn’t give a shit whether I died. You’ve never liked me. You think I’m just some white-collar asshole who’s using his money to play Risk with world powers.”

“What evidence do I have to the contrary?” I asked. “How do I know your cancer story isn’t a fabrication you made up to convince me?”

“If I can’t convince you that I’m on the level now, even after sharing the truth with you, what play do I have left!?” He leapt out of his chair and growled in frustration, his eyes wet. “I don’t want to die before I get the chance to make things right, Charlemagne. I’ve driven companies out of business, stifled innovation by tying good ideas up in court, and helped to gut our government of people who have empathy. There’s people in Burma who are permanently disabled because I was counting pennies instead of showing human decency.”

I stood up and made a fist. “And integral to your plan to save the world from the things you’ve done is to steal an NPO and jeopardize the integrity of an organization that is literally keeping the world from falling into chaos! If you want to start being a decent person, start asking for things instead of taking them.”

“But I didn’t have time!” He flung his hands toward me, palms up, pleading with me to see reason.

“Using your wealth and power to take things without asking is exactly how you built your mountain of regrets. How is doing the exact same thing a change of face? I don’t understand.” An ache shot through my jaw.

“No, you don’t understand.” He shook his head, his fury having turned into sorrow. “You’re being even more selfish than me and you can’t see it. Ask yourself, how is me surviving cancer less urgent than rolling back your transformation into a hybrid?”

My eyes went wide as my breath caught in my throat.

“We’re done here.” He walked over and opened the door that went out to the pool. “Bring them in!”

A single-file line of eight guards in full combat gear came through the gate with Alphonse, Abrams, Persephone, and Pepper in cuffs. They entered the dining room, lining up in front of me. My team looked ashamed and couldn’t meet my eyes. Walking out from behind the line of guards was Francesca.

“You are obstructing an international governmental body.” I glared at Mark Brin, Francesca, and the guards. My right fist ached from me clenching it so hard. This was the worst possible time for me to change more, but my nose and neck were itching.

Francesca whispered in Mark’s ear.

He nodded and then said, “We’ll be apprehending Tsubumi soon and then I’d like all of you to leave my home and let me keep the means to save my life. I promise I will go through proper channels from now on and I will make good on the promises I made about funding for your program. I hold no ill will toward you or your team. Everyone was just doing their job.”

Boom’s voice came through my headset while Mark was still speaking. “Back away from the guards.”

I kept my face neutral and took a couple steps back and put my hand on the back of my chair as if I was trying to steady myself.

“So, can we call a truce?”

From outside the house, on the other side of the wall, we heard ping, ping, ping, ping, ping like metal striking something really hard and then gunshots and another ping.

Mark swore and crouched down as all the guards looked behind them. Francesca drew her desert eagle and aimed it at the door.

I picked up the steel water pitcher while everyone was distracted and threw it at Francesca.

As Francesca moved to dodge the water pitcher, Boom raced in through the open door and rammed the left-most guard with her shoulder. I heard a crunch as his body armor got compressed by her devastating blow. There was so much force that that guard was flung into the one standing next to him, like dominos.

As the first two guards fell toward the ground, Boom grabbed the third one and ran her knee into the woman’s stomach. The guard cried out in pain and was still falling toward the floor as Boom grabbed the next guard’s shoulder. As the water pitcher clanged across the floor, the guard on the end pulled out his gun. Boom lunged toward him and grabbed his gun, but part of her hand was over the barrel and when the shot was fired, the bullet went through the side of Boom’s hand.

She growled in pain and rage as she elbowed that guard so hard that his head snapped to the side and he fell limply to the ground. She grabbed the guard next to him and used her speed to push him right through the huge glass window. As shards of glass were still falling, she grabbed the guard’s baton and threw it at the guard who’d been holding Alphonse. It hit him right in the nose. Then she slid across the floor and swept the feet out from under the last two that were standing. One of them grabbed onto Percy to try and stay upright, but Percy was caught by surprise and fell down with him, yelping in surprise. As she fell, she put out her arms to break her fall and her left arm landed in glass from the window.

Boom had been moving so fast that her wound whipped blood all over the place. Her blood was splattered on the ground, the walls, and the floor. Pepper, Alphonse, and Abrams all looked on in shock while Mark Brin cowered and pulled at his hair. My face, teeth, nose, and jaws hurt. I needed that NPO.

My heart was racing so fast that my chest felt numb. Francesca was in deep concentration as she moved to get a clear shot. The three guards that had been thrown to the floor at the beginning of the scuffle had rolled onto their backs and drawn their guns. Everyone was concentrating on lining up a shot which accounted for Boom’s speed.

I yelled “STOP!” as Francesca pulled her trigger. Boom looked at me instead of in the direction of the bullet.

The shot hit her body armor, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for air on the floor as my nose started aching. I could feel my nostrils moving apart, enlarging, as my vision got interrupted by my face pushing out.

Mark Brin yelled, “STOP!” and all the guards just stayed on the floor. I was sure at least five of them had broken bones.

“You can have the damn NPO—GAH!” My jaws pressed forward against the skin of my face as my teeth moved in my gums, pinching them. “Ith’s noth worsh ish.” Controlling my tongue was very difficult with it growing longer while I was speaking.

“Francesca, uncuff us so we can tend to the wounded,” Pepper said, straining her voice.

In a daze, Francesca walked over and helped everyone out of their cuffs. Abrams was kneeling next to Boom making sure she was okay, he was the last one to get uncuffed.

Tsubumi, Pepper, and Francesca looked over the guard’s wounds. Alphonse looked like he was going to faint seeing all the blood and injuries, but he followed orders from Francesca to get a first aid kit from under the sink. He then helped Abrams clean and dress Tsubumi’s hand and Persephone’s profusely-bleeding arm. Everyone made good use of the first aid kit tending lacerations, broken ribs, broken noses, and broken limbs.

Mark came over to me, a worried crease in his brow. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yesh.” I said as my jaws kept pressing outward. Fur was spreading up my back and stomach. A coat was coming in on the backs of my hands too.

“Do you need a doctor?”

“Nothing they cansh tho!” I said as I sat in my chair.

Mark watched me change, his mouth half open. My ears pinched as they got longer. I ran my hands over my face, massaging at the tightness in my jaws and skin. More and more of my vision had a muzzle in it. More and more of my skin itched as I got fur.

My nipples perked up as fur spread across my breasts. My tongue felt like I’d hung a weight on it as it got longer and my teeth felt like they were getting wiggled as my jaws changed. Fur was swiftly traveling up my neck and down my arms to join the fur that had formed on the backs of my hands.

I kept getting glances from my team, but they tried very hard to stay focused on trauma care.

When paramedics arrived, one of them came over to me and said, “Do you need assistance?” She had long black hair that was pulled back and was wearing a medic hat. Her professionalism was shown in how well she hid her surprise at what was happening to me.

I shook my head.

“She’s going to be fine,” Mark said, sounding unsure.

The female paramedic said, “Alright,” and went to help the other paramedics tend to the wounded.

Once her right arm was mummified in bandages, Persephone came over to me. “I’m so sorry.”

My jaw clicked and I opened and closed my mouth. My horse muzzle was complete, it seemed. I tried speaking for a good thirty seconds before I managed to say, “I’m athraid to look in the mirror.”

Mark reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Don’t worry about what you look like now. You can have the NPO. I’ll give it to you.”

Percy shook her head and blinked.

I tilted my head. “What?”

“You were using it to keep your identity and if I don’t give it back, you will have died in a way,” he said as he let go of my hand.

“But you’ll die,” I said, wanting to believe that this change of heart was false, but knowing it wasn’t.

“Friends and family won’t recognize you. You won’t recognize yourself in the mirror. Photos taken of you, memories, will all be of someone you don’t look anything like. You might have dysphoria for the rest of your life. And airplane flights will be murder.” He smiled, but there was no confidence in it. “I think I gave up too soon. With all my money, I may be able to pull off a medical miracle.”

“What’s going on?” Persephone asked.

“He was using NPO 1756-442-5 to roll back the advancement of his pancreatic cancer.”

Percy covered her mouth. “Oh, shit.”

Mark’s equivalency didn’t work for me. We’d both still be alive if I let him have the NPO. “You can keep it. I’ll finish the transfer paperwork when I get back.”

They both balked. Persephone asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think I showed that I didn’t deserve it,” Mark said.

“I didn’t believe your rhetoric about trying to be a better person until you offered to give up the NPO.” I leaned back in my chair. “All your life, you’ve lived with great distance between yourself and the consequences of your actions. Seeing people bleed due to one’s decisions can be a huge catalyst for change. I should know, my stubbornness played into this too. Being an equine hybrid is going to be extremely inconvenient, but I’m willing to deal with it if the alternative is letting someone, who’s just starting to redeem themselves, die.”

Mark started crying tears of relief. “Thank you! Oh thank you!”

I waited for Mark to recover before moving my hoof above his dress shoe and stepping on it. As he winced, I said, “If you make me regret my decision, I am going to come at you like an angry three-thousand-pound draft horse. Understood?” I applied more pressure.

He winced as he nodded.

Pulling my hoof away, I said, “Good, now, I’m still hungry and I want you to get out one of the omelettes you’re storing in the oven while I check on Tsubumi.”

“How did you know?” he asked.

“About the omelettes? You always think things are gonna go your way. So when I saw the extra table settings and that you were keeping your oven warm, I figured you thought I’d call my team off after our chat and we’d all have a nice happy brunch together.”

Percy laughed.

Mark pointed at me. “You are scary.”

“That’s the way I like it,” I said, getting up from the table and going over to Tsubumi.

Her face lit up when she saw me. All the other more injured guards had already been taken to the hospital and she was laying on a gurney near the pool.“You look awesome!”

“I still haven’t looked in the mirror,” I said.

“Well, you should quit your position and become a hybrid fashion model.”

I blushed. “Let’s not go too far.”

“Please tell me you’ve decided to stay this way. When my hand heals, I wanna try new braids.”

Speaking softly so it didn’t carry too far, I said, “Turns out Mark Brin’s life is being saved by the NPO. I can’t, in good conscience, take it away from him.”

“Whoa, are you okay with that?” she said.

I shrugged. “I’ll live. Why are they taking you in?”

“Oh, they’re not taking me in. I’m actually waiting for Ben and Alphonse to pull up in the car. I don’t want to ride in the ambulance. Seems like a waste when I can walk just fine.”

“I’d do the same in your position,” I said. “What do they think about your hand?”

“They think it’ll be okay, but I’m supposed to get an MRI and let them do stuff for the puncture wound,” she said.

I leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Make sure they use dissolvable stitches. You heal a bit faster than the doctors expect.”

“Hand’s still gonna be out of commission for a couple weeks.” Boom frowned.

“After the comic-book-level shit you pulled, you’ve earned some R&R,” I said.

“It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“And terrifying.”

She laughed. “Yeah, especially for them.”

As Abrams and Alphonse walked up, I asked them, “So, how did you all end up captured?”

Abrams frowned. “A private army came after us. I was worried when I spotted drones flying by. Then we were all grabbed at the same time.”

“But I got away because no one was prepared for my speed,” Boom said.

“Did you just hide in the bushes or something?” Alphonse asked.

“I ran four blocks away to get out of range of their drone surveillance. Scared a couple people walking their pets,” she said. “Then, I grabbed an aluminum baseball bat someone had laying around in their back yard. I came back holding it out and got a whole line of them right in their helmets. Then I threw the bat at a couple of them when they tried to shoot at me, jumped over the wall, and ran in the front door.”

“Why didn’t you use your gun?” I asked.

Persephone and Pepper walked out of the house, traveling toward us.

“I didn’t have a kill order and figured I could save lives by just using my speed,” Boom said.

“That was risky, but the right call,” I said.

“I still can’t believe how quickly you took out the guards holding us,” Alphonse said.

“Yeah, that was brutal,” Abrams said.

“Bet everyone wants to know why an army of guards showed up,” Persephone said.

“Yeah, where did they all come from?” Boom asked.

Percy said, “Francesca and I shared a lot of contacts over the years and many of them are quite loyal. When an unknown thief suddenly contacted them asking about stealing something they’d just helped Francesca steal, they sensed foul play.“

“And ratted us out,” Abrams continued.

“Yup,” Pepper nodded. “They told Francesca everything.”

“That explains the twenty soldiers and half dozen drones I saw flying around,” Alphonse said.

“Hey, can you guys get me to the ER? I need some of the good stuff. My hand is killing me,” Boom said.

“Sure thing,” Abrams offered his hand to her uninjured hand and helped her off the gurney.

Abrams and Alphonse ushered Tsubumi to the car. Were they both chasing her tail? Is that why all three of them were together so often?

Persephone said, “Let’s get you in front of a mirror so you can see the new you.”

She and Pepper led me past Mark, who was working with a maid to clean up all the blood, to the nearest bathroom. It had tan tiles and a white tub and sink. I was almost too tall to look in the mirror without bending forward. My hands went immediately to my muzzle. “Oh wow!”

“Do you see why everyone is so into how you look now?” Persephone asked.

My muzzle wasn’t as long as an actual horse’s, it was the perfect length for the shape of the rest of me: Long, but not out of place. My breasts, hips, bulge, and the bay sabino fur pattern were all spectacular. My blonde hair gave way to blonde mane running down the back of my neck. There were streaks of red in my hair, some hand-sized splotches of my fur pattern had more bay, some more white and they were all mixed with the other color. That was what made sabino patterns so striking and why I thought Arcturus was the most beautiful horse I’d ever seen. Now I was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And I had such a big package, embarrassingly big.

“Hnnggg!” My prick started testing the elasticity of my compression shorts and uniform.

“You okay?” Pepper asked.

I grabbed her and pressed her up against the wall as my cock extended down my pant leg. I could smell their excitement mixing with my own. It was like a bit of cinnamon in the air. My mouth went to her lips, smothering her with a deep kiss. Her tongue was no match for my equine one and I dominated her with it. My prehensile horse lips moved along with the kiss too, teasing at her face. This was so abnormal for me that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’d never wanted to have sex simply because I felt sexy and was overwhelmed with joy about my own looks.

My dick was undergoing another growth spurt, it was more than half way down my thigh now. And my balls were along for the ride too.

Percy rubbed her pricks against my ass as she stifled moans.

My nipples leaked into my bra as I reached into Pepper’s pants and dug a finger into her cooch. She became putty in my hands, writhing against the wall.

Suddenly, Persephone stopped and then gently pulled Pepper and I out of our kiss. “Hey, we really should, you know, get a room.”

“Yeah, and I wanted to help Mark clean up a bit and have more of his omelettes,” I said.

“Well, you’re gonna need to calm down, a lot, to do that.” Pepper said, tapping my ten-inch-long erection.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths.

“Like that’s gonna work.” Pepper unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down with my compression shorts and undies. Then she nuzzled my cock before taking the end into her mouth.

I leaned on the wall as Pepper sucked me off and fingered herself. Persephone fidgeted until I reached down and tugged her cocks out of her pants. I stroked them with my right hand as she gasped and grabbed at her breasts.

Pepper was using her hands for the several inches she couldn’t fit in her mouth and making sure to tease my medial ring and sheath. I puffed out air as I tried to be careful not to thrust her head right into the wall. Percy was rubbing her cocks all over each other as I stroked them and struggling to keep quiet.

We were going at it so hard and fast that I was grunting constantly and got up to the edge within just a couple minutes. As my cock flared and I knocked my plum-sized balls against Pepper’s chin, I grabbed a hand towel and held it under where my dick met her face. Air puffed out of my nostrils as I breathed out a whinny to try and suppress it. I shot so much jizz that she simply couldn’t swallow it all, the hand towel soaking up the excess.

Meanwhile Persephone let loose a strangled screech as she tried to keep from alarming everyone in the house. Her pricks shot salvo after salvo at the pink shower curtain. I was glad she didn’t let her dicks go into sprinkler mode because we would have been cleaning the bathroom all night.

Just after I finished making a mess in Pepper’s mouth, she grabbed my balls, lifted them up, and pressed her face up against my cooch to muffle her orgasmic cries. My clit throbbed harder and harder as she licked and sucked and lost herself in licking me out while she came.

Pepper refused to stop playing with my mare pussy even after she was done. I bent my legs and tilted my hips so she could get her face in there better. Then I just closed my eyes and rode out her passionate exploration while my wetness got all over her. She’d been storing up all this desire while watching me and Persephone go at it and she was an absolute fanatic. Percy grabbed my hand and made me put fingers inside her. She humped against my arm as she watched.

Hot flashes of pleasure radiated out from my clit and the stretchy opening of my pussy as Pepper reveled in pleasuring my mare cunt. Persephone came around my thick fingers, grabbing onto my massive arm to keep herself steady. She let out a shrill breathy squeak as she did so. The way her snatch pulled at my fingers made my cock rise again.

I took deep breaths, preparing to stifle my whinny, but I completely failed when the time came. My pussy winked repeatedly, pressing my clit right into Pepper’s nose while slathering her face with my juices. My nipples leaked milk profusely as I whinnied so loud, I could feel the wall vibrate due to the sheer sound pressure.

I stumbled when all the muscles I’d been clenching finally relaxed. Pepper emerged from between my legs with my nectar wetting down her hair and dripping from her chin. Persephone wet the hand towel I’d caught my excess cum on and worked to clean up Pepper’s face.

Pepper’s hands were busy stroking my cock to hardness again. She pulled her top and bra off and then hurriedly helped me out of my clothes. Her lust was infectious and the moment she had me hard enough for me to penetrate her, I grabbed her and lifted her right off the floor before pressing her up against the wall again. She was so wet that half my prick slid inside her as I lowered her onto it. Pushing me back a bit, she took my right nipple into her mouth and started sucking. I gasped as I slowly shoved the rest of my cock inside her. It was a very tight fit.

Persephone came over to my left breast, pulled it toward her, and started sucking. Her pricks came out of her slit as she eagerly drank from my tit. I gasped and slammed into Pepper, her pussy making a squelching sound. She was moaning as she suckled and I was trying not to think about the fact that I was doing this in someone else’s house. The only thing making it barely acceptable was that it wasn’t technically my fault. Pepper, the one of us that didn’t have the excuse of being a hybrid, had caused this sexual typhoon.

Letting go of my right breast, Percy got behind me and lifted my tail. I shivered with excitement as she pressed one prick against my tailhole and the other against my pussy. Then she grunted as she slammed inside taking both holes at the same time. My prick shuddered inside Pepper as it grew even larger. I would have cum on the spot if I hadn’t just cum in Pepper’s mouth.

Soon I couldn’t get in all the way and my balls felt even heavier. Pepper came right as her pussy got so tight I was considering pulling out. As her pussy tried to get my prick to deliver the goods, I bit my lip. I was close, but she was so tight it hurt a bit. She smothered her yelps of pleasure by continuing to suck at my nipple. Percy gave me every inch of her pricks nice and hard slapping her balls against me. Having both of my passages stimulated at the same time was strange, in a good way. I could feel her dicks rubbing at each other on either side of my vaginal wall. The pleasure was more brutal, especially when combined with the sensation of my tight tail hole getting stretched.

The moment Pepper stopped cumming, I pulled out to find my dick was a foot long and still growing. She switched nipples and dug her fingers of her left hand into my right breast as she sucked on my left one. I sandwiched my shaft between us and thrusted, feeling her breasts bounce against my chest.

My horsecock flared and contracted as I bellowed deep delighted sounds. Then my prick turned into a geyser drenching the underside of Pepper’s breasts and then getting just a bit longer so it was actually wedged between them. The next two shots got Pepper’s head and hit the wall behind her. Persephone grabbed me round the middle and growled as she smacked our bodies together so hard my breasts and buttocks bounced. She then filled me with her thick spooge. The convulsions of my pussy tried to pull her cock clean off as I whinnied loud enough to wake the dead. My snatch’s orgasm hit so hard that my whole body felt sparkly and my prick shot another volley over Pepper’s head.

There was a knock on the door. “Are you three dying in there?”

“We—” I put my breast in Pepper’s face to stop her from showing our hand.

“We get aches and pains from our changed skeletal and bone structure and need to get them out. Can we use your shower to loosen some muscles before we head out?” I said.

“Sure, but don’t take too long, the food is waiting.”

Pepper hugged me. “That was amazing. Too bad you got too big near the end.”

“Yeah, I wonder if I’m too big for most people now,” I said.

“Percy and I are gonna start a training regimen when we get back. We’ve got a goal now,” she said.

“Hell yes, we do!” Percy gave Pepper a high five.

I blushed, feeling self conscious about my apple-sized balls and fourteen-inch prick.

Persephone pulled out saying, “Let’s get cleaned up so we can get back some of the energy we just expended.”

It took us a good fifteen minutes to get ourselves, and the bathroom, cleaned up. After that, we got dressed and headed out to enjoy Mark’s cooking. We sat down at his dining table and had omelettes that had been held at the perfect temperature in a moist oven so that they didn’t dry out. Mark seemed a bit shaken by events earlier in the day and appeared to be using the meal with us as a distraction from it all. The meatiest part of the conversation was when we talked about the heist Mark had pulled. Fracesca sat in on it and confirmed that Persephone was right about everything she’d done. When I finished my third omelette of the day, I realized that my larger size likely meant I’d be eating an extra meal’s worth of calories each day.

I got a call from Alphonse that confirmed that Tsubumi would be fine and that they were going to head back to the hotel soon.

Just before we left, Mark handed me a desert-camo professional camera bag. “This is the NPO detector. Range on it is about ten meters. The company that made it is extremely secretive and I think you should look into them. I just got an off feeling whenever I was dealing with them and I couldn’t get a straight answer as to whether they sold to the US military or not.”

I opened the bag and saw something that was indistinguishable from a military-grade GPS mapping and targeting system. “Huh.”

“Yeah, design isn’t flashy at all. I’m not a fan,” Mark said.

“Oh, I think the design is meant to hide it in plain sight,” I said, picking it up. It was heavier than it should have been by at least a pound. I put it back in the bag and zipped it up.

“I think you’re on to something there.” Mark rubbed his chin. “Well, it’s your problem now.” He grinned.

* * * * *

The dark beige of my hotel room would have been boring without the burgundy and yellow accents in the furniture, curtains, and abstract triangular art on the walls. I was between Persephone and Pepper as we nakedly lazed about on our backs staring up at the near-featureless white ceiling of my hotel room.

Pepper was idly stroking my balls. She had a fascination with their sheer size. “I’m kinda jealous of you two.”

“You wanna be a hybrid?” I asked.

“I’d definitely like to try it for a day or ten,” she said.

“You just want a cock.” Persephone chuckled.

“Tail, ears, muzzle, scales, fur, shark skin, hooves, paws, whiskers, a dick...I’d try all of it if I could,” she said.

I noticed something that stopped my entire train of thought. “Your voice is better!”

Pepper’s eyes widened and she sat up. “Oh my God! It is! And my throat doesn’t feel raspy anymore.”

“I thought the healing was supposed to be really gradual. Didn’t Gillon say something about cartilage taking a really long time to heal?” Percy said as she sat up and pulled her tail out from under her.

“I’m just glad it’s better.”

Percy inspected the gauze wrapped around her arm. Blood had soaked into it from the cuts she’d gotten from the shards of glass. “You know, the pain’s completely gone. I wonder...” She pulled back the gauze covering her hand and then rubbed at the dried blood on one of her cuts. “What!?” She unwrapped her arm frantically, checking more of her cuts.

“Do you need to go to the emergency room?” I sat up and pulled my tail out from under me before looking at her arm. Under the dried blood was nothing at all, no evidence she’d been injured. “Both of you healed within the last two hours. It’s an uncanny coincidence.”

Persephone said. “And you only just fully transformed due to a wish-granting NPO, so maybe having sex with you—”

I put my hands in front of me pushing that whole idea away. “No, nope, uh uh. I don’t want magical healing cum.”

“Actually, I was the only one that got your cum in me since you fully transformed,” Pepper said. “But we both drank your milk and that’s around when I first started feeling the constant itch in my larynx get better.”

I looked at my hand. “Huh, I got a scrape from when I prat fell to get the door guard to come out. And it’s completely gone.” My ears flattened in confusion. “There’s just no way.”

“Hey, I would have said the same thing about a diving suit turning me into a shark hybrid,” Percy said.

“Deal with it, girl, your milk is better than a first-aid kit.” Pepper bounced excitedly

“Okay, I’ll admit that it’s possible my milk has healing effects, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. “When we get back to base, I’ll get Gillon and Septimus investigating this. It might be best for you two to refrain from drinking my milk until we get back. We don’t know if it has other effects.”

“Aww.” Pepper and Percy frowned.

“Yep, you’ll just have to settle for drinking my cum.” I grinned.

They laughed.

Hormones from my recent transformation still had me feeling a bit crazed. Or maybe this was just how I was now, doomed to loose an hour of every day to sex. If I didn’t learn to control myself, I might lose even more of my time to it. I looked at the two women waiting for me just outside the bathroom door. They could see the hesitation and worry on my face even though I was hard as a rock. Was this me? Was I a slut? Had I always been one? I took a deep breath.

Fuck it, my hesitation to express my sexuality is what got me to break a cucumber off in my cooch. I reached down with both hands and grabbed a handful of each of their asses. If I was going to survive my new libido, I had to deal with it head on.

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