CHAP 21: Sly Little Animals

After we'd collected all the data from the Trench, we got out of the water and went to the lab. Bea seemed to have gotten quite a grasp on shapeshifting, as she was currently changing her size while atop my shoulders.

It seems the fungus had returned to the state it was in when first infected. After some cross-checking of their genetic codes, we'd managed to create a hypothesis of the timeline, and an explanation of why the AERv could infect any type of organism.

The virus integrated part of the fungus's genome into its own, which allowed the former, even while being a retrovirus, to infect any kind of living organism, considering the latter's status as the LUCA. But after the AERv developed a mutation that was especially lethal to the fungus, it lost its perfect host, only finding a substitute in the specific subspecies of flower I'd found it on, which should've already been found by the Ndipaya tribe for some generations by the time the fungus went almost extinct.

The cross-checking of both the AERv and the fungus with the HPRv had yielded nothing out of the norm, confirming the last of those had evolved separately from the other two, I wouldn't say it was a case of evolutionary convergence, but the pattern of an infection forcibly strengthening other organism was certainly interesting.

I wonder if there's some invisible force capable of influencing evolution itself, or if this was simply a case of probability, if I had an idea of how many worlds there are, I could make a more educated guess. Even though I doubt I'll forget those questions, it wouldn't hurt to start noting them.

I took the notebook I'd been using sometimes to draw on and noted down all the questions I had to look for an answer to with Death. Considering there seems to be a significant amount of beings that can travel between worlds, going off the fact Death needs to cover my existence up, I doubt there wouldn't be at least some useful books, possibly taken directly from other worlds, which is a fascinating thought.

If a great number of worlds, with many scientists, exist, how fast has science advanced for those capable of walking between all of those, and how much knowledge have they accumulated? Is there a grand library, an interworld version of the Great Library of Alexandria? If there's such a thing, I hope to visit someday, I always found libraries comforting.

While Anita analyzed the DNA of the organisms that lived deep into the Trench, I sat down, put Bea on my lap, and started petting her head while sketching her. After I was finished, I showed her it.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm?"

It seems she dozed off from just some minutes of petting. She moved her head to look at the notebook.

"How did you know I was sleeping?"

"Because you're always sleeping."

"Not always. Can I have that drawing?"

"Where are you even going to keep it?"

"In my stomach?"

"Little fox, I won't let you eat paper."

"Who said anything about eating?"

"Oh, have you found a trick with your shapeshifting?"

"Yes, I made a purse, like a kangaroo!"

"Huh, that just gave me an idea."

"What is it?"

"You said you wanted a weapon, didn't you?"

"Did I? Wait, yeah, I want a weapon!"

"Well, when you talked about that purse, I remembered the good old days when I was on the run, and that their K9 units had a kind of tactical vest."

"I'm not a dog!"

"No, but you're a canine. While I don't think a gun is feasible for now, I can make a close combat weapon. The only question is, what weapon would need to be used considering you have pretty sharp teeth?"

"Something blunt."

Anita interjected.

"If she changes her size, her paws will be enough of a blunt weapon."

"Something capable of rapidly shredding, then?"

"A chainsaw?"

"That works, but it wouldn't be easy to implement, considering she'll use it while a fox."

"I may have an idea."

"Need my help?"

"No need, I'll manage myself. Making weapons is quite fun, after all."

"I'll help!"

"So I'll be in your paws."

"Have fun with your little hobby, then."

"Now that I think about it, it is my hobby."

"So you had one all along."

"I guess so. See you later."

The lab was divided into three parts, biology, materials, and gear. I put Bea on my shoulder and went to the gear section, sitting down at the workbench.

Now, how do you make a chainsaw dagger?

The biggest problem is safety. I can make the engine work with the nanogenerators and a battery, but how does one tackle the difficulty of not accidentally shredding yourself as a fox? If it only activates when all the teeth are in the handle, it can become unreliable, but if it activates when drawn, she can hurt herself if she isn't holding it correctly, and there'd need to be a way to turn them off to put it back into the sheath.

"Bea, come over here please."

She came over, and my hands glided over her body, getting an idea of the vest's size. I put my finger into her mouth, aiming to get an idea of her teeth to make the handle.

"You can forget about getting that weapon if you bite me."

"Ih whon't."

Getting a feel of her mouth structure and her bite, I took my fingers out and used her fur to take the saliva off, then picked her up and put her on my lap, settling my hand over her head and petting her while I made the design of the dagger in my head.

I made a non-functional prototype after some minutes, and Bea tried picking it up.

"How is it?"

"I'm noth shure."

As she spoke, I heard something falling to the ground.

"Back to the drawing board, then."

I remade the handle, making it more form-fitting to her teeth. I'd made it less conforming to them because I wanted to give her some leeway for holding it, but it clearly doesn't work if she can't even speak and hold it. I put the dagger in her mouth, and she bit into it.

"You don't need to make so much force, or else it'll hurt your jaw."

"I'm noth."

This time it didn't fall, which is good news.

"How is it, hurting your teeth?"

"No. Buth it'sh a bith strange."

"You haven't got used to it yet. Also, I can modify it later if it continues bothering you."

With the initial design of the handle finished, I started working on the chainsaw functionality itself. Since I'd already taken into consideration the size when making the body of the dagger, it was easy to simply fit the engine inside of it. I made a switch to test if it was working and created a piece of metal to cut through.

"Woah!"

"No need to be impressed. There's a problem with the output, maybe if I make the chains lighter, though that could increase the chance of the links breaking when cutting through very resistant materials. The centrifugal clutch is the problem."

"What?"

"Talking to myself."

I'd made the centrifugal clutch not too fast because I was afraid the vibration would strain Bea's mouth, but it seemed that wouldn't work if I wanted this to be a useful weapon. Since I couldn't lessen the vibration on the source, I'd have to put more stabilizers on the handle itself. There'd be more weight on her jaws, but it'd at least be better than the shaking.

Doing the modifications, I tested it again, and the chain shredded through the metal like a hot knife through butter. I decided to do a test with my bulletproof fabric, and while it presented more resistance, it was still cut through, proving that the dagger would be useful against armored enemies, which was the intent.

I flipped off the switch and made Bea hold it again.

"Is it too heavy?"

"No. It'sh fine."

"Good then."

I put my hand out and Bea gave me the dagger back, connecting my vision to her's, I saw that the dagger wasn't aesthetically pleasant, which I found a bit iffy, when I was the Spider, I wouldn't've cared, but it seems that after picking up a bunch of hobbies related to art, my artistic fixation has been increasing over time, and as such, I like making things look good. I'll draw up some ideas later.

Normally, I'd go on to make the safety procedures, but I'd like to have an idea of how Bea is going to pull the dagger out of the sheath before hastily settling on a conclusion. I created some papers and started drawing the schematics of the vest since I would need the little fox's input. After I'd finished drawing, I showed her the idea.

It looked like a classical canine vest, just with a sheath on one side and a pack on the other.

"That's ugly."

"Damn. What do you think then?"

"Look through my eyes."

I did as she asked, and she went outside, then used her paw to indicate my coat. When she came back, she found me looking at her with a doubting stare.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Why did you need to be so dramatic in your request?"

"Because you'd shut me down if I just asked for it normally."

"And what makes you think I won't shut you down now?"

"Because now you're actually thinking about how that would look."

I had a slight smirk on my face.

"Bravo, little fox, bravo."

I disconnected my vision from hers, she jumped on my lap and then yawned.

"Waah, using your brain is tiring. You'll do it for me, won't you, Gray?"

"Foxes are sly little animals, indeed. I'll see what I can do."

She yawned again, did that little show take that much out of her?

"Thanks, hehe."

She snuggled even closer to my stomach and her heart rate slowed down almost immediately, her ability to sleep so easily is admirable.

I'd have to wake her up anyway since she didn't give me any real directions of what she wanted. The coat would probably be even more protective than what I was aiming for, but making it so it doesn't restrict her movements won't be that easy, and then there's the problem of her not having hands, which would be necessary for taking something out from inside the coat.

A bandolier, perhaps?

I started mentally drawing the schematics, and after some time of erasing and redrawing, I started putting the idea on paper. A boon of this design is that when Bea finally gets her human form, she won't need a full change of clothes to change between forms.

After finishing, I woke the little fox up, showing her the drawing.

"What do you think?"

"I'd need to see it in real life."

"You're really excited about this idea, aren't you?"

"Yep!"

She said as she put her head down once again. Again, it is an awe-inspiring skill.

Using my coat as a basis, I made hers, though I modified the material, making it more flexible at the expense of some defense capabilities, which I thought wouldn't matter much considering she's a smaller and generally more agile target. For such stubby legs, she's surprisingly fast.

With the coat done, I made the bandolier and woke Bea up. She lifted her head off my lap and then jumped onto the workbench.

"How do I put it on?"

"Let me help you."

I'd made the coat be held by both buttons and velcro, which would allow for easily putting it on and the certainty of it not falling off, her whole torso was covered, even though there was a hole for her tail.

"Comfortable?"

"Not much."

"I can't help you with that, but you should be able to modify the sizes to make it less uncomfortable."

I passed the bandolier around her neck and the side with the bag through her front left leg, then I put the dagger on the sheath on her right.

"Try drawing the dagger out."

She did as I said. I inverted the sides of the belt. She sheathed the knife and drew it out with a little more difficulty. Right side it is, then. I inverted the sides of the belt again.

It seems I was worrying for naught, though I had no way of knowing a fox would be good at drawing a knife. I picked the dagger up and made it so the engine activated when all the teeth were firmly in the handle, also adding a button on the handle so that she could make use of the weapon while in her future human form.

I put it back on the sheath.

"Try drawing it out again."

She obeyed, and I heard the buzzing of the chainsaw.

"How do I turn it offh?"

"Don't hold it so tightly. It should turn off."

The buzzing died down, and I assume she sheathed the weapon.

"I'd recommend training with it. I can make a training dummy."

"Maybe later. I've got something else to do now."

"And what is that?"

She jumped onto me and licked my face vigorously, it'd been a long time since she did such a thing, was she that happy? I simply let her lick me while petting her back, feeling the smooth fabric of the coat. She finally calmed down and jumped onto my lap before leaning on my stomach.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me, I'm just being a good owner."

"Owner?"

"You're my pet, aren't you?"

"Am I?"

"That's about what our relationship is."

"Aren't we friends?"

"Pets are friends, though."

"So why are they called pets?"

"Because humans like feeling superior to other animals, I guess. For me though, that isn't the essence of it."

"So what's the essence of it?"

"A pet is a friend whose only responsibility is to make you happy, basically. In a sense, you could see it as a very pure relationship."

"But I don't want to be a pet, I want to be your mate, just like Anita!"

"It isn't as if those two things are mutually exclusive."

"Then can I be both?"

"We'll see, my little pet, we'll see."

I hugged her gently, thinking about making her a trilby, if she wanted to base her style on my own, I might as well go the full way, and the idea of a fox looking like a noir detective is too amusing for me to pass out on. I cradled her in my arms and went back to the section of the lab where Anita was.

"Oh, you're back. The little fox has taken to your choice of fashion, I see."

"She has, indeed. Found anything of note?"

"Nothing very noteworthy, but I won't refuse more knowledge. At least I've developed more efficient ways to resist high pressures."

I put Bea on one of the chairs, and she whined for a little bit before quieting down once again. I approached Anita, who was standing in front of the whiteboard and wrapped my arms around her, settling my hands on her navel.

"I was thinking about focusing on making more powerful poisons and anesthetics, then when we get back to land, parallel intelligences."

"Parallel intelligences? My paranoid Gray thinking about doing such research? never thought I'd see the day."

"Their usefulness outweighs the risk, also, I've got you to keep them in check, don't I?"

She giggled.

"What if I don't want to keep them in check? I'm pretty sure you've realized the fungus quite likes you as a host, considering you were the one who programmed that into it, into me, so you're aware of the tendencies other intelligences like me will have, right?"

"A hivemind with a body the size of Earth obsessed with me. Yes, I get the gist of it."

"So how will you deal with all of us, big boy~?"

"The thing about hivemind is, if all those consciences have the same goal, you only need to keep one of them happy, and the rest will follow by proxy. So I'm not that worried about me, and more about you."

"I'll be fine."

"Will you? Having a bunch of different personalities screaming in your mind at all moments doesn't sound that healthy."

"You're a doctor in human psychology, not in fungi psychology. I've dealt with it before, and I would've been dealing with it still if you hadn't helped me stabilize my consciousness. And that's the keyword, my consciousness is stabilized, I won't lose myself."

"I hope you're right, for your own sake."

"Even if I'm not right, if I sink, you'll be there to pull me up, right?"

I kissed her nape. She turned around, putting her hand on mine, our fingers naturally entwined, making our rings touch.

"What do you think?"

"I think we should take this to the bedroom, and turn this into a official honeymoon."

"I agree."

We went up the stairs, hand in hand, reaching the master bedroom. I took off my clothes, smelling the sweet scent permeating the room.

"You've made the scent stronger?"

"It's an integral part of flavor."

I climbed over her, her hands touching my chest.

"If you want to do the same for me, I won't mind."

I felt the fungus moving inside me, I'm going to analyze how she did it later, it could be useful to change your scent at will.

"What flavor did you choose?"

"It's a secret~"

"Keep your secrets then."

I took her hands off my chest and pinned them above her head.

"So, what will it be this time?"

"A husband and his loving wife."

"So no character."

"This is a milestone in a relationship, we should be as sincere as possible."

"So your little roleplay isn't sincere?"

"Don't act as if you don-"

I cut her off by kissing her. She reciprocated, her tits being smushed against my chest. As we kissed I noticed her saliva changing flavors, the room's scent changing alongside her. I pulled my tongue back, released her hands, and put my dick on her bottom entrance.

She glided her hands over my face, and I did the same, delineating her silk-like hair, allowing me to paint a beautiful picture inside my head.

"Why don't you put it in already, hubby?"

"I thought you said no roleplay?"

"This isn't roleplay, dummy. Now put it in, please."

"And what incentive do I have to do that?"

"You get to fuck a beautiful woman that loves you with her whole being?"

"Good point."

I penetrated her in one go.

"Hnngh~!"

"You've made it so it hurts?"

"If it didn't hurt, it would lessen the impact of such an event."

"I wouldn't care."

"But I would."

"I understand."

I gave her a light kiss and started moving, after some time, she started moving alongside me, creating a rhythmic sound of slapping and squelching — a lustful harmony, with Anita's pants and my grunts as the vocals. I put my mouth close to her ear.

"How is it, are you satisfied, my dear little wife?"

"Not yet. So shut up and fuck me good!"

She bit my neck, which aroused my repressed sadistic tendencies, making me break the rhythm, trap her hands above her head, and pound her aggressively, while nibbling on her ear and nape.

"Ahnnn~"

As I took full control and became the conductor of the bodily orchestra, a deep level of satisfaction passed over me as if I was fulfilling my deepest ambition. As I listened to the music, pleasure welled up in my groin, the symphony reaching its first climax. 

"That was good."

"'Was'? We're not done yet, dear."

"Good. Because I'm not satisfied yet."

"We move to the second movement, then."

"What?"

Actions speak louder than words, so I showed her what I meant. The harmony continued through the night, we only felt satisfied after 30 movements, though she climaxed at least twice that, I lost count after some time.