by Marcus Sloss
“Stay there,” I ordered, then paused, “but tell me about the Pandarin, before I head back in.”
“Well, they are cute panda bears that talk back—but don’t expect a lengthy or deep conversation. They try to appear meek and simple, but there is a cunning in their eyes. If they are working, they wear a neck garment that is similar to a bow tie. I have been told that this is a common affection among the working races. Their managers generally assign them with tasks in a prioritized order, with a contingency task or two for them to do if everything else is finished.” Perci paused to give a slight chuckle. “I guess at some point they were smart enough to realize that an assigned task list along with a notation by whoever ordered it would keep them out of trouble. So, for example, if I order Mapaw the third to scrub toilets after you ordered them to paint a wall, and the toilets don’t get scrubbed, then blame is appropriately assigned to the right person, and not on Mapaw.”
“If their bow tie is on, they are working. If I want to order to do something, assign it to the bow tie,” Perci concluded.
“I can’t just shout out to a bunch of them to go pick weeds?” I asked.
RV1 swayed slightly with Everly’s exit and she flashed me a toothy smile before skipping in my direction. Her bouncing tits were distracting, a few of the workers stopped what they were doing and shuffled their feet to watch her delicious bounces.
“The bow tie will recognize your orders by voice, if ... and this is a big if … If you address the Pandarin properly,” Perci said.
“Yeah that keeps them out of trouble and gives them validation that they are people, well Pandarin, and not property,” I said tightening my jaw and nodding. No wonder this species was spread across the universe. “No hey, you brown and black ugly thing, go mop!”
“Okay, I see Everly is near you, good luck. Love you, babe,” Perci said, and she closed the connection before I could reply.
I typed out a quick note and sent it to her directly.
‘Stinker, I love you too,’ - Eric
I knew she was smirking, wherever she was. Everly had almost arrived, when I turned and walked for the Xgate. She matched my pace, sliding a hand into mine. I raised an eyebrow.
“This is one human custom I enjoy,” she smiled.
“I am surprised you like water so much,” I mentioned.
“Ha! I had to have Nancy explain that one to me. Sure, I have the tail of a panther, some hip fur, extra canines, and four ears, but Eric,” she batted her eyes at me and stroked a hand up my arm, “I am almost exactly human everywhere else. Even our language, numbers, and clothing are similar. I also happen to not like a swampy vagina, or the stench from under my -”
I tried to contain my laugh. I really did, but it burst forth. ‘Swampy vagina’, who says that? My lovely Crixxi, that’s who.
“I appreciate you smelling nice for me. The yoga pants and cleavage-revealing tube top are delightful teases.” I squeezed her against my side.
“Another custom I will bathe in,” she purred, “Compliments. Yummy! You want to go into the robot and fuck me until I cum?” Everly asked, running ahead a few steps, only to slow down with a sauntering hip snap or two to focus my attention where she wanted it. “You know you want to. If you get some lube, I’ll let you fuck my tight little asshole.”
I yanked her tail to pull her back to me and threw her over my shoulder, my hand first cupping, and then squeezing a juicy ass cheek.
“And this is how seven days flew by before the market started,” I groaned. “I would love to … but later.” She pouted. “Later! Work first, plus Jill is already up in Goliath one. I need to see if all four use the same mental imaging process for their command interfaces,” I said and couldn’t resist a sharp slap on her amazingly firm ass cheek, before setting my marvelous Crixxi back down on the ground. She sauntered at my side, keeping pace.
“Oh. Oh!” she grinned toothily. “Jill as in the Jill. Did you?” Everly asked, bouncing her eyebrows suggestively.
“No,” I sighed, “Though I know I have all of your permissions if something does happen with Jill … Shit, Nancy said a Viking king doesn’t need to check with his wives. But I intend to, always.” I looked towards Goliath one as it loaded another octosuits onto a trailer. “She is going out of her way to get to know me, first, and I adore Mary. The problem is Jill is the kind of girl I would have dated in high school. She plays at being the boring, simple, and fun to be around, but mundane friend, when in reality she wants so much more. I don’t play those kinds of games anymore. Either way, she or I will end up getting hurt.” I frowned and glanced back up at the giant robot, knowing the topic of our conversation slept, blissfully unaware of how frankly we discussed her feelings. “Out of all you lovely ladies in my love life, she is by far the most conflicted and complex.”
“Well, don’t think too much about it. I understand you're satisfied sexually. So what does Jill add to our family besides Mary? Not much, really. Why not keep her as a mistress?” Everly asked, just as we arrived at the golden shimmer of the portal. We stepped through.
The golden sheen blinded me for a few seconds before I found we had entered the northern storage room. This one was empty and Goldie flapped in the air, swimming for me.
“The Goldie in the goliath, and you. What is the difference?” I asked before answering Everly.
“Flattery really, I am … You almost got me there. What is in the Goliath is a program based on what they thought I was. I have said all I can,” the storage guardian closed its fishy lips.
“Can you tell me which species to buy -”
My translator pinged and I received two messages.
“Not directly. I would wager that those messages will get replies, however,” Goldie said with a smirk. “Consider that a gift for keeping me on my toes.”
I turned to Everly to finish our conversation. “She is going to need a man in her life full-time, not just occasionally; even if Jill said she was okay with being kept on the side. I guess I have been keeping her at arm’s length, in case she moves on,” I said, rubbing my temples. Why were women the cause of so many headaches?
Everly hugged me. “Jill lost her stones again this morning. Let her anxiety fade, give her a womb full of babies, and then play it slow. You will see our society slowly change, with so many non-humans around. Normally, we Crixxi do not mate for life. Children don’t spend twenty years in our homes. By age five they follow us around. By age eight, they have assigned homes, jobs, and goals. By age fifteen, they are parents themselves, with others caring for their young. It makes things easier to mate with those we want, and if that choice was a bad one, we move on.” My Crixxi shrugged, “Jill will not have to worry about having her body ravaged by childbirth.”
I nodded with a terse smile. “I guess I am ready, then. If she has no stones in, she will be too, if I’m the reason she keeps rejecting them.”
“Yes, now let’s figure out this purchasing mess,” Everly said, kissing my cheek.
As if on cue, two alerts hit my translator.
Blob answered my query, listing three recommendations for building species compatible with virum … heh …. and one of her recommendations was a Sluggero. Interesting, they were gruff and bitchy, but did great work.
The second had a spider lower-half with a cockroach torso. Gross. Pass. I didn’t even bother reading about how great they were. No point in adding a community member that I knew wouldn’t fit in. Did that… yeah, I guess that made me a speciest. Damn.
The final option was super amazing.
The final recommendation was a gorgeous fairy. Her wings were an array of vibrant colors, her skin smooth and refined, with a doll-like sheen. She appeared to be a human with fairy wings … average height of five foot three inches … Species score of 6. There was no need to look any further. Done! Even if she couldn’t build a castle, morale in the compound would improve because of those tight rocking bodies.
“What was in the other message?” Everly asked from my sid
e.
“Oh, just that Roarson is not available,” I replied.
“I guess that answers that,” Everly said with a scoff. “The fairy will be able to fly and help with projects. Still get at least one Sluggero, for when we start manufacturing. If nothing else, they can help with the automation. Maybe they can work with what we loot. I’ve been told humanity had decent levels of automation before the quarantine.”
“We would need to go to California, to loot that level of sophisticated equipment. I think I remember hearing about San Francisco being converted into a Mecca of manufacturing after the Chinese ban. I can check with the Gtower later; not even on my radar yet. Let me call Daphne,” I said.
Everly shook her head to not bother.
“Ah, she left already, didn’t she? Okay, then, up we go. Another nap won’t be the end of the world. How much time is left our auctions?”
“Five hours or so. I don’t plan on actually staying down here, Eric, I need to be sharp towards the end of the bidding. You need to get Norm out of there, though,” Everly said swatting my ass goodbye as she turned around and headed back out of the portal.
I trotted forward with a wave over my shoulder. Gravity left my feet, I floated through the void, and then adjusted again as gravity reasserted itself inside the orbital.
A few taps on my Gpad sent a video ring to Norm. I lunged into a brisk walk for the distant species market. I saw my video screen digitalize Norm. I had my Gpad’s orb fly in front of my face so I wouldn’t have to keep glancing down at my wrist.
“Oh, hey Eric. Tina and I are over at an automation place Daphne sent us to. The items for sale here are amazing. I am compiling a wish list for the market rotation,” Norm said excitedly.
Tina poked her head into the camera frame to blurt, “Hey Eric! Sorry I was short earlier. We need to do lunch again. I never get to see Willow anymore, since she is so busy being a soldier. Oh, did you know Derek is a soldier now? The virum has changed him a lot. Me, not so much. I still love animals. I saw you went and bought a whole bunch -”
“Tina, dear, you're rambling,” Norm said from the side of the video.
“I want to go to an animal vendor or three. To window shop for next rotation,” Tina said quickly. “There is so much I want to know. Pretty please!”
“Woah, we’re not in a rush.” I chuckled, “Look, you have been in here for hours. That is going to take a lot more out of you than you realize. My recommendation would be to head back out, crash for a few hours, and then come back in with the intent of building those lists,” I said with an approving smile. “I like your initiative, it will help Bastion grow.” I frowned at them, “I’m serious about the tax the market places on your bodies. I want you two heading for the exit. The moment I close this call, your funds will go away. Before I go, though, I need to know if we sustain our new numbers without purchasing additional automation for agriculture this market rotation.”
Norm was jostling with Tina. I guess she really wanted to be in the video feed.
“Yes,” they answered in unison, giving each other a cute smile.
I wanted so badly to roll my eyes, but held my reaction in check. Other couples were allowed their moments too. They did look happy.
Norm cleared his throat, probably noticing how my eyes had started to glaze over. He said, “The long answer is that these systems take varying amounts of time to come online. Then there is also the fact that the crops themselves have to mature. For the eleven days between the market cycles, we should be fine.” He scratched at his chin. “Oh, and Eric, you should know that we bought a bunch of agriculture automation already, well, Daphne did, at least enough to provide for the Pandarin and some greens for the rest of us. We will have fresh veggies, regardless. I’ve researched the recommended crop rotations for the Mounamine and Pandarin are, but asking them what they prefer may be worth making a change. If they hate sprouts, but love carrots, for example, then we should grow carrots.”
I continued to walk towards the contract market at a brisk pace. I listened to him rationally explain things that I would never have considered.
The tall Xgate vendor booths passed by in my peripheral vision without a second glance. I was on a mission and wouldn’t let myself get distracted.
“That is great news then. Mclain will be happy to hear you are setting aside the funds. I do need to ask, though, since I am on my way to the contracts market now—do you need any additional help?” I asked.
“What kind of help?” Tina asked, curiously.
With everyone looking twenty, thanks to the virum, it was hard to remember that some of my people were still nosey college students, with an attitude to match. Not that her question was overly invasive, it simply highlighted her lack of maturity. She was young at heart, too, so I let it slide.
“The kind I can buy,” I said, and they both reacted with their ‘O’ faces. I did chuckle at their reaction.
“Honestly,” he frowned, “yes and no. People were excited to till fields, plant crops, and manage animals at first. When all of a sudden, we had excess food, and then the virum, a lot of people switched to looting. Three hours on the road, interesting homes to sift through … it was hard to compete against. I have been adjusting by adding Crixxi who are moderately good at farming,” Norm said, in a defeated tone. The man was a hunk, with his Fabio hair, yet he appeared awful, with his sad, tired eyes. “The no is because none of my personnel shortages will matter once if we have extra workers on hand to help, even on a temporary basis, and especially once we shift agricultural production to the automation. I will probably need to lay off some people at that point.”
“Hmm,” I thought it over, “I will divert Mounamine and some Pandarin to help toil in the fields until we reach a balance point. My goal is to hire some fairies to -”
“Fairies!” Tina butted in excitedly. “Can I see what they look like? Are they tiny like in the movies? Tell me they are big!”
I did roll my eyes this time, but sent them the image, her eagerness winning me over.
“Rowr! I thought the Crixxi were sexy,” Norm blurted, and Tina blushed. “What!? Check out their men.”
“They remind me of elves in fantasy movies, just with wings. Damn! Both sexes are fucking hot. I’ve got to give it to the virum. It makes the best of us even better, and even the ugly ones, pretty,” Tina said with a wide grin and bouncing eyebrow. “I’ll take a dozen, please. What are the fairies for?”
“Building, architecture and design mostly. I thought you were pregnant?” I asked.
“Smh, as if that means I don’t still love sex, but yes, Derek will be a dad. Hurray for our big family! Just saying,” she nudged Norm in the ribs with an elbow, “we could add a fairy couple, I doubt Slister would mind,” Tina said to Norm.
Norm rolled his eyes and shook his head. “To answer your original question, we have no pressing need for land maintainers. The agricultural automation, however, is a different story. We’ll need help with the equipment from someone who has worked with it before, preferably an instructor of some sort.”
“Well, I know a subspecies perfect for the job. You have to roll them over for sex though,” I grinned, unable to control my laughter as I sent an image of a Sluggero to them.
“Maybe on margarita night. I am all for sexperimentation,” Tina said joining my giggle-fit. Norm just blanched, sticking his tongue out in disgust.
“Alright, you two are a hoot, I need to rebalance the accounts and call Mclain. Cap out,” I said, closing the connection.
I called Everly first.
“Hey handsome,” she replied.
“Everly, I need to sort out the money Norm had left in his funds into purchases for you and then purchases for Mclain. How is your balance sheet looking?” I asked.
“You called the wrong person first, Eric, a rare mistake. I can adjust far easier than Mclain can,” Everly said, with a haughty smirk.
I closed the connection with a grumble and called Mclain.
“
Go for Count Mclain,” the man said, instantly reminding me of another list of problems I’d have to deal with.
“Shit, we need to get after those promotions ... You’re getting promoted, by the way. Hurray! To duke, so… Not so hurray, I guess. We need colonel and captain rank equivalents, so dukes and counts. Since our army is growing, we’ll have to adjust,” I rambled. Mclain waited patiently.
“Thanks, I guess.” He smirked, “You had me at ‘you’re getting paid’. That one is fucking huge, Cap. We had been bitching in the ranks non-stop from the endless looting without any of us seeing an individual cut. Well, when you give out tanks like candy and promise a usable paycheck, including back-pay … suddenly you have a very motivated fighting force,” Mclain said, adjusting his angle to check out my surroundings. “Oh, you’re in the market. Are you coming to me?”
“Nope, on my way to the contracts market to buy some sexy humans with wings. Gary wanted a builder species to help with architecture, construction, and design. Show me what you’ve found so far,” I said.
Mclain frowned before explaining, “Cap, this really is an in-person kind of thing. Difficult to explain, so you will have to trust me, but I can give you a brief peek. Basically, we will be buying a vat, large tub, huge bucket—take your pick on the name of the container—full of a material composed of tiny morphing creatures that acts like a hive mind. They’re non-invasive and quite friendly. Apparently, they will coat your exterior in an armor that tends to work in synergy with the virum. The virum gets to go through the armor to get zinc, but each symbiote sticks to their assigned roles. Virum on the inside. Acrium on the outside.”
I motioned for him to continue.
“When the acrium envelope a host; a mineral in their bodies hardens on command. It is far more complex than that, but after seventeen questions I was led down the path and given a demonstration to stop me from asking a million question to figure out how the acrium work this way. After the demonstration, I had only one question: ‘how do we apply it to our army’. Application, however, was not what I expected.” He frowned.
