Augmented Tycoon

by Marcus Sloss

  I plopped down and leaned my back against the door in denial of what I had done. I wanted to save her and instead had killed her. I ran both hands through my hair in frustration. I cried out in anger and pulled at my hair.

  A new pop up menu demanded my attention. I selected it and my mood immediately shifted. An image of Mila was displayed with a myriad of options that I could choose from. Did I want to give her larger ears, different colored eyes? How about a shorter tail or larger breasts? Was the lavender and pink the right coloring, or was there a better pattern? I became lost in the options.

  My eyes widened in wonder at the ramifications of what this meant. I could modify myself like this. Of course I could! That was what Iddy indirectly said was an option as long as I had the funds. Now I was left with the choice of what to do about Mila. I went from killing her crippled body to deciding how her next body would look. An internal debate raged between my inner demon and inner angle.

  Mila deserved some punishment, I had died due to her. I also had been reborn from her decisions. The way I understood it I would be stuck with her for the foreseeable future. I pondered on what to do while I played with the sliders. I even went dramatic and started to randomize her. Things got weird at that point with odd ear placements, horrid color patterns, and one time she had extremely shaggy long hair. There were limits, of course, she still had to have four legs and two arms. She could be a male but I wouldn’t do that to her.

  I eventually decided to make her as human as I could since it would benefit us both. If she was chained to me for the next thousand years, then I would be dragging her around with me and most likely to human controlled planets. The decision to alter her was tough, and I doubted if she complained I would be quick to please her by reverting her to a pre death Mila. It was astronomical in cost to insert her mind and soul into a new body.

  I started with the ears and decreased their size. Her eyes stay a swirling orange with sparkles of white. I left her nose as is because it was so vital to her species I didn’t want to affect her ability to function. Her whiskers remained the same length but I selected a blending pattern. Mila had selected above average fangs and I shrunk those down. I wanted a more docile friendly version that humans could interact with.

  As I got to her body design I realized the horny virgin who was missing Starla was probably the worst person to be adjusting a woman’s figure. Oh well, in for a penny as the saying went. The breasts on her previous body were fake and enlarged already. I spaced them out to give her a more human look, widened them, and added a tiny amount of sag to reduce the perkiness. They looked too fake before and these would be far more natural. For a woman anyway who knew what a lancer would think. I removed every excess nipple besides the two on her chest. I removed all the fur on her stomach and under her body. The rest of the fur I left the pleasing colors of lavender and pink. I did shorten the fur drastically though. I contemplated what to do with her rear end and tail. Her butt was pure muscle and I plumped it up a bit, gave her tail a little more length, and left her vagina as is.

  I shortened Mila’s claws, she would still be deadly but it would take a closer inspection to notice her lethality. The last thing was her overall mass and height. I shifted the slider to petite. I rotated the image and grinned in satisfaction. I bet she would hate it. She was smaller, had more human features, and I had changed a lot.

  When I was satisfied with the editing I selected next. The total cost dropped from two hundred thousand to one hundred and eighty two thousand. Huh, I guessed they quoted me at a full body build and then I was only charged for materials used. At least I could justify making her smaller than before due to costs. I confirmed the purchase, and the next option gave me a chuckle.

  Print. I mentally selected it and got a countdown timer of an hour and twelve minutes.

  I decided to play with my overlays again. I found one option to call a food processor to my location. I did not hesitate and ordered it to deliver some paste in a bag. I was starving and in desperate need of nourishment. I opted for the meat flavor over the sugar or fish alternatives. I was expecting some hovering or wheeled bot to come slowly down the tunnel. Instead, the floor spilled out tiny molecules that built into a stand a meter tall stand. I was offered the container and had to confirm my purchase. I found the process fascinating and gently retrieved my meal. The display trickled back to some hidden storage area from whence they came leaving the floor smooth. I shrugged at the display and slurped down the surprisingly tasty morsel.

  I queried a human news feed to see what day it was. Five days had passed since I died. It was still the talk of the news. Arenus had been fired by Emperor Linus and then rehired at the lancer's insistence. My mother, ever the politician was playing the cards dealt with expertise. Even though she was anti violence she was spinning my negative remarks and fight as a pro for the people. The Emperor was polling low recently and she was pouncing on that. My fight had been viewed trillions of times across the universe. I wondered if there were any royalties I was owed that were being bypassed as I was pronounced dead.

  I dug into my status and tried to see if anyone knew I was alive. Nope. According to every site, broadcast, and blog, I was incinerated on some lancer ship five days ago. Since I was not warned against communicating I decided to reach out to my mom Beth.

  I patched a call through to her directly. When her face appeared in a hologram in front of my eyes she was teary eyed and in all black. Well shit…

  “Mom,” I let the word hang. She lost it and completely broke down. She became hysterical at seeing my face. I think she was in shock and denial. “You have any green apple slushies around?”

  This calmed her and she stared deep into my distant eyes. “I thought you were a rouse to get to me. The news outlets have been hounding me, some reporters even called in with your face as the contact. Only we know how much you love green apple slushies though. I have been drinking them nightly and watching videos of you as a kid.” She wiped the tears off her face as she struggled to talk.

  “Mom, things have drastically changed. I do not know what to say besides I am safe… I love you and miss you.” I went to end the call when she paused.

  “Are you okay, can I help?”

  “That is sweet mom, but I will be fine. I need to be careful what I say, but I hope to fill you in on everything in person soon. I love you, mom.”

  “I love you son.” She refused to hang up and I was the one who had to end the call.

  Two very large guards trooped their way down towards me with a smaller Mila in tow. I rose to my feet to address the intimidating lancers.

  “Why are you naked? For the love of creator tuck your penis in, have some decency.” Mila said and was promptly rewarded with a shock to her collar. She spasmed only momentarily, I winced at her brief torture because… ouch that looked painful.

  “This is for you,” a circular controller was handed to me. “I need your signature here,” I signed. “Here, here, and then a blood imprint here. The law is clear if Milasha of no house violates your orders or commits any crimes not forced by you then she will meet the permanent death. She will serve you for one thousand years. May you both enjoy the pain.” The cryptic asshole lancer concluded the handoff and left.

  The shuttle door opened finally. I wanted to kick it but it slid so fast I had no opportunity. I waved Mila forward with me to inspect my new ship. It was a lot to take in and I wanted to find some clothes. The first room was a pressure chamber, for leaving and entering from open space. We passed that small tight room and entered a changing room.

  “Thank all the makers and all the gods. About damn time,” I muttered at seeing a light blue and white spacesuit. Someone had obviously left this here for me, not sure why I had to be naked until now but I let it go and ran the suit’s diagnostics. The suit tested fine and sealed around me. “So much better.” I turned to face Mila expecting her to do something rash.

  “So Mack before we explore this fine ship further I need to apolo
gize. I am old, I know I look young for my age… But I am not. I have endured for over ten thousand of your years.” I gulped as she said that. “My older brother has killed me seven times and tortured me countless others. I have a gambling problem and I lose a lot. So much so I have to turn to family to bail me out multiple times. I understand I am bad at it but I have these urges that I cannot control. I set you up hoping I could cash in big and get a light punishment. That was not the case, grandfather decided it was time I left the family, and… Well, thank you, for killing me. Hmm… That sounds odd, but I mean it. You killing me meant I got to live, the only way I can redeem myself now is through my service to you.”

  I nodded at her. “Got it, you are not in control of the finances,” I said with a smirk trying to lighten her mood.

  It had a small effect. “I am banned from gambling in any form from now on. Your trust is something I will strive to earn. Know that my contract to you prevents me from intentionally causing you harm in anyway. Including spending your funds I earned… Hey, whose ship are we on? And whose guards were those that escorted me?”

  “Oh, maybe you are in charge of finances then. Do you not remember coming here?” I asked.

  “They bagged me and beat me until most of my body was broken. It was then determined my fate would rest in your hands. The only being that ever spoke was my grandfather.”

  “Oh… This is my ship I guess, not sure how I can see who it is registered to. And the ship we came from was the Emperors.” I said to her.

  “I did not figure the human Emperor would have lancer guards, they must have been grandfather’s troops.”

  “Umm. No not Emperor Linus, Emporer Chi, and Khi so Emperor ChiKhi? They gifted me this ship, an augment…”

  I was assaulted by Mila as she leaped at me. I caught her and pushed her down. “This stupid fucking tiny body, I need to see behind your ear Mack.” I nodded in understanding and kneeled so she could inspect me. “Unbelievable, if not for this mark I would think you were lying. You are blessed beyond the limits. Even a sixth stage Governor, King, fellow Emperors would kill for this recognition. Did they talk? What did they say? How large were they?” She rapid fired questions at me until I place my hands on her shoulders to get her to slow.

  “You can review the video later, I am sure there will be plenty of time. For now, I want you to get dressed in that spacesuit. Then we can explore this fancy new ship.” I said with a grin.

  “Awe Mack… you gave me this dainty body and now you want to cover it up. I like the changes, would have never thought of this combo myself. Fresh start, fresh body, and a new handsome male I am tied to. What else could a girl ask for?”

  I rolled my eyes and turned my back so she could get dressed. “This is going to be a long thousand years,” I muttered.

  “Easy now sweetie, if you are marked by the Emperor there will be many adventures to be had. I also didn’t get to see the full odds on my wager that you won. How much do we have?” She asked.

  “The Emperor said it was insignificant. Let me see what is left after your expensive revival.” I glanced and saw four point one million and change. The number was going down… the expenditure was a docking fee. Go figure. “Four point one million. Hurry we need to undock we are getting hit with a birthing fee that is by the second.”

  “Damn it, Mack, these tits are too big and too wide. No lancer would ever place breasts like this. Come here and push them in while I get this zipper up.” I came over and awkwardly pushed her boobs together. It then dawned on me. I could have worked the zipper. “Got you! Now wasn’t that fun. Hurry we need to undock, lift that jaw off the ground soldier.”

  I guess she found a weakness of mine. Ask the young man to help with boobs or a zipper, and I picked boobs. Things were going to be troublesome if she kept endlessly flirting with me. I checked to ensure my contract with Starla was still intact. It was… Wait how was it still valid if I died? I had more pressing issues to address like getting this ship out of the Emperor's hold.

  CHAPTER 7

  A series of blue arrows guided us down a large hallway. I held both my arm stretched out as we jogged and my fingers never touched a wall. This was not a shuttle, at least not what I thought of one as. I glanced back at Mila and saw her with a focused and determined face.

  “Fuck… This is no shuttle, Mack. This is the former private vessel of the Emperor. It is rated as a cruiser sized warship but is slightly smaller than the average cruiser. When I tried to retrieve the blueprint data it denied me, and it still is rejecting my attempts at getting a proper layout. All it would allow was these arrows to guide us to the navigation chamber. This baby is probably worth a thousand times more than everything humanity has combined. No wonder the Emperor gifted it to you with a clause of no sale and return upon perm death.” Mila said keeping up easily at the light run.

  “Yeah… Certainly was expecting something smaller. How much further?”

  “Almost there, thank the creator I am in a tight spacesuit. My tits feel like they want to punch me in the face while jogging. I think I get why I have a human’s breast shape, but I cannot fathom why anyone would want the sag.” She complained.

  “Can we not talk about your boobs? I get it, next time you are about to be executed and I save you - you can design your body beforehand. Ah… finally, now how do I operate this kiosk, station, or whatever?” I said as we arrived at the room labeled navigation. We had reached what had to be the center of the ship. The room was circular with no windows and only one door. In the exact center of the room was the operator’s station.

  “You don’t, I do.” Mila gently pushed me aside and reached for the controls. The kiosk sensed her height and lowered itself. “There we go, always wanted to lose a few pounds, nothing like being mushed into bits of matter to shed some weight. I admit it is easier to get around being this petite. Okay… done. We are now drifting in space and the fee was automatically deducted.”

  “Wait... Why is there no captain’s chair?” I thought about it briefly. “Right lancer ship. Wonder what else is drastically different.”

  “Where to master?” Mila asked with a smirk I was becoming familiar with. She had purred out the word master.

  “First, you may not refer to me as master. You may use Mack or Mr. Raul. And before you butcher it like everyone else. It is not Raul, like Paul. It is Ra… then extend the u and drag it into a long L. Raaauuuuuuuuuuullllllllllllllllllllllll!!!” I said with flair as I tilted my head back and howled like a wolf.

  Mila rolled her eyes at my odd behavior. “You are a silly creature, Mack. I promise to be as helpful as I can if you treat me with respect. Where shall we go to first? I need to set a course before we explore the ship.”

  “Depends on where the nearest gateway is and where it links to I guess?” I said thinking of where we should go.

  “There is so much to teach you… Where to begin?” Her chin tucked into her collar as she contemplated how to explain it to me. “Let us start with portals. You understand the basics of portals. You use large amounts of power to connect two points of space to each other. When they are linked you can travel both directions between them as if they were an open door.

  “There are two additional ways this particular ship can travel. One is dialing a wormhole exit point and traversing into what is termed by some species as slipspace. For a ship this powerful and refined it will be a fraction of what a fourth or fifth stage ship would take. There is one more option.

  “The other is the technology that got us to sixth stage evolution. This… hold on let me find the name. Eww… who names a ship ‘The BarbHook’. Hey, I can rename it? We should do that before I continue.”

  I was getting lost in the trans-dimensional travel talk. Naming a ship should be much easier.

  “Hmm… I have to admit, I am stumped. Can’t use The Elephant, this thing is too sleek and elegant. I wonder… does the Griffin work?” The griffins were the winning team of the championship ZBall game. The more I thought a
bout it the more I did like the name.

  “I like that, the Griffin it is. Okay back onto the subject of traveling rapidly across space. We covered gateways slash portals. I went over wormholes, and now the big finale. Dematerialization. That is where you blink out of existence and reform in another place. It is expensive and I doubt you would stomach the cost as easily as my species does. Additionally, it is saying restricted since you, a tier three species is the owner. Luckily we can wormhole. So long answer short, we can wormhole anywhere in the universe from this very spot. The further we travel the longer the transition time.”

  “How much time to get to Earth?”

  “Two days two hours. Emperor ChiKhi jumped us deep toward the galactic core. We are lucky he donated such a lovely ship. A dreadnaught would take weeks to travel this far via wormhole.”

  “Set the course then, or the wormhole or slipspace. Actually, teach me how to do it… please.” I decided to ask nicely. We still had a lot of exploring of the vessel and a discussion to have but I felt knowing how to get the ship to move would be vital.

  “Give me your paw… Sorry, your hand.” Mila ordered and shoved a paw at me foot up. I placed my hand on top of hers. “Okay, this ship synced with the Emperor’s ship when you were given ownership. It has a file of your DNA. I need you to insert a hand in this slot.” My fist was guided into the navigation stand and the tip of my index finger was pricked.

  I immediately had a popup in my eye display. The amount of data on this ship was staggering. As I poured over it and tried to dive deeper into each section I realized a lot of the information was restricted. Mila patiently waited as I played with the menus and sub menus.