The Fox, the Dog, and the King
Page 18
DIAGRAM A: FRONT LEG EMPTY
1. The pressure ball. This section controls both the arm lock and the tail movement.
DIAGRAM B: THE PRESSURE BALL
2. The primary pressure point. When gripped, the wearer’s palm will apply pressure to this button, which will, in turn, inflate the arm lock.
3. The tail control. This thumb pad is responsible for wirelessly controlling tail movement. The movement will be split between both front legs with one being responsible for the lower half of the tail, and the other for the upper half.
DIAGRAM C: FRONT LEG LOCKED
4. The arm lock. When the arm lock is inflated, a hydraulic lock will also engage in the foot, ensuring that the wearer cannot fall. As with the back legs, simply removing pressure from the pad will deflate the arm lock and loosen the hydraulic lock, allowing the wearer to lie down. Again, some wearers have learned to manipulate this system to allow their TS Gear foot to sway as they walk, adding some personality to their character.
CONNECTING THE LEGS TO THE SUIT
With regards to both the back and front legs, each pair is connected by a series of strips, with the middle section made from a slightly hardened form of the body straps. This increased toughness allows the wearer to rest on the platform that the material creates when engaging or disengaging from the legs. It also gives the wearer something to rest on if fatigued. The only variance between the front and back legs in this respect is how they connect to the main suit.
DIAGRAM A: FRONT LEGS
1. Shoulder couplings. These slot into the strap locks in the same way as the body straps.
2. Body sheet. These overlap in a similar way to the gap strips on the spine, and the uppermost layer slides in the same way. The base of the area is built to be stronger and less pliable, so as to act as support for the wearer when the suit is in use. The upper and rear end of the sheet meanwhile is far more pliable and more like the body straps attached to the spine.
DIAGRAM B: BACK LEGS
3. Rear coupling. The rear sheet is built the same as the body sheet on the front legs, with a stronger base but pliable upper and lower area. The point labelled sits at the uppermost end of the sheet and connects to a strap lock just below the tail in the same way as the body straps.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
You will note that the core human body is not identical to that of an animal. In this respect, the skintight nature of the TS Gear system means that simple workarounds can be put into place with ease. All TS Gear comes with the option of a free body altering undersuit. This will be primarily made of Lycra and will feature padding that will create the illusion of a more animalistic form beneath the engaged body straps.
It is also worth noting that both the pressure ball and heel pad require lubrication. The specialised formula the suits take can be ordered directly from Shift Source Ltd at minimal cost. While third-party versions are currently available, the use of these will void the warranty on the suit.
Should you choose to go ahead with your purchase, your TS Gear will be built entirely to your specifications, not only in terms of measurements but to a design of your choice. You will be given a full manual of operation and will also be invited to take part in a series of free lessons designed to help you learn how to operate your suit in a practical but safe environment.
Please, take your time in considering our product, and we hope to see you soon for your first full consultation.
About the Author
Matt Doyle lives in the South East of England and shares his home with a wide variety of people and animals, as well as a fine selection of teas. He has spent his life chasing dreams, a habit which has seen him gain success in a great number of fields. To date, this has included spending ten years as a professional wrestler, completing a range of cosplay projects, and publishing multiple works of fiction.
These days, Matt can be found working on far too many novels at once, blogging about anime, comics, and games, and plotting and planning what other things he’ll be doing to take up what little free time he has.
Email: mattdoylemedia@hotmail.com
Facebook: www.fb.me/MattDoyleMedia
Twitter: @mattdoylemedia
Website: www.mattdoylemedia.com
Other books by this author
Addict
Coming Soon from Matt Doyle
LV48
The Cassie Tam Files, Book Three
Excerpt
“Nei hou gaau siu .”
When Lori smiles like that, her eyes take on a slight twinkle, making their pale blue tone feel warm and welcoming. That being the case, it takes me a moment to realize I didn’t understand a word she just said. Am I so drunk already? “Uh, sorry. What?”
Lori giggles and repeats, “Nei hou gaau siu .” When I just stare blankly, she frowns and asks, “Is my pronunciation off? I was sure that was right.”
“What were you trying to say?”
“I was trying to tell you that you’re funny in Cantonese.”
And at that, the laughter spills out of me, uncontrolled to the point I have to bury my face in the table to muffle the sound. If we’d been in our usual haunt, Northern Main Street’s late-night cafe-cum-alternative hangout Tourniquet, I’d have just let loose uninhibited. The people there look like an odd bunch when you’re viewing things from the outside, but if you spend enough time there, you soon realize they’re all really nice people with tastes and hobbies that fall outside the mainstream. Seeing as we’ve opted for Cartwright’s on Dunstone Avenue, I’m trying to hold back. Honestly, I am. I’m just not doing a good job of it.
The staff in Cartwright’s are lovely, but the clientele is a little less raucous than those at Tourniquet, and so I’m already drawing some confused looks by the time I wipe the tears from my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I say, “I’m sorry.”
“I’ve never been much good at languages. Oh God,” Lori sighs, and shoots me a now far more nervous smile. “Put me out of my misery. What did I just say?”
I shrug. “You probably just told me that I was funny in Cantonese.”
Lori tilts her head and says, “Okay, now I’m confused.”
“I don’t speak Cantonese.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I really don’t.”
“You really do. I mean, you can’t seriously be telling me you’ve been using diu in the Taiwanese sense?”
“No, no…,” I reply, waving my hands in frantic motions. “Wait. What does it mean in Taiwan?”
“It was old slang for cool.”
“Oh, right. No, I’m definitely using it the way you think.”
“So you do speak Cantonese then.”
“No, I swear in Cantonese. I couldn’t hold a conversation in it. My dad had a thing about me swearing. He hated it, even when I was adult. It was the one thing that always made him roll his eyes at Mom. Anyway, he spoke Mandarin, English, and a little French, so my options for big kid words were kinda limited. I went to school with a guy named Tom Huang; he spoke Cantonese, so I got him to teach me the cool words. Dad probably got the gist of what I was saying, but I think he appreciated the ingenuity of it.”
And now, Lori laughs, and buries her face in her hands. She shakes her head and says, “I am such an idiot.”
“Nah, it’s not like I’ve ever spoken Mandarin around you, so how would you know? Honestly, I know enough Mandarin to get by, but we always spoke English at home, so I just picked that up easier. Let’s see, though…you would have meant nǐ hěn gǎoxiào . Or if you wanted to be really over the top with it, nǐ jiӑng shénme dōu néng bӑ wŏ lè huài le . That’s ‘everything that you say cracks me up.’”
Lori shakes her head. “I think I’ll stick to English.”
Also Available from NineStar Press
Connect with NineStar Press
Website: NineStarPress.com
Facebook: NineStarPress
Facebook Reader Group: NineStarNiche
Twitter: @ninestarpress
T
umblr: NineStarPress