Shaman Space Part 3.

Three months after departure from "All Mother":

Seeker announced the ship to the SPC, "Grenfeld Low this is Athena on final approach."
"Athena this is Grenfeld Low, you are clear to land, please follow beacon drone 114 to Pad D."
"Understood Grenfeld Low, locking onto beacon drone 114."
Seeker set the ship's approach lock to the beacon.
"Grenfeld Low, we are locked."
"Very good Athena." There was a pause, then Seeker heard a proximity alarm. "Athena! Grenfeld! Athena! We have an uncontrolled cargo pod intersecting your vector, break off! I say again, break off!"
Seeker cut the approach lock, and started a port turn.

There was a flash, and then blackness.

Seeker took the sim helmet off. Alaine was watching her. "Stupid cargo pod got me" she complained.
"I remember that one. You have to go right back to get past it," Alaine sympathised.
"How far?"
"When you try it again, look to your medium scans. That's all the clues I'm giving you for now."
Seeker glared at him. He grinned back. "Hey, it took me six goes for that one."
She shook her head "These training courses are cursed!"
"Yeah, they are. But they are what will save your life out here. Just like the drills."
"Funny, I always thought they would be something for the military or corporations."
"There might be some independents who don't do them. But those ones have their luck run out. Same as anyone who misses too many overhauls."
Seeker looked thoughtful. He continued "If it had not been for the drills, we would not have lasted as long as we had against that pirate ship. As it was if your patrol boat had not been there, we were not going to make it."
"Glad we could help out."

The intercom beeped "All hands, all hands, stand by for re-entry into normal space."
A moment later Seeker said "There!"
"We are now in normal space. Resume duties" and the intercom clicked off.
Alaine looked at Seeker "I don't know if you really can feel it, or if you are having me on."
"I feel something. Every time, in either direction."
"I know there are some people it makes sick. But I've never heard of someone who can just tell."
Seeker shrugged "When we get home, we'll have to ask great-grandmama. Maybe it is a thing."
"OK, my turn with the sim. I've got an exam coming up at our next port. All going well I'll get my stage two piloting cert."
"That's solo non-hyper, right?"
"Yep." Alaine's voice was muffled as the helmet slid on, and he pulled on the haptic gloves.
"Good luck," Seeker called loudly. Alaine did not respond, his ears must have already been plugged.

#SF #SFF #Microfic #Microfiction #Tootfic #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

It was 2AM and Ami would have preferred to have been racing around the mansion. Instead, she was dangling from a climbing rope above a pressure sensor floor, entering bypass codes, with Ai whispering instructions into her ear.

There were nearly forty of them in all. Some, like Ami, created by a combination of surgery and genetic manipulation by a mad scientist, others, like Ai, were cyborgs, created from cats or young women. A few had been created by spells, and a couple had just arrived via strange portals.

Almost all of them had no memory of their previous lives. Twilly (or Twillychiss the Third if they were being formal) was a rare exception. She remembered being a beloved pet. She also remembered the car that had nearly ended her life. It had been her owner that had cast the spell that changed her and saved her. At the cost of her owner's life. And it had been Lady Miller who had set up the Trust. And, with her dying words, gave Twilly her mission.

Save any others like you.

They had had some hiccoughs along the way. Like the near disaster that had been the Desert Lab Incident, where they had made the mistake of breaking in in the middle of the day. The sunbeam that caught all three of them had been irresistible, and it was only Ginger's laser claws that had gotten them out.

Which is they were breaking into this lab at 2AM. Bethesda's hacking had identified the telltale signs of a catgirl conversion here.

There was a small beep from the console and Ami released the brake on the descender, dropping to the floor. Ai dropped from the ceiling next to her.

They opened the door to the containment unit.

Inside, two yellow glowing eyes stared at them from the dark.

"We are here to rescue you! We have ten minutes to get out" Ami spoke in a low not-whisper.

"Why?" The voice that came from the dark was deeper than they had been expecting.

"It is what the Catgirl Trust does. We save our sisters."

"Even me?" And the 300kg sphinx stepped out of the dark into the light.

She had dark eagle wings, sandy fur, and long dark hair. The claws on her paws were long enough to count as daggers, and her mouth had two massive teeth protruding from the top jaw.

Ai stared. "Up here," the sphinx rumbled.

"Ss...sorry" Ai stuttered.

Ami nodded "Yes, even you. What is your name?"

"I was Ruth. I think I still am. I was the Director's right hand. Until he decided that I was more useful as a subject."

Ami spoke into her headset "Twilly? Charges set?"

"Yes, Ami. Five minutes from your mark."

"Can you fly, Ruth?"

"I think so."

"Ai, we need a hole."

Ai looked up, and her eyes flickered and changed. Lasers shot out, and started cutting a hole in the roof.

It fell in.
"Head south, we have a van."

Ruth nodded, and launched herself into the air. Ai leapt up, and dropped a rope back for Ami.

As they fled into the night, the explosions began.

#IAmWriting #Microfic #Microfiction #tootfic #SF #SFF #Catgirls #sphinx

It is Sunday afternoon, and we are walking up the path of a house just three doors down from ours.

We are visiting the Martins. Jean and Alicia, and their adopted daughter Salla - or Sally as she prefers.

I ring the bell.

A dark haired lady answers the door, "'Ello. You are the 'Ampsteds?" She has a quite strong French accent.
"Almost, I'm Toby Allensdale - and this is my wife Charlotte Hampstead. But please, just Charlie and Toby."
"Salla says we need to talk? Is this about 'er biological parents?"
"In part. Can we come in?" Charlie says, taking over.
"Of course." And with that we are shown into a pleasant lounge room, where a brown haired man and Sally are sitting.
"Jean? This is Toby and Charlie. The people Salla visited this morning."
He frowns, and gets up "Hello. Why has our daughter decided to seek out a pair of complete strangers?" His accent is almost non-existent.
My turn. "Actually, that is something we would like to know, too Sally. How did you hear about Charlie?"
That shifts Jean's attention, and replaces his hostility with confusion.

Sally blushes - her embarrassment threshold looks to be low even for a teenager. "Um, there was this kid in first year. He came up to me a few days ago and said that there was someone who could help me. And gave me their address."
Charlie and I look at each other. "Gavin" we say together.

"'Elp you? But what is wrong?" Alicia is getting worried now, while Martin is looking even more puzzled.
He cuts in "And why these strangers and not us?"

Charlie takes over now "It is to do with her biological parentage. Have you ever had something unexplained happen around Sally?"

Martin scoffs "You sound like something from some fantasy book. What? Is she a witch?"

Charlie grins her brightest smile "No, she is not a witch. I am, though. Tell me, does Sally like practical jokes?"
"Oui" replies Alicia, "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, as you know at least one of Sally's bio-parents was of Japanese descent."
"Oui..."
"But what you did not know was that the mother was not an ordinary human. Sally, can you change please?"

Sally starts to object "But...", only for Charlie to give her a Look. There is nothing magic in it, just a lot of stern. "OK."
And then there is a fox standing in her place, three tails almost tucked in.

There is a silence. Then Alicia reaches out and holds her hand near. Sally licks it, and whines. With that the fox is gathered into a hug by her mother and there is a stream of French that I cannot keep up with. After a few moments Jean joins in, and then Sally changes back.

He turns to us again "But why seek you out? And what is our daughter?" Tellingly, he has not released the hug.

Charlie smiles softly. "I can help train her a little, and maybe help find some other kitsune to help her out. And give advice about being a bit more different than most."

#CharlieAndToby #SF #SFF #UrbanFantasy #microfiction #tootfic #microfic #IAmWriting

It is early in the morning on Sunday, and I am opening the back door to see if there are any ripe lemons on the tree.

Instead I almost tread on a fox. Curled up and asleep.

Now, you have to understand that ever since Europeans settled here, we have had Japanese immigrants as well. Some by choice, some ... less so.

This is why I am not too surprised to see that the fox has three tails. My opening the door has not awakened it, so I step over and continue on to the lemon tree. There are two ripe lemons this morning, which suits me just fine.

I have another look at the fox on the way back, just to make sure, but there is no sign of any injury. I step over again, and leave the screen door ajar.

Charlie is still asleep upstairs as I start putting breakfast together. I am cooking pancakes, and I know the smell of them will wake her up. Eventually.

I'm on the fourth one when I feel a nose in the back of my knee. I look down at the fox, and nod towards the crockery cabinet. "Can you get some plates out please? The medium ones." I ask.

The fox looks at the cabinet, back at me, back to the cabinet, and sneezes. The young woman standing in its place sticks her tongue out at me "You're no fun" she says in a broad accent.

"I'm Toby, Charlie's husband. A kitsune is fairly normal by my standards. Now, do you want bacon on your pancakes?"

"Sally. Your wife, Charlie? She's the witch?"

"Yep. What's the problem?" As I speak, I put some bacon on as well.

"Um, I need some help finding Mum."

"She's missing?"

"Yes? No? Sort of? I was adopted. And, well, I had no idea what I was until a year ago."

"Are you in trouble?"

"No, but I don't know what I should do. I um, I like this guy back home, but there's also my best friend, and they don't know about me and I don't know what to do."

The last came out with a bit of a whine, and she blushed, clearly embarrassed by it all.

I smiled a sympathetic smile "OK, I'll get Charlie, and let's get you sorted. If I know how these things go, it will not be too bad. But first, breakfast. Tea or coffee?"

"Um, do you have hot chocolate?"

"Of course." Plus the smell of chocolate will get Charlie down here even quicker than the coffee and pancakes.

#CharlieAndToby #SF #SFF #UrbanFantasy #microfiction #tootfic #microfic #IAmWriting

#eroticMusings Week 45 (April 5-11) Characters Bunny Week!

Kao: So I just put on bunny ears?
Shiro: And hide eggs.
Kao: That's all?
Shiro: I'm sure we will think of something!

#MyGirlfriend #Ecchi #TootFic #MicroFic #NMEM #NMPrompts

RE: https://aus.social/@rdm/110755143970645568

Leaving the burning laboratory and the charred remains of the madman who had re-created her, Mara staggered outside, finding herself in a light industrial park, surrounded by small factory units.

She could hear sirens in the distance. Thinking about it, she could feel the fire alarms going off. Silencing them would do nothing.

Suddenly she dropped to her knees. The energy she had expended had been immense, and her new body was running out of power.

Running feet.

She looked up, and saw two men and a woman in overalls running towards her. What would happen if they touched her? Would the nanobots that now made up her body infect them? Would she release another burst of plasma and set them on fire, too? She groped around in her body and found she still had vocal cords. That's right. She had been screaming before.

"Stay back! I'm not safe!" she called out.

The men stopped. The woman slowed, but still came closer, stopping just out of reach.

"Are you alright?" she asked crouching down, "Are you hurt? I'm Priya. Can I help you?"
"I ... I am tired. Running down. I need" and everything went black for Mara.

Mara's eyes snapped open. She could barely move, but she was conscious again. Looking around, she was now in a workshop, the top of the running gear she had been wearing when she was abducted had been cut away, and there was a pair of adhesive pads stuck to her. The woman, Priya, was staring at her.

"You are still you?" Mara managed to whisper after a few moments. "Nothing tried to cross over?"
Priya stared a few moments longer and then shook herself. "No, I'm fine. But you were dead. And the defib is just, well, flat."
"Good. I need more. More electricity" she could just move an arm, and pointed to an arc welder "There. That."
"The arc welder? But..."
"You want to help? I need electricity." Mara paused, then added "Please. Before I pass out again."

After a couple of seconds, Priya got up, and wheeled the unit over. It had still been plugged in, but turned off.
"Turn it on," Mara demanded.
Priya threw the master switch, and, before she could react, the recently dead woman grabbed the tip. Involuntarily her eyes went to the gauges, and saw them redlining.

Mara sat up still holding the welder. "Oh, that is so much better. Hi. I'm Mara. Or I was Mara? I think I'm still Mara. If I think I'm me, that means I am me right?"

#SF #SFF #SciFi #microfic #microfiction #tootfic

A sequel to https://aus.social/users/rdm/statuses/110755143970645568