A Small Bounty - 2
#2 of A Small Bounty
Atimist is leaving Tox, fresh on the heels of Quinten Cassidy... if he can figure out where to start. Time to dig up some information.
This is a collaboration of sorts with https://twitter.com/Atimist (follow me, too! https://twitter.com/TayuBW )
This series involves AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION! I encourage you all to participate and help guide the story along!
There will be LOTS of different ways for this to go, and we're both interested to see the places you send him, and things you... do to him!
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The Crescendo had a far more impressive name than look. A three-man, combat-transport that went out of style nearly a hundred years ago. The Atzirian Federation used them for transporting all sorts of various cargo when an escort would draw too much attention. They were quick, maneuverable, and were far more reliant upon the pilot's skills than any of the technology onboard.
Atimist had acquired it a few years ago after his first ship, Abraxis, quite literally fell apart during re-entry into Tox. He managed to jettison an escape pod before the ship exploded over the Southern Ocean of the planet. Atimist had hitched a ride on The Crescendo with a shady looking pair who said they were delivering medical supplies. The fennec didn't believe the story, and when they arrived at their destination, he managed to subdue both of them and lock them in the cargo hold with the freight.
The ship had been a pain in the ass to learn to fly, and he almost crashed into a space station as he left the planet's atmosphere, but he made it into hyperspace and back to the planet the medicine had been stolen from. Turns out that the pair had a bounty on their heads, and Atimist was able to collect on the reward as well as discreetly run away with the ship before the local authorities could impound it. After that, getting things put into his own name had been a piece of cake.
Despite the great things this ship could do, it resembled a winged, school-bus that had been widened to provide extra cargo space. It was just large enough to house its own hyperspace drive, just large enough to carry heavy weapons and a shield, and small enough to be highly maneuverable in space, as well as within an atmosphere. Its biggest shortcoming was the energy the ship used. Its systems were highly inefficient and Atimist had to turn off some primary systems when it was just him on board if he didn't want recharge the ship's core every week. Newer ships could go months without charging up.
Atimist climbed into the cockpit of his ship and started the engine with the press of a few buttons. The low hum of energy echoed through the cabin and the ship rattled for a couple seconds before taking to the air. Lights flicked on, a holographic display showed various levels on things like energy, core temperature, and other gauges. Then a crisp, baritone voice came through the speakers that sounded exactly like Atimist's own voice.
"Welcome back. Shall I set a course for you?"
The fennec beamed out the front window, leaning back in his chair and kicking his boots off beneath the console. "Of course, Cres. Do you even have to ask?"
"I try not try not to make assumptions. Where would you like the course to be set?" the computer's voice, named Cres after the ship's name, inquired.
"Hmm, take me to Atzirian space. Closest spot within its network. We probably won't be staying there long," he told the ship. "And tell me any information you have on Orion Inc."
"There are over one thousand entries for Orion Inc, perhaps it would be better if you told me what you would like to know," the ship said, a patronizing quality to its tone.
The ship hummed louder as it left Tox's atmosphere and began preparing for hyperspace travel. "Okay, fine. What do they do?"
Cres's voice came out a bit more smugly this time, and Atimist's ears flattened against his head; the AI could be infuriating at times. "Orion Inc. is a publicly traded business that operates within Atzirian Space in sector 545B, near Romani Space. They specialize in silicone molding, detailing, and sculpting to provide the highest quality apparatuses, receiving top awards for design and function."
Atimist reached into his bag and fished out a bottle of water and some fresh fruit he'd picked up planet-side. "Uh huh, sounds fascinating." He leaned back further in his chair and kicked his feetpaws up onto the dash, splaying his pads and wiggling his toes to get some feeling back in them after wearing boots all day. "What else?"
"Orion Inc. is also known for creating pseudo-medical chemicals that stimulate the limbic system of the body to be used in conjunction with other products to provide realistic sensations."
"Wait wait, limbic system. What's that again? That deals with emotion, right?"
"Correct. Emotion, learning, memory, and sexual arousal."
Atimist nearly choked on his water and he sat up, coughing. "Whoa, wait. Go back. You said they did silicone molding to make apparatuses. Do you have any images of what these apparatuses look like?"
"Of course." The ships sensors and gauges vanished, replaced by a holographic display of a large arrangement of various sized, and shaped dildos.
"WHAT!" Atimist cried out, leaning forward with his eyes wide. "Are you kidding me? This is what they make?"
"Orion Inc. is one of the top adult entertainment businesses, known for making realistic models that function as a normal male would. Observe."
Atimist's eyes were glued to the screen as he watched a small clip of what was obviously a canine sheath and sac. A computer-generated hand massaged and rubbed at the sheath and a cross-section appeared as the camera angled to show the complex servos and internal workings as the canine member emerged, swelled, and then knotted up. Atimist squirmed awkwardly in his seat, cheeks red, as the member began a familiar, flexing motion that sprayed out what appeared to be realistic, white lubricant that was stored in the toy's sac.
"Dildos. They make complicated, robot dildos," the fennec said, rubbing both paws over his slim muzzle and shaking his head.
"And penetrative toys as well," Cres supplied, displaying the image of both a vaginal and anal toy cross section that was meant to mimic the real thing. Computer generated fingers were shown penetrating both of the toys while a complicated, mesh sleeve began squeezing in various spots.
"Aww, why? Come on. There's that big a market for this stuff?" The fennec's face was beet-red, and his ears flattened against his head in embarrassment. All the same, he couldn't help but squirm in his seat while wondering how realistic they were in person.
"Orion Inc. is a popular company that reported record earnings of four-billion credits for the first quarter of this year," Cres offered, and a graph appeared in the corner of the display that showed a steady increase of earnings over the past several years.
"Okay, okay, fine. Robot dildos, vaginas, butts... oh, and stimulant drugs. Are any of these controlled substances or anything?" Atimist sat back in his seat, arms crossed over his shoulder as the display continued to cycle through the various toys the company offered. Some were the typical models you'd expect someone to own, whether their taste was knots, flares, or barbs, and some of the more exotic ones appeared to have a combination of those attributes.
"No," the ship responded without any further detail.
"Hm, so if a tech runner was going to steal any of these products, would he be able to make a lot of money from any of this stuff?" he mused, mostly to himself, but the computer still answered.
"Unlikely. Tech runners typically do not run away with technology that cannot be smuggled out on their person. The most expensive model, Equus, is only three hundred credits for the largest size. While their most popular model, Canis Extremus, is a mere one-forty."
Atimist's stomach churned and he shook his head. "Okay, so they'd have to steal a ship-load of those just to make it worth their while, so it's got to be something else."
The fennec drummed his fingers against his upper arms, thinking for a moment. Outside the front window, the electric-blue waves of hyperspace rippled and distorted as they sped towards Atzirian space. "Okay, how about this. Are there any press releases or news articles talking about prototypes or new technology that they're working on?"
"There are a lot of articles in the past month talking about a new technology that is supposedly linked to matter-destabilization, genetic-reorganizing, atomic-recalibration, and-"
"In laymen's terms, for those of us that aren't familiar with physics," Atimist interjected. He stood up from the console and paced a bit behind the seats, glancing over at the display of all the toys.
Cres sighed. "According to some of these articles, these devices could physically alter someone's body. Say, for instance, if you had a problem with the size of your penis, you could increase it." There was a hint of sly satisfaction behind the AI's voice and Atimist's ears flicked upwards in surprise.
"What! I don't! I'm perfectly fine with my size. I've never gotten any complaints," he growled, stepping closer to the display and glaring at it as his frame of reference for the ship's voice.
"I suppose I haven't heard any either, but it has been a while since there was anyone to complain. At least onboard," Cres said.
"So, they're trying to make people's dicks bigger. Or maybe even boobs. Can't we do that already?" Atimist said, trying to stay on track with the main subject.
"This is much more portable technology that can be used on the consumer level. Safer, easier to use, and can be used short-term just for play. And there's more than that," Cres said. "With this technology you can alter more than the size of just specific body parts. You could enlarge or shrink an entire person, or alter their body in other ways such as this."
Atimist flopped back down into his seat as he saw a clip come up of a naked, animated tiger standing in the middle of the screen. A cartoonish beam of light zapped the tiger's tail which turned into a fox tail. Then another beam hit his sheath turning it into an uncut length, and another beam turned his ears into donkey ears. "You have got to be joking."
"We at Orion Inc. want to find a way to make everyone's fantasy come true. No dream is too big, or too small, and we are committed to seeing people's desires transformed into reality," Cres supplied, quoting one of the articles. "It seems they have considerable backing, and the announcement did increase stock prices quite a bit."
"What ever happened to regular sex?" the fennec grumbled.
"I suspect it's hard to come by because you are so frequently getting in over your hea-"
"Not for me, for others!" Atimist snapped, face heated. "Okay, okay. So, this technology. It's not out yet, it's still in development?"
"Correct. It is still in an experimental phase. It might not even be possible, but that's what their R&D is trying to determine."
"Alright. Any research in that area could be pretty pricey. Especially for rival companies who might want to get a leg up on the competition. Do you have any information on someone named Quinten Cassidy?" Atimist fished out his holoscreen and started making notes of everything he'd learned so far.
"Not in any of my records. None relevant to this particular subject. Perhaps when we are in Atzirian Space I will have more information with access to their network," Cres said.
"Alright, we're, what, six hours from there?" Atimist asked, standing up and pocketing his screen.
"Six hours, twenty-three minutes."
"Okay, I'm going to shower and take a nap. Wake me when we arrive in Atzirian Space?"
"I will wake you the moment we come out of hyperspace," Cres said.
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Atimist is off to get the information he needs to track down Quinten Cassidy. Even an amateur bounty hunter has sources; who's his? Tell us below!