Snowbound Stream 2: Be Wary of More Than the Elements
#3 of Power Hour
The second of the Snowbound Streams, this one for SnowyPenguin
When someone is super excited when a new pair of suits arrive, make sure they they are just excited over the new pair of suits. Also got to work with the rubber orca-taur, very fun species to try out.
The Alaskan Underwater Resource Center had been busy for months, ever since they had found several deep-water reserves of precious minerals that laid beneath one of the ice shelves that laid thickly on the ocean surface. Unfortunately the problem had not been in their detection but in the retrieval and exploration of the beds, since the water was in the negatives and the ice and rocky terrain made it next to impossible for their crafts they had to look outside the box for new solutions. It was one of those solutions that had finally made its way to the door of James, one of the researchers that had been hired on in order to handle the large amounts of data they were acquiring. "What on earth is this?" He asked as he handed the thick envelope on top of the crate to his supervisor, Dr. Angelo.
"Ah, the new cold-water deep diving suits that we had ordered." Dr. Angelo said as he looked over the paperwork. "They're supposed to be revolutionary, the colder the water they're exposed to the more they adapt to compensate for it. With these we can finally send diving teams down to the mineral beds and not have to risk multi-million dollar pieces of equipment on the ocean floor."
"That's great and all, but why did they send it here?" James replied as he was handed a crowbar.
"Well, we are certified in deep-water diving." Dr. Angelo explained. "It's a good thing you took that course too, not only do we get the chance to test something truly remarkable but we also get all the federal funding attached to it as well."
James rolled his eyes slightly as he heard the marine biologist talk more about the money they were going to receive from the venture, punctuated only by the crack of wood as he pried the crate open. Inside were two vacumn-sealed metal containers, each one marked 'property of Sibergon Labs' on the side of it as he pulled them out. The entire set-up looked rather futuristic as he opened the manual, having to look up how to open the containers themselves.
"Hey Doc, since we do get all this new federal funding you think they could spring for a decent heater in the living quarters?" James quipped as he punched in the code to open the container. "Maybe then I can actually get a decent night's sleep instead of-... woah."
The metal box opened with a loud hiss, revealing a rubbery piece of clothing that seemed to absorb the light around it. Both men were speechless as James reached in and pulled the suit up, the arms and legs flopping to the side of it as he laid it out on the floor. It was completely black on the back with white markings on the belly and legs. "Gee, you wouldn't have happened to have a hand in the design, would you?" James asked as he realized the pattern was like those of an orca, a species that Dr. Angelo seemed to be obsessed with.
"Nothing wrong with adding a little extra flair when you can." Dr. Angelo replied as he grabbed the book from James and opened his own case, in awe at the design of what would otherwise look like a normal wetsuit. "I can't believe it, it's even better than what it looked like on the site, this lab has truly outdone itself."
"Are you sure?" James asked as he pushed a hand inside, feeling the thin, rubbery material cling to his skin. "This seems very thin to be something that's going to help us survive in cold waters. Also it looks like they have a lot of additional material here on the front."
At that point even Dr. Angelo seemed slightly perplexed at the large front pouch and they both looked at the instruction manual. From what James read it looked like it was filled with water that the technology in the suit then used to warm them as well as hold their air tanks, though the designs and technical specifications made no sense to him whatsoever. After another solid hour of studying both the suits and manual Dr. Angelo stood up and took his into the next room.
"What are you doing?" James asked through the door.
"No time like the present!" Dr. Angelo shouted back. "We still have plenty of time until dark, suit up and meet me at the conclave to test these things out!"
James sighed and looked back at the wetsuit he was holding. While he knew that his supervisor liked to hurry things along he wasn't sure that he wanted to know that the Doctor was scammed while wading in ice-cold water. Still... part of him was also curious on how the suits actually worked and finally after a strong mental debate decided that since they would dive at the conclave he could easily get out and warm up before anything bad happened to him. He walked to one of the spare bathrooms and stripped down, looking at the suit one more time before he finally sat down and put one foot inside the leg of the suit.
Almost instantly the rubber clinged to his skin tightly, more than any other wetsuit he had ever tried on. The material was slick on the inside and made it easy for him to slide in his other leg, but he marveled at how quickly the suit seemed to grab hold once he had adjusted it to fit him. "I still can't believe this is a thing." He said to himself with a chuckle as he pulled the suit up around his body, the arms sliding in as easily as his legs did. "Wow, don't even need talc, that's a new experience."
When he got to the hood though he paused, frowning slightly now that it was fully unfurled for him to see. Unlike a traditional scuba suit it was completely closed off, save for two holes where his nostrils would go and a small opening for his mouth. The hood wasn't what bothered him though, it was the fact that it looked a lot like a humanoid orca head... "man that guy is weird."
Despite the strangeness of it he slid it up over his own head, adjusting the 'nose' so that he could breathe easily. Just like the rest of his body the rubber seemed to seal against his skin, the latex material pressed against his lips and nostrils to form an almost perfect seal. At first he thought that sight would be a problem, but when he looked through the suit he saw that he could see perfectly fine, the semi-translucent rubber the booklet had spoken off making his vision almost crystal clear.
When he reached back to close the suit up he found nothing but black latex, though he quickly remembered he had read that the suit sealed itself. Once it was completely fitted he couldn't help but look at himself in the mirror, the contours of the relatively thin material contouring to his body like a second skin, save for one area. As he gave his package a grope the feel of his rubber hand against the slickness of his groin caused him to shiver and quickly pull his hand away. "Nope, none of that." He said to himself. When he walked out of the bathroom towards the door he suddenly realized had another problem.
How on earth was he going to get to the conclave without anyone seeing him like that...
Half an hour later a very bundled up James reached the diving pool where Dr. Angelo already stood, his body exposed to the open air in the very tight diving suit. Where the extra flap of rubber was he had already put in his air tanks, and once James had shed the extra clothing he showed him how to store them as well. "Ready to take the icy plunge?" Dr. Angelo asked, a grin on his face that showed even through the rubber.
"Ready as I'll ever be I guess." James replied, putting on the hand and foot flippers that had also been included in the box. They were little more than webbed gloves and socks, but he wanted to make sure he had the entire package as he put the respirator in his mouth. They counted down to each other and jumped in at the same time, James ready to pop back out as soon as he felt the cold penetrate the suit and reach his body.
Except... the cold never came. While he could still feel the current of the water it was like the temperature was the same as his own body. He could feel the suit constrict against him even more as he completely submerged himself, but it was a strangely pleasant sensation as he dived down a little. As he began to swim he looked over at Angelo, the other male seemed very happy with his surroundings as he also began to dive down. In the crystal clear water James could see that the doctor had a very good body, something that he hadn't even noticed before in the times they worked together...
James quickly shook his head of the thought and instead dove down deeper; now that it was proven that the suits did work he wanted to go down to the bottom and be one of the first to touch the floor. He felt almost giddy as he realized that he was swimming in arctic temperatures with nothing more than a thin layer of advanced rubber and a set of air tanks, and he was so caught in the euphoria of the moment he hadn't realized that the suit had begun to shift.
What he did notice was when he suddenly felt something press up against his gut very tightly. By then he was so far down he had to crack a glowlight in order to see, and when he did the blue light revealed the tanks he had been carrying had been suctioned onto his stomach area. At first he had begun to panic, but as the rubber of the suit continued to ripple and contract something far more surreal began to happen.
In the dim light he could both see and feel as his stomach actually began to expand outwards, causing him to groan loudly as it felt like his hips were being pushed forwards. The tanks in the rubber pouch began to deform and seemed to melt, his rubbery hands reaching forwards to try and find out what was going on. His diving training had taught him not to panic, but even that had it's limits and he was quickly reaching them. He decided to turn tail and go back to the surface, the ocean floor would have to wait as he had far more pressing matters at hand.
When he turned around, however, he saw the body of Angelo right behind him, except it was no longer him. His mask and respirator were gone, and where his air tanks had been there was instead a set of powerful rubber flippers instead. He grinned down at the transforming male as James tried to dodge around him, only to see that Angelo's legs had merged into a powerful tail that kept him ahead of the other male at all times. "Where do you think you're going?" He said, James surprised that he could understand the creature. "You're not done yet."
James started to try and talk back when he realized he had the respirator in his mouth, though as he looked down at his own rubbery body he realized the hose was connected to nothing and he spat it out. "Angelo, what are you doing?" He asked as he continued to frantically outmaneuver him. "What the hell happened to us?"
"We've been given a great gift!" Angelo shouted, then grabbed James with his powerful arms and kicked his tail downwards. "It was part of the agreement, I agree to study down here permanently and in return I get this wonderful new body... as well as an assistant to help me with all my wants and needs."
James tried to squirm away from the doctor but the deeper they dove the more the suit changed him, his legs fusing into a single, rubbery tail with what appeared to be two holes forming at the bottom of it. As they continued to swim down Angelo maneuvered himself and put something on James' wrists, something that caused them to lock together behind his back and prevent him from swimming as the bottom of the ocean came into view. As the last of the changes seemed to sweep through his body, a pair of heavy fins forming on his stomach, James couldn't help but moan out at the feel of their rubbery bodies pressed against one another.
"I think someone protests too much." Angelo said as they both looked down and saw that James' length slide out of its rubbery confines. The former human was even more shocked as a second one joined the first, his entire body shuddering as he became fully exposed in the icy waters of the ocean. The effect was not lost on the other rubber creature, his thick body pressing against James in order to illicit another moan of pleasure from the other male.
"What... what are we?" James asked as he tried to move his arms and finding them still bound behind his back, which seemed to make the act they were about to do even more intense.
"The people at the lab had a name for it, but it was rather long." Angelo replied as their muzzles came within inches of each other. "I think a good name for us would be 'orca-taurs', what do you think?"
James said nothing, instead he let the building lust between the two rubber creatures take hold and they kissed, their bodies thrashing over the very bed of minerals that brought them there in the first place as the two new creatures mated for the first time... but certainly not the last.