FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A few hours later Max felt the craft shudder, the vessel reaching the coordinates of the station. He took a deep breath as he waited to depart, trying to calm his nerves before he had to go in and try to explain his condition without being able to speak about it. The flash drive that Nubi had given was still clutched tightly in his hands as one of the pilots came back and told him they had docked and were ready to receive. Max nodded and tried to stand up, but as soon as he did a jolt of pain caused him to cry out and fall flat on his face.

The pilot rushed over to attempt to help Max back up, but when he tried to get back on two feet there was another rush of discomfort that put him back on his hands. When he did his wrists bent back unnaturally and his swollen hands felt balanced for walking on the floor. As he tried to take a few steps forward the pressure that had steadily begun to build up in his back was suddenly released all at once as he felt the muscles stretch up and out. As his new wings unfurled behind him the pilot took a few steps back, wide-eyed, before he muttered something about having to check the ship diagnostics and left.

Max watched the other man nearly run out of the room and sighed deeply, hoping that would not be the reception he got by the rest of the patrons of the station. After taking a few minutes to try and get used to walking, the black scales of his arms flexing as the new tendons worked in concert to allow him to move on all fours, he padded his way slowly out of the ship and into the space station proper. As he ducked to avoid the last bulkhead he yelped as his wings pinched painfully against the sides, taking a second to figure out how to properly fold them before he continued. When he got onto the loading bay of the station the dock workers that had been assigned to load the ship gave him strange looks as he walked by.

Before he could reach any of the doors a man in a lab coat walked up from out of nowhere and stood in front of him. "Hello there," he greeted as he stretched out his hand for a handshake only to see that Max was on all fours and sheepishly retracted it. "Welcome to station Alpha-Zero-Tango-four-seven, it is my understanding that you are here to do a spot check on our chemical production facilities?"

"Uh... yep," Max said as he tried to not appear nervous. "Gotta check that... Ph... and those... electrolytes." The technician gave him a slightly confused look and Max just sighed. "It's been a very long week, can we just get to it?"

"Yes sir, my apologies," the technician replied as he led him to a booth at the end of the docking bay. "If you'll just check in here with... however it is you check into things biometrically, we can get you your security clearance and start with the tour."

Max swallowed hard as he looked at the palm and retina scanners. If they hadn't worked on the last station he knew they weren't going to on this one, Max thought to himself as he glanced at the devices, and even if they did he was warned his background story wasn't going to check out. The only thing he could hope for was the DNA scanner would recognize him and then he would bluff his way past, though if he got caught or if it didn't register it would be the end of his journey. As he put his finger on the sample collector he felt a pinch as it drew his blood, piercing through the hardened scale of his suit.

After about a minute the lights on the machine flashed red and the technician looked over at the readout screen before informing Max that the machine didn't read it properly and needed a rescan. Max nodded slowly and once more put his clawed finger against the reader, the second pinch more pronounced than the first as it drew a larger sample to read. Max silently hoped this would work as he waited for the machine to do its analysis. The tense atmosphere faded as the light turned green and his identification came up on the screen, though one fear replaced another as the technician looked at it and frowned.

"It came up with something... a little different than what I was expecting," the technician stated as Max saw his once-human face staring back at him. "Not only does this identification show no modifications, but that you are a station systems technician, not an organic scientist."

"That's..." Max paused, all his thoughts on how to fool the scientist flew out of his head as his brain desperately tried to grab onto something to give his accuser. "That's my twin brother, Max. He was always the straight-laced one in the family, unlike me. Of course when you have a mentor like Nubi, would you really expect anything less?"

The technician looked him over, then sighed and nodded. "It does seem that you have his penchant for mods," he sighed. "This is going to be a nightmare to sort out, let me make a station call and see what we can get done."

Max nodded and watched the technician activate a commlink, his ruse intact for the moment. Though he was nervous in getting someone higher up involved, he needed someone that would have the clearance to allow him to stay. He only had one shot, though, if he chose the wrong person and they didn't want to keep him there he would likely be kicked off the station at the very least. As he thought of exactly what to say, an image of a man appeared on a screen that called them both over.

"I saw your call go out over the wire," the man on the other side of the screen asked. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm having trouble processing the identification of our terraformer, Dr. Marshall," the technician explained. "He's been... heavily modded, and when we checked his identification using DNA it brought up his twin brother Max, so I don't know what we can do about this. I mean, we could make him go get his profile updated, but that could take weeks and we don't want to upset our corporate partner. We can't just wave him through, either way."

"Well you can't just wave him through," Dr. Marshall clarified as he seemed to look closer into the camera until just his eye was showing. "You. Yeah, you, I see you there, modder. You're Nubi's boy, aren't you? I was told that you had just received some upgrades and might have trouble with our security scanners, but any friend of his is a friend of mine. Why don't you bring him to the central spire and I'll meet you there."

"But sir-" the technician started to reply before the screen suddenly shut off, which caused him to sigh and look back at Max. "I'll get you a temporary security clearance pass. In the meantime if you want anything to eat or drink there's the cargo mess hall down this corridor and to the right, they should be breaking for lunch about now, so now's the time to get something fresh."

For the first time since he stepped foot on the station Max felt relief sweep over him as he nodded and followed the technician's directions to the mess hall. Whether Dr. Marshall was the one that was actually Nubi's contact or a potential go between, it meant that he was in the clear for the time being. He could hear the loud buzz of conversation in the cafeteria long before he entered it, but as soon as he did and people began to notice him, it fell silent. Unlike the heavily population of modders at the terraforming station this one was mostly humans, the conversations falling silent at Max suddenly felt all the eyes in the room on him.

Max looked down at the floor as he made his way towards the serving area, his tail subconsciously covering up the space between his legs. He became painfully aware that he was essentially naked and potentially on display, and though he hadn't looked down there in some time, he could feel the suit shifting around his sensitive areas even during the trip to the station. Though he knew he was no longer completely male he couldn't tell much beyond that, and added to the fact his face and head still looked vaguely human, he likely looked much like a dragon at this point. All he could do at this point; however, was ask for his food, which the cook eyed him up before he took a tray with what he had made for the day and set it in front of him.

It took several tries for Max to arrange it so he could grab the tray, unable to take it with both hands and still walk, eventually resorting to grabbing it with one and hopping on his other three until he reached a table. Once he managed to slide it on he faced another challenge, the bench-like chairs made it impossible to slide his thicker hind legs through, so instead he had to sit on the bench like a cat and put his forelimbs on the table on either side of his tray. This then led to the dismaying revelation that even if he could somehow handle the utensils with his thick digits, his elbows no longer bent in a direction that made feeding himself in that way feasible.

The sounds of snickers and muffled chuckles could be heard as Max slowly lowered his head and began to eat off his tray as best he could. Embarrassment burned in his entire body as he tried not to look at the smirks and mocking glances of those around him while he ate like an animal. Despite the shame he could feel his body crave those calories, which only caused him to grow angrier since he knew they would be burned to continue to fuel his transformation. As he used his significantly longer tongue to lap up the last of it the situation brought the whole thing to a head; at this rate he would no longer able to care for himself in society, which was likely a result the hacker wanted all along.

As Max contemplated going back up and asking for seconds the technician came back and asked for him to follow, showing him his security pass before hanging it around his neck. Max's eyes widened when he saw the unfamiliar face staring back at him, his human features only vaguely recognizable as the tech looked into those amber, reptilian eyes. The rest of his face appeared swollen, but due to Tamaria's information he could see the muzzle forming on his stretched lips and nose as fine black scales rose up from the rubber of the suit. Once he had his pass secured on him they left the mess hall, thankful to get away from those who had broken out into fits of laughter as soon as he left the room.

The technician said nothing to Max as they moved into the station proper, which was a typical ring and spire configuration where the outer ring rotated around the central control access. It was definitely a research station through and through, most of the outer ring they passed through appeared to be dominated by huge lab spaces filled with researchers. His guide informed him that all the lab work was done in the ring where, in the case of potential compromise, they can cut it off completely from the spire and still have the ability for the station itself to function. Max merely nodded in agreement as he kept looking at the various screens that were placed about the station, getting the eerie feeling that someone was watching them.

Eventually their travels took them into one of the spokes that led into the spire, the technician helping to slide Max's identification card to allow him access before he did the same. As soon as the airtight door opened his eyes widened at the minigun that was mounted on the other side, as well as the armed security guards that checked them in. Once they were past he was led into the central command room of the station, though when they walked inside he was surprised that the room was merely white spherical walls with a guy that stood in the middle with wires attached to his suit. As soon as they crossed the threshold the wires retracted and the man removed his helmet to reveal the actual face of the one in the screen.

"Dr. Crystoff Marshall," the scientist introduced himself. "I'm the lead programmer and head of station diagnostics, as well as whatever else they need me to do that day. It's good to finally see you in the flesh. Why don't we let our technician here, who was very good to guide you here, back to his work while we sit down and have a little chat. I'll take care of him from here."

The technician nodded and quickly left the room, the doors sealing behind him as a chair rose up from the floor for Crystoff to sit down on as he looked Max over. "Well, Nubi couldn't give me many details on what I was looking for, but I have to say that even if he could they wouldn't have done you any justice," he stated with a chuckle. "He also said that you would have something that can explain the whole situation since you'd be unable to."

Max quickly nodded and held out the flash drive he had been clutching this entire time, which Crystoff looked over before another panel rose up from the floor for him to plug it into. "Since this is electronic in nature I think it'll be easier if we do this inside augmented reality," he explained as he stood up with his helmet once more. "Do you have four six-eighty ports and an AR-adaptable visor on what's left of that suit of yours?"

For a few seconds Max just looked at his suit before shrugging, the doctor replying that he would make it work as he put on his helmet. Max took out his visor and slid it on his head, though with his new facial structure it was making it hard to attach as the HUD appeared in his vision once more. He saw Crystoff motioning his hands in the air until he got the message that his suit had been connected, then could see that he was actually manipulating virtual controls. After a few seconds the scenery shifted around them until it looked and felt like they were standing on the plateau of a large cliff.

"This is my virtual space," Crystoff said as he walked towards Max, the equipment on his body gone as he stood there in a normal spacesuit. "As such we are completely clear of any nosy interlopers that might want to peek in on our conversation thanks to the two VI sprites I created. They're nowhere near done at the moment just like this space, but I'm hoping it'll be a fitting home for what we're creating here. But enough about my ramblings, it's finally nice to see the human behind the augmentations."

Max looked at the scientist in question until he looked down at himself and gasped in shock. He was completely human once more, his body restored back to before he put on that accursed suit. A sudden giddiness overcame him as he walked around on two legs once more and moved his arms around. "It appears your mind has not been brought up to speed with your new body yet," Crystoff commented which caused Max to stop.

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"This place projects our mental image of ourselves as an avatar of sorts," Crystoff explained as he motioned over where two chairs and table suddenly appeared out of the aether. "You may not be able to tell, but I'm a bit younger looking here than in the real world, the joys of being young at heart. You on the other hand want to remain human, which makes me even more curious to see what Nubi has to say on the matter."

Crystoff called out for the interface to run the data on the new peripheral device. Instantly Nubi appeared before them, the jackal still clad in his rubber mask and suit as he began to explain what was happening to Max. While he spoke Max couldn't help but get up and touch the projection, which even felt real though it didn't react to him. When the message was finished it disappeared once again, leaving the two once more as Crystoff shook his head.

"Well you certainly are in a pickle, aren't you?" Crystoff said as a datapad suddenly appeared in his hands. "I'm having the VI take a crack at this data to see if we can help you, but honestly it's not looking good. I've known Tamaria longer than I care to remember and she's almost as good as me, so if she can't crack this crypto, I've got my work cut out for me. Luckily for you I happen to have a few toys at my disposal that will help me out, so if you'll just wait here for a few minutes I can see if I can't get this sorted out."

"A few minutes?" Max replied in surprise. "That's it?"

"The nature of this particular beast," Crystoff explained. "If I can't do it by then I can't do it at all, so it would be best if you didn't bother me once I get started. I know this realm isn't much to look at for right now, but if you think of a menu you should be able to bring up some games that you can play while you wait."

Max simply nodded and walked over to the edge of the cliff, looking back to see the scientist suddenly flanked by a red and blue cloud of light that seemed to react to his movements. As much as he wanted to ask he knew it would be best to leave him alone, instead looking down at the storm clouds that seemed to flow further down against the cliff. His mind swam with questions as he idly kicked his human legs over the edge of the rock and he tried to sort them out as best he could while he waited.

What would happen if Crystoff couldn't solve his problem?

Even if he could break the hacker's hold on his suit, would he be able to change back? If he couldn't, would he even be able to function in society? Tamaria's words about genetic manipulation came back to haunt his memories as he knew that even if there was some sort of genetic treatment, he wouldn't likely ever be human again. At that point, though, he would only want to be able to walk on two legs and handle things with hands, the rest he would eventually deal with in his own time after he figured out what to do with Albert for this.

Eventually after his thoughts threatened to overwhelm him he decided to open up that game menu and play something to occupy himself while he waited. He decided to play a game where he could bounce a ball against a wall since he didn't want to get too engrossed, and it turned out to be the right idea as after the seventh bounce he heard Crystoff shouting for him to return. When he did the two sprites had vanished, leaving the researcher there with a concerned look on his face. "Don't tell me..." Max said as Dr. Marshall shook his head.

"The changes are too drastic I'm afraid," the scientist said, Max nearly falling to his knees as he managed to get to the nearby chair to fall down instead. "If I somehow manage to deactivate or remove the nanites, your body is going to rebel against itself and you'll likely die from it. The suit is history, at this point I think those are your scales now instead of anything that can be taken off. Even with the technology we're working on here it'd be years before we could find something that would counteract what was done to you, and that's if we could strip down the programming that has been injected into your suit, which also has many failsafes.."

It took every fiber of Max's being not to fling himself off the cliff as he looked down at his still-human form, his mind the only place where it existed anymore. "So that's it then?" Max managed to ask bitterly as his hands shook. "He won, I lost? I should just... go back and become his trophy pet? How am I going to fight this when I can't even tell people what happened to me?!"

"Calm down!" Crystoff shouted as a crack of thunder from the distance emphasized his point. "If we can find some sort of evidence on this Albert fellow then we may be able to build a case to bring to the corporate courts, and if they believe it then you could get them to force him to at least undo enough of his programming for you to speak and act normally. I'll get you as much information as I can and put it on the same storage that Nubi used, after erasing his involvement from it, of course."

Once Max had gotten the last of his anger out by banging his fist on the table he felt it slowly get replaced with a general malaise of the situation. He slowly stood up and looked back out at the horizon of the augmented reality, the sun hanging low to the point where it nearly touched the storm clouds below as he rubbed his hair for what may be the last time. "How could something like this have happened..." he muttered under his breath.

"Well I'm afraid I can't give you the metaphysical reason that you are no doubt asking for," Crystoff replied as he continued to do his work. "As for the technical reason, that I can give you. I found it odd that none of the suit's firewalls were triggered by the intrusion of this hacker, even if he did manage to breach them, there would be some sign of his interference in them."

"I actually went to the bastard who did this to me," Max sneered while he kicked a loose rock off the edge. "He said he reset the firewalls, no doubt he used that as a way to cover his tracks."

Crystoff looked down at the datapad in front of him, pressing a few buttons before he shook his head. "No, that's not it," he mused. "Though you might not be far off. It appears that there was some sort of skeleton password used in order to access all your systems, something that continues to come up whenever I look at a point of possible breach. If this is true then we may have very well found the smoking gun to indicate this Albert, especially if we can find a link to him and Serena Largo IV."

Max froze when he heard the scientist's last words, remaining quiet for a few seconds before he turned back around to face him. "What did you just say?" he asked, causing Crystoff to look up. "What about Serena Largo IV?"

"It's the access code that was used in order to open the firewalls and gain access to your systems," Crystoff explained as he stood up, concern written on his face. "What seems to be the matter? It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"I... I need to make a call," Max said suddenly. "Can I link to other stations from this area?"

"Of course," Crystoff replied. "Why?"

Max just rattled off a number and told him to do it, and though it was clear that Crystoff wanted to say otherwise, he noted the determination on Max's face and punched in the number. Once it had been dialed Max waited there with his arms crossed as a circle of light appeared in the middle of the ground, and once the call connected it was replaced with the form of the one he had just dialed. "Hello Evan," Max said, which prompted Evan to look around before he saw him standing there. "We need to talk."

"What is going on Max?" Evan said worriedly. "I get back from my business trip and I try to go to your place and I find out that you're still gone! I thought you said that you'd be back by now? And are you on some sort of mountain?"

"Yeah, I found another place that might have helped me," Max replied as he circled around him. "I'm currently in an augmented reality where a few very talented friends I've made along the way have made some very profound discoveries. For instance, I don't suppose you remember that we were talking about that expo, the one on Largo IV? Do you recall the rep that took us out for drinks and was smoking hot, but ended up spending four hours trying to sell us on new food replication technology?"

"Well... yeah," Evan replied in confusion. "Serena, right? Don't tell me this whole thing is about some fling you had years ago."

"I remember Serena too..." Max said between clenched teeth. "I remember that moment so well that I used that experience for the password to this suit, a password THAT ONLY YOU KNEW ABOUT!!" Max wound back and punched the representation of Evan as hard as he could in the face, but other than hurting his hand slightly it appeared to do nothing to the recipient. "You're the one who did this too me all along!"

Evan continued to stare wide-eyed as Max as he breathed heavily, Max's fists balled into fist despite the lack of anything to hit. "I don't know what you're talking about Max," Evan denied. "I don't know where you are or what's happened to you, but you need to snap out of it. Just... just tell me where you are and I can come and get you."

"Don't lie to me, Evan!" Max continued to shout. "You had the knowledge and the access to put these new nanites in my suit, and I know you've been trying to climb both the social and corporate ladder of the station ever since we got there! So... what, you thought hey, why not turn my best friend into some sort of monster to impress the elite? Was that it?!"

"Max, you're scaring me," Evan said defensively. "I don't know what it is you're into, but if you need some sort of help with the suit I can use every channel I have at the company in order to fix it for you. But I need you to come in first so I can examine it, I don't know what's going on with you if you don't. I assure you that I have nothing to do with whatever is happening, I just want to help, Max."

"Oh really..." Max replied with a sneer as his anger burned white hot. "If you aren't involved, then how come I was able to tell you about it? I haven't been able to tell a soul except for those on that terraforming planet, I wasn't even able to tell anyone here after I got into the augmented reality."

Almost instantly the look of worry and concern on Evan's face sublimated into a smirk of pure contempt as he brushed his hair back. "Damn, I thought you were trying to catch me calling you a dragon or something," he admitted with a laugh. "Caught me with my own logic, that's surprisingly clever of you."

Max felt his heart skip a beat as his best friend coldly and freely admitted to his crime. The next words that he had loaded up to say to Evan evaporated from his mind as the entire world began to spin around him. Evan... he would have never seen it, never of guessed that it was him behind the whole thing. The Evan that looked at him now with arrogance gleaming in his eyes was not the same man that he knew for most of his life, as though a demon had taken his friend's skin and worn it for the exact purpose of tricking him. The blow to his psyche was so hard it caused him to fall to all fours, looking down at the ground as he felt his emotions overwhelm him.

"Why..." Max gasped, unable to contain the sadness and anger inside him as he felt wetness run down his nose. "We were friends..."

"It's exactly like you said Max," Evan replied with a chuckle as he reached down and lifted his chin up. "I had this wonderful new technology that I've spent years perfecting, and I wanted to make sure that it actually worked before I marketed it. Of course everyone is going to think that you're just an empty clone shell I augmented with a VI interface, but you and I, oh yes you and I are going to know the truth about the intelligence behind those eyes. Now I was hoping that you would be back at the station so that I could condition you myself, but I'm afraid that's no longer going to be the case, so we're just going to make do with what we have."

Before Max could say anything else Evan's avatar vanished, leaving the defeated male kneeling there alone. In the back of his mind he could hear Crystoff shouting something, but it was drowned out by the pounding in his ears. As he brought his hands up to try and cover them he found them unable to bend, and when he looked down he gasped as he saw and felt them expand out into three-toed forepaws as black scales cascaded up his arms. He let out a cry that turned into a roar as he felt his entire body transform, unlike the gradual pace of his physical body, this was quick and powerful as his jaw stretched open while his entire face expanded into a muzzle. A powerful spasm shook his entire form as his body grew, his claws digging furrows into the ground as he felt his wings and tail snake out into fully-formed appendages.

In less than a minute the mental representation of his humanity had vanished, a large black and white scaled dragon in its place as Max tipped over onto his side. Before his head hit the ground his neck had stretched far beyond its normal length and a pair of silver horns had grown out completely from his head. His vision grew fuzzy and began to darken around the edges as he continued to hear a voice shouting at him for something, but it sounded as though it was underwater. The last thing he saw were a pair of glowing lights before even those faded to black and he was plunged deep into unconsciousness.

When he awoke again he found himself out of the augmented reality and in a hospital bed, lying on his stomach as he wearily opened his eyes once more. The sounds of the infirmary rang loudly in his augmented ears as he tried to lift his head. As he became more aware of his surroundings he could also hear two voices arguing nearby, and as he craned his head he saw Dr. Crystoff Marshall yelling at someone in a military uniform. The two continued to butt heads for a minute before the military man walked off and Crystoff walked back into his room.

"Well look who's up and about," Crystoff said as he looked over Max's charts. "Thought I had lost you for a second there, by the time I noticed your friend had activated his nanites to assimilate your mind, you had already changed. Luckily I was there in order to keep your psyche intact, such a drastic shift could have left you completely comatose forever."

Max tried to respond but the only thing that came out of his mouth were growls, which prompted the scientist to activate the sub-vocal link he had established between their suits so they could communicate. "I was just trying to say that I don't feel all that lucky," Max managed to reply. "Part of me wishes that you had just left me in a coma so I didn't have to live like this anymore."

"Nonsense," Crystoff shushed with a wave of his hand. "If you were in a coma then how could you present this evidence in order to put the one who did this behind bars?" Max's head perked up when he heard that and saw the flash drive in Crystoff's hand. "I managed to record your conversation with your friend, all you have to do is present this with the corporate court and it should be more than enough to get him marshalled for illegal experimentation."

"Crystoff... I don't know what to say..." Max stammered as the flash drive was put into his forepaw. "Thank you so much, how will I ever repay you?"

"You already did!" Crystoff replied with a chuckle. "I took a sample of those specialized nanites your friend used on you, I'm hoping to reverse engineer them to adapt the technology for a few projects of my own. Also I may have also taken the scan of your body as an image for one of my creations in the augmented reality... I do hope you don't mind."

Max couldn't help but let out a small, throaty chuckle as he unsteadily got to his feet and hopped off the stretcher. It was clear his body had finished its transformation; walking on all fours felt as natural as breathing and his tail and wings seemed to instinctively know where to go now to avoid hitting things and to balance him. When he stood up he was easily the size of a horse, if not a little larger as he had to look down in order to maintain eye contact with the scientist. He also was made aware that he was fully female now, to the point where there were already eggs growing inside of him. He frowned at the prospect of having to actually do something like lay eggs, but he decided that would be a problem for another time as Crystoff escorted him back through the spire.

"Unfortunately everything that remotely corresponds with you via biometrics has been obliterated by your transformation," Crystoff explained as they walked into an elevator. "Which means that once you're on a station, you will likely be stuck on that station without the aid of someone else to transport you. Now while I cannot personally become involved in your journey, I have secured you passage off this station back to your home station to get your identification, and then from your home station to the nearest station that has a branch of the corporate court. You will only have a few hours between stops though, so don't tarry too long that you miss your flight, okay?"

Even though Crystoff didn't explain further, Max knew what he was implying with his advice. As much as he wanted to confront Evan he wasn't sure if he would even be at his home, or more than likely he would be searching for him. If he was caught he wasn't sure what commands Evan had planted in his brain in order to get him to heel, but he knew with the power that came with his large body meant there was a way to probably control it.

Eventually the elevator stopped and the two got out on a smaller shuttle bay, one located at the bottom of the spire used for secure deliveries. Crystoff motioned for him to follow and they crept along the side of the wall towards one of the empty transports. There was no one present in the docking bay, which was advantageous for them since Max found it difficult to hide with his new body. Eventually they made it to a long-range transport cruiser, and as Max looked down his frown deepened when he saw a blanket hidden behind some crates along with food and water.

"I apologize for the accommodations," Crystoff said. "I had to classify you as cargo in order to keep you off the manifests, especially since my superior officer wanted to keep you for dissection."

Max swallowed hard as the sudden mental image of being strapped to a table with sharp implements hovering over him popped into the forefront of his brain. "I'm glad you chose to go with this," he said. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you, I saw you arguing with someone. Can I assume that was him?"

"Indeed," Crystoff said. "He is an overly cautious blowhard, but not one that I haven't handled before. If you see your friend before he gets hauled off to jail do thank him for the tech from me. It was used for poor reasons, but I'll make sure that some good comes from it."

The two said their goodbyes and Max huddled up in the hidden corner of the ship as he waited for it to take off. As he waited he found the visor in the bag the researcher had given him and put it up to his eyes, but as he did he saw the words no connection flashing on it. It made sense, he thought bitterly to himself, since the suit was a part of him now and had completed its purpose it no longer needed the facade of being useful. The worst part for Max was how natural everything felt now that his brain had been altered, even to the point where he could manipulate a packet of crackers to eat each one individually with only a bit of effort.

Finally Max could feel the engines near his position vibrate as they got ready to take off, ready to take him home to where it all began...