FSE

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The following is a work of fiction copyright Radical Gopher. This story contains adult themes and situations and should not be read by anyone under the age of 18.

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THYME AFTER TIME - part 05

The boy-jester looked up at Cymbalaria, his face awash in astonishment. Moments before he had been a massive dragon, forty feet from head to tail and breathing fire. He'd charged at her, intending to crush her beneath his clawed feet. Without warning, he had reverted to his original avatar form.

The android pony wasted no time in grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and slamming him face first into the ground. She continued doing this until an electronic score board that had appeared on the front of the royal box indicated she was the winner...game, set and match.

She released the boy, allowing him to stand and brush himself off even as he spit clods of dirt and grass out of his mouth.

"How the hell did you do that?" he mumbled, picking up his loose teeth and carefully reinserting them in his mouth..

"Remember I said I'd played this game before?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, I memorized all the cheat codes."

He gazed at her for a moment then laughed. "My bad! I guess I'm not the only one who knows how to bamboozle other people."

"It probably explains why the Maestro wouldn't play this game more than a couple of times."

"Undoubtedly," the boy replied. "Well, a bargain's a bargain. Follow me. I'll show you where the back door is to the mainframe." The two figures strolled off toward the castle. When they were close enough, the jester pulled out a small rectangular box and pressed a button on it. There was a sharp double-beeping sound and the drawbridge began to slowly descend.

When it thudded down in front of them the boy led Cymbalaria across the threshold and into the castle courtyard. "The backdoor's right over there," he indicated, pointing at a circular stone well in the center of the yard. "Just climb down it and you'll be in the mainframe."

"What about traps or alarms."

"They're there alright, but you're going to have to navigate them by yourself. My sphere of influence ends at the well." He gave the android a crooked smile. "Besides, if I told you everything what would happen to the search for knowledge."

Cymbalaria pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "I hope you're not planning on sounding any alarms yourself."

The boy-jester shook his head. "Nah. What's the fun in that? Besides, if I did, you'd probably come back here and delete my ass with those cheat codes... Right?"

The pony didn't respond except to return the avatar's crooked smile and knowing look. Turning, she quickly climbed down the ladder, vanishing into the well.

Reaching the bottom Cymbalaria quickly looked around. After several moments she found a loose stone mounted on one side of the well. Finding no other levers or obvious control mechanisms, she carefully pushed in on it. There was a slight grinding of rock and then an audible click. The entire floor of the well collapsed from underneath her hooves.

She wasn't certain how long she fell. Having entered the fully virtual environment of another computer's operating system, time was relative now to the speed of the processor; so it could have been hours or it could have been but a few nano-seconds. Her own internal chronometer indicated that only a minute had passed.

Cymbalaria landed heavily, but managed to stay on her hooves. She looked around and found herself standing in a dark, and surprisingly clean, cobblestone alley. The air was cool and quite pleasant and she could detect no odors one would normally associate with such a place. The buildings to either side were Mediterranean in style with white walls and red, tile roofs.

Walking to the end of the alley, she found herself on an empty street. From there, she could see more of the town as it lazily wound itself upward toward the top of a nearby hill. Sitting on the peak was what appeared to be a large Greco-Roman temple. Mentally shrugging to herself, the android pony began moving toward it. Halfway there she ran into her first obstacle. A squad of about seven soldiers stepped out from a side street as she crossed a large plaza. They were dressed as ancient hoplites complete with armor, spears and shields. Their leader raised one arm gesturing at the pony.

"Halt... Identify your operating code and purpose."

She paused for a moment to consider her options. In the real world she could have easily overcome such a weak, physical threat. Here, she was not as certain. The virtual environment might, or might not accept her operating parameters. If the squad leader were a simple sub-routine, she might be able to bluff her way through.

"Identify your operating code and purpose," the squad leader repeated.

"I am class III read-only directory file attached to a data search program enroute to the central processor for folder assignment." Cymbalaria then repeated an innocuous set of numbers from one of her own sub-routines, hoping it was generic enough to pass inspection. There was a moment's pause then the Hoplite waved her on. His squad wheeled about and continued their march across the square, vanishing down another side street.

She had several other encounters with roving patrols but managed to either avoid them entirely or bluff her way through. The last patrol leader even went so far as to point out a shortcut to the central processor filing system. Naturally enough, it was housed in the temple. She reached it in short order and upon entering found herself in a massive room filled with cubicles for assorted file program storage. Selecting an empty one, she cautiously stepped inside and touched the access screen in front of her.

* * * *

The curtains along the wall flared out as a burst of outside air invaded the Maestro's room, in company with a dimensional doorway. From it stepped the Professor. Opening his eyes he found himself standing in a lady's boudoir. A thick trail of sand from the Guardian's world swirled briefly around his feet before settling to the carpet. He looked around, quickly spotting the alcove where one wall had slid aside. Reaching into his coat, he carefully drew forth a wand and held it at the ready. He listened, but heard nothing coming from the alcove except the soft hum of machinery. Quietly moving up to the opening, the Professor found himself looking at a large control console behind which stood Cymbalaria.

The android pony had both hands resting on the bottom edge of the panel. The synthetic layer of fur that normally covered her cybernetic body was missing. She was staring straight ahead, eyes unblinking. The Professor spotted the access cable trailing out of Cymbalaria's wrist and leading into a universal port. The pony didn't move except to occasionally twitch her tail. He was surprised when her voice came out of one of the console's speakers

"Hello Professor. Fancy meeting you here."

"Cymbalaria? What's going on? Are you alright?"

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances. I am currently trying to access the time ship's mainframe without alerting Sherman."

"Sherman?"

"He's the A.I. program that runs the central computer system. So far I've successfully managed to avoid detection, but the going is slow and I'm using a considerable amount of my own holographic memory to keep him out of the loop."

"Where are the others?" the Professor asked, "and what happened to your fur? Why are you naked?"

"According to the data I've seen so far, the girls are being kept in separate pocket dimensions. They do not appear to be in any immediate danger, but each is presently occupied by the local flora and fauna so they're too busy to consider escape options. As to our costumes and my fur, it seems Sherman doesn't like unstable molecules crossing his threshold."

"What about Cyanide?"

"He's here on the time ship keeping the Maestro busy so she doesn't realize I've accessed the computer."

"She?"

The android flipped her tail slightly; otherwise there was no other movement. "Yes. The Maestro is a female, anthropoid collie. She's quiet intelligent and almost certainly, as you would say, mad as a hatter. I last saw her heading for Cyanide's quarters. She should pose no immediate problems for us.

"Good," the Professor replied. "What have you been able to find out?"

The tail flipped once more. "The Earth of our timeline is apparently sitting astride a junction point for several other parallel dimensions. The Maestro isn't so much interested in dominating our world as she is in merging several different timelines together. She thinks doing so will anchor them sufficiently to allow their histories to be manipulated without risking dissolution."

"Let me guess... Earth is in the way."

"More specifically, WE are in the way."

The Professor frowned. "I'm not following you."

"Along each timeline there are a series of keystone events or beings who serve to 'lock' that dimension's history in place. You can change small elements anywhere along that history as long as you leave the keystones in place. At this particular time in history, we are that keystone for our dimension."

"Why not just eliminate us altogether?"

"I don't know. It might be a matter of selecting the correct point in history to eliminate us from. Doing so randomly could make the time-stream too flexible to control. She wants to shift our timeline just enough to manipulate the others, not destabilize them. Therefore she has to neutralize us long enough to make her changes. I believe that is why she has tried isolating each of us in separate pocket dimensions."

The Professor paused to think for a moment. "If getting us out of the way helps her plan, we need to free the girls while this Maestro is occupied and shut down her time traveling capability."

"THAT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE!" thundered a mechanical voice. There was a sudden flash as a bolt of electricity surged between Cymbalaria and the console. The android pony jerked back, her limbs flaying psychotically at the air.

Reacting instantly the Professor uttered a single command. His wand grew to the length of a quarterstaff which he then twirled around one end of the input cable running between Cymbalaria and the console. He jerked on it, yanking it free. The android pony took two shaky steps back, her pseudo-mane and tail smoking. The smell of ozone filled the air. She looked towards the professor, then her amber eyes went dark and she slowly keeled over on her side.

"WELL... THAT'S ONE UNWELCOME GUEST DEALT WITH," said Sherman. "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE HAD ANYONE MANAGE TO BOARD MY SHIP. WHO HELPED YOU?"

The Professor knelt over Cymbalaria quickly examining her for damage. "Why would you think I needed help?" he taunted

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH. YOU POSSESS NEITHER THE PHYSICALITY NOR INSTURMENTALITY THAT WOULD ALLOW YOU TO NAVIGATE THE TIME STREAM ACCURATELY ENOUGH TO INTERCEPT MY TIME SHIP. ASIDE FROM THAT, I DETECT RESIDUAL ENERGY COMING FROM YOU THAT I KNOW BELONGS TO THE GUARDIAN."

Sherman paused for a moment. "I AM IMPRESSED. YOU ACTUALLY TALKED TO THE GUARDIAN OF ETERNITY AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE."

"It wasn't difficult," the professor replied. "We found that we had a few things in common."

"IT APPEARS THE MAESTRO AND I DID NOT FULLY APPRECIATE YOUR CAPABILITIES PROFESSOR. THE DATA WE INTERPERTED DID NOT SHOW US THAT YOU WERE ANYTHING MORE THAN A MENTOR. YOUR ROLE IS MUCH GREATER."

"I should hope so," the Professor retorted. "Anything I can do to put a monkey wrench in your current plans has to be productive."

"IT IS ONLY PRODUCTIVE WHEN IT IS EFFECTIVE, AND YOUR EFFECTIVENESS IS NOW AT AN END."

Without warning the android pony reached up and grabbed the Professor by his throat. She sat up and turned toward him. Her eyes had shifted from amber to red and her voice had become cold and very metallic.

"Cymbalaria?" muttered the Professor.

The android's eyes became a darker. "The name is Tintinabula... GOT THAT?" She looked around briefly. "Just what the hell is going on, and where the hell am I?"

"YOU ARE ON THE MAESTRO'S CHRONO-SPHERE AND YOU ARE NOW IN MY SERVICE," Sherman asserted.

The pony looked toward the console. "Who are you?" she responded, standing-up. She continued to hold the Professor by the throat, but she made no effort to choke him.

"I AM YOUR COMMAND SYSTEM. YOU NOW FUNCTION AS SLAVE TO MY DIRECTIVES."

"Slave... SLAVE? NO ONE commands Tintinabula. I am a distinct program entity unto myself." The android pony looked at the Professor. "What does he mean?"

"I'm guessing that Sherman, the computer over there, tried to hack your primary program to enslave it. He sent a rather large electrical charge into you. Looks like all he succeeded in doing was cause you reboot in safe mode."

She whirled to face the console. "You are trying to make ME your lackey??!!" She released the Professor who quickly stepped back toward his carpetbag. A two-foot long steel blade slid out of the android's left forearm and she advanced on the console.

"NOT TRYING... SUCCEEDING."

The android pony suddenly jerked to a stop. Servos whined as her body was forced to take two steps back. Tintinabula visibly trembled as stress built up and circuits started to overheat.

"YOU CANNOT WIN THIS CONTEST... I CONTROL ALL YOUR MOTOR SYSTEMS." Sherman observed the Professor frantically searching for something in his carpetbag. "NONE OF YOUR SO-CALLED MAGIC WILL BE OF ANY USE, HUMAN. DESTROY HIM... NOW!"

The Professor looked up from the bag as the android pony reached for him.

* * * *

The Maestro woke up and gently licked the underside of Cyanide's chin, ruffling the fur there before moving down and nibbling on his nipples. The chimera smiled in response.

"Looks like someone's ready for round two."

"I think that muan be twa someane's," she softly murred, feeling the pony stiffening against her.

Cyanide reached down and massaged the underside of her tail, causing it to wag frantically back and fourth. The collie's murring turned into a gasping sigh as her butt tightened and she shuddered. "Do you like games?" he asked softly.

"That depends on the game. Whit did ye hae in mind?"

"Something exciting," he replied. "It's one of my favorites. I call it the Prisoner of Love."

"Sound's promising..." She paused as Cyanide kissed her on the lips while running a finger across her mound.

She shuddered again as they pulled apart. "Oh... OH, okay..." she replied, still a little giddy from the champaign. "If it means I get more of this, then bring it on."

Smiling, the chimera reached down to the floor and picked up his shirt. Using his horn, he quickly tore it into several long strips. He then kissed his way up the Maestro's arm, wrapping one of the strips around her wrist before gently, but firmly tying it off to the bed frame above them. He repeated the technique with her other arm then moved down and secured her legs, all the while kissing and licking at her. When he finished she was bound, spread eagle on the bed.

"Whit nou?" she asked, shivering in excited expectation.

"SHHH! No talking allowed," Cyanide said as he took the last strip of cloth and bound her muzzle shut. "Feel free to moan as much as you want, though." He bent over her mound and began licking his way inside her, stretching his tongue so it massaged every part of her passage.

The collie responded with a series of whimpering moans as the pony teased and stimulated her. It wasn't long before she was arching her back, thrusting her pelvis and pulling spasmodically at her bonds. "MMMM, MMMM, MMMMM, MMMMMMM:"

Cyanide lapped at the juices that flowed from her tunnel as her body was wracked with a series of tremors. She collapsed onto the bed, hot and unable to pant except through clenched teeth and nose pad. It felt absolutely wonderful.

"MAESTRO... I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOUR PLEASURE," came Sherman's voice over the intercom, "BUT WE HAVE INTRUDERS ON THE CHRONO-SPHERE!"

The collie's eyes snapped wide open, suddenly alert to everything around "Huh! MuHHuh, MMMMM?"

"MAESTRO? DID YOU HEAR ME? PLEASE RESPOND. WE HAVE INTRUDERS ONBOARD!"

"Muffffah!" The black and white furred collie looked over at Cyanide who was smiling at her. "Mufha huh uhmafa, MAAFFL!"

"I'm sorry," the chimera said keeping his voice low. "That accent of yours is really heard to understand. Did you want something?"

"MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!" mumbled the collie, straining at her bonds and finding that the knots Cyanide had used were anything but easy to undo. She glared at the pony and growled deep down in her throat, but it came out sounding more like a soft purr than anything.

"Well, if you're going to be that way about it, I should just leave you here and go find my friends." He quickly searched through the Maestro's discarded robe and found the control device she'd used earlier. Looking at it closely he saw that it resembled a long, tapered dildo with a conical knob at the narrow end and a thicker groved cylinder at the opposite. A small tang protruded from the conical end of the device. It looked a lot like the head on a Philip's screwdriver. The device had only four buttons. He remembered the fourth button had allowed her to talk with Sherman. Obviously, it was a call switch of some kind so he avoided pressing it.

Cyanide quietly thought for a moment. Logically, the sequence of switches should be SET, ON or OPEN and OFF or CLOSE. He aimed it at the door and pressed the second button. Nothing happened. He then tried the third, again with no result. He considered the device for a moment, then aimed it at the door and pressed the first and second buttons in sequence. The door silently slid open.

Smiling, the chimera quickly scooped his trousers off the floor and put them on. He turned back toward the Maestro who was glaring at him. If looks could kill, they would have needed a dustpan to pick up Cyanide's remains. Despite this, he gently bent over and kissed the collie on the cheek.

"Thank you for the wonderful wine and the fantastic sex. Despite the circumstances, you really are quite beautiful and an incredible lover."

'MURRFUFFUN MMMMUF FUMM!"

Striding over to the door, Cyanide aimed the control at the lights, dimming them into blackness before closing the door behind him.

TO BE CONTINUED...