Singularity - Part X

Story by OttersGonnaOtt on SoFurry

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#10 of Singularity

The squad gets a rude awakening, with a bit of a morning delight. Carbon also discovers more about his true self while hunting down some ghosts.

It took a few delays due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but I finally got this chapter out! It's not terribly long, but it sets up a lot so I'm feeling good about it. Quality over quantity, after all. Also, sexy fun times! Enjoy, guys!

This story contains adult content, possible explicit sexual imagery, and descriptive violence. If you aren't allowed or don't wish to view such material, please stop reading immediately. To all the rest, enjoy! Comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged.


"Nng..." Johnny rubbed his head as he roused from his forced slumber. "Ouch. What the hell happened?"

Carbon knelt down and tried to comfort his friend, but his bonds kept his arms stapped to a railing. "It's okay, Johnny. I think I worked things out."

"Worked it out with ~who~ exactly?"

Adrian jumped in this time, nudging his snout towards the three canines holding them captive. "Those reds, I'd wager. Just came-to myself though, so no certainties."

"No, he's right. They're the only ones here, and they nabbed us without even trying." Carbon shifted more into a balled shape as the cold started to really get to him. "I wish they'd come to a decision. I'm dying out here."

"Yeah..." Evelyn sat next to her host, staring down the ghost of the dead Yangurran pilot in the distance. "I think the cold's getting to me too."

Sofija seemed to notice the hybrid's temperature issue and broke away from the group to check on him. "You looking bad. Good for little alien, we done with the talking." She pulled out a seriously oversize knife and brought it to Carbon's wrists to quickly slice the zip-ties holding him put. "We agree you will help. You know where aliens is, can take us there? Yes?"

"Yeah... I know where a base of theirs is at." Carbon pulled his wrists back and rubbed them as Sofija moved on to Adrian next. "But what do you plan on doing with them?"

"Kill them, of course." The husky snipped the plastic bonds and casually moved on to Johnny's, bypassing an unconscious solder likely out of caution for if she suddenly woke him. "They try to kill us, so we return favor."

"Well that won't do." Carbon stood up straight and shut his coat tight, giving the ghost a stern stare the whole time. "There may be some other good 'aliens' in there with them, so I want to check the place out first. If it looks bad... then fine, we'll kill them."

"Not part of deal." Sofija looked back to the other two in her group and huffed out a sigh. "But little alien has point. I will speak about this."

As soon as Johnny's paws were free, he reached out and grabbed the husky's sleeve. "Is that blood? Were you hurt?"

Sofija pulled back her arm with a slight hiss of pain. "Is just puny bullet. I have had worse."

Johnny pushed his point, latching back onto her sleeve and refusing to take no for an answer. "You can't be serious. Let me take a look at it."

"No." Sofiya tried to shake the fox off again and grunted at his persistence. "Why are you caring about it?"

Carbon stepped into the argument before it went any further. "He's a doctor. If he thinks you should show that to him, I'd take him up on the offer. He only cares about your health."

"Doctor? You bring doctors into battle?" Sofija quickly snipped Adrian's bonds and then stood. "Doctor cares, yes? Then you follow inside. There are chairs and tables for better inspection."

Johnny stood up and gave a somewhat surprised nod as the husky suddenly agreed. "Well... great. Let's make sure you're alright."

Sofija waved to her comrades so they understood she was leaving them alone, then she walked over to the side door of the building they were against. "Is very clean in this one. Blushing fox can work in here."

Johnny's eyes went wide as Carbon and Adrian stared at him. "What? I don't..."

Carbon let the others pass through the door, but held Johnny back for a moment to whisper in his ear. "There something you're not telling me?"

"N-No... just..." The red fox meekly hunched down and forced his way inside. "I just think she's pretty. Beautiful, even."

"You think..." Carbon's own eyes shot open and a grin adorned his muzzle. "~Oh~. Well I can't say there's anything wrong with just that."

"Mates?" Adrian found a dusty seat and started beating it clean. "Everything good?"

"Yeah, we're good." Johnny closed the gap to Sofija and helped her into a seat while he stood, making their height difference tolerable for the inspection. "Where's the wound? Can we roll up your sleeve?"

The husky shook her head and started unbuttoning her shirt. "Is easier this way. Bullet only cut my shoulder."

Johnny noticeably gulped as Sofija carelessly removed her shirt, her hefty chest now only contained by a worn sports bra. "Uh... Sure, if that's alright with you." He helped pull the bloodied section down her arm and grunted as he checked the wound. "Bit hard to see like this."

"I can make easier." Sofija flipped her thumbs under her bra and flipped it up, only to have Johnny quickly pin the garment back down. "What? You say you need more access..."

"Light. I just needed some light." Johnny reached out and retrieved a flashlight from Sofija's belt, ignoring the other two's grinning at the recent peek they'd just been flashed. "Grow up, you two. Alright, just give me a moment... Uh...?"

Carbon shook off his smile and offered to hold the light. "Her name's Sofija. And Sofija, this is Johnny. That over there's Adrian."

"John and Adrian..." Sofija nodded and sat up straight, holding her arm still for the fox. "Well met, new comrades. Please continue, John. You cannot make hurt with me."

Johnny quirked his head, both at the broken English and at the way she used his proper name. "Alright... Looks like it's clotted just fine. There's a bit of missing flesh though. This isn't going to heal properly like this. It's easy to get an infection with an open wound too."

"Is bad? Damn. I do not wish to die from puny American bullet."

Johnny shook his head reassuringly. "If we get my bag from the chopper I think I can fix this up. I just need a knife and some suturing supplies." He walked around to face his patient and smiled for her. "We just cut out the clotting and sew it back up. It's not too bad."

"Only that?" Sofija reached her good arm back and pulled out a personal medkit. "Is sewing goods inside this. Can my knife work as well?"

"Oh... sealed suture kit... bandages..." Johnny checked the large knife and then sighed at the prospect. "If you've got something to sterilize that, it might work. It's sharp enough."

At that remark, Sofija pulled out a flask that was hidden in the collar of her boot. "Vodka, maybe?"

Carbon grinned and took the barbaric, but well maintained knife so his wider range of vision could inspect it. "Hmm... Yeah, there's no foreign materials either. Just hit it with the alcohol and let it air dry. That should do it."

Johnny took the blade and checked it himself before dousing it in a fairly hefty splash of the vodka. "Alright. I'm not gonna lie here; this is going to hurt. We don't have any way to dull the pain so you'll have to put up with it and keep still."

"I am sure I can take little pinch."

"Hmm?" Carbon watched as Evelyn appeared and pointed to the wound. "What's up with you, Eve?"

"The whole 'no painkillers' thing isn't true, technically." Eve emulated her host and shot out three tendrils from her back to demonstrate her point. "Your queoo have stingers that can inject paralytic neurotoxin into flesh. A controlled dose could numb the injection site..."

"Oh... That's actually pretty useful." Carbon held up his paw before Johnny started cutting and everyone paused to take notice. "Eve told me I can numb the spot for you. You don't need to feel any pain, Miss Rihzyet."

The husky shook her head and tapped Johnny's arm to continue. "Thank you, but no. Pain is good. It makes me feel the life. I do not want to dull senses either."

Adrian chuckled and sat up straight with attention. "Bloody bad-as, she is."

Carbon blinked and stared blankly a bit, finally giving his consent to start operating. "Uh... Okay, then. The offer's still there if you need it, though."

Johnny grumbled to get the husky's attention and started working. "Just let me know if you need a break. We can always stop the bleeding for a bit and try again."

The blade sliced through the scabbed flesh and caused Sofija to involuntarily wince in pain. "We do this now, the right way. Am not scared."

The red fox noticed the suppressed reaction and his bedside manners started to kick into gear to divert her attention. "You're a strong woman. You should be proud of that. So how'd this happen, anyway?"

Sofija gritted her sharp teeth but still stubbornly refused to make a single peep over her agony. "Bullet was from other night. Big tiger pulled trigger when I took him down."

Carbon grunted both at the new information and the ghost peeking in through a window. "So you were the one that attacked us in the pump house. That was one of Mycroft's men. Sorry, but you did technically attack us first."

Johnny shook his head, but never let his eyes off his work. "That's uncharacteristically heartless of you. She's friendly now, isn't she?"

"No, cute fox." Sofija paused for a pang of pain to pass and then soothed the light argument. "He is correct. We attack first, so we deserve what damage we get."

Evelyn giggled as she pointed out a subtle note. "She called him cute."

"No, I don't accept that. We should have made sure you were real enemies first. You're good people." The 'cute' fox pulled the bloody knife back and place it on a table. "Looks clean. I'm gonna start suturing now. Alright?"

"Cute... ~Cute~..."

Carbon waved Evelyn away and she disappeared into silence. "We had a right to defend ourselves. If we weren't in enemy territory--no offense, but you are the enemy--but if that weren't the case... Maybe I'd agree."

Sofija flinched slightly as Johnny poked her with the sewing needle for the first time. "In full truth, we plan to kill you at first. Is good point."

Johnny looked up to argue his side, but his work required too much precision to keep his eyes away long. "And thankfully that didn't happen. Ah, shit. That one's a bit too tight, isn't it?"

The husky's nose started winking as she sniffed for something, but her attention soon returned to her arm. "Is perfect. Worry not about pain."

Carbon curiously lifted his mask a moment and sniffed the air as well, finding something out of place but unable to pinpoint it due to his lack of that sense in his general life. "We uh... We could argue about this all day and never get anywhere. What matters is that everyone's alive and we're still on our mission."

Eve suddenly appeared and hinted downward with awkward glances to Carbon's crotch. "Well ~that's~ an issue. Just ignore it for now."

The hybrid looked down and found the beginnings of a tent in the front of his pants. "Shit... What do I--?"

"Ahem," the fairy girl grumbled as she pranced over to 'rub' Carbon's shoulders and divert his attention. "Seriously, can't fix that easily as a guy now. Best to just let it be and we'll... think of something later."

Sofija didn't miss a thing however. "Is little alien feeling sex?" She grinned as her eyes slid back and forth between his crotch and his face. "I am sorry for that, Major, but I cannot control my nature. Is a bad season, too."

"Bad... season?" mumbled the mustelid.

Johnny finished his work and quickly tied a knot in his thread. "I didn't want to say anything, but it definitely smells like a strong one. I'd imagine that's a big problem in a squad of nothing but canines. Right?"

"Huh?" Carbon quirked his head sideways and looked to Adrian, only to find his tongue lolling out his muzzle. "What the hell's going on? I'm lost."

Evelyn took control of Carbon's arm and gave Adrian's shoulder a hit to rouse him from his daydreaming. "She's definitely in heat. Better keep your boyfriend out of her reach, unless you like the idea of him having sex with a stranger."

"Heat? I still don't--"

"Eve not helping? Oh, but I guess she doesn't have experience with that..." Johnny took to the plate as he finished wrapping Sofija's arm with a bandage. "She's going through estrus. It basically means she's reproductively receptive right now."

"Oh..." Carbon took another moment to hit Adrian's shoulder, under his own power this time. "And I'm guessing since Adri here's also a dog it's doing something to him?"

"Does it matter?" Sofija checked her arm now that it was fixed up, then started staring at the only other husky in the room. "I wonder why is wolf doggy not making first move? Strong bond with wife?"

"No, he's..." Carbon shook his head as he noticed Adrian was starting to drool and pant. "Hey, enough of that! You've got me, idiot!"

"Oh! I see then..." Sofija took those words as a confirmation of sorts and shifted her focus to her original target, giving Johnny's groin a long, firm grope. "If queer dog not into playing, what about you? I appreciate the help, cute fox. Want me to show you how much?"

"I couldn't... not while you're under the influence of--"

Sofija pulled Johnny over by his chin and gave him a sloppy kiss. "But I have more problem, and you have tool to fix. Besides, I think you are good guy. Is not season making that so."

Johnny flushed visibly red as Sofija admitted her attraction. "B-But I just... broke up with someone so I'm--"

"She did not know what she had." The husky gripped down harder on the fox's bulge, only to work open his belt out of frustration a second later. "And so she not care if I take for myself. Yes?"

Carbon's eyes locked with Johnny's momentarily, only to then drop to Adrian's paw as it slipped into his pants. "Adrian!" Carbon pulled that paw free and sat in his boyfriend's lap. "Shouldn't we give them some privacy?"

Johnny gawked as his pants hit the floor. "You're just leaving me?"

"Know a good thing when you see it, Johnny." Suddenly Carbon was lifted up and carried to a side door. "You needed this anyway. Can't have you moping around about lost love forever. Just have fun."

"Oh, he's not the only one." Adrian smiled as he finally broke free of his pheromone-induced trance. "Think we can sneak in some fun ourselves, buddy?"

"Well..." Carbon looked back to Johnny and simply saw a head bobbing in his lap and his eyes rolled back towards the ceiling. "Sure. I'm not sure how this works like ~this~ though."

Adrian nudged the door open with his leg and set Carbon down just outside the building. "Well, that's a decent question. First time as a guy, yeah?"

"I just don't get how it works if you need a hole to plug." Carbon shuddered from the cold, then from a ghastly set of eyes staring back at him from the runway. "Besides, what if someone comes looking?"

Adri mashed his lips against Carbon's and smiled. "Well we can worry about that later, mate. But for the time being... I believe I owe you a hummer."

"A... A what?"

Adrian smirked and quickly worked down Carbon's pants. "Remember the shower that first time we got hot and heavy, Carbon? You in the market for a hot muzzle or that too much for you?"

"That... sounds great, actually." Evelyn tried to speak a few times as Adrian played with Carbon's manhood through the thin, white panties he was still borrowing. "S-Sorry about those..."

"I think they're lovely on ya', little buddy. Might want to try mixing your clothes up more often." Adrian smirked and pulled down the undergarment in question, a perplexed expression quickly filling his face. "Ah, mate...?"

Evelyn finally spoke up now that her point came to light. "I was trying to warn you. You wanted me to take out the stops, right?" She took control of Carbon and made him hold up his length in clear sight. "Well your junk sort of falls into your father's territory. It still works more or less the same as Adrian's, so just tell him that."

"Okay, but... you sure there's nothing different?"

"There's a few notable things, but they shouldn't matter for what he's got planned. I don't think so, anyway." Eve reached out Carbon's paw and awkwardly forced a finger in Adri's mouth for a split second. "Mmm... Oh yeah, I think it's fine. You need to be in contact with fresh genetic material to climax, and apparently there's barely enough still alive in his saliva."

Carbon stared at a somewhat pleasured-looking Evelyn and then to his boyfriend's ponderous expression, putting the pieces together himself. "You need that so ~you~ can cum, don't you? And I can't either unless we both do?"

"Um... No, not quite." Eve collected herself and cleared her throat. "You can orgasm, but there won't be a physical response without mine. And trust me, you don't want to have that build up on you. Without full release... it gets sort of painful for the both of us, especially as a man. Like, melon-sized balls bad."

Carbon sighed at the thought, then devoted his attention to his confused lover. "It's fine, Adri." He took a better look at his manhood, now containing slightly-flared ridges resembling a blooming flower bud. "It looks different, but it should all work like you would expect."

"I was worried there for a moment, mate. So just stay the course?" Adrian reached out and pointed Carbon's tip to his muzzle, giving a slow lick under the pointed head. "I can handle that. Mum always said I should try new ~things~."

"That's... wow." Carbon started to giggle at the husky's little joke, but had his breath taken away as that muzzle suckled on the end of his manhood. "Oh, wow... Well that's different from the other set of bits."

Adrian's tongue slipped beneath one of the ridges and explored a bit, the newly-discovered, fleshy petals holding a fizzy nectar deep inside. "Oh, that's different alright. Guess it makes sense it's like a flower, yeah? The cherry taste even adds to it."

Carbon only groaned louder as that long canine tongue found every nook and cranny of his _plant_hood. "I'm guessing it's supposed to... be more solid?"

"It's more fun like this, I think." Adri wrapped his lips around the bulk of Carbon's pliable length, but gagged as he pulled back to reveal it was growing longer as the petals filled out. "Oi, that's a bloody good reach you've got there. Nearly worked down my throat."

Carbon eased open his eyes as he awoke from a slight daze to find that his cock had nearly doubled in length from before, though without any change to the modest girth. "Well then, I guess... don't worry about that? You don't need to push yourself for me."

"Just didn't expect it is all, love. Besides, I fancy a good challenge."

Adrian gave a smirk as he started back down on his cherry soda snack. He eased himself forward carefully, not wanting to snag the forward-facing ridges with his sharp teeth. The extra resistance made things more interesting for the pup, but it also came with the price of the petals scooping most of the lubrication down Adri's throat. It was a challenge indeed, but one that the husky overcame with flying colors. He bent the hybrid's length down his tight throat, each of those petals intermingling wonderfully with the new texture.

Carbon's paws snapped to the back of Adrian's head, though what little self control he had left kept him from yanking down on his lover. "Adri... Oh goddess! I don't think... Ah!"

Adrian slightly nodded and gave an affirmative series of grunts, a paw of his own tugging on Carbon's forearm. Eve couldn't quite hold herself back with the encouragement, her own faux panting speeding up as she took control of that arm. "S-Sorry! I can't... Ah!... I can't hold back!"

One of Carbon's paws yanked Adrian down until his balls slapped the dog's chin. Soon the other willingly complied as well, both entities inside the hybrid now bucking and grinding into Adri's maw. Within a few dozen shallow thrusts they both hit their limits, Carbon crying out silently yet the voice in his head allowed herself to echo for miles. If normal cries of pleasure were to be believed, he'd just blasted his load and would call it a day; instead Carbon kept rocking and bucking deep into Adrian's throat under Evelyn's influence, the symbiont proving that things worked slightly differently still.

Carbon finally noticed Adrian was fighting for air and released his death grip, the husky reeling back and gasping for fresh air as soon as he was allowed. "Gah! Fuck!" He pointed Carbon's spewing cock to the side and silently watched the oddly steady stream of cum as he took in some needed air. "The bloody hell was that about?!"

The mustelid brought Adri's paw to his bud and forced him to continue jerking the textured length, his constant flow picking up in volume. "S-Sorry... I just need to... keep going!"

Adrian examined the odd orgasm, noting three peculiar fleshy tubes that now extended even further from Carbon's tip and seemed to be the source of his tasty mess. "You're still coming off it? Damn, buddy."

Eventually the flow tapered and the tubules retracted back into Carbon's manhood in perfect timing with the reduced grunting and clenching of the hybrid as a whole. "I... I don't know why..."

Finally Eve managed to think straight, appearing on the ground with her hands tucked between her legs. "I should have... uh... mentioned that." She pulled her hands up and licked her fingers clean for show. "It's more important as a guy, but you need to keep up the stimulation as you climax. If you stop, you won't empty your reserves because the floodgates will close. You'd have to reach another peak to open them again... so I sort of..."

"You're looking out for me. It's fine, Eve." Carbon watched as his length shortened and folded back up into a more streamlined form again. "So that's why I didn't cum in pulses like Adrian does, I guess. There a reason for all that?"

"Evolutionary response. You're designed to scoop and pump any waste back into a female's womb, and this makes it more desirable to keep up that motion." Evelyn stood up and took a few good breaths. "The genetic material contact is similar, to discourage masturbation. Our kind can't waste our fluid reserves like normal Terrans."

"At least there's a purpose. Just... maybe have a talk with me later about all this? If I had time to warn Adri it would have gone smoother."

Adrian licked his paw a bit, but kept most of the fizzy cum in place as that paw slipped around his now-revealed length. "Yeah, bit of a chat would help. Though except the last bit, it was pretty fun. Now I'm curious how that would feel up my bum."

"Up your...?"

Evelyn spun around and revealed her ass, a newly-formed pucker presenting itself. "That extra orifice you don't actually use, Carbon. I'm not sure about any hygiene concerns, but the both of you have some nerve clusters reachable through there. It might be pleasurable for him."

"Oh, so ~that's~ what that's for?" Carbon prodded at his own ass and found his pucker was pre-lubricated, his finger slipping inside effortlessly. "Well if it's for sex, why don't you use mine?"

Eve spun around and gave Carbon a flick to his nose. "Nope. It's too cold out here, so you should cover up. Besides, I'm not quite sure of the differences between you two back there. His has a biological purpose and yours is just genetic waste, after all."

"Ah, bloody..." Adrian grunted as he quickly brought himself over the edge with a hard squeeze to his knot. "Oh, fuck..."

"Aw..." Carbon lifted his pants and sealed out the cold as best he could. "Well, another time maybe? I need to warm up anyway."

Finally able to respond, Adrian labored out a breathy gesture. "It's a deal... little buddy. We'll make a better... time of things once we're... somewhere safe..."

Carbon hunched down and snatched up Adri's paw, giving it a heavy lick to taste their combined jizz. "Sounds like a plan. You want some help cleaning up or--?"

Suddenly that paw flew into the side of the building, pinned in place by a large knife. "Ah _ fuck _!"

Carbon snapped to his hindpaws and readied for an attack, only to find the snarling wolf leader of the Ukrainians. "<What the hell was that for! He's bleeding!>"

"<Homosexual scum...>" The wolf walked over and calmly retrieved his knife, giving it a cruel twist before removing it from the wall. "<If we didn't need you alive for your information, I'd kill you where you both stand. Be lucky it was just his paw, faggot.>"

Fire raged in Carbon's eyes, but he knew things would only end badly if he picked a fight with an armed and significantly larger opponent. "<Leave us alone and you'll get your precious information. Any more of this though, and I'll have to take something from you instead. We clear?>"

The wolf grunted and shook his head as he walked around to the front of the building. "<All you fucking aliens are alike. Cocky until you've got a bullet between the eyes.>"

Carbon dropped down and helped Adrian get to his hindpaws. "Come on. We've got to get you some help with that."

"The bloody ~fucking~ hell was that about, Carbon?!"

The hybrid shoved open the door and led his mate inside. "He's a bigot and an idiot. Promise me you'll never let him get you alone somewhere. Okay?"

"Gah!... Right-o to that, buddy." The two checked the dark room for signs of life, only to both snap to a deep series of yiffs on the floor as Johnny ground his knot into the larger husky below him. "Oh, doc... Hell, hate to do this to ya', mate..."

Carbon sighed and brought Adri over, ignoring the fact that the couple was locked doggy-style and their required doctor's tail was flagging as he blissfully emptied the contents of his balls. "Johnny, one of those guys attacked Adri." He held out the paw, the sight of fresh blood somewhat sobering up the red fox. "I know you're busy, but we need some help."

Johnny was yanked down as Sofija collapsed onto the floor, but he managed to point up to the husky's medical gear. "Sort of in a tough position here, but... I can try. Sofi, can you hold still for a while?"

The immensely satisfied husky nodded as she sighed contently into her folded arms. "Do what need to do, John. I love to just stay like this for while."

"First name basis now? That's good to hear." Carbon stood and retrieved the supplies. "Here. This still enough, or do I need to raid the chopper?"

Johnny took a closer look at the wounded paw and then shook his head. "Nah, this should work. And for your information, I like to think fucking the brains out of someone deserves at least first names."

Evelyn smiled for a moment, at least until Johnny started working on Adrian's paw. "They make a good couple. I hope it sticks, too. Oh... and I also hope they used protection in case it doesn't..."

"Protection? What for?"

Suddenly Johnny went bug-eyed and he stared down at the nearly passed-out woman to whom he was intimately attached. "Fuck, I didn't even think about that. I've even got a condom in my pocket, too."

"Oh, that's... not good?" Eve groaned as she calculated the compatibility of their various species as well as the pheromone levels in the air. "I hate to say it, but... there's a really good chance that could have done it."

Johnny simply smiled and gave Sofija a kiss to the back of her neck. "You know what? I don't care. She's... wonderful. I don't have regrets for ~wonderful~."

Again Eve smiled for her host. "Well good for him. At least ~something~ wholesome came of all this."

Carbon was still a tad confused, but helped hold the medical supplies as Johnny went back to work. "Yeah... We could use some good news about now."

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"Base, you guys still getting this?" Carbon fiddled with a pawful of radio frequencies on the antenna of his new exoskeleton. "Eve, you sure this will work?"

The fairy-sized avatar pointed to the virtual screens from her host's lap. "I'm changing the frequency as we go so the signal bounces off the cloud layer. It should buy us some extra range, but the return will still be garbled."

Sure enough, Johnny's voice came back beneath a woolly coat of static over the radio. "We're getting you, alright. Just say the word and we'll come rushing in to help."

"Thanks Johnny, but we won't need that much so soon. Just recon, remember?" Carbon pulled up his satellite cameras and continued scanning the area, finding quite a lot of construction to comb through. "This might take a while this way. Need some more practice with these things. Oh, fuck!"

Evelyn groaned as she noticed the pilot's ghost grimacing back at them through the external view. "Yeah, it's getting beyond creepy now."

"The hell is that guy doing here?" Carbon tried to look away, but the ghost pulled an Eve and reappeared in the hybrid's new line of sight. "Is this supposed to happen?"

"No, not normally. I don't quite get it myself, either." Evelyn tried to wave the ghost away, but it only forced itself to reappear elsewhere. "My best guess is that's an afterimage of that pilot's symbiont. It would have been the one in charge of handing me information if we did a proper link, but since its host was killed..."

"So he's haunting us? It's distracting, to say the least." Carbon gave the phantom a closer look, noticing that its avatar was struggling to remain cohesive. "It doesn't look like he's supposed to be here in me. Is there anything we can do?"

"It's not actually here... just a copy of its interface, really. It's not... ~alive~ enough to think on its own, like I do." Eve sprawled out on her host's lap and contemplated her options. "Sadly I think the only way to purge it is to purge all the information we took from the host, but... I can't do that to you. I've barely processed and memorized any of it, and you might need that info to find your dad."

Carbon grumbled as he thought about the concept of his father being alive, failing to find a truly positive side to the idea. "Just do it. Either he's here in this base or I'm just giving up. He walked out on us and mom, so we don't need to prove shit."

"Carbon... Are you absolutely su--"

"Positive. Just ditch it before I lose my mind over that creepy thing."

Eve faded away as she reluctantly processed the request, the screens as well as the whole exoskeleton going black for a moment as she 'rebooted' herself. "Done. Just don't complain to me later."

"I won't." Carbon checked around for the menacing afterimage and sighed in relief when he couldn't find it. "Finally, we can focus on more important things. Corporal Rihzyet? Any luck?"

The husky looked up from her sniper rifle, not quite sure where to look while talking back to a hulking robot with no discernible head. "There is much movement in center factory. Seems like a fight starting."

"Hmm..." Carbon selected the appropriate section of his screen and zoomed in that area of the cameras. "Yeah, looks like trouble with the supplies they're loading. What's this place building, anyway? You're from this part of the country, right?"

"Just hills and rivers. This all new." Sofija scanned around the building for something more telling. "Never seen buildings like these before. Ah... what is 'oksyd uranu'? It on a big box. See?"

Carbon scanned around until he confirmed the sealed container. "Enriched uranium oxide? That's... rare stuff, right? What's that used for?"

Evelyn stood up and flicked something across the screen, bringing up stolen design schematics for an RBMK nuclear reactor. "The only thing the Soviets have that uses that are these experimental reactors... but it's odd. These designs are a bit too complex for this world's current level of technology."

"Then we found the right building. Pryp'yat' was a good call, all right." The cameras passed over a gap in the loading bay where a few figures rushed out in the heat of an argument. "Eyes on the right doors, guys. Somethings... up..."

"Ah... Another alien, yes?" Sofija didn't have to see Carbon to know something was wrong with his silence. "There is problem? We know target now."

"I, uh..." The hybrid fixed his mask on his head and opened the front of his exoskeleton, hopping out to see things with his own two eyes. "I need to be sure about something. Can I borrow that?"

Sofi shifted from her prone position so she could pass the rifle to Carbon. "Of courses. But do not touch sight, please. Yes?"

"I won't adjust anything, sure." The floral otter wedged the large rifle under his arm and lined up his target, the zoom lesser than from his fir but much clearer due to the unfiltered range of light. "There's two... no, three Yangurrans. They're fighting over something--an actual thing it looks like. Eve, what is that boxy machine? The one behind them inside the building? It has a glow to it."

"Machine?" Evelyn took a second to spot what her host was ogling. "Oh, wow. That looks like a fii foundry... and some sort of ætir. Maybe a power generator for it? That's definitely not Terran."

"Well the one that seems to be in charge is pointing back at it while he yells." Carbon squinted as he studied the three, noticing the players in the argument. "Those two are ganging up on the one. And since the guy on the left is holding a weapon of some kind, I'm guessing the lone Yangurran is being forced to do something he doesn't like."

"While they point at a foundry. Interesting." Eve highlighted the apparent prisoner and started to comb over his physical details. "I'd say he's the one operating that machinery. Only the highest of scientists can use them, so maybe that's why they aren't hurting him."

Sofi hinted that she wanted her sniper rifle back, soon getting her wish. "What is crazy alien talking about? Do we have plan of actions?"

Carbon looked over to the other members of her squad and sighed as he contemplated his options. "I think we need to take the slower plan of the two. No killing, at least not until I can get inside that factory."

"But what is reason? We must kill bad aliens, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't think all of them down there are bad." Carbon quirked his head as the leader of the squad looked his way, almost as if he understood a bit of English, causing Carbon to choose his words more precisely. "One of them is a prisoner, which makes me think there's something dangerous brewing in that building."

Sofi settled into her scope and went back to her reconnoiter duties. "So one is... Oh, I see. He is real prisoner. Important alien?"

Evelyn grew to full size and peered down the hill, a worried expression slathered over her face. "Carbon... I think I know who--"

Carbon grumbled as he admitted what his gut was telling him. "Very important. That prisoner... he's my father."