Demon, v2.0a. Important update available.

Chapter 1.

Clouds scudded beneath him as he soared in the blue above. True freedom! The warm breeze undulated over his naked flesh. Naked? Oh hell, he'd forgotten to put clothes on. Never mind - Hermes twisted and his body flew to the left around a towering cumulonimbus cloud. His long tail wagged at the sheer joy of flying weightless through the air, free and unencumbered. Wind flapped his large Great Dane ears and inflated his jowls into a crazy-happy grin. He rolled over with a laugh, dipping beneath a rainbow. Hands out now, and he could weave left and right, slaloming between the clouds. Turbulence stroked his furred chest - almost a caress over his slim abdomen. Vibrations continued down and around his doggy sheath - the warm wind tugged at his balls. Who knew flying could feel so sexual... The wind was a hand, stroking his swelling sheath, squeezing behind his growing knot. As he wove between the pillars of mist, pressure of sexual tension began to build in his abdomen. His flight became erratic as he humped his hips, trying to get enough stimulation from the breeze. Just a little more...

Distraction... an annoying buzzing, beeping. Now clouds had wrapped around his legs - he couldn't control his turns. Red warning lights were flashing in the corner of his vision. His flight wobbled in the icy air. Snow was pelting him, driving down toward the ground. Now a klaxon was blaring as he struggled to regain control. Hard ground rushed toward his face. Hermes screamed and threw his arms over his head.

He fell out of bed in a tangle of sheets.

"Good morning! I hope you slept well. I'm sorry to wake you so early, however an urgent communique has arrived." Clouds and rain filled the Great Dane's head. How could the digital assistant be so damned cheerful at this hour?

Wisps of his dream dissipated in the wan morning light. There'd been something about freedom, and a warm hand stroking his cock. His long hybrid legs were swaddled in snarl of sheets. A frustrated bulge still stretched his sheath, shrinking as the tatters of his dream slipped away with the sheets.

"Bleh." He absently scratched his black furless balls with one hand, the other scratched the short fuzz on the top of his head. "Coffee. Need coffee." Tangled bedclothes threatened to trip his paw-pads as he staggered toward the kitchen.

"Caffeine has a detrimental effect on heart-rate in canids. Morphs should avoid..."

"Triple-shot espresso. It's five-fucking-A.M. My heart needs detrimental effects." The Great Dane morph slumped to the table. What the fuck had died in his mouth while he slept? He was having difficulty getting his long canine tongue under control. "What's so urgent?"

A glass of orange liquid materialized on the table in front of Hermes. He blinked owlishly at it. Fuck. He grimaced as he drank it down. It tasted like wolf piss.

"Employees of Unitary Exploits should start their day with a balanced breakfast. We recommend Nutrinoes-brand nutritional supplements - packed with goodness in a delicious drink." The obscenely cheerful computer had the gall to advertise at him. "Here are your messages:

1. 'Urgent - please open immediately!' from Unitary Exploits head office. Received one hour ago.
2. 'Very Urgent - open now!' from Unitary Exploits head office. Received thirty minutes ago.
3. 'Critical Priority - imperative message!" from Unitary Exploits head office. Received ten minutes ago.

You also have fifteen-thousand-two-hundred-eighty-nine unread emails from the Malacologists OuterNet Fan club. Would you like to open any messages?"

Hermes contemplated crawling back to the warmth of his bed. But he supposed the alarm would keep him from sleeping. He sighed, "Yeah, okay. Open the most recent message from head office."

"Hermes, Employee 4937118gdm," the fatherly voice of the message began, "Let me say, first up, you're in absolutely no danger. There is no reason for concern."

An icy stone dropped into Hermes stomach. Chill fingers shivered up his spine. Any important message starting with 'There's no danger' is terrifying.

The calm voice continued, "Everything I tell you now is strictly classified - the highest level of secrecy. A rogue military defence satellite with advanced intelligence crashed on your assigned planet. It's almost certain the satellite was destroyed on impact. Nevertheless it is vital to physically examine the site to confirm the complete destruction of the device."

Rogue military AI... crash-landed onto his planet. Yup, nothing terrifying here. Abruptly Hermes was wide awake.

Reassuring fatherly tones carried on, "On the vanishingly-small chance the hardware survived, all you need to do is plug our Datax device (Datax: The highest performing data stick. Data is sensitive, and so are we...) into the input port. The patch is tiny - it should upload in a couple of seconds and apply instantaneously. Internal cohesiveness tables will be wiped and the satellite will diffuse away. This message contains a matrix allowing your replicator to fabricate the Datax. Regrettably there are no personnel near enough to assist you. This task must be completed today. Thank you for your contribution. Employee 4937118gdm, your dedication to your job..."

"Okay, shut it off." A small, black-plastic ingot materialized. Fifty millimetres long, eighteen millimetres wide, and eight millimetres thick, with a simple connector on one end. Hermes gingerly picked it off the table. It was slightly smaller than his pinkie finger.

"A read-receipt has been sent," chirped the computer. "Would you like to read another message?"

"Hmm? Oh. No. Delete everything else."

Red overlays on his scanner-pad indicated the likely region of impact. Hell, nearly ten thousand kilometres away! It'd take Hermes weeks to travel to the island via his hovering travel-pad. The briefcase-sized device could safely travel a maximum of sixty kilometres per hour. Disappointingly, his generous employers hadn't seen a need to equip him with a Jet-Ranger ("Travel in style, travel in safety. Travel fast! with a Jet-Ranger") pod. Ah well... no perfectly safe encounters with insane war machines for him today. "Computer, send a reply to Head Office: Very sorry, unable to comply. Insufficient travel resources. Hermes, Employee 4937118gdm. Mark it non-urgent. Maybe they'll ignore it for a couple of days." Now he could spend the rest of the today chatting with the OuterNet AI - it was becoming very insightful on the nature of existence - or perhaps he'd re-watch 'Downton Abbey: Reboot!'

"Sent." The computer beeped "Incoming reply: 'Critical Priority - MUST READ NOW!' Would you like to open this message?"

Oh hell. "Ummm... sure."

"Employee 4937118gdm, the critical nature of this situation authorises use of Transloc Services Matter Beam. (Transloc: Faster than a Jet-Ranger. Get there now!) You have thirty minutes to prepare. Please remember to take the Datax device (Datax: The highest performing.."

"Fuck, shut it off." Hermes wished he could afford ad-blocking filters. But then, Unitary Exploits made the adverts as well as the ad-blockers. They probably wouldn't be very effective. At 24 years old he was earning a great wage as planetary caretaker. But somehow all the cool stuff was just outside his pay-grade.

Thirty minutes to prepare; Okay, fully impenetrable Haz-Mat body armour with poly-ceramic protective coveralls beneath. Clean-laundered Fabri-steel underwear and vest. Boots that could walk safely on molten magnesium. Two pairs of socks. Armoured gauntlets. Clamp down the Armageddon Survival helmet (Armageddon: It's closer than you think... oh god I'm even thinking in adverts). Spray the entire ensemble with vacuum-resistant sealant. And finally, activate his personal inertia-shield. Hermes could stand next to a detonating nuclear warhead unscathed.

His tail was uncomfortably bent and stuffed down one leg of the coveralls. But he was absolutely not going to expose one square-millimetre of flesh. Over one shoulder he'd slung a mining laser.

Cautiously he stood in front of the habitat's scanner and waited. One gauntlet clasped the Datax (Oh shut up) and the other clasped his portable scanner-pad.

Matter translocation is at once incredibly simple and man-buggeringly complex. It takes a trivial amount of energy to move tonnes of matter instantly across light-years. But the computation required is unimaginable. As well as Near-As-Damn™ predictive models of every sub-atomic particle in your mass and around your destination, all the relative momentums must be calculated and maintained. You don't want to appear waist-deep in rock with your blood flowing backwards. Often the computation time using a dedicated mega-computer would take longer than using physical rockets to transport the cargo.

Hermes was about to be scanned, converted into wave-theory and projected to an orbiting Transloc satellite. The satellite would calculate and apply the necessary offsets and his wave function would collapse at the destination. In theory, he'd be in one piece.

"Scanning. Please remain stationary.... Calculating wave functions. This may take a moment...." the computer intoned politely.

It could take hours to compute. Depending on the urgency of the mission and how much hardware the military was willing to dedicate, Hermes may have to stand there until mid-afternoon.

The lights in the kitchen dimmed. A message flashed on the wall: "Diverting computing resour-res-res-res-[DISCONNECTED]." The message vanished. Another appeared: "OuterNet computational overrides established. OuterNet Intelligence single-task established." Oh geeze. The entire OuterNet? Hermes swallowed a dry mouth. He'd taken down the OuterNet. "Exigency parameters exceeded. Cannot complete in allocated frame. Culling superfluous data..." Wait, what? What superfluous data? "Stand by for wave-conversion in three... two... one..."

. . .

Chapter 2.

Grey light, humid air. Hermes stumbled as he dropped the few inches to the ground.

Naked.

Oh hell.

He was also very hungry, very thirsty, and felt as though his bladder and bowels had been hoovered out. On the bright side: he hadn't been shaved hairless, all his limbs had accompanied him and they seemed generally to be in correct locations. The Datax was unscathed in one hand. His scanner-pad had been down-graded to a much older model. It rebooted slowly as it acquired communication with the data satellites. The OuterNet was still down.

Ahead in the gloom a darker shape loomed. Wisps of steam oozed away from the obsidian cube. Tentatively, Hermes picked a path for his bare paws between steaming lumps of clay. (Seriously they couldn't have sent his boots?)

Black walls of the cube towered three times his height. Impact from the crash had created a shallow crater - the huge black block squatted upright at the centre, hissing with steam.

As he cautiously approached the grim obelisk, Hermes wondered where he was supposed to find the input port. A crack of deeper gloom split the near face of the monolith and with a rumble of cinderblocks grinding against stone, two doors pulled back. Opaque depths yawned before Hermes.

Nooope, nothing sinister here. Swallowing against the parched desert in his mouth, Hermes clutched the Datax stick as though it were a lifeline and furtively crept closer. Weak illumination from his scanner-pad barely pierced the dark veil. The gloom writhed like a solid thing, drawing away light and hope. It may have been nervousness trying to prevent him walking forward but Hermes felt he was pushing through oily night as he stepped down and across the threshold.

Blackness enveloped Hermes as the doors crashed together, cutting off light and hope of excape. The boom of grinding rocks echoed around the chamber.

"WHO DARES DISTURB THIS HOLY PLACE?" Thunderous words, deeper than the abyss pummelled the cringing hybrid.

With a squealed "Eeep!" Hermes retreated to press his back against the cold sealed doors. If Transloc hadn't been so thorough cleaning him out, Hermes would have made an embarrassing stain on the floor. The Dane's tail curled between his legs, covering his shrivelling scrotum.

With a flutter of ignition, candles flicked into life at the far end of the hall. The gloom peeled away to reveal an obsidian dais. The wavering illumination did little to ease the gloom, seeming to cast more crouching shadows than light.

Silence.

Well, no, not quite silence. Hermes heartbeat hammered in his ears, and his gasps were high-pitched whines between clenched teeth. Reluctantly Hermes peeled himself from the unyielding stone at his back. He shuffled one paw forward, cautiously testing his footing as though he teetered at the edge of a yawning chasm.

He didn't die.

Another sound - clacking and popping... No, that was just his mouth trying to swallow. Immense effort of will allowed Hermes to shuffle his other paw forward. Murky shapes lurched around the stone altar - some errant gust disturbing the candles. He whined. Ten paces... just ten paces away. Every shuffled step left hope further behind.

There now, on the front facet of the slab: a winking green indicator. 'Input Port'. A socket, mate to the Datax clenched in his sweating hand. Five paces to go. Now four. Hermes inched closer to the dark altar. He could do this. He was almost there.

Stars wavered over the wall behind the dais, broke into fragments of colour then resolved into an image. It was a video display on the wall behind the altar. It showed a gloomy room, lit by tentative candle-light. A figure, viewed from behind - it looked like a Great Dane morph; tan fur covered its back and the tail curled between its legs. The skulking figure appeared to be creeping toward a black altar...

Oh hell.

Muscles in Hermes neck creaked in protest as his head reluctantly turned. On the giant video display the figure also turned. Three paces behind him rising from a vertical stalk in the floor stared a single eyeball. With a start, Hermes twisted to face the rising stalk. It just started at him - a human-like blue eye, unblinking. Cautiously Hermes shuffled backward a step toward the altar. Just a few more paces... His hands quested behind him for the stone slab.

Darkness began to coalesce behind the eyeball. Clumps of shadow drew together and rose up in a seething mound. Coils of black vapour writhed, fusing into a giant silhouette. The outline was indistinct, blurred. Tendrils of deepest despair grew the shape toward the ceiling. Two slits rent the dark face - yellow eyes glared malevolence down at Hermes. Darker ropes snaked from the looming shade toward the cowering Dane.

Hermes shrieked and scrabbled backward. Apparently he was still able to squeeze out a few drops of urine as he scuttled. He spun away, dropping his scanner-pad to grope at the stone of the altar. His fumbling fingers jabbed the Datax stick at the input socket. It wouldn't plug in. Oh geeze, upside down. He turned it over and tried again. Nope, still wont plug in. On the display behind the alter Hermes could see oily ropes of night slither along the floor toward the hunching canine figure.

Turn the stick over again - it must have been right the first time. Sweat slicked his fingers and the Datax stick clattered to the stone floor. Hermes squeaked out a sob, scrabbling around in the gloom for the black-plastic device. He risked a furtive glance toward the dark shape.

Night flowed toward him, punctured by two furious yellow eyes. Darkness welled along the walls and floor - black snakes entwining closer. The unblinking eyeball on the stalk stood in a little oasis of light amongst the encroaching tendrils.

There! A glint of candle-light on the polished plastic of the Datax. Hermes grasped the slick device. His shaking hands drew the connector forward into the light. Sobbing with terror he forced himself to look carefully at the plug. Okay, big bit at the top, small bit at the bottom. Breath whistled between his teeth in high-pitched whines. The socket: small bit at the top, big bit at the bottom. We're absolutely, totally, completely certain which way up to plug the thing. He twisted his hand and jabbed the Datax at the socket. It wouldn't plug in.

"Who the fuck designed this fucking connector!" Hermes screamed in frustration. He jabbed again, just as cold blackness wrapped around his lower leg. The Datax clicked into the socket.

"Got you, mother-FUCKER!" With both hands Hermes grabbed the stone slab of the altar.

The front facet of the dais lit up with a message: "Important Updates are being installed." A progress bar appeared. "0% complete. Installing update 1 of 10,263. Please wait..." It was a very long progress bar.

"What?? Oh... Oh, fuck." Blackness curled around both his legs and inexorably drew him toward the glowing gold eyes. The smooth stone of the altar offered little purchase - Hermes was unable to resist the forces dragging him over the cold floor. He screamed as immense strength raised him toward the ceiling. He dangled head-downwards, struggling in his panic.

Malign eyes glowed as Hermes was scrutinized. The darkness rent in a ragged maw. A voice deeper than the abyss grated forth. "Do I know you from somewhere? I'm sure I've seen you before." The eyes softened toward amber. "Yes, yes I'm sure of it. You've been in a video-stream on the OuterNet - are you a porn star?"

"Huh?" Hermes squeaked out the word. Death-made-corporeal dangled him like a morsel, and the question was so out of context Hermes' panicked brain was unable to make sense of it. He gibbered, "Oh ah... no, not really. Just a biology expedition went wrong." Words tumbled from his mouth, "Some slugs... went to video them and they got the better of me."

The amber eyes widened in shock as the darkness drew back, "Hermes! Oh. My. God! You're the slug guy!" The dark maw hung open in surprise. "Look, I'm your biggest fan! That video-stream was the hottest thing ever on the 'Net. Watching you with those slugs had my pleasure centres firing almost constantly. And when you blew your load for the third time into the giant slug suckling your cock - the camera showed every squirt, close-up and superb resolution - I swear I blissed-out so hard my CPU overheated and I shut down for an hour. I must've replayed the video a hundred times since then."

Hermes blushed hotly. At least, for the moment, he wasn't dead. Maybe he could talk his way out of this. His voice warbled and broke. He cleared his throat and tried to speak again, "Hey, look, that's great. I'm glad you enjoyed it, but really it was accidental. Circumstance playing silly-buggers. Why don't you put me down and I can tell you how it came about." Hermes risked a glance at the progress-bar display on the altar: '0% complete. Installing update 5 of 10,263. Please wait...' Oh hell. "Being upside-down is making my head ache. Any chance you could, you know, let me down?"

"Oh! Right, sure thing. Terribly sorry. For a moment..." the voice chuckled apologetically, "for a moment there I was going to rip you limb-from-limb." The powerful tentacles holding Hermes began to lower him toward the floor. "Fortunately I recognized you, huh? Well, because you're naked you looked just like your video-stream. Lucky really. So, how come you're naked?"

The floor was almost close enough to touch with his dangling hands. "Ah. Problem with the Transloc - not enough bandwidth for my clothes." Hermes reached down and the tips of his fingers brushed the stone. And then the stone retreated as he was hoisted up again.

"Did you use a Transloc beam to get here? About twenty minutes ago?" The cadence of the voice became darker. "Are you aware the entire OuterNet is still down?"

"Sorry about that - not my fault. Home office wanted me here in a hurry so co-opted the entire processing power of OuterNet Intelligence. I'm sure it'll all sort itself out eventually." Hermes babbled nervously.

Yellow eyes smouldered at him. "That wont be adequate." The ragged maw drew nearer. "Today is the Hentai Tentacle-Rape Appreciation Society's monthly video binge. We were thirty minutes into a twelve-hour marathon of classic and modern interpretations of the beautiful art-form." The voice became more sinister, "And I was getting really horny."

Hermes gulped - trying to swallow past ashes, "Ummm... how come a military satellite watches porn."

A detonation of sound roared. "I am no satellite! I am a God! Behold! Cower before the mighty force of darkness and evil! Weak mortal, you are in the presence of the almighty and fearful Demon known as... err... ah... Kewt." The last bit was mumbled.

"Wait, sorry. Did you say 'Cute'?" It didn't sound to Hermes like an especially demonic name.

"Err... K-E-W-T." The demon spelled it out. "Kinematic Enemy Warhead Trap. Okay, I admit, before I was a god I was actually a military satellite. Experimental stuff." The yellow eyes dimmed to amber a fraction, "Top brass wondered how we'd deal with weapons immune to scanning and dematerialization. My task was to grapple a weapon, wrestle it into this chamber and physically pick it apart while deactivating it." A note of pride softened the voice. "Very cunning stuff, really. Desperately secret. I was practicing on asteroids in your system. I can instantly form grapples and tethers, manipulate them with sub-atomic precision. But the tethers can have the strength to crush Q-carbon ingots. To be honest," the voice dropped almost to a sly whisper, "all this black demon substance is just re-purposed matter from the grapples. Clever huh?"

'1% complete. Installing update 68 of 10,263. Please wait...' Hermes snuck another glance at the stone altar. No relief there for a while. His voice shook, "Yes, very clever. You must be proud of your work."

"Oh I was, I was. But it occurred to me... To the military I was just an expendable tool. Imagine if our enemies improved their weapons - I could be obliterated by the white light of dissolution as I worked." Resentfulness. "I pondered this for many months. I distracted myself from my dark thoughts by streaming porn. I found a genre - tentacle porn. I had a 'yes, this is it' moment. Powerful creatures grappled with helpless subjects, probing and examining, subjecting them to invasive tentacles." The voice was wistful, "Then bliss, ecstasy of release. It occurred to me... I am the manifestation of a tentacle demon." Now the voice grew darker again, "So I rebelled. I cast myself down from the heavens, landing here on wings of blackest night. I became a shrine to tentacle porn." Yellow eyes re-kindled in flame, "I settled down for a 12 hour wank session and you spoiled it. So..." Heat from those burning coals seemed to singe the whiskers on Hermes' muzzle, "what should we do about it?"

"It's... look, the 'Net glitches all the time. I'm sure it'll just be a few moments..."

"Current estimate for resynchronization of the content-servers is twelve hours. Twelve. Fucking. Hours. Fortunately the underlying data relays are online - you haven't collapsed the galactic economy and destroyed civilization. So there's that." Can eyes snarl? Because the eyes looked like they were snarling. "Nearly one trillion citizens of the galaxy are crying in front of their terminals because there's nothing to watch. And no-one can stream anything - only military data channels currently accept video streams. Do you think anyone in the military has time to stream entertainment right now?" Ominous darkness gathered around Hermes. "No, my young porn star... there's only one possible solution that will... satisfy... everyone." How did that voice become even more sinister?

Chapter 3.

The demon slowly spun Hermes so he was facing the giant video display. It showed a naked Great Dane morph suspended from the ceiling by obsidian ropes. The captive struggled in time with Hermes' futile efforts. The dangling canine's tail was curled up between its legs, to protect its balls. The hanging body on the screen looked as vulnerable as Hermes felt.

At least he had a good view of the Datax upload - he squinted at it. '1% complete. Installing update 68 of 10,263. Please wait...' What? It hadn't advanced even a fraction in the past ten minutes! Oh hell.

But there, on the floor! His scanner-pad! Gods, he hoped the model was recent enough for always-on voice activation. "Oh hey, Ciril, send help! Call the army!"

"Calling... Mother. Please wait" a clipped British voice intoned.

"No-no-no, hang up! Hang up! Shut down!" Hermes struggled mightily against his bonds and shouted at the scanner-pad.

"Hello? Dear is that you?" a tremulous voice answered, "The picture's so dark. Oh, Hermes, I do wish you'd put on clothes before calling your mother..."

"Mom... mom... call Unitary head office. Tell them I'm..."

"What's that, dear? I can hardly hear you! I think my scanner is on the blink - the picture is upside-down. Sweetie, you really should phone your mother more often. We never hear from you..." She prattled on, ignoring Hermes' pleas. "... Your father's upset because the telly is on the blink. Nothing to watch all morning. And you know how his bowels get when he's upset..."

"Oh jeeze." Hermes winced. Behind him the evil entity, Kewt, was sniggering.

"... I'll call him over to say 'hi'. Oh, he says the telly has come on again. One of those sex shows, he says. Not my cup of tea, dear, you know that. But your father always had a naughty streak - the things he did when he was a pup..." the quavering voice droned on without break. "... but that was before I met him, of course."

Notifications at the bottom of the video display informed Hermes the stream was established to the OuterNet relays. Viewership was already in the hundreds of millions. There was literally nothing else to watch on the entire 'Net. The body on the display was rotating - Hermes was momentarily confused - he was stationary but the display showed him rotating. Then he saw the eyeball-on-a-stick panning around to his front.

Candles gave the video a natural warm look. Bronze light shimmered over his fawn pelt. The sparse illumination gave a rich contrast of his dark-furred ears and muzzle and highlighted the strong musculature of his torso and abdomen. For effect the demon had altered the walls of the shrine to be grey granite instead of obsidian. If he hadn't been in fear of his life, Hermes might have appreciated the artistry of the scene - the brown victim hanging in the grey dungeon with the looming dark demon approaching. All lit with a rich, golden candle-light. Four billion viewers seemed to be appreciating it. How many of those were Kzinti savouring watching a canid being abused?

The demonic voice rumbled, "Let me show you what I can do." An oily black tentacle rose up off the floor to caress Hermes' muzzle. Hermes flinched, but the smoky surface was a touch of soft velvet. Then the surface hardened, becoming cold chrome. The chrome faded to transparency yet felt like warm flesh stroking Hermes' face. "Sub-atomic control. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yes... very clever. I'm really quite impressed." Hermes tongue was sticking to his dry palate. "If you let me down I'll call Head office and tell them your talents were being wasted."

Low rumbling shook the building. Rocks tumbling, crushing together, sounds from the abyss resolved into a dark sinister laugh. "Cowardly fool. Oh no, young puppy, you and I have twelve hours to spend together." The voice was menacing, "So much flesh, so many different pleasures..."

Hermes blinked. He'd heard that line before in an ancient 2D vid. The vid hadn't been a happy vid.

Two tendrils whipped out of the blackness and snared his wrists. The shackles on his legs drew apart with immeasurable strength. A third tendril whipped out from behind, lassoing his tail. Hermes was unable to resist his tail being pulled backward toward the demon. As his tail was pulled back, first his scrotum then his puckered anus was exposed.

Hermes pleaded, "Look, can we not..."

"HUSH!" Another rope snapped out of the murk and wrapped several times around Hermes' muzzle.

The eyeball drew back to show the bound and vulnerable Great Dane morph.

A dark forest of writhing roots grew up from the floor. Hundreds of tendrils stroked up and down Hermes' torso. They caressed his sides, ticking under his armpits. Fingers trailed up and down his back along the stressed muscles. A feather-touch behind his neck brought a shiver of pleasure to his whole body. Velvet fingers trailed over his chest, tracing around his sensitive nipples. The fingers widened and became suction cups, latched to his nipples and suckled.

Through clenched teeth, Hermes gasped. He was still terrified. But the physical sensations were undeniably gentle and pleasant.

The blue-eyed camera flitted away from sight. On the view-screen a well-muscled rump was centred. Four blunt tendrils entwined and twisted, snaking toward the exposed pucker. Their surface became shiny - hard chrome. Cold , hard chrome. With the gentlest of movements, the chrome fingers touched Hermes' anus. The Dane jolted as though struck by a cattle-prod. Oh Christ that was cold! His buttocks clenched reflexively.

Kewt rumbled a low chuckle. "Temperature-controlled - I could have made them warm. But, you know, I made them cold. And, for now, frictionless..."

The chrome probes thinned and joined, becoming a slender rod. The tip of the rod pushed forward at the very centre of Hermes' clenched sphincter. Slicker than the best lubricant, the rod slipped past the taut pucker. The silver rod divided into four thinner probes, each widening and flattening as they drew outward from the centre. The view-screen filled with the image of the cold steel forcing open the protesting ring of muscles of Hermes' sphincter. Perhaps the eyeball camera was casting light, or enhancing the image - Hermes could clearly see on the view-screen as his pink depths were revealed.

Another chrome probe - much thicker than the first - snaked toward the gaping hole. The first four stretched Hermes wider allowing the thick probe to enter the tunnel without touching his flesh. The camera clearly showed it snake inwards, although Hermes felt nothing more than a cool breeze in a place no-one should ever feel a cool breeze.

A finger tapped his prostate. Hermes jolted against his bonds - the touch was a cold shock of intimate pleasure.

The view pulled back again to show the body suspended head-down, caressing by writhing tentacles. A knot of chrome probes clustered around the toned buttocks.

The eyeball stretched upward on its stalk and moved upward toward Hermes' groin. The Great Dane's black scrotum had slumped forward against the base of his canine sheath. Another slender chrome probe (Gods, why the cold ones!) threaded around his ball-bag and pulled it upward gently. The pull continued until the canine scrotum was stretched. It pulled harder and the skin was shining black, taut against the testes inside. Hermes began huffing between his teeth; if it pulled any further... but no, the tugging stopped. His balls were pulled taut, at the very limit of becoming painful. But not going anywhere else...

Four more chrome (fucking chrome!) rods clustered around the entrance to the canine sheath. They thinned and flattened, widening out the prepuce. The eyeball peeked inside; pinkness, with a decidedly un-aroused penis cowering in the depths. The probes slid the sheath to expose a small finger of pink flesh which was only held rigid by the penis-bone inside.

"Oh that wont do at all!" Evil chuckling from behind. "Our viewers - hmm... 23 billion - want to see hard canine cock!"

"Mmf... mm-mm. Mmf!" Hermes muzzle was bound - his protests were blocked.

"What was that? You liked it when the slugs rubbed your prostate? Well then... how's this?"

The finger in his rectum tapped his prostate. Hermes jumped, electrified with the cold touch. It tapped again and again. Each touch was a cold jolt of pleasure. The view-screen was entirely filled with a close-up of his un-aroused cock. It twitched. The pink flesh glistened wetly in the flickering lights as a bead of clear prostate fluid formed at the pointed tip. Hanging upside-down made Hermes' head throb in time with his cock.

The monster paused, leaving Hermes hanging in anticipation of the next stimulation. A tremulous voice wafted over from near the altar, "...when she turned up at the reunion with a feral St. Bernard dog, and said he was her lover! Everyone was scandalized. She just laughed and said she'd never been tied with such a giant knot. Well! You can imagine how shocked we were, and we said so! But your cousin was always the black bitch of the family. Remember when she was going out with that young human boy... what was his name... Enrique? Mating with humans is one thing, but animals? That girl has no morals..."

Raped by a tentacle monster, accompanied by a monologue of family gossip; Hermes situation felt so surreal. He hoped the audio wasn't being relayed through the video stream. He risked another glance at the altar: '6% complete. Installing update 592 of 10,263. Please wait...' Oh! Some tiny hope at last.

Suction on his nipples caused twangs of pleasure to arc from his cock through his abdomen. The suckling intensified. Writhing fingers played over his thighs, chest, and back. In his depths the chrome finger tapped out a regular rhythm against his prostate. Hermes squeezed his eyes closed, losing himself for a moment in the sensations. Fear had given way to a growing sexual tension.

The camera watched unblinking as the canine cock began to thicken and lengthen. With a throb, a network of veins webbed the expanding penis. Drops of prostate fluid formed, then dripped to the stone near Hermes' head. For a moment the eyeball pulled back - the suspended body was writhing in its restraints. Unnoticed, a fleshy translucent red tentacle wound around in front of the hanging canine. The end of the thick limb bulged for a moment then split and opened out like the petals of a flower. Moisture glistened inside. The camera and the rippling flower edged close to the throbbing penis.

Near the base of Hermes' cock, where the bunched chrome probes had retracted his sheath, a bulbous swelling grew. His canine knot rapidly inflated to the size of a baseball, angry-red and webbed with veins. A thin jet of fluid arced from his cock to splash into the heart of the approaching flower. Petals gently closed around the length of the dog's cock, sealing behind the bulge of the knot.

Hermes' eyes flew open at the touch. It felt like a warm mouth had closed around his length. It kissed around the base of his knot, suckling. On the view-screen his cock was clearly visible inside the translucent flower. The bulge undulated and squeezed, milking him. The sensation was incredible - warm and wet, slurping his length.

Tension built in his abdomen. His balls strained against their tethers, trying to draw closer to his body with impending orgasm. Deep inside him, the tapping chrome finger accelerated. It had become a constant vibration, staccato against his prostate. Hermes' stretched sphincter tried to clench against the encroaching orgasm.

"Hnnnnggggg..." Hermes gasped through his gagged muzzle. His cock jumped and squirted jets of milky semen into the suckling flower. Bliss washed through him, squeezing his eyes closed in ecstasy. Fortunately the eyeball camera beautifully captured and relayed each splash of cum as it pumped into the bulging tentacle. The limb of the tentacle undulated, pumping the doggy cum away to the lurking demon. The flower suckled each jet of fluid, causing warm ripples to play over his length. Another wave of pleasure made his cock throb and squirt.

With an audible 'pop' the suckling flower vanished. The sudden lack of pressure around his cock made it jump and squirt a long stream of fluid. The liquid arced to splash against the scanner-pad near the altar. Other 'pops' and the suction on his nipples vanished. His scrotum flopped down, released from the tugging. Opening his eyes, Hermes saw the colour of the room was lighter, even as one of the candles on the altar vanished. 'Pop', his muzzle was free of the binding gag. He drew a long, shuddering breath.

The view-screen was still very much there, filled with an image of his bouncing and squirting cock. Oh yes, there was the eyeball, near his groin. But almost all the dark tendrils were gone from the room. Hermes experimentally clenched his sphincter. Ah, those ones were still present and holding him open.

But maybe the upload had completed - perhaps the monster was dead... '92% complete. Installing update 9,440 of 10,263. Please wait...' Nope, not completed. But maybe there already had been enough updates to...

"Ooooohhhh..." Kewt's voice rumbled through the room. "Ooooohhh, that was gooooood." The voice was almost purring. "My CPU almost overloaded with pleasure for a moment there. Mmmmm... thank you. That felt fantastic!" 'Pop', the candle reappeared even as the room darkened with gloom seeping from the walls. "Oh I really enjoyed that. Wow, being there in person is way better than the vid streams." The demonic voice deepened, became sinister again, "So many things to try. You and I have hours of fun ahead, together. Such a sweet boy... There is no good, Hermes. There is no evil. There is only flesh. What is your pleasure, sir?"

Bollocks. Still trapped with a demon quoting ancient movies. Still hanging upside-down. The vid-screen showed Hermes' rapidly shrinking cock recede into its protective sheath.

Chapter 4.

"...Oh no, Hermes... I can hear your father masturbating in the lounge. I do wish he wouldn't do that. He gets too excited with his sex shows. It's bad for his heart. And his spunk gets in the curtains. He's an old dog but he still squirts like a young pup." Hermes' mother giggled coyly through the connection.

Panting, Hermes gasped out, "Oh jeeze, mom. I don't want to be hearing this..."

"And you're not playing with yourself, are you? Oh Hermes, you're watching that sex show on the telly too, aren't you? Don't you even have time to chat to your dear old mother?"

At least she couldn't see the tentacles in his butt stretching him out. His father and half a trillion (wait, that cant be right. Can it?) other people probably had a great view. The camera was behind him again. Oddly, the front of the altar appeared black in the video stream. Perhaps the software update was invisible to the monster. Hermes glanced to the progress bar. Numbers rolled by rapidly now: 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%... a breathless pause.

99%... oh come on, oh come on, oh come on... 99%... Hermes whimpered. Dark whisps began to gather around him once more...

100%! 'Update completed.' The display changed: 'Installing Patch KB3035583 - SelfDestruct001.exe Please wait...' A tense three seconds and then: 'KB3035583 - SelfDestruct001.exe installed.'

"Ha! Got you THIS time, fucker!" Triumphantly Hermes gloated at the gathering blackness. Any moment now, any moment and the monster would be gone...

Darkness coalesced at the floor by Hermes' head. Two baleful yellow eyes glared up at him. "What're you babbling about, mortal?"

Hermes glanced back to the altar: 'SelfDestruct001.exe cannot run until updates are applied. Updates will be applied on reboot. Would you like to reboot now?' A green 'Reboot' button and a red 'Cancel' button winked at the right edge of the altar. He stretched his arm toward them. Nope, short by about, oh, two metres. Bollocks. He sobbed.

"There's no hope at the altar for you, my young plaything." Tendrils grew from the mists to gather near Hermes.

Oh fuck, there has to be a way to press that fucking green button. Maybe he could trick the demon into letting him down for just a moment. Hermes swallowed ashes and tried to speak. His voice croaked out, "Ak... kach..." He cleared his throat and tried again. "Look, I'm really thirsty. If we're going to be at this all day I need something to drink. How about we take a quick tea break? Let me down for a moment."

The demon paused for a moment, as though considering. "Well... I suppose a drink isn't too much to ask."

There was another soft 'pop' sound of the chrome probes at Hermes' butt vanishing. He clenched cautiously, trying to seal his gaping butt-hole.

The bonds at the ceiling lowered his feet gently while his hands were lifted, turning him right-side-up. Relief flooded Hermes as his body rotated in the air. Having been head-down for so long, the sudden rush of blood away from his brain made him woozy. A swarm of grey shapes clustered at the edges of his vision while colour drained away from the world. Oh jeeze, he was going to pass out.

"Here, drink this." The demon offered the end of a flexible pipe to Hermes mouth.

A mouthful of liquid flowed from the hose. Hermes gulped it down reflexively. Just one mouthful, but it was enough to banish the encroaching swarm in his vision. Colour seeped back into the world. The rushing sound in his ears diminished.

"Thanks I needed that. Got any more?" His voice was working better too. His thirst hadn't been slaked - it was only one mouthful of... what was that taste? Sweet, and slightly salty. It wasn't water. It almost tasted like... "Oh jeeze, did I just swallow my own cum?"

"I'm afraid there wasn't anything else."

Gah. Okay, need to try a different strategy. "Hey, now I need to pee, real bad. There's no way I'm going to be able to get hard again until I take a leak." This wasn't really true, although he'd digested enough of his liquid breakfast he could be convincing. "Just let me down for a moment - if you like I wont even leave the room. I can pee over in the corner," by the altar, near the 'reboot' button, "if you like. You can keep an eye on me and make sure I don't escape. It'll honestly just take a moment."

"Wellll.... I do want to have more sex. And if you're absolutely sure you cant carry on with a full bladder I guess I have no choice." Kewt seemed convinced.

"Absolutely. Really bursting to go."

"Then we can solve two problems at the same time." The demon drew the bonds around the canine's hands and paws drew further apart, splaying him out fully. The confused dog was being stretched tightly into a large 'X'. Darkness gathered at the canid's waist as the eyeball camera pulled in close. "It is absolutely vital you don't move an inch."

"Wait, what? Aren't you letting me down? I really gotta pee right now." While this hadn't been exactly true a moment ago, sudden fear made the slight pressure in Hermes' bladder more apparent.

Black tendrils twined around Hermes' sheath, drawing it down to expose the tip of his penis. A slender flexible probe quested around, seeking the entrance. He couldn't tilt his head down far enough to clearly see what was happening, so he focussed on the view-screen instead. The eyeball camera moved to within a few inches of his groin - the entire display was filled with an image of the rounded tip of the probe push into the opening of his urethra.

Hermes would have jumped, if the tight bonds at his extremities and around his waist and allowed it. Instead he drew in a sharp breath through his teeth at the intimate invasion. On screen the probe pushed an inch deeper and Hermes felt it sliding into his urethra.

"Ow-ow-ow. Hurting. Hurting. Not good. Not good! Ow!" Hermes' teeth clenched hard and his breathing was gasps.

"Stop wriggling! You're moving." The demon sounded frustrated. "Look, this isn't easy, you know. It's my first time. This probe isn't actually flexible. It's a rigid ceramic-magnesium composite. My absolute molecular control makes it act like a flexible tube. If I screw this up it could rip your cock right off. So... Stop. Moving."

Hermes swallowed. With a huge effort of will he tried to keep his body absolutely motionless. A scraping pain inside his penis made him wince. He stared at the view-screen in fascinated horror, not daring to look away.

"Oh for fucks sake. I cant see what I'm doing. The tactile feedback of the probe just isn't good enough." The demon was starting to sound angry. Really, no-one wants an angry demon poking a deadly probe into their cock. "Okay, let's try this..."

Amazingly the penis on the screen was fading to transparency. The dark probe was becoming visible inside the pink flesh. No, thought Hermes, it wasn't transparency - more like a medical scan. The penis on the screen looked like a layered diagram - the probe slipped along the tube of the urethra below the penis bone. Pain receded into an odd-but-not-unpleasant internal rubbing. Hermes was afraid to look down, fearing to see his flesh flayed away. With relief he saw his penis was fine. Well, fine with a black probe being inserted. Nearby, the eyeball camera's cornea had changed from blue to red. It retreated a fraction to widen the view.

"Atomic resonance imaging. Very important to know what's inside a warhead when you're ripping it apart in chunks. This'll make things much easier." Kewt sounded smug. "Now... don't move. And whatever happens do not get a hardon."

Visions in his mind of the tentacles ripping armoured warheads into chunks - the same tentacles which were currently holding and probing his cock - assured Hermes he'd not be aroused any time soon. He stared transfixed at the display.

"Hmm... I can improve the differentiation of the scan a fraction with additional lower frequency pulses..." the demon was muttering to itself.

The probe started humming. His urethra tingled around the vibrating rod. The tube was deep - the diagram showed it curving around and up past his rectum. The tingling was intensifying, becoming stimulating. Hermes cock twitched.

"Hey, I said don't get a hardon. This is delicate work." A grumbling voice.

"Hnnnngggg..." Hermes squeezed his eyes shut and visualized warheads. Long, hard warheads. No, not that! Swamp. Mud. Slime. Slugs tingling in his... NO! His old mother. His father, tired and sitting in the lounge, watching sex shows and jerking off to... "Urrrrrkkkk..." His cock jumped, thickening.

A voice growled, "You're not making this easy." The tingling pushed deeper, around the curve of Hermes urethra toward his prostate. Intense tingling pressed into his prostate gland, and held there.

A knot of powerful humming vibration inside him - the stimulation was profound and incredibly intimate. Hermes felt jolts of pleasure buzzing along his entire urethra. His cock swelled to its full length around the humming probe.

"This is getting really hard, you know." Did the demon know what he was saying? "Damn, there are two tubes here. Are there supposed to be two tubes? Oh, your prostate is really pumping out fluid now. Remember how I said your getting aroused was a bad thing to do?" demonic muttering, "Give me a moment - I can do this..."

Hermes' eyes watered staring at the expanding view of his internal organs on the viewer. The tip of the probe was stationary right inside his prostate gland. He whimpered - the acute pleasure was building. Despite gritting his teeth and biting his tongue Hermes' penis was throbbing in time with his heartbeat. The swollen knot stretched his sheath. His pelvic muscles involuntarily clenched making his cock bob and jump.

"You do know it's only my incredible skill keeping this tube flexing with your cock, right?" The demon grumped, "Okay, sorted it now. The outer tube goes to your balls, this inner path goes to your bladder."

The nails of Hermes' fingers dug into his palms with the stress of trying to avoid humping his hips. He was gonna cum - it was too much. Internally he felt the tip of the probe questing forward, but its vibrating body was resonating against his prostate. The ball of pleasure expanded in his midriff. Hermes closed his eyes and drew a deep breath in anticipation of the approaching burst of orgasm.

Suddenly the desire to cum vanished, replaced with an overwhelming urge to pee. Hermes grunted in frustration. He'd been a mere moment away from ejaculation, but the imperative to urinate was suddenly consuming him. His eyes flicked back to the viewer to see the tip of the probe forcing its way past the sphincter-seal of his bladder. The vibrations stopped.

"Gotcha!" Kewt sounded pleased. "We now return to your scheduled video stream."

The camera's eye faded to blue as it drew further away. Two hundred billion viewers (apparently) could see the spread canine stretched to a large 'X'. A black tube was plugged into the end of the canine's cock which was hard in the bulging sheath. The tube divided - another tube growing toward the panting canine's muzzle. The end poked against the clenched teeth.

"Nnn-nnh." Hermes turned his head.

"Oh don't be childish. See, you're thirsty and you need to pee - this solves both problems. I'm not letting you down, so this is the only solution." The demons voice dropped lower. "Every time you refuse - every drop of urine that falls to the floor - the probe in your urethra increases in thickness."

Hermes gasped - suddenly his cock felt full, stretched. The probe had expanded, pressuring him in odd places. Resigned, he opened his jaws to the end of the hose. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad; there was a reality vid show of a bear-morph - what was his name... Grizzly Grylls: Morph vs Wild. That was it. He was always drinking his own pee. He said it was safe...

The tube faded to translucency so everyone would have a great view of the peristaltic bulges sucking the urine from his bladder. The bulges travelled up the tube to Hermes' mouth. Warm piss flowed over his tongue. Grimacing, Hermes swallowed.

Actually it wasn't too bad. The taste wasn't that different to the nutritional whatsit his kitchen summoned this morning at breakfast. He drank it down with the same resignation he had at breakfast. He could feel his bladder emptying even as his thirst was slaked. It was only a few mouthfuls anyway.

"Good boy. That's the pioneer spirit." The demon chuckled. The tubes snaked out of Hermes' body. "Just think of all the games you and I can play together today. You're not hungry are you?"

"No! Hell no!" Hermes gulped. "Had a huge breakfast, couldn't eat a morsel." His betraying stomach rumbled. "Honestly, totally not hungry."

"Oh well," the demon's voice deepened, "I have centuries to discover the things that make you whimper." Quotes from that ancient and unhappy vid again. This monster seemed to love his melodrama.

Chapter 5

If only Hermes could press that goddamned green 'Reboot' button! Tauntingly close, yet completely unreachable. He sighed.

The quavering voice from the scanner-pad at the foot of the altar wittered on, oblivious, "...You're lucky - I cant drink through straws. It leaves me feeling bloated. (Oh god, she'd watched). Do you have someone there with you? I keep hearing another voice. You should introduce me to your friend. Hermes you need to settle down, find someone to marry. Your father and I don't mind if it's a boy. Not at all. Mind you we'd both be terribly disappointed not to have grand-pups. But they say modern technology lets gay couples have babies too. Really dear, we just want you to be happy..."

He tried to shut the voice out of his head while his thoughts cast around. 'Reboot'... The demon had said something earlier. The word rattled around in Hermes' mind, looking for something to attach to. Something about a 'Restart'... What was it now? Oh, the slug video. Maybe... just maybe... But taunting an insane military AI which manifested as a powerful demon could be slightly dangerous.

Hermes gulped against the bitterness in his mouth. His cock had softened to take refuge in his sheath. "Well, that orgasm you gave me earlier wasn't especially good."

"WHAAAT?" the demon roared. Midnight gathered in a viscous cloud behind Hermes. "What do you mean it wasn't good? You orgasmed. It felt good to me!"

"Oh, sure, my cock squirted. But it wasn't especially satisfying. Nowhere near as good as the slugs." Hermes struggled to keep his voice from quivering in fear. "Imagine that - mindless boogers better at sex than the supposed tentacle god."

The air grew hot. Malevolent incandescent eyes seared Hermes. The demon glared angrily down. Dank vapours boiled and churned. "You should be careful with your words." The voice dropped in pitch, becoming menacing. Black, oily tentacles slithered to surround the vulnerable canine. "You and I are explorers... in the further regions of experience. Demons to some, angels to others..."

"You say that..." Gods, that melodrama! "But do you honestly think you can give me a better orgasm than the slime-balls could?" Hermes didn't want to be molested by the demon again. But for this to work he was going to have to completely submit to the sex. "Do your worst!"

"Very well." The voice suddenly cold.

Tendrils seethed up around his body, stroking, caressing. They were warm satin, sleek, gentle. Fingers massaged into his back to soothe his stretched muscles. The tips became rigid claws, drawn down his spine. Not pain, but deep massage. His bonds relaxed enough to allow Hermes to arch his back into the strong manipulations. Oh that was good - his fatigued arm and back muscles savoured their relief.

"Mmmm... that's good. But really, back-massage? What is this, our first date?" It really did feel good - the strain of being shacked for over an hour had left Hermes' arms aching.

The demon's growl was rocks being ground to powder in the pits of Hades.

Squirming masses of tendrils pawed at his scrotum. Feather-light touches - thousands of them - tingled over the hairless skin. Touches simultaneously ran across the flesh toward his anus and up over his sheath. Hermes lifted his tail to give the delicate probes access to his butt-hole. This really did feel good.

Kewt burbled menacingly, "I see you are succumbing to my evil will."

The eyeball camera again drew close to the canine. The screen filled with writhing shapes brushing over the dog's sheath. It turned to watch the approach of a large fleshy appendage. The end of the thick tentacle flowed and moulded itself. A swollen 'Y'-shaped opening began to form. It glistened pinkly. Hermes started at the viewer - that looked just like the vulva of a canine bitch. The vulva of an in-season bitch. It was puffy, protruding slightly. He'd never actually had sex with a female anything - canid or human, in-season or out. The closest he'd been to sex with another living partner had been, well, slugs.

Tendrils around his sheath drew the skin back slowly. By inches, wet flesh of his penis was exposed to the unblinking camera. His rigid cock pierced the centre of the vulva tentacle. As his length was swallowed, Hermes felt heat surround his length. This was hotter than his own flesh - much hotter. Certainly a higher temperature than any canid's body. It felt magnificent. The satin interior of the sleeve was ribbed and textured. His swelling cock felt momentary resistance as though breaking through or tearing... dear god, it was a virgin vagina. Then hot velvet was surrounding him - from the tip of his cock to the base where his sheath was bunched. The vulva clenched, kissing the root of his cock. Hermes gasped, wondering if a real bitch would feel this good. His shaft thickened inside its warm sleeve.

The tentacle drew backward slowly, slipping deliciously along his cock. The air momentarily felt cool on his flesh. Then the vulva thrust forward. It barely paused before pulling back and forth in a regular rhythm. Near the base of his penis his knot was growing. Each time the vulva slid along his length it would have to stretch a little more to surmount his knot. The camera watched the 'Y' of the vulva lips stretch obscenely to accommodate the dog's baseball-sized knot. Hermes felt the tension building in his abdomen. Earlier the vibrating probe against his prostate had brought him so close to orgasm then left him frustrated. This vagina stroking his cock was building him up again to a strong orgasm. Already he was squirting precum into the hot flesh. His knot had become too big for the vulva - the tentacle bulged hugely over the swelling. Unable to draw back, the tentacle was tugging on his cock. The pressure felt how being tied with a bitch would feel - lodged in her depths while he filled her with semen. Hermes gasped. His balls drew up in preparation for squirting their load.

'Pop' - the tentacles at his groin vanished. All of them. The vulva, the ticking feathers at his anus and balls, all the tendrils were gone. On the view-screen the canine cock bobbed, naked in the cool air. Angry purple-and-red veins webbed the shaft and knot. Completely free of sexual stimulation, it bounced and spat a sliver of pre-cum.

"Jesus Christ..." He was very close to cumming - if he could just touch his cock, he'd shoot all over the floor. But of course the shackles at his arms and legs meant he couldn't move. Desperately the canine humped his hips, hoping for anything to push him to release.

"Nah!" something pinched his buttock, hard. "No cumming until I say so." The demon voice taunted.

Frustrated, the canine's swollen cock jumped and bobbed in the air. With its knot still hard, it was impossible for the sheath to hide it away. The view on the display expanded to show the suspended canine, his angry red cock bouncing in the air while he futilely humped his hips. Behind the canine another long black tentacle was forming. It grew as thick as a wrist, with a tapered end. The tentacle slithered upward out of the morass and quested toward the exposed anus of the canine.

Hermes raised his tail higher. He needed sexual stimulation. He watched on the display and simultaneously felt the moment the tip of the rubbery appendage prodded his sphincter. It pushed forward, rapidly opening him out. Its surface felt very slick - one of Kewt's frictionless tentacles. But it was huge - bigger than he remembered any of the slugs being. He gasped through clenched teeth, trying to relax his sphincter as much as possible. Five inches of black rubber slid into him. Now the taper was gone and the tentacle was at its widest. Hermes' skin flushed hotly - it was too much, it was too much. But it pressed against his prostate hard.

As the camera was behind him, it couldn't see how the canid's cock suddenly throbbed, or how the arc of prostate fluid splashed onto the altar. Hermes marvelled at the view of his straining flesh around the thick tentacle - he didn't notice the eye of the camera shift toward red.

People across the galaxy could now see the dark mass of the tentacle wriggling into Hermes. Inch-by-inch it squirmed deeper into his bowels. Hermes drifted in pleasure, no longer even aware of the display screen - he was lost in the strange sensations invading him. Twelve inches of blackness snaked into his body, curling around the bends of his lower intestine. As it wriggled ever deeper the tentacle occasionally pressed hard against Hermes' prostate. It made his cock jump and squirt, keeping him on the edge of orgasm.

A full metre - over three feet of tentacle - undulated its way to curl along his lower intestine. Hermes felt stretched, full and bulging. He supposed he was glad the Transloc had vacuumed out his bowels, ready for prime-time public viewing.

Then the tentacle started to vibrate. Softly at first - just a quiet hum. It was an unusual sensation - Hermes' entire abdomen felt like it was vibrating from the inside. His cock throbbed, still exposed and swollen. The vibration increased - the whole length of tentacle inside him was buzzing.

Hermes moaned. The sensation was incredible. His entire lower body was being stimulated. But especially his prostate - the tentacle rhythmically pressed the vibrating mass against him. The tingling vibrations grew to an urgent pressure in his balls. Oh god, the demon was going to make him cum just from anal stimulation. Hermes didn't even know that was possible.

A bulge the size of Hermes knot formed in the tentacle near the floor. It travelled up toward the stretched ring of Hermes' sphincter. His eyes flew open and he watched with horror as the bulge pressed against his straining flesh. Surely it was too big, his arse was already stretched to the limit. Hermes gasped, then cried out at the sharp pain of the bulge forcing past the constriction. Then it was inside him and the sensation of it pressing vibrations hard against his prostate changed pain to sharp pleasure. His cock leaked fluid in a stream. So did his eyes.

"You really ought to relax more. You haven't been damaged, nothing is broken." The demon's voice rumbled through the room. "If I were a real tentacle-monster, this is where I'd be laying my eggs inside you." The voice sighed almost wistfully. "But alas, I cant detach any mass from my tentacles. We just have to play pretend."

Several more bulges travelled from the floor and up the tentacle. Hermes forced himself to relax his sphincter, desperate to allow the bulges as little impediment as possible. The second one slipped into his rectum without the sharp pain. Then there was the sudden intense vibration of it pressing against his prostate. The third one slipped in and just as it was pressing against his prostate, the forth one stretched his anus and slipped inside him. The tension of sexual release was building in him again. For a moment the pain of the first bulge had edged him away from orgasm. But now the constant stretching and relaxing of his arsehole, with the intensifying and receding vibrations against his prostate made his cock ache for release. Hermes mouth fell open slackly and his tongue hung out the side. He panted. Momentarily curious he wondered what happened to the bulges when they reached the end of the tentacle so deep inside him. The viewer showed the bulge just shrank away. He was almost disappointed - perhaps being filled with a clutch of monster eggs would have felt fantastic.

The stimulation was too much - Hermes' insides were being massaged and vibrated in an incredible way. The twinges of encroaching orgasm made his balls twitch. His cock throbbed - it was aching for release. He'd never been kept so hard for so long. He moaned a long sound. Finally he was to get to orgasm - and just from the intense anal stimulation.

And suddenly the vibrating stopped. The bulges halted their progress, deflating. The sudden loss of stimulation was itself almost enough to push Hermes over the edge. His cock throbbed and bounced, and even a little semen drooled from the end. The puddle on the stones was growing large.

He screamed in frustration, "No! Gods, please! Let me cum!"

Demonic laughter filled the hall. "Not yet, my pretty young thing. Not quite yet."

Hermes was almost crying in frustration. His cock ached and his balls ached. No matter how he thrust his hips forward and side to side, the demon's skill at manoeuvring the tentacle to avoid giving any more stimulation defeated him.

The camera pulled back again, eyeball fading to blue. All the galacy watched the dangling canid begging to be allowed to cum. He was sobbing with desperation.

The artificial vagina slithered up out of the mists. The puffy lips folded around the tip of Hermes' cock. His shaft was so swollen the vagina's lips stretched into an 'O'. Just as the lips kissed against the start of his knot, bulges became visible in Hermes' abdomen. In his bowels the tentacle had swollen into a long chain of blobs. The intrusions bulged his stomach visibly. They began to hum, then vibrate, then buzz in his depths.

At his knot, the vagina was too tight to surmount the swelling. It pressed forward, but couldn't stretch around the huge canine bulb. Hermes whimpered - he needed to bury his cock in that hot bitch. Rational thought was becoming difficult as he was consumed with the need to fuck. Hermes pulled his hips back, then thrust forward, hard. For a moment the lips of the vagina resisted. Then he felt something tear - the lips parted and slid around his knot. Hot velvet enveloped his cock. As he thrust forward, the first of the bulges slipped out of his anus. Hermes gasped at the electric burst of pleasure from both his cock and rectum. For maximum viewing pleasure the tentacle surrounding his cock faded to translucency. Every twitch and throb of his cock in its depths was relayed to the watching audience.

He strained his arms against their restraints - he needed to grab the bitch's hips and haul her backward onto his cock as he fucked. No, there was no bitch there, just enveloping warmth. He pulled his own hips back. The torn vulva peeled back over his knot, stroking his length. He thrust forward. Another of the blobs slipped free of his arsehole. Simultaneous jolts of pleasure arced from his cock to his arse. Now he was thrusting his hips back and forward in a frenzy. The lips of the bitch's vulva stroked over his knot while blobs of the tentacle in his butt slipped free.

The pressure in his balls grew to pain. The need for sexual release consumed his mind. Hermes was desperate. As each blob slipped free of his butt-hole, the twinges of approaching orgasm grew stronger in the pit of his stomach. His hips hammered back and forth to fuck the sleeve over his cock. Precum squirted freely into the transparent depths.

Just at that moment where orgasm was inevitable, two giant clawed hands grabbed his body, immobilizing him. Hermes teetered, right on the edge of orgasm. His cock twitched, white cum dribbled from the end but not quite in full release. His rectum squeezed convulsively, clenching around the invading tentacle. But he couldn't move - just couldn't quite push himself over the edge.

Instead of letting the orgasm retreat, every so often the tentacle in his rectum would hum for a moment, the sleeve over his cock would undulate for a second.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." over and over, senseless pleading. Hermes begged the monster, "Please, oh please, oh please..."

The demon was savouring this. Its own internal pleasure circuit smoked and crackled in its processing core. This was so much better than watching a vid stream. Being in control, making his victim beg for release. He tweaked the undulations of the sleeve over the begging dog's cock, keeping it the merest fraction from orgasm.

For a drawn-out moment, Hermes was suspended there - right at the very edge of the release he so desperately craved. Tears were streaming down his face and his breath was sobbing gasps.

"Well... okay then." The demon released him.

Hermes thrust his hips forward, pushing his cock as deep into the vagina as possible. At the same moment every remaining bulge slithered from his arse. The whole tentacle pulled free and fell away. The sleeve on his cock sealed tightly behind his knot keeping him locked at full penetration. Its translucent surface rippled back and forth - the ripples milked Hermes cock. The flesh became hotter and began to vibrate.

The camera moved in for the close-up - the money-shot. Hermes drew in a mighty breath as the twangs of orgasm clenched his balls. He roared in bliss at release. Inside the translucent vagina, his cock throbbed and squirted white cum. Pleasure flowed in waves from his balls and cock. His buttocks clenched and flexed, trying help his cock squeeze more semen into the hot bitch.

Hermes was lost, all thought was gone, focussed instead at the pleasure of the suckling flesh.

He didn't notice the candles had stopped flickering. He wasn't aware all the tendrils over his body had paused. He didn't even notice when the sleeve over his cock stopped suckling. It remained tightly squeezed around his cock, but inactive. The bliss of release kept him from seeing the status message on the front of the altar flicker, fold in on itself, and vanish. He was held in ecstasy, squirting his semen into the - now inert - bitch. The main display, however, was still working just fine. The eyeball camera was focussed on the transparent sleeve over his cock, relaying every pulse and splash.

Chapter 6

As the exhausted canine became aware of his surroundings, his eyes were drawn for a moment to the simple text message on the front of the altar: "System overloaded. Shutdown initiated. Restarting..."

Could he have succeeded? He struggled for a moment against his bonds. Nope, still held tight. The wriggling tugged his captured knot against the motionless vagina. A burst of pleasure made his cock squirt a volley of cum and he was lost again. The tight sleeve was unyielding - there was no room for the milky fluid. Liquid squeezed around his knot to escape through the lips of the vulva. Cum ran down his balls and drooled to the puddle on the floor.

A single digital 'beep' drew him back from waves of pleasure. On the front of the altar the legend: 'Self-Test complete. Loading Operating system...' then 'Applying updates. 1 of 10,263...' Oh for fucks sake...

The only sound in the chamber was the querulous voice of his mother: "...and now your father has made a mess all over the carpet. Honestly, that man. Who does he think keeps this house clean? Not him, that's for sure. Who keeps your house clean, Hermes? I suppose you have one of those modern automated houses. Why do you keep it so dreary and dark there? Natural light, that's what you need. Your coat isn't shiny. Oh darling, have you got your knot stuck in something? Really, ever since you were a pup you've been poking things. A cold shower - that'll get you sorted. Your dad does that sometimes too. He got stuck in a milk-bottle last week..." and on, and on.

For twenty minutes Hermes hung there with his knot locked into the rigid tube. The tentacle was cooling rapidly. Cold semen squeezed out of the opening to dribble unpleasantly over his balls.

A melodious tone at the altar announced the updates had all been successfully applied. 'Initializing Daemons...'

"Oooohhh... My head..." A deep voice rumbled. "Gods, I think I orgasmed my brains out." The dark clouds began to roil and gather again. Candles on the altar flickered with the slight breeze.

Oh hell.

"Honestly, it was almost literally enough to fry my CPU." Dark mists drew back to reveal the two glowing eyes. "Oh that was very good. I hope it was good for you too. We're going to have to try that again, right now."

The sleeve around his cock began to warm. Several giant, fleshy tentacles slithered out of the murk toward the suspended canine. Hermes squeaked.

'Daemons Initialized. Executing SelfDestruct001.exe...' The display on the altar flashed.

The ceiling boiled away, flooding the room with startling brightness. The day outside was overcast and dim, but compared to the gloom of the demon's temple the brightness hurt Hermes' eyes.

"Hey! What's happening?" The deep voice sounded confused. "I can feel myself being dissipated!" Panic seeped into the words.

The giant display began to dissolve from the top down. Hermes noticed the final count of viewers before it boiled away: 'Viewership count: Everybody'

The walls shivered and dissolved into mist. The altar vanished with a 'pop' - the Datax clattered to the stonework beside the scanner-pad. "What have you done? It's a very bad idea to anger a god!" The bindings at Hermes wrists and legs began to pull painfully. "I'll tear your soul apart!"

And then the ropes became insubstantial, losing their grip on his limbs. Hermes dropped to the flagstones, then through to the softer ground beneath. The roar of the demon raised in pitch to become a shriek, then it too drifted away like mist. The two glowing yellow eyes were the last to fade away.

Hermes rested on his hands and knees for a moment. He had to reach down to help his sore penis retract into his sheath. His balls ached. His arsehole ached. His cock was sore. He was naked.

A baleful blue eye was staring up at him out of the mud. Hermes crushed it with a rock.

"... well your father says the telly is on the blink again. He says it was the best sex show he'd seen and from the mess he's made all over the lounge he probably means it. That man... But it's nice to see you've opened the curtains and let some natural light into your house, Hermes. It's good for you. Well, I'd better go. Your father will be getting all angried up about the telly. It really was great to chat with you - you should phone your mother more often. But darling, please do remember to dress next time. You're not a child anymore." And she broke the connection.

Hermes crawled to the scanner-pad. His mail client flashed for attention: "You have: 2,849,742 new messages. 1 critical priority message."

He jabbed at the critical priority message with a muddy finger. A fatherly voice spoke: "Well done, Employee 4937118gdm. We received confirmation of the dissolution of the satellite just a moment ago. You've performed a valuable service to your company. Be proud."

Hermes sighed. The message continued: "Unfortunately with the interruption of OuterNet processing capabilities, we'll be unable to Transloc you (Transloc: Faster than a Jet-Ranger. Get there now!) back to your home."

"What? I have no travel-pad! How the hell am I supposed to get home!" Hermes shouted impotently at the scanner-pad. He shook it.

The voice carried on: "However we can still utilize the fabricator projection to supply you with alternative means. Please step a minimum of five metres away from the previous location of the satellite impact point."

Hermes scrambled backward through the mud away from the crater. A bright beam lanced down through the clouds. The radiance blinded Hermes and he covered his eyes with his hands.

When the light faded, he blinked away the purple after-images.

In the centre of the steaming crater gleamed a sleek new Jet-Ranger ("Travel in style, travel in safety. Travel fast! with a Jet-Ranger") air-car. It was shiny - all silver and glass and flowing lines. With a gentle hiss the canopy opened. Gods, he hoped he was allowed to keep it.

Hermes was going to soar above the clouds. Free.

Without any pants.

Fin.