To The Bottom of The Rabbit Hole [Eteru/Richard]

In some ways, it was a good thing that Link Hearthsong was already a philosophical, abstract thinker. For it helped him process the cold, grim truth that society is too blissfully ignorant to see. He reasoned that it was okay things were ‘fake’, Fakeness has no inherent value that defines whether it’s good or bad. Something fake can have as much meaning as something real. Perhaps even greater. In that light it was worth protecting that dreamlike illusion.

At times it surprised him just how much the PTI Foundation was able to hold wool over the populace's eyes. Concepts such as ‘Death’ weren't in their lexicon. ‘Blood’ is referred to as ‘Red Water’. Link learned that one of the events surrounding AGS was the ΩK-Class ("End-of-Death") Scenario where immortality was forced upon all sentient life, without any other biological change. They stop aging between 25-30. Since then, the Foundation maintained strict population control.

In hindsight he never really gave much thought of how old the people around him can be. Or how their population keeps itself so stable. It made him shudder when he learned that babies are only born to replace those who have actually died. The ‘how’ was the horrifying part. All those little ‘baby booms’ were in fact loose Keter-class PTIs that rampaged through the countryside. Leaving a burning swath through towns and cities. The millions that are born are the same number that died.

To think that he and his sisters were only born because someone died by either a hostile PTI, caught in the crossfire of Groups of Interest, enlisted as D-Class personnel by the PTI and met a tragic end in an experiment, or became an unwitting sacrifice by a GoI. Who knows what other horror consumes the unsuspecting dreamer so that life may spring anew.

His thoughts clung to the faces of his dearest sisters. Safe to say that he was quite a family stallion. They remain the reason why he does the things that he does. Only now with a greater sense of importance. As long as he breathes, they shall live days full of sunlight. There was anxiety now, an emotion he never felt before. An emotion he wasn’t meant to feel.

By comprehending the gravity of death. He realized that he and his sisters could die. No wonder it is said that in the forgotten days, when death was still their omnipresent companion. The brain protects itself, subconsciously dissociating from the fact that they could die by making them feel like it’s something that happens to other people. Not themselves.

The desire to not lose his sisters and for him to not die, not to mention the fear of being forgotten by them, is what motivates him in going out at night to become one of the Foundation agents. It surprises him at times with how generous they are with him. After learning about them, he would have figured someone like him would have been placed under close attention. The chilling realization dawned on them that they didn’t need to, for the whole world was contained. Every aspect of their life is monitored.

He placed a hand on his chest. Feeling the rhythmic beat of his heart that will never cease. Thinking back to what was said about him. How he had an ‘Akashic Soul’. What that means he does not know, hasn't progressed far enough in his training to learn more.

Looking down the sidewalk he was walking upon, he took note of how peaceful it was. How calm. He could see fillies and colts playing out on the street. There was no danger in doing so. Civilian transportation was nonexistent. If people wanted to get around they would have to walk, cycle, or take public transit. He considered that a good thing now that he knew what it was like back then. So much noise and pollution.

Thinking back to his sisters again, he pondered upon their futures. The youngest child was Lily, a 9-year old filly who was heading into her final elementary year in the fall. The second youngest, 12-year old filly Mesa is still the loving genius that they all know her as. She is such a prodigy that she graduated early on. Now she helps tutor her sisters that are still schooling. Next up were the twins, both 14-years old. Stola and Mana. Both were now in High School. Then lastly the fifth youngest, 16-year old Blue Sea.

His oldest sisters were truthfully, which he’ll never say out loud, more special to him than the youngest. Which is to be expected, sure, but sometimes he felt a bit guilty about feeling biased. That said, he really loved his sisters. Like really, really love them. In ways that are considered taboo. Now, it’s not taboo because of health issues as recorded in the age before AGS, but rather because it’s ripe for abuse due to the power dynamic. In other people's eyes, they won’t see what he feels toward his sisters as genuine love because they have a back door to his psyche.

Nonetheless, this was how he felt and no one is going to change it. The first that has his heart is 21-year old Glynn Jr. Who is currently enrolled at Wolverine University. One that he’s going to next year. After her there is 22-year old Swan. She chose to not seek higher education, preferring to build her career on the internet. Currently she’s doing freelance voice acting for an adult animated cartoon on MooTube. The third eldest sibling is 23-year old Luna, a very talented musician. She’s currently working on her musical career on her MooTube channel along with her marefriend Jam Sharp. Fourth eldest is 24-year old Penny, who recently came home after finishing her classes at Wolverine University. Lastly, the oldest of them all, 25-year old Glory. She recently got over her breakup with her high school sweetheart a year or so ago. After which she immediately moved back in.

Despite them all growing up, he was happy how four of his big sisters were still home. It was especially neat when their parents moved out to have a place of their own, leaving them in charge of the house they were born and raised in.

Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. See, it was bad already when puberty struck him like a train. Making him realize how hot they were whenever they walked around in panties or worse yet, their wonderful bodies wrapped in a towel. Now that he’s older and they are all adults. That arousal is a hundred times worse. To think he’s actually glad for the agent training so he can vent out all this pent of energy.

To add on to this. He’s very much aware that they have some manner of feelings toward him as well. As if he could be oblivious to such obvious flirting and the like. When they were younger they had him do a ‘little test’ to see if he could know them intimately even when blindfolded. How they tested this was making him feel up their respective chest. He flew with passing colors by the way. Point being, the subject was an elephant in the room that no one felt like pointing it out yet. Whether it may be out of uncertainty or fear in disturbing the current family dynamic. After all, they still have their young sisters to think about.

It’s this knowledge that there is something more between them that makes it all the more significant that he strives to protect them. At the moment, his training so far was being taught about the basics of the Foundation. Which is a lot more than it sounds. Since he has to learn and understand the systems, codes, protocols, procedures, and you name it. The experience so far really made him both terrified and awestruck of how complicated the structure of the Foundation is. Yet all interact with one another as if they were seamless cogs.

The Mobile Task Force he was being prepped to get to know was MTF Alpha-32 “Last Call”. One of the few Mobile Task Forces explicitly intended to train and utilize humanoid PTI objects in the field. In two-years time he’ll be working and fighting alongside them out in the field. Till then he was to form a connection with them for plenty of beneficial reasons. So far he learned that they were quite popular. So much so that even groups like the Apostasy of Dis shake in their boots when they hear that “Last Call” is in the area. They were typically sent out to undertake missions that called for evacuation and/or termination.

Link shuddered at that last thought. Not wanting to think about the time where he has to snuff out a life just yet. Instead he continued to walk down the sidewalk. If anything, knowing the truth makes him appreciate just how serene everything is. How safe for serious crime was rare. To the public, there were no such thing as murderers and rapists. Not in that they never happen, but that the Foundation makes them forget about them and the crime. It was scary with how well the Foundation can scrub black stains off of society.

In the ruins of an old and abandoned church, a place of reverence to a machine god that now lay broken, was a figure that was very alien to the world that was now around them. A large serpentine body, that of a large snake with humanoid characteristics, if a native of this world had stumbled upon him they would think he was some sort of giant snake with arms. They lay motionless, bereft of consciousness, while their warm body slowly started to feel the harsh and bitter bite of the cold while rain water pooled around them. Soon enough this bitter cold started to rouse them, their mind returning slowly yet with sharp disagreement to it.

The alien groaned, hissing his foreign tongues as they curled their body inwards, proserving what heat they had as a single silvery eye cracked open to look at their very foreign and unwelcome surroundings. They could see aged wooden pews, destroyed stained glass windows and devastated stonework all around them, they could see a destroyed church. Peering up, they could see that the roof was half caved in, with the rain clouds pouring down upon him from overhead. He gave a grunt and slithered across broken pews and cracked stone before feeling the cold touch of steel beneath him. His gaze turned dowards, looking at broken robots made of odd clockwork and humming faintly of dying magic… Magic he didn’t recognise. It certainly wasn’t anything the Union made…

“The Union..” The Alien said in recollection, their sense of urgency returning as they took shelter deeper into the ruined church. He slithered over to a ruined altar where many more broken robots and tattered books now lay against the rotted wood and scorched carpets. “How… Did I get here?” The alien racked their brain for any memories of what brought them here, coming up with nothing but flashes of pain and delirium before waking up in the cold.

So instead he focused on himself. “I… Am Suujo.” He remembers more. He was a Brayr. One of a very few males to his kind, the Zamour. A race of uplifted Zerg that were given a second chance within the Nebula, within the Union. He was but a nameless puppet during the war that raged across Duxton. Then he was given a choice, to change or to perish. And he was glad he was not too stubborn to make the change. Suujo assessed himself for any injuries, looking across his forest green scales, speckled with black patterns. He could find nothing but bruises and scuffs. He let out a shaken sigh before he turns his attention to looking through this ruined place.

The scaled Brayr sifts through broken bots, tattered tomes and scattered scrawlings to find his answers, fearing for the worst that he was somewhere hostile to him. Or worse, some gods forsaken deathworld. If the worst came to worst, he could attempt to piece something together from the scraps here, or find enough biomass from whatever he could find to create a desperate attempt at a Psionic amplifier to call for help offworld. First things first… He read what he could, literally. It was all written in a foriegn language he didn’t understand and unfortunately he didn’t fall through whatever brought him here with his personal comms device fit with a translation program. Most of what he had were guesses, educated ones sure… But ultimately guesses. This church belonged to a machine cult of some sort that believed in a machine god. One that was at one point very real. They raised an army, clearly, but something beat them…

Suujo had access to plenty of pictures, old ones though… The population of this planet was some sort of bipedal Equine… Whose female population all seemed to have juicy curves that even a Ultarian would be jealous of.

“Focus…” He said unsuccessfully as he massaged his temple, almost pleading with his own survival instinct, Silvery eyes flickering with Psionic inflections of manifesting worry, of fear. He did not want to be alone. He didn’t want to die as some sort of lab experiment on some backwater world without space travel. He felt the dark desire to build a hatchery, to once again forge a new brood to protect himself… Did he have any choice not to? He didn’t know these people. He didn’t know if they were any more advanced than the clockwork automatons whose broken husks were scattered across this desiccated site.

So he came to a decision, a very hormone and instinct driven decision. He needed to secure his own safety. So he will scope out the locals, learn from them and take some of them and charm them into his tender care as ‘assurances’ of his friendly nature if someone of authority catches wind of his existence… He needed biomass, but creating drones and a hatchery may take too long. And he would need alot of biomass… Perhaps he would be lucky enough to come across a farm. He did his best to hide himself after leaving the ruined church and headed into the nearest town under cover of night… With his Psionic prowess it was easy enough to drop the guard of most that caught a glimpse of him, he learned quickly about his surroundings once his prey were feeling more loose lipped and ‘cooperative’.

He would charm several lovely Ponies, and eagerly set about ridding himself of this aggressively persistent survival instinct that screamed for copulation, each whine and moan of their as he held onto their colourful fur and spread his warmth into their amazing flesh chipped away at the frosty chill of fear that had gripped him so violently. And once he was done, he made sure his prey was comfortable… The Church wasn’t idle, especially in its current state, but it would serve his needs since it appeared like no one cared to investigate it after whatever happened so long ago. Luckily for him there was a basement that was largely unscathed, he just had to make his lovely pawns bring some comfy articles of furniture while he fashioned the rotted wood, twisting it and forcing its lifeless form to regrow and form new furniture and even form a large bed frame where he and his lovely pawns can destress, and he can listen to them as they tell him all about the loathsome and troubling aspects of their lives. He may as well help them in some small way, since they are doing him a tremendous service.

Suujo was currently in a good location all things considered. The church itself was completely retaken by the environment. It was on the outskirts of an equally abandoned Great Lakes City. People likely haven’t inhabited the city for decades. However he would be able to sense life lurking in the city. Life that his senses would tell him to keep a distance from until he learns more about the world around him.

It would have been smart if he took advantage of the train that he spotted nearby. Cutting across the outskirt of the region as it rolled towards the Lower Peninsula of the Great Lakes. Using it to take him to settlements far away will be good targets to snipe biomass from. After all, it would be safer than just going to the closest town.

Spending five hours on the train would take him to the suburban town of Royal Oaks. Given Suujo is likely to have a good understanding of technology, he would have been able to detect all manner of surveillance technology that seem to be practically everywhere. It would have been a challenge to stick to the blind spots as much as possible.

It took work, but he eventually plucked lovely mares to take him back to the church. They were utterly defenseless against the depraved lust of the Zamour. Even though he did succeed in blasting away their mental shackles through intense mating sessions. He came to his first road clock. They had genetic blockers to prevent them from getting pregnant. He would learn that they would normally go to a facility to ask if they could get pregnant. They would then be given a shot that makes them temporarily fertile.

For Suujo, who came from a civilization and race that specialize in all things biological. It was no doubt child play to pin them against all matter of surfaces and make their soft bodies have no other choice but to bear his young. The safety of his genetic heritage was secured for the time being. Now to ensure that they can go unnoticed long term.

Aside from them singing him praise, he would get a good idea of what kind of society he was dealing with. As he would have suspected, they were nothing more than powerless cows on a fenced pasture. Monitored and controlled in all aspects of their everyday life. Frequently brainwashed from a number of sources to maintain their conditioning that began the moment they are born. As such, his newfound broodmares have nothing loathsome and troubling about their lives.

Suujo would realize he’ll need to start finding people who are more well-informed of what’s really going on with Elysium. Just what other secrets could possibly be hiding beneath the seemingly pristine surface? In ways he would feel like he’s out of his depth. But perhaps he’ll find that he’s not alone as he might think.

Back over in Royal Oaks, Link stopped by a comic book store. He stopped amongst the aisles when the realization crashed down on him. The once innocuous comics that he would always pick up and read were riddled with cognitohazards that the Foundation employed to keep the masses in check. Or control them in some way.

Each genre affects the mind in their own way. For Superheroes, what he enjoys, it instills powerful altruistic values in the reader. He was now no longer blind to not see the obvious of what that meant. Regardless he is what he is. Besides, isn’t everyone a product of their upbringing? This was no different to Link.

It may look like he came to wholeheartedly accept who he is. But a part of him acknowledges the plain fact that they were all puppets that the Foundation can use however they see fit. A thought came to the forefront of his mind. His beloved sisters were mere puppets as well. Something about that sits wrong with him. A sense of jealousy that he never felt before. They shouldn’t be in other people's hands like that.

His mind drifts back to the Wayfinder. A strange fellow that he would come to meet every now and then. It turned out that Wayfinder had requested to have a friend, so the Foundation kept an eye out for potential souls that could serve that role. In hindsight it made sense why that wardrobe was so easily accessible.

“A friend?”

The Wayfinder nods. His green cloak bathed in the warm light of the nearby lantern. “It must sound silly, I know.” Even though his voice was smooth like stone in a river. It felt very old. “I’ve been here a long, long time. Sure, I’ve conversed with patrons that you wouldn’t imagine in your wildest of dreams. Made me lose myself countless times in this library. After a while I came… to miss what came before.”

Link tilts his head in mixed confusion and curiosity. “Before? Before what?”

“Elysium.”

The revelation made his eyes grow wide. Just how old was this stallion? From what he knew there wasn’t anypony alive today that lived during at least the Dreaming Decade from 1 to 11 AGS. It was inconceivable to imagine a world before Elysium.

His thoughts were broken by Wayfinder laugh. A tune both amused yet somber. “You really make me feel the years on my shoulders, colt. Not that I fault you. Before you ask, no I’m not going to divulge much. Really I shouldn’t be at all.”

“Are you not allowed to?”

That prompted a more genuine laugh from Wayfinder. “Link, I practically am the Foundation.” He dismissively waved his hand at Link’s surprised face. “Now don’t give me that look. I’m not relevant anymore. That said, I’m happy with how Elysium became. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud of how long it lasted as well despite all their challenges.”

A pause of words fills the space between them. As if Wayfinder was reflecting on things that Link can’t hope to grasp. “Simply put, I want to converse with someone outside of the Foundation.”

That made Link confused. “But aren’t I already inside the Foundation now?”

A ghost of a smugful grin was visible in the dim lighting. “In ways you always have been. But no, you’re not yet a proper personnel. There’s still time for you to forge a path of your own making.” Lifting a flap of his cloak he pulled out an old tome. Placing it between them.

In the soft, amber light of the lantern. The sigil of the Apostasy of Dis was unmistakable.

Before he could speak, Wayfinder spokefirst. “As I said, don’t mistake me. I love the Foundation. I love Elysium. I love that there have been many generations that never felt the blights experienced in the Long Night. It’s just that I came to realize that our society reached a plateau. It became stagnant, wholly unprepared for the new threats that lurk beyond the horizon.”

“What…what’s out there?”

“Tell me, do you believe that the stars up in that night sky are empty?”

The night sky? Sure he stargazed plenty, but never really thought of that. “As in… aliens? They exist?”

Wayfinder gave a nod. “Absolutely. I’ll even show you books about them later. That said, Elysium can’t fend off a serious force. And the Foundation is far too rooted in their dogma to ever deviate much from their mission. That’s why I hope that people like you will one day succeed in making Elysium finally grow.”

“But for now, don’t concern yourself with that. I just want to make you understand that you have the power to choose now.” Wayfinder looked over to him. “This book will show you how to make use of the programming that exists all around you. Tell me, don’t you want to be the one holding the strings that hold up your sisters?”

A new emotion bloom in his chest.

Link stepped outside into the summer heat with a new comic book in hand. Cognitohazard or not, he’s still going to drool over Ace Savvy’s female characters in their wonderful bodysuits. The comic series he’s a fan of is about The Full House Gang, also known as the Full Deck.

He began walking on the sidewalk. Having a strange feeling that something out of the normal is going to happen.

His hideaway in the church was rather well placed once he was able to fully scope out its surroundings, the fact that nature had largely reclaimed it meant that he could will the plantlife to fix the leaky roof and create a more welcoming environment instead of just a cluttered ruin. Of course he was tempted to use the abandoned city that lay near his hideaway, renovating such a space meant that he had plenty of room to expand, but he sensed some strange life forms within the city centre… He could feel his survival instinct screaming at him, telling him that he was not ready to deal with such things until he knew more. So he left the abandoned city alone for the time being. Once he had a hatchery and some disposable forces he may reconsider scoping out the city.

Speaking of Aliens and if they exist. A very real alien was being a sex pest as they rampage their way across the very convenient trainlines between the Lower Peninsula of the Great Lakes. Though said sex pest was only doing what he felt was right to preserve his family line… Wait… ‘Do I even have a family line?’ Was such a thought that bounced around his skull while his lower body was coiled around two of his lovely mares for stability while the rest of his body focussed on pleasuring them while he tinkered with theories on how to overpower such a pesky genetic blocker. Because that was all it was. A pest. A small nuisance in his way. He was a Broodmother in his past life, he weaved life for millions of different and complex lifeforms before his capture. Something along the lines of a slightly more advanced contraceptive was child play. But that aside. He became quickly attached to his first few favourite mares. Which suited him just fine for the time being, since they are to be his broodmares.

The first of his broodmares was a lovely example of wonderful genetics called Honey Pots. An Earthpony with Amber fur, long and silky hazel coloured mane done up into a ponytail (which he found humorous) while her eyes were a rather luxurious shade of yellowy orange, just like honey. She worked with her family running a little sweet shop in Royal Oaks. She had the sweetest voice and an appetite that matched her delicious name. One her new master made use of rigorously as they got to get to know one another as she used that sweet voice to sing her praises of him.

The second was Carina Nova, a rather lovely Unicorn whose fur was an equally lovely golden brown with her short yet curled mane being an icy blue colour. Her eyes were a nice emerald colour that dazzled brilliantly. He loved to gaze into them as they melded, seeing that cool and sturn focus snap like a rope once pleasure overwhelmed her studious senses to only be occupied by thoughts of him was a turn on like little else in the Nebula. She worked in Royal Oaks too, an assistant teacher at a College there.

And lastly but far from the least of the alluring trio of thralls was a Pegasus named Azure Clouds, her fur a gorgeous cream colour with her man being puffy long and coloured black with white streaks. Her eyes are a sharp blue. She worked as a personal fitness instructor, which made her plenty limber which we didn't mind. Watching her expertly show off that limber body of hers was a delight.

He was already pretty lucky to have nabbed such wonderful thralls for his nest, but he needed to know more about the world around him. Sure the three of them are rather instrumental in learning a few things about the world after he did his part to lessen the weight of the ridiculous amount of mental conditioning that was placed on them, it certainly wasn’t a cake walk to undo but there was little else about them underneath it all so he had to compensate some to keep them from breaking down, but he couldn’t entirely rely on their biassed opinion of the world. So he will need to hunt down someone with a less biassed view of their world.

He was always looking out for more that can join his little coven of misfits, he could always use more. After all, how else was he going to liberate all these poor and misguided natives and show them the wider galaxy was such a welcoming place. Sure first of all he had to ensure his safety, but if he were to bring these aliens into the Nebula’s fold… Well… Let's just say that the Zemour have adapted well to the Union and their policy on aliens. They were better off being as comrades than neighbours.

But anyways, he had to make sure that his thralls could get away with going missing for an extended amount of time. There were several solutions to this issue, some of which he came up with after making sure to think of some possible outcomes. One idea was to create clones, identical in every way to the originals and place them back in their normal lives with programming all their own to act no different than the sheep around them, this limited the likelihood of them being missed and the beauty of it meant that the originals could swap back in with their clones whenever they needed to go see family.

This plan of clones had a good outcome, Suujo could now create for himself a native avatar that he could use to blend into the populace while his main body resided at the church. His Avatar was modelled after a Unicorn, in this way he could get away with using his Psionic powers. It shared many of the same markings and colours that he did, hexagonal markings on dark green fur, along with black diamond surrounding the horn on his head and soothing silvery eyes. Suujo once came back to an earlier thought… He needed to get his hands on someone who knew more about the world around them. More about the truth of it all and why there was an ungodly amount of mind control in the various media of this world. Thankfully his own mind was more complex than that of the natives, so he sneered at it. Finding it rather adorable but still ingenious.

So he went on a merry stroll, keeping his eyes peeled for something he could use or for someone who looked out of place… That was when he noticed someone in the grips of an existential crisis as they flipped through the pages of a comic book, as if the whole world was crashing down around them as they noticed something they shouldn’t have. “Well now… How fortuitous~” He couldn’t believe his luck, it had been several since he began his little search of his but it looks like his waiting had just paid off.

Link’s own funny feeling was right on the mark, a stranger he had never met in Royal Oak’s before sauntered from behind to walk at his side with an all too friendly look on his face. This in itself likely wasn’t too strange given his society's safe and friendly nature. But Link could feel it, there was something odd about this man, something that felt ever so ‘uncanny valley’ if such a concept existed on Elysium yet. Though he had a feeling that not many people other than him would realise this uneasy feeling. “Hi friend, is there something wrong with the comic? You look rather pale after reading it.” They framed their tone and question as someone concerned. “Almost like you noticed something you didn’t see before.” The odd Unicorn framed that with less concern yet the smile on his face did not wilt. It was still friendly and welcoming. “Are you alright?”

Suujo was very much being a little pest with bottomless lust. It was rather fortunate that he seemed to be going unnoticed for the time being. Almost too well. It was likely that whatever the powers to be are tied up with matters. It’s quite a task to keep an entire world contained after all. Not to mention that the other variable has to relate to the abandoned city. The amount of plant growth suggests that it was forsaken centuries ago. That alone was a mystery enough. What could have happened there that would warrant everyone to be evacuated and never to return? If the city has also been forsaken for so long, is it truly empty?

More mystery was absolutely found when he came across the young stallion. Who jumped at the sound of Suujo’s voice. His muzzle was lit with an immediate blush. But not out of embarrassment for what Suujo might think. “Ah! S-sorry you gave me a heart attack.” He tried to half-heartedly hold the comic away from him but gave up on it with a sigh. “There’s nothing wrong. I’m just at a loss that they’re still printing this…issue.” Suujo could see from an angle that the cover read Full Deck - Folding the High Card. The art depicted the heroine High Card in a rather compromising position as she’s pinned against the wall by an unseen figure.

It wasn’t hard to discern the contents in the comic. “Long story short, eight years ago I won the title of King of the Con at a Ace Savvy convention. At the time, Ace Savvy was going through another iteration. So I was able to not only come up with new looks for the Full Deck team.” Of whom he based them off his sisters. “But be able to write my own issue as a special oneshot.” He looks down at his comic.

Knowing there was no point to hide it he held it up to him. It was opened up to the first pages. To summarize it.

The High Card enters a warehouse. Seeing a young man on the ground, she gasps and hurries to him. Putting her hands on his body and lifting him up, she looks at him in worry.

"Are you ok, Sir?"

She touches him to make sure nothing is broken, feeling his muscles deeply almost as if she's massaging him. Until she reaches his pants...

"Oh my... is that... that a gun in your pants?"

The man smirks.

"You best be good, High Card, or I'll pull it out and use it on you."

In fairness, this level of corny writing was to be expected from the time he wrote it. But regardless. “The story is about The High Card coming to rescue a man in his warehouse, only to discover he's actually a criminal; and if she's not careful, she might just lose to him.” He was very horny back then. Moreso nowadays.

The fantasties came back to him so swiftly. How he loved Glory walking around in that costume. How much he wanted to press his body down on her. Feel her body beneath the fabric that hugs her in all the right ways. Convincing his sisters to cosplay as the Full Deck for that convention was one of his greatest achievements in life. Having them annually go to conventions such then was the icing on the cake.
It really got the fire in his gut going when he learned years later that they were partly going because they liked how he looked at them with such intense, lustful eyes. That explained in hindsight the way they moved when he’s around. Making sure that he can see every delectable curve.

Looking back it still impresses him how long they danced around the bush. He chalked it up to the way their family structure is set up. It was very much like a ‘Public Sphere’. Order was maintained through the Sibling Meeting Court. As is the nature when it comes to pseudo-politics, there are a multitude of various alliances and factions that consist of different combinations of siblings, all for various reasons and utility. They sometimes shift in power, they sometimes splinter and break up, they sometimes leak outside of the house.

For a example, when Penny held the position of Eldest when Glory left for the university, she instituted a joint task force that was in charge of keeping inventory of all the groceries and sundries in the house, they were also in charge of updating the Hearthsong family calendar in order to streamline operations and keep everyone informed of the going-ons in the house. She chose him, Blue Sea, and Mesa as her Assistant Funagers. They quickly caught on to how powerful this position was.

Another example that is more relevant. There exists a secret faction composed of five of the oldest siblings. Coming together to discuss the feelings that they have for him. How he knew of this is simple. He has a mole whose name is Blue Sea. Who learned of this through Glynn who confided in her. Feeling that she was safe to keep the ‘secret’.

Link put the comic book down. “I continue to be amazed that there’s still enough people lusting over High Card to want this. Not that I can blame them.” He doesn’t know how many times he did. It was notably bad when she left for the University. Whenever he could he would sneak into her room when no one is around to relive his pent up frustrations. This led to him developing a bad habit in hoarding his big sisters dirty clothing. Blue Sea later discovered it, something he should have expected. She never told anyone, preferring to keep the secret as a potential bargaining chip. Ah, how he taught her well.

All this talk and thinking about High Card being bent this way and that was a great way of putting him into a relaxed mood. And just a bit horny of course. The thoughts of his loving, big sister Glory being taken in such a rough matter was evolving into something more. Invoking hungry desires in his chest that lay retrained since Wayfinder told him to take control of the strings that bind them. Keep them as close as he can. Perhaps he should do exactly that when he gets home.

Not letting himself space out, planning the ways to make his sisters feel good, he spoke to the stranger. “Anyways, I take it you’re not around here?” He asked. The strange gave off odd vibes. Strangely enough, deep down there was a sense of connection.

Suujo did believe that he had caught the young man by surprise, though the origin of his embarrassment came from the comic in his hands. The cover of said comic gave the alien some pause. In an entirely unneeded move the ‘Unicorn’ pulled a set of glasses out from his coat and set them on his muzzle, only for him to slide them down said muzzle so he could look at it over the rims of them. Entirely unnecessary, but at the very least he gave a nod to the young man’s choice in fem-fatales.

Though he was confused about what the young man said. “Something wrong with the issue?” He half muttered himself but the question was genuine. Though the cover art only gave the alien some interesting ideas for his broodmares once he gets home. Some roleplay ought to spice up the day.

Learning that the young man actually got to write his own one shot of a popular franchise on this world, and getting to help in a mainline redesign, was no small feat. From the very interesting contents, including the corny dialogue that makes the Unicorn smirk at how cheesy it was, he could tell that this one shot was likely a decent seller if said one shot was still going through circulation.

Suujo did notice that the young stallion did keep phasing in and out, just conscious of his presence to keep commenting on the comic but he was metally somewhere else. Somewhere very emotionally charged from how his body was reacting, but Suujo didn’t mind the lapse in attention. Such was the benefit of the young after all. So many emotional highs, so little time to indulge in them all. It didn’t help that, being Psionic in nature, he could see the copious amounts of charged sibling erotica his mind was filled with… Another joy of being on a planet without publicly known psychic individuals, no one had a filter for it. Though Link’s was more guarded than most, which set him on the path of interacting with him in the first place. One of the few that knew how to guard his mind from controlling threads.

Once attention came back to him and the question came up of not being from around here the alien wondered how to respond. He could go with the classics, be needlessly cryptic and put himself on a pedestal, by being overly truthful and let the absurdity of it be his disguise as he leans into a truth disguised as a coping mechanism. Basically hamming up that he was an alien and let people believe he was roleplaying, like that one club owner who named themselves after a demon. While he did love the ironic flare and cheeky antics he could get up to with the latter option he decided on a third.

“Oh you can definitely say that. But I’ve gotten a tad lost, I was having a nice day back home and suddenly I found myself in an odd place I don’t recognise.” A mix of the truth and some vague information. Not being needlessly cryptic but just enough to not peek the attention of anyone listening in. “I would normally put that up to too much drinking with the neighbours-'' He lived next to a lovely Athailian couple who had moved onto Fia after the Zemour had started to build their homeworld. They shared their lovely worldviews with him, though that may have colured his opinions somewhat. “-But the odd thing is I wasn’t drinking. I don’t even remember how I got here. Like I fell through a crack in the world.” Suujo says as he steps to the side of the young man before facing him fully, smiling away. “Do you know what that’s like? To wake somewhere so alien to what you’re used to? It’s stressful.”

“Oh.” He says as he claps his hands together, said clap was a ploy. He did so to distract from a soft bubble of psionic energy being created to catch soundwaves to garble them. So anyone listening in could only hear gibberish. Or the rambling nonsense comparable to someone sleep talking. “Right, I was hoping you could help me with something. See, I’m having a tough time thinking of a reason why all of your media seems to be stuffed full of memetic influences. Like, are your people by nature naturally all deviants? Or is your disconnect from death a contributing factor to your hormones raging? Because I’ll tell you, I’ve had more fun with my dears in the last few days here than I had in months back home.”

Rather than interrogate the boy, he did feel something odd. A sense of connection. A sort of kinship with this alien. Suujo was perplexed for a moment but looking back at the early hormonal ramblings, it was of no surprise. More surprising is that there was a nugget of something within him that was perhaps his ticket to freedom. A ticket for more than just him perhaps. “Doesn’t it seem wasteful? With this much power your people could be striving for greatness, already be out amongst the stars… Yet… You’re all here. Living mundane lives while they keep tightening a hold that was already absolute… Like they don’t want anything to progress. How wasteful of such potential… Don’t you think someone could do better? If they had hold of those strings?” He said as he gave a soft smile once more. It wouldn’t take much for Link to put the pieces together by now. This man was not from around here. And by the way he was talking, he might be from beyond their world.

Suujo did come across someone who didn’t belong here due to his open thoughtcrime. Out in public nonetheless. Which certainly meant that a Mobile Task Force was zoning in on their location. His assumption was proven right when a telltale siren reverberated through the cloudless sky above them. It was a pleasant sound. Not too far off from something you hear for little children to put them to sleep. The sound is meant to do something similar as well, a trigger to make civilians go inside or move away from the area. For Link it doesn’t have any effect anymore.

The first thing that Suujo would feel is a headache if he tried to use psionics as a result of a paranormal dampening field coming online. Then the realization that he’s being fired upon. Heavily armored drones can be seen circling in the sky. The roar of engines as heavily armed vehicles come down the road. For Link he came to appreciate his new status when it looked like he could just scamper off. Which he did to let the MTF do their thing. Perhaps it was a bit rude to just bail on the stranger in hindsight. But in this present moment, he needed to get away from what could very well be a threat.

—

He came up to his street after a brisk run. Wasn’t feeling tired or anything. Elysium, despite its methods, does keep the populace healthy. Given what lurks behind the veil, he can see why. He pushes aside the thoughts on the past couple minutes to instead focus on his family. He walked up the path to their home, went up the front porch, and then went inside.

The immediate lovely sisters he could see were the twins and Blue Sea. The former were sitting on the couch watching the television. While Blue Sea was sitting at the dining room table. Almost as if she was waiting for him which turned out to be exactly the case. “Ah, Brother it’s nice to see you.” There was a slight nervousness to her body language. And was that envy? “Luna wanted to see you in your room.” She looked away. Her long onyx locks do well to obscure her pale face.

That’s unusual but not terribly so. Not the first time a sibling requested another to see them in a room of the house for a private discussion or whatever. Therefore he didn’t think much of it. “Thanks for telling me, Blue Sea.” He gave a kiss on the top of her head as he went by her. A gesture that made her equal part happy and jealous. Because she knows what’s about to befall on his big brother. Who doesn't have a clue of what is waiting for him.

Blue Sea was true in thinking so. How would Link ever foresee that what played out the moment he entered his room could ever happen outside of his fantasies. His room was dark but he could smell her. Feel her as she pushes him against the now closed bedroom door. Whatever words he tried to voice were swallowed by her soft and warm lips.

Rationality was left outside the door. It didn’t matter that Luna had him trapped in her hold. He felt safe, hot, and overridden by need that gush out of the now broken mental floodgates. He had fantasized this moment. About any of his big sisters just barging into his room, lifting him up and pressing him to the wall with just their arms, like he weighed nothing. Then proceed to make a mess out of him. His whole body throb with pleasure. Spurred by the reasonable thought that this was a dream, he became active. Showing his own carnal hunger to Luna.

He wanted this so badly. Didn’t realize just how bad from how consumed by sinful lust he became. Too busy breathing in her scent, feeling her desirable body in his arms that he failed to hear her giggle at first. ”Feel me, Link.” She guides his hand to palm her warm, soft chest. A blissful sigh left her lips. The minutes that followed were a blur. Mutual passion lets their bodies do the talking.

The room quickly became hot with the heat that was rolling off their now nude bodies. Adding to the wild need to express their burning lust for each other. ”I’ve wanted to love you like this for so long.” Her words were heavy with sensuality. ”Didn’t help when my precious brother was so naughty all the time.” Her husky tease made his cheeks warm from being called out. Not that he could deny it.

Link has yet to realize he’s a bit slow on the uptake. ”I wanted this to. It didn’t help that you weren’t hiding it.” He tried to tease her back but she reflected with a smug laugh.

Luna leaned in to whisper hotly into his ear. ”Oh yes, that’s right. You had our little sister Blue Sea be your cute birdie.” He could practically hear her smile as he felt her surprise. ”Let’s say that she’s more trained to perch on my arm than yours.” Blue Sea was a double agent. Honestly he couldn’t be upset, more impressed if anything.

He groaned as she did such wonderful things with her hands. ”She chirped to me about all your dirty, little secrets. All of them.” He felt so hot. Pleasantly exposed. ”Did you like it whenever I got extra sweaty in my clothing? I did it just for you.” She spoke in such a complacent tone. Flaunting how much of the web actually belongs to her.

She then kissed him. A kiss so full of earnest love and yearning. ”It makes me so happy that you still yearn for me. Happy that you awoke from your long dream.” Even in his mind full of this beautiful woman. He was coherent enough to hear the subtle subtext. She had him on his bed now. Straddling his hips as she left a trail of love bits down his neck. ”You were always so brilliantly sharp. I knew there would come a day where you would join me on the other side. Now that day has come.”

If he wasn’t so consumed by wild emotions, he would have been able to stop and question how his big sister knew about the veil. But everything seemed so insignificant to having such an attractive woman sitting on top of him. He instead focused on wetting his childhood bed in their mixed bodily fluids.

While it may be true that you need a shot to get pregnant. Elysium didn’t do much to mess with libido, if anything they enhanced it to make people more obsessed with indulging in carnal delights. After this, he can see the effectiveness of that having experienced it first hand.

It was when they were sitting on the edge of his bed with her bouncing on his lap, arms around his shoulders that he managed to grasp some semblance of clarity. ”What…what about Jammy?” Not that the question made him stop caressing Luna in a sensual manner. To savor the pleasure of being joined.

Luna quietly shushes away his half-hearted worries. ”Don’t worry, believe it or not she’s crazy about you as well. I trained her to be so.” She confess in a dark yet erotic tone. Link was confused by the prospect that Jam had feelings for him. And that she was trained, whatever that meant. Luna leaned forward to whisper erotically into his ear. ”Just like I trained the rest of your big sisters. They will all happily eat out of the palm of your hand. Worship you as if you were a god. Blue Sea is close to receive training as well now that I think about it.” it must have been apparent that he was having a hard time understanding what she was saying.

Her hands stroke his body lovingly. As if she were caressing someone that sat in the center of her universe. They were laying down now. Basking in the heat of each other’s bodies. Never have their bodies felt so snugly connected. It was a good thing they were resting since it felt like there was a lot that needed unpacking. Luna cups his cheek before she speaks. ”I was madly obsessed over you. And protective. So very protective. I knew of the world for what it really is. I sought to preserve the comforts of you life. The omnipresent warmth of your sisters. As we grew older, I realized I needed to take matters into my own hands. One by one I convinced them that they’re happier being your loving big sister. Glynn was the easiest with how much she aches for you already. She’s willing to go as far as being your pet if it meant being with you. Swan I made my maid before making her really like you so it didn’t take much with her either. Penny, well you know how Penny is. She was easy to convince. The real challenge was when it came to educating Glory.”

Link didn’t know what to say. Simply put he was overwhelmed by all this new information. He knew Luna was his coolest big sister who was very protective of him. But not to the point of going to this degree: yet he couldn’t be mad. Rather he appreciated what she has done. From what it sounded like, she’s the reason that they’re still living in the same house. ”You did all of that for me? I…I don’t know what to say.” He was getting a bit emotional. ”I always wanted for us to stick together.” He admits. Now that he thinks about it. Over the years they’ve all grown increasingly compliant. He doesn’t recall a time when Glory seriously disagreed with him on something,

Luna kisses up his moist cheeks. ”I know, I know my darling bro. You deserve so much happiness. So much love. Sibling are meant to be together, always. No one will get in the way of that. Not even our mother, Pearl. When you were only ten I came to realize she would be trouble down the line if she ever found out, she can’t comprehend what has grown between us. One day I brought her to a special place where I then reduced her to the cow she was.” Lincoln was quite taken aback by the revelation. It did reminded him of how their mother was problematic when he was young then she got really motherly. Looks like this is why. It sting that something happened to his mother but he belived Luna that she would have fought against them.

That begged the question. ”She’s not really living somewhere else is she?” Given he could feel her smug smile. The answer was obvious

Luna place a chaste kiss on his lips. ”That’s right, luv. Pops is living on his own. But our cow for a mom? She’s currently in a hidden room in the basement. Having a cow has its uses. In fact I had her help me educate Glory. I wished you were there to see to see how hot it was for Glory to be pinned down by our mother.” Luna was amused with how Link throbbed with pleasure at the mental image. She then flicks his nose. ”Before I tell you all about the ways I turned our sisters and mother into sweet devotees to the real stallion of the household. How about you tell me about your new friends and then I tell you about how I know.”

Seeing no reason not to. He did exactly that. Telling her all about his experiences so far. ”There was a words of advice that the Wayfinder gave. If I go to a Site with my family that only he knows about. It would function as the finest bunker for worst case scenario while also giving the things he placed in the site company.” That was ominous.

Luna reflected on this information. ”Hmmm, so that’s how it is. Handing out the famous mystery site just like that. That tells me he’s preparing for the end by dealing with all his loose ends. It’s not a bad idea really. Go to that site, cozy up on the couch together as we watch the world burn in the fireplace. I’m tempted to encourage you almost. So that once the deflagration of the world passes, we go outside and rule over what’s left. But lying low just ain’t my style. Mm, don’t you know the political climate of Elysium? No? I figured, he must have thought that you didn’t need to know. Long story short, the unending peace is a lie. Elysium has been stuck in a Cold War called the Coldest War Period between four superpowers for centuries.” That was yet another bombshell this night. Luna could tell this was becoming much for Link to process to which he gave him another passionate kiss. ”That’s enough chatting for tonight. I’m ready for another round, Luv.”

Sensing that his avatars Psionic potential was being hampered was the second sign that he should definitely be making a move away from this place. The first? The totally not creepy lullaby sirens that cleared the streets. The Psion denied headache was annoying but he could bear it, he was going to say something but the young man who he felt some kinship for was fleeing before the drones in the sky came down. “Haaah, I should have guessed that the comprehension bubble wouldn’t be enough.” Musing aside, as soon as the first few traces started to hit around him he started to run. He needed to get a decent distance away from however they were disrupting his psionics.

Though this situation was far from what he wanted, this was however very useful. These natives had knowledge of psionic powers and how to disrupt them, which means he will need to either stress test their ability to combat it or develop a new way to personally combat them.

Untimely reflection aside, he’ll have to ditch the body he’s using. He had no intention of letting them learn too much about him before their allotted time, so he darted into the nearest alleyway and detonated a hidden surprise. Bainling acid. Gruesome details of feeling his own body melting into nothing aside, he would destroy his avatar so that the Foundation couldn’t unravel his means of development. The last thing he would see would be those heavily armed cars pulling up before it was lights out.

- - - -

Suujo would awaken in his sanctuary beneath the church, bleary eyed and delirious at first before the comforting sensation of warm flesh pressed against his scales, he looked down upon the collection of pillows and bedding beneath him to the bodies laying against parts of his long and winding body.

Honey was the first to be roused as her master returned to his body, the Mare smiling blissfully up at him at first as her soft hands caressed the warm scales on his chest before she tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Are you alright master?” Her question was innocent though tinted with concern.

He gave a soft and reassuring smile in return as he touched her cheek and set a soft kiss on her muzzle. “Perfectly fine. Just ran into a small snag. Carina is going to need to help me create a new avatar once I’m sure we’re safe.” He says as a silent mental command went out to some of his sentries outside, hiding in the underbrush that had overground the region. He needed to keep growing his forces, carefully. He turned his attention back to Honey who had begun to move herself into his lap without his permission, grinding her need against his growing warmth. He rewarded her eagerness with passionate kisses, filling her muzzle with his forked tongue as he palmed her lovely amber body but punished such insolent behaviour with overstimulation and denial of release, at least at first. How could he stay mad at her? She was such an attentive and passionate thing, so merry and filled with love. Even without the conditioning she was naturally a very bubbly and extroverted person. If he could, he would gladly go out with her more, but now he had a design a completely different Avatar to the last one.

After he was done he indulged in the simple pleasures of the flesh along with waking up his other thralls to ease his worries in their presence, he set his mind to what shall come next. Now that the Foundation has been alerted to something new in their world he will have to calm down, lay low for the time being as they will be investigating his existence if his move to destroy his body didn’t throw them off already. He would think such a move would seem too quick to think he would rather kill himself than be captured, but he did not know the hubris of the ones who currently rule…

Still. It was safer to lay low and look for evidence of them looking for him once a day or two had passed. This did cut into his operations somewhat, he needed to establish a larger hive and grow his brood. But hitting more farms and seeking out port towns for alternative forms of biomatter. He needed a larger supply, and the oceans held more life than the land. He had ruled out using sentient biomatter, for the simple reason that he didn’t want to kill unnecessarily and so he didn’t commit the same sins as his brutal ancestors. There were other ways to secure materials for production. He could use plants and minerals found abundantly near him, but they were the very things giving him cover from the Foundation.

Still, his brood has grown since he first came here. He had a healthy amount of Zerglings and Hydralisks patrolling the overgrown lands outside of the Church, though he has modified them in the way of natural camouflage to help them blend in and lay in ambush of any unwanted visitors.

At the end of the day he was left wondering about that young man he had met. He will need to try and find him again, though this time perhaps avoid setting off any silent warning alarms again. He only had so many covert methods of disposing of his own avatars before the Foundation would grow wise to his antics and successfully take it alive for questioning or otherwise, if at all.

For now he knew the young man was in Royal Oaks, so his plan could unfold in a different way going forward. He will have to gain more thralls amongst the populous to avoid having to painstakingly design a Zerg bioform that could avoid detection, but if he did want to do just that then he would need to gain access to a facility and study their security and surveillance methods along with any tech they have access to that allowed them to find him so quickly.

Lacking a safe method of studying their technology, his best bet was to learn about the conditioning they put them populous through and turn it towards his own means like he had done with his lovely broodmares. Theirs was very forced and with some faults that he had to rectify himself, so he had to improvise, thankfully through his thralls he could gain access to plenty of wonderful test subjects to fine tune his method of control.

So for the next few days he lays low and fine tunes a method of corrupting new thrall while keeping an eye out for people who may be looking for him.