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Mission No. 75
Astropolis
Morgan P. Fredersen's Estate
"Long Live the New Coke"
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He found Cerinian 39 playing in his courtyard: not that of his old Cornerian mansion, but his new home in Astropolis. The top of Astropolis. Barring the administrative headquarters and a few important facilities, it was the highest residence in the colony: the closest dwelling to Lylat's sun. Other sprawling estates were arrayed slightly below it, appearing to float on golden clouds. They belonged to the likes of Fara Phoenix and Yaru de Pon, joint owners of General Dynamics, and other trillionaire investors who had taken a risk on Fredersen's monumental venture. Their homes were replete with multi-tiered fountains and gardens, authentic columns and marble statues from antiquity, and all the luxuries near-infinite wealth could buy. Well, almost everything.
Unlike the others, Fredersen's fortune let him buy the future.
Makepeace was nearby, as always, watching over 39 and encouraging her as she drew chalk designs on the marble patio. Rather than mald over the mess, Fredersen eyed her creations with interest, trying to make them out as he approached. Makepeace laughed while she pointed and said something to the girl, and the young Cerinian giggled and added a pair of large ears to one of the faces she'd drawn. But when she noticed Fredersen approaching, the doctor rose to meet him. "Morgan," she exclaimed, "the time is right! Sibyl has seen—"
He waved her off, marching right past. "I need her to tell me. Not you."
Cerinian 39 rose to her feet somberly when she saw him. She brushed the chalk off her paws till they left her skirt powdered in pastel rainbows. Fredersen knelt in front of her, though even on his knees the massive bull still towered over her. "Hello again, Sibyl. You've helped me so much these past two years. You were right about where your sister was hiding, when the missile base would be attacked, where Andross was building this city… No one can dream like you can. So, can you tell me what you saw this time?"
"I…" Her sky-blue eyes darted to Makepeace unsurely, then she swallowed. "I s-saw one of my sis… sisters at the c-center. Doors to heaven opened everywhere—on every planet. It was so b-bright, they blinded me. Light was everywhere. A c-c-crippled king sat on a throne with wheels, but he was behind b-bars. People drank from diamond f-fountains, and whatever they imagined was d-drawn in the air over their heads, like ch-chalk. No one could see it but men dressed in blue and b-black, with shining s-silver helmets on their heads. And, at the top of heaven, looking d-down on everyone, a man with horns sat, and whatever he s-said, the people obeyed."
Fredersen didn't relax yet. Anxiously he took her hand, squeezing her fingers tighter than he meant to. "And, at his side…?"
Sibyl glanced at Makepeace again, and the bull thought he detected the faintest nod. "Beside him, there was a p-princess: a calf."
Only then did he exhale and release her hand. He patted the girl's head and rose to his feet. "May it come to pass."
Makepeace slunk up behind him. "Then, you have decided to move forward with the plan? To act?"
"Tomorrow I will test the girl: her stability, her compatibility, and her power. Then, dear doctor, we will act."
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Fara Phoenix sat outside her favorite café, pop music playing over the speakers. Steam no longer rose from her tea as she stooped over her holosheets, hard at work on some new design. But an empty canvas was all that stared back. No matter how much she combed her scalp or chewed her stylus, progress eluded her. She had no inspiration: only a confounding, creative block that stood in her way.
Just when she was about to give up, she noticed a crowd of protesters marching down the street. They passed her little café as a single mass, raising their fists in the air, lifting their voices, and proudly waving signs that demanded revolution:
Peace!
Love!
Change the future!
Make your voice HEARD!
Could that be it? The inspiration she lacked?
Curious, and feeling like an outsider, Fara tentatively got up and joined them. She wove through the sea of bodies marching as one, flowing with their current and feeling rejuvenated by their infectious passion. She listened; she believed. She sympathized; she emphasized. Their angst and their struggles became hers. She raised her voice and joined in on their refrains, chanting along to their revolutionary song. She painted her face and took a sign to wave as her own. She clenched her fist and felt its power as she thrust it in the air, small among the others, but in unison, strong.
The tides of change soon met a dam: a blockade stretching the length of the city street. Stone-faced officers stood like statues in front of police cars and barricades, unmoved by the massive wave of people about to crash against them. The impassioned protesters halted, gathering dozens of ranks thick in front of the line. A no-man's land opened between them, which none dared cross: the divisions of modern society laid bare.
But Fara knew just what the moment called for. She knew what would heal those divisions.
Bravely she stepped forward, crossing the gap to the nearest officer, her weapon of choice in hand. Major Bill Grey could hardly feel threatened by a vixen so small. The bulldog raised an eyebrow as she approached, but otherwise didn't budge, standing with the rest of the canine officers to block the intersection.
When Fara reached Bill, the roar died down, and every breath sucked in, waiting as the fragile moment teetered on the edge of a knife. Instead of a weapon, Fara produced a bright can of NEW Whimsy Cola. She held it out to Bill and opened it with a slow, satisfying CRAAACK, punctuating the tense, deafening silence.
There was something special in the sound of the aluminum peeling; the muffled acoustics of the hollow pocket at the top; the initial rush of bubbles fizzing to the surface that raised goosebumps beneath one's fur. It triggered a euphoric feeling that began at the nape of the neck and rushed all around the body, even without partaking of the contents within. You didn't have to taste it to know how refreshing it was, as condensation beaded on the exterior, coalesced into drops, and trailed down the cool metal in delicate rivulets.
Surprised by her peace offering, Bill accepted the can like he'd never been given a gift in his life. The rigid officer hesitantly lifted the beverage to his lips, tilted his head back, and drank.
Once he swallowed the fizzy syrup, he released a sigh of satisfaction. An infectious, involuntary grin plastered his once hardened face. Fara smiled back, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Everywhere protesters exchanged flavored cans of NEW Whimsy Cola, even giving them to thankful police. No matter where one looked, beaming smiles and bright cans of Whimsy were inescapable, as peace and harmony flourished supreme in Astropolis.
NEW Whimsy. A great new taste for the new millennium. Spark change for the better—
"AWW SHOVE IT UP YER ASS!"
A real can of Whimsy sailed through the air, emitting a tinny, hollow crash when it struck the shop window. Soda the color of radioactive piss smattered over the glass, but it did nothing to dampen the holoscreen floating behind it. No great loss; it wasn't the original flavor.
Katt watched as the Venomians shared a laugh, egging each other into dumping the new recipe down the gutter. The raucous workers had just finished the day shift in one of Astropolis' underground maintenance zones and were eager to let loose. But she, Falco, and their closest friends in the Free Birds were headed in the opposite direction, ready to take over the night shift. Unlike the Venomians, their taskforce was made of immigrants from all corners of Lylat. No one would bat an eye if they saw a feline, a pheasant, a wild dog, rat, and croc all working together. Alistair, the mole foreman of their group, had also disguised them well in work clothes and grease; they'd caked enough on their faces to mask their signature pink fur and blue feathers, avoiding recognition.
"You'll have to ignore that lot; those'uns are a rowdy bunch," Alistair apologized as the two workforces passed.
"It's fine," Shani said. "I hate how they're shoving that stuff down our throats, too."
The apes and reptiles fit right into Katt's stereotypes, but she knew their penchant for sarcasm and quick pleasures was just a mask. Their feet still dragged and their shoulders slumped; they couldn't hide their resignation and defeat. "Why are there so many Venomians here?" she asked.
"Many forced to work in labor camps for war reparations," Bowser explained. "Some work in star city, some work for Eladard or Macbeth. They pay them puny wages, if they are paying them at all. I am understanding these ones are lucky. When mine detectors are being in short supply, Venomians must find mines themselves. They line them up and walk them forward. BOOM! No more Venomian mines, no more Venomian soldiers to find jobs for. Kill two lizards with one stone. Sometimes more if grouping together closely."
"That's horrible," Katt breathed, watching as the Venomians kicked the empty Whimsy can down the road.
"They're not that different than the people we know back home," Falco said. "Sucks to be a Venomian right now, but it sucks to be a lot of people in this day and age. Makes them… susceptible to our message. They're not our enemies. Maybe we can give everyone something to celebrate come the turn of the millennium in a few days."
Shani scoffed, hands in her coveralls' pockets. "As if the stuck-up socialites in Astropolis would ever break bread with Venomian scum."
"Aye," the mole foreman admitted, "me chums who made contact say they're more on the… affluent side."
"I think you'd be surprised," Falco said. "Rags or riches, fur or scales, it makes no difference. If they're anything like the other branches of the Corrupt we visited, they'll be just as accepting."
"No, she's right," Katt said, feeling uneasy. "This new group that sprouted up in the colony feels so far from our roots in District 13. It doesn't seem like the rest."
"Yeah, and dey call demselves 'Da Adept.' What, is our name not fancy enough for 'em? Like dey wanna be seen as da new brand a' soda?"
"It's not just their eccentricity that bothers me," Katt went on. "It's this mysterious 'guru' who leads them, too, and how they believe he has special powers. Not to mention, all those news reports of unexplained disappearances here."
"So he's a crazy coot. Doesn't matter," Falco said. "The Adept is the most powerful enclave of Corrupt in the colony. They have connections everywhere—including the highest ranks of Astropolis' administrators. That's how we knew about Sifaka, and the Nibiru Copperhead movement ahead of time. I'm sure they'll help us bust Krystal out and bring Astropolis under our control come the New Year's celebrations—"
"Shush! Mindsweeper!"
Alistair nodded his squat little head to the other side of the street, and everyone's blood ran cold. Casually, they stole glances across the way. Sure enough, a black, unmarked van with tinted windows was parked there. The group fell silent on instinct, though it wouldn't do much good if the Mindsweeper agent within found them. It gave Katt goosebumps; they couldn't see inside, but someone malevolent was picking through the heads of everyone nearby, searching for the thoughts of lawbreakers—lawbreakers like them.
"It's fine," Alistair finally said as the Venomian workers swarmed past the truck. "They'll be more focused on those scallywags. We've learned how to think about silly little things when they're on the prowl. Here in Astropolis, those little trucks are as common as Whimsy Cola—and they got dispensers on every block and fountains in every shop."
"Alright, well, let's head down before they catch any of our thoughts," Falco urged, hurrying them on anyway.
The disguised Free Birds crammed with the other workers into a service elevator. Katt didn't release her breath or think freely till they descended well beneath the colony's streets. Most thoughtwaves had trouble penetrating objects, Falco claimed, but a developed mind-reader could sense them through solid steel and concrete. None she'd met were as good as him, though.
The elevator lowered thirty, forty, fifty feet down, till it released the workers into the sprawling maintenance area beneath the colony's main level. The massive columns supporting the street above disappeared into darkness before they could see the ceiling. Pipes of different signifying colors lined the walls and floors, some large enough for a tank to roll through: water, heat, oxygen, electricity, internet, all racing out like the arteries of a sleeping giant to his extremities.
It was dark below the street, but the foreman was in his element, his beady black eyes comfortably open for once. "This is where we part," he grunted. "You'll find the water reclamation plant down the leftmost passage. Just follow the signs for the control center, and you'll spot where the Adept meet. Oh, and mind the stench. That's sewage in there."
Falco laughed. "I'm more used to it than you'd expect."
"Aye, you're one of us, and that's what makes a leader like you different." He shook Falco's hand with his oddly-shaped claws. "Well, goodbye. See you in the next thousand years."
Falco laughed at the common joke, heartily squeezing his hand back. "Thanks for sticking your neck out like this, Alistair. Change is coming. Soon."
"Anything to help the cause. And what neck?"
The mole trundled off with his workforce, while Falco and the Free Birds headed down the left passage. As instructed, they followed the signs leading through the maze of underground facilities marked "Zone 4 Wastewater Treatment Plant." The tight, claustrophobic tunnels reminded Katt of the sewers beneath District 13, only, these had better lighting, with aisle lights along the metal walkways and the occasional overhead lamp. The smell wasn't as bad either.
Eventually the cramped passage opened into a long atrium that stretched left and right into the darkness. It was full of the station's primary filtration tanks: large vats where the initial waste was sifted out of Astropolis' water. The group filed over a precarious catwalk that bridged the middle tank, and Katt hazarded a glance over the side. The water was murky and sickly brown, a filter arm hard at work as it slowly circled like a clock. Her nose wrinkled, and she tried not to gag. Still, not as bad as 13.
The secondary tanks were behind the next wall, and a similar catwalk arched over them. The water was much clearer here and smelled less foul. But a bright light shone from the next passage, and the air drifting from it felt oddly humid and fresh, like a door to the outside world.
If Katt had any reluctance about drinking the station's water, it disappeared when she saw the final room. The connecting passage spilled into a cavernous atrium, the underside of the magnastreet visible 75 feet overhead. Columns of the thickest fiber optic cables Katt had ever seen dangled from the ceiling and disappeared into the water, piping Lylat's ultraviolet light directly into the vats for the final stage of disinfection. A mild steam rose from the heated tanks, curling around the columns of light and filling the room with a thick cloud. The personnel facility on the far side was shrouded by a veil of thick, glowing mist.
"I feel like I stepped into another world," Katt murmured, as if the place were hallowed. She used the damp mist to start wiping the sooty grease from her face.
"Wish 13 had a system this robust," Shani echoed.
"This concludes the tour of the Zone 4 Water Reclamation Plant," Falco said. "Katt, with me. The rest of you stand guard. Radio if anything goes wrong."
"You got it, Boss."
While the others spread out on the observation deck, Katt followed Falco across the personnel bridge. It was eerily quiet; she hated how their boots clanged against the metal catwalk and sent echoes through the atrium. The mist played tricks on her eyes, as if she saw bright ghosts floating over the surface of the filtration vats.
"There aren't any guards," she growled.
"Actually, we've passed several," Falco corrected, making no effort to be quiet. "They were hiding in the tunnels we passed, playing lookout. If we were cops, they would've sent the message to flee already, and the main group would be long gone by the time we arrived." He cleared his throat. "You, er, would've sensed them too if you had Corruption."
Katt frowned. "You need to tell me these kinds of things."
"Sorry. Just used to working with Free Birds who don't need me to." He tapped his head, leaving Katt feeling a little jealous.
Once across the last filtration vat, they approached the door to the control center—but it opened of its own accord before they even reached it. The steel door swung inward, revealing a canine man and a vulpine woman with chestnut hair. The malamute was bare-chested and wore only shorts, while the red-furred vixen wore a robe loosely sashed about her waist. Both were bare-pawed and covered in designs painted directly on their fur—the man's disappearing into his shorts: the woman's into the folds of her robe.
"Welcome, brother and sister, to the holy family of the Adept," the vixen said, emerald eyes glowing under the UV light. "I am known as the High Priestess of the order, faithful first servant of the Ascendant One." She raised her hand to her companion. "And this… is Mike."
Mike bowed his head with her—but while she welcomed them with kind words, the malamute crossed his arms and stood imposingly in their way. "If you wish to join the family of the Adept, state your names," he ordered in a gruff voice.
"Falco Lombardi."
"…Katt Monroe."
"We've already joined," Falco explained. "We're part of the Corrupt."
"You are—but she is not." Mike stared down his muzzle at Katt with suspicion. "She still rejects the Sacrament."
"Sacra-what-now?" Falco repeated.
"Her mind has not been opened. Her thoughts are loud, but she can hear and feel nothing we can. Why did you claim she was one of us?"
Katt looked at Falco nervously. Ever since shattering her last vial of Allusion, she'd sworn off any form of drug, no matter how hard the sleepless nights were. Falco had been there for her, at least, but she hadn't taken a single pill of KLA in that time.
The vixen placed a hand on Mike's arm. "Then now is the time to initiate her!" She turned back to them. "But first, Mike will read your thoughts. He is a Mindsweeper, but he is also one of us. If you truly mean no harm, you have nothing to hide. No matter how dark your secrets—your past sins, your current sins, your want for future sins—we do not judge them. We love all in the family of the Adept, and encourage openness and healthy outlets."
Mike studied them closely: first Falco, then Katt. Falco never read her mind without permission, but he claimed he couldn't help feeling her emotions and surface thoughts; the Whimsy Cola made her broadcast them like a loudspeaker. Now this stranger dove in, skimming through her recent memories and forcefully activating webs of her neurons without her bidding. It was a frightening experience, like watching her life flash before her eyes. It felt more invasive than any of the Bureau's full-body-searches, but it was over before long, and she swayed there, blinking.
"She has rejected the Sacrament, but… she is no enemy. Now, the one who goes by Falco—"
"—Is the Father of the Corrupt." The Priestess smiled like she'd known all along. "These are momentous times, Falco Lombardi. What brings you to our holy sanctum at the dawn of the Age of Lilith, and the eve of the transit of Cerinia?"
"We need the help of your leader," Falco said, "the one who calls himself the 'Ascendant One.'"
"Then it will please you to know the Ascendant One has been waiting for you." She pressed the door inwards. "Come, won't you join his Adept in communion?"
It was safe to say the interior no longer resembled a wastewater management center.
The drab industrial facility was decked out like some festival of the occult, with intricately-patterned rugs and throw pillows scattered over the floor, tapestries draped over the walls, and enough flickering candles to constitute a fire hazard. They kept the lights off save a few replaced with crimson bulbs, bathing the room in a bloody red light. Steam crept in through the open windows, filling the interior with a veil of mysterious fog. Special urns dotted the room, from which clouds of sickly-sweet incense rose into the air. Neon graffiti covered the walls, especially sprayed over the pyramid-shaped logo of Astropolis. Even in the colony they had taken to drawing the same intricate circle shapes Katt saw popping up everywhere.
Compared to other sects they had visited around Lylat, the Adept were definitely more theatrical and… libertine. It was hard to spot a garment of clothing shared between them; only bright bodypaint over their faces, arms, breasts, legs—even exposed members. A few played haunting instruments and sang wordlessly, a few drank and told stories around punchbowls set on the floor, and a few blissed out as they smoked scented pipes, adding to the intoxicating mist. Groups sat in meditation circles, while pairs of couples held hands and rubbed heads, sharing memories directly from one mind to another in a way that made Katt jealous.
The rest engaged in more primal acts of intimacy.
Katt blushed when she first noticed the orgy's participants. No matter where they looked, men and women were locked in the throes of passion, their moans, cries, and lustful growls just as common to hear as laughter and casual conversation. Much of the floor was an indistinguishable mass of body parts tangling in the mist like phantoms. Slender legs lifted in the air with curling toes, kicking the fog around; tongues panted or lapped at intimate parts; tails flagged in invitation, breasts swung to-and-fro with paint… and Katt felt the wild tornado threatening to pull her in.
She coughed as she watched them go at it. "Um, the white-collar workers of Astropolis s-sure have a lot of steam to blow off when they're not pushing pencils!"
Next to her, the Priestess untied her sash and let her robe fall to the floor, revealing she had been completely naked underneath the whole time. Bright green spirals of paint circled her breasts and belly, standing out against her blood red fur. She didn't even blink as she casually stood before her guests nude. "The Adept are just as open with our bodies as our minds, Ms. Monroe. We do not believe in hiding our true selves any more than our desires, or the acts which bring us pleasure…"
Katt bit her lip, eying each unfolding scene like candy. Her clothes were starting to feel unbearably stuffy, as if her skin were crawling beneath. The cloud of lust and pleasure was as thick and humid as the fog permeating the room, and she didn't need their sixth sense to feel it herself; she could feel that peculiar itch worsening between her legs. Secretly she wanted to wade down into the wrestling bodies and pull Falco in with her—but the longer she stared, and the more she smelled the strange incense burning in the room, the more it gave her the uneasy sensation of being trapped in Grimmer's den.
The Priestess scratched her nose. "Would you care for the Sacrament?" She stuck her tongue out, revealing a pair of white tablet pills resting on it. Each was imprinted with Astropolis' trademarked ⧊ shape.
While the two were busy gawking, another nude acolyte poured a glass pitcher of instant punch into two small paper cups. The Priestess plucked the pills from her tongue and dropped them into each of the cups, letting them dissolve in the red-flavored drink mix. She offered them to Falco and Katt, gently swirling them.
"That doesn't look like Corruption…" Katt observed, feeling dizzy as she watched one of the disintegrating pills spin in circles.
"Indeed, it is not; it is the new Seed of Life, stolen like fire from the gods: the rulers of Astropolis who are too blind to use it themselves. Do not worry, it is still krystal lysergic acid—though the juice, I'm afraid, is imbued with a sugar that will arouse the mind… and the flesh," she winked.
They shared a glance; this was a little more than they'd bargained for. Katt knew Falco would try to suss out the woman's intentions, but she wondered if there were mind games people like her could play. His answer came when he accepted a cup and upended it into his beak; he couldn't very well refuse the hospitality of their hostess.
Katt was more reluctant. She had only ever taken KLA once—and that was over a year ago, because Falco's life was on the line. But as she paused and glanced around the facility again, she could see how everyone else was getting along with it: their joy, their mirth, their passion, their ecstasy, their connection. She looked back to Falco for input, but he just squeezed her hand, giving her the confidence to decide for herself. "You can always wait outside with the others," he whispered.
The nude priestess looked on expectantly, holding the mixture in front of Katt for an increasingly awkward time. Just when the vixen began to retract her paw, Katt reached out and swiped the cup—a little too quickly—and tossed it back. She gulped, barely having time to appreciate the saccharine red flavor laced with something peculiar and briny. The drink slid like a lump down her throat, accompanied by a tingle along her spine.
The Priestess smiled, pleased. "The Ascendant One will see you after today's demonstration. I encourage you to partake in Communion with us, and see that we Adept or not much different from you Corrupt. May I take your clothes? You will have no need of them when the Seed of Life quickens."
They glanced at each other again, then around the room. Now it wasn't just the Priestess who stared at them expectantly. Even as they made love, the Adepts' eyes narrowed with distrust when the couple hesitated.
Fuck it, Katt thought as her heart pounded. We've come this far. Let's get it over with…
She undressed with Falco self-consciously while the Adept watched. She was no stranger to public nudity and sex, but it had been more than a year since she had to smile and suffer through one of Grimmer's orgies. At least she wasn't leashed and collared this time, a slave to the lizard and his drug. And Falco was there for her, too. This time felt… different.
Before long they stood at the edge of the orgy, pink-furred, blue-feathered, and naked as the rest—even a little more so, lacking paint. But the Adept quickly remedied that. They converged on Katt, dipping their fingers and palms in glowing, neon paint and applying it directly to her body. She shivered at the cool liquid, but otherwise stood still and held her breath, letting them shamelessly touch her as they worked.
Then all at once she felt lightheaded, and it was as if her stomach had slipped out of her belly. While Falco didn't so much as sway, the floor rolled and pitched beneath her. But the Adepts' sticky, dripping paws held her straight, and before she knew it the dizzying sensation passed. And that was when she began to feel. Happiness, excitement, lust, ecstasy, love—infectious as a yawn, or a friend's laughter that wouldn't stop, but none of which was even her own. A myriad of ghostly sensations overwhelmed her, almost too much to handle or parse at first, but soon they all blended into a single, vague cloud of positivity that warmed her from the inside-out.
A few began to paint Falco, but by then Katt had recovered. She waded through the Adept and stepped right up to her man, dipping her paw into the paint and wiping it over his chest. "We don't have much of a choice," she whispered, marking him. "They expect us to put on a show."
Falco grinned. "Then we may as well play along…"
Katt gasped when he returned the favor, palming her breasts possessively and leaving his multi-colored handprints over her soft mounds.
This is your first time with a full dose, Katt, his voice came—but surprisingly, his beak didn't move. Whatever happens, just… take it slow, and don't be afraid.
She blinked. "Falco? How did you…?"
The KLA acted fast. Katt saw a ghostly image of herself superimposed over her sweet bird, standing naked and dripping paint before him in the red glow—but it wouldn't go away when she blinked. Somehow she was seeing herself through his eyes. She felt through his fingers as they trailed down from her breasts and under her tail, clasping her supple cheeks and leaving his mark on her ass next. He wanted her; she could feel his desire as her own.
Wherever she painted his torso, she could feel tingles as if she were painting herself. Katt had no idea her touch could drive him this mad. Reverently she reached down and took his members between her paint-dipped fingers. She used one hand to cup his jewels and leave a glowing pawprint, and the other to circle a spiral pattern up his growing shaft. She was shocked when she felt every spark where her fingers touched his sensitive parts; as if she were touching herself.
Katt didn't know what was going on, but everyone else was doing it. She knew she had to have Falco like this: just once. So, overwhelmed with the universal love and lust coursing through the members of the Adept, she took Falco's hand and pulled him down into the sea of painted bodies.
She lost track of how many times they mated over the next hour—if it even was an hour—or if it even was him. Everyone felt like Falco in that state of mind-sharing. But no matter whose body she found herself inside of, or inside of her, she could always feel his excitement coursing like a mirror of her own.
The avant-garde music took on a psychedelic quality; the intoxicating scents brought her higher and higher. Katt was too far gone to question it when the pair of ropes a man and woman were swinging formed a blinking eye, its pupil watching her shamelessly mate. A Cornerian banshee danced and screamed with manic laughter, unharmed as tongues of flame licked over her body. The neon circles of graffiti coiled like snakes till they crawled off the walls, slithering about the orgy and tangling with the participants' bodypaint. Coils wrapped around her arms, legs, and neck, constricting and playfully choking, but it only excited her more; for deep down in her messed-up soul, she still liked that feeling of being controlled. One tail flicked hypnotizingly before her face, and she instinctively caught it in her lips, drunkenly purring and sucking on its hot flesh. And when another snakehead wiggled up between her thighs to tickle her entrance with its tongue, she could only moan and let it in.
The sights she saw and the things she did would never leave this room, like every dream that vanished upon waking. Hours, days—an eternity later it seemed, the KLA wore off, but it was an eternity too soon. The lustful cloud permeating her mind wore thin, and she was once again back in her own body, unable to know her peers' thoughts.
Now she felt self-conscious again, ashamed of her nudity and the pleasure she was giving to some stranger. She released the man from her lips, blushing for the first time that hour. He must be laughing at the insatiable kitten that lay nursing between his legs, still an inexperienced slave to the aphros. But when she timidly raised her eyes from his lap, she was surprised to see who was panting down at her.
"…Falco!"
Relieved, she climbed up into his waiting arms. She lay in his embrace for a time, feeling his warmth through their hugging chests and staring deep into his eyes, too stunned and bewildered to speak at first. They never had to say a word until now; there was nothing left unshared between them in the communion of minds.
"That's… what Corruption is really like?" she breathed.
"Sometimes…" Falco grinned with a look that said, I-told-you-so. He couldn't contain his mirth as he preened her neck and shoulder with his beak, and already she missed being able to feel his happiness firsthand. "So, what do you think? Did you like it?"
"Oh, it was wonderful!" Then with a sinking feeling, her voice fell, and she looked down. "…But that's what has me afraid."
"I told you, it's not just some new Allusion. It's different." He cupped her cheek, having her meet his eyes. "Do you still doubt it? Do you still doubt… me?"
"No, Falco! It's just…" She clung to him tighter. "I'm afraid that, if I have any more, I'll never want to go back. The world may never want to go back." She looked up into his eyes, cupping his cheek as well. "Are you really sure about this? What if—"
A single spotlight turned on, shining onto a raised dais where the Priestess stood. She lifted her painted arms, and her voice rang out. "Hear me, oh brothers and sisters of the Adept! Today the Seed of Life grants you the communion of souls. Your minds were opened, and your thoughts became one—but that is only the beginning! Soon the Seed will grant you powers even over reality itself; for as we are one with each other, so are we one with the world!
"In a few days, Cerinia the mother will make her transit through the heavens, and the Ascendant One will lead us into the new millennium: the Age of Lilith! Then you will go forth as his disciples, spreading his wonders and performing great miracles for the uninitiated to see! But if you doubt, see now with your own eyes: a demonstration of his mighty power!"
Curtains parted at the back of the room, revealing a man's shadow sitting in a tub. When he slowly rose, the rivulets rushing off his body and long hair gleamed like spurts of blood: a god emerging from the womb. The group of Cornerian girls attending him reverently dried his pelt with their own, pressing his arms and legs to their nude bodies and slowly rubbing up and down his front. One pair approached with a flowing red cape and wrapped it around his torso like a toga. Another girl carefully set a mask over his face, hiding his species before he stepped into the light. The covering was painted white to look like the oversized skull of some creature, while bleached antlers reached into the air like fingers of lightning.
A hush fell over the room, and all eyes turned to watch. The man stepped forward into the light, then casually seated himself on a chair behind the Priestess' dais, looking at the naked vixen with his chin propped up on his fist. The woman's hair wavered as if in a breeze, and her fur stood on end. She closed her eyes and threw her head back, surrendering herself to some unseen power—
Then, her feet lifted off the ground.
Gasps erupted from the mouths of the newly initiated. The other Adept familiar with the display laughed and cheered, encouraging their guru on. He grinned beneath the mask, feeding off their praise.
The Priestess began to bend and contort like a puppet pulled by invisible strings, all while the Ascendant One casually looked on. She danced completely free of gravity: elegant at times, and at others, wild and depraved. Neither she nor the man even broke a sweat during the gravity-defying display.
Katt rubbed her eyes and tried to clear her head, wondering if it was some mass hallucination caused by Corruption—but the KLA had definitely worn off by now.
Eventually the Priestess ceased her floating dance and descended to the guru's side. A chorus of applause and flourishing instruments sounded once the display ended. Pleased with himself, the man rose and exited to a backroom, followed closely by the Priestess. And with that, the Adept slowly resumed their festivities, the newest members whispering in excited voices about what they'd just witnessed.
"Falco, did you see what I saw?" Katt asked.
He twisted his beak, looking warily at the backdoor. "You and everyone else."
"KLA can do that?!"
"Not our recipe. Unless…" He stood and helped Katt up. "I think it's time we met this 'Ascendant One.'"
No one tried to stop them as they waded through the gathering; the door to the office left ajar, as if they were meant to follow. Inside they found the Ascendant One sprawled in an armchair piled high with comfortable blankets. From the way he sat in it, you'd think it was his personal throne. His ornamental mask and horns were set aside now, his red cape spread open to reveal dull, blue-gray fur and vulpine features. His face was young and devilish, but his muscled torso was scarred and showed years of sun-bleaching.
Falco gasped, but Katt was unimpressed. Was his blue fur dye that much weirder than her usual pink?
The Priestess meanwhile was on all fours between the guru's legs, bobbing her head dutifully over his lap. His head lay tilted back, sighing in bliss as his faithful apprentice lavished him with her mouth.
Katt crossed her arms and tapped her foot, grossed out by the woman's noisy slurps and smacks. When they showed no sign of stopping, she resorted to loudly clearing her throat. Only then did vulpine and vixen notice their gawking guests. The Priestess made to get up and release him from her mouth, but her master cooed something in her ear and pressed her head back down, forcing her to continue.
"Welcome, Falco Lombardi and Katt Monroe!" he proclaimed with an unplaceable accent. "I am the Father of the Adept, Ariki: The Ascendant One!"
"Ass is right," Katt snorted. "You have some way of greeting your guests."
Ariki brushed the Priestess' hair as she pleasured him, guiding her rhythm. "My servant is merely… worshiping me, as all the pious women of the Adept do. Would you like to join her?"
Katt blushed and covered an arm over her breasts. "Wha—?! Excuse me?!"
"You're… you're a Cerinian!" Falco exclaimed. "How the hell did you end up here?!"
Ariki thought for a minute, then smirked. "Why, through a door, just like you! Albeit, one that tried to close on my tail…" he grumbled. "All it took was a little smoke and mirrors to fool your gullible Cornerian friends. Sometimes, we see what we want to see."
"A… Cerinian?" Katt repeated. "Like that girl Fox ran off with?"
He pointed to himself with both thumbs. "A Cerinian, in the flesh! Though don't tell my followers that, or soon they may realize why taking Corruption and downing my, erm, Seed of Life doesn't give them psychic powers—right, Miss Priestess?"
Katt wrinkled her nose. She definitely didn't like him; not any more than she did Grimmer, and the two were feeling more similar by the minute.
"But how did you escape the labs?" Falco asked. "How did you get away from Andross, or Corneria?"
"Labs? Oh, no, I came to your fair system of my own volition. On Cerinia I was one of many psychics battling endlessly over ashes. But here, I am as a god—with plenty of willing followers," he crooned to his blushing servant.
Falco clacked his beak in disapproval. "I think you're missing the point of Corruption. All you've done with your powers is become a celebrity. You pulled out all the stops, but your little religion's still just a Halloween party. You're a clown in a costume playing God."
Ariki laughed darkly. "As if this system's pathetic drugs could ever make you into a Cerinian. Don't forget who you're talking to. Of course," he shrugged, "I have you to thank for all this. Without the movement you started, I wouldn't have an inline to your society. This way, I'm no circus freak, but a messenger from the gods: a spiritual leader! Of course, I still have to hide myself from your government—but soon I won't have to. A new age is coming, and you and I are the prophets ushering it in. Why not live it up a little? Have some… fun?"
Katt didn't like the way he kept eying her up like candy. "Falco, we can't help this douchebag," she hissed in his ear.
But Falco's beak was set firmly as he stared into Ariki's glimmering eyes. "You have a contact: one in the highest ranks of Astropolis."
Ariki glanced down at his priestess, gently stroking her hair while she met his eyes and puckered her lips around him. "Yes, I've made a… deal with someone high up in this infernal contraption: someone who knows exactly what's going on behind the scenes. They say the star city will perform a test tomorrow. If successful, your fancy-pants general will execute a coup to take over Corneria. Then he'll release Astropolis from all those pesky regulations and government oversight."
Falco blinked. "A coup? Pepper would never take part in that! I don't fuckin' believe it."
Ariki shrugged. "The financier Morgan Fredersen is blackmailing him. He has no choice. I am told almost all the pieces are in place. The last is proving the star city's potential with this 'Krystal' angel I hear so many things about. Once that's done, kiss your duly-elected president goodbye."
Falco clenched his wings. "We have to stop it. The coup, Astropolis, Mindscape—all of their plans."
Finally the Priestess released Ariki from her mouth. "And how would you do that?" She stood and wiped her glistening lips clean, but the guru pulled her back onto his lap with a grin. He began to gently rock her, and she patiently rode him with visible annoyance. "Fox McCloud failed; he let the Cerinian girl be captured. Why should we expect another hotshot pilot to succeed? You're not even—mmf—Star Fox anymore: you're just Falco Lombardi."
From his sudden silence, Katt could tell the mention of Fox had gotten to him.
"Because… we can change the system from the inside. The Corrupt, the Adept, and everyone else just have to work together. Then when those goons seize power, they'll find their asses balancing on a shaky throne. In a few days, the third millennium begins. Your master's homeplanet transits its host star, becoming visible for the first time in years. It'll be impossible for Corneria to hide what they did to the Cerinians. We'll see that the New Years' celebrations in the colony's streets turn to protests. Protests will turn to riots, and riots into revolutions—if they don't make concessions to us. But first things first; we need the help of this 'insider.'"
"We have spoken at length," Ariki said, hands wandering over his priestess as she ground him. "They claim the key is the Cerinian in the core."
Falco nodded, trying not to let the couple's antics distract him. "Krystal. We talked with Albert Sifaka, the last living designer of the Bolse core. He says right now they must have her contained; they control where she draws her power from, and how much of it she can get. But if she connects to other Cerinians, it will grow exponentially. So if we open the gate to Cerinia, she'll become too strong for them to manage, and they'll have to disconnect her from the system. Then we can sweep in and rescue her." He shifted. "We just need your help…"
Ariki grinned, and from that smile, Katt could tell he loved when people needed his help. "A gate, hmm? That's cute. But we already have something…" he rested his chin on the Priestess' shoulder, "bigger in mind."
The vixen gasped when she felt him rise, then glared disapprovingly over her shoulder. Falco lifted an eyebrow, but whatever thoughts he tried reading from behind Ariki's gleaming smile, it wasn't making sense to him. It seemed the lustful Cerinian was having trouble paying attention—but Katt began to worry that was by design.
"We can discuss the full details later," the Priestess explained, reluctantly riding her master. "We still have a few days before the new millennium celebrations. Our c-contact can provide schematics for the gates' manual overrides, and they have a plan to—mmf!—get the military to stand down as well."
Ariki spread his arms. "And Ariki, Father of the Adept will lead the people in a march of glorious revolution, down the sun-soaked halls of heaven. If any foes get in our way, your Lord will make quick work of them!"
Katt placed her hands on her hips. "How do we know you even have that kind of power? Can you really take on Astropolis' security forces? Sure, we've seen you make your whore nun float, but how do we know that wasn't just smoke and mirrors?"
"Katt…"
Ariki frowned at her and opened his mouth to retort, but a shout went up in the main hall, and all the music stopped at once. Chaos seemed to break out, and Mike the door guardian rushed into the office. "Ascendant One, Ascendant One!"
"…Ascendant One?" Ariki blinked and looked around, then jumped in realization. "Oh, right, that's me! Er, report, Mike!"
"Security forces have entered the Zone 4 maintenance level! They'll be here in five minutes!"
"Police?! Impossible! Unless…" He shot to his feet, shoving the Priestess aside and glaring at Katt and Falco. Suddenly they found themselves lifted in the air, talons and footpaws unable to reach the ground as they floated above it. Katt felt a massive hand clasping around her throat, cutting off her oxygen and strangling her with invisible fingers—and beside her, Falco flailed helplessly, choking in a similar vein. But Ariki didn't so much as lay a finger on them. "You! You led them here! This meeting was a trap!"
Katt clutched at her throat, trying to peel away the fingers strangling her, but found nothing to grasp. "N-No," she rasped.
The Priestess stroked his front soothingly. "Ariki—my Lord, no…"
Ariki glared at his two guests as he held them aloft, then narrowed his eyes. Once again, a rush of recent memories flipped before the eye of Katt's mind like the pages of a photo album in a hurricane, far more frantically than Mike had done. In particular, the image of the Mindsweeper truck lingered. She prayed Ariki would finish his search quickly, or she would strangle to death.
Finally the force dissipated, and they fell to the floor together, choking in sweet breaths of air. "You were careless." Ariki sighed. "Pity, I rather liked this place. Nice atmosphere. So perfect for the family's needs." He crossed his arms and looked down on them, smirking. "You asked for a show of strength, Lylatian? Well, you just might get it…"
While majority canine, the Adept scattered like rats. The lights in the facility all came on at once, blinding, yet welcome in the mad dash for personal belongings and clothing. They fled out the backdoor, hopping into pants and shimmying into shirts. Against the tide, Falco and Katt followed a confident Ariki out the front to the steaming filtration vats. The Priestess was nowhere to be seen.
Shani, Mouser, and Bowser rushed across the personnel bridge to meet them on the facility's vaulted porch. When Mouser saw they were half-dressed and glowing in paint, and noticed Ariki wearing a cape, he raised an eyebrow. "Wha? Was it a secret Halloween party in there?"
"What are you and kitty cat doing? Police are coming! Is no time for finger-painting."
"You can fill us in on the details later," Shani rushed them. "We need to scram! Please tell me there's another way out!"
Falco jerked his head towards the control center. "It's fine, we can just slip out the back. They have the escape routes and safehouses all planned out."
"Come on, follow me!" Katt said. She held the door open for the other Free Birds, but Ariki didn't join her. "You coming, Freak-in-a-sheet?" she called over her shoulder.
"I thought you wanted a taste of this?" he laughed coyly, spreading his arms like a priest and letting his cape fall open. Katt fought the urge to vomit over the edge into the reclamation vat. But a roaring hum filled the chamber, drowning out any retort she could have made. A powerful gust of air buffeted against the bridge, parting the mist to either side like a curtain. From far above descended a metallic black droneship: a bug-like vehicle with two eye-shaped camera domes at the front and two large rotorwings on either side. It was accompanied by the sound of dozens of boots echoing down the entrance passage.
"FREEZE!"
Powerful flashlight beams cut through the mist rising from the vats in quick succession, blinding Katt, Falco, and Ariki. "This is the Zone 4 Private Security Force!" the voice boomed over a megaphone. "You are charged with trespassing in a restricted area, unlawful gathering, and drug possession. Do not attempt to escape or resist arrest! Non-compliance will be met with appropriate countermeasures, up to and including lethal force!"
Katt and Falco hunkered in the doorway, using their elbows to shield their eyes from the searchlight beams. Katt counted maybe fifty officers lined up on the far shore. The bridge forced them to cross with three abreast at most, but the vanguard running to meet them was decked out in full riot gear.
"Ariki!" Falco shouted, "let's go!"
But the vulpine was unfazed. Cape swirling, he turned and grimaced into the bright searchlights, a macabre smile twisting his face. "No, I'm tired of running. You mortals always think you can order me around, like I'm nobody!" He spread his arms, and his cape billowed in the downwash from the rotor blades. "But I am Ariki!" he bellowed, "the Ascendant One! Father of the Adept, and Lord of this pathetic colony! Who dares challenge me?!"
The officers on the megaphone blinked and looked at each other when the naked fox in the bedsheet started shouting. "Th-This is your last warning! Get down on the ground and place your hands in the air, or we will use force! Three…! Two…! One…!"
But Ariki kept right on marching towards the vanguard, a look of hunger on his crazed face. Before they could finish their countdown, each of their searchlights suddenly exploded in a spray of glass that tinkled to the floor, the lights going out one by one.
"Wh-What the—?!"
"FIRE!"
The vanguard crossing the bridge knelt and fired over their shields, brilliant-colored laser blasts streaking through the darkness—but each and every beam missed its target. They wavered and bent in midair, arcing around the lone Cerinian as if a glass dome protected him. The lasers harmlessly struck the walls of the facility behind him. Katt and Falco flinched, but Ariki's shield inadvertently protected them as they crouched in the doorway, gaping at his display.
Slowly the vanguard quit firing, confused. Ariki laughed… then sent the officers flying over the railing, along with their rifles and riot shields. The men yelled and screamed before they hit the water, sending up momentous splashes with each impact.
The far shore of the filtration vats fell into a confused frenzy. More officers took potshots across at Ariki, while the Cerinian simply jerked them by their rifles over the railing to join their fellows in the water.
The wind picked up, and Ariki swayed and grabbed the guardrail to keep his balance. He looked up to see the droneship descending, the repeating blaster cannon affixed to its underside revving up. But with a simple thought he sent the vehicle careening down into the vat, too. More riot officers had begun to cross, but the large droneship put a stop to them, too. It landed directly in the center of the catwalk, causing the metal to groan and bend downwards into the steaming water, before it snapped off completely.
The resulting geyser drenched Ariki with water, and Katt and Falco raised their arms to cover themselves—but when the splash dissipated, he was still perched on the edge, laughing wildly. "Is this enough of a demonstration, oh faithless heathens?!" he called back. "I've bought you plenty of time: go! We'll finalize the plans later!"
Falco was frozen in awe, but Katt grabbed his wrist and jerked him inside. "Falco, come on, let's go!"
The last they saw of Ariki he was leaping over the wreckage of the sinking droneship and tossing police officers like ragdolls against the fiber optics columns.
"Holy shit Katt," Falco gushed as they ran through the abandoned facility, "did you see what that guy can do? We have a Cerinian on our side!"
"UGH!" Katt shoved him forward, in too much of a rush to do anything else. "First Wolf, then Eladard, and now Psycho the Psychic! One of these days Falco, someone from your 'trustworthy coalition' is gonna bite you in the ass!"
Ariki's voice echoed after them, driving the point home. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! I AM ARIKI, FATHER OF THE ADEPT, LORD OF THE LYLATIANS! KING OF THE YEAR 3,000—AND EVERY YEAR AFTER! FOREVER EMPEROR OF ASTROPOLIS! THE BIG CITY THAT—ARIKI, GOD OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, THE YEAR 3,000! ANOTHER 3,000 YEARS MAY HE REIGN! PROPHET OF THE NEW GENERATION, AND ALL THE-THE uh, AND THE DELINQUENTS, AND THE FREAKS! IT'S-IT'S… IT'S LOOK WHO IT IS: ARIKI, THE KING, MAY HE RULE FOR 3,000 MILLENNIUMS! EVERYDAY A NEW MILLENNIUM! ALL WILL BOW TO—Hey, watch the lasers! ARIKI! PROPHET OF THE ADEPT, FATHER OF THE ASCENDANT ONE! ASCENDER OF… OF ASSES! ASCENDS THEM AND THEN… Uh… DESCENDS THEM, RIGHT ONTO HIS MIGHTY SCEPTER! ALL THE BEAUTIFUL LYLATIAN BABES, LICK HIS SCEPTER! FORM A LINE AND—ARIKI, BESTOWER OF THE SEED OF LIFE INTO THE MOUTHS OF BEGGING WOMEN! AND ALL OTHER EUPHEMISMS, ETCETERA, ETCETERA, 3,000 MILLENNIUMS IN A ROW, EACH DAY, FOREVER! RAAAAH! AHAU MAHI KOE RĀGATA MATAE BONPAI! KOE MATAE QUAKOA AHAU NĀKAHI BONPAI MO 3,000 YEARS, AHAHAHAAAA…!"