Interactive Story - By any Authors. The Edifice.
The Edifice loomed before the small interstellar craft, it's vast expanse incredibly intimidating. Fully measured it was five kilometres by ten kilometres by fifty kilometres, the largest prison station in the charted systems.
Like all prisons, the Edifice was meant to be inaccessible and, due to it's very special nature, no one was meant to know where it really was. Only the powerful System Computer which managed the penal settlements knew where it was. And now so did Jake.
Jake knew that the edifice was originally established to support a wide range of special criminals. These criminals were all creative geniuses but also very dangerous. It was for this vast wealth of knowledge that Jake had come. His friend had other motives.
Typing in the code that he had hacked from the System Computer, Jake aimed his small craft towards the space juggernaut.
The prison filled his view as he docked his craft to the automated access point. There was a hollow clunk followed by a deep echo as the clamps gripped and the airlock sealed to the joint. Jake wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead and told himself that he was doing the right thing. This was going to make him rich.
He made his way towards the cryogenic sleep capsules where his three crew mates hibernated. Typing in the codes he started them out of their long sleep cycles. He wiped frost from the glass in front of each of their faces and considered his partners on this risky venture.
Queke was a masterful hacker and had helped him crack the encrypted codes that restricted access to the System Computers secret files. He was a tall lanky man with angular features and a mat of messy red hair on his head.
The next capsule contained Max, the money man. He'd financed the entire operation, greased palms, oiled the bureaucratic machinery and paid people to look the other way. He owned the ship, paid for their equipment and would likely sell what they found to his affluent and powerful friends. Slightly short he'd paid surgeons to make him look tike a matinee idol.
Finally there was Bella. She was a young rich girl. Through her politician father she had gotten the trio of men access to restricted systems and documents. Once they had planned everything down to the last detail Bella had insisted they let her come along. Physically she was an absolute stunner possessing a beautiful face and amply curvaceous body.
Jake briefly considered leaving them in stasis.
He doesn't leave them in stasis. A2
He only thaws out Bella. A3
'Hmmm. Maybe I can find some stuff before I wake them. I could even tell them that I didn't find the Edifice if what I find is really valuable,' Jake mused. He reached across and flipped the cryogenic machines back on.
Turning he made his way to the airlock. He stepped through and opened the hatch to the prison. Walking in he looked around. The entrance was cold gray steel and plexi cubes, cold and musty. Everything was quiet. He walked over to the wall and shone his torch on the wall. T-wing.
T-wing. What was that? H-wing was for homicidal scientists but what was T-wing?
Jake shrugged and stepped into one of the corridors which branched away from the entrance, deciding to head along the outer edge of the Edifice. He walked along it until he came to a door with a window. He looked in and saw an empty lab. Peering deep inside and seeing no one there he wondered if he should enter.
The smart fellow thinks it looks too scary. B2
A2. Jake shook his head, wondering why he had even considered leaving his friends. He waited the ten minutes for the thawing process to finish. Queke, Max and Bella gradually awoke, coughing and sputtering as their lungs were forced to work again.
They stepped sluggishly from the hibernation booths and started to dress, shivering the whole while. Jake found that Bella was quite enjoyable to watch as she dressed.
"We've docked. I vote we go exploring together," Jake said as the others finished dressing.
Queke agreed. "I'm not sure what we'll find, but there's safety in numbers."
"Right lets go," Bella said, now dressed in a shiny skin tight suit.
They made there way outside of their small craft and congregated in the entry, the stale air quite offensive.
"What do you think T-wing means?" Max asked aloud.
The others shrugged.
"Which way should we go? I think we should head into the heart of the Edifice," Bella said. The others agreed.
They made there way together into the heart of the massive station, passing numerous doors. A robotic service robot passed them and scanned their faces then continued on it's way.
"Creepy," Max said. The others nodded.
Queke had lagged behind and was looking into one of the rooms. The door seemed to be open. The man glanced up the corridor. His friends were just rounding the corner. He could have a look around this room then quickly catch up. It would only take a minute.
Queke catches up with his friends. B4
B1. Jake opened the door and stepped into the room. Inside was a strange array of laboratory equipment which looked heavily used. In the middle of the cluttered room there was a computer, hooked up to a what looked like a regenerative chamber.
Curious, Jake wandered over to the machine. It was on. He stared at the screen of the computer. "DNA recombinative 2.1," he read. What was that?
"Excellent, a test subject," a voice behind him said.
Jake turned around to find a thin balding man standing behind him and the door. The man had long emaciated fingers which he twiddled excitedly.
"Sorry pal. I don't think you'll be trying any experiments on me!" Jake said. The rake thin man couldn't possibly stop him from exiting the room. Jake started to make his way around the odd fellow.
"Smithers, detain our guest," the thin man said, his long pointed nose flaring in irritation.
A huge robot shimmered before Jake, uncloaking. Now this was something to worry about!
The robot reached forward and grabbed Jake. "Yes Mr, -" there was a strange sound as the robot's voice box shorted.
"Dang-blast it Smithers, now I'll have to repair your voice box!" The mad scientist said. "Place the victim - I mean the subject in the machine!" The scientist said as he began to type away on his keyboard.
Jake was pushed into the chamber, the door sealing him in.
"I hope you like my machine!" the mad scientist said, proceeding to laugh maniacally. The scientist initiated his DNA Recombination program.
Jake jolted as he felt the machine begin it's work.
B2. Jake paused at the entrance. It looked a little... suspicious. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the room felt like a trap of some sort.
The nervous man moved away from the door and made his way further down the metal deck hall, his steps loud in the silence of the station, looking over his shoulder and around the hall.
He eventually came to a security door marked as the Eden Biosphere, for authorised personnel only. There were rumors that experiments in biological mutations were carried out at the edifice by some of the inmates. There were a number of very wealthy people with a penchant for collecting unique plants. They would pay a fortune for hybridised plants, especially if they were illegal.
Scratching his head Jake looked at the security mechanism. He reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a small card which was attached by wire to a small datapad. He slipped the card into the scanner and waited for his electronic gadget to crack the security system.
There was a small chime and the security panel flashed an all clear. Jake was now authorised to enter. He stepped into the air lock, closing the door he had just entered behind him. There was a flashing red light and a mechanical warning was issued. "Please ensure that a bio suit is worn at all times. DNA recognition required to exit biosphere. Please enter DNA code in sampler."
Jake walked over to the sampler and placed his finger inside. There was a sudden pin prick as it extracted a blood sample. Next Jake looked at the suits provided. They were in good condition. He put one on and then opened the door into the Eden Biosphere.
The place was huge. Lushly green, massive trees growing a hundred metres up, obscuring the roof from view. Jake wandered around, exploring the place. There seemed to be all manor of rare plants, plants which would sell for a mint. He dug up one plant, probably worth a years wages on the right market.
There was a sudden hooting sound and Jake paused. It sounded human in nature. 'It might be time to get out of here,' he thought to himself.
As he made his way towards the exit he saw a plant, one that he knew was extinct that made him stop. It was a narcotic plant, outlawed throughout the system. If he could get this sample back to civilization he would be able to sell it for... he couldn't even imagine.
He hesitated torn between getting out before the person who made the noise arrived and getting this plant that would make him incalculably wealthy.
Get out while the going's good. C5
B3. "I'll have time to catch up," Queke thought as he slipped into the chamber. He brushed his hand through his straggly red hair and looked around. There was a hissing sound as the door shut behind him. Queke rushed to the door, but there appeared to be no way to open it.
"Well, well, well. How are you my fine friend. I didn't know they were sending new victims. This must be an early shipment," a female voice said.
Queke turned around to see a beautiful woman wearing a skin tight body suit. She had long cascading blonde hair and the face of an angel. Her body matched, large bountiful breasts, long thin legs, a narrow waist and delicate hands. Unfortunately she was holding a stun gun.
"Sorry, I'm not a victim. I came with my friends looking for..." Queke realised that he was telling this woman too much.
"My, you're pirates? I'm impressed. And happy. You see the inmates here are confined to their rooms. If you leave you invariably die at the hands of one of those damnable robots. Victims are coded into the computer as well. Once they enter a room they can't leave, the master computer sees to that. But pirates. My the computer will allow you to go anywhere as it doesn't have a record of you! You'll be like the administrative staff!" she said, a smile forming on her lips.
Queke didn't like that smile, he especially didn't like the way she was pointing the gun at him.
The woman fired her stun gun.
Half an hour later Queke walked out of the room carrying a small machine. He paused in the corridor as though expecting a security robot to blast him to pieces. When nothing happened he began making his way back to the ship. He met the others at the airlock.
"Where have you been! We've been worried sick about you!" Bella scolded him.
"I found this in one of the rooms. It's a machine of some sort. I'll put it in the ship," Queke said.
"We found some valuable items as well," Max said. "I think we should go."
"I'm all for that," Queke said.
They boarded the ship and disconnected from the station.
'Queke' laughed out loud as he watched the station grow smaller and smaller. With his mental exchange device he was going to be rich. This time the System Computer wouldn't find him. He'd make sure of that!
Meanwhile the real Queke awakened, he sat upright and looked down at his body. He was wearing a skin tight silver suit, the one which the girl was wearing. Not only that but he had breasts. Hell, he wasn't wearing her clothes he was in her body! He stood and looked down at himself.
Those same large breasts he had admired previously greeted his view again, but the crotch of the skin tight suit was smooth. Well not exactly smooth. If he looked really hard he could see...
"Oh my god," Queke said, his voice a dulcet soprano. "She's stolen my body. Now I'm the prisoner! Not only of this body but of this station!"
Queke looked around the room. There was an abundant supply of mechanical equipment. There was a machine with two virtual helmets attached to it, but these appeared to have been modified extensively. This must be her workshop and that would be her mind transference machine!
Wandering into the next room, Queke let out a gasp of awe. The entire ceiling was glass and looked out onto the planet. There was a marble tile pool and an extensive gym. Abutting this was a huge bedroom. Lining the wall of the bedroom were hibernation chambers, probably ten in all. Three contained women and two were occupied by men. They all had control collars on, the type worn by criminals. Obviously these were her victims!
Walking over towards the chambers, Queke noticed that the men all appeared to be in excellent shape, as did the woman. He started to thaw out all the people, then returned to the lab to see what he could make of the machine. Perhaps he could get a male body back.
After playing with the machine for a while, he figured out how it worked. Happy, he returned to the main room to discover all the people awake. He slowly walked up to one of the men. "Can you talk?" he asked.
The man shook his head. Queke looked him up and down. He was attractive. Queke idly wondered what it would be like to sleep with a man as a woman. He was curious, but at the moment he had to talk to these people. He reached up and disengaged the collar around the mans neck.
As the clip was removed from the naked mans throat, he reached out and grabbed the collar from Queke's grip. He pushed it around the woman's neck and snapped it closed.
Queke tried to protest, tried to explain, but nothing came from her mouth. She couldn't talk!
"I've been waiting for this for years! Do you remember how many times you've had your way with me when I've been in one of the female bodies? I'm a man, not a woman." he started to slowly unzip Queke's top, her large milky breasts spilling free.
Queke wanted to say that she was a man too but she couldn't. Queke couldn't even resist, the collar around her neck somehow sapping her of the strength to react. She was like putty in his hands as he removed her suit. Underneath she was wearing nothing.
The man ran a hand over her breasts and nipples. Queke shuddered, the pleasure uniquely feminine.
"Do you know how many times I've wanted to do this?" the man asked placing his penis at the lips of her hot moist cunt.
Queke shook her head.
"This many times," he said as he pushed deep into her. Queke let out a gasp as she was penetrated for the first time, wrapping her legs around the man. He started pounding into her, counting.
Afeterwards the man went over to the others and removed their collars.
Queke could tell by the look in their eyes that they didn't like her one bit.
"I'm next said the other man."
"After you can we switch bodies. I want to give her a good going over as man too," said one of the women, a cute red head.
"Then me!" said the brunette.
"I'm after you all!" said the blonde.
"There's no hurry everyone. We have all the time in the world," the man who'd just screwed her said.
Queke let out a small sigh. She was going to spend the rest of her life here. Maybe she shouldn't have been so curious.
END
B4. Queke realised that in this labyrinthine network of corridors he could lose his friend permanently. He moved off, quickening his pace to catch up. When he caught up with them, the were standing outside what appeared to be a robotics facility.
"This looks like it may have something of interest," Max said.
Bella nodded, "if these are made by one of the autistic fruits that are housed here, I'd say you're correct."
"Well waddya think, should we explore?" Queke asked.
There was a moments indecision.
They should see what sort of robots are being made here.C6
Max decides to have a look, the others will meet him back here later.C7
C1. There was a strange creeping sensation all over his body. His flesh seemed to ripple and compress, strange light bathing his body. "Let me out," he yelled, his voice sounding a little different.
The man felt himself thinning down, his body contours changing. He heard a rustling sound and realised that his hair was growing much longer. His clothes sagged, hanging off his reduced frame. He felt an itching on his chest as it started to expand.
Jake realised that he was being transformed into a woman. "Let me out, I'll do anything you want. Stop!" He pleaded, his voice now octaves higher than before.
"Interesting, the subject seems to be unhappy. We shall soon change that...," the mad scientist said.
"No!" Yelled Jake. He felt disorientated. What was happening? Why was he feeling so strange? It was hard to think, hard to remember...
His chest was now very swollen. He placed his hands there, curious about the odd new weights he felt. He could feel his nipples, now much larger, straining against his shirt. This was all new and so wonderful! The booth was growing.
"Wow," the new woman gasped. She shrugged of her pants and looked down. She was a woman all over. Her skin tingled in sensitively. This was so exciting!
Where Jake had been moments before there now stood a diminutive woman, barely five feet in height. She had a mane of long lustrous blonde hair, massively endowed breasts, an innocent and very cute face which wore a dimpled smile, lovely long legs, a magnificent rump and an exceedingly narrow waist. The girl giggled vacuously.
"Excellent, another addition to my collection," the mad scientist said as the door opened and the newly created woman stepped out. She looked around the room, wide eyed, her eyelashes batting coyly.
"I love you!" she said as she jumped into the gangly scientists arms, her large breasts bouncing most satisfyingly."Call me Jacqueline my honey bunch."
"Excellent..."
End.
C2 "Hmmm, I wonder what I'll do this time? Something creative. Let me see, where is that cat? Smithers, find the cat!"
The large robot moved to the next room. There was loud hissing and feline yowling. Moments later the mammoth robot returned carrying a very irate kitty.
"Put the cat in there Smithers. I want to try some inter-species experiments."
The robot did as commanded opening the door and throwing the cat in with Jake. Jake struggled with the cat for a moment, the animal not at all happy with the idea of being thrown around by a robot. Then it stopped struggling as the machine started to hum.
Jake watched in horror as the cat he held started to transform in his hands. "What on earth?" he asked as the animal started to grow, losing hair and gaining bulk. Meanwhile he was growing hair all over his body! He was shrinking as well. Somehow he and the cat were changing forms! His limbs were becoming feline, long thinly muscled appendages. His vision shifted becoming much more refined.
"There that should do," the scientist said.
Jake looked at the cat. It looked more like an ape now than a cat!
"Whrat thre hrell?" Jake said, his voice a soft purr deep in his throat.
"Take it easy my dear fellow!" the mad scientist said. "Let them out Smithers, I want to see if the merger was a success!"
The robot opened the door. Jake and the apelike cat both leaped from the booth. The ape cat ran towards the door. The robot moved surprisingly quickly and caught it.
Jake followed the ape cat closely and made the door. He ran down the corridor back to the ship having absolutely no intention of coming back
"Damn it Smithers, we lost a perfectly good cat because of your incompetence! Oh well I can make a cape from this ape.
Jake ran through the air lock and into the ship, disengaging the umbilical. He sat down in the ops room and started to undress. His hands were paw like and were much less dexterous. He was covered in hair. He could feel the uncomfortable stump of his tail through his pants.
He tried to gage his height. Probably now slightly under four feet. He could live with that. As he pulled off his top and looked down he received another shock. He had six nipples on his lightly furred stomach! As he looked at these, he became even more worried. They were large. Much larger than they should have been. With a sinking feeling he shrugged off his pants. There was nothing there. Nothing he was familiar with anyway.
"Orh nro! Irt wras a fremrale crat!" the ape had looked male... and he was now obviously female! "I'rm groing tro hrave tro gro brack!" There was no way he was going to remain a female subhuman creature.
Jake went to the weapons rack and grabbed a flamer. He was going to be ready for that robot this time. His stubby fingers didn't really fit properly into the weapons trigger guard, but he was sure it would work. Reattaching the ships umbilical was easy. Jake opened the air lock and started back into the Edifice, retracing his footsteps.
"So what do you think of my new cape Smithers? The only in existence! My I'd cut a dashing figure at one of those balls in this thing."
Jake stepped into the room, flamer armed. The robot was standing beside the mad scientist.
"Grive Mre Brack Mry Brody!" Jake ordered, not so sure of himself.
"Oh dear. The man came back!" the mad scientist said. "This does complicated things. Smithers. Get him."
Jake aimed the flamer at the robot and fired. The robot was smashed to pieces by the fiery blast.
"Smithers!" The scientist said in shock.
"Nrow. I Wrant Mry Brody Brack," Jake threatened.
"I'm sorry. I can't do that. See my cape. It was once an ape! Your DNA is lost. I only have what remains to work with."
"Program irt tro mrake mre hruman!"
"Very well. But I only have so much to work with." The scientist walked over to the machine and fiddled with the dials. "It is set up."
"Grood. Nrow strep irnside." Jake said.
"What?"
"Ir'm groing tro trest irt orn yrou frirst." Jake said, not trusting the old spindly man for a moment.
"Oh. Wait. I forgot to press a few buttons," the scientist said, moving back to the console and reprogramming it.
"I throught sro." Jake waited as the scientist stepped in and the machine ran. When it stopped the old scientist stepped out, unchanged. "Irt dridn't wrork."
"Oh, no. You see it is keyed to human DNA. What it does is removes non-human DNA and interpolates the gaps as best it can."
"Grood." Jake tied the old man up then stepped into the machine. He felt his body warm as the machine started to change him again. The fur disappeared. He felt himself grow a little. His body reformed, but it didn't seem the same.
The machine stopped and Jake stepped out. He looked down. Generally he looked human. His hands were slightly feline but would pass for human. His whole body had a lithe feline grace about it. He still looked female. Large sized breasts. Firm feminine curves. He felt his ears. Slightly pointed like a cats and in the wrong spot. He reached behind him. The tail was still there, though hairless. With some concern he placed his hand where his manhood should have been. It wasn't there.
Jake sighed. "That's the best you can do?" the new woman's voice still had a feline purr to it and it was much higher in pitch.
"Yes. Now you may as well untie me and depart."
Jake scratched her chin. "Do you have a schematic for this machine?"
If Jake was going to be a woman, she was going to be a rich woman.
END
Jake got down on his knees and started to dig up the plant, careful not to damage its limbs or roots. There was a rustling sound and he turned. Across the clearing was a beautiful woman. She was also very strange. She was naked, had purple hair and green skin. There was more rusting and another such woman stepped from the undergrowth. Then another.
Jake slowly stood. He was being surrounded.
"A man!" one said.
"Yes a man!" another said. They rushed to surround him, pressing their nubile bodies against his. He looked from one beauty to the next. This seemed like a pretty interesting place.
"Ahem!" A deep voice said.
Jake turned and saw another oddity. It was a tall barrel chested man with deep green skin and a long purple beard. He too was naked.
"Uh, hello," Jake said.
"Well. So you intend on challenging me? Well you shan't succeed."
"Sorry?" Jake asked in confusion.
"You will be!" The woman spread out into a circle, entrapping Jake and the strange man.
Before Jake could ask any questions, the giant man moved towards him, swinging a fist. Jake ducked under it, the fist missing him by inches. Jake backpedaled as the green man threw another fist, this one connecting solidly. Jake was knocked back senseless.
"The challenger loses!" he dimly heard. The next instant the buxom green woman surrounded him again running their hands all over his body, tearing off his clothes. He felt numb, distantly thinking that it might not be so bad to lose. Then his body began to tingle.
He looked down at his flesh. There was a strange green sheen to it and he was covered with pollen of some sort. He spasmed as his skin started to writhe and move of its own accord. His hands gripped the earth, sinking into it. He could feel a strange pulse rushing through his body from the ground. His chest slowly grew, rounding and firming.
Jake looked around the clearing at the other beautiful woman and the man. The man was smiling. The woman were... smiling vacuously. Dread gripped Jake's mind. He was going to become like them! He had failed in his challenge and was doomed to become the green mans woman!
He looked down at his body again. He was thinning and changing. His breasts were forming. looking further down he realised that he had become a woman. Some bizarre plant woman but female nonetheless.
The green man grinned and moved towards Jake, running a hand over her soft curves. Jake squirmed in fear and pleasure. She looked from the man to her body. She was excited and terrified at the same instant. Then the man moved inside her and she was merely excited.
She gasped in pleasure, wrapping her legs and arms around the man. Her large breasts pressed against his chest. Her small frame moved with his large one. She let out a cry of pleasure.
The green man grinned. It was always good to add another tree to his forest.
END
Caution was always the best option. Jake decided that it would be a
good idea to leave. He headed back to the air lock and closed it behind
him. He looked back through the window and glimpsed a nubile green beauty,
then she was gone. Uncertain as to whether he had been lucky or not, Jake
continued into the Edifice.
Guidelines...
The idea of alternative endings is something
that has always interested me. As a result of this interest I'm going to
give the old "interactive book" idea a new twist by mixing it
with transformation themes and html text.
The "story" is open to anyone who wants to add to it. The only catch is that you have to start at one of the 'decision areas' ie where you make a choice. New decisions can be included as part of the thread and are encouraged. For example at the first decision stage (A) Jake could wake up one of the other guys as opposed to Bella or everyone.
Hopefully you'll be able to make up your own mind whether an addition will work. There are no content rules which means that anything is fair game and threads don't have to be finished, although it is encouraged.
Characters are fully open to any interpretation as long as what has happened previously in the story thread is not contradicted. Have a look at the various interpretations and you'll understand. I've purposely left motives and personalities for the other characters open in the introduction. Also Jake doesn't have to be the main character.
Additions must be in html and identify where they go in the main text, with a suggested decision. Keeping the story brief or allowing other people to diverge from where you are going would be a good idea - others may surprise you. I'll tag routes by author. Send submissions to kismettg@hotmail.com with the subject as "interactive story".