{ "submission_id": "1452579", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "1209", "keyword_name": "bdsm", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "23517" }, { "keyword_id": "199", "keyword_name": "bear", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "49831" }, { "keyword_id": "8378", "keyword_name": "dormouse", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "269" }, { "keyword_id": "123", "keyword_name": "female", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1094257" }, { "keyword_id": "1696", "keyword_name": "humiliation", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "13039" }, { "keyword_id": "165", "keyword_name": "male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1202681" }, { "keyword_id": "383713", "keyword_name": "marmet", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1" }, { "keyword_id": "690", "keyword_name": "masturbation", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "47749" }, { "keyword_id": "152", "keyword_name": "raccoon", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "37005" }, { "keyword_id": "909", "keyword_name": "romance", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9150" }, { "keyword_id": "714", "keyword_name": "sci-fi", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4761" }, { "keyword_id": "5300", "keyword_name": "shemale", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9783" }, { "keyword_id": "2492", "keyword_name": "solo", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "108778" }, { "keyword_id": "19984", "keyword_name": "verbal abuse", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "184" }, { "keyword_id": "18060", "keyword_name": "viper", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "678" }, { "keyword_id": "6338", "keyword_name": "webcam", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "776" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "4", "create_datetime": "2017-10-05 15:33:33.668786+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "05 Oct 2017 17:33 CEST", "last_file_update_datetime": "2017-10-05 15:31:01.008946+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "05 Oct 2017 17:31 CEST", "username": "TerraMGP", "user_id": "46355", "user_icon_file_name": "60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "file_name": "2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "files": [ { "file_id": "2052175", "file_name": "2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/2052/2052175_TerraMGP_by_necessity_security.doc", "mimetype": "application/msword", "submission_id": "1452579", "user_id": "46355", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": null, "full_size_y": null, "screen_size_x": null, "screen_size_y": null, "preview_size_x": null, "preview_size_y": null, "initial_file_md5": "c0131c26c5f575ef329cde14532fa43e", "full_file_md5": "c0131c26c5f575ef329cde14532fa43e", "large_file_md5": "", "small_file_md5": "", "thumbnail_md5": "", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2017-10-05 15:31:01.008946+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "05 Oct 2017 17:31 CEST" } ], "pools": [ { "pool_id": "47516", "name": "By Necessity", "description": "A love between two people from very different walks of life. Getting past what they are to see if they can be the person the other needs.", "count": "26", "submission_left_submission_id": "1452250", "submission_left_file_name": "2051667_TerraMGP_by_necessity_basics.doc", "submission_right_submission_id": "1496854", "submission_right_file_name": "2119237_TerraMGP_by_necessity_priorities_part_1.doc" }, { "pool_id": "64597", "name": "Great Tree Saga", "description": "An attempt at the chronological list for all great tree saga stories. Does not incldue side stories.", "count": "65", "submission_left_submission_id": "1456670", "submission_left_file_name": "2058063_TerraMGP_by_right_gauntlet.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/2058/2058063_TerraMGP_by_right_gauntlet.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/2058/2058063_TerraMGP_by_right_gauntlet.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/2058/2058063_TerraMGP_by_right_gauntlet.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "120", "submission_right_submission_id": "1452250", "submission_right_file_name": "2051667_TerraMGP_by_necessity_basics.doc" } ], "description": "Going to let up on Sean and Brinna after this one. But expect this to be the pattern of them for a while. Hope you enjoy. A bit of fluff, but hopefully still enjoyable", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Going to let up on Sean and Brinna after this one. But expect this to be the pattern of them for a while. Hope you enjoy. A bit of fluff, but hopefully still enjoyable", "writing": "By Necessity: Secure\n\nBy TerraMGP\n\n\t\"Ok, You can do this Brinna. Just like before. Just, back to square one.\"\n\n\tThe gawky, scrawny dormouse girl pulled away from the grainy, low def holo cam. She nudged her blankets aside, including a large blue grass stained quilt, nudging them to the side as she awkwardly waddled on the childish old bed sheets. Overly-long sleeveless top and knee-high striped socks offering a small hint of thigh fur that might have been quite enticing if she had any idea how to be seductive.\n\n\tInstead she simply made her way to the center of that tiny bed, her beloved plush ankylosaurus sitting on top of the blanket pile leaving her with nothing between her and the camera but one pillow laying off to the side.\n\n\t\"O-okay.\" She muttered softly as the poor dormouse tried to look into the camera. Her chest heaving slowly as she forced herself to gaze at the little black box held in place by zip ties and elastic bands. \"T-this is my first assignment from my Sir since being taken into his household. Sir, if you are watching this, I hope your little plaything pleases you. And I hope\" she swallowed hard and glanced at the simple pattern of logos and outline of cartoon mechs resting between her knees. \"I hope that nobody else sees this!\"\n\n\tShe reached over to the pillow and gripped it. Arching herself up on her knees a bit tot push the stuffed, if not overstuffed thing right between her thighs. \"Assignment one. I am to hump this pillow, l-like the pathetic little nerd that I am.\"\n\n\tBrinna squirmed and shivered a bit as she gripped one end of the pillow hard in hand and used the other to pull up on the shirt. She started to rock her hips back and forth in jerky, erratic movements. A forced and almost mechanical sawing motion interrupted as she gasped and moaned little yips of pleasure. \"I am, my Sirs, pathetic little squeak toy.\" She muttered under her paper thin breath. Shame and lust starting to fill it. \"I exist to please him, to amuse him. It is the greatest gift a pathetic little dweeb like me could ever ask for.\" She bit the corner of her lip firmly and moaned as the near-sandpapery grit of her cheap panties rubbed hard on the pillow. The noise loud and palpable as her hips rocked and bucked firmly \"I only ever deserve to get off the way dorky little dweebs do. Rubbing and grinding up against something. Awkward and shameful'' she heaved her chest a bit. The gasp punctuated as a shiver ran though her. The friction on her labia starting to push the pleasure and pain of it although her own shame. She rolled one stocking foot awkwardly as her body tried to cope with the sensory input. But she didn't stop, she couldn't now.\n\n\t\"I'm going to... to... cum.'' She Whimpered \"I am going to cum for my Sir, and prove that I can never be anything but his pathetic little doll. I am going to make, make sure, that he knows my shame is his. Forever ohhhh, gosh'' she bit hard on her lip as another shudder ran though her. Feeling the dampness forming, clinging to fur and flesh as she continued to shame herself. The debasing low-grade sawing drew hot and ever-so nasal little moans as she started to double up, then reared her body back. Brinna looking away even as she did her best to put her body and the growing dampness on panties and pillow out for the camera to see.\n\n\t``Ohgoshogoshohgoshohgoshohgosh ohhhhh G-gollly.'' She squeaked Brinna biting down hard on the hem of her shirt and humping her hips in gawky little up and down circles against the pillow. Tinges of the heat and sparks from the action showing as her whole body gave a helpless little quake and her nipples pushed themselves erect. She squealed hard and lulled her head back in the throws of a shame-filled little orgasm.\n\n\tWith that the Dormouse just turned her eyes to give a scared little glance at the camera. She smiled, nervously, and stared to crawl up towards it. Looking right into the lenses before the feed cut dark.\n\n--------------------\n\n\t``Miss Kelley, You're late.'' The older brown-furred marmet said as he narrowed his eyes. He had an odd accent about him. Some twist of old-Terran French mangled up with the vowel-chewing one would see on the colony world of Horatio. He narrowed those dull grey eyes at the poor dormouse and followed her from the front door to her work bench. Other students in far more garish and outlandish fusions sniggering as she went. Everything from her footfalls to the screech of her stool on the hard composite somehow rang out absurdly loud.\n\n\t``Apologies, Jan Luc'' she stammered meekly ``My Sir kept me out a bit late last night. He kind of insisted that he secure me a ride home. Then I woke up late, and the lift was packed and'' she winced and looked down at the mostly-white floor of the work surface. Her eyes dancing anxiously along the small hexagonal pattern and flecks of decorative material as she tried to avoid any increase in breathing.\n\n\tThe man humphed a snooty growl and shook his head. He paced forwards, a small limp dragging designer leather loafers along the floor. ``I see. So am I to imagine that the little... trinket... around your neck. That is from your `sir'?'' he said the word with a sharp note of contempt.\n\n\t``Yes, Mr. Jean Luc, sir'' she nodded a bit. The poor rodent wrapping her long fuzzy tail around a stool leg and fiddling with the charm around her neck ``I, well. He gave it to me when he put me under consideration. I mean ,well. That's kind of complicated. You see.''\n\n\t`Non! I don't want to hear it.'' the man growled ``I can see all too well. Some pathetic delusional Class II fool who knows just enough about operating a printer to make some gaudy little bauble. Poor stitchwork, useless little faux-tooled little fairies. Not even smart enough to print with actual silver. Simply cheap sterling. Unless this was all his cheap home printer could manage'' the man scoffed\n\n\tBrinna narrowed her eyes. Her tail tensing and tightening around the chair leg. She could feel her teeth clench and her toes curl She swayed back, tried her best to look away as the mere presence of the man all but overwhelmed her. Yet simultaneously pushing her to fight back.\n\n\t``Well what can you expect, Misure Jean Luc?'' one of the older students called from the back ``If she's wiling to wear that scrap iron around her neck then how could we possibly trust her taste?''\n\n\tThe old man pulled away from her. His absence allowing a cool breath to finally fill her lungs. He marched as best he could up to the young man and narrowed his eyes. The look on his face growing dour and glib the closer he got. Soon he was all but looming over the hip looking young man and glowering in his face. The uncomfortable silence returning.\n\n\t``Her necklace, boy? Her necklace? That necklace.'' he practically clubbed the older student with the accent now. ``Is formed of raw scrap. Scavenged off the floors of some dank, dirty factory you will never set eyes upon. It is a charm made, carefully and lovingly at the hands of a devoted mother, toiling away to help provide for her family. Yet able to spare a moment and give her child a keepsake of comfort. It was crushed and twisted into its shape with the crude tools of the woman's workspace. Pressed in pistons and cut in machine gaps so strong and imprecise that a single straight line would be near impossible. It is not the gaudy bauble of some over-eager boy trying to impress the best slave he will ever get. It is a mothers love, hardened and tempered free of all impurities. That, Aggie, is art. Do not dare to forget it again. Oui?''\n\n\t``Oui, Jean Luc.'' The older student muttered. By now the teacher having loomed so far that he almost knocked the offending pupil out of his chair.\n\n\tSatisfied, the old man stood up straight and looked around at the workshop ``Alright you little leaches on the legs of my muse. I've uploaded all of your work assignments. Ms. Kelley, for your intrusion I will be keeping a close eye on those opals. Perfect Cabochons, or we will have words.''\n\n\tBrinna nodded fearfully and pulled the bag close to her. All real stones, raw and unpolished opal. She measured out the grit and set it into the old style tumbler. Soon followed by a small selection of the rocks. It was Jean Lucs first rule with cabs. They needed to be smooth and rounded to see where the stone wanted to be cut.\n\n\tBrinna, for one, hated it. It was always so much easier to lay out simple geometric shapes than to get something perfectly round.\n\n\tThe morning passed without much incident. In spite of the occasional needling she got for her low-class status nobody really made the effort to harm her, or anyone else, when doing the work for Jean Luc. None would dare. At about lunch time he came out from his office and started to set a small metal disc down on each work station. Looking positively non-plussed, or something close to it.\n\n\t``New assignment my little gem machines.'' The man called out from the center of the room. ``I need all of you to pay attention, as you will be staying late tonight, and every night for the next week or two. Maybe more''\n\n\tThere were groans from every apprentice. Brinna very much included. They all slowly brought themselves to a stop and turned to look at the discs. Silver and unremarkable on one end, save for a small hole. The other had an odd black coating to it, one which looked like far more than simple paint.\n\n\t``Does anyone know what this is?'' Jean Luc called out.\n\n\t``It's a data jack cover, right?'' one of the students replied.\n\n\t``Oh Oui, they can learn.'' The old man laughed ``That is exactly what they are. Freshly printed from very specific plans. Now as some of you may know there is often a trend of decorating ones jack cover to express individuality. That little lump of metal often looks so boring and out of place, after all. Well except to those nasty little hackers and bandits wandering the networks, oui?'' He laughed. Others joined him. None enthusiastically.\n\n\tThe man sighed and slumped his shoulders. ``Nevermind. You see little workers. Our latest patron.'' he popped every molecule of frenchness he could from the word, so much so that his real, natural born accent almost slipped at the end ``is a man seeking to put on a display of `functional art'. I have yet to get to it with you as you are all ungrateful layabouts. But a big part of the jeweler in this age is to make jewelry which houses vital tools or useful toys for the wealthy and well to do. Perhaps a clever poisoned pill ring, or a tracking device. A place to hide a camera or hard-store data.'' He growled the suggestions in a low, ominous tone ``or just something to show that the device in their heads is somehow better than everyone else who has the same one. That is your task. You are free to use any techniques you wish, but keep in mind you are limited to weekly project rations. Only three will be chosen and I have no interest in wasting money on failure.''\n\n\tAnd then he left, without another word. As always.\n\n\tBrinna set the tumbler on low and finished her current cab on the wheel before opening up the little display in her work station. She hunched over the little metal plate and began to flip though the various lists of materials on hand. If nothing else Jean Luc was well stocked. Something to be expected from one of only three people permitted to craft jewelry for the Lady Thane.\n\n\tBrinna stopped for a moment. The wheel finally clicking in her head as she began to grasp the gravity of the situation. Lady Ase, the Lady Thane. That great, unknowable figure in the spire to whom everyone bowed and scraped in supplication. She was the mother of Brennas Sir.\n\n\tThe poor girl paused as she felt the thought drift into her head. It took several minutes for her to uproot it and try to push it away again. That little realization was something she flat out couldn't handle. Not now anyways.\n\n\tBrinna spent the next hour just working on the project. Mostly to keep this fresh hell of anxiety out of her head. The last thing she needed was to let the idea of being in the same room with the Lady Thane sink in.\n\n\tWhich, unfortunately, it did. Pictures and holos of those cold, crushing blue eyes danced in her brain as she fumbled over her work station. She simply needed an idea. Something, anything. Her eyes struggled to focus on the material list as her ears folded back. Words from the rare station addresses used to knit chilling, terrifying things into her mind. Of this woman slashing her down. Condemning her. Casting her out for how worthless and weak she was. Finding whatever strange quirk of her personality that Sean somehow found pleasing and crumbling it to dust as easily as swatting a fly. Yet even then it felt like nothing Brinna could cook up in her slowly spiraling mind would do it justice. Just the mere thought of it made her stomach turn. She felt sick. Scared. While last night her Sir had driven her to the point of her first little `prey-gasm', a thought that still made her blush a bit. Now Brinna was wondering what a vicious, savage unfathomable woman like the Thane could do. Even as she struggled to yank her head to something, anything else.\n\n\tGlassing! Brinna nearly fell out of her seat in the rush to pull from her station and head to one of the two glass lidded chambers in the back of the shop. It wasn't a technique they used much. Hardly at all, really. A huge amount of work for fairly mundane results. \n\n\tBrinna decided to use a test mix first. Probably a couple just to make sure she wasn't wasting her time. She looked though the glass, or rather transparent composite, to the small metal container resting in the chamber. With a push of a button a small tube moved out to hover over the container. Brinna brought up a calculator program from the local cloud to her HUD and started to input the figures. Soon she was getting back numbers. Brinna put the numbers in to the machine. First came some Silica, then finally a semi-aerosolized mist of water saturated the materials before the nozzle pulled back and the lid sealed back on.\n\n\tThe machine started to go to work. Warm red lights glowing from all around the box. A loud whine as the pressure system began to pump massive amounts of air into the chamber around the container. Brinna watched as the PSI started to rise slowly. It was safe. She knew it was safe. But as the pressure passed the 300 mark she decided o go back and work on some cabs, just to be sure she wasn't wasting Jean Lucs time.\n\n\tThe amounts were small. As such the test sample didn't need much time. By the time her class rolled into its last half hour Brinna was done with her work for the day and had bagged the finished stones , putting them in the basket by Jean Lucs door and walking back over to the small pressure chamber. It still had a few minutes left to it. Finally letting out a loud hiss as the air was slowly pushed out and the numbers on the display started to drop.\n\n\tWhen they were safe Brinna opened the glove slots and put her hands in, gripping the blistering hot crucible with one hand and using the other to pop the lid. She used one of the small tools fitted to the machine to help her pull out a bright burning mass of what looked like molten glass. A thick solidus that bent and twisted like putty in the thermal work gloves. Brinna slowly pulled it out into a sheet. Getting the thing as flat and square as she could. The process started to get a bit easier as it stiffened, then harder. The material growing brittle as it started to cool.\n\n\tBrinna grinned as she watched the material finally losing its bright fire-glow. Looking down on what seemed to be a passable bit of opal.\n\n--------------------\n\n\tThe lab wasn't like his facilities at home. It didn't need to be. It was half there for regulation. To make the suits happy by assuring some kind of proper interaction and oversight so that the young man didn't abuse his undue power and go off spending company time and resources on some absurd and seemingly random project or other.\n\n\tWhich was precisely why he stood there now. Shaking his ass a bit with music blaring from the emergency PA system. Gone were the sharp coal suit jacket and stuffy woad blue dress shirt. A nice black cutoff Tee with the logo for ``The Campbell's'' on it, obscured only by an unbuttoned and borderline superfluous faux-leather workvest. A set of welding goggles perched on his head at a bit of a lopped angle with his glasses tucked in to his shirt. His own keen, engineered eyesight not really needing them for much at this point. He leaned in on the large cylinder with the handle end of a spanner gripped in his muzzle. Keeping one eye on the alignment of the optical chips while he tried to trace out a good shape for a mounting bracket between the control systems and the press mechanism.\n\n\tThe song flipped over and his ears perked. Pulling back and holding the spanner like a microphone. His head nodding as he fumbled and bumbled awkwardly in a janky jangly bit of dance that barely matched the nice hard folk edge to the music. All the while belting along with the singers whose shirt he sported, affecting his best Scottish bough to keep up, and failing terribly.\n\n\t``Oh I brought my baby home. Now I don't feel so alone. When she's near me life, don't feel so baaaaad. Oh I brought my baby home. I couldn't sleep while she was gone. Her smile chases all my blues away!''\n\n\t``Lord Thaneson?''\n\n\tSean half collapsed into his work stool and then nearly fell out of that. Gripping at the hard composite work space and steadying himself before falling over. He turned to see an older man. A sharp dressed sea lion with expertly cared for mustache and smooth shaved head. It seemed pretty clear the man was bald, but he wore it with some dignity. Indeed everything about the man oozed dignity. Dignity and oversight.\n\n\tSean got himself settled and sat up in his seat. The spanner rattled to the floor. The man wincing at the hard clattering as it rolled off to one of the other rarely used work stations.\n\n\t``Sorry to interrupt, Lord Thaneson.''\n\n\t``You don't need the lord.'' Sean said as politely as he could. He watched the man looking him over. He was old. Clearly high up enough to afford rejuv treatments. Probably had at least a couple. But he also seemed to wear his age with some dignity. Admirable, but it always set Sean off.\n\n\t``I'm sorry Lord Thaneson, I am afraid I can't be that informal. I'm here on behalf of Oversight, sir. I was told to check up on your progress.''\n\n\t``Progress?'' Sean asked ``Didn't we just finalize the last project? What did the forms not get though or something?'' The bear waved his hand and the music dulled. It didn't cut out. He wasn't giving the man that satisfaction. Especially not after being interrupted in his little work sanctum.\n\n\t``Yes, sir. You see that's the problem. Your mother has instructed Oversight to treat your division no differently than any other. Since you are the de-facto leader, naturally it would fall to you when selecting a new project. However the reports coming seem to indicate that you have yet to do so.''\n\n\tThe bear set his teeth a moment and sighed. He was never one to clock-watch before. He never had Brinna before either, so there was that. But gods, every time this man uttered another long, drawn out drawl of a sentence it felt like the seconds just slowed to a crawl.\n\n\t``I see. Well I wasn't aware I had gone a few weeks without finalizing something new for the team.''\n\n\t``Three months.'' The man corrected.\n\n\t``Excuse me?'' Sean blinked\n\n\t``Three months, Lord Thaneson.'' He said bluntly\n\n\t``I see.'' Sean sighed ``Well I can see how that might be a bit annoying. Then again picking out projects from the lists I'm given tends to be pretty annoying too.'' he said. His tone just polite enough to get his point home.\n\n\t``Milord, if I may ask, what is that you are working on now, exactly?'' the old man narrowed his eyes a bit as he leaned in. The look in his eyes unmistakable. The hard grinding wheels of a bean counter hard at work.\n\n\t``This? Eh, nothing. Kind of a distraction. I just always figured the means we use to produce rounds for the Sterling kinda needed an update. You know, something a bit less primitive than ninetieth century tech?'' he shrugged.\n\n\t``I see.'' the man said shrewdly ``And that's what this is for?''\n\n\tSean nodded and put his hand on the casing of the large cylinder ``More or less. I mean I looked at the process and it really just doesn't make sense. With this baby here you can just hook I up to a secondary unit to heat the metal, then it will simply extrude the rounds into a cart to be hauled off. I think I can modify it to prep for specialty ammo too, cut out that part of the process.''\n\n\t``So you're looking to re-implement full automation in our munitions plants, My Lord?'' he asked quizzically.\n\n\t``No.'' Sean sighed ``This thing will still need someone to baby it. If it was more cost effective to use full automation we would. But you remember what happened the last time we left a production system with Kenna fully at the helm'' He muttered. The frustration starting to seep into his voice. ``Look it really shouldn't be that hard to get. After a simple initial investment you change the whole job from a horrible laborious task of class IIIs ripping their own spines out to get these things prepped, to a far faster process where the worker can sit there on a stool and keep an eye on one of these with minimal training. Without having to go though the nightmare of programming an oversight free Kenna shell to make the lines all run normally or throw in expensive drones with expensive maintenance crews.''\n\n\t``After the initial costs.'' The man stressed.\n\n\t``Yes, After.'' Sean sighed\n\n\t``I see.`` the man muttered in the most pedantic and condescending tone he dared. ``And you said this was a, side project?'' he asked\n\n\t``Yeah. I have some wetware architecture `cooking' in a test chamber now. Just capping out neural integrity and redundancy. Look is there a point to all this?'' Sean sighed as he ran a hand though his hair and resisted the urge to yank it out in frustration.\n\n\t``Only that we wish to ensure that your mothers wishes are carried out, my lord.'' The man nodded ``The chaotic nature of your development is often worrisome to Oversight members. It simply does not seem fitting to waste so much time and effort for what I must assume to be a trivial boost in production for one very narrow aspect of our overall revenue. One that would ultimately require additional training and perhaps even education expansion to the workers who are already more than capable of loading the machines by hand.''\n\n\t``And would that really be such a terrible thing?'' Sean quirked his brow. ``Is the cost really so high that Oversight have to send someone out to manage the side project to my side project?''\n\n\t``Not at all, Lord Thaneson'' the man said. ``It is simply a worry when you have yet to select your next main project.''\n\n\t``Listen... what's your name again?''\n\n\t``Blackwell, Lord Thaneson.'' He muttered with smarmy supplication.\n\n\t``Blackwell. Ok, look Blackwell. Tell your bosses I'll have something `acceptable' for Mother to be proud of in the next couple of days. Also, one note. If they want me to care about their requests it's probably better if they keep things like hypno-grenades and field portable omniprinters off of the list. Maybe pay more attention to their own research divisions on what is and is not possible before bugging mine.''\n\n\t``Very good, Lord Thaneson.'' Blackwell said with a rather dour tone ``Now if you don't mind.'' \n\n\t``Yeah, yeah.'' Sean waved his hand as the man left, the music volume creping up a bit though nowhere near what it was. Sean leaned back over his current project, then sighed and pulled himself back to standing. His nice loafers thumping along the floor, reminding him of just how wrong these nice tailored suits always felt. He walked his way up to a side of a shiny little box with a glass door. Originally painted black, but worn bare metal in many spots from hard use and more than a few accidents. He looked in to see the bundle of artificial tissues and adaptive data cables. Looking up to see how well the different code lines were run though the thing.\n\n\t``Pick a project.'' He muttered ``If any one of those morons knew what they were doing...'' Sean shook his head and sighed softly. He turned from the chamber and made another gesture with his hand. A small image popping up in his view.\n\n\t``Sita.'' He muttered. \n\n\tThe image of a young black haired raccoon in a maids uniform popping up instead. ``Master?'' The chipper voice spiking the eager question though the call.\n\n\t``Chepi?'' Sean blinked a bit\n\n\t``Yes Master, is something wrong?'' she asked. The eagerness quickly bending to concern.\n\n\t``What? No nothing. Usually when I call you girls she's the one to pick up.''\n\n\t``Oh, uh... Yeah. Well, you see'' Chepi muttered ``The thing is that Sita is... busy. With the dust. Yeah.''\n\n\t``You mean dusting?'' Sean asked as he quirked his brow.\n\n\t``Yuh huh! She's dusting. In the work room.'' Chepi nodded\n\n\t``Dusting the work room. You mean the one with all the machining tools? That work room?''\n\n\t``Yuh huh!'' Chepi said eagerly once more.\n\n\tSean sighed and shook his head in frustration. ``Never mind. Just tell me, is the car on its way up? I need to go pick Brinna up and I don't want to deal with the traffic.''\n\n\t``Yes Master it was sent up half an hour ago.'' The raccoon slightly pudgy raccoon nodded ``It should be waiting in your parking space whenever you're ready. If you still need Sita, I'm sure I can get her when she's done with Tor-MMPH''\n\n\tA silk-gloved hand wrapped around Wrapped around Chepi's muzzle as Sita, the one to share head maid duties, pushing herself in front of the small kitchen camera. ``Greetings, Master.'' The mottled snake hissed as she tried to nudge Chepi out of the way. ``Forgive me. I was just, you know, dusting the... uh...''\n\n\t``My workshop'' Sean noted\n\n\t``Yes. Your workshop, Master.'' She said as she glanced at Chepi, shooting daggers at her peer before looking back at the camera ``Forgive me. I guess my data jack wasn't set to pick up calls. I'll have to get it looked at.'' She laughed nervously\n\n\t``Yeah, I'm sure you will.'' he said snidely ``I mean it wouldn't be very much fun if you didn't answer at a critical time and I got mad. Assuming you were doing something beyond your duties. You know. Like having some fun with `little Sita?''\n\n\tThe snake girl blushed harder and opened her mouth to protest.\n\n\t``Oh, no Master!'' Chepi called out proudly ``She only makes time for that on Thursday. She has this whole setup in the broom closet with some print pictures and a copy of your MMPH''\n\n\t``I do not.'' Sita snapped as she nudged Chepi out of the way and glared down at her. ``What are you talking about. I'm not some nasty... I mean'' she took a deep and calming breath. ``I would never allow myself to do something so utterly undignified. I don't know why you'd ever think such a thing of me.''\n\n\t``I suppose.'' Sean smirked ``Then again it might not be a bad idea to check the feed from that smart ring around your cute lil cock. I mean if your jack is acting up.''\n\n\t``I do not jack off to pictures of you in the broom closet Master!'' Sita yelled. Giving the camera the most impossibly Tsundere look imaginable before slumping back a bit and quickly pushing her hands down against her maid skirt. One hand remaining to try and keep the very clear tent from showing while the other grasped her arm just above her elbow, unconsciously showing off her less than ample chest. A bit bigger than Brinna, but far smaller than Chepi.\n\n\t``I see.'' Sean smirked ``Well then it should be an interesting night. I expect both of you to be in my chambers, in position, waiting for when I get home tonight.''\n\n\t``But why?'' they yelped in unison. Sita with that mix of tsundere rage and unwanted elation while Chepi blushing in utter confusion.\n\n\t``Lying to me works. As does playing with the new maid without my express permission.'' Sean nodded ``Oh, and probably the old `because I can' thrown in at some point.'' He smirked and licked his lips slowly ``And remember girls. Brinna and I are not having sex for a good long while. Best to be prepared for that.''\n\n\tThe feed cut off and Sean leaned his hand on the table as he let a sigh pass his lips. Now if only corporate bureaucrats were that easy.\n\n--------------------\n\n\tThe Amari Dirk probably wasn't the kind of `supercar' one would imagine Sean owning. Or rather one might imagine him having it as part of some larger collection. The thing had been an offering, one rarely used until lately. Amari had decided to show their loyalty as a subsidiary by buffing up one of their top of the line models. Real leather seats, customizable lighting, A seat and steering assembly based off of personal measurements from when Sean had spent his time on a Dagda. That last one was rather creepy since until that point the wasn't aware his body proportions were corp-wide public info.\n\n\tIt was a nice car. Fast, flashy. It was safe too, if only by virtue of upgrades put in to avoid a scandal should Sean get in an accident. Still he'd never used the hunched little two-seater until now. The price a man pays to keep his favorite pet from reliving trauma.\n\n\tShe was having late nights. They were late nights all week. It wasn't a shock. This wasn't some maintenance crew job where you just hung by an older worker until you picked it up. Muller was the best. Or rather, he was good enough to please mother. Which meant he demanded perfection from everyone.\n\n\tSean was half way though his latest archive. A long standing stream with network celebs running a traditional VR roleplay. It wasn't bad, even if it felt like the man playing the mage was freaking out a bit more than he probably would at the RNG roll from the GM. But hey, theatrics have their place. He looked up to see his pet dragging her feet along towards the car. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. She simply pulled up the gull wing door and slipped herself in. Fastening the safety harness, slamming the door, and kissing his cheek before slumping into her seat.\n\n\t``Long day, pet?'' Sean asked.\n\n\t``Yes, Sir.'' Brinna muttered ``Because I'm too stupid to know better apparently.''\n\n\t``Ok now that one demands some explanation.'' Sean sighed ``Out with it, what happened my little gem?''\n\n\tBrinna sighed and shook her head ``Nothing, Sir. It's just. We had an assignment to do. A really big one. A chance to show our work off to everyone at a university display. I don't know what it was about, but it would be a chance to show my work off.''\n\n\t``And I take it you didn't win?'' Sean asked with a sigh ``Is that what has had you working so late every night?''\n\n\t``Yuh huh.'' Brinna nodded as she ran her fingers slowly over the mesh pattern of the security harness. A slow simple rhythm, more to have it than anything, sating some small mote in her mind.\n\n\t``Any idea why you didn't win?'' The bear asked as he tilted his head\n\n\t``He said the work was too simplistic, Sir. That it didn't show enough complexity. Enough depth. I...'' she sighed ``I admit it's a bit annoying. Especially considering what he said.''\n\n\t``Oh?'' Sean asked `And what did he say?''\n\n\t``That we were supposed to make them to suit ourselves. To reflect who we are.'' Brinna noted ``Tap into some primal part of ourselves to reveal it on something purely practical. Which is probably why he didn't like it.'' Brinna noted as she popped her neck and leaned over to lay her head on his shoulder as much as she could.\n\n\tSean, by contrast, put his arm around her and nodded with a small smile ``Yeah, well. I think you're the best, my pet. And I am the boss, and so what I say goes.'' He chuckled ``Besides it's not like this is the last time you are going to have this sort of competition, is it?''\n\n\t``It's not even about the competition.'' Brinna sighed ``I guess I was just really eager for some positive feedback.''\n\n\t``I always think you do amazingly, my little Gem.'' Sean smirked\n\n\t``Yeah but that doesn't count.'' She whined as her ears folded back ``I know I'm going to get praise from you, Sir. It's like impressing my parents. I'll get an A for effort no matter what.''\n\n\tSean shifted a bit in his seat and got himself upright, looking down at her and crossing his arms. ``Ok then, try me.''\n\n\t``Wha?'' Brinna blinked\n\n\t``Try me. Do you still have the thing?'' he asked\n\n\tBrinna nodded softly ``YesSir. He told us to hang on to it for a while and study it before we recoup the materials. Plus I, kinda used some techniques I'm not sure I can undo. I mean it was really just dumb luck that I got it on the second try and then I've been spending most of each day for the last week and a half putting a good finish on it. Well, most.'' she nodded as she slumped a bit.\n\n\t``.... Let me see'' Sean said, as much request as order.\n\n\tBrinna blinked as she reached down into her jacket pocket and withdrew a small box. Unadorned and rather plain. Just a black case used to keep necklaces or pendants. She opened it up slowly, glancing off to the side as she did. She felt her Sir snatching the box up as she did and bringing it close to his face, looking it over.\n\n\t\"Ok, wow. That is a serous wow there.'' Sean looked over the odd, dark material covering the jack as a thick shell. Running his finger along the edge oh so slowly. The odd, hazy material shimmering with a Smokey rainbow as he turned it. ``How did you...''\n\n\t``Boulder opal.'' She said plainly ``I used a technique called glassing to make some high quality synthetic that is malleable for a short while after forming in the pressure crucible. Then I just applied thin sheets of that on to the housing and ran it on the wheel to keep it even.\n\n\t``And this.... thing?'' Sean asked as he tilted the little plate to the light to get a better look. It was a triune. Clear and shining, a solid beautiful blue color contrasted against the dark material of the opal.\n\n\t``Aquamarine.'' She nodded ``I made a sheet with a mold in the same pressure kiln using powder. Then laser etched the space for the inlay and bonded the two before using the bucky tube coating. That's most of what I've been doing the past week honestly. Getting it to shine, getting the seams to match.'' She sighed ``I guess it's all kinda simple, huh?''\n\n\t``It's beautiful'' Sean smirked ``Just like you. I'm not just saying that either. I genuinely had no idea you could do this with gemstone.'' \n\n\t``Fake gemstone, Sir.'' Brinna sighed ``Manmade. Manufactured. False. No super fine wire wraps. No slicing and scalloping sapphire. Just-''\n\n\t``Brinna.'' Sean said sternly.\n\n\t``Y-yes Sir?'' Brinna asked as she looked up at him. Much of the frustration and self loathing melting from her face.\n\n\tHe cupped the little charm hanging from her collar and tilted his head ``Remind me what this little bit of Beryl is again?'' He asked\n\n\tThey both gazed at each other a long moment. Brinna smiling softly as she slowly sank back into her seat and sighed. A paw reaching up to run though her thick black hair and give it a soft tug of frustration. ``I think this job is getting to me, Sir. I'm not complaining. I'm not going to quit. But I just kinda figured that at some point I'd start to get it a bit. It's just not what I expected.''\n\n\t``It rarely is.'' he laughed ``Even the jobs you love kinda suck some times. That's why you fall back on people. You gotta have the people in your life to keep you stable, don't ya? Even if it's just a few treasures from a sea of pack filler trash?''\n\n\tShe smiled at that and nodded, a small laugh finally breaking though her lips. ``Well I landed a unique part, Sir. I don't think I need to worry about the rest of the pack filler. Except, you know, the whole crush of sensory overload from them being literally everywhere and not going away.''\n\n\t``they'll do that.'' Sean nodded as he reached down into the door and pulled a few onion rings out of a `Bobby Char' bag. He held them up to her nose, Brinna sniffing them and then shaking her head in a bit of disgust. Sean pulled back the rings and sniffed at them before tossing them into the bag and pushing on the gas. ``Yeah, no. We're getting something fresh. Damn it I was saving those for you too.''\n\n\tThey started off down the roadway. The hard mag-enabled wheels rolling along as Sean took a bit of pleasure in the manual control. Nodding his head to the song that had been stuck in it for over a week now and humming softly.\n\n\t``Mind if I pick the spot?'' Sean asked with a smirk\n\n\t``This one exists to see her owner pleased. She gladly surrenders her will to her superior owner. For all of her days.'' Brinna said in as reverent and worshipful a tone as she could, before smirking a bit ``But if this lowly little worm may have a say, I could really use some ice cream, Sir.''\n\n\t``That bad, huh?'' Sean chuckled\n\n\t``I'm pretty sure it's almost a medical problem at this point, Sir. Without cold and cream and overwhelming artificial flavors I don't know if my body will last.'' She let out an overplayed groaned grabbed her stomach doing her best to look weak and tired. Glancing up at him with big, begging eyes.\n\n\t``So it won't count as spoiling then?'' he laughed\n\n\t``Not if it's medical'' she assured him.\n\n\t``Oh really now?'' Sean grinned ``Well you know that's some pretty good news for me, then.''\n\n\tBrinna blinked and tilted her head ``W-why, Sir?'' she asked nervously\n\n\t``Well it may seem a bit coincidental. But how long have you had that jack of yours?''\n\n\t``Why?'' Brinna titled her head\n\n\t``A slave does not question why, my gem.'' Sean chuckled\n\n\t``Not long, Sir. It's new. Newish. Refurbished'' she muttered ``It's the fifth one since I started high school If I'm honest. But it's held up ok for most of the year.''\n\n\tSean sighed a bit and shook his head. ``That's just bad. Not to mention trying to keep out all the spam with that little `system of yours.''\n\n\t``It works!'' she protested\n\n\t``You use AdMunch, Brinna, AdMunch. Most systems treat that as a malicious program. And it's not even the least stable program in your suite.''\n\n\tShe sighed and pouted softly. He was right, but still...\n\n\t``So you want me to update my programs?'' she pouted.\n\n\t``No.'' Sean smirked ``No I don't think that's gonna work. I think you need a new jack, a half way decent one. Lucky for you I have one in mind. We can even use your new cover, since you can't recoup it or reclaim it or whatever you called that.''\n\n\t``I donno, Sir. The patron'' she mangled the word just as Jean Luc so often did ``sent a very specific case face. I don't know that it will be compatible.''\n\n\t``Oh I get the feeling it will.'' Sean nodded\n\n\tThe two were quiet for a long while. The sound of the motors and mag impeller from the car drowning out the soft noises from the speakers a moment. Brinna crossing her arms over her chest in a heavy pout.\n\n\t``What? Oh come on. Ok no, I didn't just set this up.''\n\n\t``You didn't?'' she tilted her head\n\n\t``Well I kinda did. One of my employees likes to invest his money in the arts for the tax write off. I just slipped him the idea, gave him the case to use, and let him handle the rest.'' Sean sighed ``I mean come on, if I was going to rig up a competition like this I'd rig it up to ensure my little slave-to-be won it, wouldn't I?''\n\n\t``I guess.'' Brinna nodded ``I mean it's pretty clear you could have.''\n\n\t``And if I told you to just go ahead and make your ideal jack cover, you'd have obsessed over it, right?'' He asked\n\n\t``Well yeah'' she nodded ``I, Well I kinda got in my own head over it anyways. Well not the jack specifically. I donno it's been a crazy couple of weeks.''\n\n\t``It has'' Sean affirmed ``Which is why I was kinda hoping this would be a nice surprise.''\n\n\t``It is! I mean I think it is. I don't know.'' Brinna bit down on her lip and leaned back, looking out at the road. The late hour resulting in a near absence of traffic ``It's not like I haven't had new jacks put in. Though they all built off the same initial install. But this seems like it goes beyond spoiling.''\n\n\t\"Well you said medical doesn't count.\" Sean chuckled\n\n\t\"no no, I mean. This has to cost you a ton of money. I already feel guilty when you just get me a model kit. This is, Gosh this could cost an obscene amount. Tens of thousands or more.''\n\n\t``In R&D More. But you're worth it.'' The bear put a paw on her shoulder and pulled her as close as the safety harness would allow.\n\n\tBrinna blinked again and looked up at him in shock ``you made it?'' she asked nervously\n\n\tSean nodded ``Look, pet. You really are my precious little treasure. I want you to be safe and happy. But this isn't just about you and me. As my priced slave you'll be privy to quite a bit of sensitive information, and a bad jack could leave a back door open to bounce any number of things from. I l- I care for you, my dear. But what happens when you visit my suites and leave things open for a hacker. Or worse, if it happens in my mothers suites.''\n\n\t``Or we could skip that. The last one. Sir. We could, you know, put that off until, forever.'' Brinna said as she swallowed hard ''Forever sounds good. Or longer maybe.'' She sighed as her sir gave her a look and just slumped against the passenger side door. Her eyes slipping shut tight as the grainy orange of her crappy fifth-rate HUD came into display. She had to admit, she needed something better.\n\n\t``Let's focus on us first, my little one.'' Sean smirked ``Then we can worry about subjecting you to my mother. But you really do need this done. Don't worry. You'll use the same doctor I do. Even quicker and more painless than usual. Plus it'll be our first collaboration. A joining of our collective skills to make something greater than either could on their own.''\n\n\tBrinna blushed as she heard that and folded her ears back. The snarky pseudo-submission replaced with a genuine bow of her head and shiver of gratitude. ``I would like that, Sir'' she muttered ``I would like that very much.''\n\n\t``Good girl'' Sean said proudly. He looked down at the little disc and set the car on auto. Tracing his thumb lovingly over the glass sheet sheen of the married gemstones. In hindsight it made him almost a bit upset that he didn't think to rig the competition. No way anything could be as beautiful as the hand-made treasure he now had resting between thumb and forefinger. Save, perhaps, the one at his side. The greatest treasure he could imagine.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "By Necessity: Secure

By TerraMGP

\t"Ok, You can do this Brinna. Just like before. Just, back to square one."

\tThe gawky, scrawny dormouse girl pulled away from the grainy, low def holo cam. She nudged her blankets aside, including a large blue grass stained quilt, nudging them to the side as she awkwardly waddled on the childish old bed sheets. Overly-long sleeveless top and knee-high striped socks offering a small hint of thigh fur that might have been quite enticing if she had any idea how to be seductive.

\tInstead she simply made her way to the center of that tiny bed, her beloved plush ankylosaurus sitting on top of the blanket pile leaving her with nothing between her and the camera but one pillow laying off to the side.

\t"O-okay." She muttered softly as the poor dormouse tried to look into the camera. Her chest heaving slowly as she forced herself to gaze at the little black box held in place by zip ties and elastic bands. "T-this is my first assignment from my Sir since being taken into his household. Sir, if you are watching this, I hope your little plaything pleases you. And I hope" she swallowed hard and glanced at the simple pattern of logos and outline of cartoon mechs resting between her knees. "I hope that nobody else sees this!"

\tShe reached over to the pillow and gripped it. Arching herself up on her knees a bit tot push the stuffed, if not overstuffed thing right between her thighs. "Assignment one. I am to hump this pillow, l-like the pathetic little nerd that I am."

\tBrinna squirmed and shivered a bit as she gripped one end of the pillow hard in hand and used the other to pull up on the shirt. She started to rock her hips back and forth in jerky, erratic movements. A forced and almost mechanical sawing motion interrupted as she gasped and moaned little yips of pleasure. "I am, my Sirs, pathetic little squeak toy." She muttered under her paper thin breath. Shame and lust starting to fill it. "I exist to please him, to amuse him. It is the greatest gift a pathetic little dweeb like me could ever ask for." She bit the corner of her lip firmly and moaned as the near-sandpapery grit of her cheap panties rubbed hard on the pillow. The noise loud and palpable as her hips rocked and bucked firmly "I only ever deserve to get off the way dorky little dweebs do. Rubbing and grinding up against something. Awkward and shameful'' she heaved her chest a bit. The gasp punctuated as a shiver ran though her. The friction on her labia starting to push the pleasure and pain of it although her own shame. She rolled one stocking foot awkwardly as her body tried to cope with the sensory input. But she didn't stop, she couldn't now.

\t"I'm going to... to... cum.'' She Whimpered "I am going to cum for my Sir, and prove that I can never be anything but his pathetic little doll. I am going to make, make sure, that he knows my shame is his. Forever ohhhh, gosh'' she bit hard on her lip as another shudder ran though her. Feeling the dampness forming, clinging to fur and flesh as she continued to shame herself. The debasing low-grade sawing drew hot and ever-so nasal little moans as she started to double up, then reared her body back. Brinna looking away even as she did her best to put her body and the growing dampness on panties and pillow out for the camera to see.

\t``Ohgoshogoshohgoshohgoshohgosh ohhhhh G-gollly.'' She squeaked Brinna biting down hard on the hem of her shirt and humping her hips in gawky little up and down circles against the pillow. Tinges of the heat and sparks from the action showing as her whole body gave a helpless little quake and her nipples pushed themselves erect. She squealed hard and lulled her head back in the throws of a shame-filled little orgasm.

\tWith that the Dormouse just turned her eyes to give a scared little glance at the camera. She smiled, nervously, and stared to crawl up towards it. Looking right into the lenses before the feed cut dark.

--------------------

\t``Miss Kelley, You're late.'' The older brown-furred marmet said as he narrowed his eyes. He had an odd accent about him. Some twist of old-Terran French mangled up with the vowel-chewing one would see on the colony world of Horatio. He narrowed those dull grey eyes at the poor dormouse and followed her from the front door to her work bench. Other students in far more garish and outlandish fusions sniggering as she went. Everything from her footfalls to the screech of her stool on the hard composite somehow rang out absurdly loud.

\t``Apologies, Jan Luc'' she stammered meekly ``My Sir kept me out a bit late last night. He kind of insisted that he secure me a ride home. Then I woke up late, and the lift was packed and'' she winced and looked down at the mostly-white floor of the work surface. Her eyes dancing anxiously along the small hexagonal pattern and flecks of decorative material as she tried to avoid any increase in breathing.

\tThe man humphed a snooty growl and shook his head. He paced forwards, a small limp dragging designer leather loafers along the floor. ``I see. So am I to imagine that the little... trinket... around your neck. That is from your `sir'?'' he said the word with a sharp note of contempt.

\t``Yes, Mr. Jean Luc, sir'' she nodded a bit. The poor rodent wrapping her long fuzzy tail around a stool leg and fiddling with the charm around her neck ``I, well. He gave it to me when he put me under consideration. I mean ,well. That's kind of complicated. You see.''

\t`Non! I don't want to hear it.'' the man growled ``I can see all too well. Some pathetic delusional Class II fool who knows just enough about operating a printer to make some gaudy little bauble. Poor stitchwork, useless little faux-tooled little fairies. Not even smart enough to print with actual silver. Simply cheap sterling. Unless this was all his cheap home printer could manage'' the man scoffed

\tBrinna narrowed her eyes. Her tail tensing and tightening around the chair leg. She could feel her teeth clench and her toes curl She swayed back, tried her best to look away as the mere presence of the man all but overwhelmed her. Yet simultaneously pushing her to fight back.

\t``Well what can you expect, Misure Jean Luc?'' one of the older students called from the back ``If she's wiling to wear that scrap iron around her neck then how could we possibly trust her taste?''

\tThe old man pulled away from her. His absence allowing a cool breath to finally fill her lungs. He marched as best he could up to the young man and narrowed his eyes. The look on his face growing dour and glib the closer he got. Soon he was all but looming over the hip looking young man and glowering in his face. The uncomfortable silence returning.

\t``Her necklace, boy? Her necklace? That necklace.'' he practically clubbed the older student with the accent now. ``Is formed of raw scrap. Scavenged off the floors of some dank, dirty factory you will never set eyes upon. It is a charm made, carefully and lovingly at the hands of a devoted mother, toiling away to help provide for her family. Yet able to spare a moment and give her child a keepsake of comfort. It was crushed and twisted into its shape with the crude tools of the woman's workspace. Pressed in pistons and cut in machine gaps so strong and imprecise that a single straight line would be near impossible. It is not the gaudy bauble of some over-eager boy trying to impress the best slave he will ever get. It is a mothers love, hardened and tempered free of all impurities. That, Aggie, is art. Do not dare to forget it again. Oui?''

\t``Oui, Jean Luc.'' The older student muttered. By now the teacher having loomed so far that he almost knocked the offending pupil out of his chair.

\tSatisfied, the old man stood up straight and looked around at the workshop ``Alright you little leaches on the legs of my muse. I've uploaded all of your work assignments. Ms. Kelley, for your intrusion I will be keeping a close eye on those opals. Perfect Cabochons, or we will have words.''

\tBrinna nodded fearfully and pulled the bag close to her. All real stones, raw and unpolished opal. She measured out the grit and set it into the old style tumbler. Soon followed by a small selection of the rocks. It was Jean Lucs first rule with cabs. They needed to be smooth and rounded to see where the stone wanted to be cut.

\tBrinna, for one, hated it. It was always so much easier to lay out simple geometric shapes than to get something perfectly round.

\tThe morning passed without much incident. In spite of the occasional needling she got for her low-class status nobody really made the effort to harm her, or anyone else, when doing the work for Jean Luc. None would dare. At about lunch time he came out from his office and started to set a small metal disc down on each work station. Looking positively non-plussed, or something close to it.

\t``New assignment my little gem machines.'' The man called out from the center of the room. ``I need all of you to pay attention, as you will be staying late tonight, and every night for the next week or two. Maybe more''

\tThere were groans from every apprentice. Brinna very much included. They all slowly brought themselves to a stop and turned to look at the discs. Silver and unremarkable on one end, save for a small hole. The other had an odd black coating to it, one which looked like far more than simple paint.

\t``Does anyone know what this is?'' Jean Luc called out.

\t``It's a data jack cover, right?'' one of the students replied.

\t``Oh Oui, they can learn.'' The old man laughed ``That is exactly what they are. Freshly printed from very specific plans. Now as some of you may know there is often a trend of decorating ones jack cover to express individuality. That little lump of metal often looks so boring and out of place, after all. Well except to those nasty little hackers and bandits wandering the networks, oui?'' He laughed. Others joined him. None enthusiastically.

\tThe man sighed and slumped his shoulders. ``Nevermind. You see little workers. Our latest patron.'' he popped every molecule of frenchness he could from the word, so much so that his real, natural born accent almost slipped at the end ``is a man seeking to put on a display of `functional art'. I have yet to get to it with you as you are all ungrateful layabouts. But a big part of the jeweler in this age is to make jewelry which houses vital tools or useful toys for the wealthy and well to do. Perhaps a clever poisoned pill ring, or a tracking device. A place to hide a camera or hard-store data.'' He growled the suggestions in a low, ominous tone ``or just something to show that the device in their heads is somehow better than everyone else who has the same one. That is your task. You are free to use any techniques you wish, but keep in mind you are limited to weekly project rations. Only three will be chosen and I have no interest in wasting money on failure.''

\tAnd then he left, without another word. As always.

\tBrinna set the tumbler on low and finished her current cab on the wheel before opening up the little display in her work station. She hunched over the little metal plate and began to flip though the various lists of materials on hand. If nothing else Jean Luc was well stocked. Something to be expected from one of only three people permitted to craft jewelry for the Lady Thane.

\tBrinna stopped for a moment. The wheel finally clicking in her head as she began to grasp the gravity of the situation. Lady Ase, the Lady Thane. That great, unknowable figure in the spire to whom everyone bowed and scraped in supplication. She was the mother of Brennas Sir.

\tThe poor girl paused as she felt the thought drift into her head. It took several minutes for her to uproot it and try to push it away again. That little realization was something she flat out couldn't handle. Not now anyways.

\tBrinna spent the next hour just working on the project. Mostly to keep this fresh hell of anxiety out of her head. The last thing she needed was to let the idea of being in the same room with the Lady Thane sink in.

\tWhich, unfortunately, it did. Pictures and holos of those cold, crushing blue eyes danced in her brain as she fumbled over her work station. She simply needed an idea. Something, anything. Her eyes struggled to focus on the material list as her ears folded back. Words from the rare station addresses used to knit chilling, terrifying things into her mind. Of this woman slashing her down. Condemning her. Casting her out for how worthless and weak she was. Finding whatever strange quirk of her personality that Sean somehow found pleasing and crumbling it to dust as easily as swatting a fly. Yet even then it felt like nothing Brinna could cook up in her slowly spiraling mind would do it justice. Just the mere thought of it made her stomach turn. She felt sick. Scared. While last night her Sir had driven her to the point of her first little `prey-gasm', a thought that still made her blush a bit. Now Brinna was wondering what a vicious, savage unfathomable woman like the Thane could do. Even as she struggled to yank her head to something, anything else.

\tGlassing! Brinna nearly fell out of her seat in the rush to pull from her station and head to one of the two glass lidded chambers in the back of the shop. It wasn't a technique they used much. Hardly at all, really. A huge amount of work for fairly mundane results.

\tBrinna decided to use a test mix first. Probably a couple just to make sure she wasn't wasting her time. She looked though the glass, or rather transparent composite, to the small metal container resting in the chamber. With a push of a button a small tube moved out to hover over the container. Brinna brought up a calculator program from the local cloud to her HUD and started to input the figures. Soon she was getting back numbers. Brinna put the numbers in to the machine. First came some Silica, then finally a semi-aerosolized mist of water saturated the materials before the nozzle pulled back and the lid sealed back on.

\tThe machine started to go to work. Warm red lights glowing from all around the box. A loud whine as the pressure system began to pump massive amounts of air into the chamber around the container. Brinna watched as the PSI started to rise slowly. It was safe. She knew it was safe. But as the pressure passed the 300 mark she decided o go back and work on some cabs, just to be sure she wasn't wasting Jean Lucs time.

\tThe amounts were small. As such the test sample didn't need much time. By the time her class rolled into its last half hour Brinna was done with her work for the day and had bagged the finished stones , putting them in the basket by Jean Lucs door and walking back over to the small pressure chamber. It still had a few minutes left to it. Finally letting out a loud hiss as the air was slowly pushed out and the numbers on the display started to drop.

\tWhen they were safe Brinna opened the glove slots and put her hands in, gripping the blistering hot crucible with one hand and using the other to pop the lid. She used one of the small tools fitted to the machine to help her pull out a bright burning mass of what looked like molten glass. A thick solidus that bent and twisted like putty in the thermal work gloves. Brinna slowly pulled it out into a sheet. Getting the thing as flat and square as she could. The process started to get a bit easier as it stiffened, then harder. The material growing brittle as it started to cool.

\tBrinna grinned as she watched the material finally losing its bright fire-glow. Looking down on what seemed to be a passable bit of opal.

--------------------

\tThe lab wasn't like his facilities at home. It didn't need to be. It was half there for regulation. To make the suits happy by assuring some kind of proper interaction and oversight so that the young man didn't abuse his undue power and go off spending company time and resources on some absurd and seemingly random project or other.

\tWhich was precisely why he stood there now. Shaking his ass a bit with music blaring from the emergency PA system. Gone were the sharp coal suit jacket and stuffy woad blue dress shirt. A nice black cutoff Tee with the logo for ``The Campbell's'' on it, obscured only by an unbuttoned and borderline superfluous faux-leather workvest. A set of welding goggles perched on his head at a bit of a lopped angle with his glasses tucked in to his shirt. His own keen, engineered eyesight not really needing them for much at this point. He leaned in on the large cylinder with the handle end of a spanner gripped in his muzzle. Keeping one eye on the alignment of the optical chips while he tried to trace out a good shape for a mounting bracket between the control systems and the press mechanism.

\tThe song flipped over and his ears perked. Pulling back and holding the spanner like a microphone. His head nodding as he fumbled and bumbled awkwardly in a janky jangly bit of dance that barely matched the nice hard folk edge to the music. All the while belting along with the singers whose shirt he sported, affecting his best Scottish bough to keep up, and failing terribly.

\t``Oh I brought my baby home. Now I don't feel so alone. When she's near me life, don't feel so baaaaad. Oh I brought my baby home. I couldn't sleep while she was gone. Her smile chases all my blues away!''

\t``Lord Thaneson?''

\tSean half collapsed into his work stool and then nearly fell out of that. Gripping at the hard composite work space and steadying himself before falling over. He turned to see an older man. A sharp dressed sea lion with expertly cared for mustache and smooth shaved head. It seemed pretty clear the man was bald, but he wore it with some dignity. Indeed everything about the man oozed dignity. Dignity and oversight.

\tSean got himself settled and sat up in his seat. The spanner rattled to the floor. The man wincing at the hard clattering as it rolled off to one of the other rarely used work stations.

\t``Sorry to interrupt, Lord Thaneson.''

\t``You don't need the lord.'' Sean said as politely as he could. He watched the man looking him over. He was old. Clearly high up enough to afford rejuv treatments. Probably had at least a couple. But he also seemed to wear his age with some dignity. Admirable, but it always set Sean off.

\t``I'm sorry Lord Thaneson, I am afraid I can't be that informal. I'm here on behalf of Oversight, sir. I was told to check up on your progress.''

\t``Progress?'' Sean asked ``Didn't we just finalize the last project? What did the forms not get though or something?'' The bear waved his hand and the music dulled. It didn't cut out. He wasn't giving the man that satisfaction. Especially not after being interrupted in his little work sanctum.

\t``Yes, sir. You see that's the problem. Your mother has instructed Oversight to treat your division no differently than any other. Since you are the de-facto leader, naturally it would fall to you  when selecting a new project. However the reports coming seem to indicate that you have yet to do so.''

\tThe bear set his teeth a moment and sighed. He was never one to clock-watch before. He never had Brinna before either, so there was that. But gods, every time this man uttered another long, drawn out drawl of a sentence it felt like the seconds just slowed to a crawl.

\t``I see. Well I wasn't aware I had gone a few weeks without finalizing something new for the team.''

\t``Three months.'' The man corrected.

\t``Excuse me?'' Sean blinked

\t``Three months, Lord Thaneson.'' He said bluntly

\t``I see.'' Sean sighed ``Well I can see how that might be a bit annoying. Then again picking out projects from the lists I'm given tends to be pretty annoying too.'' he said. His tone just polite enough to get his point home.

\t``Milord, if I may ask, what is that you are working on now, exactly?'' the old man narrowed his eyes a bit as he leaned in. The look in his eyes unmistakable. The hard grinding wheels of a bean counter hard at work.

\t``This? Eh, nothing. Kind of a distraction. I just always figured the means we use to produce rounds for the Sterling kinda needed an update. You know, something a bit less primitive than ninetieth century tech?'' he shrugged.

\t``I see.'' the man said shrewdly ``And that's what this is for?''

\tSean nodded and put his hand on the casing of the large cylinder ``More or less. I mean I looked at the process and it really just doesn't make sense. With this baby here you can just hook I up to a secondary unit to heat the metal, then it will simply extrude the rounds into a cart to be hauled off. I think I can modify it to prep for specialty ammo too, cut out that part of the process.''

\t``So you're looking to re-implement full automation in our munitions plants, My Lord?'' he asked quizzically.

\t``No.'' Sean sighed ``This thing will still need someone to baby it. If it was more cost effective to use full automation we would. But you remember what happened the last time we left a production system with Kenna fully at the helm'' He muttered. The frustration starting to seep into his voice. ``Look it really shouldn't be that hard to get. After a simple initial investment you change the whole job from a horrible laborious task of class IIIs ripping their own spines out to get these things prepped, to a far faster process where the worker can sit there on a stool and keep an eye on one of these with minimal training. Without having to go though the nightmare of programming an oversight free Kenna shell to  make the lines all run normally or throw in expensive drones with expensive maintenance crews.''

\t``After the initial costs.'' The man stressed.

\t``Yes, After.'' Sean sighed

\t``I see.`` the man muttered in the most pedantic and condescending tone he dared. ``And you said this was a, side project?'' he asked

\t``Yeah. I have some wetware architecture `cooking' in a test chamber now. Just capping out neural integrity and redundancy. Look is there a point to all this?'' Sean sighed as he ran a hand though his hair and resisted the urge to yank it out in frustration.

\t``Only that we wish to ensure that your mothers wishes are carried out, my lord.'' The man nodded ``The chaotic nature of your development is often worrisome to Oversight members. It simply does not seem fitting to waste so much time and effort for what I must assume to be a trivial boost in production for one very narrow aspect of our overall revenue. One that would ultimately require additional training and perhaps even education expansion to the workers who are already more than capable of loading the machines by hand.''

\t``And would that really be such a terrible thing?'' Sean quirked his brow. ``Is the cost really so high that Oversight have to send someone out to manage the side project to my side project?''

\t``Not at all, Lord Thaneson'' the man said. ``It is simply a worry when you have yet to select your next main project.''

\t``Listen... what's your name again?''

\t``Blackwell, Lord Thaneson.'' He muttered with smarmy supplication.

\t``Blackwell. Ok, look Blackwell. Tell your bosses I'll have something `acceptable' for Mother to be proud of in the next couple of days. Also, one note. If they want me to care about their requests it's probably better if they keep things like hypno-grenades and field portable omniprinters off of the list. Maybe pay more attention to their own research divisions on what is and is not possible before bugging mine.''

\t``Very good, Lord Thaneson.'' Blackwell said with a rather dour tone ``Now if you don't mind.''

\t``Yeah, yeah.'' Sean waved his hand as the man left, the music volume creping up a bit though nowhere near what it was. Sean leaned back over his current project, then sighed and pulled himself back to standing. His nice loafers thumping along the floor, reminding him of just how wrong these nice tailored suits always felt. He walked his way up to a side of a shiny little box with a glass door. Originally painted black, but worn bare metal in many spots from hard use and more than a few accidents. He looked in to see the bundle of artificial tissues and adaptive data cables. Looking up to see how well the different code lines were run though the thing.

\t``Pick a project.'' He muttered ``If any one of those morons knew what they were doing...'' Sean shook his head and sighed softly. He turned from the chamber and made another gesture with his hand. A small image popping up in his view.

\t``Sita.'' He muttered.

\tThe image of a young black haired raccoon in a maids uniform popping up instead. ``Master?'' The chipper voice spiking the eager question though the call.

\t``Chepi?'' Sean blinked a bit

\t``Yes Master, is something wrong?'' she asked. The eagerness quickly bending to concern.

\t``What? No nothing. Usually when I call you girls she's the one to pick up.''

\t``Oh, uh... Yeah. Well, you see'' Chepi muttered ``The thing is that Sita is... busy. With the dust. Yeah.''

\t``You mean dusting?'' Sean asked as he quirked his brow.

\t``Yuh huh! She's dusting. In the work room.'' Chepi nodded

\t``Dusting the work room. You mean the one with all the machining tools? That work room?''

\t``Yuh huh!'' Chepi said eagerly once more.

\tSean sighed and shook his head in frustration. ``Never mind. Just tell me, is the car on its way up? I need to go pick Brinna up and I don't want to deal with the traffic.''

\t``Yes Master it was sent up half an hour ago.'' The raccoon slightly pudgy raccoon nodded ``It should be waiting in your parking space whenever you're ready. If you still need Sita, I'm sure I can get her when she's done with Tor-MMPH''

\tA silk-gloved hand wrapped around Wrapped around Chepi's muzzle as Sita, the one to share head maid duties, pushing herself in front of the small kitchen camera. ``Greetings, Master.'' The mottled snake hissed as she tried to nudge Chepi out of the way. ``Forgive me. I was just, you know, dusting the... uh...''

\t``My workshop'' Sean noted

\t``Yes. Your workshop, Master.'' She said as she glanced at Chepi, shooting daggers at her peer before looking back at the camera ``Forgive me. I guess my data jack wasn't set to pick up calls. I'll have to get it looked at.'' She laughed nervously

\t``Yeah, I'm sure you will.'' he said snidely ``I mean it wouldn't be very much fun if you didn't answer at a critical time and I got mad. Assuming you were doing something beyond your duties. You know. Like having some fun with `little Sita?''

\tThe snake girl blushed harder and opened her mouth to protest.

\t``Oh, no Master!'' Chepi called out proudly ``She only makes time for that on Thursday. She has this whole setup in the broom closet with some print pictures and a copy of your MMPH''

\t``I do not.'' Sita snapped as she nudged Chepi out of the way and glared down at her. ``What are you talking about. I'm not some nasty... I mean'' she took a deep and calming breath. ``I would never allow myself to do something so utterly undignified. I don't know why you'd ever think such a thing of me.''

\t``I suppose.'' Sean smirked ``Then again it might not be a bad idea to check the feed from that smart ring around your cute lil cock. I mean if your jack is acting up.''

\t``I do not jack off to pictures of you in the broom closet Master!'' Sita yelled. Giving the camera the most impossibly Tsundere look imaginable before slumping back a bit and quickly pushing her hands down against her maid skirt. One hand remaining to try and keep the very clear tent from showing while the other grasped her arm just above her elbow, unconsciously showing off her less than ample chest. A bit bigger than Brinna, but far smaller than Chepi.

\t``I see.'' Sean smirked  ``Well then it should be an interesting night. I expect both of you to be in my chambers, in position, waiting for when I get home tonight.''

\t``But why?'' they yelped in unison. Sita with that mix of tsundere rage and unwanted elation while Chepi blushing in utter confusion.

\t``Lying to me works. As does playing with the new maid without my express permission.'' Sean nodded ``Oh, and probably the old `because I can' thrown in at some point.'' He smirked and licked his lips slowly ``And remember girls. Brinna and I are not having sex for a good long while. Best to be prepared for that.''

\tThe feed cut off and Sean leaned his hand on the table as he let a sigh pass his lips. Now if only corporate bureaucrats were that easy.

--------------------

\tThe Amari Dirk probably wasn't the kind of `supercar' one would imagine Sean owning. Or rather one might imagine him having it as part of some larger collection. The thing had been an offering, one rarely used until lately. Amari had decided to show their loyalty as a subsidiary by buffing up one of their top of the line models. Real leather seats, customizable lighting, A seat and steering assembly based off of personal measurements from when Sean had spent his time on a Dagda. That last one was rather creepy since until that point the wasn't aware his body proportions were corp-wide public info.

\tIt was a nice car. Fast, flashy. It was safe too, if only by virtue of upgrades put in to avoid a scandal should Sean get in an accident. Still he'd never used the hunched little two-seater until now. The price a man pays to keep his favorite pet from reliving trauma.

\tShe was having late nights. They were late nights all week. It wasn't a shock. This wasn't some maintenance crew job where you just hung by an older worker until you picked it up. Muller was the best. Or rather, he was good enough to please mother. Which meant he demanded perfection from everyone.

\tSean was half way though his latest archive. A long standing stream with network celebs running a traditional VR roleplay. It wasn't bad, even if it felt like the man playing the mage was freaking out a bit more than he probably would at the RNG roll from the GM. But hey, theatrics have their place. He looked up to see his pet dragging her feet along towards the car. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. She simply pulled up the gull wing door and slipped herself in. Fastening the safety harness, slamming the door, and  kissing his cheek before slumping into her seat.

\t``Long day, pet?'' Sean asked.

\t``Yes, Sir.'' Brinna muttered ``Because I'm too stupid to know better apparently.''

\t``Ok now that one demands some explanation.'' Sean sighed ``Out with it, what happened my little gem?''

\tBrinna sighed and shook her head ``Nothing, Sir. It's just. We had an assignment to do. A really big one. A chance to show our work off to everyone at a university display. I don't know what it was about, but it would be a chance to show my work off.''

\t``And I take it you didn't win?'' Sean asked with a sigh ``Is that what has had you working so late every night?''

\t``Yuh huh.'' Brinna nodded as she ran her fingers slowly over the mesh pattern of the security harness. A slow simple rhythm, more to have it than anything, sating some small mote in her mind.

\t``Any idea why you didn't win?'' The bear asked as he tilted his head

\t``He said the work was too simplistic, Sir. That it didn't show enough complexity. Enough depth. I...'' she sighed ``I admit it's a bit annoying. Especially considering what he said.''

\t``Oh?'' Sean asked `And what did he say?''

\t``That we were supposed to make them to suit ourselves. To reflect who we are.'' Brinna noted ``Tap into some primal part of ourselves to reveal it on something purely practical. Which is probably why he didn't like it.'' Brinna noted as she popped her neck and leaned over to lay her head on his shoulder as much as she could.

\tSean, by contrast, put his arm around her and nodded with a small smile ``Yeah, well. I think you're the best, my pet. And I am the boss, and so what I say goes.'' He chuckled ``Besides it's not like this is the last time you are going to have this sort of competition, is it?''

\t``It's not even about the competition.'' Brinna sighed ``I guess I was just really eager for some positive feedback.''

\t``I always think you do amazingly, my little Gem.'' Sean smirked

\t``Yeah but that doesn't count.'' She whined as her ears folded back ``I know I'm going to get praise from you, Sir. It's like impressing my parents. I'll get an A for effort no matter what.''

\tSean shifted a bit in his seat and got himself upright, looking down at her and crossing his arms. ``Ok then, try me.''

\t``Wha?'' Brinna blinked

\t``Try me. Do you still have the thing?'' he asked

\tBrinna nodded softly ``YesSir. He told us to hang on to it for a while and study it before we recoup the materials. Plus I, kinda used some techniques I'm not sure I can undo. I mean it was really just dumb luck that I got it on the second try and then I've been spending most of each day for the last week and a half putting a good finish on it. Well, most.'' she nodded as she slumped a bit.

\t``.... Let me see'' Sean said, as much request as order.

\tBrinna blinked as she reached down into her jacket pocket and withdrew a small box. Unadorned and rather plain. Just a black case used to keep necklaces or pendants. She opened it up slowly, glancing off to the side as she did. She felt her Sir snatching the box up as she did and bringing it close to his face, looking it over.

\t"Ok, wow. That is a serous wow there.'' Sean looked over the odd, dark material covering the jack as a thick shell. Running his finger along the edge oh so slowly. The odd, hazy material shimmering with a Smokey rainbow as he turned it. ``How did you...''

\t``Boulder opal.'' She said plainly ``I used a technique called glassing to make some high quality synthetic that is malleable for a short while after forming in the pressure crucible. Then I just applied thin sheets of that on to the housing and ran it on the wheel to keep it even.

\t``And this.... thing?'' Sean asked as he tilted the little plate to the light to get a better look. It was a triune. Clear and shining, a solid beautiful blue color contrasted against the dark material of the opal.

\t``Aquamarine.'' She nodded ``I made a sheet with a mold in the same pressure kiln using powder. Then laser etched the space for the inlay and bonded the two before using the bucky tube coating. That's most of what I've been doing the past week honestly. Getting it to shine, getting the seams to match.'' She sighed ``I guess it's all kinda simple, huh?''

\t``It's beautiful'' Sean smirked ``Just like you. I'm not just saying that either. I genuinely had no idea you could do this with gemstone.''

\t``Fake gemstone, Sir.'' Brinna sighed ``Manmade. Manufactured. False. No super fine wire wraps. No slicing and scalloping sapphire. Just-''

\t``Brinna.'' Sean said sternly.

\t``Y-yes Sir?'' Brinna asked as she looked up at him. Much of the frustration and self loathing melting from her face.

\tHe cupped the little charm hanging from her collar and tilted his head ``Remind me what this little bit of Beryl is again?'' He asked

\tThey both gazed at each other a long moment. Brinna smiling softly as she slowly sank back into her seat and sighed. A paw reaching up to run though her thick black hair and give it a soft tug of frustration. ``I think this job is getting to me, Sir. I'm not complaining. I'm not going to quit. But I just kinda figured that at some point I'd start to get it a bit. It's just not what I expected.''

\t``It rarely is.'' he laughed ``Even the jobs you love kinda suck some times. That's why you fall back on people. You gotta have the people in your life to keep you stable, don't ya? Even if it's just a few treasures from a sea of pack filler trash?''

\tShe smiled at that and nodded, a small laugh finally breaking though her lips. ``Well I landed a unique part, Sir. I don't think I need to worry about the rest of the pack filler. Except, you know, the whole crush of sensory overload from them being literally everywhere and not going away.''

\t``they'll do that.'' Sean nodded as he reached down into the door and pulled a few onion rings out of a `Bobby Char' bag. He held them up to her nose, Brinna sniffing them and then shaking her head in a bit of disgust. Sean pulled back the rings and sniffed at them before tossing them into the bag and pushing on the gas. ``Yeah, no. We're getting something fresh. Damn it I was saving those for you too.''

\tThey started off down the roadway. The hard mag-enabled wheels rolling along as Sean took a bit of pleasure in the manual control. Nodding his head to the song that had been stuck in it for over a week now and humming softly.

\t``Mind if I pick the spot?'' Sean asked with a smirk

\t``This one exists to see her owner pleased. She gladly surrenders her will to her superior owner. For all of her days.'' Brinna said in as reverent and worshipful a tone as she could, before smirking a bit ``But if this lowly little worm may have a say, I could really use some ice cream, Sir.''

\t``That bad, huh?'' Sean chuckled

\t``I'm pretty sure it's almost a medical problem at this point, Sir. Without cold and cream and overwhelming artificial flavors I don't know if my body will last.'' She let out an overplayed groaned grabbed her stomach doing her best to look weak and tired. Glancing up at him with big, begging eyes.

\t``So it won't count as spoiling then?'' he laughed

\t``Not if it's medical'' she assured him.

\t``Oh really now?'' Sean grinned ``Well you know that's some pretty good news for me, then.''

\tBrinna blinked and tilted her head ``W-why, Sir?'' she asked nervously

\t``Well it may seem a bit coincidental. But how long have you had that jack of yours?''

\t``Why?'' Brinna titled her head

\t``A slave does not question why, my gem.'' Sean chuckled

\t``Not long, Sir. It's new. Newish. Refurbished'' she muttered ``It's the fifth one since I started high school If I'm honest. But it's held up ok for most of the year.''

\tSean sighed a bit and shook his head. ``That's just bad. Not to mention trying to keep out all the spam with that little `system of yours.''

\t``It works!'' she protested

\t``You use AdMunch, Brinna, AdMunch. Most systems treat that as a malicious program. And it's not even the least stable program in your suite.''

\tShe sighed and pouted softly. He was right, but still...

\t``So you want me to update my programs?'' she pouted.

\t``No.'' Sean smirked ``No I don't think that's gonna work. I think you need a new jack, a half way decent one. Lucky for you I have one in mind. We can even use your new cover, since you can't recoup it or reclaim it or whatever you called that.''

\t``I donno, Sir. The patron'' she mangled the word just as Jean Luc so often did ``sent a very specific case face. I don't know that it will be compatible.''

\t``Oh I get the feeling it will.'' Sean nodded

\tThe two were quiet for a long while. The sound of the motors and mag impeller from the car drowning out the soft noises from the speakers a moment. Brinna crossing her arms over her chest in a heavy pout.

\t``What? Oh come on. Ok no, I didn't just set this up.''

\t``You didn't?'' she tilted her head

\t``Well I kinda did. One of my employees likes to invest his money in the arts for the tax write off. I just slipped him the idea, gave him the case to use, and let him handle the rest.'' Sean sighed ``I mean come on, if I was going to rig up a competition like this I'd rig it up to ensure my little slave-to-be won it, wouldn't I?''

\t``I guess.'' Brinna nodded ``I mean it's pretty clear you could have.''

\t``And if I told you to just go ahead and make your ideal jack cover, you'd have obsessed over it, right?'' He asked

\t``Well yeah'' she nodded ``I, Well I kinda got in my own head over it anyways. Well not the jack specifically. I donno it's been a crazy couple of weeks.''

\t``It has'' Sean affirmed ``Which is why I was kinda hoping this would be a nice surprise.''

\t``It is! I mean I think it is. I don't know.'' Brinna bit down on her lip and leaned back, looking out at the road. The late hour resulting in a near absence of traffic ``It's not like I haven't had new jacks put in. Though they all built off the same initial install. But this seems like it goes beyond spoiling.''

\t"Well you said medical doesn't count." Sean chuckled

\t"no no, I mean. This has to cost you a ton of money. I already feel guilty when you just get me a model kit. This is, Gosh this could cost an obscene amount. Tens of thousands or more.''

\t``In R&D More. But you're worth it.'' The bear put a paw on her shoulder and pulled her as close as the safety harness would allow.

\tBrinna blinked again and looked up at him in shock ``you made it?'' she asked nervously

\tSean nodded ``Look, pet. You really are my precious little treasure. I want you to be safe and happy. But this isn't just about you and me. As my priced slave you'll be privy to quite a bit of sensitive information, and a bad jack could leave a back door open to bounce any number of things from. I l- I care for you, my dear. But what happens when you visit my suites and leave things open for a hacker. Or worse, if it happens in my mothers suites.''

\t``Or we could skip that. The last one. Sir. We could, you know, put that off until, forever.'' Brinna said as she swallowed hard ''Forever sounds good. Or longer maybe.'' She sighed as her sir gave her a look and just slumped against the passenger side door. Her eyes slipping shut tight as the grainy orange of her crappy fifth-rate HUD came into display. She had to admit, she needed something better.

\t``Let's focus on us first, my little one.'' Sean smirked ``Then we can worry about subjecting you to my mother. But you really do need this done. Don't worry. You'll use the same doctor I do. Even quicker and more painless than usual. Plus it'll be our first collaboration. A joining of our collective skills to make something greater than either could on their own.''

\tBrinna blushed as she heard that and folded her ears back. The snarky pseudo-submission replaced with a genuine bow of her head and shiver of gratitude. ``I would like that, Sir'' she muttered ``I would like that very much.''

\t``Good girl'' Sean said proudly. He looked down at the little disc and set the car on auto. Tracing his thumb lovingly over the glass sheet sheen of the married gemstones. In hindsight it made him almost a bit upset that he didn't think to rig the competition. No way anything could be as beautiful as the hand-made treasure he now had resting between thumb and forefinger. Save, perhaps, the one at his side. The greatest treasure he could imagine.

", "pools_count": 2, "title": "By Nessecity: Security", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "4", "views": "230" }