Starburst - PROLOGUE --- >The dim whirr of the air vent above filled the room. >If you could call this a room. It’s a prison and you don’t even know what you’ve done to get in here, let alone how you got here. >Protesting has done you no good, as your voice having grown hoarse shouting inside of the steel-clad room for… a few days? A week, maybe? >Without a window, let alone a clock, it was impossible to tell. >All that you know is that in here, you have a small shower, an unusually futuristic toilet, a cot that might as well be made of stone, and a tall, lone door with only a small slit that opens up at the morning and the night with your food. >A grey jumpsuit was your only possession. It bore a bunch of letters and symbols you’ve never seen before, but its use was obvious. Whatever it said, it was your tag. >What crime did you commit? The act of hiding from an unknown foe? >All your last attempts to answer this, let alone contact anyone on the other side, had no answer. >Your dreams were restless with the flow of time slipping away from you in this prison. >All you could do is reflect and wonder: How did you get here? >… >… >… >It was a steamy August night. You took out a sabbatical away from the hustle and bustle of the city, opting to rent out a small farmhouse for a week, where no one could find you. >Or so you thought. >The cabin looked just as idyllic as it did in the advertisement, situated in the middle of the hills and nestled right in the middle of vineyard country. >Clean rooms, a rustic aesthetic, and simple living. That was all that you needed. >Save for one thing. >You found out the hard way that there was no air conditioning to speak of and the biggest heat wave of the year was ramping up. >Two nights later and you already regretted ever coming out into the sticks. >As you tossed and turned onto the cool kitchen tiles to take the edge off, a loud crash from outside startled you and brought you to your feet. >Walking towards the direction of the noise, you spied out the kitchen window to see what it was. >And then… it came. >A huge blinding light filled the entire room that knocked you back onto your ass. >You couldn’t even open your eyes without being blinded again, it was like staring directly into the sun. >In the heat of the moment, you lost your temper and shouted outside to kill that blasted light. >As abruptly as it arrived, the lights dropped dead and whiplashed you into a brief spat of night blindness. >There were still spots in your vision, but more importantly, you hoped that didn’t do any permanent damage. >You stood up and angrily shambled towards the front door ready to ask who the hell did that, only to catch yourself from turning the doorknob. >After all, it could be anyone. Thugs, police, drunk farmers, none of which sounded appealing to confront while all you had on you was underwear. >Instead of approaching the outside world head on, you sneaked over to the living room windows where the curtains were thrown open earlier to let the night breeze in. >Peering from a corner of the window, you gazed out into the pitch black darkness, hoping to scry or make out some figure skittering about in the dim light of the half-moon. >Nothing. >But just as you were about to take off for another vantage point, you heard... faint speech of some kind. You could not make out what was being said, but there was four distinct voices arguing out in the middle of the front yard. >And then there was that curious smell wafting in… Was that smoke? >Realizing that the smart thing to do would be to call the police and lay low for a while, you took a step back… >CRRRRRRRREAK. >The chattering from before stopped as you nearly fell on your ass, followed by the cacophony of your uncoordinated scrambling knocking over the porcelain lamp that was on the table... >Directly onto the floor, shattering it into a million pieces. >You held your breath and closed your eyes. >Great going, dumbass. >The hairs on your neck rose up. You had to get out of here. >Feeling your fight-or-flight instincts kick in, you ran towards the master bedroom, slamming the door shut behind you as quietly as you could. >Your eyes scanned for a hiding spot. There was only one spot that had room enough for you: underneath the bed. >Hastily sliding yourself underneath the mattress, you felt around for anything to defend yourself with, but it was too dark to find anything of use. >A minute passed. >Another minute passed. >The self-doubt began to creep in. Was this all just some bad fever dream you have yet to wake up from? >The sweat on your back began to form thick droplets from the anticipation. >It must have been twenty minutes and yet, you heard nothing but the sound of your own breath. >You chuckled at the ridiculousness of this situation. For all you knew, you might have scared them off. >Creeping forward, you pulled yourself out from underneath the bed to peer out… only to be met with a sharp implement touching the back of your skull. >”Don’t move.” >And then everything went black. >… >… >… >Since then, this cell was your home. >You took a look at your empty food tray laying on the floor. >Whoever it was that was currently imprisoning you, they always seemed to know whenever you fell asleep to take the tray out of your room… If they even entered it at all. >You moved over to the tray and picked it up. It was made of a light material not all that dissimilar to plastic, but you could deform it by pulling or bending it as if it were clay. >How odd. It was oddly entertaining, much like stretching a certain digital plumber’s face. >If you left it alone for a moment, however, it would return to its original shape. >Then there was the toilet and shower. While no paper was provided, the machine was light years ahead of anything you’ve ever used in your life. >A bidet with an automatic wiper and drier? Granted, it nearly scared the proverbial shit out of you the first time, but it did its job. >The shower next to it, much like the toilet, offered no privacy – a clear glass for two sides, one of which was the door. There was a shower head and a gutter below, that’s it. >All it took to start it was a tap of a button. >You ran a hand across your forehead and felt a slight residue of grease on your fingers. Might as well get cleaned up while you were at it. >Thankfully, there was no caveat or hidden function of the jumpsuit you were wearing, outside of the fact that you had no footwear. Just unzip from the front and that’s it. >In a way, you were hoping to just find a secret switch to automatically smooth out what you were wearing, but 2020 in Hollywood movies was a little too ahead of its time. >Entering the shower, the thought that you were no doubt being observed at all times made you hesitant to stay in it for too long. >Pressing the lone, stainless steel button on the wall, a brief “beep!” rang out into the stall and a waterfall of perfectly temperature-adjusted water cascaded on top of you. >In the midst of this, suds would start to build up on top of your body, letting you scour and clean your body without the need for a bar of soap or shampoo. >Whatever they had for this was impressive, given that your hair hasn’t felt this luxurious when dried since… ever, really. >After a couple of minutes, the water shut off and the gutter below would drain the last of the water. You braced yourself for what came next. >You found out the hard way the first time that the door was locked until the drying was finished. >A powerful gust of air shot up from the drain, warm and especially dry, instantly evaporating any left over droplets inside the chamber. >Similarly, the shower head would also blow air at your head, creating a counter-current for the upper half of your body. >As the drying stage wound down, you reached over to the handle of the shower door and tried to open it. >But it was still locked in place. >Before you could figure out what was happening, the entrance to your cell retracted downwards and inside stepped a decidedly… non-human creature you have never seen before. >Any desire to protest or make a stand instantly went out the window. You were definitely out of your element. >The brief thought of being this… alien’s? meal flashed across your mind. >You looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with the humanoid. All you knew for sure was that they were complicit in detaining you here. >Much to your surprise, it addressed you in English. Whatever it was, it had a decidedly feminine voice, if a little husky. >”Our apologiesss about the lack of communication over the passst week, we were having a difficult time transsslating your languagesss into our codex.” >Remembering that you were naked, you covered yourself up and stammered out a hasty apology for catching you in the nude. >You were met by a hearty laugh as you heard the shower door unlock. >”Oh? We ssshould be the onesss to apologizzze, human. It wasss not our intention to keep you here for ssso long. Pleassse, ssstep out of the ssshowering unit so that we may speak faccce to faccce.” >Slithering accent aside, there seemed to be no malice in her words. Cupping a hand over your crotch, you left the stall and turned to face her. >She seemed to be civil enough, what’s the worst that could happen? >As you examined the woman before you, the only things you could confidently describe your captor was “lizardlike” and “smoking hot”. Her two-toned skin was a smooth, dark greenish shade on the outside “portion”, with the underside of her face going down to her neck (and presumably her stomach) being a darker black with some sort of scaling pattern. >Her hands and feet were also a darker shade of green compared to the rest of her body. Each of her hands possessed four fingers and a thumb like that of a human’s, albeit with small, sharp nails, but her feet were large and powerful, ending in three sharp, black claws like that of a velociraptor. >To complete the comparison, a large powerful tail whisked behind her to and fro, acting as a counter-weight of sorts. It matched the coloration of her body, with the upper portion possessing the green shade and the underside continuing the black scaled pattern. >A shock of swept back white “hair” was standing at the top of her head, similar in fashion to dreadlocks but not quite the same. They were made of some kind of hardened keratin and each hair was about as thick as a drinking straw, with none being present on the sides of her head. >The sides, absent of any sort of feature, accented her saurian headshape, growing into a slender but still decidedly reptilian shape that jutted out where the nose would be on a human. Two sharp, white fangs peeked out from the front of her covered lips, with two small slits for her nostrils above them. >As she spoke, you saw two rows of sharp, perfectly straight teeth running from the back to the front, telling you that this woman was definitely a part of a predator species. >Her face was framed by two wide, beautiful eyes gazed back right at you, the sclera of her eyes colored a dark navy blue while her irises glowed with a bright shade of aqua. >The only thing she wore was a black leotard-jacket combination that left little to the imagination. >She had the most buxom, fit, and thick figure you’ve ever seen on… well, anything. Her uniform, if you could call it that, was struggling to contain her ample chest that could no doubt suffocate you with ease, while her bare, muscular thighs strained against a couple of straps that held a holster for what looked to be a truncheon. >Spotting her weapon quickly brought you back to reality and thankfully, saved you from sporting a boner in front of your captor. >Her tongue clicked and you nervously looked her in the eye. Somewhere along the way, you also forgot to acknowledge the fact that she was also a foot taller than you. >”Don’t worry, I am not here to hurt you. I am sssure you have many questionsss for me… and for usss.” >Us? You stressed that you needed everything explained. The sooner, the better. >”Hmm, normally, we would have had a video explaining everything presssented on the firssst day of your quarantine, but we ran into isssuesss with the OmniGlot. Your languagesss are sssurprisssingly complex for a planetbound ssspeccciesss.” >Wait, planetbound? >She smirked and tucked her arms against her chest, making them squeeze tight against that fabric. Whatever it was made of, it was certainly doing its job. >”Ah, that isss why I persssonally had to make thisss visssit myssself, as our protocolsss ssstop usss from keeping progenitorsss in isssolation for too long. You would have needed to wait another two daysss for the video to render into your language.” >Even here, it seems that some things aren’t all that different from home. >Clearing your throat, you asked exactly what she meant by progenitors and planetbound, what all that means. And not only that, but who exactly was she? >A wide smile perked up on her elongated maw. >”Let me anssswer all thossse the best I can, Anon of Earth.” >She gestured for you to take a seat on the cot while she remained standing. You took it, seeing as it was awkward having to hold your junk the entire time. She, however, didn’t seem to mind you being nude. >You, however, were unnerved by the fact she knew your name. >”You are currently in ssspaccce. Ssspecccifically, you are on the Foolsss’ Journey, a ssscience vesssel that is cataloging and making contact with sssentient ssspecccies acrosss the known universsse.” >Interrupting her, you asked if there were windows to know if she’s pulling your leg or not. >”Of courssse we have windowsss, but we do not have them in quarantine ssso asss to not upssset or sssstresss newcomersss.” >Good point. You inquired as to why her kind was collecting species like yourself, but more specifically, why you? >She laughed and flicked out a long forked tongue at your direction. >”You are acting like I wasss not in your sssame position. Your ssselection wasss… not as random as we have hoped, due to an unforccced error. It has been thirty yearsss sssince I first wasss taken, but I thankfully passssed the tessst.” >Wait, what did she mean pass the test? >”Sssimply put, thisss vesssel belongsss to the Confederation of United Sssystemsss. The Confederation was essstablissshed asss a defensssive pact between the three founding racccesss, the A’ur, the Ssshoon, and the Yatowa, against the threat of the Sssolusss Omnocracy.” >Before you could interrupt, she continued. >”While the Sssolusss wasss pussshed back, they remain a threat to uncontacted worldsss due to their desssire for ssslave labor. The tessst I mentioned earlier is whether or not another ssspeccciesss can join the Confederation and be uplifted, both to help colonizzze empty worldsss and to protect the Confederation in exccchange for technological advancccement.” >This was a lot to take in, but it was better to let her continue. >”To do thisss, we would abduct an individual we have obssserved to have the capacccity for cccivilizzzed sssentient behavior and let them live among usss.” >You couldn’t help but question the validity of judging an entire species by the actions of a lone individual. Wasn’t that racism? Or is this speciesism? >The reptilian lady perked her head up and visibly looked shocked and on the back foot. >”N-N-No, I did not mean to come across that way! No, the tessst is to see if there wasss anything we misssed from obssservation of your media, your culturesss, and ssso on.” >Her cheeks flushed a deep blue before she regained her composure. >”It isss a ssslow procccesss, one taking decadesss, but ressst asssured, your home planet will be under the sssafety of the Confederation regardlesss if you passs or fail.” >Decades?! But you were in the prime of your youth! >Her words trailed off. “But asss it ssstands, there are only sssix species inducted into the Confederation proper, mine being the newest. The Confederation only came into exissstence 120 ssstar yearsss ago, after all.” >It just occurred to you that you never asked her name. Changing tact, you decided to probe her for information about “herssself.” >”M-Me? Hmmm, I cannot believe I have forgotten to tell you my name, as I am ssstill very new to thisss, thisss is only my third billet asss a progenitor overssseer.” >Clearing her throat, she clapped her hands together and bent down on one knee. From here, you could see the interior cleavage of her uniform… but you did your best not to stare too long while her head was still turned down. >”My name is Vyo’faraia, third-born daughter of the Sssha’faraia matriarch and former lead tonguesssmith of the Jak’monaia, the religiousss order of my peoplesss, who are the Jum’keraia. For short, you may call my kind Jum and that my name is-” >Without thinking, you blurted out Fara and added that it was a beautiful name. >She glanced up at you and her face turned a deep shade of blue from embarrassment, her lips trembling. >”C-Cute, huh? No one hasss… n-nevermind, I wasss going to say Vyo but… you are free to call me asss you wisssh.” She nervously brushed her hair back and stood back up before placing both hands on her wide hips. >”W-We can ssshare more detailsss about my peoplesss later, but we are running behind ssschedule asss we need the doctor to catch you up to ssspeed.” >Huh, what for? >Fara pointed to your discarded jumpsuit, tilting her head towards the door to push her point. >”My language ccchip allowsss me to communicate with you, but asss you asssume dutiesss in the ssship, you will not be able to understand othersss without your own sssince your tongues are sssectored off for protection.” >While she no doubt means well, the thought of getting… chipped was not a fun idea. Not just the implementation of it, but what of the ramifications to your own privacy and being? Will it mindhack you, what about the duties, will it- >Fara impatiently clacked a clawed toe against the steel floor. >“I know you mussst think the idea isss dissscomforting, but you will not come to harm. Anywaysss, we have wasssted enough time. I only meant to ssspeak with you briefly but thisss turned out to be longer than expected. I ssshall wait outssside while you dresss.” >Appreciating the brief moment of privacy, you ducked down to pick up your jumpsuit, only to catch a glimpse of her walking away. >While her tail was obscuring some of the goods, her ass was the firmest, supplest rear you have ever seen on a woman, the tautness belying a strong musculature underneath her smooth skin. Her leotard-thong left little to the imagination as each step made the bottom cleft of each cheek roll smoothly against the back of her thigh. Perverse ideas flooded your mind of what you wanted to do to that ass, but the fact that she could easily turn you into a pretzel dissuaded you from acting on your impulses. >As you looked up to nod her farewell, you swore you saw Fara glancing back at you. Not at your eyes, but your crotch. >Was she… interested? >As much as you’d like to ask, that was a question for another time. >Wasting no more time, you slipped back into your jumpsuit and walked out of your holding room to meet her.