★Memorable Author: [El_Roy_1999] The Procedure

[Elmanouche]

I'll repeat myself, but you really are a good story teller.

Can't wait to see what's coming next. K+ indeed.

[Metal Sphere]

That little detail about the workers is a bad sign. Something tells me Wanda is knee deep in the stinky brown stuff.

[El_Roy_1999]

Inside, July took the lead, evading any other janitors and guards. She followed Wanda's scent until we reached a door to some kind of office. The glass was tinted blue and seemed opaque enough for us to listen without being seen. I heard some mumbles before understanding Wanda:
"... the procedure, she said. Could it be the thing you told us?"
"It does sound interesting. We should set up a task force to clear this up."
The other voice was odd, somehow speaking as if human speech was alien to it. Thinking about it, it probably was. Wanda continued:
"I know that this might not be ideal, but I would like to head this group."
"Why shouldn't you?"
"Well, I am quite close with her companion. He is my former husband."
"Ah, yes, the husband and wife connection. We understand. For us, there is no problem. The connections of humanity are not ours to judge."
"Thank you."
"There is no difficulty. Will you be interested in the improvement? It might help your search."
"I was unaware that I was already eligible for it."
"You are now, after all, you might have to confront a member of the Ancestors. This is not something to make light of."
"Well then, thank you. I feel honoured."
"Don't be. It is a necessity."
This was the moment we chose to leave. She'd come out in a second, so we had to disappear.
What was the improvement? I had a horrible presentiment.

[Metal Sphere]

Oh crap, Wanda's going to get transformed.

[El_Roy_1999]

We've all been waiting for some more bizarre transformations, haven't we?

[El_Roy_1999]

We reached a small eatery in the decrepit part of the town. For now, we had to disappear and wait for any pursuers to forget about us. July had insisted on looking into the records of the Friend central, but that had turned out to be a bad idea. Evading their security system may have worked in the parts that were basically open for the public, but as soon as we tried to interest ourselves in more difficult to reach parts of the building, we were quickly spotted. Even using July's chameleon-like stealth, we barely escaped without being caught.
Right now, I was sitting there, sipping the tea-like drink the owner insisted was worth the money I found in the janitors clothes and asked July:
"So, as far as I understand, Wanda is going to be turned into a hybrid monster just like you, but your special friend is part of a third fraction, called the Ancestors. The Friends are scared of these and want Wanda to investigate."
"I object to the monster part. It's true, but it sounds ridiculous."
"Still, do you agree with me on the rest?"
"I do. Our Friends seem to know about the procedure. The fact that they are sending Wanda implies they are not sure what they are up against and generally underestimate the situation. We might be able to find out what they are afraid of."
"Sounds good, but how do we find out?"
"Remember our encounter in the sewers?"
"You're not being serious, are you?"
July grinned. Fuck my life.

[solitariodude]

  Just got caught up and really glad to be back to reading it. Nice that the story is involving new players. Thanks and K as always.

[El_Roy_1999]

By the time the night had come, July led me down into the depths of the city. We found a place to stay in the bowels of the earth. I was astonished. Remembering how busy this place was before, I was shocked to find it now chock full of people. The underground had turned into a true metropolis, somehow even reminiscent of the movie. Whereas the place had once been a simple system of connected cellars and sewers, the inhabitants had turned it into a teeming hive.
I traded in my uniform and clothes for some less recognisable ones and disappeared in the crowd. Finding a quarter for the night, we could talk to some of the residents.
"When the attack came, we just moved down here."
"At first there were just a few caves, but it grew by itself."
"Once it was clear the war was hopeless, the government sort of tried to set up sheltered cities."
"We set up mushroom farms and tried to live as good as we could."
"The Friends usually keep out of here. Not seeing the sky seems to make them uncomfortable."
I felt awkward being back in society, even though it was such a ragtag collection of sprawl-dwellers. Drinking mushroomy beer with strangers felt odd, but somehow comforting.
As we climbed into our cot, July said:
"It's odd how the world sort of turned into a bizarre fantasy. Mole people and mineshaft gaps?"
"I know." I rolled over to her and touched her eerily translucent skin. "Would you have imagined something like that?"
"I always did, in a way. I wanted a world that sort of was more alive. Less trivial."
I felt a pang of disquiet. I knew she was serious, but I still couldn't accept that my childhood friend had turned into a post-apocalyptic monstrosity that forsook her humanity for the thrill of it.
"Glad you like it. I have to tell you: I preferred the old one."
"But it was boring. Now we have a struggle. We have something worth fighting for."
"What?" I made a sweeping gesture, bumping against the tight walls of the cot. "This?"
"The only thing worth fighting for: survival."
"I'm beginning to believe your monster act."
"It's no act." She turned to me and grabbed me, staring at me from her bizarre pupils. "Let's fuck."

[El_Roy_1999]

I gave her a long look. Although the offer was tempting, I could barely keep my eyes open and the fact that she was slowly turning into an inhuman monstrosity wasn't exactly making me feel comfortable. It felt like people who realised that their pet snake was taking measure to see whether it would be able to eat them and noticing that the beast was somehow satisfied. It was dawning to me that all this wasn't going to end well. She smiled her otherworldly smile and asked:
"What? Are you going to tell me you've got a headache?"
She grinned, then added:
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to mock you. It's just that you're not in your usual mood."
"How could I? My ex-wife is going to be turned into a monster, one of my last remaining friends already has and we're off to see the wonderful wizard of grubs. I can't think of fucking now. Also, I'm tired."
She frowned mockingly and replied:
"Well, I'd really like to, you know. Isn't that what guys like you always wanted: A woman who says what she wants? No hints, no subtleties."
I hesitated. I really wasn't in the mood, but she had her ways, I had to grant this to her.
She propped herself up over me and held herself aloft on her tight, muscular arms. Then, she lowered herself on me and crooned into my ear:
"I'm really horny right now, so please, pretty please, help me."
She bent her legs forward under her crotch and freed my cock with her somehow hand-like feet. My eyes went wide when I realised she was giving me a hand-job with her toes. She squeezed and caressed my balls, asking seductively whether I liked that.
I couldn't help nodding even though I was seriously freaked out.

[El_Roy_1999]

July kissed me, licking my face and continuing to work my cock. I have to admit that my resistance had faded by then. Instead, I ached for her and tried to embrace her, but she just twisted away and said:
"You had your chance, now you'll have to wait."
She lifted me up, turned me around and smiled at my struggles. Before I could react, I was in a 69 position. She lowered her crotch into my face and ordered:
"Lick me. Now."
I stretched my tongue and slipped it into the folds of her cunt, but was suddenly greeted by unexpected resistance. There was another kind of tongue in there, actually three of them and each one caressed mine. I struggled, but she just shushed me and said:
"Calm down and try it. It's worth it."
As I did what I could, she started moaning, squeezing my face with her muscular thighs. I thrust my tongue further in, edging between the surprising tendrils that awaited it and suddenly reached a strange spot. Suddenly, myriads of gentle touches caressed my tongue and July moaned uncontrollably.
I was overcome by a strange feeling of euphoria. Something odd was happening. I was both excited and relaxed, unable to concentrate on what was happening as everything went dark. There was a strange taste in my mouth, everything felt warm and cozy and I was somehow surrounded by a warm envelope of sensuality. Even though I couldn't see, my other senses were amplified and I somehow understood that my awareness of my own body and July's were now melding. It was incredible, although I felt a slight unease at the thought of merging my mind with hers. Was this even true? Was I on drugs?
I couldn't care less. I felt her wrap her lips around my cock, I played my tongue over any and all spots I could reach, I felt as if choking, but also elated and free.

[El_Roy_1999]

So I'm finally going to finish this. I'm really sorry for taking so long.

I gave up thinking and continued what I had been doing. So far, I hadn't been wrong. I soon felt weird waves go through me and heard an enormous sound around me. It felt like waves crashing on the sand. Was there a sigh in all this? I felt my entire body vibrate and move in a strange, unexpected rhythm. The darkness around me changed and there seemed to be a bizarre light around me, the same light you'd see with eyes closed after looking into a bright lamp. Dancing shapes around me approached. Still my entire body felt touched by thousands of tendrils. I struggled to remain conscious. The whole situation was completely surreal.
Around me, there were gasps and groans. My mind was flooded by unexpected and completely alien sensations. Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore and came.
My body shivered and suddenly felt constricted as if the entire world wrapped itself tightly around me. I tried to scream, but instead, my mind just seemed to increase its hallucinations and I felt my tongue become strange and foreign. It wasn't a bad thing, it was just extremely odd.
I must have lost consciousness at some moment.
I awoke beside her, her enormous body sprawled next to me. She breathed heavily and said:
"That was ... unexpected. I'm amazed."
"Yeah ... It felt surprisingly good, seeing how weird it felt."
"Still, there was something missing."
"There was? Maybe. Now, I have to ..."
Before I even finished my sentence, I had fallen asleep.

[El_Roy_1999]

The next day (or was it night? I couldn't tell), we left our hideout. I had packed my survival gear and turned on my torch to see enough not to break my neck. July, on the other hand, could just see in the dark. She led the way, soon leaving the underground metropolis behind her. I followed suit, ready for anything.
The first part of our descent was easy. Ladders and stairwells allowed us to make good progress. As we got lower and lower, the atmosphere got hotter. The air was damp and I felt as if I were in a jungle. The fungus on the walls did nothing to improve the situation, occasionally unleashing a cloud of spores. The corridors were narrow and cramped. Sometimes, we had to climb over piles of rubbish.
For July, all of this seemed to be a walk in the park. She squeezed through the tight spots, stretched over obstacles or simply stuck to the roof when the floor was hard to cross. At first, I was grossed out, but soon, I had to admit I admired her skill.
She asked:
"Are you coming?"
"I'm sorry. I'm moving as fast as I can. It's just that I'm not built for this."
She twisted her body and looked at me:
"Of course. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting how limited all this is."
I felt the sarcasm in her voice, but chose not to say anything.

[El_Roy_1999]

Eventually, we left the "modern" part of the underground. Even the oldest stores and vaults had given way to caverns. The walls were now wet to the touch, the air was hard to breathe and it was getting very hot. I didn't remember going so deep the last time.
"July, aren't we too deep now? Last time we met that 'guy', he was in the sewers."
"I know, but I'm following the traces."
"What traces?"
There might have been traces, but I couldn't make out a thing down here. The torch was good enough not to break my neck, but I was too nervous to care about signs and mysteries. Still, I stopped for a moment and examined the walls. Nothing.
July turned around. Actually, she didn't. She just twisted her upper body around and pointed to the wall:
"Right here."
I looked at the patch. Nothing. She turned her lower body around and came to me:
"Can't you see it?"
Her strange, three-pupilled eyes shone in the semi-darkness.
"No. What is it?"
"I see. Well, there are traces on the wall. The guy came through here."
"But isn't this way too tight?"
"Trust me, he can squeeze."
"Do you mean we could run into him down here?"
"That's the plan."
"No, I mean in a tight corridor like this."
She shrugged.
"Probably. Although I think he'd prefer a wider place."
"I hope so. We'd just get eaten down here."
She turned back, not deigning to soothe my fears.

[El_Roy_1999]

All of a sudden, the corridor opened into a large cave. There were boulders, stalagmites and stalagtites as well as a strange diffuse light that made the whole area at least dimly lit. With a gesture, July had me switch of my torch. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the twilight, but I eventually managed. July led me further into the cave, careful not to attract any attention. I wondered whose that might be, but I had learned to trust her senses.
She advanced in long, silent steps, carefully testing out whether the ground would make some noise should she put her full weight on it. We rounded a boulder and she extended her neck to take a look to the other side.
She bent back and turned to me:
"There are a few people, probably humans. Could you talk to them and maybe introduce me?"
"Okay. But what should I tell them?"
"I don't know, just improvise."
"They're going to kill me, I'm sure."
"Well, I've got your back."
I nodded slowly:
"Please don't let me get killed. I know this world has become so alien that there's actually nothing left to go home to, but I still want to live."
"Don't worry and don't chicken out. I can take on these guys. They're not so many."
I made a silent prayer and stepped into the open.

[El_Roy_1999]

Instantly, two of the people looked at me. They were clearly surprised and instantly pointed some rather ancient guns at me. Judging from the many action movies I'd seen in my youth, they were assault rifles, maybe army surplus. One of them, a young woman with black hair and brown skin asked:
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"
I hesitated. The other guy kept his rifle trailed on me. I put up my hands, maybe making a good impression this way.
"My name is Ed. Ofaro. I'm looking for someone. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"You are. Nobody around here just looks around for someone. Fuck off or I'll just shoot you."
I hesitated. The gun pointed at me made me nervous.
"Okay. Can we just go by? We're leaving in a second."
An older voice could be heard behind the pair.
"Make this man shut up and go away. We're busy and I need to concentrate."
"You heard the chief. Piss off."
I pointed in the direction July had wanted us to go.
"Is this okay?"
The woman was now really getting angry. She made abrupt signs with her gun.
"Go back to where you came from."
I glanced over to July. That's when I saw her just step out and ask:
"What's the hold-up?"
The pair lifted their guns and aimed at her chest. She shouted:
"It's one of the Friends!"