“Going to be honest, I think Dr Elias Savage ruined the Interspecies Galactic Symposium for me. I made a new form of board game the Tylas might like; he rewrote the book on physics to redefine space travel. How can I compete with that? First my brother, now him? Turn… turn it off, I’m done I’m done! *sobbing noises* I don’t care if it’s only been five minutes!” *wailing* – Dr Zachery Galloway, CCH Researcher, 2263. Taken from a cancelled interview with Atto Glacklin, Glass Tip Productions Reporter.

  Honestly, getting kicked out of the Interspecies Galactic Symposium’s official line up wasn’t as big a blow as Elias expected. Frankly, he was glad to be done with the whole situation. Whilst it hadn’t officially been said yet, he would imagine that GaltCorp, and his father in particular, would be having some strong words for him regarding his employment. And Lucian? That sucker had been played, hook line and sinker.

  Elias waited outside a hotel in Birkdale’s Gate after being dropped off by a pilot once security escorted him outside Urestior’s spire for his presentation. Thankfully, it appeared he had taken the lion’s share of the blame for the incident, not Chel-Lin. Perhaps she had been better protected, being a Tylas within a Tylas city, after all. The reasons why he had been dogpiled didn’t particularly matter– she was mostly safe, and he was out of favour for the time being. Needless to say, Elias couldn’t stop smiling.

  He looked to the skies, seeing the usual bright pea-green of Kral’Thul darkening and swirling into something sinister. He had read that a rare storm front was forming around their particular region of asteroids, a once in a human lifetime event. Though he hoped it would dissipate, the early reports from his weather app indicated it would only grow. The idea of the IGS taking place during a hurricane was amusing to him – months of planning and billions of utus spent only for the weather to put a damper on the whole event. No matter how advanced science got, it seemed the weather was always unpredictable. Eat your heart out NASA, NSSA and H&H Exploration Fleets – humanity couldn’t predict the weather three hundred years before, and still couldn’t then. If only they had some sort of magical reality bending FTL device that would allow such foresight…

  Thankfully, Kurt arrived before the wind got too bad. He appeared in the distance, playing the role of Elias’ saviour once again. The bodyguard was panting lightly as he ran over the bridge from Nucleus and dashed onto Elias’ street, a noticeable bulge under his uniform.

  “You… really… stirred the hornet’s nest this time,” Kurt panted, having sprinted the whole way.

  “I aim to impress,” Elias placed a hand on his chest in as he gazed skywards.

  “No, seriously, the comms are going fucking nuclear. Some of the Tylas are claiming you stole that tech, and the others are saying it’s the bridge between us and are willing to fight to the death for it. Don’t even get me started on the human channels - I think Titanlock’s S-Drive manufacturers might be having a full-blown riot. You’ve done some serious shit up until now, but this?”

  “Well, as my bodyguard, at least I’m unharmed. Surely that should keep you happy?”

  “Heh, not sure for how long my job as ‘bodyguard’ is still going to be. GaltCorp’s executives are screaming hellfire at each other, and I imagine my jobs on the line by my sheer connection to you. The fact that your dad is the only one that isn’t doing any shouting is making the rest of them even more freaked out. I think some of them think he put you up to this.”

  “Oh. Shit. Uh, sorry about your job, man. I didn’t mean to get you screwed over in all this.” Elias hung his head, guilt welling up.

  “Elias, don’t worry. I was going to leave GaltCorp anyway, remember? Besides, it’s a good excuse to get some new clients with the IGS and all. This is the perfect place to network, anyways.”

  “Right. Thanks you. I’d hate you screw you over for my own work. So, employment status not considered, how do you feel about what I did?” Elias asked as he led Kurt inside the empty hotel. It was fully automated, which Elias had specifically chosen it for. The last thing he needed was more attention from Birkdale’s residents.

  “Me? Well, besides my private opinion of you being an absolute maniac, I can’t say for sure. I guess it’s good? I’m not one for all that secrecy and bullshit, and you were planning on releasing it after the IGS anyway, right?”

  “Yep. Just decided to speed the plan up a bit. Spur of the moment, I know, but I just couldn’t resist. After spending months on it, in the end I just couldn’t wait any longer. Still, glad I didn’t mention the precognition stuff.”

  “If you did, I honestly think Lucian might have shot you on the spot.”

  “Fair. No matter how things went down I think I was going to piss Valentari off. Still, I kind of knew I was going to burn that bridge when we got to it – the dude’s a profit hungry slimeball, and the sooner I’m done with him and the rest of GaltCorp, the better.”

  Elias led them into his room. The price didn’t exactly matter; he wanted to make the most of his finances whilst he still had them. GaltCorp was probably going to find some way to screw him over ways to Sunday, and he wouldn’t be surprised if they seized his bank account. Elias closed the curtains, just to be extra safe, and gestured for Kurt to reveal his hidden prize.

  Slinging the scruffy clothes Elias had replaced by the door, Kurt took off his thick suit and unveiled the prototype DS-Drive hidden within. The bodyguard must have moved fast to get it from Nucleus and all the way to Birkdale’s Gate. Without any context, the machine seemed like such a small, insignificant thing. How extraordinary that such an item had caused such a stir. The latest iteration of its design could be worn on a belt, but was still somewhat bulky. Elias thought for a moment that maybe, one day, cyborgs might be able to get one implanted inside them. Now that was a concerning thought. Still, the two admired the squat little cylinder, the prismatic white of the refurbished S-Drive against the deep blue of the crowned BFM.

  “That’s one VIP rescued,” Kurt said, dusting his hands off. “Now, let me see about the second…” Kurt trailed off as he looked towards the sound of an opening door.

  Chel-Lin, wearing a sort of hood made from a stretched out scarf over her head, drifted in, surveying the room.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” Elias said sarcastically.

  “Very funny,” Chel-Lin said. “Still, nice place. Glad there’s a prayer station in the corner.”

  Indeed, there was – a terrifying mass of spikes and plates facing towards an inner point. Elias was not exactly the most religious sort, though he would say he had softened on his previously hardline attitude of atheism, but he would still take a prayer mat or confessional booth any day over Barald’s desired means of prayer.

  No other Tylas than Chel-Lin had likely entered Birkdale’s Gate, but it appeared the hotel owners were rather forward thinking by installing the station. Perhaps, once the IGS had started, some of the aliens might venture towards the human settlement for fun. God knew that some of them could use it – Chel-Lin had been horrendously pent up for a race without the concept of recreational sex.

  “Only the best for my little jellyfish,” Elias moved in to give her a kiss when he realised Kurt was still there. Suddenly embarrassed, he went to move away when Kurt laughed.

  “No need to hide it anymore, kids. I’ll let you two get some… uh… alone time. I’ll head back to Nucleus – EXCAL’s probably got his hands full at the moment, and I want to make sure the spare S-Drive-thingy you guys gave the robo-dude is still safe.”

  “Uh, thanks Kurt. I know I’ve been a bit of an ass…” Elias said, briefly untangling himself from Chel-Lin to offer a handshake.

  “Heh, that’s an understatement! But I know what you mean. You’re a good man, Elias. Stay safe over the next few days. I’ll do what I can to help you out, but something tells me you’ll have enemies over the next few days.”

  “Appreciate the heads up. You look after the others, you hear?”

  “After the sort of stunts you pull, I might as well be on kindergarten duty.”

  They shook hands, morphed it into a broshake, then nodded. Kurt left the room, leaving them alone. Elias turned back to Chel-Lin.

  “Now, where were we?”

  The two of them had spent a good few minutes making out, each getting a good handful of each other, when Chel-Lin took a minute to step into the bathroom. In the spacious room of white tile and fluffy towels, she looked in the mirror in an attempt to hype herself up. She had been wanting to bring a certain topic up to Elias, but had repeatedly bailed out each time. Now that they had made their mark on the galaxy, and with nothing left to hold either of them back, Chel-Lin figured it was the best time – now or never.

  She had wanted to approach the topic of how the Tylas made love, if it could be called that, but was always embarrassed that Elias would find it off-putting, in a sense. Her lover, for all his faults, had never been one to truly judge her, but she still she felt irrationally afraid. After psyching herself up in the mirror, she gave one last nod of enthusiasm as she left the room, only to find the main bedroom in darkness.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  The lights out, Chel-Lin was forced to widen her range of visual frequencies to look about. He wasn’t in the bed, not by the closed windows, and not by the cupboard. Where was her little ape man hiding? Chel-Lin drifted low to the ground like her ancestors would hundreds of millennia before, ready to hunt whatever organic she could find with her energy absorption.

  “Elias… Come out, come out, you dirty little monkey… Now where could…” She looked left, nothing. Right, nothing again. It was only when she had circled the room and turned around when she encountered a fleshy wall made from Elias’ toned abs.

  “Oh my Barald you could grind meat on- GAH!”

  She recoiled at the shock of Elias, bare naked, standing in front of her, cock practically jabbing her in the face.

  “What are you doing?!” Chel-Lin cried out, gaze flicking between Elias’ cock, his abs, and his face.

  “Getting ready, why?” Elias clapped twice, activating the mood lighting he had quickly set in the dark.

  “Well… why are you naked?”

  “Chel-Lin… We going to take our clothes off at some point if we’re going to get busy.”

  “Yes, but it’s more fun when I do the undressing,” Chel-Lin said, crossing a pair of tendrils together in a huff. If she had lips, they’d probably be pouting. “I like to feel under them as you get sweaty.”

  “Kinky.”

  “Asshole.”

  Chel-Lin dragged him to the bed and sat him down. When Elias began to spread his legs, since Chel-Lin usually favoured a quick blowjob to start their sessions off, she instead shook her head.

  “Ah, you want me to go down on you this time? Cool! You know, I heard of this great technique called ‘The Kranz’.”

  “Elias…”

  “You see, its where you curve your spine in this particular way. This guy on a Weezer forum back on Titanlock told me the best way to do it is by extending yo-“

  “Elias!” Chel-Lin cut him off. “I… I want to ask something of you…”

  Her previous huffiness had turned into embarrassment. There was little Elias thought there was little more that could be shared between the two of them that could be awkward, not after EXCAL walked in on them in the storeroom, or the time Elias had used all four fingers at once, but it seemed his girlfriend had something to ask.

  “Go for it,” Elias said, trying to sound serious. “Whatever you need.”

  “I… I want to love you, as a Tylas would,” Chel-Lin tapped a pair of straps together.

  “I mean, hasn’t you being a bit… handsy… with the tentacles been you doing that?”

  “I want to make love with you how two Tylas would.”

  “Oh. I mean, I think I’m missing some parts, but I can give it a go. What do I do?”

  “You don’t need to do anything, I think. But for me… it’s a bit scary. I’ve never done this before.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m here for you.” Elias reached up and cupped her face in a palm. She leaned into him. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you. It might be a bit… odd looking… and I’m putting myself at risk doing this. Please… be gentle.”

  Elias nodded as Chel-Lin drifted backwards a few paces. Then, closing her eyes, she slowly began to open slits across her body. However, where she might normally limit it to just one or two during sex, or multiple during her religious energy releasing routine, the openings increased in number. More and more, her gas began to leak outwards as her core became exposed. Just as Elias was about to ask if she was ok, a wide seam split her down the middle of her body to the under the chin.

  In a single motion, her outer skin, from head to mantle, pulled up, back and away, folding around her like a true cape. Then, formed from her core, a new shape molded from the bright orange gases. Swirling, enveloping around each other, the originally elongated reverse teardrop shape shifted into a more humanoid form. From her new torso, four main limbs, made of streams of the glowing vapour, settled across a chest now featuring two noticeable breast-like mounds. From the bottom projected a hundred gaseous tendrils. And, where her head had been, a familiarly shaped squat diamond formed. It appeared where most of her previous skin had been there just to compress and contain her inner core, her head was already tightly fitted over it. Perhaps her eyes had always been windows to her soul, literally.

  When all was said and done, a glowing figure of radiance floated in front of Elias, yellow and black cape formed from her previous skin flowing from the back of her neck. The soft mood lighting of the room was nothing compared to the overwhelming glory of Chel-Lin’s heart on full display as the room was cast in a dazzling array of carnelian reds and copper oranges. She tilted her neck down. When she finally opened her eyes, four shining slits of pure energy within the gas beamed into his face.

  “Whoa…” Elias said with peak articulacy.

  “Well, this is me…” Chel-Lin said, translator now hovering and detached within her gaseous mass, like an orbiting planet in her sun-like form.

  Elias considered the best words for this delicate moment. The words that would bring true acceptance of each other, and fully complete their image of one another. Precision was needed for such a beautiful moment, for that was what Chel-Lin was, and had always been. She was beautiful, and she was perfect.

  “Damn, you’re not flat anymore!” Elias said, pointing to her tits.

  She rushed him, squealing with mock rage. “You moron! This is just my…”

  “It’s alright, I get it. No chick likes to be flat. Now, at least you’ve got something more than a washboard there!”

  “Idiot,” Chel-Lin said, pressing against him as he shuffled backwards into the middle of the bed. “My silly little idiot. My Elias. I love you.”

  Elias reached behind her head and softly pulled her in. As he did, he felt the rippling heat of her body against his skin. It was not uncomfortable, though he could feel the delicacy of her body. Without her outer layers, she was exposed. Even a strong breeze in her current state might be dangerous to her, dissipating the core that made up her soul into the wind.

  He barely needed to open his mouth for her to kiss him. She tasted like citrus on a hot afternoon, or spice in a winter soup. Her tongue, now both looser and freer as a part of her fume-like body, filled his mouth, his nose, and pressed into his eyes. His vision tinted Chel-Lin shades of crimson, he felt her various wispy tendrils reach down and rub along his thighs. Four main tendrils, accompanied by thousands of lighter touches, like solar winds dispersed from the sun, stroked up and across his body. One worked around his neck, stroking and touching his collar bones. Another traced along his chest, circling a nipple before running along his abs.

  Hunger building within her eyes, she continued her kiss as she used her spare hands and tendrils of fire to rub his increasingly hardening shaft. With delicate precision, she drilled a few grunts from him as she gave full length strokes, up and down, as he soaked in her taste.

  “Chel-Lin…”

  “Just Chel. Your Chel. I am at my freest, and my most complete right now. No honorifics, no titles. Me, you, and our love.”

  As she positioned her ‘crotch’, though Elias figured any part of her would work, over his dick, she leant forward to press her forehead against his.

  “Elias… I want to use my IOU. I demand the right to use it.”

  “I mean, sure, but if you want pizza I’ll have to…”

  She silenced him with another kiss. When she broke the touch, his saliva floating into her before becoming consumed by her roaring magnificence, she slowly blinked.

  “I want you to hold me forever. No matter what it takes. I want you with me, as a part of me, together. Can you promise that?”

  Elias reached down to align himself with one hand and supported her delicate back with another.

  “Forever. I promise. Through hot and cold, I’ll be with you. I love you, Chel.”

  She slowly pressed down on his penis. The tightness was far beyond anything he had felt together before. With increased control, her insides had become shrink-wrapped in fiery constriction. Between heavy gasps, sending her warm gas into his face, she wrenched herself down, inch by inch. As she did, their bodies intermingling into one, Elias could feel a rising energy within him.

  “Whoa, what is…” Elias began to ask.

  “This… this is how Tylas mate. We, for a short period of time, have our QIS Patterns touch, our souls together. We… ah… mix them, and create new life.”

  Damn… no wonder this was so delicate. It was no dance of meat and flesh between two people – it was a contact of souls. Whilst Elias doubted anything could come from a human and an alien, not without the Cambiar’s help at least, his savage instincts told him that if there was any chance of putting a child into his lover, he had to try.

  After his first, slow thrusts eased into a steady rhythm, Elias began to take more force, using a hand to pull her ‘waist’ into his, his digits half embedded into her vapours. Chel-Lin had always been sensitive when it came to their sex. She often needing to take breaks after cumming, and she tended to reach her climaxes with very little effort on Elias’ part. Now, however, she loosely released her wild vocalisations into the air.

  “Elias! Oh, Elias…” she moaned, translator doing its very best to match the orchestra of vibratos reverberating off Chel-Lin. “More! I want you to hold nothing back. Get closer, body and heart. Fuck me like an animal!”

  As she said it, Elias could swear he felt a similar energy to the one buzzing inside him being answered by another within her. His initial gentle thrusts had become more wild and primitive, streams of gas from her body pouring off her with every slam of his hips upwards. Seizing a moment of her weakness, Elias turned her over and pushed her into the bed.

  “Elias, oh gods, please. Hold me, I need you.” Chel-Lin’s voice was everywhere around him – in his ear, in his mind, in his soul.

  Unable to resist the urge, he reached down to cup a smooth breast, feeling a burning firmness to the surface. In between grunts, he managed a few words.

  “Any… chance… of… a nipple?”

  Chel-Lin gasped, squinted at him in disbelief before rolling her eyes. The act was half in orgasmic extasy and half in incredulity. Elias gave a fist pump as he began to feel the firm prodding of a budding teat against his palm.

  “Hell… yeah!” Elias cheered.

  “You… are… such… a… primitive…”

  Elias snickered a laugh out before continuing his onslaught. As his own body was slowly clenching up, his pleasure nearing a crescendo, he could feel hers tightening up in turn. The connective, raging energy was an inferno within both of them. Elias was barely hanging on when Chel leaned in.

  “Make me yours… monkey…”

  That was the last straw. Without any holding back, Elias ruthlessly began to wreck her kid shitter of a gas pussy, feeling the heat of her body become unrestricted. She had nothing more to hold back, and neither did he. Pushing his lips messily against her face, Elias gave one last slam before releasing.

  The second he felt the pleasure overtake him as he released his load, a sensation like he had just been shocked ran through his body. The energy mixed and coalesced within Chel-Lin, who seized up, back arching. A flash of light lit up within her for just a second, the electricity in Elias moving out of him, and into her. A spark of pure power was concentrated in her, before all signs of the strangeness disappeared. Cries of orgasm rang out from the translator as Elias poured everything he had into her, his ropes shooting all the way up to her chest within her gaseous body, with even a few stray shots firing up into the space her head took up. A wild shuddering crushed on every side of Elias as Chel-Lin’s misty tentacles clenched on every muscle he had. Blinking stars out of his eyes, his body relaxing and the afterglow settling in, Elias fell to Chel-Lin’s side, cock still within her.

  “Holy shit.…” Elias muttered. ”I think I came so hard I blacked out for a second. What… was that?”

  “I… am not sure. Guess we might need to do some more experimenting?”

  Letting the mood rest for a while, as Elias’ whole body felt as though it was close to burning up after fucking a living sun for the past half hour, he stroked her cheek.

  “Forever. My Elias,” She whispered. “My Sancho.”

  “Well, forever can start tonight.”

  Elias wasn’t sure what forever could hold, but at that moment it felt very reasonable to say that he would stop at nothing for her.

  Dearest Chel.