Kinktober 16: Epimetheus

CLICK!

The darkness surrounding the crew vanished before their eyes, as the torch on captain Natalie Niswanger’s wrist illuminated a pleasant-looking corridor, the sterile white walls with lime-green stripes of which were stunningly different from the hexagonal copper-cage they had found themselves in moments earlier. Natalie swept the torch clockwise across the length of the corridor, her finger hovering over her glove. She turned around, and did the same thing to the corridor behind her. Nothing was there but featureless hallways converging in a spot of darkness in the distance in either direction.

Having verified no threat was present, Natalie held down a button on her helmet, “Team Heron to Equanimity Base. Transfer successful. All clear. We have landed on space-station Epimetheus. Our objective: To investigate the purpose of the station, and gather available information on the circumstances of its abandonment.”

She did not wait for any reply from Equanimity. It would be futile to expect anyone inhabiting the shuttle orbiting Epimetheus after eighty years had passed for them.

Standard procedure for operations involving time travel.

Natalie spun a dial on her helmet as she turned to face one of the individuals in the same black and red suit she was wearing. His dark visor became distinct in the darkness as it reflected the blueish light shed by the screen of the datapad in his hand with which he was currently engaged, tapping at it with his index finger as delicately as most men touch their girlfriends but with a passion that would make theirs pale.

Natalie held down the same button once more, “Got any good news, Oliver?”

The head of the research team looked up from the datapad and looked towards Natalie, so that her reflection became visible in his visor, “Yes, maam. All life support is operational, and we’ve got enough power to supply us for another fifty years at least, if need be. No idea what made people flee this place, but it's got nothing to do with its functionality.”

Right on cue, Natalie flipped a switch on the back of her helmet before pulling it off her head, collapsing it and attaching it to her belt, “That is what we are here to find out, after all. If Stanza-77 is involved, as we suspect, then it is imperative that we discover that sooner rather than later.”

As they made their way to the end of the corridor, and opened the double doors on the far wall, the crew soon found itself in a vast area where darkness prevailed. So vast was it that the darkness consumed the light from Natalie’s torch before it could land anywhere.

Natalie took a single step into the darkness, to find it vanishing before her eyes. All of a sudden the crew found itself in a brightly lit hall that spanned an area larger than a small town.

The walls lit up with flashing, colourful lights. As did the ceilings, and the stage in the centre. The carousels and roller-coasters as well, each of which played its own theme music that blended with each other like a single orchestra of pure, mindless joy.

Oliver could only look around haplessly. The jarring shift in tone was even more unsettling than the tension he had experienced in the creepy, dark corridor not a minute ago.

“So… that answers that question,” Oliver said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you space-station Epimetheus… The Amusement Park.”

“I can not believe it,” Natalie looked around in astonishment, “They went through the trouble of constructing a habitat for humans in space, bringing hundreds of people up here every day… All that just for… Fun?”

“I’m telling you,” Jack of the security team strutted up to the chicken-net fence that surrounded the proper park area, “Do not underestimate the **** of the entertainment industry. Hell, as an avid fan of roller-coasters, I can personally attest I’d pay great money to try out a ride in zero-G.”

“Either way,” Oliver said, “I doubt that Stanza-77 would have interest in a facility like this. Now isn’t that a relief?”

Natalie scratched her chin, “But… If it was not them, then how did this place get abandoned?”

Arnold of the security team shrugged, “Maybe everyone collectively came to their senses and realised this was a really dumb idea?”

“That certainly is one alternative, but…” Natalie sighed, “I just can not shake off the feeling that something went seriously awry here.”

As the crew found their way to the entrance in the fence, Natalie found no answers to her concerns. She did however get more reasons to be worried, as she found herself standing before an anthropomorphized plush squirrel towering over even the 209cm tall Arnold. Apart from the cute, cartoonish features of the head, the mascot resembled an absurdly voluptuous woman with an hourglass physique and breasts the size of beach balls.

Oliver shifted between gawking at it and looking away embarrassed, not knowing which was worse. Realising that there was no great option, he decided that gawking was at least the best way of dealing with potential threats.

“...Nuke me.” He said, “So… This is fun for all the family, is it?”

All Jack could do was laugh at the absurdity of the situation, “Wow… Wow! So anyway, Nat? How much to make you get into a costume like that?”

“It would not be possible for me, or any human, to fit in a costume that size.” Natalie said sternly, “In all probability this is an oversized stuffed animal… A statue, perhaps. Remember that this station is abandoned, so it only makes sense that…”

The oversized, oversexualized squirrels turned her head and aimed her goofy eyes toward the crew, who jumped back in shock and aimed their weapon gauntlets at it. All except for Natalie, who walked up to it and looked up towards its perpetual overexcited expression. It did not show signs of hostility. Natalie waved her hand in front of its face, and the squirrel’s gaze followed it as if stuck.

“I see.This is indeed a mascot, but an animatronic one.” Natalie said.

“A-animatronic?” Arnold said, “It sure looks… Lifelike…”

“I doubt it is the same animatronic technology we are familiar with. Remember that this is four hundred years after our time. Likely the technology we are familiar with has become long obsolete as science marches forward.”

Oliver steps forward and taps his datapad, “Nanobot-spring fibre cotton. The stuffing is, for lack of a better word, alive.”

“Well, hot damn!” Jack said, looking up and down its height, “But not like we came here to play with toys. We’ve got a job to do, so let’s just…”

When Jack tried to pass the gate, the squirrel girl stepped in his way and hunched over, resting her hands on her knees in such a way as to make her boobs squish together.

“WHY-HELL-O-THER-E-HAN-DSOM-E-!” A voice that, albeit mechanical, clearly attempted to mimic the enthusiasm of a chipper young woman, “NOW-I-KNO-W-YER-E-XCIT-ED-TO-GO-IN-SID-E-! BUT-YA-FIR-ST-GOT-TA-PA-Y-FOR-YER-TIC-KETS-! YER-GON-NA-NE-ED-IT-TO-GET-IN-TO-RID-ES-AND-PLAY-GAM-ES-!”

“Uhh…” Arnold cocked his head, “Did that thing just try to say something… Or…?”

“If this is indeed a theme park,” Natalie reasoned, “It stands to reason that we need to have tickets to enter.”

Jack looked over his shoulder amused, “We need tickets? Well, sorry but it looks like they stopped making them when everyone who could make them left centuries ago. I hope the people that don’t exist won’t mind!”

“Jack, it’s all right.” Oliver said as he tapped his datapad, “I should be able to recreate them quite easily.”

“But why though?” Jack said in an exasperated voice, “To appease that… Thing?” Jack pointed at the squirrel girl, “Well, I mean… If you’re into that sort of thing, sure.”

“Proceed with what you are doing, Oliver.” Natalie said, “I would rather not challenge any security measures that may still operational. Make sure to print a few since they appear to work as a sort of currency for this place.”

A stripe of pink paper slips, each with a seductive cartoon printed as an emblem, reeled out of the datapad, and was distributed across the team.

Jack looked at his five tickets bemused, “Guys! I can’t believe you’re taking this seriously!”

“As long as I am in command, Jack,” Natalie said as she held up her tickets to the squirrel girl, who stepped to the side and gestured her towards the entrance, “We will take every mission seriously. I am, after all, responsible. Not just for the completion of this mission, but for your safety as well.”

The rest of the squad showed their tickets to the mascot, and entered the park, leaving only Jack behind. He crumpled his tickets up and tossed them at a waste basket nearby, but missed and simply left them on the ground. Instead he sped towards the entrance as fast as he could. When the squirrel girl stepped in the way, Jack made himself ready to push her aside with all his might. Instead his hands sunk into the soft plushy body of the mascot and came to an abrupt halt as he landed head-first in the bosom of the squirrel girl without moving her as much as an inch.

Before Jack could do anything, the squirrel mascot wrapped her arms around him, and he found himself trapped against her body as he was unable to budge the arms holding him in place.

“H-hey! Let me go, you little… Mmmmph!?”

The mascot lifted Jack up from the ground and held his face against her oversized boobs, muffling his voice.

“OH-NO-NO-NO-HAN-DSOM-E-!” The plush mascot giggled, “LITT-ER-ING-AN-D-TRY-ING-TO-SNE-AK-IN-! WHY-AIN-T-YA-A-BOL-D-ONE-! HOW-A-BOU-T-I-TEA-CH-YA-A-LE-SSO-N-?”

Kicking and thrashing as he did, Jack was helpless to stop the giant plush mascot from carrying her off to do with him what she will.

Arnold was not comfortable at all with the idea of splitting up, especially after losing contact with Jack. Hopefully Jack would come in contact with the squad soon enough, but for now he held himself in high alert, his finger on the weapon gauntlet and his gaze shifting left and right as he slowly and stealthily made his way between the stalls. These were the traditional carnival games he had seen a million times already, but what a treat to see them in space.

He bumped into the cushiony velvet skin of one of the many busty mascots wandering around the area, recoiled as he leapt back and aimed his gauntlet at the giant plush bunny with the same oversexualised physique as the squirrel at the entrance.

“HI-YA-HAN-DSOM-E-!” The bunny mascot waved frantically, “WAN-NA-TR-Y-OU-T-MY-OW-N-SP-E-CI-AL-RI-NG-TOS-S-ING-GA-ME-?” The bunny girl gestured enthusiastically towards one of her stalls, where cartoon paintings of her dancing with hula-hoop rings dominated the background.

Arnold lowered his weapon gauntlet, but still looked up at the bunny girl striking a fanciful pose, with an expression of mixed confusion and suspicion. These things really were just mascots whose job was to inform and entertain. For a moment he wondered if he could take the liberty of… Doing stuff with her. After all, no one was here, and no one would be here for centuries to come… But was it worth it? If a threat did present itself, then Arnold would not want to literally be caught with his pants down.

Arnold shook his head, committing himself to not do anything disturbing while on this mission. So as to get himself into the sour grape mindset, he told himself that he probably was not the first person to come up with, or try, that idea, so her soft velvet skin likely was not as appetising as it first appeared.

“Sorry, uh… Miss Bunny.” Arnold said, “I really can’t. Got work to do, and all that.”

“IT-LL-ON-LY-T-AKE-A-MO-M-EN-T-!” The bunny girl said, “ON-E-TIC-KET-GIV-E-S-TH-RE-E-RI-NG-S-! IT-S-G-RE-AT-FU-N-AN-D-YO-U-CAN-WI-N-G-RE-AT-PR-IZ-ES-!”

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw on the prize-shelf behind a forcefield, among several other toys, was the limited edition Manic Monkey yoyo he had wanted as a kid so badly for the longest time, but never had. Since then he grew out of his Manic Monkey phase, but something about that thing just being there right there and then made it so compelling. It was like finding an opportunity for closure to a very emotional and intense chapter of his life, an opportunity he would not be likely to see any time soon.

Arnold looked down at the strip in his hand, constituting five tickets, “Maybe… Maybe I’ll just try it once.”

“HO-ORA-Y-!” The bunny girl clapped her hands, “ON-E-TIC-KET-PL-E-AS-E-!”

Arnold tore one ticket from the strip and handed it to the mascot, who slid it under her front teeth. After being inserted into her mouth, it returned from there with a black cross stamped over it, which was handed back to Arnold.

A tube distributed three rings around a peg on the counter. Arnold grabbed hold of one of them, focused on a peg on the far wall, reeled his arm back and tossed it. When it bounced off the wall next to the peg, a sad trombone sound played and the stall flashed with red lights.

The ring seemed to soar strangely due to the gravity on this space-station. He had to keep this in mind when he tossed the next ring, which actually landed right into the peg. A fanfare played, and the stall lit up with green and gold lights.

“WE-LL-D-ON-E-HAN-DSOM-E-!” The bunny mascot clapped her hands. JUS-T-HI-T-TH-E-RI-NG-ON-E-MO-RE-TI-ME-AN-D-TH-E-PR-IZ-E-IS-YER-S-!”

He had one more chance. Make it or break it. He needed a special kind of spin, so he held the ring in a grip, made some practice movements, and finally tossed it.

This one soared towards the peg… And bounced off of the peg. The same trombone sound played, and the peg tilted so the ring could slide down into the hatch at the bottom of the stall.

“SOR-RY-HAND-SOM-E-! BET-T-ER-LU-CK-NE-XT-TIM-E-!”

“I’m not done yet.” Arnold said and tore off another ticket.

Time and time again he repeated the same trial, and time and time again he failed. Arnold was on the last ring of his last ticket. He had already one ring on the peg, and this was his big opportunity. The yoyo would be his.

He tossed it.

It fit!

Arnold pointed at the yoyo, and as the forcefield around it vanished, it was deposited into his hands, and he sighed in relief.

“WEL-L-DON-E-HAND-SOM-E-! I-KN-EW-YA-CO-UL-D-DO-IT-!”

“Yeah, well… I should probably get going already.” Albert chuckled, “Who knows how much time I spent on this thing?”

As Arnold turned to leave, the bunny plush grabbed on to his wrist.

“NO-W-HO-L-D-ON-TH-E-RE-HAND-SOM-E-! I-CO-ULD-NT-HE-LP-BU-T-NO-TIC-E-YA-DO-N-T-HAV-E-A-NY-TIC-KET-S-! YER-NOT-SN-EA-KIN-G-IN-AR-E-YA-?”

“Oh, I… “ Arnold cleared his throat, “I was just going to get more, I promise.”

He tried to pull himself free, but the bunny girl pulled back and held him close to her plush body.

“WH-Y-WE-CA-N-T-HA-VE-TH-AT-CA-N-WE-?” The bunny girl pulled a hula-hoop ring from the stall, “I-M-GO-N-NA-HAV-E-TO-TEA-CH-YA-A-LES-SON-!”

“Let me go, you freak!” Arnold struggled with all his might, but in spite of her softness he was utterly helpless against the overwhelming size and strength of the creature, who simply tossed the ring over Arnold and constricted it so his arms were pinned against his body. She did the same thing to his leg with another ring, completely restraining him.

“Get off me! Help! He– Mmmph!!” The bunny girl picked Arnold up, holding him against her huge chest as she carried him off to who-knows-where.

Natalie and Oliver had already made their way to the back of the station, where they had located the tech room. Rows and rows of monitors were lined against the wall, connected to a room-sized computer in the back.

Natalie tapped her foot on the floor as Oliver’s datapad scrolled down copious amounts of white text over a vibrantly blue background.

“Any closer to figuring out this fever dream?” Natalie said.

Oliver glared towards Natalie, “This isn’t magic, I’ll have you know. Careful research takes time, and if you want results, you will simply have to…”

PING!

“...As it happens, I managed to get the data logs at this very moment.” Oliver tapped on his datapad, “See? There was no reason to be stressed.”

“So what did you get?” Natalie asked.

“Just a second… Ah. Here we go.” Oliver slid his finger across the screen of the datapad, scrolling through the log, “All right! Seems after the government enforced new restrictions and regulations on space-transportation of minors, this place switched their focus to an 18+ demographic, and redesigned their mascots accordingly to appeal to their new focus group.”

“Which is why they are so stupid sexy now?” Natalie folded her arms, “Does that have anything to do with why it was abandoned?”

“Well, yes actually. Shortly after, the mascots ran amok. They started taking anyone they were programmed to view as violators as prisoners to do… Unspeakable things to, for perpetuity. Trespassers… Litterers… Just running out of tickets would be enough, as would staying beyond closing time. Basically no one was safe from their animatronic lust.”

“What…” Natalie looked down at Oliver confused, “But… How? Why? That is so ridiculous!”

“Well…” Oliver scrolled down a bit more, “According to a head-technician, named Allison…”

“...Say no more.” Natalie pinched the ridge of her nose.

THUD!

Natalie turned to face the sound, which came from the other side of the entrance “...What was that?”

“...They’re not coming for us, are they?” Oliver gulped.

“...Stay right there. Do not move a muscle. And for goodness sake, do not spend any of your tickets on anything.”

“...Right. Got it, Captain.” Oliver said, clearly shaken.

Natalie left through the door with a hand on her weapon gauntlet, leaving a trembling Oliver behind. He put down his datapad and opened his palm to reveal the five tickets he brought with him.

Each with a black cross.

A shadow crept over the unsuspecting Oliver from behind. He looked over his shoulder to find a giant, voluptuous bear plush standing over him with grabby hands.

“WH-Y-HI-YA-HAND-SOM-E-!! I-COU-LD-N-T-HEL-P-NOT-IC-IN-G-YA-DO-N-T-HA-VE-A-TIC-KET-! I-M-GON-NA-HA-VE-TO-TEA-CH-YA-A-LES-SON-!”

The poor head of research could only crawl back as he watched the giant bear mascot fall on him like the hungry animal she was portrayed as…

Natalie didn’t find anything in the corridor outside that could have made the noise. Just endless stretches of hallway. Something was there though. Natalie and Oliver both heard it… Or could it have been from one of the stalls or one of the rides?

Natalie clicked the communicator on her wrist and spoke into it, “Security team, are you there? Come in, security team.”

Nothing.

She turned a dial on her gauntlet and clicked the button again, “Research team, are you there? If you can hear me, respond immediately!”

Nothing.

Natalie sighed and turned the dial once again, “Team Heron to Equanimity Base. Captain Natalie Niswanger reporting. I have lost contact with both of my teams. Were they lost to the plushies? Or just temporarily unable to respond? I would prefer not to jump to any conclusions one way or another, but…” She looked up at the clock in the ceiling. Five minutes to eight. “The park will soon close, and by all indication that will be the end of my crew… Including me, if I do not prioritise my escape. I am left with little recourse… The mission is accomplished. But at what cost? I will not be able to access the Shuttle for another fourteen hours, and by then it will be far too late. My only option is to use the escape-pods on this station to propel myself towards the shuttle. Wish me luck, Equanimity. Heron out.”

Natalie surveyed the stalls of the park. In installations like this one, the escape-pods normally could not be accessed without an employee keycard… Which she was unable to locate. They would, however, become accessible in the event of an emergency alarm.

The good news was that Natalie managed to find the emergency lever. The bad news was it was on the wall behind a dunk-the-clown stall, where a white poodle girl played the role of the clown.

Only three minutes to closing time.

This was time for decisive action and quick wits. She went back to the ring-tossing stall, handed the bunny girl one of the tickets, and ran back towards the clown stall with the three rings.

“H-EY-N-OW-!” The bunny girl yelled, “HAV-E-N-T-YA-E-VER-LE-AR-NE-D-ST-EA-LIN-G-IS-WR-ON-G-? I-M-GO-N-NA-HAV-E-TO-TEA-CH-YA-A-LES-SON-!”

Natalie ran with the bunny girl in hot pursuit, who were moving less with a running motion but more like a sashay, swinging her wide hips with each step. Mind you, this was a fast sashay. Fast enough to gain on Natalie even as she was running as fast as she could.

She would be damned if her career ended being caught by a perv-machine.

She managed to evade the bunny long enough to get to the stall unmolested, and tossed one of the rings into the wall.

“TH-O-SE-DO-N-T-BE-LON-G-HER-E-!” The poodle-plushie said, “I-M-GO-N-NA-HAV-E-TO-TEA-CH-YA-A-...!”

Natalie hit the lever on her second try! Sirens blared through the hall and red lights flashed everywhere.

“PUL-LI-NG-TH-E-A-LAR-M-AS-A-PR-A-NK-IS-NO-T-CO-OL-!” The poodle said shaking her head, “I-M-GO-N-NA-HAV-E-TO-...!”

PING!

Natalie had struck the bullseye of the target, triggering the platform to slide the poodle into the tub of glitter.

Natalie found herself standing face to face with the bunny plushie, who was getting ready to pounce on her. In the last moment, Natalie ducked under the hug and slid between the legs of the plushie, just a moment before she closed her thighs in an attempt to trap her.

Natalie ran for her life towards the escape-pods, now pursued by a crowd of these mascots stampeding towards her. If she got caught she would be torn to pieces by these lewd automatons!

She fired a bolt of red energy against the plushies from her glove, which tore their velvet skin but which soon grew back as the filling repaired it from the inside.

She found the escape pods, pulled the lever to open it and dashed inside. Just as the doors were going to close, a sexy mouse plush held them apart and stared at a terrified Natalie with her goofy eyes.

Evidently the animatronic had to use all her **** to keep the doors open, but an army of plushies was right behind her, and could easily drag Natalie out unless she thought of something quick.

“YA-NEE-D-TO-COME-WIT-H-ME-HA-ND-SOM-E-! I-M-GO-N-NA-HAV-E-TO-TEA-CH-YA-A-...!”

Natalie zapped the mouse with her weapon gauntlet, burning her hand and made her drop the doors, which slammed close.

As they banged on the doors, Natalie pulled the lever on the controls, and the escape-pod was ejected into space.

Her chest heaving as she laid down on the floor, Natalie looked around the cramped space of the escape pod. The stillness she found was jarring. She could hardly believe she had managed to escape such a cruel fate in one piece… She only regretted that she could not save her team.

She held down the button to her communicator and spoke, “Team Heron to Equanimity Base… Squad leader Natalie Niswanger is currently piloting an escape pod towards the Shuttle, where I will be able to return to the base. The rest of the crew was not so lucky. They… They were left behind. It could not be helped. What awaited us there was… Beyond insanity. We need to make sure no one finds their way there ever again. Humanity needs to be safe from what awaits on space-station Epimetheus. This is not anything we can allow to plague Earth.”

As the pod soared through empty space towards the Shuttle, space-station Epimetheus began its descent as it was heading on a collision course with Earth…