Deviant Empire

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Author's note: This part is less sexual than usual, being more of an infodump than I'd like, but it still has some good parts worth reading. There will be more sex in the following chapter.

***

In just a few hours, Will had done most of what he aimed to achieve during this trip to the so-called Deviant Empire... heck, they barely left the solar system. His head rested on the soft, furry thighs of his assigned comfort worker, who had pleasantly surprised him with her manner.

Missy was no submissive cat-girl who might go "nyan" at the end of every sentence, but reminded him of how a cat should ACTUALLY be... proud, thinks they own every place, with a deep concern for their so called pets, leading to some very warm cuddles once someone gets past that surface aloofness. As a person, she reminded him more of what friends his mom might bring over, being all cute with him and marveling at the boy, strong willed, took no crap, but was so damn caring to those that were on her good side.

He knew she said something, but in his euphoria after such a release, he could only hear the light sounds of a purr in her tone. Yep, she could still do that. Maybe the furries were onto something.

"That was fucking amazing." he let out with a sigh.

"Glad it was to your liking. After so many refusals, I was starting to think something was wrong with me." her tone was sweet and motherly in a way that tingled that freudian instinct.

"Those guys are idiots. They probably expected you to be all deferring and such when you're..." The one wearing the pants. "Their huge loss."

A smile from her. "We all have our preferences. So, are you interested to go see what else this place has in store, or would you prefer a quiet evening here?"

"I'll definitely need a rest first. Probably a shower, too." His clothes might not feel the most comfortable with a sticky cock... and all the sweat on him.

A nod from her. "The bathroom awaits you. Let me know if you need help with that."

He blanked out at her statement. Help with that? He was used to bathe alone at this point. Of course, he had no idea how this place worked... and how nice it would be to get a helping hand in the bath. Memories coming of all those scenes from hentai of people washing together.

She smiled as the man gave his approval. Will still needed some help to stay on his feet, wobbly from being fucked so damn well. No need to dress where they were going. The shower was surprisingly exactly as he knew it. On his comment that he expected some more technologically advanced thing like a water tornado or some laser to just burn away everything on him that did not belong... Missy chuckled and explained that things like that were possible, just considered excessive. And it killed any potential for them to share such a moment. For once he had to agree. Not everything had to be high tech, and trying too hard might not get you anywhere. Still a few things around him that baffled the man in how they still respect the laws of the universe, but others were... remarkably familiar.

"So, a question..." said as the catgirl was washing his hair. "Or, not quite a question. I sort of expected you to lick yourself clean." Beat. "I mean, don't take it as an insult, just..." Cat.

Missy chuckled before sticking her tongue out for him to see. It had the purpose to show him that she did not have the same structure as a feline, smooth rather than covered in spikes...

"Not everything is shared. And I'm flexible, but not that flexible. We do share some things, but there's more human than not."

In retrospect, he should have considered that. But now his mind was burning with something unrelated.

"Uh... and this might come as strange... but how are the people of this... empire... So okay with playing with waste? I mean, we had fetish videos about it, but only weirdos did it for real. The videos were usually fake." He could only rarely see someone actually drinking pee or eating shit, and usually they had to hold off from vomiting immediately. Any others who engaged in it seemed to use fake poop. He did not believe it until one actually revealed that it's just some paste they cram in there to come back out.

The woman gave another chuckle before answering without missing a beat.

"Oh, if you do it with no protection, it's horrible. The smell, the taste... few can actually handle it. But we have something to allow one to play with it. Implants, genetic treatments or medicine for a temporary ability. Think of those things changing from the most repulsive things to being almost delicious. But it's not about the product itself, but more about... sharing the moment."

"Sharing the moment?" That one was hard for him to consider. You usually did not want to share that moment with anyone. Even in a public space, you'd rather pretend there was no one around than acknowledge other people were there.

"It's quite a vulnerable time... So, having someone with you there is... quite the bonding moment." Her face got a teasing smile as she moved to his body. Her fur did not look as graceful now that it was wet, the image of the woman almost hilarious, being quite literally a wet cat... but not looking like she was bothered in any way by it managed to mitigate the image. Will could not hold a chuckle. "Why, are you... tempted to try?"

"Eh... not quite. Just... curious how you can be open about that."

"It's in no way an unnatural act, yet we admit that the product is not normally pleasant. And being open about it lets so many things happen." Beat. "And if you're caught somewhere without a toilet, you don't have to make a run for one or find some hidden spot to do it." She smiled teasingly at that idea.

They were certainly alien ideas... outright allowing public defecation, preferring to go to the bathroom together rather than alone, showing this instead of hiding it... and playing with the product. There was still a measure of disgust, but it mostly came from his existing knowledge of the subject... he has never been tempted to even look back at whatever he dropped in a toilet, nor look at what someone else deposited. True, he had a thing for that particular porn, but the man considered that half of it could not happen in such a world, the other half maybe being far more genuine.

For now, Will was trying to get a fresh mindset to go into these things. They clearly did not work back where he was from...

"This all sounds so strange... casual sex, casual incest, casual shitting... we'd call it degeneracy back home and it would always lead to society failing. Heck, every time you hear about some guy doing his mom it's an absolute train wreck of a story."

"And yet it can be done right. Think of the many times you might not have heard about it and it's all so very healthy and pleasant, maybe looking better than a normal couple."

It was nice to have someone else wash him. The care and dutifulness. Maybe Freud had a point. That line made him think... sure, the bad times were downright noticeable, but how often he might have seen a couple that was mother and son or siblings... and they were just... happy. No issues, no nothing. Success is invisible, but failure screams at the top of their lungs. No, she was right... the man was basing his thinking on just the bad scenarios they could see as no one could outright come out and say they were engaging in incest... that was an easy way for their life to be ruined.

"Alright, guess I don't know anything. Still, we're not doing too bad with how we go about things."

It was time to rinse and finally dry, but Missy did not miss a beat.

"Not quite. We've been watching for a while. And you've got a lot of problems going. Those who engage in casual sex in your world do it so wrong it's destroying their minds, those engaging in these kinks are doing it for the improper reasons and turn really bad. And don't get me started on all the other issues our societal experts concluded on the organization and economy. We expect as soon as we open the possibility of immigration to see an absolute flood of people."

That made the man shiver a bit. Not just their conclusions on Earth's society, but the fact that they have been watching... She caught on to it.

"What, you thought we just noticed you and came to say hi? No.... we've been watching for close to a year. Enough to see if it's worth it to come talk. Some places do not react well to those outside coming with new ideas. But so far, it looks like your people are... willing to learn."

Oh, how wrong she was.

*

After drying out and getting back into his clothes, the man considered that an evening outside might be good... if to help the conversation. He had a lot on his mind. The shower had been quick, but it did him good... especially with the extra care. Comfort workers seemed to be a great idea. Though he did not have the full image of them yet. Missy would just dry her head out before slapping the outfit back on, assured that it would soak up all the water and leave her dry and comfy.

"I need to get one of those. Or several. Any chance of me buying one?"

After his declaration to go out, despite the late hour, Will was assured that everything ran around the clock since some had to work in strange shifts, thus needing services to be on at all times. You can't just discriminate against those working in the graveyard shift... even at ten PM... another strange thing that they worked on the same clock, but he figured that out... they could find just about everything still running.

"Oh, it can be arranged if you're not too shy." A smile from the cat-woman as they set out towards the transit station.

Once again the pod would arrive practically instantly, both to pick them up and drop them off. Will noticed other, smaller transit stations around, including one far closer to his apartment which Missy had memorized. The main hubs had those big buttons for them, but one could pick up a transport from anywhere and go to these particular spots if they knew the code. He noticed it was a five-digit code, which either meant there were thousands of them around or there were a lot of numbers that led nowhere.

The first sight of the commercial district blew his mind. He had seen how BIG the ship was from the outside, but seeing how big it could be from the inside was... daunting. A wide open area with a projected sky above showing the stars gently shifting past them, dozens of streets, buildings and lights inviting them on a night out. This place was not a city block, it might be bigger than Manhattan... though he was wrong. The commercial section was big indeed, with towering buildings stretching up to the 50th floor, wide pedestrian streets and plenty of options for one to enrich their lives with consumer products.

Will was immediately lost as he had no idea where to even start... how the hell could you fit so much in a ship? It was impressive for a cruise ship to have a casino, theater and bar, but this place had SHOPPING CENTERS. They'd pass right by a right and proper supermarket, plenty of smaller stores focusing on one particular product, drug stores, electronics shops... and he blushed as a sex shop was casually stuck between them. No, no... it was nothing unusual, they had sex shops as well... but not SPECIALIZED ones. A shake of his head as he just could not take everything in.

His companion was enjoying the man's amazement. She took him through the mildly occupied streets, passing either other visitors with their workers in tow or crew members off shift and coming to do the shopping. Their first target was, as requested... a clothing store. Well, it was called an "outfitter" and Will immediately noticed something strange. It was far smaller than he expected. Even back home, a decent clothing store might need a wide space to handle things... as he walked into the shop that was no bigger than his college dorm room, the man wondered if they took a wrong turn, especially when he did not notice several dozen displays showing some outfit that cost more than he was willing to spend.

The outfitter was indeed very small, containing just a few notable features. Behind a counter sat a very bored looking... person. Her light green skin was not that incredible, but the... seams... in her skin were certainly troubling, as was the general look. Beside her was one big machine that looked like a human-sized printer and one chute that might perhaps deliver the needed outfit. No changing rooms... though there were a couple of chairs for any waiting companions. The woman perked up immediately at the sight of something to do.

"Evening, Missy. Oh, looks like you managed to get someone." Strange eyes turned towards Will.

This was one of the Zox... which were by far the most alien species of the Empire, mostly because they were an accidental creation. Before the much more impressive means of auto-cleaning present in just about every place, the Zox were created as a biological, fully autonomous street sweepers, able to just ingest anything. Eventually, after ingesting a bit too much sapient DNA, they mutated to turn far more sentient than before, though not much changed from their original shape. A Zox's true form is that of a fortified core from which dendrite tendrils stretch out, able to move autonomously and work as just about any input or output... in time, they have learned to shape themselves into a human-like shape, even managing speech, though it does not take long for their far less human form to be remembered.

Will thought this thing to heavily resemble a plant person, though from what he knew it was more like a tentacle person. The fact that the Empire gave them citizen rights instead of freaking out and exterminating them was a point in their favor.

"Evening Gim. Yep... this is Will. Looks like no one wanted you. Shame."

A raised eyebrow from the man. So this woman was in the pool for comfort workers and... no one wanted her. Might be that there were more... though most are outwardly freaked at the prospect of even interacting with what is a sentient tentacle monster. But so far the girl looked civil.

"Eh. Such it is. We kinda expected it. So... come to get your man some clothes?"

Missy gave a nod and then gently pushed Will forward as a prompt for him to finally say something.

"Uh... yes. Just... I have no idea how it works. I thought I could just pick from what outfits you guys have, but..." He gave a point to the big machine. "Do I pick it there and just... it gets delivered?"

The plant woman shook her head and chuckled.

"First time at an outfitter? No worries. Okay... so..."

He got a crash course in how outfits worked. All outfits are by default made in a universal size and she received it in that little chute whenever one was needed. Then she fed it to the outfitter... which was the big, human-sized printer. Will was not to keen on hearing he had to be naked for it to take his measurements... but once it did, the outfit would be shaped to his exact measurements, leading to it being the most comfy set of clothes he ever wore. After the measuring was done, he could style the outfit, changing it up if he wanted some particular look... jacket, pants, loose shirt... skirt. The outfit had to at the very least have a minimal support skeleton which resembled garters held up by suspenders, but anything beyond that was in the air. If he was not in the creative mood, they had thousands of models to pick from. And once that was done, he could color it as he saw fit. Just as well, they had models recommended, made by fashion designers.

Will considered that with that function, the shop really had all it needed, at best they might use some stands to display some outfits that were recommended, but since they did not have to walk around an entire store, no place to put them. With that crash course, he had three outfits in mind. Two "casual" ones and one more formal. He browsed the catalog after stripping down and having his measurements taken, looking for a nice equal to his already existing clothes... jacket, shirt and pants. Shoes were also included. After some very potent whirring from the machine, his outfit would come out, folded and ready to be put on... he promptly pulled it on to not stand in the store barefoot and naked anymore.

Once he put that thing on, apart from the warmth of the freshly processed outfit, he could instantly feel how the thing was just... a glove to his entire body. He got another course in what he could do with it... reading intent, he could put it on as easily as pulling it towards him just by wanting that... and once he was in it... comfy shoes, pants that hugged his body, but allowed full movement, form-fitting shirt and jacket... and it FELT like real leather... he was assured it was way better than the best leather he could find. Another reminder that the outfit could soak up a lot of filth from him... sweat and more... but if he wanted to clean it he would have to send it to a specialized service. It was quite hard to pull that filth out of the outfit. Finally, it could take some minor adjustments, though if he wanted a complete remodel he had to visit an outfitter again... yes, one can literally re-fashion their clothes.

"You have some coming in every few months to get some new style that came out." The girl spoke from previous experience. "So... that it? Hope you enjoy it. Oh... you want the clothes delivered home?"

Those were his old clothes, that contained not much he found of use other than the link. He promptly removed that and took on the offer to have them delivered home. The girl would set them aside to ship them to his residence. But Will wanted two more outfits... and going with the previous measurements... another casual outfit, this one T-shirt and jeans, and finally a well-tailored suit. They even did suits here and this one might be the best he wore... or will wear. For now he opted to have it delivered. The three sets of clothing would disappear into a little wall-drawer before a muffled "woosh" would foretell that they were whisked away to be deposited on a receiving table back home.

After a few more niceties, he really had nothing more to do here, more concerned with his new clothes... they felt DAMN good. And Missy noted how he kept checking it as they walked out.

"You seem to enjoy the new clothes." She said with a tease.

"Shopping for clothes is ALWAYS hell. You have no idea if shoes will be comfy, if you will find something your style or size... this thing... I don't think I had something that fit me better in years. Other than me having to strip, that has to have been the best trip I was on."

"Oh, why are you so concerned over it? Gim has seen thousands of people strip for it."

"Yeah, but she hasn't seen me. Just... we have changing rooms back home."

"And would you prefer them?"

He gave it a thought. Sitting alone, naked in that room as someone shoved a half dozen articles of clothing past the curtain for you to try it out? No. No, thank you.

"I'm willing to try some new things."

The commercial sector would show him plenty to try out. Most of it was just browsing. His first stop was a drug store... no, not a pharmacy... an actual drug store that sold stuff from the most tame to the most hard. It was incredibly strange to see drugs that might see you treated worse than a murderer back home being openly sold in a normal shop. There was even an area where he could sit down to try some at the shopkeeper's recommendation. The justification on why they could be so casual about it was that they designed drugs to be as non-addictive and non-destructive as they could, they treated addiction like a proper disease and the only illegal drugs were stuff that outright destroyed you. There were legal variants that did not give you a stroke or make your heart explode, but some insisted that only the bad stuff got them off. Not for long. Still, the man was very much not into getting high, so he just exchanged some pleasantries and marveled at the selection.