Artemis' Bow, Part 14 (Patreon)

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Welcome back to Artemis' Bow! We're not going to have a vote this chapter, there's a lot to get through, and the plot in action isn't something we can vote on just now. So sit back, relax, and let me know what you think! Pictures in the story below <3

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The Jackal pitched and bucked as it hit atmosphere, her thrusters holding steady to guide her on a slow descent towards one of the few dome cities of Amanita Beta. 

Artemis groaned.

Clutching her protruding gut, she wondered not for the first time if this was what it felt like to be pregnant. The swollen dome of her middle bounced and lurched in her lap with every spot of turbulence and each new atmospheric condition that her stabilizers failed to account for. She grabbed at the controls of The Jackal and felt as though she was going to be sick. 

“So, tell me again why we’re doing this?” asked Artemis.

She was desperate to get her mind off of what felt like a churning sea sloshing within her bloated stomach. It was a meager distraction; the furry sack of expanded food pushed her legs apart and rested firmly on the seat between them, forcing her to be intimately aware of her size and mortified by the thought of it. 

“The maned wolf, Julius Fallen, is our only lead regarding the properties of our cargo.” Demeter’s voice was, as always, coming from everywhere and nowhere, the AI speaking directly into Artemis’ mind. “And why WayfarerCo are so desperate to obtain it.” 

Once again, Artemis felt her stomach rise, but this time it had little to do with the atmospheric stabilizers. She’d seen the footage of Alexandra’s conversation with Julius, and whilst she was glad the dragoness had been able to handle it (and that Artemis herself wouldn’t be seen in comms with a stomach bulging down to her knees), the whole interaction felt off. 

“It smells like a trap,” she muttered to herself, pulling down her shirt for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “And why is Aava going to meet him? She can barely walk.” 

A slight blush tinged her cheeks as Artemis contemplated her hand in that matter, remembering vividly the sight of the rabbit’s massive gut as it heaved and wobbled on the gallery's floor. 

Demeter’s reply was instantaneous, and devoid of emotion. “I suspect it is for that very reason she has volunteered.” The AI offered. “Perhaps, feeling guilty about her recent growth, she seeks to reaffirm her worth in the eyes of her fellow crew.” 

Artemis grunted. Aava didn’t have anything to prove to her or Alex, they’d been companions as much as they were coworkers, for years now. 

“Alternately,” the AI added, “she may simply wish to stretch her legs.” 

“I just hope she knows what she’s doing.” Artemis sighed. 

According to Demeter, Amanita Beta was a recent colony, established barely a handful of years prior because the planet beneath it was a rich source of rare metals and minerals. It just so happened, this planet was already occupied. Countless species of fungi like fauna covered the its surface like a damp, spore soaked jungle. The biggest specimens, hundreds of feet tall, overshadowed even the largest of modern colonial outposts. Being that native wildlife is often as strange as it is dangerous, multiple reports of hostile encounters were documented before even the first claims to land were made. Worse still, exposure to the planet’s atmosphere for anywhere over six minutes was confirmed to be lethal. Between this problem, and the thriving eco system, Artemis would have thought that the planet would have been categorised as ‘Protected’ by the environmental lobbyists and left alone. 

But money, Demeter assured her, could buy all kinds of things, and motions to protect this planet were quickly dismissed in the wake of corporate interest. Wayfarer Corporation held the primary stake in Amanita Beta; the colony and space travel focused corporation owned and maintained most of the domed colonies, renting space out to the hard working folk who lived on the planet’s surface. The colonists would operate the mines, leaving Wayfarer to soak up the profits. It didn’t take a genius to see why there was such a strong presence there. They were keen to protect their interests.

“So we’re delivering a shipment of mushrooms, to a world covered in mushrooms?” 

As the wolf dryly inquired, she maneuvered her ship over one of the domed colonies. Beyond the protective barrier, she could just see the makeshift homes that piled up along the edges of the colony like rust coloured debris.

“Correct.” The AI went on to explain, “The mushrooms we have in our hold are like nothing documented on Amanita Beta, and yet according to my tests, have several properties in common with the species of fungi that produces the spores that make unassisted breathing intolerable. If I were to guess,” Demeter almost hesitated, “I would estimate, given available information, that the mushrooms in our hold were genetically engineered, using fungi here as a base template, or borrowing from their genetic sequencing. To what end, I am unsure.” 

Artemis nodded. “I suppose we’ll find out soon.”

Passing her ship through and into the domed city in which they would find Julius was easy. Her ship was marked as a trader and a manifest full of agricultural equipment was more than enough justification to request port. Beneath her, a city stretched out, its horizon defined by the protective shield overhead. Wayfarer’s logo was branded on the side of the tallest buildings and, as Artemis brought her ship in to land, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. 

Like a rat in a maze.

- - - 

“Oh Suns, I need to start thinking about a diet.” 

Even as the words left Aava’s mouth, she knew they were a lie. There was something inescapable about the draw of a well fed stomach. The tightness she’d felt, lying on her back like a beached whale, rations expanding in her gut. Now, barely a day later, she was feeling the consequences of her decisions. 

To put it simply, Aava had become fat. Massive, really. She had great chubby cheeks that wobbled when she moved, and were painted in a permanent blush when she was out of breath. Her first chin rubbed against where her second and third chins were eclipsed by a thick roll of blubber that surrounded her neck. Her shoulders had rounded and softened to the point that they made her arms look pillowy and conical, and by extension, shorter in comparison to the rest of her. Lifting them had become a chore, and reaching barely a third of the way down her stomach, an impossibility. Her bosom wasn’t far behind, her enormous breasts bouncing atop her quivering middle. Her ass now defied most conventional chairs and doorways. Her legs were huge, with thunderous thighs tapering down to what she considered petite feet, but had recently grown so large she could no longer stuff them into shoes. Perhaps the most striking part of the rabbit’s appearance, and that which drew the most looks, was her stomach. The massive ball of blubber hung far enough out of reach in front of her that it prevented her from reaching most things without having to lean down, or approach side on. Where the massive ball of fat reached her sides, it turned into a pair of massive love handles, so thick she could not reach beneath them. 

At the very least, she had plenty of places to rest her arms, though showering had become a real chore, to say the least.

If she hadn’t insisted on performing the investigation herself, Artemis would likely have asked her to visit a weight loss clinic, which would have been simply unacceptable. Aava had too many body modifications for a standard surge-shop to accommodate and worse, many of them weren’t quite legal.

So there she was, huffing and panting her way down a backwater colony, which hadn’t even the decency to equip itself with decent levtracks and a transit system. Sure, the big cities probably had some sort of lev-rail system in place, where Aava could have jammed herself into a carriage like a sardine, to be poked and gawked at by the locals. Unfortunately, the outpost that Julius had apparently chosen to call home barely had a functioning economy. It was dominated by smoke spewing generators, rumbling and coughing, sounding perilously close to failing which no doubt would lower the shields that kept everyone from a gasping death. The buildings she passed, only years old, had fallen into disrepair and disuse. It seemed out here, colonists either died, or were too busy, or poor, to maintain their own habitats. Aava could feel the rumble of deep mining drills in the ground beneath her. Those  buildings that weren’t residential or commercial tended to be dangerous looking mining rigs. She could guess that most of the residents spent their time in the mines. Or, she thought with a hint of irritation, ogling her gut.

She tried not to blame them too much. Likely nobody there had ever seen a person as big as she was. Gods, she didn’t know if she had ever seen a person as big as she was, outside of the whole Wayfarer ship fiasco. People gave her a wide berth as they passed her in the street, hardly bothering to make eye contact or shield their impoliteness. Some would stare with revulsion, though most looked either surprised, or perhaps even a little envious, to the point where Aava wondered if they had enough to eat.

The gentle burning pain of Aava’s knees reminded her that even though her body mods had thus far kept her upright, she had problems of her own to worry about. Balance was probably the biggest of them, as Aava was constantly leaning back just to counter the massive weight dragging down her front. She had to hold her stomach as best she could, but even grabbing what she could reach and pulling it up, her hands sinking into her own soft and yielding blubber, she knew that before long she would become too heavy, or too tired to continue. The rabbit blushed, thinking about needing something to cart her own gut around on, and wondered when she’d let herself get this greedy. 

No, she swiftly reminded herself, she’d always been this greedy.

Each step was a trial of balance and perseverance, fighting against the press of her own flesh. Her thighs were so large they rubbed all the way down to her knees, a discomfort not helped any by the fact she was sweating like a pig. She felt like the friction between her legs could be used to start a fire. And even after one thigh had cleared the other and she successfully stepped  forward, slowly, , that thigh still  had to push into her own stomach, hefting it upwards and to the side slightly even in her most bow-legged stance. Between holding her own gut, and pushing against it for every step, Aava was out of breath before a block had gone by. She thanked her lucky stars Artemis had been able to secure a landing dock close to Julius’ home, not wanting to think about how it would have sounded to have had to call for someone to come and pick her up because she’d gotten too tired.

Seeing a small food goods store on the side of the road, Aava pulled together her remaining resolve and strength, and started to waddle towards it. A little bit of sugar would be just the energy boost her body needed to finish the rest of her journey. She was well aware of the looks she received as she staggered her way towards the bright lights of the food stand, and was only glad that she’d managed to get Demeter to fabricate her something that would fit before she left. Although the flightsuit she was wearing made her look like she’d swallowed a weather balloon, and squeaked every time one of her rolls pressed against another, at least it fit her. After helping her into the clothing, Demeter had even draped a comfortable smart-fabric shawl around her neck that felt as though it was helping to release some of the temperature of her massive, over exerted body. 

“Hello welcome to Ren’s how can we hel - oh my gods you’re big!” 

Evidently she had surprised the young gecko at the shop’s counter. The whole building was a dingy little thing, barely the size of her bedroom. But it had honest to goodness cooking equipment and smelled as though someone had gone to the effort to bake something, although perhaps with mixed results. Aava fixed the young man with her best disapproving scowl, whilst trying to inconspicuously position herself so as to be able to lean against the counter. Waddling in slow, wide circles, her love handles brushed up against the side of the counter before she could even reach it, and leaning onto it pressed her blubber up against her a little, but the relief it gave her knees was Chromesent. She ignored the way the man on the other side of the counter began to sweat, and how the metal counter itself had started to creak. 

“These prices are a joke,” Aava replied, still scowling, as she looked over the little store’s menu. “What, y’all so hard up to turn a dime that you’re charging 8 credits for a muffin? And just look at them,” she scoffed as she waggled a sausage of a finger at a nearby display case. “I bet you didn’t even bake these today. They look stale.”

“T-they kind of are,” The gecko replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “O-our last foods supplies shipment has been delayed and... the one before that never showed up...” 

Aava deflated, ever so slightly. Only the dumbest pirates in the world would go after a haul as meaningless as a food transport. She was getting a better idea of why everyone had looked at her like she was an oddity. The people there were likely getting by on nutrient paste supplements. The store wasn’t trying to turn a profit, it was trying to stay afloat. 

“Well... I’ll take ten.” She replied briskly, feeling a little sheepish as she slapped her credits on the the counter. She would tell herself it was for a good cause. 

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