“Sorry.” I reached down and grasped his massive schlong with my hand. I was even more surprised realizing I would need another 5 hands just to grasp the whole thing. It was far different than what I was used to, but my heart was set on only one man, no matter how much this dick would have railed me. “I got a partner that I’m loyal to.” I let go of him and pushed back.

“Alright, alright.” The horse grabbed a small card from his silver jacket and held it out to me. “If you do want to experience something new WITHOUT cheating. It’s new, sexy, and feels just like the real thing. Hope to see you there.”

I grabbed the card. ‘Holo Erotica’ was written on the card with the address down. I flicked the card and slid it into my skinsuit pocket, “Thanks! I’ll be sure to give it a go.” I glanced back down the street, and the yellow-hooded anthro was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

Mama and Echo were a whole black ahead of me now, and I rushed to catch up to them. I made sure to avoid any other meaty distractions, no matter how girthy they were.

“Wait up!” I chased them down, and Mama stopped in front of a cryptovault. The place was definitely shady. Some homeless were perched in the alley nearby, the building across the street was half standing, all the windows shattered or boarded up. I could see some sullen faces of different anthros staring out of the ruinous windows at me. Some steam vented out of the wet sidewalk grates nearby.

I looked Mama in her fuzzy, bear face, “Is this really the place?”

She nodded at me, “Stay outside and keep lookout for anything suspicious. Echo says were being followed. Once I’m done with this, we’ll get down to business.” She patted my head and entered the dirty building.

“Hmph.” I crossed my arms again and leaned against the building. A surge of cold air hit us hard. I hated being treated like a kid. I could do any job the rest of the crew could. I had a great track record for completing jobs, even before I joined the Yiffin crew.

“How was the horse meat?” Echo grinned as he waited for me to squirm out with some excuse of why I grabbed some horse dick.

There was no way I would cheat on Uwu, so this upset me greatly. He was the love of my life. The first man that treated me like a person and not some piece of fuckable meat. “I wouldn’t know, how was eating bat meat?” I snapped back at him. I quickly turned away when I realized what I said. I was ashamed of what I said after I said it, but hey, we all make mistakes.

Echo scowled at me and turned way, “Low blow, Vixie. You know I don’t like what happened. Fucking corpos treating us like disposable shit. Wish I could kill every one of them. And for you of all people to bring it up. That’s fucked up. Maybe Speck is right, you humans are all shit.” He snuffed out in anger turning his body away.

I felt like crap. Of course, I knew what had happened to Echo when he was employed by the corps. What Walter had said in the cargo bay was right. Echo was screwed over by the corpo stooges and paid for it dearly. I couldn’t even imagine being stuck on some asteroid, alone and afraid.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Okay? I’m an ass, but I’m not some shitty human, okay?” I tried to get him to look over at me, but the damage was done.

A small group of anthros was out on the corner across the street, laughing and knocking back some bottles of liquor. They were joking round and pushing each other like grade-school pals. I could hear one of them puffing his chest, “To, The, Staaaaaaarsss!” The group whooped and cheered a bit before they knocked back some more booze.

The cold air hit me again, sending goosebumps down my arms. I investigated the cryptovault. It looked warm, at least warmer than out here.

I chewed on the inside of my lip while I decided what to do. “Sorry, again.”

“Hmm.” Is the only response I got from Echo.

I shrugged, swung the door open, and stepped inside. The building was somewhat warmer than outside, at least the breeze was gone. A camera was hung up near the door, watching every movement in and out. The hood on my skinsuit had several functions that made day to day life easier for me. I chuckled to myself as I thought about how the camera wouldn’t see my face, only a blue hologram of a pixelated cartoon girl sticking her tongue out at you. It was nifty for not getting caught on anyone’s camera, and a bit of trolling to boot.

The Crypotvault was just as run down on the inside as it was on the outside. A small, bulletproof window with a few tellers working behind it. Some chairs were in the diminutive lobby held together with duct tape and magic. It was just the right place for someone to transfer money and not worry about it coming back to bite you in the ass. The right place for Mama to do what she did with most of her paycheck.

I could see Mama at the far side of the counter, talking with one of the many Anthro-Cats that inhabited the planet. There were so many here now that I think about it. Uwu did say it was a colony founded by Anthro-Cats, so I guess it checked out.

“I’d like to transfer this money here,” I saw Mama slide a crypto card to the teller, “Into this account.” She held up a tablet with some information on it, most likely her families account back on Earth. I still wasn’t sure why Mama had fled Earth, but like the rest of us, it couldn’t be good. We all had our secrets we were trying to escape. Captain Uwu had a knack for finding us castoffs and screwups with something to prove and giving us a way to prove it.

Mama leaned in close to the glass, “And do you have a holo-desk to make some discreet calls?”

“That would be illegal to have untraceable calls per Earth government law.” The Cat Crypto teller typed away on her holo-desk, “We definitely do not have something like that in the next room over. I can’t take fees out of your account to pay for such a call directly. You’re not good to go whenever you please.”

Mama smiled and nodded. I ducked behind a nearby wall to avoid being seen by the big bear. I glanced down the hall and saw two doors. I glanced inside each, one was most likely to the room the Anthro-Cat was talking about. I hid in the room across the hall and waited for the loud, lumbering footsteps to pass.

I stuck my head out into the hall. It was clear, so I slid back up against the door Mama had closed to make whatever holo-call she was making. I pressed my hand against the door jam. A small optical lens extended and slid its way in to the room. My HUD lit up, and I could see everything inside. Mama was sitting at a desk and typing away on the keyboard. With a few clicks, she was finally connected in her call. The holo-image floated above the desk, making the usual 3D holo-screen.

I zoomed in to see what was going on with her. I felt a bit guilty being this snoopy, but I can’t really help it. I like to know things, even if it’s gotten me in trouble more than enough times. Maybe it was the thrill of getting caught that enticed me so much? Either way, I wouldn’t stop now.

The screen shifted to an image of a large Grizzly bear with glasses on sitting inside a small room loaded with birthday decorations. I could tell Mama’s face lit up with joy. She slapped her cheeks and let out a short, excited yelp. “It’s been so long, honey. I can’t believe it’s you.” Mama started to sniffle as the Grizzly on the screen smiled at her.

“Now, now, babe, no need to cry.” The bear started to sniffle, “Now you’re starting to make me cry.” The Grizzly on the screen had a deeper voice. It was Mama’s husband back on Earth. He wiped his nose and eyes before turning back into the room, “Kids! Come see Mama! She only has a short time, so make it quick!”

Two small Grizzly bears came running into the room and up to the screen, pressing their faces way too close to the 3D camera. Mama laughed a bit and began to cry. They donned colorful cone birthday hats.

“Mama!” They yelled in synchronicity, “We miss you so much! When are you coming home? You gonna be here for my birthday?”

She took a moment to collect herself. After a few deep breaths, Mama was able to speak through the tears, “Oh my goodness! You’re getting so big! I miss you all! Happy birthday, Goldy!” She sniffled a few times and wiped her tears. “I can’t come home, you know that… But I did send some money for you guys, buy some presents on me, will you?”

The kids shouted in excitement and ran around the small room behind Papa bear. He leaned in to the camera, speaking low, “Thanks for the money, hun. It’s been a bit rough since the… uh… incident. The hospital bills for Goldy keep coming, and we were forced to move again. Those damn rich humans from the school keep doing everything they can to make our lives a living hell. It’s not enough that you had to run off and leave us, but they can’t let any of us be in peace. It pisses me off to no extent that I can just…just…” Papa bear was huffing and puffing now. His hands curled into massive fists. I could see he was agitated.

Something happened to Mama and her cub that caused her to flee. Must have been one big incident for Mama to have to leave her family. It must eat her up inside.

“I’m sorry I put you through all of that. You don’t deserve that.” I could see Mama shy away from the screen.

“Hey!” Papa Bear chimed in quickly, “Don’t you ever dare put yourself down like that!” He wagged his finger at the 3D camera, “What you did was noble, something any mother would do to protect their kids, okay?” He leaned back in his chair, “And you still take care of us, even though you’re hundreds of thousands of miles away and we appreciate the sacrifice you’ve made for us. Don’t you ever be sorry about that. We love you now and will forever.”

Mama Bear sniffled, “Don’t worry, I have another big payday coming soon. Once I have enough to get you all off of Earth, we can be together again. Finally.” Mama held her hand up to the screen, “I love you, honey, and I love you kids.”

Papa bear held his hand up too, “Just you be safe, okay? We can make it by, there’s lots of anthros here that help us out. Great people in similar situations. I’d rather not have to see you pulling off some stunt and wind-up dead on the news for all those rich bastards to cheer about. We can hold out until we can get off this rock.” Papa glanced down and his eyes widened. He turned around quickly, “Kids, Mama’s out of time come say bye!”

The cubs ran up to the screen and kissed it, “Love you, Mama.” They waved at her through the screen. “Can’t wait to see you again!”

Mama broke down crying. She kissed the screen back and waved as the call finally cut out.

This was my signal to bounce before Mama caught me. I retracted the optical cord and booked it for the exit. I dodged the camera and the anthro teller at the counter, sliding out of the cryptovault unseen.

I had to fight my own tears now. Just thinking about Mama’s predicament was heart wrenching. She was ripped away from her family. Kept away by the mere Crypto in her account. Whatever she did must have pissed off the right people in charge.

No wonder she was so protective of her crew. We must have been the right placeholder for the massive hole in her heart where her family should be. I had to bring this up to her. I had to find a way to help her out, even if I had to give her my paycheck to get her family space side. Anything was worth a shot to help the gentle giant out in the same way she helped us all by giving us a family in her.

I finally stepped out into the cold outside air. I glanced over to where Echo had been standing, but the Bat was gone. My feet crunched on the wet sidewalks while I checked the alley next to the cryptovault. Empty. I looked around the city street. The group of anthros across the way were still drinking and chatting with each other, passing around something and smoking it.

I was startled by the sudden sirens racing down the street. The blue and red lights bounced off the wet walls of the buildings around me. The black and white pulse-cars raced down the street right towards me. Cold water misted off the back of their cars. The high whine of the police vehicles buzzed to a stop right in front of me. Another car from the opposite side of the road came racing down, stopping next to the first.

Anthro-Dogs bailed from the cars and pulled their guns out, “Freeze, get on the ground now!” They yelled out and my chest filled with anxiety. Dog Cops were never a good sign.