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the moment. When spread out the wings had a wingspan of over fifteen feet.
This odd figure was wearing the camouflaged clothing worn by army soldiers.
In his hands was a massive bow instead of an assault rifle. On his back,
tucked neatly between the vulpine's wings was quiver, now empty but usually
filled with a lot of high tech arrows. The foxman superhero had led them to
the industrial district. An area filled with businesses and industries both
working and abandoned.

   "We are headed there. Where did you think I lived, a split level in the
suburbs?"

   "Where exactly are we headed?" the man asked. Still uneasy. The two had
met only a few hours ago under less then friendly circumstances. Working
from opposites ends of the same case they had arrived on the dock to stop an
illegal weapons shipment. Each had assumed the other was a criminal
protecting the shipment and a wild fight had ensued. They were lucky that
the worst wounds had been to their pride. The real criminals had gone down
first. The worst part had been explaining themselves and their actions to
the police. Still it had ended well enough. They had received a nice reward
and made friends.

   Misha pointed up ahead and Stealth caught sight of a massive brick
building with a large tower soaring above the entire neighborhood. The
building was at least two city blocks long and five stories tall. The tower
soared another ten stories about that.


   "That's some impressive house you got there," Stealth commented
sarcastically.

   "It's the old Union train station," the fox superhero explained. "And I
don't have the whole thing. Just a small part."

   "Who has the rest?" Stealth asked.

   "Amtrak has a small part as does the City Transit. The rest is mostly
empty."

   After a short walk they came to a chain link fence. The two walked along
it till they got to a gate which was locked with a padlock. Misha produced a
key and opened the lock. After they had stepped through the gate the vulpine
carefully relocked the gate. In front of them was a score of railroad
tracks, some filled with passenger cars and others empty. All the rails were
rusty and most covered with weeds.

   "Not exactly a busy station," the man commented.

   Misha shook his head sadly. "No. Amtrak runs dozens of trains past here
but only ten actually stop. It's nothing like it was in the past. A hundred
trains a day used to stop here. At least until the planes and cars took away
most of the passengers."

   They hopped across an empty track and then walked parallel to another one
towards the station itself. After a moment the end of a passenger car loomed
up on the track to their left. Stealth's keen vision caught sight of a small
sensor tucked discretely into one corner of the passenger car. He wondered
how many others were scattered about unseen but seeing everything that goes
on.  They walked onward as the massive railroad car loomed over them on
their left.

   "Does this car ever move?" he asked.

   Misha shook his head. "No. they're actually welded to the rails. They
belong to a group that runs a small railroad museum here. They were part of
a restaurant but that failed a few years ago."

   To their right the corner of the station loomed up suddenly and Stealth
found himself hemmed in on one side by the cars and the other by the blank,
brick wall.

   "Be careful where you walk," Misha ordered. "I've disabled the alarms
here but they reset after we pass so stick close to me."

   A long claustrophobic walk brought them to a small metal door set into
the brick wall. Stealth noticed that this door looked old and weathered but
it also looked very solid and it had no lock or handle.

   The fox removed his left glove revealing a black furred hand. He placed
it on the middle of the door. After a moment the door opened inward without
a sound. Misha pushed the door open and stepped inward.

   Stealth stepped up to the doorway but paused there peering into the
darkness.

   "Well?" came Misha's voice from the interior. "Are you coming?"

   "Yes," he answered and stepped inside. The door closed quickly and
silently behind him as a bright light snapped on overhead. He found himself
in a small, plain corridor that ran straight ahead. A few moments walking
and up a long, steep flight of steps brought them to another metal door.
Next to the door was a small keypad and a tiny display screen.

   "This door leads out onto a balcony overlooking the main waiting room,"
Misha explained. "There are a few ways up and they are all locked but always
check before opening the door. Just to be sure no one is up here."

   "This the only way to get to your place?" Stealth asked.

   "No, there are several ways to get there. But it does have the best view
and I thought I'd give you the tour."

   The fox archer peered at the screen above the keypad for a moment and
then tapped in a code. The door opened swinging outward silently.

   Stealth followed after Misha when he walked through the door. The small
corridor behind them had been lined with brick and plastered walls. Now he
found himself in a large room lined with granite and marble all highly
polished and decorated. The ceiling that soared high above him was covered
with a beautiful mosaic depicting the night sky. The room they were in had
only three walls. Where one wall should have been was simply a thick stone
railing looking out into an open space. He walked over to the railing and
looked out.

   "Wow!" This is amazing!"

   Laid out in front, below and above his was an astounding sight. The place
was huge! It was larger than a cathedral. He was standing on a balcony at
least two stories above the ground and yet the ceiling was at least another
thirty feet above him. Below him was a huge area. The floor was of marble of
a dozen colors laid into intricate patterns and was larger then several
football fields.

   "This was the main waiting room," Misha explained.

   "Was? What is it now?"

   "Empty mostly. Even Amtrak doesn't use it. They have a small corner of
one of the old platforms and that's it. During world war two that floor was
always packed with people heading in all over."

   "Who owns it?"

   "A preservation group. They own the whole building. They've been slowly
repairing the place. There is talk of reopening the station as a shopping
mall or a convention center. But the idea getting the most support is
reopening it as a transportation hub with Amtrak, buses and a local commuter
railroad. That's all in the future. At the moment the most action is on the
weekend when they run tours."

   Misha pointed to a pair of doors set in the far wall. "The one on the
left leads down to the waiting room floor. The other leads to a series of
offices and store rooms."

   "Which one are we going to use?"

   "Neither," the fox answered and pointed to another door located on the
wall to the left. This door led to a short corridor. A few steps down the
corridor brought them to a small room with a set of elevator doors and yet
another locked door.

   He pointed to the door. "That leads to the main staircase that runs all
the way up and down the tower and to the main elevators. We get to ride in
our own private elevator." he pressed the call button for the elevator and
the doors opened instantly.

    "Nice, did you put all this in?" Stealth asked as they rode upward. He
could not help but notice all the brightly polished brass all over the
elevator.

   Misha shook his head. "No, this is all original to the station. It was
put in for the sole use of the railroad president and his cronies."

   Stealth laughed. "It's good to be rich."

   "We're headed up to the top of the tower but the elevator does run all
the way down to the lowest sub-basement."

   After a few moments the elevator glided to a stop and the doors opened
smoothly. They stepped out into a small room whose walls and floor were
covered with marble and granite. Underfoot was a mosaic of the state of
Rhode Island done in gray, red and green marble. A half dozen doors were on
the walls. All were of bronze and highly polished.

   "This is the foyer and all the doors lead to various places," Misha
explained. He pointed to one off to the left. "That leads to the main
stairway. Eventually. The one next to it leads up to the room containing all
the elevator machinery. He pointed to another door on the opposite side of
the room. That leads to a set of stairs that goes straight down to the
passenger platform on track one."

   Misha tapped one door with his left hand. "This one is a cleaning closet.
Slop sink, mops, brooms and the like." He opened it revealing a small closet
filled with a small sink and a collection of cleaning material. The fox
patted one wall of the closet. "And this is a secret door that opens onto
the elevator shaft." He pointed upwards. "And that opens onto the roof. Also
hidden on both sides."

   "What type of security do you have here?" Stealth asked.

   Misha closed the closet door and stepped back into the center of the
foyer. "The walls are armored. All the doors are armored as well and locked
at all times. They are coded several ways including by my DNA. The room
itself has security cameras with both low light and infrared. Also motions
sensors and pressure sensors on the floor. As for weapons it has stunners
and for the more persistent heavy pulse lasers. Oh and I can electrify the
walls, floor and ceiling."

   "You're being awfully trusting of someone you met less than a day ago.
Your showing me all the security you have."

   The fox paused and cocked his head to one side. "Am I? Just how much of
my security am I showing you?"

   "Well you haven't given me any key or passwords or whatever but I know
several ways into your base and defenses can always be hacked."

   He nodded. "True but these defenses are run by intelligent nanites. Get
TOO good at hacking and they will come after the hacker and do," he paused
for a moment. "Something inventive."

   "Nanites? YOU have nanites? For real?"

   He nodded slowly. "Oh yes. These little guys changed me into this great
form. I doubt there is anything they cannot do if they want to." Misha
paused for a moment. "They could even change you. If you want." he said in a
soft voice.

   Stealth's hair stood on end and he made no comment or gesture but
pondered.

   "You're quiet," Misha said. "Did I freak you out completely?"

   Stealth nodded slowly. "This is a big decision."

   "No need to decide right away. Think it over for a while."

   Stealth nodded slowly.

   Misha walked over to the door that was opposite the elevator door. "And
this little door leads to my little home." He touched the door and it swung
open silently.

   The two of them stepped through the door and into the room beyond.  The
room was octagonal in shape and the walls rose up at least three stories
overhead. There were two levels of balconies going up the wall. All the
walls and floors were covered in the same marble and granite as the main
waiting room down below. At floor level he saw several doors and several
open doorways. On one side close to the wall was a dining table and chairs
that could seat ten people. All of a dark colored wood. Hanging from another
wall was a large, flat screen television. Scattered in a semicircle in front
of that was a large, plush couch, several chairs and a coffee table. Stealth
noticed a desk up against another wall. On it was a good sized personal
computer, complete with monitor and keyboard.

   "Wow! This is impressive! A lot better than I expected."

   "Where did you think I lived?"

   Stealth shrugged. "I don't know. I sort of expected a secret Fox cave."

   Misha shook his head. "You've been watching too many Batman reruns." He
pointed to a table that rested next to the door they had just come in
through. "Why don't you put your mingun there unless you want to carry it
all night."

   The man undid the straps that held the mingun on and removed the weapon.
Carefully he placed the small gatling gun onto the table trying not to
scratch the mahogany the table was made of.

   "Don't worry about the wood. It's covered with a scratch proof layer of
plastic," Misha said. He walked over to a doorway located near the dining
table and pointed inside. "A full kitchen and pantry with enough food and
water to sustain me for over a year."

   The fox pointed to another doorway, this one had a red cross painted over
the door. "A full infirmary with two beds, an autodoc, a regeneration tube
and whatever other medical equipment the nanites can think of. There are
also two storerooms and three bathrooms. One for each level. One is my
bedroom and the rest of the rooms are empty but I have two set up as
bedrooms."

   "How do you power this place?" Stealth asked as he looked around.

   "A fusion generator in the basement," Misha answered. "But there is also
a small power cell tucked into a closet for emergency power. First floor has
most of the living stuff like the kitchen and the like. Third floor has the
bedrooms and the second has all the storage and technical stuff. I think
you'll like the next part of the tour."

   The fox stood still and suddenly floated off the ground without his wings
flapping or even moving. He rose slowly up into the air and floated over to
one of the balconies. "I'm taking the elevator but you'll need to take the
stairs."

   Stealth raced up the nearest stars to the balcony and stopped next to
Misha. "That saves a lot of stair climbing."

   "It sure does." The fox was standing in front of a door that had a small
sign on it. "Armory."
  
   "You'll like this part!" the fox said and opened the door.

   The room beyond the door had walls lined with racks and in the center was
a metal table. What caught his eyes was what filled the racks; weapons. He
saw a dozen assault rifles, AK47's and M16s, shared space with a dozen
different types of rifles, pistols and even a pair of m60 and m249 light
machine gun. There was a pair of AT4 84mm recoilless antitank gun and two
Stinger surface to air missile launchers resting in a metal rack. Other
racks held cans of ammunition, a dozen different types of grenades, cleaning
kits, and all manner of accessories. There were several RPG7 rocket
launchers quietly resting on a shelf. Misha gently patted one of the rpg's.
I spent a month in the hospital because of an rpg like this. It blew apart
the hummer I was in. I also took out a Rikti lander with one."

   "You've seen a lot of action?" Stealth asked.

   "I've seen too action all over the world and fought a lot of enemies
including the Rikti. Fought them several times. Well do you like my little
armory?"

   "Oh yes! Where did you get all this equipment?" Stealth asked.

   "I was in the army and I brought back a few souvenirs."

   "A few? You have enough weapons here to fight a small war!"

   Misha laughed. "I like to be prepared!"

   "Do you actually use any of this stuff? Or just the bow?" the man asked
as he waved his hand about.

   "I use whatever works," the fox commented. "I do prefer the bow but I
always carry a few grenades and a pistol with me."

   "Where do you keep your bows all I see are guns."

   "Next door to the right."

   This room was a little larger than the armory. Racks on the walls held a
score of bows of different shapes, sizes and materials. Shelves held all
manner of attachments like laser sights, balancing weights, pulleys and bow
strings. Other racks held several different types of quivers. One whole wall
was devoted to arrows; hundreds of them. All carefully sorted by type and
use and stored vertically in special containers that kept the feathers from
being bent.

   The pair left the archery room and went to the next room on the right.
"And here is all my personal gear." This room was smaller than the other two
but it was just as filled with items as the others. There was a rack
containing a dozen military uniforms with different camouflage patterns for
winter, summer, the desert and several all in black. There was a set of
armor made of plastic and Kevlar.

   The man admired the armor. "This is U.S. military issue isn't it?"

   Misha nodded his head slowly. "Oh yes. That's the standard combat armor
worn by army troops. And I do have the whole suit including the helmet,
webgear and the armored boots. All tailored to fit my new body."

   Stealth ran his hands over the breastplate of the armor. His fingers
traced several dents and cuts. "This has seen some heavy use."

   "Yes it has! That's the armor I wore in Afghanistan. It's saved my life
several times," Misha explained. "I had the nanites modify it to fit my new
body but it is still my same, old lucky armor. I should have worn that last
night."


*******************


   Now for the best part of the whole place," Misha said as the two made
their way back down stairs to the main floor of the apartment. "The view."
In one wall as a set of double doors all of the same highly polished brass
as the rest.

   He paused at the doors for a moment. "These doors are made of the same
material found on Rikti warships. The entire apartment is encased in an
armored shell that could easily withstand a near miss by a nuke."

   "Seriously?"

   The archer nodded. "Oh yes! The nanites take security very seriously."

   "They did all of this just for you? Why?" the human asked.

   "I worked out a deal with them. They keep me up to date and protect this
little home of mine and I do work for them."

   "What type of work?"

   "Work like stopping that arms shipment," Misha answered. What he didn't
mention was the data center that was home to a lot of high tech computers
hidden under their feet. The same security that protected his apartment also
protected their precious servers and databases. Of course the final defense
was Misha himself. Another one of his jobs. "They are benign my friend. What
they want is to keep the city, the country and the entire planet safe."

The man just nodded his head.

   "I wouldn't have gotten involved with them if I thought they were bad.
But I won't preach to you. Now for the best reason I live up here and not
underground," Misha said and pushed open the door.

   The shock of the cold night air made Stealth shiver a bit as they walked
through the door. He found himself standing on a balcony and looking out
over the city. Laid out below him was the entire city. A magnificent display
of lights that twinkled and blinked like a display of Christmas lights.

   "Wow! This is incredible! You can see the whole city from up here."

   "We're about fifteen stories off the ground!" Misha commented.

   Stealth turned and looked back at the door they had just come through.
The tower rose up another forty feet before ending in a flat roof. On top he
saw an array of antennas and satellite dishes. "Are all of those yours and
the nanites?"

   Misha shook his head. "No. They belong to various communication
companies. The preservation group makes quite a lot of money from renting
the tower for antennas. But a few of those dishes and antennas are mine and
the nanites."

   Stealth turned around and leaned against the railing "You want to put the
little things in me?"

   "Only if you want them in," Misha countered. "It's strictly voluntary."

   "For how long?" The human asked dryly.

   "How long?" Misha asked confused. "Till the change is finished of
course."

   "Good! I don't want to have little dudes in me when I..." He paused, "I
like my privacy."

   Misha laughed. "There will be a certain loss of privacy but they do
understand the need for privacy."

   "You said till the change was finished!"

   "Well I keep in contact with them all the time," Misha explained. "Sort
of like having your private connection to them."

   "But I don't want to keep them in me! I like my privacy!" he admitted.

   "But if it bothers you to have them in you just ask them to leave. They
will leave."

   "Oh! Now I feel guilty."

   He laughed and shook his head. "Don't be, the nanites are friendly and
helpful and they'll understand."He held up a small silver bottle. "Now do
you want to change or not?"

   Stealth took a deep breath, "They change me into what I want?"

   "Yes. You will have to decide all of that with them. They will have some
good suggestions but they tend towards the more technical end of things. So
your input is very important."

   "Then let's do this. Before I change my mind."

   Misha handed him the bottle. "Just drink the contents. They'll make
contact then."

   Stealth took the bottle and opened the lid. When he tipped it up to his
mouth the bottle slipped and spilled into his hand and down his wrist.

   "Contact made!"

   "He was supposed to DRINK us."

   "Sloppy, sloppy."

   "Insertion successful. Scanning and analyzing."

   "Subject : Male. In good health."

   The human stroked his wrist and looked at his palm, both were dry. "Was
that supposed to happen? Did I just induce hallucinations or something?"

    "This one is a bit high strung."

    "I can hear voices!"

   "FINALLY he notices us."

   "This one is a little slow."

   "Who's slow!"

   "We can work with this one. No real defects."

   "None, aside from being a little slow."

   "You damn little things!" The man growled to the voices that only he
could hear.

   "Oh! Now he's getting butch on us."

   "Please ignore them. They've been watching those fashion shows again.
Back to the matter at hand. Do you want to be improved?"

    "Yes! If I'm slow then make me FAST! Turn me into a cheetah!"

   "A cheetah morph, I mean, not a cheetah, cheetah" He spluttered.

  "We understand. Acinonyx jubatus. Neat. Certainly really fast! We can
improve speed to an average of 110 kph with burst speeds of 200kph."

   "Is that fast enough?"

   "I suppose that will have to do," he answered sarcastically.

   "Oh! This one has a better sense of humor then Rawr 2.0. Fun!"

   "Now about what else? we can give you a package similar to Misha. Under
skin armor. Highly improved organs and communication equipment."

   "And built in targeting systems, IR and low light visibility, radar and
ladar."

   "Ladar?" he asked. "I've heard of radar but not ladar."

   "Laser based radar. It is not detectable by conventional radar detectors.
It was developed by the U.S. military." 

   What about stamina? I don't want to stop and rest every 400 meters."

   "That is a serious defect in the species. We can give you a sustained
ability of 110kph for 6 hours before needing significant rest. Is that
sufficient?"

   "I'll say!" Stealth answered.

   "We can also add in advanced maneuvering software and hardware. You will
be able to maneuver and dodge at high speed. Making you extremely difficult
to hit."

   "Also great for getting thru traffic on the freeway."

   "I'll never need a car again!"

   "Nope! You won't even need to pay tolls either!"

   "Of course we will have to intensely reinforce your skeletal and
musculature systems to handle the highly increased stresses involved."

   "Your teeth will be able to penetrate several centimeters of armor
plating."

   "Anything you want?"

   "Wings. Retractable wings," the man added.

   "Retractable wings? OH that is original!"

   A large amount of images flashed across his vision followed by a long
string of numbers.

   "We can do that! Sustained flight will be a bit strenuous but within
limits. Would you desire anything like shooting electricity from your tail?"

   He looked at the fox for a moment, "No, that won't be necessary."

   "OH! Gas generation. You could emit a cloud of toxic vapor from your. . .
"

   "Now that's just plain gross."

   "Well it works for a skunk."

   "I said cheetah, not skunk!" Stealth shot back.

   "Well real cheetahs do not have wings."

   "They don't talk either. No ass-powers!"

   He heard a light giggling.

   "We could call it the ass blaster!"

   "Sounds like a fat fighting thing on that infomercial."

   "Back to the task at hand. Gender is to remain male?"

   "Yes!!!"

   "Shame! I think you would look good with boobs."

   "I warned you to stay away from those porn websites."

   The man shook his head. "Is that everything?"

   "A huge volume of information flashed in front of his eyes for a moment.

   "That's all. Any other changes requested?"

   "I want to be able to run on all fours. Be a great way to take off for a
flight"

   "Walk that way as well or on two legs?"

   "I'll walk like a regular biped."

   "Making modifications to the design template. Easily done. Anything
else?"

   "Nothing else, or it won't get done," Stealth answered.

   "All right. Locking down final template. No further design changes.
Preparing for body modification sequence."

   The man felt an odd surge and rush of power run thru his body and he
stiffened.

   "Ready?"

   "Now or never."

   "Commence transformation sequence. Now!"

   Stealth felt his entire body surge with power as the nanites seemed to be
everywhere all at once. Working, changing, adapting his body. Resequencing
his DNA to something else entirely.

   Stealth felt is bones and muscles shift as his organs changed and moved
about. He quickly stripped off his clothes eager to see the change with his
own eyes.

   He watched as his legs grew longer and changed joint and structure. His
skin took on a tan color as it rippled in an eerie way as the muscles
beneath were moved and changed.

   Stealth saw his arms get covered with a thin fur and smiled as the black
spots slowly appeared. He pulled down his underwear to see the change in his
genitals.

   "PLEASE, I'm still here!" Misha pointed out loudly. "I did not want to
see that."

   "Best you close your eyes for a moment. We need to adjust your vision and
that induces momentary vertigo."

   "Okay, for a moment I thought you were going to change my thing and
didn't want me to see..." He said with his eyes already closed.

   "We can also improve that! If you want."

   "No! Some things I want to keep."

   The changes quickly reached his head and he felt his skill shifting and
he felt dizzy for a moment. He saw lights in spite of his eyes being closed.
Suddenly he was assailed by a storm of sounds and smells and he had a hard
time coping with it.

   "He is having trouble adjusting to his enhanced senses."

   "That's to be expected. They are far superior to his old senses."

   "Making adjustments to hearing and olfactory processing centers in the
brain. Enhancing information processing centers."

   The level of sounds and smells did not go down but suddenly it was not so
bad. He could pick out the smell of the hamburger (with cheese) that he had
eaten for dinner. He could hear Misha breathing and somewhere nearby there
was a clock ticking slowly and steadily.

   "You may open your eyes now. It might take some time to fully adapt to
the new additions and the targeting systems."

   He opened his eyes slowly. Everything looked the same but somehow
everything was different. He could not see beyond the walls yet at the same
time he could. He could hear basic background noises the same as always but
now they were defined and he could make them out like they were right in
front of him. He could smell things as if he'd jammed his head inside a bowl
of spaghetti. And somehow, all of it was utterly irrelevant... because by
now he'd noticed his new body!

   The first obvious sign was when he'd opened his eyes. His nose stuck out
further, he poked around it, it was wet and it hurt to touch so his hands
strayed lower, to his mouth. His mouth didn't feel right. It felt... furry
and wide. Inside his teeth were long and sharp, a moment later he looked at
his hand. His hand! It had CLAWS and PAW PADS. Then he looked at his new
fur. It covered the area that had once been bare, that he spilled the
nanites on. The fur on his wrist was a pale cream color, on the other side
it was yellow and covered in black spots. The spots covered his arms and
legs but not his chest.

   It was then he realized he was naked... at least his genitals still
looked the same, albeit covered in white fur. Gazing past his cheetah-man
hood he saw something new, a tail. His tail swayed about, back and forth
behind him. It was a very long tail that tipped and curved back up at the
ground. He also had two new foot paws on the ground with four toes each
ending in unsheathed claws that tapped the ground.

   "Well? How do you feel?" Misha asked.

   "Furry," the cheetah morph answered.


The End


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