I remember looking up at the stars when I was younger, camping out in the badlands, far away from cities, away from roads, away from their hazy lights. I looked up into a sky littered with stars, satellites, and distant galaxies, and was amazed at how many there were. I often wondered what lay beyond the stars, beyond the narrow vantage point of Earth, and knew that at some point, somewhere, a star was dying, and another was winking to life at the very same instant. I thought- could there be any civilizations like ours out there, or even more advanced than ours, asking the same questions I was? It saddened me to think that one of those dying stars might have marked the ending of a brilliant race of creature so fantastic, they could only be imagined. What would they have done in their final hours? Where would they go? But most of all- what would they leave behind for us to find? But that was only speculation, and in the end, I dismissed it as such. But as I lay down, that one uncertainty still plagued my thoughts- what if? What if… as a dying race’s last bid for immortality, they sent out something that represented the culmination of their achievements, the fruits of their being, a gift… to anyone fortunate enough to stumble across it? Or perhaps it would find its way somewhere on its own. *********************************************************************** They say that great things come in small packages. Nothing could be a truer expression of that statement than a tiny, insignificant amoeboid organism that drifted through the cold vacuum of space- a backdrop of stars like glistening diamonds on black velvet. But as insignificant as it seemed, the organism that lay dormant in its crystalline cyst was the single most important creation its makers had ever conceived. Its sole purpose was to survive and co-exist perfectly with whatever its host may be. It was its creators’ fervent and final wish that someday, somehow, someway… it would be discovered. So it had drifted, perhaps for eons through space, until it came adrift above the third planet of a star, like so many other stars.... Slowly, gradually, the Earth's gravity began to tug at it, pulling it ever faster and faster towards the great blue and green sphere.... *********************************************************************** Sirrus shivered and ruffled his downy feathers against the January chill, wondering to himself for the seventh time this morning why he'd taken a job somewhere so damn cold! The six-foot tall avian blew warm breath onto his hand talons, which already stung from the intense cold. And from what the weather reports said, tomorrow would most likely be twenty below with the wind chill, and the chances for a blizzard tonight were depressingly high. Fine thing for a mythological creature like me to be doing at five thirty in the morning! The raptor thought through a chattering beak as he continued to shovel the walkway to his house clear of the snow that had dumped down overnight. Sirrus was certainly no ordinary avian, nor was an ordinary creature for that matter- perhaps the best give-away that plumage of his- a truly fiery display of red and gold that seemed sorely out of place in this chilly climate. His build was like that of an eagle crossed with a pheasant, but instead of two wings, he boasted four. Each pair's span was nearly wider than he was tall, and made for a mighty impressive sight when all four were unfurled. His tail feathers were likewise a grand, fiery, trailing, sweeping affair, making up easily half his body length. This was certainly no way for a phoenix to have to live! Fed up with his numb talons and the inordinate time it was taking for him to get his driveway shoveled, Sirrus unfurled his wings, cautiously looked around to check that none of his neighbors were awake, and closed his eyes in focused concentration. Tiny waves of heat started to wobble in the air around him, and began to melt the snow where he trod, his footsteps vaporizing the white powder into steam. He casually made his way down the walk, as the snow seemed to retreat from him in steaming rivulets. Warmth gently returned to his claws and body as he felt the air around him get hotter and hotter. Ah, to be warm again! The firebird smiled, pleased that he had at least one way of warding off the chill. Still, his little trick came at a price. By the time the driveway was clear of snow; Sirrus had exerted a lot of energy, and was now dreadfully hungry. Since his metabolism was just as fiery as he was, anytime he made use of his pyrokinetics, it took lots out of him. Doubled over with hunger by the time he reached the kitchen, the famished phoenix yanked a case of frosted snack cakes out from the cupboard, and started to devour them one by one. By the time he was finished, the entire case lay empty, and his body still craved more sustenance. A few bowls of frosted cereal later, Sirrus was finally sated. Mmmmmm... that's the stuff... he thought as the phoenix let himself fall limply against the couch, switching on the news once he was cozy. Contently patting the plump, rounded swell of his paunch, which puffed out happily from below his breast, the firebird suddenly remembered he'd left a glass of champagne out by his outdoor hot tub last night. He'd been celebrating the first anniversary of owning this house by taking a good, long soak in his well-heated outdoor jacuzzi, despite the falling snow. He hadn't been too concerned about anyone invading his privacy since some old farm field, now overgrown with grass and small shrubs like a meadow, stretched as far as he could see behind his property. Had he remained outside a few minutes longer with his drink, he might have noticed something. He might have seen a tiny air bubble suddenly appear in the bottom of his glass, and slowly rise to the top, where it remained a few seconds before popping. Had he listened and looked even more closely, he might have noticed his drink effervesce ever so slightly, as the extraterrestrial organism that had landed in his drink started to carry out a complex chemical reaction- splitting hydrogen bonds here, sharing electrons there, until the tiny amoeba-like critter began to slowly re-animate, and started to take in nutrients and sugars, then divided itself in two... then after a minute, the two became four... and so on. Sirrus yawned as he opened the patio door, and fetched his glass of champagne. About to dump its contents down the sink drain, the phoenix pasued, thinking what a waste of rather expensive drink it would be, and instead gulped down the glass’ contents. When he turned his attention back to the news, there were more reports of a blizzard on the way. Well, better make the best of it. Sirrus thought as he lay down to make himself even more comfortable as he grinned, his claws squeezing the soft fullness of his gorged belly. I really ought to get my fat on. The firebird mused. There were so many round little songbirds that he saw already had the right idea of how to keep warm and toasty during the cold, lean winter months. Were it not for my metabolism, I’d probably look just like them- quite fat and round as a fluffy tennis ball. Unfortunately, no matter how well fed he kept himself, a slightly tubby paunch was the best he could ever manage, and he truly yearned for a good deal more insulation around his body during this time of year. Granted, his work took up an awful lot of time and careful attention away from otherwise gorging himself for days at a time. As a technical editor, he’d spend hours on end daily reading through his company’s documents with an eagle eye, picking out some of the most absolutely minute, nit-picky mistakes in grammar, syntax, you name it, and sent them back to the writers to further revise. The plus side was the fact that he was able to work from a home office, thanks to his network connections. That probably was a good idea, too, since he was certain that if he were to meet any of the company’s writers face-to-face, they’d strangle him in a second for being some intolerably anal-retentive sicko whose sole purpose was to point out each and every little flaw in their hard work. But he liked to think of himself as thorough, and indeed, there were a few writers who looked upon him as a something of a god, rather than Satan incarnate. Plus, he saved his company from an awful lot of embarassment. Fortunately, with the weekend here, he could afford to spend the better part of the morning snacking on and off as he so desired. Feeling extremely full and heavy by midday, Sirrus hiccupped and curled up on the couch to a warm, inviting, relaxing winter nap. The first thing that Sirrus noticed when he awoke was just how huge he’d grown. A thick, soft layer of well-formed fat padding spread down over his breast, along his sides, and down the front of his shockingly plumped body. A soft butterball roll of fat even made itself prominent in the area just above his belly, and below his breast. Grasping it in disbelief with one of his talons, the phoenix gave it a gentle pinch to see if this was one of his odd dreams. A sudden wave of delight welled in him when he realized that this was for real. Get the hell outta here… he muttered, hardly able to believe what his senses were telling him. But it was all there, that wonderful softness that was starting to spread over his body and thicken out to his neck, back, and thighs. How long have I been out for? Glancing at the clock and looking out into the stormy night sky told him that it had been nearly the entire day. Walking over to the bathroom scale, he settled himself onto it, and nearly leapt off his feet when he saw the numbers. Impossible! Thirty extra pounds in ten hours!? I knew I’d gone a bit overboard this morning at breakfast, but… damn! But it wasn’t as if Sirrus minded the sudden weight gain, whatever the reason; in fact, he totally reveled in it, giving his belly a fond pat, marveling in how soft it felt, like a pillow beneath the downy feathers of his front side. The more he regarded himself, the more comfortable he felt with its soft plushness. It actually seemed quite cute on him- all soft and plump with warm, chubby curves. It looked really good on him, in fact, and dare he say... perhaps even sexy? Well, as long as I seem to have got the ball rolling… may as well keep at it! So as the predicted blizzard howled furiously outside, the chubby phoenix gulped down nearly the entire contents of a two liter bottle of soda, until he could actually hear and feel the liquid swish around in his stomach. With a bored whistle, Sirrus rummaged through the cupboard, pulling out a new, fresh bag of Doritos, and plunked himself down in front of his computer to work a little bit on his latest editing project. As he worked, he ate, and as he concentrated harder, he ate more and more, until by the time he’d done the work he’d planned on, he was stunned to discover that his talons had reached the very bottom of the bag, where they scraped against crumbs. Wiping the zesty orange film of spices from his beak, the firebird was still in amazed shock- had he really just eaten an entire bag of chips in one sitting? With another belch, Sirrus gave his rounded belly a gentle, almost affectionate squeeze. Perhaps my body finally got the message. After watching the snowstorm outside for awhile, an activity that the phoenix felt strangely lulling, Sirrus felt inexplicably thick and comfortably drowsy. Yawning and stretching, he simply curled up right on the shag carpet under the windowsill, gave a huge sigh of contentment, and dropped off to the soundest sleep he'd had in years. If the sight he'd seen last morning was hard to believe, this one took the cake twice over! His breast and belly had filled out to one uniform, smooth, round bulge, and his sides and body as a whole had grown so remarkably fat and round, they were like that of a well-fed quail. Astounded, when he stepped on the scale, Sirrus discovered that his body weight had now doubled since the start of the weekend. He was certainly astonished and a bit concerned as well. After all, one doesn’t lay on twice his body weight in fat in one night! So he made up his mind to visit the nearest hospital where he might hopefully get some answers before he grew too rotund to move. His spirits plummeted, however, when he saw that no snowplows had been able to make it out in time to cover the more residential areas of this town. Apparently, they had to back off before the weather conditions became too severe to continue. Pacing back and forth restlessly, as he was prone to do when faced with a very pressing dilemma, his mind raced on ways he might be able to get in touch with someone who might know something about his increasing plumpness. But he knew that he couldn't wait for an appointment or otherwise sit around until he resembled a Christmas goose, so he started to think of some other way of getting to a hospital, even if he had to walk there. Wait a minute... he thought suddenly, flexing his great wings, a smile coming to his beak. Let’s hope I'm not too chubby to still fly! The first thing he noticed when he stepped outside was that he no longer felt cold. In fact, the extra blanket of fat seemed to radiate its own warmth throughout his entire body, puffing him out with an excited sort of pleasure. He'd never felt so good and cozy short of being curled up in bed on a day off. But there was something else, something that felt more like pure, unfettered delight about being so huge. He felt like he was bursting with it- a feeling of joy that was so overwhelming, so replete and orgasmic, it was pure ecstasy. Oh man! Does this ever feel good! With a joyous call to the heavens, he literally soared into the sky as his huge, powerful wings carried him higher with each confident beat. He whooped with delight as he cavorted through the air with a power and grace he thought he'd lost to his more domestic lifestyle. It was truly amazing- if anything, he felt more energy in his flight, as if his powerful wing muscles had finally been given the energy reserves they needed to work their best. By air, it didn't take long at all for Sirrus to arrive at the health clinic. Just for fun, he circled high above the building, then folded all four wings tight against his body, and shot down like a big, plump torpedo towards the ground, the snow-filled air whistling around him. At the last second, his wings spread and fanned themselves out like parasails, his magnificent tail streaming out behind him, breaking his dive to a graceful landing that got him many amazed stares and impressed murmurs from the other furs. He nodded and smiled cordially to everyone he met as he waddled inside, looking just as chipper and jovial and chubby as you please. The human receptionist looked up from her monitor, and greeted the smiling phoenix with an enthusiastic smile of her own. "Hi, is there anything I can help you with, sir?" "Yes- is there a chance that I could see Dr. Wells immediately?" Taken a bit aback, the young woman turned her attention back to her monitor. "Uhhhh... lemme see here... Dr. Wells' ten-thirty called in to cancel on account of the snow, so I'll give her a page, and see what comes up." Giving her a nod and a smile of thanks, Sirrus got himself a drink of water before he settled down in the patient area to wait. Nearby, a particularly attractive young vixen, about Sirrus' age, sat with what looked like her younger sibling in her lap, reading a book to him, or trying to, at least. The bouncy pup squirmed eagerly as he verbally pointed out his favorite pictures, and his sister crooned gently to him to hush him up. "Wow! Lookit that pretty eagle!" Sirrus turned and smiled when he saw the cute little kit pointing him out. His sister stroked him soothingly between his ears before she smiled apologetically at Sirrus. "Yeah, he certainly is very pretty." Sirrus' smile grew even wider as their eyes met for a brief moment, then the vixen turned away shyly, the fur on the back of her neck rising ever so slightly in modest embarrassment when she realized he'd overheard them talking. Even so, he'd seen that smile of hers grow just a bit wider as he gave her a quick wink. ************************************************************************ "Sirrus? Dr. Wells is ready to see you." spoke a bobcat in a white lab coat as he glanced around the waiting area. With a bit of effort, the pudgy phoenix got to his feet and followed the feline into an empty office. "If you'll just wait awhile here, sir, Dr. Wells will be with you shortly." Relaxing in one of the chairs, Sirrus hoped that if anyone could help him make sense of this all, Dr. Chole Wells could. After about five minutes, the door opened. For the past year, Dr. Wells had been Sirrus’s new physician ever since he’d moved from college in the tropics to Alaska. The anthropomorphic hyena was, in his opinion, one of the most adroit and intelligent individuals he’d had the pleasure of meeting. Although, to be perfectly accurate, there was nothing really anthropomorphic about Dr. Wells, Sirrus, the vixen and her young brother, nor any of the sentient animals that shared this Earth with humans. One could certainly understand the way in which they could be mistaken for furred humans, given the conventional portrait of werewolves, and the fact that they stood erect on their hind legs, boasted a paw-hand with opposable thumbs, and tended to be as tall as the average human, regardless of species. Like any hyena, unfortunately, Dr. Wells was not really as attractive as most other anthropomorphic animals were. She had slanting eyes that gave her an unsteady, uncanny expression. Her head and neck seemed almost too thick for her stout body, her shorter hind legs and longer front ones gave her an extremely awkward look. Her body was covered with rather long fur of a yellowish gray color striped with black, and her tail was short and bushy. But it would really be unfair to call her ugly, for she looked so comical with that lab coat on; it made for a downright endearing sight. "Sirrus?! I-Is that you?!" she gasped in disbelief, and then broke into a peal of hyena giggle-laughter despite a valiant effort not to. The phoenix smiled awkwardly and nodded grudgingly, letting his claws sink into the pillow-like softness that was his body, letting it all hang out for her to gawk at in disbelief. "What happened to you? I mean, talk about being in good flesh!" She remarked, as the hyena put a paw on Sirrus' shoulder in affection, and gave it a friendly pat. Taken quite aback by her apparent enthusiasm at seeing him so... well, fat, the bemused phoenix could only blink in confusion. "You're not going to tell me I need to drop a few pounds?" He asked skeptically, jiggling his poofy, butterball turkey of a belly and positively round sides for emphasis. "Well, Sirrus, too much fat can certainly put a strain on your body, but I was going to say that in my opinion, given this cold climate, you're far healthier the way you currently are. If you can believe that- it's certainly not abnormal for avians such as yourself to as much as double their weight over the fall to provide an extra measure of warmth and energy for winter." "But this all happened in two days!" Sirrus cried out. Now it was Wells' turn to blink in total confusion before bursting into another peal of comical hyena laughter as she gave his belly a poke. "Now you're just pulling my tail- there's no way..." She stopped short, however, when she saw that expression of genuine concern still on his face. Scratching the back of her head in obvious confusion, the hyena finally shrugged and retrieved a stethoscope from one of the many lab drawers, and breathed onto its surface to warm it up. "Might as well see if this extra weight's putting any strain on your heart or lungs. Have you noticed any change in your sleep patterns, any restlessness, anything that you can think of that might have had an effect on your health recently?" She asked as she listened to his heartbeat, and asked the phoenix to take a few deep breaths. "Not really." After checking his blood pressure, the hyena began to tally the results. "Well, from what I can see, your heart rate, lung capacity, and blood pressure are as good, if not even better than your last physical. Tell me, have you noticed any other changes besides the weight gain?" "Hmmm, well I seem to feel much more energetic than before, but I've been frequently fatigued- not worn out, mind you- just quite sleepy." "Interesting... I'd like to send you down to the lab to get some blood samples done- I'll have a look at them and see if anything looks odd. Okay?" Sirrus nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Wells; I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out." She shook her head and waved a paw gently in a ‘don’t mention it’ sort of way. After the blood work was done, a few hours later, Sirrus was met by a very stunned-looking Dr. Wells. "I'm not... dying... am I?" He asked, an odd, worried smile coming to his beak as he read her expression. "Nooo... but I really don't know quite what to make of these lab results. From the looks of things, you've apparently picked up some sort of parasite." The phoenix's eyes widened until the hyena thought they may very well roll right out of their sockets, and his beak dangled open as if broken. When he finally found his breath, he gasped. "I have what?!" Chole gently placed both paws on his shoulders to calm him as those comical eyes stared into his. "Given the remarkable physical condition you're in, I'd say that a more accurate term may be symbiote. Although right now, much of what I'm about to say is based off of complete speculation. To be frank, I've never seen anything quite like what's living inside you right now. From what you've told me, and from what I've been able to gather so far, this organism seems to thrive off of lipids or fat- which gives off double the amount of energy per gram as carbohydrates, so it makes for a very efficient food for any organism." Sirrus could see that the hyena was hardly able to keep still, her excitement was so great. "This organism apparently can build its numbers up awfully quickly- we estimated nearly half a million trophozoites in your blood sample alone. But without a good fat source, they encysted within half an hour of our observation. That seems to partly explain the weight gain." "So, you're saying that they've been what are turning me into Thanksgiving dinner?" Sirrus laughed, giving his belly a rolling jiggle. "That’s right- looks as if they've managed to somehow adjust your metabolism enough to fatten you up to the point where you've become a perfect environment for them to thrive, with more than enough energy reserves to go around. But that's not all that really has me stoked. Try to think of it as a symbiote might see it-” The stout hyena explained, gesturing for her pudgy patient to sit down with her. "A symbiote, unlike a parasite, lives in conjunction with another organism, to their mutual benefit- just think about the millions of bacteria that live in your intestines that let you digest food you normally wouldn't be able to. That's what these organisms are doing- they're living off of your ample fat reserves, but at the same time, in fattening you up, they're making you better able to deal with the cold by giving you a bit more... insulation. They're also making you healthier than ever before, and better able to carry the extra weight without compromising your health. If you think about it- it wouldn't make sense for a symbiotic organism to harm its host, unlike a parasite would- a symbiote would ideally need a perfectly healthy and happy host in order to co-exist." “And it’s done that- your bones seem to be stronger than ever before, you muscle mass has increased to the point where you can handle the extra weight, your heart rate’s like that of a marathon runner, quite simply- you’ve shone absolutely none of the complications that ordinarily would plague an individual of your body mass index. Despite your apparent weight gain, believe it or not-" The hyena chuckled, shaking her head in utter disbelief, "you’re the healthiest patient I’ve seen in years.” Dr. Wells shifted around in her seat, leaned forward, removed her glasses, and rubbed her paws together before settling them into a steepled position. "Whatever this organism is- it could very well lead to medical breakthroughs the likes of which this century has only dreamed of- coronary heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, and diabetes could very well be terms to be forgotten! A sly sort of smile crossed her face, which looked incredibly eerie to see. "Just so that you know- there are many colleagues of mine who would be very, very interested in studying such a case. Interested to the point of making you very comfortable financially... provided you agree to let us study your progress to test out our theories, that is...." ************************************************************************ Chole Wells grinned from ear to ear as she leapt out of her car, her paws slipping, and nearly sprawing out from under her as they fought to find traction on the icy driveway. Unwilling to let a bit of frozen water curb her enthusiasm, she let her excitement bubble out in a delighted laugh, raising her muzzle to the cloudy winter sky as fat, fluffy snowflakes danced and twirled around her, alighting delicately on her fur. The hyena closed her eyes, taking the time to enjoy the sensation of catching a few snowflakes on her tongue- something she hadn’t done since she was a cub, but couldn’t resist doing now, she was so high on a youthful sort of joy. They had done it! She rejoiced silently, tears of happiness forming in her eyes. After so many long years of research, it’s finally happened! As she walked up to the phoenix’s wide front door, she tenderly stroked her bulging sides, feeling the new life stirring gently inside her as she smiled, well cushioned and protected by one very ample layer of body fat. After her name was made famous throughout medical history, Chole had found a loving mate of her species, and blossomed under his affection. Now with the symbiote inside of her, the hyena doctor was rapidly packing on more and more weight, her once-oddly-proportioned body now filling out quite stunningly with beautiful, sleek curves. She was so very plump; in fact, she no longer resembled some scraggly, silly scavenger, but took on the proud, charming appearance of a well-fed and adored house pet, perfectly soft and curvy with cuddly fat. Thanks to her and Sirrus, medical science had achieved groundbreaking results from the discovery of this new symbiote. Actually, revolutionary was probably a better way to describe it- for within weeks, mere weeks, nations whose citizens had been plagued by constant disease showed an almost overnight transformation into perfectly healthy populations. The organism itself, was nothing short of incredible- after years of exhaustive study and cross-referencing, it was deduced that there was absolutely nothing like it on Earth. Whatever had created it, had turned it into the pinnacle of evolution- a creature that had the ability to continually change and adapt to form the best system to cope with any environment. It was the ultimate survival mechanism, by which it continually could overcome whatever weaknesses it had, becoming more and more efficient and better adapted with its host. Whatever its mysterious origin- be it eons of evolution, or something else, was something that lay shrouded in mystery. All that Chole knew, when she looked to the stars now at night, was it had to be a godsend. Inside, the phoenix looked up from his breakfast feast of fruit as he heard the doorbell chime. Grunting with a good deal of effort, on his fifth try, he managed to roll his enormous feathered frame out of the chair, for he’d grown just as fat and round as two prize turkeys put together. To him, it was pure heaven- he felt more contented, sassy, warm, cozy and soft than ever before in his memory. He was waddling enormous, often too fat to move, and positively reveled in it. His entire breast, belly, sides, rear and backside were all one big, soft, and warm, round sphere as plump as a ptarmigan’s from which his splayed thighs, like inverted pears, poked out from, scarcely able to touch the ground. His head rested atop a body that looked more like a cream puff; it was so unbelievably rotund. Chole laughed as she saw him waddle towards the door with a rolling gait, rocking on the fat cushion of his belly from one claw to the other, looking much like an icebreaker worrying its way through a pack. Unable to restrain her delight in seeing his wonderful, fat form again, she exploded through the door, and literally bowled him onto his soft back with a hug. She melted as they embraced, tears running steadily down her cheeks. The fat hyena buried her paws into the deeply warm down of the phoenix’s fat, tender breast, letting his soft feathers and snuggly plumpness surround her as she hugged her body deeper into his, like a big, overly-fluffy pillow. She remembered with warm pride how her research with Sirrus had won her the Nobel Prize, but that alone seemed petty compared to the new world that was now slowly being etched out for mankind. Within a matter of years, no sickness, ailment, or malaise befell so much as a housefly. Plants and crops grew hardier, blight-less, perfect, and as a result, famine slowly disappeared in countries that had suffered for so long. A truly golden age for humanity was slowly starting. With all the basic necessities needed for life- bounteous food, and hardy, abundant, lush forests, war and international conflicts seemed an unreasonable fantasy now, an immature, child-like foolishness of the past. It was a world that would soon know no fear, ignorance, disease or poverty- the very beginnings of a Utopian society. Had Chole and Sirrus only known the striking significance behind the fact that of all the creatures of this world, a phoenix was the first to discover this gift from a race that no one would ever know. For in the end, it held true that out from the passing embers of one dead civilization's solitary bid for immortality, there came the fiery spark which heralded the dawning new age of another's.