A New Home

The demonstration hall was dim, monitors all around. Anticipation grew, the elite gathered. There had been so many rumors.

At last, with a flourish, a curtain was pulled aside, manteses buzzing in excitement, already having been given images of its rough shape. In the spotlight, the vendor, their host, was by a being two thirds his size, a silky brown pelt on its head that the vendor was stroking.

Its body was naked and pale except where its dark pink blood showed under the surface of its delicate skin, a kind of pretty flush, and it looked impossibly soft, restrained tilted back. The table on which it was mounted held its legs open, showing its sex, on which a camera was aimed, blown up large on monitors all around. Two jiggling soft mounds jutted from its chest with pretty swollen dark pink tips. It couldn't move anything except its head, which it raised, its eyes huge and darting, its mouth noisy.

Several manteses clacked, laughing, but others made noises that indicated they were charmed.

"I thought it might be frightening. It's adorable," one called. "That's a maigodd?"

The vendor answered. "One of the males kept making that noise when we met it, trying to get away, and then it peed, so that's what we call them."

There was more laughter, clacks ringing in the room.

The vendor waited for it to die down. "For our first showing, I will demonstrate how we fit a maigodda, one of the females, with the implants, and what we've devised as a means to keep it from wandering. We've removed the pelt on its sex. If you'll look."

The manteses' eyes went to the huge screens, showing its sex, somehow closed, pink and tidy. The manteses watched as the vendor reached, careful of his claws, opening the softest looking lips, more little folds behind that, and under that, silky pink flesh and a gorgeous slit for taking a bulb.

Several mantesis grunted, flashing purple as tail slits swelled.

"So soft," one muttered. "It can't be as soft as it looks."

The vendor heard and grunted in agreement, touching the maigodda's sex lightly with his sharp claws, so very careful, all of them mesmerized by the plump flesh under the long black razors as the creature squeaked. "You have no idea what I'm feeling. They are silken here like you will just have to experience." Moving slowly, the vendor spread the slit. "See the little plug it has in its bulb-hole? That means this one hasn't been penetrated before. It is a pleasure I can't quite describe, a delicious little pop that makes you froth instantly, happening only once. We have several we've held back, and we'll auction them last."

"How old is it?" a mantesi asked. "What is its life span?"

The vendor answered. "We know this one is fully sexually mature, about eight of its rhythm cycles into its fertility phase. Their life span is short, but we think we can double and maybe triple it, extending its natural limits."

"And you claim it likes sex?" another said.

Several made noises in their throats, not believing it.

"It feels pleasure like a male," the vendor declared, his voice ringing in the room.

The hall was quiet. Mantesen males and females were biological enemies. Their females, mantesas, were not sentient, larger, and they had spines and venom and sharp teeth. They would eat any male they killed. Mantesas didn't like sex at all. It was an understatement to say the two mantes sexes hated each other. The males chased down the females, holding them, savage in taking their pleasure, mating sometimes ended in death for one or both even when the females were restrained, preternaturally strong.

There was more murmuring, now with skeptical sounds, but several tails began to thrash, showing more swelling from the slits at the bottom, sensitive round purple bulbs appearing and then disappearing

"Are you sure it's a female?" one of the mantesi said. "It doesn't look dangerous at all."

"We're sure," the vendor said. "In anticipation of your questions, we've brought a maigoddi to display, one of the males."

The mantesi gestured and a curtain rolled back, exposing another center, the light coming. A different being was there, larger than the other and also naked, browner, with a stiff and short pelt on its head and face. Its voice was slighty deeper, although still very high, its muscles straining in its agitation. It was on a similar table.

"That is shaped differently," a mantesi agreed. "Is that small, floppy, weak thing its tail?"

"And also its sex," the vendor said, waiting.

There was a wave of rough clacking, the manteses humored.

"I want to see its tail froth," another mantesi said, all of them still laughing.

"We thought you might." The vendor went over to the maigoddi, giving it lubrication.

The maigoddi made high sounds, skittering and gnashing, struggling as viscous fluid fell onto its limp tail. It panted and shook its head from side to side, its voice high. The manteses were amused again.

"The process for arousing the maigoddi is suprisingly similar to manteses," the vendor said, touching its tail, some manteses looking away, "which is how we knew the maigoddas are compatible for pleasure." The vendor stimulated the creature's tail like a bulb, rolling over the strange cap, tugging. The tail began to thicken. "It gets much bigger. Not as big as a mantesen bulb."

The maigoddi thrashed its head, grunted, its thighs trembling, trilling something, its face red.

The vendor spoke, stroking the maigoddi's waste-hole with a thick knuckle, penetrating it deep and pumping. "This helps. We've implanted and conditioned this maigoddi for our demonstration. It will froth soon, although it can only do it once or twice and then requires hours to recover."

There was more mantesi laughter, all of them watching. The sex of the maigoddi was gleaming and fully erect, the organ arcing and thin. The maigoddi gave a string of sounds, squeaky grunting, its hips attempting to thrust. With a groan, the maigoddi shook and spurted thin ropes of liquid out of its tail all over its belly, hardly any at all, grunting and crying out, its small waste-hole contracting around the vendor's knuckle.

The mentasis clacked, their laughter loud.

"Those are its eggs?" a mantesi said.

"The biology is complicated, very alien. A little different, but basically, yes," the vendor said, also chuckling.

"It can do that without a female?" another said. "Take its pleasure on its own?"

The vendor clicked in agreement, removing his knuckle gently, eliciting rough sounds from the maigoddi's throat. "Remarkable, isn't it? If only we could do so."

"Eggs would never be inseminated," someone said from the back, all of them breaking into waves of laughter, clacking.

"That is pleasure, yes, in the male," a mentasi agreed when the laughter wound down. "I recognize it. It's not so unfamiliar, although it's been a long time."

There was a wave of appreciative clacking for that, too. Sex required so much courage.

"I want to see the maigodda's pleasure now, if you claim it feels it," a mantesi said.

"Yes, I want to see," a mantesi said. "I don't care about the male. Make it feel pleasure, the female."

The male was rolled away, still squeaking.

"I understand your enthuasiasm," the vendor said, walking back to the female. "To demonstrate the delight of the maigoddas, however, I must fit the implants first. We want you to see the process, so there is no mystery. We start with these two mounds and the buds on them. You see their puckered tips?"

"It's so pretty," a mantesi said. "It's soft all over, and smaller than we are. It shouldn't be so difficult to overwhelm. No spines?"

"None. The pelt on its head is the silkiest stuff, friends, and its skin is like...like a just-hatched asilma in your tongue, like..." he sighed. "You just have to experience it. But the sensitivity of these pink buds is what is remarkable. They feel sex-pleasure when these buds are touched."

There was a stark silence, breathing heavy in the room, many moretok sounds. Tail slits all around were beginning to swell open at the idea, the ends thrashing, the blue manteses beginning to flush, red radiating at the base of their tails. The arcs of purple bulbs showed from their slits, withdrawing after a moment.

"Are you sure?" a mantesi got out, his eyes focused on the twin mounds.

"Some of them can reach the sexual peak of pleasure from their stimulation alone. They're sensitive. So many nerves."

Toks sounded throughout the room, heavier breathing. Purple showed through many more slits, bulbs beginning to emerge from the end of their tails, which had pulled in close to mantesen bodies, curling under.

The vendor picked up metal claw forceps and pinched the tip of the mound gently, drawing it up, the maigodda crying out, its voice getting higher until it was out of their range of hearing. The vendor reached for a small trigger device with a ring insert, pausing to explain over the loud squeals. "We set the implant in the nerve centers and create a way to stop the maigoddas from wandering. The rings hold a chain of your choosing. Light, of course. The buds are so sensitive that you will have to tug on the chain only a tiny bit and they can be persuaded to anything. You can restrain them on the chain, and encourage calm by tugging it. It's also good for wakening them when they fall asleep from too much pleasure." He brought the trigger device and set it in a place behind its protruding tip.

The maigodda screeched before he even did anything, strange complex trilling sounds, so high they almost couldn't hear it, more chittering. Some kind of liquid formed all over its body, gleaming, and dripped down its naked flesh. The manteses in the room leaned forward, watching, all their tail slits swollen now, a few bulbs popping out, engorged, red rings clear at the base of their tails.

The vendor triggered it and the little maigodda went still and then its whole body went rigid and it shrieked, thrashing.

"That hurts it," a mantesi protested when the noise finally stopped.

Now the purple bulbs of the mantesi in the room were popping one after the other, unable to withdraw back into the tail until the arousal faded.

"Yes," the mantesi vendor said, breathing heavily, giving a deeptok, involuntary. "It's necessary. It will be fine after a few days. They heal well."

He brought the trigger to the other soft pink tip, pulling it up with the forceps. The maigodda was making rough noises, high and then more long chitterings, shrill, its little voice going up and down.

"What's wrong with its eyes?" a mantise said. "They're leaking."

"We don't really know," the vendor answered, concentrating. "The eyes are fine. They still function."

The device was triggered and it shrieked again, a long cry. Its face twisted.

"Poor little thing," a mantesi said, several grunting in agreement.

"I know," the vendor sighed. "I promise that it will be fine. Now we see if they were set correctly and the implants are working. The new implant may impede some of the pleasure, but we usually get a good response." He touched the maigodda's pink puckery nubs lightly, rubbing.

The maigodda's cry stopped and it began to whimper as he touched the other, rubbing. Then it began to pant, the tips swelling and becoming hard.

"Look," a mantesi said, pointing at the screen. "Keep doing it. Its pretty little sex is swelling and opening up."

"What's the liquid from its bulb-hole?" another said, sounding excited.

"That indicates its readiness for sex," the vendor answered. "Unlike a mantasa, it creates its own lubrication to encourage a male to penetrate it."

"Encourage penetration," one of them breathed.

More bulbs popped and several manteses groaned, swollen bulbs rubbing against their own legs, seeking stimulation, barely able to stop, rude in mantes society. Others seemed inclined to ignore that, several touching their tails, getting closer to the ends.Toks were heard all through the room.

The vendor's own slit was showing purple, swollen. "Now we'll set the implant in its sex," the vendor said. "Please be quiet in the room, not to frighten it. This will be stressful for the sweet creature."

They watched closely on the displays as the vendor took up the forceps and walked between the maigodda's legs, grabbing the little soft hood and fully exposing a delicate protrusion behind it.

Speaking, the vendor pointed. "That is the pleasure glans, the outermost tip that is the most sensitive. It has thousands of nerves, and the organ's only function appears to be pleasure, which is how we came to understand the maigodd species and their purpose. See how healthy and pink it is, how it glistens with its liquid? We're just going to help it to become more available for mantesen use." He prodded the glans, the maigodda crying out long, thrashing its head. Picking up a metal plunger with a hollow needle, the vendor positioned it straight down on the clitoral hood. "This is the difficult part, I'm afraid." He pressed.

The little creature shrieked high, over and over, its face getting red, its chest flushing red, trilling its little pocks and mouth sounds.

"It's too bad," a mantesi said, breathing heavily.

"Poor thing," another said, its bulb making short stabbing motions.

By now, the purple bulbs of most of the manteses in the room had veins showing, throbbing and jerking upward rhythmically. Several had their bulbs in their talons, squeezing, feeling wonderful, although they couldn't make themselves froth on their own. Sometimes, rarely, it could happen spontaneously.

"But necessary," the mantesi vendor agreed, his own bulb finally popping from its slit. "Now, the implant will clamp on the shaft of the glans."

The implant dug in and moved into place, visible under its skin. The hood was now unable to retract, the maigodda's glans permanently exposed. It continued to yell.

The vendor reached, gently placing its hand over the little thing's soft mouth, several manteses in the room thrumming in alarm. To do that to a mantesa would be deadly, with their venom and sharp teeth and vicious need to bite.

"There we go," the Mantesi said as the little maigodda finally slowed its high squeals, its whole body shuddering, other liquids on its face. "It will experience this discomfort until it heals, which takes a few days, but then it's done for its lifespan. We're still working on developing an analgesic that will work on their physiology without harming them. But now I must make sure of the placement."

The vendor offered a delicate touch, a knuckle, the surface leathery, to its exposed glans, stroking. He reached and rubbed the puckered pink buds on its chest at the same time. "All we need is a little encouragement. It will still be uncomfortable, but it will reach its pleasure now."

The maigodda's eyes went wide, the implant pulsing, more liquid leaking from its eyes and nose onto its strange face, which was still bright red. The room grew tense and quiet as the whole area of its sex swelled, the exposed glans becoming pink and then dark pink and stiff. Liquid came at its sex opening where a bulb would go, inviting, whole parts of the room hitching with lust, the flesh convulsing over and over. The maigodda began to make pleasure sounds, its flanks quivering, its jutting nubs hard as it shivered.

"I know," the vendor crooned to the little being, stroking. "Show them your beauty."

It jerked several times and crested its pleasure, writhing, making noises that popped even the most stubborn bulbs. As it continued to demonstrate its satisfaction, their tails strained in front of them, their bulbs stabbing repeatedly. It cried out, so much pleasure in its voice, its little soft and silky sex twitching and swelling more, a great deal of liquid.

"Ahh," a mantesi said, a long expression of arousal, others following, involuntary.

Several hitched more, makingtok noises. Any hesitation they might have had about using the maigodds for sex were gone in the face of its ecstasy. This was obviously their natural function. Manteses had attempted to communicate with the creatures, but they weren't sentient, their minds silent.

"How many times can you make it say its pleasure?" a mantesi said, hot breaths.

"As many times as you want, although it will sleep, eventually. The implant controls the vascular flow. Once it's engorged, the maigodd can't stop the process. Do you want me to pleasure it again?"

"Yes. Make it do it over and over," another panted.

"I will do so once more. It's just had the implant. It would be too painful to encourage it to do so any more than that. It's valuable, a rare specimin. With these gentle beings, you must temper your enthusiasm. It needs to rest in between."

"I want to buy it," a Mantesi said. "I came here to buy one. I want that one."

The vendor stroked the head of the soft brown-haired little beauty and then stroked its glans again, the little thing shrieking and then fluttering and chittering, settling into making the sweetest little soft high grunts of pleasure, shuddering and convulsing, its naked body with a sheen.

A mantesi spoke, his voice choked with lust. "What is the liquid all over it?"

"It is overheated with the exertion," the vendor answered, his own voice thick. "It does it to cool itself, we believe." His tongue came out, flowing over the chair to taste the sheen on the creature's belly, and then between its legs, lapping at its bulb-hole, the soft being screeching again. The vendor's tongue withdrew, the vendor closing his eyes for a moment, sighing. "I wish I could describe their taste. The liquids it gives off are each a different flavor, and all the sweetest tang. It's been difficult for our staff not to lick them as we walk by."

Clacking broke out, laughter.

The vendor continued. "It will be available in three days, when it's healed."

"I want it now. I'll pay its price and a third," the first one said.

Other voices came, higher offers, tempers rising with their arousal.

"Now, please wait," the vendor said. "We have another demonstration with one that has already been implanted and has healed. Please note that the little maigoddas have three areas of entry for penetration." He pointed. "There is the bulb-hole, the waste-hole, and..." he paused for effect, "the mouth."

The silence in the hall was complete. The vendor waited.

"Are you crazy?" a mantesi finally said.

"No venom," the vendor said softly. "Flat little teeth except for two of the smallest fangs that couldn't possibly penetrate a bulb, an unbelievably soft stubby tongue and silky throats. The sensations, my friends. I cannot begin to describe the pleasure of all their holes for a mantesi bulb."

A mantesi frothed with a low cry, covering the bulb at the end of his tail.

The vendor was sympathetic. "The first time I knew what they could do, I frothed, my friend."

"Let's see it, then," several agreed, panting, also close.

The vendor gestured, another curtain withdrawing. Inside of a large clear cage, a little maigodda was standing, its pretty eyes darting. It began looking for an escape, a frantic creature. Its pink tips had the rings, jiggling as it searched the corners, but it was unrestrained, otherwise.

The vendor gazed at it fondly. "As you know, the metal ship that crashed had many of the maigodds, enclosed in small transparent pods. We believe another advanced species might have sent them out, perhaps to breed and be ready for sex when they arrived, but the technology malfunctioned. At first, we thought all the soft maigodds were dead. They are quite fragile, such a tragedy, but then we found some undamaged in a single section, just waking up. They wouldn't have survived. In the end, we were able to successfuly salvage two hundred maigoddas, females who are young, healthy, implanted, and ready for sex."