[Authors note: I know I haven't released Episode 10 yet. That one takes place right after Kathalla has Kalindra dropped in her lap. As the content's predictably different from what I usually write, I'll probably delay in finishing it until one or more of the following: I've finished all of my other projects, I'm _really_ bored, or I'm _really_ yiffy. Those that don't know what yiffy is are probably best advised not to ask... ;)]
Adrian stepped through the portal in his one-room appartment's closet to find himself in the imaginary basement where he and his family lived. A lot have time had passed since he'd shared their collective life with the rest of the world, and the Family nas Van barely resembled what people had known.
The first change he noted as he strolled down the entry hall was the additional hallway, starting just past the futon, that led to several new bedrooms. The family had grown quite a bit, and was currently numbering a dozen members, one visiting personality, and one expected member that had yet to be born.
There were also, Adrian noted, several terminals now attached to the computer, each with a VR headset, as he sat at the main console. Mirthaan was at the terminal to his right and was making jerking motions as he reacted to whatever he was experiencing in VR.
"What's up with him?" asked the human.
"He's playing that Doom level Spot wrote, at the ultra-violence setting," answered Eddie.
Mirthaan yelped and dodged slightly in his seat.
Adrian chuckled, "I take it he hasn't found that invunlerability sphere yet..."
"Nope, he's still fooled by that duplicate first room, and hasn't bothered to look for the secret that's in the fake one."
Adrian laughed. Mirthaan screamed and was thrown out of his chair, hitting the wall by the kitchen in a tangle of wings and fibre-optic cable. "Game Over," chuckled his terminal in a dark voice.
Mirthaan got up, cursing in Deralli, and disentangled himself from the hardware. Seeing Adrian, he winced. "Guess I didn't do so hot..."
Adrian patted him on the shoulder, "You'll get better, it just takes time."
The pair dodged away from each other as T'lei came hurtling through, "Outta my way! Lunch time!!!" The foxmorph leapt over the counter and mounted a glorious assault on the contents of the larder.
"Sheesh, he's-"
Adrian broke off suddenly as he and Mirthaan both dodged again to avoid Lieris, who'd been following T'lei a few yards behind.
Mirthaan grinned and patted his grandfather on the shoulder, "Don't worry, they won't eat _everything_..."
Adrian noted the growing piles of food on the hungry furries' trays and wasn't so sure. "This wouldn't be so annoying if I could declare them as dependants for foodstamp purposes..."
Eventually, Adrian shrugged and wandered down the hall to see if anyone else was doing anything. Passing Kath's playroom, he heard a feline yowl of pain, and Kathalla's unmistakable laugh. "Hmmm... Nah..." It might not be the best idea to walk in on Kath and Purrsia when they were playing, due to the distinct possibility of being asked to join in. He kept walking.
A door opened to his right and Ebony ran out, nearly knocking him flat. "Geeze, is _everybody_ treating lunch like it's a first-time event?!?"
Ebony called back over her shoulder, "No, my coimelin's on IRC!"
_That_ gave Adrian a pause... Ebony's thoughts were about as deep as an evaporated lake, and she'd actually suffered a deep enough emotion to be calling someone coimelin? "This I've gotta see..." he muttered, and headed back for the main room.
He joined Ebony in cyberspace to find her in the lap of a cute female cyberbunny. He just shook his head, clueless as to how someone who swore by males and had a distressing habit of refering to a certain part of anatomy as "my favorite snack" had fallen for a fem. Whatever the situation, the looks the two were exchanging left little to doubt, and Adrian took off his helmet to leave the two to their fun.
"You have new mail," said Eddie.
Bemused at the timing, and hoping it wasn't some Decency Standards group complaining about his daughter's behavior as "Yiff Incarnate", he ran elm to see what was happening. He got as far as seeing the sender line and the title.
* * *
Zalth waved his hand in front of Adrian's face and turned to Len, "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm not sure... He _seems_ okay, maybe he's just stunned." The young mage looked at the computer screen, "Who's Tygger, anyway?"
"Beats me..." said Zalth, and they both moved to terminals to play some pinball.
* * *
Rose shook Adrian's shoulder, "Wake up! You're drooling on the keyboard again..."
"Huh? Wha? What time is it?"
"Nearly midnight."
Nine hours? Adrian tried to think of what had happened to make him lose a third of his waking day like that. He glanced at the computer screen.
* * *
Talahran yawned and got up. Blinking wearily, he passed by Adrian on his way to the kitchen. "G'mornin."
Adrian didn't reply.
Talahran fixed himself a bowl of cereal and sat down by Adrian. "So," he asked, "What are we doing today?"
Tal had three bites of Cocoa Roo's before he noticed that the human hadn't said anything yet. He reached out a finger and closed Adrian's mouth. It just fell open again.
"Hello? Velar to unknown Terran craft..."