Backstory: He’d made it. He was on Terra, er, Earth, undetected. No one knew he was here, except Limberger, and the fat load of a Plutarkian probably still assumed the loyalty codes from Gerald had put Shadow under his control. But no one controlled the Ultimate Lifeform.™ Not anymore.
Still, the journey to Earth had left him somewhat worse for wear. The Maverick masking technology was still in working order, but the underlying cybernetics could do with some readjustments and minor repairs. Unfortunately, while he had appreciable knowledge of his own systems’ workings, knowledge in how to repair them was largely beyond his grasp.
Unfortunately still, his calculations had been just slightly off in his entry, and the nearest hub of civilization was Megakat City, Terra’s own little slice of Thunderan felo-supremacy. (Thankfully with none of the luddite asininity.) Finding a mechanic off-the-radar, mostly with informal reviews of their work, was far from difficult. But he couldn’t keep from wrinkling his nose at the scrapyard the best mechanic for miles apparently resided in. But, all his data showed that the best machinists most often eschewed trappings of wealth and excess, living an almost slovenly life despite their skill.
He knew exactly how to proceed. He’d first offer one of his external techs- one of the hover boots from his feet- to determine the mechanic’s general skill firsthand before granting them access to his deeper mechanisms.
But then, it hit him, halfway through the threshold of the garage. None of the best machinists worked for free.
What the hell was he going to pay with?
How the fuck was he going to ensure the mechanic’s discretion?!
Dammit, were Megakat City residents robophobic?! Was this mechanic going to go into full Maverick Panic the moment Shadow implied he had any cybernetics?!
Shadow had frozen in place with a bewildered expression when the tawny feline appeared behind the counter. The mechanic was stripped to the waist, coveralls unzipped and hanging from his hips. The solution came to Shadow all at once.
He was the Ultimate Lifeform.™
Any fool with half a brain would trade anything to be bedded by him. Beg to be, even.
He just had to seduce the fleshy feline. Simple as pi.
...Right?
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Commentary: I didn’t have the patience to redraw this one, but after so long nudging and adjusting, I just got sick of polishing this turd. I am greatly proud of how much the sequel to this one is an improvement.
The backstory for this one did offer a significant amount of worldbuilding opportunity just by way of the premise, most of which hadn’t even slightly occurred to me when I drew the original piece. Funny how that works out sometimes.
