He is running away from the portal becayse he is a deer. But what if there are some curious animal inside a human? Like a fox or a raccoon or an otter?

Was it the deer instincts pushing him away or his human mind?

Thanks for readings!!

So a bit of delayed commenting here as I read this shortly after you posted it, but only after reading it through a few times and thinking about it a bit do I feel I can really comment on this. I really, really like this story because it's deep, emotional, and complex, not something you usually see on a site associated with furry pornography. There's a lot to this piece, to each character within it, to what they do or do not become, to what they say and why the say it, and honestly the quality of the writing is something I would see in top notch scifi magazines. While it was a little derivative of Annihiliation (the film more than the novel) and I did notice the references to Kaleidoscope, these influences did more to make the story its own thing than detract from it. I think the best part of this story was the characters, the people, the humans, and that's because I was able to relate to them all in some sort of way--the cynic in Suraev, the resignation of Hernandez, the certainty and yet uncertainty of Liu, the void of Luca, and Torres, the unqualified one trying to keep it together in a world of chaos. In a way, they're were all almost like part of one person, which made sense because they were a team, but they were each distinct and their own person in their own right. I feel like I knew them even if their fates were shortly sealed and their final fates were a big part of why this story worked so well. The transformations were bizarre in their perspectives but consistent with the character, and I especially appreciated how you left Suraev's fate up to the reader. The actual only "on screen" transformation was appropriately detailed and the mental aspect near the end was even better and in keeping with the character and the rest of the story. The ending itself was great, leaving me thinking about what might befall this other expedition if anything and mostly make me want more while also leaving me thinking about the story as a whoel and prompting re-reads. Anyways, overall really enjoyed this and while I have enjoyed the more explicit stories of yours, I hope to see more "serious" stories from you in the future. Thank you for your entry--I think I will be avoiding spring in the Shard!

Woo! Thank you for reading and leaving such a thoughtful comment! I’m glad you considered the story a success. I sometimes have a tendency to overload ideas and complexity into my more serious stories. Reading your comment (and getting runner-up in the contest!) has been extremely validating and encouraging.

Thank you for running the contest as well. It brings a sense of community to our somewhat spread out and disparate group. :)