[casual banter between two starship technicians, spacetime data lost]

‘Okay, they’re getting slowed down mentally for stasis; they shouldn’t respond when we move ‘em. did you put the starfish on them yet?’

‘Starfish?’

‘That headrig. The cord with the big squishy bundle at the end? Plugs their nose and ears and eyes and stuff, to help make sure they don’t get disturbed or almost wake up in the tank.’

‘*All* of these go in them, then?’

‘And this big squishy one in the middle of it? That’s...dripping?’

‘Yeah, That goes down their throat. That’s the important one. Hold on, I’ll help, then we get them in the pod.’

‘So’— Squelch.— ‘why’zit called a starfish?’
‘Cuz when you get it in their throat, you push this button and the whole rig curls around their head.’

....
‘Like that. O-oh. Like a starfish. Right.’

‘Mhm. Now help me lift, we’ve got four more to pod up before we can take off.’

@neonNeptunian Mmmmmmfffff. *squirmy ott*

@neonNeptunian Like, okay, clearly and unsurprisingly one of Lai's big kinks is heavy industrial bondage, where the bondage is just incidental to safety measures, but "necessary".
And then taking such tech and engineering it for voluntary recreational use. >_>

"Mmm, this one's just a salvaged high-G tube for hard burns! Fighter craft mostly. Of course it doesn't need /all/ those extra straps, or the full coverage restriction suit. I added those for fun!"

@neonNeptunian

"Oh, you meant the other tank? Well, it's a full-immersion VR suite with full 3D motion, a holographic display matrix, plus a servo-input body suit.

I took out the projectors, added some mods to the suit so it can be locked in *any* position, and installed some accessorized mech arms.

Why? Well, this other pod here is unmodded, and directly controls the sensedep pod. So...want to do terrible things to me while I'm locked in the dark?"