FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It's been eighteen local days since he landed. With local days being almost 40 standard hours long, it's been a standard month. In this time he's reinforced the walls of the shelter with the plating from the pods and piled dirt against those for added protection. He's also managed to move the good pod and attach it to the shelter.

Not having seen Avy during this time, or been able to locate another pod, he's started cataloguing the wildlife. So far, he 's logged several hundred types of creatures. None though, seem related to Avy. This makes him wonder if Avy is from somewhere else, on or off planet.

He now sits in a chair, reviewing a tablet of information. Getting tired and frustrated, he sets it on his desk and turns around in the chair.

"Drudge, I think I need a break."

"We only just started on this sheet."

He sighs hard. "I know, I just..."

"You still miss her, don't you?"

"Her, them...can't believe that they're all gone."

"We cannot be certain that they are gone. The other pods may just be out of range."

"I know...but if that's the case, how'd they end up so far away, we were all together when we started entry."

"We encountered a large amount of turbulence during entry. That would have scattered the pods out."

Key runs his fingers through his hair. "Isn't the pod's transmission range a thousand klicks?"

"Yes, if it is working right."

"Well, diagnostics said it worked."

"Yes. Howev--There is something scratching at the door."

Key quickly steps over as the lower part of the door turns clear. Outside, stands a creature that looks like the carnivorous ant-dogs that he avoids. There are several differences that makes Key very curious.

The first thing he notices are wings. This eight legged, dog sized ant like creature has wings. Another thing he notices is that it's snout lacks a mouth. This one isn't carnivorous, and there's only been a few creatures so far to not have a mouth.

He puts his hands to the door so Drudge can scan the creature. After a short moment, drudge states, "I believe it is--"

"Avy?"

It taps once on the door as Drudge answers, "Yes."

"Exchange air with outside. Let it all in." It quickly becomes hot and muggy, and Key opens the door. Avy staggers in and curls up on the floor, and Key quickly sees why.

The probe that he hasn't been able to reach, now sits just outside the door. Avy had plucked it from the cliff side and flown here with it.

He quickly moves the probe inside and then turns his attention to Avy. This time he notices that the abdomen is really a wide tail. Right now, it's curled up under her, like a lobster's.

Sensing Key's curiosity, Avy unrolls its tail, revealing a short, three pronged barb on the end.

Key puts out his hands, allowing Drudge to scan the barb. Drudge quickly indicates that it contains no venom, so Key follows the tail around, and to Avy's thorax.

As he passes the joint between, Drudge makes a discovery. "It appears that Avy is now a female."

Key smiles. "Ah, so I get to call you a girl how, huh?"

She taps once with a foreleg, then folds it back up under her.

"Still tired. That's okay. Thank you for bringing the probe."

Her head dips slightly, reminding Key of a bow, so he continues his exam. Her thorax is a little longer than her head, and has all eight legs, and both sets of wings on it. Her legs really haven't changed much, they're just longer and thicker.

Her head is another story. The overall shape is similar to that of a cat with the shortened muzzle. lacking a mouth, she instead has a mesh-like organ that she breaths through. This organ also does the filter feeding.

While she still has the six eyes, two are now white, and positioned further back on her head. The others are larger and pared, and placed similarly to a dogs. She has internal ears, and her coloring is still the mottle of greens, blues and white.

Finishing his exam, Key sits next to her and sighs. "I've missed you." He chews his lip for a moment, then says, "You leave as a small quadruped, and you come back eighteen local days later a much larger octopede with six wings. I take back what I said before, I have never seen anything like you."

He turns and reaches for a box near the door. "Avy, I'd like to put one of these on you." He shows her a strip of paper with three "stickers." We normally use them to tag and study wildlife."

She looks at them, then back at him.

"They won't hurt, but they'll allow me to find out more about you, and find you if needed."

She slowly nods, and as Key starts to look for a place to put it, she rolls slightly, exposing her underside to him.

Picking the smooth area between her legs, he carefully sticks one of the tags to her. He notices that she recoils slightly when he presses it in place.

"Tender?"

She taps twice.

"I believe her carapace may still be solidifying."

Again two taps.

Key softly rubs the sticker again, making sure it stays. This time Avy shivers, and curls her tail up under her, covering the area.

"Oh," he gasps softly, realizing what's happening. "You're sensitive there. I'm sorry. Maybe I should have put that on your back."

She relaxes as he backs away.

"Drudge, make sure she's getting the nutrients she needs."

The air changes slightly, and Key sits in his chair to review the details of Drudges scans.