FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

They jolted to awareness as their ears were filled with the blare of sirens. In a frenzy they looked around, the first thing they noticed was that they sat, unclothed, on a metal table, illuminated by flashing emergency lights. A slight tightness about their throat drew their hand up to feel their neck, their fingers walked along a thin plastic band wrapped around their throat. Their hand continued to move up and down their neck, their collarbone felt normal, if muscled, on the left side, but on the right their fingers encountered something metallic and rigid. They tried to angle their head to look down at the abnormality. They saw thin white fur, turning translucent on their shoulder to show a barcode tattooed into their skin. Closer to their collarbone was what looked like a steel cable, disappearing into their fur towards their front. They probed the cable with a finger, confirming that it was the metallic object they'd felt before, and found a second cable up above it and just out of their sight.

A flash of motion caught their eye and they turned to see a white-furred mouse, maybe rat, with blonde hair sitting on a similar table to their own. They lifted their right hand, and the rat lifted her left, a few more experimental motions confirmed their growing suspicion. They were staring at a mirror, she was the rat, that was what she looked like.

Aside from a desk and a couple chairs off in a corner bearing a bundle of pink cloth and a few medical implements on top the room was empty, almost aggressively so. She swung her legs to the side of the table and set her feet on the floor, feeling cold sterile tile beneath her toes. She pushed herself up and stood before the mirror, examining herself. The first thing she noticed was her eyes, bright purplish-pink irises that shone with a faint light. The second was a pink plastic tag that dangled from her left ear, but she couldn't make out any markings on it. Her gaze wandered downwards, there was another barcode tattoo on her left breast, hanging over a six-pack of rock-hard abs. Her arms bulged with just as toned muscles. A hairless and scaled tail drooped from her back.

The loud scraping sound of metal forced across metal drew her attention behind her, revealing a sliding door being forced open by a crowbar, grinding against the locks. She watched as a spider-legged machine pried the door open and lurched into the room, pointing a metal tube in her direction. She ducked under the table just as a loud “bang" emanated from the barrel. The bullet bounced off the wall behind her, leaving a small dent.

Something about that dent dug at her nerves, she glowered at the dent while listening for the robot that had caused it. She heard the robot clank over to the left side of the table, so she shuffled to the right. The robot kept coming, and she kept shuffling, trying to think of a plan to deal with it.

It fired again, she just barely dodged in time. She could not keep doing this, she had no idea how much ammo it had left. She realized that had to take decisive action. Her legs bent underneath her and she sprang up on top of the table with a clatter. With a hiss of pneumatic gas, the tip of the robot's gun began to rise above the side of the table.

Thinking quickly, she rolled across the table, the robot took aim, and a loud electronic whine sounded throughout the room. Momentum carried her over the side and on top of the robot as she screamed in pain from the whine. The machine collapsed under her weight and she rolled off of it onto the floor.

As she writhed on the floor she spotted something in the corner of her vision, glowing, red letters manifesting at the bottom of her field of view and rapidly moving upwards.

Hello?

Who are you?

Shit, you need to get away from that thing.

I'm going to try and jam its signal.

Oh shit, I'm sorry, didn't mean to hurt you like that.

I can stop the jamming but you need to remove its battery first.

Quick! They're trying to counter me already!

She turned her gaze towards the robot again, a big glowing arrow pointed downwards at a large boxy device clamped to the bottom of the machine, under the words “Property of Michigan Brotherhood of Heroes." As she tried to think through the agonizing whine, a series of LEDs on the side of the robot began to flash different colors, red changing to yellow to green one by one.

Realizing she was running out of time, she lunged for the highlighted battery pack just as the last light turned green and the robot began to turn its gun towards her again. She yanked the lever and the two-kilo battery dropped to the floor with a *thunk*. The robot stood still, dead.

The whine ceased and the red text continued. Okay, you're safe now. So, who are you?

She tried to think, who was she? She had no idea, she'd just woken up with no memories of who or what she was, she'd needed a mirror to determine her species and gender. Her hand wandered to her collar and felt the implants sticking out of her skin, but could she trust even their eyes? What did they know? What could they say? I don't know?

No sooner had she thought those three words than they typed themselves in her field of view under all the red text. Well, that makes two of us, the red words replied. I just woke up, I don't even know what to call myself, my ID just says [Data not found].

Really? There's nothing? She asked, wondering why someone would be given an ID with nothing written on it. Not even an initial?

Well, I kind of feel some affinity to the letter “V", or maybe “R?"

VR? She suggested.

That could work. The text replied. What about you? Is there something I can call you? Where are you?

She stood up and looked around, I'm guessing a medical exam room or something. Her eye caught on the cloth on top of the desk, maybe there's something in those clothes over there? I'll go take a look.

She strode over towards the desk, she noticed a pair of sturdy-looking rubber boots resting on the floor next to it, they seemed to be roughly the size of her feet but would reach halfway up her calves. Tentatively she lifted a bit of the cloth, which turned out to be a simple loop of magenta nylon with strange wedge-like symbols on one side. She turned the loop one way, then another, the symbols didn't look like English or any language she knew of, but something about them seemed oddly familiar.

She blinked, and an overlay appeared in her field of view, placing English letters and numerals over the symbols. “80-LEV," whatever that meant. She decided to ask VR about it.

I'm afraid I don't seem to have any data about 80-LEV, they replied. Could that be your name or ID number?

I suppose… she thought. She didn't have any better clues, she supposed she could call herself Lev until she found out what her real name was. Okay, call me Lev, for now.

Confirmed.

Lev picked up another, larger piece of pink cloth under the first. It turned out to be a stocking with no foot, but a loop at the end that went around the arch of the foot while leaving the rest bare. She set the inscribed cloth aside and picked up the last piece, another stocking. Seeing no other clothing available she began to pull the stockings on, then taking another glance at the loop she realized it was meant to be her top and pulled it down over her shoulders, arranging it to just barely cover her breasts.

Hold on, VR spoke up again as she was dressing. I think I found a map or something, I'll try to send it to you.

A roughly conical wire-frame shape resembling an inverted steppe pyramid appeared in the middle of Lev's vision, obstructing her view of the second stocking just as she reached for it again. While trying to maneuver her leg into the stocking half-blinded she wished she could see clearly again and the map disappeared.

You're up here, VR said. Lev frantically tried to call up the map again and it appeared in her view with a blinking pink dot on the second level from the top and widest level. And it seems that I'm down here. A second dot pulsed on the very bottom of the inverted pyramid.

Lev blinked, counting the levels between the two dots. It looks like you're eleven floors away from me. She thought about making the map smaller, and it shrank and retreated into the upper corner of her eye.

Huh, that does seem to be a bit far. A line running down the exact center of the structure appeared. I can see an elevator, but it's not responding to any of my queries. Maybe you can go over there and… They paused typing for an uncomfortably long time.

Something wrong? Lev asked, grabbing the right boot and slipping her foot into it.

GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!! Blue dots appeared on the map near Lev's position, moving closer. THEY'RE COMING!

Who? Lev asked, though she already suspected she knew as she finished yanking the first boot on and grabbed the left boot.

Brotherhood tac squad! I don't think you want to be here when they show up.

Lev dashed for the door, still holding her remaining boot. Who are they anyways?

I don't have much data, but what I have indicates they're not friendly. Especially since they seem to be tearing up the upper floor and shooting cameras as they go.

I admit that doesn't do them any favors. Beyond the door to the room where she'd woken, a hallway paneled in black with a pair of pink stripes running down the middle of the floor and walls stretched off to the left and right. Every few meters she could see doors, all marked with the same wedge-like set of symbols that were on her top, along with a large flanged double-helix logo. The sound of heavy footsteps carried down the hallway from the right.

Lev ran, pausing only to shove her remaining boot on after she heard them stop for a moment, followed by the crash of a door breaking open. Mere seconds later she heard a series of bangs and breaking electronics, and shot off like a rocket. She tried to read the signs, looking for a potential hiding place, but the text made no sense. One plaque translated as “4 MOOR DEM", while another read “TELIOT". I need a place to hide, she thought out loud as she heard another door crash open and the intruders start shooting everything again.

Okay, take a right. Lev swerved to the right where a new hallway opened. Now go to the second door. She stood in front of a sliding door with a sign reading “YROMRA".

Lev scanned the door quickly for a way to open it, but found no sign of a latch or button or even a motion sensor. How do I get in? She thought.

Hold on. A translucent pink square appeared floating in the air in front of the door. Chisel symbols in the middle of the square changed to “NEPO" when Lev focused on them. She reached for the square, and found her hand passing through it without feeling a thing. But as her hand entered the square's space it turned green for a moment and then vanished. Then she heard the door's latches click and it slid open.

Lev cautiously stepped inside as the overhead lights came on and gasped. The room was full of racks and shelves covered with tools, protective equipment, and weapons. As she stepped forward to examine a rack of boxy carbines she heard the door close behind her. She was relieved to see the pink square appear again on the inside of the door, but as her brain translated the symbols again she noticed something and had a thought. She pulled up the map again and zoomed in on the room she was currently in, text identical to that on the sign outside appeared over the room. Carefully, she read the label again, but this time reading it from right-to-left instead of the normal way English was read. This is an armory? She thought.

Yes, VR replied. Wasn't there a sign outside?

There was, but it was written backwards.

That's interesting, it looks to be written normally on my map.

In what language? Lev picked up a carbine and started to look it over. It was covered in buttons and LEDs, all labeled with chisel symbols. It didn't look like anything she recognized and had no idea how to work it. Who runs this place?

They're written in English, Korps cipher alphabet. As for the owners of the facility, I wish I could tell you, but that data seems to have been erased.

Something crashed against the outside of the door. Lev opened the map up again, three blue dots stood right outside the room. How long will that door hold? She asked.

Uncertain, maybe a minute? It's more reinforced than most of the other doors, but they have a portable ram with them.

Okay, Lev scanned the room, there were many different weapons of all kinds throughout the armory, but she had no clue how to use most of them. The carbine, for instance, seemed to have two different slots for ammunition, and she had no clue what would go where. Likewise, the various melee weapons looked like they would require the sort of training she wouldn't remember having even if she was trained. Her eye caught on a metal rod lying on the floor, one end hidden in a thick cylinder wrapped with solid bands of metal. It looked like some sort of club, or mace, she set the carbine aside and hefted the rod in both hands. It felt heavy enough to do significant damage, looked sturdy enough to take a beating, and seemed simple enough to swing. She nodded, it could be a fair weapon, at least in an emergency.

A table and some shelves made a quick and crude barricade that she hoped would buy her a little time. She stashed the carbine and a few handfuls of magazines from the same rack in her makeshift fort and hunkered down. She didn't want to use the mace except as an absolute last resort, so she had to figure out the gun. There were two types of magazine; one had no openings but a pair of metal prongs on the small end, like it was some kind of battery. It fit into the slot under the carbine's barrel. While the other variety had a hatch on top and appeared to fit the slot in the gun's stock. Curiously she pried the hatch open and a bunch of half-centimeter-wide double-ended needles popped out. No cartridges or propellant were apparent. What kind of gun was this?

It's a KA-09 coilgun. It uses electromagnetic induction to propel solid ferrous projectiles at targets.

Lev jumped in alarm. How did you know- nevermind, how do I use it?

Insert both the magazine and power pack, Lev did so, presuming the power pack was the “battery" like device. Then turn the power dial from “off" to “on." She presumed that the chisel-signs that read “FFO" and “NO" were also written backwards. And flip open the cover on the forward grip and depress the button.

After following that direction she heard a droning whine come from the barrel. Now can I shoot with it? She asked.

The capacitors need to charge first. A crash sounded against the door from outside, the frame started to bend and crack. When at least one of the lights on the barrel turns green, you can fire. There were six LED lights on the barrel, as the door bent open and she caught a glimpse of movement outside one LED turned green. Each light indicates sufficient charge for one shot. The door bent inwards, showing a morph in black tactical gear with a face-concealing helmet and armor plating. A second light turned green.

Lev quickly aimed the coilgun in the general direction of the intruder and pulled the trigger. The second light dimmed and with a soft rush of air a pinprick hole appeared in the door. Whoever was on the other side yelped in pain and backed away from the opening, shouting “fucking Korps slut!"

“Move it!" Another voice called out. “Get your guns ready, I'll take care of the door." A heavy object thudded to the floor then there was a flash of bright red light and the door melted, liquid metal pooling on the floor. Blinking away the light Lev quickly scanned the three figures standing in the doorway. To either side was a vaguely canid morph wearing tactical armor, the one on the right had a cracked plate on his arm. But in the middle was a deer with no helmet to obstruct his rack of antlers, streams of angry orange plasma flicked around his eyes.

The second light on the KA-09 turned green and almost without thinking Lev squeezed off two shots in the deer's direction. Plasma flowed forth from his eyes, catching the bullets and arcing towards Lev. She dropped to the floor just as she felt heat lick at her hands, the gun slid out of her grasp, trailing molten metal from the barrel. What the fuck was that?!

It looks like they have superpowered agents. Some kind of heat vision variant.

Boots slammed onto the floor as Lev scrambled to grab the mace, the gun was obviously useless now, but what good could a heavy stick do against someone who could shoot plasma from his eyes? Bullets pinged off of the table as she cowered behind it, leaving shallow dents but mercifully not penetrating. “Go!" the buck shouted and one set of boots ran up to the table while the other went off to the left.

The barrel of an assault rifle, tipped with a suppressor, peeked over the makeshift barricade, tilting downwards. Without even thinking Lev swung her mace up just as the gun's muzzle lit up. The rifle shattered on impact with the mace, bits of metal and black plastic flying everywhere in a flash of pink light. Lev shoved her shoulder into the table as the canine morph on the other side reeled, knocking him to the floor and pinning him underneath.

But Lev didn't have a chance to celebrate before a trio of bangs preceded the left side of her face erupting in sudden pain. She collapsed to the floor, grasping her bleeding cheek. The second canid, having found his way around the side of the barricade, stepped up closer to her. “You're still after that? What kind of freak are you?"

Lev grasped the mace in her right hand as she slowly pulled her left away from her eye. Her vision was… distorted. Square-shaped spots kept fading in and out, replaced by blurred boxes of static. She shut her left eye, the distortion vanished and she saw the approaching morph clearly, his still smoking gun held out in front as he inched forward.

Rage filled her at the sight of the asshole who had shot her in the face, possibly partially blinded her. Heedless of the obvious danger she leapt up, mace swinging. His gun barked a couple more times but she felt nothing as her mace slammed into the bastard's codpiece. He howled in pain as the armor shattered and pieces of ceramic were forced into his tender flesh. While he was bent double Lev brought her mace back down on his helmet, dropping him to the floor with a sickening crunch.

Behind you! VR's warning almost came too late, Lev leapt to the side just as she felt the heat on her tail. She watched the slow-moving plasma beam jet past her and strike the wall on the far side of the armory instead. The rodent spun around as the plasma cloud around the deer's eyes dissipated.

He snorted as she faced him, “you Korps freaks sure love to mutilate yourselves, don't you?"

Lev tightened her grip on her mace. “That's the third time I've heard that word, who are the Korps and why do you think I'm with them?"

The buck's eyes started to glow orange again as he glowered at her. “You're in a Korps base, dressed like a Korps agent, with Korps weapons, attacking my men pussy out like some Korps freak, and you're asking me that?" The glow in his eyes became brighter as he spoke, even as his gaze darted up and to the side for a moment. “Unless…"

He's stalling, his power must take time to recharge. Hit him now!

Lev stepped over the upended table, ignoring VR's advice. The dog pinned underneath it groaned in pain. “Unless what?" she demanded.

“Unless you're just one of their brainwashed drones who got left behind when they ran away?" He suggested coyly. “Flailing around without a master."

Lev froze, her eyes widening as she considered his words. Brainwashed? She couldn't remember anything before she woke up less than an hour ago, something had certainly happened to her brain. Drone? Like that remote-controlled robot? Could this Korps have done that to her? Was she fighting the wrong people?

Her racing thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in her thigh. She glanced down to spy a bloody rip in her legging and the pinned morph holding a blood-stained knife.

He's fully charged! Lev! Look out!

Lev looked back up as plasma jetted out of the buck's eyes again. Reflexively she lifted her mace up to block, and was pleasantly surprised when it worked. The pink-wreathed cudgel now glowed a brilliant orange, Lev could feel heat radiating from it, but some invisible field protected her from the worst of it. The canine stabbed her leg again, and Lev swung the mace down on his head. As she swung the plasma cloud dispersed into a trail of orange motes that melted the knife-wielder's helmet, and face.

The deer stared at Lev in astonishment. “I'll be back, you freak!" he shouted. “You haven't heard the last of Headlight!" With that, he bolted back down the hall.

Lev started to run after him, before a twinge in her leg reminded her of her injuries. She bent over to examine the stab wounds, only to find that they had already stopped bleeding, with just a few centimeters of dried blood trailing down her leg. Her gaze wandered back to the knife that had inflicted the wounds, trying to ignore the exposed skull of the corpse wielding it. The blade appeared to be slightly bent from her vantage point. Carefully, she bent down and pried the hilt from his stiffening fingers. Holding the knife up to her good eye she could see that the tip had crumpled, like he'd been stabbing solid rock.

He seems to have retreated to the Brotherhood-controlled upper floor, VR interrupted her train of thought. We need to prepare for another assault.

Fine, Lev replied. But first, can you tell me something VR?

And what might that be Lev?

What the fuck am I?!