FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Gev readjusted his earbuds for what must have been the hundredth time since boarding the train. It still didn't help the horrific screeching it made as it coasted through the city on it's aging rails.

The sound never used to bother him before his transformation, but with his enhanced hearing it was nearly intolerable. Noise cancellation helped a good bit though. He grimaced, and adjusted them again as a turn in the tracks brought another piercing screech.

His hearing wasn't the only thing he had to adapt to since the procedure just two days ago. His stomach growled loudly as if to remind him of those small troubles, and he shifted in the small seat. It had unsurprisingly turned out that gaining nearly a hundred pounds of muscle, bone, and scales all at once increased how much he needed to eat in a day. By a lot.

It also made the seats on the train a lot less comfortable, especially with his thick tail behind him. These undersized seats used to accommodate him perfectly, but now he had the choice of taking two to himself, or standing hunched over so as to not gouge the ceiling of the train with his horns.

Still, he couldn't help but smile to himself slightly as he slouched in the pair of seats and stared out the window at the city passing by. His transformation had brought some inconveniences, but that feeling inside him that this was exactly as he should be remained. He'd made the right choice, and didn't regret it for a second.

Digging into his bag, he fished out another hamburger. Fortunately, he'd bought a full dozen this morning after he'd spent his first day ravenously eating through his entire kitchen. At this rate though he'd need another dozen for the ride home.

Before his modifications, he'd have been anxious at the thought of doing things like eating on the train, or taking two seats. He knew these sorts of things were mostly just anxiety and social awkwardness. Most people did look down on doing those sorts of things in public. Most also wouldn't say or do anything about it. Much easier to just go on about your business than risk a confrontation.

That was something he'd not realized about people these days. They tried as hard as they could to ignore their surroundings. To stay safe. To make it through the day. The odds of anyone bothering a normal human being rude in public were fairly small. The odds of someone bothering someone so heavily modified as himself though were slim to none.

Gev looked around the train at the other passengers. This early in the afternoon there weren't many, but nearly all of them had their eyes faintly lit up by their ocular implants. Those who didn't weren't looking at him. Probably deliberately.

The train slowed to pull into yet another station as he took a bite of his burger. Well, bit the thing entirely in half. Food was smaller now too, and a regular burger was basically a slider to him now.

Only three people got on the train at this stop. Preoccupied with his own thoughts, Gev almost missed that one of them was modded, though not so heavily as himself. The man had rust colored scales covering his face and hands, with only a bit of paler human skin peeking out around his neck and wrists. He wore a thick hoodie despite the heat, almost as if to hide his that remaining piece of his human form.

He almost missed Gev as he walked past and did a double take, looking back at him with wide, bright, golden eyes. He stopped dead, causing the man behind him to nearly spill iced coffee over both of them. He barely noticed though, and after pausing for a moment to consider, he wedged himself into the seat next to Gev.

“Dude, you have to tell me about your mods!" The shorter man looked up at him excitedly, and Gev couldn't help but find that endearing somehow. He wasn't used to being approached in public, and the way most humans tried to avoid interacting with him the past two days was actually nice. He felt a small sense of kinship with this man though.

“Oh uh, sure!" Gev popped the other half of his burger in his mouth. The other man… No, the other dragon. That felt more accurate, even if his mods weren't extensive. The other dragon's eyes widened slightly at the sight. His transformation had changed so many small things in his life already. Perhaps this dragon wanted the same for himself?

“Let's see… I got them all at once, I'm still getting used to it all!" he laughed. “There's the obvious of course." He gestured to his face and flashed a toothy grin. “But I kinda went all out, didn't want to hold back you know? Hearing, height, strength. The works."

As the train continued on its soaring, screeching journey through the city, Gev described in detail his extensive modification package. Each and every change meticulously planned out over months, as well as the Genetic Acceleration treatments used to bring those changes into reality over a single day of extensive treatment.

The other dragon in turn talked about his own mods. Not nearly so extensive as Gev's, and he couldn't afford Genetic Acceleration, which explained why his scales only covered parts of him. They'd grow in over a few weeks though. GA treatment really only saved discomfort, and the mild embarrassment of retaining human skin for a bit. At least, it was embarrassing to a Dragon.

He also asked about specific mods Gev had gotten, and laid out his own modification plans. It turned out that he intended to go even further in modifying himself than Gev had. He trailed off for a moment after he finished describing his plans though…

“You weren't worried about.. Side effects when you got your mods? I've heard some stories from my friends online, even seen some really modded guys in the streets looking… I don't know, just completely out of it." He sounded worried, and looked away from Gev for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “You're… Okay though? No weird shit happening?"

Gev considered that for a moment. The moment in his apartment when he could have sworn he'd heard a voice. When he'd nearly collapsed or… Whatever had happened. “Uh, no… Nothing like that so far" he lied. “Honestly I can't shake the feeling like this is all just… I don't know. Right. Like this is exactly how I'm supposed to be." That much at least was true. “I guess that sounds pretty weird though huh?"

The other dragon's eyes widened slightly. “No. No it doesn't. I feel the same. Even after, uh… Never mind. I mean, I get it! I gotta get more mods, go further you know? Fuck if I were as strong as you…" He looked away again and grunted to himself, hunching his shoulders slightly.

“Did… Something happen?" Gev asked. He'd only met the man and didn't want to pry. It was obvious something was going on though.

The dragon stared into his lap, and closed one of his clawed hands into a fist. “It… I got jumped the other day, that's all."

“Dude that's all? You got attacked. That's fucked. Why?"

He looked back up at Gev, anger plain on his face. “Just some drunk asshole. I guess he just hates modded people or something. I don't think he'll do something like that again though…" He broke eye contact and stared into his lap once more.

There was more to this story, but having only just met him Gev decided not to press him on it. “Well just wait till you get more mods. Won't get messed with then eh?" Gev flexed his arm for emphasis, his bicep coming to a strong peak before the other dragon's eyes. He looked back up from his lap at Gev's arm, his expression slightly awed. Gev also noticed a hint of crimson on his otherwise rust colored cheeks.

"Uh yeah! I uh, can't wait!" He seemed to be stammering a bit, maybe just enamored at the idea of having similar mods for himself? That must be it. "Fuck! I got so caught up talking mods I didn't even get your name, I'm Rax by the way!"

“Gev. Good to meet you Rax." His hand enclosed Rax's smaller hand, and he gave a firm shake. “And… Fuck. I missed my stop."

“Hah! Happens to all my friends when we get to talking about mods. Time flies eh?" Rax glanced up at the screen displaying the next stop. “This one's mine. There's a decent coffee place here, wanna grab one before you head back?"

“Might as well, I've got nothing else planned. Booked a couple weeks off to get used to the new mods." They stood to leave as the train slowed to pull into the next stop, and Gev bashed his horns into the ceiling.

He gave a low growl as he gingerly felt along one of his horns, checking for damage. It didn't hurt exactly, but unexpectedly smashing his skull into the ceiling wasn't pleasant.

“Dude you got a mod for fuckin growling? That's awesome! Wait, how long have you even been modded for?" He asked, as if he hadn't just witnessed Gev carelessly smash his entire skull into the metal roof of the train car.

“Two days. Well, okay a little less than that. Two days as of tonight."

“Ugh, get a room…" The woman behind him muttered.

“Hey FUCK off!" Rax bellowed at the woman. She gave a squeak, tried to stammer out something, then hurriedly grabbed her bag and rushed down the train

Gev, stunned at the outburst, watched her nearly fall on her face as she dodged around the other passengers. Most of them hadn't even noticed. He peered into a few sets of eyes and saw an AIR substituted human face in some of them. The rest probably couldn't hear past their noise cancellation on top of whatever they might be listening to. Those without their irises lit up were pointedly looking away from the two of them.

“That was… Kind of a lot?" Gev said carefully as he and Rax left the train.

“I uh… Sorry… Since getting modded, other people just… They get on my nerves a lot. Might be since that guy…" He trailed off at the mention of his attack. Gev supposed he could empathize there. “Something about humans. I mean. You know, people not modded or whatever. They just set me off so easy now." Rax stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, drawing in on himself again.

Gev studied him quietly for a moment as they walked before speaking, trying his best to think of the right words. “…You were attacked. It's understandable. Honestly I don't even know how I'd feel if something like that happened to me."

Rax was quiet for a bit as they walked up the stairs and out of the station. “That was… Why I asked if you'd had side effects since you got your mods. Fuck, sorry to dump all this shit on you man. We just met and…" He trailed off as he heard muttered words in a nearby alley. Gev's enhanced hearing already alerted him to the mutters before Rax, but he didn't expect to find another dragon as they passed by.

He had brilliant blue scales, streaked with lines of emerald. His eyes were a striking gold, similar to Rax's. Only he was hunched over next to the wall, holding his head between his hands. Even with his hearing, Gev could barely make out the words. He was speaking so quickly, slurring his words.

“Happening so fast" he muttered, shaking his head side to side. “Everywhere everywhere everywhere cantgetaway…" The rest of whatever he was saying was lost as they passed by the alley. Gev shuddered slightly at the disturbing sight.

“Third one I've seen this week…" Rax said quietly.

“Huh? You've seen more like him?"

“Yeah. I could swear I'd never seen anything like that months ago. You seen it too?" Rax asked.

Gev had to think for a moment. Before he was modded he'd put sights like that out of his mind, just like all the other humans. He couldn't remember seeing anyone modded in a state like that before he'd been modded himself. But yesterday…

“I remember one. Just yesterday I was buying groceries… A lot of groceries. Uh, anyway. I saw someone in the store that looked similar. She was just… Standing there, talking to herself like that guy."

“Okay, and what species?" Rax asked.

“Species?" Gev was confused. Genetically modified or not, he and Rax were still technically Human weren't they? He couldn't help but notice that even in his own mind though, he already considered Humans and Dragons to be distinct groups.

“She… She was a dragon."

“Yeah thought so… And the ones I've seen? All dragons too."

Gev felt an icy chill run up his spine. “All dragons? What are you getting at?"

“No idea.“ Rax replied. "All I know is out of all the wolves, tigers, bears and whatever the fuck else out there, it's dragons that are getting fucked in the head. And I think it's stared only recently."

“That's… Pretty worrying. You think it's something wrong with some of the mods dragons usually get?" Gev asked.

“No idea. Can't find anything about it in the news. Whatever it is, Humanitech, Biodyne and all the other corps are probably covering it up to protect their sales." Rax looked up at Gev. “Look, if anything weird happens, promise to tell me okay?“

The memory of the voice in his apartment came back to him again. “I… There was something I didn't tell you. About the day I was modded."

Rax's eyes widened and he came to a stop on the sidewalk. “Yeah?" He asked cautiously, as if he were afraid to hear the answer.

“When I got home I… almost passed out. Or did pass out.“ Gev paused, uncertain. “I was looking at myself in the mirror one moment, and the next I was on the floor. It happened at the clinic too, but not as bad there."

“You think… You might have been like that guy back there?" Rax asked slowly.

Gev's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't considered that possibility. At the time it felt as if he'd simply fallen down, or that he'd lost consciousness for only a moment. Could it actually have been longer?

“I… Don't know." Gev replied. “I don't think so but… I guess I might not know if something like that did happen." He shuddered again at the thought. “There was something else too. The entire time, it felt like someone was watching me. I guess it could just be paranoia, but I also had this feeling like this was right, even with passing out or whatever."

Rax nodded slowly, then his eyes widened suddenly. “Wait. I think I felt the same thing, just after… Just after I was attacked. I'd gotten away, ran to a train station, and felt like I was being watched. Nobody was there though, cameras were all fucked. I figured it was all just in my head… Maybe it was the same thing?"

“You didn't pass out though? Or almost collapse, or have any weird pain? Nothing like that?" Gev asked.

“No. Just felt like I was being watched… And like getting mods was the right thing to do. Like, I weirdly, intensely felt like this was exactly what I needed to do. I figured pretty much everyone who gets modded feels like that though."

Gev considered that for a moment. “Yeah, I think you're right about that. Like, who would literally modify their DNA if they weren't absolutely sure that was what they wanted? I think the whole almost passing out thing is more worrying…"

Rax nodded. “Just tell me if it happens again alright? I'll tell you if something like that happens to me too. I don't think either of us wants to end up like that guy back there…"

Gev nodded slowly. “Will do… It hasn't happened again so far though, so fingers crossed I guess."

From there, Rax lead Gev to the coffee shop. Their conversation turned to lighter topics. The mods Rax would go for next, and the meetup he'd planned with some online friends of his to celebrate him getting his first mods, which Gev eagerly agreed to attend.

They parted ways shortly afterward, and Gev made his way back to the train to backtrack to his own stop. As he passed by the alley again he looked down it's length and saw that the dragon from earlier was gone. Gev hoped he'd simply come to his senses and left before someone came along and robbed him. Though he worried something worse may have happened given his vulnerable state.

Maybe he should have stayed with him until he snapped out of it? He felt a pang of guilt at having left him there when he might have been able to do something. Leaving another dragon like that felt like a very human thing to do.

As he made is way back to the train, Gev resolved to do something the next time he saw a dragon in a state like that. Even if there was nothing he could actually do, perhaps he'd learn something about whatever it was that was happening to dragons. If anything was happening at all.

Rax seemed like he might be the type to get caught up in stories and conspiracies. Gev sincerely hoped that everything Rax had told him was no more than that…