FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was to be a quick shift, as far as Finley was concerned. Less than half a shift swap and that was it--it was the only reason he'd agreed to it in the first place, especially when he'd gotten off two hours ago.

Or was it three?

The man shook his head and stumbled into the office, his nametag askew and his shirt untucked. He expected a comment from the secretary on shift--someone was on shift, there had to be after the unanticipated variance--but there was nary a sound, not even a soft snort or the clack of disinterested nails on a keyboard.

It was silence, explainable silence because everyone in the institution was exhausted nowadays, but it was not silence Finley needed. He had nearly fallen asleep driving here. Any interaction, any expenditure of energy by another to engage him would do well to invigorate him.

He was already running short and the shift had yet to begin.

So, Finley turned his head towards the secretary and opened his mouth and yet he did not speak. Instead, his mouth hung open while a spot of drool began to drip from one corner.

There was not a secretary sitting in the chair.

But that wasn't quite right. Lazily leaning back against the chair could've been a secretary or was the secretary--

But it wasn't human. She wasn't human. Instead, there was some sort of bird, albeit humanlike in appearance, and decently clothed as well. A busty gray-white bird humanoid with her beak between her boobs while her scaly blue feet slapped against the ground. Finley stared at her for a moment, wondering idly if he should recognize her species. It seemed so silly, but he thought there might be something humorous to her name.

Finley blinked and took a step back. He hadn't even made it to his first shift and he was already hallucinating.

Second shift. He hadn't even made it to his second shift. Maybe...maybe he needed coffee first.

Finley altered his path. He ignored the sluggish squawk as he made his way down the hallway to the left. He nearly tripped as another squawk followed, but it was not insanity's seeming song that caused him to stumble. Rather, it was something off with his gait, his feet and their fit to his shoes.

Without a thought Finley left his shoes behind and walked with no more trouble. The carpeted floor felt pleasantly warm on his toes, something his heels, raised as they were, couldn't feel. He relished it. Even through his socks, the contact awoke him. Maybe he'd be able to make it to his second shift without falling asleep after all.

He rounded the corner and there it was, the break room with its slightly ajar door. He sniffed the air and barely felt a thing, his nose feeling flat. Instead he flicked out his tongue and laughed in a hissing sort of way as tasted the air. There was the trace of caffeine, bitterness, and creatures other than he.

Flicking out his tongue yet again, Finley pushed the break room door just the slightest bit and saw that the coffee machine was not alone. There was its usual unusual entourage, a collection of humanoid creatures that gulped and gossiped while Finley stared. Amongst them was a dolphin who occasionally misted vapor from his blowhole, a raccoon with several rings of black sleep deprivation under her already masked eyes, and a bee that drank disgustingly with her proboscis.

It was the dolphin that spotted Finley. The cetacean stared before unleashing a series of clicking calls. Finley staggered back from the discordant sight and sound, placing both hands upon either side of his face while he shut his eyes. Though he only felt unfamiliar flatness and scabrous skin, he ignored these feelings in favor of flight.

A second set of hallucinations couldn't be coincidence but then...what were they? Reality? Insanity? The unexplained variance? It couldn't be either, not really. It was only his second shift and he really wasn't that exhausted. He had truly worked harder before, had gone days without sleep for love and labor. Perhaps he just need the stability of his screen at his workstation. He was nearly there after all, nearly to the end...

Finley scurried away from the break room, eyes still shut and earholes plugged. Whilst he managed to escape the cetacean clicks, his retreat met an unfortunate end as he tripped over something fuzzy and soft. He hissed and heard a yowl as he caught himself, but not before banging his sensitive nostrils against the ground.

His eyes flew open. He stared down at his clawed hands and then shakily got to his feet. Staggering slightly, he moved towards his workstation, ignoring the tomcat in a suit who stared at him crossly. What he couldn't completely ignore, however, was how his pants hung loosely on wide hips causing him to hitch them up, or how something was pushing out while something drew inwards, front and back and back in front.

He was nearly there, nearly to the end and also to a start.

Finley attempted to steady himself on his chair, but found he was already stable, his twitching tail doing what is was meant to. Before he sat, he winced and leaned over, the sinking feeling completing with newfound femininity down below. In the next moment she sat, her scaled breasts jiggling, cerulean cleavage visible within her ill-fitting dress shirt. She shifted her shapely rear about, tail curling around the chair as she leaned forward and stared into the screen. Although she saw her snout at the fringe of her vision and the shaded reflection of a lavender lizardwoman, she let out a soft, hissing sigh and sat back. The variance had vanished. Better yet, she had made it to his second shift, his final shift. She smiled and idly rubbed at a breast. It was over and it had just begun.