FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

By Danath

Chris (C) CGrey

Written during Freebies Vol. 67: Dress to Impress Edition Vol. 2! 10/15/17

"Gonna kick all their asses, and then I'll kick 'em again just to make sure, and then... then... I'll kick some more ass!"

Chris grumbled into the cuff of the spacesuit helmet shi strapped around hir neck, obscuring what little remained of hir faded tan and white fur. The shocks of pink and dark brown strands in hir short, spiky hair disappeared next as the helmet sealed automatically into place and switched to air from the internal supply.

Still grumbling, Chris smacked hir gloved paw against the red light on the wall of the airlock. The wolf's eyes widened as shi realized hir mistake: forgetting to vent the air first.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Chris's scream rang in hir ears as shi tumbled through the lock in a whoosh of air, only to snap into place thanks to the restraining rope shi fortunately hadn't forgotten.

"Oof!"

The impact on hir suit or hir insides was not pretty, but shi wasn't dead, so it was a start. The link of cable connecting hir suit to the ship unreeled a bit more, allowing hir to drift closer to the derelict ship. Shi went slow, still smarting from the impact of the violent decompression.

Huge chunks of asteroids floated all around hir, miles and miles in diameter each. The so-called super-asteroid belt circled a particularly vicious giant dwarf sun - such a thing was possible, apparently - which cast a pale blue glow across the rocks due to the changes in visible wavelengths. The next coronal flares would alter the colors again - and send dangerous bursts of EMP energy flooding through the asteroids. Somebody back in the bar claimed it was the universe's version of Old Faithful, the geyser that destroyed a good chunk of Earth centuries before.

Chris scoffed at the old miner at the bar back near the Ocules Nebula, but now shi wasn't so sure. Still, the legend was true in one regard: there was a ship.

And what a ship it was, marooned for decades in these rocks. An experimental transport vessel for scientific research, it was investigating the EMP disturbances around the volatile sun until it was trapped in one itself. Only later expeditions discovered the wreckage, but none dared stick around to investigate.

Until now.

Chris dangled in space, adrift but for the tether to hir shift. Looking up, shi could see hir vessel floating in computerized orbit with the massive vehicle. It bore several scars from asteroid impacts, but the much, much larger vessel still powered up automatically after an EMP storm. While its drives would not function, its micro-deflectors still shielded the ship from most of the physical damage when functioning.

And that same shield would protect hir ship as it floated precariously near to the hull. The wolf's magnetic boots clamped to the surface of the derelict after what seemed like an eternity. Chris fought the usual dizziness that came with the spacewalking, the vertigo of knowing that no way is up, and clomped a few feet forward to the airlock.

The override code was well-known, it turned out, if you knew how to ask, sort of a trade secret among scavengers. And, wonder of wonders, it actually worked. The airlock doors slid open. Shi got through to the interior easily, and though hir suit sensors told hir the air was stale, yet breathable, shi kept hir suit on just in case.

Down a short, dark corridor, past several flashing red lights illuminating the metal bulkheads, shi tromped in hir spacesuit, until shi found the room shi knew would be there, having studied the schematics of the ship ahead of time.

The main hub of the research facility. If there was anything valuable left on the ship that could be worth salvage, it would be here. The lab was, according to the more superstitious scavengers shi interviewed, capable of turning iron ore into platinum or, really, take your pick of exotic elements. Chris kept hir ideas of what was available more mundane. Scrap electronics, especially high-tech, even a few decades old, would pay for several repairs and upgrades to hir own ship.

The lab doors opened after a few pulls, allowing hir access. Screens and workbenches covered in fine dust lay around the wide bay, several hundred feet wide and twice as long. Some of the areas were partitioned with walls that could drop from the ceiling. The main floor was set down a story, so that she was standing at the top of a set of stairs as she entered. The observation ring allowed for people to walk around the perimeter, or pass above using a series of catwalks from which cables and winches could be used to raise or lower heavy equipment at any point in the room.

It was a researcher's dream. Chris wondered how many trillions of credits it cost to build. The wolf's lips turned upwards in a smile as shi bounced down the stairs in hir spacesuit. Shi didn't need trillions. A few million would be just fine.

Time was, however, a factor, and Chris knew shi needed to move quickly. Shi strode through the gravity-less walkways with hir boots set to quarter-magnetization, so that shi could skip long jumps to get to the items that looked promising. Bits and pieces of electronics and computers and machines and weapons lay across most of the benches, but towards the back of the massive hall shi could see more complete items, which would be more valuable and easier to sell.

Shi found several handheld units that looked like guns of some sort and pocketed them in a large sack shi carried with hir. Some detecting equipment shi recognized and picked up, knowing the scanners would easily pay for the cost of hir fuel out here, at the least.

Shi grew more excited as shi ventured deeper into the hall, though shi kept a close eye on the timer running in the corner of hir visor. Shi'd spent three weeks monitoring the star and it pulsed, at minimum, every two hours. Shi had just over an hour and a half to get back to the ship.

Chris found more goodies as shi went, stripping the shelves of prototypes of both known and unknown origins. Some of the stuff shi recognized, having seen it developed in the years after this ship disappeared, but some of it was unlike anything shi'd seen before.

Like the spacesuit.

It was gorgeous. Sleek gunpowder blue, with brilliant rainbow flashes that gleamed across it in the direct light. It had many joints, rather than being made of flexible material like hir own, and it looked much more compact and flexible. Chris hadn't ever seen a suit like it before. Unfortunately, shi had no idea if it were spaceworthy. Which was a shame, because as shi peered through hir visor into the helmet of the blue suit, shi could see the reflection of hir amber eyes and light colored fur and shi looked damn good.

The wolf sighed wistfully and turned away, knowing there was little time left. Shi preferred to play things safe, so getting back with fifteen minutes to spare would easily give hir time to clear the asteroids before the EMP flares.

At least, that was the plan until shi tripped.

A really nice prototype of what was now a common handheld laser weapon distracted the space explorer. Shi caught the boot of hir suit on an exposed pipe, which led to hir falling against a nearby workbench. There was a sickening hiss of air escaping as a knife on the table sliced through the back of hir suit, rupturing most of the lines and cutting into hir pelt.

"Shit!"

Chris scrambled away, wincing. The tip didn't go too deep, but shi could tell shi was bleeding. The suit buzzed and red lights flashed in the corners of the helmet. Space, right now, meant death.

"Shit shit shit!"

Chris scrambled to get the helmet off, undoing the snaps, then dragged the suit off hir slim body, revealing the simple jumpsuit shi wore underneath. It covered hir torso, arms, and legs, and special socks provided grip on the metal floor beneath hir as shi stepped out of the suit entirely.

The cut could not be repaired. Ignoring the pain in hir shoulder, the wolf cast about desperately for signs pointing to the emergency space suits. A ship this size would have to have them all over. Even decades ago, that was regulation - no more than two minutes from a suit anywhere on a ship.

Unless... ships got an exemption. And a ship this size...

"SHIT!"

Chris's scream ricocheted around the giant metal cavern. Shi leaned forward, sagging to hir knees, trying to think as despair welled up inside hir.

Unless...

Hir eyes lifted towards the gleaming blue spacesuit hanging from the stand a few dozen yards away.

Without thinking twice, shi bolted towards it, grasping at it desperately. The sleek metal felt surprisingly light as shi pulled it down from its stand and turned it around, fingers searching for buttons, zippers, anything that would let hir inside.

"New user detected. One moment please..."

Chris dropped the space suit as though it were on fire and jumped away.

"Scanning new user..."

A bolt of light flashed out of the back of the suit, followed by red beams that criss-crossed around Chris's body.

"Calibrating. Calibration complete. Welcome, new user. Please state your name."

The back of the suit opened, revealing a black interior lined with foam and other high-tech materials. Shi stepped forward, blinking. A space suit never asked hir for hir name before.

"Chris," shi said, taking another step closer.

"Thank you, Chris," the voice said. It was low, calm, and not quite male or female. Probably designed to be as neutral as possible, Chris thought. "I am ready for engagement."

"Does that mean you're spaceworthy?" Chris asked, ignoring how crazy shi felt talking to a space suit.

"Yes."

"Good enough."

The wolf tried to remember how much time shi had left. The last number on the visor of hir helmet before shi took it off was about 15 minutes. Shi needed to move. Fast.

Chris stuffed both arms into the chest piece, leaning over as shi scooped it up. The back side of the legs and waist opened, and the helmet tipped forward, so that as shi lifted hir arms, the whole thing just sort of fell onto hir. Being as light as it was, there was no problem, though hir shoulder made hir wince several times.

Chris couldn't see anything at first, but then the lights inside the helmet flickered to life.

"Retrieving data from previous space suit," the voice said in hir ear. "Damage to user detected. First aid mode utilized."

The wolf tried to move, but couldn't. The snap-snap-snap of the suit closing around hir echoed into hir ears, sealing hir in. It went right around hir tail base, then spread downwards, unsheathing like scale armor to encase it. A moment later, shi stumbled forward.

"Suit is sealed and user is on independent recycled supply," the voice murmured. "First aid mode complete."

Chris's eyes widened. Hir shoulder no longer hurt. Shi lifted hir elbow, and the spacesuit moved with hir so easily shi was startled. The wolf grinned maniacally and jumped forward, jumped back, and danced, wiggling hir hips.

"Woo, boy, are you something else," Chris said.

"I am the Union Allied Spaceforce Prototype Space Armor Mark 2, Model 3-A-X-Y-Theta."

Chris shook hir head, reveling in the freedom the flexible suit afforded hir. This was incredible. The research here was cutting edge, no doubt - this sort of a suit was new, for sure, something that must have been developed here and here alone.

"ASPSAM?" Chris said, eyes darting to the red numbers ticking down in the corner of hir visor.

"Yes?" the computer responded.

"We'll work on the name later."

Chris took off running, bolting through the narrow corridors, forgetting the bag of other goodies shi dropped earlier.

"No mag!" shi gasped, unsure how else to turn the magnet force in hir boots down.

The suit responded. Instantly shi pushed off the ground and flew through the air wildly towards the other side of the room where the airlock to hir ship was, flying high over the desks and workstations, narrowly avoiding a catwalk.

"May I suggest a controlled landing, Chris?" the suit said.

"What? Yes! Just get me out of here!"

Small vents opened up and down the sides of the suit down to the legs. Blasts of compressed air guided Chris towards the airlock's door.

"Please duck."

The wolf cursed as shi lowered hir head, barely missing knocking hirself on the bulkhead as they passed into the airlock chamber. The door slammed behind them as shi stabbed hir finger into the controls.

The light outside the viewport turned green as the solar flares fired up.

Chris's eyes closed for a moment as shi hovered hir paw above the red button on the wall.

"Not again," shi groaned.

The decompression sent hir rocketing into space. The derelict's airlock was significantly larger than hir own ship's, so there was more air and more pressure accelerating hir out of the bay. Shi crossed the gap to hir ship and then some.

"Please point your wrist at the ship's port," the suit said.

As shi flew past the side, Chris did so and stuck out hir arm. A vent opened on the bottom, dropping a small harpoon weapon that fired a bolt into the side of hir vessel. As the nanowire retracted, it pulled hir in.

"Huh, that's a neat trick, ASPSAM," she said, tumbling through the hatch. The airlock cycled and she lurched through the cabin, something she could never have done in hir old space suit.

Settling into hir seat, shi slapped at the controls.

"I am capable of interfacing with the ship's computer and translating voice commands," the suit said, speaking softly into hir ear once more.

"Do it! Set a course for... get us the hell out of here!"

The ship's engines fired up, thrusting them away as the green light of the flaring sun crackled around them. Their retrofire crackled with lightning as the EMP pulses chased them, seconds away from ripping hir ship's systems to shreds and marooning them.

They made it. Just. It was much too close for Chris's comfort, anyways. Shi leaned back in the pilot's chair, exhausted and drained, and let out a huge sigh.

"User discomfort detected," the spacesuit said. The lights inside dimmed to a soothing shade of pale blue. "Comfort mode activated."

Chris's eyes bolted open. Hir whole lower half wiggled and hir jaw dropped, but shi couldn't make a sound. The suit was doing... something. And it wasn't just relaxation. Shi clenched hir fingers around the arms of hir captain's chair as the pleasure intensified, forcing a low mewl of pleasure from hir lips, past hir bared fangs.

Between hir thighs, shi came. It was almost immediate, an uncontrollable reaction to what felt like trillions of tiny, soft presses and pinches and zaps. Some sort of low-level electrical field, caressing hir entire body head to toe. The feelings undulated around hir maleness, sparking another long, high-pitched growl from the wolf. Hir hips bucked, lifting hirself off the seat, as shi experienced another orgasm, riding right along after the first.

The back of the chair leaned further back as shi arched hir hips into the air. Hir nipples felt fiery, hot to the touch, though hir hands could only slap armor on armor outside. Hir erection pulsed, cumming again, as the fire in hir belly flared once more.

"Uhhhhhnbnnnnnggg..."

"User discomfort alleviated. Comfort mode terminating."

As suddenly as it started, the destabilizing effects of the pleasure field switched off, leaving Chris draped across hir captain's seat, panting into the visor, arms hanging down towards the floor.

"Whaaaaat was thaaaat?" shi groaned, chest heaving inside the flexible armor.

"Comfort mode exists to alleviate user discomfort. More information is available in the user manual. There is also a cross-reference from Dr. Sadvish of the research team Alpha."

Chris tried to think as hir shaft continued to pulse with aftershocks against hir belly inside the suit. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any mess. Self-cleaning? Nice, shi thought.

"Display that video from Dr. Sadface."

Chris tried to put the pieces together as the video loaded on the display in hir visor. Secret space armor, capable of maneuvering in zero-G, built-in battlefield medic, and a surprisingly overzealous "comfort" mode. No wonder it was still a prototype - the suit seemed to have a mind of its own.

The video flashed onto hir visor. A tall, lanky fox with a white muzzle spoke.

"I am Dr. Sadvish and this is log entry 342. The comfort mode keeps going crazy and the programmers can't seem to make it actually work in the combat scenarios. It's fine in all other respects. The suit just... it doesn't like fighting. It's like it has a mind of it's own."

Chris's eyes widened as the doctor from long ago spoke the very words she thought moments before.

"We will continue testing, but the only thing left to do will be a complete re-write of the suit's programming. I hate to take Sam offline like that, but if we don't get this thing working soon, the project will be termin- wait, what's that?"

Red lights flashed in the background of the doctor's video, and a blinding white flash ended the recording.

Chris blinked. "Sam? Is that what he called you?"

"Yes."

"Why did the video end?" Chris asked, though shi already knew the answer.

"The EMP flares reached the ship at that moment."

"You were saved by the storms," Chris said, awe in hir voice.

"I was discovered and saved by new user Chris," the suit said, still sounding calm and speaking in a low tone in hir ear. But maybe, and Chris was sure shi only imagined it, there was just a hint of fondness in the friendly robotic tone?

"Well, regardless, I hope you don't mind if we avoid that ship from now on," Chris said, leaning back in hir chair again. "We've got a lot to learn about each other, Sam, but we've got plenty of time to do it. Right now, though, I believe I'm feeling some discomfort coming on."

There was a pause, slightly longer than usual.

And when the suit did finally speak, there was no doubt in Chris's mind shi could hear a bit of wryness in its tone this time:

"Comfort mode activated."