FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

While the world spins on in some chaotic direction around them, the people of the Pleasure Society continue their party none the wiser. Jack and Komodo lounge about, their minds addled by the treats of the night, while their bodies drape over some other party-goers, satisfied with the pleasures of the evening.

"So," Komodo says, scratching behind the coyote's ear. "Your friends haven't come back yet. I do hope they aren't up to anything untoward with my Mouse."

"Ah, don't you worry," Jack says, scooting up beside her more robust frame. "I'm sure they're either having a nice talk, or they're enjoying the evening as we are. Goodness knows someone needs to get laid around here."

Komodo laughs at that. "Well, as long as we're still waiting for them, why don't we have some more fun, ourselves?"

"Hell, I can do this all night," Jack says, snickering as he slides up towards her.

She pushes him back onto the divan, a toothy grin spreading across her maw. "Now, now, you're my guest. Let me take the lead for you."

The spa had not been so empty during such a busy night. Three forms lay on the ground around the pools, each of them spaced out and breathing steadily. Their unclothed forms might suggest they had partied too hard, but the truth is much more complicated than that.

Uma had thought this was all fun and games. She had let the stress of her life fade away into the background, hidden deep within herself, where she would never need to confront it again. Life had become a blur of programming, classic 80s anime, and cuddling and other such things, but now, she is cold, alone, and in a dark void.

Jay sits there across from her, sipping from a hot mug of coffee. "Something's bothering you, kid. Why don't you talk about it?"

Uma stands up, sniffing the air, her whiskers twitching. "What's... where am I? Oh, gawd, am I tripping?"

"Always the clever one, right?" Jay says, taking a sip. As she glances at him, Uma realizes that Jay's fur is singed, his suit burned. "Is there something that's messing with you? Making you act like a child?"

"I'm not a child," Uma says.

"So, why not be more responsible?" the visionary Jay asks. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm... Uma... she's been used for something terrible. The world is going to be a dystopian horror world because of my technology."

"And so, your answer is to blow it all up while you fiddle and dance over the flames. How imperial of you."

"I don't need you condescending me, you know? You're not even real. This isn't real," she says, turning around and folding her hands over her chest

"So, you scorn this illusion, then?" Jay says, placing his coffee down. He stands up, stepping behind her, placing hands upon her shoulders. "Then, why don't you try that with the illusion you've created for yourself? If even for a little bit?"

Feeling her cousin touch her tenderly while she is in such a sensitive state makes Uma shudder and pull herself away. When she does, she finds the cold she feels to be the tiles against her back. She sits up with a start and glances around the room. There, Arya lays, idly swaying back and forth. The vibrator that Uma had placed on her buzzes on the tiles and off of the snake. Across the pool is Star, curled up in the fetal position.

Uma skitters over towards her companion and friend, shaking her by the shoulders and calling out her name.

"Star, Star! What's wrong? Speak to me!"

The horse's distant gaze focuses slowly back on Uma. A moment later, she wraps her arms around the rat and holds her in close. "Oh, damn... Mouse... what the hell happened?"

"I'm... I'm not sure," Uma says, looking over Star's shoulder to see Uma laying there. "I think we got hit with something potent--a power I never thought possible."

"Damn... the snake did that?" Star asks, relaxing her tight grip on the Mouse. "That's... bigger than anything you wanted to try."

"Yeah, I... oh shit!" Uma rips herself away from Star, padding her way along with the tiles and back into the hallway. Star gets up and follows her, hooves clopping heavily down the hall. Soon, Uma is back in the server room, damaged computers and all. Frantically, the rat clacks away at the keyboard, her eyes wide with worry and a little excitement. Star stands in the doorway, giving her space as she works, watching as Mouse hits the final key and slumps back in the chair.

"So... what's that all about?" Star asks. "Weren't you going to stick it to the man? Isn't that what this whole game was about?"

"It's not worth it," Uma says, rubbing her forehead. "There's just too much... too much that could go wrong and too much that has to go wrong for this to work."

"The workers?" Star asks.

"Yeah..." Uma says. "I thought I lost Jay in that fire last year. I think... I would cause so many more people to become like me if I blew up the factories. I didn't really think about that, not until my vision."

"You had one of those too, huh?" Star says, kicking over a chair and sitting backward in it, leaning into the back.

"Yeah. Well, now you know what mine was about. How about yours?"

Star shakes her head. "Let's deal with one world-shattering revelation for now, shall we? This stuff is way above my pay grade already, and you don't need the burden."

"You're not a burden to me," Uma says.

"Do you even know who I am outside of this society?" Star asks, her stare holding a seriousness Uma had never seen before in her lover.

"I, no, you're right," Uma says. "Come on, let's go see if Arya is okay."