FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Katie hastily got into a pair of jean shorts and a white long-sleeved shirt after getting out of the shower. She had a few things to do today, and one was breaking news of the meeting to Ayame. She grinned while grabbing the paper off her bed, folding it, and giving her wavy hair one last lookover in the restroom mirror before putting on her boots and heading out the door, nearly tripping over her feet.

Katie saw the door in front of her open, and Alli came out, the twenty-two-year-old brunette that lived next door and always dressed to attract the opposite sex. At least it wasn't Dami this time. Katie would never, but she used Alli as a reminder not to end up like her.

"Hey, Katie," Alli said while passing.

"Hello." Alli was kind and pretty. Katie just felt she was using it in all the wrong ways-- especially when you were sleeping with Dami of all people every other night, but Katie couldn't judge. Who knows? Maybe she'll actually rank up faster that way.

Katie jogged to Ayame's door and knocked. She waited about thirty seconds, and after no response, knocked a couple more times in case Ayame didn't hear the first few. "Probably not home," she murmured. That would suck. Katie was excited to tell Ayame about this, but she could always come back later.

"Katie?"

She turned and saw Ayame approaching. Perfect timing. "There you are! Cute hoodie, by the way."

"Thanks... What's up?" Katie seemed unusually cheerful.

She held up the paper while smiling.

"What's that?"

"Not out here..."

"Oh." Ayame brushed past her and unlocked her door, pushing it open. "Go ahead." She was feeling worse about what was to come, especially after talking to Ace and seeing how it affected him. She closed the door behind them and eyed Katie.

"Okay, so Aika knocked on my door this morning and handed me this... It's a meeting for employees ranked two and up. Look." Katie unfolded it, giving it to Ayame.

She took it. Wait, how do you have this? Can I even read this? I don't want to get you in trouble. Neither of us are rank two. I'm not even working yet."

"Kado must see something in me, I guess, and you're you. Just read it."

Ayame held up the paper and scanned the print. "You are to attend a mandatory meeting held at 7:00-7:30 p.m. in room 100 for Unovanish employees ranked two through four ONLY."

She grinned. "You have to be in consideration to rank up. This is huge!" It wasn't guaranteed, but it's not every day you get to attend a meeting out of your league. "I knew it was coming." Ayame stepped forward and hugged her. "Omedetou."

"Congrats, right? Thank you!" Katie did the same, firmly holding Ayame.

"Mhm."

Her mind then drifted to last night's events. "But, you know..." Katie broke their hug and stood back, her once bright expression fading as guilt took over. "I caught an umbreon last night while hunting. His mate was able to flee, but I tied him up and tossed him in a cargo box for pickup, severing whatever they had. Felt like I was dumping trash... They saw me as a monster. Their expressions said it all. I've never felt that way."

Ayame felt she had something to do with it. She shouldn't have brought up her thoughts to Katie yesterday. "Pokémon are seen as worthless to Unovanish, but you're different. You're doing what you have to, and it's impressive you have become good enough at it to potentially rank up."

Still, she couldn't be too excited. Ayame was right; Katie just hadn't thought of it in that light. She walked to the door. "I'm going to tell you about the meeting when it's over. We'll see where this goes." She opened it, taking a step out.

"You sure?" Ayame had already read the flyer. The contents of the meeting were confidential for certain.

"You're you." Katie shot Ayame a half-grin before shutting the door.

Ayame went and sat on her bed. "What've you done?..." She cared deeply for Katie. She didn't mean to borderline shame and guilt her for her work. Ayame didn't want her straying from her current path due to regret.

Meanwhile, Katie had left headquarters and was out walking Castelia City. She bumped into several people as most of her attention was focused on looking for stores. In the sky were dark gray clouds hovering over the city's outskirts, signaling it'd rain as they would soon overshadow Castelia, but Katie didn't mind getting wet.

"Gonna be out for a while." She didn't know where to start but knew Ayame liked collecting jewelry. Ayame owned enough of that though. Katie wanted to buy something more unique and preferably useful.

Half a mile down, Katie's eyes looking over store after store passed over one called: 'Fashion Weaponized.' "Wow, that's cheesy." But she was interested all the same. It had to be a new addition to Castelia as she hadn't seen it before. Katie walked to and pushed open its double doors, gazing at assortments of various accessories organized behind glass casings under dim lighting.

"May I help you?" a male employee asked, standing behind one of the casings. He wore a tuxedo.

"Expensive... check," Katie mumbled. "In a sec. I'm just looking, thank you."

He stepped back to give her space. "Sure. Let me know when you're ready."

Katie leaned down, curiously studying items and their labels. She saw a pen that could shoot poison powder-- which caused temporary adverse effects in vision and breathing when used on humans, a small mobile phone that doubled as a taser, and one that caught Katie's eye in particular. It was a dainty black and white flower hairpin, but once you pulled the flower, out came a fatally sharp needle with it. She smirked. Fragile and beautiful yet deadly when necessary. Katie could imagine that being Ayame one day. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can I see this one please?"