FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2

Life is like a game of chess. No matter what strategy is used the pawns still have to move first.

Scratch woke up the next morning with a groan. He was staying a just a plain room with only a bed and a bathroom. He stretched out and prepared for the day. He reached into his suitcase and retrieved a picture of his mate and kissed it then placed it back into his bag.

"Guess it's time to start this investigation." Scratch said to himself and then went to take a shower and prepare for the day.

Josh woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare he was having about Ben. The nightmares had bothered him since the day he watched Ben jump right off that bridge. He needed to unwind a bit but that would have to wait. He needed to prove himself again and that is why he was here.

'Ben' was all he could think about right now. He wanted to bad to go back and replay that day over and over again but it was totally useless now anyway. He had to focus himself and finish his mission.

His phone rang and jolted the brown fox from his deep funk. He reached for his phone and answered trying to hide his depression.

"Hello, Jeff speaking." He said into the phone.

"Jeff! You have to hear this!" the voice of his little brother henry came from the other side of the phone.

"What is it? Shouldn't you still be asleep anyway?"

"Ben! He was here! Last night we saw ben!" Henry said quite exited.

Jeff nearly dropped the phone as he could not believe what his brother just said. "Ben!? He was at the party?! He is alive? What was he doing? Henry!? Answer me?!"

"Calm down Jeff! He got away from us but Josh's nose is rarely ever wrong. Ben was here but we have no idea what he is doing. The boss has called in more security and we are going to try and trap ben here."

Jeff got serious and went to pack his suitcase. "I am on my way!" Jeff said into the phone.

"No stop! The boss does not want you involved and neither does dad. Jeff, Ben was really unstable and did not look right something was off with him. Please Jeff. Just focus on your current mission and then come home. I miss you."

Jeff paused and dropped his things. He just stood there silently with the phone to his ear. "I understand. Please, just call me if anything happens?"

"I will Jeff. Be safe!" His brother said and hung up.

Jeff held his phone out and looked at it before he sighed and prepared for his day. This was going to be a doozy. He had to observe all the recruits here and try and figure out which one was not programmed and how were they getting information out of here.

Meanwhile on the phone in a dark corner of the facility one of the targets that Jeff was after was in a conversation with S under D's number one priority at the moment.

"Ty! It's me!" The figure said into the phone

"What have you got to report!" the voice of Tylan Zeal came from the other side of the phone.

"Ben has surfaced. Exile has begun to move."

"What! Are you sure about this?"

The figure shrugged. "The boss sent out an issued order for more security to deal with Ben. NO way he could end up in Texas so quickly and be well enough to move around. Exile has made their move, not only there but here as well. I saw one of their operatives infiltrate the island last night. We are trying to keep eyes on him but we cannot arouse too much suspicion or we will not get away. Jeff and Scratch are probably their targets I will try and get close to them."

"I better make my move. I got to go; I have a party to crash. Good luck!" Tylan said and then hung up.

The figure looked around cautiously before exiting the shadows and getting back into place.

Scratch, Jeff, Galeo and Naosen were in the conference room ready for their morning briefing.

"Well. For today, I will be interviewing the recruits one by one this afternoon and Scratch will be observing their morning Practice. Galeo and Naosen will provide us support through the use of the facility's cameras. When I am interviewing the subjects Scratch will be looking into their personal belongs and bugging any electronic devices they might have." Jeff paused and looked around at his operatives. "Are you clear on your orders?"

They all nodded in response and left to do their duties. Scratch however had a few words for Jeff.

"I wonder what you could be planning huh?" Scratch asked in that menacing tone that Jeff always hated.

"What do you mean by that?" Jeff tried to be as impassive as he could with the other fox.

"'You never told us your plans for this morning. I wonder what you are planning to do. Got to be something major if you don't want to tell us. Hope you don't plan to steal all the glory for yourself!"

Jeff growled a bit then looked at Scratch. "You think everything is a competition don't you? If you must know I am planning to survey the island and plant bugs in any hidden and out of the way spot that I find. If these guys are as cunning as I think they might be then I will just have to outsmart them."

Scratch gave a soft chuckle. "You were always one for excessive force."

Jeff shot Scratch a dirty look. "Look who is talking! Your middle name is excessive. Besides, I gave you an order so please do follow it!" Jeff walked off and left Scratch there to stare at him.

'I hate that smug bastard.' Scratch thought to himself before he began his mission.

Scratch went over to the obstacle course. The site of many of his records that Jeff tried to break. The courses consisted of many hard obstacles from wall climbing, mud pits, rope swings, burning rings and of course projectiles. A recruit who managed to finish training without an injury was rare. Most recruits have at least gotten a broken hand or wrist. Jeff and Scratch however were special. Both completely the full course on their first try and both hold the top two spots on every time trail at the course.

Scratch could only feel even more confident about his records as he watched recruit after recruit fail to cross the mud spits without falling in. He went over to the overseeing teacher. A Dalmatian. He knew this Dalmatian it was the same one who was in charge of him when he was there.

"Hello professor Tikin." Scratch said to the Dalmatian who as standing there naked and slightly aroused as he watched the boys go through their training.

"Ah my. If it isn't my best student of all time! What brings you back here? Are you here to say hello to your old mentor?" The older Dalmatian said while laughing

"I am here on business, but it is always nice to see the best trainer in all of S under D"

The Dalmatian smiled back that the Fox. "Well, what makes you think I am the best?"

Scratch grinned hard. "You trained me didn't you?"

"That I did! Now what are you doing here?" The Dalmatian continued to write down notes on his clipboard as more and more recruits began to fall.

"I am here to find the leak. I doubt it is one of your recruits though. But I will check other things out. Looks like you have you own problems to deal with." Scratch pointed at the recruits all leaving the different parts of the course.

"What are you wimps doing? Get back on the course!" Tikin yelled out.

"Fred is trying a full course run. He is going after the record!" one of the recruits said in protest.

Scratch paused in his tracks and then turned around. Tikin looked a bit worried but complied and allowed everyone to clear the course. Scratch returned to Tikin's side and watched as a pink cat took to the starting line.

"Well this ought to be good Fred is one of our lower potential recruit. I wonder if he could even reach the hour mark. Your fifteen minutes should be horribly out of his reach Scratch. Want to see someone try to take down your record?" Tikin started to check is timer device which would synchronize with the course's automatic timer. Fred began and Scratch was instantly surprised.

Meanwhile Jeff had completed his task of placed random bugs in areas where someone would go if they did not want to be seen. He was passing by the skill obstacle course and watched as some recruits were there practicing their skills. Lock picking, target practice, an ever changing Maze and finally an electric field. This course was meant to test skill. While Scratch had the quickest times on the endurance and strength course Jeff owned the skill course.

Jeff looked over to see someone jotting down notes on a clipboard. He smiled when he noticed it was his mentor. A Dalmatian. Tilin, one of the four Dalmatian brothers who were trainers at this place.

"Tilin!" Jeff called out

"Whoa there! If it isn't Jeff! What is my best student of all time doing here?" The Dalmatian stood there naked like everyone else on the island and motioned for Jeff to stand next to him.

"It is me alright. Nice to see you again professor. I trust you are doing well!" Jeff said while bowing his head to the Dalmatian.

"Better than if you weren't here. Both Scratch and you here at the same time could only mean trouble for me! So what brings one of the two best recruiters and enforcers to the facility?" The Dalmatian asked becoming impassive with Jeff.

Jeff looked a little hurt but understood where his teacher was coming from. Top recruiters and enforcers would not just walls' in here like this without having some bigger purpose. "I am here to fix the leaks of information coming from this outpost."

"Leaks huh? One of the recruits huh? I can sense you think one mine would be behind it"

Jeff blinked a bit in confusion but slowly figured out what Tilin was implying. "Well, you teach Skill training but I would suspect the computer specialists first. I am just here to cover everything. And besides I think they wanted me out of the way anyway. Just pretend like I am not here and go along with your business." Jeff went to walk away but Tilin stopped him.

"Are you that bad at reading through me? I guess I still have it. Come now Jeff I was just messing with you. Stay a while. Someone is about to try the full course and I think you would want to see if your old record could be broken."

Jeff smiled and then stood by the Dalmatian and watched a black jaguar take to the starting line.

"Alright Jamison! Start the course!" Tilin ordered. The jaguar took off and instantly Jeff was staring in awe.

Back at the Endurance and strength course Scratch was trying to form words but was failing horribly and his mentor was having the same trouble. They were both looking at the time posted at the top of the leaderboard. It no longer was Scratch then Jeff but Fred, Scratch then Jeff. The pink cat had smashed Scratch's record.

"I... I... Can't believe it!" Tikin finally manage to utter out as he stared at the time watch he held.

"How bad?" Scratch managed to ask his mentor finally.

"Bad! He beat your record by over three minutes!" Tikin showed him the timing the device. Scratch could only stare in awe as he saw the device show twelve minutes thirteen seconds. Over a full three minutes faster than his fifteen minutes and thirty seconds.

"Who is that kid?" Scratch asked now serious. This kid might be somehow related to the leak.

"Fred Michael. Son of that FBI agent who nearly exposed us a few years back. It would explain a lot if his father gave him some training." Tilin pulled out a sheet of paper where he wrote down all the information he had on Fred.

Scratch took it and looked it over. "This kid. He seemed to be below average at every individual course but, He did them together and increased his time but over thirty minutes. What the hell is up with this kid?"

"Scratch, back check him thoroughly for me please! I wonder what made this kid get so serious." Tikin wondered what the hell just happened and began to walk away as the lunch bell sounded.

'I better report this back to Jeff. I think I found a lead."

But back at the Skill course Jeff was going through the same thing as Scratch. He stood there in awe with his mentor both of their mouths wide open. Jeff's time was beaten by three minutes. The black jaguar just stood there looking up at the electronic leaderboard and saw his name atop the all-time record list.

"Who is that kid?" Jeff asked Tilin.

"Jamison Jasmine. An orphan we rescued from Southern Sudan a few years back. His family belonged to a tribe of warriors before they were caught up in the civil war in that region." Tilin responded while trying to find the sheet of paper he wrote down notes on for Jamison.

"This kid might be just what I am looking for. How are his computer skills?" Jeff asked the Dalmatian.

"Basically non-existent. He is very bad at using computers. But you would need to get some input from my brother before making that judgment. I will get a full report on him to you by this evening. I have some reports to make. I have to take my leave Jeff." Tilin walked off in a hurry to try and make his reports as Jeff stood there looking at the jaguar who was getting a lot of praise from the fellow recruits.

'That one strikes me as odd. I better report this.' Jeff thought to himself and walked off at the lunch alarm sounded.

Jeff and Scratch convened in the meeting room without the others who were still working on their computers.

"Find anything Jeff?" Scratched asked first.

"Yea. Jamison jasmine! He broke my record on the skill course by three minutes. I suspect he is a problem." Jeff said a little bit embarrassed to admit his record was broken. He expected Scratch to laugh at him but Scratch was serious.

"I encountered the same thing. Fred Michael, He beat my record by three minutes on the endurance course. I am quite disturbed by his jump in performance, it's as if he wanted to show off in front of me or at least get my attention." Scratch said while looking at Jeff.

"I think the same thing. Their times were always below average or mediocre at best then suddenly they both smash our times on the course? I think they wanted to get our attention. But question is for what? They should know we would investigate them first... and I think that is what they want!"

Scratch blinked. "Huh? You mean they want us to investigate them? Why?"

Jeff started pacing around the room. "Think about it. We would spend a lot of extra time to find something on them and if we did not they would come out squeaky clean. I think they want us to investigate them now because they have nothing to hide or have anything to implicate them. Or it could be they just wanted to show off in front of the record holders. But they did this display for us to take notice of them. They could also be a distraction. If they had another accomplice we would focus on them so much their other one could get away. We better figure out what those two are up too. I will interview them. You search their rooms. Let's get going"

Scratch nodded in agreement then went about his business. Jeff went to the interview room while Scratch started casing the living quarters. Little did they know they were being followed by the intruder who arrived on the beach just one night ago. He was completely cloaked so that not even his scent could be detected. The white raccoon was deciding who to follow and choose the naked fox that was heading to the living quarters.

In the cafeteria however in the sea of naked young recruits eating lunch Jamison and Fred were eating alone in corner so they could talk privately.

"You think they took the bait?" Jamison asked his accomplice while taking a bite of his meal.

Fred just looked around to make sure no one was in hearing range of them. "I am sure they took notice of us. How could they not? We broke their records and surprised them so. They must have shot us up to the top of the list."

"Well they are the bait we need to lure out that Exile. I wonder where is he is and what is he up to?"

Fred looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow. "You lost track of him?"

Jamison looked hurt but looked away. "He slipped on through my Defenses. I cannot pinpoint his location anymore. I lost him after he started to follow Jeff."

Fred just smiled. "That means we have not lost him. He has taken the bait. Now we just have to capture him. We needed big bait to lure in our catch and we needed some quality bait to get our bait. Now it is time for everything to start to bite. Jamison we should get going we have interviews to get too"

Fred and Jamison finished their meals and then stashed their trays before heading to the interview room where Jeff awaited them.

Fred was the first to interview. The pink cat entered looking quite smug to the annoyance of Jeff.

"Good afternoon. I am Jeff Ville, I am here to do an interview and assessment of you." The fox said the cat and motioned for him to take a seat.

"Yea. I heard. So what is up with this anyway? What do you want to know about us?"

Jeff took out a pen and some paper. "Just a few things. Like what made you decide to be a recruiter for S under D?"

"My dad, He said I should seriously consider it so I did. That is all there is to it."

Jeff blinked and looked at the cat. "There is always more to it. What made you choose the life then, you should know it is dangerous and also requires a lot of travelling and rarely do you get the chance to settle down and enjoy things. You may get security at the occasional party or be the body guard for an area leader but most of it is spent scouting and out in the field. Are you sure you have the mind frame to handle it?"

The cat leaned back in his chair and placed his paws behind his head. "I have always been moving, my entire life I spent going from city to city. I like to be moving and besides who wants a boring life? This will be something quite fun to undertake!"

"Even so. I still must ask. What do you plan on doing when your time as a recruiter is up?"

"My plan is to get high enough to be valued. If I can achieve that, my time as a recruiter will never come to an end."

Jeff cleared his throat and then wrote down some notes. "Well Since I can sense this will get me nowhere. You may leave. I think I have a good profile of you building but I would like to talk to you again."

Fred just jumped out from his chair and stood up. "Well then later." Fred walked out of the room leaving Jeff a bit confused.

Meanwhile In the living quarters Scratch was searching through Fred and Jamison's room.

"They share a room. How convenient for me" Scratch said out loud.

Scratch was searching through everything they had in their room finding nothing odd. He had already copied all their computer data and sent it to Galeo and made sure that there were no hidden radio devices. He was about to give up and move on when he spotted a gold necklace that he recognized.

"This is!" Scratch smiled and then reached for his radio which he kept on his belt. The belt was the only thing he was wearing since he needed some tools.

"Jeff I have found the evidence we need! These guys are probably working with Tylan!" Scratch said into his radio but got no response what so ever.

He looked at the radio curiously to see if it was working but the radio was functioning properly. Something was jamming him however.

"Sorry but your friends cannot help you right now!" Scratch heard a menacing voice say before the door to the room clammed shut behind him.

"What!" Scratch turned around to see white raccoon dressed in a white robe appear out of nowhere. The raccoon help a weird gun in his hand. He motioned to shoot Scratch but scratch managed to dodge the first blast.

The strange gun was shooting bolts of electricity and in the small confined space it was only a matter of time before Scratch was caught and cornered horribly. He was hit with the electric blast and fell to the ground unable to move.

"I have you now. And now you serve me!" The Raccoon said pulling out another strange futuristic gun. "My master has little need for you but I can use you right now to get at my target." The raccoon aimed the gun at Scratch and fired.

Scratch screamed out in pain as he felt a shock course through every inch of his body and radiate it with pain. He barely managed to look up and stare at the raccoon who was laughing at him there struggling to contain the pain his body was in. But unknown to those two a figure outside saw everything from a camera he hid in that room.