FSE

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Fur Becomes Us - Chapter 1

A brown coyote leaned back into his chair, re-reading what he had just typed on the screen. Yeah, it was a bit short and to the point, but he had to get down the basic idea before it left his head. He could at least now go back later and elaborate more, to make sure anyone in the distant future would understand better. But for now, this was good enough.

There was a sudden knock to his room door.

"Kyle, you busy?" A muffled female voice came through.

"Not anymore." Kyle continued to stare at the screen, trying to plot the next course to take on the history. The first few years of being in space would make sense, but where to start there?

The metal door slid open, a pure white bunny walking in carrying a tray of what looked like brown squares. Her nose wrinkled as her face grimaced.

"Ugh, how long have you been in here? And when did you last shower?"

"Meh, not sure really." Kyle grunted and stretched, finally looking away from the screen towards the food.

"Let me guess, sirloin steak, medium rare, with parsley potatoes and sweet corn?"

"You wish. Chicken and potatoes....with a small side of sweet corn." She smirked and winked. Kyle didn't look any more amused as he just sighed again.

"Remember when food looked like food Julie? When we had more choices other than chicken? Sure, they are easier to maintain and breed than other animals, but every day I just want a big juicy burger..."

Julie leaned against the wall, sighing as well.

"You know I don't like thing about those times. It just makes the 'now' that much harder."

Kyle didn't reply, taking the square of the chicken and biting into it. The food was dry, as always, and tasted like starch with chicken flavor. It had to be prepared like this though. Space was limited on the ship, despite its size, so food was dried and compacted as much as possible. Metal and plastic were better used elsewhere, so utensils were never made. Food was meant to be eaten like a snack bar now.

"So what are you working on that you've stayed cooped up for three days?" Julie leaned over his shoulder, reading the screen. "That's it? What were you doing? A page a day?"

"Hey, you know its been awhile since I wrote. It takes me longer than normal nowadays." Kyle quickly minimized the screen.

"I'm sorry. But I remember when you wrote all the time for the forums and websites. They were good stories." She gently hugged him from behind.

"They all sucked."

"No they didn't! They were fun to read!"

"Yeah, right. That's why they were rarely viewed or faved. Furs prefer pictures and art, not stories."

"Oh come on, you made some new friends because of them."

"Yeah, friends who are either dead or scattered out among the stars like us. Now who is drudging up the past?" Kyle growled, pulling away. Julie groaned and pulled back, rubbing her forehead.

"Look, that cataclysm sucked. But how exactly was everyone to know this would happen? This was meant to be for fun, not real. That's why no one thought about consequences when they created their characters. What matters now is trying to find some new planet to live on."

Kyle stood and stretch, cracking a few bones before letting out a long drawn out sigh.

"I know. Sorry. You're the only one I know from Earth on this ship, and really the only one I actually trusted to meet in the fandom. Being locked up in this ship these past few years is finally starting to get to me."

"Well, need to keep it together for tonight. Remember, its your shift for third navigation watch. Don't need you falling asleep at the helm and missing a habitable planet." Julie giggled and kissed his cheek before walking out the door.

The coyote groaned and fell back into his chair, looking back at the screen, hitting the save button and closing the program. He took another bite out of his chicken bar before heading to shower.

Kyle tugged at the collar of his blue uniform, hating its confines. It was partially to blame with the material used to make it, being too tight in some areas, and not allowing the body to breathe, especially when you were covered in fur.

When he came to the helm, he stood before the door, putting his eye up to the retina scanner.

"Subject identified as Kyle Alastar, third Command Navigator. Proceed."

Kyle entered once the door slid open, heading for his seat.

The helm was both intimidating and awe inspiring to someone for the first time. Next to the food processing rooms, storage, and the engine rooms, it was the largest room on the ship. The whole front of the room was a view of the outside, which showed mainly stars, unless the ship was sent to look at one closer that could perhaps be the newest home.

Lining up in a semi-circle pattern were the different stations, ranging from engine control, fuel, weapons, defense, and so on. In the center, on a raised platform to overlook it all, was the captain's area, where the third in command captain was already standing.

"Third Command Navigator Kyle Alastar reporting for duty sir." Kyle saluted and stood at attention. The commander, a stocky human, turned and yawned, shrugging.

"Kyle, you know I'm not like one of those sticks in the mud. Just get to work." He smirked, nudging his head towards Kyle's seat. Kyle smirked back.

"Yes sir Commander Briggard." He chuckled again, taking his seat at one console located on the captain's platform. The other was directly opposite of him on the other side, where a badger sat, already at work.

Kyle actually knew Commander Briggard when they first joined the program. Though Briggard didn't like Kyle at first, being a fur, they grew to trust each other and become friends. It looked weird though to an outsider. This slim coyote hanging out with a human who looked like he was tossed in a garbage compactor and squashed more together, drew a great contrast. They had more in common at least with hobbies and sports, which drew them into conflicts at times when their two teams faced each other.

When Kyle found out Briggard was qualified for Captain, he immediately signed up for that ship and the same shift. He needed at least someone here he could talk to, since the only other person he would be talking to over the headset would be Charles, and that would be the hard part of the shift. He was just so dull. Never anything interesting to say, or even remotely discussion worthy. He would talk about plants he used to raise, times he spent with his mother, or how he had to repair a roof all by himself. Every time Kyle just wanted to slam his head into the console before him.

"Tonight we will be scouting quadrant 114AA to 114BZ. Keep your noses to the console, I don't want to miss a chance." Briggard commanded to the personnel, his voice booming with how the room was set up. Kyle immediately put on his headset, logged onto his profile, and began scanning.

The hours slowly started to drift by. One possible planet did pop up on Kyle's screen, but the sun was red, and the readings showed it wouldn't last for more than a few more hundred years, prompting another evacuation eventually.

"So, like I was saying from last night, when my mom had to go take care of the horses, I had to stay upstairs the whole time watching the dogs. I mean, they were just dogs! They weren't going to get into trouble! But no, she had to make sure they wouldn't chew on something or pee somewhere. What was worse, I had forgotten to charge my cellphone, so I was forced to watch daytime TV. God I was so bored!" Charles's voice rattled on in Kyle's ears.

"How horrible..." Kyle's hand formed into a fist, trying to hide his anger and annoyance.

"You know Kyle, I've been telling you a lot about my life,"

_God I wish you wouldn't._Kyle quickly thought.

"But what about you? What did you do before the Cataclysm?"

Ugh, damnit. He must've run out of things to talk about his mom.

Kyle let out a sigh, trying to think of something that wouldn't continue a conversation.

"Not much really. Worked a dead end job, learned that lots of people suck at being people, and just crashed at home every night."

"What got you into the fandom?"

Fuck me.

"I don't know. Was just bored one day, followed a link, and joined. Not even sure why I created a profile."

"Oh come on! Didn't you ever RP? Draw? Write?"

"Didn't you?" Kyle grimaced once he said that. He wasn't trying to continue the conversation.

"Well, not really. I was kinda scared to do any of that. I was afraid someone was going to make fun of me. So I just lurked."

For once, Kyle actually felt some pity for the badger. Sure, he got mad when his stuff was ignored, but at least he wasn't afraid to post it. This guy was too afraid to even participate or try.

"Well...you didn't miss much. Role playing gets boring after so long, artwork just becomes the same thing over and over again with just a different character, and stories were just ignored. So lurking is okay."

"Were you a famous fur?"

Kyle actually laughed loud enough to cause some of the others down below to turn their heads.

"Hell no. I was a nobody. Just like you. Now, lets try to actually concentrate here. Before Briggard gets on both of our asses."

The shift ended uneventful. None of the planets they scanned were habitable. Another wasted attempt. While the ship was solar powered, it could only go on so long before parts would begin to wear and break. Metals and replacements were very limited. Not to mention the same with limited supply of medications, population growth continuing despite trying to limit family size, which, of course, affects the supply of food. The fact was, they were on a time limit, and it was going to run out at this rate.

Kyle trudged back to his room, barely awake now. His caffeine was finally running low, and he longed for his bed. Swiping his key card, he began undressing as he walked towards his bed, throwing his shirt across the room. He was about to flop onto his bed and snooze when he passed his computer, the file he was working on earlier had been opened, with one new line added.

"Finish me."