FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The winds in Chicago blew steadily during the winter hours. Streets were lit with engine noises and flashing lights of passers by at the hour. Our gaze zooms in at a building complex that towers mid way into the sky. At one of the windows along the 23rd floor, we take notice of a room littered with books of various subjects on a shelf to the right. To the left, there was an old style Macintosh on a wooden work desk.

Out came a young blond haired male step out of the bedroom adjoining it. His shirt bore no images but pure white, and his eyes were quite fatigued in appearance. He took approach to the computer desk to start up his work. His schedule revolved around psychological study. His computer would flash for a mere moment, then boot up to a blank screen.

It took only a few moments to bring his work up, typing away at various lines, and taking pause only to get a drink from the kitchen adjacent to him. After doing some work, he would finally take some time to wash himself up before heading out with his things. When he approached the door, a knock came from it.

He took pause for a moment, wondering whom it might be, before opening the door soon after. He saw no one outside the hall, gazing with silence, before he shrugs it as a prank. His first step, however, ends up crunching something beneath his foot. He lifts his foot up to take notice of a CD, broken in half, and scribbled with the word 'sonic.EXE' on it.

He had a worried look on his face from there. Picking up the pieces, he took a strange gaze at the CD itself. There was no other stickers, or identifying marks, on it otherwise. Knowing he couldn't do anything else, he threw the CD in the garbage before he left.

It would be hours before he would return. A taxi dropping him off from his time away - wearing what appeared to be a working outfit from a supermarket. He would return to the hotel building, passing the various middle class decorum, and head up towards his apartment on the 23rdfloor.

When he came home, he was stopped by an odd sensation. He looked behind him; Nothing. He felt that work must have stressed him out this time around. He continues on his way towards the door, opening it, and entering inside.

His desk showed a CD there on the surface. He wasn't sure how it got there, but it was just there. He approaches towards the desk, looking onto the CD, and feeling a twinge of confusion fill his senses. The CD that laid there was the same CD he thought was broken. What was stranger was that it bore a crease line where the CD looked like it was broken.

_This has to be a trick_he thought to himself. He called the reception desk for some answers. His only questions revolved around if anyone was scheduled to visit his room while he was away. No such record. He politely ended the call before putting the phone down. The only other answer could've been that he only 'thought' he broke the CD.

His memory never failed him before, but the morning felt quite tiring and hazy for some reason. He only wondered why his memory had failed him so suddenly. For that, he took the CD, cracked it down the middle, and left it on the desk as a test. He soon went back to his work, finishing up any last details, and left his desk.

The next day, he would come out from the showers to dry up and dress for the morning again. He did, however, remind himself to check the CD for any difference. On the desk, the CD looked like it was still the same. However, the crack he made in it had vanished. That was enough of a sign for him to imagine that this CD wasn't normal. Another thought would be if someone broke in and replaced the CD as a prank. His door showed no signs of breaking in, nor did the windows.

He wasn't sure what to make of it. All he could do was, obviously, inform the local authorities about it. It would, however, end up quite perplexing. He had explained that someone left him something suspicious at his front door at first. Then he came home to find that the CD he thought was broken was fixed - with no signs of breaking or entering. Lastly, he even informed them about the CD being cracked before he found it brand new again the next day.

They said they would send someone to investigate, but he doubted they would come at all. He was taking his time again with the early morning routine, before he went to take his leave for the day.

This time, however, he felt a sudden tap at the back of his neck. The hallway felt even more quiet than usual. His mind suddenly fogging over, perplexed at the odd sensation of being watched, and gazed down either end of the halls. There was nothing but a small lamp desk dotting the scenery, along with shag red carpeting and beach yellow colored wallpaper.

He couldn't place his finger on it, but he had to shake it off as early morning fatigue. Otherwise, he went on his way as prior.

He gained a visit from the police that evening at work. The officer, a stout and honest looking officer, was taking notes from him on the occurrence. He mentioned that his hotel room would be kept watch over for a few days in case it was a break in. It was a relief at least.

However, that didn't mean that the predicament with the game was handled. It could be someone kept breaking in to leave the game there. Perhaps they didn't want it. But with how they've been leaving a 'copy' of the game so often, it was quite confusing.

He had thought the CD was given to the police officer for evidence when they went back to his apartment. He hoped that they could figure out what was on the CD to solve the problem. They told him they would try to return a report of their findings, and perhaps come up with evidence based on the CD.

When the officer left his home afterwords, he had closed his door to make sure it was locked. The lock itself was secure, the windows were held tight, and the desk was cleaned of any other CD's he could have had. It wasn't until after he went to get some water that he felt that nagging sensation again.

The sensation hit him slightly harder than previously. He had to figure out what that sensation was. He went back to the work room to find that the CD was back on the desk again! It didn't make sense. Something was wrong if he knew that the CD was given to the police.

His only thought was to figure out what was in that CD that made it do that. Much as he wished he didn't want to, he had to figure it out. His attempts with the CD were quite confusing however. He inserted it into his computer to try getting data out of it. Instead, it starts up a video game on his computer before he could do so.

The game would flicker with the familiar sight of the Sega Icon himself - Sonic the hedgehog. The logo was there, the background was moving well, and it all seemed to go smoothly. But the game ends up flashing a strange image in a split second, with a distorted pixelated image of the start-up screen, and then black.

He suddenly thought he downloaded a computer virus by accident. He tried taking the CD out, but the game wouldn't eject. What played on the screen, however, looked like a simple background of the greenhill zone. There was no sonic on the screen, however, as it showed a blank square in the center where the character should be.

He tried to move the screen around for the moment, moving the character along the given path, before another flicker came from the screen. The flicker came by too quick to recognize any image on it, before it sorted itself out. The background, however, suddenly turns neon and distorted.

He pushes on the Esc key to try and get out of the game, being shown the exit option, and finally notices the game eject itself in an instant. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wasn't keeping it.

He finally had the game put into a CD case, put on his jacket, and left his apartment again. The hallway he exited into suddenly felt...imbalanced. His body jerking to the side, holding his head, as the images in front of him suddenly blur very slightly. Could it be stress from all the worrying?

Needless to say, he tried to keep his composure. He did manage to make it out of the building, take a Taxi to the police office, and waited until he could bring his CD to them. The waiting reception area was cluttered, holding many people in and out with robbery problems and muggings. By the time he was called up, he had brought the CD to them in worry.

The officers there were rather befuddled on how that happened. The officer he gave it to swore he took the CD with him, only to find that the CD he had brought was gone. This did instigate them to investigate deeper into the happening at least. For now, they asked him to stay over for the night, for his own safety, in case these circumstances grow worse.

He only wished that the CD never landed at his doorstep to begin with. Considering how this was going to cut in with his daily life, he had to agree to it. It would seem these officers wanted this crazy case put to rest as much as he did. He only wished there was another way to handle it.

His stay at the police department was quite silent. He was given a space in the office area to rest for the night, a meal to help calm his nerves, and reassurance that they would figure this all out. He wasn't sure if the officers would actually get it solved, but he was sure this would hopefully end soon.

That night, when the lights were out, he was trying to get some sleep. His tosses and turns in his sleep, trying to rest.

His dreams become discolored and disorienting, showing a vast grassy field in front of him. He tries to approach past the field, only to feel it span forward for who knows how long. It was after a short while when he saw a dead animal lay before him.

The carcass of the animal was a blue jay, laying at its side, with no signs of breath or life. The coloration of the small feathered Avian was quite dark in color, distorted in appearance, and showing signs of decay. He had to keep himself from loosing his senses from seeing it. He hurried on past the dead animal, hustling forward, and nearly tripping on the fallen body of a raccoon.

The raccoon's bodily shape was, as if, bent beyond imagining. The empty look in its wide eyes, and gaping maw, was enough to make him nearly sick. He even thought he saw some of the face eroded away with showing a fragment of its skull.

He hurried onward ahead of these dead animals. No matter how far he ran, he always kept seeing more dead animals. A fallen white hare, a small fox cub missing a leg, even a sparrow hanging impaled on a tree branch.

All of this was too much for him to handle. He had to get out, he needed to get out, he wanted to get out, but he kept on running! When he was out of breath, he landed with a heavy thud on the ground. His breaths were ragged and his sight was blurred.

He took a look up to the sight of a shadowed out figure. His height was equal to his own, and its body posture was fairly rigid. He tried to approach the figure, hoping to find some solace in this nightmare. What he was greeted with, was something else entirely.

The eyes of the figure shot open. However, there were no eyes to speak of. The sight of black and empty voids were seen in the center of each eye socket, along with the glimmering light of two red dots flickering in the abyss of its stare.

This had caused him to fall backwards on his back, scramble against the crackling of autumn leaves, and run the other way. The sensation of being followed was back again, full force, and hunting him constantly as he ran.

The sensation of the figure catching up was abundantly clear. His steps were treading faster, and faster, and faster! The sound of the shadowy creature echoing louder and louder, howling in his mind, before he fell forward into a tumble.

He cried in huddled formation, hugging himself tightly, and weeping out tears from the sheer anxiety attack. It wasn't until the shadowy image was above him, gazing down, right before its arms shot out to grab him.

And then...

He ends up awake again, beating with sweat, and panting after such a panic. He took a look over to the sight of one of the desks. The computer on one of them was turned on somehow. There, playing on the screen, was the same game.

Oh god no He thought. _This has to still be a nightmare!_He wasn't going to just go up and play it. He was already having worries about his life. Yet deep down, deep behind his mind, that nagging feeling wouldn't go away.

Against his own will, he brought himself up from the makeshift bed, walked over slowly to the computer, and sat himself down. He just had to figure out what was going on.

However, he did try to call for any sign of any other officers in the building. Luckily, he thought he heard one coming over to help him. It was a lady officer, brunette hair, and a lithe look to her physique. He asked if he could get some help getting this computer off.

The officer tries to turn the power off; it fails to shut down. Obviously, she began fiddling with the back end to no avail. When she pulls the plug, the computer was still on. This got her about as spooked as the poor guy.

She told him to keep away from it after that. He wasn't in any disagreement there. However, the game showed the screen with Greenhill zone in the background again. The scenery also had Tails in the center instead of Sonic. Deep down, he already had a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Tails was shown moving across the screen to the right. The officer woman kept trying to hit keys to no avail. Her hand went to the computer screen cord to try unplugging it. When she did, it was still playing.

This freaked her out further while he stood there watching. She had to get up, reaching for her radio, and tried calling for help with the predicament.

However, he was left alone with staring further on at the screen. Tails moving to the right showed a small blue bird animal, on its side, unmoving. His mind instantly snapping back to the dream again in fear.

Further along showed more animals dead and deceased. A Raccoon bent out of shape, a Rabbits head separated from its body, a fox critter with a missing leg sprite, and then it ended with the worst. It showed Tails facing Sonic, his back towards Tails, and Tails trying to approach from behind.

When he did, Sonic's eyes shot open, showing the black empty sprites with red dots for pupils.

This... this is...

His body trembled, heart pounding, and forehead sweating. Everything in his body told him to look away and run. Yet something in the back of his mind was holding him there against his will.

The officer woman grabbed for him, tugging him away from the computer, but he felt like his feet were anchored like cement to the ground.

The scene that came next was Tails, running for his life, away from the creature he saw. Sonic's sprite appeared, floating, as if flying right after him. The noises of echoing music rang in the atmosphere, as if counting down towards a ferocious climax. It wasn't until Tails fell at the end of the run, sobbing in pixel tears.

But what came after, when Sonics figure appeared once more time, was a deafening silence. Suddenly -

_ YOU'RE _

_ MINE! _

The echo of that noise came from the computer in a giant yell. All the computers suddenly flash on with the image of those empty black eyes shrieking in the night.

His yell echoes out in an instant with hers, falling over from the panic, and feeling his head crack against one of the computer desks as he fell.

His eyes blur when he was coming to. His gaze taking notice of those black eyes staring down from above him. The image of sonic's shadowy black figure gazing down while grinning. His mouth riddled with needles for teeth, cackling quietly, and reaching down into his vision.

Soon enough, everything would go black...

It wasn't until a few minutes when the officer woman came to from the fall after him. Her eyes gaze around to see the computer screens were off again. There, at the one computer that started it all, was a broken screen. It was almost as if something tried to break out.

Whatever it was, it must have succeeded.

She looked over towards where he lay. The poor boys face was, as if, frozen in a state of fear at the ceiling. His mouth was stuck in a lock jawed position, pale in complextion, and barely showing any vital signs.

She gave a quiet shiver up her spine, holding her gun, and aiming it around in panic. It wasn't until two more officers came in on the night shift, gazing at her, and assuming the worst.

With no other evidence of the contrary, all they could do was haul the poor student away to the hospital in his current state.

No one knows what happened to him, but all the police could do was pass word to other departments about the case.

This, among everything else, was the first victim of Sonic.EXE.