FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Sis? You in?" Adrian checked around sick bay, dipping into the medical office with two energetic otters in tow. "Oh, hey Carbon. You're looking decent today."

"Looks can be deceiving. You actually just woke me."

"I thought you were Ellie, sorry. Sleeping in a chair isn't good for your neck, anyway." Dee took a slow, deep breath and backed away, slowly heading for a patient room. "Could you watch these two? Ari gave them to me just as I came to check on Zoë."

"Yeah, sure." Carbon groaned as she sat herself up straight in her chair. "Come here, you silly kids. Don't want you causing them trouble."

"Thank you, Carbon. I'll just be—"

"Take it easy on the poor girl."

"I... try to." Dee slipped into the room and dimmed the digital window shades. "Zoë... I'm sorry, but can I be a little selfish right now?"

The human slowly opened her eyes as she lay nude across a bed, silently nodding and spreading her legs as her only response.

"We don't... have to do that. I just need a warm touch right now. I'm... lonely." Zoë remained still for a moment, then adjusted her hips and closed her eyes. "You really only want to offer me that, don't you? Then... yeah, sure. I'll be gentle."

Zoë only sighed as Dee stripped down and crawled atop her.

"You're not even wet. Are you sure you want this?" Dee read the girl for a moment, then found some lube on a nearby stand and got to work prepping Zoë. "There. I'm ready to go, too. You want it any differently, or...?"

Zoë turned her head to the side and shut her eyes.

"Missionary it is. Sorry if I'm quick again..." Dee lined his manhood up with Zoë's slit and slid in to the root. "Gods, you're still so tight." As was a new tradition, Dee thrust against pure silence as the disheartened teen played the glorified sex toy. "Yeah... I'll definitely be quick."

Adrian shifted himself forward and nuzzled Zoë softly, ignoring the human's silence in favor of his own needs. He picked up the pace and focused on the warmth enveloping him, a familiar tingle building in his loins. Then without a single hint Dee unceremoniously came, leaving Zoë with a new warmth of his own creation.

"Gods... Sorry. I didn't mean to make a mess, but..." Adri pulled himself free and slid next to Zoë, spooning her from behind with drooping eyes. "Thank you, hon. I know you feel obligated to do this, but it's a special treat every single time. I don't take you for granted."

"Well I sure hope not. I like to think I set a good example for my little sister." Elliot paced into the room, trying not to stare as he checked two medical charts. "Sometimes we all think there's nothing left. Even if that's all it is, you're giving her a purpose."

"Y-Yeah..." Dee adjusted his stance a bit, forcing his renewing erection back into Zoë's wonderful, sloppy folds from behind. "I can tell she's doing better, just a bit. She's... Uh, El? Why are you not wearing pants?"

The elder brother smiled as he looked down at the mere shirt and lab coat he wore. "I was just in the other room making love to two beautiful women when I heard you enter."

"Well you could have said something, at least for Ashe's sake since she can't see me."

"She heard you first. That, and my patients are trying to sleep. Everyone's under some bad emotional stress. Denying them sleep doesn't help."

"I guess..." Dee lightly bucked his hips to test the waters, finding Zoë oddly responsive for the first time since the traumatic battle. "Am I hurting you, Zoë? More lube? Or should I stop?"

Zoë only responded with a grunt as she fought to reach for the other bed in the room.

"What? Something wrong with the ventilator again?" Ellie walked over to check the air system, mumbling as he started with the loose wiring. "I know we're rationing supplies, but this is crazy. We need to maintain my equipment bet...ter..."

"Ellie?" Dee pushed himself upright when his brother dropped his charts on the floor. "What's wrong? Oh gods, please don't tell me—"

"He's awake!" Elliot pulled out a pen light and waved it back and forth, a smile spreading over his face. "Yeah, responsive. ~Finally~ the last coma patient rejoins us. Neuroscience: five; nature: zip."

Immediately Adrian was on his hindpaws and scrambling to the side of the bed. "It's been so long..." He reached out and grabbed a stub of a forearm, tears streaming from his face. "I thought I'd never... never... again..."

Elliot checked the various instruments to be sure the patient was stable, that smile only strengthening. "Prisma? ~Code Magenta~. Get Olivia too. Oh, and watch that, DeeDee."

"S-Sorry!" Adri adjusted his footing so he wasn't leaning on a dialysis line, then found a clean path to hug the living shit out of the otter in that bed. "Iolvin! Gods, my Iolvin!"

A second later a slew of portals opened up in series, dropping off various furs who were in the midst of other tasks. Olivia snapped into action first, clasping a towel while struggling to balance on a crutch. "What the hell!?"

"Ditto that. Where did they... take us... now...?" Ilaria finally got her bearings as her children fell into view. <Code Magenta? Really!?>

<Prisma says so!>

Ari spun around, her whole body fighting to just stay standing when she locked eyes with her twin brother. "Yoyo!"

Catherine and Vasily sheepishly found a digital curtain to hide behind, the two literally locked at the hips and quite nude to boot. Cathy stuck out a tad though, not minding that her top half was exposed in favor of greeting her lost child. "Iolvin... My poor baby boy..."

"Uh, guys..."

The girls sprang forth, layering over Dee to give their uncle a massive group hug.

"Guys!" Ellie peeled the three off the now-convulsing otter and reached for an intravenous line. "He's freaking out. Give him some space."

"Yoyo!?" Dee never let go of his husband's arm as Elliot administered some drugs. "Is he going to be alright!?"

"He just needs to rest while he adapts..." With utmost professionalism Ellie saw the otter to sleep with a light sedative. Once Yoyo was out and stable, he went to work checking the missing third of the otter's right side. "There's a lot less of him to fight back. Just trust me here, DeeDee. I'll have him as good as new. Better, even."

— — — — —

Iolvin slowly opened his eyes, drowsily discovering the whole of his family and friends spread outside the room windows. "Huat—" The otter wanted to cough at an intrusion in his throat, but found he couldn't control his lungs if he tried due to a breathing tube in the way.

"Woah there, handsome." Ellie placed a paw on Yoyo's left pectoral. "You've only got the smaller lung right now. Try to stay calm and I'll explain."

Yoyo tried to lift his arms to sign out his words, but one of the two simply didn't exist and the other... lacked a paw.

"Yoyo, please. I... I know this is tough to understand..."

"Wait, let me." Dee stood in the doorway with saddened look on his face as he attempted a wireless Link. «Iolvin, honey? Can you understand me?»

«I...» Yoyo took a moment to understand the emotions flooding into his brain. «I love you so much.»

«My gods... I can ~feel~ you again...»

«Babe... what's...?»

«Let my sister explain. I'll relay for you.» Time sped up noticeably as the Link faintly weakened. Dee placed a paw on his brother's shoulder. "I've got it. He'll talk through me."

"Really? Good good!" Ellie took a deep breath and waved a paw over Yoyo's damaged body. "We tried to save what we could, but some of you just went beyond repair. If not for those robots that make up your blood now, I'm pretty sure you would have... well..."

«I don't... remember...»

Dee perked up and raised his voice. "He'd like to know what happened since then..."

"No. We'll get to that once you're more comfortable. I'm not having you go back into a coma from duress." Ellie pulled a finger aimed toward Olivia, now dressed and in her wheelchair. "Liv, honey? Are you sure this thing is ready?"

Liv pulled up some details on her tablet terminal as she rolled into the room. "All systems look green. If you think he's healed enough, I'm ready to switch over."

"Right, then do it. Sooner we get him off that ventilator the better." The fair-furred doctor placed a paw gently over Yoyo's right side, pressing lightly to test for tenderness. "You lost... well, damn near everything on your right. Your larger lung, a kidney, liver... ~appendix~..." That paw gently slid up until it rested on Yoyo's breathing tube. "Ari's kids, the androids, and Liv here worked day and night to get those nanites of yours to build new parts. Your new lung is there, but because of the coma we left it switched off."

"His power system could use some more juice, but he's ready. Here goes." Liv tapped a few buttons and wirelessly enabled the otter's new diaphragm. "Alright. System is reporting ideal pressure."

"Yoyo, this is going to be unpleasant. Bear with me, please." Elliot carefully—yet quickly and forcefully—pulled the tube from Iolvin's muzzle and throat. "There... It's weak, but... you're breathing."

"Ellie..." Dee sat down next to his husband and stared at Zoë in the next bed over. "He wants to know pretty badly. I think it's time."

"But I have to explain how we're going to add his prosth—"

In the weakest volume and scratchiest nature ever uttered by the otter, Iolvin forced himself to speak. "Tell... me..."

Ellie looked around between the others. "So should ~I~...?"

"Zo... Zoë..."

Dee pet his husband's forehead to calm him. "Zoë's alright, dear. She's hiding over here."

"No..." Yoyo tried to get a better look at the human, but couldn't move his body well. "Looks... hurt..."

"Stop stressing yourself, Yoyo. Use the Link. Please, for me?"

«Zoë looks like she's in pain. What's wrong?»

"She... ah... Ellie?"

Elliot stepped in, already acknowledging he was today's bearer of bad news. "Zoë had an incident. She tried to take her life when she thought she'd failed you."

Yoyo lurched as he remembered the child Zoë carried. "Pup!?"

"Yoyo, stay calm. It's fine. ~They're~ fine." Dee pointed to Ilaria. "Could you...?"

Ari beckoned to the other room. "Carbon? Can you send them in?"

Carbon slumped into the main hall, then shakily stood against the frame of the patient room doorway. "They're... Ugh... They're already in here."

"Thank you, Carbon. You look like you need some more rest, so go lay down for me?" Dee smiled for the sickly otter as she returned to her original room. "Well, damnit. Kids! Show yourselves for your father!"

Out of the corner of the room, behind Zoë's bed, came a higher-pitched male voice. "But we don't know what to say."

"Yeah, we don't know anything about him."

"Phoebe! Themis! Don't do this right now!" Adrian hunched forward in partial defeat, obviously having a fair pawful with the children to date. "Please... At least acknowledge the man that saved your lives..."

Two figures barely faded into view hiding behind their mother's bed. "I'm... sorry, dad."

"Thank you, boys. Could you stop hiding back there?"

"...Yeah." The two mid-teen boys stepped around the bed, but refused to move any further from their mother or make themselve easier to be seen. "Is that... good...?"

«These two are...» Yoyo stared at the nearly-nude ghosts of kids, who generally resembled otters. There seemed to be other influences, but it was hard to tell any real details at the moment due to both boys still not quite being visible by whatever means they were employing «...~our boys~?»

Dee nodded and gave Yoyo a quick kiss. "We did it. We actually made something worth all the fighting, together."

«But Zoë...»

Adri decided to keep the next bit between the two, though he couldn't help but notice Ari's concerned presence in the Link now. «Zoë considered you dead. She failed herself, and now she's lost a lot of her will when we robbed her of the easier option available to her.»

«What did she do? Is she alright?»

«She stabbed her sword into her throat and nicked her spine. It's a miracle she survived without being paralyzed.» Dee rested his head on his husband's chest, though carefully making sure not to place his whole weight. «Ellie thinks there's a mental component to it too, but she screwed up her voice box. She's not just sulking in the corner. She's having issues eating too.»

«She's giving up, or punishing herself...» Yoyo strained to do so, but managed to place his stumped arm over his husband's shoulder. «How long has it been? Those two look pretty old. Oh, and what did you call them? Their names, dear gods...»

"Zoë had the twins about a month after the battle. They've grown just as fast as your sister's kids." Dee looked up to Yoyo's face, cringing at the lack of a real eye like himself. "It's been about three months since then and they've grown to be so handsome."

«So which is which, already?»

"On the left is Themis, and to the right is Phoebe. I like to think we probably conceived them when we were floating around Saturn, so..."

«Moons of Saturn. I like it. Those are feminine names though, Adri.»

Again Dee kept things under wraps, this time to prevent scaring off the kids in embarrassment. «To be honest, they take from your side of the family more than mine in major ways. They're... not really male or female, but they generally call themselves boys. They seemed female at birth though, so...»

«I'm not against it. I love it. I love them, and I love you and Zoë.» Yoyo again tried to force himself around, this time failing to sit upright. «Ouch. Anyway... I love my family as it is. The boys are wonderful, and I'm sure I'll get to know them better in time.»

«Yeah, they're... amazing. Until you're stuck raising them alone, anyway.»

«Zoë never helps? Is she that bad?»

«She... defaulted to her only other options. She's refused to leave your side for the last four months, and it's been slowly killing her.»

«Poor girl.» Yoyo went limp and just let his atrophied muscles rest. «So we've been here four months? You never moved me to a hospital?»

«We couldn't... We're limping home with low fuel.» Dee slowed the link and returned back to normal time. "There's a lot to explain, but we're not home yet. I could care less though, because anywhere my family goes is my real home."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, yes yes." Elliot smiled and joined into the snuggly hug. "We'll have you up and moving soon, big brother."

— — — — —

"That burns, Lulu."

"Sorry." Ilaria rolled her eyes at her brother as she pulled an electrical node tester from an implant on his wrist. "That's the last one, I swear. The fact they sting is actually a good thing."

Adrian gave his husband a rearward hug in his wheelchair then took the reigns. "Well don't make him go looking for another coma to ~escape~ you, Ari. Come on, hon. We'll cook you up whatever you want to celebrate."

"I feel like I just need a gallon of iced tea. My throat's ripping itself apart."

"Yeah, but it was necessary. You were..." Ari looked away for a moment, then raised her paw to her eye to not-soCovertly wipe away a tear. "Just don't let me walk in on you in medical like that ever again."

"I'm sorry, Lulu. I didn't have a choice, though." Yoyo looked over to his enigmatic sons and smiled. "You have children, so you know that."

"...Yeah." Ari let the way to the hallway and held open the automated hatch. "They're amazing. Now I know what it was like for you raising my girls. I... appreciate it even more, too."

"You took care of my boys?"

"We both did, but I have some pretty bad work to do in engineering these days so she's my daycare." Dee started moving the wheelchair, pausing to lift it over the lip of the door with Ari's help. "I'd have preferred their mother, but Zoë arguably needed more rest than any of us. I just left her to watch over you."

"And she did a good job." Yoyo fought to look backward at the human. "I'm glad you're still here too, kiddo. Life wouldn't be the same without you. Right?"

Zoë was about to shy away, but couldn't let a direct question from her patron go unanswered. She surprisingly raised her hands and signed out her response. <Yes, master.>

"Woah. She learned sign language?"

"She's just starting to, yeah. Guess what word was her first request." Carbon rolled up behind the others with Sydney doing the pushing. "Ari's girls can be good teachers with a visual dictionary at paw."

Yoyo quirked his head to the side a tad. "Visual dictionary? What's that for?"

"Well they only know signing and writing." There was a confused look and silence as Carbon's only critique. "You... do know Zoë's illiterate, right?"

"But she grew up in a ~library~." Yoyo nodded to Zoë with a hint of pride. "Well that only makes it more impressive. Good job, Zoë."

"Impressive and a tad ironic, yeah." Cid navigated the door's lip and the group was underway. "Where were you guys off to? Mess hall?"

Carbon added, "Is it even safe to be moving Yoyo right now?"

"Even if the doc didn't clear me, I'm not staying for another five hours of tests."

Ari tapped a bag of fluids hanging above her twin's head. "We're keeping an eye on him and he has a few hours until he needs to be back on that dialysis machine."

Dee pulled back so the wheelchairs were adjacent as they walked. "My man's been sleeping a long, ~long~ time. Let him stretch his legs a little."

"Oh, I won't stop him. I just... see him like a nephew or similar and I don't want to see him lapse back into a bad state."

"Well speak for yourself, otter girl." Sydney gave her love a bop between the ears. "You're not doing so hot yourself. Stop worrying and stressing before you find ~yourself~ in a coma."

"Sorry, ~Meerpuss~."

"And on that note, you can push ~yourself~."

"I'm sorry, Cid. Don't take it—"

Sydney pointed further down the hallway. "I'm fine with the nickname I guess, from you anyway. I just have recruit training and your... ~our~ daughter's here."

"Fleur? I don't... oh."

"Your vision's getting worse, isn't it?" Cid stopped the wheelchair and gave her hybrid a tight hug. "We'll find a solution. Just keep fighting for me."

"Not just for you..." Carbon gave Cid's surprisingly small stomach a rub but tried not to make a big show of it. "I still have a reason to hope. Sure you won't join us for a bite?"

"You know I need this. I can't... I can't just sit around with all this going through my head." Cid paused to look over at Yoyo, then gave Carbon a kiss. "It helps that he's alright, but... poor Eve..."

"Yeah..."

"Monsieur Karidan. Papa. Bonne après-midi." Fleur only smiled as her 'father' shot her a stern look. "Pardon. I ahm quite zhorry for zhe Frensh, boot ee... Ee feel better with eet..."

"C'est très bien, Fleur. Faisons ce que ressent le mieux." Sydney smiled to Yoyo's perplexed expression. "Zoë's not the only one with a lot of time on her paws these days."

"Oui, zhees ees zhe trusth. Ee em teaching yer... very slowly."

"Everything's... so different." Yoyo wrestled himself into a straighter sitting posture. "Four months is a lot of time, I guess."

"Yeah, until you realize there's years to go." Cid gave Fleur a kiss on the cheek in passing, then a pat on Buck's shoulder as he came up from behind. "Can you two take over? She's heading to the mess hall."

Vasily made himself known with a chuckle. "And maybe lay off the affection this time, Buck? There's been many a weapon mentioned in the same sentence as your name in our chats recently." He walked up between the chairs and placed paws on each occupant's shoulder. "Not that Carbon would actually ~do~ anything—I think. So, how's my son doing?"

"I hurt all over, my muscles aren't working right, and I'm craving greasy food." Yoyo reached out, and with some assistance he managed to lightly hug his dad. "We're about to solve one of those, if you'd like to join us."

"Cid, mind if I pass on—"

"Training the recruits isn't nearly as important as family, Volk. Take a break today."

"Thanks." Vasily went to take control of Carbon's chair, but the hybrid held out a paw to stop him. "What? Don't you want to join us, old friend?"

"No... I think I've had enough for today."

"Oh..."

Yoyo didn't quite like that answer and nearly fell out his chair as he turned to argue. "Come on, Fibre. I'm dying to find out what I've missed."

"Sorry, Yoyo. I just can't..." Carbon turned her wheelchair around and slowly shoved herself back to the medical bay. "I can't think straight when I see you guys... together like that. Happy."

"But—"

"Son, don't." Vasily sighed as he stood to walk to the mess. "Carbon's depressed enough. If she needs her space, let her have it."

"I'm missing pretty much half my body. No leg, no paws, no tail... Hell, even my ~dick's~ been blown off. If I'm not depressed—"

" Shut up!" Carbon stopped her chair and broke down into tears. "You didn't lose anybody! Your whole family's just fine!"

"Our family, Fibre. You're not alone." Yoyo fell onto the floor trying to chase Carbon down on his own. "I heard about Eve. I... can't possibly understand how that feels, but I can still remember what she did for us. She's a hero."

"Don't you dare bring—!"

" Oh , I almost forgot something. Carbon, at least take this." Ilaria walked over to the sobbing, broken otter and placed a black stone in her paw. "We couldn't get one thing out of this. Not a single test registered at all."

"Sis, what is that?"

"All that's left of the oxydium in the enemy reactor. We hoped it would make good fuel to get home, but nothing can tell what it even is now."

"So... why are you giving this to me?" Carbon glanced at the crystal, her extended vision lending a glowing halo to the material. "Is it because I can see something in it?"

"More like a memento, at least until we can devise more tests, ones that work without irradiating the crew anyway." Ari hunched down before Carbon and clasped her paws around the otter's. "The first law of thermodynamics states that the total energy of a system is constant and permanent. It can be transformed from one form to another, but cannot be created or destroyed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just like to think that... while you lost your best friend, she still exists somewhere in a different form." Ari opened Carbon's paws a little and peered at the crystal. "Maybe for her kind, that means she ascended to a better place. Maybe she's part of that explosion and she's spreading out to places we'll never know. Maybe she's still inside you somewhere. But whatever the case, she's still here, and if we remember her in our hearts and minds we can always piece her together again. Right?"

"Maybe. It's a... beautiful notion. She'd have liked it, actually." Carbon pulled out a tendril and rolled the stone inside it for safekeeping. "Thank you, Ielunschra. I really am tired though, so..."

"At least let me help you to bed." Ari took Carbon's chair from behind and slowly began pushing. "I'll meet you guys there."

Yoyo groaned as his father pulled him back into his own wheelchair. "Do what you need to do, Lulu. I'll never stop you from being a nice person."

"Just focus on not eating dirt, lil' bro." Ari chuckled as they parted ways. "And ~you~ need to let go and cheer up, Carbon. I'll never stop trying on that front, either."

"Well I appreciate the effort at least. Thanks, baby Lulu." Carbon pulled out the crystal for another look, the new concept Ilaria proposed running through her head on repeat. "Can't be created or destroyed, huh?"

"Hmm? You say something?"

"No, just thinking about Eve." Carbon sighed and closed her eyes, resting her head back on Ari's wrist. "So just where can I find you then? Where'd you go, Eve?" As Carbon began dozing to sleep she jolted awake, her weary head playing a cruel illusory joke. "No way... Damn, I need some rest..."

The hybrid finally fell asleep as they reached the medical bay, leaving her mind to the phantoms of the night.

«...Carbon?»

— — — — —

The gang will return in the final book of the Entropy series: The Second Law.