FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Location: New Vega, Eastern District, Station.

Time: 08:30am.

Year: 2180, March 8th.

"You didn't mean a thing by setting sail." I muttered to Elise; "Did you?"

"I said I was sorry." Elise pouted at me, looking the other way.

We were both just sitting on one bench of many that surrounded the large train platform, with both our clocks on, hoods drawn. For such a large building, the platforms were rather empty; but then, they can't demolish it since it's surrounded by so many other buildings. Yet another design flaw in New Vega's 'not-so-great-History'.

It was bothering me that I didn't know what we were waiting for. It'd be much more settling to be running around without a clue as to where we might be going. I decided to speak up.

"What are we waiting for anyway?" I asked, turning my upper body to her. "If these two Red Foxes are going to be here, we should at least hide or something; wait for a good shot."

"We're not waiting for them." Elise replied, turning around to face me; "I've already told you the plan; we go to the train station, keep an eye out for someone who looks like they work here, and ask them about the two Foxes."

"Sorry." I apologized. "I must have blanked out; I do that sometimes...so why do you think that the Foxes have been around this area?"

"Because they'd need to get out of the city fast." Elise sighed, leaning back on the bench. "What better way than to take the skyline over to the docks and fly out of here."

"Why would they run?" I asked, fiddling with the hood of my cloak. "They need our keys; and why wait here if you know where they're headed? Shouldn't we follow them on the train?"

"That'd take too long." Elise replied. "We'd still be behind them. I don't think they want to run, though. They'll probably try hunting us down instead of Rosie; they probably want us to think that they left for the airport so that we'll 'follow' them and fall into a trap."

"Then why are we here if you know all of this?" I asked, hiding my frustration and thinking. "Let's see; they'll try to trap us at the airport, or they might pick us off on one of the trains that lead there. So why don't we just trap their trap?"

"I'm not good with traps." Elise said bluntly, scratching the tip of her muzzle. "I just need to hang around here and make sure that they were here."

"So we'll know if they headed to the airport or not." I suggested; Elise simply nodded, and I continued; "And I reckon that this station is the only one that takes citizens to the airports, right?"

"You're half-right." Elise replied, leaning forwards and blinking slowly; "This station is closest to the abandoned Rover factory. The Foxes will think that we're lazy and they'll expect us to chase after them from here. The Foxes will make it obvious that they're going to the airport, so they want us to follow them."

"I think I get it." I said uncertainly. "So we're just following their trap up until now, where we take a different path to the airport; am I right?"

"One-hundred percent." Elise replied, looking a little surprised. "We'll be taking The Cradle over to the airport; one side is right next to another abandoned area, making it the perfect terrain to drive in."

I sighed and stayed quiet, thinking about the plan. Elise had a large map in The Cradle, marking out the abandoned areas from the actual city; from what I saw, the city had an entire outer ring of abandoned buildings and construction areas, though that was what bothered me; The Cradle couldn't go high enough to avoid the ruins and abandoned buildings, no matter how low they went. Hopefully, Elise would be able to traverse all of these obstacles well enough.

I just remembered that I hadn't called The Administrator in a day. I hadn't got any calls from him; I wondered if he even knew I was gone. Whilst I was thinking about this, Elise stood up and walked around the empty platform as if she was looking for something. I decided that this was the best time to give The Administrator a call, so I pulled out my phone and did so quickly.

"Hello, Kobalt." A familiar voice answered over the phone. "Have you found out what that 'one million thing' was about?"

"In a way." I replied, taking a quick look around. "It turns out the whole thing is a treasure hunt; and I'm now tagging along with someone. The trouble is, there are ten keys needed to open up some box that has the treasure inside; we only have one, and the rest belong to separate people who want to kill us for our key."

"Oh..." The Administrator replied, not knowing what to say. "Well...you sound like you have things under control, so I'll just leave you to it..."

"One more thing sir." I spoke up suddenly. "Do you have records of someone called Enhime? He claimed to be a Seeker, but he was actually an Enforcer. It looks like we have some rats in the club."

"We don't know anyone called Enhime." The Administrator replied thoughtfully. "But it looks like you've landed in a lot of trouble; the club won't be able to help you out of Enforcer related crimes; but this 'Enhime' person is dead, right?"

"Yeah." I replied bluntly; "Left an untidy mess as well. I should get back to this mission, but I'll keep you informed as I go."

I immediately hung up; we never really said our goodbyes or anything like that. Besides, I already saw Elise walk up to the bench again, looking satisfied with herself. I put my phone away and got up from the bench, walking up beside her.

"Who were you talking to?" She asked suddenly, catching me off guard.

"The Administrator." I admitted; it was pointless to hide these sorts of things from someone like her. "He's kind of my boss, and the person who sent me on this treasure hunt."

"I'm actually surprised you appeared." Elise said, looking onwards. "Not many people just jump in half way through the hunt; the people who do always end up dead in no time."

"I'm not planning on dying yet." I said, stepping in front of her and looking her directly in the eyes. "So what have you found out? You must've been scavenging some clues or something, right?"

"I spoke to a few people around the station." Elise began; "They all said the same thing; two Red Foxes, heading over to the airport. Looks like I was right after all."

"Let's go then." I said, just as Elise began to walk onwards and out of the station. I sighed and followed behind her.

We were obviously going to go back to The Cradle. It was the only way that we could reach the airport quick enough, and the least dangerous way to get around.

For all we knew, there were quite a good number of people wanting to kill us.

Location: New Vega, Eastern District, Abandoned Construction Site.

Time: 10:40am.

Year: 2180, March 8th.

I lied back in my small bed in my small room, looking up at the ceiling and quietly wincing in pain. My head was killing me; it was throbbing so much and so hard. I must have been traveling too much. I felt out of breath, as if I had been running for a long time. I ran my right hand through my hair and gripped my head tightly, trying to make the pain go away; and failing.

Whenever there was silence, my head rung constantly; and whenever there was noise, it hurt even more. Everything felt too warm; the kind of warm that makes a person feel sick, though I was never physically ill at all. I was about to get up and look for Elise, but she found me first. I saw her slide the door open and step into the room.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down on my bed. "Do you have a headache or something?"

"Yeah." I replied, leaning up. "You don't have any meds or drugs, do you?"

"Actually, I do." Elise said, thoughtfully, getting up and heading out of the door. I heard a few rustling and banging noises before Else came back, holding a small container.

"Take two of these." Elise said, handing the container to me. I popped the lid off and picked out two small blue pills. "They should send you right off."

"By 'right off' you mean these are going to knock me out." I accused, starting to feel another shot of pain. Elise simply nodded; I groaned and decided that it was best to just take the pills.

I immediately put both in my mouth and swallowed them down, lying back down in bed. Elise was still there, sitting by my side and slowly stroking my head. It felt oddly comfortable; as if something as soft as silk was making its way through my hair.

"Do you have a family?" Elise asked suddenly. "You seem pretty...lonely."

"I don't really have a family." I muttered to her. "I never really paid attention to it. It didn't really seem important at the time."

"So what was important?" Elise asked; "Money, survival, pleasure? Give me a clue."

"All of that except for the money part." I admitted, playing along. "I just live for the excitement. I enjoy bending the law a bit, and surviving at the same time."

"Is that the kind of business you're in?" Elise asked, almost interrogating me; "I don't really mind. Everyone has their own way of living..."

"What about you, then?" I asked, starting to fall asleep. "Any family, any job? Anything at all?"

"...I'll give you a hint." Elise whispered into my ear after a long pause; just as I was drifting off to sleep; "Why do you think I'm all alone in a hunt for money?"

As I fell asleep, I thought about what she said. From what she hinted at, she had no family, no partner or anyone who travels with her; she also had no money, and probably no job. It seemed like a lonely life for someone so...active.

I didn't feel too sorry for her; she seemed satisfied and happy; besides, if she actually found and unlocked the treasure, she would actually have money. It was hard to see that as a bad thing...

It was a stretch, though. We only had one key; the two Foxes had four keys, Rosie had three keys, and the other two were missing.

The odds were against us, but I was too stubborn to back away now...