FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Mark opened his eyes (which surprised him, considering), and squinted at the mass of bright florescent tube lights that hung above him. His arms and legs felt like lead, but he moved his right paw to his eyes. He spent a minute with his paw over his eyes to allow himself a few moments to think. He knew he was far from home, but knew nothing of where he was or who had brought him here. Mark sat up, which sent his head spinning. He spent another minute gathering himself. He took a look around the room. It was a very plain room, with white walls and a white ceiling and floor. The lights were strong enough to ensure that there was no dark corner of the room. There was a mirror on one wall "Probably one-way glass" Mark muttered to himself. There was a faint outline of a door on one wall, probably to make sure nobody could leave without someone outside knowing. Mark was sitting on a hospital bed in the middle of the room, which seemed a bit over-dramatic. There was nothing else around the room he could see. He hung his legs over the side and stretched out his arms. He gingerly hopped off the bed onto his bare feet. He yelped a little at how cold the floor actually was, and again when he finally realised he was completely naked. He swiftly grabbed the bedsheet and wrapped it around his waist. "What the hell is going on?" He shouted around the room, hoping to get an answer from someone or something. Mark walked over to the glass and tapped on it. "Hello?" Mark called "Is anyone there? Can I have my crap back please?". He turned around and had a look

under the bed, thinking his stuff may be under there. There was nothing there, obviously, so Mark decided to have a closer look at the door. There was no visible handle and the hinges were on the other side. Mark was tempted to have a run at it or try and kick it down but he didn't have the energy. At least not yet. He decided to put off any escape attempt until he'd had a chance to rest properly. Mark took the sheet off and put it back on the bed. He had one last look around the room and lay down on the bed once again.

Mark woke again, still in the same room, except this time he felt like he had enough energy to run a marathon. "It's

probably because I haven't slept in a bed for as long as I can remember" he thought to himself. He was about to get up but a buzzing sound made him freeze. He opened one of his eyes a fraction to see what was making that noise. He saw a thin, metal arm was descending from the ceiling with a needle eminating from the end. It was slowly approaching him, and just as it got within arms length Mark grabbed it near the end with both paws and snapped it in two. A thick, clear liquid began to pour out from the end of the arm that was attached to the ceiling. It quickly retracted back into the ceiling and disappeared, leaving no evidence of itself except for the foot-long piece of metal Mark held in his hand. "What the hell are you trying to do to me!?!" Mark shouted into the window, but still there was no reaction. The silence was enough to make him angry enough to chuck the metal piece at the window as hard as he could. A small crack appeared in the glass, it was too small to reach inside, but big enough to see through. Mark looked through the hole just in time to see a door on the far side close. "Get back here damnit!" he shouted through the hole. He looked around the other room. It was dark, but he was able to see some of his clothes there. Mark thought about it for a moment. It would be too dangerous to try and go through the glass, but the door was the only other option. He held the piece of metal with both hands. It was heavy but it was also very strong, maybe strong enough to break open the door. Mark put one end of the pole on the ground and moved one corner of the bed onto it. He sat on the bed, causing the pole to flatten a bit. It took about five tries of this until the pole was flat enough to fit in the gap between the door and the wall. He bent the end up and brought it too the door. He jammed it in and began pulling. He kept pulling and pulling until suddenly his paw locked up. This was one of the most painful experiences he's experienced. Even dying wasn't this painful. He used the pain and turned it into strength. The same kind you have when you're running for your life or the kind that mothers use to lift trees off of their kids. He used his right hand, his good hand, and pulled like a madman. This was just enough to bend the bolt out of the lock. He dropped the bar and threw open the door. His paw was still locked but stopped hurting, but he couldn't be sure it the pain would be gone for long. The door to the observation room was unlocked, so he quickly got his trousers and shirt on. He found his socks and boots in the corner of the room. His paw began to loosen, to which Mark thanked as many gods as he could name for. He looked at his paw and noticed over twenty needle marks on his wrist and the back of his paw, all of which looked fresh. He didn't spend long examining his paw when he heard people running towards the room.

Mark quickly jumped behind the door, ready to plough into the first person that comes through. Mark was only waiting for a few seconds before someone came in. Mark slowly and quietly closed the door and locked it. A wave of panic rushed over him as the sound of the lock was amazingly loud. The other person, a middle aged skunk with glasses, spun around and was about to call out until Mark tackled him against the glass. The force of the tackle caused the skunks head to slam off the glass with enough force to knock him out cold. Mark quickly threw on the labcoat the fur had on and searched his pockets. He had an identity card and a pen. He put his ear to the door to hear if anyone else was in the corridor. Satisfied that it was clear he slipped out of the room and quickly made his way down to down the corridor. There weren't many doors, but each one had a window on them. He checked each one, almost every room was either empty or a lab, and each one was locked. The last door, however, had a keycard lock on it. Mark took a chance and used the skunks card on the door. It worked, which was lucky, but as soon as he went inside he noticed there were other furs in the lab too. Mark quickly pinned the card back on, but put it on facing backwards as to make it look alright. He grabbed a clipboard off the nearest table and kept his head down. There

were four tables in the room, two were being used by a lion and a bear. Even if Mark wanted to, he couldn't take one of these on, let alone both at the same time. The third table was empty except for discarded pieces of paper and a few test tubes. The fourth table, to his infinite happiness, was the rest of his stuff. Mark looked around. There was no way he'd be able to just carry his stuff off all fine-and-dandy. He'd have to make a distraction. Mark strolled over to the lions table, taking note of the way he was mixing different chemicals to make the same thick liquid that came from the mechanical arm. As the lion turned to talk to the bear, Mark added random combinations to the finished product until it started to bubble alarmingly. Mark quickly made his way back to his gear. As the lion turned back to his work, he yelled out to the bear that something was wrong. Mark took this time to put the rest of his clothes on and threw the labcoat into his bag. By this time, both the bear and the lion were working furiously on the new concoction Mark had happily given them. He left the room, happy that he'd gotten his stuff back. He quickly found the lifts at the end of the corridor. Mark entered the lift and saw the enormous amount of buttons on the panel. He chuckled to himself as he noticed that most were negative numbers, meaning he was underground. He was about to press the first floor button (he couldn't just walk out of the front door unchallenged) when he saw the skunk running at the lift and shouting "It's escaped! Get it contained NOW!". Mark slammed on the button repeatedly "Who the fuck are you calling 'It', asshole!?!". The doors on the lift closed well before the skunk had time to reach him. The lift started to move up quickly. Mark sank in the corner of the lift, not wanting to think about what'll happen to him after this. All he wanted to do was go home, back to the barren land that almost killed him. But these people saved him from that, just to make him some sort of lab rat?

The lift slowed quickly. Too quickly. The counter placed him between the -1 and -2 floors. Mark pounded on the panel "Work for fucks sake WORK!". The lift started to go back down. Mark went into the corner again "I give up. The one chance I had to escape and it didn't work. I'm going to die underground and with no clue about anything." The lift went to the very bottom floor. The door opened to 2 large furs, both holding small guns, pointed at the heap in the corner. One of them barked at him to get up, but Mark didn't care. The other grabbed him by the arm and brought him inside, like a teacher bringing a bold student to the principle. They walked for about half an hour until they came to a very fancy, important looking door. It opened with a futuristic hiss and Mark was sat down in a large armchair infront of an expensive desk. The room was covered in screens showing security footage from the entire complex, including his room, which was enlarged on the wall to his right. An elderly mouse was sitting in an extravagant chair behind the desk. "I suppose you're wondering why you're here." Said the mouse with a grin. "Don't give a shit." Mark grumbled. "Now now, Mark. There's no need for foul language." The mouse said, slightly aggitated. Clearly this fur was raised from a rich background, only they care whether people swear. "Fugoff" Said Mark, louder this time. "I know you must be confused and angry, but we DID save you from dying in that hellhole-" "I wish I did!" Mark shouted, "I don't want to live a prisoner." Mark sat up, getting angry at the mouse. "But you're special Mark, you have the honour of being our first experiment" This really got Mark mad "I'm not some sort of feral rat you can just pump full of drugs and see what happens! I'm still a fur and I still have rights!" Mark kicked the table with his boot, causing a face of pain in the mouse as his precious table was being hurt. "I assume you know about your arm, and about what happened to it..." This peaked Marks interest "That was an unfortunate side effect although it did confirm that we were on the right track. The only reason you were abe to break open that door was because you tapped into some of what gift we are trying to create." Mark leaned forward "And what exactly are you trying to create?" The mouse chuckled and smiled "Why we're, in Laymans terms, are creating a super-being! You are test number 1! You are the prototype to what will end up being given to every soldier in the US army. You should be proud. We haven't even begun to find out what you'll be able to do. That's why we need you here." "Fuck you, I want to go. You want me to co-operate? I won't. You want me to be alive to see how I'll change, I'll fix that too. There's no way I'm staying here." The mouse looked surprised for a moment and sat back. He thought for a moment and turned away. "You would really kill yourself, just to get out of here?" Mark sat back and sighed "Yes, I wouldn't be able live as a test subject."

"You may go. Tell the guard that James Henry has let you leave." Mark stood up and walked towards the door. He turned around and faced the mouse "Thank you Mr.Henry" Mark left the room and walked towards the lift. A large German Shepard stood infront of the lift and had is paw on his gun. Mark told the canine that James Henry let him go, to which the German Shepard nodded and stepped aside. "Oh, before I forget, give these back the skunk who's head I smashed and tell him that there's no hard feelings" Mark took out the labcoat and card and gave it to the bewildered guard. Mark took the lift to the ground floor. He walked into a very modest foyer with one receptionist and a few chairs around the wall for visitors to sit at. The receptionist, a well-endowed squirrel in her early twenties looked up from her computer and shouted "Excuse me, are you Mark?" in an accent that grated painfully against

the ears. "Yes I am!" Mark shouted back, giving her some of her own medicine. "This package is for you" She took out a large envelope from under the desk and handed it to him. Mark was confused and ripped the envelope open. In it contained about $30,000 and a file with his name on it. Mark threw everything into his bag bid farewell to the receptionist. Mark walked outside onto a quiet street with only a few other people and an occasional car or two passing by. This was the first time he was looking at a world that wasn't in complete ruin. He looked left. He looked right. "If in doubt, go left" Mark turned left and started walking. He had no idea what he was going to do but he knew he would never be safe. He felt more vulnerable than ever in this new world and all he wanted right then was someone he knew to talk to. He sighed sadly as he thought that they were all probbaly long dead. He'd have to find a place and try to survive. He knew nobody but he reassured himself that would soon change, one way or another...

***

As Mark left his office, James smiled as he was thanked for the simple gift of freedom. He called in the German Shepard, who was holding a labcoat in one paw and a card in another. James was confused for a second but decided to ignore it "I want surveillance on our determined little test subject. I want to know what he's up to, who he meets, and especially how he changes..." The German Shepard nodded and turned to walk away. James pressed the intercom button to the secretary on the ground floor "Jeane? I'd like you to give a wolf named Mark a package, he'll be leaving the building soon. The package should be arriving through the tube shortly" "Yessir Mr.Henry, the package just arrived" "Thank you Jeane". James turned off the intercom and shuddered. "I hate that damn accent of hers. It hurts my ears every time she talks"