FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

When Max opened his eyes once more he found himself no longer in the small room on the terraforming colony; instead he was curled up in a plush bed normally reserved for dogs and cats. When he tried to stand he nearly fell over as his body unfurled, which as he looked down at himself was no longer human at all. He could feel the fully-formed wings and tail twitch behind him as his brain struggled to process the fact they were connected to him. When he tried to get up on two legs he found the task almost impossible, his jaw dropping when he saw his arms were no longer arms, but a pair of forepaws to make it easier to walk on all fours.

Just as he was able to maneuver himself enough to sit up he found he had enough dexterity in his new muscular limbs to reach up to his face and felt what he had feared. Instead of the normal human features he had all his life his face had expanded out completely into a reptilian muzzle, though slightly more angled. Sharp teeth lined his lips, and when he stuck out his tongue he found it to be long and forked. A further sweep back of his paws revealed a long set of horns and animalistic ears that twitched when he touched them, which completed the image in his mind of what he had become.

A dragon.

A feral dragon.

As he tried to investigate further he began to realize that he didn't have any ability to move on his own, as though he was a prisoner in his own body. All he could do was watch as the dragon continued to move about the room, hopping off the plush bed that he had been laying on to walk over to one of the walls. The feeling was surreal, while he could feel, hear, and see everything around him, he had no control over what he did. After a few attempts to try and move things himself he gave up and let the dream or whatever he was in take its course as the dragon moved up to one of the walls.

As his forepaws continued to touch his face and head while he preened himself in the mirror he saw something around his extended neck that caused him to pause. It was a collar; a simple band of leather that caused his new heart to nearly stop as his eyes widened at the discovery. His orange-yellow eyes were locked on the new article around his neck, but his mind was more focused on the confirmation that someone had essentially made him their pet. Could it be he had somehow completely lost control of himself and the hacker now controlled him completely, he wondered to himself as he saw his eyes make contact with the collar which caused him to look away in a huff.

Max could feel his nostrils flare with quick breaths as he began to look around the room he was held captive in. It was one befitting a pampered and intelligent pet, equipped with all manner of playthings and even a food fabricator that could give him whatever he wanted to eat. His brain began to race as he tried to figure out what had happened to get him to this situation, what had happened to the modders and the terraforming colony? How did they manage to get his body here and completely transformed without him waking up or knowing about it?

As his head felt like it was about to explode the door to the room opened and his eyes narrowed when a shadowy figure stood in the doorway backed by a bright light. "Come here," the garbled voice of the mysterious person said. "It's time to show you off."

At first Max felt a surge of hatred suffuse through his entire body as he realized this was the one who had changed him in the first place, but before he could use his newfound assets to eviscerate them, a wave of happiness washed over him and dampened the fires of anger. He knew he should still be angry and tear this person apart, but the emotion was no longer there for him to access anymore. Instead he felt his tail beginning to wag behind him as the figure once more called out for him to come towards them. Finally he found himself moving towards the doorway and Max thought he might at least find the identity of who did this to him, only to find them still shrouded in shadow even up close as they leaned down and attached a leash-like chain to his collar.

Max continued to feel himself trip and slide in his new mode of walking as they padded through the hallway into what appeared to be a main room, filled with other dark figures. Much like the one who led him they were bathed in shadows that made them completely unrecognizable as they ooohed and ahhhed their arrival. "What a fascinating specimen you have there!" One of the figures in the back said. "Where in the galaxy did you manage to procure such an exotic thing?"

"I have my connections," the one clutching his leash said. "Good breeding stock, too, once I find a mate for this one maybe you could get one of your own for the right price."

There was a sharp tug on the leash as Max tried to jump back from the one that was holding him, his attempts to get away quickly subdued despite his powerful form. He tried to shout out that he was originally a human that had been transformed and kept against his will, but the only thing that came out of his muzzle were growls and roars. The others seemed to be entertained by his loud but unintelligible protests, at least until he suddenly felt something wrap around his snout. The thick straps of leather held his mouth shut as he tried to shake his head to get it off of him.

"Certainly a feisty one," another figure said with a hearty laugh. "But I'm surprised that you are able to keep such an intimidating creature under control like that. What is your secret?"

"Well it's very simple, really," the figure holding Max said as he looked up at him. "The secret is... Max?" Max tilted his head in question as the garbled voice began to shift until it was something far more recognizable to him. "Max? Max?"

Max awoke with a gasp, bolting straight up as Nubi and Tamaria took a step back from him. The human felt himself panting as he looked down at himself and saw that he was still the same as when he went to sleep. The two modders helped him to his feet as he tried to shake off the dream he just had, though the images remained in his mind even as he took a shower to remove the sheen of sweat form his body. Even when he was fully awake and functional once again he still required someone to lean on in order to help walk, something that caused him to grow concerned, which Tamaria said she would explain when they got back to the medical bay.

Once they were back Max found the doctor present in the room, this time not asked to leave as the feline told him to sit down on the scanner once again. At this point the scans almost felt routine as he waited for the huge machine to finish, which took even longer this time until he was told to get off. Nubi helped him over to one of the chairs as the holographic image came up on display once again, this time the humanoid image that was supposed to represent him looked even less like it was supposed to as Tamaria and the doctor moved towards it.

"My name is Dr. Alexandre, Max," the doctor introduced as he went over and shook Max's hand, lingering on the elongated digits before letting go. "I do wish we could have met over better circumstances, but in my profession that is rarely the case. Nubi and Tamaria have brought me up to speed concerning your condition and asked me to do a full work up on you based on your past and present scans."

"So... can you change me back?" Max asked.

Dr. Alexandre turned towards the hologram and clicked a small device in his hands, which magnified several areas on the holographic projector. "I'm afraid that even before Tamaria tripped the protocol that caused the rapid acceleration of your transformation, there wouldn't be much we could do here," he explained as he switched from one view to the other. "The nerves have already been grown into your new appendages and the reason why you can't move very well is two-fold. The first is that your joints and muscles are shifting from the bipedal stance we all enjoy to a quadrupedal stance that you see in most animals. The second is the growth of what appear to be a pair of wings underneath the skin of your back. At this rate removing what's left of the suit that hasn't integrated into your body wouldn't matter, the nanobots have certainly infused into most of your system."

Max looked up in shock at the last image displayed on the holographic projector. From the side he looked like a hunchback as he could see the skeletal frame of the new wings folded up underneath the suit. Now that he was aware of them he couldn't help but feel them inside, just waiting for a chance to burst out and add to his already monstrous appearance. "So that's it?" He asked the doctor. "I'm screwed?"

"No, not necessarily," Nubi interjected. "The doctor said that there's nothing we can do here, but that doesn't mean that we don't have any more options. There's actually a space station where some of us get our less conventional mods, real top-of-the-line stuff, but not exactly the most legal, where we can send you in order to try and get you the treatment you need. I'm talking full gene therapy, cerebral augmentations... they even have a state-of-the-art VI there I'm told."

As the two continued to describe all the things there that could potentially help him all he could think about was the fact that he would have to go outside the colony in order to get it. Even though he knew he couldn't stay within the dampening field of the terraforming planet forever, it felt sooner rather than later he was being asked to leave. He knew out there the hacker was probably waiting for him, looking to regain connection with him in order to potentially speed his transformation to its final conclusion. How would he even be able to get to the station if the hacker completely took him over as soon as he steps foot off of the planet?

When he shared such doubts with Tamaria she just held up a finger and ran out of the room, then came back with a vial of silver liquid. "I have a bit of good news on my end as well," she said as she motioned for the doctor to grab her something, who nodded and went over to one of the nearby bins. "I worked while you were sleeping and, thanks partially to the devious little trap that wanker set, I was able to isolate the signal of both the transmission as well as where the source of the reprogramming came from. Turns out the nanites used in your suit were not part of the original suit design, but rather they were specialized medical nanites with the ability to do what it's doing to you, extremely advanced in both the hardware and software."

"I knew it..." Max cringed as he slammed his fist into the metal. "That slimy leech Albert did this to me, he's the only one with the knowhow of this suit. When I find him I'm going to strangle him, even if it means he can't cure me anymore."

"I would actually stay very far away from him at the moment," Tamaria chastised as she took the auto injector handed to her by the doctor and began to fill it with the silver substance. "These nanites I made will block the signal and help slow down the ones already in your system, but they're only a means of slowing it down. Eventually they'll degrade and the closer you are to him the stronger of a signal he'll have to this suit, which in turn will mean he can regain control faster. You need to go to the space station and get help there, if they can stop or reverse this then you can go and strangle that guy with your own human hands."

Max nodded and took a deep breath as Tamaria walked over and injected him with the new batch of nanites, then he was escorted to the recreation bay of the station while Nubi and Tamaria made arrangements for him. Despite the bad prognosis he felt unusually hopeful about his situation, especially with the two modders helping him. As he waited he tried to take his mind off things with the various games and other items there, but all his mind wanted to do was focus on the smug look of the one who did this too him. He began to imagine all sorts of scenarios of the terrible things he would do to him, from getting him fired and disgraced to far less pleasant ones.

Before he could sink too far into his revenge fantasies; however, he saw the rubber gasmask of the jackal appear in front of him and inform him it was time to go. He was led back to the short-range teleportation chamber and beamed up into the space station, once more passing the sour security guard before arriving back in the main hanger. Once they were in the main hub Nubi led him to another branch of the docking bay, this one with the corporate logo of the terraforming company and a big sign that said employees only. Nubi looked around a few times before he scanned his security card in and motioned for Max to follow him inside before he quickly closed the door behind them.

"Well this has certainly been fun," Nubi said with a chuckle once he made sure they were in the clear. "This supply shuttle is going to the space station we talked about to pick up some more chemicals. It was supposed to leave in a week and a half, but Tamaria bumped up the schedule and I overused some chemicals in order to cover it up. She also listed you as an organic chemical expert, but that's going to fall apart the second you step foot on the station. I have a friend or two on that station, though, so I'm going to make some calls while you're in transit to see if we can't get an inside man. I don't suppose you can explain what happened to you still?"

Max tried to open his mouth to say anything related to what was happening to him, but like when he got there in the first place, he found himself unable to utter a single word. "That's what we feared," Nubi confirmed as he held out a small flash drive to him. "This contains your whole story, whether or not they believe it is iffy, but they're research nuts over there. If you can pique their curiosity you may very well have a chance. I wish we could do more, but if we made a single mention that we allowed an unauthorized person on a terraforming planet we'd all be tossed in corporate prison for the rest of our lives."

Nubi wished Max good luck once more before giving him a few final instructions and leaving. Once he was gone Max hobbled his way over to one of the nearby chairs and waited for the pilots to come and get him, hoping he didn't have to show any sort of credentials to prove he was an organic chemist. At this point it was worth the risk; however, as he sat as best he could and let out a deep sigh. As he sat uncomfortably in the chair a few minutes passed before he heard his commlink beep, and when he opened it he found a sender of random letters and numbers asking to live chat with him. For a split second Max was about to hang up on him before he realized that it may cause the hacker to lash out, and despite his better judgment, he decided to answer the call.

"Did you really think you could stop me with such a desperate maneuver?" the electronically masked voice said on the other end as Max looked at the shadowy figure. "As you can see your tampering has only hastened your fate, if you come back to your home station you can spend whatever time you have left as a human in relative comfort before my program is complete."

"You think I'm just going to roll over that easily, Albert?" Max sneered, hearing the sound of silence on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I may not have stopped you with my desperate maneuver as you call it, but I did get one step closer. You should have leashed me when you had the chance instead of letting me roam free just to show me how superior you can be. Once I get whatever you had done to me reversed I'll make sure that you regret it for the rest of your life, which should be behind bars!"

Once more there was a pause on the other end, the shadowy figure unmoved until it finally began to speak again. "So you think you have it all figured out," the hacker replied. "You know nothing of the power I wield over you. For instance, what would stop me from ending your little crusade now and reactivating the program to instantly convert you?"

"You mean besides the nanites I got that are blocking you from doing so?" Max stated with as much confidence as he could muster. "How about the fact you could kill me with such a rapid change, or that if you did do it, you'd likely lose your prize, anyway? That's why you're doing this to me, right? Some sort of sick trophy that you can parade around for your rich friends?"

"You are merely a proof of concept," the hacker replied simply. "Your survival does insure the success of my project, but after that I no longer have any use for you. Other than, as you said, a trophy of my accomplishment with the potential to be a subject of further study. Of course if this works then I can only imagine the price I could fetch with your eggs, or has that part not happened yet?"

Max felt his face grow red as the hacker laughed, but before he could muster up the composure to reply the call suddenly ended and the record of his conversation was instantly wiped. As soon as it finished Max bolted up and banged and threw anything he could, which in the small lounge area wasn't much before he collapsed back into the chair. The dream he had, whether or not that was what it actually was, seemed to be the potential reality that the hacker had in store for him if he couldn't get himself fixed. His body was proof that the dragon part was true, and though he didn't want to, a quick reach between his legs confirmed that he was not only becoming a scaled beast, but a female one at that. While Tamaria had mentioned that there was the possibility that a feral form like what he was turning into would have extensive alterations down there, he could feel deep down that wasn't the case as his suit seemed to shift between his legs as a response.

Finally after nearly half an hour of being agonized over his thoughts and his new and potential changes he started to clean up what he had destroyed, only for the pilots to interrupt him halfway through and ask if he was ready. Not wanting to miss his only chance, Max nodded and dropped the pile of tablet readers to follow them out into the shuttle. The craft itself was huge, mostly comprised of a single bay for cargo to be held and a few smaller compartments up front for the pilots and any human passengers they might have. This gave Max another small glimmer of hope, the lack of crew quarters meant that it was for short range transports, which meant the space station wasn't too far away from where they were...