FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

James took his seat in the waiting room and patted himself on the back for making good time. Then, he waited, and waited. Soon, he began to nod off while waiting, until the receptionist said, "Mr. Scale, they're ready for you."

With that, he stood up and went through the door into a room where people of various shapes and sizes and races sat in a circle around one figure, a Kerati with a thin frame and extra meat on the chest. As he sat in an open chair, he said, "Before we start, I recently found out that my daughter might be permanently blind. So, I'm sorry if I'm not in the best mood. I missed one appointment, and I'm not missing another."

He looked at the counselor and stretched an open hand signalling for them to speak. "So, what all are we going to cover here?"

"Lots of stuff."

"Alright then, let's begin."

"Well first, we should head to another room."

"Oh, alright."

James stood up, along with the rest of the group, and followed the Kerati into a room lined with desks and chairs all facing a screen. It reminded him very much of school in America. Before he sat down, he asked, "Are we watching any more surgery videos?"

"No, no. This is to learn how to function as another species."

"So," he said as he fully sat down, "I take it the finer details will come individually."

"That they will. This whole lesson takes a week."

"A week, eh?"

"Yes, so take notes as we go. You are tested to see if you are deemed worthy."

James nodded and whipped his tablet out spinning it once before setting it lat on the table. The instructor saw this, sighed and said, "Really?"

He scooted down and darted his eyes left and right. He noticed Emily entering as he did and raised his hand a little so she could see. She struck his hand, and as she sat, he asked, "Are you thinking of changing your base form?"

"Maybe."

"Making the change from yinglet official?"

"Yes, I hate being one!"

"I can see that."

"And, I never did like it. Maybe this is best for me as well!"

James sat up and crossed his fingers as the lesson began. The Kerati went up front and said, "First we must find out what your inner creature is, what you really feel!"

He watched as she passed some lists around, and immediately scanned it when one came to him. When he was in the middle of it, Emily tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Father, can you read that for me?"

"Sure thing."

He cleared his throat and began listing the races and creatures included. When the instructor looked at him, he said, "Oh, she's blind."

"She is?"

"Yeah, you can see for yourself if you're not convinced."

The Kerati raised her hands and said, "I'll take your word on that."

With that, James continued reading the list out loud. "Dasite, birds, Yinglet."

"Give me a moment."

"Alright."

While waiting, James marked Bat and Dragon. Then, he looked over his shoulder at Emily. "Possibly a bird of sorts," she said.

"What kind?"

"I'm not sure."

"I think I'll go with either a full dragon or a hybrid of a bat."

"I possibly want to be a macaw hybrid."

"Hybrid with what else?"

"Another bird. I've seen some of earth's hybrid macaws*

"Interesting, eh?"

He glanced up front, then at the clock. "I'm going to be a hybrid macaw!" yelled Emily. James looked back at her, along with a couple others. "What?"

James turned forward while others kept looking at her. Some turned away. "So, I take it you're done?"

"Yes. I might be a cockatoo, actually."

"Alright then. Now, I just gotta figure out what exact hybrid I want to be."

A few minutes after, James leaned to the side with his list in hand as someone went around collecting them. Emily handed hers over, and James looked up front as they took his. "Everyone," said the instructor, "write in their journal 5 creatures you would like to be."

"Five minimum?"

"Yes, you can have at least 10."

He sighed and pulled his tablet closer to him. "Uh," said Emily, "I'll need help with this."

"Writing?"

"Yes, I can't see what I write."

"Alright, lemme see it. Tell me what you want written."

She handed her sheet over and said, "Galah Cockatoo, a hybrid macaw, barn owl, harpy eagle, or a akita."

He wrote them down as she listed, then handed it back to her before writing on his own, 'Dragon, Bat, Sergal, Nevrean, Shark, Yinglet.' James gave Emily a thumb up despite the fact that she could not see it. She leaned closer and licked the whole of his thumb. He pulled it back and wiped it on his pants. "This is exactly like school on earth."

"It is?"

"Exactly."

"Oh. I never was in school."

"It wasn't the best experience."

Emily shrugged and said, "Couldn't have been that bad."

"What would you expect from a relic of the industrial revolution with only one or two changes?"

"You think I know?"

"Let's see, you spent eight hours a day being ordered to sit there while someone drones on about something that you'll forget as soon as you graduate."

"Oh, fun!"

"Also, you could have a memorably amazing teacher, one that makes little impact or one who's some geezer who shouts at students, holds them hostage in class and is physically threatening."

"Oh, that sounds perfect!"

"Oh, there's also the abuse from the other inmates."

"Nope!"

Emily threw up her hands and marched into the closet. James cleared his throat and said, "That's the closet."

Emily opened the door as James continued, "Well, there was the possibility of making friends, but tough luck if you wanted to show them your best gun or sword, because those types of things were not allowed! Oh, and then Y2k happened, and then we had to deal with the threat of school shootings."

"That isn't anything new."

"It felt like more focus shifted to them after y2k."

"That sounded like propaganda."

"For gun control maybe. I think you can see why I supported companies like Spacex."

"Yeah, I can see why."

"They were looking to the stars when very few were."

"And ready to over populate other planets!"

James shrugged, and Emily continued, "I'm wondering if that mass genocide was a good thing."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Well, that's kind of a gray area, a dark gray area."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Why is it such a gray area?"

"On one hand, overpopulation. On the other hand, it tears families apart."

"Does it matter?"

"Are we really debating the ethics of genocide?"

"Yes, yes I am!"

"Jesus," muttered James.

"What now?"

"Never mind."

At that point, the Kerati said, "That concludes our sesson for today."

He got up and left the room, with Emily close behind. He stopped by the counselor and asked, "Hey, when's the next appointment?"

"Sometime soon."

"A few days, or a week?"

"Few days."

"Alright."

James gave a salute-like wave before going back out to the waiting room. They hurried outside and ran towards the Red Comet. Once he went through the airlock, he unbuttoned his shirt and headed up to his quarters, where he went into the bathroom and stripped for a shower.