FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

~ The worn down motel provided all of the discretion that Detective Clip had planned for and counted on, the walkway outside a dull glow of the morning sun and cheap neon trim. The bathroom smelled of the faint mixture of bleach and mildew, an eternal struggle carried out between guests' stays. The jackalope glared into the cracked mirror, ears pinning back with frustration.

~ "Bell is counting on me.", she reminded herself. "His sister, too."

~ A moment of magic later, and the jackalope peered into the reflection of Curt, the fennec bounty hunter. Her body armor was replaced with torn up leathers, her sidearm now appearing as the empty holster for a stun pistol.

~ "I'm here to eat all of the olives on the salad bar.", practicing the voice and tone a bit, "And I don't care if there's any left for you." The bounty hunter nodding to himself in agreement. "Because I'm a jerk and I'm here to make money and eat olives."

~ The bit of silly voicework managed to sooth the detective, and the eyes of the bounty hunter in the mirror stopped glimmering with the rage of a frustrated sun.

~ The counterfeit papers hadn't come cheap, but they packed in nicely to the folder of contract and junk files. The detective checked twice that the documents she'd need were in the file, and that the batteries in the tracking device were fresh before Curt, the fennec bounty hunter, strode out into the world to seek his prize.

~ The fennec didn't have any trouble waving down a cab, nor in keeping it around long enough to get a ride once he turned to show his holster empty. "I just need to get to Woodslawn Fabrications."

~ Stepping out of the cab, Curt whistled at the dignity of his greeting.

~ "Geeze, the company owner out here to do business with little old me."

~ The otter in a well worn suit smiled in reply, "I'm always on hand to do some business. Come on inside.", motioning for the fennec to follow.

~ The detective, wearing the illusion of being a bounty hunter, found the dispelling ward in the lobby to be of mild annoyance but no substance. She might've been given cause to worry, had the shop foreman paid someone enough to care about the ward actually working. Her disguise held without difficulty.

~ The machine shop was an expansive one, a sprawling factory of well worn machines and equipment. The entire shop floor was a flurry of cutting, grinding, and welding. Curt, the fennec bounty hunter, noticed that a great many of the machines seemed to be running on full automatic with banged up drones scuttling parts and barstock about the greasy walkways. An atypically advanced control system for a factory who's machines all looked to be just shy of falling part.

~ "I know who's been doing the stealing, I just need to know where they're at.", the fennec explained to the otter, "And as I said, you've got a machine they're likely to nick. So lemmie put this tracker on it and I'll give you a twenty-five percent cut of the finder's fee on what all equipment gets found at their base of operations.", fixing the otter with a glare.

~ The otter turned about to glower at the fennec, "Forty percent."

~ "Thirty five."

~ "Deal. That one you said before is over this way, come on.", the owner leading the way.

~ Along the walk, the bounty hunter stopped abruptly at a machine they recognized the features of. "Hold up.", he called to the owner who stopped walking but called out to a worker some distance away to stop his lolly-gagging about.

~ The fennec leaned close to the machine's control panel, crooning out a soft whistle of the tune that Clip had sung at Bell's most recent birthday party, the surprise one his sister had arranged. The pitched whine of the machine's grinding wheel replied in turn with the chorus of the song.

~ The owner, finished berating the worker, turned about to inquire about the nature of the delay. The jackalope before him, wearing her full body armor and directing her pistol directly at his chest offered no explanation beyond, "You're going to get everyone out of here, and I'm going to put you in handcuffs."

~ The otter nodded meekly, leaning over to pull the nearby fire alarm.

~ "You're going to take me to the Synth you've got wired into the control node."