FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It hadn't taken much to pull the outfit together. Melanie already had a full body scan of herself on file for ordering formal business dresses. She sat at her desk in the office she kept on Nagrim Prime, and took a sip of wine. She merged it with the more fanciful options of a body sculpting shop's creation system, and then began playing.

Obviously gross changes in her appearance that would require major surgery were right out but altering the shape of her face fur with pelt gel and adding a bright orange full body fur dye was easy enough. Melanie adjusted the model's stance slightly, making it more erect and commanding rather than Melanie's more relaxed posture. She zoomed in on the face, changing the eye color from blue to green, and added a trio of golden hoop earrings on the right ear. Melanie briefly considered the addition of a septum ring with a chain leading to the lowest earring, but immediately deleted it. Too tacky, she decided. There were some parts of her body she preferred remain unpierced. Instead she added a triangular headpiece between the model's ears, bright silk red with golden embroidery.

She zoomed the model out again, adding bright golden bangles to each wrist, and a matching anklet to the left leg, a pair of golden rings on each paw. Clothing though, that would be tricky. Melanie's usual choice was conservative business dresses, like what a wealthy Commoner would wear, but with bright Noble embroidery. Go wild, Melanie decided. The idea was to create a persona the exact opposite of what anyone knowing her would expect after all.

She sipped more wine.

A few clicks and murmured commands to her comp, and soon the model was dressed in bright gold... No, red would be better, Melanie decided, putting the model in harem pants and a bandeau, showing off a generous amount of belly fur. Eyepatch? Too cliché. Instead Melanie added a gun belt with a stunner holster on one hip and a coiled whip on the other.

More wine...

She made sure the door to her office was locked and the privacy screen active, then turned on the holographic projector in the ceiling, displaying her creation in life size. It looked absolutely loony, the creation of a fantastic adventure program (or a bored noblevixen, she thought) not anything an actual pirate would wear.

But isn't that what you want? Melanie imagined the image before her saying. _Something wildly different. Something better. _

"I'd look like an idiot," Melanie muttered.

You'd look like what you want to be, the image replied in her head. Or would you prefer sitting behind a desk and getting drunk on brandy, like your brother Marl?

_ _ Prompted, Melanie looked down at her palm comp for a moment. There was the file she'd found, with the funds transfer that Marl had received from the pirate captain, in exchange for the classified routes of three of House Lovejoy's freighters. She'd caught it while auditing some Marl's more questionable expense reports during his recent tenure as the plantation's manager. The data in the reports had been enough to convince her parents to remove Marl from his position of authority. Melanie had not passed along the information she'd found about Marl's collusion with the pirates. For one thing, that would put Marl in the crosshairs of Stellar Law. For another...

For another, it's such a tempting idea, isn't it? Her reflection stated.All Marl will do is go back home with his tail between his legs, while you get stuck doing all of his work. How is that fair?

_ _ "It's not a matter of 'fair' it's a matter of duty," Melanie retorted.

Duty, duty, duty , her reflection mocked. That's the Noble caste way, isn't it? Can't be seen having fun. _ _Your Commoners might start thinking you're not indispensable. Her reflection leaned forward. You have plenty of responsibilities, but how much power do you really have?

_ _ "I don't care about power," Melanie lied.

_ All you need to do is buy out the captain's share of that pirate ship, and it and its crew will be yours to command. You could go anywhere you want, do anything you want, and no one will ever connect it to prim and proper Lady Melanie._ Her reflection twirled, hips and tail swaying vivaciously, coming to a halt facing Melanie again, one paw on the stunner at their hip. It'd be so easy...

_ _ "What if someone got hurt?" Melanie countered.

That's what stunners are for, her reflection noted. Make your crew wear power armor when they board, and only attack unarmed civilian freighters. They'll surrender quick enough. They likely won't even put up a fight after you get a reputation for mercy.

_ _ "That... that might work," Melanie said slowly.

And who knows. Maybe you'll find a hunky foxen lad to hold hostage and make your cabin boy.

_ _ Melanie snorted, an image rising in her mind. Herself dressed in that ridiculous outfit, sitting in a throne-like captain's chair, a bare-chested, well-muscled male kneeling leashed at her feet. "How tempting," she muttered.

Yes, isn't it?

Melanie raised her wine glass to her lips, to find that it was empty. She looked up again, to see the holographic image staring straight ahead, static and lifeless. Melanie blinked and shook her head. She'd definitely been drinking too much wine. Still...

Almost on its own volition, her paw reached down and started tapping in a command on her comp, creating a secure message packet addressed to Marl's pirate contact.

We must talk, she wrote. I have proposition you will find most intriguing.