FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The text was bright red and stylistically rendered in the manner of the Goosebumps logo; with ugly pustules that seemed to drip off the pristine white of his smartphone screen. Other than the garish font the splash screen appeared boringly dull next to the flashy thumbnails promoting leading app games and their trashy knockoffs. Ironically, it was the contrast that first drew Juan in; red word on white seeming to jump right out at his eye next to all the usual offerings of Fruit Ninja, Flappy Bird and Rink Runner. The fact that it had appeared in his `suggested-for-you' collection was the clincher which really caught the tanuki's notice. The list itself was short, and mostly sci-fi themed in nature, reflecting his unusual interests - certainly not the sort of category where one expects to find bootleg Tindr knockoffs. Combined, all that piqued enough curiosity to merit a closer look:

Is the monotony of life getting you down? Do you crave challenge and excitement? Have you ever wanted to match wits with an intellectual equal? Wait no longer! The team that brought you Tindr and Grindr are proud to present the world's first Choose-Your-Own nemesis app! Whether you're in the mood for a friendly rivalry or a villainous foe, Hindr has you covered! Terms and Conditions apply

If it was meant as a joke, someone had certainly gone to the trouble to make it a good one. Selecting the icon called up a splash page of reviews from satisfied customers. The aim; or so it seemed, was to hook strangers up with each other as mutual rivals just for the fun of it. Players would choose a nemesis based off a short descriptive profile by swiping right and the algorithm would pair two users at random. Once matched up, each would post their stated aims; inviting their opponent to thwart them. It seemed very much like having a virtual penpal, albeit one who would compete with you at every opportunity. Interesting - if you cared for that kind of stuff. Juan did not. The young tanuki was just about to return to the apps screen when something else caught his eye: a list of tabs at the top of the screen leading to different pages. Some appeared accessible while others were grayed out. The page Juan was currently on was labelled Beginners', withHardcore' available as another listing just a few tabs away. To Juan, the whole thing appeared out of place enough to justify poking at it with the equivalent of a mental shrug.

Welcome to the Hardcore difficulty setting. Here, our sorting algorithm will match two users in a no-holds-barred hacker showdown! Race against the clock to dox your opponent and reduce them to utter ruin before they do the same to you -

``Oi! Give that back!'' Juan made a few half-hearted jumps to try and retrieve his phone, more for formality's sake than any real conviction. With nearly two-head's advantage over the shorter tanuki, the only way he was getting his phone back was if Abraham wanted him to.

Aside from being in the same sixth grade class at Springwood Elementary, they were as different as chalk from cheese and made a most unusual pair. Like most members of his species, Juan was short and what could be charitably described as chubby; with messy head-fur that looked like he just tumbled out of bed. In contrast to the rest of him, the tanuki's forepaws were like those of a pianist or surgeon: slim and dexterous; an effect somewhat ruined by almost being perpetually coated with Cheetos dust - the stereotypical hacker snack.

Abe, on the other paw, was every preteen girl's dream. Tall for his age and pursuing a sports scholarship, the golden eagle looked like a poster boy for some cub modelling agency and had a great personality to boot. Juan always suspected that the true reason behind his friend's popularity had more to do with how the eagle's impressive wingspan made it next to impossible to wear a shirt. It certainly made something as simple as walking through the halls a time consuming experience. Yet despite or perhaps because of their differences, the pair had always been best friends.

- not for the faint of heart... Wow, this is some next level crap you've got here, bro. What the - ?'' Abraham's complaint trailed off into an avian squawk as Juan's phone-camera function kicked in and went off right in his eyes.Dammit!''

``Serves ya right, Mister too-hot-for-his-shirt,'' Juan leapt for the chance to retrieve his phone while his buddy was otherwise occupied. The app was still open, though it had somehow transitioned to the registration screen during their scuffle. Hmm...

``Wait, you're not seriously considering it, are you? Who d'you think you are - Neo?''

``Pfft - as if! I'm way cooler, for starters,'' something; perhaps the ingrained habit of public education, had somehow prompted Juan to automatically fill out his personal details in the spaces provided. He barely stopped himself filling in his real name just in time, substituting it for the four letter hacker-handle that was his calling card: F-A-U-X

You certainly DO have a cooler name, I'll give you that,'' Abe blinked owlishly, attempting to clear the residual spots still swimming in his vision.So how does this work?''

Exactly like Tindr, apparently - if the user interface was any indication. Once the Faux persona was created, short bios complete with snapshots flashed across Juan's screen, inviting a user to swipe left or right to dismiss or indicate an interest. Most of the available selection were adults, and not exactly ones to tangle with if their descriptions were anything to go by.

``How about this - Hacker Handle: Switch. Interests include hunting and taxidermy,'' Abraham waggled the phone in front of his buddy's face. It showed a heavyset fur with dark scowling eyes and biceps scrawled with tattoos.

``Ha-ha, no. Next,''

Ooh, how about this?'' Abraham swiped left, replacing the biker thug lookalike with a new profile.Name: Aiden Pearce. Hobbies include collapsing the economy, and hanging with his nephew,''

``Pass,''

``Pass? Oh come on! Guy's as wussy as they come! Did you even see how he dresses? Or do you really think you can go toe to toe with one of them other hard cases?''

That got Juan thinking. Perhaps Abraham did have a point. Most of the profiles were adults, and even then of a more criminal variety. What did he even THINK he was getting into, going along with something like this? ``I'd rather pick on somebody my own size,''

``Yeah, right - like there's a chance in hell they've got kids signing up for something like this,''

``I'm a kid and I signed up,''

``That's because you are totally nuts, and I mean that in the best possible - no...friggin...way,''

What?'' swiping his phone from a flabbergasted Abe, Juan took in the latest profile that had caught the golden eagle's attention.Name: Silver. Age: 8. Species: Fox. Interests include Saturday morning cartoons, mind-games and murder. Are you kidding me?''

``You did say you wanted someone your own size,''

She's frickin' eight, dude!'' Juan thrust his phone at his buddy's beak. The profile portrait showed a little cub from the back; head turned shyly around towards the camera with a coquettish look in their eye. For some reason, the kit had opted to go shirtless in their profile pic, showing a lush pelt of reddish-brown fur with speckles of white. There was something not quite right, but he couldn't quite pinpoint it.Looks like she shares your taste in topless fashion though,''

``You're just jealous,''

They met gazes. ``You thinkin' what I'm thinking?''

``You're never going to give it a rest if I pass this up, are you?''

``Nope!''

Oh well... Juan claw-swiped right.

The congratulatory you-have-been-matched notification showed up sooner than he had expected, accompanied by a tiny message popup on his phone:

From: Silver

To: Faux

C U Soon : )

Ooh...looks like she's got your phone number, dude! Chick ain't playing around!'' True to form, Abe thought the entire situation immensely hilarious.Ready to match wits with a second grader?''

``You know it,'' brashness aside, the suddenness of it all was definitely NOT what he was expecting; Juan's heart was still racing though he tried his best not to show it. How HAD she gotten his phone? He hadn't been silly enough to put his real number in the application form, had he? Part of him regretted the whole thing, but hacker pride was at stake and it wouldn't do to back down now.

Game on.

---

Two bags of Cheetos and several cans of Jolt later found Juan seriously evaluating his life choices. His search in the usual online channels yielded no fruit. Whoever this `Silver' was; she certainly knew a thing or two about hiding her online presence. Surely a little girl couldn't be any more talented than the teachers at Springwood whose accounts he hacked regularly...or could she?

And then it hit him - pseudonyms. Of course! He'd used Faux as his hacker handle, and there was no reason why `Silver' wouldn't be doing the same. The fact that he'd wasted a few hours assuming that was her real name filled Juan with shame. Classic rookie mistake; one he was just about to rectify when his mom's voice broke the tanuki's concentration.

``Time to get ready for school!''

That was when it hit him he hadn't slept a wink, wasting time fooling around with search engines the night before. Crap. Well, at least things couldn't get any worse.

The day inched by in a sleep deprived haze. He barely got the gist of anything, missed three easy questions in Math, and to top it off there was dodgeball to follow in gym. Like most in the sacred Brotherhood of Nerds, Hackers and Social Misfits, Juan hated gym with a passion but dodgeball in particular. It was though the universe had conspired to make this day as miserable as possible. To make matters worse, Abraham seemed to be in excellent throwing form and having the time of his life. ``Ow. Ow... Ow! And also...ow!''

Gotta learn how to duck sometime, bro,'' Abe commented as they got changed in the showers, unfazed as usual by the jealous and admiring stares he was getting from both genders alike.How's the hacking coming along, by the way? Managed to get her yet?''

``Mmff,'' that did not even dignify a response. Nobody deserved to be so chipper in the mornings.

``Ahh...chin up, dude. You're sure to dox her eventually. Thanks for the printouts you filched for me for last period's test by the way,''

``Please tell me you dumped the copies,'' The last thing he needed was angry teachers threatening to suspend him for stealing test papers from the faculty computers and cheating.

Relax, you worry too much,'' a wing slapped him companionably on the back with more force than was necessary.There goes the bell. Race ya?''

Definitely way too chipper for his tastes. Someone that energetic about gym class definitely had to be up to something. Would it kill Abe to slow down once in a while? Hadn't they always walked to class together? Perhaps it was time to re-evaluate this particular relationship.

That particular thought was just crossing his mind as the tanuki wrenched open his locker - only to be met with a sudden avalanche of paper. Overbalancing, he fell and landed hard on his rear to a chorus of giggles...which; unfortunately, spelt the least of his problems. There was something familiar about the stacks of paper still pouring out of his locker. A page fluttering past on a draft caught his eye: Property of Education Board. Do not Distribute

Juan suppressed a groan, already anticipating the steely grip of the Discipline Master's paws around his shoulder.

``Young man, please report to the principal's office.''

Yep, it definitely was one of THOSE days...

--

``Suspended? For cheating?'' Abe's voice sounded more surprised than sympathetic, which Juan did not appreciate in the least.

``Yeah, no thanks to you. When I told you to dump the test paper copies, I did not mean dump them in my locker! What's wrong with you?'' he felt he could be justified at raising his voice in this case, especially with his rear still smarting from his parents' reaction to that particular development.

Dude, I SWEAR I dumped them like you told me to!'' the golden eagle was the very picture of injured innocence.How would I even get the combination to your locker anyway?''

Huh. That actually WAS a pretty good point. How HAD Abraham gotten hold of his locker combination, unless -

C U Soon : )

Could it be? Profile pictures definitely could be doctored, and the way the text message arrived at his phone within minutes of his registering on that Hindr app was certainly suspicious. Almost like someone had known he was going to register, and timed it exactly for that moment.

``Abraham is Silver,'' saying it out loud, everything seemed to make sense. Was it really that much of a stretch to picture the eagle as a skilled hacker in his own right? Abe had spent enough time in his company after all, long enough to pick some tricks up. And it wasn't like he was a slouch in other areas...

``I feel your pain, dude. Things aren't that great with us as well. Someone got into our finances and suddenly our family's credit rating is shot to hell - what's the matter, bro? You're sounding a little off,''

So that was how he wanted it to go, did he?

``You realize, of course--This means war.''

--

The next few days saw Juan step up his campaign of subterfuge in earnest. If there was one thing good about being suspended from school; it was the sudden increased amount of free time he found himself having - time that could be constructively spent putting into play the pieces he required for a superstar jock's downfall. A few rumors spread here; a little slander there...touched up by some unauthorized edits to the school newspaper proved the capstone of his masterpiece. Poor Abraham would never know what hit him.

And so it followed: speculation of doping and substance abuse voiced in a few chatrooms turned into a raging wildfire of unfounded accusations. It wasn't long before Abe's downhill spiral to join him in disgrace, removed from the sports teams he was a member of pending a full-and-extensive enquiry. All of a sudden the school's golden boy was no more. Instead of admiring stares he got glares and whispers trailing in his wake. The proud plumage he hadn't been shy to show began to molt; revealing the outline of bones underneath. Drug addict or not, he was starting to look the part and that was enough to get tongues wagging. By that point it wouldn't be long before the family simply gave up and left town

Had he gone too far? Perhaps. But Abe had started it, hadn't he? Who was the master hacker now?

The beep of a phone notification shook him out of these musings. Nothing to worry about, it would be the Hindr app most likely - telling him he had done as he was supposed to: doxed and crushed his foe into complete oblivion.

But no, it was a new message pop-up. From `Silver' apparently. Had Abraham written to him one last time? To admit defeat and make amends? But even knowing the truth of the matter, seeing that innocent looking name in the sender field sent chills of dread creeping down Juan's spine. All of a sudden he was sure he did NOT want to see what Silver had written. But it was too late to stop himself clicking the popup and reading the message

From: Silver

To: Faux

Well played. Your trick sure paid off - putting in your buddy's picture instead of your own like u were supposed to was genius! Thought I was doin' pretty good getting the scoop on your bird friend and framing you with those test papers to push u 2 apart, but u were one step ahead the whole time. Not for long tho, we'll see who the REAL fox is! C U Soon

``Buddy's picture instead of my own?'' What did he -

Then it clicked. Abe had snatched his phone away at the crucial moment, triggering the camera flash straight to his face. Did that mean the app had registered the eagle's photo instead of his own? All of a sudden the previously innocent profile picture known to him as `Silver' was starting to take on an eerily new portent. He remembered earlier on thinking there had been something off about the fox's reddish brown fur pattern...heart pounding in his chest, Juan copied Silver's profile picture, transferred it from his phone to his computer, and increased the resolution. No wonder it hadn't looked natural back then. With the photograph resized to larger dimensions, he could see that the gray white speckles he'd taken for some odd patterning was the true shade of Silver's pelt, making the name all the more appropriate. What he had taken to be a dark red overcoat was actually some sort of substance coating the arctic fox's fur - sticky, wet and ominous. Almost like it were

--blood. All of a sudden he knew that was what it had to be. That was exactly how blood was supposed to look when it aged and dried - real blood; not the too-bright crap they showed in cartoons or movies. It made the glance Silver was directing at the photographer less shy and more calculating - that of a wary predator choosing its next victim. And was that more blood the kit was licking off its arm? Juan had a sinking feeling that it most certainly was.

C U Soon...

Seeing the timestamp on that message gave Juan more reason to curse. Apparently there had been some delay in his notification's settings, for it had been sent much earlier. Much too early for comfort, anything could have happened in the time between receipt and his discovery, such as -

Ding!

From: Silver

To: Faux

Hello, fren xD

Lightning crackled overhead, its brief flare revealing a tiny head grinning up at him from outside his window before plunging the surroundings back into darkness.

``Who'll play hide and seek with meeeee?'' A kit's giggle, high pitched and eager.

Juan screamed.