FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Merle paced out across the balcony of her apartment. It was long enough that she could make several trips without going mad, and the wind sweeping through her red hair reminded her enough of piloting to help keep her at ease. She used to find the feeling odd, as no spaceship pilot in their right mind would operate with any open window in their vehicle. Several different types of pressure had to be accounted for, on top of ships not having windows in the front. All computer screens.

The tigress shook her head, ridding herself of the rambling thoughts. Being on mandatory leave always frustrated her. On the surface, she knew it was good for her. Spending fifty to eighty percent of a year in space wasn't healthy in the long term. Unions fought to allow pilots free time between missions to reacquaint themselves with society.

Except Merle knew that no pilot liked being grounded. Each had a different reason but being forced to act as a regular corp citizen for three months felt suffocating. Plenty of pilots dreaded when their grounding was up, and hers felt like someone latched a weight around her neck.

Leaning over the railing, Merle sighed as she looked down from her skyscraper perch. The traffic of flying cars and drones blocked her view of the people. A heavy rush of wind caused her to pull her black flight jacket tight. Right now her friends and colleagues were either out in space living the dream, partying, working side gigs, or engaging in their off-duty hobbies. She flicked her Heads-up-display on with a thought, looking at the time hovering before her eyes. Her package was ten minutes late.

"Same-day shipping my-" her HUD pinged a delivery before she could finish. At breakneck speed she slid open the glass door on the balcony, nearly slipping on the polished floor of the spacious apartment. Years of practice and honed reflexes let her skate across it using a pair of socks, only to catch herself at the front door.

Standing on the other side of the hastily opened door was a drone half her size holding a box in its mechanical limbs. The AI spoke too clearly for her liking, but Merle didn't pay it any mind as she yanked the cardboard box from its grasp. "Would you like to leave a-"

Merle closed the door with one swift spin kick before the drone could finish. Giddy hands struggled to keep the box steady. It was smaller than she expected, no doubt requiring assembly. Plopping it in the middle of the living room she used her claws to rip away the tape. The pilot's heart pounded against her chest when she saw the contents; metal frame pieces and a jaw of black goo. Latex nanotech.

Nanotech had been legalized for commercial use when she was stuck in flight. A month after she heard it, Merle found stories about full-body living latex suits that people could keep on for as long as possible. Where the material would shift at the wearer's need. Those outfits were out of her budget, requiring extensive custom programming. Preprogrammed ones for a vacuum bed, making it self-cleaning and easy to slip into, were perfect for her bank account.

From the clock on her HUD Merle knew her roommate Phalen would be arriving in thirty minutes. Plenty of time. Shredding off her clothes on her way to the shower, the tigress hummed to burn excess excitement while twisting the knob. The drowning noise of her faucet echoed off tiled walls as steam rose, blanketing the glass shower in a cloud she happily stepped into.

In space, Merle limited herself to minute-long showers. While being grounded made her antsy, she appreciated having time for longer bathing. She rubbed shampoo and conditioner deep into her fur, enjoying the sensation of blasting it off with hot streaks of water. Refreshed out of the shower, she took two minutes to dry off thanks to hot air vents blasting her from all sides until her fur poofed. She combed herself down with an old brush. Archaic but effective.

A total of fifteen minutes passed with her shower. Having been in vacbeds before she knew how to set it up without reading the instructions. In principle, they were similar to high-class prisoner transport, one of her favorite assignments despite her lazy nature. The entire trip carried a shameful but envious itch on her neck as she watched prisoners immobilized into panels that outlined their bodies into silhouettes, all tightly packed together like cards in a deck. She'd heard a rumor of a hotel that did something similar on the far reaches of space, where no one would question the morality of fetishizing the life of an inmate.

Maybe she should find it on her next vacation.

Merle headed to her bedroom after setting up the plasteel frame in the living room, returning with her vibrating wand, a personal remote, and her personal vacuum for the bed. Accessing the latex nanites from her HUD, Merle set the black good to cover the back of the frame. She bit her lip watching the ooze seep from the bottle and solidify into a tarp-like object.

Five minutes left, two of which she spent setting her tools up. Shaky breaths escaped her mouth as she set the program for the nanites. An hour of covering her would do, with emergency access to anyone outside. A few warning signs came up about her set duration, but the tigress bypassed them while setting herself on the latex mat. Placing her wand between her legs, Merle fumbled with the remote in her hand to test the strength of its vibrations. It kept rolling away as she tested it. The nanites would keep it in place.

She deactivated her HUD right after signaling the nanites to start. A fire swelled in her chest as cool latex goo spread atop her, slowly crawling up her legs and over the wand. It tickled her stomach and nipped at her nipples. She set her wand to its randomizer function before her hands were enveloped, starting strong against her sensitive privates. Then it enveloped her head, covering her entire body in the shiny material.

Merle held her breath and was about to release it when she realized something important; there was no hole for her mouth or nose.

The vacuum roared to life. Latex clung across her body under the weight of air as it sealed her. Commands to her HUD were issued to no avail, the blasted thing needed her to manually touch her temple to turn back on. Vibrations buzzed between her legs randomly, enhanced by the tightness of the material.

As a pilot, Merle trained her lung capacity to better process oxygen flowing through her system. She knew the best course of action in an emergency was to stay still and conserve her supply. Tight lips couldn't hold her grunts and stifled moans from the buzzing below, nor could her body stay still. It fought against the black goo, failing to get an inch beyond.

Unlike prior vacuum beds or latex gear, the nanites didn't risk breaking against her fingers the more she pushed. They grew stronger instead, compressing hard against her limbs at every turn.

Three minutes, she remembered, were all that were left until her roommate got home. Three minutes to hold her breath against the immobilizing prison of her own making. If she could, Merle would have slapped herself for forgetting to program a breathing hole. She must have missed an additional piece. Some sort of tube to stick her mouth in. Not that it mattered, her mind went to places to stave off the impending terror. Unfortunately, her lungs couldn't follow.

Her chest burned. Oxygen broke free only to be sucked away by the vacuum. She wondered if the prisoners she transported felt similar dread. The immovable nightmare and shrinking lungs for precious seconds before a breathing tube was installed. They writhed in the moment, panicking blindly while she watched from the outside knowing their precious oxygen was coming.

The question of time hooked her thoughts. Fear and the loss of breath made it impossible to track her minutes. What if her roommate was late? What if he got caught by the neighbor and started a long conversation? Her heart beat against the ribs of her cage, fanning the flames over her trapped form. Her throat went tight and stayed, caught without air to expand.

No mercy and no help. Trapped at the last edge and being dragged ever closer. The thrill of it all let her sink into the toy between her legs, its random vibrations stoking her lusts as the end approached her. Soon the toy wasn't enough to stop her eyes from drifting shut.

The seal broke. Air ballooned her lungs as she gasped, swallowing hard enough her chest threatened to pop. Several deep breaths shook her body as the vacuum stopped. The nanites weakened, letting her rip out from her prison in a mad dash for life.

"Control your breathing," Phelan said in the calm demeanor of a rescue pilot. The paschaarian's black-furred paw clasped her head tight. "Take deep breaths and relax. You're ok."

Hand on her throat, she looked up at her jackal/panther hybrid roommate. Still decked in his pilot's jacket, concern crossed his face as he kept her steady. "Are you good?" he asked. She nodded. Sighing with relief, he said, "Good, good." then smacked her upside the head.

"The fuck?!" Merle covered the spot he hit, "I almost died."

"Gee, why is that?" He growled, "Could it be because you decided to do some intense self-bondage without a fucking air hole while no one was around?"

"I forgot the air hole." Merle rubbed her neck.

"That's not something you can just forget, Merle," Phelan crossed his arms and began to pace around the room, "Seriously, that's the one thing you can't forget when doing this kind of shit."

"Can you watch the tone? I feel bad enough as is." Half a lie on her part. The shame of forgetting was there, but the rush of adrenaline from near death made her think she could tackle him and put him in a hold until he cried out uncle.

"Oh, I'm sorry," his tone shifted to sarcasm, "Should I just ignore how I feel about walking in to find my roommate had almost died from sealing herself up like some convict? What if I got into traffic, Merle? What if Dacy down the hall invited me for biscuits?"

"You hate her biscuits."

"That's not an excuse!" He snapped, fists clenched tight only to be realized with a long drawn-out sigh. "Did you tell anyone you were doing this?" He asked.

"I figured I'd leave it as a surprise." Why else would she do it in the living room?

He chuckled to himself, shaking his head at the notion. "Of course, you would. Fuck, you're a crazy cat. No wonder you hate being on leave."

"Among other things," she added.

"Among other things," he nodded, massaging his temple for a moment. "Look, I don't actually care about how you spend your free time so long as it's safe. So if you want to do...this," he waved his hand over her general position, "Then I need to know how. Actually, scratch that. You're not gonna do this shit unless I'm in the room, or you're with someone who can watch over you."

"I'm not a child," Merle argued.

"You almost died," he said, "I'd rather not have my good friend and one of the best pilots I know die suddenly. Can you imagine your obituary? Mysterious and unusual circumstances sound fitting for the public?"

He wasn't going to let up. Worst still, Phelan was right. She almost died due to a careless mistake that could be avoided if she hadn't been too excited to overlook everything three times. If she were so lax on her starship piloting, she'd be dead or, worse, be regulated to planetside-only duties.

"Fine," Merle said with a sigh, "I won't do this stuff without a chaperone or whatever." Maybe now she could excuse herself to check into one of those confinement hotels.

As she got up, the latex ooze wrapped around her. "What the-" It tightened over her maw and pulled her down, leaving just her nose free to breathe. Her vibrator buzzed back on as Phelan stepped over to her, smiling before the nanites covered her eyes.

"Good. Now let's make sure you know the benefits of that."