FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

It was late at night, but she sat alone, not paying any attention to any of the other patrons of The Rogue's Gallery, a simple bar notorious for its poor condition and criminal past, but recently has become a favorite of the local military. They didn't seem to pay any attention to her either. She sat with a drink in front of her, untouched. She stared into it, waiting for the time to pass till her interview for a new job. She still hadn't been told exactly what the job was, but she was told her skills were going to be a great asset for them to consider.

Her name was Velvet Devoré, and her fur would have been white if it wasn't stained red over most of her body. A former soldier, she was familiar with the bar and had seen and caused countless lives end. She couldn't put it behind herself.

After watching her drink for long enough, a black fox sat down next to her, motioning for the bartender to get him a drink from the back. He was wearing somewhat of a military uniform and a pair of glasses, but he wasn't quite official looking, and seemed more like someone just trying to blend in. "What a lovely place," he said.

She didn't reply right away, and instead picked up her drink and downed it. Setting it back on the counter, she looked to him out of the corner of her eye. "You the interviewer?"

"Why, of course I am. Did you think someone would approach you otherwise?"

"Fair point. You should know who I am by now. Who are you?"

"Until you get this job, just call me EXtra."

"You don't sound that important."

"That is because I am not. Care to take this conversation to my office? This establishment is full of people who don't look quite friendly."

Velvet shook her head. "We can stay here, you haven't even had your drink yet."

A different bartender, this one a panther, came back with the drinks, placing them in front of both Velvet and EXtra. He took his drink, while placing his hand over hers. "This bartender is with me, and we drugged your drink. Continuing this conversation here is not an option, this job is guaranteed for you, nobody else is more qualified. Drink that and we will head to my office, we will discuss your terms there."

She rolled her eyes as she lifted his picked up the glass. "Guess I will just play along then." She downed the drink just like she did the last, then leaned back in her seat as the world faded away from her.

EXtra looked up at the bartender, then back to Velvet. "I may have made a mistake here." He got up out of his seat. He moved toward her, grabbing her arm and putting her over his shoulder to carry back to his car. Turning around, he saw that he wasn't going unnoticed. Everyone in The Rogue's Gallery was watching him, some getting their guns ready to respond to the apparent abduction. "Shit," he said to himself as he turned to the bartender, pushing his glasses up with a nod.

As EXtra began to head toward the door, the bartender drew his gun, aiming it at the patrons. One of them jumped from their seat with the draw of their own revolver, but they weren't fast enough. The panther shot first, the bullet landing between his eyes. Blood splattered against his friends as his body slumped back down in the seat. The panther drew his knife as his form flicker in and out, looking all the witnesses in the eyes. As EXtra was stepping out the door with Velvet, he turned back to the bartender. "Rick, I will see you back at the office, clean thing up here for me." With that he shut the door as gunfire sounded off inside. He walked back to his car.

It had been two hours since she had passed out, but she was finally coming to. The car hit a bump in the road as she was trying to wake up, leading her to slam her head against the dashboard. Now wide awake, she looked out the window to see unfamiliar streets.

"Damn it, I knew we should have given you a bigger dose."EXtra noticed the was awake.

"Was I supposed to be out until we gotten to the office?"

"Yeah, I don't want just anybody knowing where it is," he said as he pointed to the glove box in front of her. "Open that up, there is a blind fold for you to put on. Might as well keep you awake so we can talk on the way there."

She played along, sliding the blindfold over her eyes. "So, what is this job?"

"Well, we are like spies. We infiltrate companies and the likes to retrieve documents or assassinate targets for who every pays us the most money."

"Sounds more like a mercenary job to me."

He scoffed at her statement, seeming to have taken offence to it. "No. We are spies."

"Whatever. What do you need me for?"

"Well, looking at your records, you seem to be perfectly suited for a position as a replacement for one of our agents who sadly lost their life during our last mission."

"I am sorry, but do you really expect me to be able to sneak into some big corporations and steal shit? You have seen these bloodstains, right?"

"No, we actually expect you to just go in and kill people, you are perfect for that job."

"So, you are hiring me to be your mercenary?"

"No, I am hiring you to be our spy."

"Same thing."

"Not really."

He pulled the car into a driveway and shut it off. He got out of the car and walked over to the other side to let her out and guide her into an apartment building. They walked up a few flights of stairs until they got to Apartment 631. As they stepped into the apartment he shut the door behind her, pulled off her blindfold and ran to shut the currents.

The place was a mess, and was clearly not an office. It was a small single room apartment. In one corner of that room there was a computer left on with an aquarium screen saver and cords tangled everywhere. Next to it was a couch facing a flat screen tv on the other side with a coffee table covered in papers and the coffee stain rings. A mini fridge with a microwave next to it on the floor and a coffee machine on top sat in the corner opposite of the computer. The closet was left open, and out of everything there it seemed to be the most out of the ordinary part of the place. A mattress sat in front of it on the floor, but inside was a gun rack, covered in firearms, gadgets, and some blades.

EXtra sat down on the couch and looked up at Velvet. "Welcome to our office, and welcome to Deadlock. You can call me Elijah Xavier."

She stood at the door, looking over the room muttering words under her breath. "You're fucking kidding me."