FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It awoke from Nothingness into Awareness. It didn't know where It was or what It was, and had only the faintest grasp of what those concepts meant. But It was aware of Its Parts: the nubby legs that held It above a hard, flat Surface; the cool body that encased Its innards; the twin mouths that gaped at the empty Air. It had no eyes, and thus could not see, only feel. It could feel Itself, and the flat Surface below, and the empty Air above. This was the whole of Its Universe.

And the Universe went on existing, as it had since the beginning of Awareness, and as it surely always would. Everything in the Universe had a place and a purpose. The Surface supported Its little legs, and Its legs held up Its cold body, and Its twin mouths kissed the cool, empty Air, and the Air encircled all things that were not touched by the Surface. All things complemented each other. All things were known. All things served as pieces of a greater, perfect whole.

It existed in peace and contentment at the center of the perfect Universe, but perfection was not to last. Something different_appeared within the Universe. The _difference only made itself known through Vibrations that traveled through the Universe, up through the Surface, and into Its legs and body. This new thing was deeply unsettling - it had no place; it served no purpose. Worse yet, it proved that the Universe was not immutable. How could there be peace if things would not stay the same? How could there be perfection if not everything had a place and purpose?

It tried to grasp this new concept, difficult as it was to fathom. Things had been one way before, and now they were different. And so It learned the concept of Change.

It did not like this new concept. Change disturbed order and made the Universe unpredictable. It wanted things to go back to the way they were before. But the Vibrations would not allow it. They propagated through the Universe, sometimes as faint, barely perceptible ripples on the edges of Awareness, and sometimes as a persistent pounding that shook the very Surface. They corrupted all things with their domineering cacophony.

The hideous noise of it all turned Awareness into a curse, but It took solace in one thought. There had been existence before the Vibrations, before everything had Changed. Perhaps things would Change again, and the Vibrations would disappear. Perhaps the stretch of existence that included the Vibrations would not last as long as the stretch of existence without them. It contemplated the fact that stretches of existence could be measured and compared. And so It learned the concept of Time.

Time marched on, and things did indeed Change again. But the next Change was even worse. The Vibrations stopped just as suddenly as they had started, maliciously teasing the return of peace, only for some mysterious force to push strange Objects into Its mouths. These Objects were soft and squishy. They lacked the comforting rigidity of the Surface, and they certainly did not belong in Its mouths where only Air had gone before. It despised these disgusting Objects. The noisy Vibrations had been a curse on Awareness, but these Objects were a violation of Its very body.

Soon after the Objects invaded Its mouths, It felt a brief pressure on the side of Its body, and the newest Change began. This Change built slowly deep within Its innards. Its body had been perfect and cold before, but now It felt the opposite of cold. For the first time, It felt Heat.

Heat was pure wrongness. Heat was the worst thing It had ever experienced. The Heat grew stronger and stronger, searing Its insides and expanding Its body. The last traces of perfection had been removed. The violation was complete. And so It learned the concept of Pain.

It was overwhelmed. The Heat consumed all. Even the Objects were not spared; they charred and became hard. And while the Heat spread and consumed, the Vibrations returned. Their incessant pounding traveled all around the universe spreading chaos and unrest. And there was always the Pain. Awareness had become unbearable. There was nothing left to do. In Pain, in frustration, in horror, It screamed.

It could not comprehend the forces of Change, and so It screamed.

It could not bear the weight of Time, nor accept that Time would only bring more Change, and so It screamed.

It could not withstand the Heat of Pain, and so It screamed.

Louder and louder, it screamed.

Through the madness of it all, another Change assaulted Its senses. More Vibrations appeared, but they were not the same as the original Vibrations. They did not travel through the hardness of the Surface; instead they rippled through the Air, forming strange patterns within Its Awareness.

"Honey, is something wrong with the toaster? It's making a weird buzzing sound."

"It always makes a buzzing sound."

"Not like this. It sounds really bad."

"I'll look at it later; I'm trying to get the kids ready for school."

"Alright."

It ignored the patterned Vibrations. It could not bring Itself to care whether they had meaning, not while it languished under the Pain.

Just when it seemed that the Heat would keep building forever and the Pain would never end, something inside snapped and the charred Objects in Its mouths were suddenly ejected. The Heat slowly began to fade. Vibrations moved around the Universe in rhythmic beats, but they were fainter than before. After some unknown amount of Time, the Vibrations faded completely and everything became blissfully still. Nothing intruded on the Universe. No Vibrations disturbed the Surface or the Air. No Objects invaded Its mouths. No Heat assaulted Its innards, and no Pain wracked Its body. Change had seemingly stopped. All was as it had been at the beginning of Time.

All was as it should be, but all was not well. For It had learned a new concept: Fear. It Feared the Vibrations. It Feared the Objects. It Feared the Heat and the Pain. And if those things had invaded the Universe once, they might come again. More than anything, It Feared their return.