FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“Hey.” When I returned to the dorm, I found Tadao standing in the center of the room, his head lowered, hands gesturing in some odd manner.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll clean up right away,” he said, continuing to wave his arms for a few moments. I stopped him. Not only was I curious about what he was doing, but his gestures gave me some ideas. I needed some kind of activity to distract me from the various conspiracies swirling around my mind.

“What are you doing?” I stepped closer to Tadao and saw that he was wearing a device resembling a pair of glasses—though it only had a frame and the lower part of the lenses, with small components at the ends flashing different colors. It looked like some sort of virtual reality projection device. I vaguely recalled seeing something like it in a class demonstration.

“Making a map,” he said. “I’ve found that it helps me relax.” Tadao gave me an awkward smile. “And I’m feeling pretty anxious right now.”

“You alright?” I tilted my head, folding down my right ear.

“It’s nothing,” he waved dismissively, and I had no choice but to trust his words.

“Making a map?” I pressed, and Tadao tapped a few times on the terminal on his arm.

“I’ll just show you.” He rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a similar device, handing it to me. “Just put it on, the frame can be adjusted…” He helped me put the VR device on, and I suddenly found myself floating in a vast, seemingly endless grassland.

Though I couldn’t feel the wind, the sight of the grass swaying gently in rhythm, accompanied by the faint rustling sound, made my fur tingle, as if it wanted to move along with the breeze.

“Wow…” I could only express my amazement. “This is…”

“Yes, yes, I know, it’s hypocritical of the anti-Gaian movement to use this aesthetic.” I shot him a confused look, but Tadao didn’t seem to notice that I couldn’t follow his train of thought and continued mumbling. “But what can I do? This style sells the best and helps me relax…”

“What is this?” I clearly stated my ignorance again, hoping he’d understand.

“Oh, sorry.” It seemed he finally realized that this wasn’t exactly my realm of knowledge. “I’m a mod designer. Besides doing it for fun, I also take commissions now and then, creating fixed scenes for whatever purpose the client needs.” Tadao shivered slightly, though I wasn’t sure what memory had come to mind.

“So…” I looked around, admiring the world Tadao had crafted. “How do you… create it?”

“Like this.” He stretched his hands toward me, palms up, and wiggled his fingers. “Motion capture tracks my movements. I’ve set up different tools and commands.” After a series of rapid movements, a humanoid figure appeared next to him, slightly taller than he was. Its face had a dark gray cross with a circle in the center. “Then, I use the finer tools to add details…”

I was entranced by the process, watching intently as Tadao worked. He sketched out a more defined silhouette, adding intricate details around the facial circle, and a red deer slowly took shape.

I was so stunned I couldn’t find my voice, only staring at Tadao in awe. He seemed a bit self-conscious under my unblinking gaze, turning his head and scratching the back of his neck.

“Deer are something I’m very used to drawing, so it wasn’t too difficult,” he said with a modest laugh, before making a few more gestures. A new figure appeared on my left. “Now, let’s see…”

Tadao glanced back and forth between me and the increasingly detailed figure, his expression focused, his hands moving quickly.

I didn’t dare move a muscle, ears and tail held rigid, afraid that even the slightest shift would disrupt the atmosphere.

After some time, Tadao wiped his brow and let out a long breath.

“All done.” A smile spread across his face, relaxed at last.

Following his gaze, I turned my head to look at the spot where the figure had been—now, standing there was a pure white wolf with eyes the color of a clear, cloudless sky. The details were astonishing, every hair and texture perfectly visible.

“This is really…” I searched for words, but none seemed enough. “… incredible,” was all I could manage with my limited vocabulary.

“You’re overhyping it,” Tadao chuckled softly. “There are plenty of people way more skilled than I am.” He made a few more gestures, and the images of the deer and the wolf began walking toward each other. “This size is easier to work with.”

“It’s kind of like command gestures,” I noted, remembering the original reason I had approached him.

“Huh?” Tadao tilted his head slightly in confusion.

“Psychics often use command gestures when performing Domination and other technique. It makes achieving the desired effect easier.” I demonstrated a few movements for Tadao. “Just like how you preprogram commands, each of our movements, like ‘come,’” I raised my right hand, curling four fingers toward myself twice, “or ‘hold,’” I pointed downward with my index finger, “or ‘block,’” I pressed my palm outward in a sweeping motion.

Tadao mimicked the movements, and it seemed like he understood my explanation.

“Because the principle of Domination is similar to controlling a part of yourself, using willpower to compel objects in your consciousness to obey ‘me.’ So if you pair that with movements you instinctively associate with commands, it’s like compressing the instructions, saving time and effort.” I took off the device, exaggerating my command gestures for Tadao to see. Then I handed the VR gear back to him.

“Can you do it again? I might need to record this.” He fiddled with the device, likely preparing some kind of application.

“Oh, sorry,” I said apologetically, flattening my ears. “There’s no point in me demonstrating. Command gestures are personal; they only have meaning for ‘me’ and can’t really be taught to others.”

“Oh.” Tadao seemed a bit disappointed, his body sagging slightly.

“But that’s the point,” I quickly added, explaining. “You already have a preset system, so you can apply it directly.” I could’ve sworn I saw a glimmer of excitement in Tadao’s eyes. “I’ll demonstrate the basics of Domination for you first, and you can try to imitate it. It’ll make things easier down the road.” I used Domination to draw enough water from the pipes to form a structure resembling the figure Tadao had sketched earlier, then put the VR device back on.

The endless grassland and the images of the deer and the wolf reappeared, while I shaped the water mass under my control into something close to the wolf’s figure.

Tadao made a few gestures, overlaying his wolf image onto the water structure I was controlling.

“I’m setting up the fixed points for motion capture…” he muttered, his fingers flying. “Okay, done.”

I tilted my head and folded down my right ear, and the wolf in the image mimicked my movement exactly.

“Oh!” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “So you overlay the image onto the structure and sync it with its movements?” I absolutely had to learn how to use this program.

“Yeah,” Tadao replied, glancing at the deer beside him and adjusting its size to match his own figure.

“Alright then,” I said, my excitement showing as my tail wagged wildly, forcing the image to do the same. “Let’s make them move!”

I gave the command, and the wolf image smoothly walked toward the deer.

“I’m the wolf. Nice to meet you!” I added a voice for my controlled image, extending its right paw to the deer with an appropriate wag of the tail.

“I’m the deer,” Tadao pressed his palm to his forehead, suppressing a laugh, then used his other hand to issue a command. The deer image responded, eagerly shaking the wolf’s outstretched paw. “Nice to meet you too.”