FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"We need out of here yesterday!"

"I'm working on it!"

"Frag out!"

"Okay, that's it! It's open! Hurry!"

"Come on! Let's go!"

"Go! I'm right behind you!"

A tear rolled down his cheek. It was funny, in a way. He had not known them long, but he would miss them. He wouldn't be right behind them.

*

"You trust this kid to get the job done?"

"He's one of the best."

"One of the best? He's twelve if I'm a day."

The fox in question flicked his ears in annoyance. The older badger was not even trying to whisper, letting the admittedly young fox hear his protests. He managed to keep his mouth shut with some difficulty. He'd shut that badger up once they got there.

If he were honest with himself, however, Richard was having some doubts. This was his first time trying a stunt like this, and the repercussions could be severe. Only if he were caught, though. He didn't intend to get caught. And he really needed the money. Crumbs in dumpsters only go so far.

The vehicle came to a stop. Richard gritted his teeth and steeled himself. Nerves made mistakes, and he did not intend to screw this up. Silently, he followed the three adults to the face of a large apartment complex. It stood at 200 stories, the top two floors devoted to an extensive penthouse. It was chosen because it had no living security guards after hours, instead relying on an extensive automated security system and a security team with a five minute response time. Most thieves gave it a wide berth. People had tried to hack its security, but instead got locked up until the security team could take them away. That was where Richard came in.

"All right, kid. Let's see those fabled skills of yours."

Richard inspected the keypad by the door. It was a simple affair and would be easy to crack. It was the security further in that would make trouble.

An alarm would sound if he tried to pull the keypad off and get at the connections beneath. However, there was a card slot for maintenance personnel that would disable the alarm. Richard had a number of cards from various maintenance companies. It was only a matter of picking the right one. He opened his wallet and slid out a B&E card. They were the most trusted in security maintenance companies, and if he were to have a building like this, they would be the ones he would call. He slotted the card in and watched happily as the keypad swung away, revealing the inner workings. The system would record that a B&E technician had been on site, but no one would notice that until morning, when they were long gone. A few taps of his stylus later, they were in the building. He shut the panel and retrieved his B&E card. It had taken him a lot of effort to get it, and he was not about to forget it.

Without a word, the four of them walked into the foyer of the building. The three adults spread out and made sure the room was empty while Richard went straight to the computer at the main desk. He seated himself in the chair and poised his fingers over the keys. This computer would be tougher to crack.

There was a universal access point, or UAP, on the surface of the desk. Richard grinned as he put his hacker's card into the slot. Once inserted, the card automatically got to work cracking the username and password. It didn't take long before his algorithms inputted them and gave him administrator access. He looked up at the wolf in charge of the venture. "We're in."

"Good. Find the Valdheins' apartment. They have what we want."

A few taps of the keys were all that Richard needed. "Sixty-first floor. Number six hundred twelve."

"Can you get access?"

"Not from here."

"At the room?"

Richard wiped his brow. He was not quite as calm as he appeared, but he wouldn't let it get in the way. "Possibly. The security centre would be the surest way, but access is... difficult."

"Where is it?"

"Hundredth floor. That floor has no apartments, just the security centre, computer mainframes, maintenance--that sort of thing."

The wolf frowned, thinking. "Which is safer?"

The fox stared at the screen, not actively looking, but just thinking. "I'd say they're equally unsafe. If something happens in the apartment, I might not be able to override it from there, but getting into the security centre would be more difficult. If I could, though, I own the place."

The wolf nodded. "The elevators?"

The fox called them up on the computer. "We have access to all the floors with apartments. We need keycard access to get to the hundredth floor and a few others. I can override that, though."

"Okay. Close that down, cover your tracks."

Richard nodded, erasing the records of his log on. He also caught that the maintenance access to the front door was stored in the admin files and erased it as well. After that, he logged off and removed his hacker card, moving quickly to catch up to the others.

Once in the elevator, the fox addressed the group. "Okay, here's the plan. We," he pointed to the badger and the scruffy-looking rabbit, "are going to the sixty-first floor. The kid will get into the security centre and give us access from there. Once we've got everything, we all rendezvous at the ground floor and stroll out of here without a care in the world. Got it?"

The other adults nodded while Richard observed the keycard slot. He inserted the B&E card again and was pleased to note the hundredth floor button light up. He hit the button as the elevator pulled up to the sixty-first floor. The others filed out without a word or a backwards glance as the doors closed and Richard rocketed up to the hundredth floor alone.