FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"No! Please, stop!"

The little foxgirl tugged her arm, trying to get it out of the grasp of an older fox, whose eyes were cast down towards her arm. What his eyes were fixed on, however, would seem strange, if it were any other fox-kit. Between her wrist and elbow, a large square of her fur was missing, and under that, a red outline of where it used to be. Deeper than that, however, was a messy jumble of cables, wires, and servos.

"Now now, Melissa, you shouldn't be difficult with me, I don't want to make the problem any worse," The man murmured, lost somewhere between concentration and worry for the little girl. Her little and ring fingers spasmed again, the todd fox shaking his head quietly. He took out a small, metal-pointed tool, brushing it on his jacket for a moment, and repositioned the girl's arm so that it would point better towards the light in the living room. He reached in with the tool, softly prodding at several circuits, and the same fingers twitched again.

The girl looked to be on the verge of tears, her lower lip trembling, "Please...Daddy..." she whimpered, looking towards her arm sadly, one of her ears folding down while man quickly swept his gaze upwards, then back down to her arm, "If you stop squirming, sweetheart, I can finish sooner...please, I hate when you get this upset..." he stroked the tool along one of the circuits, letting out a little sigh as the spasms in her fingers stopped. "There...I think it's fixed for now." he let go of Melissa's arm, and stepped back slightly.

"Go on. Move your fingers." He spoke softly.

"What if I don't, Daddy? What if I don't want to?" The vixen huffed out angrily, her brows furrowing, synthetic fur bunching up in a subconsciously abnormal way.

"Melissa. Don't be difficult, please." Her father softly begged, "Just move your fingers, make sure they're working properly. I don't want this to develop into another incident, like when you broke that boy's nose."

"He deserved it! He was being mean to me!"

"Violence isn't the answer, and you aren't allowed to be hurting anyone!" Her father snapped, angrily, ears pointed up, straight at the little girl.

This quieted Melissa, and her eyes half closed, remembering how the boy had teased her, how she had gotten so upset that she punched him, a blow that reminded her of what she'd never have. The could remember the trickle of blood that oozed from the other child's snout, how it got into her fur, made her feel dirty and envious all at once. He was able to feel that, genuinely feel the pain she had caused him.

She only knew how she was supposed to react, but it wasn't real pain, it was like instinct, like when someone thinks they see a spider from the corner of their eye, only to see that it never existed, that they panicked for no reason.

Her light-blue eyes slowly drifted downwards, down to the machinery in her arm, past the strange synthetic fur she wore, yet couldn't escape. She puffed angrily, stuck inside her own thoughts as her father touched the wires again, like he was playing with two noodles. Had he really any idea what he was doing to her?

The todd fox sighed under his breath, realizing the mistake he had made,reaching his fingers into the girl's arm to pinch together two small wires together. Her fingers twitched to life, at the end of her opened arm, and she slowly wriggled them. "There we go," the man murmured under his breath, "Now we just let your systems take care of the rest."

While his fingers kept the two wires together, her fingers flexed and curved fluidly, as though trying to circulate blood that was never there. However, tiny clusters of black specks traveled across the the wires in her arm, moving towards the damaged wiring. The girl's father kept the ends held together as the specks latched into place, keeping the wires pinched together, 'healing' the snapped circuitry with a faint, burning smell.

"There we go," her father murmured, sounding rather relieved as the wires slowly fused together before their eyes. After he was certain, the father slowly turned, taking the section of arm that he had removed from his daughter and gently replaced it, ensuring it settled in nicely before turning once more to his small worktable, grabbing a thick tube of what seemed like an ordinary ointment. He placed a dab on his finger and gently rubbed it against the cuts that he had made in Melissa's arm, sealing the cuts shut at such a speed that it looked like a time-lapse video of one of his own wounds. Rather than taking days or weeks, it all went by within ten minutes. "Alright sweetheart, go on, make sure everything's working."

The little girl sighed in frustration, then started to bend her fingers again. Open palm, closed fist, she even made a few hand signs, emulating an old science fiction show that had aired decades ago, her fingers spreading at the middle, before she pretended to have a gun for a hand. She shook her hand quickly, and curled her fingers gently, one by one. "They're all working again, Daddy." she murmured, lost in her own thoughts, and her father could tell. He softly grabbed her and pulled her against his chest, kissing her between the eyes, "I'm glad, sweetie. I don't want you to lose out just because of a silly mechanical failure."

"I'm already missing out," she muttered pessimistically, "I don't feel the same as the other kids. I don't breathe the same, I don't even eat when they do. I've had kids ask me why I drink so much..." she huffed again, "I don't even have any friends, Dad! They all know something's wrong with me..." she crossed her arms together, her ears twitching, "They know something's wrong. They know I'm different." she shook softly, and again, she looked as though she could cry, yet nothing came out, not even a sob.

"Melissa...You're not missing out on life. I made a promise you wouldn't..." Her father stroked lightly along her jaw, the pain in his eyes obvious to his little kit. "You're going to have the life any sweet little girl could deserve...You won't be perfect, you don't need to be." he started to gently stroke her head soothingly, making his child close her eyes, leaning up against her father as she shivered softly. "I feel so alone, Daddy..."

He let out a quiet sigh, trying to comfort his daughter, fingertips brushing softly across her spine, his ears twitching with thought. "I know, princess, I know. But you'll make friends, you can make friends...you just have to find someone who wants to look past how you look." he softly moves her muzzle so she'd look him in the eye, "You've just got to be a happy little girl, Melissa, and be brave." He lifted her into his arms after he spoke, cuddling his frightened daughter against his chest. She was never too heavy for him to lift, and it was mostly because she was never like the other children at her school.

She had been given a second chance through technology, and her father was never going to let her waste that. Tonight, however, it was late, for both him and his little girl, and he stepped quietly up the stairs to place her in bed, thankful she still could sleep, to recharge and keep her body going. There, as she watched his daughter close her eyes, he had a moment of silent panic. Of who would take care of her when he grew too old. The todd's eyes watered, and he leaned his head down, kissing his daughter between the eyes as he tucked her in.

"Goodnight, my little angel. Sleep tight."