FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2: Revelations

Tod sprawled across his preferred tree branch watching the park expectantly while eating chocolate covered espresso beans. It was well into the morning, nearing noon, and there was still no sign of his new friend. It had been a few weeks now of daily visits with the girl and though she arrived at a different time each morning, this was by far the latest in the day that she had been.

I suppose she does have other things to do besides chatting me up day after day, he decided with a chuckle to himself. He climbed down from his tree and left the park with the intention of grabbing lunch somewhere, chewing on another chocolate covered espresso bean as he reached the street.

A familiar voice called out from behind him no sooner than he reached the street.

"Tod!"

He turned to see Sally walking up toward him, a smile on her face.

"Oh, hey there, Sally," he replied, smiling brightly. "I thought perhaps you had other things to do today. What's up?"

"I needed to get some things done this morning," she confirmed as she caught up to him. "I still have more to do before I go, but I have a little time. Do you mind companionship for lunch? I still have some questions for you if you have the time."

Tod laughed and offered her his hand. "I always enjoy your company, Sally. I would love to know where you come from. You have the funniest way of viewing the world and saying things sometimes."

Sally frowned at that, even as she took his hand. "Am I truly that different still?" she asked him. He started leading her down the street, nodding to her. "You really are," he confirmed. "I've never met anyone like you before. I mean, aside from the fact that I still can't tell what species you are, you know so little about social norms that it's a huge mystery to me where you could possibly be from. I'd almost think you were from another planet, rather from some mysterious colony on the east coast where they apparently don't hold hands or understand basic niceties like asking permission or saying thank you." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Not that I'd like you any less for knowing, but you really do mystify me."

She processed this information for a moment, then simply accepted it with a nod. "I would like to go somewhere less populated to talk today. May we go where you live?" she asked him.

This surprised the genet but he quickly smiled and nodded. "Sure!" He quickly reconsidered. "Um, actually, where I live is quiet but it isn't.." He bit his lower lip. "I suppose it's just as well. Come on," he said and gave her hand a squeeze starting to lead her down the street. She stopped him and indicated toward the crosswalk. "Let's cross here and go along Mercer drive. It is quieter along that street."

"You know where I live?" he asked her as they walked across the street, his ears perked and a surprised look on his face. She simply nodded, quickening their walking pace. From that point they walked in silence, the genet not sure exactly what to say at this point nor was Sally forthcoming with whatever was on her mind.

Once they arrived at the animal rescue shelter, Tod led her around to the back door and used his key to enter the building. "It is Thursday so we're by ourselves until about 3," he told her, to which she simply nodded. "That was part of the reason I wanted to talk with you here. We would have privacy."

He paused there at the door, looking at her in disbelief. "You know the schedules here too? Have you been stalking me?" he asked, actually feeling concerned for the first time since he'd met her.

She shook her head. "I have simply observed you to gather information, not with malicious intent. I know enough about your living arrangements and the schedules of others here to know that the staff leaves from 12:00pm until 3:00pm on Thursdays. I do not understand why you live here unless it is as the on-site caretaker of the companion animals here. May we go inside?" she asked him finally as he continued to stand in the doorway.

He opened the door the rest of the way and let her go inside, then walked in himself and after a moment's hesitation he went ahead and closed the door behind them. "Why have you been watching where I and the volunteers who work here go? I know you observe everything, but I'm sorry, Sally. That is a step beyond curiosity into creepy. And before you ask," he said holding up his hand, "creepy is behavior or a situation that makes someone feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Frankly, I'm uncomfortable at the moment." He looked at her with his hands on his hips.

She had been monitoring his elevated heart rate and agitation from the moment she started leading him from the park towards the rescue center and was well aware of his discomfort. She nodded her head again. "I understand and I am sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I do not have much time and you are the one person that I feel comfortable talking to. I realize that I cannot pass as a regular citizen if I need to hold more than a short conversation, but am I conspicuous from a distance? Can I blend in with a crowd if I need to?" she asked.

Tod tilted his head slightly. "I suppose so? I mean, you are unusual but aside from the fatigues you're just some kind of exotic lizard. Nothing really out of the ordinary. What do you mean you haven't got much time? Are you on the run from the law or something?" The situation was rapidly turning from strange to disturbing.

She looked at herself. "This clothing is not acceptable?" she asked.

Tod groaned. "Fantastic. It would figure that I'd get tangled up with a fugitive. Look, Sally, I like you and all, but I'm not going to jail for you. If you want to leave now, I promise I won't say anything unless they bring me in for questioning. Don't even tell me where you're going, that way I won't know, ok?" he said, backing toward the door with his hands up at shoulder level.

"I am not a criminal nor am I being pursued by law enforcement," she said flatly, "but I am being pursued. The sooner I leave the safer it will be for the both of us. Can you help me pick out clothing that will allow me to look like a common citizen? After that I will leave the area and you should be safe."

His tail flicked, agitated. "Why would I not be safe if you stayed in town, Sally? Who are you running from? Surely you can get police protection or a restraining order if someone is after you."

Internally, a war was going on inside the hybrid. On the one hand, all of her training and programming were practically demanding that she kill the genet and dispose of him to buy herself time and reduce her exposure to threat. On the other, she felt a sense of obligation to him for all the help he had given her in learning cultural norms and etiquette. He didn't deserve to die. The fact that she no longer had anyone to be accountable to other than her own self-determined mission tipped the scales in the genet's favor.

"Tod," she said, mentally calculating what to tell him and how much, "I cannot receive the same protection under the law as a citizen of this country. I am military property, not a citizen, and the military wants me back."

The genet didn't buy this for one second. "That's ridiculous. You're a person, not property. We don't have slaves in this country and haven't for centuries."

"I am an artificially created biological hybrid. A very expensive and sophisticated experimental prototype. Nothing more."

"And what exactly are you supposed to be a prototype of, Sally?" asked the genet, looking annoyed.

"A weapon," she replied. "We do not have much time. Will you help me or not?" This conversation was going worse than she thought it would and she simply wanted to end it and get going.

"Yeah, sure, let's go, Sally. Huh. Is that even your real name?" he huffed. He'd been dumped by girls but none had made up this kind of elaborate story to try to 'let him down easy' before.

She looked at the wall nearest the door for a moment, her passive scanning having alerted her to something. "You have a wiring fault in the wall above this outlet. You should not use it until it is repaired," she said, then she looked at the genet. "No, the name was a pseudonym. I do not have a name. My designation is Interspecies Experiment, Prototype 31, Series 1, serial number.."

"Hold on, hold on," said Tod waving his hands at her. "How did you know about the wiring problem? They don't use that outlet because they know something is wrong with it, but funding is kind of spotty right now and they didn't want to spend the money on fixing it yet."

"The wiring in this building is old, but here," she indicated a spot on the sheetrock, "the insulation is degraded. I can detect elevated heat and EM waves at this point. It could cause a fire if you use it. It may do so anyway so it should be replaced immediately." She looked him in the eyes for a moment. "They, not we? Are you not part of the staff?"

Tod rubbed the back of his neck, eyes lowered. "Well, no not really. I mean I do help out here to earn my keep and all and I would be considered part of the volunteer staff I suppose. But technically I'm a resident."

"I do not understand, this is an animal rescue center is it not?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of a weird story. Look, let's go get you some clothes and we can talk along the way, ok? I'm not sure what's going on exactly but you seem to be in a hurry so let's just get this over with."

Sally nodded her head and opened the door walking out into the sunlight. Tod locked the door behind them as he too exited the building. He still looked sullen.

"Tod, look closely at the largest dorsal scale at the base of my neck," she instructed him, turning her back to him.

He shrugged and stepped closer to have a look. Then looked even closer placing his hands on her shoulders with his nose almost touching her back. There, etched in the scale, were the words Interspecies Experiment, Series 1, Unit 31 and a bar code. The lettering was small enough that it wouldn't be noticeable especially with her dark colored scales. "You had that engraved in your scales?" he asked, incredulous.

"No, it grows that way naturally. Every bit of my DNA is blueprinted and there is more technical information regarding my germination, host material, and research notes encoded into every cell in my body."

Tod looked for a moment longer until she turned around to face him forcing him to step back. "I'm not sure what to make of all of that, but for the time being I can't keep calling you Sally. It never did fit you to be honest," he said with a thoughtful look. "Interspecies Experiment 31.. How about Ixel?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I do not follow the logic of that."

He chuckled. "It's an acronym of your information there, with leetspeak thrown in. It fits you better anyway. C'mon, let's head to the mall for some clothes for you." Strangely enough he was in a better mood. At least she wasn't making something up to get rid of him, even if it was something manufactured in her own mind.

She stopped short. "The mall?"

"You wanted clothes, right? You'd be less conspicuous at the mall where there are a variety of clothing stores than to go to a random clothes store where what you're wearing now might look odd," he explained. "You haven't been to the mall?"

She shook her head. "No. I have seen it from a distance. There are a lot of security cameras on the outside of the building. I can disable them but my range is limited and I cannot shut them all down. Perhaps if we enter from one part of the mall and exit another it will appear to be a glitch in the surveillance system rather than tampering, but I do not like it."

More weirdness, but we'll roll with it, thought Tod. "Maybe, but if you're trying to avoid detection it seems to me that the last place that people would look for you is a heavily populated mall full of security cameras."

She simply nodded. "We will not be there long," she finally decided and then the two started walking down the street toward the mall. "How is it that you are a resident of the rescue center?" she asked as they walked along.

He looked at her, then straight ahead before answering. "When I was a baby, I was found in a ditch on the outskirts of town. The person who found me and the staff of the rescue center at the time both thought that I was someone's exotic pet that was dumped off on the side of the road," he explained. "But I kept growing and by the time they figured out I was a person and not an animal it was some huge bureaucratic nightmare. They couldn't get me into the foster system or orphan care since I had no birth records at all. I wasn't indigent since I lived at the Center. There simply wasn't a pathway in government red tape for me to move from 'animal' status to 'person'. So they found a way to allocate some of the funding for the county zoo to pay for my care and the volunteers made sure I had a decent education with tutors since I couldn't go to school. As long as I live there, they continue to get funding and right now that funding is what's keeping them afloat. Donations have been down the past few years."

He looked over at her with a smile. "They are good people, trying to do good work. As much as I'd like to move out on my own somewhere I don't feel right about leaving them right now."

"So, you are not considered a person?" she asked.

"Legally, no," he confirmed. "But in town folks know me and I'm able to do pretty much whatever I need to. I have a bank account and everything's so close I can walk anywhere I need to get to. And here we are," he added as they rounded the corner and entered the busy walkway and street leading into the open air mall.

Ixel was on high alert actively scanning the area for surveillance equipment as well as people that might pose a potential threat. To Tod, she looked uncomfortable for the first time since he had known her. In a low voice she leaned closer to him. "I am jamming the cameras. Let us find a merchant quickly so we can leave. They will figure it out soon."

Tod still wasn't sold on her story but he nodded and lead her to one of the closer clothing stores that sold clothes that were more on the edgy side of trendy. "Let's try here. I think your outfit will look more natural here than elsewhere."

Inside the store, Ixel was lost and she admitted as much to the genet. "I do not know what to look for."

Tod grinned. "Here, hold my hand. It will look like we're a couple so it makes more sense for me to be here helping you," he said as he took her hand in his, interlacing fingers. "What size do you wear?"

"Number 6 standard trousers and a medium combat retainer top," she replied.

He shook his head. "That's not going to cut it. What dress or pants size in girl's clothing do you wear? And what, um, cup size are you?"

She just gave him a blank look.

He simply nodded. "The first thing then is to get one of the salespeople to help." He lead her through the clothing racks to the checkout kiosk and flagged down a sales associate and politely asked her to get his 'girlfriend's' measurements so that he could buy her a nice outfit. The salesperson cheerfully took her measurements and gave them to him on a handwritten piece of paper, then pointed out where different categories were in the store. After agreeing that he would come find her if they needed help, he lead Ixel to the tops and blouses first. "If you are wanting to blend in, it's probably best to go with something basic. Maybe one of these tees with a blouse over?" He mused. Selecting a dull red one that was her size, he handed her a tee shirt. "Here, we'll have you try this one on, maybe some other colors too."

She simply shrugged and then started lifting her top off baring her bosom right there in the middle of the aisle. "What the...?" he said as he got an eyeful of her chest and then on instinct he reached over and covered the mounds with his palms to hide them. "What are you doing?" he hissed looking around frantically to make sure no one was watching. "Put your top down! You can't just strip here in the middle of the store."

Ixel looked confused but put her top back down and situated her breasts back behind the protective garment. "Why? You don't even wear clothes," she observed.

Meanwhile, Tod moved his hands away and blushed hard as he realized he'd just blatantly grabbed his friends bare breasts. "Oh geez. Sorry about that, I wasn't thinking," he quickly apologized, only to be met with a curious expression on Ixel's face. "Look, I don't wear clothes but a lot of us semi-anthro and arboreal types don't. Clothes get in the way of being able to move freely up in the trees. Even I wear shorts and a shirt or something when the occasion calls for it. Those who do wear clothes regularly don't take them off in public. It's just not done, and it attracts attention if you do. There are changing rooms here where you can try stuff on in private," he explained. "Speaking of which, we need to get you a bra. Are you wearing anything under your pants?" he asked.

"No. I only wear what is needed," she replied.

"Alien from another planet," he muttered under his breath, but then smiled. "Ok, well, I have your bra size and we'll get you a matching pair of panties to make a complete outfit. It's terribly boring but I'll say white for both and then we should get you some jeans. The stone washed should work out."

After selecting some proper jeans and a denim jacket, he shooed her off to the dressing rooms to try them on. This is taking too long, she thought to herself. She noticed a technician outside the store putting a ladder up to look at the camera before she closed the door on the dressing room. The clothing was easy to figure out but seemed cumbersome compared to her usual attire. The bra especially seemed pointless, tending to make her bosom stand out instead of securing her breasts close to her body where they were less likely to interfere with her movements. Once dressed she stepped out of the dressing room to show Tod.

"You look good. I mean you always look good, but this is a good outfit for you," he quickly corrected. "Did you want to pick out anything else?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. We need to leave. They will figure out nothing is wrong with she security cameras soon," she replied in a low voice and nodding her head in the direction of the technician who was working on the camera nearby.

Tod followed her gaze and was actually surprised to see the technician there. "Huh, they really are having a problem. Anyway, sure, let's go. I'll pay," he offered.

"Why?" she asked, grabbing her fatigues from the dressing room.

"I guess you can consider it a going away present?" He shrugged. "I have this stipend that the Center volunteers set up for me and I almost never use it. This seems like as good an occasion as any to spend a little."

She simply nodded and pulled the sales tags from her new clothes to have them rung up at the checkout. "Thank you, Tod," she said as they checked out and left the store. She guided him out the same way they came in.

"I thought we were going to leave the mall a different way," he asked her quietly as they walked.

"The store we went to was close to the entrance," she explained. "I only had to jam the cameras in the immediate area and after we are clear I will release them. It will look like a glitch in the system in that part of the network and it will take days or weeks to determine otherwise."

"So I guess you are going to go now?" he asked, looking to her face and giving her hand a squeeze. "Any idea where you are going or is that something you can't really tell me?" He still didn't really believe her story but he was definitely going to miss the unusual reptile.

"It is better for you if you do not know," she said, squeezing his hand right back as they rounded the corner of the block heading back toward the rescue center. "I appreciate all you have taught me, Tod. I am going to miss .."

She stopped mid stride. As Tod looked on the light seemed to leave her eyes and she fell to the sidewalk heavily like a sack of bricks. "Ixel?" he said, kneeling beside her quickly. "Ixel? What's wrong? Get up," he said, voice rising in pitch and volume as he tried to shake his friend awake, only succeeding in rolling her onto her back. He felt her neck for a pulse. Nothing.