FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Philip checked his palm comp as the autocab turned into his neighborhood. The latest immigration figures for Greenholme were going to be released in two days in conjunction with a prepared speech by Governor Sallivera, and he made a note to send a notice to the major orbital news organizations both for Foxen Prime and the interstellar news outlets. Likewise, there was Hanavo's trial for tobacco smuggling in Interstellar Court coming up in two tendays, so Phillip made a notation to be prepared for queries about House Darktail's involvement in his arrest. Finally, there was Lord Rolas and Lady Melanie's fourth wedding anniversary coming up, so he would have to remind them about getting an official portrait for the event, hopefully with their twins posing with them.

Stop working, Phillip, he told himself, as the autocab pulled up his family's house. Upon taking the job of House Darktail's press officer, Countess Darktail has been firm about one thing. If no one is dead, injured, and no buildings are on fire, you stop working when you leave for home, she had told him. Foxen had very different ideas about work/life balance than humans did, with most Terran companies expecting their employees to work at least twenty-five hours every tenday, and for higher level employees to be on call even outside those arduous standards. Still, old habits were hard to break, despite the countess' occasional admonishments.

He hopped out of the cab and entered the rambling home he shared with his family. A three-story turret home with a pair of sub turrets added by the previous owners, it had proved perfect when his wife Kim had married into Russet and Silvy's family, with more than enough room for four adults and seven rambunctious children.

Phillip stepped into the foyer, kicking off his work sandals, just in time to hear their youngest daughter Megara cry out, “Daddy Phillip is home!" He had just enough time to drop to one knee as eighty centimeters of eight-year old vixen slammed into him, wrapping her arms around Phillip's neck as the other children ran over to fox-pile him to the floor, only his eldest son Greg refusing to join in out of teenage reluctance to look childish.

“Too much love!" Phillip cried out, waving one hand desperately. “I'm drowning in love!" Kim came over to pull him out of the pile, laughing.

“Don't do that to Daddy Phillip before he has a chance to eat dinner!" she admonished.

“Or after," Russet, their children's foxen father, called out from the kitchen. Red furred and handsome, he was busy sprinkling cheese flakes over some delicious looking meat pies.

“Thank you," Phillip said, giving each of their children a hug before also bussing Kim and Russet on the cheek. “Where's Lilen?"

“She switched shifts at the long-term care center," Kim said. “She won't be home until later."

“And what's the game this evening?" he asked.

“I am reliably informed it's Forester," Russet said, handing Phillip a bowl of meat pie.

Greg's shoulder's slumped. “I wanted to play BattleDroids," he complained, grabbing a bowl and fork for himself.

“It's Megara's night to choose," Kim admonished. “You can kick our tails at BattleDroids next time."

Phillip and the rest of his family took seats around the conversation pit with their food, while Russet called up the game on the holographic display in the center. Forester was a medium difficulty cooperative resource management game, with the players representing a forest mothering team of a pre-Steam Age countess. Each player was assigned a sector of a forest to oversee, balancing the needs of nearby villages, the occasionally capricious demands of their countess, and dealing with random events, all while trying to maintain a balanced and renewable ecosystem. The game's AI was particularly intelligent, offering challenges suitable to the age, playing style, and skill level of the players.

It wasn't until they were in the second turn of the game that Greg forgot to continue his sulk and diverted resources from his own sector to shore up Megara's assignment, as she dealt with sabotage from evil gerwart spies trying to steal shipments of wood to burn in their factories.

“Good job, Greg," Phillip told him.

Greg glared at the game display as it showed the spies being ran out of the forest pursued by angry grass chasers. “Well, I wasn't gonna let the 'warties win," he said. Though Greg was human, he'd taken the traditional rivalry between the Mother Country and Gerwart to heart, even if it was mostly confined to cheering for different sports teams these days.

Lilen came through the door an hour later, just as they were finishing up the last turn, a dramatic storm overflowing the river running through the forest requiring everyone to pool their remaining resources to save the local villages. She too was ritually buried in a pile of children, until Russet and Phillip both waded in to rescue her. “Did I miss anything?" she called out.

“We almost drowned our countess!" Megara called out, pointing to the game display.

“Well, good thing you didn't," Lilen said, grabbing kisses from Phillip, Russet and Kim. “That would have been an awkward press release for Daddy Phillip to write."

Lilen grabbed a meat pie for herself from the food warmer, as the children headed upstairs to their rooms, except for Greg, who elected to help Russet load the dish sterilizer.

“So, Greg," Phillip began casually. “You had any thoughts yet about your Service tour?"

Greg looked at him warily. “I'm only sixteen. I've got a couple of years before that comes up." After a moment, he added reluctantly. “I was thinking just doing a stretch in the military. It would kinda suck, but I don't know what I'm good at yet."

“You're good at Forester," Russet pointed out.

“That's just a game," Greg pointed out.

Phillip nodded in agreement. “Yes, but the organization skills it teaches you are real. We all saw how it was you who moved in to help the other kids when they were going to be overwhelmed in the scenario." He drummed his fingers on the countertop briefly. “The Countess and Count were talking to me the other day about life on Greenholme. It's big enough now that Governor Sallivera is looking to expand her administration staff. They're looking for new people, younger people, who would be willing to stay on for a while to guide things as the colony expands."

“Greenholme?" Greg repeated. “You mean I could have a job all the way on Greeholme?"

“An internship," Phillip corrected. “For three years. To see if you're suitable for the job, and whether you think the job suits you."

“And," Kim added helpfully, “you'd have your own apartment."

Greg's eyes lit up at this. One of his frequent teenaged complaints was concerning how crowded the house was, and how difficult it was for him to bring friends over without the other children getting underfoot. “I… I… have to think about that," he said, but his eyes were still bright as he turned away and headed up to his room.

Lilen sighed. “He would be the first of our children to leave our home."

Phillip took her paw, kissing her pads gently. “Of all of us, Greg was the one who missed Humanity Prime the most when we moved here. You and Russet made him feel welcome when our families joined together. I think being here has helped him expand his horizons. Somehow that makes Greg moving to Greenholme seem like he's just spreading his wings further."

“You always know the right thing to say, Phillip," Kim said, moving in to hug him tightly.

“Well," Phil shrugged, “it is part of my job."

Kim and the other adults laughed, and they all moved upstairs to head to bed together.