The Frogstar Initiative - A Loaded for Bear Detective Story

A Dame on the Holo

Elindrae, B Production Dome, Vat Tech District #4

Six Divs, 18 Segs

It was a full six divs into the day and I was convinced that there was no way a case-and hence a paycheck-was gonna walk through that classic frosted glass door I had built painstakingly into my cube apartment. The air was as usual a recycled mess of poorly fed sentients and their endlessly recycled exhalations from every god-spawned orifice. I was just on the verge of calling it quits and heading down to the corner mart for some Bearclaws and a bottle of vino when the strangest shape appeared on my apartment's doorcam; it blooped into my view from my desk communicator, a shiny blue projection on my desk that really clashed with the old world charm I was going for.

The image showed nothing but an empty hallway, and that thought made me reach for my gun belt. A private eye, or anybody living in this low rent neighborhood, couldn't be too careful about who was at the door. So I hustled my furry behind to the coat rack where I kept my TekCorp blaster and thumbed back the hammer. Detective work being what it was, it was highly likely that a hot dame with a greedy father in law was walking through that frosted glass door, but since I couldn't see anything I had to acknowledge the possibility of a home invasion. This wasn't the nicest district-hence my being able to afford rent here-so I had learned the hard way. Though the air smelled clean-no obvious chems or explosives on the wind-I used a cautious hunter's peep through the frosted glass and thumbed the door open key on my console.

The door beyond my (admittedly cosmetic) frosted glass office door opened with a pneumatic hiss. It read "Bear Necessities Investigation" and the shape that appeared in the glass was...well, it didn't look like any hot dame I had ever seen. "It's open, sweetheart," I sent with my Awakened telepathy, and the door clicked open. Inside walked the oddest looking damsel in distress I had ever seen. All of four feet tall, but I couldn't hold that against her-she was still the tallest frog I had ever seen. Draped in a frankly country robe of rude cloth and a scattering of netting draped over her shoulders like a shawl, scattered with dried vegetation-not very fetching really-but she had pretty blue speckled pattern skin, sort of splotchy in ways that follow a wobbly natural pattern.

The weird little creature blinked one eye at me, then the other, nictating membranes that went side to side. It was fascinating, and I found myself staring into her eyes. They were black pools, of course, and had some resemblance to a fallen acorn-just slightly irregular in tone. Probably for camouflage-lots of 'em lived down there on the main planet, though to see one out in the domes was unusual. The tall pole across her back was clearly a higher level of tech than the net and the bare feet would seem to indicate, and she wore some sort of insignia pinned at her brooch-a jellyfish-and-tree emblem.

The hot dame finally spoke up. "You talk in my head." For a gal, her voice was awfully croaky-but I guess that was to be expected. It sounded like some primitive wooden instrument being rasped.

Part of the life of an Awakened Animal. And you must be a grippli. I replied telekinetically. Not too many of your kind up here on Elindrae. I decocked my laser revolver and took a seat behind my desk, kicking my furry paws onto my well worn desk. Making sure the circle of yellow lamplight was positioned right, it gave me that perfect cover pose. Why don't you tell me about your case, dollface? What's a nice frog gal like you doing in a place like this?

"Your pronoun choices imply I am a fertile female," blurted the frog, taking a seat opposite me. "I apologise, but this is not the case and I have no wish to exchange long DNA strands with you." The little dame-uh, dude-sniffed quietly and shifted to allow the shawl and cloak to fall over the back of it. That little noose sticking up over his shoulder was just so adorable-I just wanted to pinch his little cheeks, just so very serious all the time. "My name is Kerdahloopah, but you may refer to me as Kurds. Most beings find it easier."