October 31, 2017

8:00pm

Department of Experimental and Exploratory Research (DEER) facility

Officer Sap Ian of Precinct 8 for the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD) grumbled as he flipped through the security manual. It was October 31st, Halloween, and almost every ZPD officer was attending the annual ZPD Halloween Masquerade Ball in downtown Zootopia. Instead of enjoying the festivities, he drew the short straw and he was now stuck at the guard station at the entrance for the ZPD's Department of Experimental and Exploratory Research (DEER) facility.

Although he was familiar with some of the research that goes around in the ZPD, the DEER facility was completely new to him. It was highly secretive and all the most ground-breaking research was conducted there. To Sap, it was all mumbo-jumbo and he didn't have the time or interest to completely delve into the details.

Sap closed the manual and looked at his watch. He finished reading the manual the seventh time and he was certain that it was at least past midnight.

"8:35pm…" he mumbled as he got up to get a cup of tea at the nearby kitchen. It was going to be a long night, especially since who in the world would want to break in to a research facility on Halloween? Nevertheless, protocols were absolute and Sap had no choice.

ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS AT LABORATORY Z!

With a cup of hot tea in one hand, Sap quickly ran back to the security desk and looked at the camera feeds. There was no one on any of the monitors. Odd, thought Sap. False alarm? The security guard he replaced did mention that the security system was a bit ancient. Apparently, all the funding went to research and not much towards security.

"Well, I might as well take a look," Sap said to himself as he pulled out his torch.

This was the first time Sap went down to the laboratories at the DEER facility. Laboratory Z was located in the basement and based on his brief orientation with the previous security guard, Laboratory Z was the area reserved for the most important research. Something about space generators and zoobidium smashers. Admittedly, the way the guard described it piqued Sap's interest. A part of him wanted to know what was going on in there and now was the best time.

He slid the security access card on the door lock for Laboratory Z. The lock beeped approvingly and the metallic doors slid open for Sap. The room was dark and even the light from the hallway did not illuminate anything.

Strange… Sap thought to himself. Usually the lights come on when the doors slide open for a worker. He tried flicking the nearby light switches. Nothing. He turned on his torch and began his first scan of the room. In the center was a giant metallic rectangle connected to a bunch of computers and generators. Whatever was being researched at Laboratory Z, this structure was certainly involved.

CLACK!

Sap's heart jumped as he reflexively turned his torch to the sound. Once he saw who caused it, he immediately relaxed. This was just a Halloween prank and he fell for it.

"Ha, ha," Sap sarcastically laughed. "I should have known it was you trying to scare me. How did you get in here by the wa…?" Before Sap could finish, he felt a large blow to the back of his head and the whole world turned black.