Chairman Sirius Dogstar was dead. Assassinated by a toad agent. The recently re-elected Fritz Warner had replaced him, and one of Fritz's first orders of business had been to disband to liaison division Dogstar pioneered, and which, until its demise, Renfield worked for, acting as Dogstar's connection to the crew of the Righteous Indignation.
Strangely, Fritz had summoned Renfield personally to his office and offered him a position on his private staff. What was unusual about this was that, as far as he knew, Renfield was the only one of the ex-liaisons Fritz was making this offer to. Fritz claimed his "extracurricular activities," that is, his various side errands for Dogstar, had impressed him. He said Renfield had good work ethic and he needed someone like him on his staff.
Renfield would've bought that completely if only he hadn't been the only one offered such a position from amongst the former liaisons! He felt... singled out. And he didn't like it. Consequently, the nagging thought squirming inside him now was that Fritz suspected his dirty secret and wanted him on his personal staff so he could keep an eye on him.
"He has to be on to me!" Renfield said quietly to himself. "Why me? Why only me?"
He leaned against his desk. The handsome young Warrenian hare was not what he appeared to be. He wasn't from Warren, and he wasn't even a hare, but the groundbreaking scientific techniques of Professor Glutgrave had seen to it that, to all outward appearances, the toad spy Zaysen was just another hare working dilligently at the U.A.C.
He'd been ferreting information to his fellow toads who had dug in following the mammals' retaking of Genus, but he'd been in place as a double agent for longer than even that, having been planted on the post-invasion Warren with a false past that led back to a destroyed town. It was very nearly perfect. But now, it seemed, the sly Chairman Warner was seeing through his disguise.
His stomach lurched as he thought of Drollard, the other toad spy altered by Professor Glutgrave, the one who murdered Dogstar. Whereas Zaysen had been made to resemble a generic hare who never actually existed, Glutgrave had been tasked with turning Drollard into a perfect copy of Bucky O'Hare so he could frame O'Hare for Dogstar's murder. And now Drollard was dead.
Nevermind that Renfield had genuinely liked Dogstar, old blowhard that he was, and venomously held it against his fellow toads for killing him, it was Drollard's fate that weighed on him. It hadn't been officially stated in public, but Renfield knew through his closeness to Fritz that Drollard had been killed not long after his interrogation by a lethal injection. It made Renfield shiver, and again the thought of Fritz suspecting him resurfaced. Did Fritz tell him this in order to try and scare him into turning himself in?
Ironic, considering that Renfield had been enjoying his life as a hare so far. For this and other reasons, he'd been seriously considering cutting his ties with the toads entirely and just living as a hare for the rest of his life. Only two things were stopping him. One, the worry of what the toads would do to him, and now, two, what the mammals would do!
He went to a mirror and stared at his reflection. He had light green fur and short brown hair parted down the middle, and watery gray eyes that made him difficult to read. He'd practiced many facial expressions in front of this mirror, but now, it wasn't just second nature, it seemed like the real him. He had honestly forgotten what he looked like before the procedure.
Walking back to the desk, Renfield practically collapsed into his chair. If he did turn himself in, what would the mammals do to him? Inject him, too, and kill him? Unconsciously, he rubbed his arm and thought of the needle going in, and felt ill.
"Why?" he asked aloud to no one. "Why did they kill Drollard?"
He looked at the papers in front of him and twirled a pen in his nimble fingers. Suddenly, the toad communicator sitting on his desk beeped. Sergeant Krug was calling. Probably to ask why he hadn't contacted him in a whole week. He looked over at it, absently wondering what it was doing sitting out in the open like this instead of hidden away in a drawer. In his worry, he was getting careless. He fought back tears.
"Will the ammals kill me too, like Drollard, when they find out? Will the toads? Will I beg when it happens, or will I have enough self-respect to just...?"
He trailed off into silence, quaking. After a moment, he flung the pen across the room. His communicator continued to beep insistently. Finally he just picked it up and sent it flying after the pen. He didn't want to deal with Krug. Or any toad. Overcome with emotion, he buried his face in his hands and began to sob hysterically.
"Why did I ever take this assignment?" he bawled.
There was a knock at the door. Instinct kicked in. An actor's instinct. Renfield sat up, his mood changing immediately. Almost automatically, the false hare transformed into the very picture of calm and collected. Rising, he went and picked up the communicator and slid it into his jacket pocket.
"Come in," he said.
Gilly Stephenson opened the door and poked his head in. Great, Renfield though. He didn't much like Gilly. The short gopher had been his co-worker and office neighbor ever since Renfield came to work in the main U.A.C. offices, and he seemed intent on inserting himself into every aspect of Renfield's life. Renfield thought it was because Gilly noticed what others did not: the fact he didn't seem to have a life outside of the office. He figured Gilly was just curious and trying to learn more about his fellow employee, and he was pleasant enough, but Renfield still didn't like how he snooped.
"Hiya, Ren," Gilly said. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you. Just was wondering if you weren't too busy to help me with some file transporting I gotta do before you head out for lunch."
Renfield grumped. Lunch! He'd forgotten completely about food! Well, Gilly was good for one thing at least: making sure his co-worker ate! Of course, his lunch was currently in several jars locked away in his bottom desk drawer. He would have to eat later. For now, though, he had duties to attend to. Renfield managed a cheerful smile.
"Sure!"
He rose and followed Gilly out of the office. He pulled the door shut and removed the lamenated ID card off of his lapel, and held it against the card-reader next to the doorframe. There was a beep and a click. Locked. Turning, he clipped the ID card back to his lapel and noticed Gilly was staring at him. The gopher clearly was disappointed that he'd locked the door. It meant he couldn't snoop while Renfield was gone.
"Just following procedure, good buddy," Renfield said.
He followed Gilly into the office across the hall. Gilly always tended to keep his door open. And in fact most of the employees did. Even though locking their offices even when they were in them was standard procedure, few people actually did it and the policy had been poorly enforced under Dogstar. Renfield reasoned this would changed now that Fritz was in charge again. But little would change for him in that regard. For obvious reasons, Renfield was more dilligent about locking his office than most. His apartment was similarly secured all of the time.
"Just grab an armful and come with me," Gilly said, gesturing to two large stacks of files on his desk.