Dystopia:

The Shadow City

Chapter I: The Fox, the Bunny, and the Zootopia

-[Prologue]-

Zootopia, the city of paradise for animals, predator and prey alike. A seemingly distant place of utopia in form of a city, majestic in appearance even from afar. When one got Zootopia in sight, they would see all the tall buildings in the center of the city, towering over other parts of the city each divided by large, gigantic walls. Even from a distance, we could see the differing appearances of each part of the city, each having their own characteristics that differs them one another and they each had their own beach that connects the land to the vast body of water known as the sea.

One of the parts, districts, of the city was colored cream and pale orange. Almost completely covered by sand was the Sahara Square. Located at the southeast side of the city, this district was built for animals with bodily matches with heat or simply because of preference. The vast body of sand was dotted by buildings with rather large gaps between them and lined with streets that connected the buildings. Space was quite plenty in Sahara Square. Every day we can see camels and such jogging through the track they choose among the curves and edges of Sahara Square. The district could be windy too, so better prepare a pair of protective glasses in your bag. Although Sahara Square could be very hot at times, business there was pretty much in good rates.

One of the visiting points of this particular district was the Mystic Spring Oasis, a place for pleasure seekers. Contemplating that the building's a place that actually allows both visitors and employees alike to not wear any clothing. For some animals, the place made them uncomfortable because of the visitors were practically naked but taking clothes off do make you more comfortable with the heat especially with Sahara Square's hot climate. Nonetheless, this place still persisted in things to visit list when you happen to be visiting Sahara Square.

Another district on the northeast was Tundratown. Yep, by name alone you could imagine that it was a frigging cold district that is covered in snow. Well, you're not wrong. Tundratown was like the other side of a coin of Sahara Square, climate fitted perfectly with animals with thick fur or just wanted to chill out. This district was covered almost entirely by snow with some snow covered spires extending at the edges of a noticeable curve of sea that intrudes into the land. Temperature wise, Tundratown was the polar opposite of Sahara Square that sometimes snow, dropping the temperature even more in those times. One trait that the two districts share was that they were both windy.

As Tundratown and Sahara Square were located side by side, and they had polar opposing climates, the two districts were separated by an enormous wall that could be seen regulating the air from the two districts. Much like oversized air conditioner, but it worked perfectly so that the two districts could exist side by side without any change that could lead to significant damage over the buildings and inhabitants because of the opposite climates.

Next up, on the northwest of the city was Rainforest District. As the name implied, the district consisted of large, gigantic trees which leaves made the district a canopy, simulating the real forest. The canopy was the exact part of the district that made it look completely green from the sky -or gray since rain clouds were constant obstacles in the sky. While the canopy itself wasn't too dense, the real deal of Rainforest District laid conveniently beneath the shades of it, making the district feels cool but not as cool as Tundratown. Call it . . . "Just right" or "perfect" kind of cool. But you might want to consider bringing an umbrella or raincoat when visiting this particular district.

The thing about Rainforest District was its namesake, the fact that it was capable of raining any time. Its climate was good enough to make it rain rather frequently, making the roads slippery and parents needing to watch their children more seriously to avoid unwanted injuries and accidents. The district itself might be responsible for Sahara Square's lack of rain. Even if the sky and clouds emptied themselves out of water, there were multiple sprinkler systems throughout the underside of the canopy, spraying water all around and together, the large number of sprinklers could make the district rain anytime. The water used was supplied from either accumulated raindrops or the ocean and was balanced so the ocean wouldn't get dry.

Another feature of the Rainforest District was that it, simulating a forest, was built with massive river system that started from the center of the cape then branched into large rivers that bent around and then branched again into smaller rivers. This form of land sculpture rendered the making of roads difficult. To overcome this difficulty, hanging roads were built, connecting the lands across the rivers with bridges. Overall, Rainforest District's a good place to set home if you want natural view right around your house.

Finally the major district of Zootopia, downtown, the Savannah Central. Adopting the portrait of a modern metropolitan city, Savannah Central was decorated with buildings that ranged from small houses to medium sized apartments on the outer parts and large buildings to skyscrapers in the middle of the city, providing enough shade from the sunlight to the roads below. Nothing particularly pointed itself out from this district because like the name implied it was like a savanna, a wide space with normal warm weather.

Downtown was what we could expect from the sight of skyscrapers and business buildings everywhere. Restaurants, laundries, malls, sports, parks, pretty much everything you'll need could be found here. What came in package with the district being the central, though, was that it was very busy. Vehicles were simply double or even triple the amount from other districts. Pollution wasn't much a problem since there were enough trees to keep the airspace clean.

On one side of Savannah Central was Little Rodentia, a place for small sized mammals like mouse and shrew and such. Relative to the inhabitants' size, the buildings were obviously smaller than the ones of Savannah Central, Rainforest District, Tundratown, and Sahara Square. It was quite busy and crowded during the day, for its inhabitants', at least. Any other larger animals would just watch at the small creatures' moving to one place to another at the smaller city.

Other than the four districts mentioned, there were also other districts as well. Take Canal District, Meadowlands, and Marshlands as examples. While Canal District was practically by extensive was Rainforest District's outer part, Meadowlands and Marshlands were the districts on the north of the city that borders the north side.

Another noticeable sight on the city was the train system. Crossing over the four main districts was a train track that connected neighboring town of Bunnyburrow to Zootopia train station. The track entered from south at the edge of Sahara Square before entering Tundratown and Rainforest District before stopping at the station on Savannah Central, practically showing the visitors around the city. There were other tracks in the station as well, with their own routes to access various locations in the city.

Oh, one more thing. The city also had a stadium, namely Animalia Stadium on the outer Savannah Central among other large iconic buildings. The dark blue colored stadium was decorated with white lines darker blue circles, shaped like a giant wide cylinder that ended with large wave like upper edges with random height. The stadium itself wasn't too standing out considering that everything in Zootopia looked impressive. But the stadium actually had large amount of visitors. Sports were clearly to be held in this particular building, but artists contribute to the stadium's earnings as well as many artists held their concerts there, thinking that the stadium is a big and nice place as it is, it would be comfortable to hold fancy concerts there. While the fans didn't even get bored by the stadium, artists like the booming Gazelle made themselves on the stadium's list of customers.

Appearance wise, the city was amazing if said loosely. But the thing that caught most animals' attention was the slogan. Yes, the slogan. You read those bold words right. Aside of the majestic appearance of the city of Zootopia, the most interesting thing that made it so popular and attractive was the slogan it held upon: "Everyone can be everything." Basically, any species of animals of any breed are welcome to the city to be anything they want and to reinforce the slogan, one of its past mayors, Leodore Lionheart invented the "Mammal Inclusion Initiative" that's simply means any animal, big or small, strong or weak, have the opportunity of being anything they want, even high positions like mayor and directors, attracting a large number of immigrant that all had the same purpose in mind: being anything they want to be.

The slogan itself was manifested by the ancestors of Zootopia, where long ago everyone, from all ethnic, fur color, species, breed, anything, can be everything they dreamed, they desired, what they always wanted to be since they were nothing but a young animal staring at the distant future only able to hope with all of their heart that in the future where they grow up, they can realize their dreams and make them come true. It was like that in Zootopia, long ago, and it should have be until now.

But well, scrap that slogan. Just crush it into pieces and throw it to the trash can or something of sorts. While most animals went here to make their dreams come true, it wasn't easy for some animals. You see, being a modern city it was, Zootopia couldn't escape the plague of uncomfortable subjects. Said subject were very painful for some animals and by extensive, could destroy the very animals it was laid upon. Said subject could cause massive collateral damages. Said subjects shatters many hopes and dreams. Said subject, is prejudice.

Prejudice, by meaning, it means preconception, seeing something the way it was said to be. Stereotype was not too different. Basically with the diverse kinds of animal in the world, it would be obvious that one species differs from another. While some species related by family or phylum, on might be completely different from another. Like one had long tail while one had short tail, one had sharp teeth while one had flat teeth, one with claws and one with none, and so on. Those exact differences made prejudice a hot topic in the city.

Take an example of bunnies. They were stereotyped as explosive breeders, and that's true. That's why there were a town that was populated almost entirely by bunnies, like Bunnyburrow, for a place for bunnies to raise their hundreds of children. Another fact that bunnies were small, the chance of them to work in fields that includes physical works was pretty small as

Have another example of foxes. Foxes were deemed sly, elusive, and shifty. With those stereotypes in everyone's mind, it was VERY hard for foxes to have their place in the world, not to mention Zootopia itself. They might be smart and intelligent. With enough work, they could be valuable materials. But the thing was that they were viewed as untrustable animals. By doing so, foxes had difficult life from cub to adult. Some even had childhood trauma because of harsh treatment the people around them gave them, making them turn into rather unreachable and distant, not rarely, cold and rash animal in their adulthood, themselves hating the world because of that. Society was one thing, but stereotypes were everywhere.

Prejudice and stereotype might be painful and hard, not rarely crushing people's dreams, but those with hard work and strong will could overcome them and make their dream come true, even if they were kind of misfit and by seeing them alone we could tell that they weren't suitable for the job they dreamed.

What else could we take for best example if it wasn't Zootopia's first bunny officer, Judy Hopps. She had unnaturally large amount of energy for the size of a bunny, being small as she was. She only joined Zootopia Police Department for three days and she already solved a major case, earning her respect to be treated as equals to her fellow officers and getting fame as well too.

Judy Hopps was initially viewed as no more than a bunny. Born in Bunnyburrow, unlike her 275 siblings, she had the dream to be a police officer when she grows up. We could guess that many animals tried to persuade her to give that dream up, mostly her parents that always try to persuade her to be a carrot farmer like them and Judy's siblings, but her strong will shielded her from their influences and managed to get herself into the Police Academy. Surprisingly, she was the top of her classes, which shocked many, if not all, of her fellow trainees. She then stationed in Savannah Central where she went in her career for three days and she already solved a big case, namely the Night Howler Case or publicly Savage Mammal Incident, with the help of a certain fox.

Nick Wilde was a red fox and Judy Hopps' companion that helped her solve the case, big time. His presence was a major advantage to the bunny officer as he, a senior to Judy in matter of being older inhabitant of Zootopia and a fox, had extensive knowledge of the city's bends, curves, and edges. Enabling Judy to proceed through the case swiftly while learning the true nature of the prejudice plagued city as they progressed on the case, which was initially missing mammal case, grew into the Savage Mammal Incident.

The case wasn't a simple one. It was all started when fourteen mammals mysteriously disappeared without trace and the ZPD were overwhelmed by the protest of the missing ones' families over their incapability to find their beloved family members. Judy Hopps were stationed at the central station a couple of weeks after the disappearance of the latest mammal, an otter, raising the number of missing to fourteen. Back then, our bunny was upset because she was tasked as a parking maid, much to her annoyance. When the missing mammal case was brought upon again by a visiting family member of the missing otter, Judy immediately took a chance to solve this case, much to the chief's dismay out of insubordination. Nonetheless, she was given two days to solve the case, in which she managed to locate all of the missing mammals in one place after a supposed false alarm in Rainforest District and arrested the supposed criminal, the city's mayor of that time, Leodore Lionheart as he locked them all, including the more recent missing black jaguar, up in a faraway abandoned building.

What was disturbing is that all of the missing mammals, no exception, were in savage state. Unable to be reasoned with and extremely dangerous, forcing the replacing mayor, Former Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether, to lock them up in the hospital until a cure is made. The following press conference featuring the bunny was held, and from her lips, she gave her suspicion that somehow the predators are reverting to their old savage instincts, considering all of the missing and savage mammals were all predators. This simple statement from her split the city of Zootopia in two with the prey animals opposing the predators under fear that they will also turn savage. Some peaceful attempts were held, but unfortunately weren't enough to glue the two pieces one again.

Seeing the massive fracture in Zootopia society, Judy couldn't help but to feel guilty because it was her statements at the press conference that resulted in all of this. Mayor Dawn Bellwether proposed to her to be the face of ZPD, but under guilt, she refuses and subsequently gave her badge to her chief, resigning from the force.

She returned to Bunnyburrow and became a carrot farmer like her parents wanted her to be. But no later than a day, she had a breakthrough and came back to the city. After picking the fox back on the team, she infiltrated a laboratory inside an abandoned train where Midnicampum holicithias, flowers known as Night Howlers, were being grown and then had their extracts being concentrated into a bullet.

The chemicals of Night Howlers itself had psychotropic effect that when enter one's system, could cause them to to become savage and lost the ability of higher reasoning functions, making them attack everything that moves. The chemicals work on everyone, be it prey or predator, big or small animals, fat or thin, anything. On normal exposure, which was consume of said flowers, would turn them savage but only temporarily. However, the bullets contained concentrated chemicals and by speculations, would render the savage condition indefinite if otherwise to be cured with antidote, which was the detained mammals' condition.

Judy and Nick managed to snatch the gun used to shoot the bullets and some bullets itself and then ran through the museum in an attempt to bring the evidence to the ZPD but unfortunately, the mastermind of the whole incident, Mayor Bellwether, with her underlings appeared and trapped them inside a display. While trapped, the two conversed with the sheep. Bellwether then shot a bullet at Nick, turning him savage, making him hunt for Judy inside the display. Bellwether called the ZPD, attempting to make this a savage accident so her plan would go smoothly. As Nick approached Judy to kill her in that state, the bunny managed to ask for Bellwether's motives, which she blurted out all at once. She explained that she always hated predator and planned this to lock up the predators to ensure prey's domination and she would place the blame at the predators as she turn more savage. A pause after that, Nick's jaws enclosed on Judy's neck.

Did she die? Nope. She lived because Nick was faking his savage state as they replaced the Night Howler bullets with blueberries from Judy's farm. Bellwether's anger quickly surfaced as she opened the ammo case, declaring that she framed Lionheart, she could frame Judy and Nick too. But when the ZPD force arrived, Judy played Bellwether's confession that was recorded in a pen that doubles as a recorder, ultimately resulted in Bellwether's arrest and Judy's return to the force.

What was more surprising was that sometime after, Nick Wilde decided to join Judy as a ZPD officer and both, until now, served in the force as partners, waiting the chance of another adventure to unveil itself for both cops to go through. It wasn't easy to fit into the city, but their faces on the news boosted the two's fame and respect, well mostly Judy, but it was enough to give people the sign that not everyone live up to their stereotypes and to put a mind to reconsider giving random discrimination to other animals.

They might be small, but they had proven themselves in some cases already and they will keep getting more experiences as officers of Zootopia Police Department.

-The Fox, the Bunny, and the Zootopia by Layrey Nightclaw

-[Savannah Central, Zootopia. Nicholas P. Wilde and Judy Hopps]-

"Really?"

Said a certain fox, half closed eyes and a sly grin plastered on his face, looking at the screen of a laptop, a writing program open and a bunch of words could be seen on the view. He was feeling amused, annoyed, and weird in the same time.

It was early morning, six o'clock, and most animals would probably on their way to work right now. Save for ones that work in their houses, they wouldn't need to wake up so early to open up. Part of the rising sun could be seen on the horizon, its light already giving the city warmth and light. Streetlamps in the city gradually turned off and faint shadows were casted from the buildings. The dark sky slowly brightened up as the big orb of light and heat ascends to the high sky, the clouds becoming more and more lighter, devoid of the darkness the night gave them.

Vehicles could already be seen passing the streets. Some business was already open, like cafes and small shops. The park started to receive sunlight as animals jogged in the park, working their morning exercises, trying to keep their body as fit as possible. Most animals might have busy schedules in weekdays, both private affairs and work alike, but a morning exercise wouldn't hurt if it rewards a healthy body.

Nonetheless, Zootopia already woke up, partially, that was.

On one bend of Savannah Central was a cafe. There was a bright colored cafe that shines under the sunlight. There were two tables in front of it equipped with foldable umbrella colored in gradation of orange and yellow. Beside the front glass door, in front of the windows were patches of flower with varying shades of orange and yellow. Above the entrance was a sign that read "Sunset Cafe." It was flashy, but it's quite nice to hang around.

In the cafe, five animals could be seen with three sitting on a chair surrounding a table. The other two was the Sunset Cafe's cashier and waiter. The antelope and Siberian husky were watching the three officers in front of them talking about something. The husky was just serving a drink of carrot juice to a lynx when a fox and bunny came in, friends of the lynx' sitting beside him, talking about what he was doing with his laptop. Both cafe owners couldn't help but to grin occasionally as the fox and the bunny commenting on the lynx' work on his laptop. They were their best customer after all, almost regularly visiting the cafe before and after come at weekends too. The cafe itself looked like a meeting ground already with the three around.

"Oh come on!" the lynx exclaimed while glancing at both of the cops on either side of his head who were trying to get better sight at the screen. It was a small notebook he was using so if you wanted to take a look then you'll have to switch places with the user. The fox and the bunny were trying to get a look but the lynx in the front of the metal device didn't budge, trying to secure his place. "Guys! I'm still spell proofing this thing!" his arms and paws didn't even able to move freely to type on the keyboard as the bunny and the fox severely limiting his movement. They didn't seem to listen to the poor out of space lynx.

Giving up, the lynx rotated his arms upward to free it from the two's lock then pushed himself back, catapulting his body back and landed flat at the floor back first. He peered at the owners only to earn a grin and a shook of head at his condition. He took a look at his seat only to be seated by the fox. He got up after sighing his defeat.

The fox scrolled down the program. "Wow," the bunny said as she read the words one by one along with the fox. "Nice thing you did here, Rey!" she exclaimed, glancing at the lynx behind here who put up his smug face. "I like this."

The fox sighed as he quickly scrolls down. "Objection!" he voiced, earning all four's attention. "Although the title is 'The Fox, the Bunny, and the Zootopia', this writing emphasizes on Carrots instead of me," he frowned. The bunny beside him just giggled.

Yep, the fox was none other Nicholas P. Wilde, the recently con-man who turned good and was among the newest batch of ZPD graduates as the top of his classes. The fox turned a new leaf in three days since he met the bunny officer, Judy Hopps. This red furred fox with dark auburn fur on the tips of his ears, paws, feet, and tail wore a Zootopia Police Department uniform which consisted of dark blue long sleeved shirt with two pockets on each side. One on the right was below a name tag that read: "WILDE" while the pocket on the left was below a shining metal ZPD badge. The high collar shirt also had sewn badges on the upper sleeves. He also wore darker tie and pants. Decorating said pants were some paraphernalia and a holster holding a tranquilizer gun.

The grey furred bunny beside him was the one and only Judy Hopps, or Carrots as Nick usually called her with. She wore blue shirt that was covered by a Kevlar on her torso and darker blue pants that was decorated by metal kneepads, a black utility belt with silver buckle, and paraphernalia patterned with military dark grey. This uniform of ZPD didn't come with a name tag, but the badge persisted on the left side of the Kevlar.

The lynx protested by a smug face. "Well it isn't finished yet!" he exclaimed while smacking Nick's head in annoyance. He would be finishing it earlier if it wasn't for Nick and Judy. "Just give me some time with space and I might finish it before time to go to the station," he said, crossing his arms.

The lynx was another ZPD officer by the name of Layrey "Rey" Nightclaw, joining Nick as a fellow graduate of the same batch of greens. As a lynx, he got the characteristic black tuft and white bar behind his ears. His reddish fur was also dense to the point that those on the sides of his head actually spikes out in a fashion. His eyes were gold. He usually wore the same uniform a Nick, with his name plate reads "NIGHTCLAW", in normal conditions of work. But when he was assigned to his specialty, which was shooting, as in sniping as per ZPD's frequent orders, he wore the same neoprene uniform as Judy usually wears with addition of arm-mounted cases that contained bullets for his rifle and gloves that left the little and ring fingers out, allowing him to comfortably adjust his sniping position. Body wise, he was a bit larger than Nick -making Judy the shortest out of the three-, and because of his dense fur, it was arguable whether he was more built than Nick. His paws outsize Nick's though. On the back we could see his short black ended tail, another characteristic of his species.

He could be said a hyperactive animal, ever since his first day of action in which he shot six crime convict in a single operation from faraway, saving Nick and Judy who were cornered by a corrupt officer. He fairly coped with Judy's own term of hyperactive, outbalancing Nick's more calm and collected demeanor. But Rey could be calm and collected too, usually after a streak of hard work when his passion was drained until nothing was left. Being one of the smallest officers in the city, Rey found himself frequently hanging with these two. Although he made friends with the other larger officers himself, he was more comfortable with Judy and Nick where he didn't have to climb himself up to tables or similar large furniture. The three quickly become a trio, though the fox and the bunny duo was still dominating in the sight of the other officers and townsfolk. It wasn't that Rey felt left behind, though. He KNEW how cute those two together.

Rey wasn't a total stranger to Judy and Nick. They both had met the lynx at their earlier life albeit once, but that was enough to let him be a friend of theirs in less time. Neither of the three talked much of their past, but what mattered is the present and future, right? Well, the past played a role in investigations, of course.

Nick grumbled a little, his annoyance couldn't go unnoticed. "Rey," he called the lynx, who took a seat beside him. "If you want to post this thing into the internet make sure you emphasize me instead," he said while pointing at himself.

Judy, almost likely on cue, immediately scoffed at Nick, who raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. After she regained her composure, "The thing is, my dear friend Nick," she said as she put a pointer finger at Nick's nose, making the red fox recoil upon contact. "I out famous you." She slapped a wide cocky grin on her face to which the fox just narrowed his eyebrows at this statement. The lynx and the husky just chuckled in response.

It was undeniable that Judy was more famous than Nick, even by a bit. Even though they were on news together after the closure of the Savage Mammal Incident, Judy took most of the fame because of her status as a police officer while people, still stereotyping Nick, thought that Judy did most of the work and Nick was just get washed up into the mess and displayed at the closure just as a decoration.

The truth was Nick played a major role in the solving of the case as he was the key witness of Emmit Otterton's disappearance and to the rest of the case, helped Judy a lot. From telling Emmit Otterton's last sighting at Mystic Spring Oasis, enabling Judy to run a plate at the Department of Mammal Vehicles, enabling Judy to intrude the limo service lot -by deputizing him, convincing the black jaguar chauffeur to talk -although the jaguar turned savage when about to let them inside his house-, distracting the savage jaguar so Judy could cuff his leg -by accident-, rescuing Judy from Chief Bogo's confrontation, pointing out the surveillance cameras to track the jaguar's position, actually tracking the jaguar himself with the camera network, and actually saved both him and Judy by switching the Night Howler bullets with Judy's blueberries. Yeah, counting those, Nick was NOT just a washed up animal in the case and he saved Judy's butt more than once.

Judy laughed out loud at Nick's reaction, shocking all other animals in there, including a zebra who was just entering the cafe. Both Judy and the husky apologized to the zebra silently. He didn't look too happy, confused rather, but decided to put it behind and took a seat of his own on the other side of the cafe. Judy felt guilty, but the husky just shushed that thought away by a wave of a paw.

Judy returned her sight to Nick. "Hey, people might think you're just a sly and shifty fox," Nick recoiled at the stereotype. Both Rey and Judy saw the uncomfortable feeling Nick felt. "But not me," she continued. "Don't worry. You're a cop now!" she exclaimed. "It won't be easy. Slowly but surely, people will respect you more," she added. The tip of Nick's lips twitched, as if holding a grin back.

"And if they don't," Rey continued, placing a paw on Nick's shoulder while putting up an encouraging smile. "Then we'll teach them some lesson to not mess around with our best friend." He smacked the shoulder he was just holding. "Right, Cottontail?" he gazed at Judy, who narrowed her eyes at the name.

"Don't call me that," she said, pointing a finger at Rey, enough to make him recoil some steps back in fear. "But it's true, though. I'd give them a piece of my mind if they keep treating you like trash," she crossed her arms as she talk, earning a genuine smile from the fox.

He stood up, the same smile still persisted on his face. "Well, nothing's better than friends' words." Judy and Rey just grinned ear to ear when they see him back on his spirit again. "Come on," he pointed with his thumb at the station. "Work's calling."

Rey's smug face returned. "Argh. Now I have to finish this article later. Thank you, Nick and Judy," he said the thanking venomously while the said animals just smirked. Seeing the two smirking, Rey just threw a paw on each muzzle and they laughed together before Rey started to pack up his notebook. "See ya guys later, Dashiel, Robert." The waiter and the husky responded with kind smiles and wave of a paw.

It wasn't a long way to the station. It was just two blocks away from the Sunset. That exact reason is why Nick, Judy, and Rey chose this place to hang out or just to relax. This cafe was built for small to medium sized animals, so they wouldn't have to worry about some elephants with loud, echoing voice overwhelming their own voice. Even the Siberian husky waiter was half the height of the room.

After Rey packed up his notebook and his bag, the three paid for their drinks before starting to walk to the station. The sudden breeze of air ruffled against their fur, all feeling the gentle flow of the morning wind. The city was very much lightened up right then. The Evergreen park was just in front of them, already lit up by the shining ball of heat right up there in the brilliant blue sky. The buildings' shadow provided shade needed for a morning walk while the morning sunlight provided vitamin.

The street already looked busy with many vehicles of all sized passing the street in front of them, the passengers inside were busy with their phones. Probably talking to their business partner about the upcoming schedule and projects and blah blah blah . . . Anything of sorts. Some younger animals were walking along the sidewalk, either talking with their friend that was walking with them or just fiddling with their phone.

Seriously. People these days couldn't let go of their phones. Well yeah Nick, Judy, and Rey had their own phone, but they know when to use it and when to not. As police officers, they had to keep their eyelids peeled -and claws ready for some cases-. They must admit the application for phones, mostly for Pawdroid and iPaw, were really interesting and could make anyone addicted with playing with their phones. Business communication became easier due to the invention of these high end devices, but they also the very things that cut off most people from their real world. The ones affected by this are mostly younger animals, since they got nothing significant beside their homework and exams to worry.

Judy once said that while looking at the department's archive, she found a recent report file where a young lioness got smashed by an elephant-sized car because she was too focused on posting on her Clawgram and Furbook while crossing the road. Nick and Rey who were eating fried fries at that time, coughed almost immediately after hearing that ridiculous accident before remarking their own spicy comment at people nowadays and their phones.

Remembering that file, Judy restrained herself from taking her phone out from her side pocket, a sight Nick and Rey immediately nodded in agreement while keeping their own paws off from their respective phones.

People should pay more attention to their surroundings.

After some minutes walking to the station, sightseeing Zootopia in the morning, they entered the station by the glass doors. Some officers that were hanging around the lobby noticed them before returning to their business. While walking, they could see the receptionist already munching his cereal, oblivious of the small officers' presence.

Judy thought that it would be a nice thing to do to say hi. "Morning, Ben!" she said a little loud hoping that her voice went through those sound of munching.

She did it and the cheetah stopped eating to see who called him. He saw nothing on his line of sight. Then someone cleared his throat and the cheetah looked down, looking at the three officers. While Judy just giggled at the cheetah's behavior, Nick and Rey just narrowed their eyes but placing a smile on their faces.

The cheetah immediately dropped his bowl of cereal and tried to pose as formal as possible. "Yes, what can I do for you?" he said with a formal but sloppy tone, earning the four a chuckle.

"Benjamin Clawhauser, look at ya," Rey said, pointing at the cheetah, specifically mentioning the cheetah's body. "You're getting thinner and thinner," he said crossing his arms.

Nick nodded. "It's a good change." The cheetah, now known as Benjamin Clawhauser, just sighed at their remarks.

Meet Benjamin Clawhauser, a ZPD officer that was positioned as a receptionist that doubles as a dispatcher. He wore the formal work uniform like Nick and Rey. His name tag on his right chest and on the desk read: "CLAWHAUSER". He was Judy's first friend at the ZPD when she asked where the briefing room was after Clawhauser remarked how cute her was. Later, he received Judy's call for backup when she and Nick were chased by a black jaguar. He was also affected by the fracture in Zootopia society when the savage mammals went public; being temporarily transferred into other duty because the higher ranks decided that it would be best for the first animal visitors meet wasn't a predator. He was reinstated shortly enough after the closure of the case, though, receiving some boxes of donuts from his colleagues as a gesture of apology which he accepted happily. Clawhauser was pretty much a friendly and easygoing individual, so he didn't hold any grudge.

At first, this cheerful spotted feline of ZPD's was depicted as "fat doughnut-loving cop" by the fact that he ate a lot of them and by result of his lack of workout, he was obese. That was some time ago, though. After Nick and Rey's joined the force, the three noticed Clawhauser's long lasting problem: his body. At first, it was difficult to reason with him in order to convince him to do workouts. Rey did some weeks ago. But Clawhauser refused, knowing that his work didn't need much strength to begin with. Fortunately, Nick and Judy arrived to back Rey's argument up. Well you could expect Nick's smart mouth out argue Clawhauser. Afterwards, the three keep the cheetah on regular workout once a week with them. Dragging him along, sometimes. The result was pretty much satisfying, to say the least.

"Well, I'm both happy and unhappy at the routine," Clawhauser remarked, earning a group of laugh from the smaller officers. "Yeah I get to burn some fat, but I'm really tired," he said, emphasizing his point by dropping his chin to the desk in lazy fashion. "I might resign from this job out of physical exhaustion."

Nick and Rey exchanged looks. "Why don't you ask to be transferred to a more active duty, then? That should make it easier for you to cope with your new . . . Uh . . . Form," Nick asked, making the cheetah raised his head in confusion. "Rey would need a partner too," he pointed at the lynx.

Rey backed up and raised both paws. "Why me?" Suddenly Nick and Judy shot him a penetrating stare. "Ah-I. Yeah. Yeah. Why not?"

Clawhauser just stood there, thinking at the fox' suggestion. As if ignoring Rey's comment. An exact minute of silence went before he finally speaks. "I'll consider that." Rey's eyes widened in disbelief while Nick and Judy high-pawed, earning a murderous glare from the lynx.

He was NOT happy at all.

Suddenly the chief's door opened with a loud sound. From it, came out a large buffalo with wide torso and office uniform. Without tie, upper buttons unbuttoned, and four stars decorated each side of the collar. It was Amra Bogo Falker, the feared chief of ZPD central station. He didn't look happy with those narrowed eyes of his as he always wore on his face.

He took a glance around, making the officers in there freeze in fear. His eyes stopped at the group of three small officers in front of the front desk. He approached the trio with quick and heavy steps, carrying a file folder in his hooves. He stopped in front of them, handing over the folder to the nearest one. In this case, it was Nick. After the fox received the folder he handed it to Rey as he opened it.

"Hopps, Wilde, Nightclaw, grab your gears!" he suddenly said.

This section is for character progress (and to remind me who's who). Will be on each chapter to record new characters. Read the author notes on the end, please, if there's any on a chapter.

Judy Hopps -[Bunny]- ZPD officer assigned to central station

Nicholas Piberius Wilde -[Fox]- ZPD officer assigned to central station

Layrey Nightclaw -[Lynx]- ZPD officer assigned to central station

Dashiel Fangstein -[Siberian husky]- Sunset Cafe waiter

Robert Horn -[Antelope]- Sunset Cafe cashier

Benjamin Clawhauser -[Cheetah]- ZPD officer. Central station's receptionist and dispatcher

Amra Bogo Falker -[Buffalo]- ZPD central station chief

Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia as it belongs to Disney.

I apologize for any typo or such. English's not my first language either so I'm not sure if this or any of my stories look good in your eyes. Names in this story are a bit random so sorry if they're weird. Welp, I hope you enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. If by any chance you wanted to review, please use good language. You can PM me anytime if you wanna talk about something. I'll surely reply though I might reply late. If you have better names or puns for the characters, just voice it and I'll give a piece of my mind about it.

If any of you reader have read my short story series titled 'The Fox, the Bunny, and the Zootopia', think of this story as a remaster of it, as I put more thinking into this major story than those smaller ones. The remaster includes some changes and correction. I'll get to fix the series some time later.

By the way, 'amra' is a slip of 'amuru', Swahili for 'command'. Meh, Lion King effect.

Catch ya next time!