Sorry for any inconveniences considering English being not my first language. Grammar and spelling might be difficult for me. I say sorry in advance.
Please review and criticize me, preferably via review button, but keep any insulting for yourself. If you have to be more extensive or want to establish contact with me, PM me and I surely will answer you.
Rated M for foul language and sexual innuendos, Rated HARD M for violence and gore
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Zootopia, they belong to Disney.
DISCLAIMER: The first chapter is like a prologue. Judy and Nick will appear in Chapter 2. Don't be discouraged by 6000 words without them.
Zootopia Bureau of Investigation (ZBI)
Chapter 1: Catherine Palmer
Monday afternoon, ZBI Headquarters
His desk was normally void of anything unnecessary. Anything that could disturb the space he actually needed. He always liked to accurately work on it comfortably. Most of this space would usually be not occupied by anything besides his black installment of a land line phone and his trusty laptop. He preferred to use one instead of those clumsy and big desktop computers everyone else liked to work with. All of his desk utensils, mostly pens and one or the other sticky note, thoroughly ordered. In rows, just like it should be for any self sufficient animal in his kind of position. A cup full of the liquid someone would pour themselves in the mornings. A black liquid inside a cup to get started into a good new day. But the coffee inside this mug was not steaming anymore, like it should have, if it would have been provided to him shortly before he decided to sit down at his desk to start his day. He was not starting the day, after all.
He got the coffee himself right in this morning, one of the main routines for his mornings to get himself into the mood of a new working day. It was steaming warmly at that time, but shortly after he placed it on his desk, a call on the phone disturbed his forced morning peace. The result of the call was, that the cup was entirely forgotten by him shortly after. Only now was he reminded of its presence after he sat down onto his trusty office chair in front of his desk. Much later in the afternoon. He had much bigger problems than an old cold cup of coffee right next to his enormous paw. The reason for the call this morning. He brought all important case files with himself and placed them accurately onto the tables surface for a much simpler observation over all of them. One of those remained in his paw. Those files where the reason for his distraction and the disturbance this morning. His distraction and frustration about those cases was evident by the angry look on his face that observed the contents of the papers in his paw thoroughly again.
A little lamp was illuminating the space right in front of him, shining light onto the other open case files that brought so much pain and confusion into his mind. He could not explain how it got this far, directly under his nose. His right paw was holding one file, while fingers of his left paw were occupied pinching the bridge of his feline nose. A big sigh escaping the Siberian Tigers mouth, showing his tiredness of this situation he found himself in again. Lately he was continuously stating that he might be to old for this job, the stress of this cases was simply to much for him. Although, he was a professional, one of the best at his job. He should not get distracted or occupy his own mind with destructive thoughts like quitting. He might be in his middle fifties, but he was still capable to deal with situations like this. But even with his experience, this was simply very exhausting. But to quit was not an option. Especially since only one animal existed in his organization who could do his job instead. But he would not simply resign and give his old friend and disciple the opportunity to be better than him. Not as long as he was there to do the job. Considering this rather dim circumstances of the cases, he would not like to give the responsibility away, too. Only so someone else could be bothered and be depressed with this.
A little name tag was on the front of the desk. Confirming the title and name of ZBI Director William Stone. Obvious for anyone to see. Too be observed and looked at by anyone who would be fortunate enough to be on the other side of this desk. Fortunate enough to not have to deal with his responsibilities, though. Anyone would know how impossibly powerful and important this Tiger actually was. Animals were privileged to be talking to this individual on a personal basis. William was the head of the City States own Bureau of Investigation, the highest law enforcement organization in the whole city of Zootopia.
Six pairs of eyes were focusing immensely on the reactions this individual gave away. Williams face converting into one or the other grimace while he observed the fies on the desk and in his paw again. Six very skilled pairs of eyes, not only knowing how to read an animal, but actually being trained and experienced enough to interpret and work with those impressions they got. Their boss was an animal after all, and all ZBI agents were trained to recognize little tweaks or slips in behavior or facial expression in an animal to analyze them properly. They all saw the frustration the Siberian Tiger experienced. All of them knew of this situation well enough, being occupied with those cases and their implications just as much as the director was, if not even more emotionally involved in them.
Especially since the whole Bureau friezed any other investigations to focus only on this ones. But it was quite comprehensible that the ZBI occupied their whole department to those. The case files, to count them, eight different folders filled mostly with pictures and evidence concerning eight different individuals. Mind you, that there was not one actual criminal individual reported in those files. Rather confusing but mostly terrifying evidence about victims of unknown criminal activity. Or should someone say, evil activity? More disturbingly, they not only seemed to be linked together, but quite similar with each other. They were all connected, in a way. Probabilities of all being reasonably the same culprit or rather culprits, it could be a group as well as only one individual, of course, was quite the possibility.
The last and ninth file, the one William was holding in his paw, was opened for him to observe thoroughly for the umpteenth time again. The first page consisted of nothing more than two photos, showing the evidence of what happened and was reported in this case file. The director needed to at least let his eyes grace upon the pictures one more time, before he would converse with his colleagues and inferiors in front of him about appropriate actions they were forced to engage in now.
Seeing the first picture would be actually a privilege for many. The face of a very pretty lynx was looking into the camera in this shot. Someone, the Tiger actually knew very well, considering she worked under him for a decade. She, wearing a black suit, like it was typical for the agents of the Bureau, was not allowed to smile in this shot and looked sternly into the camera lens, although showing a little smirk nonetheless. The name of Catherine Palmer under the photograph, the feline obviously proudly presenting her new badge on her suit. A discolored eye shining blue instead of green. A photograph a decade old, showing the ascent and pride of a new member of the ZBI.
This was a big contrast to the second photo. Even the veteran of investigations had to be somehow clinical to not gag at it reflexively. It was a simple colored Photograph again, but this time showing a crime scene. And the aftermath of something he could not explain himself with a clear mind. It was a corpse, lying on the ground inside an alleyway in one of the more shady parts of Zootopia. This sinister find would have been enough for any prey animal to hurl, but this one was not only a corpse like any corpse else. It was a friend and subordinate of the director. Someone he knew dearly. Just looking at it was cruel for him. It was the same lynx of the first picture, only dead.
It was clear, that the corpse was mutilated thoroughly and without care. It was clear, although the remains of her were only found approximately two days after her death. The forensic pathologist was quite sure, that some time had already elapsed, but not enough to not show the cruelty of the circumstances leading to her death. The fact, that her torso was separated from any extremities was quite a gruesome picture. But this was somehow something all other cases had in common with this one. They all were gruesome and always results of extreme violent acts. With this one though, there was something even more disturbing. The lack of anything that could be described as muscles or intestines on her torso. The meaning of this being evident for anyone who would remotely think about this. The corpse, agent Catherine Palmer, was partly eaten by someone. A fact even hard for a carnivore like William himself, mostly because this cannibalistic behavior was more than evil in the eyes of the law. The animals were living in peace together and this primitive and savage urges of any predator were not tolerated or accepted at all.
Another thing disturbing was, that not any arms or legs were found, either. Only the torso and a limp head on it, only attached by the spinal cord, bones easily observable, showing the gruesome damage inflicted on the former ZBI agent. The only way to actually identify her was her perversely still intact face, remaining in a shocked expression. It was not touched or violently deformed like the rest of her body, making the identification of her much easier. It was Catherine Palmer, there was no debate about her identity.
The wasn't anything not mysterious about her death. Actually, every corpse in all those cases, all files contained similar victims of a homicide like the one in the paw of William. They were all mysterious. And at the same time, they were completely similar to hers. Not all victims were this heavily mutilated, though. Some were just strangled to death, quite violently though, but not devoured like Catherine. Some were even beheaded. Some only mauled down and dying by head trauma. Though, the connections between the victims were rather obvious. There easily could be described to be two similarities between all the cases on the Tigers desk.
The first and most noticeable connection to make was a substance found on every corpse or at least in the vicinity of the crime scenes. Sometimes inside the victims as well. No matter how they died, there always were parts of a foamy evidence of blueish saliva. It could be found on nearly all the crime scenes, mostly evident on the corpses themselves. Especially their own saliva in their mouths, if it was preserved and found early enough, seemed to have this disturbing feature. Not only there, but it could be also found inside the bodies sometimes, if they were cannibalized. Fortunately, the scenes never were disturbed enough that this evidence was destroyed. It was omnipresent in this cases.
The second connection between the victims was something that let the blood inside of William boil. Nine cases were found with this substance. Nine murders. And all nine cases were related in the same way. The victims were his responsibility, in a way. The dead were all agents of the same organization. The Bureau lost nine irreplaceable colleagues and the director was angry because it happened figuratively right under his nose.
A low growl of a middle aged tiger emerged after William gazed long enough onto his desk and the file in his paw. He was tired and afraid for his subordinates. This situation needed very much care. And not only that, but the small numbers in the Bureau got only lower and lower with the time. The ZBI only occupied the best of the best. The elite of Zootopia was in this organization. And there were not many left. The BI's of the country were always quite small in numbers, so anyone less was something, he seriously had problems to deal with. The dead were not his only concern anymore. The future of his whole organization was on stake here.
Everyone jumped a little in surprise after the magnificent "FUCK!" that was the first thing the director said after a long wait for the other agents that observed their director calmly.
William grumped: "Nine Agents are dead ... NINE!", his loud voice echoed back from the walls of his office, the biggest one in the ZBI headquarters.
A little mink, snow white fur, very experienced and oddly, one, if not the best ZBI agent in the whole force, although being just a small predator, was going by the name of Gordon Foreman. This little guy was smart and thorough. His intelligence and big mouth sometime gave him trouble, but he surely was the most trusted of all agents. The mink needed to clear things up a little bit and interrupted his boss right there, "Nine Agents are confirmed death."
William was quite aware of that, "Yes Gordon, but do you really think I would forget that? I just said, that nine of our kind. Nine animals of the Bureau are dead and will never come back again. There is still hope for..."
Right at that moment Nora Snow, a snow Leopard, needed to brake William out of this delusion, "Bullshit." The angry Leopard was clenching her fists in frustration.
In this moment William realized that their professionalism was slipping. So, as the superior and most experienced agent, he tried to show his authority with a small snarl. The effect being immediate, everyone standing on attention, stopping their fumbling and nervous little twitches.
William tried calmly, although he himself was not at all in the mood to be, "Listen here. I know this is a stressful situation we are in now. I am as shocked as you all about this."
Nora, still infuriated, was not able to control herself, "Director Stone. Nine agents are dead. Eleven more agents are missing in action. We lost more than most of our force now. There are only six of us left. I don't want to sound desperate, but this is insane ..." She was nearly crying out now.
The snow Leopard right next to her, named Graham Snow, immediately put a paw on his wifes and partners shoulder, "Shhhh. We all know Nora, we all know."
Everyone felt how tense and emotionally draining this situation was for everyone. The Director was not sure how to defuse this now. He was the one to take action in situations like this, although he more and more wished he would not be the one responsible. A small glance at the little mink expressed the inside wish, to just pass this onto someone else, like him, who probably was more suited for this job anyway. But he couldn't do that. He was the Director. Their Boss.
So he decided to go the direct and blunt way about this. Concluding his plans without paraphrasing too much, "Okay! We only have six agents available right now. But! Ten others are junior agents, I recall. They are not even fully trained yet but potential to become new agents in the close future. Not to mention our hundreds of staff members who actually work for the ZBI. We could count them to our Bureau as well. But all of them are not even closely as relevant as you six are right now. You six are the most important animals I have to work with. So please all calm down now and listen to what we are gonna do now."
Although everyone still felt the hopelessness of the situation, the mutual agreeing with nodding was quite clearly visible for all of them. William did not know what to do exactly, but at least, he would not give up easily. Even with only six colleagues of agent status, he was sure that he needed to do something like he thought about. Even if it would be unorthodox.
William: "Okay, the first thing we need to do now, is to get more paws and eyes into the Bureau, ASAP. Or at least into the investigations of this ZBI-Killings."
Gordon, actually an agent of the recruitment and training division with his partner Paul, immediately knew what his boss wanted, "I am on it, Sir. I have five possible junior agents and four of our juniors are able to make the jump into the high ranks, if I remember correctly. I will immediately get to work. Paul, we have work to do."
Gordon was already standing before he felt the paw of his partner, Paul Archer, an animal as big as the mink, a brown ferret, stopping him mid track. He just pointed at the director and Gordon understood that he did something he always was doing. Gordon was someone, who decided most things himself without even the director questioning him. So he was not accustomed to just be stopped and do things others ordered him to do. He had a special position among all agents, in a way. But he knew, he was sometimes a little bit impulsive, evident by looking back to the desk at the face of the tiger who was watching him with a raised eyebrow.
William: "Wait a second Gordon. Actually, I would like to do something quite extraordinary here now, agent Foreman. I would like for you and your Department to concentrate on bringing new paws into the Bureau, from the outside. I mean not making juniors into Agents, but concentrate on getting the elite out there in Zootopia we don't already have on our radar. We need to get those new potentials here to become a part of our Bureau, preferably directly as agents, possibly as juniors or if good but not agent material, at least as staff members. And we need to get the detectives in the ZPD at least to work with us in this case, even if this case is hold secret from the public. Understood?"
Gordon was quite baffled, this was not what he would have done, especially because any totally new mammals, especially agent material, were potentially in grave danger if they would be affiliated with the ZBI. An totally new mammals normally wouldn't understand the real danger at all. But even with those concerns, he remarked with a raised eyebrow to himself. "I think I do understand."
William was in full orders mode now, "Mister and Misses Snow, I want you two to change your Department into a strict training Department. All the juniors should get all training to become full Agents as fast as possible. But I don't want anyone inside the Bureau if I or my equal did not personally approved of them and made them agents ourselves. I want reports immediately after you find someone of the juniors to have the proper trainings and seminars covered." a questioning look of his subordinates showed confusion about this order.
Paul and Gordon now were pretty confused, Gordon, "Isn't that my job ... I mean our Job?"
The Siberian Tiger elaborated, "I know, we can only count on new agents from the junior ranks in at least three months, if they already have an intense training behind them, but I count on Gordon to find mammals out there who could make the jump faster, probably instantly. If a Junior isn't an Agent yet, it means that they didn't impress enough to make the jump till now. It means they don't deserve it, yet. But I am sure, Gordon will find some outside of our Bureau who do deserve it."
William still was in lecture mode and gave out orders, "Gordon and Paul will use all their resources to get the best of the best in Zootopia. When the Snows confirm that all or a significant number of our current juniors are able to become full pledged agents, I want them to immediately be promoted, by me personally. When there are none of them anymore, you will be in charge of the investigations on the ZBI-Killings again, with all the promoted Agents under my personal or Gordon's supervision. Under this circumstances, I want to give you Gordon, the right to promote anyone to become a permanent member of the ZBI you see fit on your very own."
Gordon now decided to confidently answer him with a, "Yes, Sir.". He knew how much trust the director had in this little mink. After all, he was probably a better and more experienced agent then most others, being the unofficial third in command of the whole Bureau. Everyone knew that if someone should get privileges, like the ability to promote someone, it would be this small, but very respected agent.
William continued: "On the contrary, I want you two, Paul and Graham, to be able to confirm anyone to become a junior as well. While Gordon could make agents, you should have the privilege to offer junior agent applications at will. You should recruit at least as many, as there are Junior places open right now. So at least ten more animals who should be considered agent material should find their way to us as Juniors. We need those to be good enough for this Bureau at all times. Understood?"
This time the more silent one of the ferret and mink partners, Paul answered, "Yes, Sir.", while the male snow leopard named Graham simply took a nod.
Of course, the director was not finished yet, "You all have to understand that this is an emergency situation right now. When our Bureau is as strong, animal wise, like it was before the kidnappings and killings, all your privileges will be reversed and become the same as they were before this shit show happened. You will be returned to your respective divisions and do your respective jobs again. But till then, you should try anything to return our ZBI into the glorious agency it once was. Okay?"
The talked to agents responded with a simultaneous, "Yes, Sir.", again.
The Siberian Tiger, although not entirely sure about his decisions, he already was having doubts, was quite confident that getting more eyes and brains into this was far more efficient and important, as if he would let the rest of his employees just investigate the cases, probably getting them closer into the danger, so they probably would be ending dead or missing themselves in the end. It was not smart to do this, so he needed his remaining agents to do something else, while he himself would take this danger and investigate himself. But, to be honest, it was surely not much smarter to do this investigation by his own now, like he inevitably forced himself to do right there. He was getting his agents out of investigating territory.
William finished his orders then with, "Team Snow, Team Recruit, you're both dismissed."
After his declaration, the four animals decided to do their respective new jobs immediately. Actually going into their respective offices, of course, to get into planning their next steps. As the last of them left director Stone's Office, the Director looked at the two remaining agents on the other side of his desk.
Those two were normally quite quiet individuals. Not very talkative and very obedient to the directors orders. They were strong and probably the most difficult to abduct or to kill. Obviously the reason why they were still part of the Bureau and not dead in some alley, despite being probably a main target. The other four agents were mostly office sitter, in comparison, except the little mink, while those two gray wolfs were the own special forces of the Bureau. Capable investigators themselves who's main job was to help the other agents if they needed it, or investigate into the most difficult cases themselves. But they were also called and used, if it would get ugly soon and only violence would be capable enough to solve a problem. Mostly with the offenders dead in the process.
William was sure, those two would probably be very good investigators for this cases, but he had different plans with them. They would be great at keeping his animals safe and alive. He felt too responsible for enough death under his command already.
William: "Agent Gray, I want you to guard the recruit team. We can't afford to lose them. But be cautious and probably do it secretly. The couple would not appreciate it if someone would spill the beans prematurely. Officially the Bureau doesn't know about their homosexual relationship with each other. They should be allowed to reveal this themselves. Although, it's obvious we all already know this. It is kinda cute, though, how afraid they are about us finding out. Especially since my own Bureau policies actually encourages lasting relationships. And this one will obviously last and not end in tears and a change of partner." at least, a small chuckle was a nice boost to his mood, "You can't keep a secret in the Bureau. And we all are more then tolerant here. They should not be scared at all and they know that. Still ... Observe and Protect them, at all costs."
At that, the three monstrous animals in the office chuckled. All three were incredibly experienced in combat situations and respected themselves very much because of this. The concept of the two wolves guarding others was nothing extraordinary for the two special agents, who were accustomed to this kind of jobs. Their main job consisted mostly as kind of supportive agents for all the other agents and sometimes even the ZPD. Protecting was a big part of their jobs.
William: "Agent Wolfe, you should watch over the Snows. If you are not aware of it already, I will tell you right now. You probably saw how Nora reacted because of those dire circumstances the ZBI is in right now?" The Wolf nodded, understanding where his Boss was going with this, "She is with cubs, not very recognizable yet, but I assure you, she is. Their first I have to say. So her safety is somehow much more important than any other stuff you could do now. You have to keep them safe. And in hindsight you should watch the juniors they decide to occupy themselves with as well. But Miss Snow is primary target to protect. Understood?"
As usual, obedient animals answered with a, "Yes, Sir."
To come to the end of this meeting, William closed it with a nice loud, "Dismissed!"
After this little episode in the office of a middle-aged tiger, this giant predator called William reflected on what he just did. Doubts clouded his judgment already. But he gave his orders, so he would stay with them for the time being. The fear was quite evident in him. He felt his own paws shaking by the prospect of losing more agents and probably being a target of this killings himself.
William knew, he might have done something horrific with his orders, though. ZBI Agents were a target, this was not debatable. Everyone associated with the agency was very likely to get a preliminary burial one day, but now there was an active threat around the whole agency. Till this case would be solved it was dangerous to be connected with the ZBI at all. He might have just doomed some poor souls to a rather gruesome end. He hoped it was the right choice after all.
He unconsciously grabbed his cup. The words best Granddad inscribed on the side of it. His thoughts were everywhere but at the liquid inside the mug. He tentatively brought it close to his mouth taking a little sip of the cold and now disgusting tasting coffee.
Immediately coughing, he spits it out, "Ugh ... Cold Coffee ... I think there is nothing more horrible than drinking cold coffee ..." after this statement, he slowly glanced over the case files on his desk again, "Oh ... right ..."
Gordon was naturally a very fast animal. Hey, he is a mink, of course he would be quick on his feet ... and quick at typing into his computer and searching the big old world wide web for anything useful considering his new task. His Partner Paul was quite relaxed, as he slowly but steadily watched over one of those five recruitment files they already had.
Paul was a ferret and normally he would be exactly as restless and energetic as his partner was, if not for his calm demeanor. Someone needed to be the calm one in a relationship with the white mink.
Normally Paul was responsible for getting already established juniors or potentials closer to the ZBI. Establishing contact and talking to them. He normally had nothing to do with the actual finding of new potential candidates. So he was dependent on the files his partner prepared already. Files over files filled with information about personalities in Zootopia. At least ten was the number they were given to get. Paul tried to do exactly what he was told. Looking at a file and counting on the Furgle (Google) abilities of his better half.
Paul: "Gordi, did you found anything useful about the wolverine?" He just shouted out the name of this possible candidate half a minute ago, browsing through his file and Gordon searched the Internet for any information helping to make a decision.
Gordan: "It seems he is quite fond of cross dressing Paul. But otherwise, I would have said pretty okay guy. Not really special regarding the agency, though."
Paul: "Good Grades at school. Analytical. He is a banker, though, not really agent material. More like staff for the IT department. Come on Gordan, why did you file this guy again?"
Gordan tried to remember why they had a file on this specific wolverine. After some thought he suddenly developed a rush of blood into his cheeks, looking quite flustered because of his natural white fur which changed lightly pink all over.
Paul knew what was going on, "This is one of those animals when you searched for a potential new male-friend, isn't it? You thought you could get to know him better and profiled him, with ZBI resources to boot. It is one of your tries to find the right mammal for a relationship. Spying on potential male-friends, right?"
Gordan just looked down, embarrassed by his partner, "He he ... you are kinda right with that."
Paul didn't like that at all. This potential candidate just poofed into nonexistence. Only having four more files of potentials was not encouraging at all for the ferret. He was sure at least two of those were fake ones too.
Gordon knew what went on in the brain of Paul, an insufficient "Sorry?", was all he said. Feeling ashamed that his mental adventure by distraction with searching other potential male-friends despite his enormous feelings he had for his partner Paul.
Paul was understandably angry, "Of course you should be sorry, you insufficient mongrel. We have a job to do, not to check out other potential male-friends! Others you possibly even wanted to have sex with! What is this?"
Gordon was afraid now, something he didn't even thought about occurred inside his analytical brain. This files were made before they got together. But this could possibly look like he was actually trying to find a new male-friend before they even really started their relationship. The mink felt fear inside his heart. "Whoa. Paul. Don't make the wrong conclusions, please. I am sorry, okay. I filed most of those before you kinda, ... you know ... erm ..." at this moment, looking frantically left and right to see if he could speak freely, not seeing a thing, they were in his office after all, whispering to his partner, "became my male-friend ... you even became my mate Paul ... you're the only one, Paul and you know that. I tried to get myself distracted from you with this, but it never worked out. You know how afraid I was when I ... you know ... proposed a relationship towards the then straight guy who happened to be gay all along. And who decided to become my mate shortly after. You are the only one! Please believe me."
Paul was just annoyed know, but smiled nonetheless. Of course, he knew that this possibly was the case here. He smiled and playfully punched his partners paws away, that were folded in a prayer like form, closely in front of him, "Gordi ... just shut up."
Since that, the atmosphere in their office was tense, but playful at the same time. Gordon obviously felt guilty and Paul was not very amused by this.
A silence was there, when Gordon tried to find at least some possible future ZBI agents via the Internet. Paul simply tried to distinguish the real potentials from the male-friend material, infuriating him further ... although, all animals that were male were kinda male-friend material, sometimes even as possible closet-mates or one night stands, if they managed to get attention of Gordon, the actual recruiting agent, to file them. The mink had a very good eye and gut feeling concerning other mammals and their potential. At least, every male-friend material was possibly good enough, to be considered getting into the ZBI as staff members.
After some time, Paul found himself with only one candidate to make this rare jump into the Bureau's ranks. It seemed that a lot of work had to be done, if they wanted to get their numbers back to the time before the killings and abductions started.
Gordon was curious about the only file his Partner decided to study more firmly, "So, who do we have?"
Paul responded with a shrug, "His Name is Conan White. Polar Bear. Veteran of the army. He is occupied with a job as a bodyguard of Mr. Big right now. You know, Mr. Big, your acquaintance. He should be compatible and you should be able to get to let him come with us ... if he so desires."
Gordon wanted Paul to continue and stared at him with even more curiosity. Ears pointing towards him. Gordon: "And?"
Paul, who looked annoyed back, "Thats it... great, right."
Gordon was crestfallen by this. Only one, and this one was possible involved in a criminal syndicate, although never got convicted. Gordon could not believe it, so he responded with a, "Come on ... that's bullshit. There have to be more!"
Paul replied, "No, there are not more. This is it. You know what we have to do now, right?"
"Browse the Internet more thoroughly or get a nice drink at a bar and scout for potential new drunk protégées?" Gordon was trying to amuse his partner and responded jokingly. The mink knew exactly what that meant, but that did not mean he did not like to make one or the other joke to get this tense atmosphere in his office under control again.
Paul told him exactly what they had to do, while watching him with a frown, he really was pissed, "No ... It's called field scouting work." Gordan frowned, knowing his joke was fruitless, "So we might go to every potential place with potential candidates and look if we get some new comrades by actually looking somewhere."
Gordan hated this kind of work. It was simply too vague and difficult. It was something different if he would have a concrete destination and plan beforehand. He knew how hard and frustrating it could be to randomly start searching. He tried to think about a way out of this predicament, trying hard to reason with Paul, "You know exactly what the University policies are", the university was one of the first addresses for any potential recruits and juniors, "and how impossible it is to find anyone good there without finding a thousand douche bags or idiots in the process. This would take far too long."
Without blinking an eye, Paul already knew about this problem, so he responded in a calculative way, "That's why we will go to the places, were we undoubtedly find some animals worthy of having a ZBI batch."
Gorden was puzzled. So his partner already had a plan. This field work wasn't as random as he feared. Ignoring his own thoughts about this place his partner mentioned, he wanted to amuse his partner, "And where is that, Sherlock?"
Paul just face palmed: "What where you before you became a ZBI-Agent?"
Gordan did not had to think much about this question, already knowing where this was going. He smirked. "Of course I know. The Police. ZPD. A place full of already trained individuals with enough investigative experience to become agents without much consideration. If we find really good ones, that is."
Paul, despite still being irritated because of Gordon's behavior and dumb comments, concluded, "Yes Gordi. The best police animals are possibly the best candidates for the Bureau. We just have to file all over the Zootopia Police Department for records, files and reports to look into."
Gordan sparked another Idea, "Good, we could even split our workspace. You know, I think there are eight major police stations including the headquarters in the town center. How would it be if we split and I go to some and you go to the others instead. We could make this information collection within just two days, I think."
Paul was not so enthusiastic, "Gordi, You do know that we kind of have to observe every potential candidate thoroughly? Not to forget someone has to contact Conan White, too."
"Ah, thats no problem. First we collect information. Then we distinguish between good and bad. Then we look at the good. And then we will find the new paws that will benefit the Bureau. I Got it." The mink nicknamed Gordi responded.
The significant other of him, Paul got it too and reasoned, "I will take North, Tundra, West and Sahara. You will take the other four. We will give ourselves more time then just two days for all. At least one day at every station, so we occupy ourselves with a whole week of easy scouting. Got it?"
Gordan was still kinda excited about the prospect of finding potential new friends and comrades. And potentially this real male-friend he so craved to forget the pain to not tell the one he actually did love ... wait, didn't he already had confessed this to the reason of his irrational behavior concerning male-friends ... He had Paul! ... He just forgets ... often. His relationship still was like a dream for him.
With a sudden guilty feeling but warmth in his heart, he responded, "Yeah, thats a deal. I will go South, East, Jungle and Central. We might work together in a week again then, according to the plan. By the way, you have to at least find five animals who could make the Juniors. I will find real agents in disguise." Gordon smirked, knowing exactly that he was the one, who was responsible for nearly every agent who got into the ZBI for the last decade. It was after he decided to change his department to the Recruitment and Training Office some years ago, when he lost his partner at his old department and repositioned himself to become the mammal to recruit. Nothing gruesome happened mind you. It was just a big promotion of his partner and Gordon not wanting to be without his old partner at his prior job at the special forces. And he got closer to Paul with changing into that recruitment department.
Paul finished this thoughts from before: "I will do that, Gordi, I will." the ferret chuckled while the mink smirked back at him.
Outside their office, standing close enough to listen with his very good ears, but far enough not to be suspicious, the gray wolf with the name Stanley Gray got his inner thought process into action. He knew, that both mammals were aware of him. They were observant agents. And one was the best at this job. Stan had his own job, though. He had to watch over them, but they wanted to split. So he had to decide what to do, who to follow. Although, this question was kinda easy with one of those two being the one he was. Paul was mostly acting like an adult, yes. But Gordan was an experienced and very good agent, probably the best in the ZBI right now, even if childish on occasion. Someone respected and liked by everyone. Someone worthy to follow around and probably learn something while "protecting" his target. Even if the mink sometimes acted like a young cub ... You always go with the cub, Stan told himself, knowing exactly that he lied to himself. He wanted to watch Gordan. Probably to learn more from a respected agent he personally admired.
Chapter 1 End
GLOSSARY
BI = Bureau of Investigation / Federal Police
ZBI = Zootopia branch of the Bureau of Investigation / Federal Police located in Zootopia
ZBI Director = Leader of the Bureau of Investigation in Zootopia
BI Special Agent = Special Agent rank, above all other agents. Elite Agents
BI Agent in various Departments / Divisions = Agents Working in a specific field, for example recruitment and training, homicide, the counter terrorism divisions, etc.
BI Junior = Mammals who get training to become agents / On the list to become agents in the future / Not Agents!
Staff Members = Various other members of the BI, who work under the supervision of an agent in one of the various Departments, for example forensic scientist, police officers, Secretaries etc. / Not Agents!
Male-Friend / Female-Friend = equivalent to boyfriend / girlfriend (quite innocent description)
Mate = Relationship Partner you want to officially announce that you are intimate with, sometimes marked partners (scent), Sometimes used instead of spouse by married couples / Name for serious relationships
Closet-Mate = Intimate partner, who isn't in an actual real romantic relationship with you / were the relationship doesn't got/won't get too serious
NEW CHARACTERS
William Stone - Siberian Tiger - Current Director of the ZBI
Catherine Palmer - Lynx - Victim of ZBI-Killings and former ZBI Agent, department Grand Theft
Gordon Foreman - Mink - ZBI Recruitment Officer / Most respected agent / former ZBI Special Forces
Paul Archer - Ferret - ZBI Recruitment Officer / Gordon's Mate
Nora Snow - Snow Leopard - ZBI Psychological Analytics Department - Wife of Graham Snow
Graham Snow - Snow Leopard - ZBI Psychological Analytics Department - Husband of Nora Snow
Stanley Gray - Gray Wolf - ZBI Special Forces - following Recruit Office
Zachary Wolfe - Gray Wolf - ZBI Special Forces - following Nora Snow
Conan White - Ice Bear - ZBI Candidate - War Veteran / Bodyguard of Mr. Big