The quiet darkness of night had fallen upon the village of Dobutsu, and nearly all of its citizens were preparing to retire to their beds. All around, the air seemed to be filled with nothing but bliss as the moon's light glittered over the ocean's calm waves, crickets chirping idly. Shops were closing, lights were going off, and everything and everyone seemed to be at peace.
In Sonny Resetti's case, this was also true. While most of the town knew him as the grumpy, angry old man who yelled at humans, Sonny was always especially tired around this time of night. Scolding people could be exhausting, especially in these hot summer days when he was forced to leave his air-conditioned room in the Reset Surveillance Center to go and chastise some annoying kid who thought it would be fun to mess with the timeline.
Nobody ever believed Sonny whenever he tried to explain to them his reason for being so irritable all the time. He couldn't blame them. As far as he knew, only moles and humans seemed to be aware of the ability to time travel. Because of this, the rest of the village perceived him as nothing but a senile old coot who liked to pick on children in his spare time.
This didn't bother him much. For the most part, Sonny didn't care what other people thought of him. He knew that he was doing the right thing, and he was only doing it to protect his fellow animals. Besides, it wasn't like what he was doing was illegal. If anything, he was the more passionate about justice and order than the actual police officers in the town. Speaking of which…
"Uh...hello?" a meek, timid voice came from the mouth of the tunnel leading into the surveillance center. Sonny's head shot up. Though he was old, his hearing was still as sharp as ever.
He could faintly detect hushed, harsh mumbling coming from the entrance, followed by a much louder, more authoritative, "Is this the home of Sonny and Don Resetti?"
Upon hearing his name, a taller, lankier mole popped his head out from his own room. "Hm? Who's there?" he asked, in direct contrast to the more gruff, aggressive tone that his brother often used when addressing unwanted visitors.
The bolder voice replied, "Officer Copper and Officer Booker of the Dobutsu Area Police Department." From the way in which the words were spoken, it was clear that he had been saying them long enough to be able to know exactly when to recite them.
Sonny groaned, and Don motioned for him to be quiet. "Come in, officers." he said politely.
With the sound of echoing footsteps, two dogs clad in police uniforms marched into the room. The tallest one walked with purpose in his stride, giving off an aura of authority. The shorter one, on the other hand, nearly tripped over his own feet on the way in, earning an irritated nudge from his partner.
The moles recognized the dogs. Previously, they used to guard the town gate, but they had recently returned to their original career as police officers.
"Um..." the shorter one, Booker, spoke up. "C-can we sit down? If, y'know, that's okay..."
Copper and Sonny rolled their eyes, but Don just nodded and gave him a warm smile. "Of course you can, sir. Your partner can, too, if he would like."
"I'm fine, thank you." Copper responded rigidly. He stood up straight and tall, looming over everyone in the room.
Booker gratefully plopped down in a nearby chair and sighed happily. Upon receiving a stern glare from Copper, though, he made an effort to at least sit with proper posture. This didn't do anything to make his appearance more credible.
There was silence for a while. Sonny refused to look the officers in the eye. He had a feeling he knew why they were there.
Don cleared his throat. "So...what brings you here, officers? It's an awful quiet night. Don't recall any mischief happenin' recently."
Copper gave them a stone-faced look. "Are you sure about that? Because we've been getting...complaints."
Sonny felt his blood begin to boil. Don was the only one who noticed, and he patted his brother's shoulder reassuringly. "Really, sir? What type of complaints?"
Booker coughed. "Um...w-well, most of 'em are from the humans...I think..."
Humans. Of course. That got Sonny to turn around. "Ah, what do humans know? Nothing but troublemakers!"
"Sonny, please." Don said, patting him on the shoulder again. Sonny sighed and made his best effort to calm down.
Booker looked nervous, rubbing his paws together anxiously. "S-sorry.." he muttered. "Did I say something wrong?"
In a moment of compassion, Copper walked over to the chair where he was sitting and gave him a brisk clap on the back. "Don't be ridiculous, Booker," he said, still maintaining his professional tone. "In fact, I think you may be on to something."
The moles exchanged glances. The taller officer approached them and produced a small notebook from the pocket of his uniform. "Now, tell me, gentlemen," he said, eyeing Sonny in particular. "Does this account sound familiar to you?" He began to read the notes that had been jotted down, and as he did, the memories from earlier that day flashed in Sonny's mind, more vividly than what was being described in the brief statements being read to them.
It was a bright, sunny afternoon in Dobutsu when the human girl stepped out of her house. She checked the time on her watch, smiling brightly upon seeing that it was just past noon. At this point, the shops would all be open. She ran a hand through her short brown hair in a last-minute attempt to straighten it out before she set out on her way to the Able Sisters'. However...
"HEY, YOU!"
Shrieking in shock, the girl tripped as she made the first few steps forward. Turning around, she saw the large hole that had been made in the previously unmarred soil, along with the very angry-looking mole that was poking out of it. He was waving a pickax around for dramatic effect, but to her it looked like he was trying to bludgeon her with it. Instinctively, she held her hands over her head in an attempt to shield herself.
Fortunately, hitting her was not the mole's intention. He looked down at her, veins popping on his forehead. "Get up, ya baby!" he barked, and she sat up with another yelp.
"P-please don't hurt me!" she cried out, trembling in fear. The mole scoffed.
"Hurt ya? Trust me, kid, when I'm through with you, you'll WISH I was hurtin' ya!"
Slowly, she uncovered her fear-filled eyes. Any villagers that happened to be nearby were compelled to look over at the scene.
"Now, tell me...what were you doing a couple hours ago?" he asked gruffly.
"I...I was sleeping in, sir!"
"Is that so?!" He tapped his pickax up and down menacingly. "Because from our reports, you were WIDE awake!"
"'Our' reports?" she asked, momentarily caught off-guard by the strange statement.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" the mole screeched. "You were up, and you were out shopping! Hey, was that fortune cookie any good?!"
The girl went pale. "F-fortune cookie? I don't know what you're talking about, sir! I haven't gone shopping at all today!"
"Don't lie to me! You got a fortune you already had, so you RESET just so you could get a better one, eh?!"
Tears began to form in the girl's eyes. "I...I..."
"WELL, YOU CAN'T JUST GO AND ERASE EVERYONE'S MEMORIES JUST BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T SATISFIED WITH YOUR LITTLE PRIZE, MISSY!" the mole bellowed. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS?!"
At those words, combined with the harsh tone, the girl broke down. She sobbed loudly, tears streaming down her face messily as other villagers instinctively rushed over to comfort her. Some of them looked at the mole in disgust, but this only made him angrier. He had had a rough morning, and now there was no stopping his rage.
"YOU STUPID HUMANS JUST DON'T GET IT! ALWAYS RUNNING AROUND, RESETTING EVERYONE'S DAY JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING DIDN'T GO YOUR WAY! WELL GUESS WHAT, SWEET CHEEKS?! THAT AIN'T HOW REAL LIFE WORKS! YA FIND A PROBLEM, YA GOTTA FACE IT! OTHERWISE, YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A DIRTY, SELFISH COWARD!"
Her sobs grew louder the more the mole berated her. At this point, the other villagers were starting to yell at him. He didn't care. He just wanted to go back home and relax without the constant fear of the day resetting.
And with that, he tunneled away.
Of course, the events described in Copper's account hadn't been nearly as detailed as that. Nevertheless, the events flashed before Sonny's eyes as the story was being retold to them. Don gave his brother a scolding look as the tale concluded.
With a glare, Copper shut the tiny notebook. "So...what do you make of that, Mr. Resetti?"
Though both moles shared the same last name, it was obvious who the officer was addressing. Sonny straightened up and returned his hard stare.
"Listen, boy," he said, his voice full of resolve, "I know you think that I'm just some crazy old man. I know you think that I'm just the village idiot. But trust me when I say this: everything I do, I do for you." He pointed at him, then to his partner, then gestured wildly around the room. "I do it for everyone living in this village! You may not believe me, but it's the truth."
Silence reigned throughout the room for a moment. Copper and Sonny continued to stare at each other, their faces unmoving. Don looked back and forth between the two nervously. Finally, Booker scratched behind his head awkwardly.
"Um..." he spoke up, "That's really nice of you, Mr. Resetti, but we're still gonna have to shut this place down...I think. Sorry..."
"What?!" both brothers cried out in unison.
"You can't shut us down! This place needs us!" Sonny pleaded, suddenly turning desperate.
Copper sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but we can't have big public disturbances like this occurring in our town. By order of Mayor Tortimer, you have to cease this 'reset surveillance' business."
"Officer, please," said Don, "You don't understand. I know Sonny can be kind of irritable, but I promise this won't happen again. I'll keep him in check from now on, honest."
"No can do, sir. We've been getting complaints about your brother here for a while now, but this is the final straw. You've been harassing the humans in this village for far too long."
"But-!"
"But nothing. I'm sorry, but you have ten days to leave this place. If you want, we can have Tom Nook build a house for you in advance."
He pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to them. Their eyes widened as they read it over. It said, in big, bold letters: EVICTION NOTICE.
With a final nod of farewell, the two dogs got up and left, Booker giving the brothers a shy wave and mouthing an apology as they stepped out of the Reset Surveillance Center.