"Sir, do you find that you have difficulty in finding a store that offers suits for all shapes and sizes?"
"No."
"Uh, well… not to worry if you do, because I am here to present you will a brilliant plan that will aid all of Zootopia's residents!" The father fox and Nicholas stood in front of Mr. Gerbillinae, a desert gerbil. The rodent sat comfortably in a massive leather chair, much too big for him, behind a grand desk as he watched the fox present his idea. They were currently standing in the gerbil's office, one of the biggest offices at the Loan Services Offices. The father and son had waited nearly an hour to see Mr. Gerbillinae, one of the best loan officers available. However, the gerbil was notorious for being very strict, only the animals with the best of ideas and situations were granted loans.
"For years, animals have had to waste hours of their time in search of a store that offers suits in their particular size. But what if there was one suit store for all mammals? Well, me and my boy have a plan, we have a location, and we have a dream. All we need is a loan to make it happen. It's not Zootopia, it's Wilde and Son's Suitopia!" the fox grinned, selling it all in brilliance. Then, Nicholas chipped in, completing the slogan with his father. "Need a suit, Suitopia welcomes you!" they both cheered. Mr. Gerbillinae said nothing, his face expressionless as silence fell over the room. The father and his son waited anxiously, smiling politely as they glanced from the rodent to the papers that sat in front of him; all the gerbil had to do was sign his name and they would be ready to be a smashing success.
If only life were that simple. The gerbil grabbed the stamp that sat on the corner of his desk, and in one fluent motion, stamped a large red "DENIED" onto the paperwork. The father's heart fell as the gerbil dismissed them with a wave of his paw. The two walked out, heads lowered in dismay.
"Father?" Nicholas and the fox sat on a cold metal bench as they awaited the bus. It had begun to drizzle, sending chills down Nicholas's spin every now and then. "Yes, Son?"
"What do we do now?" The fox sighed heavily as he looked at the wet concrete beneath them. His suit and fur were now ruffled, as he had fidgeted with them constantly after their idea had been rejected. "Now, we are going to go and file for unemployment."
"But why?"
"Because without a job, and without Suitopia, we don't have any money to earn."
"Oh." Nicholas felt tears sting his eyes as he thought of the situation his family was in. Life was complicated and messy, but for them, it was just unfair. Being a predator family living in the slums of Zootopia was far from great, but they had no way of escaping it… well, now they had no way; Suitopia had been their last chance.
The bus came, picked them up, and then dropped them off at the Labor and Law Offices fifteen minutes later. Another dreadful hour passed as they waited to be helped in a large crowded building. The crowd was full of animals who all had grim expressions on their faces, and was somewhat quiet; only a few cries of small children filled the atmosphere. Enormous security guard rhinoceroses watched over the silent chaos of business. Once they had reached a desk representative, a mean-looking koala in a suit and tie tossed them an extraordinarily large pile of paperwork and rudely instructed them to fill it all out. Nicholas waited patiently as his father filled out the paperwork - signing here, initialing there, and so on. Once finished, the two delivered the paperwork to a small army of hamsters, who were stamping and finalizing the documentation on four different tables that had been lined up with one another. Nicholas watched as two hamsters in particular struggled to work with a larger stamp. The two hamsters would wobble as they carried it, and then would nearly collapse when they attempted to pick it up after marking a document. The process was very sad to watch. When the hamsters made their way to the father's files, Nicholas reached out, attempting to aid them when they couldn't pick the stamp up easily. The hamsters squealed and clung to the stamp in fear as Nicholas lifted it from the table.
"Nicholas, no!" The father reached out, trying to place the hamsters back down to safety, but it was too late. The security guards had heard the small rodents crying out and had stampeded over to the scene in mere seconds. In one moment, the silent chaos of the building had been replaced by screams and cries as real chaos set in. Without a word, one guard forcefully snatched Nicholas up into his large arms, making Nicholas drop the stamp and the two hamsters in surprise.
"No! Dad! Dad!" Nicholas cried out as he reached for his father, who was attempting to make the rhinoceros release his son. "Please, this is just a misunderstanding! Please, don't do this!" The guard ignored the fox, and forced his way through the crowd and into one of the small back-offices of the building, the father closely in pursuit. Inside the room, a second guard roughly restrained the father. "No, let me go! He didn't mean any harm! Please!" The guard that was holding Nicholas shifted him to one arm, as he opened a file cabinet and dug around for something with the other. A cold form of panic crept over the father as he realized what the rhinoceros was looking for. He started twisting and wriggling in the second guard's grasp, attempting to get loose. "No! He's too young! Please! He doesn't understand! Don't do this!" The guard removed a shock collar from the drawer of the filing cabinet and moved to hold Nicholas down on the lone table that sat in the room. The father continued to scream out in protest, but to no prevail. Nicholas was screaming and crying as the rhinoceros forced the collar around his throat and activated it, before backing away. Nicholas sobbed and pried at the collar with his paws, attempting to remove it.
"No, Nicholas! Leave it be! Don't touch it!" the father hollered, his limbs still retained by the second rhinoceros. After a tough wrench at the collar, Nicholas's body went rigid, pain flooding his features as the metal necklace shocked him violently. The little fox slumped onto the table, unconscious.