As the elevator doors opened, he was blinded by both the sudden brightness, and the sudden noises. He closed his eyes tightly and clamped his hands down over his ears, trying to silence the noise. It was too loud. Was was it so loud?
"Are you okay?" Carolyn seemed curious, and only slightly concerned. "What's wrong?"
"It's too loud. And bright. Why is it so bright?"
"What do you mean? That's just the sun."
"The what?"
"You…" Now she seemed slightly more concerned. "You don't know what the sun is?"
He could hear footsteps approaching, followed by someone sounding like they're about to puke.
"*cough cough* Can we get a medic over here?" Another voice. Male. Rabbit. "What the hell happened down there?"
"You don't want to know." Carolyn seemed to know him. Could he be another ZIA agent?
X-10 slowly opened his eyes, and blinked a few times, while he adjusted to the light. However, he kept his hands firmly planted over his ears, as the sounds were still painfully loud, just less so now. He saw before him a dense forest, with a single dirt trail leading away in front of him, with a few unmarked black SUVs. There were a dozen other mammals in sight, and right in front of him and Carolyn stood the rabbit, who wasn't even shoulder height with him (excluding his ears). He was covered in black stripes, and, unlike the other mammals, who wore Spec Ops looking gear, he wore a suit and tie. His hands were neatly folded behind his back, but looked visibly shaken by the sight before him.
"Ok, if you're so intent on working with these people, you're going to want to be nice to them-"
"Who the hell are you?" X-10 spat out, staring down the rabbit.
"- or you could do that."
"Jack." Said the rabbit, curiously glancing from the blood soaked fox to Carolyn. "Jack Savage. I organized this operation."
The fox could hear IT cackling at the statement.
"HE organized this?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Why would the ZIA let a cutsy wootsy little rabbit join them? This is too funny! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He heard IT sigh, and begin to say something. He decided to interrupt before they started arguing.
"Uh-huh. So, when do we get to leave?"
"Now if you'd like."
Jack then lead them to a black SUV with tinted windows. He was given a towel by a medic, and had wiped off the not yet dry blood. Jack climbed into the driver's seat, and Carolyn climbed into the passenger's seat, while X-10 sat in the backseat. As they started off down a dirt road, he could see Carolyn staring at him though the rear-view mirror. No, not staring. Watching him. She looked… scared.
"Can you blame her? She watched us butcher mammals with nothing but our claws and teeth."
About half-an-hour into the drive Jack spoke.
"Is something wrong?" Jack was referring to the fact that X-10 still had his paws over his ears.
"It's too loud."
"O… k…" Jack brushed off the statement. "I don't believe I got your name."
"I don't have a name."
Jack paused for a moment, and looked a bit confused by the response. "What do you mean?"
Carolyn spoke now. "I don't think he was ever told he had a name, but they referred to him as X-10."
"That's not a name. That's a number. I ask again. Do you have a name?"
"No. And I'm not X-10. IT is." This statement confused both Carolyn and Jack.
"Who?" Jack said, a look of confusion on his face.
"IT. IT listened to them, did what they said. I didn't."
Jack looked concerned now. "You mean there's another one?"
"No, he was the only other one besides myself in there. Wait, are you… are you talking about… whoever it was that you were talking to?" Carolyn was fully turned around in her seat now, staring at him.
"Yes. IT has always enjoyed the… the killing. But I didn't. I was tired of it. But IT was stronger than me. At least, IT was, until IT showed up." Upon the mentioning of IT, both Jack and Carolyn seemed confused.
"Wait, are there… two of them?"
"Yes. IT's loud and aggressive. A monster. However, IT- the other one - is quiet, and very... afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"I don't like this. You're telling them everything about us. You shouldn't trust them."
"I agree with him. You're too trusting."
"Afraid of everything. Ever since he started talking, there's been this urge to run… to… to run and hide, away from everyone and everything."
"Don't worry. We'll be going somewhere where you'll be safe."
"Safe for us, or safe from us?"
"Probably both."
The rest of the ride had continued in silence. Carolyn had continued to watch X-10, less from fear now, more from intrigue. He had simply stared out the window the entire drive, watching as the land went from dense forest, to rolling plains, to farmland, then to city. Zootopia, Jack had called it. Mammals living together in harmony. Kind of. It looked all happy, but X-10 figured it wasn't. One of the few things he was actually told instead of taught was to never trust anything, that nothing was as it seemed and everything's always worse than it appears. X-10's ears had finally adjusted to the the sounds, and had tentatively taken his paws off his ears. They arrived at a small building on the outskirts of (what was apparently called) the Rainforest District. It was only accessible from a hidden dirt road, and was located in one of the corners of the simulated environment. When they arrived, they parked in an underground garage right next to the building. He was told to wait in the SUV, while Jack and Carolyn left. They came back a few minutes later with clothes for X-10.
"What are we going to call you?" Carolyn had asked while he was putting on the clothes he was given (tan cargo shorts with a black t-shirt).
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we can't just keep calling you X-10. As you said yourself, that isn't your name, and we need something to call."
"Hmmm." Jack put his hand on his chin, contemplating that question.
"How about Steve?"
"We can't call him Steve."
"Why not?"
"The name sounds too boring. I like Mark."
"No, he doesn't look like a Mark."
Jack and Carolyn spent the next ten minutes discussing potential names for X-10. Eventually, Jack seemed to have an idea.
"How about we let him name himself." Carolyn stared at the buck for a second, seemingly shocked by his proposal.
"We can't let him name himself!"
"Why not? Here we are, arguing over what his name should be like he's a pet. He's a mammal, and should be given the option to name himself."
Sighing, Carolyn gave in to Jack's request. "Fine. So," turning to X-10. "what would you like to be called?"
"I don't know."
"See, Jack, even he doesn't know what he wants to be called!"
"Hmmm."
Jack pulled a small, rectangular shaped device out of his pocket and tapped a few times on it's screen. After a few moments, the buck tossed it to X-10.
"There. It is currently opened to a database of potential names from all over the world. Take your time, and pick one you like."
"Jack, this is going to take forever."
"How about you go inside a give a report. I'll make sure he gets to his room once he's done picking a name."
After Carolyn left, X-10 spent the next hour and a half looking at the names on the screen. Jack was becoming bored, but tried his best not to show. That is, until X-10 revealed he had only been looking at the 10 names that were already on-screen, as he had no idea how to operate the device he had been given. Jack then gave him a quick tutorial on how to use the device (called a 'smart-phone') and continued looking at name. It was then that Carolyn returned, having been worried by how long it was taking them. Jack assured her that everything was fine, and she left again, telling Jack that 'boss was getting impatient'. Jack simply smirked, and Carolyn again left. After another two-and-a-half hours, X-10 finally decided on a name.
"Edgar."
Jack (who had fallen asleep leaning on the window) lazily blinked eyes and stretched.
"Wha?" he yawned, having been woken from his slumber.
"I would like to be called Edgar."
Edgar had debated also getting names for IT and IT but they had refused. IT because he thought it was pointless, and IT because he wanted to pick a name for himself, and didn't like any of the ones on the list. They had asked him why he wanted to be called Edgar of all names, and he simply responded with 'I just like it.'
"Well then, Edgar, I should probably bring you to my boss before he gets too impatient. After that, I will show you to your room and we'll go from there."
"Alright. Lead the way."
As they stepped out of the vehicle, Edgar immediately noticed the cameras in all corners of the empty (except for a few other cars, including the one the had arrived in) parking garage. They had parked closest to several elevators. One for large mammals, another for medium sized mammals and the last one for smaller mammals. They entered the middle elevator, and as they stepped into the elevator, Jack hit the button labeled with a three. After a few seconds, the doors closed. The levator let out a groaning noise, and the doors opened again, the 'Maximum Weight Reached' sign flashing on the top of the control panel.
"That's weird. Must be broken."
They then tried the largest elevator, Jack again hitting the three button. This time, when the doors closed, the elevator actually started moving.
"When we get to my boss, let me do all the talking. He's very sensitive -and a little paranoid- so you have to be careful what you say around him."
"Got it."
"Sensitive is he? We could have fun with this."
"Don't even think about it. The last thing we want to do is piss off the leader of the ZIA when we're in the middle of one of it's facilities."
"Come on, can't we have a little fun?"
"No."
"I've been wondering where you guys were. You were quiet for so long, I thought you two were dead."
"What?" Jack looked very confused by the comment.
"Sorry, not you." Pressing his index finger to the side of his head Edgar said "I'm talking to them."
"Oh. Right. Maybe we should get you to a doctor too."
"Why?"
Jack paused, looking up at the significantly taller fox.
"Why? Because it's not normal for mammals to have voices in their head."
"Really?"
Now Jack was looking agitated. "Yes, really. Now we have to hurry before-"
"JACK! IS THAT YOU I HEAR? YOU'RE LATE! REALLY FUCKING LATE!" The shouting came from outside the elevator.
"Aw shit. Alright remember. I do all the talking. Got it?" The fox nodded. "Good. Let's go."
They exited the elevator on the left, where the shout had originated from. The hallway was bland, with white walls and plain white carpet. There were doors lining the hall on either side, with the door on the end being open, and a not-too-happy looking badger standing in the door, along with Carolyn standing just outside the door. She looked worried, for herself or them, Edgar couldn't tell. Once the two saw them exit the elevator and turn their way, they both headed inside the room, with Carolyn beckoning the others to hurry. Jack and Edgar quickly made their way the the end of the hall, Edgar noticing Jack looked nervous. Both his tail and nose were twitching, if only slightly. Once they made it to the end of the hall, they entered the room. It appeared to be an office, with a desk in the middle of the room, covered in neatly stacked papers, a strange metal strip with strange markings on it, and two chairs in front of it. The badger was currently seated in a swivel chair, facing towards the group. There was a couch along the right wall, with a small knee-height table in front of it. The left wall featured several paintings of what looked like the badgers family, along with several display cases with medals and a few decorative firearms. The badger motioned them to sit, which Jack and Carolyn did. Edgar, however, remained standing just inside the doorway. Dominick took a deep breath, before looking at Edgar.
"My name is Dominick Brach. Why don't you take a seat?"
"I prefer to stand."
The badger smiled slightly and nodded his head. He turned to face Jack, and anger immediately flashed onto his face.
"What the hell took you so long?! I told you to come see me as soon as you got back but it took you four goddamn hours to get here after you arrived! What the hell were you doing?!"
Jack flinched when the badger started yelling, but other than that, didn't show any other signs of fear or nervousness.
"Sir, we… hit a snag upon returning."
"Oh? And what might that have been?" The badger was glaring holes into the rabbit, who remained perfectly composed.
"He," motioning to Edgar, "didn't have a name."
The badger stared blankly at the buck for a few seconds, before finally process what he had said.
"What?! How could he not have had a name!?"
"Because he was never given one." Carolyn spoke up now, and as the badger directed his attention to the pitch black vixen, his expression immediately became softer and more calm.
"What do you mean?" Dominick sounded completely neutral now, almost as if he had not just been screaming at Jack. "The reports said they were training him to be their ultimate assassin."
"No. They were training him to be a weapon, not an assassin."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, first off, he was given a number instead of a name. They called him X-10. Secondly, he lacks basic knowledge, such as, what the sun is."
"He doesn't know what the sun is?" The badger was shocked by the revelation, and looked back and forth from the vixen to the tod.
"It would appear that he was denied basic education, and was instead trained in the art of killing his entire life."
"Interesting." Turning to Edgar now, who had walked over to the display cases and was studying the contents.
"How old are you?"
Edgar cocked his head at the question. "Huh?"
"How many years have you been alive."
"How many what?"
Edgar was starting to feel a little panicked now. What is he asking me? What if these questions are really important? Seeing the panicked expression on the fox's face, Jack quickly spoke up.
"It's okay, Edgar. It's alright. I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out later."
The badger had turned back to Carolyn and they began talking while Jack calmed Edgar down.
"You're right. If he's going to work for us, we're going to have to make sure he has at least a basic understanding of things. I'll assign you two to that, seeing as he seems to trust you."
"What?"
Carolyn seemed almost horrified at the statement, which Edgar was a little upset by. Jack, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased by the new assignment.
"Thank you sir. We will begin immediately."
"Sir, you can't possibly-"
"Jack, you and- oh, how rude of me. I never got your name."
"I'm Edgar."
"Nice to meet you Edgar. Now Jack, take Edgar to his room while I finish up discussing with Agent Carolyn. I expect you to file a full report once you're done. And for the love of god, get this mammal a shower. He smells like an open cemetery."
"What is he talking about?"
"Well, you've been killing mammals all your so called 'life' and never once have you been cleaned. I'm suprised no ones thrown up yet."
"Yes sir," Jack said.
