Chapter 4: The infected crop
The rednecks eventually had lost the two officers. Only however with Canyon using his off roading skills using unmarked and unpaved dirt roads to lose the officers after they had passed a tanker truck. Although this was at poor Charlie's dismay as he was already familiar with how unforgiving Canyon was on unpaved roads.
Canyon exited the truck and closed the metal door of the truck as he went to the truck bed to check on the two shaken passengers. "Hey. Charlie did you enjoy the ride? So if it was a bit rough that time, but them cops were makin' me nervous. You're okay though right?" Canyon asked.
"All right!? All right!? After what I've been through on the bumpy country road that you guys frolic and relish in? No thank you for that! Now you coyotes sit here and wait, I'll go see what's going on up ahead." He snarled and grumbled, letting his anger fume out of him in a cautious manner as he disappeared into the nearby bushes and approached the Hopps family farm.
Canyon simply shrugged Charlie off and he leaned back in the seat. He looked out of the window and muttered to himself. "Don't know what get gettin' him so worked up 'bout a bumpy ride. Been doin' this for year, and I never once complained…"
Alfred sarcastically clears his throat and promptly replied to the Canyon as the AI starts up the holographic computer screen inside the truck to play the role of mission control. "Maybe it's the fact that nobody in their right mind would enjoy bumpy road trips with rednecks." He then returns his attention to Charlie as the screen established a camera link between him and Charlie's eyes, giving them a live feed of what was he seeing as Charlie climbs up a silo tower.
Canyon grumbled, and looked to the shiny screen. He blinked his eyes however when he saw Charlie on top of the silo. "Is he crazy? That silo hasn't exactly shown the most sturdy ladder yet." Canyon stated while Hunter looked himself to see the wolf climb, "I mean i've been meanin' to get to it. You know replacing the ladder and all, but I just don't got the tools…" Hunter admitted.
For the residents at Bunnyburrow, today is a weird day. All of their hard work are wasted, their crops are mutated and deform, the crops that are not harvested are mutated with jet black color, the corn are now as hard as metal, the cabbages are glowing with a green emerald. Everything is too out of this world to the bunny farmers of Bunnyburrow.
That is where Judy Hopps comes in, the first bunny officer in the ZPD and her partner Nick Wilde volunteered themselves for this assignment, after all this is her home after all. Arriving at her family's farm, Judy and Nick are horrified by the scene of the crops. "Oh my gosh! Dad, what happened to our crop?" Judy gasps when she leans in and poke the now deformed carrot with her carrot pen.
"I don't know, honey. Yesterday I was spraying the pesticides on the crops and now this happens." Stu replied to his daughter, still distraught by the current status of his crops. "Nick, what do you think happened here?" Judy turns to her partner.
"Well I don't know Carrots. But don't you think that this is probably caused by your dad's faulty pesticides?" Nick's indifferent answer immediately attracted Judy's unrelenting fury, she quickly lashes back at Nick.
"Nick, how could you say that? My family has been a farmer family for generations, so there's no way that my dad could be this careless." But while Nick and Judy are arguing with each other, Bonnie and Stu are watching their argument with a nervous look on their face.
"Honey, are you seeing what I'm seeing? I mean this can't be Judy's..." Before Stu can finish his sentence, Bonnie cuts in. "Oh, shush now, dear, this can't be all that bad. Besides Judy can't be that fox's girlfriend, right?" At that moment, Judy and Nick stops arguing when they hear Judy's parents talk.
Judy quickly turns her attention back to her parents then quickly put up a confident smile, "Don't worry mom and dad, we'll find out what's happening to Bunnyburrow and put a stop to it."; "Oh we know that you will honey. Good luck to you too." Bonnie hugs her daughter and kiss Judy on the cheek, "Then what are we waiting for, carrot? Let's get this thing over with so I can buy some extra blueberries." But little does Judy and Nick knows, their entire conversation has been eavesdropped on.
Standing on the top of a nearby silo is Charlie the cyber wolf, he heard all of the conversation down to the last sigh and gasp. "It sounds like you should get a sample from one of the crop, and check on the pesticide in the storage." said Alfred on Charlie's communique, "You don't have to tell me twice. I'll check the corn cob first then the pesticide that they used." Charlie then jumps down onto the cornfield below and quietly moves around the field to find his perfect sample.
When he walks, the paw pads on his feet generate a magnetic field to mask his movement, making him as quiet as a feline. Charlie eventually comes across the section of infected corn, there his sensors went off the charts as he soon realizes that all around him, there was nanites everywhere in the air. "Alfred, you're getting my feed?" Charlie asked. He pans around to have a look of the corn field and everywhere he looks, his scanner says that the corn are infected with Nanites similar to his.
"Yes, this is quite distressing to say the least. The area is heavily contaminated by the nanites, but I don't know where is the source. We might be busier than I thought we'd be, dear boy." Alfred replied, as he was busy helping Charlie analyzing the effects of the corn field, Colditz has arrived at the Hopps Family Farm with Logan. The two officers were not at the epicenter of the infection with Colditz stroking his chin, appalled and curious at the state of the corn cob.
"Well whoopee doo, looks like we have ourselves a case of chrome plated farm produces. Attack of the crystal lunch if you will." He elbowed Logan slightly as the polar bear went out of his cruiser to inspect the crop up close.
Logan stepped out of the vehicle and began moving into the farm. He didn't hesitate however to walk onto the field, and get up close to the infected crop. He whistled though impressed by the ravaged state. "Dear God. I don't really know what to say here sir, but this is going to be a problem. I can already see the inflated prices of food." Logan then crouched over to an infected carrot crop, and noticed just how large the carrots have been made. "Not to say this food was already inflated…" Logan picked off a carrot for evidence and lab study. To him it felt oddly smooth, and unnaturally cold like metal should be.
"Inflated nothing...this stuff is going to drive folks crazy over what the hell are they using for farming." Jim grumbled as he poke one of the corn cob with his pen seeing how stubby it was and how hardened the cobb has become. However, they weren't alone, Logan would then hear the snapping sound of branches from behind him, someone was moving through it with the intent to stay stealthy but the sound seems to have betrayed his presence away to the wolf officer. With his mentor busy photographing the evidences, he may have to search it himself.
Logan walked closer to corn stalks. He made a look back to Colditz, but he decided to take this one for once not wanting someone to hold his hand anymore, or at least for this moment. His hand itched to his pepper spray in case something went wrong. He used the back side of his right hand to push the shiny crop stalks away so he could enter the corn field. As soon as he entered all there was, was him, his rusting in the stalks, and the movements each stalk made from his movements.
Watching his movement from the crops was Charlie, the robot arctic wolf was without his hologuise on as he crouched down and uses the bushes and overgrown to conceal his silhouette as he moves slower but keeping his eye on Logan as he moves around him to pick out one of the sample Alfred needs.
He cuts an infected corn off of its branch and puts it inside the rucksack he brought with him on his way to Bunnyburrow. "I got you a sample, moving on to the pesticide storage now." He crawls on the ground, slowly moving past Logan behind his back and stood up and make his way towards the storage house. But as he does so, further snappings were heard by Logan, but these are much less audible than before.
Logan's ears twitched when he heard Charlie's movements. Startled, he shifted his entire body around to view whatever he thought was making the noise. He glared his eyes to whatever was making it, but he found nothing. Admittedly, his body was stiff from being unnerved as the situation was now creeping him out. He had to continue with his duty however so he continued moving deeper and deeper into the mechanized corn fields. As he moved deeper the smell of metal burned his sensitive nose.
Logan would soon see on the ground were a series of footprints, wolf footprints but clearly not his and they certainly don't look like a normal wolf has passed through here. In fact, upon closer inspection, Logan would find that the footprints were featureless, completely devoid of patterns for him to run analysis on and it was heading straight towards the storage house for some reasons.
Logan as he followed the footprints kept his body low to the ground to keep track of each print making sure not to lose the path. "What the heck left these?... Not any animal that i've ever seen…" Logan began to question leaving his superior officer behind as the situation before him grew stranger. Being a canine he used his superior sense of smell to figure out just what it was he was following, but all he could smell was the nauseating sweet smell of liquid metal. The metal smelled almost like pan cakes or waffles. Something like badder, but still metalic enough like blood that it sickened him.
He would soon came up towards the storage house, that was when the footprints end with some earth being dent almost like it was used for jumping, he also saw that something was not right with the window of the storage house hung open in the wind almost like someone has just opened it recently.
Charlie in the meantime has arrived at the storage house of the Hopps farm, but he quickly dives to the ground, hugging it with his stomach as flat as possible when he sees Nick and Judy's silhouettes passing by near him. "You know Carrots, I think we should have waited for the HAZMAT team to show up first. Or at least we should have brought some protective gears with us just in case. Because I feel very naked out here." Nick continues to lambast Judy on her somewhat impatient demeanor.
"Oh come now Nick, you know that I can't just sit around and watch my family's farm being mutated into a wasteland." Judy quickly returns with her excuse for the two's hasty arrival at Bunnyburrow.
"I know Carrots. But this time you should really apply caution because from the looks of the corn field, there is nothing here that says "Nothing to worry about"." Nick and Judy continue their argument as they continue to investigate the crop. Once the two have passed Charlie, the cyber wolf continues his way to the storage house. Charlie infiltrated the storage house without much problem, he then looks through the various shelves for the exact thing that he needs, a can of pesticide laced with Nanites.
Charlie passes through about five shelves until finally he finds what he was looking for. His sensor detected Nanites inside of a can that said "Bugs away Pesticides" made by Hamish Pharma Inc. The cyber wolf gently popped the hatch of the can off and look inside, his nose picks up chemical compound of the Nanites as well as chemical substance of the pesticides.
He carefully inserted a radiation reader into the can, as the reader goes deeper into the chemical compound, the meter begins to jump to the highest level in almost an instant. "Alfred, I'm reading a high level radiation similar to your capsule." Charlie send the information back to Alfred, who then was extremely shocked when he look at the information that he receive.
"This is ludicrously unbelievable dear boy! The Nanites must have come from someone else other than me! Though I can't remember the name at all." Charlie was less than amused by the statement. "Seriously once we get back to Zootopia, you're going to have get your brain fix pronto." Suddenly he heard the door of the storage house creaking, Judy and Nick are coming in to inspect the warehouse. Charlie has to put the can back to where he found it and duck into a corner to hide.
Laying in the shadow, waiting for Judy and Nick to pass by, Charlie kept himself still and let the bunny and the fox go by. Judy and Nick are looking into the cans of pesticides, "Smell anything unusual Nick?" Judy gave Nick the can and let him take a sniff to see if his fox nose can pick up anything. "Besides the fact that it said "No sniffing"? There's something else in this can but I can't figure it out." Nick holds his nose tightly because of the smell that is telling him it's noxious.
Charlie slowly walks out of the storage house, when suddenly, he accidentally tripped over an old oil lamp, it alerted Judy and Nick to his presence. Judy perks her ears up and turns them to where the source of the noise, Charlie hastily runs for it as fast as he could, Judy and Nick immediately see his silhouette running out of the storage house.
"Quick! We need to catch him! Nick, call for backup!" Judy runs after Charlie as fast as she could to catch up, but even her rabbit feet and incredible reflex speed isn't enough to catch up to the cyber wolf as he leaps across the picket fences. Judy hops over the fences and run after the cyber wolf without fear in her eyes. As Charlie ran out of the store house, Logan could see his silhouette rushing away through the bushes of the crop.
This time however, Logan can see him very clearly, a robot wolf, one that looks like it jumped out of sci-fi stories for him. And it was running away from farm almost like it was a suspect with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde were chasing him.
Logan seeing his fellow officers, and very important and possibly famous ones, chasing down the robotic wolf did not hesitate to engage. Logan now in a more professional standpoint tailed right after Charlie. This time Logan had to use the muscles he developed from his rigorous training, and exercises he placed himself into to keep up with Charlie. As he dashed through the thick cyber cornfield his own sprint steps were heard when his paws slammed against the dirt of the ground, and his body pushed the corn crop out of the way to reach his target.
"Stop right there! You can't outrun me metal head!" Nick shouted out loud. The red fox was running to catch up with Charlie when he suddenly saw Logan running alongside him. "Oh hey Logan, what's up?" He asked nonchalantly with an expression that is devoid of urgency while Jim was catching up to them, huffing out air as his bulky and fat body prevents him from keep up with them at short notice.
Meanwhile on the highway, officer McHorn and officer Wolford were on patrol along the road towards Judy's farm, the rhinoceros keeps his headlights on at all times, his wolf partner sits still with one paw ready on the radio dispatch for any call for help.
When in all of sudden his radio sounds up with Nick's voice on the other end, "This is Officer Wilde, officer Hopps is in hot pursuit of a suspect. Request any available units to respond, over." Wolford immediately answered Nick's request.
"Officer Wilde, this is officer Wolford, what's the suspect look like, over?" Nick was then in a very rock and a hard place since he doesn't know how to describe the suspect in a way that's believable enough for the others.
"Suspect is a...wolf robot. I repeat, suspect is a wolf robot." Wolford couldn't believe what he has just heard, he struggles to believe his own ear but still he can't comprehend the information. Nick then turn to Logan and asked him almost embarrassingly, "He's clearly a robot wolf right? Because otherwise I would be going to the asylum." Nick smiled at him almost pleadingly.
Logan scratched the back of his head while stammering for a logical answer, but so far none of what the situation has given to him has been in anyway logical at all. He could only bite his lip and shrug. "I think that's what I saw sir. I only got a glimpse of something shiny, and damn fast run over here. A robot wolf would make as much sense with whatever is happening here with the… Robot corn…" Logan saying this had to bring a hand to his face as he now was being hit with the bizarreness of the situation himself.
"Uh, say again officer Wilde what does the suspect look like?" Wolford asked. But just then, McHorn quickly stops his car when what appears to be a robotic wolf slide over the hood their police cruiser. "Never mind." Wolford drops his radio and turn on the siren and police light of the cruiser. Wolfard dropped not only the radio but also his jaw as he saw Charlie sliding over the hood of his cruiser as McHorn quickly shifts gear to chase him down.
"This is officer McHorn, we're in contact with a suspect. He's making a run for the wheat field at a local Bunny residence. Damn this guy runs fast." McHorn punches the gas and keep chasing Charlie through a wheat field. The robot wolf makes his quick getaway by jumping into the nearby river and began to swim away from the major highway until he reaches a nearby riverford where the rednecks could see him coming ashore to pick him up.
"Look there's Charlie! Come on let's help him out of here boys!" Alfred jubilantly levitates over to Charlie and extends his tendril to help the robot wolf up to his feet. Charlie coughed out exhaustively as Alfred patted his back with the same tendril. "Don't worry dear boy, we'll be home soon for you to rest come on let's get on the truck." Alfred then led Charlie back to Betsy with Canyon and Hunter waiting for him, the robot wolf hopped on the bed of the truck as usual but little did he know, Logan was still aftering them and the wolf officer may have caught sight of them.
Logan did appear just a few yards away from the truck. He ran to the truck just as Canyon slammed his right foot down on the gas pedal. This caused the truck's tires to dig into the muddy ground and for a few short seconds coat whoever was behind the truck in mud and pebbles. However, Logan despite being faced with a speeding pick up, and ground debris jumped and grabbed the tail gate of the truck and hung on while it accelerated forward now being dragged along.
Hunter expected the same bumpy ride made a shocked double take when he looked into the mirror in the truck's cab to see a very determined grey wolf hang on to a speeding pick up. "UH GUYS! WE GOTTA A HITCH HIKER!" Hunter exclaimed.
"I'll handle him!" Charlie shouted as he opened the truck bed and saw Logan face to face. He made a double take and shouted. "You again!" Charlie then grabbed Logan's hand and tossed it aside from the truck's bed, letting him falling to the ground or at least flailing around while the rednecks can escape easily. "Sorry but no hitchhiker allow!" He quipped and shut the truck bed as they left Logan in the dust.
As Betsy throttled forwards Logan was left to roll from side to side in the dust while the momentum he gained from the truck made flail on the ground. His fur and suit became caked with dirt and dust until he finally stopped rolling losing his momentum. He groaned in somewhat pain, and the fact he lost the suspects, or at last who he thought were suspects. He coughed up dust from his sore lungs after they were also jarred a bit, but as he was crouching he looked over and saw the truck's tail light fading as it got more and more distant from him. "Damnit…" Logan then stood up and stretched out his aching body.
Little did Logan knows that he wasn't alone however, there was something else stalking him from inside the bushes. By now he would have wished that he was indeed alone as he heard a humming sound coming from behind the bushes. He saw a purple light, a faint one at that hovering behind the corn field as it was inching ever closer towards him ominously. Then it reveals itself, a floating spherical object it looks definitely alien to him.
Logan yelped and backed up immediately seeing the alien figure. He pulled out his pepper spray, and fired some of the orange spray into whatever he was seeing currently. He was now acting on the impulse that fear drove him rather than thought. "THE HELL ARE YOU?" Logan backed up more not minding where he was stepping however.
The orb suddenly scanned Logan's body with its purple laser beam going up and down his body. It then suddenly made its vocalization in a dry, robotic, computer voice. "Target acquired, promising candidate has been selected for testing purpose." The voice was devoid of any inflections or tone but it was also very feminine as well as its tendrils wrapped around Logan, tying him up and an additional tendril went to seal his lips tight up to prevent him calling for help. "Oh look, you are buffy and hunky, I think I have found my husband. After our testings we'll get married. Haha." The AI sarcastically laugh before it levitates away with Logan in its grip.
All Logan could do however was make a muffled yell for help that did him no good, but he didn't realize this until minutes later. The tendrils had wrapped their way around his arms and legs preventing him from grabbing his radio, and then calling for a distress help. His taser was also out of the question as his arms had been fully locked. All he could managed was make a frantic and desperate squirm using the muscles around his body to at least try and break free. Already however he was beginning to think he had lost all sanity. He couldn't figure out what was happening, who this machine was, or what it wanted. Even more confusing is the way it called Logan "Husband". It only made him jostle around harder.