Pawtorias was scribbling down notes. The old cheetah had been quite informative. A lot of it the agent already knew, but certain details were… enlightening. Of course, there were probably even more he could decipher about the nobleman and his web of informants from the little side comments and intonation on Krava's voice, but he would need time to go through all of the details. The notes the wolf seemed fit to write down as Reika put her mate down for the night were mostly for Hopps and Wilde, as he knew he would remember all of it just fine. However, just how much he should tell the two was up for debate in his mind, as too much could jeopardize everything, but not enough would hinder their abilities, something the canine felt as though he didn't have the luxury of time to do.

"That much is obvious. Time works against you, hunter, as it does most surrounding this case." Reika's comment, plucking the thought straight out of his head, would've caused him to jump, had he not had the discipline that came with the decades of experience of dealing with such… enigmatic figures. She was definitely an odd one. Not of the same strain as Krava, but eccentric nonetheless. She held a cynical wisdom about her, an air of a mentor with damper lessons to teach. She had started calling him 'hunter' earlier, after he let slip that he was tracking some one. Whether it be a title or a proper name, he simply couldn't tell, while he doubted it was a compliment, it wasn't really an insult either. More simply just… a description.

Not being one to shy away from melancholy, and having learned an open mind is far more useful, he engaged her, hoping to delve into her secrets. "You have answers." He said, not bothering with fanciful speech or interesting verbiage. She, however, did.

"For the right questions, yes. Though many have answers for different questions, and some even have contradictory answers for the same question. But that is not why you've turned your attention to me, now isn't it, hunter, Sif, son of Manus?" His father's name caused him to scowl, now on the defensive.

"How did you-" She cut him off before he could finish, keeping in control of the situation and the conversation.

"You're lineage is apparent, hunter, especially to those of us who know the signs. You bare the eyes of a Pawtorias; eyes that see all and see far. You step with the burden of a thousand secrets, and your shoulders hold the world as we know it. You exemplify your family's markings; you wear the name on your sleeve." She said, as if it was all so obvious. It probably was to her, and if he bothered paying attention, himself as well.

"Damn mysticism…" he growled as he went back to work on the notes. She wasn't about to let the comment go without reply.

"You gripe about that which you so deftly shook your head at all those years ago, hunter. It was your decision to so arrogantly ignore the teachings of your ancestors, and not that decision is rearing it's head, showing you the folly of closing your eyes to something you have not right denying." Her sharp tongue and harsh criticism struck him as much as the shaking realization that she knew much more about him than he had first been led on to believe. Of course she does. Assume she knows everything… that's the only way you'll come out of this with your head on straight, he thought, yet the voice in his head was not his one. It didn't matter. The advice was sound and definitely something he was going to do.

"Okay then, Mrs. Springslink, may I ask what questions you could answer then? You obviously know more than your mate is willing to divulge." He said, taking on a edge to his voice. If it affected her, she didn't show it.

"Many questions, far too many to recount here. That is besides the point though. If you do not know the question, what would be the point in answering it for you? You ask for a question without knowing the purpose for it." She replied, a response that he had expected.

"Sometimes information stands on it's on feet; the reasons for knowing it come later." He matched her philosophical musings with his own idea. The metaphorical parry gave her a second to pause, obviously not expecting him to dance in her little show. It didn't last long.

"To know things aimlessly and without reason is to open one up to the far more dangerous things than ignorance. My answers are not meant for you. You are here for my husband's memories, and those you shall get." She was quick to the point, not leaving herself open to another rebuttal. He tried however, looking for a crack in her armour.

"What could be more dangerous than ignorance?" He prodded. Her self-righteous huff prompted a glare from the gray wolf, irritated with how she treated him as nothing more than a form of entertainment.

"Never you mind. I find it surprising that your father never made a point of stressing these fears to you. Although, his echo might not have truly reached you by now, and may never." Her comments furthered his scowl, but he decided he couldn't best her at her own game, and so played along.

"What echo? What do you mean?" He asked her question.

"Despite everything you've been through, have you truly learned nothing? Our lives do not stand on their own merits; each are the culminations of the echos of millions of actions that came before us, making us who we are, so that way we may in turn take actions that cast their echos, further affecting those in time. It seems as though your father's actions have not yet fully hit you, his echo not yet reached you, hunter." Her philosophy made him think; that much that she had said was, to be honest, as true as he could imagine, whether he thought she meant metaphorically or mystically was besides the point. But he knew it didn't matter at the moment. Getting her to talk did.

"You never answered the question, Mrs. Springslink." He said, pushing the former statement.

"Oh, you naive little pup. You meddle in things you could not possibly understand. It seems to be a shared trait across your generation." Her allusion elicited a growl from him. She ignored it, and continued.

"Think. Take just a moment, and follow the idea wherever it may lead. Every action, whether it be hiding a secret, searching for it, or even leaving it where it lies, emits an echo. Arkous Savage has fallen into that trap; the danger of unearthing secrets never meant to be seen again. Some knowledge, some secrets, should remain secret, remain unknown. Arkous Savage is currently looking for one such secret. It could be argued the most dangerous one of them all." She said, letting it sink it. His look of skepticism got a frustrated sigh from the old feline, causing her to elaborate.

"His search is dangerous all in itself, even if he is stopped. His will actions carry an echo that will, in time, push for another to reach his prize. And if one finds and uncovers it, the fragile peace that has come over this land would be… in jeopardy at best." She said, and tone of fear instilled in her voice. He felt it ice his veins, a chill coming over him. He knew she meant to pass the fear to him, but he shook it off, pushing past it.

"Then you know what he's searching for?" His dark hope was apparent, fear and need and pain painted across his face, the hardened features practically demanding an answer.

"Yes, I know of what he seeks. I also know where it is hidden, the lock on the door, and the key to open it. In that sense, however, I am only one step ahead of him, and many ahead of you." She said, giving him both an answer and a question at the same time.

"Why is it so dangerous? What is it?" He growled, commanding an answer. Her response was tempered, containing less answers than he had ordered.

"Are you not listening? We are reacting to the echoes of actions from those long dead, those long gone. These echoes have been affecting the world for millennia. But these echoes aren't purposeless. They are ripples with reason. What could more terrifying than a being so powerful, so patient, and so careful, as to direct the course of animal history with not but echoes? Without actions on their own but simply emphasis on certain aspects of others? For one to hit just the right points, tap just the right spots, emphasize in just the right way just the right aspects to just the right degree of just the right actions, is a power that no one should have. The few who do, are more dangerous than the greatest weapons you or your government could possibly erect to fight them. That is why the secret is so dangerous. It wants to be found." He voice was a mix of a hiss and a whisper, sending shivers down his spine. Yet, his irritation at her dodging his question overrode pushed his hand.

"WHAT IS It…" he rambled off, his eyelids closing quickling, as he fell in the couch he had been sitting on, sleep overtaking him.

"No, that is not the conversation for now, as those answers are not for you. Sleep, hunter. Tomorrow he will give you your answers, and then you'll be on your way. For now, I must collect my thoughts. When they arrive, I must be ready to give them their answers, as he is ready to give you yours." Her comment hung in the air, slowly being soaked in by the now unconscious wolf. She stalked off to the bedroom, ending the conversation on the incredibly terrifying hint.


The two detectives sat in silence, heading towards Sahara Square. Nick was obviously the more comfortable of the two, his relaxed attitude clear as day, while Judy was mulling over what had just happened. He's okay with this? People thinking we're… How can he be so nonchalant about it? Isn't it weird for ahim at all? WHY CAN'T HE DO THAT THING WHERE HE TALKS AND READS MY-

"It's okay Carrots, I hear you loud and clear." He spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. Despite her hoping he would do something to that effect, the fact that he actually could irritated her more, causing a bit of an outburst.

"HOW DO YOU DO THAT? CAN YOU REALLY READ MY MIND?" She yelled, fuming.

"Nah, you're just easy to read. Plus, when you get really deep in thought, you start talking out loud without realizing it. It's quite-" he explained, before the bunny swiftly interrupted him.

"Don't you dare call me cute." She said, not in the mood for his antics. He laughed her threat off, but heeded it nonetheless. With her in a mood, he didn't really want to push her… yet.

"Nick, I sort of need you to talk to me right now. I know I sort of coaxed you into it by suggesting it in the first place, but this has sort of gone much further than I expected. At first I thought it would just be a dinner, and then the bust, which would be fairly easy. But now it's both deeper and longer than that." Her personal issues were finally coming up, though subtly and layered in how he felt.

"Well Carrots, it's all pretty simple to me. First off, we both get a fancy meal at a nice restaurant paid for by the department, and then I see it going a few ways: A, everything goes swimmingly and we stop playing these games and just get together and that's that. There's B, where the raid goes poorly and we keep playing this game until one of us dies or the other finally decides to make a move. Then there's C, where we don't actually get to go on the mission anyway so it was all for not, then we have to wait one of us to die or for the other one to finally make that move, which in all respects is a special version of B, as it just lacks our free meal." The blush on her face was so adorable all Nick could do was withhold his coos. As this point, she was so red she could probably blend in with his fur, making her even (dare he think it) cuter than before. Her embarrassment was so well displayed she might as well have been going on a dramatic monologue about it. But she refrained. And for whatever reason, simply moved on, causing him to laugh in slight disbelief.

"But there are going to be rumours, and we'll have to stay the night in the same room, probably in the same bed. I don't know about you, but I know I've never experienced that sort of thing before…" her diminishing voice got him to cock his head to one side, pondering on what she was saying, or more accurately, asking. Are you really the jealous type, Carrots? I don't know how I feel about that… he thought to himself with a smirk, half forced and half genuine.

"Haha… are you the jealous type? I guess I could sort of believe it, with you being so competitive." He came out, trying to be as straightforward as possible, but also looking to avoid the question being asked.

"What? No, why would I be jealous? Nothing to be jealous about. It wouldn't bother me at all. I am not competitive. How dare you- we're here! Come on, let's go." She huffed, not able to lie convincingly but also indignant at the charge of being jealous. As she hopped out of the car he chuckled to himself, her exasperation infinitely amusing to the fox. He climbed out too, as they brought their attention back to the job at hand. Their drive to Sahara square brought them to a rather new factory at the center of the industrial district. Pawtorias's contact here, a calico cat by the name of Lacey Dew, was the Vice President of the corporation that owned the factory, and several others in the city. While the larger factories mainly made toys, or processed raw goods, such as ore and lumber, into refined materials for buildings or further production, the smaller facilities were licensed out to produce materials both the ZSIS and the ZPD. In fact, both Judy and Nick had special ordered their swat gear and standard protection gear from one such factory in the Rainforest district. The company was the only one legally allowed to manufacture firearms within the city, and only on request with permission for the sale of the weapon as well. Not only that, to keep that allowance, the company spent millions of dollars annually to track weapons, and several times in the past were a key component to finding and taking down illegal manufacturers and gun trafficking. Which is why they decided to start asking questions here. They walked in, almost openly surprised by how open the entrance hall was. It wasn't the standard for factories; the clean white marble floor and high vaulted ceiling were more trademarks of high rise hotels, or the fancy office buildings of a corporate center. Towards the back of the room was a single secretary, a gazelle with a nice pantsuit on working steadily on a computer, her eyes either content or slightly interested in what she was doing. They wasted not time walking up to her, and she wasted none either, speaking to them immediately.

"Hello, and welcome to Carkitty Enterprises. If you're here for employment opportunities, they're open on in the offices down the hall to the right. If you have an appointment, please give me your name and just one second to bring it up." She said as she finished up whatever she was working on. As she did, she quickened her typing pace to hurry it up. Whatever it was, it came to an end quite quickly, and was able to finally give her full attention to the two detectives.

"Do I know you two? You look oddly familiar. And there aren't a lot of bunnies running around with foxes, so I highly doubt you remind me of someone else. Although, I do have a fairly bad memory…" Her pleasantly talkative behaviour reminded the two of another front desk persona they dealt with on a more daily basis. But they weren't here to think about their favourite overweight cheetah.

"We don't have an appointment, but we need to talk to Miss Dew. We're with the ZPD, working on an investigation with Agent Pawtorias, and she might have information that could help us with this." Judy took the lead. She dropped Sif's name, hoping to speed this along. Instead of shooing them away, like they expected, she picked up the phone, entered a number, and sat, waiting for the line to pick up.

"Miss Dew, you have to officers here claiming to be here on behalf of an Agent Pawtorias… Oh, okay then ma'am… but miss, you do have… okay, I'll push your appointments backs. What would you like me to tell Mr. Dew… I will do ma'am. I'll send them up immediately ma'am." The phone call was short, and it was very obvious to the both of them all of a sudden just how useful knowing the agent might be. The gazelle hit some keys on her keyboard, and behind her an elevator down opened, revealing it hidden in the wall.

"You may use the emergency elevator to head straight to her office. Please don't dawdle, she's expecting you. Take care." She hurried them into the small room, before closing the door. There were no buttons on the inside, and the nondescript interior was boring to an unusually high degree, especially in comparison to the area they were just in. It started up almost immediately.

"Is it just me, or does his name literally open doors? I swear, if I ever get the chance to get a transfer, I might just take it." Nick commented, his cocky atmosphere seemingly sticking even to her, as she laughed and almost felt it too. That last comment hit her wrong though, and she made a mental note to ask more later. Before either one could say something else, there was a beep, and the elevator came to a halt, with the doors behind them opening up to a large office. Directly in front of them was a nice glass desk, and sitting on top of it was, presumably, Lacey Dew. She wore a long red silk dress, that parted on the side mid way down her thigh, obviously highly inappropriate for work, but she didn't seem to care. Over that she had on an open long black form fitting coat, that was meant not to cover up but to accentuate the colour of the dress. She had brushed her fur in a way as to cover one of her eyes, allowing the other to be all the more expressive. And currently, between her stance, her eye, and her clothes, all made Judy fume with the jealousy she had so firmly denied.

"Hello there. It's been awhile since Pawtorias sent someone to knock on my door. I hope I can make the two of you more comfortable while you're here…" her sultry voice did nothing for the rabbit's nerves. Unfortunately for both of the females, Nick had thrown on his sunglasses, making his expression nearly imperceivable, as he kept his smile firm and unchanging. Of course he would. 'Never let anyone see they get to you'... damn fox…

"Please, come this way, don't be a stranger." She said as she circled them, eying Nick like a piece of meat. Judy could barely contain her frustration as the cat ever so slightly caressed the fox's arm, as she pulled the two to the desk. Already Judy knew she was going to regret this.


Pawtorias's eyes shot open as he registered the time. Despite the misty shroud, he knew it was midmorning, his internal clock screaming at him. Something else had stirred him, though, something external. He didn't really remember falling asleep, no matter how hard he tried. All he could remember was getting angry, and then getting halfway through his question and then… blackness. It was only a moment before he realized what had happened.

"Blasted female… what the hell did she do to me?" He scathed under his breath as he sat up, his anger apparent.

"No point getting angry with her, you won't be speaking with her again." The old butler said, as he hobbled into the room, two cups of tea in his paws. He glanced over to the old mammal, gladly accepting one of the cups, and took a quick swig.

"She's definitely a peculiar mammal. In the old Fauxfang home, she would lock herself in the library for hours, especially when we were all young. When our first master began to give her responsibilities around the home, he took that into consideration, and kept her oriented towards the books and teachings she so adored. When Lord Xalas became the head of the household, she became quite a recluse, and buried herself into ancient tomes and scrolls hidden deep in the cellars of the old mansion. Sometimes I wouldn't see her for days. It was around this time that she lost her sight, and became the sharp tongued witch you met yesterday." His smile disarmed the would be insult, showing an affection Sif hadn't expected. The wolf took the sign to heart, before he took another sip.

"Now, what other questions do you have?"

"Actually, sir, I think I'm done here. I must be leaving soon…"


The cat must've been intent on confusing the bunny. At first, Judy had been sure that the calico had been flirting with Nick, but it wasn't long before the feline was making similar movements and touches to Judy as well, leaving the bunny feeling almost… violated. Their idle chit chat was getting tiresome though, so Nick ended it quite quickly.

"Miss Dew, Agent Pawtorias sent us to query you on several sales and a break in attempt you had recently. He thinks that both are related to our investigation. So could you please stop groping my partner and myself and talk to us like the professionals we all are?" His straightforward response caused her to pout a bit, her face contorting into a mixture of exaggerated hurt and an adorably sad attempt to hide it.

"Is Sif gonna come around…?" she pouted, earning a glare from a from the rabbit.

"No ma'am. He is currently unavailable, being tied up at the scene of the crime. It's just us for this visit." Judy snapped at the cat, losing her patience as Miss Dew's foot began slowly sliding up Nick's leg.

"Oh hmph. Damn, well, enough of that then…" her demeanor change shocked them for a second, prompting a question.

"Wait, were you doing that all for his benefit? I've heard of quite a few different kinks, but I'm pretty sure that takes the cake." Nick's comment irritated his partner, but the calico simply laughed at it.

"Hahaha. Well, you'll never meet someone like me. It all started about 3 years ago. He came in, asking about very similar things. Well, I was a bit younger at the time, and a fair bit more… forgetful, and I had forgotten to take my monthly pills, and one thing led to another…" she trailed off, getting a pretty good laugh from Nick, and a look of deep embarrassment from Judy. Her silence did last long, and she quickly spoke up, hoping to change the subject.

"Okay, so now that we have that pit of unnecessary information in our heads playing havoc with our thoughts, can we please get to business?" She spoke up, killing the mood. Or, at least trying to.

"Ahh, yes. Well let's start with that attempted break in. It was at one of our contracted facilities, so the robbers could've have been easily going for weapon part or ammunition. However, our private security systems dissuaded them before they could get into the storage rooms or the server rooms. They didn't make off with anything. They couldn't have." Miss Dew's now appropriate tone and attitude finally made Judy comfortable with the setting.

"Wait, so your security kept them from getting into your store rooms, but you don't know who they are?" Nick kept asking the questions.

"Unfortunately. The perpetrators were clean, and very, very well trained. It's been a long time since we've seen someone this organized, and our security forces weren't exactly prepared to deal with this event." She responded. But she wasn't done yet.

"The local police precinct committed quite some resources to the case, but came up with nothing. All we know about the group is that there was 3 of them, all small mammals, at largest a rabbit. Other than that, we don't really have much else to go off of." This closed one door, but had other questions still. This time Judy spoke up.

"Thank you for that. We were hoping you could tell us more about three specific sales, each having to do with highly advanced computer hardware pieces, each to raccoons that had the parts shipped to the outskirts of different city districts." She detailed the transactions, and pulled out a paper with more details on it, handing it to the Vice President.

"Ahh yes, the odd ones. Those orders confused us. In fact, the salesmammal that was handling it came to both I and Mr. Dew asking if he should approve it. The parts were large, high end processors. They're mainly used in large encoding and decoding computers, or supercomputers that compute and run large, finely tuned simulations. Each customer ordered 4. To put these processors in perspective, one of them is enough to manage all of the basic systems in the city. There are two, one as a back up, but the second one hasn't been turned since they were installed. Simply nothing for it to do." She said, causing the two to take on a questioning look, obviously confused.

"We don't really broadcast it, but Carkitty Industries has a paw in pretty much everything. Several years ago, Mr. Dew purchased Micropaws and Intel Tech. Ever since, we've had several labs and smaller factories working on computer technology. Designing a system to manage the city's networks and different mechanics was actually our first big contract. I was quite pleased with how we handled it, even if it wasn't very profitable." She elaborated, enlightening the detectives, which nodded as they followed along. Nick then had another question to ask.

"So why would anyone need 4, much less 12?" His question was straightforward, and so was her answer.

"I have no idea." Not to be dissuaded, Judy followed up.

"Can we maybe talk to one of your researchers, or someone who was on the project then? They might have a better idea." At that, the calico turned away from her computer, and faced them entirely. Had it been Nick that made the suggestion, she might have taken it as an insult, but Judy was a different person entirely. She cleared her voice, and took a proud posture, lacing her fingers as she put her elbows on the desk and crossed her legs.

"My dear, I have a PhD in Microcomputer Engineering, with a Masters in both Microchip Architecture and Computer Design. My doctoral dissertation was on the installation of microprocessors in macro structures for high output processing levels. Before I had this job, I was the lead researcher in processor technology at Intel, and am the primary architect for that processor unit. No one know it better than I do, darling." She said, her eyes slightly condescending, but her voice sincere. As she went through her spiel, Judy's ears fell, a look of awe and embarrassment on her face. Miss Dew was quick to reassure her though.

"Don't worry about it though. I would be more surprised if you knew that. Not many corporate goons actually have any idea what it is their company does. I am not one of those types of executives." She said, her tail flicking with pride.

"Okay then, Dr. Lacey Dew, why would anyone need a computer so powerful?" Nick spoke up, a smooth, almost flirtatious tone on his voice, causing Judy to twitch with annoyance.

"Mmm… well, detective, my professional thought remains the same: I have no idea." She responded to his tone, matching it in the beginning, before getting back to a more appropriate voice. "I couldn't conceive of something that would require that sort of numbers crunching. But, I can tell you this," her attitude shifted, taking on a dead serious expression, "whatever it is, it's definitely tied to something illegal. Unless someone needs to run multiple decoding software, simulations, and management programs, and even then you could probably run them all off of one unit with a thorough cooling system." She explained, further deepening the mystery of the purchase. This caused Judy to put aside her jealousy for a moment. Sif had it in his notes that the raccoons in the purchase are all connected to Vartini… the rat must've traded the purchase of those computer parts for the assistance of Savage's agents. But what does Arkous want with the processors…?

"However, unlike with the robbers, we can tell you exactly where the raccoons went, and where they asked us to ship the parts. I'm printing the addresses right now." Her addition was very much welcomed, as they were afraid of hitting another dead end. She picked up the papers from her printer hidden underneath her desk, and handed them to Nick. As he looked over them, she started to talk again.

"I'm almost positive that's everything. Now I have meetings I can't really postpone any longer, so I'm going to have to ask you both to leave. But please, don't be strangers. I would adore it to see both of you here again, and maybe next time for less formal reasonings…" her overly flirtatious attitude came back into play, signalling to Judy that it was finally time to leave.

"I think something like that could be arranged. Give Carrots here a reason to hop out of her box." Nick joked as he followed up Judy's goodbye, earning him a swift elbow to the hip to accompany his chuckle and Lacey Dew's obnoxiously loud purring.


Hallo ev'rybody. I hope I'm catching my few readers on a good day. If not, then please look up something hilarious/adorable/heartwarming and cheer up. Unless it's the overload of good things that's bringing you down... then all I can say is "you lucky bastard"...

Anywho, we're getting close to the exciting parts, which is going to make it all the more difficult to write the two chapters in between then and now as I write and rewrite said exciting parts in my head.

If you could leave a review, that would be great. I spent quite some time reading my other chapters to get this one right, and I think the quality has... deteriorated. I would love to know what you guys think. Also while doing so I found all of my spelling errors on my previous chapters, so I might be reuploading some of them with corrections.

Thanks, please read and review. See you in another week or so.