Warning Signs

In this chapter we learn there is a new honorary bunny position, a new tagline for Drudy (it had to done as it is one of the best portmanteau ever), an extensive theoretical discussion on how the mammals of Zootopia came to exist and finally an encounter with a new political party that could change the face of Zootopia

Zoodate 115-116 P.C.

Judy spent the night and most of the next day playing nurse and teacher. She helped Drew take a couple trips to the restroom to "pray to the porcelain gods" as the humans called it. After his stomach appeared to be completely free of liquid she sat with him forcing him to drink as much ice water as possible to prevent something he called "bed spins" and a massive "hangover". Drew had anticipated this may be the result of the nights activities as he had predicted needing substantial quantities of alcohol to be receptive to his required duties. Apparently he had some experience with what he would require after imbibing that much alcohol, and had Judy quite prepared for the aftermath. He also knew how he reacted to alcohol and knew he would just get a bit relaxed, affectionate and generally entertaining if his "friends" were to be believed. He had also admitted to Judy the only time he seemed to have any luck interacting with women was when he was quite intoxicated. He realized now this probably had to do with his empathic senses being dulled so we wouldn't be so sensitive to any negative emotions. Everyone reacted differently to alcohol especially large quantities of alcohol and you needed to know this beforehand. He told Judy some people got violent, others became quite depressed and some became became quite manic or aggressive. Judy wondered how she would react. Drew had guessed she would be quite loopy and unrepressed, and would need to be closely monitored by someone who cared a lot about her so she didn't do anything she regretted. He said the more uptight and repressed you were the greater the reaction from certain substances that loosened those tight self-imposed restraints. He said he was a bit frightened she would be a powder keg. She didn't know what that was so he told her it was something that was ready to explode with the slightest provocation.

Fortunately because of Drew's anticipation of his needs and Judy's faithful nursing and forcing of large amounts of ice water into his system, Drew just needed a good long sleep to recover. Judy spent most of the day in between checking on Drew discussing anything Tala could think of to ask her. She didn't know a lot of the answers to the many questions her sister came up with but faithfully wrote all these down to ask Margie. Judy didn't want Tala doing any experimenting on her own if she could help it. The potential danger was just far to great to an incredibly curious bunny like her sister.

Tala just seemed to be a ball of energy asking constant questions and it was quite exhausting. But Judy wanted to make sure she got all of this out of her system before Drew was up and around as she didn't want him to be uncomfortable with all those questions flying around. She was actually amazed he even had gone through with the whole thing because of his incredible discomfort of doing anything remotely resembling that. The only thing she could figure is he saw his sacrifice as being minor in comparison to her need to redeem what had happened in her youth. That was the only thing that was able to convince him it was necessary. She thought he must really love her to do the most uncomfortable thing he could think of for her benefit. She thought of some of those same uncomfortable things for herself and wondered if she could have done the same things for him. She hoped so but she also hoped she never had to find that out.

When Judy heard Drew finally groggily wake up that Saturday afternoon and get into the shower she asked Tala to please act normally around him and not mention anything that would make him uncomfortable. Tala said she would try but that a lot of questions she asked made him uncomfortable so it would be difficult.

Judy: "Well just discuss some of those books you read then or anything but the stuff we have been talking about. He has had it pretty rough the past 24 hours."

Tala: sighs "I will try sis."

Drew wandered into the kitchen drying his hair with a towel and Judy thought he seemed to be in decent spirits thankfully.

Drew: lightheartedly "Hiya girls. How are my Hopps doing today? Better than I feel I hope."

Judy: "We're doing fine. You feeling okay?"

Drew: "I will feel better after a nice breakfast."

Drew began making some blueberry pancakes, a fruit medley and a big western omelet using a vegetarian substitute for the ham/bacon they had brought from the human world which was becoming quite popular.

Tala: "Isn't it a bit late for breakfast?"

Drew: "Nonsense, we had many restaurants on Earth that served breakfast 24 hours that were especially popular with drunk people. I need to get us a nice Belgian waffle maker as well as some real Maple syrup."

Drew writes this down on a dry erase board on the refrigerator where he kept listing ideas. A lot of his breakfast imports had already become quite popular and several restaurants just serving these had sprouted up in Zootopia.

Drew: remembering "Oh did you guys want some as well?"

Tala: "Sure I'll try some."

Judy: "Sounds good. Extra blueberries for me."

Tala: "Same."

Tala was always fearless about trying anything new but it wasn't much risk with Drew's human things since most all of them were really awesome she had found except bubble gum. She just couldn't get used to all the sticky pink stuff stuck all over her mouth.

The trio ate their very late breakfast and just enjoyed a relaxing afternoon watching a classic movie according to Drew called "Casablanca". It was really good but everyone talked really funny and it was in a very different style. Drew had to pause it a lot to explain a lot of the Earth history and terms they were unfamiliar with but it made for something quite interesting to discuss.

Tala: "I can see why some of these movies like this one are hard for mammals here to accept. But once you know the history and background they make a lot of sense."

Drew: "Yep it is strange thinking about showing these movies to audiences which have no frame of reference. I guess we will need to have people familiar with each one to write any pertinent history or background required for each movie before releasing it to the Zootopian public."

Judy saw it was a good sign Drew sat watching the movie with his arms around her and Tala like he normally did. It told her he felt things were normal between the three of them. The one thing she had been afraid of was him being uncomfortable around Tala. Maybe he had forgotten a lot of what happened or possibly he saw it like a dream. She didn't care as long as he felt comfortable. She felt a lot of relief and apparently Drew sensed this from her as he smiled at her and gave her a gentle squeeze.

He didn't show Judy sexual affection with Tala around like he did when Nick was present. He always felt a bit self-conscious being affectionate around her family members even though Judy assured him it was okay. Bunnies had no problem showing affection even sexual affection to loved ones such as boyfriends, girlfriends, wives or husbands. It was just their sexual nature and she had been used to it since she was young. She was actually a bit jealous as she had not gotten much of any chance to express this around her family like most everyone else did. Perhaps this is why she liked doing it around Nick. But she then remembered Tala had not gotten this chance either and with her anti-bunny attraction she would most likely go through the same shortfall. She realized it was probably for the best that Drew didn't act like that around Tala. Judy figured she got to see enough affection out of him the previous night to make up for her whole family. Drew typically showed affection (nothing sexual of course) to them equally when Tala was around just holding them or gently touching them.

Tala was very appreciative of any of his affection as apparently she was denied any such contact and Judy felt really bad for her sister. While her parents doted on herself, Tala seemed to have been a bit forgotten. Judy supposed it was bound to happen with having so many kids. A lot of the younger ones were just going to get ignored especially her introverted twin sister. Judy was just out there demanding attention when she was younger and her parents paid especial attention to her through her entire childhood and now her adulthood. She supposed it was up to herself to provide that same attention to her sister. She knew Drew loved her sister like she was his own sister and it was great that the two of them to could provide a strong foundation of love and support. This brought something to Judy's mind.

Judy: "Drew you haven't told me anything about your siblings."

There was a long a pause before Drew answered.

Drew: "Ah well that is a long conversation. Something I will have to discuss at a later time."

Tala: "Don't you worry your mom and dad and siblings will be very worried about you."

Drew: sighs "Well I suppose my mom might. My dad hasn't cared I even existed since I was young. I just hadn't been close to my family since I was a young child."

Such a concept was completely alien to bunnies. To Judy and Tala not being close to your family was completely unthinkable. Being social creatures everything revolved around family for rabbits.

Drew could sense a lot of confusion and sadness from his two girls. He went over and hugged them.

Drew: "It's okay guys. I have family now with you. Why do you think I never want to leave your family when we visit. It is the first time I feel accepted and part of a family."

Judy: tearful "I never even thought about that. I have been so inconsiderate."

Drew: hugging her tight "It's okay, it is just an alien concept to you bunnies I know."

Tala: hugging him "Being all alone. I can't imagine it and I thought I felt alone. But compared to you I have been drowning in family."

Drew: "Well Nick and I discussed it a good bit. We both have had similar family issues."

Judy: "Oh, that is one area Nick never wants to talk about."

Drew: laughs "Well I guess that is one area where both your guys are pretty messed up."

Judy: "I never realized. Do I attract damaged guys?"

Drew: grinning "I guess so. I think you are like a celestial body that draws us in and gives a stable orbit instead of having us blindly traversing the universe lost and alone."

Judy: "You watch too many space shows."

Drew: laughing "Most definitely. But you have a phenomenal celestial body."

Judy: blushing "Stop it. You are embarrassing me in front of my sister."

Tala: grinning "I have the same body so it is a compliment to me too."

Drew: "Well I didn't just mean physically but you know how amazing I think you are Tala Wala."

Tala: smiling "Dad calls me that."

Drew: "I like it. It's cute."

He sees Judy about to punch him.

Drew: "I said it's cute not her. You bunnies are just way too sensitive about that word. Where I come from cute is a compliment. Most human girls and many guys would love to be called cute."

Tala: "It is just other animals have used it to dismiss bunnies as just being cute and insignificant in all other ways. It is the same as how they treated Judy with respect to being a police officer. They only saw her as cute and not having any other worthwhile attributes."

Drew: "I guess it is hard for me to see that as I am just used to it being a very positive compliment. You know I only mean it as very positive to you guys."

Judy: "That's why I gave you permission to use it in private. You were given official bunny status so you could use it."

Drew: "Awesome. So I am an official bunny now? Do I get some kind of card or plaque?"

Tala: laughing "That would be hilarious."

Drew: grinning "I could use the word and pull out my card to another bunny showing I have official credentials to use it."

Judy: grinning "Well it is an unofficial status. You get it when you become a mate with a bunny."

Drew: "Is that a formal thing?"

Judy: "Well I don't know any other bunnies mated with another non-bunny so I am starting it."

Tala: "Do I get to do the same?"

Judy: "Sure we will be trailblazers."

Drew: "Yep Judy always has to be the first at everything. First rabbit cop. First Zootopian to be intimate with a human."

Judy: teasing "Unless of course you managed to sneak something in behind my back."

Drew: laughing "Like that could ever happen. Have I have been to sneak anything over on you Officer Hopps?"

Judy: laughing "Nope. You can't keep anything from me."

Drew: grinning "I just gave up. I guess I am doomed having the greatest detective in Zootopia as my better half or maybe I should say better third."

Judy: questioning "Third?"

Drew: "I added Nick into the equation."

Judy: "That is strange."

Drew: "It is a unique dynamic."

Judy: "I never understand how you keep adding him as an equal partner. He can't understand it either. And from what I know about human Earth it doesn't make sense there either."

Drew: "It is something called a co-dependent relationship. I fully accepted that before I became involved with you. You had a very bonded unique relationship with Nick. For me to have ignored that relationship before becoming romantically involved with you would have been extremely problematic."

Tala: "Isn't co-dependency typically a negative thing?"

Drew: "Well in this case it is just an additional complication but I had to embrace it as a positive or at the very least a stabilizing element. Just like you have to accept a mates family you had to inherit Nick as part of the package."

Judy: "You couldn't see me as separate without Nick?"

Drew: "Not with the bond you had with him. If I attempted to interfere with that bond you would have resented me and it would have never worked. Besides I have always liked Nick. He is a very interesting mammal. I am always learning new things about him."

Tala: bashfully "I know how you feel."

Drew: putting his arms around Tala "Your feelings for Nick are fine. It is important for you to be honest with yourself about your feelings. I have come to learn that being with your sister. I kept denying everything to himself and it caused me a lot of problems and confusion. You need to always be honest with yourself."

Tala: hugging Drew "It is nice having people accepting I can talk to. If I ever mentioned anything about that to my parents or anyone else it would be a disaster."

Drew: "Where I am from it was similarly difficult for those who were gay or felt confused about their gender to come forward and share similar feelings."

Judy: "Really? We have several of our brothers and sisters who freely admitted those things as soon as they felt them."

Drew: "Here it is not so much a stigma but is accepted. For you guys the cross-species is a bit of a difficult thing to accept in Bunnyburrow."

Judy: "Tala I want you to know you can feel free to admit anything and we will not Judge you."

Drew: "Most definitely. You can even ask all those super uncomfortable questions and I am fine with that. We both love you very much."

Drew hugs both the Hopps sensing a special moment between the three of them. The feeling he got was very unique. It was something he had never felt from his own family or pretty much anyone else and was something quite extraordinary and not to be taken for granted but instead something to be cherished.

The trio spent the rest of the day swimming and sunning themselves on the patio. They later watched a movie Drew knew would cause a lot of interesting discussion called "Harold and Maude" about a young rich kid obsessed with death and an old woman obsessed with life and how the two bonded.

Judy: "And people thought we had a strange relationship."

Drew: grinning "See we look normal now."

Tala: "It is definitely unlike anything I have ever seen. You humans sure have some very strange ideas."

Drew: "Well it is really meant to make you think. It is very unusual. So many of the movies are predictable plodding along giving the same formula over and over that the statistics say is how you make money at the box office. It is very refreshing when you have movies, books and stories that take a chance and ignore the standard conventions and formulas and try something unique." (hint hint)

Judy: "Do you guys want to check out the city tomorrow?"

Drew: "All together?"

Judy: "Yeah I don't think we have to worry so much being together with Tala."

Drew: "I think you are right. It is a unique opportunity for us."

Tala: grinning "It sounds like loads of fun. I don't get a chance to do a lot of exploring in the city. I can't wait!"

Judy: "Well we will get to bed early so we can get an early start on it tomorrow."

As Drew and Judy made an early night of it, Drew made up for ignoring his mates need for more intimate affection during the day. They had gotten spoiled recently.

She enjoyed being kissed and touched all over. It wasn't a need for sexual stimulation. It was just the intimacy of the exercise and he never minded performing his part as just the general satisfaction she felt was his favorite reward. She could see the bliss on his face and knew he liked it as much as she did the darn addict. That caused her to giggle.

Drew: "What are you laughing about?"

Judy: "You are addicted to me."

Drew: with a cowboy drawl "I wish I knew how to quit you."

Judy: "What's that from?"

Drew: "Oh sorry you hadn't seen that. Brokeback Mountain about two cowboys who had a forbidden gay relationship."

Judy: "You're comparing our relationship to that?"

Drew: "No it is just an awesome line is all."

Judy: snugging next him "It is that."

Drew: "I never want to quit you."

Judy: "Aww... Why didn't you use that one instead?"

Drew: "I will from now on. You're an addiction I never want to break."

Judy: "Hey, that would be a good movie line."

Drew: "It will be a classic quote from our own special feature."

They snuggled closer and fell asleep.

The next day the trio heading out into the city ready to explore everything.

It was a lot of fun being about to walk everywhere holding each of his girls paws in public. He was always so afraid of even being close to Judy in public so this was a special opportunity and he meant to take full advantage.

They went to the natural history museum. Judy had not been back there since her incident with Bellwether and the Night Howler serum several years earlier so it was a bit uncomfortable for her at first but with the place full of other mammals it felt very normal, and soon she was having a great time looking at all the exhibits and discussing them with Drew and Tala. Drew was always fascinated with the history of Zootopia which was always an area of extreme interest to him. Any remnants of ancient mammal civilization and their evolution always brought heated discussions with Tala.

The guidebook tells them "Travel back in time as you explore millions of prehistoric skeletons, artifacts, and fossils at the Natural History Museum."

They saw several diorama showing prey animals hunting predators.

Drew: "So your ancestors actually hunted predators?"

Judy: "Well it was to defend ourselves. Didn't your ancestors hunt predators that hunted them?"

Drew: "Yep we wiped out so many and not many survived. I guess your solution was a whole lot more peaceful."

Judy: "Well fortunately our predators evolved enough so that we could create a peaceful treaty with them leading ultimately to our city being formed."

Tala: "Could you not have created a treaty with the predators on human Earth?"

Drew: "Well our predators were not sentient. They only had primitive instincts. As human civilization grew we encroached on more and more species lives and unfortunately so many species were lost or decimated."

Tala: "Do you think they would have developed similarly to ours if humans had not been present?"

Drew: "Possibly but what is hard for me to understand is how all mammal species evolved together. I could see one or two evolving but I would think those that evolved would dominate the other species and the others would never form. That's why I have have been giving a lot more credence to the Linker theory."

Judy: "You think we are the descendants of humans?"

At this point a zebra who overheard them came over and introduced himself and shook hoof and hand with Drew.

Dr. Orshank: "Dr. Zander Orshack, curator of the Natural History Museum. I can only assume you are Drew Stevens, Human Ambassador."

Drew: grinning "What gave it away?"

Dr. Orshank: laughing "I guess you can't go much of anywhere and be unknown."

Drew: "I was pretty unknown on human Earth. Quite invisible actually."

Dr. Orshank: "I suppose it has taken some getting used to being here then. Who are your companions?"

Judy: shaking Zander's hoof "Judy Hopps and Tala Hopps."

Dr. Orshank: "Ah yes… surprised to see you back here after your incident awhile back."

Judy: "Well I have gotten over it finally it seems."

Dr. Orshank: looking at Tala "You are a bit young to be an identical twin so I am confused."

Tala: "I am her younger sister but I guess the same DNA seemed to come together and made me."

Dr. Orshank: "Fascinating… I suppose the odds were that it would eventually happen."

Drew: "Well with 275 kids the odds were a lot better that at least two of them were almost the same."

Dr. Orshank: whistles "Your parents have been quite busy."

Drew: "That's one way of putting it."

Dr. Orshank: "Well I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation but I couldn't help overhearing it and it is a topic that really fascinates me. So you believe this Linker stuff?"

Drew: "It is the only explanation that explains the wide variety of evolved species. Unless it was an alien species from another world that did this instead of humans."

Tala: "Why do you believe this?"

Drew: "Well I have looked at the medical evidence from a lot of your smaller mammals. For the tiny mammals such as mice and rats and even rabbits to have the same intelligence as humans you would have to have a very complex brain. Human brains weight about 1.35 kilos and have approximately 86 billion neurons. This in itself weighs much more than many mammals themselves who are supposed to have close to the same intelligence. You would need to have some serious genetic manipulation to create a brain with similar brain power in a much more compact package. A complex brain also requires a huge amount of resources in the way of blood, nutrients, oxygen, nervous system, etc. to operate. Doing all of this is in a tiny mammal would take such amazing genetic manipulation I can't even conceive of how complex this would be. It would take a human civilization far more sophisticated than current humanity to create such advances it genetic manipulation. Possibly humanity in a thousand years or more could do something like this. It could take many many thousands of years. It could also have been done by an alien race outside of the solar system.

Dr. Orshank: "You don't believe in evolution?"

Drew: "For one species sure. For a couple sure. For thousands of mammal species at the same time? Impossible."

Dr. Orshank: "Hmmm what do your scientists say?"

Drew: "Well it is not something they have been working on. Just the ability to expand the telomeres of various mammal species to life spans similar to humans is mind blowing. Humans have been working feverishly trying to figure out how to manipulate human telomeres in order to increase lifespan. The other thing which is nearly impossible to conceive of is that all these species have similar brain capacity and intelligence. In order to accomplish this it would take monumental genetic manipulation."

Dr. Orshank: looking at Judy "He is a thinker isn't he?"

Judy: exasperated "Tell me about it. Once he gets started down these paths he can go on quite awhile."

Dr. Orshank: "How do you know each other? Do you work with the Ambassador?"

Judy: "He brought me back from the human world."

Dr. Orshank: "Ah that's right. Fascinating. To have been on another world. I would have loved to have been there."

Judy: "Um… not in my circumstances."

Dr. Orshank: "Oh right… I completely forgot. I am most sorry Miss Hopps. I just got carried away thinking about witnessing a completely new world. It must be a monumental shock to you Mr. Ambassador being in a completely different world."

Drew: "I think it would have been if not for friends like Judy and Tala here. They helped make the transition feel natural. With them here I feel almost normal."

Dr. Orshank: "Ah good friends can make anyplace tolerable. What further evidence do we need to confirm your theory?"

Drew: "Well assume the mammals here evolved from the remnants of a human civilization thousands of years into the future. I theorize that the creation of these evolved mammals was due to some need of the humans to have intelligent companions. Possibly the humans were dying out due to a virus or some condition which prevented reproduction. This is a large hole in my theory as it would seem any civilization capable of such incredible genetic manipulation would presumably be able to fix any problem to their own population. But assuming they were unable to do this and they needed intelligent partners to carry on civilization, they could then turn to their fellow mammals. Again there are so many questions. Why did they need to modify the genomes in order to have animals who normally walk on four legs walk on two? Why did they need to modify every mammal species instead of just say a couple? What happened to all the monkey, ape and related species such lemurs? Why were other species such as snakes, fish or birds not modified? Dr. Orshank you have to admit that walking on all fours would be a great deal more efficient than your current bipedal means of transport. All hoofed mammals were designed to be on all fours. The only thing I can think is the humans wanted creatures who were nearly identical to themselves. There is no reason I can see for hoofed creatures to evolve into bipeds."

Dr. Orshank: "Wow Judy you weren't kidding about this human. You have asked so many questions the Linkers have never even considered. As far as the four legs I have watched some of your shows from this Africa place with entire plains of zebras like myself except naked and on all four legs. I have even tried walking on four legs but it just feels so unnatural to me."

Drew: "Well the body forms of many mammals were modified in order to adapt to this change. Your body had to be modified in order support the weight and balance needed. Rabbits here were also modified a good bit. Their physiology is a quite a bit different than the rabbits of my world."

Tala: "I still can run on all four legs sometimes and can achieve speeds and maneuverability far superior to hopping or running on two legs."

Drew: "That may have to do with your unique legs. I am not sure Tala. However rabbits regularly would stand on two legs in order to stand tall and look around. They would never attempt to walk or move while on two legs. Many other mammals would stand or walk on two legs such as prairie dogs, squirrels, meerkats, macropods such as kangaroos and wallabies, kangaroo rats, hopping mice and several others. I could see some advantages for many of these species to develop bipedalism but not every species. In order for this to occur it had to require massive genetic manipulation. But to what end? It would seem the human creators wished to have creatures as companions with traits like themselves for purely egotistical reasons rather than anything practical. Forgive me Dr. Orshank, but a two legged zebra is just so inefficient. Humans would ride many species of ungulates like horses or camels. They were far more efficient for locomotion and their partnership with humans helped to develop human modern civilization. In addition the only reason I could see for so many similarities between your civilization and human civilization is due to some incredibly strong commonalities. Possibly there was some kind of shared knowledge base being used from the human ancestors. Or possibly there is some remnant of human civilization still left on your world."

Dr. Orshank: "You do have one amazing mind my human friend. I can see why possibly your kind might have been our creators but I have two questions. Do you think we originated from a future version of your world and also why do we have Power-8 here but not on your Earth?"

Drew: "Excellent questions which I have been considering for awhile. Well with multi-verse theory your world could have developed from a multitude of different human worlds rather than being a future version of ours. I would need a massive team of theoretical scientists working on that one. I would need some way to differentiate our Earth from other multiverse versions. But if this was the case changes on our Earth from meeting yours could cause time distortions manipulating future events. For example if humanity was able to solve it's energy issues then possibly humanity did not die out. But then again possibly humanity simply left terrestrial Earth and traveled to the stars leaving your descendants to rule the world in their absence. Without a great deal of more evidence it is impossible to determine what exactly occurred. As far as the Power-8 it is very likely there was a collision with one large and many small celestial fragments which deposited these pockets of Helium-3. This would make sense as the substance would collect in outer space on these large fragments and then upon collision with your world, they would have bury themselves. I would need some geological data from the mine sites to determine if there was recent extra-terrestrial evidence. I could run it and rock samples by scientists on human Earth to determine if this was the case. The only problem is that we have to be very careful what information we farm out to human scientists so as not to raise questions about where this evidence originating from in order to protect the existence of this world from the human public."

Judy: poking Drew "You do realize we are here still."

Drew: hugging his two bunnies "I have to apologize I have neglected my friends. If you have any evidence you think might be helpful and wish to discuss it further email me or call my office."

Drew hands a card to Dr. Orshank who hoofs one back to Drew.

Drew shakes Dr. Orshank's hoof again and they part and the trio explores the rest of the museum.

Judy: "I would stay away from Honey if I were you. She would really confuse things with her theories."

Drew: "She still thinks the humans are building some super sheep. What is it with her and sheep? She allergic to wool or something?"

Judy: laughing "I am not sure. You would have to ask Nick. Her train of thought always seems to come back to sheep."

Drew: "You guys ready to check out everything else the city has to offer?"

Tala: "Yes please, my mind is a bit blown by your discussion here. Can we just go somewhere not so stimulating?"

Drew: "I never thought I would hear those words coming out of your cute little mouth Tala."

He sees Judy about to punch him and he holds up an invisible badge.

Drew: "Honorary bunny remember."

Judy: laughing "Okay okay Mr. Honorary Bunny."

The trio spent the rest of the morning and afternoon relaxing in the central park and riding some rides at a temporary amusement park in the city. There was an outdoor festival with some bands and they enjoyed some jugglers and other street performers. They also visited some art museums and several science exhibits they had to drag Drew away from. The food festival was a lot of fun tasting all the many varieties of unique foods offered in Zootopia. Drew thought they certainly found some very creative ways of using insects for food. Judy noticed a lot of new vegetables from her fathers farm.

Drew: "How could all of these come from your dad's farm?"

Judy: "He has half of Bunnyburrow growing them for him."

Drew: "He's quite the entrepreneur."

Tala: "Dad doesn't come across as too bright but he has quite the mind for business."

Drew: "I will have to discuss some ideas with him the next time I visit."

Judy: exasperated "Great! It was hard enough getting you away from all my siblings and nieces and nephews as it was."

Drew: "I just wished there were more places in the house I could go. It is not exactly a human friendly habitation."

Tala: "I thought you called it a 'rabbitation'."

Drew: laughing "I amused myself with that one."

Tala: "What are all these signs I see everywhere?"

They could see see signs all over many walls, billboards as well as stuck into the ground with slogans such as.

The Protectors: Freedom From Fear

Whose looking out for you? The Protectors That's Who

There is nothing to fear when you have a partner like The Protectors

Protectors: A Vote for a Free Zootopia

Safety in Numbers: The Protectors

Join The Herd: Vote Protectors

Drew: "Judy is there an election coming up?"

Judy: "Yes in just a few weeks. But I have never seen anything like this. Generally every elected official focuses on their own candidacy and not a party."

Drew: "Do you have political parties?"

Judy: "Yes but they don't really make themselves so obvious and public. The political parties typically make agreements between each other to get certain legislation passed. We have dozens of them."

Drew: "Hmm I don't know much about politics and this is one area I am completely ill equipped to understand."

Tala: "Is your position in danger?"

Drew: "I don't know Tala. I never considered this. I know it was an appointed position by Mayor Le Pew and the council. We never even discussed how long it was for or any such details. The Mayor said the position was mine indefinitely but I suppose that may apply only while she is in power. I am going to have to look into this. What do you know of this political party The Protectors?"

Judy: "Not much they just sort of popped up a week ago when those UAVs started appearing."

Drew: "Hmm it is a concern that they are using fear to motivate support. But it seems all political parties where I am from do that."

Judy: "I have just never seen it done here."

Tala: "Is that a party going over there?"

They turned to where Tala was pointing and they could hear a great deal of voices and some voices over an intercom.

Drew: "Well let's check it out. That's why we're here in the city."

The group of bunnies and honorary bunny marched hand in paw over to a rally of several hundred mammals of various species many holding various 'The Protectors' signs with different slogans. They maneuvered closer to a wall Drew had spotted and he lifted each bunny up so they could sit on the wall and he climbed up after them so they had a good view of what was happening.

A white and black goat was giving an impassioned speech on the stage with a large group of different animals behind him. Drew noticed many of them were herd animals such as sheep, rams, deer, goats, horses, zebras, antelopes, wildebeest and bison. There were many other types of species as well as a few predators. There were even a quite a few bunnies as well he noticed.

Goat: "For too long the city has ignored the safety of its citizens and allowed threats to go unchecked. We need someone who will look out for the mammals of this city and not just be concerned with their own political power. What has Mayor Le Pew been doing about this new threat in the sky, these lights? Nothing at all. We are helpless and the current administration doesn't care about us one bit. It is just dumb luck we were not all hostages of The Covenant just four months ago. We need change in this city. We need change in order to make sure our freedom is secure."

There was a great deal of murmuring by the hundreds gathered and then a chanting in unison of… "Protectors! Protectors! Protectors! Protectors! Protectors!"

Then a bunny stood up in front of the crowd. Apparently neither girl knew who he was. It was an older brown male rabbit with glasses wearing a blue suit.

Harold: "My name is Harold Clover and I want to speak to you today about the other things these Protectors offer us besides just protection from those who wish to harm us."

Harold: "They offer a return to the principles and morality that made our great city what it was in the past. For far too long I have seen this society lose its way and compass. This is the reason our society has become so vulnerable to these threats. This sexual ambiguity, cross species abomination, immorality after immortality, this entire society has lost its way and needs a correction."

Drew was getting a bad feeling about this. He started getting some angry and disgusted looks from various animals nearby looking at him holding paws with his bunny friends. He put his arms around his two girls and they could sense the mood in the air as well and had concerned looks on their faces.

Harold: "We need a group to clean up this city. The Protectors have offered to do the job no one else has been able to do. To reverse the direction we are heading toward and stop the destruction before its too late. They offer us a chance to be free of fear, immorality, degeneration and devolution caused by the corruption of our gene pool. They stand for purity and a return to morality and values that once made us great."

A great chant came from the crowd as if triggered.

"Purity! Purity! Purity! Purity! Purity!"

Harold: "Yes… good citizens the Protectors mean Purity. Purity of heart. Purity of spirit. Purity of life. Purity for moral citizens to live happy healthy lives free from corruption and immortality that threaten to destroy all we hold dear. They want a city where you can take your children down the streets and not worry about having to cover their eyes from what they will see. Imagine a city where you can live freely and not worry about your stomach turning in knots and disgust as you see denizens cavorting in obscene acts of unspeakable debauchery."

Harold: "For too long we have seen this disgusting pattern continue. But NO LONGER! We will stand for it NO MORE! We finally have a chance to stand up for what we believe and not be pushed down as insignificant tiny voices. TOGETHER WE HAVE ONE VOICE! We have a voice they can not ignore any longer. We can speak for all those in the shadows afraid to be seen as alarmist and bigots. We are those that truly care for this city and its future. Join with me and welcome our lifeline for hope and change. Join with me and welcome our saviors, our liberators, OUR PROTECTORS!"

The crowd went crazy screaming like mad all in one voice.

"PROTECTORS! PROTECTORS! PROTECTORS! PROTECTORS! PROTECTORS! PROTECTORS!"

Drew got a sense of empowerment and a dangerous element of mob mentality from the crowd some of it directed at him and his two girls. He knew of the danger of groups like this and the kind of terrible acts a group riled up can do if they were so directed. He jumped down and grabbed the two bunnies off the wall and started heading away from the mob. He could sense both bunnies were extremely uncomfortable and he tightly held each of their paws. Tala was hugging onto his leg. Some of the crowd even started throwing things at the trio. He even heard several comments and angry looks directed at them like "Disgusting" "Unnatural" "Abominations".

It was the first time in Zootopia he felt uncomfortable. He was getting the same sense out of his two bunnies and he made sure to keep them in front of him to shield them from any objects and insults. They made it safely back to their apartment and Drew felt almost tempted to have some alcohol but after the previous night this thought kind of sickened him. It was a battle between his nerves and his stomach. He finally said fuck it and made himself a strawberry daiquiri and shared a partial glass with each of the two bunnies as well. They were too shaken to even question the alcohol and they just drank it in silence. He felt the relaxation from the alcohol kick in and the two bunnies seemed to relax as well and the three of them just sat in silence with him holding his arms around each of them as they leaned against the tops of his arms. Finally they both just plopped their heads down into his lap and he gently rubbed their ears and the fur on their heads.

Drew had a bit of dread forming in his head. If this rally was an indication of what was to come then things could get quite interesting in the near future. He knew about these types of mobs and movements. They start with great ideals and values but then these same mobs turn their energy to hate and violence. They don't seem to care who gets hurt and try to justify it as being for the greater good or their message. But hate speech was just that no matter how you coated it no matter what the higher ideal was. The words they spoke seemed to go against all that Zootopia stood for and he was not sure what could be done about it. Groups get worked up and motivated by fear and being part of something greater than themselves. He could understand the allure of the crowd mentality. When he was at the Tail Whip with Judy he got completely caught up in the entire freedom and love of the entire group, but these so called Protectors used fear and prejudice and intolerance to provide their group energy. He also needed to see Mayor Le Pew before it was too late as it was possible all the good work he had done over the past three and a half months would be for naught if his position was in jeopardy. He didn't care about the apartment or money or fame or prestige. They could have all that. He only wanted to help both civilizations create a lasting bond between humanity and the Zootopians. Their alliance was very new and fragile and to have something like the Protectors come at a time like this could be disastrous for everyone.

He saw both bunnies were sleeping now. It didn't take much to knock them out but all three of them had been an extreme bundle of nerves and it is good that the tension was released. He was thinking there are going to be a lot more Zootopians that will need alcohol and drugs if this kept up. He nodded off thinking that things never seemed to be boring in Zootopia. He hoped Nick and Finnick were okay as he hadn't heard a word from them. If anything happened to those two his little bunnies here would never be the same again. That thought and the afternoons events did not sit well with him at all as he nodded off for an alcohol induced nap.