Chapter 20:
.
The chains tying them together rattled and shook along with Nick, who was frantically shifting his weight back and forth. Judy, ears weighed down by a growing set of icicles, merely sat impatiently as she waited for a released. Her face still puckered up, shifting here there and everywhere, as she tried to think of a suitable response to the fox's request. Well, she could easily think of two or more dozen which were entirely valid to any sensible mammal. Sadly, in her view, Nick was most definitely not a sensible mammal. Finally, with a huff, she gave up just as a clatter rang out. Nick had finally succeeded in his aim, dislodging the screwdriver he had used to unlock Judy earlier and allowing it to fall into his waiting feet. Flicking it up, he deftly caught it in his mouth and immediately thrust it into the padlock. Slipping and sliding it around, trying to feel out the various tumblers as best he could, Nick was relieved that it was very much a Tundra Town product. An angle grinder would hardly make a dent on the outside; you could throw it into the sea and it could be fished out a decade later fully functioning; it likely cost nothing and, most importantly for him, the internal technology was decades out of date. Oblivious to what was going on behind her, Judy chose this time to speak up.
"Can we please just find a way out?" she asked wearily, both from the strain of thinking and the draining bite of the ever increasing cold.
Spitting out the screwdriver, Nick turned around and gave a smug grin as he let the unclasped padlock fall away. "Oh I did, for me," he boasted, rubbing his victory into Judy's nose. Shifting the chains that bound him up a bit and letting them unwind, he turned around and gave his smug last words to the annoying bunny cop. "See you later, sucker. Ha Ha!" he said, as the last chains slipped and he was unbound. Falling forward, Nick braced for the impact only to feel the chains still around his legs tighten. The floor was still coming up to him, but then it was flying over his head as he, quite painfully, came face to face with Judy. Smashing into her, his stomach immediately winded by the impact of her surprisingly large face, Nick was left hanging as he contemplated his situation.
"This is not my day!" was the very annoyed end product of said contemplation. Shifting his feet again, buoyed by the feeling of the final few chains around his them loosening, Nick smiled slightly at Judy's annoyed face, only for his eyes to catch a small notebook falling from her pocket. It bumped on the floor and opened, spilling out to reveal various scribbles and notes. Peering down, Nick noted a list of species names: Tiger, Lion, Bear, Wolf… and by each one there was a random set of numbers and letters. It took him a few seconds to register what it was, before the full realisation hit him like a freight train. "You ran their plates?" he urgently asked, just as the chains finally gave way and the two fell in unison onto the floor. Judy grabbed the notebook and stuffed it back in her pocket, while Nick got up onto his feet. "Did you get an address?" he asked, even more urgent this time.
Suddenly, the sound of a bolt opening rang out and a crack of light shone across the floor. Realizing that the door was being opened, Nick grabbed Judy and ran towards the nearest shelter, a trolley with a huge cake resting on top of it. Leaping onto the its bottom tray, hidden from view by a tablecloth, Nick desperately hoped that whoever was coming in didn't know about Kozlov's latest prisoners. Luck was on their side, as after a few seconds both stowaways felt the trolley jolt forward and begin to move. Looking back at Judy, and in a quiet whisper for even a church mouse, Nick asked again. "Did you get an address?"
Judy turned around and stared Nick in the eye, her nose twitching furiously with anger. "It doesn't matter, you're going back to the station!" she whispered, the quiet volume doing nothing to dampen the anger in her voice.
Nick shook his head bitterly, reconsidering just how stubborn Judy really was. "If I go back to the station, I'll never get my life back!" he said, trying to explain his situation.
Judy ignored Nick's attempts, instantly brushing them away. "We're not going to talk about it anymore."
Nick was about to speak back, but something suddenly pricked his ear. Pausing, and glancing around, both mammals swivelled their ears in an attempt to work out what was going on outside. There were screams, laughter and unbearably cheesy music. It almost sounded like a party. Silently telling Judy to stay still with an outstretched palm, Nick carefully pulled up the tablecloth and looked out, his muzzle cautiously poking into the open. It was a party. Little bear cubs ran here, there and everywhere while adults mingled with each other. All the tables were set out with cutlery and a generous bunch of green balloons. Looking forwards as the trolley was slid to a stop at the end of a row of seats, Nick glanced over to a corner where piles of presents were stacked beneath a cake. Green wrapped presents and a green iced cake and green balloons… how much did this kid like green? But looking up, Nick spotted the banner above the cake and presents. Like everything else, it was green, but instead of 'Happy Birthday', it spelled out 'Zootopia welcomes you'. Nick instantly knew what this was, why Kozlov was acting so strange, and why there was so much green. His eyes widened and ears shot back as he felt himself gag with revulsion and, fighting the bile trying to rise up within him, he dove back under the cover and turned to Judy. "We gotta move…"
"Why?" Judy asked, completely none the wiser.
Nick merely hushed her as he crawled to the other side of the trolley and looked out. Making sure the coast was clear, he turned back and ordered Judy onwards. "Now."
The two scurried out from their hiding place and dove beneath the end of the long line of chairs. Filled with sitting polar bears, their thick legs and the shade providing decent enough shelter in which to sneak to the door at the other end. Crawling forward carefully, they had almost reached the end when Kozlov's voice rang out.
"Okay… Okay…" he said trying to get attention, the second call raised in volume. After a pause, in which the general sounds of the party failed to dissipate, Kozlov went for the nuclear option. "OKAY!" he shouted, his loud voice silencing the room. His hard expression instantly softening, he began calling out in a gentle, fatherly tone. "Where is Morris? Morris? Come here please…"
Judy, who at this point was in front of Nick, looked on curiously at the spectacle. Held up behind her, however, Nick tried to turn away. He didn't want to see this. He really didn't want to see this. His ears drooping and eyes sagging down, he tried to push out his feelings but they merely spilt back into the void he was trying to create. His only chance was to get out now, so he turned to Judy and urged her on. "Just keep going…"
"There you are…" came Kozlov's voice, as the small bear cub from earlier wandered up to the front. Dressed in simple children's clothes and without a collar, he stepped up the stage and stood beneath his father. "Today, my little Morris is no longer a cub…" Kozlov began, his voice attempting to sound proud but poisoned by a subdued sadness running underneath. Nick observed that, unlike say the crying mother of a bride, there was no joy in this sadness, just an empty hollowness. Kozlov, pausing for a moment as he almost willed himself to say the next words, finally continued. "Today, he becomes…"
"A big bear!" finished the little cub immediately, his cute high-pitched voice brimming with excitement and pride, as if it had all been sucked out of his father.
"Is this, is this a taming party?" Judy asked curiously. She had heard of them before, celebrations for when a young predator was old enough for his collar, but never seen one, so looked back at Nick for confirmation. Nick, however, was still. Face tilted down at the floor, he was deeply inhaling and exhaling as one of this thumbs roughly stroked his tie, desperate for comfort. He was trying to look away, he didn't want to see this, but for some reason his gaze was drawn upwards. Peering up, his eyes looked on at the unfolding spectacle, before he pulled them back down to stare at the carpet. A bear had strolled up to the stage with a box, similar to the ones used for jewellery, and handed it over to Kozlov. Holding it out and opening it, the crowd gasped with awe and excitement as Morris' reflection appeared in the lid. The cub's eyes, however, were trained at the item resting on the cushioned base. A tame collar, freshly made and shining. Picking it up, Kozlov smiled a thin and quivering smile as he pulled out a slip of paper and began reading.
"With this collar, Zootopia welcomes you," Kozlov announced, looking down at his son as each word, both proud and melancholic, escaped his mouth.
"With this collar, Zootopia welcomes me," came the chirpy reply. Excited, eager, and spoken in a way that almost made it sound like Morris was worried about messing it up, like a child's lines in a school play.
Judy was still looking on curiously, while behind her Nick sighed and looked up. His eyes trembling slightly and moist with wetness, he slowly pulled himself backwards and slowly blinked, bracing himself.
"With this collar, Zootopia celebrates you," Kozlov continued.
"With this collar, Zootopia celebrates me," Morris replied.
"With this collar, Zootopia accepts me."
"With this collar, Zootopia accepts me."
The edges of Kozlov's mouth pulled up in a trembling smile as he knelt down with the collar in hand. Waving Morris over, he carefully placed the open band over his head and around his neck. As the cub began shifting, snuggling the back of the strap into his waiting fur, Kozlov brought the two ends together and paused. His hands were visibly shaking now while his eyes were glazing over. Holding his squinting eyes closed while his mouth began to twitch with each twinge of sadness, Kozlov turned away unable to look his son in the eye. Morris remained oblivious, smiling happy and proud, until he heard the sound of his father's collar flick up to orange.
Pausing, Morris looked up at his father in concern. Confused by what was going on, he gently spoke up, half trying to comfort and half wanting an explanation. "What's wrong Papa?"
Kozlov's ears twitched as he turned around to face his child. A quivering smile once more pulled across his muzzle, he spoke gently back to his son. "Nothing, Papa is just… happy for you." He closed his eyes, and pulled his sons collar closed. With a click, it locked permanently shut and, as Morris looked down and curiously felt it, it hummed to life. The little cub smiled proudly and walked forwards to embrace his dad in an eager hug, with Kozlov reciprocating with a tender embrace. "Thank you, Papa," Morris said, before Kozlov sadly waved him off. Almost immediately the music began again as the cub walked to the front of the stage and began jumping around, proudly celebrating his first few moments of official adulthood. Kozlov, looking on with a flinch of concern pulling across his face, merely raised his hand slightly as he gently called out his son's name as a warning. "Morris…"
Judy looked on from beneath the chairs, her initial trepidation and curiosity replaced with happiness and pride for the little boy. The crowd of children were happy too, an began excitedly cheering and clapping at the newly adult boy in front of them. So grown up, so smart, even though he was playing and giggling just like before, he seemed so much more mature. From the roof, a cluster of green balloons was released and began floating down. Looking up, Morris screamed with delight and began dancing around, his head raised high with his newly orange collar on displace.
Looking on with growing horror, Kozlov tried once more to warn his son. Still the same soft voice, still a whisper, but the volume higher and tone more urgent. He said "Morris!" once more, but it was too late.
Zip…
The quiet sound echoed across the room, the music abruptly stopping as the entire crowd gasped before falling into silence. Judy winced, her previous happiness for the cub washed away, before she opened her eyes to look on. While Kozlov at the back wore a horrified gasp on his face, his mouth hanging open in a gape while his collar shone orange, Morris slowly un-winced himself from the sting. All the pride and happiness from before had gone in an instant, the little cub confused and lost as he held a trembling paw up to where his collar had shocked him. Tugging it slightly, he sniffed as he felt the other side of the strap pinch into his neck. He turned around, and his scared and confused eyes met the desponded eyes of his father. Kozlov blinked, his eyes suddenly changing into ones of utter sympathy, as Morris silently ran and hugged him. The great bear hugged back too, silent and comforting, and he began gently stroking his son, trying to tell him that everything would be fine. His eyes looked up though, staring out into the distance, and making it clear that it was a lie.
Judy had spent this entire time with her mouth open in confusion, but she closed it and let her eyebrows sink as she turned to look back at Nick. The fox had seen everything, his eyes as sympathetic as Kozlov's despite his desperate attempts to keep his emotions in check. He remembered when he was like Morris, a little boy eager to grow up. He remembered how his father had cried when Nick excitedly put on his collar, powerless to protect the one he loved. And he remembered the moment he realised what had been taken away from him, for the rest of his life. Zootopia welcomes you?... It welcomes you to a life of hate and misery. Zootopia celebrates you?... it condemns you… for who you are. Zootopia accepts you?... It doesn't accept you, it fears you, and it can only begrudgingly ignore you if you sign over things that prey mammals take for granted every second of every day…. Nick blinked, trying to clear the tears from his eyes as he looked on. That poor boy… that poor innocent boy… he'd never be the same again… never play care free… never not know the stinging bite… never be able to ignore the hatred of the prey. Nick shifted his gaze over to Judy, his mind buzzing with emotional pain, and as he looked into her confused amethyst eyes, he saw the green spark in them go orange with a beep.
"Go…" was all he managed, weakly saying the words as he diverted his gaze once more to the floor. He saw Judy start to move in front of him, and quietly followed, alone with his thoughts.