Edo
One Hour Earlier
Serenity watched with intrigue as Amier finally stirred. The effort it took to keep him alive was nothing short of legendary, and it appeared as though the fruits of his labor had finally paid off.
"Awake?" he inquired, projecting his voice directly to Amier.
"Serenity," Amier growled, voice wavering. "What do you want?"
"Merely to inform you that you're welcome." The wolf grinned; he enjoyed his little conversations. It was so hard to find anyone to talk to.
"For what?"
"The fact that you're alive?" he felt wounded. "No matter. Shift your fur color and it should come back. I've noticed you're shivering."
Serenity gave a slight chuckle when he could hear the researchers around Amier drop their various utensils.
"I should have also mentioned that your hearing isn't quite back, nor is your sight," he continued. "A species change should correct that. Oh, and one more thing to aid you in your hunt: a little birdy told me that Vitya loves playing hero, although I'm sure you already knew that. I bet if you cause enough of a commotion, he's bound to…"
He trailed off as he heard the rushing of wind from the entrance. Someone was in his abode, someone that he didn't invite. Even without checking, he knew exactly who it was. There was only one 'someone' that it could be. He quickly set to work tidying up and making the main room look as presentable as possible. Just as the last pot of tea was in place, a white wolf came into his view. His amber slit eyes shone brilliantly in the dark, and his soft expression was nothing but friendly.
"Serenity," the wolf spoke softly, pausing at the room's entryway.
"Vitya," Serenity responded, bowing low. The wolf didn't return the gesture, instead opting to take a seat at the table. Serenity poured him a small cup of tea and sat as well, pouring one for himself. "What can I do for you?"
"You know the answer to that question already."
"I..." Serenity trailed off, stared at the table, and took a sip of his tea.
The white wolf sighed.
"Well, you wanted me, now you have me. And only me."
Serenity stopped mid sip and looked back up.
"Meaning?" he asked.
"Meaning you are not to speak to or otherwise interact with anyone but me."
"What if someone comes in?"
"You are the only one that can let them in. They do not just spontaneously come in."
"But I-"
"No more buts. If I cannot trust you to make responsible decisions, then I cannot trust you to make any decisions. You have what you wanted: I'm here now. Make the most of it." Vitya took a sip of his tea, and smiled. "So, what would you like to talk about?"
Serenity gave a dejected grumble, placed his cup back on the table, and closed his eyes. It would be a long time before either of them spoke.
Above the Pacific Ocean
Three Hours Later
Kai stared out the window at the endless seascape, drumming his fingers against his armrest. Thoughts swirled through his mind, but none stayed long enough for consideration save for one: is Leora safe? Roh was asleep in the chair across the cabin from him, hoping for a brief moment of rest before being forced to jump back into the fray.
If he was lucky, nothing was amiss. He would return, say hello, face whatever flak she had to throw at him, and they would make up. If he was unlucky, Grace would be in danger from her gunshot wound. If he was very unlucky... he would have a lot more to contend with than angry friends.
He shuddered. He didn't want to think about what Taemur could accomplish in a few hours. The man once leveled an entire city in six hours. Given twelve, he could likely eradicate everyone there.
"Roh," Kai spoke, waking his companion.
"Yes?" the wolf responded without missing a beat. "Is something the matter?"
"I need an outside perspective. What is the chance that Taemur is in the city now?"
"Less than half."
"How much less than half, do you reckon?"
"About thirty-nine, by my calculations."
"I was afraid you would say that. I came to the same number."
"It's still less than half. In a fifty-fifty, you would come out more often than not."
"I still feel uneasy."
"Our mistake last time was thinking we could reason with him, and that we were trying to take him in alive." Roh inspected his sidearm. "I will not make that mistake again."
"He was our friend, once."
"Once," Roh reminded. "Once is not now. Nor, was it yesterday, or the day before, or any day for the past twenty-five centuries. I owe him nothing. You, the same."
"He is human."
"None of us were ever truly human. You overthink these things."
"Still... What if he can change? I certainly did."
"But you are you. The High Kaiser performed miracles day after day; it was almost expected for you to adapt. He failed to adapt, and nature does not favor the weak."
Kai didn't respond, instead turning back to the window to stare at the spare cloud cover over the ocean.
"If you have nothing more to say, then with your permission I will rest."
"Go ahead."
Roh closed his eyes and promptly returned to his sleep. Kai sighed, but closed his eyes as well. Worrying about hypotheticals would do him no good if he could not change the outcome. He soon drifted to sleep as well.
Downtown Zootopia
Zootopia General Hospital
Leora paced back and forth across the cold tile. There was very little she could do, save for watch and pray that her friends would soon awaken. She kept frantically checking Grace's phone in hopes that she would receive an update soon, but no such update ever came. Before long, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and saw two foxes matched much like salt and pepper.
"Neal, tell me you got it."
"I did," the arctic fox responded, holding up a case much too big for his small frame.
"I got something for you too," Lyra piped up, carefully holding both her paws forward; she had a cup of coffee in each paw, and a third precariously balanced on top. "I dunno what you like, so I got it black, and I have sugar in my pockets."
"Black is fine, thanks," Leora responded, taking the cup and ushering them in.
"Any news from Garrett?" Lyra inquired.
"No. Nothing from the grizzly bear either, and neither Ian nor Grace are any more awake than before."
"Nothing from Arcturus? He called while we were out for coffee."
"What did he say?!" Leora interjected, concerned.
"Amier is still alive."
"Fuck!"
"Well, he's contained. Arcturus wanted to borrow some samples from the BDC."
"WHY?!"
"He figured since Amier was virtually invincible, we could inject him with all manners of diseases to culture antibodies. And if it kills him, then problem solved."
"That's... not a terrible idea. What did Arcturus take?"
"What do you mean?"
"What diseases?"
"Let's see... Rinderpest, CPV-6... there were a few."
"Rabies?"
"No, I made sure it was destroyed for good after what happened in Mapleton."
"Wait."
"Yeah?"
"What's CPV-6?"
"It's a strain of Carnivore Protoparvovirus. It's not quite as deadly as the strain that's standard vaccination schedule, but all projections show that it spreads like wildfire."
"What do you mean, projections?"
"We found it frozen in ice; there's no recorded live cases of it, but given how the ice is melting, it's a very real threat. It's certainly possible that someone could catch it on a vacation and with our best estimates on incubation period, it could be up to a week before symptoms, and after that..."
"Death."
"Something like that. The sooner we get a working vaccine, the better."
"How do you know it was Arcturus?"
"Sounded like him, and the receptionist and doctors saw his military ID."
"What if it was a lookalike that stole it?"
"Virtually no one knows that I'm a knockout fox."
"You're what?"
"Yeah, exactly. My father told exactly two mammals: Altair... Jack, rather, and Sirius. Given how my father can't handle liquor very well, I imagine he might have let it slip to Arcturus; he did tell me once that they went drinking, I have no doubt that it was Arcturus."
"Do you know why Sirius is here, now?"
"No?"
"He was tortured, beaten, and stabbed until he told everything he knew: the irrelevant, the important, and his most private secrets. Amier got him to spill everything. Then, he tore his vocal chords out and left him for dead."
"What are you saying?"
"What if Arcturus wasn't Arcturus?"
"When would Amier have had the time? It's been less than a day since the incident at ZSS headquarters."
"It took him two hours to milk Sirius for everything he was worth."
Had her fur been any thinner, the world would have seen the color drain from her face. She retrieved her phone as quickly as she could and dialed the reception desk. She frantically dialed through the answering prompts, finally reaching the receptionist after a painful minute.
"Laura!" she cried out. "I need to-"
"Dr. Karahan," the receptionist interrupted, "What can I do for you?"
"Where is the Generalissimo?"
"Oh, the bear? He was very polite, provided a signed military writ, waited in the lobby, then thanked us as he left. Why do you ask?"
"Was there anything suspicious about him?"
"I wouldn't know, I've never met a military mammal. He was very polite though."
"I see. Could you find Doctors Nandi and Zafar and get them in my Tundratown office in half an hour?"
"Were you planning on coming in? Today was your day off."
"Something came up."
"Very well Doctor Karahan. What should I tell them?"
"Tell them to bring any research they have on Parvo and Rinderpest."
"Very well."
The receptionist hung up, and Lyra dashed through the door.
"Wait!" Leora cried out much too late, before groaning and chasing after her.
"Hold on!" Neal shouted after her.
"Wait here!" she responded. "Get in a good position! If something happens here, you've got the best aim out of anyone in this city, followed by Jack!"
"Well..." Neal muttered, slowing to a halt. Before he could respond, they were gone. "I wouldn't go that far..."
He shambled to Sirius' room and set the case on a nearby table. He was startled when he heard Jack's voice behind him suddenly.
"You seem somber," the rabbit spoke.
"Leora went with Lyra to check on the BDC labs."
"Why?" Jack inquired, perking an ear up and cocking his eyes.
"They think Amier was there."
"Fuck! We have to-"
"Leora told us to stay here and keep watch in case he shows up here."
Jack took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding only with "okay". He quickly went out and began barking orders to the agents, while Neal opened the case he brought with him. He flicked a switch on the side, chambered one of the several slugs he had, and took a deep breath before smiling weakly. It felt good to be back in the groove.