Edo
After several hours of awkward silence and tea refills, Serenity finally opened his mouth to speak.
"Where have you been?"
"What do you mean?" Vitya responded, raising a brow. It was very unlike Serenity to ask a genuine question.
"After you left here last time, where did you go?"
"I went back to the city."
"You spent three hundred years in one city?"
"Something like that, yes."
"What was there to see?"
"Lots. I was always fascinated with the early industrial revolution, and I finally got a chance to experience it first-hand. It was intriguing watching it all unfold: it was so similar to our texts, and yet, so very different as well."
"Wouldn't anyone get suspicious if you lived three hundred years into adulthood?"
"No one paid attention."
"Or perhaps if your white fur never turned sooty?"
Vitya chuckled.
"I changed the look up every fifty years or so. It's surreal, watching everyone around me grow old and eventually meet their end, and then watching their kids do the same, for generations. None of them the wiser as to who I really am."
"Surely someone had to notice?"
"It's easy to put on a mask and sit in a dimly lit auditorium. The secret is to pick a mask that doesn't belong to anyone else, and to never draw attention to yourself. In a crowd of thousands, it's easy to lose someone in the crowd."
"And yet you always wear that coat."
"Only when I need to look official. Besides," Vitya stated, brushing his coat, "I think it complements my eyes."
"Eh, amber goes with everything. If they glow, it doesn't matter what you wear."
"Perhaps. In any case, it's sentimental."
"It can't be your original, can it? I thought you lost that in Tikhiy."
"You are correct, it's not the original. However, what matters is the symbolism."
"Why? You could have so much more than just symbols of things that were. If you really wanted, I bet you could make the future as you wanted it, rather than reliving the past as you wished it were."
"There are more important things in life than writing the future."
"But then what's the point?" Serenity questioned, cocking a brow.
"I am content with what I have."
"But think, you could shape the world according to your dreams. You could have anything you wanted!"
"Why would I want for more?"
"You could be known."
"Fame was never my style."
"You could have people that respect you."
"There are those that already do."
Serenity groaned.
"You could have the love of your life!" he snapped.
"I already did."
"Then you can do it to test your limits!"
"And then what?"
"And then you could kick back and relax, knowing that you can do anything you wanted with a snap of your fingers."
"What do you think I'm doing now?"
"Being a general nuisance?"
"Well, it's obvious you want to be your own god. Why not create something here? You have free reign within these confines."
Serenity leaned back in his chair and sighed.
"What fun is it to create something when you already know the outcome?"
"You will always know the outcome."
"Unless there are unaccounted-for variables."
"In order to keep them unaccounted for, you must then by necessity not watch the outcome so as not to spoil the surprise, thereby defeating the purpose of performing your experiments in the first place."
"Once again, you come to ruin the fun."
"I am simply being a realist. Everything you do does nothing but endanger the world outside. There are reasons why I keep you here."
"Oh, but how I long to breathe fresh air, to feel the sand between my toes, and to feel the warmth of the sun on my face."
"All things you can do here."
"I know what they are, and I can try to recreate them, but I will never know if my recreations are accurate."
"You wish to leave, then?"
"I do."
Vitya set his tea down and stood, clasping his paws behind his back.
"How about a proposal, then?"
Serenity stared in disbelief.
"You're... going to let me out?"
"Freedom has its price."
"Name it."
"I can take you to the outside world, but you must forswear your knowledge, and your power."
"As in... forever?"
"If you wish to see the world, you must do it through mortal eyes."
"How mortal are we talking? What if I want to experience the world as a cat, or a bat?"
Vitya pondered the question for a while.
"I will allow it," he finally spoke.
"And if I decide to come back? Surely you can't expect me to give up all this knowledge and power forever?"
"I will think about it."
The white wolf extended a paw to Serenity.
"Why does this feel like a contract with the devil?" Serenity responded.
Vitya shined a vampiric grin; a glint in his eye unnerved the other wolf.
"I don't like that," Serenity muttered. "I don't like that at all."
"No malicious intentions, you have my word."
"I still can't help but be suspicious of your intentions. You show up out of the blue and... what, undo six million years of imprisonment?"
"Your alternative is staying here."
Serenity took a good long look at his surroundings, then sighed.
"It is better to be ignorant and happy than all-knowing and lonely." He took Vitya's paw and the two vanished.
Zootopia
By the time the leopardess and vixen arrived at the research facility, it was already starting to get dark. Lyra scanned her badge at the doors, which promptly unlocked them, before pressing the automatic door opener and impatiently tapping her hind paw as she waited for the ancient motor to crank the door open. Leora merely grabbed the handle and threw it open, motioning for Lyra to enter.
The vixen chuckled.
"Sometimes I wonder what it's like being tall."
"I'm not particularly tall," Leora responded.
"For cat standards? Maybe. However, you're far larger than any fox."
They raced to the front desk, where a camel and a civet were waiting for them, both leaning against the desk.
"Doctor Karahan," the civet spoke; his voice had a tinge of mild annoyance. "I hope there's a really good reason for calling us in this late."
"Perhaps introductions are in order?" Leora interjected. "Awfully rude to get straight to business with your boss like that."
"Who's she?" the civet asked of the fox, hardly acknowledging Leora's presence.
"ZBI Agent Leora," Lyra answered. "Please, for her sake?"
"Fine." The civet turned to her and extended a paw for her to shake. "Doctor Sam Nandi."
She shook it, then turned to the camel.
"Doctor Darius Zafar."
"A pleasure to meet you both."
"Yeah, yeah," Doctor Nandi muttered. "I'm sure it is. Now, back to business, why are we really here?"
"Do you have your research notes?" Lyra hastily inquired, clasping her fingers in front of her.
"Yes? Although, records could have probably gotten it to you faster."
"Maybe, but records can't help me sift through it."
"Why do you need our help at this hour?" the camel inquired suspiciously.
"Let's take this conversation somewhere a little more private," Lyra spoke, walking to the hall. The two doctors shared a glance, then followed her. They continued for a minute before reaching an office labeled 'Doctor Lyra Karahan, Ph.D., MD'. She showed them in, and they both took a seat in chairs. She walked around to her side of the desk and hopped up into the slightly oversized office chair.
"Well Darius, the military 'borrowed' some of our Rinderpest and Parvo samples." Both doctors groaned, but quickly quieted down to allow Lyra to continue. "Knowing how well they manage their resources... I just want to know if either of you have any insight on treatment and vaccination. I know you both were heavily involved with those two strains."
"No one's died from Rinder in a good hundred years," the camel responded, scratching the back of his head, deep in thought. "Why would they take samples of it?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. So, when you say no one's died, does that mean there hasn't been a case, or what?"
"Mostly genetic immunity. We never had to vaccinate for it since most species that it would naturally affect have grown immune through natural selection."
"Let's say someone caught it," Leora interjected. "Can you treat it?"
"Well... the thing is, I don't know. We never tested antiviral treatments since it's not a prevalent disease anymore."
"And the lethality rate?"
"Now, probably none. If anyone's catching it, they aren't getting severe enough symptoms to make our records."
"And Parvo?"
"It's standard vaccine schedule," the civet responded.
"Parvo six?"
"Oh..." The civet's tone changed. "Well, that strain isn't. We haven't gotten that far yet. If that got loose, we're probably looking at a ninety percent mortality rate without treatment, and probably ten or fifteen with aggressive treatment."
"How aggressive?" Lyra inquired.
"Standard Parvo treatment is two weeks of IV fluids, antiemetics, antivirals, and broad-spectrum antibiotics to prevent secondary infection within six hours of first symptoms."
"What does our stockpile look like?"
The civet narrowed his gaze.
"You're asking some awfully specific questions, Lyra. Is there something you're not telling us?"
"Please just answer the question."
"Enough to treat two hundred or so at a time. Again, why are you asking these questions as if it's already caused an outbreak?"
"I just have to be prepared for the worst case scenario."
"Erm..." Leora piped up, eventually catching the attention of the others. "What species do those diseases typically infect?"
"Rinder gets grazers," the camel responded. "Mostly hooved ones, too," he continued, wiggling his hooves.
"Parvo gets different mammals depending on the strain," the civet spoke. "Strains one and two gets wolves and canids mostly, but sometimes foxes or skunks. Feline parvo can get cats. We don't know what strain six will infect, but my best guess is any combination of the above. It's called *carnivore* parvovirus for a reason."
Lyra sighed.
"Thank you both for coming in on such short notice. I apologize for the inconvenience."
"We need to know, Lyra, is there an actual chance that they'll get into the wild?" the camel asked.
"Like I said, anything is possible."
"I take it that's our cue to start looking into effective treatments?"
"Something like that. Tell no one."
"Tell no one? What about the rest of our teams? Shouldn't they know that we're looking into cures, perhaps the reason as well?"
"Technically the military thing is classified. I'm only letting you in the loop because I need your expertise."
Once again the doctors exchanged a glance.
"Fine," spoke the civet, standing up. "Let us know if you need anything, I guess."
"Will do. Thanks again."
They left, and Leora closed and locked the door.
"What's your verdict, then?" she inquired.
"I'm gonna have to make a lot of phone calls to pharmaceutical companies. A stock to only treat two hundred is unacceptable in a city of three billion."
"Where are you gonna get the funding for it? The senate doesn't meet for another two weeks."
Lyra rolled her eyes and slammed her face into her desk.
"I didn't even consider that."
"What are our options then?"
"We hope that it was Arcturus retrieving the samples. If it isn't, there's nothing we can do."
"Don't you have the power to declare quarantine?" Leora asked.
"Yes, but imagine if you were at home oblivious and all of a sudden everyone was under quarantine for two diseases, one of which doesn't affect you and the other of which you're already supposedly vaccinated for."
"We're up a creek, huh?"
"Yup."
"Shit."