Nine
Judy got a call from Scarlet early that Sunday afternoon.
"I found it." The fox's voice was tight with excitement.
"We'll be there in an hour," said Judy.
"An hour? Aren't you way out in Bunny Burrow?"
Judy looked over to where Nick was dozing on the couch after a late brunch. "We decided to come back early."
"Ah," said Scarlet, and Judy was both embarrassed and grateful that she seemed to understand. "Well come on by whenever then."
"Thanks," said Judy. She paused. "How did you know Nick and I were going to Bunny Burrow anyway?" She didn't remember mentioning it the last time they spoke.
The fox laughed. "You're so funny, Judy. I get why Robin likes you so much. See you in a bit." Then disconnected before Judy could respond.
"I like it." Nick made a sweeping gesture at the front of Scarlet's restaurant. "Reminds me of Mr. Big's places back when he was still in the 'restaurant' business."
"Why did you say it like that?" asked Judy.
"Like what?"
"With the air quotes."
"Well, let's just say that fish wasn't the only dish he liked serving cold."
"You like to exaggerate about him, don't you?" said Judy.
"Exaggerate?" exclaimed Nick. "I wasn't the only one he dangled over that ice hole back then, or did you forget?"
"He wouldn't have really dropped us in," said Judy. "I'm sure of it. It was just a scare tactic. I did sort of threaten him."
"Are you really rationalizing his behavior to me right now? I knew him for years before you did, Carrots. Trust me. Dropping animals who wronged him into that icy water was a straight up tactic. And just cause 'Fru stopped him from dropping you in doesn't mean—"
"What?" said Judy. "What are you trying to say?"
"Just…" Nick pulled himself back. "I know we're here because you're worried about them. But there is more to both those rodents than we know. And they might not be missing for the reasons that you think."
"I think that Fru Fru is my friend. And she was clearly distressed the last time I spoke to her. That's all I need to know." Judy eyed him. "Does this have to do with the falling out you two had?"
"What? No. Look, forget I even said anything. Is that piano music I hear? Bit early for a show isn't it?" Nick said, and ducked inside before Judy could say anything more.
It was much brighter inside than the last time Judy had been there. Instead of moody shadows, light spilled over every surface. The meerkat waiters, sans vests, were cleaning off tables and situating the candle centerpieces, preparing things for the evening.
The serval was at the piano. She had on casual clothes today but still wore the gold bands around her upper arms.
"Looks like she's practicing," said Nick. "Is this the one you were telling me about?"
Judy nodded, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Do you think she would mind if we went over and said hello?"
"I don't see why," said Nick. "Come on."
As they approached the piano the cat looked up, the melody trailing off delicately.
Judy waved at her. "Hi! Ciara, wasn't it? I'm Judy Hopps. And this is my mate, Nick Wilde. I heard your playing the other night and I just wanted to say that I thought you were amazing. I mean, not that I know much about piano music—I'm more of a pop fan myself—but the level of emotion it. Wow. You could feel it just by listening and, really, it was phenomenal."
"Ah." Ciara blinked. Thank you."
"Did you compose the music yourself?"
The serval dipped her head.
"You must really love to play piano."
A shrug.
Awkward silence fell. Judy looked over at Nick, who gave his own shrug. "Well, uh—we'll just leave you to your practice then. Sorry for interrupting."
Ciara's gaze lingered on their backs as they walked away. Nick gave an dramatic shiver. "Not exactly the usual personality for a performer, is it?"
"Maybe she's one of those mammals who's better at expressing herself through her art."
"Or maybe she's a cat."
"Not all cats act like… cats," argued Judy. "Look at Clawhauser."
"As far as I'm concerned that cheetah is his own exception."
"To what?"
"To everything."
The soft tinkling of piano keys started up again. The tune was lulling and peaceful, like a startled deer that had gone back to grazing in a meadow.
Scarlet was behind the bar, wiping down the glossy wood top. She lit up when she saw them. "You're here! And you brought Wilde with you too. Excellent! I was going to suggest taking Little John with you if you were planning on going alone."
"Go alone where?" asked Nick.
Scarlet smiled at them conspiratorially. "I'll show you."
They followed her down to her rooms. She didn't even bother with the lights this time. They gathered around her collection of glowing computer screens. An overhead view of the city stretched out across all of them.
Judy stared at the screens as if she could spot Fru Fru the same way she'd spot Waldo the Walrus in the old children's magazines. "So you were really able to trace the security feed?"
"Please," said Scarlet. "That was the easy part. I had that figured out before sunrise."
"Amazing."
"Are we really complementing a hacker on how efficiently she breaks the law?" Nick whispered.
"Oh hush," Judy whispered back. "She's doing it for us. That pretty much makes it government sanctioned."
"The Great Turtle save us."
"So where did the signal lead to?" Judy asked Scarlet.
The fox clicked on some buttons and the screesn zoomed in on a sky rise in Sahara Square. "Riiiiight here."
"Isn't that one of the ZNN buildings?" said Nick.
"Since when does Zootopia News do security?" asked Judy.
"They don't. Someone hid a transmitter among all their other station towers. It's brilliant, and definitely illegal. I doubt anyone even knows it's up there." Scarlet's voice was full of glee. "And those media leeches call themselves investigators."
"But… wait," said Judy. "You said 'transmitter'. So does that mean the signal goes somewhere else from there?"
"That was the hard part." Scarlet hit another key and a green cone appeared, flaring out in a northeasterly direction from the ZNN building. "I knew which direction the signal was being sent, but then I had to figure out which receiver within the parameters was picking it up." She pointed to a large set of red X's scattered within the cone. "These were all the possible receivers. It took me days to find them all and then cross check them with the signal to see which one was picking it up. But by the end I finally had the answer."
"Which was?" asked Nick when the fox let her dramatic pause go on for too long.
She leaned in close to them. "None of them were picking up the signal."
"But—" Judy looked at the screen again, frantically scanning all the red X's. There had to be more than five dozen of them. "You said you found it."
Scarlet shot her a triumphant grin. With a grand wave of her paw, she hit another key and Nick and Judy watched as the screen zoomed in on a blurry, gray, dome-like structure just over Zootopia's official border. "It occurred to me—what if I wasn't looking far enough? A signal won't immediately stop just because the city does. And if these rodents were as shrewd as they seemed to be, well…"
Judy stared at the pixelated building. "And you're sure Fru Fru is here?"
"I don't know if she's there," hedged Scarlet. "But I do know it's where that signal is going."
"Then that's were we're going too," said Judy.
The dome structure was located on the other side of the Climate Wall that encircled the backside of Tundratown.
The quickest route would have been to take one of the public gondolas over the district's mountain range and then hike down the other side. But the gondola service had been been temporarily shut down due to the ice melt, and none of the rental places would loan them a winter vehicle, citing the same.
"We want to be responsible about it, but all this nice weather is killing our business," complained one bunny at Snowshoe Harry's Rental. "What kind of idiot passes a warm weather decree in Tundratown? Who does Lionheart think he's winning over with that?"
Judy didn't think he was winning over anyone so much as covering up for something worse. Water drainage was currently running at 92% capacity in the Rainforest District thanks to all the ice melt. They had closed off their lower levels in the meantime to compensate, just to be safe. The other candidates were having a field day with it. Judy had spotted Cottontail on at least three news programs condemning the mayor's decision.
"I don't know if Mayor Lionheart thought this strategy through very well," Judy said to Nick.
"Hard to strategize when your ship is flooding," he said, then grimaced. "Sorry. Bad analogy."
"I can't find anyone to lend us a vehicle. But from what I'm hearing, it would be a bad idea anyway. We could try cutting through the Climate Wall, but I don't know what condition it will be in over that way, and I don't want to put Cuscus in an awkward position since this trip isn't technically sanctioned by the ZPD."
"Agreed," said Nick. "Which is why I got us a plan B."
Plan B turned out to be Finnick. He agreed to pick them up at sunset just off of Dry River Road. The name was a bit of a misnomer, as it wasn't a real road in the technical sense. A little over a decade ago the city had rerouted one of its smaller rivers, leaving a narrow canyon of stone and dirt. Over time, grass grew and animals started using it as a makeshift hangout spot. Then the food trucks came along with pop-up liquor tents. Artists set up more permanent booths to sell paintings, jewelry, and little knick-knacks, and musicians claimed sections where they could sing or play their instruments. Lights were strung up along the tops of the canyon, zig-zagging back and forth and casting warm pools of light against the curved grassy walls. It was a nice place to have a date night, and Judy would have loved it if she hadn't been hopped up on adrenaline over what they were about to do: Sneaking out into the Wildlands. She couldn't deny there was a certain thrill to it. And if they were lucky, they'd finally find Fru Fru.
They bought Finnick dinner to go, along with a couple cases of specialty drinks from the local vendors, then clambered back up the road to wait. When he pulled up in his van, music blasting and the setting sun shining off the six foot tall mural that decorated the sides, Judy couldn't hold back a sigh. "Not exactly the low-key vehicle I was thinking of for this."
"What would be the point? Trust me, no one will be around to see us anyway." Nick hauled open the back door and made a sweeping gesture for her to hop in. "Bunnies first."
Nick was right. The desert roads were deserted, especially as night continued to creep in. Occasionally they'd spot the glow of a distant campfire, most likely from one of the traveling camel groups that roamed the Sahara, but other than that there were no other signs of life. The road went from four lanes down to two, and from there it become a single dirt path. At some point even that disappeared along with the last rays of sun, and still they drove on, the van creaking and groaning as it made it's way across the hard-packed earth.
There was very little small talk. Finnick had turned off the music, ostensibly to better concentrate. The night was clear, the moon nearly full, and the van's high beams turned on to full power, but darkness still hung like a thick black fog over the landscape ahead of them. It was a challenge to see even with a fox's superior night vision. Finnick certainly wasn't breaking any speed limits this night. Were there speed limits out this far in Zootopia? Judy would have to check when they got back.
Nick sat in the passenger's seat, the white of his muzzle illuminated by the glow of his phone screen as he directed Finnick around the worst of the terrain and made sure they didn't drive off any hidden cliffs. Judy sat in the back, straining to make out anything beyond the hood of the van. It was a pointless exercise, but she couldn't stop herself. She didn't like feeling useless.
When something new finally appeared ahead of them, she was yelling, "Over there!" before it occurred to her that the two foxes had probably already spotted it. Finnick rolled his eyes while Nick tried, and failed, to hide a smile. He nodded and pocketed his phone. "Yep. This is the place. You can pull off over here, Finnick."
The large object Judy had "spotted" turned out to be a billboard. It wasn't for an advertisement however. It was a government warning printed in bold white text on a black background. The black had long since faded to a muddy gray in the harsh sunlight, but Judy could still make out the words:
ANY MAMMAL WHO PASSES BY THIS POINT WILL NO LONGER BE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF ZOOTOPIAN LAW. THINK TWICE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL…
A hotline number followed.
"We walk from here," said Nick.
Outside the van the night was cool, with a breeze that was strong enough to ruffle Judy's fur and throw grit into her eyes. It unnerved her too, in a way she couldn't identify at first. But as she listened to it cry across the distance and stir up eddies in the sand, she realized what she was picking up on was the wildness of it; there was just no other word for it. This was not one of the pre-approved breezes that came from one of the Climate Wall's many hidden vents. This was a true night's wind—untimed, unstructured, unadjusted by anyone for anyone. And something inside Judy leapt in response. Wanted to run. Wanted to see just what was on that next rise, the wind at her back, goading her on, or perhaps flying against her, bringing in the scents of things ahead. She had always been told that the Wildlands was an empty place. It didn't feel empty to her now. It felt full to bursting with possibilities.
Finnick had followed them out, stopping on the van's last step. He handed Nick a small pack, which he slung over his shoulder with a nod of thanks. "If we're not back by dawn, let the ZPD know where we've gone."
The little fox scoffed. "So they can blame me for whatever fool way you two have gone and gotten yourselves killed? I don't think so. Just get your tails back here. I'll wait." He held up one of the drinks they had brought. "It'll take me a while to get through all of these anyway."
Nick looked over at Judy. Do you want to try and convince him? the look said. No. No, she did not. She didn't think she could anyway. So they let it go, said their goodbyes, and set out.
"I can't believe they didn't even try to put a fence here," said Judy, looking out at the expanse.
"I expect whoever made the decision thought it was unnecessary," said Nick. "They clearly didn't see the appeal of staying out here."
"But there is an appeal, isn't there?" said Judy. "You feel it too, don't you?" The freedom of knowing there were no rules, no expectations from society—no help either, if you ever needed it. That thought sobered her a bit. "Kind of like the feeling you get when you stand at a cliff edge. You know it's dangerous, but you still wonder what it would feel like to jump."
"Remind me to keep you away from any cliffs."
"Seriously, though."
"Seriously, I've never felt tempted to jump off a cliff."
"You know what I mean!" Judy threw out a paw at the star-dusted sky and open plains. "Look at it! Being out here isn't exciting to you at all?"
"Out here where our odds of survival are even smaller than inside the city?" said Nick. "No. Not really."
Judy rolled her eyes.
Eventually they came to the backside of the Climate Wall and started following it around. It felt strange being on the other side of it. Just beyond, the massive icy peaks of Tundratown loomed like giants. It made Judy feel small and exposed, even though she knew nobody could see them from that height even if they had been looking.
Nick pressed closer to her. "Up ahead. Two o'clock. I think that's it."
Judy couldn't see anything. It wasn't until they got much closer that the building seem to condense from a pocket of darkness. It was small, not much bigger than a single fox den, with a curved dome top and an impressive iron door. They'd found it!
Judy broke into a sprint, dodging Nick's attempt to grab her arm. A camera in the corner of the building's narrow roof turned to focus on her. She waved at it. "Hello! Anyone home?"
"We should hide," said Nick, holding his pack close.
"Hide, why?" asked Judy. "They've already seen us anyway."
"All the more reason to hide." He looked around at the empty landscape as if searching for possible cover. "We're in Wildeland territory. Who knows who could be inside there."
"Someone who works for Mr. Big, I imagine."
"Exactly. A shady character."
"Who is the father of a friend."
"A friend who disappeared under suspicious circumstances because of her shady father. You think just because we found the place they're going to welcome us with open paws?"
At that moment, the door swung inward. An enormous polar bear stood hunched in the doorway, scowling out at them. Nick pushed Judy behind him at the same time he pulled a dart gun from his pack. He didn't aim it at the bear, but held it in front of him in a clear warning.
"Aww, man," whined the bear. "You actually found the place. Now I owe Charlie ten bucks."
Judy and Nick stared.
The bear sighed and stepped back from the doorway, waving them in. "Well don't just stand there. Come in. Welcome to the lair." He said the last in a deep, dramatic voice, and then chuckled. Judy stepped up next to Nick and whispered, "I think you can put the gun away now."
He didn't. But at least he kept it lowered as he followed in behind her. The building turned out to be a single, round room. Only in the very center was the ceiling tall enough that the bear didn't need to hunch. Along one side was a bank of computers and equipment very similar to Scarlet's set-up.
"I feel like we should introduce ourselves," said Judy.
The bear chuckled. "You're Judy Hopps, and you're Nick Wilde. ZPD's best, so I hear."
"And you are?" asked Nick.
"Eirwen. Eirwen Douglas." He doffed an imaginary cap at them.
"You normally place bets on having visitors, Eirwen?"
"Oh yeah. We place bets on a lot of things, Charlie and I. Helps to pass the time in here." He pointed jerked his head towards a pair of cots partially hidden by a privacy curtain. On the farther cot a weasel's tail hung limply over the side. Judy could hear quiet snoring.
"Charlie does the day shift," explained the bear, only now lowering his voice to a softer level. He took a seat in a well-used chair in front of the computers. He was the most casually dressed bear that Judy had ever seen in Mr. Big's employ, wearing nothing except basketball shorts and a tank top. He grabbed a beer out of the cooler by his feet and held it out to them. "Drink?"
Nick raised an eyebrow at him.
"No thanks," said Judy.
Eirwen shrugged, cracked the lid and took a swig. "So, what can I do for Zootopia's finest?"
"If you were placing bets on us visiting, then you must have some idea already," said Nick.
"True. I've just missed talking to mammals who aren't Charlie," said the polar bear. He took in the fox's implacable expression and sighed. "All right. If you really want to take all the fun out of it. Yes, all right? I know who you two are and why you're here, but there's not much I can tell you. Our employer's privacy is sacrosanct. Worth more than my life to tell you anything, which is what I would be risking if I squawked."
"So if we asked you where Mr. Big was now...?"
"I never said that's who we work for," said Eirwen. "But, uh, no. We weren't given that information. And I'm not even lying about that bit. We were only told to watch the properties and send in email updates if we see anything suspicious or, um..." Eirwen coughed, a slight flush showing under his white fur. He looked away from them and took a big gulp of his drink. Judy looked questioningly at Nick. He grimaced and made a gesture between them. Oh. Right. The last time they had gone to Mr. Big's they had gotten a little, well… a little frisky.
The bear cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was told to tell you something if you happened make it this far."
"Which is?" asked Judy.
"Congratulations. And also, to stop looking now."
Disappointment and, yes, a little hurt, made Judy's ears droop. This was not the reception she had been expecting. Though now that they were here, she wondered what she had been expecting. To rescue Fru Fru from some villain's evil clutches?
Nick, for his part, looked unsurprised. "Any mention why your employer decided to go into hiding like this?"
"That's above my pay grade to know, I'm afraid."
"There are a pawful of other rodents missing in Little Rodentia as well. Any correlation, do you think?"
"Couldn't tell you," said Eirwen.
Nick turned to Judy. "Well, Carrots, what do you want to do?"
What did she want to do? It sounded like Mr. Big and Fru Fru were fine. She didn't know why they had left, but it had clearly been a decision they had chosen, just like Fru Fru leaving without explaining herself, or even reassuring her friends that she was fine.
The hurt must have showed on her face because Nick stepped closer and took her paw. "We can take these guys in, if you want. Have them investigated. They might tell us more once they're back under ZPD jurisdiction." His words were quieter than a whisper. They had worked it out, over one lazy weekend together, the exact pitch and distance Nick could speak at where only Judy with her super-bunny hearing could make out his words. The bear had his head cocked, straining to hear while pretending he wasn't.
"It's a gray area at best," Nick admitted, "But it might be enough to expose wherever Mr. Big's real hideout it." He made a face. "Or we could have Scarlet come in, if you want. She traced the security feeds. I'm sure she could trace an email easily enough."
"I didn't come here to cause anyone trouble," said Judy. "I just wanted to make sure Fru Fru was okay. And that seems to be the case, so… I guess we should stop now."
"Are you sure?"
Judy wasn't. She wanted to know why Fru Fru, Mr. Big, the entire family had gone into hiding. She wanted to know why her friend hadn't thought to explain anything before she left when she had said she'd be in touch. But if she had changed her mind, what else could Judy do?
"It's fine," she told Nick. "Let's go back."
Eirwen walked them to the door. Nick had finally put the dart gun away and he took Judy's paw, giving it a squeeze. Judy squeezed back, grateful for the contact. It distracted her from the disappointment sitting like lead inside of her.
As they stepped back into the Wildlands, the polar bear said, "Oh yeah, Mr.— I mean, my employer told me to tell you one more thing if you ever got this far."
"What's that?" asked Nick.
"Hide."
"Gee, how ominous. Any hint on what we should be hiding from?"
"He didn't say."
"Helpful," said Nick, a bite entering his voice. "Tell me, does your employer consider this bunker of yours hidden? Doesn't seem like it, since he's not staying here himself."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that someone asked me the other day what happened to all the birds in Zootopia. I had no theories myself at the time, but the question stuck with me. And it got me to thinking about canaries."
"Canaries?" The bear looked confused. "They were… a type of bird, right?"
Nick nodded. "Now, I wouldn't presume to guess how every species of bird disappeared, but I think there's a reason why the whole 'canary in a coal mine' saying has stuck around, even when most mammals have forgotten what canaries even were, don't you? Or coal mines, for that matter."
"I don't see your point," said Eirwen.
"Consider it a friendly warning for a friendly warning."
"If you say so. You guys need any help getting back? I can wake Charlie if you'd like. He could use a bit of exercise."
"Thanks, but we'll be okay on our own," said Nick.
"I bet you will." The polar bear winked.
"What do you think are the odds he made a copy of that video of us?" asked Nick as they were walking away.
"I'm trying not to think about it," said Judy. "Do you really believe what you said back there? Do you really think Mr. Big would use someone like that?"
"Five years ago I would have said yes without a doubt. These days… I don't know. Maybe you're right and he has changed. Maybe he moved his employees because he thinks they're safer out here than in Zootopia."
But if that was true, then it begged the question: what was so terrifying in Zootopia that its inhabitants were taking their chances out in the Wildlands?
Judy looked out at the silent landscape, wishing she could see what they were missing. The wind from earlier was gone. It came and went as it wanted, it seemed.
"I'm sorry for dragging you out here," she said to Nick. "You were right about coming. They didn't need us after all. I was just being a dumb bunny after all."
"You were being a good friend. There's nothing dumb about that," said Nick. "And far be it for me to make excuses for Fru Fru, but as a friend who has also made some, uh, poor choices in the past, try not to give up on her just yet, ok, Carrots?" He nudged her with his elbow, and Judy felt heaviness inside her lighten a little.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Now help me find some decent cover from that pervert's security cameras. Do you think that bush over there will do?"
"I don't know," said Judy. "Why? What do you need it for?"
Nick tugged her to him and scooped her up into his arms. "For ravishing you, of course."
Judy let out a shocked laugh. "You're thinking of that now?"
"Hey, we deserve to celebrate. As far as I'm concerned this mission was a roaring success. 'Fru is fine, wherever she is, and we escaped a dangerous situation without a scratch."
"You're right. The bear with the craft beer was a really close call."
"You know it."
"But... out here?" said Judy. "You really want to?"
"Why not? It's not like it's illegal, right? And weren't you the one who was all excited to be out here earlier?"
Judy rolled her eyes. "This wasn't the type of excitement I was thinking of."
"So is that a no to getting kinky behind the bushes?"
"Of course it is!" She pointed to an outcropping farther off. "Those boulders over there would work much better."
Nick laughed and hugged her closer, breaking into a sprint. "That's my bunny."
A little while later they headed back. Nick spotted Finnick's van first, of course. "He's actually waving for us. You know, I think he's really growing soft in his old age, Carrots."
But as they drew closer, it became clear that the smaller fox wasn't waving in welcome. He had his phone raised, and that specific type of angry scowl that Judy was starting to recognize as his worried face.
"I tried to call you but your stupid phones wouldn't connect."
"We were a little out of area," said Nick. "What's the problem? You run out of drinks already?"
The smaller fox didn't rise to the bait, which told Judy how serious this was even before he said, "It's the Corsacs. Something's happened with Craven."
They drove straight to Marian's house. Robin was out, but Reynard and Todd were there with her, and Robin's little sister Vixie. They gathered around the kitchen table, the overhead lighting seeming extra harsh in the surrounding darkness. The kits were still in their pajamas, the hour being far past their usual bedtime. Pillow creases were still visible on the fur of Todd's cheek.
"You two should go back to bed," Reynard told them, a suggestion that was met with immediate and high-pitched refusal.
"It's fine," said Marian. "They'll just eavesdrop outside the door if we make them go. And they already overheard everything anyway."
"Overheard what?" said Judy. Visions of a family blowup flashed before her eyes. Did Craven say something awful? Did he start another fight with Reynard? The other fox looked unharmed, but fur and stoicism could hide a lot when it wanted to.
"Mostly me crying," Marian admitted with a sad, wet sniffle. "The truth is, Craven snuck out three days ago. Because of everything that's been going on, I've been checking in on him before bed every night and first thing every morning. He was definitely in his room that night, but in the morning he was gone. No note or anything."
"Three days?"
"I'm sorry, Judy. I know I should have said something earlier. It's just… you two have done so much for us already. I feel guilty to keep bothering you with all our family problems. And also, with Craven acting like he is..."
"Disappearing on us is old hat for him anymore," finished Reynard. The words came out tired. He sat drooped in the chair, his shoulders slumped. His fur had the clumped and oily look of someone who hadn't bathed in a few days. "We've been out looking everywhere for him. Robin's still out there, in fact, with Little John and some others. I came back to get a few hours rest and that's when I saw that—" He pointed to a folded paper in front of Marian. "It was nailed to the front door."
"May I read it?" asked Judy.
Marian pushed the paper over. Nick, who was standing behind Judy's chair, leaned in to see. The top was ripped where it had been nailed. The text was neatly typed, the only handwritten part a sloppy signature down at the bottom.
"Contract pledge for the Natural Order," Judy read aloud. "I, Craven Corsac, hereby renounce all loyalty to the city of Zootopia, its government, laws, leaders, and societal mores that have too long suppressed its citizens and their natural born instincts. From this moment on, my actions shall be dictated only by the limits of my own abilities. Predators must be predators until they are not, just as prey must be prey until they are not. This is the Law of Nature, and can no more be rejected than the origin of our species. I am now, until my death, part of the Natural Order." Judy lowered the paper to look at the somber faces around her. "I am free."