HugoTheFirst: "I have such pride in being a primate, a rare subtype of mammal with a proud reputation!" I declare, like a fool, moments before discovering what mouthbreathing jackanape is responsible this #notwiththatguy

The moment the elevator doors closed, they all felt it. As they rose, so did the tension in the stale air.

"Man…" Nick paced, insofar as he could, one paw over his eyes. "I'm not loving the drop-off rate, here."

Carmelita's boots were still solid. Her stance still straight. "We knew it might look like this. If anything, we've been lucky. More than half of us have made it to Andross."

"Little generous to call four outta seven 'more than half'. Technically correct, but not spiritually correct."

"Let's make this quick," said Sly. "I'm the last person to undersell the talents of my friends. But leaving Bentley and Murray alone with Penelope, and Fox alone with Wolf…"

"Agreed," said Carmelita. "I'd worry they're outgunned, in both cases."

"They'll be fine," said Judy. "But we can't let their bravery go to waste. Whatever's waiting for us up here, now's our chance to end it!"

Carmelita nodded. Sly readied his cane. And Nick let out a long, slow breath.

"I hate this. I hate being here. I hate all of you." He planted his hands on his hips and faced forward. "Let's do this."

The door opened.

They were at the peak of the station. A domed roof, reinforced but transparent, let in the endless night above - and a blue and green globe, large but innocent like a young elephant, peeked in from one corner. They didn't have time to take in the view. The far end of the room was dominated by a single computer, massive and imposing. Like a cathedral's organ, keys and all.

And there was Andross.

He was watching the elevator door, arms folded, teeth bared. "And so, at last, y-"

"Wow," said Nick. "I was all set to make a 'you're shorter in person' joke, but legitimately. You're way shorter in person. Am I misremembering, or were snow monkeys always this tiny?" Judy snorted.

Andross glared for a moment. "You think th-"

"Ross!" Sly swung his cane. Tense. Ready. "We don't care what you have to say. We're here to end you."

He bristled. "I-!"

Carmelita rolled her eyes and fired.

The blast crossed most of the room before impacting against something in mid-air. It fizzled out against what looked like an invisible wall, briefly lit up blue by the dying electricity.

"Forcefield," she said. "Of course it wasn't that easy. Nick, Sly, find some way to shut it down. Watch our backs, Judy."

They pressed forward, breaking off in separate directions, but Andross merely shrugged. "I'm afraid you won't find much. This is my office, and my laboratory. My innermost sanctum. As you can imagine, I was thorough about the security…"

Suddenly, sections of the white floor opened up, panels folding back so that a series of thin turrets could unfurl. They snapped to attention, two or three aiming at each intruder.

Andross smirked. "Very thorough."

They all froze, but the turrets didn't fire. After a moment, Carmelita's eyes narrowed. "No sudden moves, people."

"I'm a little concerned by how we haven't just been shot." Nick, subtly, kept glancing around. He had been heading for a side-room to the left of the entrance - he could spot the desk, the office setup, he had seen twice before as Andross made his video calls. "I have a feeling something worse than death is coming."

"You are going to stand there," said Andross, "and you are going to listen."

"Yep. There it is."

"I can't fault your talent," he said. "To breach this station, let alone my private quarters… truly exemplary work. I can honestly say I didn't expect anyone to get this far. You are some incredibly talented individuals, who I am trying," he said, "to be civil to."

He strode a little closer. Still safe behind his forcefield.

"I am begging you to be rational. Reasonable. Put aside your emotionally-charged thinking - for once - and look at this through the cold lens of logic. Do any of you realize how well you could flourish in my new world? You're intelligent, and driven, and skilled. Individuals such as yourselves-"

Carmelita scoffed.

The turrets behind her buzzed angrily, but she showed no weakness.

"'Individuals'. You're really caught on that word, aren't you?"

"Am I wrong?" he said. "You each have impressive records."

"And you think we achieved that stuff individually?" Sly sneered the word. "I grew out of that mentality years ago. 'Sly Cooper' is just the brand name, pal. Without my friends, I would've gone a couple months, tops, before dying horribly. That's the blunt truth."

"Yeah!" said Judy. "Without Nick, I'd either be a depressed farmer or a bitter, prejudiced cop. Everything good I've done, I've done with him."

"Like, for instance," said Nick, "go to space. Fox and Bentley and Murray got us here. Every step of the way."

"The reason we don't listen to your terrible ideas," said Carmelita, "is because you've clearly never listened to anyone else. Or you did, but deluded yourself into thinking you did all the work alone. If you really cared about improving the world, you could have been doing it this whole time. But all you've done is crow about your own intelligence, because the only thing that matters to you is the feeling of being right. You're nothing but a petty, self-centred child." She glared. "And you're not even that smart."

"That's it! There goes my last nerve!"

Andross bared his fangs, staring them all down. His eyes were angry and more than a little wild.

"You're all just so sure of yourselves, aren't you? Of maintaining this miserable status quo none of you even like… And you won't even entertain the idea I could be right. None of you have read my manifesto!" He growled. "What do you people need? A podcast? A colouring book?!"

"What we need," said Carmelita, "is to stop you."

"No! You should stop! Stop trying to limit me, defy me, when you haven't even done me the basic decency of-"

"Maybe I wasn't clear."

She was as solid as ever. Completely unfazed by Andross' anger.

"This isn't debate club. This is the real world."

"Exactly! And-"

"And," she said, "you are owed nothing."

She stared him down, unbending.

"You are not owed a debate. You are not owed our time, or our respect, or a pat on the back. You have endangered and killed innocent people, and now you're facing the consequences. So for once in your miserable life, read the room. Get it through your thick skull that you are not special. And for the love of god: Shut. Up."

Andross huffed and puffed, his chest heaving, his face reddening even further. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a low groan of rage.

And then the forcefield went opaque, and a moment later, the turrets began to fire.

Sly went high and Carmelita went low and Judy shot to the side like a bullet, correctly making the split-second prediction that Nick wouldn't quite match everyone else's lightning reflexes. While he was the slowest to dodge, he already had a plan.

She tackled him to the ground and he sprang right back up, staying low, scrabbling on all fours. Bullets whizzed over his head and he ignored them, almost. Andross' office was right in front of him. He ran for it.

He left them, shooting and smashing and kicking those turrets. That was fine. He knew they'd be okay, just as they knew he wasn't slamming this door behind him just to hide.

That said, the immediate lack of bullets was welcome.

There were no turrets in here. A desk and a smaller, much more reasonable computer and some papers and bookshelves. Books on science and engineering and politics, shiny and untouched. No turrets. Yet.

Nick did not touch the computer. Nerds and narcissists hated the idea of anyone touching their computer, and Andross was both, and if Nick touched the computer he suspected there may in fact be more turrets. So he didn't touch it.

Besides, he was no hacker. Unless there was a button, physical or digital, clearly labelled 'Turrets! Y/N?', there wasn't much he could do. Not in here, at least.

He jumped up and down on the floor until he found it. A panel that felt thinner. Air underneath.

And he carefully prized it open with his claws and very carefully lowered himself down, past the unactivated turret he had successfully predicted was hiding down here, and then he was on his stomach in the dark. After a moment, his eyes adjusted, night vision springing to life. He crawled back the direction he had come.

They were all on a network. As the sound of gunfire spilled down from above, so too did the light from the bright white laboratory, revealing the mechanisms of the turrets. The telescoping metal poles keeping them up, the thin wires snaking out of those poles…

…the big, ugly, glowing box all those wires converged at…

Nick ventured onward with vulpine grace, which is to say he wiggled around until he made adequate progress through the cramped darkness. He came to the box, pawing its edges. Silently hoping this unknown object he was rubbing wasn't too radioactive.

He found a big cable, and he yanked it loose. Two seconds later, the box began to dim.

Four seconds after that, the sound above him abruptly stopped.

Nick wiggled his way to the nearest open panel, and was pleased to see the turret it had opened for - which would have blocked his escape - had been blown clean off. "Uh," he called, "you guys still alive?"

"C'mon, Slick…"

Two long ears vaguely entered his field of vision.

"You aren't getting rid of us that easily!"

He grinned.

After an amateur contortionist act, Nick got through the panel, helped up by Judy and Sly. Carmelita was blasting the disabled turrets with her pistol, on the off-chance they came back online.

When she was finished, and Nick was back on two feet, she gave him a nod. "Whatever you did, it worked. Thanks for that."

"Yeah." Sly rolled his neck. "That was a bit of a workout, even for me. Judy was amazing, by the way. I didn't know anybody could move that fast!"

"Awh, shucks…!"

After shooting them a smile, Carmelita returned to Nick. "Any luck with the forcefield?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I didn't see anything else down there. All the important wires must be on his side… That's the point, after all."

She nodded. "Of course. Still, excellent work."

"Thanks. Hey, uh, permission to speak freely?"

Carmelita just smiled. "I thought this wasn't an official operation."

"Oh, yeah, good point. I'll give myself permission to speak freely."

He folded his arms, giving her a look of disapproval which was not entirely in jest.

"By and large I enjoyed how you bullied the mad scientist to his face, but I want to clarify your exact angle. Is the lesson we're going with 'the mammal with the gun makes the rules'? Because that's terrible. And exactly what he was saying."

"Oh," said Judy. "I didn't get that impression. I thought it was more of a respectability thing. Like, 'you can't polish a terrible idea by being polite about it'."

"My interpretation," said Sly, "is 'shut your dumb mouth while Carmelita Fox is talking'. Which I've found to be a very valuable lesson. Personally."

"Judy's the closest," said Carmelita.

Unfortunately, they were now all looking at her expectantly.

"It's…" Carmelita cleared her throat. Don't lose face now. "It's not surprising Judy was close, because she's been through it."

"I have…?"

"Biases."

The certainty in Carmelita's voice impressed them all. Especially Carmelita herself.

"We're all just angry animals trying our best. We cling to our perspectives despite all uncomfortable evidence to the contrary. The best thing you can do is just be aware of them. I, for instance," she said, stealing a glance at Sly, "have trouble sometimes discerning what's lawful from what's just… right."

He gave her a little smile.

"And the worst thing you can do," she said, voice rising, hoping the forcefield wasn't soundproof and their host could hear her too, "is worship your own brain. People like Andross don't get rid of their biases. They don't even acknowledge them. They just replace them with one big bias that says 'I'm sure I'm right about this', which is maybe the worst one you can have." She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Anyone who's convinced they're smarter than everyone else is, on a more meaningful level, an idiot."

There was a murmur of agreement. Carmelita hoped there would be no follow-up questions. This was hard enough without having to articulate philosophy along the way.

She was almost relieved when the forcefield became transparent again. At first, it seemed that nothing had changed.

But there was now something prominently plugged into the huge computer via a central socket. A small, metallic box. Dented and rusted and old, and yet, at the same time, sinisterly perfect.

Andross bore his teeth. His eyes had become even more manic. "Hello again. Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what this is? Mister Cooper, you might find it particularly, hah, interesting…"

Sly had never seen it before. But one look at its dark luster told him everything. "That's… Clockwerk's."

"So close, my boy. A mere apostrophe off. This is no mere possession of Clockwerk's - it is Clockwerk."

The effect was immediate. Carmelita saw Sly's eyes go dark, the warm hazel gaze she cherished charged with instant hatred. His voice was a growl. Low and certain. "Get out here. Now."

"I'm afraid not. It's my last bargaining chip, this, hah, Fileactery. Here is one final chance for logic and, yes, respectability to triumph over your needless anger. Heed my words, Mister Cooper. If you and your group surrender, I will be the bigger man. I will void the harddrive in its entirety, despite its immense value to me, as a show of good faith."

His finger hovered over a button.

"But if you insist on defying me… I will initiate a data transfer. I will seek the knowledge contained in this artifact with reckless abandon, allowing full, commensurate access to my computer systems. If Clockwerk survives within, well…" He smirked wickedly. "The phrase 'letting the genie out of the bottle' springs to mind."

Sly just stood there.

Nick was the first to speak. "You're joking, right? That's a horrible deal. We only have your word for any of this, for starters. We have no reason to trust you, even if you are telling the truth. There's a thousand ways you can screw us over if we back down now. He's not that dumb." He turned to Sly. "Right?"

Sly just stood there.

After a moment - after Nick's expression slowly shifted - Judy stepped closer. "Sly. I'm sure this is… I'm sure you're feeling a lot, right now. I can't imagine it. Just… Please remember everything else. Remember Zootopia. Remember us. That's all I can ask."

Sly just stood there.

And then, suddenly, he folded his arms, head tilted. Nonchalant.

"Actually," he said, "I gotta correct your phrasing. You said 'you and your group' like I'm the one in charge. I'm not." He nodded over to Carmelita. "She is."

He met her gaze, and for everything else that was worrying her - the tension, the tactics, the quiet terror - she revelled in those hazel eyes.

"It's her call."

He knew what he was doing. He knew exactly how she would react to this kind of question. And she knew that he knew. That understanding made her answer quick and certain. "You're pathetic, Andross. Trying to exploit Sly's trauma to save yourself. It won't work. You're the one who needs to surrender, not us."

The effect was immediate. The smugness on Andross' face evaporated, replaced by ugly anger. "You people are infuriating! I give you every opportunity to resolve this peacefully, and time and time again you spit in my face!"

Judy's ears rose. Slowly. "Um…"

"I don't know why I bother. Everything I do to promote logic, and discourse, and this is where it gets me. Evidently I'm not just the smartest person in this foul, pathetic world - I'm also the only one with a shred of decency!"

Nick, attuned to his partner, noticed it too. "Hey! The-"

"Only I have the brains to rule!" Andross looked almost feral now. "Only I understand how best to order society! And after the cruel, close-minded way you've treated me, the four of you have officially-!"

"Andross!" Judy could achieve some impressive volume from her tiny rabbit lungs. "Did you press the button?!"

"Did I - what? No. Why would-?"

He turned. And stared.

The black box was slowly sinking into the computer.

"I didn't tell it to do that," he said quietly.

They watched as he stepped closer. It was almost like he had forgotten they were there.

"This isn't… It shouldn't be able to…"

He reached out to grab the Fileactery, but it was already too late. It disappeared into the depths of the machine.

For a moment, nothing happened. Dead silence. Like the blackness outside.

And then every screen lit up a bright, piercing yellow. And the computer screamed.