I have changed, I have changed…
Just like you, just like you…
For how long, for how long must I wait I know there's something wrong…
Your concrete heart isn't beating, and I've tried to… make it come alive!
= Location: Eden Facility 4, 10 Minutes before Zero Hour of the Ironic War =
(Former Pod Xi 999, Raphael's PoV)
He quickly ran as fast as his feet and lungs could go, a single RAPTOR class drone that he'd programmed in secret to only obey 'his' orders, despite the extremely complicated Human Protection Protocols and the Human Override Protocols installed into 'all' drones. In his hands he held a single briefcase, specially designed by his fellows in the medical lab to preserve and protect a Synthorgan for a long-distance journey. Inside, the latest and greatest Synthorgan developed by Eden Facility 4, the 'only' prototype of its kind due to the complexity and difficulty in its construction. They had only enough materials and 'time' to develop at most, two models, the second being developed and finished later.
But for this one, he had snuck it out against all protocols and rules, knowing what was coming, knowing their plan was futile, and knowing the only thing that can happen is a massacre.
As he ran he knew time was against him, within moments an announcement would happen, and when that happened, what little semblance of unity among humanity would crumble, crash, and dissolve into vicious and desperate infighting… all according to the plan of the higherups.
'They 'know' its going to be a massacre, they 'want' a massacre, they think the drones and facilities will be able to hold them off and keep them at bay, but they don't understand, its only going to end in mutual destruction!' He thought fearfully as some people stared at him while he ran past. 'The drones won't all obey, those protocols and programs will only cause confusion when it happens, and 'force' the drones to choose sides… and when that happens…'
As he reached the edge of the settlement around Facility 4, the announcement horns blared… but he ignored them while his drone followed behind.
"Alright, this will do…" He muttered, turning to his drone escort. "Alright OK-101, you need to get this to Eden Facility 17! Let nothing stop you, don't stop for anyone or 'anything', do you understand?"
His RAPTOR nodded and took the briefcase into its metal claws. [This unit will obey your command.] It stated.
"When you arrive, inform whoever is in charge at the facility there to wipe your memory and reinstall all the original HPPs and HOPs that I managed to wipe from both your backup systems, as well as your active and passive memory cores!" He stated quickly as an uproar of screams and anger erupted. "I've given you extra power cells so you can make the journey, each one is designed to feed into you as they run out of power. Do not stop for anyone or anything until you reach Eden Facility 17… they're the only ones who have the best chance to survive what's coming… remember, stop for no one and nothing! This Synthorgan must reach Facility 17!"
He had stumbled upon the plan, carefully hidden and planned by the higher ups, from across all Seventeen Eden Facilities. Despite 'all' of their efforts, all the other plans they'd tried, from the practical to the impractical, the outrageous to the most ridiculous, this one was the only plan that they believed had the 'best' chance to ensure the future of humanity, to ensure the species would continue to exist.
And he 'knew' it was going to fail, so he'd deliberately sabotaged his future as one of the 17,000 chosen survivors, so that he could remain active and 'hopefully' offer help with his training. Another had taken his place, and now here he was, creating a backup plan for the contingency plans that had been laid out. A thousand plans tried and failed with a single option remaining and now a hundred backup plans were prepared, with one of his own, should the worst come to pass.
His drone escort nodded, and behind it he saw a group of people shouting and heading towards him, improvised weapons in hand. "Now go… go… GO!"
Instantly OK-101 nodded and stormed away, briefcase in its grasp, while he was left to face the mob. While he ran away from the mob, making his way back to the facility, fights began breaking out around the settlement between drones and residents. And as he knew, some of the drones turned on the Facility, choosing to side with the 'humans' being massacred against the 'humans' ordering the massacre. He barely made it past the fighting and reached the facility, but within five minutes of escaping, the entire facility erupted in warning lights…
As Sentinel declared an emergency because the main entrance was being attacked.
All he could do… was hope for the worst because the best wasn't going to happen. At least he and the remaining facility members were prepared for the worst.
Chapter 31 = Imprisoned
"There's a time for everyone, if they only learn…" She sang to the crowd. "That the twisting kaleidoscope, moves us all in turn… There's a rhyme and reason, to the wild outdoors, when the heart of this star-crossed voyager, beats in time with yours…"
"And caaan you feel the love tonight… it is where we are!" Antella Lopei sang alongside her, both of them finishing off the concert with a duet. "It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer, that we got this far… and can you feel the love tonight… how it's laid to rest!"
"It's enough… to make kings and vagabonds, believe the very best!" They sang in unison. "It's enough… to make kings and vagabonds… believe the veeeeeery… beeeeeeest~!"
When the song came to an end the crowd cheered, applauding as she and her fellow singer bowed and left, returning to their rooms alongside their backup dancers to change out of their outfits. As they walked Gazelle was happy that the concert could proceed as scheduled, fearing that it would be cancelled because of the current pandemic going on. It was also good that Ema had given them the all-clear, otherwise the concert would have been cancelled, and she would have been… well out of work for a while.
Being an idol is good but also bad, it's hard to 'be' an idol, a singer, a modeler or anyone like that, if you can't perform for your fans. But her real sadness came from the fact that the one individual she had been wanting to sing for, wasn't able to attend, and didn't see her on stage. She had sung her heart out, as best she could, but the knowledge that Jeremy wasn't there in the crowd to see her, caused pangs of loneliness.
'Why did he have to risk his life?' She thought sadly as she and Antella Lopei went into their changing room.
Inside their room she went over to her side and began to remove her makeup and change out of her outfit to her normal clothes. On the desk in front of her, sat her present from Jeremy, his first present, the stuffed Unicorn Plush that he'd given to her all those months ago. She never left without it, always keeping it by her side just like the necklace she wore every day.
"Thinking about Jeremy again huh?" Antella said as she saw her co-singer in the mirror staring at the toy. "Has he been released yet?"
Gazelle ignored her as she changed clothes, and frankly Antella didn't need to hear her response, she could read her body language. Her boyfriend hadn't been released officially yet.
"I keep telling you Gazelle you should just drop him, he's more trouble than the fame he's worth." She said with a smirk. "He's only going to cause you trouble in the future, you're way better off without him. If you keep trying to make it work, it's only going to end in tragedy for you 'and' your career girl."
She padded her cheek fur and put on some sunglasses to hide her eyes while putting on her 'civilian disguise' so she could sneak out the front door without being spotted by her adoring fans.
"It's obvious that he's only going to get himself killed, sooner or later he's just going to kill himself on some… self-anointed desire to save the world, and leave you behind all teary and sad, and before you know it your career is going to go down the drain as mammals accuse 'you' of killing him, or letting him die… and-"
She turned around to find the room empty, with Gazelle having left without her realizing it.
"Offer a fellow singer some advice and she leaves you in silence." She muttered as she got up to leave too. "Only looking out for her, as cute as he might be and as rare a catch he is, he's more trouble than he's worth being in a relationship with."
(Gazelle's PoV)
She stepped into the Solar Carriage with her friends, with Aelita the AI sitting in her holosphere on the table in the middle of the carriage as they prepared to head out.
It was taking all she had to keep from going back and teaching that, 'antelope' a lesson when it came to her love life. She had the 'nerve' to say dump Jeremy for her 'career's' sake? When Antella went and dumped her boyfriend that she'd been going steady with for about eight months, and then not half a month later she goes and release a 'break up album' inspired by it? She had quite the nerve to suggest that.
"She has no idea what Jeremy and I went through…" She muttered angrily to herself as the carriage started and Moe began to drive them out.
"Antella say something to upset you?" Donny asked as he was reading the newspaper in holographic form.
"She told me I should 'dump' Jeremy for my career's sake." She told them with a roll of her eyes. "I just ignored her and left while she was talking."
"She's one to give advice about relationships, considering she hasn't been able to keep a boyfriend for years."
Aelita nodded as she looked at something in her holosphere. Ever since the pandemic was sounded and the whole world went on lockdown, following Ema's advice, she'd been facing a lot of scrutiny and public attention because of her relationship to Jeremy. But after Jeremy was placed in his Biobed and the cause of it was told to the world, mammals from all over the world had been telling her to plead with Jeremy to not risk his life like that again. Despite how many Synthorgans he retrieved, they 'begged' her to not let Jeremy risk his life on Twerter with a constant flood of messages.
"He's one of a kind, there's nomammal like him in the whole world!"
"This world will be a whole lot darker if he's gone!"
"He's irreplaceable, he's too important to lose!"
When the cure finally arrived, and the key to the cure having been found in Jeremy's own disease, mammals who were on Jeremy's side began saying that it was a good thing he 'was' in his biobed. Both for his health's sake, saying if he had been at risk, he might have been infected and died 'before' the cure could have been discovered. Those who received Synthorgans speaking out and saying they were extremely grateful for the miracles, some getting a fresh start in terms of their bodies, others saying the Synthorgans saved their lives.
Thinking of Jeremy again she looked to Aelita and asked, "Has Ema released him yet?"
Aelita looked up at her and shook her head, before returning to whatever she was doing.
She sighed sadly as she leaned against the seating, gently stroking her necklace, feeling the Solar Core contained within. She deeply missed Jeremy, a few weeks away from him when they weren't a couple was upsetting to her, one 'night' away from him when they were left her feeling depressed. But over a month without him, without being able to even 'talk' to him, left her feeling very depressed. It had taken all her training as a Singer to put on that performance, all for the sake of spreading species appreciation awareness.
She hoped he would be released soon, she just wanted to spend time with him and cuddle him like before.
Hours later as the carriage continued down the road, she and her friends began turning in for the night, shifting around as each of the seats switched to 'bed mode', a feature recently installed into the vehicle. Aelita would take over driving while they went to sleep. As she lay in bed, she hugged her unicorn plush, silently wishing Jeremy well, and thinking of him.
She knew he was safe in his facility, but she 'desperately' missed him. It just didn't feel right when he was gone and out of her life.
Six days of road travel later and they finally reached their home city of Zootopia, but instead of going to their homes she and her friends instead headed straight to the tunnel entrance to the Eden Facility. They all got out with her taking hold of Aelita's Holosphere as they passed the HORSE drones that were offline and standing still, awaiting the order to activate when needed.
At the entrance to the base Gazelle and the others were scanned, given the green light to pass through 'light quarantine procedures', and entered.
"Hello Sentinel, how are we doing today?" She asked cheerfully as she placed Aelita on the command center's central table.
[Unit Gazelle, all systems are operating within normal parameters, all sections have been sterilized of potential traces of TPN-Genova 1, no health risk remains to you and other guests.] Sentinel replied.
"Do you know when Jeremy will be released yet?" She asked nonchalantly while heading out and toward the medical bay.
[Unit Jeremy was released yesterday.]
"WHAT?" She screamed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?"
"Ooooh, she's angry…" Moe whispered.
"Someone's going to get it…" Joe also whispered.
"You three owe me fifty!" Donny said.
"Darnit, another two weeks and I would have won!" Franky muttered.
[Medical Protocol Beta 139-Q requires only immediate family members and next of kin be notified of any change in physical status. As you are not human you are not required to be notified according to Unit EMA.]
Right then she really hated the Spider Drone as she and the others began running, first to the elevators, then to the medical lab where Ema worked. When they approached, she was surprised that the door did not automatically open like all other times, leaving her to knock on the door.
[Will you be patient… I'm 'busy'!] Ema stated coldly over the intercom.
"Ema, why didn't you tell me that Jeremy was released, do you know how worried I have been?"
[Yes, but as I'm not programmed to instantly inform non-related individuals to the status of my patients, I was not required to inform you, and I informed Aelita to not tell you either when he 'was' released.] She stated dully. [This is due to the fact that I prioritize his health over other 'trivial' things, such as informing you of his condition. I needed him to be focused on recovering, not worrying about how you'd be feeling.]
"How he'd feel… listen, just let me see him please?"
[Fine… but wait until I give you permission before speaking to him.] She stated, and finally the door opened to allow them in.
Moment she walked in she noticed first, most of the Biobeds were missing, apparently lowered into the ground and hidden from view until needed. The next thing she noticed was that a series of rails had been lowered from the ceiling and down to waist level. Finally, she saw Jeremy turning to look at her and her friends, with an 'exhausted' look on his face, like he had very little energy in him.
And it wasn't hard to see why, he was wearing a medical gown which only showed his head, neck, arms, feet and lower legs, but also showed that he was 'extremely' thin. He had suffered muscle atrophy, enough that she could just barely begin to see his skeleton underneath the skin. His cheek had 'zero' fat, leaving him looking very unhealthy, and he was breathing heavily while looking at them.
"Jeremy…" She whispered, shocked at his appearance.
He almost looked exactly how he looked the first day she met him, when she nearly crashed into him with his limo.
[You can talk in a while, but first, Jeremy needs to finish his routine…] Ema said softly, before returning to Jeremy and monitoring him again. [Alright Jeremy, like before… one foot in front of the other…]
He nodded and went back to staring in front of him, and began walking, using the rails to help steady him and keep him from falling. He was moving slowly with precise direction. Every step was measured so that he didn't overexert himself and done so that he followed a precise set of glowing footprints on the floor.
[Good, good, easy step, slow steps, one foot in front of the other… and now turn around…]
He nodded and slowly turned around, before walking again.
[Good, very good… easy now, easy… don't rush, steady and slow steps, one foot… in front of the other…]
It went on that way for a while longer, with Jeremy slowly and steadily walking as Ema indicated. Slowly picking up his pace every few minutes in slow, incremental stages. Eventually They realized he was going to be at this for a long while, and so sat down on some of the few Biobeds still there. After an hour of walking Jeremy was now doing brisk jogs at Ema's request, until finally she informed him to stop and that he could rest again.
[We'll continue in one hour and fifteen minutes after you eat. Until then you are free.] Ema stated, and with that she walked over to her viewscreen to work on something.
He nodded and let go of the rails which raised into the ceiling and was replaced with a Biobed for him to sit on, allowing her and her friends to approach at last.
"Jeremy…" She whispered sadly as she held his hand with her own, feeling how bony it was. "What happened to you?"
He looked into her with weak and tired eyes, which told her all she needed to know, but still told her he did. "It's an unfortunate side effect of floating in a biobed filled with Biotech." He whispered. "While the Biotech solution is extremely powerful at repairing damages to the bone, muscle, tissue and skin of a person, it does so by speeding up the natural recovery process of the body. When my body suffered that massive attack from my Cryogenetic Sclerosis, roughly fifty percent of my muscle and skin suffered fourth degree frostbite and my organs with exception to my heart nearly avoided first degree frostbite. That much damage 'required' a full biotech solution bath to repair."
He raised his hand and pressed his skin lightly, showing how little muscle and fat was left.
"The damage was repaired but my body was drained of the nutrients required to repair it, and since I did not eat for over a month, my body consumed what fat was in my body to keep itself going. While I was provided nutrients via a needle, there's a difference between taking in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients directly into your system and letting your digestive track do the work it normally does. I'm going through therapy to rebuild my muscle strength and restore my body to normal."
"Jeremy… this wouldn't have happened if you just listened to Ema." She whispered warmly, holding his hands gently and smiling sadly. "Jeremy… I am moved, really moved… that you would risk your life to help others that you don't even know. But I love you, I don't want to see you get hurt… you scared me so much when you nearly died, this time almost for good…"
"Yea buddy, you don't need to take those kinds of risks if you don't have to." Franky muttered as he patted him on the shoulder.
"It's just a few synthetic organs, the world can get along without those…" Donny said with a smile.
"Yea, but 'you're' irreplaceable…" Moe said honestly.
"What my bros said bro, you got plenty of those Synthorgans you can replace, but there's only 'one' of you…"
He just sighed and looked shamefully at the ground before saying, "I really am an idiot, some shining example of humanity I am. I acted stupidly when I didn't have to… if I had just thought it out… this wouldn't have happened."
She chuckled and leaned forward to plant a gentle, loving, and simplistic kiss on his lips, before leaning back again and saying, "What you did was a 'shining example' of humanity, you risked your life for hundreds, without a second thought for your own safety." Before grinning and playfully pinching his nose and saying, "But don't do it again Jeremy!"
At that he chuckled again and said "I promise I won't do it again…"
She smiled and held him in her arms, and he wrapped his own arms around her, letting them both reconnect to each other on an emotional level. With her heart now close to his she could feel his heart weakly respond, beating in unison with hers. Despite how weak it was, how feebly it beat back to hers and how much pain it suffered, physically and emotionally, it didn't matter to hers. Her heart simply enfolded his, smothered it in love, shushed its pains and told it one simple message.
I'm here, you're not alone, it's alright, I won't leave you, I love you… I 'still' love you.
After a while a Dog drone walked in with a tray containing a small spread of food for him to eat. A series of small, carefully portioned slices of bird meat, slices of cooked potatoes, a batch of special green vegetable beans similar to what he called 'green peas', a tiny loaf of bread pre-sliced with a swipe of butter on it, and a warm drink of juice for him to eat. When asked what happened to the 'Standard Nutritional Supplements', he said he finally shut off the protocol and now the Base was back to serving full course meals for those within.
Of course, it still would only offer the 'necessary amount' per serving as required, meaning he couldn't ask for extra portions, but that was something he could fix at a later time.
"Besides, Ema has me on a strict diet until I'm back to normal, so I can't override her protocols."
While he ate, he asked Sentinel to bring Gazelle and her friends some food according to their 'preferences', with her friends partaking in how the facility cooked food instead of just serving the paste slop known as 'Standard Nutritional Supplements'. While Gazelle was impressed with how the two drones who served as the facility's chefs quickly prepared food for them, she was more impressed with how 'precise' they prepared according to their requests. She had asked for a vegetable soup with half a slice of soup-soaked bread, and they had prepared 'exactly' that.
After eating Ema had him go through another exercise routine, and he asked a drone to show them to the holoroom since her friends wanted to go check it out again. She however declined, not wanting to leave his side while he was recovering, letting her observe him recovering and encouraging him as he regained his strength.
Hours later he was released from Ema's observation to return to his room, and she and her friends decided to stay in the facility. She was staying because she wanted to keep him company and help him recover as best she can, while her friends stayed to help cheer him up and check out more of the base. In his quarters they changed to sleeping robes after cleaning up in the bathroom, and she laid down with him under the covers. He was asleep almost instantly, and she just smiled and snuggled into him, kissing his cheek before whispering, "I love you Jeremy, pleasant dreams…"
Before sleeping as well, while on a nearby shelf her plush Unicorn sat next to his Pegasus plush, and his plush apparently was unbalanced as it fell over and leaned against hers.
(Jeremy's PoV)
He spent the next week recovering in the facility with Gazelle's help, who never left his side during his therapy treatments. Ema told him that it was good she was there, saying something about how 'positive reinforcement from a close individual would improve his recovery'. As he recovered, he began regaining his confidence, especially as she began sharing the messages from the world for him from twerter.
"Here's a mammal from the Three Plains Nation, they say 'Glad to hear your getting better Jeremy, please don't ever stop being you but please don't risk your life again.', and here's one that says they're naming their second son after you for all you've done." Gazelle told him as Ema had him jogging laps on an auto-runner that lowered from the ceiling. "Here's another message, 'Your selfless acts have inspired me to believe that the world isn't so filled with selfish mammals, and that you are 'still' trying to help others without any thought for reward, inspires me to act just as selflessly'."
"It feels so weird hearing people, mammal or otherwise, telling me how much of a difference I've made in their lives from around the world." He replied as Ema adjusted the speed so he could move faster.
"I told you Jeremy, you're making a difference in this world every day, just by being you." She told him cheerfully. "So, did you hear Jeremy, apparently Lula got a job as a technician working at one of Mr. Big's workshops, she's going to be helping with working on the new Solar Cars that are starting to come out in a few days."
"Really, I'm glad my help with teaching her how to work in engineering helped her land a dream job!"
He was actually very surprised with how quickly Lula learned mechanical engineering, but more so was impressed that she was such a quick study and seemed right at home with a wrench. It also helped that she spent so much working on the drones that she was very familiar with advanced technology.
"So, Jeremy, out of curiosity… were there any other drone models that humans used besides the ones that are walking around here?" She asked him.
He thought about that as Ema slowed his jogging speed down on the auto-runner to let him off while she took some scans. "Well, I know there were some 'Scavenger Spider' drones that were used in junkyards whose purpose was to go through scrap and junk, looking for useful materials. They were used to separate components that could be recycled or reused, and separate similar materials into piles so they could also be recycled."
"Did you humans have spider drones for 'everything'?" She chuckled as Ema took a blood sample.
"Pretty much, if there was a need then there was a spider drone that could do it." He also said with a chuckle.
[But my model was the obvious 'superior' form, far more intricate design and useful components compared to every other spider model out there.] Ema stated almost matter-of-factly. [Alright Jeremy you have a clean bill of health, you can leave the facility tomorrow, now that you're done, I can finally focus my efforts on that Synthorgan I asked you to extract.]
"Oh yea, so what is it?" He asked quickly as Aelita appeared in holographic form, using the medical bay's holo-emitters. "Curious as well Aelita?"
She nodded as Ema extracted the Synthorgan's container and began scanning it with the various equipment in her legs.
He and Gazelle walked over with Aelita striding over with a skip.
[I am having a hard time understanding the purpose of this Synthorgan, it's the only model of its kind on record, and I don't detect any of the standard Organ functions related to the primary body organs.] She stated dully. [I can't tell 'what' it is… wait…]
Ema took one last scan before placing it on the nearby table and calling up data on the viewscreen.
[I'm displaying a biographical picture of the human body and am attempting to isolate the organ based on all know physiological data based on my scans!]
A picture of the human body appeared featuring muscles, organs, and tissues appeared, and Ema began comparing every organ on screen. But each comparison drew up a negative symbol, whatever it was it did 'not' match any organ in the human body.
"Negative, but that's not possible… every Synthorgan is based on an organ!" He spoke.
[Indeed, so what kind of organ could it be based… on… wait a moment, if I separate the organs based 'solely' on gender… and compare…] She stated, before punching a few commands. [Comparing the human 'male' body…]
Instantly the human anatomy changed to that of a male, and she began trying to find a match, but all that occurred was a 'negative match' symbol appearing.
[If that's correct then that leaves only 'one' possible organ…] Ema stated as she quickly brought up the female anatomy.
The computer took all of 'two' seconds before confirming a positive match, centered in the waist area…
[It can't be… that's impossible… that is 'physically' impossible based on 'all' of my medical data regarding biological capabilities between synthetic tissue development and organic replication techniques.]
Jeremy too stared, in shock as he realized exactly what the Synthorgan was, and 'why' it was the only one of its kind. It was a miracle… another miracle of science, human imagination and ingenuity. It was no wonder why Ema wasn't able to understand it, it was 'beyond' her ability to understand and scan. Her model wasn't capable of understanding how to replicate a Synthorgan in terms of its construction. That wasn't her job, it wasn't her purpose to develop Synthorgans to begin with, so how on Earth could she hope to understand just what she was staring at.
"What is it?" Gazelle asked, sounding thoroughly confused as he, Aelita and Ema stared at the miracle before them.
He just stared, silently, quietly, looking at the Synthorgan before them, and understanding now why Eden Facility 4 had sent this item to them, why it was so important 'they' receive it, why it was the 'only' one they received from that facility with the most advanced medical facilities humanity had to offer but had the 'weakest' technology and infrastructure as well as resources available to them compared to the other 16 facilities.
"Gazelle… its… a 'womb'… a Synthetic 'womb'…"
He glanced at Gazelle whose eyes had gone wide and mouth was agape in shock and awe, as she too realized now, the magnitude of what it was they were looking at.
[And it is not just your ordinary 'artificial' womb either… it is fully synthetic… now that I know what it is, I am detecting 'all' of the necessary parts related to it…] Ema stated as she began pointing at pieces of data for them. [I'm detecting the Cervix, the Uterus, Myometrium, the Endometrium, two Fallopian tubes and… two 'Ovaries'…]
"Wait… Ovaries, do you have… can you confirm… the presence of 'egg cell' and 'hormone' production capabilities?"
Seconds later Ema responded, [Yes… it's all there… all that's needed is… a genetic sample to initiate standard Synthorgan functionality…]
"You mean… then… that… there's hope?" Gazelle whispered quietly, her tone obviously not wishing to give false belief or hope that what the organ sitting in suspended animation was offering. "You mean… humans… Jeremy's species… they can come 'back'?"
He turned to the Spider drone as she looked at him with her eight optics and nodded. [Affirmative, all that is needed for this Synthorgan to operate… is to be transferred into a body, and it is ready and capable of immediate reproductive possibilities. It only requires active DNA to replicate and be inserted into a living body to function. Jeremy, your species has a 'chance' now…]
He silently turned to the organ and just picked it up and looked at the cramped organ in the tube through the tiny glass window. It was his species 'last hope', their backup plan, another contingency prepared for the absolute worst situation should it happen. He had no idea, 'no idea' that this was possible, all of his studies and research from his classes had told him and everyone else that there was no way to replicate, synthetically or artificially, the reproductive abilities of a human, or else they would have solved the loss of 90% of the human race's ability to reproduce following the end of the Final War due to radiation damage and biological weapons.
Apparently, they had made a breakthrough, probably 'just' prior to the start of the 'Ironic War', after he and the others were put into Cryosleep stasis.
"We… we have a chance…" He whispered quietly, tears forming as he held the little miracle of science in his hands.
"Ema, can you give 'me' the Synthorgan, I know its sudden but…"
[I'm afraid it won't work.] Ema instantly stated, stopping Gazelle and causing him to look at them.
"Why, you know me and Jeremy want to have children, if this can bring back humans then I'm willing to give up my own organ to help-"
[It won't work because it won't work like that!] Ema snapped. [I know you want to have children with Jeremy, but this is a Synthorgan, it operates, at least based on my scans, exactly like 'all' of the others! The moment it accepts a DNA sample, it adjusts and changes, reprogramming itself on the cellular level so that the new host body will not reject it on the biological level! In other words, even if I were to extract your 'perfectly healthy and functioning normally' womb and replace it with this Synthetic one, nothing changes… it will still use 'your' DNA to replicate egg cells based on 'your' DNA. Meaning your offspring will 'still' be a hybrid of human and mammal, and the only difference being that, since its 'human' in origins, it will be more likely to 'accept' Jeremy's sperm for procreation.] She turned to him now and stated sadly, [That is to say it operates 'exactly' like the other Synthorgans. I have 'zero' data on this, I have no idea how it will function or how it will work if placed within a mammal's body… I need time to research it, its design is 'beyond' me. We have 'no' data on this from Eden Facility 4, even in the archives, for all I know it could do something different and Medical Protocol 'forbids' me from placing an unknown Synthorgan into the body of a patient without knowing EXACTLY what will happen.]
Gazelle was about to speak again but he intervened. "It's alright Gazelle, it's best if Ema studies it until we know exactly what it is capable of." He said gently before turning to look at the Spider Drone. "Ema, I know I asked you to focus on developing cures and vaccines, but your other priority now is studying that Synthorgan and understanding everything about it."
[In other words, your 'adding' to my work pile…] She stated dully as she took the Synthorgan and put it in a containment unit for safekeeping. [Fine… as you 'command'… humans always so demanding… yet another reason why Doctor Liona always demanded extra rations…]
He sighed as he nodded to Gazelle and Aelita vanished, telling them he was leaving. With Gazelle beside him they walked down the hallway, at first to his quarters, but then he nervously asked halfway through the trip, "Uhm, Gazelle, do you 'still' want to go on that date?"
She looked at him with mild surprise before chuckling slightly, "After all that just went down you want to go on a date now?"
"Well… you know, we never actually went on it before I went under, and I still want to… you know… make up for…" He said sheepishly before she planted a finger on his lips to shut him up, while smirking slyly at him.
"Jeremy… it's a date…" She said warmly.
With that decided, along with the sudden inclusion of her friends because they also wanted to check out the holoroom again, they went down to the holorooms, and after strapping on the necessary equipment, she asked him what he had planned.
"You'll see… Sentinel, set time limit for Holoroom 2 for… infinite, until I tell you to end it, please however alert me when three hours have passed! Also activate… Jeremy 1… begin."
(Please close your eyes… holographic session beginning in 5… 4… 3…)
They closed their eyes and waited for it to begin.
(2… 1… activating…)
Instantly he felt like his hair was flying backward as the simulation began, and smelled saltwater, heard the sounds of birds chirping and felt the wind blowing through his hair as he opened his eyes. Around him was nothing but an empty sandy beach and the flowing of water from the ocean nearby. Floating nearby were six Jet Skis, one pink, one blue, and four green for the six of them, they also had several changing tents where they could pick their swimwear for the simulation. Nearby on the beach leading to an empty parking lot but also behind them was a lit-up city using neon-colored lights, and even a water access to it for them. A sign leading to the beach read, 'Welcome to Twilight City'.
It was getting dark, the sky was turning different cool colors, mostly purple and blue, but there were still hints of some orange and red as the sun was setting.
"I figured, you guy would like to see something interesting, so I created this."
"Whoa, you guys had water surfers?" Joey asked.
"They're called Jet Skis, had to look that up… but before I had my accident and before I asked you out Gazelle, I had this prepared." He spoke. "Feel like hitting the waves as they said back then?"
"Let's go!" She laughed as she and her friends ran to the tents to change and he joined them.
While he and the Tiger brothers wore swimming trunks and went bare chested with only flip-flop shoes, Gazelle wore the same two-piece she once wore at the water park where they had their third kiss. He blushed a little as she saw her wink at him playfully, as her friends rushed over to the Water Skis.
"Alright let's goooooooo!" Franky roared as he and his brothers all took off, whooping and laughing.
Meanwhile he and Gazelle got on theirs and, after showing her how they worked, they were off and surfing into 'Twilight City'. He put on a bit of speed alongside her as they began surfing and riding the waters through the city, turning and twisting through the water course. In the distance they could hear her friends laughing and calling out how awesome this was, but for the two of them they were simply taking their time.
"This is so much fun!" Gazelle yelled as she rode alongside him.
He was in agreement as they went through the water course, their Jet Skis occasionally bouncing with the waves and feeling the water splashing and spraying them because of their speed. He had modified it so that it wasn't cold but left all the fun part of water intact. However, as he rounded the corner, he saw something suddenly materialize right as he passed it by.
"Hey watch ooooout!" He tried to warn Gazelle as he saw a ramp around the corner, but Gazelle noticed it too slow.
"Whoaaaaaaaaaa!" She yelled as her Jet Ski went flying while she let it go to land in the water with a splash.
He looked at the ramp and stared as it just started vanishing, and Aelita appeared with a wink, before she too vanished. 'That cheeky AI… why did she go and rewrite my simulation right in the middle of it.'
Gazelle swam up and spat out a mouthful of water before swimming over to his ski and climbing up to sit with him. "Well, that was unexpected…" She muttered.
"Sorry, do you want me to make a new ski for you?"
"No… I think I actually prefer this." She said as she hugged him from behind held tightly. "Well, let's get going Jeremy…"
He nodded and revved up his engine to send it going.
They raced through the water, passing by the various signs pointing where they were to go. Occasionally they heard her friends in the distance still having a blast, but for them all that mattered in the world was each other. She smiled at him and he smiled back, occasionally rubbing his cheek with her own and giving him a peck or two from her lips.
'Meep Meeep!'
They looked down and saw several dolphins swimming below them, occasionally surfacing to jump through the water alongside them.
"Amazing!" She called as they continued to swim with her, and she managed to hold her hand out and rub one's side as it jumped out of the water alongside them.
He laughed with her as the dolphins swam, enhancing their fun and enjoyment of the moment. He could only capture a 'portion' of what they were, only reading about them in texts and seeing them in pictures… but he hoped, at least in holographic form, he did a good job.
After a while, the city suddenly came to life… and neon lights turned on, even more than was originally seen, causing Gazelle to gasp in surprise as special words began spelling out in the buildings windows as they passed, all according to plan.
"Wow…" Gazelle whispered in awe as random messages and phrases appeared.
He took it slow with her so she could admire the scenery… and simply glided on the water.
Half an hour later they were on another beach, choosing to let her friends enjoy their fun time on the Jet Skis. They had parked his Jet Ski and chosen to relax on the beach, enjoying each other's company and watching the night sky in his holographic world.
"I know its all fake, but Jeremy… I wish some day we could be in a world just like this." She muttered.
"Back when I was younger, I always wondered… what happened to the world I kept seeing on the holoroom. My father told me… mistakes happened, things got out of control… and that was all he could say was, that it would fall to my generation and those after, to fix the damage done so that those who came after us would live in a better world." He whispered. "I still wish to make the world better; I just want to make it better so that others don't have to live through what I lived through."
"And you are Jeremy…" She muttered as she hugged him. "You are making it better."
"I hope so…"
"You are… but Jeremy, you need to stop focusing on the world for a while and… focus on yourself!" She told him warmly. "The world is the world, and your just one 'human'… you need to live your own life or else… you'll have nothing to life 'for'."
"I know its just… its so 'hard'…" He muttered. "I see problems, I see issues and… I just want to help and try to fix things and…"
"It's your training, I know… but for now Jeremy its just 'you' and 'me'…" She whispered lovingly, slyly grinning at him. "Now then… Jeremy I have a question for you… we are wearing clothes, right?"
"Yes?"
"So… if say I wanted to get more… 'intimate' with you…" She whispered seductively. "It 'has' been a while since we got… closer…"
"We'd have to be careful but…" He replied just as slyly.
She chuckled as she leaned over him and started making out with him, before whispering, "You know Jeremy, it may just be me… but between the two of us… I wonder who the real 'predator' is in this relationship…"
He just laughed as they began making out, while in the Command Center, Aelita rolled her eyes and made some 'adjustments' to the simulation, and scheduled cleaning ANTs to head to Holoroom 2 immediately. She made sure that Jeremy and Gazelle would have all the privacy they wanted, but she wished Jeremy remembered the protocol for 'intimacy' in the holoroom and kept it to kisses and cuddles.
(Jeremy's and Gazelle's PoV)
The next day he and Gazelle, her friends and Aelita left the facility, boarding his Solar Carriage as it prepared to leave with both HORSE drones and a RAPTOR drone. They decided to keep the Synthetic Womb a secret from the world until Ema could understand it. So far, the only ones who knew about it were the six of them, Gazelle having told her backup dancers so they could understand just how important it was, and what Jeremy risked his life retrieving.
They were heading home now, and they were talking idly about what their plans were that day as they passed by into Downtown Zootopia.
"We're going to the game shop to pick up some new controllers, our old ones need replacements, you know how it is!" Donny said.
"Oh yes, I am 'sooo' into games that I know all about controllers and consoles." Gazelle laughed.
Outside the carriage cars honked and mammals waved at them as they passed by. Gazelle had sent out a message on Twerter that Jeremy was leaving the facility that day after fully recovering. Naturally, mammals were ecstatic that he had recovered, and they could see his carriage in public again, sending him messages of health and good will through Gazelle.
"I didn't have games growing up, you know how it is… but we did find 'some' time for amusement." Jeremy said. "Most of it was on the holoroom when we could get it for ourselves. I think the only game me and my friends ever played was…"
Suddenly the carriage came to a stop as the HORSE drones abruptly ended their walking and flashing lights lit up their carriage. Outside he looked to see a swarm of ZPD Squad Cars surrounding the vehicle, the RAPTOR drone was looking around in confusion while it prepared itself to defend the vehicle from what it thought was a potential threat.
[Attention Jeremy Wilheart, exit the vehicle immediately, this is your ONLY warning!]
"What the… what's this all about?" Gazelle asked in confusion as she got out with her friends, telling Jeremy to stay put while she asked first. "What is the meaning of this Officers?"
All around the vehicle officers had guns trained, and not the 'non-lethal' versions that Jeremy had gifted the rounds to help them develop. It was just like that incident all over again, only this time Jeremy was healthy.
Jeremy now got out, just as confused, not heading Gazelle's message to stay in the carriage but knowing that unless he showed himself, something bad was going to happen.
"Officers, what's going on?"
In front of the carriage Judy and Nick, both approached him, looking very grim and 'obviously' not wanting to do this, as they kept guns trained on him. "Jeremy Wilheart… we have an… arrest warrant for you… we need you to come with us." Judy said, each word sounding like she was trying her hardest to keep speaking.
"Please don't resist us man… we don't want to do this but… we have to bring you in." Nick said.
"An arrest warrant, on what charges?!" Gazelle demanded as her backup dancers got in front of Jeremy, glaring and arms folded.
It was Nick's turn to speak with a pained tone as he held a piece of paper up and read it out loud. "Jeremy, you are under arrest for the following charges… Destruction of Public Property, Market Abuse, Evasion of Paying Taxes, Market Manipulation… and Potential for Terrorism…"
"Are you 'serious'?"
From around the street mammals were starting to spread word of what was going on, shouts of how this is wrong and demanding that the police leave Jeremy alone were growing louder and louder. Jeremy could see that this was going to explode soon and took a deep breath before stepping past Gazelle's backup dancers, giving them a calming look.
"It's alright… I'll cooperate." He told them, making Gazelle frown and try to speak, but he shushed her with a shake of his head. "It's alright… if I don't go with them, things will get bad… I'll go and try to figure out what this is about."
As he stepped forward, shouts and yells grew louder, and some mammal threw a glass bottle at one of the ZPD Squad cars, a mob was quickly forming as word started spreading.
"Leave him alone!"
"He's done nothing wrong!"
"THIS IS POLICE ABUSE!"
"You're not taking Jeremy of all mammals!"
"He is INNOCENT!"
"Don't even THINK of taking him!"
"YOU'RE JUST LYING!"
Thinking fast he quickly turned to his RAPTOR drone and motioned with his hands and issued a silent command to it. It nodded and turned to the crowd, opened its mouth, and 'roared'.
[SILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!] Which was so loud that it could be heard down the street and shut the crowd up. [The Human wants to speak…]
He nodded and looked out at the crowd, "Please… don't act this way!" He said as loud as he could. "Violence is 'not' going to solve anything… I have been charged with crimes… by 'your' laws, I must answer them, and convince your court of justice that I am innocent, whatever those crimes are."
He looked around at a few more mammals, in particular a large grouping of Sheep that were close by. "This is exactly, what caused the downfall of my people… thinking not of the greater good, and the greater whole…" He yelled. "Laws… must be upheld otherwise they are not laws. Becoming violent against those who are only acting under orders to obey a law, is no more than mob rule… and that rule only leads to… the same end point that, resulted in 'me', being here with you."
He took one more look at those mammals around him.
"Please… don't lash out, when you don't know 'all' of the facts… because that road, always ends in destruction, and nothing good ever comes from that road."
With that he took a deep breath again and stepped over to a nearby Rhino and held out his hands so they could cuff him.
[Unit Jeremy…]
He turned to his RAPTOR escort as it looked at him.
[Where are you going?]
"I'm being arrested."
It looked at the officers and then back to him. [For… how long?]
"I don't know how long, and I don't know when I'll be able to return."
[If they… convict you… for how long will you be… 'restrained'?]
"I don't know… maybe a lifetime? I do not know how long I would serve…"
[But… you cannot… we 'need' you… without you we cannot function… we cannot be…] It stopped talking for a bit as it tried to form an understanding of the situation, before suddenly bringing out its weapons and aiming them at the ZPD Officers. [Get back in the carriage and retreat to Eden Facility 17, this unit will keep them busy and…]
"I WILL NOT!" He said instantly. "You are 'ordered', to stand down with ALL of the other drones. By my order, you and the other Eden Facility Drones will 'not' interfere or attempt to rescue me, is that clear?"
It simply looked to him; weapons still trained on the ZPD.
"Obey the Human Override Protocol, acknowledge the order!"
His drone stared at him through its optics, moment by moment passing, but still, it did not acknowledge the order.
"OBEY THE ORDER!"
After a few moments… it finally put away its weapons and nodded. [Order… acknowledged. Sentinel acknowledges and has issued the command to all other drones; we will obey as you have commanded.]
With that he nodded and walked over to the ZPD car, and was allowed to climb into the back seat, where he was taken to ZPD.
=On the News=
"This scene earlier today as Jeremy Wilheart was arrested in public, a mob forming and only stopped thanks to the words of the human. Within minutes of entering the squad car, demands and petitions, protests and groups formed 'demanding' he be released."
"This just in, Pop group 'The Flutterbugs' is refusing to perform on stage, alongside seventeen other famous singing groups and sensations, until Jeremy Wilheart is released! All of the stating that 'Putting any Angel behind Bars is not what 'any' mammal should stand for!"
"Gazelle speaks out, begging mammals to 'not' riot or act out violently in the face of Jeremy Wilheart's arrest, saying that 'Jeremy would not want us to act this way. It's not who he is, and it's not what we should strive to be.' This however has not stopped massive groups from protesting outside of City Hall and ZPD HQ, demanding Jeremy be released."
"Among the Sheep population in the Leicester Nation, High Priest of the Spirit Religion has declared that he, and every other Sheep who practices the 'Spirits Religion', a globally recognized religion that has been confirmed to have references to Humanity, is taking a Vow of Silence, and is refusing to speak to 'any' mammal, even themselves, until Jeremy Wilheart is 'freed'.
(Mr Big's PoV)
"Ooooooooh daddy, Jeremy is in big trouble!" Fru fru said worriedly as they watched the tele as the news divulged story after story of their 'Friend of the Family', being arrested.
"I know… he is in big trouble, and its clear he needs help." He said thoughtfully.
"Oh, but all of those 'charges', he has no idea about mammal law, he probably never even thinks about it, how can they blame him for things he has no idea about!?"
"I don't know honey, I don't know…"
"He's ganna need a lawyer… not just any lawyer but the best lawyer, no a team of lawyers, the best lawyers that money can BUY!"
He nodded in agreement and turned to Koslov. "I have a job for you… I need you to find me the best lawyers that money can buy…"
His most trusted henchmammal nodded and walked out with Kevin to get the job done, while he looked back at the news, showing a picture of Jeremy looking nervous, but still showing as calm an expression as he could while he was being cuffed. Somemammal wanted him out of the picture, and he wasn't about to let 'any' mammal, whoever they were… get their paws on a friend of 'his' family, let alone a business partner and somemammal who not only saved his daughter but also his granddaughter.
He'd throw half his fortune and more to keep the human out of jail or prison if that's what it took.
.
.
.
(Judy and Nick's PoV, earlier that morning)
"You can't be serious… you CANNOT be serious about this!" Judy screamed so loudly that half the department could hear her.
Chief Bogo nodded, looking grim. "I don't like this any more than you do… but we have a job to do." He muttered.
"Chief Bogo, this is… this is 'wrong'!" She said again.
"Yea chief, I know the excuse 'we've got a job to do' won't fly here. I guarantee that if you try to make 'anymammal' in the department follow that order, you are going to have a LOT of badges on your desk by the end of the day, and an empty building as well."
"You two don't think I KNOW that?" He roared furiously. "I was all of 'two seconds' away from storming into the mayor's office and handing in my badge, telling her to find another scape goat for this job!" He snarled before calming down and sitting heavily in his seat. "But if we don't, the Feds will get involved… and you know what's going to happen then."
Moments later the door opened and in walked the Finance Director, looking grim as she shook her head and sighed. "I just got off with Mayor Lioness, she can't rescind the order… the various City and Federal departments aren't going to relent on the charges… we have no choice."
"But… this is… this is 'wrong'!" Judy pleaded. "After 'everything' he's done… this is clearly wrong, this is absolutely wrong Director Kassara and we all know it."
"You don't think I know that already, the Mayor nearly lost her voice with how loud she was yelling to those mammals. She tried to keep the feds out of this but, well there's only so much weight she has as 'Mayor' at that level." Kassara sighed while holding her forehead. "I called every mammal I could think of to try and get them to take back what they issued, but… no luck… I even risked my position and standing by 'bribing' a few of them but…" She quickly looked at them and said quietly, "That never came out alright?"
Chief Bogo just slumped as he read the order before sighing. "Hopps, Wilde, make the arrest… better 'we' do it than… some other mammal."
(?'s PoV, Earlier)
"Yep, the order has been issued…" A voice said over the phone to their subordinate, while outside they stared at the city as the sun began setting. "Now it's only a matter of time… before he's out of the way."
Their subordinate asked something about how this is possibly going to work.
"Killing him is becoming impossible, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep it covered it and looking like a series of accidents. Sooner or later, somemammal is going to question, and I don't want that." They said quietly. "As much as I would like to simply kill him and get him 'out of the picture', I want him 'gone', how he's gone I don't care at this point."
It was becoming tiresome, expensive, and downright impossible to kill the human as their contact wanted.
"I want to get in that facility, the longer he's in the way the harder it will become. Once I'm inside however, then there'll be no stopping me or my plans… not even that human or his AI friend will be able to stop me…"
With that they hung the phone and smiled at the signed order.
Zootopia Police Department – Warrant for Arrest
For the immediate arrest and detainment of 'Jeremy Wilheart'… effective immediately. . .
By order of this warrant, you are hereby 'commanded' to arrest and take into custody the above individual mammal(s) named, to await Trial which is to be held at a later date. . .
Failure to comply will result in 'Federal' intervention. . .
"Knowing Jeremy… he will play his part 'exactly', he won't struggle, he won't fight, he'll come quietly. Once he's behind bars… I 'win'."