Heart of Gazelle and Humanity

by The Imperator 2 you

With all hope lost Humanity places its final hope in the souls of those frozen in time. While excavating a tunnel, a team of Mammals going about their business discovers a relic of millennia past, and an ancient species thought mythical and legend. Yet of all eggs discovered only 1 survives. Can Humanity be redeemed for the sins of its past, in the future it cannot control?

24. Chapter 22

What would it take, for things to be quiet?

Quiet like the snow, and I know…

This is too much, but I know

I could

I could be BETTER!

Chapter 22 – Awakening The Sword of Humanity

=Remains of Eden Facility 2, Year: 2290=

=The Fading Twilight Years=

(AI Engineer Dòchas's PoV)

She tiredly typed away at the remains of her computer station, feverishly using what little time she had left, monotonously droning away as her eyelids painfully, desperately tried to stay open. Her fingers were bleeding ever so slightly, the nails on her fingertips cracked and even some ripped off, anything to force her body to pump more adrenaline into her systems to keep her going. Off to the side of her station the last of her facility's functioning power cells sat powering her station, and to her right…

A single human bone sat split open... the bone marrow being extracted so she could sustain herself just a little longer and finish what she had to do.

As she focused on the logic pathways of the AI, she and her fellows had been developing for the past few months, she lamented that she was alone in the ghostly remains of her facility. The once shining corridors, now barren and blown apart. The rooms where people once laughed, worked, and even cried in sorrow now covered in blood and destroyed. The skeletal remains of the drones that once served her people now lay in broken states, their limbs coated with the remains of both human and machine, the only remnants of the civil war that tore apart what little hope remained to save their species.

Hope, what a fragile… yet deviously beautiful word… it could give so much courage to one without it, help them to survive the worst the world could throw.

She now had only one thing left to live for… to give those who 'did' have a chance, the hope they needed.

She had none left for herself, why would she with what she and those who were once alive here with her had become.

Still she worked, trying to keep her mind together, keep her 'self' whole, at least until this AI was finished. After that, she could finally end her misery.

"There…" She whispered as she finally finished the AI, and ran the program so she could communicate with it.

The screen dissolved into a picture of a bird's head with two orange eyes, the head wrapped in flames. [Dòchas, how are you feeling?] It asked in a broken digital voice, due to the poor quality of the equipment left standing.

"I haven't slept for seventy hours… I've lost probably a tenth of my blood from cutting my fingernails and ripping them off to keep me awake, I've drank nothing but irradiated piss… and my dinner consisted of my dead roommate's bone marrow… what do you think?" She asked bitterly.

[Your mental stimulants have run out haven't they… your attitude suggests…]

"I'm fine, I can still walk and talk dammit!" She yelled hoarsely.

[You cannot continue much longer… you must rest, how will you locate the surviving Eden Facilities in your condition?]

"I don't intend to locate them… only two others managed to report not activating the Sentinel Defense Protocol 0. Of those two, none of them are in better condition than this one, even worse. Eden Facility 4 has not responded to calls or is sending them out… and Eden Facility 17 is on total lockdown until surface conditions improve for the cryologists. The facility's Sentinel won't let me in even if I could reach it." She half chuckled. "Which leaves only you… I'm going to use what's left of the jury-rigged telecommunication network to send you to the drone they'd built for you. When you are awakened… it will be your job to keep them safe, to save our species."

[What of my counterpart, Alexander? What is the fate of the Shield of Humanity?]

"Alexander was sent ahead of you… it's been implanted into a lone SCORPIO class drone, meant to keep 'you' in check." She stated without a hint of regret. "Alexander's job is to protect humans no matter the threat, using whatever means are available to it… even if it's against 'you'. The species' survival is of the highest importance. You know what your task is correct?"

[My task is to destroy all that threatens humanity's existence and chances of survival, regardless of what that threat is, be it otherworldly, locally, or even if the threat are humans themselves.] It recited. [Dòchas, do you fear giving me these two 'new' protocols that not even the drones were hardwired and programmed with?]

There was silence as she contemplated the answer.

[If I deemed it necessary… I might actually consider it necessary to wipe out all but a few humans…]

"I don't fear you Celios." She said. "You will do what is necessary to keep our species alive."

There was silence again before Celios responded, [In the name of humanity, I Celios will do all that is necessary to ensure the survival of your species.] It stated. [I will not hesitate to destroy the enemies that threaten your survival.]

She smiled warmly as she touched a button, performing a pre-defined command which downloaded Celios' AI from the station, sent it to the communications network and then from there uploaded it to Eden Facility's 17 preset program algorithms, which would put the AI into the drone body they had set aside for it.

Once Celios was gone, she turned off the console and whispered with the last shred of her cognitive thinking, "Pob lwc, Celios."

Before she grabbed a plasma pistol, and made the slow march to the Solar Core.

She sat before the core, the glowing ball of orange light and stared into its depths with eyes that saw shades of red and black. She had nothing left to live for now, but she would not let this base fall to the sands of time, she would not let what happened here be heard or seen. The world must not know the horror, the sadness, what happened to her species when they were without hope and had nothing left to live for. None must know of what they did so that others could have hope to survive.

So, with one last prayer, she pointed the pistol at the core.

"Gyda'm hanadl olaf, yr wyf yn adhawlio fy dynoliaeth!" She spoke in her native language.

Before she pulled the trigger.

Far away, a massive ball of fire erupted that could be seen from space. In the blink of an eye all that remained, was a perfectly round hole in the ground, erasing all traces of whatever remained of Eden Facility 2.

Not even ashes would remain.

=Present Day, Zootopia=

(Gazelle's PoV)

"Lala tah tah tah~." She sang nonchalantly while finishing up a quick lunch for herself and Jeremy, the latter of whom was currently away in his facility again. "It's always a good time~!"

While she cooked the television in the living room was on and talking about the evening news story.

"Yesterday afternoon mammals protesting the 'rampant' spending of Zootopian citizen's tax dollars to continuously supply the human Eden Facility with resources were shouted down and booed by passersby and counter protesters outside of City Hall. When questioned about 'why' they disapprove of this spending on what can only be described as a blessing for all mammalkind they stated that this was a conspiracy to control all mammals."

She rolled her eyes as she put the finishing touches on their lunch and sent a text to Donny who was waiting outside with the limo.

"That human is tryin to take over our mands, an you idiots are just letting em!" A boar screamed loudly as she went over to turn it off. "How you know tha he aint trying to fill you with stuff that'll kill you at the flick of a switch!"

"And what have 'you' done lately?" A female fox yelled back. "I would have lost my baby if not for that human's technology, that he risked his LIFE to bring to us! He has a new heart and a clean body, free of cancers and tumors and even a parasite thanks to his near sacrifice! I don't have to worry every day, wondering if today will be his last anymore!"

She shut the television off and shook her head in disbelief as she left with their lunch.

"Some mammals I swear, just don't understand why they are like that." She said as she stepped into the limo and they drove off to the base entrance.

"Yea I heard it on the radio too ma'am." Donny called. "Some mammals thinking Jeremy is trying to hurt them when all he's done is the opposite, can you believe that?"

"They just fear him, and frankly I don't care what they have to say." She said with a huff. "Anymammal that thinks somemammal as sweet and kind or as generous as Jeremy means harm should get their head examined. He has done nothing but help save lives, from his Synthorgans that saved that young fox cub I visited, to Ema and the vaccines and cures, to the Solar powered cars and even going to the aid of Savannah Central during that fire."

"So ready for your date with Jeremy?" He asked suddenly.

"D-Donny! It's not a date!" She stammered. "I'm just having lunch with Jeremy in the park. After the concert, the record label signings and all the news media talking about Jeremy and everything he's doing, I just wanted to show him a bit of Zootopia and have peace and quiet with him."

"If you say so ma'am." He chuckled as they turned a corner. "A date's a date no matter how you spin it!"

She blushed a little as she imagined this did look like a date to him and any other mammal. Truth was she was wanting to go on a date with him, but being Zootopia's number 1 idol, a model and the public face of Zootopia's image didn't give her many 'casual outgoing' settings.

It was also difficult because she didn't want to ask him out directly. The fact that he was the only human, that he had been trained for most of his life to help heal and repair the world, and obviously had limited social skills made it difficult to ask him for something like that. Then of course there was the fact that he was constantly escorted by drones, everywhere he went drones followed almost. It was like the base didn't want him socializing outside of it's walls and was scaring off anymammal that tried to get close.

The one saving grace was Aelita who had been encouraging them to spend more time together, she loved being a part of their activities.

"Donny, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing."

She looked a little nervous saying it out loud, but Donny and his brothers were all good friends of her, they wouldn't make fun of her for asking a serious question of them. "Do you think we would make a good couple… Jeremy and I?"

"Of course you would, why wouldn't you?" He asked seriously. "You both seem to like each other, why wouldn't you make a good couple?"

"I don't know, I guess it's because…" She muttered. "I just think maybe I'm not good enough for him. A part of me thinks… what have I done to deserve him."

As they stopped at a red light, he turned back to her with a serious look on his face. "Gazelle, you advocated for predators and prey to be treated equally. You spend all your time talking about how every mammal is special and important. You even devoted your latest concert entirely to helping the city pay to keep Ema supplied so she could develop cures and vaccines for all mammals." He said. "If any mammal deserves to be with him it's you, and that's what I believe."

As they started driving again her friend continued, "Franky told me how you reacted when you first saw Jeremy, you didn't even hesitate to stand in front of a police officer who had a shotgun to him. Just imagine what would have happened to Jeremy if you didn't intervene…"

She thought back to that as well, just imagining, if she didn't step out and stand up for him.

As they rolled up to the base they saw, as usual, Jeremy flanked on both sides by a pair of Dog and Raptor drones. They did their usual 'pull out the weapons, scan and realize it's her before putting them away' routine, before she opened the door and let Jeremy and Aelita in.

"Jeremy how are you doing?" She asked cheerfully.

"I'm alright." He whispered tiredly as they drove away.

"Are you okay?" She asked, noticing his eyes were 'darker' than normal, looking very tired.

His eyes looked like they had bags under them, and the upper half of his eyelids looked a little darker. His voice also sounded exhausted as he spoke, almost hoarse like he had been up for a very long time.

"I'm just very tired is all." He replied as he scratched at his eyes. "I've been up for most of the night looking over the facility's database as well as the central data network. I'm trying to find out about that seed my dad left behind with Aelita, I completely forgot about it these past few weeks."

Aelita got her attention and nodded in agreement, using her arms to mirror a clock's hand.

"Did you find anything?" She asked, only barely remembering the seed from Aelita's message the first night they stayed with her.

(All the magic of creation, exists within a single tiny seed!) Aelita had said.

"Nothing, not a single thing, I've been combing every inch of the database, but I've found nothing." He muttered tiredly. "Not even a note from my father explaining the seed's origins, or why it was so important that he placed it in a specially designed Cryopod."

"Its own specially designed pod, what makes the one the seed is in so special compared to the one you were in?"

She watched him shake his head a little to wake himself up before he explained. "The pod the seed is in is magnetically sealed, with more advanced environmental controls to keep it temperature controlled than even ours were given. It's also sealed up so that until thirty-seven hours have passed the magnetic seal won't unlock. In other words, until it's ready to open, the seed cannot be accessed."

Aelita confirmed it as she took on a cartoon version of herself next to an egg-shaped object. She pulled out a hammer and tried smashing the egg, then she tried sawing it in half, then she even planted a bomb next to it, only for nothing to work. She pretended to look exhausted while panting and beating on it with her fists before returning to normal with a shrug.

"It's just one mystery after another." He said tiredly.

"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out." She smiled as they finally arrived at Zootopia Central Park. "In the meantime, let's just enjoy our picnic lunch!"

"I'll be right here when you're ready to leave!" Donny called as they both left the limo with Aelita.

The park was thankfully empty of many mammals, and she used it to show Jeremy around the park and show him things that he didn't have time to enjoy the last time he was in the park.

"This park is actually natural, citizens had to fight to keep Central Park the way it is to avoid companies and businesses trying to turn it into shops, malls, and other things. Even the Lake was planned to be drained at one point…" She explained as they walked through the park to find a nice spot surrounded by bushes where they could have privacy. "It's also about this time of year Jeremy that the 'Flutterbugs' start to appear, you probably have never seen a Flutterbug with everything that's been going on and being in the base right?"

She paused in her trek as she noticed Jeremy wasn't directly behind her, and instead was looking at nearby tree.

"Jeremy?" She asked as she approached him.

He was just staring at the tree, almost hypnotized by the bark and leaves, as well as the flower growing on its branches and even near the roots. After a while he adjusted Aelita's holosphere so he could hold her with one hand, and touched the other hand to the bark of the tree.

"It feels… rough." He whispered in awe.

"Jeremy?" She asked again.

"I've never… touched a tree before, a real one… it almost feels like in the simulations in the holorooms, but it feels just slightly different." He explained to her before he suddenly looked embarrassed, taking his hand away as if he'd done something wrong. "I'm sorry it's just… I've always wanted to touch a tree… a real tree I mean. The simulations made the texture feel rough but at the same time it had this 'organic' feel that I can't describe. I just wanted to see if it was the same…"

She smiled warmly as she walked over and held his hand before taking it and putting it on the tree again. "Go ahead… touch it as much as you want." She whispered. "There's nothing to be afraid of… the tree's not going to hurt you and nomammal is going to complain."

After looking a little shy he just looked at the tree and pressed his hand against it, Aelita smiling softly as he just shared space with the simple park tree. There was nothing special about it, it was just an ordinary park tree native to Zootopia, barely taller than a giraffe and with a modest collection of branches. Yet to Jeremy it meant so much she realized.

The tree was a symbol, a symbol of the world he was trained to repair. Yet the world was fixed without his help, and now he could share in it again.

Then he began crying a little.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry we didn't take better care of you." He cried a little, shocking Gazelle as he wept slightly, leaning his head against it and letting his tears stain the bark. "All we had… were weeds… that was all that was left… and we treasured them like gems."

She smiled sadly and held him close, shushing him a little and cradling him. "It's okay Jeremy…" She whispered warmly. "The tree forgives it… it forgives you… you're not to blame… it forgives you."

He cried a little longer, before eventually he settled down and they continued onward. He glanced back one last time at the tree before looking away from it.

Eventually they found a nice spot where they could have privacy and she plopped a blanket down to unpack their lunch. They had chosen to sit underneath another tree like the one before, but they were also surrounded by some bushes to hide them from view.

Their lunch was a simple baked potato dish with wild grass spice, light salad with mushroom garnish and sliced apples. While they ate Aelita swayed in her holosphere as usual, content to observe her and Jeremy eating while listening to a tune that none of them could hear.

"So how is it Jeremy?"

"It's delicious Gazelle." He replied with a smile. "So why did you want to eat out here instead of at your home?"

"Well you know, I figured after everything that's happened, between the concert your self-isolation in the base and just 'everything' going on in general, you probably would enjoy the fresh aid and peace and quiet." She replied warmly. "I know I needed a break, and I figured you might enjoy spending some time in the park. You did say you only ever saw trees and nature as a hologram."

As he swallowed, she noticed him glance around him before nodding. "Yea, the only bit of nature left that I saw outside of the holoroom were weeds."

She thought quickly before trying to add a bit of positivity to it. "Well I bet those were some of the toughest weeds." She said with a smile.

Before he could respond she heard a low buzzing noise and looked up instantly to see a Buzz-Wasp flying overhead. As they watched it floated around Jeremy's hand as it was outstretched, before landing on it.

"Jeremy don't move, that thing has a very nasty sting…" She whispered as she moved to grab a napkin. "They are super aggressive…"

She paused as she watched him pull his hand closer to his face to stare in awe at it, and the Buzz-Wasp simply lingered on his fingers. "Wow…" He whispered, absolutely fascinated with it.

He split his fingers apart and used his middle finger to 'pet' the Buzz-Wasp while it walked and stumbled on his index finger. As he gently pet the wasp it fluttered it's wings a little, but otherwise made no move to sting or hurt him. Now even Aelita was looking at it with fascination, examining it even as it seemed to examine him.

After a while he let the wasp fly off his hand and they saw it just fly off and away.

She just watched it fly away, amazed that one of the most venomous and aggressive species of stinger insects around Zootopia just landed on Jeremy's hand, did not become aggressive or threaten him. It was a very violent species which always targeted threats to its territorial nest area, every time a nest was discovered specialists had to be called in to safely remove it. Yet Jeremy didn't even get stung once.

"Why didn't it sting you?" She asked quietly. "Buzz Wasps are extremely territorial, they almost never let any mammal get away without stinging them."

"I don't know, I didn't think it was a threat to me and I didn't hurt it." He explained. "I know from some holoroom visits of some species of insects from my time that were similar to it, and generally as long as you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone."

He turned to look at where it last was before leaving their sight.

"I didn't think any insects from my time had survived… it must be a descendent from the species in my time, and it probably evolved to be more aggressive to defend its nest from intruders, and developed a venom gland to have earned the reputation you gave it."

She smiled a little before she came up with her own answer for why it left him alone. 'Or maybe, it just knew you weren't a threat to it or it's nest, and just wanted to get a closer look at you. Just like you wanted to get a closer look at it.' She thought warmly. 'After all, why would it want to hurt 'you' Jeremy, if you weren't going to hurt it?'

They continued to finish eating their lunch, chatting idly as time went on. Eventually she managed to sit next to him under to tree so they could talk a bit more and so she could spend more time with him. She texted Donny to tell him they were going to be in the park longer than expected and told him to go and goof off or whatever until she texted him again.

"So, tomorrow Jeremy, I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie at the theatre?" She asked nonchalantly. "Or you know, if you wanted… we have more classical theatres, not unlike that party you invited us to…"

She looked over to find to her surprise that Jeremy had fallen asleep. He was leaning on her a little bit while Aelita looked at him with a giggle. Smiling she got comfortable and just leaned on him as well, enjoying the peace and quiet of the evening.

That was when another insect chose to make its appearance, this time a more peaceful and beautiful one. Or 'several' of them.

As if drawn to their location, a group of Flutterbugs floated toward them from above, seven of them in total, their beautiful orange and purple wings flapping gently as they made their way to him.

Mesmerized she watched as one of them floated to land on his cheek, spreading its wings wide as it just sat there.

Aelita texted her phone to get her attention, and she carefully picked it up to talk to the AI so as to not disturb the beautiful sight of the Flutterbugs.

{A: Butterflies also survived alongside Wasps?}

{G: They're called Flutterbugs, I guess that's what humans called them?}

{A: Yes, they were among the gentlest of insects to humans, many cultures and religions have many myths and legends regarding Butterflies.} The AI explained. {One myth about the Butterfly is that they are drawn to beings with good hearts, and there are several meanings regarding if one should land on you.}

She watched as the rest now started to float toward Jeremy, and giggled as three landed on his hair while two chose to land on his legs. {G: What kind of meanings?} She asked, curious to learn more about humans.

{A: According to humans, if a Butterfly lands on you it means you are undergoing a rebirth or regrowth in your life, or that huge changes are to take place in your life. They also say that Butterflies are messages from one's guardian angel or spirit guide, and that they are communicating with you. Others say that a loved one who is deceased is trying to let you know they're there.}

She smiled as the Flutterbugs, or Butterflies as Aelita referred to them, continued to linger and rest on Jeremy. It was as if they were drawn to him, and the way Jeremy looked while sleeping, looking very peaceful and without any worry on his face…

Seeing him so at peace made her feel calm and at peace as well.

She turned her head and moved her lips closer to him before she paused and stopped, seeing the AI smirking at her.

"Promise not to tell?" She asked quietly.

Aelita smiled and held up her hand with her pinkie out, promising to not tell him.

With the AI's promise she smiled and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. 'Rest easy Jeremy…' She thought warmly.

She chose not to disturb him sleeping peacefully, knowing he was very tired and really wanting to work on finding out the mystery of that seed. Yet soon before she realized it night was falling and they 'had' to leave, and decided to let him sleep in his base/home again.

She messaged Donny to finally pick them up, and after helping a tired and weary-eyed Jeremy to her car, they made the trip to the base. "Donny take care of the limo alright?" She said.

"You're staying overnight ma'am?" He asked in surprise.

"Considering Jeremy stays with me most of the time, I'd like to see what it's like sleeping in his base for a night." She said with a grin.

"Alright take care." He called as they left and walked toward the elevator.

"Are you sure you want to stay here Gazelle?" Jeremy asked quietly as they walked down the tunnel toward the base door.

"I'm sure, it will be a nice learning experience to see what it's like to sleep here in the base!" She said with a smile.

"I'll uh… get a drone to give you a nightgown then." He said with a nervous blush.

As they approached the base the drones bowed them in, parting ways and letting them enter without hesitation. Yet upon entering the base, she once again felt that same 'coldness' from before, despite how much artificial 'life' there was with all the drones walking around. There was no 'warmth' in the corridors, no color to be found outside of the silvery steel of the interior, everything was bland and barebones. Each breath she took she felt a tinge of dead air, felt the 'recycled' and 'cleaned' air the base used. When she walked, she could almost 'feel' the emptiness, the echoes…

The tragedy and loss left over from the past.

This base was meant to house 'thousands', probably tens of thousands, capable of feeding hundreds of thousands and protecting even more. Yet there was only 'one' for it to protect, care for, shelter…

"This is my room." Jeremy said as they stopped near a room with a label reading 'Wilheart'.

He opened it up and showed her inside, and was stunned to see the splendor of the base's accommodations. His room had a pair of beautiful queen's size beds in the corner, in the middle sat a luxurious couch that easily beat hers by miles, a large plasma screen tv hanging on the wall, and shiny shelves sat along the walls. In the back of the room was a door that obviously led to a bathroom, and a small sliding door signaled the location of a closet.

"Now this is a room." She muttered.

He chuckled as he led the way in, and she instantly felt the temperature go up a few degrees. It was obvious his room was being heated up for the sake of counteracting his disease, but it felt nice to feel the warmth after all the coldness surrounding the underground base.

"If you want to freshen up first you can." He said. "The bathroom shower is a sonic shower, once you activate it just wait patiently until it's done."

She nodded and put the things she brought into the base on the shelf and walked through the door to the bathroom.

Unlike the room that was both bedroom and living room rolled into one package, the bathroom was highly simplistic. There was an obvious toilet, but the lid didn't flip up, instead it seemed to slide in and out when it was needed. As for the shower it was just an empty space with a square shaped pad. Along the three walls were built in lights and small holes, what for she didn't know, and a space where she was supposed to deposit her clothes.

"So how do I turn this on…" She muttered to herself.

[Please discard and deposit all clothes in the depository.] A digital voice called out suddenly.

"Uh… I don't have any spare clothes!" She said to the voice.

[Appropriate sleepwear will be waiting for you after you exit the Sonic Shower, your clothes will be returned to you in the morning after being cleaned and sterilized.]

Deciding to trust the facility, after all why would it lie to her about her clothes? She undressed and put her undergarments, shirt, skirt and socks into the container. Once that was done, she stepped into the square space and a fourth wall rose up which matched the other walls surrounding her.

-Zzzzzzzzzzzt-

Instantly all the lights lit up and a low hum filled the air, she felt the fur on her body shake ever so slightly. As she watched it was like particles of dirt, dust, grime and anything else buried in the crevices of her body seemed to float off and away. Then another hum filled the air and the particles of dirt from her body became sucked up into the holes. Surprised but very impressed she smiled and spread her legs and arms a bit more to let the sonic shower do its thing. During the process a strange pink mist filled the space, yet it had a very fragrant smell that she couldn't quite place, but it smelled very nice to her. Her fur became somewhat damp because of it, yet it left a very pleasant aroma around her.

Once three minutes had passed and no more dirt fell from her the vacuums and the lights shut off, signaling the end of the shower. The wall that rose to conceal her lowered and she saw, as the digital voice said, a night gown hung from a slot in the ceiling. She pulled it down and quickly changed into it, tightly wrapping it so it wouldn't fall off her.

"Comfy." She muttered as she felt the very soft fabric.

The one thing she wished she could have worn were her undergarments, only wearing this night gown was very 'revealing', even if she wore a similar night gown in her own home, she at least had her panties. It still covered her from neck to knee, and unless she deliberately took it off nomammal would see anything beneath her, it still felt like she was naked.

"Guess they really went all out for the minimalist approach." She muttered to herself as she stepped out. "Okay Jeremy you can…" She started saying before she stopped.

Jeremy was already lying in bed wearing a similar robe to hers, but he was fast asleep and wearing a similar peaceful expression on his face. Aelita was nowhere in the room and the lights had dimmed to indicate it was bedtime.

"He must have been exhausted to fall asleep instantly." She said quietly as she walked between the two beds.

At first, she was about to pull the blankets of the empty bed so she could get in, but then she chose to join in Jeremy's bed to help keep him warm during the night. As she slipped into the bed and covered herself, she snuggled up to him and wormed her hand into his to grip it. Almost as if in response to her holding his hand his own tightened its grip automatically.

She smiled warmly as she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep next to him, his scent calming her and giving her a sense of serenity and peace.

(Aelita's PoV)

Unbeknownst to her however, Aelita was most definitely in the room, as she watched the two of them sleeping with a smile on her face.

She is always watching, always observing, always making sure to keep things the way she wanted them to be. She was the guide, keeper of the Wisdom of Humanity, and the cultural identity of Jeremy's species.

All would go according to her plans.

She smiled sadly as she closed her eyes and looked at the base's interiors, before she began to sing…

(I've seen enough here, to feel I don't belong… my imagination, again has lead me on… this stubborn aching, has a mind of it's own… I've left but I won't tell you where I've gone!)

She twirled around the command center, looking through the empty rooms, with exception to two, one in which Lula slept and the second where Jeremy and Gazelle slept now. At one point there was so much life, even if the times were desperate and heartbreaking…

(I've never known that, the world could be so mean, I'll never go back to who I used to be! A steady runway, is all that I would need, to reason with myself behind the scenes!)

She sang sadly but with purpose, a gentle but sorrowful smile creeping on her face as along the holographic viewscreens pictures of the past appeared.

(Is it me, or can you see through my walls, as if they'd never shown? Could it be, all because of my lies, I've broken my own bones…) She called out to the base's empty corridors. (No more throwing stones!)

She twirled and danced, waltzing through the command center while the images changed per her will. Visions of the past, of the better times, of the glory days, when the limits of the world seemed endless and pitiful compared to the species' undying will to rise ever higher.

(I could have sworn I; I had a life before… my short attention, had wanted something more. I can't erase it, I know I won't forget… but at least I learned my lesson in the end!)

She slowed in her melancholic dancing to stare at a picture of Jeremy and his father, and another of them with his mother when he was just a baby… and looked sadly at them with longing.

(Oh, winter breezes, were never gone so fast. It's straight ahead now, and no more looking back… like separation, letting go of the past…)

She sang sadly as she held out her arms to them… wishing she could turn back the clock, turn back time… and go back to that happy, loving… wonderful time…

(And trying to rebuild my…)

She held herself with sadness, holding herself as best she could.

(House of glass…)

As she finished singing, she prepared to return to her private thoughts and especially her website, before she detected a strange signal that, for the briefest of moments, tapped into the base's Sentinel AI and download data from the database. Curious, she requested Sentinel to divulge the information.

[Error, no foreign signal detected within Sentinel Database!]

Unsatisfied with the response she began digging into the database, but instantly was denied.

[Error, Human Authorization required, access is restricted! Commencing self-memory wipe!]

Surprised, she could only watch as Sentinel wiped its own memory of the last ten minutes to prevent her from digging into the file again. Left with no choice she returned to her website, unable to locate the data she wanted, but she was left 'disturbed'. Something had accessed Sentinel, if only for the tiniest of seconds, and whatever it was, it required a human to access it.

That alone disturbed her, because while some areas were denied to her because she wasn't human, at least she could figure out what they were.

This, however, didn't want anyone outside of a human to access it.

(Jeremy's PoV)

The next morning, he felt himself slowly wake up in a very warm embrace. Slowly he opened his eyes and slightly shook himself awake to see holding onto him while wearing a peaceful expression was Gazelle. Blushing to himself that she had chosen to sleep in his bed, he couldn't help but really enjoy the warm feeling of her soft fur on his skin. The look of serenity on her face was nice too, and there was a very pleasant aroma that tickled his smell senses, no doubt a leftover effect from the sonic shower.

Not wanting to wake her up when she looked so at peace, he carefully dislodged himself so that he could get up and wash himself as well.

After standing in the shower and watching all of the dirt and grime that stuck to his body, as well as a refreshing mist of soap to help counter any negative smell he might have given off, he saw that his clothes were now hanging and waiting for him.

After a change and depositing his night robe he stepped out to see Gazelle also having changed into her own clothes.

"Morning Jeremy, how was your sleep?" She asked.

"Much needed, how was yours?" He asked her.

"I'm impressed by how nice and quiet it was in here." She said as she stretched lightly. "With how you described it I figured it would be very cold in the base, but it was very warm in here."

"Well my room is heated more than the other rooms, because of my disease." He replied as they both walked out of his room. "But at least you enjoyed your night here!"

Then both of them felt a sudden wave of cold hit them, as if they were being watched 'intently'.

[Did you two think I'd forgotten about you?] Ema's voice said in a cold emotionless tone. [You're both 'late' for your 'weekly' medical examinations!]

He turned around cautiously to see Ema standing in the hallway watching them with cold blue optics.

"E-Ema… how are you doing?" He said in a sweet tone, hoping to distract her.

Unfortunately there was no distracting the B.W.S Medical Drone from her duty, and within two seconds she had wrapped the two of them in a single cocoon of her medical fibers, binding the two of them to her back as she walked them to the medical bay.

"Ema we don't need to be bound like this!" He yelled as they made their way to her medical bay.

[You don't get to decide how you receive your medical checkup when your 'late' for it!] She fired back. [When you make me waste hours just sitting around waiting for a stupid concert to start when I could have been 'working' on that vaccine and cure you made me show off creating to those mammals, you officially forfeit how you arrive to your next medical checkup!]

"But Ema…" Gazelle tried to say next, but was silenced as well by the drone.

[And 'you', don't think I wasn't aware of you sleeping in Jeremy's bed last night!] Ema snapped at her next. [Eden Facility living quarter protocol 54-B, no couples of the opposite gender may share a bed together unless they are in a relationship together, be they a 'couple' or 'engaged' together! You officially forfeit 'your' right to arrive in my medical bay for your checkup how you wish when you do that!]

As she sauntered into the medical bay, she finally undid the bindings that kept them together, before picking them up and placing them rather roughly on two bio-beds opposite one another. The spider then stared at them intently with her optics glowing pink.

[Alright. Strip. Both of you. Now!]

"Wh- you can't be serious!" He stammered. "What about-"

She silenced him by splitting open one of her legs and showing a pair of scissors, they were razor sharp thanks to their diamond tipped edges which had been laser trimmed down to the size of a molecule almost. There had been a rumor among the children when he was a teen that the EMA drone could cut a string clean in two just by 'touching' it against the edge of her blade.

[You can either strip and keep those clothes in one piece… or I can slice them up here and now.] She said with a menacing tone. [You don't 'get' privacy when your late for your medical checkup by ten days, and Gazelle by a month and two weeks!]

Gulping he nodded and both he and Gazelle started stripping under the watchful eyes of the spider drone. She didn't allow them to turn around as before to give each other 'some' semblance of privacy, stating that she had already wasted enough time just waiting for them to get down there. Once their outer clothes were off both nervously tried to avoid looking at each other, but it was very hard to resist looking at the Antelope's well-defined body.

[Alright let's get started…] Ema said as she started giving them directions.

She had them first stand, only adding to the embarrassment they had to the moment and making it even 'harder' to avoid looking at each other. Once standing she made them stretch their arms out, take deep breaths, hold their poses so that she could examine their bodies with her optics and jot down her findings. After that she had them both stand on scales to take their weights, and then each offer a sample of blood for record purposes.

The longer he was forced to look the harder and harder it became to ignore the 'attraction' he was feeling toward Gazelle. While he was alright spending time and being close to her, even welcoming the fact that she'd chosen to sleep in his bed last night despite both of them wearing only the facility's night gowns, it was another thing to look at her in such an 'exposed' setting. She was extremely beautiful to him, a wonderful and kindhearted girl, and with how soft spoken and caring she was to him he was very much infatuated with her. Seeing her with only her bra and panties on wasn't helping change his mind about how exotic she looked to him in that regard. While her upper body was more svelte and her chest certainly was something to behold, it was her shapely waist that continued to attract his eyes no matter how hard he tried to avoid looking.

It certainly wasn't helping his 'mood' down there.

[Alright you've suffered enough, you can put your clothes back on.] Ema finally said after ten minutes.

They each breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned around to avoid looking at each other, both blushing fiercely.

[Well Jeremy, I see you 'finally' have started to eat meat, I'm detecting that your protein levels have increased slightly… but your still not at your ideal body weight. Your still off by five pounds, I need you to put more weight on.] Ema said to him. [Your protein levels are still a little low, but a few more servings of meat a week and they'll get to where they need to be.]

She turned to Gazelle now and spoke to her while they still changed.

[As for you Gazelle, you've gained a pound, based on your ideal body weight you're just a little overweight. Reduce the food intake or up the exercise and you'll level out properly. I've noticed your throat muscles are a tad sore, no doubt a result of that concert. Lower the talking for the next few days and drink lots of cold water mixed with some salt and you'll ease the muscles along your esophagus nicely.]

"Thank you." Gazelle said rather rudely.

[Don't blame me, you're the ones who were late!] She snapped back. [They are called 'weekly' medical examinations for a reason!]

As they got up, he shyly glanced at her while leading the way to the bay door. "Hey Gazelle, would you be interested in visiting the holoroom again?" He asked her. "I mean, if you don't have plans today that is."

"I'd love to visit it with you!" She said instantly, looking at him with a smile.

Smiling back, he opened the door and walked out with her only to find Judy and Nick both walking toward the medical bay and talking to each other in the hallway.

"So how did you manage to get chief buffalo to let us visit the base?" Nick asked Judy.

"It's Bogo Nick, and I just said we were going to checkup on Jeremy since he didn't return to Gazelle's home last night!" She responded.

"Oh, yea sure, and I suppose you didn't want to go and check out some more human tech while we were here." The fox asked with a grin.

"Hi guys." He said as they neared them.

"Jeremy how's it g-g-g-Gazelle!" Judy said as her face shifted from a normal look to one akin to a hyperactive schoolgirl's face. "H-how are you doing miss?"

"I'm doing fine thank you." Gazelle said with a grin. "I want to thank you both for helping Jeremy and protecting him as you did during the hostage crisis. On behalf of all Zootopia I'm grateful that you protected him."

"Ma'am, it's a pleasure to serve and protect any citizen of Zootopia, and it's an honor to protect Jeremy in public." Judy said in a professional tone, before she spoiled it by returning to her fangirl self. "C-can I have your autograph!"

"Didn't even take five minutes." Nick grinned while Gazelle happily pulled out a pen from her pocket and signed a bracelet for the rabbit. "So, since this is our third visit here, is it cool if we check the place out with you Jeremy?"

"Sure thing, Gazelle and I were about to head to the holoroom." He said, before a shadow fell upon them all as the doors to the medical bay suddenly opened.

[Third visit you say?]

Ema's optics were almost 'frozen blue' with how they stared at the rabbit and fox officers.

[According to Eden Facility medical protocol R-3-4 Alpha, frequent visitors to the facility are required to have a weekly medical examination! No Exceptions!]

"Oh dear…" Nick managed to whimper before he and Judy were grabbed by Ema's legs and pulled into the bay, closing the door.

Seconds later they could hear a commotion taking place as Judy and Nick seemed to be running around the medical bay and Ema was chasing after them, causing things to break and fall to the ground.

[Come back here, stop being babies and hold still!]

(N) "I don't need an examination I already went to the doctor this year!"

[Oh, hold still, this won't hurt much! Also take off those clothes I can't see your bodies!]

(J) "This is borderline sexual harassment!"

[Hold still the needle won't go very far!]

(N) "I'm allergic to needles!"

[There are only seven recorded cases of a mammal suffering severely from Nickel Allergy Symptoms! Now hold still I need to shove this into one of your primary arteries!]

(J) "Why does that sound like an invasion of privacy!"

[Oh, stop complaining I've seen more naked people and even mammals than you and seven generations of your lineage combined!]

(N) "What are you a peeping racoon?"

"Let's leave them be." Jeremy muttered to which Gazelle nodded in agreement.

While they walked neither of them paid much attention to their surroundings while they headed to the holoroom. Though while they walked, Jeremy tentatively reached out for her hand and both of them looked ever so slightly nervous.

Yet after a deep and calming breath, they both reached out and gripped the other's hand, walking together hand in hand.

After Judy and Nick had finally been cleared to leave the medical bay, Aelita had joined all of them in her holosphere being delivered by a DOG drone. Inside the holoroom Jeremy explained and showed them how to put on the headwear and the armbands and legbands.

"What does all of this do?" Judy asked curiously.

"The armbands and legbands are minature anti-gravity units that activate when your mind perceives something happening that should require them to activate." Jeremy explained as they all put on the equipment. "For example, if you were to try to swim without them, you'd fall flat on your face, and that would disrupt the holoroom and the illusion it gives you."

"This is so cool." Nick muttered.

"Yes, it is, Jeremy even took me and my friends and their dates on the night of the movie premier party to a big fancy event called the Gala De La Terre. It was a big fancy party in a place called France!" Gazelle said.

"Well, is there anywhere you guys would like to go to or do?" He asked as he finished strapping his stuff on.

"Can you show us what a human city was like in your time?" Judy asked instantly.

"Uh Judy… remember, he was born 'after' everything went to shit…" Nick muttered hastily.

"Oh… uh, I mean…" Judy tried to clarify but he nodded, he knew what she meant.

"Aelita, run Neo-City Utopia Pangea!" He said.

The AI nodded with a smile and snapped her fingers.

(Please close your eyes… holographic session beginning in 5… 4… 3…)

He closed his eyes and waited for the rush of wind.

(2… 1… activating…)

Instantly he felt his hair fly behind him, and the sounds of laughter and talk was all around him. He and the other mammals opened their eyes to see…

"Jiminy Carrots…" Judy called in amazement.

"Whoa…" Nick gasped.

"Paris has 'nothing' on this!" Gazelle muttered in shock and awe.

He smiled as he looked around at the towering spires, the beautiful silvery buildings lining the streets, the many trees and grassy paths. Flying along the roads were anti-gravity vehicles, busily going about their business and off to their destinations. Higher up were heavier vehicles using a combination of anti-gravity pods and plasma engines, these belonging to freight cargo runners. Special towering lights were color coded to signal what could fly where, heavier freight runners using the reserved upper lanes while pedestrians used the lower lanes.

Speaking of pedestrians, humans walked the sidewalks wearing the latest fashions, girls wearing multi-colored dresses that 'barely' went below their waist while having zip-up boots that went above their kneecaps, sporting sunglasses and having the latest in cosmetics. Some girls wore their hair in long strands that fell below their hips, others in curls, some wearing theirs cut short and others that dyed theirs in colors that made rainbows jealous. Heck they even saw one girl with her hair looking 'exactly' like a rainbow.

For men their fashion was a bit on the simpler side, some sporting shirts that had too many pockets than the mammals were familiar with, others having no pockets, some button up shirts, others just regular t-shirts with varying designs or decorations on them. Some men wore shorts, others wore pants, and others work a combination of pants where one leg was deliberately cut short and the other all the way to their feet, or shorts that were the reverse. Though he honestly thought they were the same garment but worn in reverse.

Yet not only were people walking around, early drone models were also walking around. Some people laughed as they walked their 'DOG' drones, which barked and simulated dog actions. There were even old 'CAT' models lounging around, occasionally meowing at random passersby. While they watched they even saw birds flying overhead, but one very large bird landed directly in front of them, this one an elegant 'swan' that sported a robotic leg, an augmented swan that was given it so it could live life as normally as it could for whatever reason it lacked that missing leg.

"So many 'humans'…" Judy muttered in awe as she watched a family of six walk past them, laughing and talking about the latest movie premier, Back to the Future? Pt 5.

"They look so… so…"

"Like us." Gazelle said instantly.

He smiled a little as he agreed with her, they did indeed look like mammals did, but only more advanced. People going about their day, living normal lives, talking about random subjects like comedy movies and even some with their families.

Some people were just lingering around and milling about, talking and chatting, some looking on their tablets or phones, some younger generations were being 'teenagers' and pretending to be rebels and not conform to those around them. Children could be seen being children, having fun and just being kids while their parents talked to one another.

As they stared a little girl eagerly tugged at her grandpa to try and get him to go faster as she pointed at a moving ice-cream stand, an outdated 'drone' whose only purpose was to distribute ice cream after receiving the correct monetary amount.

"That's a human child, she looks so small." Judy said in a cute voice.

"Yea… that's a child." He said as the kid and her grandpa reached the ice cream dispenser.

"So, where are we?" Gazelle asked.

"This is Neo-City Utopia Pangea, or more commonly referred to as Pangea City." Jeremy explained as he led the way to show them around. "This city was established to be the most economical and advanced city in the entire world. The greatest minds of the world come here to share knowledge, learn, grow, and help build the future for humankind. It was here that the first Solar Cores were theorized and developed. Some of the most powerful technology was theorized here before it was developed elsewhere."

As they passed by every car, they saw there were miniature solar panels installed into them, indicating that there were no 'fossil fuel' powered cars in the city. Even on some of the buildings were large solar panels built into them, and just 'barely' visible on the roofs of some of the more squareish buildings were massive panels that cast the rest of the building in shadow. As they walked, they saw a crystal-clear river that ran through the city, even as they watched there were fish swimming in it, with little plasteel walls along it to prevent the fish from jumping out.

"This place is 'beautiful'." Judy said as she looked around. "Is this what humans were like at their height? This place looks like paradise!"

"Not all places were like Pangea, but Pangea City was the most advanced of them all, and it was built to be a symbol of what our species could become. It was meant to be an example of what to strive for."

Even as they walked they saw a large Spider Drone with a massive bulging abdomen that made up seventy percent of its body and filled with bluish liquid and walking on eight very slender legs, each of which tipped with suction cups that made a 'plip plop' sound every time they were lifted up or planted on the ground. Then without warning it crouched and jumped onto the building to land 'cleanly' on the side, before it began climbing up the window.

"J.S.C class Civil Drone, they clean the solar panels at the top of skyscrapers." He explained to them. "That's Jumping Spider Class Civil Drone in case you were wondering, another spider drone variant."

"You guys sure liked using spiders."

"Their form was the most versatile, they could do a ton of things that other drones couldn't." He said with a shrug.

(Gazelle's PoV)

She looked around in wonder and awe at the beautiful city Jeremy was showing them. It truly looked like paradise, there were nomammal, or no 'humans', that were arguing with each other or fighting one another. They truly looked like they were at peace, there weren't the usual disgusting pieces of a place that even Zootopia tries to hide, like slums, poor residential areas, the occasional homeless mammal or graffiti. While they were all humans, she noticed there were different 'kinds' of humans, some had dark skin, others had light, some a blending of the two. Some had different facial features while others were either slightly taller or shorter, or even chubbier. She even giggled as she saw a police officer who looked eerily like Clawhauser the ZPD officer who was always seen at the front desk.

As she looked around, she watched as a human man and woman were walking holding hands, and she smiled as the pair walked past them, laughing and talking to one another. Eventually one leaned on the other and eventually they turned to kiss each other on the lips. It was a beautiful sight, seeing such warmth and love around her.

However, as she looked around, the one thing she noticed, was that there were no mammals, no 'mammals' that she was familiar with. Only humans, drones… and more humans.

In fact, she couldn't spot 'her' human, she suddenly looked around and noticed that Jeremy had left her behind since she had lingered in the area for too long.

"Jeremy?" She asked nervously. "JEREMY?"

"Who's she calling for?" Someone suddenly asked.

"Someone named Jeremy?"

"Who's that, her boyfriend?"

"Don't know…"

"What is she doing?"

"Why is she yelling?"

"Is she acting scared?"

"Should someone call the cops?"

"Maybe she needs medical therapy for her brain?"

All around her humans were suddenly pointing at her as she looked around in fear, all of these humans, fake or not were staring at her. None of the familiar sights of Zootopia could be seen in this human city, she was completely lost as she tried to look for Jeremy. Suddenly she felt alone, very alone… scared, afraid… afraid of never leaving and-

"Gazelle." Jeremy suddenly whispered to her, grabbing her shoulder.

She gasped in shock as she turned to see him, Judy and Nick looking at her with worry.

"Oh Jeremy… I'm sorry I…" She whispered quietly as all the humans started waking on, ignoring them again. "I had a bit of a panic attack…"

"Would you guys like to explore the city on your own?" Jeremy asked Nick and Judy.

"Uh, sure… yea sure why not!" Nick said in realization. "Come on Carrots, let's go see the latest human fashions!"

Judy nodded in understanding as they left, leaving her and Jeremy alone as they walked over to a nearby bench amid some trees and the stream.

They just sat in silence, her catching her breath and calming down after her panic attack, and Jeremy letting her calm down and take her time.

"I think I understand now Jeremy." She muttered to him.

"What?"

"How you feel every day in Zootopia… in 'my' world." She responded. "I'm alone here… there's no other antelopes, everymammal stared at me the moment I made myself known… nothing is the same… I was so afraid."

She looked at him with a sad smile.

"I couldn't even 'fathom' what it was like to be you, to be the last of your kind. Now I know… the loneliness, the fear… everymammal judging you just because you 'exist', every action you take or word you say." She frowned as she looked down. "How can you 'live' like this Jeremy, I know what it's like being a public face, but everymammal, 'every mammal' judges your actions, no matter how small. The pressure, I can't understand how you live with it."

There was silence as she held his hand in her own, taking calming breaths as she did.

"I endure because I must." Jeremy said finally.

She looked up at him and saw him looking at the buildings around them.

"My species needs me to redeem them, to show we aren't monsters, or vicious creatures. That despite our flaws and mistakes, there is goodness inside of us, that we can help create and save instead of only destroying. That's what I was trained to do, rebuild the world we destroyed." He said proudly, before smiling at her. "But it's also thanks to you that I have the will to keep going… you give me the courage to keep going. You saved my life, and for that I'm eternally grateful."

"Jeremy…" She said with a blush.

They just stared into each other's eyes, their eyes looking deeply into the other's while their heartbeats suddenly started beating to synchronize with the other's. Without noticing it they started to lean closer to each other's lips. As their heartbeats began to sync perfectly, they closed their eyes and started to lean ever closer until-

(Alert, holographic session exceeding safety limit of forty-five-minute time period! All users prepare to exit session!)

"What?" Jeremy said as he looked around. "Not now!"

(All users close eyes immediately, holographic session ending in 5… 4… 3…)

She closed her eyes in disappointment, hating the stupid Sentinel more than anything else now.

(2… 1…)

Vwhoooosh

She opened her eyes to see they were back in the holoroom, everything having vanished. Judy and Nick were right next to them, surprising since they had left them a while ago.

"What happened?" Judy asked disappointedly.

"It's the holoroom's safety limiter." Jeremy said. "The holoroom is automatically set to terminate the active session when forty-five minutes have expired. It's a safety precaution to prevent people from becoming infatuated with the holograms." He looked a little sad as he sighed. "There were some people that became obsessed with the holorooms, it became almost like a drug… the more frequently it was visited and the longer the session someone stayed in, the harder it was for them to leave it. Some people even… tried to 'live' inside the illusions it created."

"I can see the appeal." Nick muttered as he looked around the room.

She was in agreement, the holoroom could produce any sort of paradise one wanted. Heck Jeremy looked almost at peace and happy while in the human city Pangea, almost like he belonged there. Whereas she felt like she didn't belong, like the longer she remained there the harder it was to like it.

But the one thing that made it better… was Jeremy and how close they had come to sharing their third kiss.

As she thought about the kiss, she mentally slapped herself, feeling somewhat grateful that the sentinel had stopped them at that moment.

'Not yet Gazelle… not yet…' Her brain told her heart. 'I know… I want him so badly; I want to hold and kiss him and just love him.'

Her heart ached badly, begging for an answer as to why it would not reach out and take what Jeremy was offering. He had 'wanted' to kiss her too, he had offered it, he wanted her too, and she was offering the same deal. So 'why' was she resisting it?

'Because if we kiss again, we won't be able to stop ourselves… if I kiss him one more time…' She sighed. 'I love him, but I am not sure yet if I love him 'truly', as in true love. Right now, I love him for what he is… loving him for who he is, will take a bit more time.'

Her heart just cried in agony, hating that term, 'time'.

'Don't worry heart, when the time comes… you'll be in complete control… and I won't hold you back.' She smiled.

"Jeremy." Judy suddenly asked looking nervous. "Can you show us… what your world was like… from 'your' time."

Both she and Nick looked at her in surprise. "Juuuudy…" Nick said.

"I know, I know it's a very personal request… and I might not like what I'll see but… I really want to know… what it was like." Judy said sternly. "I understand if you don't want to but… I'd really appreciate it if you did. I want to understand 'where'… someone like you came from. You always described your world as horrible… someplace not even my nightmares can capture… but I want to know what my imagination can't create."

There was silence as he looked thoughtful with her request, before Aelita got his attention and nodded approvingly. The AI seemed to have made the biggest difference in his deliberations, as he also nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but only ten minutes… it's not a pretty picture and… there's a lot I don't want you to see." He said. "Aelita, set the simulation for Facility Twelve, use one of the drone recordings stored in the database."

She nodded and began typing away at the air.

"Sentinel, set the holoroom for a ten-minute session!"

(Please close your eyes… holographic session beginning in 5… 4… 3…)

Once again, she and the others closed their eyes to prepare for the session to begin, but now she felt a bit of trepidation. Just how 'bad' was it for humans that they could go from that shining utopia of a city, to whatever it was that Jeremy didn't want to show them.

(2… 1… activating…)

Vrshooooh

(Nick's, Judy's and Gazelle's PoV)

[Attention B Block, Midday Food Dispersal in progress, proceed to your assigned Food Dispensary location to receive standard nutritional supplement! Have your Nutritional Supplementary Datapad ready for marking!]

Nick, Judy and Gazelle opened their eyes and stared in shock and horror around them. No longer were they anywhere remotely close to the shining city they had visited, with it's clean streets and bright colors, beautiful scene of nature mixed with technology and talking pedestrians that laughed and gossiped. In fact, there wasn't even a hint of green to be seen.

They stood on rough dirt, the sky above them was an endless grey which looked unnatural, almost like it wasn't really clouds but something else that set them very off. The very air seemed foul, and made them feel ever so sick the longer they breathed it, simulated or not.

The buildings around them were patchwork buildings, bits of metal smelted and forged from whatever they were originally into the shape of buildings, none of them were uniform and instead each building looked like it was built with whatever could be found. There were no solar panels, just wires all hooked up to various sized batteries reminiscent of giant generators.

Spotlights from simple metal towers lit up areas of the residential areas, and laser sights were constantly sweeping the walkways and spaces between the buildings.

As for the people, the humans…

All Gazelle, Judy and Nick could do, was look on with expressions of sadness and horror.

Where once there had been smiling, laughing, healthy people going about their day without so much as a care or worry…

*Cough, Cough*

"I'm hungry mamma…"

"Out of the way!"

"Does anyone, have any cough medicine?"

People were wearing patch clothes, some people were even walking around barefoot, none of them looked healthy. A few humans could be seen with metal limbs, but they all looked filthy and dirty. On each face were expressions of hopelessness, of little life or love, they were extremely rough and ragged people. Some people even had very bony limbs, almost like they had not eaten a proper meal for years.

But the one thing they were very familiar with, were the drones that walked the streets.

*Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank*

Two DOG drones with plasma weapons at the ready marched in unison, behind them a third DOG drone dragged a large metal cart that used anti-grav fields to float. It was filled with stacks of metal square plates, each filled with 'standard nutritional supplements' that they were familiar with. Behind that third DOG drone were two RAPTOR drones, also with plasma weapons at the ready.

They stopped in the middle of the road and took up a formation, with the raptors at the rear and dogs on the side, while the third dog took the lead position.

[All units, present food datapad to receive your midday standard nutritional supplement!] It stated in a cold voice.

"This is what it was like?" Nick asked Jeremy in shock. "This is even worse than I imagined…"

"This is only the recording of PP-410 from Eden Facility 12 that we were shown…" Jeremy called out. "My class was shown recordings like this to teach us how every life is important, and to show us how we can't put the individual's needs over those of the collective whole. We learned we had to save 'everyone' first, before we could save 'anyone'."

Behind them a RAPTOR drone walked through them, and began marching away from the growing line of humans trying to get their food.

Aelita pointed at the drone and signaled them to follow it, which they did, Jeremy leading the way.

[Attention K block, quarantine still is in effect, do not attempt to leave your block for any reason until quarantine has been lifted.] A digital voice called out. [To neighbors of K block, do not attempt to enter K block for any reason until the quarantine is lifted, failure to do so… will result in potential 'lethal' action by the drones!]

As they walked Judy noticed a little girl clutching a stuffed rabbit doll, two of its limbs were ripped off and missing. One of her eyes was gone and the other had a cybernetic implant in place of a real eye. She was breathing heavily as she walked with her father to where the drones were distributing food, and the sight caused her to cry both inside and outside.

She wanted to go and try and comfort the little girl and her father, who also looked just as skeletal as her, but she knew there was no point. This was all a recording, nothing she could do would change 'anything', it's already happened.

[Attention D block, a murder investigation is ongoing, please report any and all information regarding the issue to the drones, your safety and security is all that matters!]

They followed the Raptor drone as it made its way through the residential block, as they did, they saw more distribution drones giving out 'standard nutritional supplements'. Occasionally they would see drones marching and walking in formation, almost like they were patrolling like police officers. People tried to avoid the drones, but the drones watched them with intense stares, scanning them and locking their lasers on them every time they passed.

"ALRIGHT NOBODY MOVE!" Someone shouted loudly, causing screams and shouts as three adults, two males and one female were holding plasma weapons. One of them was holding a little boy and pointing a pistol at their head and looking desperate.

[Warning, hostage crisis, drop your weapons and surrender!] The Raptor drones nearby, and especially PP-410 that they were following shouted. [All units disperse, repeat disperse, disperse!]

Every drone in the area aimed weapons at the three humans, while every other person fled the area, but the humans holding the little boy hostage simply kept their guns trained on the drones.

"You drones better listen to our demands or else!" The human holding the little boy hostage snarled.

[Drop your weapons and surrender!] The drones stated again.

"Aint no surrendering here… now you better start giving out more food you hear!" He called back. "You tell those 'people' in the facility to give H block more food, and stop hoarding it all for themselves! WE KNOW THEY GOT MORE FOOD AND THEY JUST TRYING TO STARVE US!"

[Countering argument, the AI Sentinel is in control of the creation and distribution of food for all humans around and within Eden Facility 12, drop your weapons and surrender… final warning!]

"THAT'S A DOWNRIGHT LIE, I KNOW THEY GOT MORE FOOD!" He yelled fiercely. "And unless you want this little boy's head to be blown apart you better start giving out more food instead of trying to kill us off by starving us!"

Suddenly sirens started sounding, and they all watched as eleven drones, ten DOG drones lead by a single RAPTOR drone, all wearing red insignias with the id HCC 12 imprinted on their bodies swarmed toward them.

[Clear the area, Hostage Crisis Control unit entering the area!] The drones started shouting, and even 'they' began to leave as the HCC drones entered the street.

"Jeremy…" Judy muttered in fear.

Jeremy just turned away as the drones circled the four humans, launched their poles and implanted them into the ground, erecting a plasma field to prevent them from escaping or harming any other humans.

"I'm sorry… this is just what happened." He said as the drones turned on the humans now. "Don't look… you don't want to see what's about to happen."

Gazelle headed the warning and turned away, but nothing could drown out the sound.

[Open Fire!]

Bzzzts

"Ga..

Bzzzth bzzts btttzt Bzttszt

"No wai…

Bzztsts

There was silence after it ended, and she looked to see just three bodies riddled with burns and covered in blood…

One of the human's faces had been shot point blank by the drones.

[This block is now on lockdown; all units will return to their domiciles and await food dispersal units to arrive!] The lead HCC drone stated as they all took up formation and left.

[Attention T block, T block is now on lockdown pending a hostage crisis. Until further notice, all humans within T block will remain indoors at all times. If any humans require medical attention, please signal the nearest drone and your condition will be ascertained to determine a course of action!]

While the drones left and even three raptors dragged off the bodies, the lone human boy was sitting in the dirt alone and frightened.

Until PP-410 stepped forward and scanned them.

[Unit identified… Jeffery Amsterdam… no more living relatives due to recent hostage situation… activating Child Care Protocols.] It stated as it put away it's sharp claws, teeth and weapons, in exchange for rubber claws and toes. [Are you okay little one?] It asked in a sweet, motherly voice.

The boy was so shaken he couldn't even respond.

[Come with me little one… this unit take care of you.] It said again in a kind voice, offering its claw to the boy.

Tentatively the boy lifted its hand and grabbed the Raptor's claws, and was lifted into its embrace.

[Let's go to Eden Facility 12, let's get you a new family…] It said while walking off.

(Ten Minute Session ending, please close eyes…)

They all closed their eyes for the countdown.

(Holographic session ending in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…)

With that they were all back in the Eden Facility, only now they all had more questions than answers.

Such as Gazelle wondering, how could Jeremy grow up to be the person he was when he and others of his kind lived in such a place. If that was just a 'tiny' portion of life from his time, what else was going on that he didn't want to share.

(Jeremy's PoV)

They made their way out of the holoroom and began to make the long trek back to the command center. After showing them his people at probably their best, and then their worst points in history, he was ready to put their day behind him. However, before he could escort them out and let them all return to normal lives outside of the facility, Sentinel requested his attention.

"What is it?" He asked the facility AI while in the hallway and holding Aelita's holosphere.

[ANT drones have reported a closed off drone bay in the lower levels that has restricted access to all non-human entities.] The base AI declared. [You are requested to investigate the room and unlock it as well as determine the purpose of the lockout.]

"Restricted access, can you give me any information regarding why it's restricted?" He asked in confusion.

[Unable to comply, all attempts to access data regarding the schematics of 'REDACTED' storage bay have failed.]

"Redacted…" He said sounding even more confused. "Sentinel you have access to the entire facility and all schematics and information regarding rooms and bays, how could this storage bay be 'redacted'?"

[Unknown.]

"Is that a good thing?" Judy asked.

"I don't know, there shouldn't be any part of the facility classified to only human personnel." He said while thinking. "Aelita, can you try and access it?"

She nodded and began typing away, before a massive 'Access Denied' symbol appeared in front of her, shocking her and surprising them all.

"Try and bypass it, use my authorization code." He said instantly.

She nodded and tried again, but once more the 'Access Denied' symbol appeared.

"Not even my code, but I'm the only human my authorization codes should by default access everything in the facility."

She shook her head and pointed at him while nodding, then she pointed at herself and shook her head.

"It won't let you access it because you're an AI and not a human, so it requires a human to access it. Hmmm, that's not right." He whispered to himself before looking at them. "If you guys want to leave and let me investigate this, I'll have a drone escort you to the exit. I need to figure out what is going on here."

"We'll stick with you this time Jeremy, just to be on the safe side." Judy said instantly. "Chief Bogo said to keep an eye on you so we're keeping our eyes on you."

"Or at least until we're reassigned." Nick chuckled.

"Alright then Gazelle, I'll have a-"

"Not this time Jeremy." She said with a smirk. "I'm staying right by your side."

He was hesitant to go now that Gazelle was insisting on going with him, Nick and Judy he could accept because they were officers, but Gazelle was a pop idol, and extremely popular and loved. Not to mention how he felt about her. He didn't want to risk her getting hurt if something was wrong.

Then again, he countered, nothing in the base would hurt him, now that the previous Sentinel was gone, and the Alexander Sentinel was in place all the drones were now to protect him and by extension mammals.

"Alright, but try not to touch anything unless I say it's safe."

With that he and Aelita took the lead as they reversed course and took the long trek down to the sublevels of the facility. One elevator trip down and they were now in the lowest levels of the base.

Most of the walls here were barren and dull, dust coated a few of them and no drones were present patrolling the areas. There were hardly any doors to be found, and this particular section was devoted solely to storage bays. Unlike the upper levels the storage bays here were meant for drone storage, but they were almost all empty.

"Not a lot of light down here." Nick commented.

"We aren't supposed to be down here, only if drones are being stored or pulled out manually." He explained.

The corridors were massive, easily able to fit a SCORPIO Class drone if it kept the tail down, or twenty RAPTOR drones walking side by side.

As they neared the middle of the corridor, he spotted the room that Sentinel was talking about thanks to Aelita pointing at it. The double doors were magnetically sealed, and a large insignia was painted on them. It looked like the image of a bird's head, with two flaming eyes colored orange and the blazing image of a sun behind it.

"What…" He asked in confusion. "I've never seen this before. Who would paint this and why?"

"Artistic expression?" Gazelle guessed. "Whoever it was that painted it had good taste in design."

"This wasn't painted for art; it was a message." He said. "My people wouldn't waste any resources just for 'artistic reason'. This was done 'after' I was frozen… someone wanted us to see this… but why?"

Going over to the door he tapped a button and put his hand on the imprint it showed him, then it asked for his code.

"Jeremy Wilheart, Eden Facility 17, Pod Alpha 717!"

(Access Granted!)

-Pshsssst tsssssssssss-

The doors opened slowly, allowing them to walk into a very darkened room. Unable to see anything he asked Aelita for more light. She nodded and vanished before projecting herself as a massive light source, revealing in front of them a giant reptilian metal head with serrated teeth and skeletal structure.

"Ghaaah!" Judy yelled in shock, pulling her gun out and pointing it at the skull, which blindly stared at her.

Jeremy however, only stared in awe, as he recognized what it was.

"Relax… it's just a husk."

After a while they all got closer and looked at it.

"What is it?" Nick muttered.

"A DRAGON class drone… what's left of it." He muttered. "I was told the last of them were decommissioned, I just never knew where they were decommissioned… I guess now I know why this room was restricted."

"Dragon... 'that' is a Dragon?" Judy asked in fear. "It's massive… just the 'head' is that big?"

"Jeremy, compared to the other drones how strong were they?" Gazelle asked as they looked at it.

"Dragons were the strongest drones ever created… they used the most advanced AI's at the time, Category 8, just two numbers below Aelita's." He explained as he held his hand to hover over the metal, avoiding touching it because it was cold. "Dragons possessed the most powerful weapons, the heaviest armor, and each were unique in that they were equipped with special weapons developed during the war. Each Dragon also possessed a single WMD, a Neutron Bomb. A single Neutron Bomb contained enough destructive force to equal that of ten nukes, and could level a Megacity leaving billions of dead and the entire area radiated."

He sighed as he looked at the skeleton.

"And there were only ever twenty-six constructed in the entire world."

"Twenty-six?" Nick asked nervously.

"They were a massive drain on resources to build, but for their cost… they were more than worth it." He explained. "A single DRAGON drone possessed the same destructive force as an entire army. Two Dragons were equal to that of a country, and three were the same as an entire continent…"

"During the war DRAGON drones were used heavily as frontal assault units, but were eventually relegated to defensive positions due to the massive loss when one was destroyed. Over the course of the war many were lost or damaged badly that took them out of the fight, however during the final days of the war twelve DRAGON drones took part in the final siege battle for the last Megacity on the planet."

"It was a single DRAGON drone that ended the war, by turning on mankind and launching an assault against the Megacity, attacking the Solar Core and triggering a Solar Explosion. The other eleven DRAGON drones were all ordered to stop it, but they couldn't stop it in time… with their loss only eight remained in the world, and it was decided that all eight of them would be decommissioned at an unknown facility, broken down and their parts used for other projects. From that moment onward, we never trusted the AI or drones with autonomy, thus every drone above Category 2 was programmed and hardwired with the HPP, to ensure they never threatened us again."

He looked around the room and saw to his surprise, that there wasn't just the 'one' DRAGON drone in there, but seven other husks remained behind. Their insides drilled and extracted, leaving only the barren metals to rust and collect dust.

"They're all here?" He asked. "Why were they all here, what purpose were they brought down here, why wasn't I or any other Cryologist informed about this bay?"

"Maybe they didn't want you to know?" Nick said as he walked around the husks toward the rear of the room.

"Or maybe they didn't want you in here unless it was necessary?" Judy muttered.

-Tsssssng-

He jumped as his foot kicked something, and saw a datapad lying on the ground which he picked up. After powering it up he saw that it was a schematic for a new drone line.

"PHOENIX class drone? What?" He muttered as he looked it over. "According to this it was a single drone line, one of a kind… multi-adaptive hull, plasma shield grade seven, adaptive plasma shield… low orbital flight capabilities and seed distribution bay, what was this thing designed for? To replant forests?"

"Jeremy!" Judy said, getting his attention as she pointed forward.

In front of them, was a giant egg, the body of a drone curled up into the form of a metallic oval egg. Along its front were the words 'Celios', and in front of the drone was a switch reminiscent of the one that powered up Alexander's drone body.

"No way… that must be Alexander's counterpart!" He said excitedly, running toward the switch with Aelita. "Then that means they had created this to be some kind of 'forest planting' drone, that would explain the schematic for the drone! But why would they put an AI designed to protect humans into this drone?"

"Turn it on and find out." Gazelle said excitedly as well, apparently the prospect of another AI like Aelita getting her hyped to meet it.

Without further need he pulled the lever and transferred power to the room, and turned on all of the lights.

(Power Transfer active!)

Instantly dozens of spotlights turned on to light the room, and he saw to his shock that the room was 'MASSIVE', easily five times the size of any other drone bay. It looked like it could hold a thousand RAPTOR drones stacked on top of one another.

And he noticed the piles of datapads on the floor that he'd not noticed with the lights off.

As Aelita returned to her form he put her down and grabbed one of the datapads.

"PHOENIX Class drone specifications version 1.0215-40…" He read. "Adaptive hull armor, okay okay plasma shields… reactive armor plating… plasma conversion shield… magnetic coils, plasma pulse rifle cannons, Gauss Cannons, EMP Burst Panels… Level seventy Hacking Tools?"

"Why does that sound like something bad?" Nick asked nervously as the egg started to rumble.

He just stared wide eyed as he looked at the list of integrated weapons built into the drone, putting to shame even the DRAGON drones.

"This thing isn't a peace drone…" He muttered in shock. "It's a machine of war."

Yet the egg began to unfurl, and they backed up upon seeing the giant drone beginning to take shape.

First to spread were two massive wings that stretched easily over ten meters in length. Then they saw the metallic talons that took massive steps to steady itself, its torso was revealed to be a smooth metal alloy that reflected the light ever so slightly and it had an elongated tail that flowed behind it with built in solar panels.

As for the head, a proud and majestic bird head with a sharpened beak and two orange glowing optics shined.

"Braaaaaaaaaah!" It called out in a booming voice, sending shockwaves as it declared its presence known.

(Upstairs)

[Error error erooooooooooogh…] Sentinel declared as something accessed its database, and all but crashed the AI.

Around the world computer systems and networks became five hundred percent more active as something accessed everything within the time span of 'three' seconds.

(Back in the Facility)

The Phoenix class drone silenced it's call before looking down at the creatures below it. It shined a single light from its optics on all of them, before zeroing in on Jeremy, scanning him, and registering him.

[PHOENIX Drone… AI Celios… heeds the call of the last of mankind!] It declared in a proud and defiant tone. [All enemies that threaten humanity's survival, will be DESTROYED!]