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?

32. Drone Chapter 5

Where can I bury all of my suffering… Casualties of poison and pride…

Where is the line between losing everything… And giving it all to say that you've tried…

When I dared to dream of something greater… I flew away into the sky…

Nothing's going to fill the space between you and I… And I felt the world grow so much colder…

As we drifted away over time… living in the past, in our apocalypse state of mind…

Sable and the Humbling River = Epilogue

(Sable's PoV)

He slowly walked toward the front door of Gazelle's home, knowing that he wasn't going to be welcomed and knowing that he deserved what they would say to him. But he knew that he 'had' to confront them, and make amends for his past mistakes. He had to in order to do what he was trying to do. This was the first time he ever actually went to Gazelle's home, her home not being as 'impressive' as what he had, or used to have as he was now selling his home to raise money to start up his movie studio and to help publish his own book, at the same time he was going to take out some loans to help pay for everything.

'How things have changed…' He thought to himself as he reached her front door and rang the bell.

It was several minutes until he heard the door unlock and saw Gazelle open it to greet him with a warm expression, which quickly changed to a look of distrust. "Hello Sable, what brings you here?" She asked, but with an uncharacteristic tone of 'dislike'.

'Then again, you kind of deserve it for what you did…'He thought to himself. "I was wondering if I could talk to you and Jeremy… about something important, as well as apologize for how I treated him in the past."

She looked skeptical, but she nodded and opened the door to let him in, closing it as he walked through.

"Take a seat Sable, I'll make some tea." She said to him. "Jeremy is still asleep, we were discussing things with the mayor and talking late last night, so he's sleeping in this morning."

"I see." He muttered as he sat at the table. "When did you start making tea, I thought you were more of a fruit juice drinker?"

"I started learning when I learned Jeremy can't drink cold beverages." She told him while tending to the pot. "Ever since he froze up when he touched a cold glass of pineapple juice that I tried to give him; I refuse to drink anything cold while with him."

"Oh… I see." He replied, remembering how he flung a cold glass of water at him in a fit of jealous rage. "Listen… can I ask you something personal?"

"That depends on how personal it is?" She said with a frown.

"What was it that made you fall in love with him?" He asked nervously. "Like… I was trying for 'weeks' to date you… before he ever appeared, and yet he…"

"Won my heart with little effort?" She asked while crossing her arms, before sighing and choosing to wait until the tea was prepared and poured for them before answering. "Sable, that's one reason 'why' I love him, he wasn't trying to win my heart, he actually tried to push away from me and me from him 'because' he cared about me."

He looked at her and saw the sad look on her face that told the story without needing to hear it, but hear it he did.

"He was becoming attracted to me, and I was attracted to him. He was just so honest, so… innocent and… he just 'cared' about everymammal and not for the reasons you might think. He wanted to help every mammal out there, just because he had the ability to help. He also knew that if he and I got together we'd have troubles, between our combined fame, his 'poverty' and my wealth, our species difference, him an Apex Predator and me a Prey mammal… him coming from a time where he was expected to think of the greater good and not himself and well, just 'everything' between us. He got to know me, the 'real' me, not Gazelle the pop idol, Gazelle the peaceful coexistence advocate, Gazelle the model or singer… just Gazelle the Antelope, and I got to know him."

He watched her sip her tea and smile warmly.

"When we finally confessed… it was in his base, we were in the holoroom and he was showing me and some mammals around… we were alone, and he tried so hard… so hard to push me away. Because he didn't want me to suffer with him 'because' I picked him. He would rather have suffered alone, then risk me losing my happiness if I picked him over another mammal. I knew then that I had found the mammal I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, because he cared about 'me' for my sake, not about my money, my fame, or anything else but me."

He sighed as he accepted her answer, and smiled inwardly as he knew he had been outclassed by the human day one when it came to Gazelle's heart. He had to admit that yea sure, they would have made a cute couple for the news and paparazzi, but that was really the only reason he tried to date her. She was pretty and famous; he didn't deserve her because those had been the only reason back then.

After a while Jeremy finally walked downstairs carrying his glowing girl in the sphere, and after a 'rough' introduction, he sat down on one end of the table while she sat between them.

"Well… first thing's first Jeremy, I want to apologize to you for how I treated you at the premier party, and for threatening your life with what I did." He said to the human. "I acted like a jerk, and I don't deserve forgiveness for what I did to you. Me being ignorant of your disease is not an excuse, and even if you say it, I don't deserve it."

"Well I'm going to forgive you either way Sable, because as I said, I was partially responsible, I goaded you into responding the way you did, the blame was with both of us that time, and I forgive you regardless." Jeremy said while his AI friend nodded her head in approval.

He sighed and smiled, knowing he should have expected that.

"So now that that is out of the way, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Sable took a deep breath and looked directly at him with a serious expression and said, "I want to learn more about the Final War from you, and as much as I can about that time period from 'you'." He said.

That caught both him and Gazelle off guard, curiously the AI did not react much, outside of a smirk.

"I want to make a movie about the Final War, so that mammals can see… even if its on a screen, what it was like. And I also want to write a book about that time period, maybe a series of books… I don't know… but I want to tell that story as honestly as I can, with nothing glorified or changed so it can fit some 'preferred' narrative." He said. "I want to know details, what was it like, what the air was like, how the war started, how it changed, how it moved from one time to the final moments, why the drones are the way they are, why they look the way they look 'everything'. And I want to tell it from the perspective of a child, somemammal who would have an unbiased opinion on the war… to walk us through the time period… and show us its horrors."

They sat in silence as he waited for their answer, maybe Jeremy saying something like 'I don't want to relive that time' or 'You don't want to know and it's best it stays that way'.

Instead Jeremy said, "Why do you want to learn about the Final War, what brought about this sudden change Sable?"

Sable sighed as he thought back to his time with Taelia, the mysterious 'human woman' who appeared and offered him a spider's thread of salvation. He decided not to tell him that story, as there was no way he'd believe him even if he did. Who would believe him, especially with his paranoia about those 'machines' watching him day and night?

"I went on a journey for several days, trying to understand suffering of those I never cared to think of." He said. "I saw so much suffering, so much loss, and through it all I had to look inside myself and change who I was so I could understand them."

While Gazelle and Jeremy looked at him with looks of curiosity the AI simply smiled and lay on her stomach, occasionally swaying her legs back and forth.

"That's why I want to learn about the Final War, I want to understand it, I want to understand where a human like 'you' came from… so that other mammals can learn, and understand what happened in the past, so we don't walk the same road you did." He said quietly. "If you'll tell me that is…"

There was silence as they sat waiting on his answer, he knew it would be painful, he understood that the human might not be willing to divulge this information. Honestly, what he saw no doubt 'paled' in comparison to what happened to the humans in the Final War. While great suffering and death occurred, at least the world 'recovered' in those times, but that Final War… there was no recovering from that, else the humans would still be the dominant species and mammals wouldn't be here right now.

After a while Jeremy sighed and looked to the AI, who nodded in understanding and sat cross legged with her eyes glowing.

"The war never started with any declaration, there was no broken treaty, no announcement, nothing like that." He said quietly, and Gazelle got up to make more tea, knowing that this was going to be a long talk. "It just 'happened', one moment simple border skirmishes broke out which were a result of nations trying to fight over ever dwindling resources, such as fossil fuels and other resources slowly became more violent. Then… the thing many humans feared happened, one nation launched a nuclear warhead, then another nation launched one, and soon they started being fired en-mass. Most were intercepted and many major cities had developed powerful shield technology to be protected against frequent hurricanes and other such storms used them against the incoming missiles."

"Those nations which were developed enough to repel the nukes were able to do so, but the scars they left were permanent, and the land became devastated. Those nations that weren't advanced enough, were essentially wiped out in the first volley. After just a few months from the opening salvo whatever semblance of unity between the remaining powers broke down, and it was every nation for itself."

"At first, we tried to fight it with humans, but as the 'rules of war' soon became abandoned, biological weapons were deployed in an attempt to destroy other nations without destroying the land and remaining resources, and this gave way to horrible and damaging effects that humans received." He muttered as he looked away. "Some bioweapons ate into the skin and broke it down… exposing internal organs to irradiated air, resulting in a slow and agonizingly painful death. Others broke down the immune system to such a degree that the body died to even the most harmless of germs. One even dissolved human brain matter… and those were only the most common I read about. I saw the effects of the 'long term' bioweapons, humans suffering from extensive dementia, reduction in bone density and strength, poisoning of vital organs, slow degradation of muscle tissue and ligaments, I saw a young boy who was my age at the time unable to even 'walk' or lift his arms without the assistance of a specialized harness. They had to kill him because eventually his body would be unable to even 'function' properly, and he was in constant pain, unable to even sleep because of the pain he was in."

"When the use of bioweapons became common, we started to construct and deploy mechanical forces more and more over the course of the war to counteract that. The drones became more specialized, more effective, more centralized as time went on. Before there would be a drone for every thousand humans, but by the end of the war there was one human for every thirty drones. Each nation developed their own drone lines, but the more common were those you see in my base, FOX drones, RAPTOR drones, DOG drones, Spider class drones, HARRIER drones just to name a few. However, there were other… more devastating models created but either discontinued due to resource limitations or simply because they weren't worth it."

"Some of the drones developed and deployed through the war… did horrible things that you can't imagine. There was the BOA drone which acted like a suicide unit, wrapping itself around humans from behind and then detonating once they'd had a strong grasp, killing the victim and sending shrapnel pieces everywhere around it, causing horrible injuries and leaving victims unlucky enough to be injured to bleed out and die. The PARASITE line which used what remain of a dead human's nervous system to… mimic an injured human, and then releasing acidic liquids in an explosion, melting flesh… and using the next victim it could find to repeat the process until it ran out… it often used children's bodies because humans were less likely to suspect a child to be a threat. RAT drones which infiltrated cities and poisoned food and water supplies, LIZARD drones which messed with vital power conduits and lines, MOTH drones which spread toxins through the air… and more that I don't even know of and don't remember…"

"Then of course… the Solar Cores, the very heart of so many Mega Cities, were targeted in the war. So many Mega Cities 'depended' on the energy output the Solar Cores provided, that all it took was shutting one down or cutting it off to cripple one, but as was the way of the world, that made them all the more easy to target and destroy. When one was damaged, or upset in some way… it exploded, and took 'everything' around it with it, leaving only a perfectly smooth crater behind. Not even ashes remained of the Solar Cores or the Mega Cities which sat close by, and any city out of range that relied on their power went dark…"

"During the war refugees tried to find safety, salvation… anywhere that they could live away from the war, but as food and water, and above all 'safe places' soon vanished, paranoia and desperation took hold. They tore each other apart, trying to do whatever they could to survive… it wasn't until the end of the war when a DRAGON drone turned on humanity, did the world learn of the Eden Facilities, until then only world leaders and important government individuals knew of them, hoping that the war would end without the need to reveal their locations, but when the Eden Facilities were all that remained to sustain 'any' humans… all the world governments united under a tense but desperate peace."

"If the world slipped back into war, it would be the end of our species and civilization. Every human, was required to be led to the facilities, every human was required to disarm themselves, every single drone was reprogrammed with the Human Protection Protocols to ensure they didn't threaten humanity again, and desperate measures taken to prolong our survival."

"Freedoms were sacrificed, every human was monitored, harsh punishments enacted to 'any' troublemakers, executions were frequent and those who couldn't be saved killed off to reduce the need to feed and house them. Humanitarian morals and beliefs were shoved aside in favor of keeping as many alive as possible. Food rations were constantly reduced until eventually, all we had was a basic, food paste, and it was monitored strictly by the drones and Sentinel Ais to ensure no human exceeded what they needed to 'live'. Any human that tried to resist these measures, were dealt with harshly, killed more often than not… twenty-four-hour surveillance, patrols…"

Jeremy paused in his talking as he looked distraught, and he knew that he was pushing the human's limits regarding how much he could endure with telling him the story. As he steadied himself and calmed down Gazelle held him and shushed his sorrows.

"When I was born… it was decreed that every human, youth mind you, both from the surface and within the facilities, were ordered to undergo higher education while adults tried to fix the damages done to the world, advance research, tend to the injured and sick, and everything else. Long before I was born Nuclear Winter had set in, and it would be at least ten thousand years before it would go away. During that time the air I breathed when on the surface was toxic and I never saw the sun. The one time I did… was when I was thirteen years old, and it would be almost ten years before I saw it again, and both times it had been for about five minutes."

"Growing up, during my schooling, every time it felt like every lesson, I was told with the others that my generation and those after would have to fix the world our predecessors left us. I believed that we'd repair the world, and that saving every life was more important than saving 'any' life. They never let us leave the facility unless it was under supervision, but the times I did leave I saw so much suffering, that all I wanted to do was help those suffering and so I dedicated myself to my studies. Our every activity was scheduled, every lesson carefully structured, everything we were to do predetermined. When it came time that when one thousand of us were told that we'd be cryogenically frozen, and woken up in the future when conditions were better, and that all humans we were leaving behind had agreed to this plan… I truly believed that their sacrifice would not be in vain. I said my goodbyes to my father, any friend I would leave behind, and accepted that the next time I awoke only I and my fellow cryologists would be alive. I vowed from the moment I was frozen, that I would do all I could to fix the world no matter what state it was in. And then I was put into cryogenic sleep, and woke up in your time three hundred and fifty thousand years later."

Jeremy sighed as he looked up at him. "The Final War only lasted ten years, between 2207 and 2217, and when it finally ended, only half a percent of my species survived. From 35 Billion, only about one hundred and seventy five million still remained, and it kept on decreasing even 'after' the final war, due to radiation sickness, lingering bioweapons, internal fights… our population wasn't able to grow fast because some radiations that affected what little food supplies remained made many surface humans sterile, only one in a thousand were capable of having offspring, both male 'and' female."

For a while Sable just simply sat there, letting what he heard sink into his mind. He obviously only had been given the very shortened version of the Final War, but even the short version portrayed something he just could not imagine, or even 'comprehend' happening.

Death on that scale, in such a short time.

He looked into Jeremy's eyes, and saw the sadness in them, the deep hurt and pain within them. He carried so much more weight then what his shoulders were letting on, now he knew 'why' the drones were so desperate to keep him safe and alive. In those blue eyes of Jeremy's he saw all of the hurt he was carrying, suppressing, holding onto because even if he didn't live in that time, because he's the last of his kind he has no choice but to carry that weight.

"Tell me… what was it like living in that time?" He asked.

And so, Jeremy told him, he told him for the rest of the day of the horrors of daily life in and outside of the Eden Facilities. He learned also of what it was like during the Final War, of what ordinary humans went through…

From the fleeing refugee massacres, to the hunting parties driving scavengers and desperate people into kill zones. He learned of how the Raptor drones hunted down both soldier and civilian alike, slaughtering both alike to try and 'force' surrenders on both sides. Raiders trying to steal from refugees killed the innocent and defenseless, and even after the war ended there were 'still' drones obeying their 'extermination' protocols. He learned of the harsh restrictions put onto every human, even those within the Eden Facilities. He learned from the human that there were no festivals of old or celebrations to be had, all that mattered was survival, no luxuries were to be found, any human attempting to horde or steal was 'executed' for threatening the survival of the species. Those deemed 'unsavable' were put down and their names removed, and food rations reallocated to the rest of the survivors.

Any human who died had their body cremated, with no care or concern given to whoever died. No burials were had, no ceremonies held, not even a parting 'goodbye' from family or next of kin, just a message saying, 'this person died', and that they 'tried' to save them. He learned of how the drones were inspired by nature to fit various needs as they were constructed and changed over time to fulfill their roles as both combatants and then police forces to ensure humans were kept in line, how they were reprogrammed to protect humans lives above all else, and even included special rules so they could kill humans if needed to ensure the species would survive as a whole.

All of that and more he learned, such that by the time he finally finished listening, and heard all that he could get, night had fallen.

While Jeremy remained inside and told him that his AI friend would send all of the recorded data, as well as other things to his computer, he left with Gazelle escorting him out.

"Sable, before you go, I want to ask something."

He turned to her and nodded.

"Where did this change come from, I mean, you are selling your house, your limo, wanting to learn about Jeremy's time and planning to make a movie about it? What happened to you from the last time we spoke at the party?"

"I just changed Gazelle…" He replied as he looked away with a smile. "I know what I'm going to say will sound weird but… when I was at my lowest, I 'begged', for somemammal to tell me what I needed to do so I could live a normal life again after what happened."

He looked up at the moon and smiled, imagining Taelia staring at him with her usual sly and seductive look, chuckling as he tried to explain what happened to Gazelle in a way that didn't make him sound insane.

"And I found somemammal come to me, and offered me a choice, a 'spider's thread' of salvation as she put it. She said, 'become someone else for the chance of redemption, or stay your course and sink even further into the pit you jumped into'. So, I took the thread, and for over a week I followed her on a journey, and at the end of it, those I helped to become better, helped me cross a river and watched me redeem myself." He looked back at her with a warm smile. "In short Gazelle, I looked into a mirror, saw somemammal I didn't like, and I made a change so I would like who it was staring back at me."

Gazelle looked a little surprised at his words but smiled back at him in approval.

"Listen, before I go, I was wondering Gazelle, would you be interested in voicing one of the lead characters in my movie?" He asked her.

"What, wh- why me?"

"I figured if anymammal would be interested in making a movie about Humans, you would be considering." He said honestly. "Please, I really want to do justice to Jeremy's species… considering…"

Her expression softened and she nodded in approval. "I was wrong about you Sable, you're not the selfish jerk I remembered you being."

"No but I'm still jealous of Jeremy." He chuckled as he turned to leave. "He has such a beautiful mammal like you all to himself."

She chuckled as he walked off and got into his rented car, driving off back to his home that would remain his home until he found a buyer. Then he logged onto his computer and looked at all of the recordings and data that had been sent to him by the AI, not even questioning how she knew where to send it, just accepting that the AI had her ways. He made himself a cup of coffee, sat down and started typing away for his script for the movie he was going to name…

"Hmmm, what do I name it?" He said as he looked up what names the drones had.

He paused as he looked at one name a Raptor class drone had, and chuckled as he couldn't think of a more appropriate name.

"The Final War : AN-931…" He muttered.

With that he began typing his script…

"Who I am and what my name is does not matter… what matters, is the story you are about to be told, might have happened, could have happened, and may very well have happened. This is the story… of the Final War…"

The FOX Father

(FOX Unit DA-43's PoV)

It wandered through Zootopia Central Park, observing and cataloguing the terrain and various features of the landscape, alongside multiple FOX drones all doing the same thing in other sectors divided up by Sentinel. Under orders by Unit Jeremy, it and seven FOX drones were tasked with surveying the land and giving Sentinel a complete picture of the terrain for an upcoming project. The successful accuracy of their task would determine the overall operation's success, and this task being directly assigned to them by Unit Jeremy was of the highest priority. They had been at it all day, and were nearing completion.

"Hey, isn't that one of the human's machines?" A hippopotamus youth asked suddenly.

In response it turned to look at said youth and its parental figure, before returning to surveying a group of bushes and trees, cataloguing their position, various dimensions and potential weights, physical compositions and other various aspects.

"It is son, looks busy so let's just leave it alone." The parental figure said quietly.

"But I want to say hi to it!"

"I said no, now come on, just leave it alone, it looks like it doesn't want to be bothered."

It turned and watched them walking away, before again returning to its surveillance.

All day it and the other units were being interrupted or on some occasion accosted by mammals about their purpose in Central Park, slowing down their overall progress. If they had been left alone and able to ignore all the mammals, the task would have been done seven hours ago, but as Unit Jeremy had ordered them to regard mammals on the same level as humans they were now 'required' to at least 'acknowledge' the mammal's presence in their work. One unit had been interrogated by ZPD as to why they were there, news media outlets trying to interview another unit, and the rest being asked random questions by various mammals.

It was no exception to these interruptions, several mammals asked it questions like what it was doing in central park, why was it looking at trees and bushes and even staring at patches of grass, and other such questions.

Thirty minutes after finishing surveying the section of land it had been scanning and cataloguing, it got up and moved on to another sector that hadn't been surveyed yet, and began surveying again.

"Wait for me Prim!" A youth voice called out, once again catching the drone's attention as it turned to investigate the sound.

"Yea wait up!"

Off to the side playing near the outer edge of the park that it was surveying were a trio of Fox cubs, two males and one female. They were all playing together without adult supervision, at least until it saw an adult Fox sitting on a nearby park bench. Since the adult was nearby, it returned its attention to the task at hand and resumed scanning.

"Whoa look at that!" The youth identified as 'Prim' said as he spotted it.

"Hey, isn't that a human machine?"

"Wow, I've never seen one this close before, aside from those really scary ones."

"It looks like us… you think it's friendly?"

"You should say hi to it Prim."

"Why me?"

"Because you saw it first!"

After a while it heard the youth approaching it slowly and turned to watch the youth named 'Prim' draw closer. Once he was close enough, he walked forward and said nervously, "Uh… hi?"

It tilted its head and replied, [Greetings.] in response.

"So… are you a human machine?" He asked as the others now approached.

[This unit is a FOX drone version number two hundred and fifteen, a drone line developed by Sidewinder Robotics Industries during the year 2211 to serve in the United States Empire forces but was also developed for six other nations during the Final War.] It replied instantly.

When the three fox cubs look confused it simplified the answer.

[This unit is a human machine.]

"So… what are you doing here?" Prim asked curiously.

[Surveying and cataloguing the terrain's various details in this sector while other FOX units are doing the same in other sectors in order to make a complete report to Sentinel and Unit Jeremy for a future project that he is currently in discussion with the Mayor about and the details of which are currently classified.]

When the cub youths once again looked clueless it simplified the answer.

[Studying the park at Unit Jeremy's orders.]

"Wow, and you can do that just by looking?" The female fox said in awe.

[This unit has been recently upgraded with new optic sensors that are capable of analyzing the terrain composition, height, physical composition of various foliage and various…] It started saying when it noticed, as before, the youths were clueless about its explanation.

So once more it simplified the answer.

[Yes, this unit can do that just by looking.]

"I swear you sound like this one character on a geek show Prim watches." The other male cub teased.

"It's not a geek show!" Prim responded.

"Coulda fooled us!" The female cub giggled.

It just observed them for a bit longer until the trio finally said goodbye and left it to carry on with its work. After about half an hour it started to get dark and it 'finally' concluded its surveillance of the sector, transmitted the data to Sentinel, and started to leave the park and return to the facility, when it spotted the trio of cub youths preparing to leave.

"Hey, do you want us to take you home Prim?" The adult father asked the youth named 'Prim'.

"No thank you Mister Tom, I live close by, thanks for inviting me!" Prim shouted as he ran off on his own to leave the park.

As it watched the cub on its own, with no supervising adults or parental figure nearby, the Child Care Protocols installed into it activated and it followed after the youth to make sure the cub was returned safe and sound to a parental figure.

[And where are you off too little one?] It called in a chiding but gentle voice.

The cub stopped and turned to stare in shock as it followed after him, looking up at the youth from its low stance position.

"What did you call me?" He asked.

[This unit called you 'little one', because you're so little.] It said sweetly. [So where are you off too little one?]

"Uh… I'm heading home." He said quietly.

[Why aren't you walking home with your parent, where are they? Little children like you should never walk home alone.]

"Hey, I'm not a helpless little cub you know, I've walked home before on my own and I can handle myself just fine!"

[That may be… but you are still a young child.] It stated as it got up and strolled next to him. [So, this unit will walk you home!]

"Fine…" He said in annoyance as he walked on, followed by the drone which marched in step.

As they walked down the street onlookers stared at them and even a few made little remarks about them, but while the youth did his best to avoid them and ignore them, the drone marched onward, oblivious to all but the youth.

"Hey… can I ask you something?" He asked quietly. "You've seen a lot of mammals, right?"

[Yes, this unit has observed many mammals.]

"There's this one fox I've been trying to find… I met him in an alley… he also called me 'little one', and he… helped me. He helped me deal with some bullies, and talked with me, spent time with me… even played games with me but I only ever met him in that alley." He muttered quietly. "Then one day I just never saw him again… I've searched all over Zootopia, asked around but… nomammal has ever seen them. I even tried asking ZPD if they knew of a fox that I met, do you perhaps… did you or any of you drones ever happen to see an adult fox like that?"

[Describe him to this unit, and it will ask the other FOX units if they have observed such a mammal.] It asked, and was given the individual's descriptions. [Negative, this unit has never met a fox with that resemblance, nor have the other units observed such a fox.]

"Oh… I see… I was hoping to meet him again." He muttered sadly. "I want my mom to be happy and… I was hoping maybe… she'd like him too, and maybe we could..."

They continued walking until they neared a packed street with parked cars and vans for much larger mammals. In a break in the vehicles the cub noticed a female adult fox on the opposite side of the street, causing him to stop quickly. "Hey, that's my mom, HEY MOM!"

Said 'mother' paused and turned to them and waved at them. "What's that with you?" She called out.

"It's a human machine, one of those drones, it was studying the park for Jeremy and offered to walk me home!" He yelled happily.

"Well stay there I'll come walk you back home before going to work honey!"

"That's okay I'll just cross over!" He shouted back before turning to him. "Thanks for walking me, but I'll be fine here."

[As you wish, this unit will remain here until you have reached your mother.] It said warmly.

"Hey what's your name by the way?"

[This unit is identified as DA-43.]

"Thanks DA-43, take care!" He said warmly as he started to cross the street to his mother.

What the cub didn't know as he was running, which the drone did, was a large twenty-wheeler truck heavily loaded with cargo making its way rapidly down the street. The cub was hidden by the large vehicles parked, and the drone noticed that the driver could not see the cub, and according to its calculations… would not stop in time to avoid hitting the cub at this rate.

It turned and yelled [PRIM!] as it got up and jumped after the cub, who was already now in the street… and turned to see the oncoming truck.

(Prim and his Mother's PoV)

Prim was running out into the street to cross quickly, and heard the sound of a massive truck barreling toward him too late. He turned and saw, in slow motion as the truck careened toward him, honking its horn as it's breaks screeched in desperation. He heard his mother screaming in panic as she tried to rush out to him.

Then he felt somemammal shove him with small but heavy paws, and then kick him with another set of paws, causing him to be shoved into the middle of the road and on his side. He saw in slow motion, the small drone kick off him to land where he had been seconds ago… as if time were slowing down so he could observe his rescuer, see it in full detail as it landed and stared at him.

Then time started back up again…

-BEEEEEEEEEE-

-Krsaaaaaagnnnnhg-

In the blink of an eye the drone was 'gone', the truck running over the drone's small form with all of the tires on its sides and sending pieces and parts flying everywhere while it screeched to a halt.

He just gasped in shock as he stared at the drone, or what was the drone scattered across the street as mammals started converging on the scene. His mother ran over and dragged him to his feet and looked alongside other mammals now, while the driver stepped and rushed over to them.

"A-Are you okay?" The Rhino yelled in fear.

"I… I'm fine." He muttered.

"That… that drone just saved my boy's life."

"Drone?" He asked as he looked and realized what he'd hit. "Oh… no…"

His mother got up and together ran with the rhino to his van. Across the street at various points, broken pieces and damaged components littered the street, many crushed and broken in various states. They saw two pieces of what looked like a leg, another of a tail, half another paw, half of its body bent and crushed… and then finally found the head.

The drone's head had remained 'mostly' intact, but a section had been caved in and sparked occasionally.

"Oh no, that's one of Jeremy's drones… what have I done?" The rhino yelled in fear.

Yet, a section of the drone's body was giving off a faint glowing light, and lit up the head section, and started casting various broken, disjointed, faded images. They saw a Rhino, a box, a lamp, a bush, a tree… and for just the briefest of moments…

They saw an adult male fox, wearing simple jeans and a jacket, in place of the Fox drone's head, before it returned.

Prim stared in shock, as 'that' was the adult fox he had described to the drone, but it said neither it nor it's fellow drones ever saw a fox like that.

While his mother started ringing the police to tell them what happened, he stepped over to the drone's head and picked it up, turning to stare into its face. It's eyes, or one of them, was blinking constantly, shining a blue light as it did while the other was shattered and damaged, sparking and exposing wires inside.

[Y-y-yo-yo-your moo th-th-ther… loves… you… li-li-ttle one…] It said, in a disjointed voice. [She… lo-lo-lo-lo-ves you… very… much.]

He just stared as he looked at the drone. "You… 'you're' the fox who…"

[Go ho-om-om-om-ome… and do do do do do not… cross the st-st-ree-e-e-et… without… looking-ing-inging both waaaaysssszzzzh…] It said soothingly, as its eyes went dark.

"Hey… wake up… wake up!" He said tearfully as he shook its head. "You guys are supposed to be indestructible… you can't die… you can't be dead! They said in the news your indestructible!"

He cried as he tried to make the drone wake up, but nothing he did made it wake up. Within minutes mammals along the street were yelling and getting out of the way, as seven 'other' fox drones ran toward their fallen friend.

They looked over the pieces and then looked at the head he was carrying. [Attention, drop any and all parts or components relating to this unit's frame on the ground and step away!]

He nodded and tentatively placed the head on the ground while the Rhino and every other mammal backed away. As they did the drones circled the accident and began casting what looked like a rope with the words 'keep out' between them, creating a ring around the broken pieces.

[Area is secured, all mammals will stay 'out' of the assigned zone until further notice!] One drone declared. [Sending out Salvage Request signal… all units maintain perimeter until further notice!]

[Order acknowledged!] They all yelled in unison.

"Prim come here." His mother said as she pulled him away from the drones.

He looked at his mother with teary eyes as she held him close. "Mom… I think… I think I 'know' that drone."

"What?" She asked.

"It… it looked, like that fox I told you about… you remember, the guy who helped me?" He asked quietly and she nodded. "Well… for a moment, he 'looked' like him… but he said he never met him… and yet he looked 'exactly'…"

She understood, having watched the drone's actions and seen what they could do, that one had created a hologram of the fox and rescued her when she was being assaulted. But it said it would 'never' go near her or her son, and warned her to avoid searching for it. Yet she had to be certain.

"Did it give you a name?"

"He said he was called… DA-43."

It was her turn to cry as she looked at the broken body of the drone that saved her son's life, sacrificing itself without hesitation to save him. If it hadn't walked him to her… then…

She pulled him tightly as ZPD arrived and started trying to figure out what was going on. "He was… he 'was' that male fox son." She whispered to him. "He was… he 'was' that fox you told me about… I met him… he saved me from a rapist… he 'was' that guy who helped you!"

After about ten minutes mammals and even ZPD started getting out of the way as a trio of drones, two Dog drones and a Raptor came running into the street with the dogs dragging a long sled propped on metal wheels while the Raptor carried a container filled with tiny robots all arrayed in a spiral pattern. All of them had miniature lights on their heads, and all had the same insignia of EF 17 – Salvage Team 3 imprinted on their bodies.

[All mammal units will step back now!] The raptor said with glowing yellow eyes, and they did as it said while the dogs pulled the sled p to the outlined space the Fox drones had created. [Deploying ANT drones…]

Then the drone carrying the container planted it on the floor, and a small robot walked up and stared at it.

[Area is secured, you may commence salvage operations ANT Commander.]

Said 'Ant Commander' nodded and turned to climb down, while hundreds of other similar Ant drones started walking and going around collecting pieces, parts, and other various portions of the drone that was destroyed. When they took the head of DA-43 and loaded it onto the sled, Prim walked up and nervously asked the 'leader', the tallest drone known as a Raptor, "Are you going to help him?"

The Raptor turned and stared back at him with yellow eyes. [No drone possesses the capabilities to initiate repairs on another drone, only a human can repair a drone.]

"But Jeremy can fix him right, he can save him, right?"

[Any drone can be repaired if enough components are in a state that can be repaired, and if the drone's active memory core is still intact, any drone can be 'repaired'.] It said. [It falls to the human actively on duty to determine if a drone is to be repaired or not.]

"What happens if Jeremy says not to repair him?" He asked worriedly.

[Then the unit will be broken down and salvaged for useful components and materials, and its ID wiped from all memory banks.]

"But… but he's alive… you can't just let him die!" He said.

[Drones are not alive.] It stated before turned and walking away.

All Prim could do was watch as DA-43 was slowly picked up, piece by piece, and placed onto the sled. When the street had been cleared of the drone that saved his life, the drones all packed up and started leaving.

"Will Jeremy save him?" He pleaded with the raptor again.

The raptor turned and responded, [If unit Jeremy wishes to rebuild the drone, he will do so. If Sentinel examines the salvaged components and determines the damage is too extensive, then unit Jeremy will be skipped, and the drone broken down and salvaged.]

"Can you tell Jeremy to save him please?" He begged.

There was silence as the drones finished forming up, and then it nodded. [This unit will inform Unit Jeremy immediately of DA-43's condition, and request his immediate attention.] It stated before taking the lead position and yelling, [All units, return to Eden Facility 17, move out!]

Then it and all the other drones left, leaving the mammals behind. He sighed quietly as he walked over to his mother, before noticing on the curb of the sidewalk, a damaged 'eye' that belonged to the drone they'd just picked up. He looked around and saw no other damaged pieces, and figured the drones had left it behind by mistake.

Picking it up he held it in the palm of his hand, held it close to him, and cried sadly. "I'll never be ashamed of my mother ever again… I'll always tell her that I love her… and I promise… I'll never cross the street again, without looking both ways…" He whispered sadly. "Dad…"

(Jeremy's PoV)

He was just starting to fall asleep with Gazelle cuddled next to him when Aelita, who was sitting on her nightstand started signaling him with a ring that she was being messaged. He groggily got up and stared at her as she vanished and was replaced by a RAPTOR's head.

[Unit Jeremy, your presence is requested at the facility. A drone you ordered to survey Zootopia Central Park was severely damaged by a mammal truck after being hit while saving a fox cub's life.]

"Umhmm do you have to call me 'now'?" He groaned as Gazelle woke up now looking cranky.

"Mhwhat is it Jeremy?" She asked tiredly.

"Drones from the base, one of my drones was damaged in an accident, they want me to go to the base now." He groaned. "How badly damaged is the unit?"

[Unit DA-43 has suffered extensive damage; Sentinel suggests immediate salvage operation.] It stated.

"Then go ahead." He said as he turned around and held Gazelle again.

[This unit is requesting you examine DA-43 as a fox cub requested this unit personally ask you for your…]

"Fine…" He muttered as he groaned and got up. "Gazelle I'll be back in a bit."

"Come back soon Jeremy…" She replied as she rolled over and covered herself back up in the blankets, as she was only clad in her panties while sleeping with him at night.

Twenty minutes later he was inside the base examining the destroyed remains of the FOX drone identified as DA-43.

"So, it was hit by a truck huh, must have been very heavily loaded to be able to crush the drone's body and utterly destroy it." He said as he examined the inside of the drone's head to look at the memory core. "Poor drone, it's body wasn't designed to withstand that much sudden pressure."

[What is your analysis?] The Salvage RAPTOR requested as he extracted a circuit board and saw how it had been broken in two.

"Well the motherboard is completely shattered, memory circuits are barely intact, and the rest of the body is in pieces. The metal alloys are all twisted and bent in odd angles, and the limb armature is smashed. As for the holo-emitters, those are completely gone, those alone would take me a week to repair." He said quietly. "I'm afraid I can't fix the drone, there's just not enough left to save, have Sentinel start breaking down and salvaging what it can."

[As you command.] The drone replied while walking out with him.

"A shame, there's only like… how many FOX drones are in the base?"

[One hundred and five active FOX drones are serving as Sentinel Drones.]

"Huh, I thought there was less." He said as the door closed behind him. "I'm just glad nobody was hurt or lost."

Within seven minutes, ANT drones were crawling over the remains of DA-43, slicing off pieces and bits, breaking down and salvaging all that could be salvaged. Those components that could be reused were carried off to a component storage to be assigned. Everything else… was sliced up into small pieces and carried off. As the last bolt was picked up and the room emptied, Sentinel wiped DA-43's id from all memory banks.

With that, the only ones who remained that knew of DA-43's existence as an individual and not just as a FOX drone, were Prim and his mother.

Ema's Bizarre Imagination Pt 3

*Note from the Author, Ema doesn't have an imagination or anything close to one, she is only a drone, this isn't what she sees*

(Ema's PoV)

She stared dully at her opponent as he started growing in size, laughing maniacally as he did while his muscles grew to abnormal size, each of his arms scaling that to half a skyscraper's, his legs growing to nearly fill that of a stadium's, and his bulging abs sporting more muscle than a body builder one might fine in a cliché anime about hot girls not being able to find dates while talking to body builders in said anime.

"Oooooh ho ho ho hahahaha…" He screamed as took one step and caused a massive shockwave to ripple across the planet, creating a devastating earthquake that shattered the entire city and reducing it to rubble. "Look at the POWER I possess! I can devastate millions just by extending my grasp toward them, I can cross oceans as if they were mere puddles, I can crush populations as if they were pebbles!"

He reached down and ripped the ground that she was standing on, causing her to sway ever so slightly while he brought her to stare into his face, which she was dwarfed by magnitudes.

"How can a mere 'insect' like you possibly stop me now? There is 'no' creature I cannot infect, no living entity that I cannot slay… all of your precious knowledge cannot 'hope' to contain the likes of me! Let alone 'defeat me' and all of my infinite power!" He then grinned as he gripped with his other hand to form a fist, and started to bring it toward her to crush her. "And even if you 'could' hurt me, I can easily mutate and make whatever feeble attempt you have to stop me 'meaningless'!"

She walked over to his hand which was still gripping the land she was holding and poked it with her leg, injecting him with a tiny liquid.

He stopped to watch her as she withdrew her leg and stared at him again, then he proceeded to laugh maniacally again. "Hahahaha… was that your best shot… poking me with your little syringe needle?" He shouted as he pulled his fist back to deliver a finishing blow. "Whatever it was you tried to do; I'll just mutate so that whatever pathetic cure you… gahj… gah… hah…"

He stared in shock as his muscles started to break down, his body suddenly developing ulcers and each ulcer suddenly bursting, exploding from pressure and releasing mucus and goop which sprayed everywhere, burning him with each explosion.

"Wh… what is… happening? What did you do to meeee?"

[*Siiiiiiigh* Having supreme biological and medical knowledge is rather dull… it gets old telling the same story to every disease that tries to be the best in the world.] She replied as she started lazily walking down his arm, even as the rest of his body was succumbing to its sickness. [Your nothing compared to Tuberculosis. You've only been around for three hundred years.]

"But what did you do to me… what is happening?"

[I infected you with Tuberculosis, didn't you hear me?] She said dully. [I can splice and reprogram the genetic code of a disease if I wish so that it can target a 'specific' cell, or in your case… a disease. Now the Tuberculosis is multiplying exponentially within you, attacking you, and since you aren't a multi-leveled organism like a human or a mammal, it doesn't have work very hard to spread or adapt to you…]

While he screamed and began to fall from the pain she lazily jumped off and started walking away as his body crashed behind her.

[I hate my job…] She said dully. [So boring… being able to cure any disease is such a boring lifestyle.]

She started walking toward the marketplace which had survived the devastation.

[Hope I didn't miss bargain day!]

Gazelle and Ema, Hybrid Future

(Gazelle's PoV)

She sat in her bathroom as she finished using the pregnancy test and was now feverishly staring as it prepared to show whether she was pregnant or not.

"Positive, positive, positive… positive, please be positive?" She muttered, saying the reverse of what some girls might be saying in a similar position.

She watched as the first line appeared, and waited a full five minutes hoping the second would appear, before she sighed and gave in to the inevitable, that she wasn't pregnant. It had been about five days since they had recovered the Data Sphere, which now sat in a box in the attic, inactive and simply taking up space as Aelita had downloaded and copied all of the data stored within. Since then they had been talking with the mayor who wanted to hear about what happened and told her the treasure trove of what had been discovered.

"Negative…" She muttered as she dumped the pregnancy test in the trash.

She walked out of the bathroom and went down to the living room where Jeremy and Aelita were talking to each other about what they were planning with the mayor. When she approached, they looked at her and she sighed and shook her head, telling them both that they didn't succeed.

"I'm sorry Gazelle… it's like I said, we may not be genetically compatible." Jeremy said sadly as she sat next to him and held his hand.

"I'm not giving up yet Jeremy." She said proudly before smiling at him. "Just because we failed this time doesn't mean we won't succeed next time. Birds don't just learn how to fly when they are born, they fall down and get back up to try again." She turned to Aelita who was nodding in agreement when an idea came to her. "Aelita, you know all about humans, do you think maybe you can help us and tell us if we're compatible enough and tell us if there's a way to improve the odds?"

Aelita shook her head before changing into the spider drone Ema, and then changed back with a nod.

"Ema is the medical expert, unlike Aelita who only has a general understanding of human medicine, Ema has the full biological knowledge and medical knowledge, she also has all the tools at her disposal to help us if you want." Jeremy said. "We need to go to the facility anyway, there's something we need to work on. If you want, you can join and talk to Ema before we go to meet with the mayor again?"

"I like that plan." She said with a smile.

With that the two of them with Aelita entered the Solar Carriage and it took them to the facility in under half an hour. Once inside Jeremy stayed in the command center to issue orders to all the ANT drones and get them to work on his projects, while she headed to the medical bay to discuss with Ema her problem.

As she walked into the medical bay the spider drone stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her. [Oh, look who finally arrives… 'late' to her… may I remind you… 'Weekly Physical Examination'?] She replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Ema I need to talk to you about pregnancy." She said instantly, not wanting to beat around the bush with the medical drone.

Instantly the drone dropped all pretenses and stared at her with all eight optics shining various colors. [Oh… I see… well if you're asking no, you're not pregnant.] She replied while placing a vial she was holding in a special container. [So, what do you want to ask about, do you want me to tell you about your Estrus Cycle, explain something about peak fertility periods or…]

"I want to know if it's possible for me and Jeremy to conceive." She said.

[Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-]

A distinct ringing sound was heard as Ema stopped moving entirely, and when Gazelle slowly walked over to investigate, she saw that all eight of her optics had a weird blue light with miniature lines of texts in each of them.

"Ema?" She said, slowly waving her hand in front of the drone's optics, thoroughly confused.

(Attention, the EMA has suffered a serious system's malfunction, restarting the EMA's AI from last known functioning time frame.) Sentinel declared in the room, and all lights shut off momentarily, before turning back on, with Ema slouching and slowly climbing back to her feet/

[Did I just blue screen… ugh, that has not happened to me since my 'testing' period.] She declared. [Gazelle, did you just ask me something completely outrageous because I can't think of anything that would cause me to blue screen for the first time since I was 'tested' to see what the limits of my AI's understandings were.]

"I only asked you if you could help me find out if it's possible for me and Jeremy to conceive children together?" She repeated.

[Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-]

Again, the distinct ringing sound occurred and all eight of her optics turned blue with lines of miniature text on each of them, while she stood motionless.

(Attention, the EMA has suffered a serious system's malfunction, restarting the EMA's AI from last known functioning time frame.)

After a few moments when the room went dark and turned back on, Ema groggily complained before glaring at her. [Don't ask again, I know what you want 'now'… just don't ask it again…] She said bitterly. [And not a word to Jeremy… if he finds out I blue screened 'twice' in ten minutes, I can't even think of how pathetic that is… a category 4 blue screening?]

She shook her head and slowly stood before her and asked her to tell her 'slowly', why she was asking about the subject of cross breeding.

[I see… so you two started going out and had sexual intercourse with one another, and more recently during your Estrus Cycle.] She said politely to her once she understood her predicament. [And now you're wondering why, even after you two had intercourse throughout the entirety of your most fertile time period, your test came up negative?]

"Yes… he's not..." she started saying while having a worrisome thought cross her mind.

[No, he's not sterile if that's what you're wondering, being sterile would have automatically marked him as a non-viable candidate for the Cryogenic Solution.] She said dully while she scanned her and did other things. [No… what this is, is a case of genetic incompatibility probably…]

"Probably?" She asked.

[Yes, I haven't done any research because… well it wasn't needed… Jeremy wasn't intending to cross breed before now.] She said. [Give me a bit… I need to call up one of Jeremy's genetic records we have on file.]

She walked over to the monitor and tapped a few buttons before various DNA patterns appeared with his name on it.

[Now I analyze 'your' genetic records…]

Next to his DNA patterns hers appeared, with her name on the file.

[Compare the two and…]

After the two were placed atop one another various calculations, symbols, words and other such 'medical terminology' that she couldn't understand sped across the screen before they blinked and green circle appeared.

[Congratulations… you two are genetically compatible enough to conceive.]

Seeing that circle and the words 'genetic compatibility test successful', caused her to breathe a sigh of relief. They 'could' have children…

[And the probability of you two conceiving is…] She said as numbers appeared now. [0.04 percent.]

Those last few words shattered what little relief she was feeling instantly. "W… why so low?" She muttered fearfully.

[Look, you're dealing with genetics from three hundred and fifty thousand years ago, evolution… takes 'time'.] Ema said sadly. [Yes, you two are compatible, during Jeremy's time the possibility was zero, but enough time has passed and your species has evolved enough to make conception possible, but you two are such entirely different species that your body is 'rejecting' his genes.] The drone turned and tapped a few buttons and brought up a 'simulation' for her.

The simulation started which featured what looked like a small 'egg' zoomed in close up, and she understood that it was simulating her body during conception.

[Under normal circumstances your egg sends out various chemical signals for sperm to either 'approach' it, or to keep them away. It's a game of chance at that point… however your genes are so different, that your body is actively 'rejecting' Jeremy's sperm before they can get close, sending out powerful chemicals to keep them away.]

She watched as Jeremy's sperm slowly tried to swarm her egg, but it was like they hit an invisible barrier and just either swam or lingered around. The simulation sped up and showed no activity change, until eventually the sperm started dying off, leaving her egg untouched.

[Unless your egg permits them to approach, they can't impregnate you…] Ema said as she ended the simulation.

She stared painfully at the simulation, partially hating her body for rejecting the love of her life, and feeling devastated that her own body would not give what she wanted now more than ever before. "Isn't there something you can do to make my body accept him?" She pleaded hopefully.

[If I do that, I must alter your genetic code… and that could have 'dangerous' repercussions, which I will not risk due to the nature of what your suggesting.] She stated slowly and clearly. [If I alter your genetics to make you more compatible with him, or vice versa, I could seriously damage you both in a way that would be irreversible. There's a reason why I could only produce a single, genetically modified seed for Jeremy's father… because the rest I used to make that single seed possible were all lost. We used the 'entire' stock to create it, that was meant to be preserved for the other 'sixteen' Eden Facilities.]

The way the drone said it, was in a tone of finality, meaning the only way she would 'ever' change her mind was if Jeremy either ordered her to do it, or reprogrammed her to do it. She felt the nails in the coffin for her hope of having a family with Jeremy being hammered in one after another, and just sat heavily onto a Biobed to try and console herself.

[But if you want… and your willing to wait… I can start uh… researching ways to… improve the odds.] Ema said politely.

She looked at the drone instantly at those words, newfound hope returning. "Can you do that?"

[It will take time, what with my other work that Jeremy keeps me piled with.] She said warmly while wrapping a leg around her shoulder. [But, by your next Estrus I 'should' have a way to improve the odds… but I will be honest with you, the odds will only be 'slightly' improved, nothing big, but you'll have a much better chance with 'my' medicine than you would if you took 'mammal' medicine. Which would only improve the odds by about less than half of what your current odds are now.]

She nodded gratefully, knowing the drone was just doing her job, and trying to help her out as best she could. "Ema… you ran a simulation… do you think you could… perhaps run a simulation of what 'if' Jeremy and I succeeded?" She asked curiously.

[You want me to show you what your offspring would look like?] She asked in surprise. [Well… now that you mention it, I am curious myself, I've used the simulation to show offspring potential between humans in the past, but never tried it with an animal… or 'mammal' in this day and age now.] She said while extending a leg toward her lower stomach region. [I'll need a tiny sample from your womb to properly prepare the simulation.]

After she exposed herself and Ema pressed her leg to where her womb was, she felt a sharp prick for a tiny moment, before the drone called up Jeremy's records for his sperm sample.

[Alright… let's put the two into the simulation and input the data…] She muttered while typing a few buttons. [Alright let's begin, maximum fertility potential for argument's sake, Jeremy's sperm have entered the womb, your egg is 'not' driving them away and is sending out chemicals to get them to swarm it…]

She watched as her egg sat in the simulation and was then swarmed in seconds by Jeremy's sperm, all wiggling frantically.

[Pardon the humor because it's required but ooooh look at em goooo, wiggle wiggle wiggle… go little ones go!] She chuckled causing Gazelle to laugh as well. [And the sperm now fight to break into the mammal equivalent of the Zona Pellucida… they struggle… and…]

She zoomed in on one sperm as it touched the egg cell membrane, snuggly laying across it and being absorbed now into the egg.

[And after the perilous journey of traveling from Jeremy into Gazelle, this sperm now fertilizes the egg… causing chemical reactions which prevent the 'other' sperm from doing the same… fast forward aaaand…]

The simulation sped up to show the egg slowly changing overtime.

[First stage…]

Not much change.

[Second stage…]

The egg was now bigger and more 'defined'.

[Third stage… fourth stage… Fifth… sixth…]

Gazelle watched, no longer giggling as her future potential child took shape, going from this tiny sphere to a lump, slowly taking shape into…

[Seventh… incredible…] Ema muttered, [This is around the sixteenth week mind you…]

In the seventh stage Gazelle saw that her offspring between her and Jeremy, had a very distinct 'human' appearance, but she noticed, two very tiny 'stubs' on top of its head. It was still a very fleshy lump but even in this stage she could tell that hers and Jeremy's child was a clear fusion of 'both' of them.

[Eighth stage… now advancing to the thirty-fifth week… in human times mind you I can't properly calculate for mammal pregnancy stages…]

In the eighth stage, their child was now more defined, the stubs were still there, representing her antlers, but instead of obvious human ears her child featured 'antelope' ears poking from the top, but they were more rounded and slightly larger than what hers were. Yet most of the body was still very human by comparison.

[And finally, ninth stage…]

In the final stage her child now looked like a very small human child, but the feet resembled hers more, while the face, shoulders and overall body was narrower, again like hers. But other than the two stubs, on her child's head, the feet, and with exception to tiny tufts of fur along the elbows, shoulder and knees, the child was more 'human' than 'mammal'.

[I have to say… I'm impressed by how much of the human form is still there. I guess Jeremy's genes are the more dominant between you two, meaning any offspring he'll have will pretty much share his form, and only inherit traits from you. Well… at least until another mammal with more dominant genes comes along and alters it more, but that level of change won't come for at least ten generations...]

Gazelle however was just staring in awe as she looked at her child, unborn and only a simulation… but she just had this connection, this strange sensation that she was looking at her child, her 'future' child. She pushed her hand against the screen and just stared at it, while the other held her stomach, as if for some reason she could feel the simulated child resting within her.

"It's… not human or mammal… it's like a hybrid of both of us!"

[And it's a girl.] Ema said. [The simulation calculates that your genes lean more toward the female side, so most of your offspring will be female.]

"A girl…" She whispered happily. "She's so beautiful Ema… she's just… beautiful."

[I'm afraid this is as far as the simulation goes, I can't simulate what the child would look like more evolved, such as a child instead of a baby. However, this is about as accurate a depiction of your offspring will be if you and Jeremy manage to conceive successfully.] Ema said as she moved to touch the screen and end the simulation.

"Wait… can you… transfer a recording of the simulation to my phone?" She asked quickly before she could terminate the program. "Please… I want to keep it…"

Ema nodded and connected her phone to the mainframe, and downloaded the recording to her phone before terminating the simulation.

As she left Gazelle opened her phone and played the video, running the simulation again, watching Jeremy's and her egg coming together to once again, create their child. She cried tears as she smiled lovingly, wishing so much that she was pregnant now, so she could meet her child. She knew that humans as a species won't survive once Jeremy dies, but she found comfort and joy knowing that at the very least, humans won't fade away into obscurity with time.

They would live on via Jeremy, through 'her'.

SH-1-ZU the MANTIS

(Jeremy's PoV)

"I've begun selling tickets to help raise the funds we are going to need to actually host this festival you and Aelita have in mind, but Jeremy, the sheer 'weight' of food your asking is going to be very difficult to afford." Lioness said while they sat in her office. "I'm already getting yelled at by my finance director over how much of the taxpayer's money we're spending on buying the chemicals and materials to keep Ema supplied for her cures and vaccines, this is almost going to cost as much."

"Hmmm, that is going to be rough." He muttered while Aelita sat in her holosphere in his lap. "I think I can alleviate half of your concerns though, if you can cover purchasing the meat for the festival, then I think my facility can cover handling the vegetable and fruit aspects of it."

"How so?"

"The Hydroponics Bay, if I get it up and running, I think we can use that to quickly grow enough food to cover what's needed."

"Wait… how can you possibly grow 'that' much food in such a short time?" Lioness asked in confusion. "The festival is in less than a month, how can you grow so much so fast?"

"Better than telling how, how about I show you, as I've never actually been in there myself…" He said warmly. "I know how it works but I've never actually been inside the Hydroponics Bay."

"I haven't been to the facility in a long time since my last visit… and I would like to see more human technology… and this technology does intrigue me…" Lioness muttered to herself as she held her chin while thinking.

After a while she hit her intercom and told her secretary to cancel her schedule for the afternoon and joined him in his Solar Carriage to visit the facility. After leading the way down several levels, he turned down a corridor, heading toward a section called 'Hydroponics'.

The Hydroponics Bay door was extremely wide, double sealed from the outside and triple sealed on the inside, creating an airlock chamber they had to stay in until they were allowed into the Hydroponics Bay itself. The room's diameters made it the equivalent of a football stadium's field, with a low built ceiling that had very specially designed lights shining dimly to light the room up enough for them to see. On the floor were large trenches while very narrow platforms jutted in between each trench for them to navigate. In the middle of the room was a large green 'object' jutting out and hanging above the floor.

"This room hasn't been activated in a long time…" He said as he walked over to a terminal and input his code. "Give me a few seconds to transfer power to this room and turn everything back on."

"Take your time." Lioness muttered as she stared at the empty trenches. "For a Hydroponics Bay I was expecting something else…"

"It's nothing compared to what Facility 12 had, theirs had a more refined method of growing food, able to stack crops vertically, while we used horizontal methods." He explained as he finished the power transfer. "But we had a more 'advanced' method of growing crops before the other facilities."

-Ticktickticktickticktick-

As power was transferred a strange ticking noise got their attention, making them turn to watch as the green object unfurled itself with clicking and clanking, extending two extremely long and nimble legs and two equally long and curled arms which ended in specialized scythes. The body's head revealed itself to be small and shrunken compared to the rest of the body with a narrow torso and two small optics which glowed green as it looked at them.

"Whoa… a Mantis class drone, haven't seen one of those outside of holograms." He muttered as he stepped in front of Lioness, and it stared at him. "What are you?"

In response it turned and walked on all four limbs toward him to stand up to it's rather imposing seven feet height, before speaking in a gentle, feminine tone. [I am Shizu, or more commonly referred to by my drone ID, SH-1-ZU, a first-generation Agricultural Mantis class Drone upgraded with a Category 4 AI.] It said warmly to him, gesturing to itself with its arms. [Do you not recognize me?]

"To be honest no, I've never met you… but do you know 'me' is the question?" He asked warmly.

The drone stared at him before its optics changed from green, to pink, and then back to green. [You are 'Jeremy Wilheart', of Eden Facility 17, your species is Homo Sapiens… I am at your command 'master'.]

"Why did it call you 'master'?" Lioness asked in confusion.

"It's a first generation drone line, very old, when drones were being developed and we still called them 'machines' or 'robots', they were given AI that often referred to humans in servant terminology to help reduce the fear of machines in general population." He explained. "I'm actually surprised your still functioning, I would have thought you would be decommissioned and replaced with a more upgraded model."

[My model is the oldest of all the drone lines, I was created long before the Eden Facility was built, and I will remain the oldest drone until I am decommissioned. I was also intended to be decommissioned, however, the convoy I was attached to was assaulted before it could reach the facility prior to its completion.] Shizu said politely. [The other models were destroyed, and only I remained. Are you here to decommission me, is that why I have been activated again?]

"No actually… I was wondering if you could help with the Hydroponics Bay, since you are in here you would know if we could get it working?"

[I would be proud to be of service to the creator species once again.] Shizu said with a bow, before straightening up and walking to the terminal. [This Hydroponics Bay has not been active since I was deactivated, what soil we had was extracted and thrown away prior to my shutdown. As you have restored power, we need only new soil samples to begin cultivating crops here and begin circulating mist into this room.]

"Mist?" Lioness asked as Shizu pressed a button.

"Mist, unlike your 'traditional' methods of growing food, we use a special mist coated with a delicately crafted form of radiation to soak the soil and air in the room to grow food." Jeremy explained as a hissing filled the room and a special blue mist began filling it.

"Radiation?" Lioness yelled in panic.

[Do not be alarmed, while the term 'radiation' no doubt has a negative meaning generally, in this case, the radiated mist is of human design to only affect plant growth.] Shizu said warmly while the blue mist filled the room and hung low to the floor. [The radiation stimulates rapid growth in plant life, increasing the chemical reactions that take place during a plant's life cycle. As the mist soaks the air and soil, coating the soil with water droplets and particles to feed and nourish the plants, while the radiation stimulates nutrient growth in the soil. While it affects plant growth drastically, it is completely harmless to humans and other animal species.]

Lioness just stared at the mist as she understood what it was the drone explained. "That's incredible… this kind of technology could revolutionize how we grow food on a global scale!" She whispered in awe. "Do you think we could copy this technology and…"

[I am afraid the technology to create the radiation and the mist cannot be replicated, nor can it be deployed on such a scale.] Shizu declared sadly. [I have synchronized with the current Sentinel AI, and I am sorry, but your level of technology cannot replicate the necessary radiation without causing harm. Furthermore, this technology only works in an enclosed environment, the special radiation coating the mist dissipates quickly with time, and the mist is constantly recycled to replace it. Until you have advanced enough to develop a similar technology to recycle and replicate the radiation, I am afraid it is beyond your abilities at this time.]

"Oh… I see." Lioness said disheartened.

Shizu turned to him now and asked, [May I give you a hug now?]

He was caught off guard with that strange request. "What?"

[Your father brought you in here while you were two years old to fix a malfunction I was suffering, and you gestured me to give you a hug while you were an infant, but I was unable to fulfill your request as you were too small at the time to override my previous orders to manage the Hydroponics Bay.] Replied warmly. [Every drone is required to obey a human's request, but I was unable to fulfill this request at the time… may I finally fulfill it?]

"I guess so?" He said in a confused tone.

The drone wrapped its arms around him and gently embraced him for a few seconds, before letting him go. [Hug given…] She said warmly.

"Well that was the most awkward moment I've ever had in the facility." He muttered.

"So, this mist, how long have you used this technology?" Lioness asked Shizu.

[Eden Facility 17 developed this technology ten years prior to the Cryosleep Solution, before then we used more 'archaic' methods to create fertilizer to feed the soil and plants we grew.] She replied.

"What were they?" Lioness asked curiously, no doubt expecting some advanced method that surpassed what mammals used that she might ask about.

Shizu however, glanced at Jeremy before replying in a polite tone, [That information is… 'classified'… with all due respect, only a human may access that information, and I cannot share it while in the presence of a 'mammal'.]

"Oh… I see." Lioness said in dissapointment.

"Mayor Lioness, I need to check the Hydroponics Bay to make sure it will do what I need it to, if you want to wait outside real quick I'll walk you back to the entrance and we can return to your office at City Hall." He said warmly.

"Sure thing."

He watched her enter the airlock and waited until she was gone before turning to Shizu and asking her, "What did we use prior to this technology?"

[Please pardon what I have to say, but we used composted human bodies prior to this technology's use.] She said respectfully. [Any human who died, was placed in an isolated pit, isolated from the rest of the facility to decompose after being injected with a special chemical. It was a carefully guarded secret, that only a select few individuals knew, myself included, and I was ordered not to tell any human who did not have a high level of command. As you are the last human… I am required to tell you now.]

"So… all that time I have been…" He said in horror as the reality hit him. "How did you keep that a secret…"

[They lied, and said they used composted rat bodies to create the fertilizer… scientists and engineers were trying for 'years' to develop this technology… from 'all' facilities. Once it was developed and tested… all facilities burned the remaining bodies and any new bodies after that.]

There was silence before Shizu bent low to look at him.

[Are you… upset with what we had to do, to keep your species alive?]

"No… I just… never knew what happened to all the bodies, why we never buried them as in the past… or even cremated them until more recently." He muttered. "I don't blame you… you were doing what you had to do. We weren't told every secret, and with each new secret I learn makes me less inclined to learn more of what happened…"

[If it is any consolation… we tried to be respectful to those left behind, and we told any loved ones they had… that they were cremated. We enclosed ashes in small boxes to give them piece of mind…]

"It's okay… and thank you Shizu… for telling me the truth, I was always curious is all…" He whispered sadly. "If you are ever asked, just say we used a 'less advanced' form of this mist technology."

[With all due respect Jeremy, but I am not programmed to lie, I can only 'not tell' the truth.] She said sadly. [In order to fulfill this request, I will have to wipe my memory and change the data so that I will assume it's the truth. I cannot do that without your assistance.]

"I… don't want to make you to lie… but I also don't want mammals to find out, or let that knowledge remain potentially to be found…" He replied before he took a deep breath and sighed. "If I give you autonomy to decide yourself how you wish to proceed, will you decide how you wish to fulfill my request?"

[Jeremy, giving a drone free autonomy to do anything is a dangerous risk, without strict guidelines, you will have no control over how I choose to handle this information… are you 'sure' you wish to give me free will in this instance?]

"Yes… I'll keep the secret myself, but I don't want mammals to learn." He replied quietly. "For all their sake, nobody must know what my people had to do in order to survive."

[As you wish, I will delete all data regarding the information from the database and my own memory banks… and replace it with the information you suggested.] Shizu said as her optics changed colors to purple.

While she did her thing, he sighed as he wished he too could just erase his memories, knowing the truth was both a gift and a curse. "You know you drones sure are lucky that you can erase your memories." He told the drone. "I can't do that as easily, I can forget information overtime maybe, but not outright just delete it at a moment's notice."

[Your species is truly blessed Jeremy; my memory banks do not act like that…] Shizu said warmly to him.

"I guess when you look at it from your perspective yes, but I wish I could forget how we made fertilizer in the facility before this technology." He said sadly.

[Why Jeremy, why would you ask that?] Shizu asked warmly. [We have always used the radiation infused mist to fertilize and grow crops within the facility, we only use the current implementation because it is more effective.]

He stared at the drone before smiling sadly. "Yea… we always did." He replied quietly. "I need to grow a lot of food quickly; is there a way you can speed up the process more?"

[Of course, I can intensify the density of the mist and this will speed up growth, though we will 'lose' the soil's nutrients after a few weeks. The radiation will only increase the growth of plant life as it grows denser, it will not affect the soil's nutrient regeneration cycle… I will need new soil when that happens…] She said proudly. [Once you provide me with the required soil, and some seeds, I can resume my duties as I did in the past.]

"I'll get you the soil and the seeds, just make sure you grow enough to help produce food to feed… well a lot of mammals, let's just leave it at that." He said.

[Define, a 'lot'.]

"Oh, I don't know, a few hundred thousand, sound about right give or take? We won't be using Standard Nutritional Supplements."

[As you command.] She said with a bow. [I am pleased to be of service to your species, once again Master Jeremy.]

"Don't call me master, add that to the other updates to your program in this day and age." He said with a chuckle while he began to leave.

[I will do my best…]

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=From the Author=

I am going to take a short break from HOGH to work on my other stories, as they need attention. The next chapter I write is going to be 'extensively' long, as it is a chapter featuring multiple cultures from around the world in a festival setting, and I need to do everything properly and that will take time.

Review away, I love reading reviews and take what criticism I can take, even if it isn't friendly~

Also to Hapyjohn, the reason Jeremy can't write his name but is able to build and repair machines as well as read and understand complicated subjects is because, when you are using holograms, keyboards and viewing huds most of your life, your handwriting skills are naturally less 'practiced'. Its not that he doesn't have the skills, they just aren't as 'developed' as someone who would be signing autographs almost every day for fans, and thus practices her writing skills more frequently.