As they return home the following day, Pepé, quieter than usual, goes straight into his apartment lab and closes the door behind him. Wile E. follows after him, but is halted by the sound of the door's lock clicking into place. The morning after, he tries again to catch the skunk's attention, but receives silence. Days pass, with no response. By evening of the following week, Wile has no choice but to leave it be.

"He'll come out when he needs to," Ralph reassures him, though the lack of sincerity in his voice is anything but.

Wile doesn't respond, but simply nods before refocusing on the television. The two of them are watching a documentary on ACME's local channel, covering the speculative history of Sapients. Due to the lack of fossil records from early Sapients and the muddying of the timeline as a result of overlapping interactions with themselves and humans, much of the information portrayed in the documentary is—as Ralph bluntly puts it—pure conspiracy.

"Archaeologists believe that the existence of Sapients can be traced back to early civilizations like Ancient Egypt, citing the portrayals of animal-headed gods such as Horus and Anubis as evidence of early Sapients who were deified by the local human population—"

"Bullshit!" Ralph grumbles as he turns off the TV. "If humans are so fascinated by us, then why would they erase our history and treat us like crap?"

Wile doesn't know how to respond. Unlike Ralph, who once worked under a human, he himself never had the blessing or misfortune of interacting significantly with them. Even within Acme City, humans are a rarity, probably due to the local Sapients' primal instincts clashing with theirs and the various laws and customs which make living inconvenient for non-animals.

However, despite its dubious credibility, the documentary manages to fascinate him in one way: the flattened, archaic image of the canine-headed Anubis, looming over a sarcophagus, strikes a grim yet nostalgic feeling within him. "Say, Ralph, that Anubis god, is he a wolf?"

Ralph shrugs. "Most call him a jackal, but some wolves look enough like jackals to confound folks. I don't know enough about African species to say for sure. Either way, you're unlikely to see a dog like that 'round these parts." He stands up. "I'm going to bed. You get some sleep, too." He kisses the coyote on the cheek and heads for the bedroom. "Good night, Wile."

That night, Wile has a familiar dream. He's a child again, wandering the barren desert. His muzzle is stained with blood, his jaundiced eyes wet with tears. I'm sorry, Dad… but I was hungry. So hungry. I hope you'll forgive me.

As his corpse-like body slogs through the harsh sands, the heat of the sun slowly melts away his consciousness, gradually losing its grasp of reality. He stops, his bleary vision captivated by a stark image before him.

Standing tall and strong is a wolf-like creature like himself, their body wrapped messily in linen bandages. He looks up and gasps. Along with donning a collar of gold and gems, the stranger is wearing a sleek, regal mask carved from ebony. Curious, he approaches, but as he does, his nostrils catch a whiff of the canid's scent and recoils. They reek of death, the same sort of scent which surrounded his father's corpse. The stranger, stepping forward, starts to speak, but he cannot process their words, for in that moment, his younger dream self has gained lucidity, softly uttering, "You…! You're…"

Wile snaps awake. Steadying his breath, he recounts his dream. Though the specifics are muddied, the memory associated is familiar enough to him that he can still recall every detail. All except for that stranger's words. Not that it matters, he rationalizes. Whoever—or whatever—that canid was, they carried the same mysterious, intangible aura as a mirage in the desert. Mirages, as with any other trick of the mind, should not be closely examined. And yet, why can't he stop thinking of them?

The smell of coffee lingers in the air, growing stronger as he enters the kitchen. As soon as he steps foot on the tile floor, he suddenly stops in his tracks. Sitting on the table, munching on a slice of whole wheat bread, is Pepé. "You're up early," he says, his chipper voice belying his apparent fatigue. "Did you not sleep well?"

"I could ask the same of you," Wile E. retorts. "You were holed up in that room for two whole days. How could I not worry?"

"Mon ami, I appreciate your concern, but I know my limits. If anyone needs to take better care of themselves, it's you."

Wile grabs a cup of joe and joins Pepé at the table. He talks about the dream he had, describing the stranger he encountered within it and comparing it with the image of Anubis he saw in the documentary. "I can't get the image out of my head. There's so much I want to know, yet there is this itching feeling that I shouldn't."

The skunk smiles as he casually sips his coffee. "Why should that stop you? If this is something important to you, you should pursue it by all means. Besides…" The skunk's sly gaze cuts into Wile's soul as he says, "…you could be on the verge of something life-changing."


One surprisingly peaceful train ride to West Quarter later, Wile E. successfully manages to find the Acme City Community Library. Known also as A.C.C.L, the library is kept alive primarily through taxes, with extra funding scrounged up through its seasonal used book sales and community efforts. It is considered a prime location for locally-run programs and even has a special department for self-publishing. It is also, according to Pepé, the best place to find books covering Sapient history.

"You'll need a Special Member's card to access their private archives, but the regular selection can still offer some leads," the skunk explained to him earlier.

"How do I get one of those 'Special Member' cards?" Wile asked.

"Membership cards come in three tiers. Regular Members can borrow any book from these shelves and access the computer labs and library database at no cost. City residents have the ability to upgrade their membership to Extended Access, which opens themselves up to A.C.C.L Press and access to more exclusive programming. Then there's the Special Membership, which is only accessible to those employed under or affiliated with ACME Corp, regardless of citizenship status."

While recalling this bit of exposition, the coyote's thoughts drift back to his conversation with Sylvester during the heist. If Pepé really was an employee for ACME, is it possible he could have had a Special Membership? It's likely been terminated since, but if there's even the slightest chance of his employment still being active, they have to jump at the chance.

Sifting through the shelves, Wile's finger stops at a plain white paperback with the title Who Were the 'Loonatics'? A Basic History of Sapients. Upon closer inspection, the book has no name attached, save for the "Published by A.C.C.L Press" mentioned at the bottom of the frontmost page and a copyright dating it back a handful of years.

After scouring the entire section, he found very few books on Sapient history, but plenty about Ancient Egypt. He clears the shelf of its entire selection, resulting in a massive stack.

Carrying his tower of tomes, he searches for the nearest unoccupied table. That's when he catches something—or rather, someone—within his sight. Settled in a far corner of the library, surrounded by books and typing away at a laptop, is a young male coyote, though much different from himself. Behind his large, round glasses are a pair of red eyes, matching his red nose. His kempt fur is cool gray, and his stature is small and plump, looking even younger when paired with his oversized sweater vest draped over a loose button-up blouse.

Come to think of it, when was the last time he interacted with his own kind? Wile E. digs back through his memory bank, hoping to uncover something. Aside from his parents (and Ralph by technicality) he cannot recall a single name or face. Before his arrival in Acme City, he neither cared for nor craved friendship. It's only when he met Ralph that he realized just how much he needed it. No wonder he's so socially inept.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" Wile asks the other coyote as he sets down his stack. His direct approach takes the young one by surprise, a swaying hand knocking a book off the table. He moves to reach for it, but Wile beats him. "Here, let me get that." He picks up the dropped book, getting a gook look at its cover. Leatherbound with gold trim, titled Study and Practice of Xeno-Chemistry, it hardly resembles anything he found on the public shelves.

Before he can inquire about it, the younger coyote snatches it and stuffs it into a messenger bag. For a brief moment, Wile catches a glimpse of a lanyard, attached to which is a card with "Special Member" typed in bold letters. "Excuse me, but are you an ACME employee?"

The grey canid, skeptical, nods in response. He whips out a tablet, and on its screen reads, "And your business is…?"

Shit, maybe that was a little too honest. What should I say? He laments not having Ralph's natural charisma. Trying not to lose the opportunity, he answers, "My father worked for ACME. On-field QA tester. I just find it funny that there's two coyotes employed by the same company. Like it's destiny or something." Great, now I just sound like an idiot.

The youth's brows rise, and he checks his surroundings, cradling the tablet like a baby. In a swift motion, he raises the tablet close to Wile's face, displaying another message: "You want to access the private archives, right?" Following up with: "If your father's work account is still active, you might be able to get by on his benefits." Then: "If you can prove it."

"They need proof, you say?" With a proud smirk, he adds, "That shouldn't be a problem. I'm all the proof they'll need."


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Eyyy, I'm back again with a new chapter! Not the most exciting piece, but like with chapter 6, this one went through so many rewrites and changes that I'm just shoving this out cus I'm exhausted and I don't want my efforts to go to waste.

Originally, this and the next chapter I'm working on was one large chapter, but when it hit the 9-plus page mark, I felt that it was getting too long, even by the standards of later chapters, so I split it into two parts to make it less overwhelming. That's the main reason why the chapter ends on a slightly off note (though maybe that's just me thinking such).

After getting a brief appearance in the last entry, Calamity returns and we get a better look at him. Those who don't follow my Instagram might be surprised or turned off by him being overweight, but as I mentioned there, I wanted to make each "Wile E. clone" character distinct in some way, and Cal being chubby seemed like a cute idea. And let's be real: if you're familiar with my body of work (both written and illustrated), this shouldn't be all that surprising.

Anyhow, I think that's all for now. Next chapter's in the works currently, and as a forewarning, it's basically a massive flashback scene, so the verb tense is going to be different from the norm. It hasn't been the easiest thing to write, but I'm hoping to get it to a semi-palatable form before the end of the month.

5/29/2022 UPDATE: A relatively minor update, but I changed the description of the black-masked stranger a bit to make certain details in later chapters more consistent/less plot hole-y.