"I think we should give our new neighbour a warm welcome." Kate said, cooking pancakes for the family. Hunter, Sierra, and Larry sat at the round dining room table. Sierra was on her phone, Hunter was too focused on the delicious smell of pancakes to do anything, and Larry was reviewing the Zootopia weather simulator manual for his new job. Sierra looked away from her screen. Was it a good idea to welcome the human? Half of her says yes because it's a good gesture. The other half says no because the human just moved in yesterday. Shouldn't he be given a bit of space first?

"I think it's a good idea, honey." Larry said, placing his manual on the table. He stood up and walked to the coffee machine to grab his freshly brewed coffee. Sierra cringed a little. God forbid that if she saw her parents greeting the human. What if they embarrass her? What if they offend him? What if-... no. Sierra took a deep breath. She's an adult and must act like one. If her parents want to talk to the human, they can go ahead. Besides, she's got plans with Cassidy today after 10:00 AM. Cassidy will show Sierra around Sahara Square. Maybe find her a job of any businesses are hiring.

"Thank you for breakfast, mom." Sierra said as she finished her pancakes. "You're welcome." Kate replied. Sierra walked to the living room and turned on the TV. She changed the channel to ZTV and watched whatever was on there. Larry packed his lunch, put on his safety vest, and grabbed his hard hat. "I'm gone, family!" He called out. "Bye, honey!" Kate said with positivity as she kissed Larry's left cheek. "Bye, dad." Sierra responded, still slumped on the couch. "Have fun, dad!" Hunter said, his voice muffled by the walls of the house. Larry exited the house and closed the door behind him. The sound of a car engine was heard and Larry drove off to his new job.

Almost an hour has passed. Sierra was on her phone as the commercials played on the TV. She was on Zoostagram, looking at what her friends were up to while she was gone. The doorbell rang and Sierra placed her phone in her right pocket. She opened the front door and found Cassidy standing in the middle of the door way. "Good morning, Sierra." Cassidy greeted. "Ready to go?" "Let's do it." Sierra replied. "Let me just turn the TV off first."

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It was 11:00 PM, Michael walked outside and took in a big breath of fresh, alien air. He recently got an email from Sarah asking him to take photos of some plant life in Sahara Square. He walked to the nicely trimmed bush in the front yard and took a couple photos with Paul's camera system. He then walked to the backyard and took a photo of the almost dead tree and dried up dirt and grass. "This should be enough." Michael said. Paul faced Michael, his camera mode still active. "I suggest we take some photos of the external house structure." Paul suggested. Michael thought it was a good idea and ordered Paul to take photos of parts of the house. Michael sat on the stairs leading to his front door.

The sound of heavy footsteps grew closer. Michael looked up to find a white lioness 3 metres from where he sat. The lioness was holding a basket of fruits with a red bow on top. "Greetings." The Lioness greeted Michael with a warm smile. "Good morning." Michael responded. Michael stood up and walked to even ground with the lioness. She still stood about 2.5 - 3 metres from Michael. "You can come closer. I don't bite but I definitely bark when provoked." Michael chuckled. The Lioness came closer to Michael. Now she is about 5 metres from Michael.

"I should probably introduce myself." The Lioness spoke. "My name is Kate."

"Nice to meet you, Kate. I'm Michael." Michael said back.

"Nice to meet you too."

Kate handed Michael the basket of fruits she was holding. "This is our welcoming gift." Kate explained. Michael smiled and placed it to the right of him. "That's very kind of you, thanks." A couple seconds of silence past before Kate broke it. "So I've heard that the humans have their own divisions or something. Which division are you from?" "IT." Michael answered. "Oh. So computers and stuff like that?" Kate assured. "Indeed, ma'am." Michael said. A couple more seconds of silence fell between the 2. "So, you new here?" Michael finally asked. A split second later his stomach dropped. Did he really just say that?Kate responded. "Actually, yes. Yes we are new hear. How did you know?" Michael silently sighed in relief. 'Crisis averted.' He thought. To respond to Kate's question, Michael decided to tell the truth. "To be frank, I wasn't thinking straight. It was more of an awkward question." Michael said. Kate chuckled. "Looks like you humans have a sense of humour. What other surprises do you lie?"

Paul, the AIS who is Always On Time, returned to Michael with the photos of each corner and wall of the house. "Got the photos." Paul said as he displayed a screen full of photos. "Oh, thank you, bud. Let's see here... yep! That'll do." Michael said as he skimmed through the photos. "Oh, I should introduce you to-" Michael said but stopped when he noticed Kate was 3 feet further from him. She seemed scared of something. Her shoulders were tensed and her arms were slightly raised and hugged against her. "You alright, Kate?" Michael said. A split second later Michael realized what the issue was. Paul was modelled to look like the Tripod probe from War of the World (2005). Perhaps Michael should give a softer introduction for Kate.

"Kate." Michael said in a calm voice. "This is Paul. He is an Automated Intelligence System. All humans have one. I specifically made Paul to look like the Tripod probe because it looked cool." That was a lie. Michael did it because before he even started this expedition to this planet, he never really felt included. He wanted someone physical rather than a voice in a holo-watch. "Good day, madam. I am Paul." Paul introduced as he stuck out his robotic tentacle Hand. Kate loosened her shoulders and slowly approached Paul. With every step she took, Kate loosed up more. She grabbed Paul's hand and they both shook. Kate formed a smile and Paul's screen had a feint green glow indicating happiness.

Michael's holo-watch emitted a ringtone. He looked at the screen emitted from his watch. It was one of the Tripod pilots. "Kate, I'm deeply sorry but I must take this." Michael excused himself. Kate nodded and stepped away for a bit. Michael then headed up the steps and stood by his door. "Michael, here." Michael answered, raising his right arm half way up to his chest. "Hey." The voice said through a small speaker at the templates of Michael's glasses. "So we are having an issue with the Tripods demolition ray. I can hear it powering up but it isn't producing the ray." It could be that the Tripods destruction Ray is out of energy to conduct heat or it has broke and needs a replacement. "Ok. I'll head down and take a gander. Could possibly be out of energy. Worst case scenario we need to contact the aliens." Michael notified the pilot. "Sounds good. We also contacts Joseph just to make sure we get all the qualified people involved. Thank you, Michael. See you there." The pilot said. The pilot hung up and Michael lowered his arms.

"You still there, Kate?" Michael called.

"Yes I am." Kate responded.

"Cool. Listen, I got to get to the Space Terminal construction site to fix an issue with one of our excavation Tripods. So I'm gonna have to end our greeting."

"Oh ok. I understand." Kate smiled. "Well, Michael, I hope you feel right at home in Zootopia. We are always here if you wish to talk. Have a nice day!"

"Thank you. You too."

Kate turned around and headed back to her house. Michael headed back into his house and grabbed the things he needed. His holo-computer, a computer fitted inside a small cube. His repair kit, all the screws, screwdrivers, nuts and bolts, etc. to fix the technology he needed. "Nice lady, Kate is." Paul said out of the blue. "Yeah. Really friendly." Michael responded. Michael collected all the things he needed and headed out the door. A Züber was already waiting for him outside. Michael climbed in to the back seat of the car and authorized him to drive. The Züber driver knew where to go.

"Incoming call from your girlfriend." Paul said. Michael looked at him. "We are not boyfriend girlfriend. We are just... dating." Paul looked at Michael. Strangely, Michael has the ability to understand what Paul is feeling. It doesn't work one hundred per cent of the time, though. What Michael thought he saw in Paul's probe screen is disbelief or doubt. "Oh quit giving me that look and answer the damn call." Michael said. He giggles a little before Paul answered Chloe's call.

"Hey, Chloe."

"Hi Michael, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you. How about you?"

"Could be better. I saw you were talking to one of the new neighbours. How was she?"

"Oh she was alright. Quite friendly, too. She gave me a welcome basket Full of fruit."

"I see... Well, I'm glad became acquainted to her and I'm glad she isn't afraid of you."

"Yeah, good thing, eh?" Michael chuckled.

"Right... anyways, I will see you around, Michael."

"Excellent, see you Chloe."

Michael said in an upbeat tone. Michael hung up after 2 seconds of silence. Michael thought it was odd that he had to hang up. Usually Chloe would hang up when the conversation ended. Michael, as always, brushed it off. Maybe she was having a bad day. "Chloe sounded a little... different." Paul said. Michael looked at him in disgust. "Were you eavesdropping to our calls?" Michael question Paul. Paul didn't respond. He just looked at Michael, hovering above the seat next to him. "You are getting the shit beaten out of you when we get out of this car!" Michael quietly yelled at Paul. "Michael, I can't stop myself from doing that. I must record every call you make or respond to. I was instructed to do so by Gabriel and the rest of Project Zoo staff." Paul assured Michael.

Michael slumped backinto his seat. There is no way to defend against that. "Whatever." Michael said. "Let's just get this Tripod issue sorted." The Züber driver drove through the Sahara Square exit and left the Zootopia city limits. Michael couldn't keep his mind off of Chloe. She wasn't her usual self during that call. Sure she was kind but her tone said a different story. It wasn't the mean tone or jealous tone. It was more of a disinterested tone. She sounded interested but some part of her speech said otherwise. No matter in thinking of it now. Michael had one important job to do. Find the issue with the Tripod and fix the issue as fast as possible.