"Jeez the streets are chaotic here." Sarmotti said, holding onto the handle of the passenger seat. Larry was at the wheel of the car, trying to manoeuvre through traffic while trying not to crush the small mouse cars. "They really are. Don't know how these guys manage to do so." Larry replied. Someone switched lanes right in front of Larry and he slammed the breaks. Sarmotti placed his hands out forward, catching himself on the dashboard. "Watch it!" He hissed at Larry. Larry defended himself. "You saw what he did!"
"I'm old, Larry, think faster next time."
"Better than crashing." Larry said. Sarmotti knew he was right so he stayed quiet. Larry turned around to Sierra, who was trying her hardest not to laugh at Larry and Sarmotti's little dispute. "Looks like you are walking, honey." Larry said to Sierra. "Traffic ain't gonna move faster." Sierra nodded and hopped out of the car. "Thank you, dad. See you, grandpa." Sierra said. "See you, honey. Have fun!" Larry responded. Sarmotti smiled and nodded. Sierra close the door behind her and walked down the street.
"Hey," Sarmotti said. "Is that one of those humans?" Larry looked at where Sarmotti was pointing. A human wearing a leather jacket and futuristic glasses was walking down the sidewalk across from where Larry and Sarmotti was. "Yep." Larry confirmed. Sarmotti stopped pointing. "I imagined them to be a lot scarier." Larry nodded as he looked at the human. The human looked towards their direction and they both looked forward. "Can this traffic go any slower?" Sarmotti complained as the cars in the traffic slowly crept through the roundabout during rush hour.
"I guess this was how the world was back then." Michael said as he looked at the massive traffic jam. "Sadly I wasn't made back in 2026 or earlier so I can't confirm." Paul said from Michael's holo-watch. Due to the fact that Paul is free from his tether, Kichael was told to keep his mind on any holo device on his person. This is to reduce anxiety from the pedestrians of Zootopia. "Whether you can confirm or not, this traffic is intense compared to our world." Michael responded. Michael looked away from the car jungle and walked down the sidewalk.
Today, Michael is going to meet his two friends, Sophie and Joseph. It's been a while since the two of them talked and he thought it would be a good idea to catch up on their adventures to the different districts. No work. Just talk. Like friends. He said to meet at an ice cream shop down in savannah central. It's hot in the district so an ice cream shop is a good way to cool down.
Michael turned the corner to a pedestrian street. It was quiet from the traffic but he can still hear a distant honk or engine rev. The street was well decorated. The street itself was painted with white outlined shapes. With these shapes placed together they formed the name, "Savannah Central". The street was crowded but had enough space for Michael to squeeze through. The crowd began to thin and only a couple mammals walked down the pedestrian street. To his left, Michael found the ice cream shop that he planned to meet with Sophie and Joseph. They haven't arrived yet, so Michael picked a table with three seats and sat on a chair. Michael pulled out his phone:
"At ice cream place" Michael texted the group chat.
"kk" Both Sophie and Joseph responded.
A couple minutes later...
A ZUber pulled up at the end of the pedestrian street. Sophie exited the car and thanked the driver before shutting the door. She walked up the pedestrian road and smiled as she saw Michael sitting at the table. "Well look who it is." Michael said as he stood up. "Hey, nerd." Sophie responded as she gave Michael a friendly hug. They both sat down at the table and sat in awkward silence. "When is doofus showing up?" Sophie questioned Josephs whereabouts. Michael chuckled. "Running late as always. The man is slower than bricks sometimes."
After waiting about five minutes, a human rounded the corner with his holo-phone out. It was Joseph. Joseph looked up and nodded as he seen Sophie and Michael sitting at the table. "Am I fashionably late?" He asked the two. Sophie got up. "As always." She said as she gave Joseph a friendly hug. "I always do." He responded as he and Sophie split apart. He then went to Michael where they both bro-hugged. After they greeted each other, the gang all sat down and ordered ice cream.
Sierra walked down the sidewalk of the busy street Larry dropped her off at. She was excited to meet her boyfriend Justin after a long six months of long distance relationship. She looked down at her phone, glimpsing up now and then, to find the store he worked at. The store was called ZG games, a video game store. She knew where to go because Justin told her about his new job three months ago, address and all. She turned the corner and went down a one way street. The sidewalk was lined with trees and commercial stores.
A couple steps forward and Sierra made it to ZG games. The windows were well decorated with video game posters and ads. She looked through the window and found Justin tending to customers at the counter. He looked better than ever. A little more mature than before. He had a bigger mane. Not as big as Larry's, though. He looked more muscular and less fat. Justin waved to the customer as they finished and walked out of the counter booth. Sierra took a deep breath and entered the video game store.
"Thank you." Sophie, Joseph, and Michael said as they were just served ice cream by the elephant waiter. "Pleasure doing business with you, humans." The elephant smiled. The waiter walked away with the food tray. The best part about being a human on an animal planet isn't just the friendly inhabitants, it's the free shit you get. Michael gets an old phone, unlimited ZUber rides, AND free ice cream. It is a little piece of heaven. Michael started to get into his banana split while Joseph eats his hot fudge sundae and Sophie sips away at her strawberry vanilla milkshake.
"So," Sophie started. "What did you guys get done lately?" Joseph placed his spoon down and wiped his mouth with paper napkins. "I will start." Joseph began. "I have been studying the snow machines and cold climate manipulators in Tundratown." Sophie nodded at Josephs response. "Nice," Michael said. "Can you explain how it works?" Joseph nodded. "Basically, there are vents around Tundratown. These vents are used to release cold air high enough so that it can go down onto the ground and keep the snow from melting. There is also a cloud machine that produces clouds to add more snow to the ground when needed." Both Sophie and Michael nodded. "Pretty neat." Sophie said.
"What about you, Sophie?" Joseph asked. Sophie placed down her drink and crossed her arms. "I have been studying the wildlife in the rain forest district. It turns out that Zootopia is located in the State of Florida if we compare it to our earth... Before it became absolutely polluted. I have also met a new study buddy. His name is Elijah. He's a cheetah." Joseph looked at Michael and smirked. Michael mouthed 'Don't start' and smirked back. "Sounds like you've been a busy bee." Joseph said to Sophie. "I always exceed everyone's expectations." She smiled. "You're up, Michael, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, you know." Michael started. "Fixing gadgets, teaching workers how to use holo-grams, get blasted by a Tripod heat ray." Sophie nearly choked on her smoothie, Joseph had a big smile on his face as he chuckled to himself. "Joseph, it's not funny... okay it is funny. How did you end up doing that?" Michael sighed at his two friends and begun his explanation. "A Tripod wasn't working right. So I was called down to have a look at it's heat ray. I asked the pilot to use it so I can see what's happening. Didn't realize he was aiming at me and POOF." Sophie laughed. "Did you give the pilot an earful?" "Yeah." Michael laughed. "A fuck ton."
A feint sob caught Michael's attention. He isn't the one to go for those who were upset but this time it felt different. It sounded like someone he knew. Someone he just met. He looked two tables over and found the lioness he met yesterday, Sierra. She wasn't crying but on the verge of tears. What the hell happened? And who the hell did this to her?
Flash back to when Justin and Sierra met at ZG games
Justin was tending to the video games on the shelf, making them look presentable. The door emitted a bell sound as Sierra walked through. Justin looked over his shoulders and smiled as he saw Sierra. "Sierra!" Justin said with excitement. "Hey, babe." Sierra replied as they both hugged each other followed by a kiss. "Did you miss me?" Sierra asked. "Totally." Justin replied. "Six whole months felt like six whole years." The two of them kissed once more. All went perfectly until Sierra heard a woman behind her. "Babe? What the hell?!"
Sierra turned around to find a Lioness staring at her and Justin. Her expression showed anger and fear. "I'm sorry, but he's already claimed by me." Sierra said as she held Justin's hand. Justin started to shake and his hands grew cold. "Actually, he is already claimed by me. Sorry not sorry." the Lioness crossed her arms. Sierra looked at Justin. "Justin, tell this bitch who's right." The Lioness looked at Justin. "Justy, tell this bitch to fuck off!" Justin looked to the Lioness. "Tammy, baby." Justin said. "Give me and her a second to explain something." Tammy walked out the store with a bitchy attitude. "Sierra. We need to talk." Justin said. Sierra's stomach sank.
"When I first moved to Zootopia, I had a lot of stuff on my mind. You were the first on my mind. We will be across the country from each other. No physical contact, just text messages. There is something about long distance relationships that I can't do." Justin explained. "Why didn't you tell me and break up with me before?" Sierra asked, breathing heavily. Justin sighed. "I couldn't. I was scared. I didn't want you to get mad at me or get too upset." "I-I-..." Sierra sighed. "I can't promise I won't be mad back then but being mad and upset is all about break ups." Justin sighed again. "I'm sorry, Sierra." Sierra looked down. "Goodbye, Justin." Sierra said as she turned around and left the store.
On her way out, Tammy glared at her.
"It's rude to stare," Sierra said.
"It's rude to steal someone's man." Tammy said back.
"He was mine before he turned to you!"
"He doesn't like you anymore, get over it!" Tammy then claws Sierra on her left cheek. Sierra recoiled back in pain and quickly held her cheek. She then ran away. She ran until she can find a safe place to rest.
Michael didn't want to be the one to tend to a damsel in distress but he just met Sierra and he wanted to gain a good reputations with Zootopians. "Give me a minute, guys." Michael said as he made a slow and steady pace to the sobbing lioness. "Sierra, are you okay? What happened?" Michael asked Sierra in a soft and low tone. As always, he wanted to sound gentle when it comes to emotional situations such as these. Sierra looked up, shaking a little. "Oh, it's you." Sierra said with almost no emotion. Michael nodded. "Yep, it's me." Sierra looked down onto the table top. "I wish to be alone right now, Michael." Sierra told Michael. "Okay." Michael nodded as he returned with his friends.
"Who was that?" Sophie asked Michael.
"My neighbour in Sahara Square." Michael responded.
"What happened to her?" Joseph also asked Michael.
"I don't know and it's best that we not dwell on that topic." Michael responded.
Two police officers were walking towards Michael and his group at a quick pace. Their body movements didn't show anger. They showed concern. Upon further observation, Michael can confirm that the two officers were Nick and Judy. The two finest officers of Zootopia approached Michael's group. "Excuse me, humans." Judy said to bring the groups attention. "Sup, Nick." Joseph waved. Nick nodded with a laid back smile. "Hey, guys. What's up?" Michael asked the two officers. "Glad you asked." Judy said. "We were given reports of suspicious activity that may lead to something tragic that happened in 2025." Michael's chest dropped. "Y-you don't mean..." Sierra looked up at Michael slightly from the worry in his voice.
"We shouldn't talk about this in public, carrots." Nick said, looking around as the citizens of Zootopia walked by. Judy nodded. "When will you be able to talk?" Judy asked Michael and his friends. Michael and his friends did a quick discussion and came with an agreement. "Let's say in two hours?" Michael suggested. "Yep, that will do. See you then." Judy and Nick said their farewells and quickly made their way to their cruiser. "So, the incident of 2025. Haven't witnessed it but it sounds horrifying." Joseph commented. Sophie nodded. Michael nodded too. "That's why they and the rest of the ZPD force want to talk to the humans in this city. To stop that shit show from happening again."