"The last bastion of your defense against the world is your very own mind." - Anonymous
*BONUS QUOTE*
"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." - Mark Twain.
Nobody gets to me...
It has been said that the absolute worst lie of all is denial, since it is wrought not only upon those around you, but yourself as well.
To build up a defensive confinement, a bastion of doubt and untruthful perceptions, is to lock yourself within the hollowed walls of your own misfortune and to throw away the key. Nick considered himself a near-expert at this rather pessimistic mindset, since all of his years on the harsh streets of the city have honed his social skills into that of an acute and effective weapon, least to say: His mouth was a gun, and his words were his ammunition.
But alongside his acquired skills of charisma and charm, a deeper layer of cynicism and guilt festered beneath the facade of friendliness that he plastered upon his face.
Nick was a spiteful and bitter fox. His views on the world around him were nothing short of pessimistic and despicable, and he was prone to taking out that hatred on himself. His emotions may have been in tatters for most of his life, but nearly every step of the way, he'd managed to keep them in check and under tight control, instead displaying a facade of smugness, confidence, and friendliness.
The consequences of bottling up something as powerful as anger, or sadness, were drastic.
Sometimes, after months, or even entire years of keeping a straight face in the midst of it all, something would crack in him, and he'd fall apart. The fox's will would crumble, and he'd hide himself away form the world, where he could sort out his problems alone, all by himself, with no one to help him in his time of need. Once the hill was behind him, however, he'd have to concentrate to gain back his seemingly unfeasible sense of charisma and wit, telling himself again and again that nobody was able to get to him.
Nobody...
1:45 P.M
"So, if we're gonna be bustin' down the doors of this printing place, we're gonna need a good reason to in the first place... Any plans?"
Jack Savage's question lingered in the air of the cruiser for a few short seconds before being ultimately answered by Judy, whom kept her gaze firmly locked on the road ahead.
"We aren't going to be busting down their doors, Jack..." The female bunny mimicked. "We'll go in, and we'll ask to speak with the managers: The two rat brothers."
"Okay then, but what do we do after that?"
"After we meet the managers, we just explain to them that we're working on an internal-investigation, and from there, I guess we'll see what happens." Judy concluded.
"Is it really that simple?" Jack added curiously.
"It should be... I certainly hope that it will be: Not everyone goes quietly or acts cooperatively with stuff like this."
"You got that right, whiskers..." Nick muttered. "Remember that one time we had to evict that lion from his apartment on Pack Street?"
"I almost lost my head." Judy replied broodingly.
The fox snickered.
"Yeah, that guy must've really woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, huh?"
The too-large police cruiser that held trio of mammals continued driving through the diverse and colorful streets of Savannah-Central, which itself was choked full of all sorts of mammals ranging in size, shape, and species. Towering giraffe's strided through and over packs of wolves, and teeny tiny shrews carefully maneuvered themselves around the footsteps of larger animals, cautious not to get accidentally squashed underfoot.
All the while, the distance to their destination closed with each passing second.
Nick, careful not to get too close to Jack, leaned over and pulled the dashboard monitor closer to him, intent on checking how close they were to the printing shop where they would confront Ratsputin's two children. Eyeing the screen, he typed away at it and clicked the mouse a few times, eventually bringing up the GPS coordinates that had been hidden behind several layers of open tabs and other pop-ups.
"Just about one more mile to go, fluff... Keep at it..." He added before pushing the monitor back into its original position. "We're almost there."
"Thankfully. Hmm... Say, Jack, how do you know the two rat brothers anyways?" Judy huffed.
"Ah, well, just personal business, really." The male rabbit replied quickly, to which the fox beside him snorted in discontempt.
"Whatever you say, Savage. Whatever you say."
"Hey, I'm telling the truth!" Jack claimed, his brow furrowing in irritation.
"I'm certain of it." Nick grumbled sarcastically beneath his breath. "But why is it when you say personal business, I can't help but think illegal business?"
"Alright, enough of that." The female bunny interjected. "So, Jack, tell us about Dmitri and Rytsar: What are they both like? Will they be able to work with the three of us?"
Jack Savage leaned back in his seat and stroked at the striped fur on his chin with his free paw.
"Well, they're sort of... Peculiar... Least to say." He stated slowly.
"Peculiar?" Nick repeated with raised eyebrows.
"Aye, thas' right... It's kind of hard to explain. Dmitri and Rytsar are a lot like their father, in a sense of intelligence, but they're both much more friendly and appealing."
"That's a good thing." Judy muttered.
"They argue and bicker with each other quite a lot, but otherwise seem to make a pretty good team once they have their minds set on a common goal: They've worked together in the news business alongside their own father for over a decade and a half at this point in time, so the two of them must do their jobs quite well, I suppose."
"And what of their sister, Anna?" Nick threw in. "What's her gig?"
"She does vocals and other singing stuff for a theater somewhere in Tundra-Town situated for smaller-sized mammals like herself, I believe... Her full name is Anastasia."
"Oh, that's a pretty name!" Judy exclaimed before clearing her throat audibly. "I think that I actually have heard of her before, now that you bring her up."
"Yeah, she's made a decently-sized name for herself in that field." Jack said whilst staring out of the window in front of him. "She's a pretty good singer, as a matter of fact."
"So what's her relationship like with her two brothers?" Nick inquired, eyeing Savage with a look of disapproval.
"How should I know? It's not like I follow them around with a pencil and paper. I only know what Dmitri and Rytsar have told me about her before." The male rabbit claimed.
"Which is?"
"Not too sure, but I think I've heard them mention that she doesn't really like her father or brothers very much, so she sticks to herself and out of their usual business."
"Well, with a dad like Grygorri, I'd wanna stay as far away from his as possible too." Nick joked, causing Judy to snort humorously.
"Anything else that we should know about Dmitri and Rytsar?" The female bunny questioned.
"The two of them share Ratsputin's rather old-fashioned taste of nostalgia." Jack stated with a slight shrug.
"Case in point, handlebar mustache." Nick added, pointing to the computer monitor. "Who even does that anymore?" He chuckled. "Well, aside from ugly number one."
"Hey now, no need to be bashing them, slick. We wouldn't want you to accidentally drop an unsavory comment right in front of them, now would we?"
"Eh, I've never really liked rats that much in the first place, anyways..." The fox mumbled. "They never tell the truth."
"Nick! You know what I've told you over and over about stereotyping other mammals! It's not nice!" The female bunny chided, to which Nick pursed his lips in response.
"Yeah, I know, carrots... I know..." He trailed off slowly, realizing his own hypocrisy.
The entire car was silent to the methodical count of several drawn out seconds, but soon enough, Judy piped up, her ears raised tall and erect as she leaned forward.
"Oh, looks like we're here!" She stated as she swerved the cruiser a little to the right, pulling over to the curb and parking at a decently sized building; Wide, but not very tall.
"This is it?" Nick asked, looking back and forth between the GPS and the physical location, which was devoid of any external title or bill-board.
"That's what the computer says, Slick. You gonna argue with a computer?"
"Not a chance." The fox replied coyly, unbuckling his seat-belt and opening the large metal door on his side of the cruiser.
Stepping outside and onto the warm sidewalk, Nick tugged on his end of the hand-cuffs, pulling Jack Savage along with him before closing the door to the cruiser and turning around to face the red-brick building. Taking a closer examination at the large doors in the building's center, the fox noticed a few words etched and painted into the door, dubbing the property as a ZNN printing press.
"Looks like this is the right place." He guessed, paws placed casually on his utility belt.
"Think they'll give us a tour on how the papers are made?" Jack Savage muttered from behind the fox. "I've always wondered how the papers are made."
"One way to find out." Judy concluded, pushing forward lightly on the backs of both males respectively, causing them to pace up to the entrance of the building itself.
Pulling on the glass doors, the trio of mammals set foot in the receptions lobby, which stood as a rather small, semi-circular sort of office. A few cheap wooden chairs were tucked into the corners of the room, and the marble desk at the opposing end of the room seemed to sparkle in the bright, almost blinding rays of the ceiling lights shining above. Behind the counter of the receptions desk, a rather portly female zebra was in the midst of a telephone call on the building's land-line. When the three mammals managed to acquire her attention by ringing the little golden bell on her desk, she raised one of her hooves up in a gesture of patience.
Nick leaned casually against the counter, all the while trying to ignore the feeling of the hand-cuffs digging into the skin beneath the fur on his wrists. Meanwhile, Judy had positioned herself right up against the edge of the desk, where she drummed her fingers anxiously against its surface, and thumped her left rapidly against the smooth tile-floor.
"Hey carrots, I got a lil' joke for ya..." The fox started with a half-lidded smile. "What do you call a horse with-"
"Ahem."
His joke pitifully interrupted and extinguished, Nick glanced away from Judy and towards the source of the sound; The zebra receptionist had apparently finished her call.
"Well, all jokes aside, is there anything that I can help you with today, officers?" She questioned slowly after giving Nick the evil eye.
"Yes, actually! I'm officer Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Nick Wilde. We're from the ZPD, and are here on an internal investigation. We'd like to speak to the managers."
"Hmm... Has something happened?" The zebra asked.
"We're just here to acquire information, really." Judy responded impatiently. "The two managers stand as a lead in our case, and we'd very much like to speak with them both!"
"I suppose I can arrange a meeting... Give me just one moment to notify them before I send you back."
"Alright, sounds great! Thank you!" The female bunny finished with a nod before turning around and facing her two partners.
"Phew, looks like we'll be meeting the rat brothers after all, ah?" She stifled with a smile.
"Nice job, whiskers." Nick acknowledged coyly. "Though I simply must ask: What do you call a horse with-"
"Not in front of the zebra, you rascal!" Judy whispered orderly as she administered a playful nudge to the fox's right arm.
Jack Savage rolled his eyes and spoke aloud;
"If I may intervene, what exactly do we plan on asking Dmitri and Rytsar once we meet them? It's not like we can just waltz in and start off with an oh, you're daddy's doing bad things so you must be doing bad things too, right? If we're going to get anything out of them, we'll need a more structured approach, wouldn't you agree, officers?"
"That's the most intelligent thing you've said thus far." Nick grumbled.
"We do, Jack." Judy confirmed. "We'll introduce ourselves, explain to them what's been going on lately, and then work our way up from there. Simple as that."
"Is it really gonna be that simple?" The male rabbit grumbled broodingly.
"Didn't we have this conversation just a few minutes ago?" Nick interjected with raised eyebrows, causing the female bunny to sigh.
"Jack, just follow our lead, okay?" She told him. "We'll make it work."
"Good on that then, love. I'd rather not have this detour of ours be for naught, after all." Jack finalized, pursing his lips and eyeing the zebra as she piped up to the officers;
"Okay, you three can head on back now. Their offices are down the hall-way and to the right, first two doors on your left. Goodbye now!"
Locking eyes with her foxy partner, Judy smirked as she watched Nick pull out his favorite pair of shades and rest them upon the bridge of his nose, clearly prepared for what was to come. Nodding in agreement before pushing open the doors to the corresponding hall-way, the three mammals took down it's clean and spacious length as they approached the first turn, which they reared around and came face to face with a pair twin office doors some twenty feet down the hall-way, both positioned near the very end and opposing one another smartly.
Tugging Jack Savage along by his side of the hand-cuffs, Nick's russet-colored ears twitched as he heard the lever-shaped door handle on the left office's entrance rummage timidly around before unlocking, the medium-sized door in turn swinging wide open from the inside, briefly displaying the interior of the office before being shut once again.
However, the small mammal that had exited the aforementioned office seemed to be too invested in the papers he clutched in his paws to even notice the police officers.
An average sized rat, just a little bit shorter than Judy, in fact, continued pacing down the hall, his attention fixated completely on the multiple sheets of paper that he held between his clawed fingertips, which ran over the ink-printed words delicately, caressing them in an almost gentle fashion. The rat's angular face was crowned with a wavy handlebar mustache, its tips curled into fine and intricate points.
The rat, whom Nick classified as Dmitri, due to his very recognizable handlebar mustache, was dressed in a maroon colored satin vest over a black button-up dress shirt and identically colored slacks; Very much like what Vladzotz had attuned and equipped himself with, save for the fact that Dmitri's undershirt actually had sleeves instead of empty holes. His fur was a dark, deep chocolate brown hue that complimented his eyes, which were adorned with shining hazel irises, but smokey, with threads of veins and capillaries creeping into his corneas, indicating either a substantial lack of sleep, or involvement with a very certain drug...
Despite all of the rat's interesting features, what caught Nick the most off-guard about the smaller mammal had to be his tail, or more accurately, the lack thereof...
Unlike his father, Grygorri Ratsputin, whom owned a long, smooth, and whip-like tail, Dmitri's tail (or what was left of it anyways) was nothing more than a mere stump of pink flesh, probably severed around the quarter-length point sometime in the past. The rat's nub of a tail was covered in little scratches, almost like paper-cuts, and was lined with multiple scars and other long sealed flesh wounds.
Nick wouldn't have been surprised if Dmitri's tail had been forcefully removed by some clawed mammal...
Regardless, the rat kept on walking towards the group of officers, stopping some five feet away from them before looking up from his various papers. He sighed disappointingly.
"Rytsar! Get your witless derriere out here!" Dmitri hollered out loud, tilting his head in the direction of his brother's closed office. "We have some expected company!"
The fox and two bunnies slightly jumped in trepidation as the aforementioned door jerked, accompanied by surprisingly loud and cringe-inducing thud. The handle fumbled around, and seconds later, the door flew open and revealed another rat, dressed more or less exactly like his brother, but with the colors inverted. Quite unlike his brother, Rytsar's tail was free of any external damage, and swirled hypnotically around the base of his thin ankles.
Also unlike his brother, rat number two had no facial hair aside from his fur, which was a lighter black color, just like Grygorri Ratsputin himself. Rytsar's beady little eyes were just like Dmitri's: Light brown, though, lacking the watery webs of veins in and around the whites.
If it weren't for their difference in choice of clothing color, hair style, and their tails, the two brothers would have been near impossible to tell apart.
Nick reasoned that that must've been the reason why they equipped themselves so differently from one another in the first place.
Dmitri coughed into his fist audibly, effectively earning the undivided attention of all the mammals standing in the hall-way.
"Brother dearest, I believe the deal was fifteen dollars, no?" He muttered with a smirk. "Cough it up, please."
His brother groaned, wiping at his eye sockets as if they were aching him. He slowly parted his fingers, revealing two hazel-colored orbs.
"Oh, for the love of... Eh... Fine." Rytsar grumbled lowly. "But for the record, I was still partially correct! That must count for at least a one-third reduction!"
"You were the one that started it in the first place, brother. Now you must pay your dues in full!" Dmitri stated, putting out an open paw toward Rytsar, who shuffled around clumsily in his pockets before pulling out a few crumpled up dollar bills and reluctantly dropping them in to his brother's waiting fingers, which closed tightly around the cash.
"I'll get you next time..." Rytsar claimed, furrowing his brow. "That much I promise."
"You tell yourself whatever helps you sleep at night, brother." Dmitri retorted with a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Uh, excuse me?" Judy interjected rather softly, yet still causing both rats to turn towards her with interest laced into their twin expressions.
"Heh... Were you two having some sort of bet?" Nick asked on his own terms and interests. "I like it!" He snapped his fingers and directed a finger gun toward them.
"Hmm. Yes, that is correct. We had a bet in place for the arrival of two police officers, plus one convict." Dmitri confirmed, finishing with a polite nod directed at Jack Savage.
"You did?" The female bunny asked simply.
"Indeed. We figured that someone would send a few officers over to question us about father's latest round of political upheaval." Rytsar claimed, his face sullen.
"Well, you are right." Judy muttered before straightening herself out. "I'm officer Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Nicholas Wilde. We're here for-"
"Wait, I know you! Nicholas Wilde!" Rytsar cut in, staring at Nick with wide eyes, yet a smooth and steady tone of voice. "What are you doing here, of all places?"
"My partner and I are here working on an internal-investigation on behalf of the ZPD." Judy concluded officially, pointing to the shiny police badge pinned on her breast-plate.
Rytsar just nodded toward Judy and smiled in an amused sort of fashion before returning his attention back to the russet-colored fox,who shifted his weight from foot to foot.
A few short moments of silence ensued, only broken by Rytsar's attentive chortling and snickering. He soon recomposed himself and spoke aloud to the pack of mammals;
"You're supposed to be at city-hall, aren't you though? It's a surprise to see you here especially, officer Wilde, considering everything that you have been through recently..."
"What do you mean?" Judy intervened, but to no avail, as Dmitri stepped forward and glared straight at Nick while adding on to his brother's previous statement.
"Yes, we know all about you, fox." Dmitri hissed, his words much more crude and uninterested. "Father has spoken quite highly of you, as of late."
"Is that so?" Nick mumbled, narrowing his eyes as they locked with Dmitri's. Clearly, Ratsputin wasn't one for keeping his thoughts on other mammals to himself.
"Quite. He says you're his wild-card. Rather vague, but not surprising: Father is very heedful and wary with his plans. Now, I presume you wish to question the two of us?"
"That's right, yes." Judy confirmed, all the while wondering what the rat brothers had said. "We just want to ask you a few questions, and then we'll be on our way. Easy does it!"
"Easy does it." Rytsar repeated flatly.
"Well, if it is answers you want, then it is answers that you shall get." Dmitri stated. "I'm not one to deny the commands of authority, unlike my brother Rytsar, here."
"If you're talking about that one time in Tundra-Town with that sea lion-" Rytsar started, but was silenced by his brother, who quite literally clamped a paw over his muzzle.
"We'll not get into that." Dmitri cleared his throat audibly before releasing his hold on his brother's snout. "Come along now, officers: Walk with us, and we'll fill you in."
2:00 P.M
Judy had always wondered how the news industry worked when it came to creating its papers.
But she had never imagined it to be like this.
Carefully following behind Dmitri and Rytsar as they made their way deeper into the bowels of the building, the two rabbits and and fox watched as the tile-lain halls slowly morphed into concrete and brick, and the sound of active machinery begun to fill the air and ring against their ear-drums. Alongside the whirring noise of electronics and other mechanical instruments, a strong and powerful odor forced its way into their nostrils with each step closer, smelling heavy of paper, ink, paint, and wood.
The two rat brothers promised that they'd answer any question that they threw their way, but first, wished for their accompaniment on a small tour around the facility. Judy would have preferred to skip right to the questioning, but Nick's insistence on doing the tour was too much for her to deny.
Seeing no real harm in the activity, and no real rush for time either, the trio of mammals decided to accept the rat brother's offer.
Eventually, they all reached a large set of double metal doors, devoid of any real knobs or handles. Pushing hard against them, the rat brothers opened access to one, massive ware-house, where dozens of mammal workers milled about; Weaving in between literal towers of stacked papers and other materials. Conveyor belts ran through and along massive machines, pipes and tubes sprouted from every inch of ceiling and wall, connecting to the many mechanisms and devices, many of which were very loud and smelly.
"Welcome, to the print room!" Rytsar announced loudly to combat the surrounding sounds. "You might want to try these on for size, especially you two!"
The rat pointed to Jack and Judy, both of whom were clutching irritably at their sensitive ears, which were twitching in pain and discomfort from the ravaging noises.
Rytsar handed them both a pair of yellow-colored earplugs, which they promptly stuffed into their ear canals.
The female bunny sighed in relief once the plugs were in, and her counterpart rubbed tenderly at his sinuses.
Dmitri handed a pair to Nick as well, who gladly accepted: He may not have had the hearing capacity of a rabbit, but his ears were still racked with uncomfortable noises.
Once the plugs were positioned comfortably into his ears, Nick took to examining the storm of machines in front of him. The small army of employees was using hydraulic lifts and other construction equipment to move and reposition massive rolls of brown-ish white paper, each one as thick and as dense as a tree itself.
"Now, these rolls of paper can weigh up to half a ton!" Dmitri called out to the crowd of mammals.
"What?" Nick yelled back, his ears still filled with the loud and powerful sounds of the nearby machinery, yet only slightly hampered and suppressed.
"I said, that these rolls of paper can weigh up to half a ton!" The rat repeated, this time a bit louder. "We use them to make the news-papers, obviously."
"Gee, really? I had no idea." The fox grumbled to himself, despite knowing that nobody else would have been able to hear him.
Meanwhile, Dmitri had moved the group to another section, and pointed to a stack of thin metal sheets, each one lain with light, blue-colored words etched into the metal itself.
"These metal plates are made of refined aluminum, with the images used in the papers themselves already burned onto their surfaces!" He explained with a tone of confidence.
Rytsar then jabbed a finger towards several metal rods further down the conveyor belt, each one connected to a singular machine, which in turn was filled with tubes of varying sizes and shapes, pumping a dark fluid around like blood within an artery. He hacked a little bit on his own spit before explaining the inking process, all the while clutching his throat.
"The ink dispensers then cover the blue-prints and indentions on the metal sheets with the ink, which is heated using a technique we call heat-setting, which bakes the ink, drying it into the paper. There's also another way of inking the papers that we call cold-setting, which is where we soak the ink into the papers before drying them out. After that, much of the ink is then colored one of four different pallets by adding varying layers on top, giving the words, lines, and pictures different colors, or lack thereof."
The group of mammals continued their tour, making their way even deeper into the complex, where more machines were presented to the fox and two rabbits, who tried to make sense of the two rat's voices behind the constant and powerful roaring of the mechanics around them. Nick personally couldn't stand the smell that much, either: It was intoxicating, but not in a good, or appealing sort of way.
Rytsar and his brother Dmitri showed them around some more machines and other systems farther down the conveyor belt, and eventually to where the ware-house ended, where trucks carried the finished stacks of paper back and forth in a constant, never-ending cycle of refilling and shipping. A very clock-work cycle, if there ever was one.
Soon enough, the five of them all retreated back to the confines of the break room, which was (thankfully) far enough away from the main ware-house to effectively block out the sound that emanated from it. There, the officers intended on questioning the two rats over their father and his mysterious work. The break room was small, and only contained few couches, tables, and one water cooler crammed into a corner next to a plastic potted plant.
Sitting down on one of the couches, Nick leaned back and stretched his arms out in front of him, relishing the feeling of the satisfying pop that accompanied the action. Jack Savage plopped down next to him before putting some distance between the two of them, only restrained by the restrictions of the hand-cuffs that bound to his wrist. Meanwhile, Judy herself took to standing right next to the couch, choosing not to sit down for whatever reason.
The female bunny pulled out her yellow-colored notepad from the police-issued utility belt wrapped around her waist-line. She eyed the rat brothers as they positioned themselves across from her, neither choosing to sit down either. Instead, Dmitri leaned broodingly against one of the room's walls while Rytsar stood out in the open, calmly awaiting the coming bombardment of questions.
"Well, I guess we'll just start with the basics then..." Judy straightened herself out a little bit. "As we mentioned before, the three of us are here on an internal investigation-"
"Yes, yes, we know. Let's skip to the important parts, shall we?" Dmitri grumbled, causing the bunny cop to trail off disappointingly before huffing audibly.
"Fine. First things first: Are either of you aware of the fact that your very own father, Grygorri Ratsputin, has been threatening the mayor of Zootopia herself with extortion?"
The rat brothers looked to one another and shrugged before turning their attention back toward Judy, who stood with her pen ready to jot down any useful information.
"Yes, father has been prone to mention his, ah... Hobbies, quite often during idle chat, as a matter of fact." Rytsar stated slowly while Dmitri rolled a coin across his knuckles.
"Hmm. Alright, alright." The female bunny mumbled to herself, writing down their response. "Have either of you ever assisted him in his extortion schemes?" She asked.
"No." They both replied in unison, no hesitation whatsoever.
Judy nodded, scribbling away at her paper. She spoke aloud;
"Interesting, interesting. Now, back at city-hall, we've heard mention of some kind of state-secret: Documents that were uncovered from the conclusion of the Night-Howler case all those years ago. According to Mayor Lyncoln, your father is trying to obtain them for his own personal reasons and motivations. Do you have any idea of what these motivations could be, or what precisely these supposed documents are, exactly? Maybe you've heard him mention them around you sometime ago?"
Both Dmitri and Rytsar were silent to the count of five, which only expired when the later of the two rats chuckled lowly, effectively breaking the silence.
"You don't know what those documents really are, do you now?" Rytsar mused, an amused smile playing at his lips.
Nick and Judy shook their heads, neither noticing that Jack Savage had shifted his weight uncomfortably in his seat, tugging at collar of his white button-up all the while.
"Of course they don't!" Dmitri added quickly, glaring at his brother. "Their ignorance could fill the void of space itself!"
"We're right here, you know." Judy mumbled. "There's no need to act like we aren't."
"To be frank, officers, we really just don't care." Dmitri growled in response before returning his attention back to his brother.
"Should we tell them?" He asked of Rytsar.
"You're obligated to tell us!" Judy near shouted. "If not, then you're impeding our investigation, which is more than enough reasoning I need to arrest the both of you two!"
"Well I'm not telling her anything with that dreadful attitude." Rytsar murmured to his brother, who nodded in seeming agreement and understanding.
Judy's right paw flew to her face as she closed her eyes and sighed heavily, dragging her finger-tips down across her cheeks and lips in disappointment.
"Look, I understand what you're going through and why, but we really need to-" Judy started, but trailed off when Nick shot his arm to the ceiling.
"Dmitri, Rytsar, you two seem like very cooperative mammals, to me... Don't you think that you could help us out with this, even a little bit? Please?"
The two rat brothers glanced at each-other, as if they were reading the mental thoughts and ideas of the other.
"He has a point... I am quite cooperative." Dmitri mumbled, fingering his curly mustache.
"No, you dolt!" Rytsar chided to his brother. "He's telling you what you wants to hear... Don't let him play you like the treacherous fox that he is."
"Hey now, that's a little uncalled for, pal." Nick added, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.
"I don't see any reason why not to tell them, brother dear." Dmitri continued, completely ignoring Nick's comment.
"You wish to work against our own father? You're deluded!" Rytsar snarled menacingly, to which his brother scoffed, clearly unimpressed.
"Hear me out for just a second, really... This could work out quite well for us all, in the end..."
"What do you mean?" Rytsar questioned.
"The officers don't know anything about the documents: They simply wish to know, that is all. It gives them no true advantage over anyone, their only stake being the fact that they now know just a little bit more than they did just before. I truthfully don't think that it would hurt to tell them..."
"Wait a moment, what's your game, here?" Nick interjected, his tone of voice drastically different from before. "Why do you all of a sudden just want to help us, huh?"
Dmitri and chuckled lowly to himself, and slowly dragged his tongue across the top row of his pointed teeth, all the while locking eyes with the fox across from him.
"Ah, well... To save myself, of course: If you ever do manage to capture our father, the two of us could end up being dragged down along with him. Guilt by association, you see. Handing over this information to you near guarantees our safety from the justice system, for the moment, at the very least. Though, it is more than just that. I have personally grown fond of you, fox... There is so much more to you than what father has told us, officer Wilde. But most of all? I'm just curious to see what will happen!"
"So, you're willing to tell us all about these documents?" Nick asked for clarification. "Willing to tell us everythin' you know about them?"
"I most certainly am." Dmitri confirmed, a coyish smile slowly parting the sides of his lips.
"Whatever..." Rytsar grumbled. "I don't even see why you want to know so much about them in the first place."
"Alright, go on then." Judy urged, her pen armed and ready for the slew of oncoming knowledge.
Dmitri smiled wide before taking a deep breath in.
"The documents that our father is searching for are unknown to virtually the entirety of the city's populace, since all the evidence had been hidden away once the Night-Howler incident had been stabilized, and order was brought back to Zootopia. It's all one, great, big, conspiracy, really: The kind of stuff that's swept under the rug not because it's helpful, but because it's convenient. Father has told us of his invention before, his grand design, as he liked to call it. He was quite proud of its function and purpose."
"But what was it?" Judy inquired, leaning closer. "What are the documents?"
"To understand just what exactly these documents are, what they stand for, and why, you must go back to the very beginning of the Night-Howler attacks of four years ago, where this whole mess started in the first place. And you know, it's somewhat ironic, really... You've never even heard of the documents, yet because of your coincidental involvement in bringing down mayor Bellwhether from office during her brief reign of power, you indirectly halted and foiled the plots for phase two."
"Phase two?" Nick repeated.
"Yes... You don't really think that Dawn Bellwether could have gotten away with practically ruling over the entire city just by inspiring fear from the Night-Howler serum, do you? No, the Night-Howlers were but the first phase in her and father's grand design for what they both, especially Bellwether, considered to be the ultimate mammal utopia."
Dmitri hesitated, taking a short moment to breath in and out before resuming his explanation.
"Phase one of the plan was to promote wide-spread fear and panic using the Night-Howler serum: To make prey animals believe that predators truly were nothing more than savage, blood-thirsty mongrels. After a certain amount of time, phase two was planned to be initiated. A scape-goat. Something for the public to hold on to, and to quell their growing fears and desires. Their answer was to come in the form of phase two: The introduction of Dawn and Grygorri's little project... The shock collar."
The rat let his previous statement hang in the air for a few seconds. He continued;
"Years ago, assistant mayor Bellwether, along with her team of sheep, all the while provided with funding by father himself, began work to develop a prototype shock-collar that would be introduced to the public following the Night-Howler attacks. Father and Bellwether hoped that since the public would be so afraid of predators by that point, that they'd easily be able to swoop in and deliver a scape-goat: The shock-collar, which was planned to be tested on prison populations first, before ultimately being distributed to the predator populace in the city itself. Alongside this, it was planned that once the collar was approved for the general populace of predators, Mister Savage's company would provide funding for the mass-production of the devices using the city's own taxes. It was a perfect, and viscous circle, really... You have to admire the genius behind it."
"But, what does this supposed shock-collar do, exactly?" Nick asked of the rat, all the while resisting the urge to throttle the male rabbit sitting beside him.
"A good question, officer Wilde... As father oh-so officially stated, the shock-collar was designed to be the pinnacle of bodily-suppressant and behavior-adjustment technology."
"So, it controlled emotions." The fox concluded.
"Precisely. It was designed so that whenever the wearer's emotions started rising unpredictably, the collar would administer a minor shock to the wearer's neck, reminding them of their unpredictable emotions, and persuading them to quell them. The more powerful their emotional state, the more powerful the corresponding shock. Although it was originally intended to make aggressive predators less hostile by suppressing their ability to feel anger and rage, it also suppressed their ability to feel sorrow, pleasure, and even happiness. There was no way to single out any particular emotion, so in the end, they were all left effected."
"That's... Barbaric." Judy mumbled. "Why would Grygorri Ratsputin want to help that monstrous little sheep, anyways?"
Dmitri seemed to really think over the female bunny's sudden question, stroking at his curly mustache and narrowing his eyes in deep thought. He finally answered;
"I am not so sure. Father has a long and unfortunate history with predators, making and giving him a rather unique perspective."
"That's putting it lightly!" Rytsar muttered from behind.
"Perhaps. Hate isn't born, only created, as they say. I guess, in the end, father grew to despise them. And besides, I think he was also just curious to see what would happen!"
"Like father like son." Jack Savage stated lowly.
"What made him so hateful?" Judy asked, her interests clearly piqued.
"I'm afraid that question isn't the reason why you're here, is it? You need not know what it at this particular moment in time, so I will not tell." Dmitri stated boldly.
"Fine, whatever floats your boat" Nick grumbled aloud. "But I have another question... You said it yourself: We stopped Bellwether, therefore stopping her plans for phase two, right? If your daddy knows that there's no way that he can convince the city populace to accept the shock-collars now, why does he want them? What use does he have for them?"
Dmitri nodded in understanding before responding.
"Well, fast forward to the present, and the documents are still locked away somewhere in city-hall. Father, having helped design them himself, wants them back for his own personal reasons. After slowly gathering information on the whereabouts of the documents, he eventually learned that the mayor is one of the few who knows where the documents are hidden. And so, he begins visiting her, trying to convince her to reveal what she knows about the documents, and where she was keeping them."
"That doesn't exactly answer my question." The fox added.
"I was just getting to that, mind you. Anyhow, to answer your question, I'm not sure, honestly... I'm really not."
"So you don't know, do you?"
"I'm afraid that that is correct. I hate not knowing, but sadly, it's the truth. If you want the answer to that specific question, you'll have to find it on your own, officer Wilde."
"Hm... Fair enough."
"Well, there you have it, officers: Father's grand design, the shock-collar. The documents that you're so obsessed about are blue-prints to his design. Your questions have been answered. If I may speak candidly, I believe that you three should go now. I have a meeting scheduled for thirty minutes from now, and I'd hate to have to kick you all out myself.
"Right, we'll go. We've learned more then enough. Thank you... Thank you for everything." Judy mumbled, her gaze for off and thoughtless.
Dmitri chuckled.
"It was my pleasure... I guess you could say that this whole entire experience has been quite... Shocking for you, no?"
He cackled gleefully along with his brother, whom opened the exit door and shooed the officers out.
Leaving the building and returning to the cruiser, there was but one thought that was shared by all three of the mammals, especially Judy...
We need to tell chief Bogo...
Hey Everyone!
I certainly hope that you lot enjoyed what chapter 61 had to bring to the table this time around! Be sure to drop a nice review detailing your thoughts over the chapter and its scenes, especially over the most recent revelations and discoveries, and also over the scenes involving Rytsar, Dmitri, and even their father Grygorri! I would love that very much! And do feel free to favorite and follow the likes of this story if you haven't already, of course!
I highly appreciate each and every single one! Truly! :)
That being said, I really only have one more announcement for you all to take to heart for this update. Once again, I've been gifted with an extraordinary piece of art in honor of this story of ours! To recall, just last time, we were gifted with a painting of the Nocturnal-District: This time 'round, we have a full-color scene of the Outback-Island itself, and one of The Docks! If any of you wish to get a full resolution and absolutely beautiful look at both of the titular districts, you can find those art pieces (along with tons of others) on my Tumblr account, which is labeled identically as my account here on fanfiction: upplet
You can for sure be expecting more artwork in the future, near and far!
Well, that's pretty much everythin' that I've got for you all right now... Thanks a lot for reading, and do stay tuned for chapter 62, comin' your way soon! :)
'Till next time...
Peace!
:)