Chapter 56: Among us

"Even though it is only the beginning of the year and we are in the middle of winter we can certainly determine that the atmosphere will be unusually hot on the day at this year's Peace Prize Conference! After the awards organisation decided to hold the event in the middle of Zootopia, in a nature central museum, and they invited important representatives of foxes to the event as special guests due to the mysterious disappearances of their species a wave of criticism spread around the world, isn't that over the top? It has come to our attention that there are some people who came here with fear, fearing that this time they would fall victim to the infamous kidnapper who has been operating around the Fox Quarter for several weeks, but who knows if he will decide to act at this year's event! The other big question is whether the ZPD police staff will be able to keep the event safe, we know they've been unsuccessful recently, but who knows if the reforms that have supposedly gone through the police have made a difference? Will anything happen? That's what we'll find out in the next few hours!"

It was that evening - guests, prize candidates and, of course, the foxes arrived at the museum and went inside in special protection, making sure they were not in danger. The atmosphere was indeed as heated as ever at meetings of this kind - there were media, security guards, police officers, guests, prize winners, special guests, even one ambulance on standby in case of an accident! Seeing this, the voices that there might be danger were getting louder. After all, there are so many safeguards for a reason, everyone knew what and who was at stake, but no one said it out loud, everyone tried to keep themselves occupied with a good time.

The police, as planned, were positioned in their established positions an hour before the party started. Before the first guests arrived and with them the media, the officers thoroughly scoured the area for any hazards or bags left behind in which something might be found. Once the area was searched and deemed safe, the museum stood open for visitors. As it was said in the plan - a dozen police officers walked around the 1st floor looking into every alley checking for anything suspicious, the ground floor was also scoured in the same way apart from the wing where Judy was. There was no exit from there, so there was not even a way to get there without going inside the museum through the main entrance. The main inspection was in the main hall of the musuem, where there were the most visitors, who enjoyed the rich refreshments on display until the conference. Judy, as agreed, sat by the cameras at all times keeping an eye on what was going on around the venue - the new, better quality and more cameras worked very well. The quality, the sound was very good. It was much higher-end equipment than what the museum was offering from itself. The equipment cost a few thousand dollars, but if the conference ends without problems the police will easily make up for this financial loss. For the police, it was a very important day; whether they kept their jobs depended on it. Not everyone was in the risk zone, but Bogo knew that he was on the first list to lose his job. That's why he gave a rather motivational speech before dispersing to his position, specifically something along the lines of intimidation that if the plan didn't work out everyone would be subject to all sorts of consequences. And all so that on this night everyone would give 100% without looking at anything, so that they could then rest in the knowledge that everything would be better from now on. He himself, by the way, stood at the entrance to the museum and watched to make sure everything was in order, searching the guests, checking that they were not bringing anything suspicious inside. Everything looked like the night would be peaceful and without any major problems.

After most of the guests had gathered to the centre of the room and it became a bit crowded the task of checking the room was a bit more difficult due to the reduced visibility. It also got a lot louder and louder, and it was harder to hear specific sounds. Despite this loudness, Judy from the cameras was fortunately still able to see anything that would seem like a threat, everything so far looked like an ordinary, quiet and boring party that would not bring any twists and turns. Nevertheless, the big attention the doe decided to devote to the dozen or so foxes who were in their company almost all the time, the others rather trying to avoid their company (due to a few things), it was quite a sad sight, even though they are foxes one would at least talk to them, but oh well. Such is society. For a very long time their breed had been persecuted in some way, not one reason why most foxes lived in the Fox District, where the fox population was over 80%! And compared to Zootopia, this was a very high percentage, one might even say too high.

Around 11 p.m. , when the event had already lasted a few hours and the guests were eagerly awaiting the award ceremony, the ceremony was slowly beginning. Special lights were switched on by the stage made especially for this conference, which illuminated the stage with a warm beam and the other means of illumination were dimmed enough so that there was a clear contrast between the stage and the audience. This caught the attention of the guests, who knew it was time to find out who and what awards would be won this year. A large proportion of those in attendance felt that it was the foxes who would claim the majority of the awards for their recent damage, but the organisation insisted in interviews that everything would be handed out from the most objective angle possible. This was not enough for some, but all that was left was for them to trust.

Mr Mayor Lionheart bathed in applause and warm bright light walked out on stage correcting his red pressed tie in the process and then stopped in the middle of the stage in front of the microphone. He showed his hand to silence the applause that was in his honour so that he could begin his speech.

"I would like to welcome everyone gathered. It is a very great honour for me to be able to welcome you all to the Central Museum of Nature in Zootopia, which has agreed to host the Peace Awards Conference here! This year's edition is not only special for our metropolis of Zootopia...it is the first time we are hosting this festive event, but that is not the only reason why this year's edition is special. This is a time, a hard time for the residents of the Fox District, the foxes, who have recently been plagued by a kidnapper who is causing riots in the city and kidnapping innocent residents. "

"Too bad the police aren't doing anything about it!" A voice rang out from the back of the audience, causing most to look back to see who had plucked up the courage to say so. The mayor still kept his cool and continued his introduction.

"The police can do whatever it takes to be able to bring an end to these troubled and uncertain times for their residents, after all it is for the good of us all. I would just like to welcome on this occasion special guests, awardees who have decided to come to us to feel the bond that unites us. Without further ado, it is time to present the awards, to the hands that deserve it "

Judy, meanwhile, was constantly watching the CCTV images to be sure that they were not in any danger. On all the cameras, everything looked remarkably calm, which surprised Judy herself. After all, this was the perfect opportunity to attack and kidnap from the foxholes, someone who was really important! Could it be that the kidnapper would disregard this?

"And it's impossible for him to just give up..." Said Judy quietly to herself. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, which snapped the doe out of her reverie and concentration of looking at the cameras.

"Open up Judy, it's just me!" Caroline's voice rang out from behind the door. Immediately Judy was reminded that she was the only one not yet visible at the party. Looking at the cameras there wasn't much going on, she got up from her seat to walk to the door and opened it with a special key. Standing in front of the door was a vixen with two cups in which she had two hot drinks.

"Can I come in? I have something for you," Caroline offered.

"Yes Sure, come in" replied a slightly embarrassed Judy. She hadn't asked for anything, especially Caroline, but she felt silly to refuse. She let the vixen inside, who set two cups of tea on the desk top.

"I brought you some tea. Sitting here for a couple of hours with nothing can be hard, so I decided to make the time a little more pleasant for you" Caroline communicated. Judy still with slight embarrassment thanked her. She closed the door then sat down in her seat. She immediately decided to ask the second in command why she hadn't been at the meeting and why she had only now turned up when the Lord Mayor started to announce his speech.

"You must have been really busy if you weren't at the meeting the day before yesterday and you've only just turned up at the museum," observed Judy.

"Well...let's just say I have a private life like you too. I just had something fall out" replied Caroline. Judy nodded with a quiet sound then took a sip of tea. She felt a strange, sour aftertaste that made her struggle to swallow the sip.

"Ugh...this tea tastes weird..." Judy said looking at it. The dark drink looked normal and the aftertaste only seemed to appear at the back of her throat.

"It's a black tea with a hint of cherry, maybe that's why, I have a similar one. " Caroline replied. She showed the contents of her cup to Judy. The colour matched.

"Anyway...thanks, it's nice to see someone alive off-camera after a few hours," laughed Judy. There was something about that, the doe felt the effects of sitting around camera screens all the time quite quickly. She wasn't used to such posts, she herself preferred it when there was a lot going on, she liked to move, to move dynamically. Here, in this small room, it was hard to take care of the dynamics

"You're welcome, we're working together after all," Caroline replied. She leaned against the arm of Judy's chair and watched what was happening. At the moment the Lord Mayor was presenting another award, to some fox, it was hard to see what for so exactly, but you could see that some of the guests were enjoying it on average. Not everyone was leaning towards them, this was nothing new. There wasn't much going on on the other cameras either. It looked like it was going to be a seamless conference. In fact, it was strange that the kidnapper seemed like he was just going to let go at such a good time to attack when the eyes of the whole country were on this conference! It was terribly strange, what if he is waiting for the right moment and just wants the police to think that he has let go and will then attack? Whoever this character is, he knows what he is doing.

Several minutes after drinking the tea, Judy began to feel strangely dizzy. She felt a bit like she was not fully sober...a bit like she was losing consciousness. At first she thought it was due to fatigue, but as time went on she felt it wasn't normal, something was happening to her body, what had happened to her. She felt increasingly drowsy and incapacitated, and quickly related this to the tea and its strange taste. It was possible that either it was spoiled ..or someone had spiked it.

"Impossible for the kidnapper to just give up on this conference...ugh...my head... did you add anything to that tea?" Judy asked. Caroline laughed as she saw Judy slowly succumb to the effect of the powder she had given to the doe. Judy perplexedly stared at the vixen who was slowly walking towards her.

"Heheh...there's something about that, he's not going to give up on this conference" replied Caroline, which surprised Judy. What did she mean?

"What do you mean? And what was in the tea, I feel like you added something!" Judy replied. Caroline laughed again then with a quick movement picked up the bag with the mask inside that was lying under the desk and walked to the door making sure no one entered.

"What's that...ugh...my head?" asked Judy. She was slowly losing consciousness. When she got up from her chair she felt she could barely hold on to her usually strong legs. Now they were weak, as if made of cotton wool.

"What do you mean...are you..."

"Yes, " replied Caroline briefly. Judy fell to the ground and unsuccessfully tried to get up from the ground, but she was already poisoned. She could only watch what Caroline was doing. She put on Judy's mask and then smoke began to pour from the ventilation grilles, the same smoke that had poisoned the restaurant. Judy was already beginning to understand everything, Caroline's reluctance to investigate and to her, but it was too late

"I have to warn..."

"You won't warn anyone," replied Caroline briefly, taking the walkie-talkie from her belt. Judy tried to defend herself but couldn't, she saw the smoke slowly fill the whole room behind her the poison and smoke made her lose consciousness.