A few days later Nick was in the prison cafeteria, poking listlessly at an undercooked potato, when Lionheart sat down across from him. "This seat taken?"
"Take the whole table." The fox pushed his plate away and started to get up.
Lionheart leaned forward. "See here, Wilde, you can't just mope for the rest of your life." Nick looked pointedly around the room at the dim grey walls and the guards moving among the prisoners, and the lion held up his paws. "All right, I admit your outlook is rather bleak. That's no reason to give up on life."
"Isn't it?" asked Nick dully. "I don't have anything left to live for."
"I've been giving that some thought." Lionheart sounded as pompous as if he were still in charge of Zootopia.
Nick was intrigued. He sat back down and waved a paw. "Go on."
The big lion cleared his throat. "I've been talking to the warden…"
"The warden?"
"Yes, of course. When I was mayor, I kept a very close eye on this place. Wolford is an old friend."
"Wolford…" Nick mused. "I used to work with an Officer Wolford."
"That's the warden's second cousin. Anyway, like I said, I've been talking to Wolford. About you, Wilde. I think you could be a trusty. Maybe even go to college. You could be the test case for a new program of rehabilitating prisoners."
Despite himself, the fox was mildly amused. "Did you forget I was sentenced to life in prison without parole? There's no point in trying to rehabilitate me."
"Well, no, actually I didn't forget that." Lionheart looked unusually serious. "I just can't help feeling bad about your partner." Nick's eyes glittered and the lion went on hastily. "I know about you. You were a two-bit con artist when you met Judy Hopps and you turned your life around."
"A lot of good it did me," said Nick bitterly.
"You can still do some good. If you were to cooperate, help develop a rehabilitation program…" The lion spread his paws. "That would help a lot of animals who do still have a chance on the outside. I think your partner would have liked that."
"And just what would you get out of it?" asked the fox suspiciously.
The lion squirmed. "As I told you, I have a book deal. To write my memoirs. It would be a fantastic addition to the book to write about my efforts to implement a rehabilitation program while I was still a prisoner." Only years of practice in not letting anyone see they got to him prevented Nick from lunging across the table at Lionheart, but there must have been something in his still face because the ex-mayor pulled his chair back from the table to put some distance between them. "Look, Wilde, I'm not going to pretend I'm some noble servant of the animals. I made a bad mistake, mostly out of my own self-interest, but I really was impressed by Officer Hopps. She was a credit to Zootopia." The lion's eyes dropped and his voice softened. "I want to do something to honor her memory. That's the truth. Think about it."