Hello, and welcome to the next episode of Temporal Investigation Department! This episode is where I reveal who the 'mystery character' is on the cover art, and how they'll fit in.
As always, thanks to the Zootopian Author's Association members for reading this at the weekly meetings, and thanks to Merc_Marten for helping me out with a line I was having trouble with. And, as always, thank you to you awesome people who leave reviews/comments. A shout out in particular to J Shute, since he basically called where my thinking was with regards to the response being proportionate to the crime – it's something I had written into this chapter already, so it was nice to see somebody who got my intent.
EPISODE 3: DETECTED (ACT 1)
Rainforest District, 40 Years Into The Future…
In forty years, the Rainforest District had changed relatively little in comparison to the rest of Zootopia. The trees and plants had grown taller, and some of the internal structures, such as apartments and businesses, had been updated, but to those on the outside, it still looked the same. Every few hours, the sprinklers still spread rain throughout the district. The Canopy Gondolas still existed, though they had since been refurbished. Rivers still ran through the district, separating the masses of land.
And on occasion, it was still the scene of a chase or two.
"Hey, stop!" A figure, clothed in a black suit with a grey shirt, and a blue tie with red stripes and hat atop his head, gave chase to a rabbit through the Rainforest District's underbrush. To some, it would have appeared the figure was a type of hare, but upon closer inspection, some things weren't quite right. His ears were point-tipped, for instance. His muzzle was slightly longer than it should have been. These were just the most immediately-noticeable differences.
The rabbit being chased had been involved in a series of burglaries around the district, and the mammal chasing him was a Detective who had been looking into those burglaries. He had caught the rabbit breaking into the home of a tapir family, but the rabbit had made a run for it, right into the district's underbrush. The Detective had given chase on foot, and was closing in. The rabbit surely could not outrun his pursuer for long.
What happened next was a total puzzle to the Detective. The rabbit stumbled, tripping up on something, but soon regained his footing. The Detective adjusted his run to step over whatever obstacle had faltered the rabbit, but regardless, he stepped on something hard, and a light flared to life right in front of him, momentarily blinding him. The Detective shielded his eyes with his arm. The light died out and he slowly opened his eyes, spots dancing around in his vision.
"Urgh… what did he hit me with?" the Detective squinted. His vision was blurry, but as it returned to normal, the Detective looked around, trying to find the rabbit he was chasing. There was no sign of him, but the Detective did notice things were… off, somehow. This definitely was the Rainforest District, but it was like he had come into an area that hadn't changed for decades.
His eyes caught a nearby signpost. He was at the intersection between Acacia Road and Mangrove Street.
"This… doesn't make sense…" the Detective said to himself. He dug his phone from his pocket. The screen read 'no valid network signal'.
"Get a grip, Lucas…" the Detective muttered to himself. He turned back around, looking for whatever he had trodden on. He spotted something hidden in the foliage and bent down to pick it up.
It was a small, tablet-like device, with a blinking red light. Lucas had never seen anything like it, and was wary of turning it on. He brushed away some of the mud from it, and the screen flared to life. Lucas gaped in shock as the screen displayed a 'destination time': February 7, 2017. His eyes flicked to the text above: Diagnostic mode active, travel will not be possible while the device is being scanned for errors.
"Oh… oh, no, no, nononono…"
A piece of paper blew into his leg and he picked it up. It was from a newspaper, detailing a recent arrest made by detectives at Precinct One of the ZPD.
The photograph next to the article was of a rabbit and fox at a press conference following the arrest. Lucas' eyes betrayed his shock, and his eyes immediately went to the paper's header.
The header read: February 7, 2017. It matched the device's display.
Lucas clutched the paper, his expression frantic.
"And… we are live!" Koyoton said excitedly. A diagnostic had been run on the portal detector. It had taken a day, but it had found an error which Koyoton had managed to fix.
"It's going to work this time, isn't it?" Jack asked.
"Hey, it was technically working before," Koyoton protested. "It just… chose to go live instead of remaining in testing mode."
"Good thing it was," Skye nudged Jack gently. "Because we might not have caught that scamming little weasel if it wasn't."
"Did you really need to threaten him with an eternity locked up?" came a small voice from behind them. The three turned to face Director Smallington.
"Hey, it got him thinking about it," Skye shrugged. "And it's not like I meant it anyway."
"Glad to hear it, because we may be off the grid, but we are not going to act as if we're unaccountable," Smallington turned to Jack. "Time travellers don't exist officially, yes. But try to scale your response according to what they're doing. We're not going to wind up with a prison full of time travellers who've done small things ranging from petty thefts to conning an organisation of conmammals. We don't want the nasty ones out there, but a lottery scam isn't worth locking somebody away forever."
"No, ma'am, I guess not," Jack answered.
"Glad you agree," Smallington said. "Good job on catching him out!"
"What about all that money he… well, not won, but…" Skye asked.
"We already seized that," Smallington said.
"Are you giving it back to the lottery?"
"Actually, we've found a better home for it. Let's just say that a few charitable organisations will find themselves with plenty of funds to continue their work. As for that weasel? Let him sit inside for a few months, think about what he's done. Then he can come out. I'd say not being able to go home is punishment enough, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, ma'am," Jack and Skye answered.
"Good!" Smallington smiled. "And good work getting all this set up. Now let's just hope anything we get coming through from now on can be dealt with quickly, quietly, and properly."
"Uh… guys?" Koyoton said, drawing the attention of the two agents and Director to her. "You remember that the detector was picking up a residual signal, and that's how we found that weasel out?"
"Yeah?" Jack said.
"Well…" Koyoton indicated to the screen. "It's happening again."
The detector screen showed a general fix, again in the Rainforest District.
"Could that be the signal from before?" Jack asked. "I mean, he did open a portal up while we were looking for him."
"This signal's the same strength, so the portal has to be fairly new," Koyoton explained. "And it's coming from Acacia and Mangrove."
"Where the weasel lost the device," Skye realised.
"Get out there and find out what it is," Smallington ordered. "And this time, react accordingly."
"Yes, ma'am," Jack replied.
Acacia and Mangrove, Rainforest District
"Blergh… back again," Jack groused.
"Hey, at least it's not raining today," Skye said cheerfully. "Wasn't too bad last night either!"
"I just didn't think we'd be back this soon." Jack replied. "Zootopia has twelve districts. Can't they come in somewhere a little drier?"
"At least we stand a chance of finding that missing device," Skye pointed out. "'Cos if the detector picked up a signal here, that means it's probably nearby."
Jack and Skye proceeded around the intersection, occasionally looking into the underbrush for the device dropped by Drake Stoaton. Skye used her nose to try and sniff it out, believing that it might carry the scent of Stoaton on it. Jack kept his ears raised, listening for any unusual sounds that the device might make.
"I'm picking up a scent I've never smelled before," Skye frowned.
"The device?" Jack asked.
"No, it's definitely made by something living," Skye shook her head. "But it's… weird. If I had to describe it… sort of like a bunny? But it's… off. Not quite right." Skye turned to Jack, her nose still twitching as she sniffed the air. "By the way, are you wearing DNKY? You smell good."
"Uhh… thanks for noticing, I guess?" Jack stammered, his ears reddening. His reaction drew a smug smile from Skye. "Can you track that scent?" He asked, attempting to divert attention away from himself.
"I'm not the best tracker, but I can follow it well enough," Skye indicated. "This way."
Skye led the way, her nose sniffing the trail of the unknown mammal's scent. The trail headed away from the intersection and down Acacia Road, past a row of small cottages and towards the river that ran through the Rainforest District.
She stopped part way between two fishing huts along the river bank.
"Whoever they are, they're definitely here," Skye confirmed. "What do you think?"
Jack drew his tranq pistol.
"I know the Director said to make our response fit the situation," Jack whispered, "but we have no idea who we're even dealing with."
Skye followed suit, lining herself up against the wall of the nearby hut. She glanced at Jack, and they both nodded before raising their weapons and moving forward. Jack nodded to his left, indicating they check that hut first. Carefully, they crept around the corner and proceeded into the hut. Inside were two boats leaning against the walls, and a stack of crates.
"Okay, we know you're here," Jack called. "If you're armed, toss it out. Then come out slowly, with your paws where I can see them!"
Something flew out from behind the crates and Jack and Skye instinctively dove for cover. As he rolled, Jack flipped back around to see what had been thrown. It was some sort of paw-held pistol, but it wasn't one that Jack was familiar with.
"Okay, now come out!" Jack shouted.
A figure rose from behind the crates, paws raised.
"Alright… I'm coming out…" he said. The low light of the hut obscured the figure enough that neither Jack nor Skye could tell their suspect's species.
"Come to us," Skye ordered. "Slowly. And keep those paws raised."
The figure obliged, stepping from the shadows into the light. He was taller than Jack but smaller than her. He had the distinct build of a rabbit… and yet, several things were off. His muzzle seemed a shade too long. His ears, hanging behind his back, were point-tipped. He didn't have a rabbit's tail either – it was quite the bit longer. His purple eyes were currently flitting between Jack and Skye. He wore a dark suit, grey shirt, and striped tie.
"Are you the time detectives?" he asked. When he spoke, Jack and Skye noticed he had rabbit incisors, but canine teeth alongside them. "I was hoping it would be you that found me, if I was to be found."
"Identify yourself," Jack ordered.
"And tell us why you were hoping it'd be us that found you," Skye added.
"You probably won't believe me," the not-quite-rabbit said. "But I was told that if ever I found myself stuck in the past, I had to seek out the T.I.D."
"And what are we supposed to call you, sorta-rabbit?" Skye demanded.
"'Sorta-rabbit'… never been called that before," the not-quite-rabbit answered. "But I guess it's accurate. Name's Lucas."
"Lucas who?" Skye demanded.
"Are you sure you want me to answer that?" Lucas replied. "I don't want to affect the present any more than I already have. If I had to guess, what brought you here was… well, you'll find it behind the crates."
"Skye?" Jack indicated with his head for Skye to go and look for whatever Lucas was holding behind the crates. She scurried behind them and crouched down to pick it up.
"Whoa…" Skye breathed. "Is this…?"
"What did you find?" Jack called.
"I think we've found our missing device," Skye stood up, holding the tablet-like device up for Jack to see. "Looks like it's currently stuck in some sort of diagnostic mode. Wonder if Koyoton would be able to work on it, alongside the techies back in the office?" She looked back to Lucas. "How'd you find it?"
"I think I stepped on it," Lucas admitted. "Forty years from now… I was chasing a perp through this district. That's how I wound up here… now."
"We couldn't find it in forty years?" Skye chuckled. "Mam, we've got to step up our game, Jack."
"Okay, so with that out of the way, just what are you?" Jack asked.
"It's not obvious, is it?" Lucas sighed. "But I'll tell you… if you can get me out of public view."
"Talk," Jack said. He and Skye had returned to the ZIA Headquarters and taken Lucas into an interrogation room for privacy. They had passed Drake Stoaton's device over to Koyoton for examination.
"Never been on this side of an interrogation before," Lucas said, paws resting on the table between him and Jack.
"What are you?" Jack repeated his earlier question.
"I'm what you might term an impossibility. I can't even be conceived in this time," Lucas explained. "When your fox partner called me a 'sorta-rabbit', she wasn't wrong. I'm not a rabbit. Not quite. My mother is a rabbit. My father is not."
"I don't…" Jack began.
"My father is a fox," Lucas cut him off.
Jack froze solid. Skye, who had been leaning against the wall, stepped forward. She stared into Lucas' eyes intently.
"Just who are your parents?" Skye asked.
"If you're looking at me like that, I think you already know the answer to that question," Lucas responded.
"Say it," Skye demanded.
"As you wish," Lucas said, leaning back in his chair. "My name is Lucas Wilde. My father is Nick Wilde, and my mother is Judy Wilde… or Judy Hopps, at this time. They haven't married yet."
Jack seemed totally dumbstruck by the revelation. Skye took the initiative.
"I hope you can back that up," Skye said. Lucas sighed in defeat, thought about it for a moment, and then rolled his sleeve up.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.
"Offering you the proof you need," Lucas replied. He plucked a strand of his own fur from his arm and offered it to Jack.
"I think… this will prove it," Lucas said.
Artemis Shrewsbury, resident elephant shrew lab technician at the ZIA, had run the strand of fur for DNA.
"I take it you still have access to the ZPD DNA files?" Jack asked.
"Sure do," Artemis answered. "And I still have access to the DNA profiles of both Detectives Wilde and Hopps, from our last case involving them."
"Good, because I need this done quickly," Jack replied. "He can't be who he says he is."
As if hearing Jack's plea, Artemis' computer beeped.
"Well, that was fast," Skye quipped.
"Shh!" Artemis hissed as he tapped at the keyboard, bringing up the results. He read them through before addressing Jack and Skye.
"The DNA confirms it," Artemis confirmed. "Lucas Wilde is biologically the offspring of one Judith Hopps and Nicholas Wilde."
And that's a wrap for this part of episode 3! A few small things to clear up about this episode:
-In case it wasn't obvious, Lucas Wilde is effectively an alternate version of Nicholas Hopps from my Reconciliation stories. His origins and upbringing here are different, so he's effectively a different character. For the record, his full name is Lucas Jack Stuart Wilde, though during development he did retain Nicholas' name.
-To head off a question I know will be asked: as presented in the previous entries to this series, time travel works in a 'revisable timeline' fashion, so closed loops don't happen. Jack and Skye couldn't find Drake Stoaton's device in the old timeline, and so believed it had been destroyed.
-So far, we've had villains and hustlers using time travel to come to the present. I wanted to tell a story about somebody on the other side coming through.
-Predator/Prey hybrids are not naturally possible in this world. I intended to state this somewhere in Children of Janus. The exact explanation for Lucas will come in part 2 of this episode.
So, with that out of the way, see you soon for part 2!