"You've got to admit Onion - our day's deep underground never would have prepared us for sights such as this."

It's only been thirty minutes since leaving the Steel Guardian outpost, but with me constantly stopping to look back we haven't made much headway. The Burrow wasn't what you would have called a tourist attraction. Metal walls, piping and conduits of all shapes and sizes zigzagging to and fro, and nary a spectacle to behold. When I was younger, my mother would spend her free time showing me all the nooks and crannies within the Burrow. At the time, I was very excited to see these things. I remember spending days in the power room, annoying the technicians with all sorts of questions about how everything worked, and how, after two-hundred years, it was still able to keep the entire place powered. After the power station lost itsinterest, I had turned my sights on the gardens, where all of our food was grown, and how even without sources of light and fresh water they were able to keep us sustained. After a while even that become boring.

Every time I found something new and exciting, it was simply a short-lived excitement. When your entire world is stagnant, it's hard to remain excited about anything. That's why I loved to build and tinker. Making something out of nothing kept my imagination and desires fueled. Out here, however, was a completely different story. Sure, the majority of what we have seen has been desolation and destruction, but there were still new things, unfamiliar things to keep me going. Those towering trees in the distance, they were beautiful.

I remember reading about the pre-war ecology of Zootopia, how it was divided into different districts to help mammals of all backgrounds thrive. Based upon the terrain, we were currently in Savanna Central, so that meant that behind us was the Rainforest District. Being underground for such a long time, really does mess with one's perception of space. Nearly all the trees I saw were jutting far into the clouds overhead. I nearly fell trying to walk backwards while tracing one of them up as far as it could. It was at least a mile or two away, if not more, but part of me wanted forget everything and go there. Imagine it, towering over the entire world, getting to see everything it has to offer - but every time I got lost in my own imagination, reality comes knocking. And by reality, I mean Onion.

"Miss, you should really stop daydreaming and concentrate on the road ahead, quite literally if I may say so."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm watching …" I tripped over something hard and fell ass first onto the cracked pavement, "… my step. Ow."

"I told you Miss."

"Fine, I'll make sure to keep my eyes … hey, what's that?"

I was craning my head back while talking to Onion when I noticed something in the distance. It was a large building that stood out from all the rest by its shape. While most the other buildings nearby had hard edges and seemed to have 'grown' around other smaller buildings, this one looked a lot more "organic." I couldn't make out all the details, but the large tower, and flowing arches that appeared over the road made it stick out. I could see a large chain fence that divided the road from whatever that building was, but time had deteriorated it, leaving large gaps in the fence.

"I am not sure Miss. It does stand out from the rest of the architecture."

"Well, it's not far, and it is on the way, so let's take a look shall we?"

"Just as long as you promise to be extra careful Miss. I am very wary of buildings at the moment. With the exception of those friendly Steel Guardians, nothing good has come of one."

"Maybe we will be the ones to ambush for once, instead of the other way around."

"I would rather avoid any conflict entirely Miss. I am sure the Steel Guardians good grace extends only as far as their medical supplies."

"It will be fine, plus like I said, we have to pass it anyways, so might as well."

I picked myself up off the ground. Beside me was the source of my new found ass pain: a long metal pole. From the looks of it, it must have been a sign holder placed alongside the road we were on, but the sign was long since gone. I dusted myself off, albeit pointless since I will just get it dirty again soon, and we set off in the direction of that building.

I had no idea where I was in relation to the theater where I rescued Chief Lazlo. Sure, my Pip-Boar showed me the distance between then and now, but there was so much that I missed, and the fact that one moment I was in an area of the city densely populated with buildings and the next moment I was in a section of the city where the roads outnumbered the buildings, was a bit disconcerting to my brain. Or maybe it was the fact that I was unconscious for a week. Actually, I'm sure that's it.

This area was not like where Highway Twenty-One was. There, the roads were fairly flat, with the occasional diverging road leading into, or away from the city. Here, however, things were on a much more massive scale. The road we were on was one of many. We were on one at relatively ground level, but there were roads that towered above us, crisscrossing from here to there. I saw large ramps merging two roads in the distance, while another split into two, each heading their own direction. As we passed under a one of the skyward roads, I kept a good eye on it. From everything I've seen, I would not be surprised one bit if some kind of winged creature were to swoop down, grab me, and feed me to its starving babies. Of course now that I am thinking that, I bet fate is trying to conjure up that very scene. I hit the side of my head. Fate's not in charge, I am.

"You ok Miss?"

"Just trying to stop thinking about things that I shouldn't be thinking about."

"I'm surprised you don't hit yourself more often Miss."

"Hardy har har. You're a funny one Onion."

I suddenly doubted myself for a moment and took a look at my Pip-Boar. There did not appear to be any blips on the sensors apart from Onion. Hope was still a good distance from us, but it looked like a fairly straight shot. If we're lucky, we might get there before nightfall, but I highly doubt it. It was already nearing three in the afternoon, and I will have to stop to eat something at some point. Thankfully we had plenty of provisions. It's a good thing robots did not need to eat, any extra mouths would rapidly diminish the food, and apart from scavenging, we really haven't found any reliable sources of nutrients.

"Sensors are clear Miss. For once I think we are in the clear."

We were within twenty feet of the chain fence that formed a wall on the side of the road. It seemed much further before. I must have gotten lost in thought. Glad Onion was on the watch, otherwise I would have made a perfect target for someone, or something. I walked up to the edge of the road where a section of the fence had collapsed. We were much further up than I thought. There was about a fifteen or so foot drop down to where another road connected the building which was now in full view.

The tower was attached to a large mid-section, that itself was annexed by a smaller section on either side. The smaller sections were connected to the two large arches, serving both as a roof, and also decoration. The metal it was composed of had turned a dull grey, but the design itself was still mesmerizing. Smaller lines and arches connected between the larger one and the roof of the central section. There was a large sign attached to the back of middle section. It read: Grass Street Station.

"My records show that this was one of many public transportation stations that were accessible throughout the city. This station featured a rapid transit train that ferried mammals between stations on a connected line. I highly doubt that this mode of transport is still operational today."

"A shame, be nice to ride it and take in the view while heading towards our destination. You don't by chance have any information on where this station connected to?"

"Unfortunately I do not Miss. I only have access to historical data, not practical data in regards to the transit lines."

"Well, maybe there is something more useful down there. Now, how to get down there without breaking my legs again."

I wasn't afraid of heights, at least not that I knew of, but my brain was having trouble figuring out exactly how high this was. At first I thought it was about fifteen feet, but now my head is saying it's farther, and with what looked like solid concrete below, I did not want to risk it. I took a step back so that I could safely consider my options. I could have Onion float down there and take a measurement and tell me the likelihood of me surviving a fall, but even if it was only five feet, he would insist it was too dangerous.

"Miss?"

"Not now Onion, I'm trying to think."

I could try to fashion a chain rope from the fence and use it to climb down, but I didn't have anything that I could use to cut the chain with easily.

"Miss, if you would …"

"Give me one moment, I'm trying to figure out how to make it down safely."

"But Miss, that …"

"Hush."

Too bad that I did not take that whip from that bitch Bailey, but then again I was too busy being unconscious to think about that. It would have made a good climbing tool. First chance I get, I should try to obtain some rope for times like this. Or if I fall into another sinkhole, or if I need to scale a building, or … wow, I really should have thought of packing some rope when I left the Burrow.

"Hey Onion, remind me to get some rope when I have the chance. Onion?"

"Down here Miss."

I looked towards where his voice originated. He was directly below me on the ground.

"What are you doing down there? I'm trying to think of a way for me to get down there safely. Got any ideas?"

"How about the stairs Miss?"

I am such an idiot sometimes. All this time I was trying to figure out some crafty way of getting me down there, I never once thought to see if there was some logical way of descending this height, like some stairs. About ten feet to the right of me was a break in the fence, a deliberate break, that connected the side of the road I was standing on, to the ground. I smacked my forehead with my paw. Way to over-think the situation Olivia.

The steps were in fairly good condition, the metal of it holding up better than the concrete structures nearby. Once I reached the ground, the station looked much large while staring up at it. A road led almost up to the building where there was an arched awning that covered a walkway that lead up to a large double door. I could tell that this station was designed for mammals of all shapes and sizes. I slowly walked the length of the building, checking my sensor for any potential threats. Thankfully nothing was showing up, but then again, the sensors only detected movement, so for all I knew there was something sitting inside waiting to pounce.

The two side sections must have been meant for smaller species. To the left were doors that ranged from my height to about wolf height, while the other section had much smaller ones, mostly for rodents and other smaller species. It made sense to segregate by species, so that during busy times the smaller ones wouldn't get trampled by the larger mammals. I decided to take my chance on the left side, since the rights entrances were too small, and the large doors in the middle would have probably attracted too much attention if they were suddenly opened.

"Ok Onion, there is nothing on the sensors yet, but be ready. If we suddenly find ourselves in another ghoul nest, I am closing the door, barricading it, and we will go far, far away, never to return again. I am sick of trying out outrun a pack of creatures trying to eat my flesh."

"Shouldn't I go first Miss?"

"I don't want to risk losing you again. Back at the theater when I saw you, I almost lost it."

"To be fair Miss, if you didn't start blindly throwing grenades, we wouldn't have been in that predicament."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? Anyways, if I didn't do that, we probably wouldn't be standing here would we? Now let's get this over with."

There was no visible handle on the door. Please let it not be mechanical. I highly doubt there would be power to control them. I put my paw on it and gave a slight push. It budged open a few inches. I retracted my paw and it closed on its own. Must be spring operated. That might explain why they were all closed and in fairly good condition. I swallowed some air and held it in as put my paw back on it and started to push again. The door showed little resistance as it opened inward.

Since I could only see this one side of the station, I did not know what to expect. Inside was brightly lit. There were no artificial lights, but rather the other side had two arched openings that led back outside. There were six rows of seats that were arranged facing towards the openings. Between the openings was a small room with two open windows, one facing in-wards, and the other facing out wards. Above the windows was a small faded sign, but I was not able to make out what it said. The room was only large enough for one occupant, but I could see a terminal screen inside.

A wall divided the section from the larger middle section, with only one wolf sized doorway leading towards the larger area. There were machines covering the rest of the wall, alternating between tall and short. Each one had a small screen on it. A large sign hung on the wall that said: Tickets. On the other wall were three other machines, with a sign on the wall that said: Vending. The glass fronts on all of them were shattered, and I saw a few discarded snack wrappers and empty bottles scattered around. Damn, of course it was picked clean.

Luck was on my side. Despite a few skeletal remains, there was no impending doom. I still remained cautious however. There were still two more areas that could be occupied. I moved as quietly as possible, even though I still saw no threats on my Pip-Boar. I went to where the small room was. There was a door on the side, the only means of entering and exiting it, but unlike the main entrance, this had a handle, and it was also locked. I still had a couple of those metal antennas, so I decided I would try to pick the lock. It's been a while, so hopefully I had not gotten rusty. Can you get rusty after only doing it a few times?

I placed the flat tip of my screwdriver in and then positioned the thin piece of metal. I felt resistance immediately and stopped before I snapped it. The opposite direction was a bit smoother. Took me a few attempts, but finally I was met with a satisfying click noise. I put my tools away and opened the door. Since there were two opened windows, I did not have to worry about any surprises, but I still did get a shock. Resting against the door was a skeleton about my height. It was wearing a simple looking uniform, but it had deteriorated over time. Poor thing must have been working when the bombs fell.

There was nothing I could do about the body, so I stepped over it and took a look at the terminal. It was a basic computer screen with a keyboard attached to a movable mount. I couldn't see where the actual computer was housed at, but there was a small red light next to the terminal. Did it still have power? I decided, against my better judgment, that there was only one way to find out. I pushed it.

A faint humming noise started up as there was a quiet beeping noise. The monitor lit up, but I had to wipe off the dust for it to be visible. The loading screen showed the letters ZTA in a red circle with the words, Zootopia Transit Authority below it. After a moment where the screen flickered on and off, it booted into a graphical interface with the ZTA symbol in the upper corner. In the middle of the screen it prompted me for a user-name and password. Fuck.

"What is it Miss?"

"An old pre-war terminal, and it surprisingly has power to it after two-hundred years."

"Anything useful on it Miss?"

"That's the thing. It's asking for a user-name and password."

"What about your hacking program Miss? I know these systems are ancient, but can the Pip-Boar still interface with them?"

"Well there is only one way to find out."

I lifted the arm with my Pip-Boar and sat it on the desk that the terminal was on. I grabbed the connection cable from it and looked for a place to interface it. I don't know if I got lucky, or if they invented a new way to interface, but there was a port that my cable was able to interface with. Once it was hooked up I activated my Hackatron program. While the interfaces were compatible, all the terminals I have accessed with it so far were based upon a Burrow-Tec environment. This,however,must have pre-dated that since there were no compatible back-door subroutines available to me. Looks like I have to do this the hard way.

I set the Hackatron program into manual mode and was greeted by a series of jumbled letters, numbers, and symbols. I remember having to use this once before. My mother had found an old portable computer somewhere in the Burrow, and like this, it's operating system predated the Burrow-Tec designs, so I wasn't able to directly connect to it. I spent nearly a month creating a specialized subroutine that could access an archaic system, but it was not very clean. Apparently these old systems created dummy access codes that it cycled in with the valid code, meaning I had a dozen different passwords presented to me in a jumbled mess, but only one was the correct one. Burrow-Tec systems were pretty hard to crack, but at least my Pip-Boar was able to filter out the junk, making it much easier for me.

I didn't have a user-name, but thankfully those were stored locally and unencrypted.I chose one at random and started my task of filtering out the potential passwords for it. The first one was a failure. Figures. I would not be that lucky. Then I got startled when a message popped up on the terminal: 'Wrong Password Entered, Please Try Again'. Yeah, I kinda figured that out computer. I tried for another one and it failed as well. Another message popped up on the screen: 'Wrong Password Entered, One More Incorrect Password Will Result in System Lockout'. System lockout? Figures it wouldn't be that easy.

Two passwords were eliminated, but there were still ten potential ones to go. I needed to find a better way to do this. I exited the hack and opened up my program editor. I messed around with the Hackatron code, altering a few lines as well as adding a couple. It's a good thing I was a whiz atthis or else I'd be here all night. It took about fifteen minutes. All the time Onion was complaining that we were here for far longer than he hoped, but I had my mind set on cracking this thing. Once I was done, I closed the editor and reconnected the program to the terminal. I selected a new user-name, hoping that it would reset my lockout attempts, and tried again.

The same jumble of words, numbers, and symbols appeared, but I noticed that not only were the passwords different, they were shorter. The other passwords were ten letters long, but these were only five. I selected one, pizza, probably because I was starting to get hungry again, and it was a failure, but thankfully there was no lockout message, so it must have counted as my first attempt. This is where my edited code kicked in. While I couldn't tell it to just give me the password, it was able to at least tell me how close I was using a comparative algorithm. It said that two out of the five letters matched. Let's see, jumpy? No, none of them matched. What about jiffy? The i matched, but it said that two matched, and only one does here. Wait a second, what about fuzzy? The two zz's matched. One way to find out. I selected that one and I was in.

Once I had full access to the terminal, I was presented with a bunch of options. There was one for purchasing/redeeming tickets, another to report suspected activity, and some that I was not sure of, but then I saw what I wanted: Transit Map. I opened it up and was presented with an interactive map of Zootopia. It had no details, it simply showed the four districts, separated by color. Black lines intersected throughout the entire map, and every so often was a small white dot. One of them was flashing. It was labeled: Grass Street Station. That's us. I tapped the name on the screen and every line connecting here lit up. There were two lines connecting this station, the Animalia Line and the Bunnyburrow Line. The Animalia Line branched off North and South of us, so that one was out, but the Bunnyburrow Line seemed to go in a huge circle, traveling through all four districts. One end traveled off the local map, but the other end cut off at Savanna Central Station.

"Hey Onion."

"Yes Miss?"

"Savanna Central Station. That sounds familiar. Ring any bells?"

"Actually it does Miss. Prior to the Steel Guardians updating our maps with current landmarks, there was a Savanna Central Station."

"Can you sendits location to my Pip-Boar?"

"Right away Miss."

I exited the program and pulled up the map. Everything was the same except for one area. The location that Onion sent me overlapped with a location that the Guardians added to it. It kept flashing with alternating titles. First it flashed: Savanna Central Station, then: Hope. The train tracks lead us straight to the town of Hope!

Hope. It was a word that brought feelings of expectation and trust. Such a simple word can bring upon so much emotion and can unite people together in times of peril. These times, this world, I can't imagine there being a greater peril. So far I have seen mammals turn against each other, committing acts of such depravity with so very little effort. This world needs a feeling like hope, something greater than what it's givenits people already. I'm just afraid that Hope might turn out to be a fallacy, or worse, end up just like Beaverton.

"Miss? You look unhappy."

"Oh, it's not that I am unhappy. It's just that … what happens if we finally arrive at Hope and it not what we were expecting? I also keep thinking of Beaverton. What if Hope ends up being another victim to the Red-Neck? We don't even know who they are or how far their spread is. For all we know, another city is suffering the same horrible fate."

"Miss, you should not dwell on the unknown. You need to focus on a singular goal, and that goal is reaching the town of Hope. If you keep thinking of everything else, we may never make it. We almost didn't make it when you decided to rescue that Chief Lazlo."

"Well, to be fair Onion, we did make some friends, and powerful ones at that."

"Powerful, Miss? Highly trained soldiers that were kept at bay by some thugs? I wouldn't call that powerful."

"They had a missile launcher. I don't care how trained you are, a missile to the face negates everything."

"Well I for one believe that you should have taken their offer Miss. Like you said, who knows what condition this Hope is even in. At least we know this place is safe."

"Yeah, but I want to help, and I don't think my skills would be maximized here. Everything seemed too well oiled, which means they probably have a skilled technician doing all the work. You really think they would let me, someone who knows zip about Guardian technology, try my paws on fixing it? No Onion, I have to find someplace that needs my help."

"You want someplace broken."

"Exactly."

I really should be more concerned about my safety. Onion was right about one thing: I get too distracted when I think someone needs my help. What I don't think he understands is that unless I put myself out there, I don't know if I will ever find my place in this world. Sure Hope could be a bust. They might have some fantastic engineer keeping the place in tip top shape, and has no need for someone like myself. But, if I simply went from point A straight to point C, I might be skipping my destiny at point B. No, I won't rest until I find where I belong. Even if it takes me to the far ends of the world.