Chapter 12 - Broken Plans
A small cup of cold coffee sat in front of a large, flat screen. The tiny closet sized room was dark, except for the bright light emanating from the monitor. Several muzzles flashed by on the screen. Each one paused for a second as geometric graffiti was splashed across them randomly.
Two droopy, lavender eyes stared at the screen, as the pictures flickered by. The rabbit's gray cheek slowly slipped from the palm of her paw, and her eyes closed. When her small muzzle finally fell to the table, she jerked her head back up, and took a long gulp from the nearly empty cup.
Sitting in front of the oversized computer, Judy watched hundreds of mammals fly by on the screen, while the Muzzle Recognition Software played it's own private game of Connect the Dots. Or was it Tic-Tac-Toe, as her partner had familiarly described the flying dots and lines?
First a series of dots appeared on the muzzle picture on the right side of the screen. Then lines were drawn between each of the dots in a bizzare pattern. Next the computer compared this pattern to a similar pattern drawn on the left side of the screen, covering the picture of an underdress goat in a nightclub. When the patterns didn't match, the screen would flash red slightly and the picture on the right was replaced by a new one, and the process started all over again. All these patterns were drawn and compared in less time than Judy could blink twice.
Sipping the coffee again, she shuddered at the ice cold brew. The cup was in need of a refill, but she had to stay and babysit the computer. Nick had gone to top off his own over an hour ago, but still had not returned.
"What is taking him so long?"
Ignorant of her need for liquid stimulants, the computer continued to chug and grind away. It had been at it for almost three days now, and still could not find a single match to the photos she took at the dance club.
"It's like she doesn't even exist!" Judy had said to her partner, before his usual disappearing act. The tod had managed to stay up all night going through traffic camera records across the city, while she curled up in a comfortable chair, meant for much larger mammals. He was probably exhausted, so she couldn't blame him if he fell asleep on the way to the nearest pot of coffee.
Even with the few hours of sleep from earlier this morning, she still didn't feel refreshed enough to keep her eyes from sliding shut. Her body strongly desired to return to her own bed. How long had it been since she last saw her apartment? Two, no three days, and almost twice as long since speaking to her parents.
She felt a small zap of static, as her ears brushed the large computer monitor, and she quickly sat upright again.
The computer beeped, and the pictures stopped flashing past the screen. A small message had appeared across the last image, "END OF FILE," it read.
Sighing, she typed on the keyboard that was nearly as long as she was tall. With a few taps and clicks, she selected the next set of files for the system to search. "That's it for local criminals from the last 50 years. I guess the state pen is next, and that will be the last of our records."
Once the new set of images began to flash by on the screen, the door behind her suddenly swung open, revealing the silhouette of a uniformed predator. Through the bright light that flooded the small room, several racks and boxes of files could be seen behind him.
An angry glare blanketed the rabbit's face as she turned to face her partner. "Where have you been?" she demanded, and promptly threw her coffee cup at him. The few remaining drops in the bottom splashed on the legs of his uniform.
Not bothering to dodge the offensive drinking vessel, he simply lifted a flat, white and pink box, with the letters, "The Big Donut," written on it's side. "After such a long night, I thought it would be nice to buy some breakfast to help cheer up a certain grumpy bunny."
"It doesn't take two hours to buy donuts," the rabbit indicated suspiciously. "The Big Donut is only a block away."
"Complications arose, ensued, and were finally overcome," he said with a halting flair, and passed her a round pastry covered with orange frosting.
One eyebrow raised, "Complications! What complications?" she asked, taking a bite of the carroty donut. "Mmm, this is really good."
"When was the last time you tried to sneak a box of donuts past our fearless dispatch officer?"
She could not hold onto the angry glare long, as another delicious confection was passed under her muzzle. It was joined by a fresh cup of steaming coffee. "Fine," she said with a sigh, letting go of her suspicions.
"So did the computer find anything while I was out dodging giant spotted pastry assassins, and other breakfast debauchers?"
"Nothing," she said flatly, her ears dropped behind her head. "I put the last set of files into the system. If they come back empty, then we are out of luck."
"That's unfortunate, Carrots. What will we do now?"
The room went dark, as a large bulky shadow filled the doorway, and a deep gruff voice exclaimed, "You're off the case."
Judy jumped to her feet in the large chair, and unsuccessfully tried to salute, with a half eaten donut in her paw. Nick attempted to pass the box to his boss, but the buffalo just waved it off.
"I have already sent those photos of yours to the ZBI." the buffalo stated.
"But Chief," Judy cried.
"Enough, Hopps. The ZBI can do a much broader search with their access to federal and international files," Bogo explained. "Besides, all we know is that some mammal, that goes by the name Doc, is selling custom street drugs..."
Holding up her phone, Judy interrupted him, "But we have photos of the perp."
"No! All you have are photos of some DJ in a nightclub, with the same name as our suspected dealer," he said scowling down at the tiny rabbit. "We have no other evidence that they are the seller, or the chemist for that matter."
"We should head back to that club, and keep a closer eye on it," Nick added.
"I have already assigned Officers Swinton and Shelles to keep an eye on things at the club. For now, I'm putting a hold on this drug case."
"Chief, you can't just take us off this case now," the small gray officer pleaded.
Nick joined his partner, putting his paw on her shoulder, "We've gathered all the evidence, and filed all the related reports. So why are you taking us off this case?"
"All you two have so far are a pawful of dead ends, and stacks of misinformation, so I am giving you a break, until some more solid evidence is found," the Chief stated calmly, holding out his forehoof. "It's only a temporary reassignment, while we wait for this dealer to make another mistake."
Sighing in relief, Judy replied, "Thank you Chief."
"Don't get too excited Hopps. This kind of thing could take months, or longer, for any concrete evidence to turn up. Just sit tight and let the criminals make the next move."
"I can't just sit still and wait."
The buffalo let out a deep breath that rumbled in his huge chest, "I know Hopps, which is why everyone at the precinct has been informed of this situation. That's over a hundred pair of eyes on the street looking for these dealers, so take a break and don't worry about it for a few days."
Her ears dropped, her head lowered and her eyes scanned the floor, searching for something that would change the larger mammal's mind.
"Now," Bogo said, stepping out of the doorway, and motioned the two smallest cops through the portal. "Since you have been at work for roughly 56 hours, I am willing to give you the rest of the day off."
Nick looked over at his partner with a question on his lips, but her eyes still explored the floor.
"Clawhouser got a break-in and possible robbery call about five minutes ago, that I think could help take your minds off this drug business. Unless, of course, you would rather spend the rest of the day doing paperwork?"
Bright light returned to her eyes, and the bunny cop looked up at her boss, "We will take the case Chief." With the hot cup of coffee in her paw, she grabbed her partners tie, rushed out of the room and up the stairs.
While walking through the lobby, a large uniformed tigress rushed up to Judy excitedly.
"Nick why don't you get the details from Ben, while I talk to Fangmeyer," the rabbit said to her partner, as the tigress swiftly closed the distance.
"Good luck," the fox said snidely, heading to the front desk.
Kneeling down, the giant tigress still towered over the tiny rabbit. In a more savage era, Judy would have hardly been a light snack. However, in this modern, sophisticated world, Fangmeyer didn't even show her fangs while she spoke. "Some of the girls and I are heading to McGregor's after work tonight, if you want to join us."
"Sure, I could really use a break from this place."
"I heard you've been here for days. This place can really wear on you sometimes. Meet us there at 7:00, ok?" The taller officer stood and started to walk away, but turned around with an afterthought. "Oh, and bring that partner of yours if you want."
"Alright, I'll do that."
"Be seeing ya," Fangmeyer saluted.
"See ya tonight."
A large grey stone block sat on the side of a small, grassy hill. Several words were mounted on its surface. The words were partially obscured by a young oak tree, but Judy could still make out what they said as she drove past. "Pembroke Family Planning Clinic & Reproductive Research Center"
Pulling their large police cruiser into the parking lot, Judy spotted an ibex walking across the pavement near the other side of the building. He was dressed in a sharp, tweed jacket under a long, white lab coat, and he seemed to be extremely upset. With a huff, he climbed into a mid sized, black and green SUV, and slammed the door.
Pointing towards the goat, she asked her partner, "Does that mammal look familiar?"
Looking up from the bird tossing game on his phone, Nick asked, "What mammal?"
"The mountain goat over there. In that SUV."
Her partner shook his head negatively.
Judy slowly circled the lot, until she passed the other vehicle, and Nick was able to get a closer look at the driver.
"I guess, kind of," he said with a shrug. "But we've been staring at pictures of goats all night, Or don't you remember?"
"You're right. I must be imagining things again."
She parked the car near the main entrance, and they both climbed out. Nick followed her into the bright and cheerfully decorated lobby.
The lobby was painted in bright, inviting colors, with a child's play area fondly placed in one corner. It reminded Nick of a familiar dentist's office where his mom used to take him. The memories of what happened behind those cheerful doors made him shudder.
Judy walked up to the tall counter where a pair of cervide nurses sat discussing an upcoming baby shower. "Officers Hopps and Wilde responding to the call about a break in," she announced.
Like sloths at the DMV, the two nurses were not quick to cease their conversation and respond to the uniformed rabbit. One of them eventually took a breath and addressed the bunny. "Oh, of course. I will let someone know you are here." Casually pointing to the large, and barely comfortable looking seats along the wall, she added, "Please wait over there and someone will be here shortly to take you back."
The rabbit's polite response belied her frustration at being treated like unwanted patients, "Thank you, you're too kind." Before joining Nick in the empty waiting area, she picked up one of the brochures on the counter.
"Nick! Nick, do you recognise this?" She flashed the advertising pamphlet in front of his lazy eyes.
"I don't know, Carrots. Give it to me for a second." He quickly snatched it out of her paws before she could protest, and flipped through the pages. After a brief but thoughtful examination he began to carefully tear it into small pieces.
It took her a second to realize what he was doing, and she tried to grab the pieces from his paws before he could completely ruin the fancy brochure, "What do you think you are doing?" He held the scraps of paper up high, and out of her reach as he continued to precisely tear each one into smaller bits.
"I think you're right Fluff," the fox said turning the small scraps over in his paws. "These look exactly like the papers we found in the Fishers' bedroom!"
"You didn't have to go and shred them like that, Dumb Fox."
"I did," he nodded, giving her a sly wink. "I just couldn't remember where I saw them before. But now it's as clear as last week's carrot stew."
The memory of Nick's impromptu attempt to cook dinner made her giggle, "Do you think the couple might have come here?"
"I don't know, Carrots. It's not like we can just go up to the counter and ask if a Bobcat and Beaver couple ever came here."
Judy was about to protest, when an older honey badger walked up to them and offered them her paw, "Officers, I am Doctor Bernese. The director asked me to show you to Doctor Walia's office."
"Doctor Walia?" the rabbit asked.
"Yes, his office is where the break-in happened," Dr. Bernese said as she swiped her ID badge in front of the secure door, and it beeped in response. She led the two officers through the door and down the long hallways that made up most of the facility.
"Is the doctor here today?"
"Unfortunately, you just missed him. He left rather abruptly," the badger replied sadly, taking them around several corners.
Judy's voice was full of concern when she asked, "What happened? Why did he leave?"
"I am not quite sure. He became very distraught over some broken personal items, and torn photos." Walking down another well lit hallway, she motioned to one of the open doors, "And here we are," she announced.
The rabbit's jaw dropped to the floor at the familiar scene of destruction before them.
Office furniture was smashed and tossed about the room. Papers were torn into long thin strips and strewn across the desk, and the computer monitor was cracked and smashed. Several scratches and dents marred the top and sides of the oak desk.
Judy immediately began photographing everything as she explored the room.
"The director said you can look around, but if you have any questions she will be along once she has finished her work."
"Thank you," the fox replied. "I think we have all we need for the moment."
"Alright. If you need anything, I will be right down the hall," the badger pointed to one of the doors across the hall, and then left.
"Nick, I think they came in through the window," Judy exclaimed, pointing to the shards of broken glass on the floor, and the few large pieces still stuck in the window frame.
"Yeah, all the glass is on the inside, and none in the grass outside," he said carefully looking out the broken window.
"And more glass on the desk," she said, using a pen she found to rifle through the debris. "It's from a fancy picture frame. And these look like parts of a photo."
Several pieces of the shredded paper looked like they had once been a photograph, and the rabbit began to arrange a few of them together.
"They look like a happy couple," Nick commented, parting her tall ears and sticking his long snout between them.
"Hey," Judy cried, jabbing him in the gut. "That is the goat we saw in the parking lot!"
"Dr. Walia, I presume?"
"There are some words on the back too. All I can make out looks like 'Wil', 'Cin' and the number '14.'"
"William and Cindy, maybe?"
"Yeah, or Cinnamon."
"Here is another picture of the female," Nick noted picking up a tiny heart shaped photo off the floor.
The rabbit turned to her partner, after sealing the photos into a plastic bag, and asked, "Have you seen any fur or odd marks in the carpet?"
Shaking his head he replied, "Well there is goat fur everywhere, and the prints in the carpet look like there was a scuffle. But that could just be from whoever smashed the chairs. They seem to have danced around the room with them first before they beat them repeatedly against the desk."
Under the desk, Judy stumbled across the only thing in the doctor's office that didn't have a single scratch. Pulling out a thatch waste basket, with a delicate plastic liner, she began rifling through its contents. After a few seconds she carefully lifted an empty metal can, marked with the word 'Hogswiser' on the side, while trying not to touch it with her bare paws.
Watching the rabbit closely examine the beer can, Nick snidely commented, "You know, you probably won't find any fingerprints on it."
"Har har."
"Most hooved mammals don't leave any distinguishable prints. That's why the ZPD gave up fingerprinting suspects all those years ago."
"I know, and neither do rabbits, because of our fur covered paws," she said holding up her fluffy fingers.
"Same with foxes."
"What, you have paw pads don't you? They should leave recognizable marks?"
"I hear all bunny noses leave unique marks though."
Judy snapped her fingers at her partner, as if an idea was on the tip of her tongue, "Nick! Your nose. What can you smell?"
"You know, I am not really trained for scent tracking, like Wolfard and Snarlov are."
"Just give it a shot, Slick. Anything could be useful at this point."
Conceding to the bunny's request, the fox began to inhale deeply through his long snout, and slowly moved around the room. He sniffed at the window, the chairs and even the trash can. "It's very faint, and lacks the strong odor of an abandoned building, but there is something here, that reminds me of that place we thought was the drug lab."
"Wait, are you saying that our drug dealer was here?"
"I am not sure, Fluff. But something is definitely familiar," he said continuing to smell around the room. His nosing about eventually let him to the other mammal in the room.
The rabbit giggled as the long snuffling nose landed on her shoulder, and took a long deep breath. Swatting the snout away, she exclaimed, "Stop it, Nick."
A look of disappointment crossed his muzzle, and he frowned at the rabbit officer, "Why did you change your perfume?"
"What do you mean? I didn't change anything," she asked, puzzled by her partners response.
"I just really liked the scent you wore before."
"I'm not wearing any perfume," Judy thought. She then placed her paw on the end of his nose and explained, "Trust me, I haven't changed anything."
Heading towards the door, Nick remarked, "Maybe we should find that director and get some answers."
Nodding her head, she skipped out the door, and hopped down the hall to the badgers office, "We have finished our preliminary investigation, but I have a quick question for you."
Looking up from her work, the badger smiled at the rabbit, "Sure what can I do for you?"
"Since you are right across the hall, I am curious. How well did you know Dr. Walia?"
"I only knew him as a co-worker. I don't think he really socialized with anyone, and I have never seen him at any company picnics."
Judy held up the photo of the female goat, "Do you know who this is?"
"Cindy?" the badger's smile dropped slightly. "That's his wife. I never met her. She died a few years before I transferred here from Zootopia General."
"Oh, I'm very sorry," the rabbit said with a small tear.
"It's ok. Like I said, I never knew her, or William either, before the incident."
Stepping up to his partner, the fox placed his paw on her shoulder, "Sorry for interrupting, but we really need to speak with the director."
"Right, I'm sorry," the badger said, standing up and walking past them into the hallway. "She is on the other side of the complex, so I hope you two don't mind the walk."
The badger led the two small cops down a long white hallway, to a tall window that nearly covered the entire length of the passage. She walked up to the glass, and pressed a small button on the wall. Judy's large ears could barely make out a very faint buzz from the other side of the window.
"The director expressly asked that no one disturb her during this delicate procedure, but you're welcome to watch." Nodding to the pair of cops, she promptly turned and left the way they had come.
On the other side of the glass was a large clean lab full of wires, tubes, microscopes and various other unfamiliar equipment. Some of the equipment looked similar to what they found last year in the subway train, but it was all far more precise and complicated.
In the center of the lab stood two medium mammals wearing long, white lab coats. They were each standing on opposite sides of a large glass box. The doctors were reaching through arm sized holes in the sides of the box, and manipulating delicate instruments through thick black gloves.
Nick and Judy could not hear what they were saying, or read any lips through their surgical masks, but they seemed to work quite well together. Their movements were very precise and careful, like some slow and gracefully choreographed dance.
Closest to the large viewing window was a tall, skinny, female canid with a strange pattern of mottled brown, black, and gray splotches on her small head. One of her pointy multicolored ears had a long tuft sticking out from the tip, and they barely twitched as her paws made slow precise motions inside the clear box. She also had a long straight, and somewhat scraggly looking tail, that was a solid light brown color, except for a black patch near the base, and a tiny white tip. Except for the odd fur coloring, Judy thought she looked like a coyote. But the oddest part of this unidentifiable canid was that her large flat hind paws were made of a burnished bronze metal.
On the opposite side of the laboratory box was a middle aged and muscular, striped jackal, who had fully come into his summer coat. Judy noticed that what little she could see of his tail looked similar to the one on the other doctor. His intense gaze focused on each careful move the younger doctor made. He nodded occasionally whenever she pointed at a container or handed him one of the petri dishes they were working with.
After about twenty minutes of agonizingly slow and precise maneuvers, the pair of canidae placed four of the small clear dishes into a hatch waiting on the far end of the glass box. The jackal closed and locked the hatch while the multicolored coyote freed her small paws. She walked around the metal box, turned a few dials and flipped a couple of switches.
As she gestured to the jackal, he joined her with a clipboard in hand, and began jotting down notes while closely examining the dials and switches.
Once she was satisfied everything was in order, she walked along the glass wall and through a sliding door, into a strange oversized shower. The door slid silently behind her, and she was quickly surrounded by clouds of white mist spraying from the walls, ceiling and floor. Raising her arms above her head, she turned around three times inside the misty shower.
Mounted high on the wall, adjacent to the strange shower, a large red light turned bright green once all the white mist had vanished into the floor. A door that the smaller mammals hadn't noticed earlier, opened in the glass wall, allowing the doctor to enter the hallway where the ZPD officers waited.
Removing the surgical mask from her thick, broad muzzle she greeted her uniformed guests, "Hello officers. I am Doctor Pembroke. The Director of this facility." She didn't bend at the knees so much as appeared to shrink, in order to shake Judy's paw. "Please, let's speak in my office," she said leading them back down the sterile hall they had arrived through.
Turning a couple of corners, the doctor led them to a large cozy office with a crystal glass desk, and faux leather seats.
Judy caught her breath looking out a window large enough to see the lush hospital grounds, and an amazing view of the city.
"How do you like our quaint little facility so far?" the splotched doctor asked. She walked over to the far side of the desk, and stood next a large black executive chair. When she was close enough to sit in the chair she unbuttoned her white coat at the waste, revealing a pair of large metallic, prosthetic legs, that she was slowly sinking into.
"This place is really amazing," Judy exclaimed, skipping around to the front side of the large clear desk, and sat next to her partner. "What is it you do here exactly?"
The doctor's shrinkage suddenly stopped with an audible click, leaving her standing slightly taller than Nick. Pressing a button on the side of the artificial hips, her legs opened to reveal two tiny shriveled stumps, where her real legs should have been. With one deft motion, she grabbed the arm of the chair and swung her body around, to land in the comfortable seat with a loud whump. The pair of metal legs remained standing in place.
Scooting the chair up to the desk, she folded her paws together, leaned forward and answered Judy's question, "We help couples who are struggling to have a family of their own."
"Really," Nick scoffed.
"Yes, I know it's hard to believe, Officers," she motioned vaguely. "The other side of the building is generally set up for patient consultations, and handling your typical fertility issues." Pointing to herself, and then to the hall outside, she continued, "While my staff and I, handle research into some more exotic methods."
"Exotic methods?" the fox asked.
"Well, what you saw Charles and I working on earlier, was a treatment that we hope will someday allow a larger diversity of mammals to have healthy offspring."
Judy's ear's lifted, turning towards the doctor and her nose twitched, "Wait, I don't quite follow what you mean."
"I take it you're not familiar with the current possibilities for cross breeding in Zootopia?"
The rabbit only shook her head.
"Ok, Let me try and explain," the splotchy hybrid leaned over the large desk. "As it stands, only very closely related species can mate successfully, and produce healthy, fertile offspring."
"Oh, like rabbits and hares?" her eyes lit up.
"Yes. Most of the rabbits and hares in Bunny Burrow, are able to cross breed, however there are three other species of lagomorphs in Zootopia that cannot. And if an offspring were produced from such a paring, that kit would undoubtedly be sterile."
"Growing up in the country, I have never heard of anything like that."
"And even more diverse couples could not even hope to have a chance. Their genomes are just too different."
Sitting up straight, with his ears pointed at the ceiling, Nick had to ask, "But I take it you have found a way?"
"Not exactly," Dr. Pembroke lowered her head slightly. "Two astounding doctors stumbled across a breakthrough, that allowed them to mix two disparate genomes."
"That sounds amazing!" the rabbit exclaimed, standing up on her chair.
"It's too bad that we have not been able to improve on their discovery in the last thirty six years."
"Why, what happened?"
The coyote held her breath for a second, and let a large tear roll down her gray muzzle, "Unfortunately, before they were able to improve the design, there was a fatal accident, and they were taken away from us."
Climbing up onto the desk, Judy put her paw on top of the sad doctor's folded ones, "We're very sorry for your loss."
Nick stood up and lifted the wooden name plate on the doctor's desk, "I don't mean to interrupt this tender moment, but I've got a question that's been nagging at me."
Pulling her paws away from the rabbit, the doctor replied, "Sure, what is it?"
"The name on your desk, and the one on the side of the building are the same, 'Pembroke.' Is this your hospital?"
A faint light returned to her eyes, and the mottled mammal let go of a small chuckle, "No. It's named for the two mammals who discovered how to mix genomes."
With his paw on his chin he nodded, "Ah, I see."
The sadness returned to her muzzle, "They were my parents, Doctor's Byrone and Katherine Pembroke."
"So you said they discovered some kind of miracle?" the fox asked.
"No, not a miracle," Dr. Pembroke tried to explain. "What they found was a disease from the jungles. One that has a curious habit of copying an animal's DNA from one host to another."
"Wait. What does that mean," the confused rabbit asked.
"Um, let me see if I can simplify it for you," the doctor reached into a desk drawer, and pulled out a very colorful drawing of two very different double helix strands, with several hexagon shaped spiked balls between them.
"Well you see here, this virus, " she pointed to the spiky balls, "took some of the stray DNA from my father, and copied it onto my mother. And that is what allowed her to become pregnant."
The rabbit jumped up in her chair, pointed at the doctor's picture, and exclaimed to her partner, "Hey aren't those the same things we saw in the ZPD lab last week?"
"I don't know Carrots. I left the room when the mouse said the word virus, remember?"
Putting the picture down, the doctor replied, "I would not be surprised, most viruses look nearly identical under a microscope."
"Oh," the rabbit sat back down disheartened. "I thought we were onto something here."
"I wouldn't know how to help you with any other kind of viruses. We always keep our medications under very controlled situations."
The fox patted his partner's paw gently, "That's ok. Officer Hopps here has been overworking herself trying to find an illegal drug dealer, but so far he has continued to elude us."
"I'm sorry. I hope you catch him," the doctor said with reassurance. "Well, to make a long story short, it took many years before they found a way to keep a fetus alive for the full term. And thus here I am sitting before you today."
Nodding his head in false agreement, the fox implored, "Yes, that is a lovely story. But it still doesn't explain the name on the sign outside."
"You're quite right," she said sadly. "Both of my parents came from a long line of doctors, and were quite well off. After I was born, they commissioned for this facility to be built, in order that they could continue their research. But they never lived to see its completion."
The rabbit sighed, wiping away tears from both eyes.
"When I was about seven, we were coming home from the theater, when there was an accident."
"Oh, no!" Judy put both paws over her muzzle to cover her widely open mouth, and Nick lowered his gaze.
"I really don't remember any of it. They tell me it was a drunk mammal, driving a much larger truck, that hit the side of our car, crushing the entire front half and killing them instantly. And both my legs were crushed," the doctor said, barely hiding her anger.
The shock did not leave the muzzles of either of the small cops. In their brief time as patrol officers, they had never seen, nor heard of anything so devastating.
"That all sounds so awful," Judy sniffed.
"It's alright. With a lot of help, I was able to grow up, and follow in my parents pawsteps. And now I am in a position to best help the mammals of this city to achieve their dreams." With her story complete, the coyote hybrid stood, and climbed back into her waiting prosthetics.
Once the legs were locked into position, she walked to the door of her large office, and asked the two officers, "Would you like a short tour of the rest of our lovely facility?"
Standing in her chair to follow, Judy happened to glance back at the director's chair, and noticed a small patch of skin, and fur laying in the middle of the cushion. It had a scraggly mix of light brown and gray fur.
Making a mental note of the fallen patch, she turned to follow Nick and Dr. Pembroke out of the room.
Taking the pair of small cops back down the hall with the long glass window, the coyote doctor explained, "This is our drugs and biolab. We are currently working on a new experiment that should help more equine species."
Nick looked on thoughtfully, "Are all of your treatments so specific?"
"Usually, yes. Most of what we do in this lab is intended for very specific couples."
Judy's eyes lit up and she raised her paw to speak, "Do you happen to know a bobcat and beaver couple?"
Putting her paw to her chin, the doctor replied slowly, "No I can't say that I do. And if I did, I would not be able to say anything." Neither Nick or Judy caught the slight flicker of her tufted ear.
"Oh, right, sorry. Forget I asked."
Walking around a corner from the biolab lab, they came across another room filled with a single monstrous series of machines. They seemed to be processing and transporting hundreds of white pills in circles around the room. A large silver bin was where Judy suspected the stream of pills originated. As they traveled along several belts they eventually landed in what reminded Judy of a the cloths dryer back in her apartment. After being spun around in three more of these dryer like bins, the pills finally landed on long sheets of plastic. Each one finally coming to rest on the sheets in their own clear bubbles.
Dr. Pembroke stopped and waved casually at the large room, "And this is our custom pill production line."
"You produce your own medications here?" Nick asked the doctor.
"Of course. It is difficult to transport the live cultures to a larger production facility, so we have to produce any specialized treatments on site."
Shivering Judy asked, "So all those pills contain a virus?"
Chuckling the doctor replied, "Oh, no. That is a batch of hormone supplements for more general use."
Turning his head to glance around the large room suspiciously, the fox spotted a small mammal scurry in the distance behind the machine. It was wearing a tiny white lab coat and holding a rather large wrench in both paws.
Thinking nothing of the mechanic, as it disappeared into the inner workings of the machine, Nick let the doctor continue.
"Those batches are designed specifically for each patient, so we only make a few dozen at a time."
Returning his attention to the taller coyote, he asked, "And what happens if you have a bad batch?"
"Unfortunately that does happen sometimes, and we also ask that the patients return all leftovers when the treatment works," Dr. Pembroke twitched her tufted ear, and added cautiously. "When that happens we have an incinerator down stairs specifically for that kind of disposal. We are required by federal law to destroy all discarded medications."
Nick added her response to his mental filing cabinet. It was already overflowing with random and useless information, but he still found a clean folder to stash away the doctor's answer. "That is interesting."
With a swish of her long coat she lead them down the hall to the shiny elevators, "Shall we continue?"
Back in the more cheerfully painted section of the clinic the doctor motioned down one of the winding hallways, "And this section is where the family doctors live. We hold consultations that determine how best to help each family with their specific needs. This is also where the break-in occurred."
Coughing, Nick stepped forward, "Yes that is the main reason we came to talk to you. What can you tell us about the break-in?"
"Um, well what I do know is that it probably happened sometime in the middle of the night or early this morning."
"What makes you suspect that?"
"One, Charles and I were working late last night and we neither heard nor saw anything. The security guards also said everything was clear before we left."
"Ok, that is interesting," Judy noted.
"The first I heard anything about it was when William called me this morning to report that his office was destroyed."
Judy held up the shredded photos to the coyote pointing to the female goat, "Who is this?"
The coyote's response was immediate, "Cindy is Dr. Walia's ex-wife. It's a shame that photo got so torn up. She really was a lovely mammal."
"Can you tell us what happened to her?"
"I don't know," she said with a mild tone of irritation. "What does this have to do with the break in?"
"Well, we found the broken picture frame and these torn bits of what looks like a family photo. We are just trying to gather all the pieces of this puzzle. So if you could please just indulge us for a moment."
With a sigh the clinic's director agreed, "Alright."
"Director, can you tell us what happened to this happy couple?" Judy asked, once again holding up the torn bits of photograph. "Please, try to think."
"Oh, I remember it quite clearly."
"Go on."
"He came in one day, screaming and cursing, just like he was today. I had to send him home before he upset our patients."
"Is that why he left today? You sent him home?"
"Yes," she said. "He is normally a very calm and friendly mammal. The only time I saw him this out of control was that day she left him."
His ears perked up and Nick asked excitedly, "She left him? Why, how?"
"What? Oh, um," the coyote held her chin for a second before continuing. "I only picked up on bits and pieces from William during our conversations later, but what I gathered was that she left him for some sheep."
"A sheep?" the fox asked.
"Yeah, he was starting some kind of anti-pred movement, and it seems she cared more about this movement than she did for her husband."
"Wow, that's tragic," the bunny said.
"About a week later, William returned to work a changed mammal. After that, he was totally focused on his work. He hardly socialises anymore or spends anytime with his co-workers, it's always about the job, with little time for anything else."
Nick reached out to shake the doctors paw, "Thanks for all your help. And the tour really has been lovely."
The rabbit also shook her paw, "Do you know where we can find Dr. Walia right now. We would really like to speak with him if we can."
"Sure, I can give you his address, but I wouldn't recommend speaking to him in his current state. You're welcome to come back tomorrow."
"That's alright, but I think we will try to contact him while the memory of the incident is still fresh."
"Suit yourself," the coyote shrugged. "If you come back to my office I can give you his address."
"Thanks, that would be so much help."
With the ibex's information in paw they climbed back into their cruiser. Nick quickly entered the address into the GPS tracker as Judy started the engine, and pulled the car onto the street.
A half an hour later they were standing at Dr. Walia's front door. There was no response to the doorbell or Judy's standard police announcement.
"Break in the door?" She asked her partner.
"Sans warrant, remember? And no probable cause this time."
"Right, let's look around then. Maybe catch an open window or something."
They split up taking different sides of the house. Walking around towards the right side, Nick noticed a wet spot in the driveway, "Carrots, come here."
Judy walked over to her partner as he knelt down and drew his finger through a small puddle of green liquid. "What did you find?"
Lifting his wet finger to his nose he sniffed, scrunched his nose and squinted in mild pain, "Fresh antifreeze. And in this heat I'd say no more than a half hour old."
"Someone was here recently?"
"Yeah, and left in a hurry by the looks of those skid marks in the street."
"Do you think someone warned him that we were on the way?"
"Maybe," he said standing up. "This whole thing has got me really confused."
"The badger across the hall," she snapped her fingers.
"Don't be too quick to jump to conclusions. Do you remember what happened the last time you did that?"
"Yeah," her ears dropped and she lowered her head sadly. "I nearly lost you, and sent the whole city into chaos."
Nick walked up to the his partner and gave her a careful hug, "You rabbits, so emotional."
Punching his chest at his comment, she replied, "Dumb Fox."
"Well, without knowing where he went, I guess all we can do is head back to the office."
"I really hate writing all these dead end reports for Bogo."
"I feel you there, Carrots."
With their heads low they sedately climbed back into their cruiser, and drove back to the ZPD office.
The faint scent of minty cigars that permeated the old fashioned bar, strongly contrasted with the upbeat, and poorly sung music wafting from the recently constructed stage. The tables were all a dark glassy brown, while the mismatched chairs had some form of faux leather cushions or none at all. A long black bar covered the entire length of one wall, showing off a meager collection of cheap yet potent spirits. All the wooden surfaces seemed to ooze with the smell of alcohol and cigars.
A large flat television hung lopsided on the wall at one end of the bar. On it's screen was last weekend's Tuskball game, while the two announcers debated over each of their favorite team's worst mistakes.
On the crude stage opposite the bar, was a worn out karaoke machine, with a young moose holding the microphone. He had not yet fully come into his antlers but still had to duck often to avoid clipping the low hung rafters. The moose was currently mangling a popular song by Trace Antlerson. On top of being very drunk, he had the wrong accent and could not hit any of the right notes during the chorus.
Judy had to cover her ears in pain as she walked through the door. She was dressed in a pink plaid flannel shirt, and a pair of tight cut off jeans. Looking around the bar she spotted Fangmeyer and the other lady cops sitting at one table near the stage, but she did not immediately approach. Instead she marched back out the door and returned a moment latter hauling a long, blue striped tie attached to the neck of a disheveled fox, who was wearing a flowery green shirt.
The fox wrinkled his nose at the strong smells inside the bar, but hardly resisted the even stronger rabbit pulling on his tie. He was intently staring at something on his phone and barely noticed his surroundings.
Hauling her fox past a few lightly occupied tables she greeted her coworkers, "Hey, everyone. I didn't realize this was a karaoke bar." She plopped her well rounded behind on the last remaining chair at the table.
"Yeah, it's a recent addition," Tina Growleth declared, chugging on a large mug of very dark and foamy beer. Tina was one of the smaller brown bears at the ZPD who worked in the mammalicide department.
"That's why we're here," a muscular cheetah replied. Judy could not remember the cheetah's name but she thought the mammal was a detective for the narcotics division.
A giant tiger added with a noticeable slur, "Yep, it's our sworn duty *hic* to make sure all the karaoke equipment in the city *hic* meets acceptable standards." With her failed attempt at a salute it was obvious that Fangmeyer was already drunk.
Nick finally looked up from his phone and saw the tiger next to him, "Oh, hey Fangs." With no chairs left at table where his partner sat, he looked around for one to snag. He spotted one empty seat a the nearest table. Reaching to grab the chair he noticed that more of his fellow officers were already seated around that table so he decided to join them instead and sat next to Wolfard.
Nodding to the lion across the table Nick acknowledged, "Sup cat." He then nodded to the other large mammals around the table, "Krumpansky, Simmers. What's up with this place today? Isn't this usually a 'sports' bar?"
Jackson spoke up to answer the fox's question, "Chuckles, their bookie, is sitting in the pen again."
With a tone of false astonishment, Nick asked, "Really, what's he in for?"
"Stealing a statue from the Natural History Museum," the lion again replied over his tall glass of whiskey and coke.
Simmers finally spoke, after setting down a glass filled with ice surrounded by a crystal clear liquid, "About a week after Delgato hauled off that sleazy wolverine, the owner tore down all the TVs and built this crap for a karaoke stage."
"And of course Fangmeyer had to proclaim that we officially inspect the equipment," the rhino sitting next to Nick chuckled.
Judy had to strain her neck to look up at the tigress sitting next to her, "What do you mean it's our duty?"
The tigress struggled to uncross her eyes looking down at the small rabbit. "We are *hic* the ZPD's official Karaoke Club," She said pounding a clawed fist on her chest."
"A karaoke club?" the smallest officer inquired. "Just the three of you?"
"Oh no," the tough looking cheetah declared. "The guys at the next table are in it too."
"Trunkaby, and Stevens too." Tina added. "They couldn't make it tonight."
"Don't you mean they couldn't fit *hic* fit through that tiny door," Fangmeyer slurred, and everyone else laughed. After taking a few more sips on her fruity cocktail she added, "So Hopps *hic*, do you want to join our little club?"
At that moment the server showed up to check on the table. She noted the refills for everyone and took Judy's order for a spiced carrot vodka.
The night progressed, as they usually do, with the ladies chatting about about work, and life, and vacation plans. With her first drink nearly finished the rabbit started feeling warm inside and easily opened up to her new friends. She chatted about her old life on the farm and the things she would like to see in the city.
Even with everything else she had to talk about, the one subject that she kept bringing up was her partner. It seemed like she had to add his thoughts, or snide comments to every story or joke she told. The other ladies at the table never really mentioned how often she brought up his name.
After about an hour of drinking and chatting, Growleth excused herself to the restroom. Her chair was almost immediately taken by a suave red fox. "Hey ladies, whatcha all talking about over here?"
With a swift punch to the shoulder Judy gave him a shrewd response, "We were just talking about why renards make such terrible cops."
"Based on what evidence, Carrots?" he queried leaning against her.
Nearly falling out of her chair the rabbit hiccuped and took another sip of her thick carrot cocktail, "Because, my dear, dear, friend. I just happened to watch a fox cop who failed to catch a fleeing goat suspect who was right in front of him."
Green eyes met lavender while the fox continued to defend himself, "No pictures, or it didn't happen, Fluff." He held out his dark paw expecting some solid evidence to magically appear.
"And what about the time you took that detour through the canal district, hmmm?" the rabbit accused, pointing her pink nose at her partner's black one.
"How was I supposed to know that bridge had washed out?" The fox put his paws in the air in submission. "It's all circumstantial anyways. And besides, they managed to get most of the water out of our cruiser, so it's all good in the end."
Fangmeyer and the cheetah both let out a roaring laugh, slapping each other on the back at Nick's flamboyant excuses. Mid laugh the server dropped off another round in front of the cheetah, who gave her a puzzled look. The server just turned and nodded her head towards a tall mountain lion sitting at the bar who had been eyeing their table all night.
The tigress gave her cheetah friend a heavy shove, and the rabbit said reassuringly, "Go talk to him."
"Oh, I don't know."
"Is the big kitty scared?"
"No," she cried putting her fist on the table.
"Well if he says or does anything offensive we can just cuff him and lock him in the tank overnight."
"Fine," and with that she stood and casually sauntered up to the bar leaving the drink untouched on the table.
Giggling, the two female cops cheered and waved to their friend.
With in minutes, a large gray wolf sat down in the vacant chair, and scooted it closer to the tigress. "And how is the ZPD's sexiest feline doing tonight?"
"Wolfard, you old dog," Fangmeyer slurred with a slightly groggy snort.
The wolf looked dejected, "I'm not that old, and you know it. I can still keep up with you anyday."
"Oh really," the tigress exclaimed with a belly laugh. "Is passing out after *hic* the third round, what you call 'Keeping Up?'"
"A full day of beach volleyball will do that to a mammal."
"As I recall, my team beat yours in that tournament."
"I'm pretty sure it was the other way around Kitty," the wolf noted leaning back in the chair.
"Care to put your money where your snout is, Pup?" she challenged.
"You're on!" Wolfard exclaimed slamming a twenty down on the table between them and headed towards the stage. The tigress placed a second twenty on top of his and followed him.
Judy was too engaged with a shining pair of green eyes, to notice that Fangmeyer was holding Wolfard's paw as they marched onto the stage. She couldn't take her eyes off the fox, until the other mismatched pair had chosen a song and started to sing.
They had chosen a recent upbeat pop song, that wasn't exactly written for a duet, but they traded off parts like it was some kind of competition. Each one trying to outdo the other. But when they reached the chorus, their voices joined together. His alto blended together with her tenor to create a deep harmony.
"That is really lovely?" Judy said with raised ears, before turning to her partner. "Don't you think?"
Caught up in his own thoughts he didn't even twitch an ear in response.
Her brows furrowed and she gave him a shove, "Nick?"
Nick looked up at the stag,e and the two mammal's impromptu singing, "Yeah, I guess."
"What, you think you could do better?"
He just shrugged and took a sip from the dark cocktail in front of him.
The tigress and wolf duo sang a few more songs before they returned to the table. "You're up next Bunnykins," Fangmeyer exclaimed.
"What!?" Judy cried.
"If you want to join our little club *hic* you have to get up on stage." the tiger pointed out. "It wouldn't be much of a karaoke club *hic* if we didn't show off what terrible singer's we are. So get those tiny feet up on stage *hic* and pick a song. Or is the little bunny too scared?"
Fierce determination took over her face. Her eyes narrowed, and her ears stood up straight, as she climbed to her feet in the oversized chair. She downed the whole glass of carrot vodka in one gulp, and grabbed Nick's tie again to haul him onto the stage.
"Wait, what are you doing Carrots?" the fox cried, as the strong bunny dragged him across the bar. Wolfard and Fangmeyer laughing at the small mammal's abuse of her partner.
"If I have to make fun of myself, then you are going to join me," she exclaimed.
Flipping through the machine's menu she settled on a song titled, 'Hips Don't Lie,' and stepped up to the microphone. Before the song started to play Nick stopped the machine and picked a different song.
When the opening beats started to play, Judy was shocked by the old classic from Guns and Rodents. She rarely told anyone, but Night Rain was one of her favorites from that band, and she knew all the words.
As familiar as she was with their music, the fox was far better. She could barely keep up with his perfect timing and inflections. His air guitar moves were unbeatable, and she was convinced he was reenacting their '96 concert performance.
Halfway through the song, the alcohol hit her hard and the room began to spin. Her words weren't just slurred they were completely wrong.
"I'm on the fox train. All night long," she sang with a distinct slur.
When the song was over, she tried to head back to their table, but the room lurched near the edge of the stage, and she found herself caught in some strange fox's arms.
Nick jumped to catch the drunk rabbit, as she plummeted off the stage. "How much did you have to drink?" he ask.
The rabbit in his arms just burped, drooled, and giggled at herself.
"When was the last time you ate anything?"
She mumbled something incomprehensible about burrows and kits.
Helping her walk back to their table he left a tip for the server, and then spoke to the stumbling rabbit, "We should get you some fresh air."
"Where did the big tiger and her puppy go?"
"I don't know," he said, looking around the bar.
Stumbling outside, Nick saw that it was after midnight, "Maybe we should get you home instead."
"Take me to your chiefdom," the rabbit slurred loudly, taking a step across the sidewalk but only fell down instead.
Quickly catching her paw he prevented her from planting her soft muzzle into the hard cement, "You need some time to walk this off, and my place is much closer." With the rabbit held close he turned them around to stumble together down the street in the opposite direction.
After roughly thirty minutes of half stumbling, half walking, Nick's apartment building came into view and his own head had started to clear.
On the third step, up the stairs to the building, Judy suddenly stopped to stare lovingly at one of the tall bushes next to her.
"What are you doing Carrots, " she gave no response to his words or to him gently pulling on her paw. "A few more steps and we will be inside," he pleaded.
Suddenly she leaned over the railing and emptied her stomach into the bushes.
Nick stood beside the sick rabbit, with his paw on her back and let her finish. After a few more loud noisy groans she turned around to look at him. Her pink shirt had chunks of green and orange mess running down the front.
"I don't feel so good," she admitted.
"Plus you're a mess," he added. "We really should get you inside and cleaned up."
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her up the three flights of stairs to his apartment, while she continued to mumble about being able to walk on her own. Once inside, he left her in his bathroom to clean up, while he looked for a suitable change of clothes that would fit the smaller mammal.
The tod returned several minutes later with a tattered, and faded Guns and Rodents t-shirt in his paws. Knocking on the open door he saw that the little rabbit was still leaning over his toilet heaving. He waited for her to finish before stepping in and showing off the shirt he found.
"I know it's pretty old but it should fit you better than some of my newer shirts."
"Thanks," she nodded with a slur, and promptly pulled her own shirt over her small head.
Somehow she managed to remove her bra along with her shirt, and before Nick could protest, her jeans had also fallen to the floor. She stood there in his bathroom, completely in the fur, with nothing but a pair of bright orange panties.
If Nick had only been slightly more drunk, he would not have hesitated to take advantage of the indisposed rabbit. But the sight of the beautiful, naked rabbit sent a shock to his system that left him stunned for several minutes. Before he could recover his senses she had already grabbed the proffered shirt and was wriggling it over her head and around her fluffy petite body.
With the cloth covering her fur, she gently poked, him causing him to blink and stutter, "Nick. I'm really tired."
"R, right. Here, you can sleep on the couch," he quickly left the room, walking into his living room, where the long, comfortable furniture waited.
Following him into the larger room, she said his name again, "Nick."
Sitting on one end of the couch he patted a paw on the cushions next to him.
She slowly walked over to where he sat and said to him sadly, "I could use a hug."
Holding up his arms wide he let her climb into his lap. Before he could wrap his arms around her in a tight hug, the rabbit was snoring.
He sat there for an hour, with her sleeping in his lap, before he lifted her tiny body off of his numb legs. Placing her on the far end of the couch he watched her curl her arms around a pillow. Satisfied that she was sleeping peacefully, he left the couch for his own bed.
Hours later the bunny woke, shivering in the cold summer night. The room was so dark she could not see a thing, and she didn't remember where she was. But everything smelled familiar, like home, and she knew the burrow like the back of her paws. Climbing off the couch, she waddled down the hall looking for a blanket to take back to bed.
After a brief search in the next room, she found a soft, warm and very orange blanket. She wasn't sure what detergent her mom had used on these sheets, but the smell of the orange blanket made her feel very happy.
The rabbit wrapped the warm blanket around her tiny body, closed her eyes and was soon snoring with her tail wagging blissfully.
[AN] And here is another long one. This one took me much longer that I expected. I just could not get the words to come out and life kept interrupting :P
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. It's got alot of important details about what is really going on, and maybe some clues as to why.
And for those who love hunting easter eggs I've added some fun movie references and some from a Zootopia Video game that I used to play on my phone. It's a shame the company went under and the game is no longer available :( However you can still watch playthroughs on YouTube.
I want to give a big thanks to everyone who commented, especially imjustlikehumphery. All of the really amazing comments helped me get a better sense of where the story is going and how I can improve it.
Thank you, all of my awesome readers,
OneWolfe-