Welcome back my dearest readers.
Well, you knew Meadowlaw was scum, so him using what happened as a lever to regain power is not a shock. Something tells me that Lucifer and friends wouldn't judge Nick and Judy one way or the other if they did decide to just wipe everyone's memory, or even just rip the souls from all the mammals in that mob. That is not Judy though, is it? Let's see what she is going to do.
On with the show!
I do not own and thus can claim no rights to Zootopia or its characters. They belong to Disney.
Chapter 20
Judy slipped out the door, it barely opened to let her pass, which went unnoticed by the collected mammals as they were focused to one side and the speaker. Judy frowned. She had thought that Meadowlaw himself would get caught with the Nighthowler tweak that she had made. Sadly, he was too smart to touch it himself and had underlings do that, which were now in the enclosure across the street.
Meadowlaw looked over the assembled mammals, a scowl on his muzzle and absolute joy in his heart. He spoke carefully and they quieted. "We've all seen the video, but we need to see it again, so we understand what we are demanding answers for."
Judy slipped into the crowd so she could watch and see what happened, and how much made it on the recording. After the video, which was so blatantly edited as to be comical, if the mammals in the crowd were not eating it up like candy for their hate and fear.
Meadowlaw got back up in front of the crowd, a mic and amplifier handed to him. "You can see. Councilor Judy Hopps wields powers far beyond a normal rabbit, or any other mammal for that matter. How can we be sure she is still the mammal we know? We must protect the city. And was that not Nick Wilde that she summoned from the beyond? More likely some demonic entity that just looks like him. They've probably twisted her to believe it is him."
Judy shook her head, her voice carrying without the amplifier. "That is quite enough out of you, Derrek. Lies and fear. That is all you have ever had to offer the mammals of Zootopia. You're no better than Bellwether. If anything, you are worse. You edited that video, and not very well I might add. Let's watch the whole video, shall we?"
The full, unedited video played, despite the mammals in charge of the projector actually smashing it. Judy then stepped out of the crowd as it finished. "Yes, I am a rabbit. I have also, honestly, never been a normal rabbit. A normal rabbit doesn't seek to become a cop." Images of Judy appearing on the screen in her uniform. Of her being recognized with Nick for their service. "I was never normal, and I embraced that. Made it my own, and made the world a better place. I stopped Bellwether with the help of a fox." Facing the crowd. "How many of you bothered to notice that predators were always going savage at times and places that caused maximum damage?
Answer. None of you. Just like right now. You let someone whip up your fear of things you don't understand and turn you now, just like back then, into a violent mob." Images of the prey mobs from the Nighthowler crisis played on the screen. "You tortured predators by kicking them out of their homes, driving them from communities they had lived in sometimes for generations. Some even participated in the physical abuse and murder of predators. This time, some of you went after a school full of kits. Innocent kits, targeted by part of this mob, because that is what you are. A mob.
Kits, targeted because of fear. Why? Because they are hybrids? Or maybe…" Facing Meadowlaw. "Or maybe he was going to have you hold them hostage? What was the plan there, Derrek?"
The screen showing the mammals massed around the school, screaming and pounding on the doors and windows. Their voices could be heard. "Give us the hybrids. They're all we want."
"They were just to ensure you controlled yourself."
"And there it is. He's using you. Feeding you just enough truth so you ignore his lies. Because those lies feed your fear and make you feel better about it. You're justified in your fear because he tells you it's okay. So you form a mob and follow him here. You block roads, prevent the ZFD from being able to respond to fires started by you!" Pointing her finger out towards the crowd. "Dozens of mammals have been hurt, because this mob prevented emergency services from responding. In some cases from even being able to leave their building. Why did you have mammals do that, Derrek?"
The video showed the crowd surrounding several fire houses. Then the crowd blocking ZFD mammals from doing anything as several houses burned. The ZFD physically held back from doing anything.
Judy glared at Meadowlaw. "Well, Derek?"
He watched the video for a moment. "See! Proof of her powers. How can she produce such a video since the projector is smashed!" Their tech mammal held up the smashed projector.
Judy chuckled. "It's like you've never heard of a drone before." Pointing up above the crowd where a drone with an obvious projector attached hovered. "As for my loud voice that you can all hear. I'm wearing the same microphone I use when giving speeches here, which is why this area, right here." Indicating the raised area she and Meadowlaw stood on. "Exists. It was built for that purpose, and the whole area has speakers for that reason. I'm a rabbit. I needed to be higher so mammals can see me, and I needed speakers so they could hear me."
"But we cut all network and power connections? You cannot do this without power and network."
Judy chuckled and shook her head. "Derrek. Derrek. Derrek. You all heard that, right? He had some of this mob break services to the district. So he tried to cripple the hospital. Public safety. The ZFD, ZPD, and ZEMR. Here's the thing.
After so many decades of abuse and neglect by the city. The mammals of Happytown really did not trust that the city wouldn't change its mind and start rutting over Happytown again. Some of the first projects we used the emergency funding for when I took over as councilor and district supervisor, was to fix the infrastructure of the district. Water. Power. Etc…
Then we build up our own facilities. Happytown generates more power than it uses. The water is generated within the district. Network has multiple redundancies. Because the mammals here did not trust you, the oh so virtuous mammals of Zootopia, and clearly for good reason! You've proven time and again that you are incapable of being trusted.
Look at you! Whipped into a fearful, murderous mob, by a mammal who has only ever fed you fear and never given you actual solutions. He's caused you all to commit crimes today because you were afraid and couldn't be bothered to do anything but react in fear. Going after kits. Kits! As hostages! Murdering mammals by blocking emergency services.
Most of you are so far only guilty of a misdemeanor, or twenty. Some of you are guilty of felonies. A protest doesn't prevent emergency services from doing their jobs. A protest doesn't proactively try and hurt an entire district, looting stores," the video shifting, "trying to cut power," the video shifting again, "trying to prevent the residents from being able to call for help." The video shifting again and again, showing images and short clips of the various misdeeds of the crowd.
"This is not a protest. You came here for blood. He brought you here to do his dirty work for him. How many were you prepared to murder because of their species, or because they got in your way?
This is my main office, where all the mammals that work for me as counselor and supervisor work. Do you know where my personal office is?" Judy pointed next door. "Right there. In the building that once housed the tailor business of my mate's father. That was until he was murdered for daring to be a fox with a successful business.
He was murdered by prey. A competitor who lost business to him, and decided no one would bother to investigate the death of a fox. An assumption that turned out to be true. My mate's twin was killed by a drunk driver. Also prey, and only given a fine, and a pittance of a fine at that, because, fox.
How many of you even flinched at that, because, fox? The only untrustworthy mammals are all of you. You have proven it time and again. You proved it without question today. You have no honor, no care for your fellow mammals. You see something you don't understand, that makes you afraid, and you attack. You seek to destroy instead of understand. It is you that are the unthinking beasts. It is you that are being arrested."
Lizz stepped out, cuffs in paw, with half a dozen officers following her. She quickly had Meadowlaw in cuffs.
Meadowlaw yelled out at the crowd. "None of this explains that video!" He then leaned down to Judy. "I don't care what you are. I will end you, you disgusting inter whore."
Judy shook her head. "Derrek. Microphone, remember? That little threat should finish the point. You were using them, and their fear to do your dirty work. Only this time, you don't have Dawn to take the fall for you."
"What? You cannot know that! I'll kill that ewe!"
Judy faced the crowd. "Hustling one oh one. Make them think you know, and they'll usually admit to it. I have suspected it for years, but could never prove it. He just admitted it. And all of you let him lead you here by the nose.
No it doesn't answer the video. I will do that, in a proper venue. In front of a mob that was seeking my blood and that of my kits, is not it."
The mob turned to run, only to find dozens of cops in every direction, and hundreds of foxes, and worse, skunks holding up their pants with a paw. Judy spoke up a final time. "Surrender, and if all you did is march, you'll walk away with a ticket."
xXx
The arrests went quickly, only a few resisting, and they were quickly subdued. Several took an authorized skunk spraying in the process. After four hours, the mammals of the mob were all arrested and in holding pens set up at a nearby warehouse. The mammals disinclined to try and escape, with several hundred deputized skunks as the first line of defense.
While Judy let her teams do their jobs, she was reunited with her kits and the media was going nuts. Several other prey mobs had cropped up in other parts of the city, but were quickly put down before they could become problems.
Sitting at her desk, Judy looked across to Peter and Fabienne. Giving them a smirk. "We really need to stop meeting like this."
Peter chuckled. "You streamed the entire confrontation, but it does leave some questions I hope you are feeling up to answering."
Judy nodded. "I want the city to understand that I am still the mammal they knew in the ZPD and again as a member of the council. So fire away."
Peter smiled, cameras set up to cover him, Fabienne, and Judy. "Okay, the first thing that comes to mind is the coordination, how you had the drones already ready, the skunk residents being deputized. How?"
Giving a chuckle, Judy leaned back. "Disaster and civil unrest plans. Every district has them, or at least they are supposed to, and they usually rely on other districts for help. As for Happytown, the deputization of local residents, all that. For the same reason Happytown is power independent. When I talked to all the mammals of Happytown before announcing my run for office, they explained the issues and lack of trust with the rest of the city.
As the mob Meadowlaw whipped up today demonstrated, that wariness and distrust was warranted. So, as part of our efforts to actually bring the district back to life, we sought to ensure the district's independence from the rest of the city. We did this by training locals to fill in all the district positions we could, we made sure the community was part of all the plans for disasters and civil unrest. We established our power generation, water generation and distribution independent from the rest of the city. That way, if the city were to ever cut off services, Happytown would not be hurt.
As demonstrated today, when called upon, this community comes together to protect itself. Skunks make excellent deterrents, and it was their proposal to be deputized when needed. They only fire when instructed by a non-skunk. Because of the poor treatment by ZPD over the years, we've kept officer counts lower than other districts. We also chose to spend that money elsewhere.
To supplement that, we took the traffic cam idea and mobilized them. It costs less. They're easier to maintain, and we have a large fleet of them all running on an independent, fully encrypted, redundant, and hardened network. The operators are able to respond to calls and do evaluation before an officer can be on scene and provide information they wouldn't otherwise have until they arrive.
No need for high speed chases when you can pursue by air, unseen. They've got high resolution cameras with constant streaming and onboard storage for up to three days, and enough battery to stay aloft for a full week."
Peter nodded with a smile. "Impressive, and explains how that went down. I assume the use of the warehouse as a massive holding cell is part of those plans?"
"Yep! Really didn't expect to ever put them to a live test. We've done training and dry runs of various sections of the plan, just like all districts are supposed to, but you always hope that you are training for something that never happens."
"How did you manage to get the entire district to be energy independent?"
"Every building has solar panels. If you look at the video of the warehouse, the entire roof is solar panels. The parking lot had tall covers to keep cars cool. Well, those are all solar panels with wind turbines everywhere also. The district financed it. The mammals of Happytown do not have power or water bills, because the panels and turbines on their property belong to the district.
The mammals get the power generated and the district gets the over generation sold back to Zootopia Power System. We store power using a number of methods including battery banks, and gravity storage techniques."
"Water?"
"Our own water purification and processing. Recycling and reclamation. We handle most of our own trash and recycling. Up-cycling is a huge thing here, so what ends up in the trash taken from our facility to the actual city dump is pretty, well, trashed."
"And you've managed to achieve all that since taking office?"
Judy laughed lightly. "Oh heck no. I made sure some of the efforts the citizens of Happytown were already doing were legal, brought them up to compliance and safety regulations, expanded it, etc… With the neglect from the city, they had already been working on making themselves independent. They didn't have a choice.
Much of the district did not have city water or power because they were marginalized mammals. If they could get a job, they were horrifically underpaid and expected to be happy that they had a job at all. As such, they couldn't afford the bills from ZPS or ZWS. So larger and larger sections got cut off until they just stopped bothering and shut off entire sections of the district, even if there were still paying customers there. They were only raccoons, or foxes, weasels, or some other undesirable.
To deal with that, the community came together, pooled their resources and established community gardens, a community chicken and bug farm, and started to buy up and set up solar panels.
Others set up old school water purification through evaporation. They didn't have running water, but they built community baths and showers. The water and power generated was rationed but otherwise free. We just expanded that when I took office.
It took time though, to fix all the piping and power distribution. Now all residents have power and running water. Some for the first time in several generations. The neglect has been that bad. The more you learn about the abuse the residents of Happytown have endured, the more you understand why they are slow to trust. Today went a long way to both break that with the city in general, but actually repaired it some with the ZPD, and city services. Probably ensured my re-election too. That would almost be funny, if it wasn't so sad and true.
Nick brought me here to Happytown before we were even partners. When I was helping him train up for the ZPA, as you know, he graduated top of his class, just like I did."
Nick's voice from off camera. "Hey, if I was going to be partnered with you, I had to be just as good, or you would have left me behind."
Judy rolled her eyes with a warm smile. "Oh hush, you. He was a special mammal then, and is just as special now. Which, as much as I appreciate you going over the great work I have done for Happytown, is not what you want to ask me about. I love this community. Nick brought me here, as I said, to help teach me about Zootopia. More to the point, about the fact that even a city as great as Zootopia, has its underside, its underclass. He got me welcomed into the community, despite being a cop. I'd say, it is Nick that is the reason I ran for office, and why I plan to stay as long as the citizens of Happytown will have me."
Fabienne smiled at the camera. "You are, of course, correct. With everything that has happened today, we just felt that it would be good for the mammals of the rest of the city to understand what you have done for Happytown. And give some context to some of the things you said. You did stream the entire interaction to the internet. However, there is one more thing I'd like to ask you about, before we move on to what predicated today's events. Something you used to your advantage against the mob that attacked.
I have read the press release, but no one is reporting it, because it kinda got buried in today's events, given it was released first thing this morning just before things started happening. As I understand it, the vote was more than three quarters in favor. That vote being the residents of the Nocturnal district to officially join the Happytown district, officially, and permanently."
Judy's ears relaxed as she smiled and nodded. "They have. It is a wonderful opportunity for them, and us here on the surface. We are being very careful to not overly mix the funds for the two districts. What a lot of your viewers may not realize, much as the Happytown District is a real district that the mammals of the city forgot was its own district, the Nocturnal district is not in fact a full district. It's a pseudo district.
What that means is that it doesn't have its own representation on the city council, instead assigned round-robin style to different Districts to oversee for that council period. They do have the right under the state constitution to, just like all Pseudo-Districts, to permanently join with a district they feel will properly represent their interests. I guess everything I have done here in Happytown has convinced them.
Of course, our efforts to reach out to the Nocturnal district that has been as equally mistreated and neglected as Happytown, for some of the same, and different reasons as well, has been quite successful. The other districts have all closed off their access points, limiting the access in and out of the district to just the one access everyone knows of. Well, Happytown has several, because Happytown sits over top of most of the Nocturnal district. It's why we have such restrictive construction regulations. It is also why, when you dig into the planning that created Happytown, it was put where it is. The others at the time figured they'd put Happytown over top of the Nocturnal, a place they equally maligned.
We have worked with them to open up the two main accesses, which are scheduled to open to the public next week. Since we sit above them, we have worked heavily with them to organize structural reinforcement of the cave system beneath us, that being Happytown, and the cave system they call home. Our businesses, such as the school my kits attend, and the mob attempted to attack, operate day and night, with classes for mammals of all wakeful periods.
They are included in our disaster plans, and we have added mitigations to help protect them. That includes locks that can be closed to ensure, in the case of a Tsunami, that they won't be drowned, at least not by water going down the newly opened tunnels. We have also added GPS and radio transceiver devices, water drones, and some other technology. Things we can use in such a worst case scenario, or if they are getting unusual water flows in order to explore draining both from the surface down, as well as from the outlet of that water, up to the surface.
We've already used that to locate four broken pipes, only one of which was in this district. The three we found in Happytown were discovered as we were fixing and rebuilding the water infrastructure. That fourth one. Well… That huge hole that got dug in the middle of Pack and Seventh and just absolutely screwed traffic for three weeks. That was a leak that had been going on for ten years, and was ignored by that district's manager because it didn't impact them directly. Instead, it just flooded an entire cavern, nearly killing several hundred that lived in that cavern by drowning, all of whom lost their homes and businesses.
That cavern has now been reclaimed. The Nocturnal deserve the same attention and representation as the rest of the city's mammals. They deserve the same honor and freedoms the rest of us do. Just because they operate at night while most of us sleep does not make them any less. Were it not for nocturnal mammals, this city wouldn't work. Who do you think is working the critical jobs in the climate walls and city power generation overnight?"
Peter picked up the questions. "Alright. Well, I am sure you will represent them as well as you have the mammals of Happytown. I guess that makes them part of Happytown now."
Judy nodded. "It does, and their official addition in a few weeks makes me the ranking member on the council."
Peter smiled, then took on a serious face and tone. "Congratulations ahead of time. Now to the crux of the question. We heard his voice a bit ago, and that smirk as I look at him certainly is that of the Nicholas Wilde I remember. The problem is that I attended his funeral once you were able to hold one. Even if you are still fighting some of what Meadowlaw and his cohorts did while he was on the council.
I saw the body carried out on a stretcher and covered in a blood soaked sheet. I've seen the unedited body cam footage. There is absolutely no question that Nick WildeHopps died that day. You yourself would not have been so inconsolable in the moment if he'd only been grievously wounded.
You yourself were painted red. Then there is the video from last night, and his presence here, now." Nick stepped into view next to Judy, giving a warm smile and a gentle paw on her shoulder. "In spite of what we saw, what was confirmed by necropsy before Meadowlaw and his cohorts on the council interfered and had his body cremated with the unclaimed.
What we see in the full video. Nick is standing next to you right now. That requires some explanation, and is honestly scaring the heck out of mammals right now. I openly admit that it is freaking me out just a little bit. Is there something, anything you can do to help calm mammals' fears and concerns?"
Judy's ears fell, then rose again as Nick gave her another reassuring squeeze. She glanced back up at him with a smile, putting a paw on his as it sat on her shoulder. She then turned back to Peter, Fabienne, and the cameras. "I can actually appreciate that. What I am capable of honestly scares the hell out of me. I have been very careful not to use it, to the point I forget about having it sometimes. At least until I need a pen, or get thirsty and want a soda." A rabbit sized soda appeared in her paw.
"It's crazy, but it is what it is. I am trying to adapt to it without freaking out. I really haven't given myself the chance to deal with it, or learn exactly what I am in fact now capable of. What that means to me, and for me, as a mammal, a mother." Opening the soda and taking a sip. "I didn't just create this soda. It's from the breakroom fridge, and it's even one of mine." Indicating the rabbit sticker on it. "Do either of you want something?"
Fabienne and Peter shook their heads, Fabienne answered. "No. Thank you though. This is part of that power you now have?"
Judy nodded. "It is. What you saw on the video is the culmination of how I came to have this power to begin with and what happened to Nick when he died. But to help you understand, I need to go back to when Nick and I got married. The public wedding was just for appearances. We were married as far as both our species traditions were concerned more than six months prior to that.
As we studied each other's cultures, we found a lot more similarities than we expected. References to the same deities, Karma and Serendipity. Us Lapines more often followed Seren, while foxes, and reds specifically followed Karma more often. But both are present in both traditions. We also found nearly identical ancient oaths when two mammals committed to each other. We updated those ancient oaths, and spoke those to each other in a private ceremony attended by only a very, very few friends and family. Three each, so don't be surprised that you didn't get an invite.
We then spent a short vacation together where Nick claimed me in Vulpine tradition, and I, him, in Lapin. That first night together after that oath, something changed. We became connected. Intertwined. It allowed us to feel each other, even across the city. In close proximity, we could even converse without speaking. Very useful in an interrogation, let me tell you." Giving a very Nick worthy smirk.
"Because of that, when Nick died, it was different than with other mammals. I didn't just see him die. I quite literally felt him die. I felt him slip away, and there was nothing I could do to hold onto him. It's why I was beyond insane with grief at that moment. When you have your mate, the mate of your soul, who has a literally place in your mind, and they die. You don't just see it and feel it emotionally. You actually feel them go. You feel them die, that piece of them you have within you, slips away.
Nick himself worked to return to me in whatever way he could. In doing so, he came to the attention, and befriended, beings that many would call angels, demons, and gods. They are by power, but not actually, those things. During his interactions with them Nick started to grow in power himself, and some of that passed to me via the link we shared, even after his death.
At one point they were fighting some horror from beyond our universe. A devourer of universes is what it is called. What it is, isn't really important, other than to know that if it were to ever manage to enter our universe, it would literally be the end of everything. So Nick stepped up to help, and he did. They had fought that thing many times, but sometimes it's helpful to get another perspective. They're now ready to do some real damage to it the next time it tries to break in. Not to worry, by our timekeeping, that'll likely be tens if not hundreds of thousands of years before it can try again.
Time moves differently where Nick was. That, whatever it is, that makes a mammal who they are. Whatever you want to call it. The mind. Soul? Lots of different words for the same thing. Nick was attacked directly by that thing and infected by it. That's one of the ways it works. It infects a being in a universe, overwhelms them, devouring what they were and overwriting that with itself. It then spreads like a cancer or virus, until there is nothing but itself. Then it moves on.
Those higher beings would have simply been forced to destroy Nick. Nick however could feel what was going to happen, and it was going to use our link to jump into me and our kits. He took power from those higher beings, and used up his entire existence in that one moment. In doing so Nick destroyed it, that part of that thing that had infected him, as well as himself. Saving me, the kits, and our universe.
Because of our link, I got pulled, mentally, there too, and had to watch as my mate was destroyed. I felt him die, again. At least, that's what I and those higher beings thought, and Nick expected. Because of that, Nick took all the excess power he had obtained in that moment, and pushed it all to me. The shock and flood of power made me go into labor.
That's where all the power I found myself in possession of came from. Then, rather than getting a chance to even think about it, things just kept piling on. Until, yeah, I had this power that I wasn't using because it actually scared the hell out of me, but it was there, and it was all I had left of Nick. So I just held onto it, but didn't otherwise really do anything with it. Not until last night.
Then, it turns out that he wasn't destroyed. His mind, or soul, at least most of him, survived. He made his way back to me as little more than a powerful ghost, until last night. He was trying to manifest back in our world. Because of what he did, and how he pushed all the power to me, he was kinda stuck between worlds if you will. Dead a second time, but also not. He could have taken over the body of a recently deceased mammal, or he could have jumped into the body of a stillborn.
Either option would have eroded who he was. Instead he just hung around me and the kits. He looked after them. He is who their invisible friend was. Nick had learned to collect the pieces of himself that were left, the ash and such, which is what you saw at first, and was trying to collect enough of it to manifest. To draw all of himself into this part of the universe. It turns out, he could have just asked me and I could have given him the power to do that.
That is what you saw there at the beginning. Me wielding my power in full for the first time in helping Nick manifest. So yes, this is Nick. The real Nick, but also what became of him after he died the first, and then second time."
Nick chuckled with a nod. "Not a path I really recommend. The love I have for her transcended death and brought me back to her as much as anything."
"He's still sweet and every bit as caring as he was. He's here. He's real. He is alive, but not like you, and I suppose I am not like that anymore either. I know I am still me, I don't want to be anyone else, I'm just me, plus this new part. I have a lot of work to do to continue making the world a better place for my kits and the mammals of Zootopia. That's what I am dedicated to doing. Just as I was before all this happened.
As for the rest of the video. It turns out that during the fight, and you saw when one of them manifested a replay of what happened, one of those higher beings was also infected, though not to the extent Nick was, and they are a bit more resistant. You saw how Nick was pulled away from the infected part of himself by what we call soul shards. They're survivors of other universes devoured by that thing.
There isn't much left of them, of who and what they once were. They act essentially as really smart drones, like the drones we used today to monitor the mob, take photos, and display the video from the other drones. Nick controls them as they were fused to him by the blast he created to destroy the infection, and what he expected in the moment to be himself.
What you see at the end. That is Nick and I using our shared power to isolate the infection in that being and cut it out. It is a bit like doing cancer surgery. You have to hurt to heal, and from what they tell us, it hurt, a lot. It is what was needed to remove the infection. So, that brings us to the question. What am I?
I'm Judy HoppsWilde, just as I was before you learned all this. Soon to be the ranking city council member representing the combined Happytown and Nocturnal district. We're considering a name change, but that's a discussion for another time, and will be put to a public vote of the district. I am the mother of four lovely kits. Mate to who is, in my personal opinion, the best mammal in the universe. Though I'm sure others think the same of their mate. He's mine, however, and I'm not sharing.
All you have now is more information about me. As if you learned that I used to dance ballet, or am a black belt in some rare martial art, or similar. The question is. Is this going to change how you react to me? How you interact with me? I surely hope not. I've learned that there is a lot more to our world than we know or can see. I've learned that there are lots of mammals in our world that are special. I learned that there are mammals in our world that hide what they are, and what they are capable of, out of fear for how most other, normal, mammals will react.
I know I did. Out of that same concern. My secret is out, but given the mob today, that fear was clearly justified. I really hope this doesn't change things. It makes me a better representative for those mammals who are more than they appear and don't show it for very reasonable fears of how others will react. It also makes me a better representative for all mammals, period. Because I have been on both sides of that coin."
Fabienne nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you for that, Judy. It is a pretty fantastic story, but given what we have seen with our own eyes. I honestly don't know what to believe. Some will say it is all fake, smoke and mirrors. That it's a conspiracy to get at Meadowlaw and others like him. I know that is absurd. I have known you since the Nighthowler incident and I have known you since. I know you are you. I trust you. Judy. And as yet, the only mammals in this world that have done things to not be trusted is Meadowlaw, Eriksen, and others like them."
Peter nodded with a smile of his own. "I agree. Given what we have seen. Who amongst us wouldn't hide that. The mindless fear shown by today's mob, whipped up by Meadowlaw simply screams to why one would keep it secret. Yet, instead of using that power, you used everything you would as if you didn't have that power.
I'll acknowledge that some would complain that you let mammals die, but it wasn't you that caused their deaths. It was Meadowlaw and the mob he created that did that. As we are learning, your preparations actually saved most lives. Those that died were killed in immediate moments of violence. Mammals were able to escape their burning homes and such, with the exception of three. All of which were where the firebombs were set off. Those mammals were in no way your fault. As for the property damage. That is sad, but it is just things. Things can be reclaimed and repaired, the important part is that the mammals got out of their homes."
Judy nodded. "I agree. I'm not all powerful. I cannot be in multiple places at once. Well, at least I don't think I can. I point you back to the fact that last night was the first time I have used more of it than to summon a soda from the other room."
The interview ended with smiles. Judy sighing and falling fully back into her chair. "Gods, I really hope that is enough. To at least placate most mammals. There will be the conspiracy nuts, the truthers, and Z followers. That's the fringe. The key is to keep another mob from happening. As a city council member, given who led the mob, and what happened in total, I can be forgiven for that one. I'll have to step down if it keeps happening."
Peter nodded. "I'm sure it won't, Judy. You were open and honest, and most mammals will accept that. At least they'll defer to see what happens, and will quickly forget as soon as the news cycle does. Only those on the fringe you just described will still beat that drum. Keep your head down, and very quickly, it'll just be another thing."
