Chapter 9: Where we go from here
Zootopia…Evening….Rush Lab….
While the lab was inside of an old industrial park, the color of iron rust and green copper; the equipment itself has the sheen of brushed metal, and the odor of different chemicals all of which stung the nose at the scent of it. The lower level the lab itself was on was a sub-basement, surrounded by brick and mortar, a challenge to maintain sterile conditions for the refinement of such sensitive materials.
Jerome had quickly descended the metal stairway, the quick clatter of his paws giving away his frantic movements, the quick nervous swish of his tail. The water deer and number of her lab assistants were packing away documents and laptops with critical information on them. A number of regular guard personnel were strapping barrels of sloshing liquid to dollies to move out to the waiting trucks outside.
"Doctor, what is your status?" asked the tiger.
The lab coat garbed water deer he was addressing was putting away notes and research papers into a briefcase, when she spun around and glared at the tiger.
"You cannot rush this sort of thing Jerome, these materials are very sensitive."
"But we have to move out now, that damn bunny cop made it to the hospital, who knows what she could be telling the police." He hissed
"You should have shot her then, but no you wanted to see what a rush overdose looked like." Fired back the deer.
"Well you want to see for yourself dear Jerome, come down here and I can arrange it for you."
"That won't be necessary." He replied
"Quite right, but this 'evacuation' is completely your fault, we have police and god knows who else at our warehouse, and very soon they will be able to trace those crates to this location, very sloppy, very sloppy indeed."
"I am certainly aware of how bad I screwed up, I don't need you to remind me."
"Fine, then tell me this, is the backup site up and running?"
"Yes, it is."
"Good. It's such a pity that we will have to leave this fair city for parts unknown. I actually liked it here."
"And you think I didn't, I have a nightclub that I am losing in all of this!"
"Well then perhaps you should have been a tad smarter in your business dealings."
"Just pack up your crap!" roared the tiger.
Jerome wasn't hearing anymore of the deer's scolding and went back upstairs. The deer turned to her assistants.
"Now I can't tell you what to do my fellow scientists. If you wish to surrender to the police, you are free to do so, but know that what we are doing probably will land you in prison for the rest of your lives, so it's entirely up to you whether you want to try and run."
The assistants simply nodded and continued to work, packing and saving of data.
"Thank you my dear colleagues. Your loyalty is admirable."
The deer finished clearing off her table and found a small envelope that was addressed to her by name 'Dr. Doran', at first she was apprehensive but she opened it anyway, out of the manila envelope, fell two items, a small folded note and a brand new silver flash drive.
She immediately recognized the item and went to read the note.
'Your work has come to our attention and it is grand and beautiful, it would be such a shame to see it wasted. Don't you agree?'
The note was simply signed 'a friend.'
The deer casually looked around to see if anyone was watching, to see if Jerome had come back down without announcing himself. Her curiosity piqued, she picked up the drive and hesitated for a moment. Then as if with conviction she slotted the flash drive into her laptop. Within seconds a program ran on her computer, it was establishing a secure connection to somewhere, at first she thought it was an old familiar network she has been accustomed to. But no, the familiar user interface had been modified, changed, her only clue was a stylized roman numeral in the background.
Meanwhile…
Judy and company got back to her and Nick's apartment for a change of clothes and to get Kaiden's laptop hooked into a Wi-Fi connection. After doing both, Judy was feeling much better at getting into her police uniform again. Nick had traded in his club wear now almost twenty four hours' worth of time on them since he changed into them in the first place for a uniform himself.
Kaiden had set up a secure connection to Bureau 13 and had already started to enact his idea for finding Jerome and his drug lab.
Nick and Judy were looking over Kaiden's shoulder as he showed them his idea.
"So what we have here is the traffic cams feed."
"Ugh, that will take hours to comb through" commented Judy with a huff.
"Not necessarily, there is something we can use to make the job much easier."
Kaiden's paws clacked on the keyboard as he launched a program that was tying itself into the camera feeds, he had used Jerome's file photo as a reference for the program. Judy narrowed her eyes as she saw the program mapping points on the picture and was scouring the camera feeds.
"What's it doing?" she asked.
"Facial Recognition." replied Kaiden.
"Yeah, I've heard about this." Remarked Nick.
Judy had heard the term before but she wasn't sure exactly what it meant.
"So?" she asked almost begging the question.
"Well, you basically use a reference, like Jerome's photo, and the computer maps points on it, things like distance between the eyes, the eyes to the nose and mouth, even muzzle length, then it looks through video like the camera feeds for anyone that matches it."
"How accurate is this?" she asked almost concerned.
"Scary accurate." Replied Kaiden.
"I'm gonna be honest, carrots, it's this kind of stuff that sometimes I'm more scared of the police than other criminals" said Nick.
"Why?" she looked back tilting her head to the side slightly.
"Well let's just face it, the whole idea that you're constantly being watched and listened to. It just feels…..wrong."
"Nick, we've used the cameras to find bad guys before." She shrugged.
"Yeah, and I didn't say anything, I know, the first time your job was on the line, and the others….Well I just got so caught up in working with you that I guess I didn't really let it sink in."
"Add this into the mix and it just feels wrong, don't ask me to explain it."
Nick sat looking sideways at the screen, watching the feeds dance across the screen. While the conversation seemed to end, Nick and Judy continued to trade glances at each other, Nick looking as though he was almost ashamed, with an almost sullen expression, looking back at Judy she shook her head in genuine misunderstanding mouthing the word 'what?', trying to understand where the fox was coming from.
The tension seemed very palpable and was cut short by Kit clearing his throat.
"So…..Nice play you guys have here." He said trying to change the subject.
Kit went over to the couch, giving the cushions a feel.
"Nice comfy couch, I dig this place." He commented.
"You probably don't want to…" Nick nervously pointed as Kit plopped down on the couch.
"What?" said the blonde wolf quirking his head to the side.
"Nevermind." Nick replied facepawing and shaking his head.
He turned to look back at the computer and saw Kaiden with a sly smile on his face, eyeballing Nick, chuckling to himself slightly. Nick saw this and realized to himself 'So that's what it looks like' referencing his own sly fox smile.
"Well it's definitely yours now, kids." muttered Kaiden with an even bigger smile as he glanced at Nick.
"What?" asked Kit not hearing what the fox said.
"Oh nothing, not important." He replied, dismissing with a wave of his paw before turning back to the laptop.
The sound of a smack was heard as Nick slapped himself in the forehead, Judy pretending to not have heard every word of the exchange.
The laptop beeped finding a match, and highlighted which cameras had made the hits.
"Bingo! Industrial district." Remarked Kaiden.
Judy looked at the feeds.
"Yeah, but the camera coverage isn't complete down there, so he's in the district but that's still A LOT of ground to cover." She commented, shaking her head.
"Ah for mere mortals, sure. But we are mighty, our kung fu is strong." Jested Kaiden.
"Plus access to government satellites helps too." Replied Kit.
"Aww, you had to spoil my surprise."
Kaiden brought up a new screen that had the view of Zootopia but from above.
"Check this out." he directed, pointing to the screen.
Kaiden had typed in the coordinates for the industrial district, which the satellite dutifully obeyed, and gave a closer zoom of the district in question. A few more keystrokes overlaid the image with a darkened view populated by various colored blotches indicating heat.
"Now according to the project files, part of the process involving the refinement of the project nighthowler chemicals involves heating to at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit."
"So I just filter out all sources lower than 300…and….." said Kaiden trying to impress.
A single large heat bloom was located in the industrial district, a high likelihood of the lab being located there.
"Ta-da!" said the fox.
"Wow." Judy remarked, her brow pulling back genuinely impressed.
"Let me make a phone call to the chief."
Judy went to her smartphone and stepped into the other room. Nick on the other paw looked at the screen and pursed his lips for a moment, than dismissing the thought as quickly as it came.
Kit happened to see this reaction and quirked his head.
"What's the matter? We found the bad guys."
"Yeah, I know…" he said trailing off.
"What?" Asked Kaiden
"Look I know this may not be the time or the place for this, but, do you ever wonder maybe, the whole 'incredible power in a few hands' is what caused all this in the first place?"
Kaiden thought on Nick's words for a moment trying to understand what his meaning was.
"You're concerned that the consolidation of power is inherently bad."
"Maybe not bad, but definitely something to watch out for, keep an eye on. I mean, do you ever wonder if all that power will turn you guys into…."
"Illuminati?" Kaiden asked plainly
"Yeah." Replied Nick plainly.
"Kaiden and I have had this conversation before Nick, really, and yeah we get the whole 'absolute power corrupts absolutely thing' but those bad people exist already, we have to use whatever we can just to level the playing field." Interjected the wolf.
"Yeah, but isn't that like 'to kill the monster you must first become the monster'?" asked Nick.
There was a pause for a moment between the three of them as they considered the answer to that question; Kit and Kaiden looked at each other for a moment as if mutually trying to agree on an answer.
"Maybe….a little anyway." Replied Kit as he shrugged.
"I'll be honest, Kaiden and I, we've done...what I would call some questionable things in the name of keeping Zootopia safe."
"And you're right, I do wonder if what we do is, according to Hoyle, 'in the right'."
Nick turned to Kaiden looking for his input. The older fox mulled over the thought, looking off into the distance and then turned back to the younger fox.
"Faith."
"Faith?" Nick rose an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I have faith in what we are doing, in that Kit's and I make the right call. But keep in mind, when you make that call, you're making it in the moment, you don't have the benefit of hindsight, second guesses, little devil and angels on your shoulders telling you what to do. You look at the facts as you see them and you make a decision as best you can accordingly."
"And what if you're wrong? Who holds you accountable?"
Another pause.
"Exactly." Nick finished pointedly.
Kaiden took a breath "You're right, it's not a perfect system, but I still feel that the best paws for this to be in are our own, and I mean Kit and me specifically."
"Look I trust you, I do, I'm not trying to come down on you guys specifically, or even Bureau 13. You guys risked life and limb to save me." Continued Nick
"It's just when I see stuff like that…" he pointed at Kaiden's laptop
"Where with the press of a button you can find a person or a place, and I'm sure you can push another button and drop a cruise missile into their laps."
"I worry about where we are going that's all."
"That's why we are here Nick, that's why Bureau 13 exists." Replied Kaiden.
"What do you mean?"
"The problem is you haven't seen it, because we have been chasing the Illuminati, but part of Bureau 13's mandate is to protect a system in favor of the people, meaning we're supposed to find that corruption and stamp it out."
"Like Bellwether?" Nick tossed back.
"Ok, admittedly, we dropped the ball on that one." Kaiden admitted.
Nick huffed.
"Hey, why do you think I offered to make you two agents, you've got the best investigative instincts I've ever seen." Kaiden complemented.
"Thanks. I do appreciate it, really. But I'm with Judy on this; I'd prefer to live in her world, not that one."
"I can respect that, it's why I haven't pushed."
"Look I'm sorry, I'm not trying to accuse you guys of anything, it's just all this Illuminati this, and secret agents that, there's just something about it that rubs me the wrong way. I can't imagine living a double life like that."
"I know it makes me kind of a hypocrite, a con man who spends his life living lies turns around and talking about how he disapproves of the concept of the double life, trust me I know what it sounds like."
"It's ok Nick, I know what you mean. And I hope someday, everything we've done comes to light, you're right, even Bureau 13 needs some kind of accountability, some kind of truth to it. But I don't know how you have that without the risk of plugging it into the very corrupt machine that we are supposed to stop." Said Kaiden.
"It's a paradox." Commented Kit.
"Yeah, I guess." Finished Nick.
"God this is depressing, can we talk about something a bit more fun?" offered Kit.
"Sure." Said Kaiden.
Nick spun around to look at Kit and offered a smirk, cradling his arm on the back of the chair.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure?"
"Do you have a cold or something?"
"No."
"So not a good sense of smell?"
"You kidding I'm a wolf, I've got a damn good nose."
"Then tell me this, how is it you've sat there in that sofa and not smelled the scent?"
"Scent?" Kit replied back almost worried.
"Yeah."
Kit quizzically leaned over and sniffed the air coming off the sofa, his eyes went wide as he realized of what activity that smell was sourced from.
"Aw god!" he shouted getting up off the Sofa.
Nick chuckled while Kaiden busted out laughing.
"What the hell! When were you going to say something?" replied Kit trying swipe off the smell from his clothes.
"Actually I wasn't." replied Kaiden
"Ugh, Fox funk and rabbit stew." Kit remarked.
"Sounds like a grunge band." quipped the older fox.
"And you?" Kit pointed a paw at Nick.
"I was going to warn you but you just sat down. Sorry." The younger fox apologized.
"You could have sprayed something at least." Replied Kit making a spray can motion with his paw.
"We hadn't had time, we've been working a case. Besides, 'consenting adults'." Defended Nick.
"Well I didn't consent to that. Sheesh." Stood Kit still trying to air out his clothes.
Judy had walked back in, having missed the entire conversation, and pointed at Nick.
"Chief says he's mobilizing SWAT, and preparing a raid on the lab."
Judy turned to Kaiden and Kit.
"…And I kinda had to explain HOW we found out about it." She said hesitantly.
Kaiden winced.
"I really, wish you hadn't done that."
"He asked. He wanted to know how I was so sure, I had to give him something." She replied.
"It's not like he doesn't know who we are K." remarked Kit.
"Yeah, I guess."
"And by the way, since this is a ZPD case, and if I remember right, Bureau 13 doesn't handle 'normal' crime, technically your legal authority on this, is kind of…nonexistent."
"Ok?" replied the two, not sure where she was going.
"So I also told the chief that I'm deputizing you….temporarily of course, so you can help us."
Kaiden and Kit looked at each other expressionless at first but then two smirks grew on their respective faces.
"I'm Tango, your Cash." Said Kaiden
"Oh bullshit, if anybody is Tango, that me, you're Cash." Replied the wolf.
"Boys. You can be anyone you want to be, can we just go." She said motioning to the door.
"Yes, Ma'am." replied both agents, saluting Judy playfully.
Minutes later….
As they went down to the bureau 13 van, Kit and Kaiden opened up the back doors, and the small locker they had under the floorboard. There was various weapons and armor available.
"Take anything you need." Said Kit reaching for his signature rifle.
"Ah, Ah, Ah" Judy shook her paw, a raised finger in the air.
"What?" the wolf replied.
"Unless you got non-lethal darts, no."
"You kidding me?" he replied.
"ZPD not B13, we're trying to arrest them, not kill them."
Kit groaned disapprovingly.
"But, but, I wanted to use 'Vera'." He replied almost whining
"Who?" Judy tilted her head.
"It's his rifle." Kaiden explained.
"She's my favorite." Kit explained showing 'her' to Judy.
"Wow, I don't know what's more disturbing, the fact that you named your gun or that you refer it as a 'she'"
"She's very special." Kit remarked playfully.
"Well 'Vera'….Is going to have to miss this party." Replied Judy as she took the rifle from Kit and put it back in its housing in the van.
Kit huffed and crossed his arms.
"We can take armor right?" asked Kaiden as he was putting on body armor.
"Yes, and Bogo has dart rifles for you when we get there." Said Judy as she got into the passenger seat of the van.
Kaiden nodded and looked at Kit "That's why I'm Tango." Giving the wolf an armor vest.
"Oh and Kaiden, no arm blade thingies." She ordered from inside the van.
"Aw come on!" he shouted.
Kit laughed at Kaiden's expense.
"Now you know how it feels." The wolf quipped back.
The four loaded into the van and made their way to the rendezvous point with the other heavily armed and armored ZPD officers. When they arrived, they met up with Gideon Frost and the Chief, the four collected their weapons and armor then sat in on the quick field briefing along with the rest of the SWAT unit as to the exact strategy for their breach.
The strategy was relatively straightforward, the warehouse level and the sub-basement, the top level would need to be secured first before continuing the raid to the lab proper, and of course be at the ready to arrest any survivors or those who were giving themselves up.
"Alright, listen up mammals" started the chief.
"The scouts report that the top level has various racks and shelving, stacked with pallets and boxes, things typical of a warehouse, but keep in mind this is concealment NOT cover, don't expect the boxes to stop bullets."
"Unfortunately all this concealment means we can't get an accurate count as to the number of people in there, so keep on your paws and hooves."
"There is an office at the back of the warehouse, that we will need to secure. However, we were unable to determine where the access to the lower level is from out here. We are hoping that once we get in there we will find it, so keep on the lookout for any access hatches or concealed doors."
"As always, look out for each other, take your time and move as a unit. Understood?!" the buffalo finished.
"Sir, Yes sir." Replied every member of SWAT in unison.
"Good Hunting." Said the Chief.
The chief came over to the four latecomers to the raid.
"Officer Hopps, I'm assuming that by being here, you feel fully capable?"
"If you're concerned about my visit to the hospital, sir, I am fine, I assure you."
"So long as you aren't over exerting yourself."
"I'll be fine sir."
"And you two…" pointed the Chief at Kaiden and Kit
"Can you two work on a team with us? I mean we are just lowly and normal city cops." the chief asked sarcastically.
"Yes sir, Chief Bogo" replied Kaiden seriously.
"For what it's worth sir, you run a good group of mammals."
"Damn straight I do, which is why I'm expecting you to watch out for them. Superpowers notwithstanding." Fired back the cape buffalo
"Yes sir." Nodded Kaiden.
"Alright…let's go." Said the Chief picking up a dart rifle for himself.