Welcome to Zootopia: Temporal Investigation Department (or TIA for short)! This is the third in the Seeds of the Future series of stories that began with Futures Past. Unlike the previous stories, this is a 'time cop procedural' type of affair, split up into self-contained episodes.

This story is also the reason Jack Savage was introduced at the end of Futures Past and featured (albeit in a secondary role, admittedly) in Children of Janus. We haven't seen the last of Nick and Judy in this series, but for now, I think they should get the chance to work on some 'normal' cases and leave the timey-wimey stuff to somebody else for a while XD

DISCLAIMER: Zootopia and its characters belong with Disney. Any similarity to real events is unintended.

Before we begin, I want to just say a huge thanks to my fellow authors on ZAA for giving this a going over.

ZOOTOPIA

TEMPORAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT

EPISODE 1: PILOT (ACT 1)

Six months have passed since the 'Children of Janus' incident, as it was recorded by Investigating Zootopia Intelligence Agency Agent Jack Savage. In the wake of that incident, Director Smallington has established the Temporal Investigation Department to investigate temporal incursions and related events.

Smallington's office was spacious even by her standards, which was saying something, since she was a mouse. But even the larger Agents under her care seemed small in comparison to the vast space. Her office was situated right in the middle of the ZIA's office building. Her walls were actually one-way windows, the same type used in interrogation rooms, so she could see what everybody was doing.

Smallington herself had been the Director for several years. It took a lot to earn respect in the ZIA, but the voices that had protested her appointment were few, and they had been swiftly silenced, because she had seen to their expedient departure. Smallington did not need insubordination in her ranks. She hadn't killed them, but by the time she had been done with them, those former Agents no longer had much of a reputation either.

In front of Smallington on her desk sat three files. One file contained a report for Agent Savage's last 'adventure' (as Agent Catamount had deridingly called it), and the other files contained two new assignments.

A knock came at the door, breaking Smallington from her contemplation.

"Come in," she called. As a mouse, her voice was typically 'small', which was why she had a tiny microphone in the lapel of her suit jacket. A speaker was mounted to the top of the door on the other side.

The door creaked open and Agent Catamount, a puma, stepped inside, followed by Agent Savage, a jackrabbit with black markings on his face and the tips of his long ears. They stood side-by-side in front of Smallington's desk.

"You wanted to see us, Director?" Catamount inquired.

"I did," Smallington nodded. "Firstly, may I ask whose idea it was to allow two mammals – known time incursors – to go free?"

The 'incursors' Smallington was referring to were Robin Fangford and Delilah Leaper. They were near-perfect genetic copies of Nick Wilde (himself a time traveller according to Savage's report) and Judy Hopps, from decades into the future.

Smallington had to admit, the idea of time travel had been totally, utterly ludicrous when it was first brought to her attention. She had made the trip to the portal out in Tundratown herself, and had seen the evidence first-paw. She had also watched Savage interrogating the Nick and Judy duplicates, from within her office.

"It was Agent Savage's, ma'am," Catamount replied. Savage's eyes flitted to Catamount briefly before returning to Smallington.

"And who is his immediate superior?" Smallington said evenly, barely raising an eyebrow. Catamount didn't answer straight away, so Smallington added an icy edge to her voice: "I asked you a question, Agent Catamount."

"I am, ma'am," Catamount answered defeatedly.

"Which means you are responsible for his actions," Smallington got up from her chair. She paced the desk, her eyes not leaving Catamount for a second.

"Can you tell me what the 'I' in ZIA stands for, Agent Catamount?" Smallington asked.

"'Intelligence'," Catamount growled lowly.

"Intelligence…" Smallington repeated. "Do you know what you let slip through our fingers? That portal Agent Savage discovered has long since closed, so there's no way for us to gather intelligence on potential threats originating from the future using it. And now, with Fangford and Leaper in the wild, we have lost our only other way of gathering any sort of intelligence of what's to come."

"Surely, we can use Wilde…" Catamount began. Smallington held a paw up.

"Firstly, Nicholas Wilde is a fully-fledged officer of the ZPD," Smallington said. "There is no way we can cleanly take him in to gather intelligence. Secondly, and this is from the intelligence we do have: Wilde's knowledge is outdated. He came from a different future. All we now know is that, from where we stand, the future is malleable. Now, tell me again: just who is responsible for allowing the loss of such a crucial source of potential future intelligence?"

Catamount remained quiet.

"You are very lucky that I still have use for you," Smallington told Catamount coldly. "If I could have my own way entirely, I would have you scrubbing the toilets for the rest of your career. As it so happens, a position has opened up on the International Intelligence Team."

Smallington pushed one of the two files on her desk towards Catamount.

"Dismissed," Smallington said to an incredulous Catamount. He left, leaving Smallington alone with Savage.

"Don't think this absolves you, Savage," Smallington said. "Your immediate superior was responsible for not properly actioning what should have been done in this situation. But you still let them go."

"If Wilde's information was out of date, I figured that by their presence here, Fangford and Leaper had changed the future again," Savage said. Smallington motioned for Savage to be quiet.

"Effective immediately, I am disbanding the Department for the Investigation of Unexplained Phenomena," Smallington said. Savage looked crestfallen, but he nodded in understanding.

"Instead…" Catamount pushed the other file towards Savage. Savage picked it up. The front was marked 'Confidential'. He opened it.

"Temporal… Investigation Department?" Savage read.

"We need a specifically-focused unit," Smallington elaborated. "I'm not promoting you, but you will be in charge of this unit."

"Alone?"

"You get the choice of two other personnel."

Savage placed a paw on his chin as he thought about it for a moment.

"Can I… have Skye Anabel?" he asked.

"Anabel?" Smallington frowned. "Isn't she a member of the Motor Pool?"

"Yes, but she was the one who helped me with the Children of Janus case. I think she deserves a shot at this."

Smallington considered his words.

"Very well, I will allow that, and assign her the rank of Probationary Agent. Responsibility for her falls to you. Is there any other?"

"Not at this moment in time, ma'am."

"Very well. You will answer directly to me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You have a lot of work to do, Agent Savage."

"You did what?" Skye blinked. Jack had arrived in the Motor Pool to pass on the news. Not for the first time, Jack found her reaction unreadable.

"You helped me when we were dealing with the clones from the future," Jack answered. "I don't trust anyone else here."

"Jack, I'm… flattered that you'd think of me, but I'm not an Agent."

"Well, that's the thing. Smallington promoted you to Probie."

"She… uh, what?"

"I mean, you'll technically be under me…"

"I had no idea you were into that."

"I'm being serious, Skye! You're an Agent now!"

"I don't know if I should be a little upset or happy."

"Why would you be upset?" Jack tilted his head curiously. Skye pawed her face in exasperation.

"Never mind… you're lucky you're cute."

"Uhm… you really shouldn't say that…"

"Right, yeah… rabbit thing."

"I mean, it's not like I mind you saying it, but… somebody might get the wrong idea, and…"

"Okay, I'll reign in the 'cute' comments. Just don't treat me like a subordinate."

"I couldn't do that to you, Skye. You're my friend."

Two weeks later…

The Animalia Conference Centre sat to the south of Savanna Central, and it hosted many different events throughout the year, from trade events, to pop culture conventions, and even to science fayres.

The Zootopia Unorthodox was one such event. It had long since been derided as the 'home of crackpot theories, tripe conclusions and fringe science'. It was just unfortunate that it was the only place that coyote Professor Marina Koyoton, could speak without ridicule.

"… and the theory of time travel originates decades in the past," Marina spoke to an audience from behind a lectern atop a stage set up in one of the conference halls. For the most part, the audience didn't contain anybody reputable. Indeed, it contained fans of the fringe, those who willingly believed conspiracy theories, and even those who were simply there because they saw time travel in a popular film once and thought it was cool. "Albert Sweinstein's theory of relativity concluded that time and space are linked deeply. He believed that introducing a specific type of energy could cause both space and time to bend backwards on themselves, to circle back."

Taking a deep breath, she continued on.

"I firmly believe this is possible, but I also believe we are not technologically at the point to generate the type of energy needed to travel through time. I also think that there is a certain issue of ethics that must be considered. We do not know enough about how time travel would work. Multiple theories have been posited. I'm sure you're all familiar with at least this one: the so-called grandfather paradox. If you travel back through time and kill your grandfather, you will never be born. Therefore, you can never travel back through time to kill your grandfather. Another point of view would be that travelling back through time and committing an action in the past – such as killing your grandfather – creates a new chain of events disconnected from the 'original' timeline."

A brief pause. Marina took a sip of water from the bottle on her lectern.

"The ethics question is with regards to whether it would be right to interfere with what has happened in the past. You know of the butterfly effect: a butterfly flaps its wings in Zootopia, and a hurricane happens in Hinode. Think of that on a temporal scale. Something seemingly insignificant in the past could have far-reaching consequences in the present."

"Why are we here again?" Skye asked Jack. They were watching the lecture from behind the stage. Professor Koyoton was unaware she was being observed by the two ZIA Agents, or rather, that they were there to try to find their target.

The previous night, the radio that Savage had rigged up to detect the radio distortion caused by the opening of a portal had gone off, and within twenty minutes, they had intercepted a call from a security guard, who had said they had seen a light, before somebody had struck them from behind and run off. Another witness had seen a male civet running from the scene.

That same civet had been spotted by the Conference Centre's camera system entering that morning, and that had brought Jack and Skye – currently the only members of the T.I.D. – to the convention. It was mere happenstance that this professor was there giving a talk on the possibility of time travel.

"It's as good a place to start as any," Jack shrugged. He knew enough about time travel thanks to his experiences with previous incursors, but he really wasn't interested in the specifics surrounding it.

"Hey, Jack…" Skye whispered. "A civet has just entered the back of the hall, to the left."

Jack's attention turned towards Skye's observation.

"Yep, looks like our target," Jack nodded. "We can't move just yet, though."

The Professor had just finished her speech. Applause filled the hall, though it wasn't a large amount. Events like this weren't exactly packed. The Professor took her notes and tablet from the lectern and headed off the stage as the attendees began filing out – except for the civet, who remained behind. He was fiddling with something as he stood up and approached the stage.

"Could be armed," Jack observed. "But why would he be coming back here?"

"He might be after the Professor," Skye pointed out.

"Good point," Jack conceded. Straightening his tie – much to the bemusement of Skye – Jack made to intercept the civet. As he got closer, he saw that the civet was holding a blade of some sort.

Reaching into his jacket, Jack pulled a tranq pistol out, aimed and fired as the civet rushed the stage and headed straight for Koyoton as she returned from behind the stage. The dart struck true, hitting the civet in the neck. He collapsed to the floor, his weapon skittering away.

"What the…?" Koyoton yelped as the civet struck the ground. Jack and Skye emerged from behind the stage.

"What's going on here?" Koyoton asked.

"Federal Agents," Jack said calmly, reaching into his pocket to remove his badge to show the coyote.

"You just shot that civet!" Koyoton said. "Oh, no… I just saw somebody get shot…"

"We tranquilised him," Jack pointed out. He crouched down to pick up the blade that the civet had dropped. He had seen something similar not too long ago – an implement from the future that pulsed when activated. It was a particularly nasty weapon.

This civet really wanted Koyoton dead for some reason. Jack was determined to get to the bottom of this. He reached for his belt, pulling a pair of pawcuffs off, which he used to restrain the unconscious civet.

"Are you okay?" Skye approached the frantic coyote, hoping to calm her down. "We're Federal Agents. We're here because we heard that something was going to happen here to one of the lecturers."

Jack silently commended Skye's bending of the truth. She had made it sound plausible.

"I've had… problems with some mammals before, but nobody has ever tried to kill me!" Koyoton said in a panic.

"Problems?" Skye asked.

"Well… when you're seen as a mad scientist, people like to have a go," Koyoton explained.

"We don't judge," Jack got to his feet. "Besides, sometimes mad science is just science before its time."

"My point exactly!" Koyoton nodded. "Um… were you listening to my lecture?"

"Science stuff goes over my head, sorry," Jack shrugged.

"I caught bits and pieces of it," Skye nodded.

"You did?" Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Sure!" Skye replied. "It doesn't sound so crazy to me. ZASA already has a theory for a warp engine for space travel."

"You pay attention to that?" Jack asked.

"Well, yeah," Skye answered. "I mean, the idea of space travel is exciting. I wonder what the ships will look like!"

"Yeah, let's get our guy out of here before you start salivating over fictional Starships," Jack chuckled. Skye grabbed hold of the civet and threw him over her shoulder. The pair moved to leave the hall with their prisoner.

"Hey, wait!" Koyoton stepped forward. "Um… thanks… for, you know… saving my life."

Jack considered her for a moment.

"All part of the job, ma'am," he said finally as he and Skye left. Koyoton's gaze followed them out.

"They didn't even say what Agency they were part of…" Koyoton murmured.

The interrogation room was the same as ever – a grey box with a one way-mirror separating it from the observation room. Unlike with the Hopps and Wilde clones, Jack had friendlier observers this time with him. Skye was there, as was Smallington. Their prisoner sat in the interrogation room alone.

"Make sure you get to the bottom of this, Agent Savage," Smallington remarked. "You have my permission to use whatever measures you think are necessary to get it done."

"Yes, ma'am," Savage nodded. He headed for the door to the interrogation room, opened it, and stepped inside.

And that's it for the first part of this 'episode'! The second part is going to be posted soon, so be on the lookout! I have eight episodes planned for this fic in total (with the last four being two two-parters), with some surprises along the way, so I hope you'll stick around!