A Fox in the Machine

by Blkdragon7

A deep dive into the psychosis of my muse. This one is both light hearted and dark as hell. In either case, it should be fun. Any summary beyond that would give away the farm, as it were.

7. Chapter 7

Hello again my good and loyal readers. Welcome to chapter 6 of A Fox in the Machine.

I do not own Zootopia or its characters, that's Disney. I only own my own OC's. Though with hints and teases of Z2 at some point in 2024, one can only hope it will come up to the standard we hold Z1 to.

Anyway. On with the show, such as it is.

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Chapter 6

Judy closed the door to the operating room before laughing and heading towards the lower levels. Logging onto the system as she did and making sure Betty got a small bonus for rolling with things so convincingly. She then dialed Chief Wolford.

Picking up on the fourth ring and sounding at least partially asleep. "Hey, Judy. What's up?"

A second voice from his side of the phone. "Why is she calling you in the middle of the night?"

Judy chuckled. "Hey Lizz. I managed to get some major leads. I'll give you the recording, but because of how I got the information, the recording itself is inadmissible."

Wolford groaned. "What did you do? Please tell me you didn't beat someone up."

Laughing out loud, Judy shook her head. "No. I was tracking the seller from last week's arms deal. He'd basically gone to ground and nothing he had done in the past week was anything but hitting clear stash locations. He was preparing to bug out. So I hacked his connection just to see what he was doing. He was looking for some cyber enhancements, so I layered an ad for Nick's with a too sweet to ignore deal.

He called, got him in, got him sold on what he wanted and then some. Of course, the cash and creds he had proved to be clean, so I had to honor the deal. At least I didn't lose any money. Anyway… Once I got him on the table, and the paralytic was administered, I asked him some questions. Note, he claims to have an implant to defeat truth serums."

Wolford and Lizz laughed on the other end, obviously put on speaker. "Oh gods. Yeah. That won't work against that paralytic, because that just makes it so you speak every thought out loud. I'm sure there were lots of, I'm not telling you that, to be had."

"Oh, very much. I have bad news though. One Jacob Wolford has been implicated, and I'll be questioning him this evening. Our seller friend stated that Jacob is the middle mammal between him as the seller and the Kats. He also claimed that the Kats are getting the protection they seem to have from GenoM directly. To the point that they supposedly have Boomers in their crew.

We're still not sure what those things are. They have organics according to the scans, and what appears to be a life support system and all that, but they have a huge data connection as well. It's encrypted, compressed, and well hidden, but it is there. Not sure what to make of it. Will let you know once I find out more."

"Of course. Do what you do."

"Always. To make the world a better place."

A solemn response from both Mike and Lizz. "To make the world a better place."

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With the call ended, Judy switched back to her combat chassis and was quickly headed for the current location of one Jacob Erinn Wolford, based on his phone's location ping. She was really loving the flight capabilities that had been added to the main body. Better, they used an independent power cell, so they could be discarded, or used in a number of devious ways. Not the least of which was as a heavily armed drone. It also had the needed thrust that it could be used to do rescues as well.

Turning her attention back to the fifth floor apartment of one Jacob Wolford, Judy shook her head mentally. He was stretched out on his bed, some unidentified female canine with him. Judy couldn't tell species from her perspective, although given that she knew he was single and had no prospects. Mike had forwarded her the pack file on him which she had reviewed on the flight over. She knew that the female in question was either a late night hook up, or more likely, based on Jacob's file, a sex worker.

Thinking through how to deal with it, she decided on subtle, at least initially. Using a magnetic manipulator, she unlocked the window and opened it just slightly. Then slipped a finger through. A small hatch opening to release a bug. The bug looked much like a smallish cockroach, but it provided a number of capabilities. Not the least of which was a small speaker that would allow her to speak directly to the female without Jacob being the wiser.

The bug made its way to the bed, and then into her ear. Judy speaks through it. "Ma'am. I need you to wake up and go to the bathroom." She lifted her head and looked around for the voice. Judy realized she wasn't as asleep as she appeared. Clearly a professional. "Please, don't speak. We don't want to wake your bed-mate. Please go to the bathroom."

The worker spoke, though quietly. "Waking him is unlikely. He's drunk to the point that he couldn't get it up. Paid me extra to stay until we could complete the deal."

Jacob groaned and rolled over, still clearly unconscious. "I see. Well, that simplifies things for both of us. Still, go ahead and take a few minutes. Clean up, and head out. I'm here to ask him some questions, and you don't want to be here for that. If you stick around, I'll be forced to drug you as I will be him in order to get the answers I need."

She chuckled. "Heh… He's not even that good. Always knots too fast. Then I'm stuck with his cock up my pussy while he passes out. Can't even bother to stay awake. Give me a fox any day."

Judy chuckled. "I hear that, sister."

Getting up, she had herself a quick shower, got dressed, looked Jacob over and rolled her eyes. "Still, he pays well and is a regular. You aren't going to hurt him, are you?"

Judy chuckled. "Me. No. I just need answers. That said, if you reach into your right ear, you'll find how I'm talking to you. Just drop it on his bed."

Pulling the bug out of her ear, she looked at it in surprise. "Wow! That's some high tech shit right there." Looking over at Jacob again. "Damn, he was a good regular, too. Poor performance or not. Still, better to not have anything to do with him. Had a friend get hooked by some guy into the bigger gangs, and when they took him out, they took all his girls out too, even if they didn't know anything. Jacob, you're pulling in way too much heat."

Judy spoke from the bug on his pillow. "Hey, don't worry. Do yourself a favor. Swing by Nick's Chop-Shop, and get an application. You may be surprised."

Shrugging. "Well, if they don't mind me doing side work I will. I enjoy the sex, and the money is a bonus, plus I'm registered and legal. Anyway, I will leave you, whoever you are, to it."

With that, she beat a quick exit. Judy moved over to his balcony and landed gently, slipping inside, she set another bug on his pillow and one on his dresser overlooking him. "I don't envy you the headache you are going to have in the morning." Administering an antidote to the alcohol and just about everything else in his system. She watched as it cleaned him out, even the cocaine he'd clearly snorted relatively recently. Once that had done its work, she injected him with the counter agent and let that do its work. His system fully cleaned out, she hit him with a paralytic extremely similar to the one used in the operating theater, shifting him into a sitting position.

Once the bugs were in his ears, and he was propped up, she moved into the other room out of sight and spoke loudly in his ears via the bugs, a deep modification to her voice, more akin to Chief Bogo than herself. She watched via the bug on the dresser. "Jacob Wolford. WAKE UP!" His eyes popped open and finding that he could not move, he screamed, only to have Judy chuckle in his ears. "Now. Now. No need for all that."

His eyes searched the room desperately. "What? Where? Who? Why can't I move?"

"All very good questions, Jacob. Where should be obvious. You are in your bedroom, minus a certain companion that was sorely unsatisfied with your performance, or rather lack thereof. Seriously. I get that hiring a sex worker is about your pleasure, but my wolf… If you are going to hire other canines, the least you could do is make it marginally enjoyable for them too. Anyway… Criticizing you about your performance, or lack thereof, in bed is not why I am here.

As for why you can't move, I could tell you it's sleep paralysis, but that would be a lie, and I don't want there to be lies between us. You have been administered a specialized paralytic. It's a cousin to curare. The zombie drug. It's why you can't move, but also why you can hear, see, speak, etc… If you really tried, you could probably get your head to turn, slowly. However, unlike the paralytic used in hospitals and such to keep a patient from moving during a procedure. You will actually remember this experience.

Funny side-effect though. You won't be able to talk to anyone about it, but you will remember it with crystal clarity. Still not sure how that works, but it doesn't really matter. That's because, unlike your friend Harvey, I actually want, even need you to remember so you can keep up with the conversation we are about to have.

Oh, and please note. An extra side effect of this particular drug… It isn't a truth serum, it just makes it so that you speak whatever thoughts you have in your head. If you listen to yourself, you'll find that to be true."

"I'll kill Harv. And I won't be telling you, whoever you are, anything. Fuck, I hope what they are saying isn't true. Shit! Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP! What the fuck?"

Judy laughed lightly, which with the deep Bogo voice was less than reassuring. "Great. I'm glad we understand each other."

"I don't understand shit! Harv is dead!"

"Oh, not to worry, he will have absolutely no memory of the conversation he and I had. He was getting a procedure done, and I slipped in and asked him some questions. Which is why you and I are now having a conversation. The shredder rounds that you have our mutual friend, Harv, selling. You are doing that on behalf of the Kat's, is that correct?"

"Fuck. Fuck… Yes. Damn it! Gegor is going to assassinate my whole family line, and that's if GenoM doesn't get to me first. Fuck! Who are you?"

"Who I am, for the moment, is best left unknown to you. What you need to concern yourself with is answering my questions. Now, what do you know about the Boomers?"

"Luna! Those things are insane. I don't even know much, really. They're like a combination of a cyborg and a remote operated drone. Like only part of the brain is in the body or some shit. Saw one lose connection and it went weird. Like really weird. Like it wasn't the same person it was before. Just kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Carrots. Help me. Carrots. Help me. Carrots. What the hell is that about? How is a carrot going to help it, and why? It was insane. They blew it up, the other ones."

Judy would have had a heart attack, maybe was on the verge of a panic attack as he heard this. Only to notice the flash of a laser targeting sight in the window and a piece of the dot on the side of Jacob's head. She didn't hesitate. Plowing through the bedroom wall, she put herself between him and the laser. Her systems registered the impact, and detonation of multiple high velocity, High Explosive, rounds against the armor of her back.

Quickly picking him up, she injected him with the antidote to the paralytic, thankful she had put a bug in both ears which caused them to unintentionally act as hearing protection for him. Especially as several more rounds, these armor piercing hit her armor. "We're not staying. Someone, sensors say a Boomer, is trying to kill you. I've hit you with the counter agent. You'll be able to move in about two minutes. If we get separated, you need to get your tail to Nick's Body Shop. They actually have some quiet military contracts and can protect you there. You get me, wolf?"

"HOLY FUCK! You're The Borg! Yeah, I got it. Nick's."

Driving herself backwards, with Jacob in her arms, through the wall and window, Judy took flight, more rounds hitting her. Managing to get over the roof, she quickly landed and ran across towards the opposite side of the building. Her sensors picked up a huge power build up. Something that proved prophetic as she dropped down behind the building and flew out between the buildings making a dash for the rainforest. A massive laser pulse blasted through the building, igniting just about all of it, and the side of the next one.

Jacob screamed in terror and clung to her, which Judy couldn't blame him for. She could pick up a total of four Boomers moving in on them. This was really bad, and they were moving fast. Getting into the Rainforest, she reached out to a contact. "Nine! No time. I need the Rainforest sprinklers on full blast!"

The response was slow, and slightly mechanical. "On… it."

A few moments later, the sprinklers were drenching the region, surprising mammals caught out and about when they expected there to not be any rain. The Boomers gave close pursuit.

Judy landed right in front of the Rainforest precinct and smashed through the doors, knocking one off its hinges. The precinct generally looked up in shock. Walking directly up to the Precinct Chief as he was talking with the front desk mammal. "Benji! I need to put this wolf in your custody." Setting Jacob on his still unsteady paws. "Do not let anyone, and I mean literally anyone but yourself anywhere near him. I need to deal with…" Another armor piercing round hit her back. "That…"

Benjamin Clawhauser, cheetah, donut addict, and recently in shape Precinct Chief. "You're The Borg! What fresh hell have you brought to my door? Why did you call me Benji? Only my friends call me that. Besides, you're a vigilante. I still don't understand why you are not a wanted fugitive."

Judy gave an audible sigh and flipped her hunter badge around on her chest. "Ben… I'm not a fugitive, nor a vigilante. I need you to do as I ask. I've got four Boomers hunting this guy, and I need him alive long enough to answer some questions. You're the only one I could get to that I trust enough to keep him safe long enough for me to deal with them. We on the same page now, Benji?"

Ben nodded rapidly, his eyes wide as he took the wolf by the shoulder and looked down at him as Judy spun around and charged back out into the unscheduled rain taking another high explosive round to the chest. "What the fuck did you do?"

Jacob looked down. "A lot of things I shouldn't have. I'm so dead."

Ben nodded. "Well, then you better hope she is still as good as she used to be."

Jacob looked up. "Who?"

"Only a handful of people know me as Benji, one is dead, and neither of the other two are cyborgs. So, that…" waving a paw towards The Borg. "Can only be one mammal. Should have guessed. Anyway. Let's retire to my office."

Judy landed on the steps of the precinct, facing down the four Boomers. One appeared to have been a wolf, two tigers, and the third was a buffalo or similar. It was the tiger with the large caliber rifle that had been shooting at her and Jacob. The buffalo spoke. "Turn him over, and we won't pursue you, this time. You're digging in things you shouldn't be, Borg."

Judy tapped her chest and the hunter badge. "I'm a fully licensed hunter. You have all violated more laws than I can count. Stand down, or I will be forced to put you down." Releasing dozens of bugs from her heels. Over comms. "Fin, Honey! Please tell me I have something to generate an EM Pulse, or similar. Maybe you can jam network connections in the area?"

Honey responded. "No EMP, but we're working on it. Network is a possible. Will update."

"Okay. So… As none of you are apparently going to stand down, I guess we do this the hard way." Stepping forward, she deployed her plasma blades, which sizzled slightly in the rain.

In response, all four boomers deployed blades of their own. They were not plasma blades, but they did have laser amplified edges. Not as dangerous as her own plasma blades, but more than enough to at least cause her some damage. Tapping into every bit of combat training she had up to that point, Judy began to fight.

It was clear that they didn't realize that her blades were what they were, which indicated that they did not have advanced sensor suites, focused almost entirely on power, speed, and firepower. The first, the wolf, lost its head quickly. She then kicked away the body, allowing it to self-destruct across the street in a vacant lot. The next one died as she cut its power core out after severing its paws and the blades that held them. The powercore joined the small crater across the street, kicked there like a kits ball to detonate. The remaining two decided going after her as a team was the more likely option to be successful.

Figuring that they may not have adaptive optics like herself, she popped a flash-bang from a shoulder launcher, having it detonate directly above her head. They were both staggered, but only for a moment. It was long enough for Judy to change positions and allowed her bugs to get onto them. She got an alert from Honey that they had contact with their internal systems and were hacking to try and get as much data as they could.

The fight continued, Judy taking several hits that managed to cut through her outer armor and damage some minor systems. She took a stab through the shoulder, damaging the launcher there and causing a fire. However, that stab cost the Boomer as she severed its arms, cut it off at the waist, and then kicked the body to join the bits of scrap in the crater.

The final Boomer was clearly about to turn and run when it froze up, this one the tiger that had been the shooter. Judy pulled the blade, arm still attached, from her shoulder. Took the blade from the arm and walked around the boomer as the rain stopped.

Honey over comms. "Okay, I've got it kinda in a reboot of sorts. There is a brain, but it is partial like Jacob said. It's to supplement the remote control. There is embedded programming and such, and a metric ton of controls, so it can operate as just a grunt soldier without the data connection, but for full function, it needs the data link to whoever is controlling it. There is a pair of self destruct functions. One local if it has been overcome, thus the boom of the others, as well as if it still has data connection, that can be remotely triggered. I've got the comms unit in a reboot state. Don't know how long I can do that. Weirdly, the onboard brain is trying to operate it."

"Let it, but be prepared to override."

"Okay…"

The Boomer looked up and looked around. Turning, it saw Judy and seemed to frown. "Help me. I need… Help me. Help me. Carrots. Help me. Carrots. Carrots. I need… Carrots. I need. Help. Carrots."

Judy roared. "SHUT IT DOWN!"

The Boomer froze again. "Judy?"

"Where in this thing is that partial brain?"

"In the head, actually. Do you want me to try and track back the data connection?"

"No. No need." Severing its head, and then kicking the body over to explode with the others. She then began ripping open the things head to find a small brain and life support unit. She tried hooking it up to power, only to have the unit trigger a clear failsafe and basically cook the brain matter. With a roar, she did the same with the head of the one that she had cut the power core out of, quickly removing the circuitry before it could cook that particular brain and then trying to use her bugs and such to allow her to power the life support, without success as it had already died. She put the housing in a small EM shielded compartment and then walked, or more stalked, back into the precinct. Somehow exuding an enraged aura.

Locating Ben and Jacob, she retrieved Jacob and headed out. Ben trying to stop her. "Hey. Hunter or not, I can't let you just leave after this. I mean… Look at this!" Waving a paw at the front of the precinct.

"Take it up with Chief Wolford, Ben. I have other, bigger fish to fry, and this wolf has at least some of my answers."

"J. Don't do this."

Glaring down at Ben. "You'll understand when you get to see the video." Picking Jacob up, she walked out. No one was willing to actually get in her way.

"I'll have to file a report on this."

"Do what you have to do. This is bigger, Ben. At least talk to the Chief, first."

"I will do that."

"Use a secure line. A really secure line."

Ben frowned but nodded. "I'll do that too."

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With that, Judy took off, Jacob clinging to her again. Once they were in the air, Jacob whined a bit before speaking. "I don't know who you are, but to only trust one cop in an entire precinct and for it to be someone like him. You're old ZPD. I guess you know my cousin."

"I do, and he's going to be none too pleased with you. But I need to keep you alive long enough to get answers out of you and figure out what else is going on, and honestly, the ZPD is not up to the task."

Jacob nodded. "No question about that from me."

"Good. Now, it's time for you to take a nap. Don't need you knowing where I call home now do we?"

Jacob never got a chance to respond as she injected him with a full, fast acting tranquilizer. She then made a few transits of the city, ending back in the rainforest and dropping deep into the valley and towards the river it was built around. Passing through one of the many waterfalls, she moved around behind it to a different waterfall and the maintenance entrance there. Following the tunnels to a secret door in a wall between that and a different part of the environmental control system, she finally reached a small safe room.

There she laid Jacob on a bed and gave him the antidote to the tranq. While she waited for him to wake up, she exited her suit and took stock of the damage from the outside. She'd have used bugs, but she had used all she had up. She took a quick moment to make a note on the mission log to have more added. The external damage wasn't terrible, and all considered, the internal wasn't that bad either. Fin and Honey would have some work to do, but it wasn't horrible.

She was just reconnecting to the body when Jacob woke up. Standing in the corner to give him a bit more room, it was cramped there with both of them. "Morning. This is just a way point. We're currently being scanned to see if there are any trackers, or bugs, or well… Anything, on us that could be used to track or follow us." Pulling the housing from the EM shielded compartment so it could even be scanned.

He sat up with a stiff groan. "Oh, wow! Who's brain is that?"

"I don't know, but I have a suspicion, and if it is who I think it is, I will burn GenoM to the ground if I have to. Now, you are going to tell me everything you actually know. I'm not going to hit you with the paralytic again, for now. If I did, it could be permanent, but so help me, I'm not in a good place right now, so you being permanently locked in without using a cyber exoskeleton is perfectly fine by me. Are we clear?"

Jacob's eyes went wide and he nodded. "No. I get it. I'm dead and the only way I see to survive this is you at this point. I didn't think anything could take down a Boomer, let alone four."

"Smart Wolf. Now start talking. The Kats, GenoM, the Boomers. Lay it all out there. And be prepared to do it again for your cousin."

Jacob nodded again rapidly. "Yeah. No problem."

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Taking a deep breath, Jacob began to describe, basically his life story. He was almost the Designate because of Mike getting with Lizz. However, her ability to have his pups solved that and put him back on the back burner. Mike's ability to manage to still be a cop and act as Alpha only cemented the council's decision that he was in fact the best wolf for the job.

Jacob took that personally for a long time, got into trouble, and got in with the wrong crowd. He ended up at a party thrown by one of the Kats leaders, got high and drunk, and bragged about how he was connected in the pack, being the backup Designate. This got him the kind of notice that even he wouldn't have wanted, but being high, and drunk, he basked in it. Soon after he was working for the Kats as a sort of independent contractor. He became their middle mammal between other gangs they wanted to either set up, or take over, using his position in the pack as leverage that he never actually had.

The Kats were mostly felines after all, so what did they actually know about pack politics? When they started having him do more than just act as a message delivery mammal, he started to really see some money, and that finally hooked him from fear into greed. The money led him to getting pussy, and he was addicted at that point. The Kats also kept him stocked whenever he needed just about anything. So he built his own network of mammals to facilitate what he was doing. He wasn't some dumb dumb wolf. He was the backup Designate for a reason, but that was all dead a long time ago.

Then a few years ago, things got deeper and he was too far gone to realize it until it was too late. Too late being that evening's events. He was at the Kats headquarters as part of a meeting. He was half expecting them to finally let him officially become a member. Instead, there were suits from GenoM there. They were looking for under the table muscle in the city and the Kats fit the bill.

GenoM supplied the Kats with weapons, intel from their connections in the ZPD, ZBI, and other organizations. GenoM also gave the Kats access to illegal mods and implants, stuff only the military normally got to play with. This put them up on the top of the mountain, only challenged by the Bigs in Tundra Town. The leaders of the Kats were fine with that, however. They were fine with a little competition, and they didn't want to be in control of everything. That's too much to keep track of. Instead, they worked towards getting smaller gangs to swear fealty to the Kats. Basically making them independent contractors like Jacob was.

The sale that Judy and the Boomer interrupted was supposed to take out the buyer and seller. GenoM was looking to test the Boomers, and had arranged to get the Shredder rounds into the hands of the Kats, who were then supposed to sell them off to targeted smaller gangs and groups. Some to just cause havoc, others to be targets of the Boomers and test them, others to just be taken out by drawing them out to be easy targets. The rounds were sufficiently illegal, especially if used in the commission of a crime, that they could just drop a dime on a small gang that bought them and they'd go away for basically ever.

The reason Jacob had Harvey targeted was because Harvey, his friend since primary school, had been skimming. Due to this, as much as it hurt his heart, according to his own claim, Jacob had to make an example of him, thus why he was having the Boomer take him out as well. As for the Boomers themselves, he didn't know more than he had already said.

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Judy nodded as Jacob finished. "Okay. Get some rest. We're stuck here for the next few hours."

"You are going to keep me alive, right?"

"If at all possible, yes. Now sleep. There is no telling how long we are going to be stuck here."

About ten hours later, Judy's systems reconnected to the outside world. The room was a specialized faraday cage, allowing Fin and Honey to watch and listen for any data traffic, or anything else, such as radioactive isotopes, etc… Just about anything Honey's paranoid brain could come up with to track a mammal, they checked for it.

Getting up, she simply tranq'd Jacob in his sleep, picked him up, and quickly made her way to the warehouse via the tunnels. There he was put in a holding cell and she turned the brain housing over to Honey to examine and test. After that she switched bodies so Fin could begin repairs and upgrades.

Judy then went into her own area, pulled up the tapes of every encounter with Boomers, and every recording of them and simply watched. By the time she was done, she was crying and found out that her regular body was capable of that as the tears poured down her cheeks.

Fin came in looking for her to report on the damage he'd found to find her crying. "Judy? What's going on?"

"It's… It's him, Fin. Look." Playing several videos of the Boomers she had just observed. See the hand gestures. Those are not random. It's old code."

Fin gasped. "Yeah… I recognize some of that. That's… Help me. Something about carrots? … Oh fuck."

Judy nodded. "Every one of the Boomers did that except when in direct combat. Then there is what the one said when I had Honey let the onboard brain take control." She then played that video and Fin had tears in his own eyes at the end. "Judy. There is no way a simple cloned brain could have those memories or enough, anything, to do that, unless they were being cloned from a living piece of the original brain and had his engram uploaded to it in some way."

Judy nodded as Honey entered looking over her tablet. "Hey, Judy…" Looking up and seeing both of them in tears. "Uhm…"

Judy motioned for Honey to go ahead. "It's not fine, but I need to hear what you have to say."

Honey nodded. "So… I was able to get enough DNA to profile the brain. Red fox, but there were some weird things done to it. Kinda like you see with a clone, but also not. Weird, and kinda concerning. There was enough there to be a full fox brain. I really think it was, but there were parts of it disabled or limited in function by the genetic alterations and the electronics. I think the issue they are trying to test and overcome is how to wipe the memories of the brain's original host while keeping them at the same time.

That brain is clearly being used as a kind of central control processor. It allows the remote operator to just give basic directions and instructions, and then the onboard brain can do all the complex local actions. It's macabre and twisted, but kinda genius as well. Only, they couldn't do this unless the brain was at least mostly intact mentally. It's kinda been deliberately damaged to suppress the personality. Like someone who is mentally handicapped."

Judy just nodded and turned to Fin. "They lied. He either didn't actually die, or his chip worked. Judy turned to her computer and hit a specific address in her browser. A few moments later a pair of icons appeared.

A voice coming from her system, slow, but faster than the mammals in question would be able to communicate in person. One of the icons glowing to indicate who was speaking. "We have been monitoring. Of course. What do you wish us to do?"

"Hack GenoM. Find him, Nine. SlowBurn. Find him. If you need me to buy you a server farm, I'll do it. Just find him. Find out what they did to him. I don't care what it takes."

A slightly different voice, an almost feminine tone to it, replied. "We begin. If we need, we will let you know."

"Thank you."

Honey looked between the computer, Fin, and Judy. "What the what? Find who? Do you know who this is?" Judy just played the recording of the Boomer while the brain had control. Honey's paws flew to her muzzle. "Oh my gods. They would need him fully intact for them to build brains like this. I cannot imagine what they have been doing to him this whole time."

Judy made a call as Fin and Honey went back to their work, both equally shell shocked by the revelation. When the line picked up, Judy didn't give them a chance to respond. "You and Lizz need to get here now. Like three days ago, now. I need you guys or I'm going to lose my shit, and I'm nothing but a brain in a jar, as Fin put it."

Lizz responded. "Judy. What's the matter. You actually sound like you are crying."

"That's because I am, and if you don't get here fast, I will do something I will seriously regret.

"We're on the way."

"Thanks guys." With that she hung up and stared at the image of the boomer as it spoke and made the hand gestures she knew so well, tears running down her cheeks until her body ran out of water to use.

Some time later, Fin escorted Mike, Lizz, and Ben into Judy's office. Lizz stepped up and pulled Judy into a hug. "Hey, Judy. We're here. What's up?"

Judy turned to face them. "Hey guys. Oh. Hey, Ben. Welcome. We'll show you around later. So… The Boomers. That's what I was fighting out there, Ben. They're a military project from GenoM. A mix of cyborg and drone. There is a brain onboard to do all the hard local stuff, so they can perfectly mimic a mammal, while a remote operator gives it direction. It's simpler to have a brain to do all the local stuff, instead of programming. More efficient, I suppose.

The brain acts like a central processor for the body, and lets it function while out of contact. It's got local programs that would let it operate independently for periods or as a grunt drone soldier. Honey was able to get a genotype off the brain I was able to recover. All of them use cloned brains. Red fox…"

Lizz kneeled down. "Judy… Doesn't mean it's him."

Judy shook her head. "Yeah, if it was just that, I'd agree with you. But you see. The brains are deliberately modified, cloned and copied from an intact brain. According to Honey, it's the only way to get it to do the job it does. But with a deliberately suppressed personality. Like someone with brain damage. Then there is this."

Judy played the recording. "Help me. I need… Help me. Help me. Carrots. Help me. Carrots. Carrots. I need… Carrots. I need. Help. Carrots."

They stared at the screen in shock as Judy looked at them all. "The genotype plus that…" Indicating the screen. "Makes it hard to think it's anyone else, Lizz. That's got to be Nick. And if not, it's someone we knew, and knows that I will respond to that. I called in a few favors. I don't know how long it is going to take, but I will know, and then I will go in and get him. Gods help GenoM if it really is actually Nick. I asked you here to keep me from doing anything rash. In reality, I think I was just calling you here to let you know what's coming."

Lizz glanced at Mike who gave her a nod. "We get it, Judy. If it isn't Nick, we're going to ask that you be a bit more circumspect. If it is Nick. We wouldn't stand in your way. But… The Borg will become a true vigilante at that point, regardless of the reason."

Judy nodded. "I know. It wouldn't matter though. Anyway." Holding out a drive with the data on it. "Here's my recordings from talking to Jacob, etc… He's here in a holding cell. Given that I had to take down four Boomers, who were happy to fight it out right in front of a Precinct, on camera, I think him staying here for now is best. I can let you talk to him."

Mike shook his head. "No. I'll take the data, but until this whole thing shakes out, you are right. He's safest here, and if he has any luck, he'll strike a deal with the prosecutor."

Judy smiled. "He's got enough dirt on the Kats, I expect he will be able to. Though he'll have to leave the city and disappear for the rest of his existence."

Mike nodded thoughtfully. "I expect that is correct."

Judy's terminal lit up with the slowly spinning logos of Nine and SlowBurn. Nine speaking, his logo lighting up to indicate who was. "Hello, Judy. Everyone. We have some information already. GenoM needs better security. It was not even difficult."

SlowBurn's logo lit up. "Nine is correct. We have confirmed that Nick did in fact die in the explosion as thought. However, his eChip was not damaged and was not from the bad batch as was claimed in the trial. They specifically swapped the serial numbers. They also took his genetic sample and used it to clone him. However, it was not to return him intact to his body. It appears to only be a modified version of his brain."

Nine speaking again. "This version is oddly advanced. We do not understand all the data we have collected so far. Hopefully Honey can understand it. We do not know where he is being kept, but there is discussion of using what he became after being inserted into this modified brain to make copies to use in dedicated purpose borgs."

SlowBurn picking up again. "Things from what we could match by description, as the boomers, to fighter planes, and just about anything else. Almost like he is being used to create an AI of sorts."

Judy sighed. "Okay. Keep at it. I assume you already sent the data to Honey."

SlowBurn replied. "We have. We do know that using a living brain as the core of a stable AI was proposed a few different times, but deemed ethically problematic. At best. It seems GenoM management decided those were not problems for them, as long as the brain was that of a fox."

Nine continued. "Especially as we know Nick was smarter than most, and his drive, because of you, Judy, was exceptional. It probably kept his mind from imploding. We have located more Boomers. Earlier ones. They do not have the physical tic of the paw signs. It is a newer issue, which means Nick has somehow figured out how to bypass their controls of him in some minor way. It is probably why they have been so aggressive with the self-destruction of the units. They are trying to figure out how he is doing it, though they likely do not know the meaning of the paw signs."

SlowBurn continued. "Yes. You'll notice that the one you disconnected paused, looked around and confirmed where it was. Likely confirming that it wasn't in a lab or such, before calling out to you. It didn't know that you were you, but more getting the message out there."

Nine chuckled. "A message in a bottle, to you. He knows, just as he would do for you. You will burn the world to get to him. We will help."

Judy slumped in her chair. "Thank you. I'll check in with Honey later, if she doesn't come running to explain it."

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Judy smiled weakly. "Hey, Ben. How you been?"

Ben shook his head with a smile. "Feeling a little slighted, as I wasn't let in on the fact that you were the Borg. Though, I'm liking the new body. Mike says you're a full conversion now? Not sure what that means."

Judy chuckled, the chest of her body opening and stepping out in her housing. "Because, as Fin put it. I'm nothing but a brain in a jar at this point. Well, this mobile housing." Retreating back into the body and blinking her eyes as she reconnected, the chest closing again. "Just a brain in a jar, though Honey and Fin have hooked me up with a housing that is a lot more than just that. Then again, all my bodies are heavily modified."

Ben looked her over in shock. "Oh… Oh wow! I don't even know how that would work."

Judy shrugged. "Hard to describe. Once I'm fully connected, all my perceptions are from the senses of the body. Sure, there are extra things in various HUD type displays, and I have more… limbs, I guess would be the best description of how it feels. It's really something you'd need to experience. But then, I've got all sorts of brain connection implants and such to make it possible at all."

"Neat. I heard that full conversion is a bad thing because the person tends to go crazy."

Judy laughed. "Well, I was already crazy, but I can understand that. If you had limited perception, if things like the sensation of touch were limited or missing, then it could definitely cause a mammal problems. The way I am set up, once I am in the body, it is impossible to tell that it isn't my body, because it is. There is a very distinctive shift in perception from the housing to the body. But once I'm one or the other, that is my perception. To me, once I am fully connected, it just, is, me. So maybe that's why? Now I can change bodies according to my needs, which is kinda amazing really."

Ben nodded with a smile. "It kinda is. I guess, if anyone could handle it, it would be you."

Judy shrugged. "Well, for the longest time I was part of a lung, about two thirds of my spine, and maybe three quarters of my skull. I really shouldn't have survived at all, I will give GenoM that. What all of what happened has Mike and Lizz told you?"

Ben shook his head. "I know basically nothing."

"Then, let me cook you all dinner since you came here to talk me down and I dumped a Francine sized pile of dung on you."

Ben frowned. "Can you even eat?"

Judy laughed lightly. "Actually, yes. It refreshes the nutrient levels of my housings life support systems and the bodies additional stores that keep the housing topped up until disconnect. This body is designed to simulate just about all normal bodily functions. I can eat and enjoy food, in fact, I can taste it as well if not better than before. My nose far exceeds anyone else on the planet I'm willing to bet, same with hearing, sight. Oh, and I can have all the sex I want, and enjoy it. In fact, if you want to finally try rabbit…" Giving Ben a wink to his sudden blush as Judy and the rest laughed. "We know you only have eyes for one certain buffalo pair."

Ben pouted a moment. "Mean bunny."

WIth that and some lighter laughter, they moved to the kitchen area that was set up so Fin, Honey, and Judy could have food other than delivery. She got to work quickly, making a large batch of shrimp pasta for the group. She figured they assumed, but she really was in fact using the very fact that she was a cyborg to prevent them from seeing just how shook and upset she was. The distraction of cooking helped as well.

They reminisced, and then saw her guests off. Once they were gone, she let the mask fall and headed for the lowest levels. She had learned a lot working with Fin and Honey when they built up her company, before it was stolen from her, by GenoM. Now it was time to dig up a few old projects. Things she had come up with in dark moments thinking of revenge against GenoM for stealing her company and Nick because of the faulty chip. Now, given what she now knew, it was time to finish a few of them. Only, she had new and better tech now, so it would be a good place to start, to direct herself away from the current desire to figure out how to hack a military satellite and call down an orbital strike.