Alex's eyes fluttered open to fluorescent lighting and the smell of antiseptic, the droning buzz of hospital equipment ringing in his ears. He found himself in a patient bed, the top sheet draped over his torso, and his clothes replaced with a hospital gown. He gradually sat up onto his elbows and rolled his neck in both directions, sighing at each satisfying crack.
"What a fever dream," he moaned to himself. "Walking, talking, nearly stabbing, animals. I must've hit my head pretty hard."
He reached for his face to rub his eyes and was hit immediately by a questionable pain. A finger traced along the ridge of his nose, and a dull throb followed his touch. A familiar uneasiness snaked its way up his spine. He glanced around the room and absorbed some concerning sights: Surgical tools with widely customized handles, a comically oversized blood pressure armband, and nearly three dozen mammalian anatomy diagrams lining the side wall.
His eyes darted to the room's door just in time to see a deer's figure zip away from the rectangular window. The uneasiness began contorting into dread followed by his body squirming in fear under the soft sheets. A feeling of metal scraped against his ankle as he moved. He frantically yanked the covers away to find one end of a handcuff wrapped around his ankle, the chain dripping to the white tiles below, and the other clipped to a metal loop bolted to the floor.
The sound of a door latch tore him from his thoughts, the heavy white door swinging open lazily. Bickering could be heard just past the threshold, which only seemed to bolster his rapidly developing anxiety. After a few seconds, the sounds stopped, and the first foot – or paw – planted itself inside the room.
One by one, animals of various species and sizes walked bipedally inside. It took almost a full minute for all five figures to enter, shuffle around each other uncomfortably, and find a place to stand where they could gawk at Alex. The human's eyes bounced between each figure as a painful silence enveloped the room's sterile air.
In front of Alex stood a buffalo, fox, rabbit, panther, and armadillo, all of them with shockingly human clothes, expressions, and mannerisms. The fox, rabbit, and buffalo all wore matching dark blue police uniforms and stood packed next to each other, the buffalo towering over the other two by at least 5 or 6 feet. He was amazed that the immense size difference didn't phase each other in the slightest.
The female rabbit stood only 3 or so feet off the ground, maybe an extra foot taller if you included the ears. She was covered in light gray fur with accents of white under her mouth and nose. She had a wild array of emotions dancing across her features: concern, unease, and curiosity, just to name a few. The fox next to the rabbit was a bit more difficult to read. Confusion was easily understood, but everything else was a toss-up. He was about a foot taller than her, and only a couple of inches taller than her ears, an orange-reddish coat of fur covering most of his body with splotches of cream poking out from his chest and leading up to his muzzle. His pointed ears were raised and alert like warning lights on top of his head. The buffalo had the most distinctive features of the three officers. He had glossy blue and gray fur with two horns on top of his head, curling out to the sides and up into themselves like a handlebar mustache. Not a single emotion could be read on those grizzled features. All three had police utility belts with empty holsters.
The other two mammals were dressed in stark contrast to the officers. The female panther wore a pair of black slacks and a blazer, a white dress shirt poking out from underneath, and a thin red tie to bring the outfit together. Her fur was already black, which made her attire seem all the more intimidating, the red tie looking like blood dripping from her neck. She had a glare that could cut through steel, and shockingly bright yellow eyes that Alex avoided at all costs. Her entire demeanor was reminiscent of something Alex had seen in a spy movie.
Next to the panther, the male armadillo shuffled nervously, matching the rabbit's height almost identically. He was a tannish brown and littered with what looked like black freckles. He wore a white lab coat with a couple of pens poking their heads from the breast pocket. His pants were a light blue, similar to scrubs, and were so small they could almost be considered shorts with his frame. A clipboard was tucked under one of his arms.
Not a single animal in the room wore shoes. Huh. Go figure.
Even with the excruciatingly unpleasant silence hanging around, he took the tiniest amount of comfort knowing the predators weren't going to maul and eat him. They easily would've done so by now, and he doubted that rabbit would still be here if that was the case.
"Can you understand me?" The panther broke the silence, an authoritative tone oozing from her lips.
Alex flinched, then nodded in a twitchy fashion.
"Can you speak?" She continued.
Alex nodded again, then returned a tired and raspy "Yes."
"Good," she stated matter of factly. "What are you?"
Alex blinked, never thinking he'd be asked that question in his lifetime.
"A h-human," he choked out.
The armadillo pulled the clipboard out in front of him and began taking notes.
"Do you have a name?"
"Alex," he gulped. "A-alex Baker"
"Where did you come from?"
"Um… Earth? Maybe?"
He wasn't entirely sure if that was what they were looking for, but he clearly gave a wrong answer.
"Where specifically?" her voice didn't change in volume, but there was a clear adjustment in aggression.
"N-north America?" He tried again. "United States? Connecticut? New Haven?"
The armadillo furiously scribbled notes to the point it seemed like the pen would break, his features formed a disbelieving look after each mentioned location. After dotting the last note, the panther and armadillo exchanged sidelong glances, then returned to their interrogation.
"How did you get into the city?"
Alex opened his mouth to answer but closed it quickly, shuffling uncomfortably under the hospital bed sheet.
I don't even know what city I'm in. He thought to himself. How do I explain what happened? Do I even know what happened? Would they believe me? Is that the question they're even looking for?
Alex was broken from his inner monologue by the sound of a throat clearing, the panther cocking her head and boring holes into him with her deep yellow eyes.
"I…" Alex tried responding. "I don't know…"
The panther remained still, which Alex was unsure of how to interpret. She peered around the room briefly, the other animals giving each other nervous glances.
"Do you know where you are right now?" She finally asked.
"N-no," Alex squeaked.
"You're almost a mile below the city," she continued. "Nobody except the people in this room knows where you are right now. No radio, cellular, or satellite signal can pass through the walls. That chain attached to your leg is hooked up to electricity. And, your only exit is the door behind me. That's where you are."
Alex gulped in response, tears forming in the corners of his eyes
"How did you get into Zootopia?" She asked again, a bit more sternly this time.
"I-I don't know!" Alex yelled back desperately. "I really don't know!"
The panther was unmoved by his retort and chose to remain silent.
Alex didn't want to find out what happened after being asked the question a third time.
"I swear I'm not lying!" Alex was getting more and more frantic. "I blacked out and woke up in an alley! I don't know how I got here! I don't know where 'Zootopia' even is! Please! I don't know what you want from me!"
The tears welling in his eyes turned into streams rolling down his cheeks as he pleaded with the panther. He held his arms out in front of him helplessly, palms facing the group, and his hands trembling wildly.
"With all due respect, Ma'am," the rabbit interjected, her voice matching the authority of the panther. "I think this might require a different approach."
The rabbit turned her head towards Alex, took a small step towards the hospital bed, and put on her best sympathetic smile. He looked at her with red and puffy eyes.
"My name is Judy Hopps," she put a paw on her chest as she spoke. "That's my partner Nick and our boss Bogo. We're Zootopia Police Officers."
She gestured briefly to the two mammals behind her, the fox giving a simple half-wave of his paw and the buffalo remaining motionless.
"We found you last night in the middle of the street with a broken nose," she continued. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Alex was quiet briefly, trying to wipe away the tears as they formed.
"I-I was attacked," he eventually answered. "A jackal… I think… Male. Wearing a black hoodie and jeans. His face had brown and white skin… or fur… Sorry."
Alex paused to calm his breathing, a few choked sobs escaping as he did so. Judy smiled and nodded her head gently in a reassuring manner.
"Um… I got punched." Alex briefly touched his sore nose again. "And a knife was pulled on me. He ran when he heard your car I guess. I don't remember anything after that."
"Do you know why he assaulted you?" She pressed.
"The… purse. I-I was running and crashed into him. He dropped it, and it didn't look like his. I assumed he was trying to get away. So, I threw it out of reach."
"What were you running from?" The panther butted in.
"A…" Alex sat on the question for a moment, knowing the reason might not make sense to them. He sighed to himself before finally giving his response. "I saw a bear. It… I mean, he spooked me."
"Spooked you?" Judy cocked an eyebrow "Were you threatened?"
"No," Alex replied tiredly. "I just… It's hard to explain. I woke up in this city… in this world where the people aren't… people anymore. Walking down the road was just… unnerving. Things felt familiar, but the closer I looked, the stranger they got. Then, I run into a bear just waltzing down the street? I mean, I know what a bear is, but I've never seen one like this. Walking… Talking… Acting like a person. I-I didn't know what to make of it… I didn't know if I was in danger… But, I knew I wouldn't win against something with two feet and a couple hundred pounds on me. I didn't want to take the chance. So, I ran."
Everyone in the room was quiet. Nobody was sure how to respond to that.
"Nice monologue," The panther scowled. "Do you rehearse it often?"
"He's not lying," The cape buffalo, Bogo, chimed in, his deep and grizzled voice perfectly matching his enormous size and posture. "We've seen the security footage of the jackal incident. The only other thing we found on camera is him wandering the streets. He looked pretty clueless; seemingly popped out of nowhere. His story checks out… for now at least"
Judy beamed at Bogo for his support but couldn't help but roll her eyes at his little addition at the end.
"Nothing we have on film is important right now," The panther grabbed the conversation by the throat. "What happened directly before you woke up here?"
"Please, Alex," Judy agreed. "Anything you can remember?"
"I was…" Alex tried to speak, but sighed in defeat. "It's going to sound insane."
"Your existence alone is pretty insane," the fox, Nick, laughed. "Try us."
Alex crossed his arms and exhaled slowly. He exchanged glances with everyone in the room, various hues of nervous anticipation all being returned.
"There was this storm," he said. "It wasn't like any other storm I'd seen in my life. The lightning… was purple. And, right before it hit, I heard a strange buzzing sound, and things started… floating…and…"
Alex looked over the room once more, trying to gauge his story's reception. All the looks of nervous anticipation had now changed to crestfallen disbelief.
"I told you…" He groaned. "If only I could show y-"
Alex's eyes shot open.
"My phone!" He yelled. "I-I recorded it! I have proof! You have it, right?"
The panther looked at the armadillo and gestured toward the door with her head. He returned a nod and quickly huffed out of the room. Three unbearably quiet minutes passed before he re-entered with the device enclosed in a clear plastic box. He meticulously opened the case, pulled out the phone, and began walking towards Alex with it.
"Colin!" The panther growled, stopping the armadillo in his tracks. "Don't give it to him." She turned her head towards the human. "Password?"
"1 - 9 - 6 - 3" Alex spat, rolling his eyes when he saw the Armadillo sheepishly scribble down his pincode. "My 'Photos' app should be pinned at the bottom. Check the most recent videos, they'll have footage of what I'm talking about."
Alex watched the armadillo poke about the screen until it looked like he found the app. There was a pregnant pause in his motions. He glanced up to meet Alex's eyes, an apprehensive look growing on his features then began swiping across the screen. He swiped away as Alex's face contorted into confusion.
"You should've found them by now…" Alex said.
The armadillo hunched forward uncomfortably, looked unsurely at his colleague, then flipped the phone in his paw so the screen faced Alex. What he saw made his heart sink: A black screen with text in all white capital letters: 'File Missing or Corrupted.'
"W-what?" Alex squeaked. "A-all of them?!"
"I-It looks like it," Colin timidly answered in his relatively high-pitched and nasally tone.
"No…" The sound of Alex's heartbeat monitor began to hasten. "No, no, no, no! L-let me see!"
He reached his arm out asking for his phone, but the panther responded with a deep clearing of her throat. That one tiny guttural sound transferred all of Alex's stress and fear directly into rage. He could almost feel his blood begin to boil.
"You don't get to make requests here," The panther narrowed her eyes. "This charade has to end. We need usable information, not this little fairy tale you've tossed togeth-."
"Stop!" Alex screamed.
The buzz of fluorescent bulbs and Alex's heavy breathing drowned out the stillness in the room. Nick, Judy, and Bogo all wore looks of pure shock, their hands hovering over their empty holsters, while Colin tried to hide behind his clipboard. The panther was completely unphased.
"I don't care that you don't believe me… I have no fucking clue how I got here," Alex released an exasperated sigh and pointed at the glitchy phone resting between Colin's fingers. "And, at least I'm fucking trying."
"Alex…" Judy spoke cautiously. "We want to help you figure out-"
"No." he interrupted. "You want answers."
Silence from Judy.
"I get it," Alex continued looking down at his lap. "You have a job to do, and I'm an unknown creature that popped out of an alleyway. I'm not naive. I'll tell you everything I can. But… not now."
He curled up in the hospital bed away from the crowd, tears reforming in his eyes. He tried to hide the sniffles, but he wasn't fooling anybody
"I'm really freaked out," he croaked. "I don't know what's going on. I… Just… leave me alone… Please."
Alex tiredly stared at the back wall. He didn't need to watch them to know they were silently trying to come to an agreement as to what to do next. A decision was eventually made to not push any further, and the shuffling of paws and hoofs against the tiled floor reverberated off the walls. Not another word was spoken as the room emptied. The door shut with a light click, leaving the human in stillness once again.
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