Chapter 13: Training Day

Bunnyburrow…South Bunnyburrow...Present Day.

As Kaiden finished recounting his latest memories, the trio sat in silence. Nick was visibly shaken by what he just heard. Judy just sat on the edge of the nearby table, still in shock, the startling imagery of his words painted clear in her mind. She stared off into space, the flashback of Kaiden's last night with Lily played in her head again. Her eyes welled with water and instinctively blinked as the moment of the shot rang out in her head. Two tears streamed down her face and an audible pat-pat as they each hit the floor.

She let out an audibly ragged breath as her emotions were boiling over. "I'm sorry, excuse me." She whispered trying to keep them contained just one moment longer. The bunny left the room and went out the front door to get some air. The sound of a muffled sob and a sharp gasp came back toward them. Nick trailed behind her by a few paces. The older fox was left alone and all of a sudden, he felt pangs of guilt. This was his history, and the recounting of all of it just seemed to be bringing nothing but pain to his friends. They volunteered to come along given Kaiden's breakdown yesterday, but the fox thought 'perhaps this is too much'. The fox stood off the edge of the plant bench that he was leaning against and walked back through the house toward the front.

The soft thud of his metal feet clacking against the burnt wood floor and scrapped against the dirt as he shifted his weight. He walked out front and saw Nick comforting Judy. Kaiden could see the tear-stained section of the fabric over his shoulder that caught the bunny's tears. Nick didn't look at him. The older fox pressed his tongue against his teeth considering the next move, but the obvious one jumped to the forefront of his mind.

"You know what, that's it. We're done." The fox finally said, with a soft tone of regret in his voice.

Nick finally tilted his head, acknowledging the fox's words, Judy lifted her head and turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm done putting you through all this, I'm sorry I asked you to even come." The fox uttered a frustrated grunt. "This is not your problem, this is mine. It was unfair of me to dump this on you."

Judy looked back at Nick's chest, placing her paws on it and then looked up at him. "Nick, I'm ok, it's alright."

This caused the fox to look down at her in disbelief, his eyes went wide.

The bunny tapped his chest to reassure him "No, it's alright, really. I….I just needed to get that out, it was a lot at once."

"You sure?" Nick asked.

"I'll be ok, I promise" she replied trying to reassure him, wiping the remaining tears nestled under her eyes.

He finally loosened his embrace and let her out. The bunny immediately turned and paced toward the older fox. Kaiden was at first unsure of her reaction, half expecting her to smack him. His eyes went wide when the first thing she did upon stepping close to him was lean forward and hug him.

"Judy." He started.

"You didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve any of it." She said consoling.

The older fox just heaved a sigh.

"You didn't deserve what happened to your parents that tried to take you away from that, what happened to you when they abducted you, what they did to you wife, none of it "she said "none of it." This time with emphasis.

"What they did to you was monstrous." She commented.

"And they created a monster." The words leaping from his lips before he considered them.

Judy shifted and grabbed him by the collar and dragged him off balance, causing him to take a knee, putting his head on the same level as her. She grabbed his head by the jowls to keep him to turning away.

"You are not a monster!" she exclaimed. "Do you understand me! You are not a monster! You are hurt and scared and more than that, in pain. It hurts. Everything hurts. The pain killers, the booze, you are trying to deaden a pain and it won't go away."

The cyberfox's eyes fixated on hers, and hers on his, he said nothing, no words or even thoughts crossed his mind, in a rare moment he was completely focused on the words of this grey bunny.

"It's not the limbs, it's not the blood. It's your heart. It's Lily. She's gone, they took her from you. And you don't want to even conceive of a world where she's not in it let alone live there."

The bunny took a breath as her emotions were welling up again "That's why you want to die then and there, you want to be with her. Because she wasn't just your mate, she was your beloved. She represented all that was good, and kind and decent in this world. And you feel they killed those things along with her."

Judy used her right paw to pet Kaiden's face and took another breath to steady herself.

"And the reason you didn't let yourself die, 10 years ago was because you are a good fox. And you wanted to stop the bad guys from doing that to anyone ever again. Not revenge, not even justice. You wanted to protect other mammals from going through this like you did. Because you knew what they were capable of."

The bunny sighed again. "You need to forgive yourself." She said bluntly.

This caused a reaction in the fox, one of surprise but still no verbal response.

"You need to forgive yourself" she repeated, this time a whisper as she let go of his head and stepped back.

"You've done good and bad, but you always did it because you believed what you were doing was making things better. Making the world a better place. And you got misled along the way. I of all bunnies can understand that." She spoke.

Kaiden picked himself up off his knees, dusting them off and took a deep breath, trying to let her words sink in.

Nick was pondering all of this and finally stood forward when certain things he was working out finally prompted him to see beyond the obvious.

"I have a question." Nick stated.

The pair turned to look at Nick, and they could both tell something was on his mind.

"There is one thing about your story that immediately makes me need to ask this."

The older fox raised an eyebrow and Judy squinted wondering what Nick was thinking.

"You said you wife was pregnant?"

"Yes…." Kaiden squinted wondering where the younger fox was going.

"How? Because last I checked, a fox and a bunny can't… well you know."

"I don't think I like where you're going with this." Kaiden replied

"Nick. You can't be suggesting that." Judy responding incredulously.

"Judy, I'm not suggesting anything" Nick paced up to Judy and picked up her paws into his hands. "I'm saying a fox and a bunny can't. As much as they might want to someday. As much as they could ever want anything. But what he's saying…. That's impossible. So the question has to be asked, could their possibly be….."

Kaiden interrupted. "I would highly recommend you not finish that line of questioning, Wilde." A subtle growl escaped his throat.

The pair turned to face the Fox, his hackles raised, he was clearly angry by what Nick was insinuating. "She loved me. She could have had anyone but she waited for me." The fox jabbing his chest.

"And you're sure the test was legit?" Nick asked.

"I saw the results, Nick, I had them in my friggin' paws. I had Boyd check the results 3 times. She was!" Kaiden replied emotionally.

"Then maybe that's why they came that night." Nick replied bluntly.

Kaiden flinched, "What?" he scoffed.

"Maybe that's why they came that night. You said you wife was working on many research projects, and you also tell us that she figured out how to get pregnant by you, which as far as I know, isn't possible. Don't you think that if she figured out how to do that, that the council might have been interested in what else she figured out, maybe other members of her team? Then like so many things, they screwed up. Used too much force knowing you were in there, more over knowing that you had the ability to kill them."

Judy picked up on what Nick was implying and her mouth fell agape slightly and ran it through her own mind., she turned to Kaiden.

"Out of curiosity, did Bureau 13 ever look into her other research partners. Did you guys ever look them up?"

Kaiden curled his lips and bit down on it slightly as he closed his eyes in frustration and realization before answering "No, we didn't. I…. I didn't."

The trio sat there for several moments, the realization that everything that seemed to be, suddenly wasn't and the cyberfox was again feeling duped by circumstances. He had been so focused on what he has done, his history. He never once considered that there might have been another reason. "But Why?" he thought.

"A trail that cold…" the fox muttered. "We need to go."

Judy held up a paw "No."

"No?" both Kaiden and Nick replied.

"No." she responded. "Kaiden, we're not done yet."

"Screw this trip down memory lane, Judy."

"No we need to finish this."

"Why?"

"A few reasons. A, this trail is not going to get any colder than it already is. B, I want to know the rest of the story. And C, If Nick is right, we are going to need you focused and ready more than ever. And I don't want you to hesitate at the wrong moment because we abandoned this journey now. Besides by my reckoning, you should be almost caught up to the present."

The cyberfox's expression softened and a small smile crept up on his muzzle, she really did care about him, and she really wasn't going to let up on this. Kaiden relented.

"You're right. We're almost there. I just have one more thing to tell you. This one though, well depending on how you look at it is a doozy."

"You want to start?" Judy offered.

"Yeah." Kaiden pointed up the hill to a nearby tree, they could see a head stone up there surrounded by several stalky looking plants, with white flowers with purple centers on them, Lilies.

The trio paced away from the house and began walking up toward the end of their journey.

Zootopia…Near the Outback District…10 years ago…

Finding Milton Hamilton Jr. was a lot harder than it was made out to be. After investigating several leads with Kerberos ultimately turning up empty. Along the way however, they had learned from rumor, that Hamilton had been abducted and tortured not for the design information behind his invention but for a rather bizarre reason. The suggestion was that the Council's interest was for his mind not just his knowledge. The pair pondered what the distinction was, but their imaginations weren't vivid enough to conjure its true meaning. However, precisely because of this, it elevated their sense of urgency to rescue the squirrel. Whatever their reasoning and ultimate truth, Mr. Hamilton was as far as the council was concerned was a resource to them.

They had managed to track down the transport that the squirrel had been on, which led to the "Zootopian Center for Diplomatic and Economic Prosperity". But known quite simply as the "Zootopian Embassy". It was a building in which representatives from all over the world were invited to send ambassadors to study how Zootopia works and operates, acting as a model to the world of how animals of all types can live, work and play together.

Being the political and cultural center that it was, the council naturally saw it as a prime target for their bid for control. Kaiden and Kerberos were approaching the building by air, a stealth helicopter that was flying them in. It was itself of custom design, quick, quiet and if needed armed. The engine's rotors were being quieted by dampeners and a noise reduction system known as "Whisper" that Kaiden had noted the labeling on the cockpit panel. This had reduced the normally deafening sound of the helicopter substantially, though still loud from their perspective but according to Kerberos it would be practically unnoticed by anyone on the ground.

The hope was they would be able to find Hamilton and get out without any conflict. The pair sat in the back, the door open, looking down on the city below.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Kerberos pointed to the city below, the crackle of the headset catching the wind as he spoke over the helicopter's rotors.

"The city? Yes, yes, it is," answered Kaiden.

"First time here?" asked Kerberos

"Passed through Central Station once, but I've never lived here before."

"So those first ten years as a kit doesn't count?" Kerberos asked, contradicting Kaiden's reply

The fox stared at the bear but didn't say anything.

"It's not from a file, Talmadge told me. He figured I should know the truth." the bear responded.

"Right...Yeah, I lived here as a kit, but honestly, it's all bad memories that I'd like to just forget." Kaiden replied

"Fair enough." the bear nodded.

A few moments passed when the bear interjected again "You know, for this to work you have to be honest with me."

Kaiden shifted his weight, both because of the discomfort of his new hip attachment and his white lie he just told. "I...I'm"

"Don't apologize, just listen. This isn't the world you used to live in anymore, you don't have to lie or be on constant guard like you were with the MIA... with Jarod. You need to be honest with your partner, whoever that ends up being. You must be able to trust each other, your very lives will depend on it. So, let's get off on the right paw." Kerberos explained then nodded.

"It's amazing isn't it, the city? First time here?" Kerberos repeated his earlier question, gesturing toward Kaiden with his paw.

"Yeah, it is and no... No, I lived here as a kid, parents moved though...It's a lot different than the burrows. Mammals are denser with the hustle and bustle." Kaiden tried to find his footing in the conversation.

"There we go. It will be ok… You're a good fox, don't' let anyone tell you different. She would be proud of you." Kerberos comforted looking back at the passing cityscape

Kaiden looked at his compatriot puzzled.

"Why do you say that?"

Kerberos moved his gaze from the city to Kaiden.

"Because you never enjoyed this type of work, you did it because it was expected of you, because you were told to. Jarod… He enjoyed the killing; I knew it the first time I saw him spar. You were different, you didn't toy with your opponents, you just ended the fight."

"Thanks…I guess." the fox not sure if the observation was a compliment or not.

"I'm saying I'm sorry." the bear offered.

"What for?"

"I should have drummed you out. Failed you, they would have sent you home. I didn't know that your wife's parents would have raised you. I'm…I'm sorry." the bear winced at the road not taken.

"It's not your fault, Humphrey, it's the MIA's when they murdered my parents."

Kerberos visibly winced again when he heard those words, he had suspected the MIA procurement of their 'recruits' was suspect. He originally figured they had picked up runaways and wards of the state, but to know that the MIA had been assassinating parents put a chill in his bones. Now knowing better, he no longer put it past them. Hindsight it seems was 20/20.

"Still, I wanted to apologize."

"Thank you. For what it's worth, I never blamed you. I blamed them, they put me there. You were just trying to make sure we stayed alive. I understand, it was a shitty situation all around."

The bear smiled softly but still sadly, he knew he would never forgive himself, but to hear those words gave him a momentary reprieve from the contempt he had for himself, a blessing he knew he didn't deserve but accepted graciously anyway.

"Looks like family day or something down there." Kaiden replied as he pointed towards the main park in from of the embassy.

Kerberos looked along the fox's sight line. There was indeed a gathering of some sort in the park, in fact he could smell the aroma of bugaburgers and fried fish on a stick from here. A gathering of mammals, and a stage towards the back end of the park closest to the building, with a band playing live music. There was a picnic atmosphere, children playing, a plethora of blankets dotted around the landscape, families enjoying themselves, peace and happiness and yet a few hundred feet over their heads evil lurked. Kaiden decided he had to get used to the irony, this was Zootopia, where anyone can be anything. And in such a densely packed place, it made sense that good and evil would rub elbows on a regular basis.

The helicopter settled over the building at a height, Kerberos went to the back of the chopper, Kaiden looked out and down puzzled then back at the grizzly bear.

"Are we not going to land?" asked Kaiden.

Kerberos came back to Kaiden with a couple of black objects, looking like a small backpack but with a hard plastic and metal shell.

"Put it on," ordered Kerberos

"What is it?"

"It's what keeps you from being a big red and orange splat on the roof." Kerberos fired back.

Kaiden did as he was told, strapping the device onto him, it clearly wasn't a parachute.

"How do I use it?"

"You don't, it activates automatically 500 feet from touchdown."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"It'll be fine just go."

The two mammals readied themselves at either side of the helicopter and jumped. The experience down was as could be expected, noisy, windy. Falling like a pair of stones towards the helipad on the roof. The plan was to have them drop in quickly and use the element of surprise and only have the helicopter make a landing for their extraction. As they came near the roof as expected the devices whined and they created an intense sphere of electromagnetic energy pushing against the magnetic field of the planet itself slowing their decent, instead of slamming into the building at a suicidal 120 miles an hour, they slowed and touched down at a relatively gentle 5 miles an hour, making two loud 'thunks' as they each landed on the roof.

"Is it me or did that seem like it took a while?" asked Kaiden.

"Nah, it's just your imagination." Kerberos replied.

They walked to the nearby stairwell and broke in through the access door pausing just inside.

"Ok, what's the plan?" asked Kaiden

"Security Station. Something with camera and door assess controls." The grizzly bear muttered.

The descended down the stairs a bit, eventually stopping at a landing to one of the floors. Standing by the door leading out onto the floor.

"Ops, any map or layout you can provide?" Kerberos spoke seemingly directed at no one.

Kaiden raised an eyebrow at the bear, which he caught the glance and tapped the side of his head. This caused the fox's head to tilt sideways still not understanding what the bear was meaning.

"Please tell me you read the manuals you were given." The bear started

A transmission chirp and then a voice started speaking to them, and from Kaiden's perspective it sounded like the voice was coming from in his own head.

"This is operations, we read you five by five. We're sending you the layout blueprint over the Infolink, please review, but there is a Security Sub-station on level four." Said the voice.

"Woah!" Kaiden flinched and pawed at his ear. "Where the hell did that voice come from?"

Data streamed into his HUD being displayed in his vision, Kaiden tried to grasp at it with his paw and feeling nothing but air. "What' the hell is this?" he asked.

Kerberos, turned and stood in front of the confused fox. "Calm down Kaiden, that's Bureau 13 operations on the Infolink. It's a telecom augmentation that's connected to the visual and auditory areas on your brain. Operations can see and hear what you do as well as speak to you and send files and information regarding whatever it is your doing."

"Wait, you got me lo-jacked, they can see and hear…Wait what about my privacy?"

"They are only online when you're on mission, and there is a Do Not Disturb mode."

"I don't know if I like that."

The bear sighed "Think of them as your guardian angel. Or better yet, you know all those action movies you see nowadays."

"Yeah?"

"You know how the hero has their 'Mammal-in-the-chair'? Telling them things, where to go, where the bad guys are, supporting the hero with better awareness, that sort of thing?"

"Yeah."

"Well, now you have one, sitting at their workstation in the operations center of B13 headquarters, giving you access to the world of information at their fingertips, filtering that down to what you need or want to know and piping that to your through your Infolink."

"But they can dial in at any time, I mean from a technical standpoint."

The bear hesitated to answer the question for a moment but decided to just be honest.

"Y…Yes. From a technical standpoint they could. However, they don't because they know that the agents have downtime, and those agents want a sense of normalcy and more over not have to worry about who's looking over their shoulder. So as a matter of policy and morality, they don't unless you asked them to. If it's on a mission, then yeah, they will probably try to keep in contact, if you go offline, they will try to find you and dial in to make sure you're alright."

The bear stopped and took a break, heaving a slight sigh. "You need to learn to trust them Kaiden. They are there to help you, their focus is your life."

"You mean the mission?"

"No, I mean your life." The bear poked the fox in the chest. "These mammals understand what's being asked of you, of me, of all the augmented agents. They understand that there are real mammals hanging their lives on the line to achieve the goals, the mission. It's better that they recover an agent, then waste lives on any one mission, or objective. Because it's not like the corps of agents is expanding like the regular military. There aren't any 'reserves' coming to relieve us. If every field agent is expended, that's it, no more Bureau 13."

"But there are times when a sacrifice is…. necessary."

"Yeah, sometimes, and those times are few and far between because the agents are a precious resource. But let me just end it here, I guarantee you Kaiden, if that time comes, it will be the agent making that decision, not operations, not the director. They aren't going to flip a switch and cause the agent to explode or go crazy or whatever it is the hell you think they can do. That's not what this is about. They are your comrades, and in time I hope, friends."

The fox hung his head and took an almost ashamed expression.

"It's not your fault, you've been living in a world of fending for yourself and wondering if you're about to get stabbed in the back. That's not Bureau 13. It's important that you understand that if you are to thrive here."

"I'll try…" Kaiden replied sadly.

"That's all I ask. Now let's get going." The bear ordered.

The bear dropped his backpack and dropped it to the floor and got out two rifles, giving one to Kaiden.

"These are tranquilizer rounds, kind of like the one's the ZPD uses but these are more…. immediate in their effects. One dart and the target will be out before they feel the prick of the dart."

"So non-lethal takedowns?"

"Yes, keep in mind we are in the Zootopia Embassy. These are civilian guards, not soldiers, we aren't at war. So, our duty is to try and keep the body count to zero." The bear emphasized.

The bear handed several magazines of the tranquilizer ammo, Kaiden loaded one into the rifle and chambered a dart, then puts the surplus magazines in the retainers on his vest.

"I mean it kid; you only kill someone as a last resort." Kerberos shook his finger.

After dispensing the rifles and ammo, Kerberos rezipped the pack and slung it on his back.

"Alright let's take a look" Kerberos suggested, as he took control of the shared session of data between his HUD and Kaiden's. The fox marveled at how the bear was able to make the layout in his vision move and zoom.

"Ok, we're here, operations said there is a security station of level four, which is here. Thankfully these stairs go to four, and the cameras are in a sweep pattern, so we can with timing get past them as they swing away. It'll take a couple of more minutes, but we should be able to get to the security station unseen. There we can tie into the system, giving operations the chance to do what they do, running a loop and making us invisible. Hopefully we also access any layout that's not here. Like wherever the hell Hamilton is."

"Alright, seems like you got it worked out." The fox complimented.

"At least for this leg, yeah. Where we go after the security station, well, we'll find out."

The pair gathered themselves and descended the stairs. Every few floors they would evade a camera by waiting for it to swing away to peer at the downward stair and door. Sneaking under by pressing their bodies as flat against the wall as much as possible, wait for it to swing back, then descend the stair.

It was a ballet of timing and motions but eventually they descended to the fourth floor. Kerberos opened the door and peered out, being careful to not expose themselves. The floors of the embassy were made up of square rings, with an inner and outer track of offices. However, this floor had a balcony instead offering a view all the way to the ground floor. The carpet was a blue-green color that ran the circumference of all the floors that he could see.

The central elevators ran the height of the building and had partially open shafts. There were three shafts, and the glass elevators were stationed at different floors. The glass elevators while offering an impressive view afforded very little in the way of concealment. The shafts were on Kerberos' left, while the security office was to the right. The level seemed empty, with only a camera peering down each leg of the straight hallways.

As soon as Kerberos sighted the camera pointing toward their section of hallway, he quickly leaned back in.

"Shit." He muttered

"What's the problem?" Kaiden asked

"There is a camera pointed this way, it's not moving like the others, so once we step out into that hallway, we're boned."

"Is there a way to disable the camera."

The bear took a breath. "Yeah there is, problem is, if we disable the camera, they're gonna know somebody is here."

"So what do we do, abort or continue?"

"Nah, I got this." He answered reluctantly.

Kerberos, took the rifle, locked the slide back, catching the ejected dart, pushing the release button on the side to pop out the magazine, he popped the lose dart into the mag and attached it to his retainer clip. He pulled out a magazine with blue tipped 'darts' that had three prongs on the front and loaded that magazine into his rifle and chambered the munition.

"What is that?"

"These are electro-darts, basically like a tazer. It's for taking down bigger targets or targets that are resistant to regular tranq rounds. Except in this case, I'm going to use them to short out the camera."

"Is that going to work?"

"You have a better idea?"

The fox stayed silent.

"If anyone is looking at the feed when I shoot the camera they are going to come running out of that office to check it out, which means I'll need you with your tranq rifle ready to dart them, preferably before they raise the alarm or open fire."

Kaiden already was running the scenarios through his head and realized it was moves like these that generally ended a mission badly.

"I got your back." The fox nodded.

"Good, because I need you to incase this goes sideways. Ready?"

"Set."

Kerberos pressed his back against the door frame and prepositioned with rifle in front of him, his plan, he would lean out, ready his rifle and take his shot. At the same time, Kaiden would sprint out the door toward the security office on the assumption a guard would coming out to check the downed camera.

"Ok, on three…"

The fox readied himself on the balls of his feet, clutching his rifle. The bear took several deep breaths to steady his blood flow, to make the shot.

"Three." The bear said, as he leaned out, brought his rifle up in a singular snap, took aim and fired the dart. He heard it smack into the camera and the sound of the dart surging it. He felt Kaiden rush past his legs and into the hallway.

The fox bounded down the hallway, with only the 'Pffff, Pfff' sounds of his feet landing on the carpet. He slid to a stop just before the door making sure he didn't overshoot. He saw a secure badge access locking the door, however there was a window in the top half. He took a breath and peeked in.

Inside was a monitor bank, a desk with a keyboard and mouse, a standing cup of coffee, pencils, pens, paper, clipboard with a signature checkout sheet on it. But no one was in the office, completely unoccupied.

Kaiden turned toward Kerberos and gestured with hand signals. "It's empty."

The bear visibly was confused and rose an eyebrow "What?" he mouthed. Kaiden saw this and responded audibly. "It's empty, come look."

The bear with a confused expression on his face left his position against the door frame and quickly paced down the hallway and peered into the office.

"It's empty." He stated.

Kaiden's face took one of frustration. "That's what I said."

Kerberos quickly thought of the meaning but realized something else. "Quick, open the door. We have to reset that camera before someone in another security station sees it."

The fox reached into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a small device with an attached ribbon cable that ended in a rfid card, holding up the rfid card to the reader, he turned the device on and activated it. It quickly started to run through it's programed routine and Kaiden saw the display on the device cycling through codes.

"There is a faster way to open doors like this kid." The bear said, as he pulled out a stun gun and held the tines against the frame of the door. "Watch out." He warned as he discharged the device.

There was a loud pop, as the magnetic lock fried and it disengaged the locking plate, the bear pressed open the door, as the fox sat there surprised. "Ooookay." As he gathered his rfid device followed Kerberos into the security office.

Kerberos, slung his backpack off and went into it, grabbing a small purpose build minicomputer in the palm of his paw.

"What's that?" the fox asked.

"It's a microcomputer, designed with several applications or 'Apps'." The bear answered, trying to navigate its menu.

Kerberos walked over and searched for a USB port in the console, eventually finding it, he tied his device into it and ran one of the 'Apps' displayed on the touchscreen.

"This is operations, we are getting access into the system, standby." Chimed in the operator through their Infolinks.

"Yeah from what I hear Lucas Technologies has developed these things for the civilian market."

"Really?" Kaiden smirked.

"Yeah, something called an iCarrot or some such nonsense. They think it's going to replace good old fashioned cell phones."

"I could see the use, being able to look things up in the palm of your paw."

"Pshhh, you kidding? What are people going to look up, besides look at the size of this thing, who wants to go back to carrying a brick, and you can't even fold it. It'll never catch on." The bear said dismissively.

"Ok, we've gotten into the system, thanks guys. I have gone ahead and ran a loop of the existing areas and set them on repeat, you're as good as invisible. Also took the opportunity to restart the camera you zapped." spoke the Operator.

"Thanks, anything you can provide for us?" Kerberos asked.

"Yes, it seems that, there are sub-basements not in the original layout diagram, at least 4 subfloors, based on various power level readings, we think our objective is on sublevel 3 or 4." The operator started. "And uh…."

"What's the problem, go on." Replied Kaiden.

"There are cameras in the elevator lobby in the sub-basement. Tuning your monitor them now."

A couple of the monitors on the security station changed to the mentioned cameras.

"Ok roger, can you loop them?"

"No, that's the problem, I can tap into the feed from here, but to control the feed will require attaching the DataThief to a control board in the sub-basement security office."

"Of course it does. Because it couldn't be easy." Kerberos rolled his eyes and smirked towards Kaiden.

Kerberos took control of the camera console and looked through the various floors for guards and other personnel, while he saw office workers in various locations, there didn't seem to be that many guards patrolling the floors. This fact didn't sit well with him.

This was a well secured location in Zootopia and yet he expected more resistance, a larger guard presence, repeating and random patrols. Eventually his camera selections took him to exterior ones, and finally received his answer. The lawn out front had guards everywhere, securing various entrances and exits, and a secure perimeter just out front to prevent anyone from coming from the front lawn that was being used as a fair ground.

The bear heaved a sigh of relief. "That's right, the family event out front."

"Hmm" the fox muttered.

"They already secured the building and created a defensive line in the street in front of the building, so they are assuming the building is secure. Good news for us, that means we should be able to make it to the basement without worry. The basement itself, that's another story. We still must be cautious just in case."

The bear seemingly stared off into space for a moment, suddenly on Kaiden's head's up display a new route charted itself on the map.

"This means we split up."

"Why?" Kaiden asked.

"Because I'm a bear and you're a fox, I can't fit through the air ducts."

"Air ducts?"

"Yep, take a look at the map"

Kaiden studied the map in his display, the charted path went into the nearby walls and then down a vertical shaft to the basement

"Wait you want me to…."

"Yep, that's exactly what I want to you to do. Head down there, get to the security office, attach this thing, give operations access so they can loop the cameras, and we get Hamilton and get the hell out of here."

Kaiden nodded

"I'm also going to have operations, when the time comes, lock one of the elevators and take us straight to the roof." Kerberos tossed Kaiden the backpack. "Take what you need."

The fox raided the backpack, taking a dart pistol and preloading it with tranq rounds and two extra mags. Two mags of shock rounds for his rifle, a couple of gas grenades, an EMP grenade, a shock prod and one block of composition 4 and detonator.

"Other than the demolition charge, there isn't anything lethal in here."

Kerberos stood up and walked over to the fox and held up his forearm. "Do me favor, select your forearm in your HUD."

The fox narrowed his eyes for a moment and then did as he was told. A panel on his forearm opened and a blade as long as his arm flipped up and out over the top of the back of his paw. It had a black finish, with a diamond cross hatch pattern except for the sharpened edges, which shined in the light, they looked sharp, razor sharp. He was tempted to touch the edge with his finger but decided against it.

"These things are your lethal response. Capable of cutting through vanadium steel like a hit knife through butter. You have one in each arm, combine that with your augmented strength, you shouldn't have any problem cutting through anything…Or anyone." The bear explained.

Kaiden retracted the blade back into its housing and his forearm closed back to normal. Kerberos knelt and looked in the fox's eyes like a father talking to his son.

"Listen to me, you have the capability of reducing the number of lives occupying those sub basements to zero. But just because you can, doesn't mean you should. That's why we're better than the Fiends, we don't take lives because we can."

Kaiden nodded, understanding.

"I'm trusting you. I'm trusting that despite everything that's happened, that good fox's heart beating in your chest is still there and will make the right decision. Ok?"

"Yes Sergeant." Kaiden replied softly

"Hey, it's Humphrey" he said with a soft smile.