Crisis in Zootopia
Chapter III
Judy and the First Big Bear
Judy meets a famous scholar, but not with the results anticipated.
Three Fridays after Nick's first visit from the Academy, Judy nervously approached a small house (at least for the area) in Tundratown. She was meeting James Colbert, at his request, relayed to her via the Chief. She had been surprised at the request, and a bit surprised that he lived in Tundratown until she learned that he was a Kodiak. She jumped up and rang the doorbell.
The door was opened a few seconds later by the largest bear of any kind she had yet seen. Although not quite as tall by at most an inch, he was a bit broader than Mister Big's largest enforcer, something reinforced by the slight paunch Colbert had developed for the upcoming winter season. "Come in, Officer Hopps." The Bear had a pleasant voice, and Judy joined him in the small (for him) entrance hall. "My study is this way."
The study was an intimate space for a mammal his size – except for the door and one small window, the rest of the walls were occupied by overflowing shelves of books. There was an appropriately-sized desk with a computer and a huge chair both behind and in front of it. Colbert gestured, and Judy walked around to the far side of the desk, where she found a chair her size, although it was on much longer legs than normal, with a small stool in front of it so a smaller mammal could easily access it. Judy merely hopped up into the chair while Colbert settled into the chair behind the desk.
"I understand you know of some of my work?"
"Required reading in several of my courses at Harford, sir," she replied simply. He was the recognized expert in inter-mammal social relations. He was also famous for his ability to fuse the various philosophical outlooks that many diverse mammals had devised over the centuries.
"Professor Walloo actually sent me one of your papers while you were in grad school. It was quite interesting."
Judy's ears flushed a bit. The Sloth Bear had thought quite a lot of her, and had wanted her to go into interspecies counselling.
"I was of course interested when you became an officer. I was, I admit, a bit disappointed in your first press conference." He raised a paw to stop her from responding. "I understood then that in the end you had mostly gotten carried away under the pressures of the questioning. I was quite shocked that old Bo allowed you to speak at it at all when you were so fresh to the force. Obviously in retrospect, it was clear Bellwether was using you. . . ."
"And my gullibility probably exceeded her expectations," Judy complained.
"No doubt it did at first. You did an excellent job repairing the damage, and you even managed to convince your friend to give up his old lifestyle to go to the Academy, where I understand he is doing well." Seeing the look on her face, he chuckled. "Paula was a rookie on the force my last year as a cop." This was the polar bear who was the main trainer at the Academy. "We were . . . close for a time."
Judy merely nodded.
"No doubt, you're wondering why I asked you here."
"Yes, sir."
"Most mammals act and interact with each other across many species, but still tend to equate other species either with themselves, or react to others as stereotypes. To be honest, this is true to a large extent even within a species. What you have done after your return from your little sabbatical shows that you are able to rise above that to an excellent degree. I like to encourage that type of thinking, and to meet those who demonstrate it."
Judy smiled a bit at hearing that.
Colbert leaned back in his chair. "Have you ever thought about how amazing our world is, Officer Hopps?"
"In what way, sir?"
"Someday, we may meet intelligent life from another planet, but so far, no signs of such beings have been found. True?"
"So far as I know, sir."
"Well, considering my work and contacts, I would likely know if anyone does. It is possible that this is the only planet with intelligent life, at least in our galaxy, or there could be many such worlds, even if they are all too far away to contact. I do wonder, even if there are such worlds, if it's at all possible they could be like us in one respect."
"And what is that, sir?"
"Consider, Officer Hopps. . . ."
"You may call me Judy if you'd like, sir."
The bear chuckled. "Thank you; less of a mouthful, I must say. You must know some of the Elephants on the force, yes?"
"Yes, sir."
He nodded. "Do you know any of the truly small mammals?"
"Personally? I know some Shrews."
"Yet somehow, those species, despite the huge differences of size, have overall the same levels of intelligence."
Judy blinked, confused. "Overall?"
The Bear nodded. "There are many types of intelligence. The associates in psychology I've worked with on intelligence and memory claim to be able to measure at least twelve different types; some go as far as three dozen. Some species show greater abilities on average in some areas but lesser ones in others, and no one species consistently show high levels, or low levels, in most, never mind all of those areas and of course there is always a variety of responses by individuals in every species. When averaged together, we all work out at being about equal. Not only that, consider that there are, biologically, three very distinct types of mammals – placental, marsupial, and the egg-layers, and a huge variety of species within the first two, especially the first. Yet all three groups, and all the species in the groups within them, test out as equal. Granted, the discovery of the equality of the Baleen Whales was delayed until just over a few generations ago because they are the only mammals who can't use our language directly, but all the others can. Why should a toothed-Whale, a Platypus, an Opossum, a Shrew, a Tiger, a Koala, and a Giraffe be able to speak to each other? It's hard to image that would be possible more than once in the cosmos. No, if there is intelligent life elsewhere, I believe that one species, or perhaps a few closely related species, would have gained it and then dominated the others."
"But it did happen here, sir."
"True. How is a mystery of evolution we are not close to cracking, but it did happen, and even more surprisingly, it appears to have happened at the same time all around the world. Granted, it looks like the last non-sentient mammals mostly died out before the end of the last Ice Age, and we only lost most of one order of mammals in the long centuries of warfare and even some predation since then."
"You mean the Great Primate War?" Judy asked.
"Other than the Lemurs, the primates were lost to us."
Judy thought that was a curious turn of phrase, but decided to change the subject. "What kind of species do you think that one species would be on these other planets? If they resemble one here, I mean."
The Bear shrugged, knowing that mammals had been taught to ignore the implications of the Primate War, but a little disappointed Hopps still fell into that vast majority. "There is no reason to favor one group over another. I could make equally valid arguments for any type. Granted, it is difficult to imagine a Whale coming up with a tool using civilization, but not at all believing they could gain sentience and then sapience before some other group. Or perhaps the first is my own limited outlook. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, like yours, maybe in a thousand years or less, the very terms predator and prey will be limited to the non-sentient species." Despite plenty of experiments over the centuries, there was no signs of true sapience in birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, etc.
"That would be wonderful," Judy agreed happily. She believed she could see signs of such a world emerging, but it wasn't as close as she had hoped just a few months before.
The Bear made a decision, smiled, and asked, "Do you care for tea, Judy?"
"If you're having some, sir."
"Cream, lemon, or sugar?"
"A little sugar, sir."
He nodded. "I'll be right back. Feel free to look around."
Judy did exactly that (at least at the lower shelves), until Colbert returned with a tray with the tea service in one paw and a small folding tray in the other. Judy took the folding tray from him and set it next to her chair while the Bear poured the tea. He set her mug (a bit large for her, but manageable) on the tray, followed by the sugar bowl and a spoon she could handle. "I think you should sweeten it yourself," he said with a smile, "otherwise you might end up with more sugar than tea."
Judy did so, and took an experimental sip. It was still a bit bitter, but it was nice and warm, which was good as the room was a bit chilly for her tastes. Although it was a new tea for her, it was still somehow appealing, and she drank it a bit faster a normal.
"We were talking about the convergence of intelligence, but the same is largely true of our lifespans and our lifestyles. You may not be able to easily digest more than odd morsels of meat, but you can now eat diary, and your diet is more root vegetable than it ever could have been in the distant past – if Rabbits a few thousand years ago ate the amount of the modern sweet carrots as your generation does, they would have died from the diet, not to mention they had to redigest some of what they ate. Your digestive tract is very different now, as it evolved with your diet. In those primitive days and before, no Rabbit would have lived as long as you have already. Nearly every land animal now follows fairly similar reproductive strategies as well. Right now, there is only one major exception."
"Rabbits," Judy muttered as Colbert stood and refilled her mug.
"Eastern Rabbits, like yourself," he agreed. "Even a thousand years ago, your shrew friend, if any of them is a she, would have had multiple births many times over a much shorter life span, probably as many as your family, although fewer would have survived. Now, she'll likely have eight to ten single pregnancies, or perhaps one or two might be sets of twins. More than an elephant, but nowhere near what her ancestor would have had. Even Western Rabbits (1) and the Hares follow that template."
Judy drank some more tea, a bit drowsily.
"Tell me, Judy, have you ever wondered how the world is run?"
"Huh?"
"There are lots of counties in the world, thousands of them, well over twenty thousand in fact. How do they work together?"
Judy blinked slowly. She frowned and glared at the mug in her hands even as she finished off the second helping. She set the mug down and glared at the Bear, her hands reaching for her belt as she groggily realized most of her weapons were all at the station.
"Yes, while every species as a whole represent many types of intelligence and personalities, there are usually good reasons for stereotypes, even where there are plenty of outliers. You seem braver than the vast majority of Rabbits; I'm a bit slyer than the average Bear. I drugged your tea. I filled my mug most of the way with regular tea before coming in, and the tiny dose of the drugged tea you saw me pour won't affect me, as I drank very little of it."
"Why?" Judy managed to ask with a little effort.
"Nothing bad. I wanted to see if you were worthy, and on the whole you are. This will not only put you to sleep, but allow me to put part of our conversation deep into your memories, where you will not consciously recall them. You will remember this, however, once I reinforce the memory. If I am right about something, I will be killed tonight, or at least they will try. You will be unconscious and locked away where they won't find you. Good luck to you, Officer Judy Hopps. Why? Because, as I had hoped, I believe you represent the future."
The Bear waited a moment for Judy to fall fully asleep. When she was, he gave her the first of two injections, which would allow him to install the hypnotic suggestions she would need to be protected. He then carried her up the stairs and, after repressing her memories with hypnotism, gave her the second injection and then locked her in the closet of the spare bedroom.
Judy woke up with the worst headache of her life, and the need to pee. She opened her eyes to darkness, and was confused to say the least. Then she vaguely remembered what had happened – Colbert had drugged her! Then the memory of his claiming he was likely to be killed that night surfaced, and Judy forced herself to sit up, managing to totally suppress a groan of pain.
She congratulated herself several times for not moaning in agony from the motion and managed to open her eyes again. She saw that what little light there was available was streaming in from under a door and through a small keyhole well above her head. 'I guess he locked me in a closet,' she thought as she searched herself to see what she had on her uniform. Her recorder pen, phone, and her police radio where gone. She had to keep her dart and stun guns at the station, but at least she still had the pepper spray issued by the Department (as opposed to the 'Fox Away' she used to carry). Colbert had been too far away to use it on him the night before in her drugged state.
Judy sighed in frustration and moved to put an ear to the space on the floor under the door while the other pressed against the door itself, and heard nothing. The knob was far above her head, but she had practice with such doors and leapt up to grab it. It seemed locked, or was at least too stiff to move. She dropped to the floor and ran her paws over the door, and found it seemed to be a hollow plywood one. She therefore started kicking at the door, hoping that if Colbert had indeed been killed, his killers were long gone. If Colbert came and opened the door, he would certainly get an earful.
It took her over a minute to shatter the plywood door enough to crawl out of the closet. Judy's headache was worse, her back and feet hurt, and she was exhausted from the drugs still in her system rather than from the effort itself. She again forced herself to sit up, and saw she was in what for the huge Bear would have been a small bedroom which had been made over into an auxiliary library. The door to the room was open, and Judy cautiously crawled her way into the upstairs hallway. She wanted to investigate before she collapsed, but nature was calling ever more urgently and she could see the doorway across from the one she was kneeling in was a bathroom. She tried standing, failed, and so again crawled over and managed to drag herself up on the toilet to use the facilities without falling in. She didn't flush, hoping that the residue from any drugs flushed from her system might be found. Her headache wasn't any better, but she felt a bit invigorated.
As Judy had jumped down from the toilet, she was surprised to see her phone was on the sink. It took a little effort to make the several tries needed to retrieve it, and was not really surprised to see that the back of the phone was loose. She quickly saw that the battery was missing.
Coming out of the bathroom, Judy had to sit on the top stair for nearly five minutes. Her headache wasn't any better, and after the efforts she had made for her phone she was nearing collapse. Still, she finally forced herself down the stairs one at a time (by bumping down each step on her backside and then resting) and finally made her way into the study where she had been drugged the night before.
Judy was not really surprised to see Colbert's huge body was at the near side of his desk. He had been shot over a dozen times, judging from the tranquilizing darts still in his body and neck. His throat had also been cut, no doubt after he had collapsed from the darts, which would account for at least some of the blood in the room but possibly not for the blood on his paws. Judy forced herself into the kitchen, hoping that if the Bear still had a landline it would be there, as many mammals had left them installed either there or in their main hallway, and there was no sign of one in the hall.
Judy had to push a bear-sized kitchen chair over to the wall where the phone was hanging, and several more hops while on the chair to dial 911. It took a bit to convince the 911 operator that she was indeed a police officer and get connected to the Boar who was covering dispatch that weekend. Judy tried to hang up the phone, but found it was now beyond her current abilities to jump that accurately.
She sat on the chair, trying to motivate herself to either try again or move to the hall to open the front door, but her exhaustion took control and she lost consciousness.
Judy awoke on a hard mattress, covered with a sheet and with an IV drip in her arm.
"Finally awake, I see," Bogo said from her bedside.
Judy fully opened her eyes and looked at the Chief, grateful that her headache was mostly gone. "Am I okay?" she muttered.
"Hopps, you are one determined Rabbit," the Chief told her. "According to the doctors, with the amount of drugs that were still in your system, you shouldn't have woken up for the first time until tonight at the earliest, never mind waking up this morning, breaking through a door, and reporting the situation. Now," he asked, setting down a recorder on her bed, "who drugged you and Colbert?"
"Colbert drugged me," Judy answered.
Bogo blinked. Judy heard others in the room, and saw there were two Wolves in suits she didn't know standing next to the door. Both obviously had some sort of gun in shoulder holsters.
"Tell us what happened," Bogo directed, and Judy told them what she could remember.
When she was finished, one of the Wolves said, "We got the tox report a while ago. With this combination of drugs, he could make you forget anything he wanted you to. He couldn't really place false memories, but he was a well-known hypnotist."
"He learned it before he joined the Academy," Bogo said. "He used it as a party trick back then, but also used it when he was working with physiologists and philosophers interested in exploring memory."
"If he had just drugged you, or just hypnotized you, we might be able to recover at least some of the memories," the Wolf said. "Since he apparently did both, it wouldn't work and would likely harm you to try."
"Did anyone find my carrot pen?" Judy asked. "It, well, it has a built in recorder and when I realized he had drugged me, I turned it on."
"Well, that explained why we found a smashed carrot pen," the other Wolf commented.
"Obviously, there was some sort of conspiracy here that Colbert either was involved in that turned on him, or one he uncovered," the first Wolf stated. "Chief Bogo, under the circumstances, we'll be taking the case. Officer Hopps, we'll be in touch if we need to ask any further questions. Contact us if you remember anything else." He walked over and dropped a card on the little table next to Judy's bed, and then the Wolves left.
Judy looked at the Chief.
"MBI," he informed her. "James left a brief note on his desk, saying that he had learned very dangerous facts, and that he expected to be killed this weekend. He apologized for having to meet you under the circumstances, but he wanted one last intelligent conversation. He didn't explain why he had drugged you, because he made it seem as if you had left."
"And that's all it said?"
"That was it." Bogo sighed. "I don't know why he didn't come to me for protection. Considering he was killed, I have no doubt that if the killers had known you were in the house, they would have killed you too, which was very unlike him."
"They must not have known I was there . . . which means they weren't keeping a close eye on him?"
Bogo shook his head. "You arrived at his house just before six thirty. At a little after seven thirty, he got in his car and left for well-over half an hour, according to the traffic cams, and actually went to somewhere near your apartment." Seeing Judy's look, he added, "The garage was in the back of the house, and is connected to the house. If he was being watched, then they would have thought you were in the car. He met a number of different people over the last two days, including five others yesterday. You were just the last to see him, not the only one. The ones we tracked down were much like you – various mammals he seemed just to want to meet before the end. If there was anything more, the MBI will have to find it."
"But I was the last, and I would guess the only one drugged," Judy pointed out.
Bogo nodded. "Be careful. We'll keep that last part quiet; as far as anyone else will know, he drove you home."
Judy nodded.
"Is there anything you need to ask now?"
Knowing that Bogo and Colbert had been friends, Judy didn't want to pry. Still, "That wasn't all his blood, was it?"
Bogo shook his head. "No, he obviously did his attackers some serious damage. I don't know if I'll have a copy of those reports or not." He reached in his pocket and took out Judy's phone. "Sorry, we had to check your phone, but James didn't use it, he just took out the battery. I had the battery replaced. I suggest you let your parents and Wilde know you're alright. A sister of yours somehow called me direct this morning, but both your parents and Wilde called the station last night; however no one checked on you until this morning – I will be having words with the night shift about that. Your apartment was of course empty – Wilde is there now, I believe." Judy was only a bit surprised; Nick had known about the appointment and was not scheduled to come home this weekend. "When they drove past James', it was after eleven, and the house was dark. Again, they should have been at least a bit more suspicious, earlier this morning if not last night." Bogo stood and placed a hoof on Judy's shoulder. "Be extra careful."
Judy is a European Rabbit (albeit with some Hare characteristics, like the black-tipped ears); here called an Eastern Rabbit, while the various American cottontails are Western Rabbits. While there are a few other minor species of rabbit, those are the main two in this story, plus the various types of hares. In this version of Zootopia, they are not living on our Earth minus humans, but on a similar world. I envision the landmasses being similar in size, but organized as something more like the supercontinent of Pangea, with the Atlantic just starting to split off from Europe in the far north. The Caribbean and Mediterranean are neighboring salty inland seas, the former connected to the Atlantic and the latter doing the same but also draining through Suez via a strait to the Red Sea. Part of the North American Prairies are below sea level, forming a shallow sea from the Caribbean to Hudson Bay. Your vision of their world is up to the reader, but this is mine for the purposes of the story.