The City of Change: Chapter 2.

               7.54 am, Monday, May 11, 2022

               As he had been doing on almost every working day for last few years, Nick parked his car by the street just opposite to Judy’s flat and watched her running out, jumping down last couple stairs, crossing the street carefully and then, joining him at the passenger’s seat and fastening her seatbelt.

               “Good morning,” he greeted her, as Judy reached for her coffee, which was already waiting. Nick used to be buying those from a cafeteria just by his house, but recently, he started trying to brew his own, milling the beans, brewing her and spicing and then bringing in thermo-isolating cups. Some of the first creations were failures, but he quickly learnt on those and now, he only brought the masterpieces like this one, spiced perfectly with cinnamon and something she did not recognize.

               “Cardamon,” he said, as if reading her mind, “I hoped you’d like it.”

               “You’ve got to use it more often, it’s amazing,” she assured, as he joined the traffic and the two were on their usual way to ZPD. Judy glanced at Nick, focused on the road. For just the six years they knew each other, he changed very, very much, both physically and mentally. But with all the things that changed, one did not; they. They were just what they had become at the end of Nighthowler case; the two best friends willing to put their lives on the line for one another. Many times were the two of them tested, always have they come on top. Judy was really proud of the two of them and how far they went, but recently, she also started feeling some sort of dissatisfaction. As if she was missing something she couldn’t put a paw on. Something that she could understand better and better every time she saw Max and Kaylee and yet, was afraid to name it…

               “Everything alright, Carrots?” Nick asked with concern.

               “Um, yes. I think so,” she assured. “I just phased out for a moment,” she explained with a nervous chuckle and he shrugged. They continued the ride in pleasant silence interrupted by seldom car honks and made it to the station couple minutes before the roll call. Nick went to their cubicle to find a pendrive that he was supposed to return to Andersen, while Judy greeted with Clawhauser.

               “Hi, Benji!” She waved him.

               “Oh, Judy! Have you seen a new officer?” The chubby cheetah asked between the bites of a donut. Bunny’s ears perked up.

               “A new officer? Is it this time of the year already?” Judy doubted. She’d certainly have heard of the betting pool, wouldn’t she?

               “Yeah, Isabelle Alvarez. She was transferred from Tundratown and what a beauty…” Clawhauser said dreamily. “They say her new Chief didn’t like her and that’s why she moved,” he added quickly and Judy nodded. She remembered the surname; several Alvarezes were fired after Spencer Young’s revelations, as they played vital roles in some of Chief Blizzard’s schemes.

               “We’ll be getting along much better, I hope,” Judy assured with a confident smile. Instead of judging by names, she started with an assumption that a new face meant a new possible friend.

               “She seemed nice,” cheetah assured. Judy was about to say something, when she noticed someone approaching the desk she was standing by. It was a rabbit, about her age. While he was not too tall and of average built, he looked rather handsome. His fur was just as grey as Judy’s, but eyes dark brown. He was dressed in beige slacks with black belt and a short-sleeved checked blue shirt, on his shoulder was hanging a laptop bag. The buck was looking around the place curiously, as approaching the reception desk.

               “Can we help you?” Judy offered. The rabbit stopped and watched her, completely speechless for a couple seconds. As Hopps giggled, he only blushed and cleared his throat quietly.

               “I… Chief Bogo said that I was supposed to come to the roll call today. I’m… My name’s August Fares. I’m the new ZPD analyst,” he introduced himself, offering a paw to Judy. She shook it looking him in the eyes; he had a firm, but not too strong grip and really nice smile.

               “Detective Judy Hopps, pleased to meet you. And this is Officer Clawhauser,” she introduced her co-worker and the two exchanged pleasantries. “I think I know your brother, Timothy,” she pointed out.

               “From Zootopia Times, of course,” August smiled. “He’s doing some decent career here. Everyone knows him,” he explained a bit awkwardly.

               “If you’re going for the roll call, I can show you the way,” Judy assured and glanced at the clock. “And I think it’s about the time. Come on,” she guided him and August followed her immediately.

               “So, um… you’re Detective Hopps? That Detective Hopps?” He asked, as if disbelieving his own luck. Judy couldn’t help but to bring herself to think of him as cute.

               “Do I not look like her?” She teased him.

               “No, I just… um…” August paused, embarrassed and then, he swelled his chest high and spoke with much deeper voice. “Aren’t you a little short for a police officer?” He asked and Judy giggled. Both a movie reference and Bogo’s parody just on point.

               “I guess I am,” she admitted. “By the way, call me Judy.”

               “And I’m August. Once again, pleased to meet you,” he assured.

               “And once again, so am I,” Judy giggled. “You’re funny, I bet Nick will like you. My partner, Nick Wilde,” she clarified, seeing that he did not recognize the name at first.

               “Of course, famous Detective Wilde. I hope he will, it’d be a real honor to get along with heroes like you,” August assured. Judy wanted to disregard this unnecessary flattery, when she realized that he really held them in such high esteem.

               “I’m looking forward to working with you as well,” she assured and pull the door next to her. “We’re here. Come on,” she invited him and he walked inside a bit uncertainly. He stepped among all the wolves, lions, bears, rhinos and elephants a bit intimidated, but he was trying to pretend he was not and that he was not noticing all the attention he was being given. Judy pointed him one of the free chairs in the first row while she sat on the opposite side with Nick. Just at that moment, Bogo stepped in. He watched all the officers gathered and noticed that someone was missing.

               “Where is Reynolds?”

               “Which one?” Wilde asked sassily and some mammals chuckled.

               “Most likely in the Rabbit Hole, sir,” guessed Wolford.

               “Wilde, go after both of them. And remind them that they can flirt all they want after working hours,” the Chief ordered and fox jumped down his seat. He walked over to the door, opened it, looked out and then, stepped aside and let both Max and Kaylee in.

               “Fast as the lightning, sir!” Wilde joked. The wolf and rabbit apologized for being late, took their seats and the Chief continued.

               “So, first things first, we will be soon parting with one of our old friends,” Bogo started. “Detective Victor Barnes will be retiring and he’ll move to Zootopia Police Academy in order to educate the new recruits in there. Victor has been with us for nearly thirty years now, for the better and for the worse. Among his many cases, he dismantled Firebat’s gang and helped us go through the crisis after arresting mayor Dawn Bellwether. Congratulations, Victor, it has been an honor to work with you,” Bogo said and everyone began to clap. The old sheep lifted himself from his chair and cleared his throat.

               “Thank you. It’s been an honor to work with you, guys. For anyone that wants to celebrate with me one last time, we’ll be meeting on Saturday evening in Tom’s bar, around 7 pm,” he announced and everyone cheered joyfully. Whole the station was going to come, it seemed. With a slight smirk, Barnes sat down, muttered something to his partner, Max Reynolds, and then, Chief continued.

               “From the other news, earlier on Saturday, there will be held the annual Great Parade and, traditionally, it will be responsibility of Precinct 1 to monitor the event. Starting today, you will be assigned to tasks of securing the parade. Detective Barnes will be in charge of whole the operation…” The clapping Nick incited abrupted throughout the room and Bogo waited it out with patience and amusement, even clapped himself a bit. He was parting with an old friend, after all. “…while Technical Officer Reynolds will select two TOs more and handle the technical side.”

               “Understood, sir,” Kaylee saluted.

               “Now, the officers selected for the securing the parade are…” Bogo began to read a long list, naming almost all of the officers in the room. He then proceeded to the last news of the day.

               “We also have some new faces here with us. The first addition to the force is Officer Isabelle Alvarez from Tundratown ZPD,” Bogo introduced her and a young female wolf stood up and greeted everyone. “She will be a new partner to Detective Max Reynolds, taking place after Detective Barnes,” Bogo added and Alvarez found the wolf with sight and smiled to him beautifully and waved. Max replied with a polite smile, while his wife monitored Alvarez carefully, but said nothing. “The second mammal joining us is our new analyst, Mr. August Fares,” introduced him Bogo and the rabbit stood on his chair, as if it helped anyone see him better. Still, everyone noticed that he was the only one dressed in the civvies.

               “Hi, everyone. Like Chief Bogo said, I am an analyst, specializing in statistical analysis, probability and pattern seeking. I’ll be honored to work with you,” August introduced himself and sat down.

               “Mr. Fares is a civilian worker of ZPD. Technical Officer Reynolds will show him around the place today,” added Bogo. “Alright, everyone knows their tasks. To your jobs, men,” the Chief ordered, thus finishing the roll call. Everyone raised from their seats and Barnes gave away couple initial orders. Nick and Judy exchanged pleasantries with couple friends and went to their box; they still had a paperwork to fill before they’d help others with the parade. Kaylee whispered something to Max and she walked over to August Fares in order to walk him around the place, while Isabelle Alvarez walked over to her new partner.

               “I’m Max,” he offered a paw.

               “Isabelle, friends call me Belle,” she replied with a gentle, encharming smile.

               “I’ll stick with Isa, could I?” Max asked instead, sort of throwing her off.

               “Um…sure, suit yourself,” she agreed smiling.

               “Come on, I’ll show you our box,” the wolf suggested and guided her around the station. He found their box and shown her an empty desk, by which she was going to work starting today.

               “Detective Barnes was your previous partner, right?” She guessed.

               “Mhm. I really liked the guy. A bit of boor, but a lovable one,” he chuckled. “Speaking of whom… we probably should be going to help him out with the thing, just let me take…” Max searched for something in his drawers and cursed under his breath. “Kaylee must have it. Let’s go to the Rabbit Hole, should we?”

               “The Rabbit Hole?” Isabelle asked, slightly confused.

               “Technical Officers’ section. It’s underground and Kaylee rules around the place so… A Rabbit Hole,” Max explained with a chuckle.

               “Oh,” Isabelle replied only and they walked down to TOs offices. On their way there, she was watching the wolf very carefully, her sight stopping for quite a moment at his long, puffy tail. She raised her sight only when they came inside the offices and Max found Kaylee’s desk. She was discussing something with today’s second newbie, August Fares.

               “So, a quick introduction, everyone. Kaylee, this is my new partner, Isabelle. Isabelle, this is my wife, Kaylee,” Max introduced them to one another and the wolf watched bunny skeptically.

               “Your… wife?” She asked, a bit dumbstruck.

               “Any problem with that?” Kaylee sounded rather defensive, but ready to bite.

               “No, of course not,” assured Isabelle coldly. For a moment, two ladies were electrifying one another with sight in silence.

               “So… I’m August, pleased to meet you!” August Fares intervened, offering his paw to Max and the wolf shook it gladly.

               “Good to meet you as well. Has Kaylee shown you around?” Max asked.

               “We’ve just started,” August said.

               “Yeah, still plenty to see and I need to prepare his station and install his software. I’ve got to ask for couple licenses, it might take couple days,” Kaylee added. “Did something happen, sweetheart?” She asked her husband.

               “The pendrive,” he explained with a smile.

               “Oh, of course, there you go,” she handed him a pendrive she had in her pocket. “Going with Barnes now?”

               “Isa, actually,” Max narrowed at her partner, as she stood silently. Kaylee didn’t pay her even a sight.

               “Of course. Have fun. And remember, today at 5 pm,” she stood on fingers and he leaned toward her and they kissed. Max waved with head at his new partner and Isabelle followed him, eyeing Kaylee for a moment. Both August and Kaylee guided them with their sights until the two of them left the room. August glanced at Kaylee carefully.

               “Um… she’s kinda… hitting on your husband? Even though she knows he’s married?” He stuttered with disbelief.

               “Yes, she is,” Kaylee agreed with disgust, but then she smirked. “She’s no threat though, but she might be learning it the hard way,” she said with amusement.

               “Really? I mean… she’s kinda hot,” August pointed out carefully.

               “She is. Still, she’ll be disappointed. And if she pushes too hard…” Kaylee’s fist clenched slowly. “I’ll make that Is-a-Belle into a Was-a-Belle,” she concluded and Fares chuckled, even if quite certain that she really meant it. And as much as she tried to hide it, he saw how much Isabelle Alvarez disturbed her subconsciously.

               “Hopefully it does not come to it,” he said. “Where did we stop?”

               “Oh, the computer station. Like I said, you need to run through this and configure your account,” she handed him several pages of instructions. The requested licenses should be there in couple weeks. Now, I guess I’m supposed to walk you around the station, but before that…” Kaylee pointed at August’s bag. “Show me what you’ve got.”

               “Oh, this… I brought my own, since I thought it could come in handy…” He put the bag on his desk just by the monitor and started unzipping it. “But I guess I won’t be allowed to run any police analyses on it?”

               “None containing sensitive…” Kaylee paused, staring at his laptop. “O. M. G. Is that…”

               “Yup, Dragon, the Gaming Series,” he opened it up and turned on. “The…”

               “The G93?! What the hell?! Where did you get it?! It costs like…” Kaylee yelled with excitement, as she watched the system logo flash by and login screen appearing. The bunny was staring at an elegant, black laptop with monstrous components inside and some insane performance possibilities. August put in the password and the screen switched pleasantly quickly to a neat desktop with some nerdy wallpaper. The bunny checked the icons he had at the desktop.

               “You don’t have licenses for all of these, do you?” She asked skeptically and he blushed slightly.

               “Oh well, the student license…”

               “The pirate license, you mean. You do have nerve to buy such an expensive thing just to…”

               “And I actually won the laptop. I’d never afford the thing,” August added. “A math competition. Long story, got kinda lucky, scored the main prize,” he explained.

               “That must have been some awesome competition,” she said.

               “Prizes were good. So, um… yeah, it runs fine.”

               “What games?”

               “Huh?”

               “What do you play?” Kaylee wanted to know.

               “Oh, well, some nerdy stuff…”

               “We’re all nerds in this room, August. Just different sorts of,” Kaylee reassured him and couple voices from behind other desks agreed with her.

               “So, Digital Card Games, board games, some RTS…” He hesitated and seeing no reaction of hers, continued. “FPS occasionally?” Now her ears perked up. “I mean, just the casual things like Wastelands…”

               “You’ve got Wastelands on this?” Kaylee asked excitedly.

               “Well… Both first and second. I wanted to started the second, but I had no buddies to play with…” he paused seeing Kaylee’s smirk. “Or do I?”

               “Now you do. Me, my sweetheart and Mike… Mike, wave for us, could you?! We’ve got a fourth player, I think!” Kaylee yelled and they saw a pig’s paw waving with an enthusiastic shout. “We were looking for a fourth teammate. Are you in?” She offered and August nodded eagerly.

               “Sure thing,” he turned the game on and logged in. “Your nick?”

               “WolfSeeker,” smirked the bunny. August sent her an invitation, chuckling at the nickname. “Alright, switch it off, we’re at the work here. I’m supposed to walk you around the station, am I not?” Kaylee pointed out and August switched the laptop off.

               “No one will steal it here, will they?” He joked.

               “If someone does, you’ll have your first case,” Kaylee smirked. “Come on,” the brown bunny took him around the station, rather empty at the time, introducing him to the couple officers that were there here now, but didn’t have a chance to meet him before. She showed him everything that he should know, including which coffee automats to avoid and where worked that one bears that disliked the rabbits. When they passed by Nick and Judy’s box, one of the few non-empty ones, she caught the way August watched Hopps.

               “Don’t,” she warned.

               “Excuse me?”

               “Don’t try to hit on her.”

               “Is Detective Wilde her boyfriend?” August asked and Kaylee sighed.

               “Well, theoretically not, but…” She was missing the right words. “It’s complicated. Trust me, you don’t want to waltz into it,” she explained but realized how unconvinced August remained. “I mean, if you really have to, then you can try, but someone will only get hurt.”

               “I can always try,” August noticed enthusiastically, as they passed by. Kaylee shook her head.

               “I warned you,” was all that she said, as they continued the tour. They concluded it at the shooting range, where August noticed that Kaylee was carrying a dart gun with her.

               “Can you shoot well?” He asked curiously and she chuckled. She drew her gun, aimed at the target without really looking and pressed the trigger with a confident smirk.

               “Oh, I’m a natural,” she assured and turned at the board; she scored merely six points. “Let’s try it again. I’m a natural,” she repeated and pressed the trigger again. This time, she scored a blind nine and nodded with satisfaction.

               “Wow,” he said and she just shrugged.

               “I play FPS a lot,” she joked. “So, I wonder, what a guy like you is doing in here?”

               “Huh?”

               “Young, intelligent, after some decent studies, I bet. A civilian, to that, skipping the Academy and coming straight here. And also, no offense, a rabbit,” she explained.

               “Actually, I wanted to go to some usual white-collar job, but after the events two years ago… I figured police could need a guy like me. Someone that sees patterns and will not miss an intrigue, even well concealed,” August explained. “And you?”

               “Long story short, I had an abusive, sociopathic friend of old push me into this. I meant to quit quickly at first… but I found my new family in here and I stayed,” Kaylee explained. “It might seem harsh at first… I mean not for you, you’ve got some nicest greeting from Bogo I have ever seen, but anyway, this place grows on you quick. Some of us may be jackasses, but we’re the kind of jackasses you can bet your life on,” she assured.

               “Good to know. By the way, did I get it right that you’re in charge of Precinct’s Technical Officers?” August asked, rather impressed with such a quick promotion.

               “Um… yes. We have some very young team nowadays, since the most experienced ones retired all at once just few months ago. Chief needed to choose someone for the head of the section… and everyone suggested it should be me,” she explained rather shyly.

               “That’s cool.”

               “I guess. Alright, let’s go back to the Rabbit Hole. You’ve got to take care of your computer…” Kaylee glanced at the target with two darts sticking out of it. “And I’ll need to write a report on the darts I’ve just spent,” she explained awkwardly and August laughed with amusement.

               11.23 am, Monday, May 11, 2022

               Judy Hopps checked couple details of the case on the computer and then, continued to fill another form, this time the one on spending the several darts she had used against the perps she and Nick had arrested couple days earlier. As computerized as ZPD could be these days, an average Detective produced a tremendous amounts of paperwork. As Judy continued to scribble on her paper, she glanced at her partner’s empty seat and then, heard somebody’s steps.

               “Nick, could you…” She turned in her seat to see not Wilde, but August Fares, smiling nicely.

               “Hi,” he leaned against box’s wall with shoulder.

               “Hi, August. Did something happen?” Judy asked.

               “Oh, I just wanted to thank you for showing me a way to the roll call and I figured…” He paused and gulped nervously. “Would you like me to take you out for a dinner?” He offered shyly. Judy hesitated, but very shortly. August seemed like a decent buck, why not to give him a chance?

               “Sure, when?”

               “How about Thursday evening?” Offered August.

               “She’s busy on the Thursday evening.” Nick Wilde appeared out of thin air right behind his back. August scare-jumped, turning away to see the fox, grinning toothily.

               “So, um…”

               “And on Friday, we’re going to celebrate Barnes’ retirement. You should be there too,” the fox passed by him and took his seat. Instead of sitting down to his work, Wilde kept giving him a toothy smile, which was only stressing poor August even more.

               “Don’t you have something to do, Nick?” Judy huffed at her partner angrily.

               “Yes, writing the report. Really, don’t mind me,” he assured reaching for his pen, but still watching August Fares with a most disturbing grin.

               “So…” August coughed, trying to collect the remains of his confidence.

               “Nick, could you go and buy me a coffee?” Judy ordered harshly. The fox glanced at her and recognized that she really was pissed off. He shrugged and lifted himself from his chair.

               “If you’re asking so nicely…” He lifted himself from his chair and left the box with Judy’s annoyed sight guiding him away. “Pleased to meet you,” Nick patted August on the shoulder and was gone. Judy sighed with frustration and turned at Fares, smiling kindly.

               “So…” She started.

               “How about Monday evening?” He proposed.

               “Cool. Sounds cool.”

               “7 pm?”

               “Mhm,” she nodded.

               “OK, I’ll pick you up from your house. We’ll go to a restaurant… but the rest shall be a surprise,” he smiled mysteriously.

               “Sounds great,” Judy assured.

               “Alright, take care!” He exclaimed joyously and headed back to his office, when he turned back suddenly. “Oh, I’d probably need your number. And an address,” he said with embarrassment. Judy giggled and they exchanged their numbers quickly. Just after August went back to his office, Nick came back with a coffee he put on Judy’s desk.

               “There you go,” he snickered and sat down by his desk, focusing back on his work. Judy eyed him slowly and then, sighed with frustration.

               “Sometimes, you’re just… mean, you know?” She blamed him.

               “Come on, did you see his face?” Nick chuckled, still treating it all like a good joke. Or was it just a mask of his?

               “That’s exactly what I mean,” she stated, not amused one bit.

               “Don’t you remember how your last date ended? Statistically speaking…”

               “Nick, please,” she interrupted him, not in the mood.

               “Never tell me the odds?” He chuckled, but she said nothing. He had a point; statistically speaking, the chance of that date being a disaster was terrifyingly high, but she really didn’t like to be reminded of it. “OK, never mind me and my warnings, then,” Nick shrugged carelessly and for a moment, they continued to work in silence.

               “Mind if I drop in today? I might have found something about our side project,” Judy said after a while.

               “You’re always welcome, Carrots,” Nick assured. “Anything big?”

               “Sketchy, for sure. Big? It’s really hard to say,” she explained. The fox nodded and they continued to work in silence. Judy glanced back at Nick, focused as he was filling the papers. Was it just her or was something way off about him?