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Adipose City: Operation House Cleaning.

By Psion

An Adipose City Story

All Rights Reserved

Adipose City, Aristo Spire, the private residence of Lady Nelson, 8 PM...

There was something about sitting down and sipping tea that Lady Nelson found soothing. And as stereotypically British as it might have seemed, it worked and the red-furred vixen animan certainly needed some soothing after her conversation with Dr. Stone yesterday. The unaltered human had told her she would not like the truth of what happened to her tech-specialist Hilda Kraftquik and the blond woman had not lied. Still, how to let the ewe know that she knew? Or should she even mention it? Many things about her coworker began to make a sad sort of sense, the lack of sleep, the constant consumption of strong alcohols...

Nelson shook her head and sighed, long black hair waving freely as her blue eyes stared thoughtfully at her apartment wall as if the inanimate divider held the answers she sought to her current problem. Resting her free hand on the generous tummy that helped prop up her abundant cleavage, she finished off the last of several scones that she had been snacking on while sipping her tea. For all her habits, Tallis did make wonderful scones, the Aristo agent contemplated as she sat in her lavishly decorated apartment, the sturdy yet ornate wooden furniture, the reinforced love seat that currently held up her stout bottom and could easily handle a proper womanly rump like Kraftquik... For the love of the crown Nelson, she silently chastised herself; focus on the duties that afford you the luxuries of your station. You must make some decision about Hilda.

The overstuffed, large breasted vulpine still didn't have an answer to her internal deliberation when her webTV began to flash with an urgent incoming message. Brushing her long black hair back and setting her teacup aside, she stood up and accepted the message. In short order the image of her handler, Duke Wellington, filled her television screen. Duke Wellington, if there ever was anyone that personified a bombastic Brit, it was her superior. And from the look on his face, she could already tell that this message was going to be about the O'Maddy's issue.

O'Maddy's, or O'Maddy's Patties as it was sometimes also known as, was a defunct Irish corporation bought out by Aristo when the knight lieutenant was still a teenager. Unfortunately it also was a strong source of national pride for post-oil Ireland, brand loyalists had been pushing for the Anglo-Franco corporation to bring it back almost since it was put out of business. Recently, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the Irish were getting tired of waiting and started "appropriating" Aristo assets to bring the pub food franchise back themselves. Between the constant conflict with Italiana and occasional skirmishes with the other corporations, O'Maddy's had been put to the side and more or less forgotten about. Unfortunately that was turning out to be a mistake...

"Good evening Duke Wellington, new marching orders for the men sir?"

"Yes Lady Neslon, the board has finally voted to do something about the Irish problem. As you already know, the former members of the O'Maddy's Maulers street gang have been gradually organizing into a proper militia in Adipose City." He began as the computer brought up pictures of Isolde "Issy" McHughe and her fellow Mauler ex-gangers on the screen. "As the majority of their efforts and influence have been concentrated in the city, it's... oh bloody hell, could I possibly sound any more like a hammy cartoon character? Leftenant Nelson, you are the highest-ranking field agent in the city, your Round Knights and the other agents under your command are the best we have posted in the North American market, I trust you can figure out the rest yourself."

"Of course milord, what sort of message does the board wish to send to the budding upstarts?"

"The board wants this to be a low-key offensive for the time being. Product development is opening the recipe vault on our old O'Maddy's acquisitions and using them as a starting point for a new line of foodstuffs to try and get the dissidents back in line. Meanwhile we believe they have one restaurant and at least one automated vending station within the city, likely more. Find them as well as any other holdings they may have but do not destroy them, just subject them to the usual operating procedure like they were any other rival corporation; assess their product and services, map their facilities, drive a wedge between them and any potential allies that might want to see Aristo weakened, and cause the occasional 'operating expense.' Any questions?"

"Just one sir. With respect, the Knights of the Round are primarily an assault squad, one of the best in the company or so I've been told. If this assignment requires our service then so be it but if I may, couldn't this task been just as easily assigned to a team of junior agents?"

"A fair question Nelson. Yes it could, very easily. But internal reports are suggesting that she is receiving help from someone at least midlevel; possibly one of the Germans."

This did not sit well with the unarmored knight. "The Germans owe us a debt of honor for protecting them from Italiana." Two of her most loyal squad mates were from Deutschland.

"Some of them don't see it that way apparently. In any case, there are only a few people I can trust with this assignment and you are the only one of them currently posted in Adipose City. Make Aristo proud Nelson."

"Of course sir, by your leave." The lady knight replied with a nod as her handler signed off. Fantastic, as if she didn't have enough problems, at least she knew how to handle the one named Isolde McHughe...

Nelson had her agents seated around the Round Knights conference table within the hour. In addition to her knights; Sir Bart the canine Steel Chef, Sir Bertrand the cervine Code Wader, Lady Hilda the sheep Big Tool, and Lady Karleen the draft equine Grabboid, there was Pounds the lupine Road Hog, Tallis the frisky lapine Steel Chef, and Anvil the Irish sports horse Big Tool femboy. The briefing room itself was typical of Aristo's penchant for a muted techno-gothic style. Company and division banners hung on steel and concrete walls; a circle conference table built out of solid oak and studded with electric circuitry, Nelson and her agents were definitely the Round Knights.

"Alright, the board has finally authorized us to deal with the O'Maddy problem."

"About time, are we going to get kitted up to give that Isolde upstart a right and proper thrashing? Burn their little clubhouse to the ground and scatter them to the winds?" Pounds replied, always eager for a fight and for a chance to show off her beloved car the Lethal Bulk.

"Not yet, management wishes us to start by 'reminding' them of some of the protections they enjoy with our company and look in to see if they've been developing anything new based off the old O'Maddy recipes. The sort of thing more appropriate to a less experienced agent team but the board feels it needs to be careful with who it can trust to handle this situation. Which is why we have been assigned to handle the matter from start to finish. Any questions so far?"

Seeing that there were none, she continued. "Very well then, do we have any intelligence on the O'Maddy Maulers outside of what Duke Wellington was able to furnish?"

"Not a great deal milady, their communications have been encrypted surprisingly well." Bertrand replied dutifully.

"Bah, that's never stopped you before." Pounds interjected.

"No, and it hasn't this time. But it has been... difficult. Whomever they have managing their information systems is... talented." The buck countered, having been nearly bested by whoever this mysterious hacker was definitely took some of the air out of his ego. Still, Nelson didn't have time for this.

"But you have something to report though." The vulpine knight commander repeated expectantly.

"Oh yes... of course. In addition to the automat Anvil discovered, I have located two additional assets from monitoring their communications. There's a Slug's Pub that they appear to have taken over in the Beantown district and another automat dangerously close to Burger World territory."

"Hmmm, so they built that close to the Americans? We can take advantage of that, unless of course all of you feel too adult for some petty vandalism." Nelson smiled as a plan began to come together. An easy assignment but also a fun one if they planned it right...

The decrypt, "abandoned" automat Anvil stumbled upon was their first target. Pounds smiled as she skillfully threaded her Lethal Bulk through the automat drive-thru, the armored black luxury sedan coming to a stop in front of the electronic menu. The black-furred wolf licked her lips greedily as her plump stomach gently grumbled in anticipation of the treats to come. Almost immediately the equipment slowly creaked to life, unaware of the technological trickery its latest "customer" had at her disposal. Inside her car the lupine Road Hog pressed a few buttons on the vehicle's onboard computer and activated the program Bertrand wrote for her. Within a moment the credit readers had been spoofed into extending her unlimited credit, both fuel and food was essentially "on the house."

As the Lethal Bulk's fuel tank slowly filled up, Pounds and her passengers carefully read the menu. Sure enough, the page-long menu contained O'Maddy's signature mixture of Irish and Irish-inspired food. Burgers, soups, shakes... The wolf ordered two of everything for the first round. Half of the order went in back to be split up between Tallis and Bart, the wolfhound's big belly squished against the rabbit's broad hips as both sat with pocket computers and dining trays at the ready. In front, Lady Nelson rode across from Pounds, the vixen firmly seated in the front passenger seat with a sawed-off Genteel Sportsman shotgun hidden beneath the seat. An ugly gun, messy and brutish, but neither she nor Bart were wearing their armor and while some of her peers may make outsiders think otherwise, the busty vixen did not get put in charge of one the company's best Knight Divisions by being a frilly flop with an excessive abundance of cleavage. The exceptional buxom probably helped but Nelson liked to at least think her current posting was a reward for her diligence and competence... and she was getting ahead of herself, this was just four lost Aristo tourists stopping for a bite while out for a leisurely drive through the city, nothing out of the ordinary here. And perhaps a lavish meal was what she needed to clear her mind enough to figure out what to say to Hilda...

In back, both Steel Chefs dug into their heaped trays with an enthusiasm restrained by discipline diligence. Small, measured bites were taken, the flavors of individual ingredients were slowly savored, and notes were taken about what they had consumed. Up in front, Nelson and Pounds indulged with a much more lively pace. Stomachs bulged and bloated as they ate with a different purpose in mind, to either put a significant dent into the automat's pantry or empty it out entirely. Steak burgers on potato bread buns, butterscotch milkshakes, deep-fried potatoes slathered with butter, and cups of Guinness stew that tasted suspiciously like they were made with actual Guinness, the Aristo heavy-weights tried them all at least once.

"Ahhhh... URP! Excuse me." Nelson belched with a blush as her binge settled and formed a nice, warm ball in the vixen's stomach. "Well." She began after she daintily cleaned her face with a cloth napkin. "I think it's obvious that O'Maddy's is a clear and obvious threat to Aristo's dominance in West European cuisine, does anyone disagree?"

"Bah! Lady Nelson, both you and management give these potato farming peasants too much credit with this swill." Sir Bart replied with a disapproving snort. Nelson wondered if the wolfhound ever had anything good to say about anyone that wasn't pureblood Aristo.

"She's right Bart. Heavy, hearty, and fairly earthy; this will go over fairly well in the North American markets as well as among the middle and lower classes back home. Well enough that Isolde should be able to maintain basic solvency at least." Tallis rebutted, her hammed-up French accent dropping to a normal inflection as she argued academically with the other food scientist. It was moments like this that Nelson was happily reminded that the rabbit aniwoman's comically sensitized French maid outfit was a conscious choice made by an intelligent woman that just wished to be sexy and not an airhead's flight of fancy.

The Belgian wolfhound looked ready to debate further but Pounds interrupted at that exact moment. "I'm going to place another order, does anyone else have room for another round?"

No one refused but their second orders were much more modest then their first. Pounds grimaced as she checked the Lethal Bulk's onboard sensors. "Automat pantry is still over three-quarters full... blegh if I knew I was going to be doing this all night I would have skipped lunch and tea."

"Now, now, no skipping meals. We'll just have to come back later with a creative solution or two. If we're done for now, we're done. Though tell me, can you reactive the credit reader and deactivate it later and can Bertrand install it on another car?" Nelson teased, eyes lighting up as an idea began to form in the back of her mind.

"I don't see why not, I've been using the program Bert gave me to get free product from the other corps for a couple months now."

Nelson made a note of this, something to talk to Bertrand about later for a couple of reasons. Right now though they needed to see how the other group was doing and if they encountered any mishaps...

Anvil was nervous as he followed after Karleen and Hilda Kraftquik, the two armored Aristo knights waddled ahead with their weapons close at hand. The equine techno-smith resisted the urge to grit his teeth as he fingered the canister of griefer's graffiti tucked away in his pants pocket. This was supposed to be a low-key operation so why was he the only one dressed in a nondescript Expandex hoodie, Expandex jeans, and sunglasses?

The rest of the plan was relatively simple, or at least it was supposed to be, the ladies would hide somewhere where they could provide him with cover if something went wrong while he would casually cross the street and walk up to the automat. Then, once he was close enough he was to toss the canister full of griefer's graffiti smart paint and presto, the O'Maddy's automat would be covered in pro-Burger World adverts and logos. It was so easy in his head Anvil had to wonder why they couldn't just fire the canister across the street with a grenade launcher, surely he could build one that would be up to the job and he wouldn't have to take the risk of encountering irate Maulers or heaven forbid, off-duty Burger World agents that weren't too pleased to find their company getting blamed for petty vandalism. On the plus side, if they got through this the next stage was to mess around with the guts of the automat's inner workings...

The automat was directly ahead of him, one a bit nicer and better cared for then the one he found a few months ago. The O'Maddy's logo was displayed professionally on the lit signage above the automated takeout place, just another Aristo franchise as far as the mostly Burger World crowd was concerned. The general lack of subtly made him angry, how dare Issy flaunt her disobedience so openly after all Aristo had done for him and the rest of Ireland! He raged silently, waiting until the last customers were clear before he pulled the canister out of his pocket and flung it at the sign with all his might. Pedestrians scattered in fear, thinking the explosion of red, white, and blue smart paint was an actual grenade at first.

"Eat this you ungrateful whore!" He shouted as the O'Maddy's was covered in paint. A second later, delayed by the heat of the electric sign, the griefer's graffiti reformed and covered the rebel corp's standard in the red, white, and blue "Star and trifoil" logo Burger World favored for most of its promotions. The "Welcome to O'Maddy's" directly below it now read "Enjoy the taste of liberty."

Seeing that his work was done and that the heat of the sign baked the new paint job onto it, Anvil turned to leave and saw the one thing he did not want to see on this assignment. Driving by the exact moment he flung his griefer's graffiti was an eerily familiar Burger World heavy mover. Seeing the results of his handiwork, the truck came to a stop and turned right around. The name "Bessie" was lavishly painted above the windshield in white cursive lettering... this was the personal vehicle of Jennifer "Tank Ass" Moore, or at least one of them if the rumors that the Burger World agent was a monster truck driver on the weekends were true. And even with the night as dark as it was, Anvil could easily see several passengers riding along with the ursine tank mistress through the truck's tinted windshield.

Taking off into a full run, Anvil was silently grateful he always turned up his nose at fellow techs that were always too scared or lazy to do any heavy lifting around the workshop. Beneath his thick layer of blubber was more then enough muscle to carry him away when things got too hot. The effeminate equine disappeared into the alleys as Moore pulled her truck into the defaced automat. Sloppy, all too sloppy, now they left a mystery for Burger World to solve...

Moore tapped her fingers against the steering wheel as the others got out and looked around. From all appearances it looked like some Burger World brand loyalist was venting their frustrations by vandalizing Aristo property but something about this didn't feel right. In any case, Betty was now talking to Aristo security, explaining that no, this was not a Burger World attack, arguing that the fact that the building was still standing should have been proof enough and yes, it was likely some pro-Burger World ganger acting alone and having some laughs...

Meanwhile Samantha was on foot looking for the punk that did this while Penelope and Spoons sat in the truck with Jennifer. The blond bottom-heavy she-bear was doing her best to not get annoyed, not an easy feat as Jenny was most diplomatically described as "aggressive." It was their day off, their first in a while, all of them were in their civvies and not their combat gear, and Moore wanted to get to the Big Grub for their steak special before that damn girly boy fox DeeDee got there and got a head start on the eats with the new girls. As her plump bear belly began to grumble greedily, she fingered the menu for the Aristo automat. Forget it, if she was going to wait, she was going to put some food in her belly while she waited, she decided as her pale blue eyes sternly read through the menu...

Watching the automat from the relative safety of a nondescript van parked a block away; the Aristo buck saw an opportunity and quickly took it. With some quick computer magic, Bertrand hacked the automat credit readers to make the automated kitchen dispense free product. Now to hope the bear and her cohorts took the bait.

Moore read through the menu a second time, licking her lips as something began to nag at her in the back of her mind. "Hey McGrubb, you've done some research on Aristo's menu, what's good?"

Lassie "Spoons" McGrubb leaned forward to read over the bear's shoulder, looking puzzled. The slightly spacey Golden Labrador retriever aniwoman blinked and glanced at her coworker. "Like, is this a joke? This isn't an Aristo menu. At least it's not one of the ones I know."

Jennifer looked at her friend curiously but trusted the Steel Chef's assessment. "Ah the hell with it, I'll order a burger. After all, how can the Euros screw that up?" She replied while starting to place her order. Almost immediately the screen congratulated her with an explosion of color and proudly proclaimed her the millionth customer, making her current meal free and providing a gift card good for her next hundred purchases. A hundred free meals? Looks like they might be late after all...

The feline commando Bazooka Betty was doing her best to keep her expression neutral as she continued to argue with Aristo security. "As I said, I don't know any more about this then you do. We just happened to be driving by when it happened."

The guards were looking at one another in such a way that Betty could tell they weren't listening. Not only did they get a handful of Burger World agents but they also had one of THE Burger World agents with them; that had to be worth something on the Aristo corporate ladder. The tabby cat aniwoman resisted the urge to growl and demonstrate just how she could defeat these two rent-a-cops without her signature heavy ordinance. And then just when she didn't think this could get any more frustrating, two heavily armored Aristo knights were slowly lumbering over to throw their own considerable weight around.

"That's enough, we'll take the interrogation from here." A German accent ordered with a voice of authority, clearly the large armored equine was used to being obeyed.

One guard reflexively flinched when he recognized the two knights and immediately pulled his partner along with him, clearly intent on finding something else to occupy their time. "By your leave Lady Karleen and Lady Kraftquik." The guard excused himself before going to take pictures of the damaged sign, presumably for insurance purposes.

Betty was prepared to go through the whole process all over again with the two heavily armored Euro-gluttons. Instead Karleen handed the feline a coupon booklet. "Our apologies for getting you confused in this matter. Here, take one of these to celebrate the opening of our new franchise O'Maddy's."

The feline looked down at the booklet and then looked back up at them with a look that told them plainly she knew they were full of it. But she flashed them her most professional smile and slipped the coupons into her pocket before walking away all the same. She didn't know much about the O'Maddy's Maulers beyond what the company did, but she knew enough to recognize the truth, Aristo was running an internal op that the big breasted corporate commando and her friends just had the bad luck to walk in on. Fine, there would be time for Burger World to get back at Aristo for trying to rope the American megacorp into its own problems later. Right now she had a dinner date she wanted to keep.

Climbing back inside Moore's truck after finding Samantha, Betty was immediately greeted by the scent of butterscotch, deep-fried potatoes, and bailey. Penelope had put her game aside to slowly sip a large tub of piping hot soup, Spoons earnestly dug into a large deep-friend "baked" potato topped with chives and butter, while the blond brown she-bear shoved a giant steak burger on a potato bread bun and positively overloaded with toppings into her mouth.

"What is this?" The feline asked. Moore merely pointed at a counter at the bottom of the menu that displayed the number of free meals she had left. Betty raised an eyebrow then pulled the coupon booklet out and looked it over at length. Free combo meals, vouchers that allowed her to get two additional meals free with a single purchase, the promotional offers ranged from the generous to the absurdly munificent. Yep, Lady Boobsalot and her Round Ass Knights definitely needed a lesson in subtly when it came to forging coupons...

"Oooo, URP! Oh yeah that was good." The tank ass tank mistress belched and moaned with while giving her belly a rub and licking the burger's juices from her fingers. Jennifer smiled contently as she looked over and noticed Samantha and Betty had finally returned. "Finally, you're back. Here, let me order you two a couple things then we'll get going." She replied, her fingers dancing on the menu. A minute later the machinery dispensed a large soy paper bag full of Irish and Irish-American treats that Moore promptly handed over to Betty to divide up between the big-bottomed mink Samantha and herself. Finally, they were back on their way, Jennifer's truck driving along to meet the others at the steak house.

Nelson's face briefly fell into her hands when the second group finished their report, especially when she saw the forged coupons Bertrand had printed out to be given to Bazooka Betty. "Well... that certainly could have gone better. I guess Bertrand's mummy never let him handle the shopping. Very well, the game has begun. Now we better wrap things up before the Maulers realize it's their move. Karleen, it's time to finish this. You and Anvil will finish sabotaging the automat we defaced earlier, Bertrand will provide computer support. Hilda and I will handle the other one; I have something special in mind for that front. Something I'll need to call some outside help to arrange. All right, you all have your orders. For Queen and Corporation." The vixen dismissed.

Bertrand slowly scanned his surroundings as he waited with the enormous German mare in an alley not far from the target. He was secretly nervous for a few reasons, the biggest knowing that he had screwed up his part of the previous round. How was he supposed to know what the underclasses usually got for a discount? Well, he had no one to blame but himself as the reference was right there in front of him when he was sitting in the van. Oh well, Lady Nelson wasn't one to dwell on past follies, best to follow his lady's example and find the best way to move on from his miscalculation.

The vixen wasn't the only one who behaved like a proper knight, the buck mused to himself as he dared to take a look at Karleen the German Grabboid. Looking at her, Bertrand almost couldn't believe she was an infiltrator. The German woman was massive, a little over six feet tall and almost six hundred and fifty pounds of purebred Oldenburg Horse animan. Decent D-cup bust, a plump tummy, and an enormous rump enough to rival Pounds the massively bottom-heavy Road Hog. Bertrand was pretty sure she tested the limits of her Teutonic-styled KnightWorks hard suit's elasticity but was too polite to ask... and more then a little frightened of her to be honest. Germany was a warzone, most of the country's population huddled in fortified city-states while Aristo and Italiana warred for control of Deutschland, the weighty girths of its native people merely meant their rotund soldiers had more room to contain a rich warrior legacy both noble and terrible.

And then there was Karleen's exploits before joining Aristo, a surprisingly masterful burglar if the stories the large equine maiden occasionally told her fellow knights were even half true. Crafty, cunning, snuck through many secure locations thought impregnable. He was so lost in recounting the tales of her previous adventures he almost didn't notice that Anvil had finally caught up with them...

"Alright I'm ready, are you still with us Sir Bertrand?" The coverall-clad Big Tool asked, gently tapping the French buck on the side of his polymer helmet.

"What? Oh, yes, yes. I am ready." The buck replied, briefly chasing away images of Karleen squeezing her massive backside through a narrow air duct.

Karleen nodded, Bertrand could almost see the smile behind her own helmet as the rotund giantess turned and started leading the group towards a metal door behind the O'Maddy's automat. A few minutes with the lock and they were inside the "backroom." As the place was heavily automated, there wasn't exactly much space or even need for living employees outside of the occasional visit from the maintenance man; the machines that prepared the food and the pantry used up most of the available space. The latter was loaded with breads, produce, prepackaged burger patties, and other ingredients, a fact that did not escape any of them.

"O'Maddy's must have received a shipment recently. Perhaps you can track that down later Bertrand, see who their supplier is. That will certainly please Lady Nelson." Karleen mused as the French hacker got to work tearing apart computer systems and unlocking the pantry.

Once free to get their fingers into the shop's food stocks, Karleen and Anvil quickly proved that equines could certainly devour with the best of them; the two massive horses simply didn't seem to have a bottom to their stomachs or a limit to how much their mouths could stretch. And once they started, the Grabboid and her fellow big-bottomed Big Tool were like a plague of locusts with the food, emptying one shelf of foodstuff after another. Breads, soups, potatoes, burger patties wrapped in edible soy paper, it all disappeared into seemingly insatiable gullets. And as they ate, the draft horse animen swelled up like a pair of balloons. Stomachs bulged and their already broad equine rumps began to acquire even more heft and width, pear-shaped bodies growing wider as they ate straight from the shelves like they were feeding troughs. Polymer armor and Expandex fabrics groaned as their growing occupants stretched the elastic materials tight. As they waddled towards the last storage bin like a pair of big flabby boulders, Karlen and Anvil pulled it out and set it atop a nearby countertop. Sighing with a good-natured chuckle, Karleen opened the container and the two horses buried their faces in its contents. Briefly flecked with bits of food, the two big-bottomed horses licked their countenances clean and finished off the last scraps in the pantry with a greedy belch. Time to destroy the security footage and leave.

Watching them slowly waddle towards the door, Bertrand could not believe how big the draft horse animen had gotten in the half hour it took them to clean out the automat. When they started Karleen was already huge, now she had ceased to be a size rival for Pounds and moved on to being one for the black-furred wolfess's car. And both were almost too big for the door... he realized as the big-hipped Anvil was wedged in the doorframe. Gritting their teeth and grunting, both portly techno-knights pushed and finally shoved their third cohort through the entryway and ripped the doorframe off the wall in the process. On the plus side, at least they were free and the damage would probably be blamed on more hooligans out for a drunken weekend. Now to report in and find out how Lady Nelson was doing with her side...

It was very rarely that Lady Nelson would allow herself to unapologetically enjoy the luxuries her position in Aristo afforded her. This was turning into one of those times. After borrowing a Fat Cat limo from the company motor pool and spending a brief moment of deliberation before finally settling on making Pounds her chauffer, Nelson took off for a lady's evening with Hilda and the wolfess. The ponderous German ewe looked at her fellow knight with a nervous curiosity. The well-endowed vixen sighed and after a short silence said the only words she needed to say. "I convinced Dr. Stone to tell me about Hamburg, I know..."

At the mention of the ruined city of Hamburg, Hilda Kraftquik visibly quivered and looked down at the carpeted limo floor. Gently the lady knight pulled her cohort into a sympathetic embrace. In front Pounds drove on without a word, a far cry from her usual boisterous self. But Hilda was a close friend of both of them and if Nelson weren't hugging her now, the big black wolf probably would have found a way to give the sheep one.

"So what now?" The German Big Tool said finally.

"Well, first we go to O'Maddy's, finish cleaning out their stores and stock up on take-out. Afterwards, well I called Dr. Stone and told her I would like to meet all the other friends you have. At least the ones that are hiding in the city that is. And together we made some arrangements, even invited a few people who like to show up to gatherings like this one uninvited and provide some sort of emotional support. Then drive to somewhere peaceful where we can eat and talk... or just eat in silence if that is what you prefer. I just... I just want you to know your fellows do care about you." She answered, cracking a slight smile. "Even Bertrand and Bart would be insufferable without you and I would much prefer to avoid that if at all possible..." She chuckled.

Ten minutes later, Nelson realized she should have asked Pounds exactly what three-fourths of a full automat pantry entailed. Merciful heavens, even at her most decadent she couldn't eat this much food. She wasn't even sure the gluttonous wolf could eat quite this much by her lonesome. Fortunately Stone hadn't lied when she said she was bringing a hearty appetite to join them. Waiting at their meeting spots in groups of twos and threes, they arrive and Nelson met the "fraternity" for lack of a better name. Some were freelancers, most were regular employees for either one of the food corporations or some other business, Hilda appeared to be the only one among them that became an agent, and most were women. Yet there was a man amongst the nine that could come, which surprised Nelson but given what Stone told her already, she was too afraid to ask exactly what they may have done to him. The fact that he had the same long stare as the women told her more then the vixen wanted to know.

And then came the invited "party crasher," a male deer animan that Nelson partially recognized, Ricker Wallis, a big muscle-gut hunter and sportsman that Stone somehow knew. And apparently Hilda as well judging by how the ewe giggled softly when the enormous white-tailed buck quietly stepped in and sat down on an empty couch. Clad in a set of unassuming Expandex street clothes, Ricker scanned the gathering for the most-dejected looking female member and scooped them up in a loving hug against his big belly before helping himself to some of the O'Maddy's take-out. As she broke down and silently cried, he gave her a reassuring squeeze and gently stroked her hair.

Nelson smiled, she still had the same two problems she did when she started tonight's assignment. Isolde McHughes was still a nuisance that the company did not need and Hilda was still struggling with demons only she could really see; but, the vixen realized with a nod and a smile, the unconquerable Lady Nelson was finally making some headway on both matters...