Answers in the Dark
#5 of Project: SENTINEL
A new chapter! Yay!
I apologize for any grammar mistakes or mistyping; English isn't my first language, and I'm still improving, but I think I'm fairly decent at it.
Stupid fact #1: I actually forgot to upload on SF.
Stupid fact #2: I cried writing that.
A collab with Rainbows and Twilight!
Check the original HERE!
This time, we get something more.. constructive. Also, tons of references. See if you can find any.
Also, beware. Things _might _not be as they seem.
I apologize beforehand if anyone is disturbed, or horrified by anything.
I do not own Zootopia, just my own OC's!
So, here it is! My fifth chapter!
Liam entered his apartment with an explosive, exhausted huff, and threw his shoulder bag on the couch without even looking.
The cape buffalo had been a demanding bastard; He had listened to Liam's whole report in silence and then had asked very precise questions.
'What's the extension of the damage?'
Severely large, in his opinion. Three injured officers, two dead criminals and a yet-to-calculate property damage amount; that included the jewellery store, what was left of the storage building, and the damage both parties may have caused during the pursuit.
He opened his, now provided, cabinet; The landlord hadn't batted an eye to Liam's request to buy supplies for his apartment, claiming that he would do it once 'the other cop is done with his'.
The glass of Martini in his hand was very well worth the expense.
'Any casualties?'
Fortunately, none, without taking into account the two criminals, but Liam knew that Bogo meant civilians. He had scrupulously retraced the street to check on any individual that may have gotten hurt in the crossfire; His result had been just a lot of broken windows and bullets embedded in walls.
'I assume you're going to take full responsibility for the injuries that my officer received today'.
He had specifically explained that he was willing to take Judy's injury as his responsibility, but he wouldn't cover Delgato. Bogo couldn't expect the cat to protect someone from a volley of rounds while being in another car.
He'd been proved right when Bogo had stood up and dismissed him, just as the clock had pinged the three hours mark.
He slid the balcony door open and let out a sigh of contentment as he sat down on the chair, letting his gaze wander on the bustling mammals below. Picking up his phone, he read the glaring 6:27 PM. Another hour and something, and he'd start cooking for his two friends.
Friends? Was that how he felt about the fox and the bunny? He had known them for... less than a day and almost 9 hours respectively.
Friends.
Acquaintances.
Partners?
Yeah. Now it had more sense.
"You know your friends are going to have questions... Right?" Alan asked, spinning in his chair, gaze unfocused.
Dammit, Alan,
"What are you now, psychic?" Muttered Liam as he spun his glass of Martini, the carmine liquid swirling around in a hypnotic motion.
"Possibly, though it stems more from our ...connectedness, than anything else." The Shepherd mused, adding a bit of speed to the spinning.
Liam's eyes rolled as he shifted in his seat, and prepped his paws up to the small table in front of his wooden chair, slowly sinking into it as the last rays of the waning sun washed over his form.
"You know that I didn't want that to happen. It just happened." He took a sip of the bitter liquid, and took a cube of ice in his mouth, and started to chew on it.
"The less this thing is spread, the more relieved I am."
"I know you didn't mean for it to happen... But what a way to make a first impression..." The canine's smile was lecherous, and Liam's lips twitched.
"And now the big quest-!; how much should ... tell them; and how ... will you ... them?" The Shepherd asked, his voice becoming distorted and choppy like he was speaking in slow motion, towards the end.
Liam frowned and tapped his earring twice. "Al? What's wrong? Audio is bad, you're cutting out." He picked the jewel off his ear and his frown deepened when he noticed that it was sizzling slightly.
"... Was proba- damaged ... fight ... -ield repair ... necessary." The static grew worse, and the dog's voice slowed to a halt at some point, and Liam snorted in irritation. He fished his phone out of his pocket, tapped the quick call button twice, and set the speaker on. The other end picked up after the second beep.
"Ja ne?" Was the response.
"Don't 'Ja ne?' me, you nerd! The hell happened to the earpiece?" He asked, irritated at the continuous sizzling and high pitched whine coming from the piece of technology. "So much for new upgrades."
"I prefer the term otaku, and I told you; it was a prototype..." The terse answer of the dog made him snort; the way that Alan defended his own passion was stupid, fervent and astounding. Still stupid, though.
Sighing loudly, he activated the phone's camera and pointed it at the earpiece, who had started to emit a thin, greyish line of smoke. "And whose brilliant idea was it to send me a prototype, on a mission where our lives are at stake?" The sarcasm and irritation were rolling off his mouth in waves, mostly because he just noticed that his fur near the earring's hole had been singed.
"Well to be fair you had broken your last set, or it would've already been on its way out before you were assigned the mission" There was a hint of exasperation in Alan's voice as he analyzed the failing piece of tech.
"And you must realize that I don't mass produce these. These are handmade by myself." There was a shuffling sound as Alan moved around the room with his chair.
Liam sighed as he realized that this may take more than he thought it would, and headed to the kitchen, set the earring on the table, pointing the phone's camera at it. "So, what's up with the ear tech?"
"I won't be able to tell you until you take the bloody thing apart; there is a precision toolkit in the duffel," The dog said as he brought up schematics for the earpiece.
"Sure, do you want some tea while I'm at it?" He still headed for the duffel bag in his bedroom. He sifted through the clips and magazines, and 'ha-ha!' -ed when his paw gripped a small case in an internal side-pocket.
He returned to the kitchen with the sound of things moving and Alan mumbling lowly.
"Why does it look like a weapon cleaning kit?" Liam asked as he withdrew the parcel, and sat behind the phone.
"That would be because it is; with a few extras added in, of course." Replied Alan distractedly. The cat looked at the 'repairing kit' and raised an eyebrow. Shrugging, he opened it and did a quick examination of the content.
"So, how do I 'take the bloody thing apart', Fuzz?" He asked, taking a really small wrench in between his claws.
"Remove the screws from the caming with the .025 hex wrench then lift it using the .08 flathead; afterward, use the .02 star wrench to remove the screws securing the mesh..." The cat stared blankly at the back of his phone, processing the information, as five seconds of silence widened to ten.
"Did anything I just say make any sense to you?" The dog asked, growling irritatedly. Liam's face gained one big ass-cheeky smirk.
"Nope!"
Alan facepalmed, and snarled, though the feral noise was immediately squashed when a cold, high-pitched beeping sound started to emit from the other side of the phone.
"Yo, down boy; I still need your thinking here." The smirk turned into a perturbed frown in less than a second, and Liam's lips tightened at the sound the phone was emitting.
After a few calming breaths, Alan responded, "Don't. Make. Me. Repeat. Myself. Again." Liam frowned at the tone of the dog and clicked his tongue.
"Al, relax, no need to get worked up. I can repair this thing, I was just messing with you." The cat shook his head and started to dismantle the shell of his earpiece without a word.
Alan cackled lightly, "You are sooooo sleeping on the couch the first night you get back."
Liam raised his head and blinked twice, before giving a smirking huff. "I can live with that. It's not like I haven't been sleeping on my own since I was given the mission. That was... a week ago, right?" He stated with a nonchalant voice as he detached the golden camming from the dark steel component.
"Plus, I think Mr. Wilde is really handsome in his uniform." He gave an exaggerated, slightly sheepish grin at the jab, glad that the phone's camera was focused on the tech piece.
Alan sighed, "See the wire next to the speaker between the capacitors? There should be a screw holding the speaker to the board. Remove that screw, then remove the wire from the speaker with a .025 Phillips head screwdriver..."
As the cat compiled a shock ran up his arm, causing him to yelp in surprise, "What the hell, Al!?"
"Did I mention that those capacitors are live? Alan asked, chuckling to himself.
Liam scowled at the dog's idea of a comeback but returned his attention to the screw. "We have yet to decide what we should tell them." A small flinch as another tiny shock coursed through his body had him curse out loud. "Fuck! I say that we explain what we think what that armor was."
"An advanced prototypal battle chassis?" The dog responded, tapping away at one of his many keyboards.
"Is it? Prototypal, I mean?" The cat asked, waving the minuscule screwdriver around. "The ANSA is the hypothetical apex of ACORP's tech, and that is some advanced shit; I won't be surprised if they pull a warp device out of their assholes. But a prototypal battle armor designed off of mine?" The disbelief was thick in the feline's tone, as he returned his attention to the earring.
"I'm working on one of those..." Alan shot back in a playfully sarcastic manner, "but yes, a prototypal battle chassis."
"Let's go with just battle chassis and hope they buy it." Liam poked the screw once more and didn't get a shock this time. "What now?"
Give me a close up of the speaker..." Alan responded, eyes bobbing up and down from the screen to the schematics, back-and-forth.
"What's wrong with this thing to begin with?" Liam whined, but complied with the order. His hand had started to cramp in protest to his stillness, and it had been itching for a while due to the multiple shocks.
"It's just a hunch, but I think the speaker membrane might have cracked; due to the extra functions added, I had to use a thinner vibration disk." At the answer, Liam got a closer look at the thing, but saw nothing in the wirey mess, so he shrugged and leaned back in the chair.
"So basically, the earpiece popped." Summed up Liam, gesturing to the mess of intricate, minuscule wires that was the earring.
"Not really, but close enough," the dog responded. "Also how's dinner coming along?"
Liam's confused gaze landed on his phone. "Dinner? Why should I make di-" The wildcat's thoughts halted and skipped backward. "DINNER!" He vaulted off the chair and sped to the fridge to pick up the fish that was supposed to be halfway prepared by then.
"Yes, dinner! You are entertaining guests other than myself. And don't forget vegetables for the bunny!" The canine's laugh echoed from the phone as he returned to examine the tech piece.
"Screw! You! Alan!"
The preparations for dinner were well underway when his guests knocked at the door, just in time as he finished setting his cutlery. The steaming fish gave a tantalizing aroma as he passed to open the door.
His smile didn't reach his eyes because of the white gauze acting as a sling to block Judy's arm movement in order to avoid further aggravations on the wound.
"Evening, you two." He nodded at each of them and stepped aside to let the two mammals in.
"How you doing, pal?" Nick went in as he patted the cat's shoulder, and went further into the apartment.
"Good evening to you too, Mr. Reed" Judy spun slowly around to soak in what Liam's dwelling was, eyes wide as she did.
"Please, it's Liam when we're not on duty." The feline closed the door and went to the stove to check on the happily frying fish. "And make yourself at home, dinner is almost ready."
He heard the shuffling of both mammals and the slight scraping of chairs being moved, and then the slight, musical intro that the TV made when it was being turned on.
"- mammals down on Banyon Avenue. And now we give the line to Geffrey Moode. Geffrey, can you tell us what's exactly going on, over there?" The snow leopard's image suddenly swapped with that of a hairy moose.
"Sure thing, Fabienne! Apparently, seven mammals assaulted the jewelry store on Baobab Avenue, "Holidaze diamonds", robbed the poor owner of the majority of his valuables, and fled in a van." The gangly moose explained with a very thick British accent.
"The ZPD's response was immediate, and as two units were in pursuit of the mammals, a bomb squad successfully avoided a disaster by defusing what seemed to be a very advanced explosive!" The camera switched to a close shot of said bomb squad.
'Uh. Didn't know that Bogo wanted to assign me two members of the bomb squad. What's his deal?'
Indeed, Wolfowitz and Delgato, fully dressed in a green and black suit, were talking while pointing at something inside the ZPD's van.
'Probably the bomb. Should be able to get my hands on that, if needed. Might get a lead on where the armor came from.'
"We did pretty well!" Judy let out a sigh of relief as she sagged into the chair.
Liam let out a snort at that, gaining confused looks from the rabbit and the fox. "We didn't do pretty good, Judy. You got injured, Johnson's at the hospital with a pierced lung and Nick got almost killed, twice." He stated and made a face as Judy deflated bit by bit with each fact. He felt the need to explain.
"I'm sorry Judy, it's just that we were reckless today, and the ZPD almost lost two of their best officers around. It would've been really embarrassing, not to say downright stupid, to have you die on me on the first day, when I practically kicked Bogo's ass to partner you two with me."
The blush of both mammals was worth the effort.
Taking the chance to change the mood, he turned his question on the Fox. "Speaking of injuries, how is she?" He nodded toward Judy as he flipped the tuna on the other side for the last time, glad that he was using a grill pan, and not a non-stick pan.
The bunny's scowl was something to behold; both adorable and terrifying, Judy's glare pierced the back of the Wildcat in a rush of irritation. "I'm here, you know? I can answer by myself, thank you." She harrumphed, folding her legs beneath her.
This time, Liam's smile did reach his eyes, and, as he flopped the cooked tuna on the dish to his side, gave her an amused look.
"I'm sure that you were going to say that you're fine, that I shouldn't worry about you, and that it wasn't my fault that you got hurt in the first place."
This time, the redness reached her ears, lighting them like candles, making both predators laugh at the sight.
As he set the first plate on the table in front of Nick, who nodded in thanks, he inquired once more. "So?"
Nick's gaze went from the wildcat to the bunny in front of him, who was slightly shaking her head. Giving her a shrug, he turned again to look at the feline. "Just a week or three without anything exciting for her, and she'll be okay."
Judy gave a not-so-sneaky kick to the Fox opposite of her, and mouthed "Traitor". Nick's cheeky grin turned into a strange mix of pain and amusement. And raised his paws to mimic quotation marks. "Doctor's orders, Carrots."
Liam's smile became one of exasperation. "Why would you even want to hide the fact that you're not capable of doing...-" He interrupted himself as he processed his own question. "- Right, never mind. Stupid question." He shook his head at that and plopped his and Judy's steaks on their respective plates.
Said bunny's ears lowered, and so did her voice.
"I just didn't want Nick, or you, to worry about me. I can take care of myself; I've been doing that since I was twelve, and-" The sudden motion of the plate being placed quite forcefully in front of her, and the sight of Nick pointing a fork to her face made her stop.
"Don't even think of saying stuff like that, Fluff! It's your health we're talking about, not a joke or something. You were shot, and that's no laughing matter." He waved the fork in front of her face like a threatening stick.
Judy went cross-eyed following the bobbing motion and gave a small smile at the worried look that her partner wore on his face.
"Thank you, Nick. And you too, Liam." The cat's smile waned a bit at the gratefulness coming from the lagomorph and grabbed his plate on the counter a bit tightly, so much that it started to tremble.
'I should've been faster.'
The cold, calculative presence of Aegis engulfed the guilt and deterred it from going further in its path. The subtle shift in his emotion went unnoticed, just like the sudden relaxation of his shoulders, as he turned around and sat next to both mammals.
"I called a friend of mine" he changed the argument abruptly, gaining the curious glances of his partners. "He's really into advanced tech, and I told him what happened today." Explained the cat, taking the first bite of his fish.
His taste buds exploded in a shrill cacophony of hallelujahs as the morsel landed on his tongue. Aegis' presence intensified to the point that some Inconel plates attached on his back thankfully concealed due to his shirt.
"...He conjectured that that thing might've been a battle chassis. We do not know if it was a mere prototype or a complete product of something more." He motioned for the two of them to eat, and they quickly took a piece out of their steak.
"This... armor was made with the purpose of attacking; The defense was sorely lacking in that chassis, strengthening the hypothesis of it being a prototype." He continued, waving slightly his fork with a piece of steak he had stabbed priorly.
"Wait, how do you know that?" Nick's confusion was echoed by Judy's gaze, and it became more so when Liam's positively smug smirk flashed at them.
"I have yet to see someone survive a bullet through the head, Mr. Wilde."
The mentioning of the cat killing someone caused the Fox's gaze unfocused, and the bunny's eyes widen at the notion. The feline snapped his fingers in front of the Fox, who shook his head and shuddered.
"Nick?" The concerned voice of the bunny cut through the, if not for the tv still turned on, silent room. The vulpine looked at her and shook his head with a lazy smile.
"Everything's alright, Whiskers. I'm more tired than I thought I was." He avoided eye contact by eating another piece of his steak.
Liam looked at the fox and said nothing. It wasn't his place to tell what was afflicting Nick, and if the vulpine didn't want his partner to worry, who was he to deny his silent request?
Oh, right. A jerk.
"I shot one of the two criminals that we were following, scoring a fatal wound. Bogo's been informed of the fact that I acted on behalf of Nick's safety; Had I not killed the mammal, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He gave a pointed stare at the downcasted fox.
"I'm not sorry for killing that guy. It was a do-or-die situation, and I'm not regretting choosing the obvious choice. I'm not sorry, I won't be; and you shouldn't, either." The tone was meant to be firm, but it turned mellow when the fox's ears turned upwards.
"But who was that guy? Who did he work for?" Interjected Judy, lightly scratching her injured ear, prompting the vulpine to smack her hand with his fork. Liam grimaced at the unresolved question.
"That... I do not know. The chassis was really advanced in technology; something that only a few big shots can get." He stabbed the last piece of the tuna with an irritated grunt. He caught with the corner of his eyes Judy making a disgusted face when she found tiny pieces of steak and sauce sticking to her fur.
"Big shots? How big are we talking about?" Inquired Nick, pouring glasses of water for all three mammals.
Liam drank the cool liquid, wetting his dry throat, set the glass on the table with a dull thunk, and pursed his lips in thought. "Big as in, in the hundreds." He mused, licking his lips.
"Thousands?" Judy tried to give a range and weight to the hypothetical word.
Liam shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Millions, if not in the billion. Whoever created that thing, he, or she, must be really high in the system." The supplied info hit the two officers with the strength of a freight train.
"What?! Why...Why would something like that rob a jewelry store?!" Exclaimed Nick, eyes wide in disbelief, an action mirrored by Judy's gaping mouth.
"Why would someone create a battle armor?"
The question made Liam freeze, and consequently, the two mammals on his sides tensed. He knew he had the unpleasant task to voice the unanimous thoughts in everyone's mind.
"Kidnapping, intimidation, terrorism, a possible coup d'ètat... Target elimination." He listed, and his eyes unintentionally landed on Nick. His grim tone sent shivers up the two other's spines, and an unpleasant feeling settled in the feline's gut.
'Who the fuck got ballsy enough to poke ACORP?'
Liam picked up the empty plates and, as he walked to the sink, he tried to distract the two mammals with a question.
"Do you know someone who can give us a lead to... Doug Ramses?"
They were more than happy to oblige with an answer.
Garrett stared at the glowing tank, watching as the liquid shifted in lighting, giving it an eerie green hue. His gaze laid on the body inside it; The black panther known as Lily Edwards floated placidly inside the liquid, the steady rhythm of her beating heart gave away that she was still alive.
For now.
The wolf's gaze lingered on her, admiring her peaceful features on her face. He looked around the room, his eyes scanning each piece of equipment given to him to complete the operations needed.
His face scrunched up, a bad taste filling his mouth; he had refused and rejected their request as many times as he could, to protect her from this horrible project, but they, in the end, won.
"Doctor Lockwood."
The static, robotic voice attracted his attention, as the panel opposite of the tanks lit up, and an image of a mammal, with a mask; the cheeky smile of a painted fox stared blankly at him.
Garrett felt a shiver creeping up his spine.
"I assume that the injection was a success." The reverb echoed throughout the whole room, and the wolf felt his chest vibrate with it.
Gazing at the mask another time, he lowered his eyes to the floor, before closing them. "The vessel's body went into a neural shutdown after the inoculation. Incapable of withstanding the dosage, she fell into a coma; since the majority of the toxic fluid had been absorbed by the subject, as intended, the vessel was, and still is, able to sustain his body with -"
Garrett's droning was interrupted by the waving hand of the other mammal. "Spare me the details, Doc, and get to the point; When will it be ready?"
The wolf's gaze went from cold to downright steely.
It.
"Estimated time is one year in the best case scenario." he informed briskly, who growled in irritation at the given information.
"Do you need a reminder that I-"
"With all due respect, Sir.-" The word felt vile in his mouth, and it felt good to see the tiniest flash of irritation course through the masked animal's body. "- I cannot accelerate the process' pace, lest I destroy everything achieved."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"See that it gets done, Lockwood. There won't be second chances." With that, the screen went blank, and the whole room fell into darkness.
"Like I had one to begin with." The wolf muttered to himself and turned around to look at the second tank in the room, adjacent to Lily's.
VR-02.
The minuscule body was covered in thick, pulsing, angry red veins, giving it a terrifying aspect.
It.
Garrett Lockwood's paw touched the tank's glass, and the warmness coming from it seeped into the mammal's paw. A weary sigh left the wolf, and he picked a tablet, and two red words glared back at him.
Project: GENESIS.
An abomination.
Garrett Lockwood slowly fell to his knees, and placed a paw on his eyes, as the first, shiny drops started to fall. A whimper echoed in the dark room.
"...Lily... "