-Four Months Ago-
A dark room was only illuminated by the light coming from a large screen. A figure sat in the shadows, dropping yet another balled up tissue to the growing pile by the chair leg.
"They didn't find anything? Nothing at all, Grace?"
The clouded leopard on the screen shook her head with a sigh. "Well...I said they didn't find any signs of life or his body. I never said they didn't find anything."
"Go on."
"Scout, I don't think I should--"
"Grace."
The feline paused, squinting at the darkened figure before her. "His leg."
"What?"
"They found his leg. That's all, Scout. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid Lieutenant Lewis concluded his services with us."
Scout stood up from the shadows on her stubby legs, her round ears pinned back against her dark brown head and her paw to her short snout. For a moment she remains silent before taking a deep breath and nodding. "I'll...I'll tell the team, Director."
"Sandra."
The bush dog stiffened and shook her head. "Don't...Don't Sandra me. I'm fine. I'm...I'll be fine." She swallowed. "Lewis...Lewis was a good agent. He knew the risks, as do we all." She glanced at the screen. "Are we to expect a replacement soon?"
"Not yet." She shook her head. "I'll have to check files and see who we have that is both qualified and available. It may be a few months...But I think that should give you and your team time to mourn."
Scout nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her paw. "Yes, ma'am. We'll manage until then."
"I'll be in touch." Grace nodded before ending the call and the room went black with the absence of the screen light.
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-Now-
"Martin?" A smaller humboldt penguin pokes her head around the corner as she calls. "MARTIN?"
Martin looks up from the comic book before him and flips it closed, a sheepish smile across his beak. "Sorry, Evs, did you need something?"
The other penguin looks at him with her flipper to her hip and sighs. "I could use help with, you know, the whole moving in thing? Can't let Diego do it all, can we?"
"...I mean...We could. It wouldn't hurt my feelings any--"
"Martin."
"Okay, okay, I'll go help. Sheesh." He sighed and stuffed his comic book under his pillow before waddling over to her. "You don't have to use the mom tone."
"I wouldn't use it if you would just cooperate like an adult."
Martin rolls his eyes. "Likely story." He gently pats her shoulder as he waddles past. "I'll be back." He doesn't wait to hear her, no doubt sarcastic, response and waddles his way down the tunnel and out of their new burrow.
A few days ago, he, his sister, and her mate had transferred to the snazzy San Diego Zoo from their old Bronx Zoo in New York. The wide open habitat was certainly a thing to adjust to, but it had allowed them plenty of space to dig a fresh, though simple, home burrow. They would have to dig it out more later, but for now it is good enough to get by. At least they have basic power already figured out.
Martin blinks and waits a moment for his eyes to adjust to the night lighting. He really should have thought to grab a flashlight...Then again, his flashlight is probably among the assorted chaos of their boxed up possessions currently anyway. A lot of good that does him now.
He shakes his head and starts down a worn path through the grass of their new enclosure. This had to be the main trail that the zookeepers used, so surely it would lead him to a sidewalk or road, or something that he could use to guide his way to the zoo storage building. As he waddles, he keeps a glance on his surroundings. While he would like to hope that the humans were smart enough not to put them in the same enclosure with a predator, one could never be too careful, and he really did not want to be eaten during his first week at this new zoo. Evy would be crushed.
Martin perks up as he finally reaches the wall for the habitat. He carefully climbs up and jumps down to the other side. Now how he would get back over that wall with a crateful of possessions, that would be a problem for later. He glances both ways down the sidewalk before he spots a map and slides over on his belly. He then carefully shimmies up the sign post until he is at beak level with the sign.
"...So north then turn left at the bush dog habitat. Simple enough."
He drops down from the sign and commences sliding towards his end destination. Once there, it is a fairly simple task. He squeezes his way inside through a window, pushes a fairly light crate over to the door, and hops on top to open the door itself. He then finds one of the smaller of the crates with an M&E Mimosa label on it. Grunting and picking it up, he starts carrying it out from the storage building.
Why didn't he think to find a wagon? Or a dolly? Heck, he'd even go for a friendly alligator right about now to carry it for him. That nice one he once met from the neighboring Central Park Zoo would have helped, he's sure...But this isn't New York. This is California.
Quiet...Vast...California.
Martin shakes his head with a sigh. Eventually he would have to leave the burrow and meet their neighbors...Hopefully they'll be friendly. But if not, he had made sure to bring enough comic books and video games to keep him company for the next few months at least. Maybe even years if he paces himself!
...Okay, pacing himself may be a bit of a stretch.
Martin then stops suddenly in his tracks with wide eyes. What the heck was that shadow he just saw? He lowers the crate enough so that he can look up and he feels panic gather in his throat.
Bats.
There are two bats flying overhead. Large ones. Oh cod, does California have vampires? Is he going to have to invest in garlic and wooden stakes now?
Martin picks up his pace, stumbling along the sidewalk and passes the bush dog habitat. However, as there is the soft thud of something landing on his crate, Martin shrieks, drops the crate, and dives into a nearby bush. For a moment, he sits there trembling, taking deep, quick breaths, trying to calm himself before slowly peeking out from the bush.
So far, nothing. The crate is exactly where he dropped it. There aren't even anymore bat shadows dancing across the ground.
With one last deep breath, Martin slinks from the bush over to his crate.
"Oh?" He picks up a CD case that is now sitting on the top. He pops it open and angles it towards the closest streetlight. "Tessellect?" He scrunches up his beak. "Never heard of it." He shuts the case and lays it back on the crate and continues with his mission: Operation Crate Retrieval.
Martin smirks a little to himself as he finds a gap in the wall and pushes the crate through. Just wait until Evy and Diego hear his story about what happened tonight. Not only did he get the crate without getting lost, he did so while facing rabid Californian vampires who threw things at him. Bet none of those penguins from Central Park could say they did that!
He picks up the crate once more and scurries down the worn trail once more to their little burrow. He drops the crate by the entrance to Evy's hollow before continuing to his own room with the disc. He opens the case again, this time taking out the disc and looking at its colored underside by the light of his lamp. It is a simple DVD disc with the word "Tessellect" neatly written on it with a marker.
Martin sits down on his mat in the corner and pulls out a small laptop from a nearby bag and pops it in. With his laptop now in his lab, he waits for it to read the disc.
Open File?
He shrugs at the question on the screen and clicks enter. This would probably be some sort of game or movie. Probably sci-fi related, so certainly sounds like his sort of free disc to check out.
Ready?
Is he ready? Ready for what? It's not like this thing came with any information. He clicks enter again.
The screen quickly lights up with bright pastel colors, quickly flashing through to a scattering of a bazillion images, blinking and interchanging rapidly. At first, Martin tries to look away, but something about it is almost hypnotic and he just can't look away.
Fox, stilts, periwinkle, sawhorse, explosion--
At this point the images and colors speed by in such a blur, he can't process that he saw anything but a swish of some colored image.
And then as suddenly as the flashing had begun, it ends and his screen goes black. Martin rubs his flippers over his face. Every time he blinks he can see some odd after image.
Red, flip phone, airplane, rat--
Martin groans and lays down on the mat, curling up into a ball. He then soon drifts off to sleep. His laptop continues to rest on the mat beside him, now blinking a single message in green.
Download Complete.
267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmSTmqe3vL
