FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 2

The van was exactly how I pictured it; a short head minivan complete with a sliding door on the passenger side. It was painted a dark, almost midnight blue with small white accents on the front doors that housed mockups of our badges, the sides were emblazoned with the phrase "Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty - To Protect and Serve" with a large Z.P.D. right above it. There was even a light bar on the top of it, nothing or no one would mistake this vehicle for something other than a police car. Chief Bogo was talking with Clawhauser, who was sitting in the driver's seat. I wasn't the only one wondering about it as we approached, because Judy spoke up first:

"What's he doing here?" She asked. "He's coming with us?"

"Mister Clawhauser has agreed to drop us off at the lab we're to visit." Bogo said coldly. "He will return for us on his lunch break."

"That's right. Because I like doing favors for people." He added, bringing to attention my conscience, nagging about the shift he'd been asking about.

"Enough prattle. Where's Fangmeyer?" Bogo asked.

"Tsh... probably sleeping somewhere."

"I'm right here." Fangmeyer's voice cut mine off as a sullen tiger glared out from the van. "What took you guys so long?"

"Well let's go." Bogo said. "Howard, you can finish chewing on your foot once we're moving."

We decided on a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to see who got to ride shotgun, but Bogo beat us all to it by climbing in first. With his size and Clawhauser's sheer girth, we watched as the van sagged and creaked. I climbed in, but was immediately directed into the back seat next to Fangmeyer while Hopps sat in the middle row. The vehicle burred to life and we jerked into motion before I even got my seatbelt on. Fangmeyer sat leaning against his window with a single earbud in his ear as he listened to music. I admired how relaxed he took things sometimes, he gently tapped his fingers against the window to an unknown beat while his free ear scanned the vehicle for signs of being called on. His foot swayed occasionally, but not enough to get in my way as he completely became absorbed into his song. I listened in as best as I could, I couldn't recognize the music, but the beat and singer were somewhat familiar. "What are you listening to?"

"Hmm?" Fangmeyer feigned not hearing me as he turned to look at me.

"That song you're listening to?" I pointed at the player. "It sounds like Gazelle's music but I can't recognize the beat."

"Oh! You like Gazelle too, Tobias?" The cheetah in the front giggled with glee. "We've got a few grazers in here, do we?"

"You know calling Gazelle fans grazers isn't going to catch on, right Clawhauser?" Judy said.

"Tobias?" I asked Fangmeyer. "I don't think I've ever heard your first name before."

Fangmeyer chuckled a bit, looking at the shine of his claws before returning to his previous position. "Doesn't come up often." He said with a yawn as he sleepily stared out the window.

"Hello radio listeners, it's me, Gazelle." The pop star's sultry voice exited the speakers of the van at about the same time Clawhauser bounced around giddily as he turned up the volume. "I just wanted to remind you that next weekend, I'm going to be performing the debut concert of my new album at the amazing Ozark Hotel at Wild Isle and I hope to see as many of my fans as possible. Remember to stay happy and I'll be back in Zootopia soon."

"Ooohh hohohoh! You hear that guys? That's what I've been talking about, please I have got to go see that concert..."

"I'm not taking your shift." I said, making the cheetah frown.

"But--"

"No!" Me and Judy both shouted at once. Obviously she had been asked too. With that, Clawhauser went quiet in the front seat.

"Hey, Toby..." He said after a bit. "I don't think I asked you."

"I've got that weekend off." Fangmeyer said indifferently looking out the window.

"Why's that?" I asked curiously.

Fangmeyer looked at me, I could see his gaze staring me up and down for just a second. "Personal leave." He said. "I'm taking a long weekend, is there a problem with that?"

"No no." I shook my head. "Like I said, I was just curious."

The tiger said nothing else and went back to listening to his music, I had my suspicions, but nothing to really substantiate that couldn't be explained by coincidence. I dropped the notion and sat back in my seat as we listened in silence to the sound of the road under us and the rumbling of the engine. Soon enough though, we turned off the main freeway and rolled down into an industrial looking area that crept between the walls to Sahara Square, before we exited the tunnel though, Clawhauser made a left and entered a side tunnel, plunging us into almost pitch blackness. Only the lights from the headlights and the console glowing across the van allowed us to see anything at all. Soon enough, we came to a stop near a large black object with what looked like a door in front of it. Bogo climbed out and pulled the sliding door open.

"Alright, everybody out." He said. "We're here."

"This place?" Judy asked, sounding a bit put off by the surroundings. "I thought we were going into Sahara Square."

"We are." Bogo said. "Just not above ground. This leads into a laboratory underneath District four's station."

"Why is a laboratory here?" I asked.

"Dunno. I don't tend to question the mayor in things like this. It's his business."

"He doesn't always fly right though." I admitted.

"Bite that tongue of yours Howard. He's done more for this city than you could ever know."

I grew silent after that and we disembarked the van. "Alright, Chief. I'll be back in a couple hours. Did you guys need me to bring you anything?"

Before any of us could answer, Bogo spoke up. "I think we'll be fine. Just be sure to be back on time."

"Sure thing."

Just like that, the van and Clawhauser were driving off into the tunnel. Soon, his tail lights were gone and we were standing in front of a large door. Bogo pressed a button on the side of it, and an earworm of a noise came from the box before a screen flashed on and a camera lowered to meet our faces.

"Do you have an appointment?" A garbled voice spoke.

"Yes." Bogo answered, staring awkardly at the camera. "We've been sent by Mayor Lionheart, he sent us to inspect something regarding the safety of the city?"

"Very good." The voice answered as the camera snapped upward and vanished into the overhang it had come out of. As instantly as that, the door slid open from the center to both sides, giving it a very science fiction sort of look. Mist poured out of the opening, adding to the dramatic effect as the shadow of a lone, spindly looking male exited the opening.

He was a canine, ranging from a dingo to a really scrawny looking hyena. His square muzzle making him look more the latter. His hands were stuck deep into the pockets of his white lab coat as the detail of his black tie and powder blue shirt underneath really accentuated his darkened fur. A pair of wire framed glasses near the end of his nose were easily corrected against his eyes as he pressed them up with a finger before greeting all of us with his blood red eyes. "Hello, hello." He said. "I'm glad you finally made it. Chief Bogo I presume?" He looked to the buffalo.

"You presume correctly." He said shaking the man's hand. "These are my fellow officers; Officers Hopps, Fangmeyer, and Detective Howard."

"Oh my, a detective as well." He said looking me over. "An honor indeed. Come in, Professor Onna is expecting you."