So yeah! This is a "fusion fic" between "Zootopia" and the anime franchise "Patlabor - the Mobile Police."

I know that many Zootopia fans may not have seen (or even heard of) Patlabor (if you haven't, I highly recommend it), so I'm going to try and ease you into it the same way the Patlabor series did.

This story may include notes with musical cues to describe the soundtrack of this fic - you may have noticed the list of background music and the "[OST1]" marker at the top of this chapter.

One last note for reviewers: I welcome constructive criticism, but I appreciate it when you folks tell me what you enjoyed about my works. I'd like to be able to get to the point where the entire story is the best part, but in the meantime I'd like to focus on making the most engaging elements even better.

Either way, enjoy!

BACKGROUND MUSIC:

1) Kenji Kawai – "Night Stalkers" – from Patlabor: The Early Days

2) Toshihiko Sahashi – "Procrastination" – from The Big O

[OST1]

Labor: The name coined to describe giant robots built for heavy industrial use.

"That Gideon Grey doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"Well… He was right about one thing – I don't know when to quit!"

Their cramped cockpits mean that usually only small mammals can pilot them effectively.

"Knock 'em dead, Nicky!"

"You got it, Mom!"

The advent of Labors sparked a revolution in construction and engineering, and opened up new opportunities for the small mammals piloting them.

However, this breakthrough lead to a new threat to society; Labor crime.

"Well, what'll you do with him now? The Old Guard's not happy."

"And I can't be seen to punish him or the media will throw a fit… Hang on. What if I stuck him with that new Zeeplabor Division?"

"Kicking him upstairs?"

"Call it what you will, but hopefully there he'll be out of our fur and in Polecatsky's shadow, and we'll look like we're rewarding him to boot!"

To address this threat, the Zootopia Police Department created a new type of Labor – the ZPD Patrol Labor.

"Ms. Inaba?"

"Yes?"

"I thought I'd come and let you know before I gave the good news to your father. The AV-45 passed with flying colors!"

"That's great! We'll need to see how the ZPD handles those first three units to be sure, but I've got a good feeling about this! Ooh! I can't wait to see who they pick to pilot those bad boys!"

Thus, the 'Zeeplabor' was born…

Episode 1

Fifty-One-Fifty

Part I

"Officer Judy Hopps – ZPD Special Vehicles, Second Section, Division 2, at your service!"

Out on the stretch of the western coast of Savanna Central, the #88 bus trundled its way along otherwise deserted streets lined by industrial buildings behind chain link fences, and crisscrossed by quiet railway tracks. Here and there, it stopped to pick up or drop off the odd rhino, bear, or bull warehouse worker, but for the most part, it carried few passengers.

As the buildings began to thin out closer to the coasts, the bus ground to a halt. The rear doors opened, and the tiny, lithe, grey-furred form of a grey rabbit stepped onto curb.

As the bus pulled away behind her, Judy Hopps took in the quiet surroundings, the wind carrying a bit of sea air in her direction, before walking a little further down the street.

Judy then turned at the next right, towards the sea, as the industrial park thinned out even more before the road turned sharply to the left. Large fields now surrounded the buildings that had their backs to the sea. One of these warehouses – or at least, what lookedlike a warehouse – interested her in particular, as she turned into its grounds.

The young rabbit's nose twitched as she thought about how out-of-the-way her new workplace was. But that didn't stop her from breaking into a dash as she passed through the open gate. She wasn't going to miss this for the world!

After speeding through the door, Judy's paws ground to a halt as an overweight cheetah, carrying in a box of doughnuts while humming the latest Gazelle hit, swung into view.

Judy uttered a short cry as she ground to a halt inches from the base of the big cat's tail, before losing her balance and falling on her fluffy tail. The stunned cheetah jumped forward and turned around, taking in Judy at last.

"Aw, geez!" The portly cheetah winced. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Judy hefted herself to her feet, looking at the cheetah's uniform, which was the same as hers: a navy vest overtop a paler blue shirt, with the words 'SV-2' in gold on the right-hand side, opposite a police badge. The gold letters signified that both mammals belonged to the ZPD's Special Vehicles Bureau, Second Section.

Obviously the cheetah wasn't a Labor pilot – even a skinny cheetah wouldn't fit in most Labor cockpits. Maybe he was there as a technician or something?

"Oh, are you with the new Division?" he said.

"You bet!" said Judy, puffing out her chest and putting her hands on her hips.

"You're here early," said the cheetah, smiling down at the comparatively tiny rabbit.

"Figured I ought to be," said Judy. "Say, where's Division 2 meeting again?"

"Oh, Ready Room 2," said the cheetah, pointing at the staircase to Judy's left. "Up there."

"Thanks!" Once again Judy was off like a shot, rocketing up the stairs, before realizing that she didn't know which of the rooms in the hallway was Ready Room 2.

Suddenly, a door opened, and once again, Judy flung herself to a halt, this time in front of a sleek spotted skunk donning a regular blue police uniform – sans vest.

"Oh, sorry!" the skunk jolted back from Judy. "I didn't see you."

"Oh, it's my fault," said Judy. "I wasn't looking."

Just then, Judy saw 'POLECATSKY' on the gold nameplate on the uniform's breast, and her purple eyes went wide. "You're Anna Polecatsky, aren't you?"

The skunk tilted her head. "Yes…?"

"You… You rock! I'm a big fan!" Judy reached forward and vigorously shook the skunk's paw. "I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for you!"

"Oh…" Polecatsky rubbed the back of her neck as she gingerly returned the handshake. "I… wasn't the only first-generation Zeeplabor pilot."

"But they say you were the best!"

Anna Polecatsky's skill as a Zeeplabor pilot had led her rapidly rising through the ranks. Now, as a Captain of SV2 Division 1, she was the ZPD's highest-ranking mammal outside the Little Rodentia Borough Police who weighed less than sixty pounds.

"I… wouldn't really know what 'they' say…" Captain Polecatsky chuckled. "Anyway, you don't see my name in the tabloids, so I wouldn't call myself a celebrity. Are you part of the new Division 2?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Judy snapped into a salute. "Officer Judy Hopps – ZPD Special Vehicles, Second Section, Division 2, at your service!"

"Glad to have you onboard." The skunk smiled before pointing a claw at a door down the hall. "Ready Room 2's that door there. Good luck!"

"Thanks!"

'Good luck'?

Judy stepped through the open door of Ready Room 2 to find a room bare of furniture, save for a kitchenette on the far wall – one obviously sized for much larger mammals. A large window faced onto the field and Big Bayou Bay.

Judy's nose twitched as she wondered if Polecatsky had been pointing to a different room – Zeeplabor Divisions wouldn't spend their time on-duty between calls in an unfurnished room, right?

No. The lettering on the door said 'READY ROOM 2'. But that didn't explain the lack of furniture.

All Judy could do was sit down, cross-legged against the wall under the window, hoping the other Division 2 officers would shed some light on the matter.

About five or ten minutes later, Judy caught the first of her new co-workers coming into the room.

"Oho! And here I thought I was the early bird!" he said.

It was obviously a male, wearing an SV2 uniform and wire-rimmed glasses, but Judy couldn't really tell what species this mammal was. The newcomer was squat, heavily built, and with thick, grey-brown fur. As he smiled, Judy caught the slightest sign of tusks under his lips. The new mammal's muzzle was also rather short, but pointed, with long black whiskers.

"Howard Hylander, at your service," said the new mammal, extending a padded paw Judy's way.

"Judy Hopps." Judy returned the handshake. "And that bit about us rabbits being quick on our feet isn't all stereotype."

"Yes…" Hylander chuckled as he sat down next to Judy. "Pity there's no such endearing stereotypes for us hyraxes – it'd mean less existential crises!"

Judy chuckled, making a mental note to read up on hyraxes.

"Now, judging by that lilt in your accent, I'd say you're from the country…" Hylander stared long and hard at Judy. "Burrows County, I'm guessing?"

"Bunnyburrow to be exact," Judy smiled.

"Ah, I figured!" the hyrax pulled back. "Long way to travel, no?"

"Working in the police has been my dream since I was a kit," said Judy.

"Ah, I can relate…" sighed Hylander, staring at the ceiling. "I'd have joined the army if I'd had the chance. Alas, this uniform will have to suffice." He placed his thumbs under his vest for emphasis."

"Uh… e-excuse me?" came a somewhat nasal voice.

Judy and Hylander looked to the door, where a short, bespectacled beaver in an SV2 uniform was peering into the room. "This is where Division 2 is supposed to meet, right?"

"Far as we know," said Judy.

"Oh…" The beaver slowly waddled into the room, taking what looked like a popsicle stick out of his pocket. "I-I'm not late, am I?" he asked through grimaced buckteeth.

"No, not at all," said Hylander. "In fact, you're a little bit early."

"Oh, okay then…" the beaver sighed, placing one end of the popsicle stick in his mouth and beginning to chew on it as he walked up to Judy and Hylander, extending a shaky, webbed hand to Judy. "Uh, I'm Earl Beaverbrook."

"Judy Hopps," Judy shook the beaver's paw.

"Howard Hylander," said Hylander, doing the same soon after, eyes glancing to the clock hanging above the door. "Is that clock right?"

Beaverbrook glanced to his wristwatch. "I… think so?"

"Hmmm," Hylander's brow furrowed. "You'd think we'd see more of the other officers in the Division by now…"

"You think so, eh?" said Beaverbrook.

"From what I was told, there'd be two active Labors," said Hylander. "That means two Forwards, two backups, and two carrier drivers. That makes for six. We are three."

"Four, actually." Everyone turned up to see the portly cheetah from downstairs lumber into the room, still tucking the box of donuts under his arm, a warm smile on his overstuffed cheeks. "I'm Benjamin Clawhauser. I'm gonna be with you guys, too."

"Oh, I saw you by the door," said Beaverbrook. "I thought you were with Division 1."

"Oh, I used to be," said Clawhauser. "I only just got transferred here. I've been earmarked for carrier duty."

"That still leaves two of us unaccounted for," said Hylander.

"I've met our new Captain," said Clawhauser. "He said one of us won't be here for a week or so. Some unfinished business at their last post, he says."

"That just leaves one MIA," huffed Hylander. "Where could he be? It's almost time for roll!"

"Not 'almost', officer." The room turned to the door.

In walked a massive Cape buffalo, built like a football player. A haggard frown was etched onto his face, and a wad of papers was tucked under his arm.

Clawhauser was the first to salute the newcomer. The others soon joined him after noticing the Captain's badge on the buffalo's blue uniform, opposite the gold nameplate with the word 'BOGO' on it.

"At ease," huffed Captain Bogo, taking a pair of half-moon glasses out of his pocket and leafing through the papers. "Now, you all saw my name on your transfer papers, I betting, so I'm not going to bother introducing myself. Besides which, I don't care."

Judy, Hylander, and Beaverbrook glanced from one to the other of them at that last remark before turning to Clawhauser, who just shrugged.

"Now, you may or may not be aware of this," Bogo continued. "But since one of us has yet to be formally transferred, we will have an incomplete complement of officers for our first week or so." A scowl soon worked its way across Bogo's face. "However, I have noticed that there is another one of us who has yet to put in an appearance-"

"I'm here!" came a voice behind the bull.

Everyone looked down to see a lanky, russet-furred, green-eyed fox with a brown-tipped tail and an SV2 uniform make a mad dash into the Ready Room.

"Phew!" The fox skidded to a halt in the center of the room in front of Bogo, an odious smirk forming on his muzzle. "Meeting start yet?"

Bogo sneered down at the fox. "Officer Nicholas Wilde, I presume?"

Part II

"'Personal Problems' is right…"

"I would appreciate it if you showed up on time in future," growled Bogo, glaring down at the fox.

"Sorry, Cap'n," said the fox, smirk not budging. "You know what traffic in this city is like."

"Wilde, the point of your coming on duty so early was to avoid morning rush hour," said Bogo.

Wilde just shrugged and walked over to the other officers, slouching against the wall beside Beaverbrook, who edged away, his flat tail knocking briefly against the wall behind him.

"We'll discuss your tardiness later," said Bogo, pointedly adjusting his glasses before turning back to his papers. "Now as I was saying, there were supposed to be seven of us in total, but until our final member arrives, us six will have to make do, so I'll be filling in myself.

"Now, also missing at the moment are our actual Labors. Headquarters, in its wisdom, has given us three – and I quote – 'not-quite-prototype' AV-45 Ingrowl patrol Labors from Inaba Heavy Industries. Right now they're still being checked over, and won't arrive until tomorrow night at earliest."

Judy's nose twitched. Prototypes?

Bogo continued. "Now you should know that these three units may be rough around the edges. That's because Headquarters – in exchange for a reduced price tag – has agreed to let Inaba look at how we use them so they can use what they find to help develop newer Zeeplabors down the road.

"Now one of the new machines, Unit 3, will be kept in storage here as a relief Labor for emergencies and for spare parts. Units 1 and 2 will be our 'active' units.

"Now with that out of the way," Bogo regarded his five officers. "Here are your positions in the Division. To begin with; Labor Unit 1, Forward: Officer Judy Hopps."

Judy resisted the urge to do a fist-pump. 'Forward' was the name for a Zeeplabor pilot.

"Unit 1, Backup: Officer Nicholas Wilde."

Zeeplabor Backups drove the armored 'Command Cars' that accompanied each unit, providing information to the Forward and covering their blind spots. Judy looked over to Wilde, who glanced at her briefly before returning to studying the ceiling.

Judy raised an eyebrow. Her parents had always told her to be careful of foxes. Now she was going to work with one. Watch it, Judy. You're making assumptions already. Like you told Mom and Dad, Gideon Grey wasn't a jerk fox; he was a jerk that happened to be a fox. Besides, Wilde's a cop. He wouldn't be wearing that badge if he didn't want to help mammals, right?

Still, fox or not, something about Wilde made Judy uneasy…

"Unit 1, Carrier: Officer Benjamin Clawhauser."

The chubby-cheeked cheetah gave a friendly wave down at Judy and Wilde. Judy smiled and nodded back. Clawhauser she could deal with, from what little she'd seen of him.

"Labor Unit 2: Officer Howard Hylander."

"Sir!" barked the hyrax, saluting.

Judy wasn't sure what to make of Hylander to be honest. Something about his exuberance unnerved her.

Bogo finished by looking down at Beaverbrook. "Now, Officer Earl Beaverbrook, originally you were to be Unit 2's carrier driver, but until our seventh member gets here, you'll act as its Backup as well, but I may step in if necessary."

"Y-yes, sir…" murmured Beaverbrook.

Judy didn't envy the beaver, having to pull double-duty.

"Now that that's settled, any questions?" said Bogo, lowering his papers.

Hylander raised his hand. "Uh, sir? What are we supposed to do until the new Labors arrive?"

Bogo took off his glasses, and pointed them at the wall beside the door. "Well, why don't you sit at your desk and we'll discuss it?"

Hylander and the others glanced at the wall. "Captain, there's no desk there."

"Exactly."

After much toting of heavy furniture boxes and much kvetching about ITREEA instructions, the newly assembled officers of SV2 Division 2 had put equipped their new Ready Room with desks, a microwave, a fridge, and an antiquated TV set.

The desks had adjustable heights, so obviously Clawhauser's would tower above the others', and adjustable or not, they were obviously sized for large animals, so other than Clawhauser, the officers would have more desk space than they'd ever need.

However, the kitchenette was big-cat-scaled. Only Clawhauser could reach the fridge handle or the counter. Beaverbrook soon found a solution to the fridge problem by tying a rope to the handle.

The counter was another problem. Beaverbrook suggested a rope ladder, but Wilde pointed out that it'd be useless when carrying food in both hands.

This time, Clawhauser had a brain wave. He took a filing cabinet and put it beside the counter. Then, he moved Wilde's desk beside the filing cabinet, put Judy's slightly shorter desk next to Wilde's, then put two big-cat-sized plastic storage boxes in front of Judy's desk – one on top of the other – followed by a third in front of the first two, and a fourth on Wilde's desk next to the filing cabinet

"Ta-da!" the cheetah proclaimed after duct-taping the boxes in place. "Instant staircase!"

Sure enough, it was now possible for someone to progress from plastic boxes to Judy's desk to Wilde's desk to filing cabinet to counter while safely carrying objects in both hands. The desks' immense surface area meant that both Judy and Wilde had ample space left over for their co-workers to walk over their desks.

"So… now what are we going to do?" asked Beaverbrook.

"This work… is not fit… for a policemammal!" grunted Hylander as he used his scythe to hack through the thick weeds surrounding the SV2 building. "If I wanted agricultural work, I'd have gone to the Burrows!" Hylander turned to Judy. "No offense."

Judy just focused on her own section of weeds. Weeding felt more palatable than toting and assembling furniture, but she sympathized with Hylander.

So Judy found herself taking her aggressions on the weeds, using her scythe to hack through weeds closer and closer to the sea, until she arrived at the concrete seawall that separated the field from Big Bayou Bay.

The view of the Bay was great, but more concerning to Judy was the sight of Nick Wilde reclining in a collapsible lawn chair, a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses on his face and a fishing pole dangling over the seawall.

[OST2]

"What are you doing?!" Judy demanded, her foot beginning to stamp.

Wilde just smirked. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

"You're supposed to be helping us weed," growled Judy.

"Well, I amhelping," said Nick. "Captain Bogo said to 'keep busy doing something or other that benefits the unit.' You prey mammals are set, what with the mechanics' garden, but the nearest grocery store's a fifty-minute roundtrip away, and there is no way that henhouse the mechanics built can supply enough protein and vitamins for all the predators here."

"So you're just wasting time fishing 'for the good of the unit'?!" Judy's foot-stamping grew more rapid.

"Pretty much," said Nick, smirk growing more repugnant. "Not my fault the fish aren't biting, Carrots."

"You'll want to refrain from calling me 'Carrots'," Judy seethed.

"My bad," said Nick. "Just assumed you came from some carrot-choke podunk."

"I'm from Bunnyburrow," said Judy, puffing out her chest. "Podunk's in Deerebrook County."

"Ah, my mistake," said Nick, not an ounce of understanding in his voice. "Still, can't hold any of this against me, Carrots."

"We'll see what Captain Bogo has to say about that!" huffed Judy, turning back towards the building.

Judy's ears then perked at the sound of whizzing, followed by a cry of alarm and a splash.

When she turned around, Judy saw that the lawn chair was on its side and Wilde was nowhere to be found. Dashing to the edge of the seawall, Judy found the fox in the water, wayfarers missing, staring in complete befuddlement at the enormous fish in his arms.

As Wilde clambered up the riprap, fish writhing in his arms Judy couldn't help but imitate his smirk. "Actually, I may have been wrong about you," she quipped. "It's nice to see you take a dive for the team."

Wilde just furrowed his brow and sauntered back into the weeds.

Judy glanced at his drenched tail. "Nice bass, by the way!"

Anna Polecatsky wasn't usually one for schadenfreude, but she couldn't resist a chuckle when she looked out her office window and saw Nick Wilde sauntering towards the building with a sulky look in his eye and an oversized sea bass in his arms.

"Your crew are certainly keeping busy," she turned to Captain Bogo, sitting in the desk facing hers.

"Hmmm…" Bogo didn't look up from the promotional pamphlet singing the virtues of the AV-45.

"Okay, what is it, Adrian?" Polecatsky had to be one of the few mammals Captain Bogo respected enough to let her use his first name.

"I said from the start this was making me nervous," Bogo growled, setting the pamphlet down. "First Swinton moves me out here so fast I barely get time to clean out my desk, then I'm told my Division's effectively going to be bunch of test canaries for Inaba, then I get charged with some of the greenest recruits to come out of the Academy."

Polecatsky shrugged. "In fairness, we were pretty green ourselves when we first started out. Remember, there weren't any Zeeplabors before I got sent out here. We were pretty much writing the books as we went. And that wasn't that long ago either. With the reorg giving us a whole new Division, it's not surprising you get rookies."

"It's not just experience I'm worried about," said Bogo, staring at the ceiling. "Beaverbrook's a nervous wreck, Hopps and Hylander are arrogant, and Wilde's a slacker. I'm only hoping our sixth member evens things out."

Polecatsky propped her elbows on her desk, careful to avoid falling off the cushion situated atop her wolf-scaled swivel chair. "No mention of Clawhauser?"

"I was actually meaning to ask you what your take on him was," said Bogo, pushing the pamphlet aside. "He did used to work under you."

The spotted skunk grinned. "It's funny you should ask that, because I actually recommended he be transferred to your Division."

Bogo sat up and stared at Polecatsky. "Why?"

"Bureau Chief Buckminster told me he was going to edge out Clawhauser so he could put Spike McTachy in my Division," said Polecatsky. "I'd heard rumors that your mammals would be selected 'irrespective of personal problems,' so I recommended to Buckminster that he send you Clawhauser to fill out the numbers."

"'Personal problems' is right…" snorted Bogo. "But why send Clawhauser my way?"

"Well, Buckminster may not realize it," said Polecatsky, reaching around to stroke her long-haired tail. "But I think Clawhauser's at least part of the reason why there aren't any 'personal problems' in Division 1…"

"That little fox caught this?" said Joanna Namakoro, one of SV2's resident mechanics, gazing at the impressive filleted fish on the folding table in front of her.

"More like itcaught him," said Judy, in between bites of corn-on-the-cob.

Lunch breaks at SV2 were crowded affairs thanks to all the mechanics having to eat, so long folding tables packed with food seemed to sprout out of nowhere and vanish once lunch break was done. Anyone who didn't know any better would think that the suddenness of the lunch break's beginning and end was an act of prestidigitation by the mechanics who volunteered to move the tables in and out.

Joanna took a bite of the fish, savoring it a bit before gulping it down her muzzle. "Us mechanics have been saving up to buy a boat to go out fishing. Maybe we should take 'im with us?"

"You thinking of using him as bait?" chuckled Judy.

Judy and Joanna had been getting along well since Judy had come to ask her about the Ingrowls. The burly spotted hyena hadn't known much about its functions, but she'd gushed for hours about leaked information about the Labor's OS. Judy hadn't understood half of it, but she had to admit, it made her all the more eager to pilot the machine herself.

"Never thought I'd see a fox in uniform," said Joanna, looking at the end of the long table, where Wilde was nonchalantly eating a sandwich by himself. "Then again, I could say the same about bunnies. Hell, my Mom says she'd never have imagined that I'd be working with the police when she was my age – even as a mechanic."

"Hyenas have that bad a reputation?" said Judy. "It's just that I never saw any in Bunnyburrow, so I wouldn't know much about them."

"Eh," Joanna ran her hand through her long mane. "Lots of other preds say us yeens are nothin' but lowdown scavengers. 'Course, most preds are technically scavenging just by eating Bugaburga, and it's not like other mammals didn't do it back in the day."

"Oh…" Judy stared at her now-stripped cob.

"Anyway, I can sympathize with the fox," said Joanna. "And our chief's species gets a lot of flak too, but she does her job and she does it well."

"Swinton?" said Judy.

"Not Swinton." Joanna talked in a hushed voice as she gestured upward. "Her."

Judy stared upward and saw an aged bat hanging upside-down from the building's rafters. A pair of dark aviators' sunglasses covered her eyes. Judy had seen the bat twice before, always hanging from the same beam. Judy wondered if the bat was somehow sleeping up there despite the hive of activity underneath her.

"Who is she?" said Judy.

"Lucy Camazotz, our Chief Mechanic," said Joanna.

"She's the Chief Mechanic?!" said Judy. "How can she sleep on the job?!"

"That's just it," whispered Joanna. "You never know if she's sleeping or not! Us mechanics pretty much play it safe and pretend she's awake. If you're smart, you'll do the same!"

Judy glanced at the bat again before turning back to Joanna. "You're not scared of her, are you?"

"Me? Scared of the Chief?! Only down to my toes!"

The next day passed uneventfully, save more menial tasks for Division 2. Judy bitterly noted the many ways 'Slick Nick' Wilde had managed to dodge work. But Judy's attention was more on the Ingrowls and wondering when they'd actually arrive.

Then, near the evening, as rain clouds began to roll in from Zootopia Sound, Beaverbrook ambled into the Ready Room, panting.

"Th-they're here!"

Beaverbrook then had to dodge the grey-furred bullet that sped out through the door.

When Judy got to the hangar, the three machines were laid out in their carrier trucks, but Judy could see into the carriers' payload bays from the short balcony that extended from the office section into the hangar.

Unlike most police Labors before it, the AV-45 Ingrowl had a different chassis from industrial Labors. This allowed it to have a thinner, lither form. But even so, its torso was compact and its thighs were thin, and its calves flared out to help lower the machine's centre of gravity. A set of 'bull bars' jutted out over its chest for extra cockpit protection. Lightbars atop the machines' shoulders signified their status as emergency vehicles.

The machines were all painted black on the chests and shoulders, but the heads were white. The forearms and legs, and the shields mounted on each machine's left arm were white with black 'zebra-stripes'.

A green-tinted Plexiglas visor and a mouthplate with a generic muzzle covered the face, an ear-like fin jutting from the head's left-hand side, a set of antennae from the right.

Police badges were painted on the Ingrowls' right shoulders. On the left shoulders were numbers; 221, 222, and 223. These numbers signified that they were ZPD Special Vehicles Second Section, Division 2, Labor Units 1, 2, and 3. In addition to the numbers, each unit could be identified by their different head shapes. Compared to Unit 1, Unit 2 had a much larger visor that made the head look like a cross between a football player's helmet and a motorcycle helmet. Unit 3's visor in contrast, was much slimmer, with a bulbous forehead that contained Unit 3's exclusive Electronic Counter-Measures (ECM) Pod for anti-electronic warfare.

Judy heard footsteps, turned around, and saw Joanna walking up to her, reverently taking off her white mechanic's cap and holding it to her chest.

"Figured you'd be here," the hyena chuckled. "I've been lookin' over the OS. God, if I could marry that string of ones and zeroes, I would!"

Judy smiled and stared at Unit 1 – soon to be her machine.

Joanna gave Judy a toothy grin before joining her in eyeing Unit 1. "Eager to take 'em for a spin?"

"Frith yeah…" Judy muttered.

Just then, alarm bells began to ring all throughout the building.

"Now hear this! Now hear this!" came a voice over the PA system. "We have reports of a rogue Labor in Savanna Central. Division 2 is to scramble immediately."

Joanna's jaw dropped as she turned back to Judy. "Someone up there must either like ya, or hate your guts!"

Character Name Explanations

Anna Polecatsky - Spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) - Spotted skunks are also known as "polecats" in some regions.

Howard Hylander - Rock hyrax (Procavia capensis)

Earl Beaverbrook - North American beaver (Castor canadensis) - His name is also a reference to Anglo-Canadian press baron and politician Max Aitken, aka. Lord Beaverbrook.

Spike McTachy - Short-Beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) - His genus name should give you some idea why I named him that.

Joanna Namakoro - Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) - "Namakoro" is the Malinke word for her species.

Lucy Camazotz - Spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum) - Camazotz is a bat god from Mayan mythology. Plus, I thought it'd be humorous to name a bat "Lucy" (a name that means 'light').

So yeah! Thanks for jumping onboard this story!