"And thanks for eating here, ma'am!" Andrea said as she handed the mama bear her receipt who returned a grateful smile. The bear was about to leave, but not before the human quickly remembered, "Oh, almost forgot! Your kid's meal comes with a free Vulcan 300!" From the counter, Andrea pulled out Zootopia's best trending toy.

The bear thanked her and received the toy, only to immediately have her two little cubs assault the poor robot that dangled by a chopstick and threatened to tear its limbs off.

Andrea breathed out a satisfied sigh at the sight. She never expected working at a burger place could be so interesting and fun. It was like the best job with the lowest pay. Then again, she guessed it might have to do something with the fact she was working in a city full of talking animals she yet had to fully wrap her head around. It's always strange, yet incredible, to see so many different species hanging out together like best buds, especially if those best buds are predator and prey.

Another bonus to this job is that she's the manager/sister of these little piglets she works with. They can be a difficult bunch to handle, though. The piglets are siblings. And do you readers know what siblings do on a daily basis?

They fight every. SINGLE. DAY.

Not a day goes by when Andrea doesn't have to pry at least two siblings off each other before they shove an apple at the other's face. They get along as much as Batman gets along with Superman. So it's a really good thing all the piglets consider her a big sister. During breaks, Andrea likes to spend her time helping out the piglets on their homework, mostly math. She's very good at it. And it's not because she's Asian or Pacific Islander.

Anyways, enough pointless exposition! There's another customer who's been waiting patiently to order!

"Oh, hey Nick!" Andrea greeted the fox with a smile. "About time you showed here for lunch. What can I get you, man?"

Nick chuckled and tapped a claw at the golden badge on his chest. "How many do we have to go over this, Ma'am? When I'm in uniform, all citizens must address me as Officer Wilde! Got that?"

Andrea leered. "Well, screw you too, Nick. What do you want?"

He placed claw under the chin, gazing at the menu above Andrea curiously. "Hmmm, I'll take the usual: a triple cricket burger, EXTRA crunchy, with large fries, a large drink, and I'd say… about 20 roach nuggets."

Andrea worked the cash register. "That'll be twenty-dollars and 17 cents."

"That'll be twenty-dollars and 17 ceeeeeeeeentssssss…..?" Nick rambled on, rolling his paw in circles

Andrea groaned. "That'll be twenty-dollars and 17 cents, Officer…ugh… Wilde…"

"Mr. Officer Wilde."

"Don't push it."

Nick laughed and fished out his wallet, taking out his card. He handed it to her and she swiped the card.

Andrea gave him back his card along with a receipt. "Your order number is 52. See you next time."

Nick stuffed the items in his pocket. "Actually, Andrea, can we talk for a bit? When's your next break coming along?"

"Sorry, Nick, but my next break isn't happening for another hour. Now, hurry up, dude. You're holding up the line."

The fox added a layer of seriousness into his voice. "No, seriously, we need to talk. It's important."

Andrea could tell by the serious look in his eyes just how important it was. She sighed. Might as well. "Hey, Lucy!" she called to the kitchen behind her.

A piglet no older than twelve returned her call. "Yeah? What is it, Big Sis?"

"Gonna need you to cover me. Can you do that for me?"

She happily obliged and ran towards the counter. "Sure thing, Sis!"

Andrea ruffled her pink, little head. "Thanks. I'll be back in a bit." She took a seat at a table as she waited for Nick to finish filling up his drink at the soda fountain.

"So, what do you want?" she asked Nick the moment he took the seat across from her.

He didn't answer. Instead, he took his sweet time savoring every last drop of soda he could get from his minute-long sip. It took a while before he released his hold on the straw and let loose a satisfying burp. "Ahhh, nothing like the satisfaction of enjoying some cold, cheap soda."

"You called?" Andrea asked, elbow on the table and the side of her head resting on her hand.

"Right, but first..." Nick clasped his paws together as if making a very important business proposal. "How are you liking your job here?"

Andrea chuckled. "Where should I start? Working in a fast-food-restaurant is better than I expected. The pay's decent, but I don't really care much about that because I don't really get treated like an employee here. I'm more like part of the family here, actually. It's always nice to be called Big Sis or Sis by the little kids.. And the animals who eat here are nice too! Probably because of the amazing food they serve here that I get to eat for free every lunch break."

Nick bit his lip and sucked in a breath. Not the response he was hoping for. "Tch… so... your saying you like working here?"

"After everything I've said, it should be pretty obvious." She caught the discomfort in his eyes. "Is that a bad thing?"

Nick frantically waved his paws. "No no no no! It's good your liking your job!" he assured. Then he set up his best smile. He leaned forward and laid an elbow on the table. "I'm just wondering, how would you like to leave this dead-end job and get a FANTASTIC career working as Zootopia's assistant mayor!"

"No."

Nick's' tail and ears dropped in disbelief. "C'mon, aren't you even gonna think about it?"

"No."

"Hmph, fine. I'll think for you then. Your-"

"YOU'RE," Andrea countered.

"YOUR," Nick declared firmly. "Your probably thinking about how much work and hours your gonna have to suffer through if you decide to take my offer..."

"That's not untrue…"

Nick chuckled. "Ah, but you see, you gotta realize how much good your doing for the city! Imagine all the poor citizens backed up against Zootopia's darkest corner who're trapped and suffering and are crying out for help only the assistant mayor can provide. And in the end, isn't aiding the need more important than a few measly hours being cooped up in an office?"

"My Sharingan can see through bullshit."

Nick frowned. If he can't get through her by emotions, then maybe messing with her greed will work instead. He put on a slick grin and tapped the table with a claw. "So… I've heard that Furtendo's new console's coming out soon…"

Andrea's hype immediately spiked. "Oh man… so you've heard about it too!" she asked nearly jumping in excitement.

"Yep! I have to say, I'm pretty hyped for it but not so much as you by the looks of it."

"Dude, how can ANYONE NOT be hyped for it? A portable console that I can take with me anywhere I go? Heck yeah! And who cares if it's not going to be as powerful as the Xbox Two or PS4.6 or whatever they're calling they're consoles now? Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Super Mario Odyssey? Splatoon? Arms? And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe where they finally have actual battle stages? Just shut up and take my money, Furtendo!"

Nick snapped his claws. "Ah ha! You see, that's where the problem lies…"

That broke Andrea out of her hype and into confusion. "I don't follow…"

"300 bucks for a console sounds doable, don'cha think?"

"Yeah…" She wasn't sure where this was going.

"Well, it's a shame we're not seeing any games bundled with it. And top games these days cost about… 60 dollars I believe? So if we throw in some tax into the equation we got ourselves a 400 dollar console on our paws."

The news shrank the hype in Andrea.

Nick scratched his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "The price sounds right, but I feel like I'm missing something here… oh right! The accessories your probably gonna need for it. I'm thinking a very expensive SD card to make up for the console's weak 32 gigabytes of storage… a pro controller for 70 dollars… and let's not forget Furtendo's version of Xbox Gold if you wanna get online. And no free games included for paying the online service? Whaddya know?"

Like any gamer in support for Furtendo, Andrea tried to forget all the faults that came in with their new console, but Nick shoving all those faults all over her disheartening face made her face the reality of the situation. "What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm SAYING is that I'd have to sacrifice my entire monthly, rent money if I'm going to get my paws on that console. If only I had the chance to ditch my boring job of handing out tickets and get a high paying career. But alas… I have no such chance… but you do."

Nick studied intently as Andrea mulled over his proposition. "Think about it, Andrea... The console… the games… the portableness of it all…" He watched how close she was into accepting his offer within her eyes, but then that damn spark of pure, honest goodness appeared and she gazed at him with a calm, but fierce, look.

"Sorry Nick," she answered, strong and clear. "But I'm still gonna have to say no."

Nick nearly growled. "Why?"

"Listen Nick, I think it's cool that you're trying to hook me up with a better job, but I just can't imagine working as some jerk's assistant mayor is a better job than this. Here, I never feel like I'm some employee that washed up looking for a job. I'm family. They're my family. And how is a job better than family?"

Nick let out a sigh. "You really don't want to take the offer, do you? Even if I say please?"

"Sorry, Nick, no. And why are you trying so hard to convince me?"

Nick let out another sigh. "I was hoping I'd get to tell you after I've convinced you, but seeing how there's no way you to change your mind(yet)… all right. The ZPD needs a spy."

Andrea was immediately hit with interest. "A spy? For what?"

Nick clasped his paws together. "Pretty soon, say about a week or two, Zootopia's ex-mayor isn't so much going to be our ex any longer. You've probably never heard about him."

"No. He can't be that bad, can he?" Sure, Andrea's seen a couple of bad animals every now and then, but the mayor of Zootopia has to be at least a decent guy.

"He once illegally captured animals and held them against their will to protect his image," he explain solemnly.

"Oh, that's bad."

"Yeah. And Chief thinks the best and safest way to make sure he doesn't commit anything like that ever again is if we send a spy, which is you, to keep an eye out on him."

"Okay, I admit that sounds a little cool, but I'm still gonna have to go with no."

Nick laughed. "I thought so."

A tiny piglet appeared out of nowhere near the table and almost shocked Nick out of seat. The piglet never seemed to stop her constant hopping as she ask Andrea with an earnest voice, "Hey, Sis, can you help me on my math homework again? It's weally hard and no one's smarter than you in the family!"

Andrea smiled and ruffled her head. "Sure, Mia. I'll help you out as soon as I can."

"Thanks Sis!" Mia said, hopping off to her next destination.

Nick witnessed the whole thing. "You really like the kids here, huh?" he said in the smile as Andrea's.

"Heh, yeah. It takes a whole lot to take care just 20 of them here, but I'll do whatever it takes to make sure they're doing well."

Bingo the devious side of Nick thought. "And what would you do if something were to happen to them?"

There was something off in Nick's smile. A sort of mischief to it that set off a warning to her. "I actually don't know…"

"Then how bout an example?" he said, admiring his claws. "Let's say this little family business is everything your little family has ever had and has ever known. Without it, who knows what'll happen to them? Out on the streets with nowhere to go and nowhere to live? And if I were to somehow able to get them out of business and make them lose everything your little family has ever had and has ever known… what would you do?"

"Nick…" she began cautiously and with uncertainty. "Now what are you saying?"

He responded with a laugh and continued. "What I'm saying is that I have plenty of resources to get your little family out of the burger business. Say… forced child labor is something I can start with. And is it good parenting to have them using sharp toys to cut those vegetables?"

Eyes wide and nerves frozen, Andrea said, "You wouldn't. You can't."

Nick raised a questionning eyebrow. "Can't... wouldn't... does it really matter. Andrea, I've been doing this sort of thing for 20 years since I was 12. Now's no different. Really, it's the good food that's had animals overlook the goldmine of blackmail here. Too bad for them, I'm not one of those animals. Though, I'll do admit it'll be a shame to lose Zootopia's greatest fast-food restaurant. But seeing how desperate I am in need for a spy, what else are ya gonna do?"

The expression of absolute defeat and hopelessness on Andrea tugged at Nick's heart with heavy guilt. He rememberd a time before Judy, blackmailing a couple of poor animals for profit never hit Nick with any guilt or regret. He's even blackmailed Finnick, a trusty partner of his, a couple of times and not once did he give a damn about it. Now though, he wanted to take back and apologize for everything he's said.

But Andrea already answered before he could. "Fine, you've got yourself a spy."

"NUMBER 52! YOUR ORDER IS READY!" speaker shouted.

Nick shoved the guilt and regret out of his system. "Good! Just let me finish my food here and we'll be good to go!"

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