The next day, Judy and Nick were going through all the files in their case when they were called to security, and look at the footage from all the abductions.
"Did you find anything, Johnson?" Judy asked the guard that was going over all the tapes.
"Yeah, I can make out two figures in these tapes even though it is a little blurry." He replied while pointing at the screen where there was definitely two figures at different angles from the camera. One of them was a black figure that would grab the victims and put them in a dark vehicle, while the other seemed to be either on a rooftop or farther down the alley, so he wouldn't be seen.
"It looks like they are wearing armor?" Nick said as he leaned in to get a closer look.
"If it is armor, it's nothing I have ever seen before." Johnson stated, and looked at another tape. They examined each tape closely before he switched to a different camera, and tried making each image clearer so they can see it better. Just before he switched to another camera, Judy stopped him and zoomed in the corner of the camera and saw the white figure disappear behind two buildings.
"What camera is this shot taken from?" she asked, sounding confident. "This camera is in Tundra Town, on the corner of 9th and Icicle Lane. Do you think you know where this one is hiding?" he asked as he pointed to the screen with his pen.
"I think it's in this area, could you do a five block radius scan with the cameras and let us know of any possible hits around this area?" she asked as she motioned in a circular motion on the screen.
"Sure, I'll even put it on the map of all the known sightings, and notify both of you when I get the results." He replied with a smile as he got out a map of Tundra Town, and marked the first sighting that she pointed out. Nick and Judy left the office when they were done, and went back to their desks to finish working on this case.
Four more days went by, on a dry windy afternoon, when they were called to the security room again, this time he had a possible hit on the location of the white one.
"It's somewhere in this area." Johnson stated as he showed them on the map. He had outlined a circle around a city block in Tundra Town, inside were a bunch of houses, businesses, and construction sites, but there was one building that stood out to Judy.
"Hasn't this one been shut down for a couple of month's now?" she asked as she looked at the map, and pointed to one spot inside the outlined area.
"Yup, been that way for a while, but I never knew what for. It was a growing business that got a lot of customers and different offers from other companies, then they just closed their doors suddenly." He stated as he turned his desk chair to face them.
"Do you want me to get a squad ready?" he asked as he took a drink from his coffee.
"That won't be necessary, me and Nick will just recon the place. Even though it's the perfect hiding place, I just don't want to waste other officer's time if nothing turns up." Judy stated as she marked the coordinates in her phone.
"Alright, just thought you might need some backup in case this guy is there." He said as he looked back at the computer screen, and began to write some information down.
When they pulled up to the location of their possible hit, it looked almost as bad as when they found the map and key two months back, but was mostly still intact. This building still had almost all its windows whole, and didn't seem to be falling apart, but had seen better days.
"This time, try not to fall through the floor." Judy said teasingly as they walked up the steps towards the entrance.
"Ha-ha! Very funny." Nick replied with a smirk. Once inside, it almost had the same feeling of eeriness and gloominess, and the air felt heavy like it had been sitting dormant for the entire time it had been closed. It was darker than the other building that they went to, but was less dirty, misty, and webs. They turned on their flashlights and shone them all around the large room.
"I don't think it could get any creepier than this?" Nick stated out loud with a slight chuckle. Just then, a sudden snapping sound and a rush of metal broke through the silence, and then grew quiet once again.
"Spoke too soon.....again." Nick then said with some embarrassment. The hairs on the backs of their necks stood up, and felt a chill go up their spine, but they still had to check this place out and drew their weapons from their holsters. They decided to stick together this time, and moved slowly through each room, corridor, and hallway, but nothing could be found. As they made their way towards the final door, something moved behind them and turned around to see what it was, nothing but dust in the air behind them. Looking at each other, they knew they were being watched by an unknown presence, and continued to open the door which led to an abandoned elevator, which looked to be in pretty bad shape.
"This looks pretty sketchy, carrots." Nick said as he gave a questionable look to Judy.
"We need to know what's be down there though." She replied, and both walked in and pressed the only button that appeared to be functional in this thing. It creaked and groaned as it proceeded downwards, until it rested on the bottom floor which opened up into a large room.
Then the lights flickered on, revealing different types of weapons and gear, including different knives in length, and guns in caliber. There was something else in there, but it was being covered by a tarp that intrigued Nick. Judy was examining all the different weapons while Nick moved closer towards the object under the tarp.
"What is going on? All these weapons and technology under Zootopia. Who does all this belong to?" She asked with a puzzling amazement, as she noticed some empty bullet casings resting in two separate lines, some was colored red while others were colored white. Nick then threw the tarp off and gazed upon the most beautiful yet heavy-duty car he has ever seen.
"Who do you suppose is responsible for all this?" Nick asked while astonished.
"I don't know, Nick...." she began, but was interrupted by the door to the elevator slamming shut! Followed by all of the lights going dark except for the one they were under. They were standing back to back, weapons drawn and ready. They could hear the sound of metal scratching and scraping across the floor, coming closer and closer with each moment, until it grew silent! Suddenly, something moved at her left, she turned but it was gone. Than a scraping sound at his right, he spun but it vanished. Then it came from behind them, above them, beside them, until something metal struck their guns and threw them across the floor! They went to retrieve their weapons, but it landed in between them on all fours! Silently, it stood up and began to walk closer towards them, and each step it took sounded as if it was completely made of metal, and colored white. The white armored creature! It stopped where the light ended, and stood there almost like it was studying them.
"Who.....who are you? What are you?" she tried asking, but got no response. Then it began to walk around them, clockwise and maintaining its distance, and Judy noticed that it walked a little weird, almost like it had trouble with its leg, while Nick began to nudge her behind his back. Suddenly, it stopped dead in its tracks and stood facing them again.
"Hello, Judy and Nick." It spoke, startling both of them.
"How.....how do you know our names?" Nick asked, staring him down.
"I was aware of your investigation for quite some time, and calculated your ETA when you would discover me. Seven minutes earlier than I had predicted." His voice sounded metallic and deep, but was still intelligent.
"What do you want?" she demanded, noticing the serpents head mark on his chest.
"I want nothing but protection for this city and her people, but I fear that it already may be too late." He replied, as he put both his hands behind his back. Nick was ready in case he would pull out a weapon or something that could harm Judy.
"What may be already too late?" Nick asked.
"The serpents head have already started recruitment. I am deeply sorry for Matthew, but he was one of the first." He replied.
"Why would they need recruiting for?" she asked, noticing it slowly moving towards them.
"I fear that it is for an army, one that is built for conquest and destruction of this city." He replied, now standing right in front of them."But you must leave. Here, take this." He said, and handed them a thumb drive.
"Why should we trust you?" Nick demanded, hesitating to grab the thumb drive. Then it handed their weapons back over to them.
"Do you have a choice?" he asked, but then pulled something from behind his back and opened his palm, revealing a pocket knife and a bullet casing.
"You can call me White, and I believe this is yours." He stated and handed the knife over to her, and the casing over to Nick. She looked and saw that it was the pocket knife she lost on the cliff!
"You were the one who saved me?" she exclaimed.
"I may have broken one of my favorite blades doing so, but it was well worth it." White said and began to leave.
"What is with this casing?" He asked, making White stop.
"You should be careful where you step, especially in a scrap yard." White replied, just before the lights came back on only for an instant and blinded both of them. Revealing that White, his tech and weapons, and car disappeared, almost like they never existed.
"What are we going to do, carrots?" Nick asked, as they stood in this now empty room.
"I don't know, but whatever is on this drive, hopefully will give us some light in this darkness." She replied, and both made their way back towards the ZPD.
When they arrived, they went to their desks and plugged in the drive, almost immediately it started uploading everything including some more information about the missing mammals, the numbers, and the barcode. 'One of the sets of numbers is a trigger that can be activated either by that code, or by a preprogrammed saying. They can only serve the one who inputted this code inside one's mind, while the other is like a kill switch, turning off and deleting everything that was programmed into the subjects mind, they won't remember anything except what happened before they were abducted. The barcode however, is a key to something in both the dark net, and the normal one. Once scanned, it opens the door inside any server, it is a virus that eats and destroys the hardware and memory. But then delivers the information to the main computer from which it was created, it may not happen immediately but it can shut off all the power in a single building.' They read.
"This can't be good." Nick told Judy.
"If it is that simple to trigger this virus, than the ZPD and any important server could be compromised! All they have to do is scan that barcode and everything is gone." Judy stated, sounding worried about their safety.
"Wait.....didn't Freddy scan the barcode on Matthew in the....." Nick began, but was interrupted by the lights, computers, and all the electricity in that building. All the computers had died except for Judys' computer, which was still drawing power.
"How can this one still be alive and functioning?" he asked her in amazement. Just then a box showed up like a Skype video chat.
"I put an encryption on the thumb drive to protect the computer." it was White talking to them through her computer!
"But everything is dead, computers, power, satellite connection, and Wi-Fi. How can this still be on?" she asked again.
"It's quite simple, the thumb drive contains a firewall encryption that blocks and hides your connection from the virus, leaving your computer and the power connection undetectable and safe." White replied.
"Smart move, but aren't you one of the protectors or something that used to be what the Serpents Head insignia stood for?" Nick asked, sounding confused.
"Yes, I was a trainer and follower of our leader, before my apprentice betrayed him and convinced two of our brothers to kill three others. I led the survivors into hiding, and there is only three of us now, but ones location is still unknown at this time. Now, I need your help." White said.
"Our help?" Judy asked with amazement.
"Yes, both you and Nick. I also implanted special tracers on the collars of your uniforms, so that the next time you meet Jeremiah, I will know your location. They won't be blocked by his jammer, nor will he detect them." White explained thoroughly.
"Why not the rest of the ZPD?" Nick asked curiously.
"Because they have been planning this for decades, and are smart enough to know that the ZPD would be a problem. They could have planted a double-agent or agent's inside, and the reason why the power went out is just a distraction in their plan." White replied grimly.
"What is their plan?" Judy asked.
"Domination and war. They will stop at nothing to get it, even if a few thousand lives are ended. Now I must contact those that have survived, in the meantime, do be careful. Jeremiah is known to have a few Aces up in his pocket." White finished, and the transmission ended, leaving everyone in the ZPD in the dark. Literally.
"Do.....do you think that war and destruction is on our doorstep, Nick?" she asked feeling a little scared. Nick looked at her and hugged her tight.
"If it is, I won't let anything happen to you, carrots. I promise." He said softly in her ear, but knew that he too was unsure of what may lie ahead, in the very near future.