NaZooverse - Book 1: The Risen Curtain

Chapter 11: Fear Spreads

There is no passion so contagious as that of fear.

Michel de Manetaigne

*****

What happens when something you were sure before suddenly starts to seem doubtful?

Well, that actually depends very much on what kind of mammal you are. Some are able to accept changes in view of reality quite smoothly, while others tend to resist the change of the ways that things are "supposed to be".

The most classical example of it would be of mammals who held strong prejudices, and they insist in maintaining them as the world around them changes. With the most meaningful example of this was the legalizing of interspecies marriage in many states of Animerica, in the midst of the nineties. Most animals accepted it nicely, but a good deal of conservative individuals refused to accept it as something that should happen. The amount of protests was staggering, but they all ended being for nothing, as the things had changed and they would not go back the way they were. Still, until the present day, many mammals still refuse to accept marriage between different species as something that should happen, as it is something that "goes against the natural order".

Yes, indeed, mammals react in many different ways when the world changes and their beliefs are put to the test, when the current reality of the world no longer fits their beliefs and perceptions.

Now, imagine that suddenly something comes that completely changes your entire perception of reality. Something that seems to be so radically different from what you consider "normal" that you would refuse to accept it unless it was forced upon you. Something so against your notions of common sense that it causes you to question everything that you thought you have always known.

Well, this something has already come, and in the form of a website.

*****

The studio was clear, and the intro music of the News Report of the ZNN sounded, as the two animals stood in the desk, looking at the camera as the image focused on them.

"Good night." Said the first one of the two, a snow-leopardess with silvery-grey fur with white patches and black spots, with white around her eyes and on her muzzle and down her neck. She was wearing a formal clothing that consisted into a plum jacket, a pink shirt, and she was wearing a skirt that matched the jacket, but you could not see, since only her upper body was visible above the desk. She had a nose of burgundy coloration, and she had blue eyes that now were focus on the camera, as she kept a neutral and professional expression. This was no other than Fabienne Growley, the leading female anchor of the ZNN, quite a celebrity in Zootopia.

"On the first news of the night, mammals all around are still reacting to the website that has come into air three months ago, entitled thetruthaboutmages.zoo, which contains a great quantity of videos that supposedly show supernatural events, all performed by individuals that are identified as 'mages' by the descriptions given by the website." The leopardess said to the camera, maintaining a neutral and objective expression, not letting show any form of emotion that would show any form of personal opinion or bias in the matter, as it was required from a reporter like herself. "In the weeks following the airing of the website, the videos shown in it have been shared a record amount of times, with sometimes it reaching the house of a tens of thousands of shares on a single day."

The camera switched to the one sitting by her side, who was also a figure of fame and prestige in Zootopia. The second anchor of ZNN and Fabienne's co-worker, Peter Moosebridge. He was a big moose, with a big and proud pair of antlers, a brown face and a neck covered in thick fur, as well as a "goatee" of fur on his chin. He was wearing a work suit with a pink shirt and fuchsia tie with a golden clip. Like his coworker, he was only visible from the waist up, as his lower half was under the table. He had the same professional expression as Growley, and his brown eyes were focus on the camera.