Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction
-------------------------------------------------------
Part One:
Fuel
-------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 11 –The Fire Next Time
(Pt. 4...Continued)
"All right, sir...little poke."
The big bunny grunted his assent, and then grimaced hard. 'Little poke?' He might as well be having a nail driven into his side. The needle in question was approximately the same gauge as the average thumbtack—and felt about as half as sharp.
And Jack LaPeigne didn't like shots anyway; once up on a time in fact, they had terrified him.
"Nobody said you'd have to stick me every time you need to fill the reservoirs," he groused, regarding the lab tech with smoldering eyes and pinned-back ears.
"Sorry sir," the indri lemur looked away for a second...as if the whole thing really were his fault.
"Will this take long?" his boss demanded, and then looked from his watch to the double line of tubing, extending from just beneath his left arm. From there, it led to a device resembling an oversized, robotic, epoxy-gun. Each of the twin syringes held a different colored liquid, dark blue on the left, pomegranate-red on the right.
"Not long, sir," The technician responded vaguely, and then raised his head and began to speak as if presenting a school report. "Time is 09:36; preparing to fill infusion reservoirs for subject, LaPeigne, Jack. Subject is...."
"Never mind that, get on with it!" 'the subject' interrupted testily.
"But sir, we need to record..." the lemur started to protest—and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the look that Jack was giving him. He reached up to press a button on the control panel and the pair of plungers began to depress. "Tell me if you feel anything out of the ordinary," he said, and was rewarded by another tetchy glare from the big rabbit.
"And WHY would I be feeling anything if you're only filling the reservoirs?" he queried, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.
"Standard procedure, sir," the lemur responded, a thread of resignation creeping into his voice. He seemed to think that he was going to get fired, no matter what he did. "We had some leakage issues in the beginning."
The lab-tech's change of tone was not lost on Jack LaPeigne and he immediately switched gears.
"Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that," he said, sounding almost pleasant for once, "But no, I feel my usual easygoing self."
It was intended as an ironic jest, but the lab-technician didn't smile; only his kept his eye on the monitor until a peep and a flashing red dot signaled that the procedure was complete.
Having the needle removed turned out to be a much less painful experience for Jack than the insertion; he didn't even realize it was out until he saw the lemur dropping it into a bio-waste unit.
YOU ARE READING
The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One
Mystery / ThrillerIt's been two years since Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps broke the Savage Predator conspiracy. Now a brilliant and effective team, they're only a few steps away from making the detective bureau and growing closer with every passing day. But even as thei...
