Still, there were ways to address the shortfall a little, without calling Finnick's date nights bluff/compliment of 'And I get that for free?' and charging his boyfriend-with-benefits-its-complicated-Carrots(1). Especially since that had one huge drawback of being a crime in almost the entire Zoonited States outside of certain Nevabaa counties, where Bighorns basically ran the whole Oldest Profession.
Private security liked hiring active cops on temp moonlighting gigs, stadium security at sports meant a bonus, overtime was taken when available. If he had his own car he'd maybe have tried running a Zuber like Snarlov.
And of course, there were always 'medical experiments'(2). And this time it was technically both an actual medical experiment AND work for the ZPD, as he was going to be a test subject(3) for a new rapid restraining system being made by Ninebows Inc, some company he'd never heard of but probably made a whole lot of cop stuff Carrots no doubt know all about since she couldn't stop smirking every time he'd talked about this place. It meant that this particular morning, he was heading to a small industrial unit on the south side of Savannah Central, with his actual ZPD shift starting later in the afternoon.
He walked to the security gates of the building, a fairly nondescript office block deal. He wasn't too surprised to vaguely recognise the security guard as a Badger from another precinct.
"Hey, Wilde from Precinct One, right? Just head on through the red door, Doctors Anpu and Blanford are ready when you are," The Badger said.
Upon entering, he found himself in a small office where a Jackal and a Hoary Fox who seemed to be in either their early thirties or late twenties were waiting. The latter was first to greet him, shaking his paw.
"Officer Wilde, I presume? Doctor Warren Blanford, my colleague here is Doctor Benjamin Anpu. Were you told much about what we're testing today?"
"Honestly, not too much, Doctor, just that it was a rapid restraining thing."
"Yes, that's more or less correct, we call it the Bounce Deployed Superspeed Manacle..." Anpu began
"No, Benjamin, we changed the name. It's the Ground Impact Deployed Wrap," Blandford huffed
"Ah, I forgot you'd caught on and made me change it..."
"Anyway, it's a remarkable system, just one small ball of the substance released near up to five targets can rapidly restrain them, an excellent crowd control method," The Hoary said.
"Like glue?" Nick wondered.
"Not quite. The substance forms into a synthetic fabric ribbon, wrapping the suspects. One subject may get more wrapped than five, however, practically mummified, in fact. The deployment device itself carries a small thermal tracker that aims the streams. Guidance of the ribbons is performed by a simple set of electrostatic pulses sent along the ribbon itself allowing it to move via Hyperquantic Higgs blah blah technobabble technobabble..."
Nick zoned out as the Doctor began sounding like an engineer from Star Trunk, but catching one part at the end.
"...As a safety precaution, thought, it will automatically dissolve after half an hour, or can be dissolved quicker with a simple spray."
"Oh, like Spider-Ham's webs?"
"Perhaps, but no pigs bitten by radioactive spiders are involved," Anpu said.
"Actually, Doc, Earth 8311 and TRN705 Spider-Ham were both a spider bitten by a radioactive pig, the other way around was the Ultimate Universe, same origin for Peter Porker and Miles Morhames there. And in TRN456 he accidentally ate a spider with vitamin pancakes."
"Fascinating as random comic book trivia may be, even if Fox-Bat is the far superior hero, the point is, it's cut-resistant so dissolving is the only method to remove it early, andthough we plan to use a different approach later to overcome this issue before actual field deployment, the current systems use an off the shelf fabric dissolver in nanocapsules within the ribbon. Unfortunately, that means it begins to dissolve most other fabrics - but not fur, in the vast majority of cases," Blanford continued.
"...Wait, it'll get me naked and maybe bald?"
"Naked, technically but not really, bald, not unless your file missed certain allergies or you're secretly a robot wearing a fake fur skin. But you didn't seem to set off the metal detector on the way in so I guess that's not the case. You might want change out of your clothes into our supplied test subject clothing when we begin testing," Anpu said, handing over a small plastic-wrapped package.
"Boxer briefs?"
"They're compression shorts, they're made of a material that can resist the dissolving agent fairly well, far better than street clothes or uniforms. They'll alsohelp prevent the risk of malfunctions in the bandaging system where it gets wrapped too tightly around certain... appendages. We're almost sure the problem was ironed out when we were testing on dummies but as a precaution, we prefer living subjects to take all necessary safety steps," Blanford said.
"Ah, okay, the spandex stops the tape crushing my balls, got it."
"Pretty much. If I can figure out a way to actually control that we can use it in other products..."
"Please, Doctor, this is my department, and Officer Wilde is a professional law enforcement officer, let's keep discussion on topic."
"...What exactly is your other product line?" Nick gave into his curiosity
"Oh, uh, it's more for civilian use. We're fairly popular out in Rabbit and Hare towns..." Blanford said, clearly fighting to keep his face expressionless, making Nick suspicious....
"...It's not Fox-Away(4), is it?"
Blanford's eyes widened in surprised
"Oh, heavens, no, we have nothing to do with that particular company."
"Though I made the opposite thing once," Anpu mused.
"And we agreed not to discuss it again in public," the stone-face attempt was back.
"Ah, they're more than just work partners, I get it now," Nick realised.
"We're that obvious, huh?" Anpu grinned as the Hoary Doctor stammered.
"...I said that out loud?"
"A-anyway! Officer, let's show you to the experiment chamber, we have a changing room there..."
***
"Should never have told her there was a rabbit version of that(6)," he sighed, replying that he was done now, and ignoring the second.
The two Doctors led him back out into the now mid-afternoon outside.
"Thank you for your time, Officer, your payment should be through in a couple of working days," Blanford said.
"My pleasure. But by the way, can you level with me straight here since I have a funny feeling I won't be able to search it at the department and I used all my 4g data up for the month, but what exactly is it you guys do make for the civilian market?"
"Oh, it's bondage gear. It was the original focus of the company actually, until Warren joined as a partner after I realised having built my products for durability, if we simply added better locks with no emergency release they made excellent police restraints," Anpu said.
"Ah. So, your stuff is popular with rabbits because..."
"There is some truth to a certain stereotype about Lagomorphs, and to be rather crude, there's a reason we say 'rope bunny' and not, say, 'rope jackal'," Blanford said.
Anpu didn't even react, so Nick assumed he was rather happy with his lot in the bedroom (dungeon?) life.
"...That explains why my ZPD partner was so amused then, she's a rabbit and was asking me if I'd figured out what else you sell," Nick realised.
"Well, I don't think it's a coincidence Doe and Dom both have three letters and start with a D...." Anpu said.
He wasn't sure if he was sympathetic, or jealous, towards any boyfriend she might have. Or was she on a girlfriend right now?
He also wondered if Finnick might be open to a little experimenting.
The "Experiment Chamber" was simply a windowless room, nondescript grey walls, a few cameras pointing at a rather wide red circle on the floor containing a few poles, some consoles presumably to monitor things, machines that went 'google', an aluminium case marked "GID WRAPS", and a box with an egg whisk, flying helmet, and some limp celery.(5)
"Oops, sorry, the other department must have left that last night," Anpu put it away before Nick could question it.
"The cameras will only be active with your consent, Officer. We don't need footage of the experiments, given that we have to rely on somewhat skimpy attire, but we do offer additional compensation for those who volunteer to allow us to collect the-"
"You had me at additional compensation, Doc. Besides, I've nothing to be embarrassed about," Nick smirked.
"Very well, Benjamin, update the payment information on the Officer's file, please."
Nick went into the 'changing room', just a cubicle with a curtain like in a clothes store, removing his uniform and putting on the shorts, noting they were indeed far tighter than his usual preference of regular boxers, but fairly comfortable - and pretty flattering.
"Alright, I'm ready," He announced.
"Good. The first experiment will simply be deploying the system on you to ensure you still wish to continue. As I said, it will probably wrap you almost from your toes to possibly as far as your muzzle, given your height, though we can usually cut that fabric if it overextends - it won't block your nose at all, we made sure of that. I know some of us Foxes don't have good times with being unwillingly muzzled... And I personally dislike subjecting on others without being sure they have no issues," Blanford sighed.
"Eh, I can go into a whole childhood trauma thing but if I'm honest, it was more the betrayal that upset me, I don't really have an issue with muzzles as such," Nick shrugged.
"Nonetheless, we will cut it, we would prefer you to talk in most experiments. If you'll step into the circle, we can deploy the GID."
Nick did so, noting the red circle seemed to be a soft foam, but first whispered to Anpu.
"When do you think he'll catch on to your new name?"
"A little while," The jackal grinned.
"I ask you try to avoid struggling at this stage, Officer, at least while the ribbon is deploying. We have more experiments planned to deliberately test those scenarios, but if at any point there's a problem, shake your head up and down and try to shout, and we will end the procedure," Blanford said.
A small alarm and countdown began, ending with the unceremonious tossing of a small black grapefruit sized ball from out of the aluminium case by the vulpine Doctor.
Nick was about to make a wisecrack about how low-tech deploying the device was, only for it to pop open and shoot out streams of grey ribbon-like material that rapidly wrapped around him.
Pinning his arms to his sides, and his legs together, it began wrapping him more tightly from the feet up. It was relatively thin, and building up layers. As instructed, he tried to hold still and not struggle. He now kind of wished he'd been able to understand and pay attention to whatever Blanford's technobabble filibuster had been, as he was now curious as to how the ribbon was seemingly able to move like it had a mind of its own. He couldn't quite prevent a small yelp as the ribbon did seem to squeeze his butt a little, but it seemingly wasn't too loud thanks to it having wrapped a thin line around his muzzle. The shorts seemed to have worked, as he noted that the bandages seemed to have made efforts around his crotch to tighten a bit too much, making him very glad the tight spandexy stuff had done the job. And then it all seemed to be over, the device sending out no more ribbons, and leaving Nick Wilde mummified.... for science, and pay, of course. It had all taken only about five seconds. As he'd stood still, he'd kept his balance.
Blanford moved over, carefully cutting the muzzle wrap with scissors.
"Any problems, Officer?"
"Nope, it kinda squeezed my butt a little... and I notice it seems to have ignored my tail, that might be kind of a design flaw - some mammals can use tails like extra limbs so we prefer to restrain them too sometimes."
"Thank you for mentioning that, we had considered it. It's good to know it's indeed a concern to address. We have an experiment later that will wrap your tail, but for now, let's dissolve the ribbon..."
It was removed with a few quick sprays, vanishing away almost instantly as the agent made contact. The dissolving was a little warm, but not unpleasantly so.
"Now, we have another nine experiments, so if you have any questions after that first one?" Blanford asked.
"Well, while I'm wrapped up like a worm, can I get a banana bomb?" Nick joked.
"Those are manufactured by Lockhare-Marten, and we don't have any access to them."
"I think it was a reference to that artillery game with the little worms? What was it called..." Anpu mused.
"I see. Well, our next experiment is trying to capture a fleeing subject, hence the foam test area, so if you lose balance you shouldn't be injured. After that we have a system designed to automatically connect the subject to nearby structures such as light poles, to help prevent them crawling away or being grabbed by allies...."
"Soooo, even more like Spider-Ham?" Nick grinned.
Blanford sighed.
"Yes. Anyway, let's continue..."
And so, Nick continued the experimentation. The fleeing test, he indeed stumbled, though he was reasonably sure even a concrete floor wouldn't have injured him - but he raised concerns about faster mammals possibly outranging the ribbons, which the Doctors duly noted.
The 'restrain in area' devices came both as directly deployed versions, and a secondary ribbon dispenser to allow the user some control. One variant of it saw a frame like a netless goal formed, seeing Nick wind up tied feet-up, head-down to the top bar due to a small mishap.
"Um, that... was not intended, it's meant to restrain the shoulder areas to that, not the feet! I apologise," Blanford said.
"Well, I know what it's like to be a bat now, I guess!" He joked.
He found himself unable to break the ribbon in an experiment aimed at trying to bust out, and his claws didn't seem to do a thing even when they deliberately managed to let him keep a limb free somehow. One experiment (with another nice bonus payrise) saw a reinforced firefighters type breathing mask produced, intended as a failsafe if it went wrong, for it was intended to have a device set off at his head rather than his feet - and it still went to his feet first, making the mask pointless.
Eventually, though they had completed all the experiments, and Nick changed back into his uniform. He noted he'd received two texts earlier in the day from Judy, the first asking for a reminder when he was meant to be done, the last saying 'figured out what else they sell yet?' followed by a smirking rabbit emoji.
"Oops, sorry, the other department must have left that last night," Anpu put it away before Nick could question it.
"The cameras will only be active with your consent, Officer. We don't need footage of the experiments, given that we have to rely on somewhat skimpy attire, but we do offer additional compensation for those who volunteer to allow us to collect the-"
"You had me at additional compensation, Doc. Besides, I've nothing to be embarrassed about," Nick smirked.
"Very well, Benjamin, update the payment information on the Officer's file, please."
Nick went into the 'changing room', just a cubicle with a curtain like in a clothes store, removing his uniform and putting on the shorts, noting they were indeed far tighter than his usual preference of regular boxers, but fairly comfortable - and pretty flattering.
"Alright, I'm ready," He announced.
"Good. The first experiment will simply be deploying the system on you to ensure you still wish to continue. As I said, it will probably wrap you almost from your toes to possibly as far as your muzzle, given your height, though we can usually cut that fabric if it overextends - it won't block your nose at all, we made sure of that. I know some of us Foxes don't have good times with being unwillingly muzzled... And I personally dislike subjecting on others without being sure they have no issues," Blanford sighed.
"Eh, I can go into a whole childhood trauma thing but if I'm honest, it was more the betrayal that upset me, I don't really have an issue with muzzles as such," Nick shrugged.
"Nonetheless, we will cut it, we would prefer you to talk in most experiments. If you'll step into the circle, we can deploy the GID."
Nick did so, noting the red circle seemed to be a soft foam, but first whispered to Anpu.
"When do you think he'll catch on to your new name?"
"A little while," The jackal grinned.
"I ask you try to avoid struggling at this stage, Officer, at least while the ribbon is deploying. We have more experiments planned to deliberately test those scenarios, but if at any point there's a problem, shake your head up and down and try to shout, and we will end the procedure," Blanford said.
A small alarm and countdown began, ending with the unceremonious tossing of a small black grapefruit sized ball from out of the aluminium case by the vulpine Doctor.
Nick was about to make a wisecrack about how low-tech deploying the device was, only for it to pop open and shoot out streams of grey ribbon-like material that rapidly wrapped around him.
Pinning his arms to his sides, and his legs together, it began wrapping him more tightly from the feet up. It was relatively thin, and building up layers. As instructed, he tried to hold still and not struggle. He now kind of wished he'd been able to understand and pay attention to whatever Blanford's technobabble filibuster had been, as he was now curious as to how the ribbon was seemingly able to move like it had a mind of its own. He couldn't quite prevent a small yelp as the ribbon did seem to squeeze his butt a little, but it seemingly wasn't too loud thanks to it having wrapped a thin line around his muzzle. The shorts seemed to have worked, as he noted that the bandages seemed to have made efforts around his crotch to tighten a bit too much, making him very glad the tight spandexy stuff had done the job. And then it all seemed to be over, the device sending out no more ribbons, and leaving Nick Wilde mummified.... for science, and pay, of course. It had all taken only about five seconds. As he'd stood still, he'd kept his balance.
Blanford moved over, carefully cutting the muzzle wrap with scissors.
"Any problems, Officer?"
"Nope, it kinda squeezed my butt a little... and I notice it seems to have ignored my tail, that might be kind of a design flaw - some mammals can use tails like extra limbs so we prefer to restrain them too sometimes."
"Thank you for mentioning that, we had considered it. It's good to know it's indeed a concern to address. We have an experiment later that will wrap your tail, but for now, let's dissolve the ribbon..."
It was removed with a few quick sprays, vanishing away almost instantly as the agent made contact. The dissolving was a little warm, but not unpleasantly so.
"Now, we have another nine experiments, so if you have any questions after that first one?" Blanford asked.
"Well, while I'm wrapped up like a worm, can I get a banana bomb?" Nick joked.
"Those are manufactured by Lockhare-Marten, and we don't have any access to them."
"I think it was a reference to that artillery game with the little worms? What was it called..." Anpu mused.
"I see. Well, our next experiment is trying to capture a fleeing subject, hence the foam test area, so if you lose balance you shouldn't be injured. After that we have a system designed to automatically connect the subject to nearby structures such as light poles, to help prevent them crawling away or being grabbed by allies...."
"Soooo, even more like Spider-Ham?" Nick grinned.
Blanford sighed.
"Yes. Anyway, let's continue..."
And so, Nick continued the experimentation. The fleeing test, he indeed stumbled, though he was reasonably sure even a concrete floor wouldn't have injured him - but he raised concerns about faster mammals possibly outranging the ribbons, which the Doctors duly noted.
The 'restrain in area' devices came both as directly deployed versions, and a secondary ribbon dispenser to allow the user some control. One variant of it saw a frame like a netless goal formed, seeing Nick wind up tied feet-up, head-down to the top bar due to a small mishap.
"Um, that... was not intended, it's meant to restrain the shoulder areas to that, not the feet! I apologise," Blanford said.
"Well, I know what it's like to be a bat now, I guess!" He joked.
He found himself unable to break the ribbon in an experiment aimed at trying to bust out, and his claws didn't seem to do a thing even when they deliberately managed to let him keep a limb free somehow. One experiment (with another nice bonus payrise) saw a reinforced firefighters type breathing mask produced, intended as a failsafe if it went wrong, for it was intended to have a device set off at his head rather than his feet - and it still went to his feet first, making the mask pointless.
Eventually, though they had completed all the experiments, and Nick changed back into his uniform. He noted he'd received two texts earlier in the day from Judy, the first asking for a reminder when he was meant to be done, the last saying 'figured out what else they sell yet?' followed by a smirking rabbit emoji.
"Should never have told her there was a rabbit version of that(6)," he sighed, replying that he was done now, and ignoring the second.
***
The two Doctors led him back out into the now mid-afternoon outside.
"Thank you for your time, Officer, your payment should be through in a couple of working days," Blanford said.
"My pleasure. But by the way, can you level with me straight here since I have a funny feeling I won't be able to search it at the department and I used all my 4g data up for the month, but what exactly is it you guys do make for the civilian market?"
"Oh, it's bondage gear. It was the original focus of the company actually, until Warren joined as a partner after I realised having built my products for durability, if we simply added better locks with no emergency release they made excellent police restraints," Anpu said.
"Ah. So, your stuff is popular with rabbits because..."
"There is some truth to a certain stereotype about Lagomorphs, and to be rather crude, there's a reason we say 'rope bunny' and not, say, 'rope jackal'," Blanford said.
Anpu didn't even react, so Nick assumed he was rather happy with his lot in the bedroom (dungeon?) life.
"...That explains why my ZPD partner was so amused then, she's a rabbit and was asking me if I'd figured out what else you sell," Nick realised.
"Well, I don't think it's a coincidence Doe and Dom both have three letters and start with a D...." Anpu said.
He wasn't sure if he was sympathetic, or jealous, towards any boyfriend she might have. Or was she on a girlfriend right now?
He also wondered if Finnick might be open to a little experimenting.
***
PawFootnotes
1: -and-no-you-can't-watch.
2: Usually simply medicine trials, but yes, jerking off for cash at a sperm bank also counted, though Nick didn't do that(7)
3: Guinea Pig was a term highly discouraged in modern experimental science, alongside Lab Rat/Mouse.
4: Ironically, any actual violent fox would be smart enough to build up a resistance to the civilian-grade stuff.
5: Later that night, Nick would remember that box as he headed home after his shift, and be confused as to what they could all have possibly have been used for until his data cap rolled over. At which point he was left with even more questions, but no desire to actually find the answers any more(8).
4: Ironically, any actual violent fox would be smart enough to build up a resistance to the civilian-grade stuff.
5: Later that night, Nick would remember that box as he headed home after his shift, and be confused as to what they could all have possibly have been used for until his data cap rolled over. At which point he was left with even more questions, but no desire to actually find the answers any more(8).
6: Still, he was proud of his Padawan.
7: Not for money anyway, and only when during times of its-very-complicated-Carrots.
8: He'd had a similar experience with the three seashells in Demolition Mammal after rewatching it for the first time in a while at one of Clawhouser's movie nights.
7: Not for money anyway, and only when during times of its-very-complicated-Carrots.
8: He'd had a similar experience with the three seashells in Demolition Mammal after rewatching it for the first time in a while at one of Clawhouser's movie nights.