The scene was a mixed one as Chel arrived, along with Doctor Yamamoto. They were on a section of Lyre that was commonly used for a summer fair and carnival, particularly around the Fourth of July, and they could hear some sounds of merriment in the background. However the immediate issue was what they saw. At the center of it was Heather Wilcox, or Heather Wrex as she'd seemed to be going by. Nearby were a couple of members of the Rhino Guard that had apparently drawn simple security duty for the Halloween carnival. Nearby were three Polar Bear Animalians with two looking to be in their twenties comforting one that looked like she was in her teens physically. Sophie and Roland were between the two groups, dressed in costume and nervously looking between Heather and the Polar Bears.
Chel was about to voice her question on what was going on when a strong female voice beat her to it.
"All right... what's going on?" a female voice questioned, turning heads to seeing a uniformed wolf Animalian. Chel noticed the name "Shelly" on her name tag. A male wolf Animalian followed behind her.
"Some one took Jeremy!" Polly broke away from the other two Polar Bears and moved up to the two newly arrived officers, "You gotta get him back. You gotta!"
Shelly lowered one ear in confusion and looked on to the situation. Her eyes focused on Heather for a few moments, and remained on her for a while, but she moved on. Eventually one of the Rhino Guard officers approached and spoke up.
"I think we have something close to a kidnapping," one of the Rhino Guard officers spoke firmly and calmly. He then gestured to a sewer grate entrance nearby. The opening was rather small and larger Animalians like the Rhino Guard members or Heather likely couldn't make it down there. As Shelly looked to it, she figured that it might even be a tight squeeze for her. "Doctor Jeremy Green was here with his sister and miss Wrex... apparently enjoying the Carnival. But from what we've figured out, they became separated from each other... either trips to the restroom or wandering off and left Doctor Green."
"Doctor Green," Shelly said slowly, letting her mind go over what was reported.
"He works for Horizon," Sophie spoke up as she stepped forward, "one of the scientists for Project Mesozoic."
"Ah," Shelly said slowly, realizing where she'd heard the name. Horizon was often involved in various experiments the Animalia Virus and bringing back extinct creatures seemed to be one of the present efforts in that regard. She then turned and focused her eyes back to the Rhino Guard officers that were there. "So someone dragged him down there?"
"From what we could determine... he might have only been lead there," the Rhino Guard member answered, "if he was grabbed... it was only after he got close to the grate. But by that point, apparently his sister and miss Wrex realized something was up and came running. But in the process we had to prevent miss Wrex from ripping up the street to try and rescue him."
Shelly turned and looked Heather who stood quietly, though her tail slowly swayed side to side and her head hung low. Shelly thought she saw tears in the Dinotopian's eyes.
"Rescue..." Shelly said slowly, trying to process hearing Heather's name and rescue in the same sentence.
"Any one can change for the better... find love," Heather spoke up with her voice waffling between an irritated growl and a something very weak.
"She and Doctor Green have been friends," Sophie spoke up, resting a hand on Heather's bicep, "and I think they'd just started with regard to any sort of dating situation..."
"We were here to give Polly a good time," Heather said weakly, "If you can't save him for me... save him for Polly."
Shelly guessed that "Polly" was the younger Polar Bear Animalian that had approached them initially. She then turned to see her present partner sniffing around the sewer grate. He looked a bit puzzled.
"What do you have, White Fang?" Shelly asked to the male wolf Animalian.
"I have one human scent and one... well... it smells LIKE a rat Animalian... but yet not Animalian," the male wolf answered, "similar... yet different. And it does go to the grate."
"We couldn't fit in," the Rhino Guard member said slowly, "and neither would Heather... not without doing damage to the street."
"It might even be a tight squeeze for us," White Fang grumbled and scratched his head for a moment, "and we might have some issue with tracking him if the sewers are... wet..."
Shelly gave a sigh at that. Just about every city had an "underground." Most were mapped tunnels that followed the city's streets and served to contain water and sewage pipes. The spaces were generally intended to be dry, but storm sewers often ran into the same tunnels to allow for flooding rain water to drain to either a nearby river or to some location that would make sure that the water wouldn't be doing damage to the town. That could mean that there could be water down there that would limit how well Shelly or White Fang could track Jeremy in the underground.
"I believe I may help with that officers," Chel spoke up as she and Doctor Yamamoto spoke up.
While Doctor Yamamoto's main business in Lyre at Horizon had been to pitch his idea regarding Axolotl DNA as a means perfect the means to bond the Animalia Virus to fossil DNA while Horizon was still looking at how Heather had managed her conversion, he did manage some clearance to stay and offer some insights into some of the other projects that Horizon was working on. This had suited Chel fairly well as it let her be closer and make a few online posts seeking to raise awareness for the wild Axolotl, which was nearly extinct. Thankfully Doctor Stein had been most gracious to let them stay with his family while the two were in Lyre. They were there when they got a call from Sophie requesting help.
"I believe I am small enough and aquatic enough to be able to help in tracking Doctor Green," Chel spoke, "and we can thus find him."
"And who would you fair against a mutant rat?" White Fang asked her.
"Mutant..." Doctor Yamamoto asked, "You think a Rat Animalian did this? That wouldn't fit with everything that's been observed with Animalia or Animalians. While instinctual and awareness issues may come into play regard humans being converted or animals being uplifted... but once that transformation has occurred fully... I've seen no record of outright criminal activity."
"For the most part there hasn't been," Shelly commented, "the Animalian Police Department was organized to provide some sense of legal order... a just in case scenario, I suppose... but within day to day activities... the worst we've really had to deal with is someone driving through a bit too fast."
And so far the occasional speeding ticket was most common problem the Animalian Police Department had to tackle. Outside of that, their prime issues had been to provide security for many of the events that attracted large numbers of people to Animalia. There, things like the IAC had shown the success that Animalian officers could provide, though with regard to what criminal actions had occurred had come from outside Animalia. On certain levels, they'd actually been waiting for an attack like Heather's as that had represented a proverbial test of their skills, particularly for adding in the Rhino Guard as Animalia's equivalent of SWAT. But Heather's case had been one where anger and a lack of control over predatory instincts had driven her onward, which once given the attention to recognize those instincts was countered. This case, though, appeared to be quite different.
"But the scent is rat-like... and Animalian-like," White Fang answered, "It's not perfect... and it could be that garbage... or... other things is messing with the scent."
"It could be possible that when the virus got into the city's water system that if there was any sort of leak or issue with the pipes that the virus may have gotten contaminated if it came to a spot where it got out of the pipes carrying the drinking water," Doctor Yamamoto mused.
"Worry about the science later!" Heather demanded, "get Jeremy!"
"If it's only one, I should be fine," Chel spoke, "but my thought was that you would come with me and that together we may at least find where Doctor Green has been taken."
"We may not even fit through the grate," White Fang said slowly, "We may need to call in more specialist help..."
That raised some nervous sighs and gulps, but White Fang was right. And while the Wolf Animalians that formed the core of Animalia's Police Department had proven to be attentive and organized keepers of law and order in Animalia, as they conversed with their counterparts in the Lyre Police Department, the more and more other issues came into play. While they didn't expect it to occur within Animalia, there was the recognition that there could be situations that would require more, which was what started with the Rhino Guard as their version of SWAT. They were bigger, stronger, and tougher, and could in theory handle situations where either a larger Animalian was out of control, as had been the case with Heather's attack, or at least had some of the training needed to deal with the sorts of things that SWAT was developed to deal with. However there was also the potential that even more specialist units could be needed, particularly they ever ran into anything related to cybercrime... or situations that related to a restricted area that would actually require being smaller rather than bigger in order to fin in the space.
"Might do well to get the stealth team ready," the Rhino Guard member spoke, "they are smaller than we are and their training has gotten better. We may not have any other options."
Shelly sighed and soon nodded. She then turned to Polly and Heather. Marcy and Chilly had caught up with Polly and were holding her in a way to comfort her. Heather stood nearby, though the sway of her tail was still something to indicate nervousness.
"Don't worry, young one," Shelly spoke, "I'm sure your brother is fine and we'll make sure he's brought back safe and sound."
"Promise?" Polly asked looking up.
"Promise," Shelly spoke. Though a part of her was nervous, as if Jeremy's kidnappers were Animalians, their behavior ran counter to Animalian nature and that made them an unknown wildcard. She didn't and couldn't know why these kidnappers behaved as they did, and thus couldn't truly say with certainty what they would do. She'd read pretty dark reports and stories on things human criminals had done to victims when these sorts of events occurred, but at the same time, she could the quivering in Polly's white furred lips and her wide dark brown eyes. In this, the female wolf Animalian felt it better to assure the young Polar Bear and focus on the potential positives, even if she had no real clue as to Jeremy's fate at that exact moment.