“Let me show you once around the zoo and then I’ll set you up to do some research through the PDA,” Cleo states. She leads you up into the trees and off in a random direction. “I’m sorry, child, I didn’t know the full story until you were in there alone with him. I received an email briefing.”
You follow her silently as you ponder what you’ll choose. Not like it’s much of a choice as far as you’re concerned. Perhaps bide your time and maybe someday you can turn the tables on your captors.
“I’ll admit that I got to choose what I became.”
“What?”
Cleo pauses on a branch over the bear exhibit area. “When I applied for the job, Mr. Smith told me everything and two men in white coats appeared. I had a choice to cooperate and get to chose what I would become or fight it and get no choice.”
(drooptail) “Unfortunately, both my little ones were outside in the waiting room and, as such, were also doomed to this. So, I struck a deal. I would cooperate if not only I got to choose, but both my boys also got to choose.”
You stare at her.
“Don’t look at me like that. You do what you’ve gotta do to try and get the best for your kids. Make the best of the situation you’re given that you can. If I hadn’t had that sort of attitude, all three of us would never have survived the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“As for my two boys, Mark always had a fascination with skunks and was always sort of a night owl. It was always hard to get him to bed at night. He’s now a spotted skunk. Skunks, as you may know, are nocturnal. He’s quite happy in his new life. Tyrone, on the other paw, was into weight lifting before we lost our home in the hurricane. He wanted a big, powerful body. That’s him over there,” she points with her tail tip to a grizzly in the enclosure. “Should I ever have a disagreement with administration, I hope both their talents will come in handy.” She winks at you.
“So, why did you choose to be a common tree squirrel?”
Cleo gigglechitters at you. “It’s as close to total freedom as you can get in this place, child. Free to roam where ever you want. You don’t have to perform for the tourists. Don’t have to go down and take treats out of their hands. Don’t have to pose for photos. You don’t have to do any of that unless you really want to. So, you don’t draw attention to yourself. As such, you become an extension of the zoo’s security network. You help keep an eye on things. And no one expects it.”
Cleo gets moving again after waving with her tail to Tyrone, who only nods his head slightly in recognition.
“So, why are we making the circuit now before my final transformation?”
“So you can meet some of the others like you asked last night. It’s one thing to read about this stuff on a computer. It might help you more to see for yourself. Ah, here we go…”
Roughly half-dozen gather on branches about you and introduce themselves. You can’t keep track of who is who, except for three, all of whom have huge tufts on their ears. They are Rose, a European red squirrel, Joe, an Abert’s squirrel, and Rita, a Kaibab squirrel. You are drawn to the huge tufts on their ears and Rita’s white tail. As quickly as you meet, the others disperse. After all, you don’t want to draw attention from those visiting the zoo below. You occasionally stare back in the directions the three tasseled-eared squirrels scampered off to as Cleo leads you back to the administration building and provides you with access to the PDA. You learn isn’t really hers, but is available for common use.
Information pops up with a brief summary on size/habits of several different species of tree squirrel. If the zoo has one or more specimens, it notes this on the list. Going down the list you find that the zoo has:
2 female and 1 male eastern gray
1 female and 1 male North American red
1 female European red—Notation: endangered in the UK, but common in the rest of Europe/parts of Asia
1 male Abert’s
1 female Kaibab—Notation: rare Abert’s sub-species only found in the forest on the north rim of the Grand Canyon
In researching other possible choices, you find that the Delmarva subspecies of fox squirrel is considered endangered and the zoo has none of them, nor does the zoo have any common North American fox squirrels or any of those found in the southeast Asian jungles.
It might be a tough choice, common, or exotic? You sighchitter as you think about it for several hours. Deep down you’re still very pissed-off at the situation you’re trapped in. But then Cleo’s conversation earlier comes back to you. Make the best of it you can. Finally you come to a decision…