Harry was just a tad self-conscious about his promotion. Naomi had been such a... for lack of a better word, extreme feminist that he really
had half-subscribed to the notion that women were meant to be in charge. Of course, another part of that was just his innate canine loyalty.
Still, he felt a little self-conscious, suddenly acting as the alpha male of the pack in quite the literal sense. Vowing not to let the power go to his
head, he reviewed Naomi's notes about potential dangers.
The early days of the park had had some rough spots. There'd been no procedures set for handling pregnancies, long-term stays, or any real
study on the psychology of different species. Harry had been present for a lot of the ensuing chaos though, and thankfully they'd managed to
hash out some basic protocols, as well as deal with most of the real troublemakers. At this point, it was mostly a matter of nipping new
problems in the bud.
At the top of the list Naomi had left him with was simply the word "Bucks." He'd really hoped that circus of a "tournament" they'd held a while
back would be a one-time incident, but not only had a big chunk of the rowdier ones come back for another stay, they'd brought plenty of
drinking buddies. Worse, before even entering the park, they'd started arguing with the staff that they be allowed to formalize their "terms
surrender" the next time they all butted heads. What is it about frat boys anyway?
Also of concern was this so-called "Lone Wolf." Some nasty little punk named James who apparently had gotten it into his head that even
though there was a well-enforced policy against any serious violence within the park, it was still the "duty" of a predator to put his "prey" in
their place. So far no major infractions had occurred. Just a lot of leaping out from behind bushes and mean-spirited teasing, but then, that's
how these things always start... and despite the name, he'd attracted some friends to join him in his "duties." Lovely.
The most recent red flag meanwhile was a rabbit girl, just arrived yesterday. There'd been a few concerns raised since her arrival of some kind
of "radical political activism" and questioning the motives of the park staff. Harry wasn't worried. New arrivals were frequently a bit high strung
like that. Still, it was someone to check in on now and then.
**********
The rabbit in question meanwhile was beginning to feel a bit silly waiting for the twins to arrive. There she was, just pacing around a clearing,
waiting for a patrol of huskies that might not even arrive. Hell, she might even have had the wrong clearing. Of course, it wasn't exactly like she
had anywhere else to be. She really hadn't made a good first impression on meeting the support group, and hadn't really talked to anyone else
yet. Brian had strongly suggested she seek out some other rabbits to give her a proper tour, but she'd been making it a point to actively avoid
her own kind. Thinking back on this once again left her narrating to her imaginary camera.
"Aside from the obvious threats from this sort of mental tampering, what sort of values is this place trying to enforce? Attendees are forced to
walk around naked, and there's a general ban on bringing along any electronics. Hell, I don't even have a notebook or a pen to work with. Now
OK sure, that's all in the 'back to nature' spirit of the place, abandoning modern technology, but what about modern society? It seems like
everyone's subliminally pressured to spending most of their time among their own 'species' or whatever the term is here, but really isn't that
enforcing the same sort of attitude that brought us segregation? Hell, you can't work on the security team unless you're a dog. Isn't that
basically the same thing as India's caste system?"
She did have to admit she was starting to feel a bit lonely. The fact that she didn't have an audience for this ranting didn't help. At least the
final documentary would get enough views to make up for it. She was starting to get hungry too. Yesterday, someone had been nice enough to
give her a couple heads of lettuce but she'd forgotten to ask where it grew. Shelter was a problem too. She'd just slept under a tree last night,
but what was she supposed to do if it rained? Real rabbits lived in holes, right? Was she just supposed to dig a huge tunnel for herself? At this
scale, wouldn't that take days? Hell, how deep would she get before hitting bedrock?
Suddenly, the sound of a snapping twig behind her forced every other thought from her mind. She almost sprinted off instinctually, but
stopped herself, determined not to succumb so easily to the whole "scared rabbit" routine. Freezing up like this wasn't much better, but she
could at least hope not to stutter again this time when she turned to greet whoever it was.