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Description
Precinct one was the central hub for all other precincts in Zootopia. One could count on it getting the lion’s share of the budget for day-to-day operations. With this in mind, Officer Felicia Briggs observed to herself that she shouldn’t be surprised at just how large the building actually was… and yet it always impressed her.
She couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the large hallway she was walking down, the bright even lighting tempered by the neutral beiges and warm yellows and browns that went into the walls and tile floor. She could only wonder how this felt to her far-smaller coworker Sargent Walter Hamlin as he stood on her shoulder, occasionally giving her directions on where to go.

“I really appreciate you giving me a hand here, Briggs. Right turn at this junction.” he said gesturing to the aforementioned hallway. “If nothing else, you are saving me a lot of footwork.”

“Hey, we all walk the thin blue line in our own ways, Hammy. No sense in making this more of a pain than it has to.” she replied adjusting her path to the right. “Besides, what are friends for other than giving credence to the old adage ‘many hands make light work’.”

Hamlin was the head of records and that meant that when push came to shove, he often wound up pinch-hitting for the finance department when things got bogged down. Mostly because any kind of paper-jam in the bureaucracy would become a headache to him further down the line. Of course by now most departments realised that when Hamlin got a headache… he tended to spread it around.

“Be that as it may, it’s hard to keep so many departments on track with budget matters. Everyone’s got an excuse.”

“Anything good?”

“Oh… they’re ALL winners, I assure you.” he growled sarcastically. “I swear some days it feels like I’m trying to herd a bunch of… uh… bunch of...”

“...Cats?” Briggs said with a smirk. “Relax, Hammy. I’m not some brittle little spun-glass protestor who’s gonna go all to pieces because of an old adage… especially when there’s a kernel of truth in it.”

“Thanks.”

“Now if you actually wanted to hurt my feelings, then by all means reference the one about skinning cats using various techniques.”

“Point well made.” he acknowledged before changing the topic back to the task at hand. “So once again, thank you. I’ve gotten the better part of a week’s work done in a day and without having to resort to driving about in some little cart. In fact we only have the one department left and we can call it done.”

“That’s pretty good. So who’s our next contestant on the exciting program… where’s my paperwork?”

"You ever been to forensics before, Briggs?"

"Can't say I have. Traffic Detail doesn't usually end in a way that requires me to be here."

"Well then. You're in for an experience. If you're weak of stomach you might want to brace yourself for the worst. It can sometimes get... unpleasant here. Not always, but sometimes."

"I'm a cat. We're not weak of stomach."

"I try not to profile." he snarked as the two entered the area.

If one believed what was on the television, police crime scene investigators seldom paid their electric bill and did their jobs in dark gloomy offices with insufficient light sources. Unlike the popular TV series CSI Zootropolis, the ZPD's real forensic wing was very well-lit. And unlike it’s television counterpart, the smell of antiseptic mixed with various other odors of “less than savory composition” was quite off-putting. In a weird way she was disappointed that she didn't see cadavers being dissected out in the open, so she assumed there was a proper morgue back here somewhere. On the plus side she did see a very wide variety of mammals working at various stations over an equally wide variety of evidence.

Briggs looked around. "Well... This is interesting."

“Yeah, VERY interesting. Pardon me, Briggs… this is better done with both feet on the ground.”

Hopping from his feline perch to the floor Hamlin strode purposefully over to where a Ferret in a lab coat was busy comparing fingerprints. He stood behind him for a moment and then coughed a loud stage-cough to catch his attention.

"Where's my 7-21 Blue form, Martin?"

The Ferret stiffened and turned around. "Oh! Sargent! What a surprise to see you... upstairs. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good all things considered. It can be hard to make certain departments stay funded when the necessary paperwork isn't filled out on time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Martin?"

"Well I was going to... I mean that is there was a... and then we..." The Ferret sighed and put the fingerprint sheets down. "I'll make having the paperwork finished a priority, Hamlin."

"I'll expect I'll find it waiting for me in the morning." there was a long pause before he continued in a less abrasive tone. "So, how you doing?"

"Doing good actually. I mean, we're doing better than the average this week. How about you?" Martin asked before noticing Briggs. "Did you finally get some help?"

"I'm Officer Felicia Briggs. Usually doing parking enforcement, but helping Hamlin out for a bit."

"Oh hello. I'm Doctor Marvin Martin, the de facto head of this department for my sins... which I cannot recall but must have been pretty large to get me sent here." he said shaking her paw. "So what brings you here? We usually don't process parking evidence unless necessary for a trial."

"Didn't you take forensic science?"

"Oh yes, but what I mean to say is that, And I mean no offense, parking detail is more of an... administrative department than one requiring microscopes, and spectrum analyzers.

"I was talking about your sins sending you down here," Briggs said with raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I see now. Yes, yes I did. It's just I suppose I expected the pace to be a bit more... leisurely than this. More of a steady stream than the ebb and gush of work."

"Ah. I see. You should have applied to a smaller town if you wanted a more leisurely pace."

"Oh yes. And I was rapidly promoted due to some embezzlement issues with my predecessor. Can you imagine it? Embezzlement in the middle of the ZPD?"

“Startling.” Felicia answered flatly.“

“Anyways this was just last year so my department is still… I mean it’s hard to... “ He trailed off before sighing. “May I have a few private words with Hamlin, Miss?”

“Of course.” She said giving them some privacy by stepping off to one side of the room to look through one of the office windows. A skunk technician was transferring what looked like used laundry from a gym bag to an examination table. The rubber gloves and tongs he was using made sense from a “Don’t contaminate the evidence” point of view, but the clothespin on his nose added a new angle to the scene. She wondered just how bad the smell was that it was making a skunk turn green.

It was a little amusing and as she turned away from the window to look at the rest of the area she saw so many animals in white coats or overalls examining, processing, scrutinising and just sciencing the bejabbers out of whatever happened to be in each little work-area. A little bit of motion near her feet caused her to instinctively lift a foot, which was fortunate because it permitted a very small and very distracted figure in a lab coat to continue walking without obstruction.

The white lab rat had a small lab coat draped on her diminutive frame with a pair of coveralls beneath maintaining her modesty. Her headruff was short but unstyled suggesting she was more into her work than personal appearance and yet the almost comically large pair of glasses she wore really worked for her, framing her glittering scarlet eyes.
She walked with purpose, murmuring to herself as she rechecked the pages on her clipboard as if rehearsing theatre lines. She was only a few feet away from where she nearly collided with Briggs when she stopped, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Right.” she said to no one in particular. “We got him. Evidence doesn’t lie. Up to the courts next. We can… can… ooh.”

The rat slowly wound down in her anticipatory conversation, her attention now forcing her to stare straight ahead. Briggs blinked then quietly looked along her line of sight and noticed she was staring right at Hamlin.

The feline arched an eyebrow, and smirked a little. She had no idea who this little female rat was but judging by her intense stare and the way that her little pink wriggling nose was the only proof she wasn’t frozen solid she had a fairly good idea of what was going on inside of that tiny little skull of hers.

She sidled up to her and spoke quietly.

"Can I help you?"

"I, no, maybe..." the rat mumbled. "Who... who is THAT?"

"Who? Hamlin?"

"Is that his name? Hamlin?"

"Uh, yes. That is Sargent Walter Hamlin, head of ZPD records."

"Sweet cheese and crackers he's the head of a whole department."

"Enjoying the view, I take it?"

"How can I not? He's so well groomed, he's handsome he's... good gravy he's tall."

"Really? Huh. And I thought he was always exaggerating on that point. "Briggs smirked. "Want me to introduce you?"

"Oh I... I don't know if I should..." the Rat said, clutching her clipboard to her chest like it were armor. "I mean he looks so ho... BUSY! looks so BUSY. Very busy."

"So, what's your name?"

"Uh... Goldstein. Mercy Goldstein." she said, running a hand self-consciously through her white headruff. "You... You don't have to..."

Briggs offered a finger.
"Felicia Briggs. Nice to meet you. C'mon, I can give you a ride. You look like you've got a report for Doc Martin to deliver. I'll introduce you after you do that."

"Oh. OK. Thank you Officer Briggs." she said shaking her finger and then stepping up onto her hand.

Briggs lifted Mercy up to her shoulder, and walked over to the desk.

"Still giving the doc a hard time, Ham?"

"More like he's giving ME conniptions." Hamlin said rubbing his forehead. "For the head of Forensics, his filing system for finances is... nearly nonexistent. Everything else is without question, efficient. Thank goodness because crime would be at a horrific advantage if were... otherwise."

"I told you, Walter! I just fell behind in the paperwork a little. The finance department will get their copy just as you will. It's just going to... May I have a few hours? Maybe… twenty four of them? Please?"

"Fine.” Walter grunted, massaging his own temples. “But you have other people working forensics. I advise you to delegate your workload so you can put your full attention on getting this paperwork done."

"Speaking of paperwork, Miss Goldstein, here, has a report for you, Doc," Briggs said letting the white rat slide down her arm.

"Uh, Yes. Here you go, Doctor." The pale rat handed the Weasel her clipboard, and giving Hamlin a side-glance with her glittering red eyes before refocusing on Dr. Martin. “Um, as you can see they did a spot-treatment of their clothing to remove any visible spatter but what they did NOT notice was the drops that fell into their pant cuffs. This pins them down to actually being at the crime scene. This flies in the face of their statements that they never had been there at all.”

"Mmmm. Yes. Yes. Very good. This will go a long way to closing the Anderson case. Thank you Miss Goldstein."

"Have you met miss Mercy Goldstein, Ham?" Briggs asked with a slight smirk.

Hamlin seemed only now, to become aware of the rat in the lab coat next to him. He didn't exactly freeze but there was an expression of surprise and his next blink was visibly slower than normal before he responded.

"Mercy Goldstein?" he inquired, holding out a hand to shake hers. "I'm sorry for my... uh... Your file said you were a Hamster."

"OH! I, yes. I am... From a legal standpoint I am but adoption is funny that way." She chuckled weakly. "I didn't know there were any Rat officers."

"I am the first, so far. I hope... that will change. Officer Hopps has inspired a new influx of mammal variety."

"And this would be my buddy, Sargent Walter Hamlin. 'Ham' to his friends."

"I'm pleased to meet you Walter... it is all right if I call you Walter?"

"Anytime... I mean yes. Yes, it would be just fine Miss Goldstein."

“Wonderful. And please call me Mercy.”

“Ok... Mercy.”

There was another long awkward pause between the two rodents before Briggs interrupted with a cough.

“Right, well… I think mister Martin will have your paperwork in order soon. We better be heading off, Hamlin…” Briggs stated before adding in a quieter tone. “...before we belabour the moment.”

As they walked down the corridor Felicia couldn’t help but add one bit of commentary to her rodent co-worker.

“That… was almost adorable.”

Walter Hamlin and Mercy Goldstein are my own Zootopia fan characters and Felicia Briggs belongs to Werekitty www.furaffinity.net/user/werek…
Character illustration of Mercy by Dutch. www.furaffinity.net/user/dutch…

Description
Precinct one was the central hub for all other precincts in Zootopia. One could count on it getting the lion’s share of the budget for day-to-day operations. With this in mind, Officer Felicia Briggs observed to herself that she shouldn’t be surprised at just how large the building actually was… and yet it always impressed her.
She couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the large hallway she was walking down, the bright even lighting tempered by the neutral beiges and warm yellows and browns that went into the walls and tile floor. She could only wonder how this felt to her far-smaller coworker Sargent Walter Hamlin as he stood on her shoulder, occasionally giving her directions on where to go.

“I really appreciate you giving me a hand here, Briggs. Right turn at this junction.” he said gesturing to the aforementioned hallway. “If nothing else, you are saving me a lot of footwork.”

“Hey, we all walk the thin blue line in our own ways, Hammy. No sense in making this more of a pain than it has to.” she replied adjusting her path to the right. “Besides, what are friends for other than giving credence to the old adage ‘many hands make light work’.”

Hamlin was the head of records and that meant that when push came to shove, he often wound up pinch-hitting for the finance department when things got bogged down. Mostly because any kind of paper-jam in the bureaucracy would become a headache to him further down the line. Of course by now most departments realised that when Hamlin got a headache… he tended to spread it around.

“Be that as it may, it’s hard to keep so many departments on track with budget matters. Everyone’s got an excuse.”

“Anything good?”

“Oh… they’re ALL winners, I assure you.” he growled sarcastically. “I swear some days it feels like I’m trying to herd a bunch of… uh… bunch of...”

“...Cats?” Briggs said with a smirk. “Relax, Hammy. I’m not some brittle little spun-glass protestor who’s gonna go all to pieces because of an old adage… especially when there’s a kernel of truth in it.”

“Thanks.”

“Now if you actually wanted to hurt my feelings, then by all means reference the one about skinning cats using various techniques.”

“Point well made.” he acknowledged before changing the topic back to the task at hand. “So once again, thank you. I’ve gotten the better part of a week’s work done in a day and without having to resort to driving about in some little cart. In fact we only have the one department left and we can call it done.”

“That’s pretty good. So who’s our next contestant on the exciting program… where’s my paperwork?”

"You ever been to forensics before, Briggs?"

"Can't say I have. Traffic Detail doesn't usually end in a way that requires me to be here."

"Well then. You're in for an experience. If you're weak of stomach you might want to brace yourself for the worst. It can sometimes get... unpleasant here. Not always, but sometimes."

"I'm a cat. We're not weak of stomach."

"I try not to profile." he snarked as the two entered the area.

If one believed what was on the television, police crime scene investigators seldom paid their electric bill and did their jobs in dark gloomy offices with insufficient light sources. Unlike the popular TV series CSI Zootropolis, the ZPD's real forensic wing was very well-lit. And unlike it’s television counterpart, the smell of antiseptic mixed with various other odors of “less than savory composition” was quite off-putting. In a weird way she was disappointed that she didn't see cadavers being dissected out in the open, so she assumed there was a proper morgue back here somewhere. On the plus side she did see a very wide variety of mammals working at various stations over an equally wide variety of evidence.

Briggs looked around. "Well... This is interesting."

“Yeah, VERY interesting. Pardon me, Briggs… this is better done with both feet on the ground.”

Hopping from his feline perch to the floor Hamlin strode purposefully over to where a Ferret in a lab coat was busy comparing fingerprints. He stood behind him for a moment and then coughed a loud stage-cough to catch his attention.

"Where's my 7-21 Blue form, Martin?"

The Ferret stiffened and turned around. "Oh! Sargent! What a surprise to see you... upstairs. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good all things considered. It can be hard to make certain departments stay funded when the necessary paperwork isn't filled out on time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Martin?"

"Well I was going to... I mean that is there was a... and then we..." The Ferret sighed and put the fingerprint sheets down. "I'll make having the paperwork finished a priority, Hamlin."

"I'll expect I'll find it waiting for me in the morning." there was a long pause before he continued in a less abrasive tone. "So, how you doing?"

"Doing good actually. I mean, we're doing better than the average this week. How about you?" Martin asked before noticing Briggs. "Did you finally get some help?"

"I'm Officer Felicia Briggs. Usually doing parking enforcement, but helping Hamlin out for a bit."

"Oh hello. I'm Doctor Marvin Martin, the de facto head of this department for my sins... which I cannot recall but must have been pretty large to get me sent here." he said shaking her paw. "So what brings you here? We usually don't process parking evidence unless necessary for a trial."

"Didn't you take forensic science?"

"Oh yes, but what I mean to say is that, And I mean no offense, parking detail is more of an... administrative department than one requiring microscopes, and spectrum analyzers.

"I was talking about your sins sending you down here," Briggs said with raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I see now. Yes, yes I did. It's just I suppose I expected the pace to be a bit more... leisurely than this. More of a steady stream than the ebb and gush of work."

"Ah. I see. You should have applied to a smaller town if you wanted a more leisurely pace."

"Oh yes. And I was rapidly promoted due to some embezzlement issues with my predecessor. Can you imagine it? Embezzlement in the middle of the ZPD?"

“Startling.” Felicia answered flatly.“

“Anyways this was just last year so my department is still… I mean it’s hard to... “ He trailed off before sighing. “May I have a few private words with Hamlin, Miss?”

“Of course.” She said giving them some privacy by stepping off to one side of the room to look through one of the office windows. A skunk technician was transferring what looked like used laundry from a gym bag to an examination table. The rubber gloves and tongs he was using made sense from a “Don’t contaminate the evidence” point of view, but the clothespin on his nose added a new angle to the scene. She wondered just how bad the smell was that it was making a skunk turn green.

It was a little amusing and as she turned away from the window to look at the rest of the area she saw so many animals in white coats or overalls examining, processing, scrutinising and just sciencing the bejabbers out of whatever happened to be in each little work-area. A little bit of motion near her feet caused her to instinctively lift a foot, which was fortunate because it permitted a very small and very distracted figure in a lab coat to continue walking without obstruction.

The white lab rat had a small lab coat draped on her diminutive frame with a pair of coveralls beneath maintaining her modesty. Her headruff was short but unstyled suggesting she was more into her work than personal appearance and yet the almost comically large pair of glasses she wore really worked for her, framing her glittering scarlet eyes.
She walked with purpose, murmuring to herself as she rechecked the pages on her clipboard as if rehearsing theatre lines. She was only a few feet away from where she nearly collided with Briggs when she stopped, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Right.” she said to no one in particular. “We got him. Evidence doesn’t lie. Up to the courts next. We can… can… ooh.”

The rat slowly wound down in her anticipatory conversation, her attention now forcing her to stare straight ahead. Briggs blinked then quietly looked along her line of sight and noticed she was staring right at Hamlin.

The feline arched an eyebrow, and smirked a little. She had no idea who this little female rat was but judging by her intense stare and the way that her little pink wriggling nose was the only proof she wasn’t frozen solid she had a fairly good idea of what was going on inside of that tiny little skull of hers.

She sidled up to her and spoke quietly.

"Can I help you?"

"I, no, maybe..." the rat mumbled. "Who... who is THAT?"

"Who? Hamlin?"

"Is that his name? Hamlin?"

"Uh, yes. That is Sargent Walter Hamlin, head of ZPD records."

"Sweet cheese and crackers he's the head of a whole department."

"Enjoying the view, I take it?"

"How can I not? He's so well groomed, he's handsome he's... good gravy he's tall."

"Really? Huh. And I thought he was always exaggerating on that point. "Briggs smirked. "Want me to introduce you?"

"Oh I... I don't know if I should..." the Rat said, clutching her clipboard to her chest like it were armor. "I mean he looks so ho... BUSY! looks so BUSY. Very busy."

"So, what's your name?"

"Uh... Goldstein. Mercy Goldstein." she said, running a hand self-consciously through her white headruff. "You... You don't have to..."

Briggs offered a finger.
"Felicia Briggs. Nice to meet you. C'mon, I can give you a ride. You look like you've got a report for Doc Martin to deliver. I'll introduce you after you do that."

"Oh. OK. Thank you Officer Briggs." she said shaking her finger and then stepping up onto her hand.

Briggs lifted Mercy up to her shoulder, and walked over to the desk.

"Still giving the doc a hard time, Ham?"

"More like he's giving ME conniptions." Hamlin said rubbing his forehead. "For the head of Forensics, his filing system for finances is... nearly nonexistent. Everything else is without question, efficient. Thank goodness because crime would be at a horrific advantage if were... otherwise."

"I told you, Walter! I just fell behind in the paperwork a little. The finance department will get their copy just as you will. It's just going to... May I have a few hours? Maybe… twenty four of them? Please?"

"Fine.” Walter grunted, massaging his own temples. “But you have other people working forensics. I advise you to delegate your workload so you can put your full attention on getting this paperwork done."

"Speaking of paperwork, Miss Goldstein, here, has a report for you, Doc," Briggs said letting the white rat slide down her arm.

"Uh, Yes. Here you go, Doctor." The pale rat handed the Weasel her clipboard, and giving Hamlin a side-glance with her glittering red eyes before refocusing on Dr. Martin. “Um, as you can see they did a spot-treatment of their clothing to remove any visible spatter but what they did NOT notice was the drops that fell into their pant cuffs. This pins them down to actually being at the crime scene. This flies in the face of their statements that they never had been there at all.”

"Mmmm. Yes. Yes. Very good. This will go a long way to closing the Anderson case. Thank you Miss Goldstein."

"Have you met miss Mercy Goldstein, Ham?" Briggs asked with a slight smirk.

Hamlin seemed only now, to become aware of the rat in the lab coat next to him. He didn't exactly freeze but there was an expression of surprise and his next blink was visibly slower than normal before he responded.

"Mercy Goldstein?" he inquired, holding out a hand to shake hers. "I'm sorry for my... uh... Your file said you were a Hamster."

"OH! I, yes. I am... From a legal standpoint I am but adoption is funny that way." She chuckled weakly. "I didn't know there were any Rat officers."

"I am the first, so far. I hope... that will change. Officer Hopps has inspired a new influx of mammal variety."

"And this would be my buddy, Sargent Walter Hamlin. 'Ham' to his friends."

"I'm pleased to meet you Walter... it is all right if I call you Walter?"

"Anytime... I mean yes. Yes, it would be just fine Miss Goldstein."

“Wonderful. And please call me Mercy.”

“Ok... Mercy.”

There was another long awkward pause between the two rodents before Briggs interrupted with a cough.

“Right, well… I think mister Martin will have your paperwork in order soon. We better be heading off, Hamlin…” Briggs stated before adding in a quieter tone. “...before we belabour the moment.”

As they walked down the corridor Felicia couldn’t help but add one bit of commentary to her rodent co-worker.

“That… was almost adorable.”

Walter Hamlin and Mercy Goldstein are my own Zootopia fan characters and Felicia Briggs belongs to Werekitty www.furaffinity.net/user/werek…
Character illustration of Mercy by Dutch. www.furaffinity.net/user/dutch…