13912/Null Day at the Zoo

Null Day at the Zoo
Date of Scene:	21 January 2023
Location:	Central Park Zoo
Synopsis:	When Null's project dog is let loose on the Central Park Zoo's inaugeral Valentine's nights, M (Monet St. Croix) and Maul (Jeremy Stone) arrive to play dog-catcher.
Cast of Characters:	Kainashi, Monet St. Croix, Jeremy Stone

---

Kainashi has posed:
    The Central Park Zoo was just beginning its 'romantic' night lights presentation; hearts and flowers strayed overhead at the zoo, where early adopters and ZOo members were milling about, looking over some of the animal exhibits at night, some giving gawking looks at penguins that are wandering in the cold, supervised by zoo keepers as they 'wark' and occasionally, as animals do, make messes or find mischief.

    IT's all rather for fun, those in heated enclosures able to peer out at the interesting lights and bundled-up people, and those who enjoy the cold -- like the snow leopard -- are 'chilling' in the cool air of the city zoo.

    A couple of black vans pull up behind the zoo; unremarkable. Deliveries happen all the time in the city that never sleeps.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix rather dislikes zoos. She's seen the creatures in their nature habitats. In zoos, they tend to be lazy beasts of slumber which do little beyond eat, occasionally pose, and spend most of thier time lazing about and sleeping. So domesticated. And ever so popular to the tourists. M finds them rather banal. Which is why she's not in the zoo..
    But some distance away, wathcing a performance of Shakespeare in the Park that she plans to give a scathing commentary to when the cast finishes their performance and does thier bows.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
For once, Jeremy is not somewhere doing science things, being all science like and nerd like and just..sciencey. He's not holded up in his lab, dealing with researchers or research papers, fending off phone calls, consultation requests, etc and whatever. Nope! He's on a date!

At least, that was the -intention-. He's currently standing just ouside of the zoo entrance, looking at his watch and....quite alone and feeling somewhat stood up here.

"Well..uh...I must have missed a text or a voicemail or..something. That's it.." he mutters as he fishes out his phone and starts idly going through it, Needless to say the performance along with any unusual activity about the zoo doesn't catch his attention just yet being that he's..a little distracted.

"Maybe I got the time wrong. That's it.."

Kainashi has posed:
    Well, Shakespeare's wintertime production of King Richard III (Discount Tents and all) was about to get an alert to evacuate to safety.

    Much like how there's suddenly screaming going on inside the zoo as some lights in the back flicker, fade, and then a telephone pole comes sailing through the air, crashing into a display of silk flowers that have been kissed by frost.

    Security guards are not inclined to go and get any closer, focusing on evacuation.

    "Get out of the zoo! Get out of the zoo! One of the animals is loose!" someone's crying out as they stumble through the exit, nearly knocking over Jeremy in the process!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Oh how lovely. She's going to miss her opportunity to -correct- the would be auteurs as to their performance inadequacies. The sacrifices she made for the cultural betterment of society. Monet St. Croix would let out a sigh of irritation and then begin heading in an arc away from the crowd being told to evacuate and flee, heading around to the zoo. For now, minimizing her presence and darting closer towards it without standing out. Moving at a quick trot but nothing unusual.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
"..This is the last time I let Jules try and hook me up with a friend of hers. I should have taken them up on some time in the labs back at Ha--"

A telephone pole goes sailing over head.

Jeremy recoils in shock and then turns about as he hears the warnings which then coincide with alerts on his phone going off. The crowds begin to flee the area and he turns, moving his tall frame aside to try and avoid the major press of movement while instead turning towards the zoo itself in search of any signs of the source of the commotion.

The list of animals capable of hurtling a telephone pole across the zoo and beyond isn't particularly large which raises some red flags right away but he hesitats on making any haste driven actions less he add to the panic.

Kainashi has posed:
    Literally that list is just 'elephant', but it would be remarkable if an elephant escaped the Central Park Zoo... since they don't have elephants. That's the Bronx Zoo.

    No, the source of the commotion appears to be bipedal. Slouched.

    ... small.

    It stands under five feet tall, even if it were to stand up straight. There's a dull electronic glow under a hood. THe figure is digitigrade, animalistic, as it grasps a nearby balloon cart, and with no effort given to the three hundred pound steel cart LOBS it at the security glass separating the open air to one of the gift shops, shattering the glass, more lights flickering near by it.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
If I ran the zoo, said Gerald McGrew, here's what I'd do. There would probbly be far worse things at risk of escape over than elephants. The same if that proposal to make an amusement park with Dinosaurs resettled from the Savage Lands. Monet goes to head along over towards it. As the cart would be flung throug teh air at people, Monet would launch up into it to catch it in both hands! This effort would drive her back some, wincing.. And then she goes to aim right over at the figure, and goes to launch it back -just- as hard.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
"Oh my God.." mutters Jeremy, more of a groan of 'Why me, why now' then any sort of utterance of horror and dismay. If his date does actually exist and was intending on showing up for the event at the zoo..well this little critter taken care of all that now hasn't it.

"Well here's to another pair of glasses, shirt and pants.." he grumbles before taking a few strides forward and immediately billowing and ballooning in size towards his immense titanothrope form. HIs garments shred as his muscles pile on literal tons of sinew, revealing trunks and leggings of various shades of green, as if the remnants of a uniform.

Immediate brain fog settles in as his body bulks up towards proportions that a 'roided out version of King Kong would feel intimidated by.. but a few blinks and a shake of his head clears his mind enough along with the surprise of seeing Monet soar into the air to take hold of the flying cart.

"Alright, little guy." he rumbles, heading directly for the creature with the earth shaking under the movements of his twelve foot tall frame, huge hand reaching down to try and grasp for and restrain it, "Let's put you in time out..."

Kainashi has posed:
    THe head beneath the hood tilts as M catches the cart. The little creature braces, and as the cart's launched back at them they leap up, grabbing a hold of a strand of lights and use it, sparking electrical faults behind its grasp, to get on top of the roof of the gift shop. The balloon cart goes sailing into the petting zoo and unleashes goats and miniature horses from their confines.

    Truly here, The Cart came before The Horse.

    Next the Titanothrope form is seen, and as goats scream and ponies attempt to make like their dash to freedom around him, the creature just seems to watch JEremy approach before it rolls to the side of his grab, pulls a short tanto and attempts to stab him in the back of his hand!

    How rude!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Does she care to wrangle the animals, does she care to wrangle the animals.. Oh, she supposes she has to. Not for the sake of those things that really should be best sent over toa nother kind of zoo, but because they might trample on someone or something else in their rush to escape. She calls out to Maul, "Can you stop him?" Not having an idea who he is, or why no one that expands thier size so much can't be bothered to figure out how to wear sweatpants regularly.
    She goes to charge along after the animals, moving to try and grab some of those large, ever present banners that populate Central Park to start to use to try and snap down over like a lasso towards them!

Jeremy Stone has posed:
"OW--HEY! You little..." is Maul's response. Timed such that it is in answer to Monet's query as it occurs right as that stabbing action goes right into the back of his massive hand. He's not invulnerable. Yet. Though he is tough and so the strike isn't debilitating..but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell.

And also drives him to add a little more size on from a combo of irritation and reflexive action to gain more toughness. Sweatpants really never help. No..not really.

Bands of muscle thicker around then the girth of swamp trees bunch up titanically as the behemoth's arm flexes and then comes whipping around in a back handed strike for the nimble adversary.

"Th'hell is this thing!"

Kainashi has posed:
    There's a flash of teeth, of eyeglow beneath the hood, and as M reigns in the panicking goats and ponies back to their petting zoo area with the banners (and someone would mistake Jeremy for being a Banner of some sort, we're sure), the creature is solidly back-handed, going into the air, turning, and trying for a three-point landing, it instead tumbles backwards top-over-tail, the hood and visor coming off and showing...

    A dog. A dog on hind legs. At least it used to be a dog.

    It stsands on two legs. Its face is a mishmash of ugly scarring, its red-and-white fur turning in time with the scars, and in some patches it doesn't grow fur at all. There is a gnarly scar on the side of its throat, and though it bares its teeth at Maul, eyes narrowing as it brings the tanto blade back up, ears pinned back and weirdly -- silent.

    The goats do what goats do, which is go in eery direction except the one you want them to go into. One attempts to take a bite out of the banner, another pony goes and attempts to hide in a camel exhibit.

    Arguably Maul has the easier job.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet can only yell out in irritation over at the lack of cooperation from the animals as she starts threatening them over in Arabic. They, being goats, aren't prone to listen and Monet isn't willing to try and calm them down to wrangle them up. Not that would work either. She for now resists the urge to try and simply beat them all unconscious as a show of force, and goes to simply move to try and yank them in groups and hurl them back over to thier pens. Well, she's not beating htem unconscious, but if she can catch them in quick groups being hurled through the air several dozen meters or so won't make for the gentlest of landings.

    But it will make -her- feel better, which is the important thing here . As otherwise, she's going to use the very large flapping banners to try and just drag the other animals back.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
The shock of the sight of the dog and its condition manages to pierce any settling fog and frustration in Maul's mind ot find the man beneath. HIs emotions boil up, a mix of compassion for the animal and whatever was clearly done to it and anger at those responsible and the sheer frustration and madness of it all. GIven his field of work - when he's not punching things or falling on them - he's a special attachment to this situation.

But nothing can be done until this situation is addressed. Investigation will have to wait and he's not exactly equipped to do it well anyway given his current stature and immensity.

But he does have enough presence of mind to try this: "Easy now.." he rumbles, raising both hands up and actually shrinking in size a few feet as if to try and de-escalate before things get particularly out of hand. He takes a few rumbling steps closer but holds his hands up, trying to talk to the pup. "Good boy..or..er..girl..uh. Just relax. Eh? put the...um..knife down?"

Well presence of mind doesn't exactly mean 'smart' though.

Kainashi has posed:
    The goats are launched with a "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" into a new pen. Luckily the park doesn't have very many large predators, but the zebras look rather concerned with their temporary house guests.

    The ponies prove to be more agreeable and trot back to their pens like good little equines.

    The canine, on the other hand, doesn't seem as inclined to cooperate. The park lights have started to come on, brightening up the area as Maul gets a better look at it. There's an electronic tag on its ear with a barcode, a tight collar with an electronic tracker, and its eyes are dilated as if in pain. Its nostrils flare, holding the knife up, not registering the shrinking of Maul to a more managable size.

    Its mouth opens, and then snaps shut. IT makes no noise. No barking, whining, no words, but its teeth are bared.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
With the first group of animals hurled away, Monet goes to advance on thsoe still out. The ponies are threatened back to thier gates even as Monet goes to angrily advance upon them and anything else that's still out. She takes several moments then once she's sure they're all in to go back to the pens, and smash over other things into place to block off the holes and breakages so there won't be another mass runout until this is over and the amazing zoo crew can handle it.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
It's not until he's come down to a more restrained state, though let's face it...he's still friggen gigantic, that Maul takes note of the tag, collar and overall the basic look of the tortured animal.

"Great. A deranged, super-pooch." he quips before falling out to M. "Hey! There's some sort of ...uh..thingie..on it's neck. I think it's what driving it mad. Deranged. It's fast! I can restrain it but I'm gonna need help catching it so that we don't wreck this place even more!"

He could become incredibly massive and just try and flatten it..and a large area around it but this is calling for some teamwork if they don't want to actually unnecessarily harm it.

If the canine will even allow that.

Kainashi has posed:
    The scarred canine creature shifts its weight, and then a high-pitched sound invades the area. To the humans without enhanced hering, it sounds like when you have the TV on but there's no volume, high-pitched and almost at the edge of not being able to hear it.

    the canine, however, can. Its wince is visible, tail curling under itself as it takes a few steps backwards, then turns and takes off in a full-sprint towards the back of the zoo.

    The other animals are still secure.

    However, Monet and Jeremy's phones buzz. The number calling just reads 0.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The screech of sounds makes M wince, and she goes to grind her teeth. She goes to pick up her phone, "Who are you and is this mess your responsibility? Let me know." She's not particularly happy. Her attempt at proper -instruction- in culture has been ruined, her hair has gotten messed up from -animals-, and worst of all she now -smells- like them.

She goes to hold on to her phone with clear murder in her eyes if anyone was making contact with her about now.

Jeremy Stone has posed:
Well that was confusing and concerning. Maul takes a few steps forward, intending on pursuing the bolting canine and even starting to gain size so that length of stride will rapidly propel him even if he, by nature, is more of a sliding glacier.

But when his phone rings, he pauses and looks back towards where it lays some distance away among what remains of his clothes.Hisr
Monet proves to be faster and he just moves over towards her, coming down to a more svelte 8' in height as he draws near to stand over her and listen.

"What kinda game are they playing at!"

Kainashi has posed:
    "Hello, hello? Can you...ah... can you hear me? Thank you for participating in Enrichment Outing 44. May I have your names -and-or-code-names for our records, please?" comes a voice from the other end of the phone, sounding nervous and ungangly, definitely male.

    The canine disappears into the pushes, and there's the sound of a heavy car door slamming shut, nd the squeal of tires.

    "We hope there's no hard feelings about the little issue with the knife, eh?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Going to deepen her voice over Monet goes to speak very, verly calmly as she takes a few moments to refocus it and deepen it. She uses her mind to switch to her vocals, 'messing' with the projection to make it sound like she was synced with someone else.

"Thank you very much for your assistance." A few presses of a button in her phone being the signal for an encrypted link being setup off-site.

"We really couldn't have triangulated your position without you being chatty. Expect someone will be coming your way shortly. I was also told to pass along that your null signals are pathetic and that you should try something a little less boring than a binary encryption."

Jeremy Stone has posed:
"Wha.."

Maul is so thrown off by this and the apology that he is utterly silent, which gives Monet an opportunity to run her bluff. He blinks out of that and then rumbles with rising fury and frustration, "That was a -test-? Look at this zoo! The animals...and..my date was ruined!"

That she never showed is not the issue here.

"And what you did to that dog..for what! You've mutiliated and tortured it!"

At this oint he turns, beginning to expand in size once again in hopes of at least gaining enough height to see the direction of any potential fleeing automobiles from over the tops of the tree line. "This isn't over." he states angrily as he takes a few steps away from Monet and turns about.

Kainashi has posed:
    "I'm afraid I'm not in charge of that, ma'am. And best of luck to your trackers. And yes, that was a test. Outing 44: test of distractions of other animals. Unfortunately, we were looking for a lion and an arctic fox; two outliers such as yourselves were not expected, again we apologize for the inconvenience." the voice explains, "If you would like, you may submit form Null-FA-122362 'Ruined social interaction due to live test' to our Acquisitions and Payouts department."

    There's a soft pause there, the car driving into the distance and disappearing down a different street.

    "Any remaining questions?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Oh, she has a headache. "I want somewhere to file a complaint form to. I find this drivel a waste of time and wish to state /in person/ the sheer inefficiency and ineptitude of this operation. I find this level of ineptness requires far, far mroe layers of remedial instruction and correction than a simple reply can provide. The sheer -gall- of doing thiss ort of ineptitude in public. Your operation should be ashamed of itself and it's inadequacies. I have a tolerance for such things getting off the ground, but I have to speak to the supervisor in charge to give them my issues with this operation."

Jeremy Stone has posed:
"Are you -kidding me-.." Maul is in full titanothrope surly temper mode now as he hears this and fails to get a bearing on the car as it moves off and vanishes into the labryinth that is Manhattan.

He returns to his prevoius more base size and stomps thunderously over to retrieve what remains of his clothes and his phone. His massive fingers crushing his cell phone in the process and stuffing the remains into a shorn pocket. There will be many posts about an angry looking half naked gigantic purple skinned bodybuilder trudging his way through New York soon.

"Of all the stupid, inept, pointless, dangerous, irresponsible--" he begins in an ongoing string of frustrated complaints as he turns to begin stomping away in search of an exit from the park.

Meanwhile, way outside of the park, behind police barricades, Brittany, Jeremy's date, waits while looking on..and eventually giving up and leaving to head for a taxi, while dialing her friend and executive at HALO, Jules Newberry. "Jules, ..Girl, let me tell you what happened!"

Kainashi has posed:
    "I assure you, madam, there is nothing we are ashamed of. Good day."

    And the connection is terminated. The dog is gone, and all that Monet has to show for the call is a bunch of zeros... Null markers.

    And probably a headache on both Monet and Jeremy's parts. Poor Jeremy!