Earning Trust

While Captain Figgins de-skunked the officers, Aayla silently stood back and checked out the skunk. On a closer look, it was very skinny and its fur was dull. The poor thing had not been eating well since it arrived. A slight trace of mana was found emanating from the skunk. Like the other Terran creatures, this one was quickly adapting to the environment.

Aayla was both envious and relieved. She envied its much faster adaptation. On the other hand, if animals could adapt to mana, then she should be capable as well. Eventually. The faster they adapted the less time that researchers had to learn about their original physique and potentially connect it to her.

When the unit was finally ready to be seen in public, Aayla had all of the data that she needed. The unit continued their patrol while she followed Captain Figgins back to the main headquarters. Something was off when they finally entered the lobby. Normally, the headquarters was bustling and noisy. Now, it was dead silent. Shouting could be heard from the depths of the building even in the front lobby.

Several angry officers in high-ranking military uniforms stormed out. Captain Figgins pulled Aayla back and slightly bowed as they passed. Aayla hurriedly copied the captain's bow. The officers paid no attention as they left.

Commander McGrath accompanied several smirking police higher ups as they watched the military officers leave. The man in front laughed happily.

"Hehe. Ah, that was so refreshing, boys! We foiled those thieving military jerks from poaching our cases and the Nafriton delegation again. They must really want some achievements after that screw up a couple of months ago. Not that I'll let them walk all over us. Hahahaha!

"Oh, you're in the office, Captain Figgins? That's a rare sight to see. You missed a good show this morning. We sent those stuffy jerks from the garrison packing again."

He waved for Captain Figgins and Aayla to come over when he saw them. Captain Figgins promptly saluted the higher-ups.

"Yes Sir, Chief. I just came back from another magical beast case in the south side. Good morning, Deputy Chief Watts and Deputy Chief Locke."

The other men politely nodded in response. The chief lightly stroked his beard.

"The south side? What happened there?"

Aayla remained quiet as Captain Figgins calmly went over the events of that morning. The chief nodded and followed along with her report. The police higher-ups exuded a forceful presence even while simply standing. She would hate to find out what they were like when in a bad mood.

"So, everything's been wrapped up properly?"

"Yes Sir. Well, the back of the restaurant still has a distinct… odor but the manager should be able to handle it."

"Good, good. Still don't want to leave a handle for those thieves and noisy officials to grab onto. This is the student that you and Commander McGrath requested?"

Captain Figgins nodded as several sharp gazes turned towards Aayla. She slightly bowed when the skunk started to squirm in its bag. Looks like it didn't like the gazes as much as she did.

"Hello sirs. I'm Aayla Glowery from Nafriton University. I'd like to chat more, but this little guy is getting restless. Could you please excuse me while I bring it to the containment area before it stinks up the front office?"

One of the deputy chiefs blanched.

"Yes! Absolutely, yes! The smell leaking from the bag is bad enough!"

"Your nose is as sharp as ever Watts. Not such a good thing now, is it?" Deputy Chief Locke cheekily quipped.

"Stop bickering, both of you. We're in front of a civilian. Hmmm, we can stop by the containment area later for Watts to take a better look."

Deputy Chief Watts' face further drained of color. Darn it. Why did his nose have to be so sharp? The higher ups laughed as the chief waved Aayla and Captain Figgins away. The duo quickly found their way to the animal containment unit, where a couple of the Nafriton delegation was already waiting. After warning them of its noxious defense, they left the skunk with the research team.

Before Captain Figgins dragged her outside again, Aayla convinced her to take her to the main research area. Rather than meeting her colleagues, Aayla was more concerned with getting the right equipment. At Nafriton, Chris got some nets and basic traps from who knows where then helped her create some other pieces.

She did not want a repeat of this morning. Catching animals with her bare hands was not a hobby of hers. Her grandparents? Yes. Aayla herself? No.

If Aayla had known about the police department's lack of animal catching equipment, then she would have brought some from Nafriton. To be fair, FWPD isn't that incompetent. All of their animal catching gear was for stronger magical beasts. They actually had a decent system for less powerful magic beasts. They've rarely encountered magical beasts in urban areas, let alone ones that resist magic.

In any case, Aayla didn't have anything in Forest Waypoint that she could really work with. Fortunately, the delegation had brought a few pieces of animal catching gear as a last-minute addition. With these, Aayla's job would be much easier.

That day, the Figgins-Glowery pair ran around from dawn until dusk. Aayla barely had time for lunch. Aside from the skunk, Aayla handled a few rodents, birds and snakes along with a couple of wolves, a mountain lion and a bison that somehow got stuck on top of a skyscraper. The roof didn't even have an access point to the floor below. It was like running into a hippo in the top of Rapunzel's tower. Stupefying and seemingly impossible.

The next day was much of the same routine. Join a unit on call. Some idiot messes everything up. Aayla fixes their mess. The only good thing was that Aayla managed to convince Captain Figgins to let her set up a couple of traps throughout the city.

The results were seen on the third day, just before the Nafriton students were scheduled to arrive. Several small animals were easily caught with minimal harm to the officers and animals. Sensing promise, the Nafriton professors agreed to help manufacture more. They were immediately set out that morning, and by that afternoon of the hotheaded idiots would actually listen to Aayla when she said to not do something.

Whether they were actually impressed by her knowledge or were sick and tired of being clawed, bitten or skunked remained unknown. Some of the nicer officers would even greet her in passing. All of them were still as stubborn as mules though and did little more than that. It would take something much greater to get the officers of FWPD to acknowledge a snot nosed brat like Aayla.

The higher ups in the police force and delegation were pleasantly surprised. Sure, she was requested by a police commander and backed by the Student Council. However, could they really be sure that favoritism and hedonism weren't involved with her known mana-less condition? Aayla was Deputy Heston's goddaughter after all.

**********

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city some rats of a different kind were skulking about. As many had feared, the True Order hadn't really been defeated. While it did suffer serious damage, the group's foundation was still stable.

Several of its spies were still in Forest Waypoint and Nafriton University. Naturally, they had heard of the appearances of these mysterious animals who were initially highly mana resistant. The last time they encountered similar beings was a few years earlier, when rumors of a second prophet started. The Prophet of Truth proclaimed that these beings heralded a new age for the True Order, though only those in the upper echelons were privy to what that meant.

This made the terrorist group even more determined to infiltrate the city and university. Their magical knowledge and technology had increased greatly after studying these beings. Sabotaging the government's efforts along with securing some of the latest creatures were their top priorities.

The Prophet also ordered them to search for 'someone unusual who appeared out of thin air and was similar to the mana-resistant creatures', but the lower ranks never knew why. That order was completely ridiculous. Did they not realize how many 'unusual people' suddenly 'appeared out of thin air' on Tellus?

People changed their identities all the time. That was why the smarter spies and criminals were harder to track. It was not that easy for the common people, but all that meant was that people who successfully 'appeared out of thin air' typically had strange or powerful backgrounds.

So, the lower ranks would just pretend to follow that order. They had too much work to do instead of running off on a wild goose chase. If the upper ranks were that concerned with that person, then they would send out better people.

The most important priority was still those mana-resistant creatures. These beings kickstarted the greatest plan that they ever conceived, a plan that could allow them to take over the Chinebar Republic once and for all. However, they wouldn't stop at the Republic. Oh, no. They had much grander dreams.

But first, they needed to do a small test run. Right now, Forest Waypoint was the perfect location.