"Eh? OH! Don't worry.. the reactor is just peachy. It's built to withstand a whole lot of abuse. They were paranoid in those days, when they installed it.. didn't trust it, so they slathered it in armoring."

"(SlightlyMollifedNoddle) Okay.. how long to complete the temporary repairs to our current home?"

"Ah.. well, that again depends."

"(PawTap) On..."

"Well, sir, it depends if you approve our plan in it's entirety or not. What we'd like to do is let the Maintenance and Engineering crew that designed and built this place handle the repairs, while the others start work on the new warren. We'll swap crewmembers around a lot to ensure everybun is aware of how the new warren works, and all it's systems."

Brightspot didn't have to think long. "Sounds good to me, Sparks. Implement it." Brightspot started to get out of his chair, when he saw that Sparks was still sitting. Sitting back down himself, he asked, "Something else, Sparks?"

"Well, yessir. That was just the structural problems. We've got other difficulties too."

Brightspot closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. "Okay.. what *else* is going wrong?"

"The computer, for one. It's almost stone cold dead now. It was on its last legs for the most part before the attack. It got so shaken up and klunked with debris falling from the ceiling.. and we kinda need a computer system before we can design the new warren."

"Greaat. Fluffing wonderful. What else?"

"Well, the communications system is almost dead too. We'd been nursing it along ever since Steekman partially repaired it, but its time is up. I really wish he hadn't disappeared in the fighting.. we could have used his help."

"Yeah.. I bet. Okay.. leave the computer system and the communications to me. I may know where we can.. acquire.. said devices. Here's what I want you to do. Have all the work crews initiate temporary repairs here. When I manage to get the computers and the Comm system, then we'll fully implement your plan."

"Yessir."

"If that's all then.. (HopefulRuffle)?"

"Yessir, it is." Sparks got up and hopped out of the Mentat's office. Reaching the door, he turned around to ask the Mentat one more question. But the Mentat was lost in thought, with a grin slowly passing across his muzzle.

Brightspot (FangyGrin)ed unconsciously, as he looked through a pair of bun-oculars at his target from the cover of the tree line. "Perfect.. just as I'd hoped it would be!" Brightspot whispered.

Treerunner crept up to Brightspot's side and looked through his own viewing device. "(SneakyFlick) What's the plan, Mentat?"

"Here's the first thing we need done. See that CDW semi parked over by the loading bays?"

(AffirmativeFlick)

"Good.. we need to see if the driver is inside. They occasionally sleep in the cab if they're making an early morning pickup or delivery. If the coast is clear, signal us, then come on back."

"Yessir! (AffirmativeFlickChitter)" Treerunner shucked his web-gear and waltzed out from cover, just as happy as can be.

Brightspot (GrinFluffled), and shook his head. Trust Treerunner to hide in plain sight... and get away with it, too! He tracked Treerunner's progress with his optics. Treerunner made a quick pass around the trailer, then carefully climbed up the grill onto the hood of the cab. He then climbed over to the driver's side window, and.. he CLIMBED INTO THE CAB??

Brightspot shook his head when Treerunner appeared a moment later, perched upon the steering wheel. He (FLICKED) his tail a few times, then came scampering back.

"I'll assume that you didn't mean to give me a coronary, Treerunner," Brightspot sighed.

"Had to go in, Mentat. It was a sleeper cab, and the curtain was drawn. Couldn't tell if anyone was in there. Anyway, (MischeviousFlick) Security is my bag, and I've got some fun to have! Sit back, relax, and don't break cover until I call. (GiggleChitter)"

With that, Treerunner got his security teams together, and started making multiple trips dragging seventeen human sized backpacks towards the walls of Computer Discount Warehouse. Brightspot shook his head, wishing he'd known what Treerunner was up to.

Treerunner (GiggleFlicked) and scaled CDW's walls with a thin rope in his mouth. "Oh, this is gonna be *fun*!" Once he was on the roof, he saw that all of his team had joined him on the roof.. but the backpacks were still down the ground.

"(Flick) Hey, Almond! Shoei! Neil! Get back down there! You're supposed to be tying the backpacks to the rope!"

"No! I don't want to miss the fun! (ChitterFlick)" Almond said.

"I said get down there, NOW! (AngryFlick)."

Almond sat down, and (PoutFlick)ed. "No! And you can't MAKE me!"

Treerunner growled, grabbed Almond by his harness, and started dragging him toward the edge of the roof. The others, seeing what Treerunner was doing, decided that looked like fun, and helped him drag Almond and the others to the edge, and pitch them off into the small decorative tree that was right below them. Unfortunately, they ended up pitching almost every squirrel off, including Treerunner, who was swearing vociferously by that point.

"That was fun! Can we do it again?" said one of the squirrels still on the roof.

"NO!" Treerunner yelled, his voice managing to hit a squeak high enough to make the MilBuns off in the woods wince. "Now go with the Frith-blasted plan!"

"But I don't wanna miss.." Almond whined again.

"AAGH! Fine! We'll wait until all the backpacks are up, and you're up there! NOW will you do what you're supposed to? (FLICKFLICK)"

"Okay!" Almond chittered happily.

Fortunately, things proceeded smoothly after that. The backpacks were hoisted up with a modicum of alacrity, and Treerunner was now ready to proceed. After making sure that everyone, even Almond, was present, Treerunner found what he wanted... four skylights.

"(GiggleChitter) Now the fun part.." Treerunner went over to each skylight in turn and easily disarmed the rather basic alarm systems. He propped open the 'light, and waved his squirrels over. "Okay.. you know what to do! One backpack per skylight.. and I mean only one! (FLICK) We've got to do this a number of times."

Treerunner giggled, as he and his crew upended one of the backpacks into the skylight. They watched, as one hundred golf balls hit the ground and bounced all over the place. The alarm was instantly heard, as all the motion detectors in the area were tripped simultaneously.

The police arrived a few minutes later, and it was all the squirrels could do to not burst out laughing. The police checked all the exterior doors, but didn't enter. The skylights had never registered as having gone off, so they'd had no reason to think that it was anything but a malfunction. After checking the doors, they drove off again. A few minutes after that, Treerunner and crew sent another hundred golf-balls to scatter around.

The police came back, and were understandably annoyed.. An even briefer inspection resulted, and just as they left the lot, Treerunner et al dumped another round. One officer got out of the squad car and did something to a juncture box. He got back into his car, and drove off. Pouring the last of the golf balls brought no response from the police.

Treerunner went over to the edge of the roof and (SignalFlicked) to everyone else.

Brightspot saw the signal and nodded. He was going to have to ask just what happened, but for now, he was pleased that things were going reasonably well.

"Okay, everybun! Engineering team, get on that semi.. retro-fit it so we can drive it. Everybun else, (FangyGrin) let's go shopping!"

The docking bay doors proved an ill defense against vorpal claws, and soon the merry band of thieves were swarming around CDW's warehouse, oohing and ahhing at all the assorted equipment.

"All right everybun! You know what you need to go get! Team one, concentrate on the workstations! Two, get on the servers! Three, Laptops! Four, the accessories for the workstations, servers, and laptops. Memory, memory, and more memory me hearties! Five, get the infrastructure.. fiber, and Cat 5 plenum! Six, go get.. ALMOND! Put DOWN those golf balls! Look, if you want one that badly, you can take it AFTER we're done! Now go get as many printers and reams of paper as you can manage to drag over. And NO Crappard Hell computers, got it??" Brightspot hollered.

Loading went reasonably well, and fairly quickly, considering that one hundred and fifty bunnies and seventy five squirrels were doing the work. There was one minor problem, however. The semi-trailer was literally crammed full with equipment, with no room for the work crews to snag a ride.

Then an even more confusing thing happened. The engineering team pulled the semi out a ways, and dismantled the docking bay doors. A minute later, they began distributing... pastel colored Velcro jumpsuits?!? Brightspot took the suit offered him by one of the engineers who was (GiggleFluffing) like a kit, and hopped outside to see what was going on.

What he saw was... either appalling, or amusing as hell. Brightspot couldn't decide which. For the semi's trailer had been covered with hot pink Velcro hooks, while the suits were loops. Brightspot shook his head and snickered, as he saw bunnies and squirrels alike donning their suits, and taking flying leaps at the trailer, sticking wherever they happened to hit. The trailer almost immediately looked like it had been covered in stuffed animals.

Brightspot hopped over to the cab, and yelled, "Well, I see you've got the transportation part down.. but what about the driving? You've got to have something there to make it look like a human is in there, or we'll be even more likely to be pulled over! Not that we're strange enough right now.."

An engineer popped his head out of the cab. "Don't worry, Mentat! We've got that covered! We found this inflatable mannequin in here. That ought to do the trick!"

"Inflatable mannequin?" Brightspot thought to himself. "Wha.. no.. oh no! (Giggle) No, they couldn't.. they.. they COULDN'T! (GiggleGiggleSpinHop)"

But indeed, they could, and they were. A few moments later, Brightspot saw an Inflate-a-Mate being inflated, then stuck in the driver's seat of the cab. Somebun had dressed it in a black patent leather jacket, and stuck a cigar (lit) in its mouth.

Brightspot started laughing so hard, he needed help getting his Velcro suit on. A dozen bunnies and squirrels grabbed him, hoisted him above their heads, and stuck him to the trailer, right by the cab, with him laughing the whole time.

A few moments later, an unhappy Almond stuck himself next to the Mentat.

"(ConcernedRuffle) Almond, what's wrong? We did it! You should be happy!"

"(SniffleFlick) But.. but Treerunner said that he was going to make me fill out all the warranty registration cards! Do you have any idea how long that's going to take?? (FLICKFLICK)"

Though he tried briefly to stifle it, Brightspot laughed long and hard at that, as the semi's engine started, and they hit the road.

They reached the access road that came close to the warren about an hour later. The engineering teams concentrated on dismantling the semi, while everybun else off-loaded the equipment and got it socked away in the Warren. Soon, there was nothing present to ever indicate that there'd ever been anything there except a set of tire tracks that stopped abruptly, and a single golf ball that had rolled off to the side of the road and gone unnoticed.

The next day was one of celebration, for everybun now saw some light at the end of the tunnel. There was much work to be done, but now they had what they needed to plan their future. After a long day of inventorying their equipment, Sparks called a rest and invited everyone into the main dining hall. There, somebun had set up one of the workstations and connected it to an LCD projector display.

Perl hopped over to stand beside Brightspot. Brightspot thought for a moment, and decided that now was the perfect time to tell her how he felt about her. He was wholeheartedly in love, and the world looked fine once more. He looked at her, and smiled. Taking her paw in his, and touching noses with her, he said, "Perl.. I need to talk to you.. it's important."

"(FearfulRuffle) Is something wrong?" Per asked, a little afraid.

Brightspot smiled, and shook his head. "Not at all.. far from it, actuall.."

Sparks (GiggleRuffled), then called for everybun's attention. "Em.. if I could have your attention, please? Thank you. (Ruffle) As you all know, we've just stolen.."

Sparks was shouted down from the floor. "No! We didn't steal it.. we BORROWED it!" (GigglePoof) Brightspot yelled.

"(ShakesHeadGigglePoof) Okay.. I stand corrected. We BORROWED the computer systems we need in order to plan our new home!"

The room dissolved into cheering, with kudos being offered for everybun who participated in the raid.

"But!" Sparks intoned, in such a severe voice that the room quieted immediately. "Our work did not go unnoticed. If I may direct your attention to the screen?"

Everybun looked at the screen, fear in their eyes. All would have been for naught, had they been seen. In fact, they could be facing their effective death sentence right now!

"This is WGN Channel nine news, and I'm your hostess, Alicia Meyers. A daring midnight robbery was performed last night in the Computer Discount Warehouse facility in Vernon Hills. Unknown parties managed to steal over two million dollars worth of specialized computer equipment.

"Stolen were over twenty Compaw Reliant 2500 servers.."

"Twenty-eight!" piped Sparks. The room broke into scattered giggle fits.

".. four hundred Pentium 2 desktop units.." the announcer continued.

"Four hundred twenty four!" yelled Spark's compatriot, Stripes. The room giggled even louder and harder.

".. and an unknown quantity of laptops."

"Six hundred even!" Brightspot yelled, letting go of Perl's paw for a moment. He sat back on his haunches, and waved his front paws in the air, cheering the whole time along with everyone else.

"The police are nicknaming the robbers the Golf-ball Bandits due to the seventeen hundred golf balls found around the facility. Police speculate that the golf balls were used to set off the interior motion detectors often enough to simulate a fault in the system. Standard police procedure is to disarm the alarm system after two false alarms in a single evening.CDW officials are protesting, and are expected to file a lawsuit against the village."

"Hear that, my friends?" Brightspot yelled. "We're the Golf-Ball Bandits!"

The room exploded into cheers, with much back pounding and celebrating.

Brightspot (HappyRuffled) and turned to face Perl again.. whereupon he was stunned into numbness by what he saw. She was nuzzling another buck.. Brightspot staggered back a step as his heart started breaking.

Perl (BunniHugged) the buck, and turned to look at Brightspot. "Brightspot, I'd like to introduce you to my mate, Targus. (HappyRuffleDreamyEyes) Isn't he something, Brightspot?"

Targus (GreetingsRuffled) and said, "Itss a pleasure to meet you, Mentat! Perl has told me a lot about you!"

Brightspot couldn't speak. It felt.. as if he'd been abandoned, rejected, his heart removed and ground in broken glass and barbed wire. Tears welled up in his eyes, and still he couldn't move.

Targus (ConcernedRuffle) "Mentat.. are you all right?"

Perl looked at Brightspot, who (DroopEarCringeRuffle)d. She extended a paw, which Brightspot flinched violently away from. "Brightspot! What's wrong??"

Brightspot couldn’t hold back the tears any more. They flowed freely down his face, matting his fur. "I..don't.. feel.. very well. If.. I'd like to go to bed. G..good night.."

"Brightspot, please! What's wrong.?!?" Perl (TerrifiedRuffle).

Brightspot didn't reply. He merely hopped out of the room just as fast as he could, and didn't stop until he'd reached his sleeping burrow. His scream of emotional agony echoed off the empty corridor walls, and filled the area with the sound of one bun's anguish. Nobun heard, over the sounds of the revelry going on.

Brightspot woke, to find Orchid sitting in a chair reading some medical reports. Orchid (TwitchEar)ed at the slight sound Brightspot made as he shifted in his burrow.

"Ah, Mentat. You're awake," Orchid said, setting down the folder he'd been examining.

"I don't want company right now, Orchid. Please leave me be." Brightspot said, dully. Truth be told, he didn’t want to do anything right then except sleep. Even nightmares would be more welcome company that what he was putting himself through.

Orchid (ShrugFluffed) and said, "Sorry to hear that, Mentat. But you don't have a choice."

"Don't make me order you to leave." Brightspot growled.

Orchid sighed, and said, "Okay, we'll do this the hard way. Mentat, you forget. I am the Chief MedBun for the Warren. In medical matters, I outrank you so badly it isn't even ky00t. Unless you start being a little more cooperative, I will declare you unfit for duty, and have you dragged, kicking and screaming if necessary, to the infirmary where you will stay until I deem you capable of re-assuming your duties. Is that clear?"

Brightspot worked his jaws, suddenly unable to speak.

"(NarrowEyes) I'm waiting for your answer, Mentat." Orchid said, tapping his right hind leg on the floor.

Brightspot fought a losing battle against the rage that boiled up in him. "GET OUT!" Brightspot growled, through clenched jaws. Instinctively, he lowered his head into an attack posture, and gathered himself for a leap.

Return to the

The Reconstruction 13

Orchid, however, was a MedBun, and well versed in the body language of Devilbunnies. He knew what Brightspot was up to even before Brightspot did. He deftly darted to the door, popped it open, and yelled, "Orderlies! HELP!"

In a mere second, the room was swarming with Devilbunnies, but that wasn't quite fast enough to prevent Brightspot from leaping at Orchid. Orchid took the hit on his chest, and managed to get all four paws under Brightspot to hold him off. "Orderlies! Get the paw restraints on him now! I can't hold him much longer!"

Brightspot struggled mightily, but his paws were soon in a mitten not unlike the one he'd used in practice with Sgt. Pomerleau. Once that was done, the orderlies struggled with, then strapped Brightspot to a gurney. He was fairly frothing at the mouth, screaming, struggling, trying to get back up.

Orchid nodded at one of the NurseBuns. "Sedate him."

The NurseBun took a syringe and carefully injected the sedative into Brightspot's femoral artery. Almost immediately, Brightspot's struggles lessened.

"Shh.. its okay, Brightspot.. relax. Let the medicine do it's job." Orchid said, smoothing Brightspot's ruffled head fluff."

The rage died in Brightspot's eyes, and right before he lost consciousness, he managed to whimper, "I wanna go home.."

Orchid noddled, and whispered, "I know, Brightspot I know. Rest now.. sleep."

When Orchid verified that Brightspot was indeed unconscious, Orchid ordered the hallways cleared, and then wheeled Brightspot to the infirmary. "I want a complete bloodwork done on him, Stat. Please cancel all my other appointments, as I'll be handling the Mentat's case personally."

A few hours later, Perl, Treerunner, and Orchid were in a conference room discussing events.

"What's Brightspot's status, Orchid?" Treerunner asked. The warren as a whole knew the Mentat had fallen gravely ill, but didn't know any of the details. The only two entities outside of the Medical Staff who knew the story was Treerunner and Perl, and only then, because they were second and third in line for command, should anything happen to the Mentat.

Orchid sighed. "I don't know yet. I don't have the results of the blood.."

There was a paw-tap on the door, then a very old doe came in. "I'm sorry to be a bother, but I was asked to bring these documents up from the lab."

Orchid smiled. The old doe was SugarPaw, his old Auntie from way back. "Thanks, Auntie SugarPaw. I really appreciate it."

"(HappyGrin) Glad to still be able to help, Orchid!" The doe settled herself at the table, next to Treerunner.

"Em.. Auntie.. this is supposed to be private." Orchid said, uncertainly.

"Oh.." Auntie SugarPaw said, mock hurt in her voice. "So you don't need old Auntie SugarPaw anymore, hm? Well, I guess I'll just move these old bones elsewhere." SugarPaw stood up slowly. "I guess you know it all now, Orchid. (MockHurtRuffle) You don't need an old Auntie's wisdom. Old Auntie's like me don't know the first thing about bunnies that are hurting."

"Rrghghgg! I HATE it when you do that!" Orchid grumbled. "All right, Auntie. You can stay. Please stay?"

SugarPaw smiled, and sat back down. "Well, since you want me to, I guess I can help some. (DignifiedRuffle)"

Perl and Treerunner hid their muzzles in their paws and stifled laughs at Orchid's expense. SugarPaw had a way of getting through to Orchid that nobun else could even come close to matching.

"(EmbarrassedRuffle) Well then.. let's continue, shall we?" Orchid leafed through the reports, and hissed with concern when he finished. "Oh, sweet Frith."

"Uh-oh.." Treerunner chittered. "That doesn't sound too encouraging.."

Orchid looked up. "It isn't. Brightspot has a tumor on his adrenal glands. It's probably cancer. This explains why he's been so volatile lately.. his system is perpetually hyped for a fight. And, according to this, the tumor is producing another hormone that is interfereing with Brightspot's pigment production. Nutshell, the cancer is causing his fur to be blue."

"Please tell me it can be removed?" Perl asked, fearing the answer.

"(SlowNoddle) Yes.. but this kind of cancer can be quite pervasive. We don't know how long it's been active, or if it's spread. But I will operate myself. If the surgery is successful, Brightspot should be back to normal. His coat color will change over the next few months to whatever it should be"

Auntie SugarPaw chose then to speak. "(SighRuffle) Orchid, dear.. you're wrong. Brightspot will not be all right after surgery."

"Of course he will! (SurprisedRuffle) It's the cancer that is causing his problems!"

SugarPaw shook her head slowly. "No, dear. It isn't just the cancer that is the problem. Sweetheart, Brightspot is more than just a machine that needs to have a part removed. You're forgetting about the bunny. Brightspot is a conversion. He doesn't know what it is to be a bunny. Do you know why Brightspot left the party the other day?"

"Because the tumor set off his adrenalin system and he couldn't sit still!" Orchid said, a little miffed.

"(ScoldPoof) Now don't take that tone with me, young buck! I can still thump you when you need it, and you know it." Her expression softened. "But no.. that isn't the reason. The reason is that Brightspot loved you, Perl. He loved you, and it broke his heart when he saw you with your mate."

Perl (PuzzleFluffed) "But why? Why would he begrudge me my mate?"

"T'cha! Don't be silly, dear. No, he doesn't begrudge you your mate. He wanted to be your mate! Humans are very monogamous in their pairings. Brightspot assumed that we are too, when in fact, we are not. Oh sure, we are loyal to our mates, but we're bunnies, and we pair off with others for pleasure's sake. Most humans don't normally do that."

Orchid was stunned. "That.. that never occurred to me!"

"(SmileRuffle) Of course not, dear. You're not an old Auntie! (DignifiedGiggleRuffle)."

"But.. what can we do?"

"Well, dear.. you can put Brightspot in with the kits. Put him through kit school, immediately after surgery."

"But we need to wait and let him heal a bit! Surely the kits would run him ragged!?"

"No sweetheart, they won't. A kit's instinct is to cuddle with somebun hurt. Remember, kits are the true masters of ky00t. They'll cuddle Brightspot, and help him learn what it is to be a bunny."

Orchid thought for a moment, then said, "You're right, Auntie SugarPaw. We'll do that. And, if I'm not mistaken.."

"(SlowSmileNoddle) You're not, dear. It just so happens that I am back on the roster to teach kits again. And I have a vacancy in my class that I believe Brightspot would fill more than adequately."

Surgery was scheduled for that very afternoon, and Brightspot came through it without a hitch. He was lucky.. the cancer, while eminently malignant, had not yet spread to the surrounding tissue. It was removed, and he was expected to make a full recovery. After spending a day in post-op ICU, Brightspot was escorted by Perl to the kit's nursery.

"Perl," Brightspot said carefully. It still hurt a little to breathe and move around. "I'm sorry for the way I acted.."

"(HushRuffleBunniHugsNuzzle) There's nothing to apologize for, Brightspot. You were sick, and you didn't understand bunny society. It's I who should apologize. We never should have put you in the position we did.. a new conversion, expected to automatically know all about bunny society and be able to guide us. We were wrong, but we'll fix that soon."

"How.. hey, this is the nursery!"

"(Noddles) It's just the place to learn about bunnies. In a way, Brightspot, you're a kit yourself. So here is where you belong."

"But.."

By that time, they'd entered the outer doorway to the nursery's classroom. Auntie SugarPaw was there in the front of the room, and stopped what she was doing when she saw Brightspot and Perl. "All right, class. We have a new student. I'd like everybun to say hello to Mentat Brightspot."

About a dozen kits piped up, in their ky00t voices, "Hewwoo, Mentat Bwightspot!"

"He.. Hello, everybun." Brightspot said. Perl quickly left, and Brightspot tried to follow.

"Class, it seems that Mentat Brightspot is a little afraid to be in class. Everybun remembers what it is like, to be afraid the first day of class, don't they?"

A little buck hopped over to Brightspot. "Down't bwe afwaid, Bwightspot! Sit wif me! (BounceBounce)" The kit took Brightspot by the paw, and led him over to a table.

Brightspot spent the next ten minutes helping the kits with basic skills such as reading, etc.

Auntie SugarPaw was an observant doe, and when she saw Brightspot yawn, she smiled. "All right class, it's naptime. Everybun get your sleeping mats."

Brightspot looked around and found that nearby was a sleeping mat more his size. He carefully hopped over and took it, only to find that the buck had followed him, dragging his mat in his teeth.

"Bwightspot, why is youw fur bhoo? Awe you sad? Don't be sad, Bwightspot! I'll make you happy! (GiggleBounceBounce)" The buck called out to the class. "Bwightspot's unhappy.. we need to make him smile!"

And Brightspot promptly found himself rushed by a dozen giggling, happy kits. All were snuggling, hugging, him, and generally being kyoot as could be. And one by one, the kits curled up on, near, and around Brightspot until he couldn't move without disturbing one. Which he found he was exceedingly reluctant to do. The little buck that had evidently adopted him was curled up in Brightspot’s chest fluff, and Brightspot smiled, and nuzzled the little one sleepily. Brightspot then yawned once more, and fell asleep himself.

Auntie SugarPaw smiled and (Noddled) to herself. Things were precisely as she'd thought, which wasn't surprising to her. One didn't get to be an old Auntie like she was, without knowing a thing or two about bunnies.