text: [Themes: Mystery, rabbit, miniature protagonist, nonhuman protagonist, female protagonist, fairy, mystery, passion, noir, anthropomorphised animals]
  
  > Go downwards
  Returning to the subterranean chamber, you find the albino rattlesnake now docile, coiled up the corner. Sabado looks worn down, but still grumpy. They speak to each other in hushed tones. You hear the words "trespassed illegally".
  
  Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. You work yourself up into a mock rage. "Just what in Gaia's name is going on down here?" you shout, stomping across the stone floor, waving a fist in the air.
  
  The snake shrinks away apologetically. Sabado isn't as easily cowed, but he decides to play nice. "Detective, I'd like you to meet my business associate, Mr. Sistrum. Mr. Sistrum, Detective Good Fairy."
  
  "Pleassse, call me Hannibal," the snake says. He bows slightly.
  
  "Forgive me if I forget my manners," you say. "It sometimes happens when I'm almost crushed to death."
  
  "Hannibal suffers from allergies," says Sabado. "His most severe being wish powder. Even being in the same room is enough to send him into a fit." He thrusts a finger at you. "And it was your dirty, powder-covered trick which caused this latest attack."
  
  Hannibal rests his rattle on the rat's shoulder. "Peace, friend. She couldn't have known about my allergy."
  
  "I want to know why she tried to fool us in the first place," Sabado says.
  
  1) "You didn't give me the impression you weren't going to hurt Foo Foo."
  2) "I wanted to find out what you were after."
  3) "I wasn't planning on handing over Foo Foo. I only wanted a way in."
  
  > 3
  "I wasn't planning on handing over Foo Foo. I only wanted a way in."
  
  Sabado smirks. "And here you are. With a warrant, I'm sure."
  
  "We were only trying to determine the identity of the Verde," Hannibal cuts in. Sabado throws him a sharp look, but the snake continues. "The neighborhood is important to us. We want to help facilitate the removal of the cheessse. Surely you want the same."
  
  1) "All taken care of. Fern is the Verde. She'll be in police custody shortly."
  2) "All taken care of. The Verde will be in police custody shortly." 3) "Not any of my business, actually."
  
  > 2
  "All taken care of. The Verde will be in police custody shortly."
  
  Both of them look surprised. "Who is it?" Sabado asks.
  
  "You'll have to read the papers tomorrow to find out," you reply. "Now it's my turn for a question." Hannibal inclines his head toward you. Sabado crosses his arms and scowls.
  
  1) "I've heard from several sources that the field mice are vanishing. Then I dig up some bones buried upstairs. And now I find there's a snake in Fieldtown."
  
  > 1
  "I've heard from several sources that the field mice are vanishing. Then I dig up some bones buried upstairs. And now I find there's a snake in Fieldtown."
  
  Hannibal uncoils and rears his head like a cobra, bares his fangs. Maybe he does have a violent side. You feel for the revolver beneath your coat.
  
  "Hannibal is an old friend," Sabado says. Odd that he would cut the tension, unless he knows when the snake isn't playing around. "I don't appreciate unfounded accusations against friends."
  
  "Tell me about the bones."
  
  "Every Tuesday is scavenger night," he says with a resigned huff. "All you can eat spare ribs. It's gotten popular." You narrow your eyes, and he looks offended. "What? They were dead already. And no, they weren't the field mice."
  
  "Then what happened to the field mice?"
  
  Now he's angry. "I don't know what you want me to say. They packed up and left. Gaia Almighty, all you complainers are looking for some kind of big bad villain to blame. Well guess what, there isn't one. Blame Fieldtown. Blame everybody. We're all to blame, because we're all looking out for numero uno." He raps his chest proudly. "Ourselves. You don't like it, go do something about it. Otherwise, shut your Gaiadamned mouth."
  
  Hannibal grins and settles back into his coils. "For the record, I strictly eat eggs. Unfertilized ones."
  
  "Any more questions?" asks Sabado.
  
  1) "Were you behind the attack at the camera shop last night?"
  2) "What did you do to the rabbit?"
  3) "Let's talk about the contract you have with Holly."
  4) "No more questions."
  
  > 3
  "Let's talk about the contract you have with Holly."
  
  The two look at each other. "What contract?" Hannibal asks.
  
  "The contract in which Sabado lent her a sum of money to rebrand her store. There're laws against usury. I'd like to double check the rate. Make sure it's all square." You outline a square in the air with your finger.
  
  "Honestly Detective, I have no idea what you're talking about," Sabado replies. "I didn't give her no money. In fact, she's all paid up through the end of the year. Now I have to figure a way out of our lease agreement."
  
  "You're lying," you say unconvincingly. You both know he was telling the truth. So why would she lie about this? A terrible sinking feeling settles in your stomach.
  
  "Whatever," Sabado says, brushing you off.
  
  1) "Were you behind the attack at the camera shop last night?"
  2) "What did you do to the rabbit?"
  3) "No more questions."
  
  > 1
  "Were you behind the attack at the camera shop last night?"
  
  "I'm afraid I went to speak with the proprietor, to propose a more generousss offer, and suffered one of my fits while I was there," Hannibal says.
  
  "I swear she's up to something," says Sabado.
  
  You leave that one alone.
  
  1) "What did you do to the rabbit?"
  2) "No more questions."
  
  > 1
  "What did you do to the rabbit?"
  
  "He fell over as soon as Hannibal's allergies started acting up," Sabado says. "Must have scared him lifeless."
  
  It's possible. Not something you've ever tested. "You didn't think to get him out of here?"
  
  Sabado talks through gritted teeth. "If you didn't notice, I was chanting."
  
  "It calmsss me down," Hannibal adds. "Another hour, I'd have been fine again."
  
  That's why Sabado had a book on Snake Charming in the first place. Though an hour isn't exactly a quick turnaround.
  
  1) "No more questions."
  
  > 1
  "No more questions, for now. You're still on the hook for getting those mice bopped."
  
  Sabado smiles. "If you had enough to arrest me, you'd have done it already. Now get the hell out of my bar."
  
  "It was lovely meeting you," Hannibal says.
  
  You doff your hat.
  
  The stairway from the south opens to a large vaulted chamber, barely lit by torches on the wall.
  
  Sabado stands with his arms crossed and a terrible pout.
  
  Hannibal rests in the corner, a pile of white coils, his forked tongue taking little tastes of the air.
  
  > examine Hannibal
  He's an albino rattlesnake, the faintest of diamond patterns showing on his scales. He seems completely at ease with his nakedness, which you assume must be a snake thing. You imagine clothes to be difficult for snakes.
  
  > Go upward
  The corner tavern resembles an old forest more than a bar. Even the ground is covered in a thick layer of soil. The western exit leads back to the street, while the door to the north is open slightly. A lit-up jukebox looks rather out of place in the corner.
  
  With Sabado gone, the bar counter stands alone.
  
  You left a pouch of wish powder and a stuffed rabbit here.
  
  > Go north
  You'd say the store was trying to convey church basement-chic, except it looks like a tornado went through it. There's broken glass and camera parts and debris everywhere.
  
  To the east is the cheese room. The way out is south.
  
  Finch sits quietly on the counter.
  
  > Go east
  The room was a distribution center for the Verde's illegal cheese ring. Large wheels of cheddar and swiss are stacked in the corner near a band saw for slicing. Scale weights, plastic bags, and inventory logs are scattered about the large table in the center of the room, along with cubes of various cheeses. In one corner is a small table, where...
  
  You look around in disbelief. Holly's gone, along with all the cash. Near the counting machine is a piece of paper with a little green heart.
  
  You think back to everything that happened. New possibilities emerge. The Verde may not have been one woman, but two, a partnership that turned sour. One of them planned to blow all the money on some junk real estate for the field mice. The other waited for the right opportunity to make a move against her. There's a sucker born every day, you guess.
  
  You pick up the little green heart and crush it between your fingers.
  
  (Three months later...)
  *   *   *   *   *
  
  A tremendous pounding disturbs you from your slumber. For the love of Gaia. What now?
  
  You climb out of bed into your own little slice of heaven. Maybe someday you'll get out of here.
  
  The rain is heavy against the window.
  
  Knock. Knock. Knock.
  
  > Inventory
  You are wearing your pajamas.
  
  Knock. Knock. Knock.
  
  > look at the pajamas
  Deep red, with little dancing penguins all over them. You've worn them to holes, but you don't care. They're the most comforting thing you own
  
  Comfortable. You mean they're the most comfortable thing you own.
  
  Knock. Knock. Knock.
  
  > examine the window
  It's dark outside. The rain obscures everything.
  
  Knock. Knock. Knock.
  
  > examine the bed
  Wide enough for two. Rarely does it hold that many.
  
  Knock. Knock. Knock.
  
  > open door
  You fumble with the locks until you get the door open. A very wet rabbit shivers on the other side.
  
  This has got to be one of those recurring nightmares. "I thought I told you the next time I saw you, I'd turn you into a goon," you say.
  
  The rabbit limps inside. "I won't be around that long. Heck, I probably won't last the night." He sounds more controlled, more confident. He doesn't sound like himself at all.
  
  "Foo Foo, what's going on?"
  
  He opens his coat and reveals a tear where his right arm meets his shoulder. The ends of the fabric are frayed. Cotton is starting to push through.
  
  He was stuffed all along.
  
  1) This can't be.
  
  > 1
  "You're stuffed?" you ask incredulously. "How is that possible?"
  
  "Mother was skilled," Foo Foo replies. "More than you realized. She worked on me for years. I've been alive for years, while my siblings only last days."
  
  "But you're soaking wet!" You stand over him. Anger swells. Yes, you were betrayed. Yes, you were fooled. But surely not to this degree.
  
  Foo Foo lowers his eyes and sags to the floor. "I have a heart, you know. She made one out of red felt and filled it with wish powder. Simple, yet effective. Makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. Anyway, it's almost all used up."
  
  1) No. You can't believe it.
  
  > 1
  "But you're heavy... and your speech..." You sit down on the edge of your bed.
  
  "'Sticks and stone shall be my bones, and words will ever guide me.' Mother made that up for me, I think to help me understand what I was. She said I learned to talk the fastest out of all her creations. I spoke as soon as I was brought to life, repeating the last word of her spell over and over again."
  
  "Flippity, floppity, foo," you whisper.
  
  He nods. "'Foo! Foo!' I had shouted. I apparently named myself."
  
  You still have questions.
  
  1) "How were you even hypnotized?"
  2) "So all those times I gave you extra chances..."
  3) "Why are you here, Foo Foo?"
  
  > 1
  "How were you even hypnotized?"
  
  "I wasn't, but I had to pretend that I was, otherwise I'd have been found out. Questions would have been raised. Mother didn't exactly acquire all that wish powder legally."
  
  Of course she didn't.
  
  1) "So all those times I gave you extra chances..."
  2) "Why are you here, Foo Foo?"
  
  > 1
  "So all those times I gave you extra chances..."
  
  Foo Foo finishes your sentence, as much as it pains you to hear it. "...was to get you to investigate, without tipping you off. Domingo's attempts at hypnotism were the perfect excuse. All you had to do was show." He smiles. "You have a good heart, Good. Holly wasn't even expecting you to give me so many chances. She admired you for it."
  
  "Must be why she did what she did," you say sarcastically.
  
  He doesn't respond.
  
  1) "Why are you here, Foo Foo?"
  
  > 1
  "Why are you here, Foo Foo?"
  
  He furrows his brow and presses his lips together. "I loved her, so much. I believe she loved me too, even though I was a means to an end. But you... she loved you most of all." He climbs onto the bed and sits next to you.
  
  You turn away. "She didn't love me. She ruined me."
  
  "She never told me why she carried out this last scheme," Foo Foo says, "but I think she wanted to become the villain you wanted her to be. A reason for the both of you to move on, even after all those years. She never saw herself as good enough for you. I suppose she never thought she could be a good person."
  
  "You never answered my question."
  
  He looks up into your eyes. "Did you love her?"
  
  1) "Yes."
  2) "No."
  
  > 1
  You nod. "Yes, Foo Foo. Very much."
  
  He beams. "That's what I hoped you'd say." He puts his paw on your hand. You take it. "Mother used to cuddle with me at night sometimes, like I was still a toy. I... wonder if that'd be all right."
  
  You smile gently. "Sure. It'd be all right."
  
  You wrap your arms around him and pull him with you onto the bed. He's still cold and wet, but you keep him close anyway. It isn't long before he's merely warm and damp, and by the time you fall asleep, it's hard to tell where the rainwater ends and where the tears begin.
  
  The morning brings a pale light through the window. You wake feeling refreshed, like you finally slept after years of trudging through life in a weary haze. In your arms is a lifeless stuffed rabbit.
  
  He's smiling.