"Oh—it's awake," Briggs said as he scooped a sleeping white Angora into his arms.
"Don't drop me," the rabbit whispered, small and raw. Her voice sounded like a child's and an animal's at once, thinner than Briggs expected.
"Too late for dropping now," Briggs muttered. He kept walking, boots stomping over wet leaves. "Can you understand me?"
"Yes," she said. The word came out too fast. "I—where am I?"
"You're near Harbor City woods. I'm Briggs, Bureau intake." He used the quiet, steady voice he gave frightened animals. "I'm taking you in."
She blinked. Her ears twitched. "Bureau?"
"Creature Registry," Briggs said. "We register, we help. You get a room, a phone, food. Do you have a name?"
"Star," she said. The fur around her mouth moved oddly against the words. "I was sleeping."
"Star," Briggs repeated, like an anchor. "Okay, Star. I'm going to help you. Can you walk?"
She tried. Her legs didn't fold like a human's. She hopped, then stumbled, then wrapped her paws around Briggs's jacket in a panic that nearly tore his cuff.
"Hey," Briggs said. He eased her closer, held her chest forward so she couldn't push away. "Breath. Tell me what you remember."
"App," she said. "A screen. A bowl. A man— his name—" Her eyes widened. "Dexter?"
"Wait." Briggs's hand tightened without meaning to. "Slow down. Do you know any humans? People?"
"I know the boy who
