When at last Floof saw the light he was surrounded by all manner of different animals. Indeed, he saw dogs, cats, rabbits, possums, mice, ferrets, and all the like. Above him towered a man with a white moustache and his companion – the man who had stuffed Floof in the bag. They were discussing the price at which the man with the moustache – presumably known as Pete – was willing to pay for the rabbit, and the other man made several mentions of the fact that this particular bunny had a biotic leg.
“What a curios little creature,” said Pete. “I wonder how he got that leg.”
“Bugger how he got it,” said the other man. “I just want to know how much you’re willing to pay.”
“I never said I was interesting in buying it. Business goes well enough without your personal supply, thank you.”
“Spare me, business hasn’t been good here since AsGen shut down and those mad scientists stopped taking our animals.”
And thus, after a small amount of bartering, the other man left with a regular sum of money, and Floof ended up locked in a cage, and he remained until the morning of the next day, where, as fortune would have it, he was rescued. Elsie Heartwing, after spending the night investigating various aspects of Edith Post, entered the animal shelter to find out what they knew about those animals back at Gamma Base, and as she spoke to Pete, the owner, she was shocked to find Floof locked up in one of his cages. “That’s my rabbit!” she blurted.
“Miss, I can assure you that is not your rabbit,” said the store owner, defensively. “You must be mistaken.”
“I most certainly am not. How many rabbits out there have bionic legs? You stole him, didn’t you?”
“I did no such thing! That there rabbit was sold to me. Regardless of where he came from he is now my property and I will not just hand away my belongings to any person who just waltzes into my shop and claims that this bunny is theirs!”
“But it is!”
“Alas, that’s business for you. But look here, if you want the bunny so much, you’ll have to buy him.”
And so Floof’s misadventure came to an end with the exchange of one or two unsavoury looks and some money. The young rabbit henceforth made a personal note of staying with Elsie at almost all times, particularly outside the Rosanne, and he never ever left the safety of her backpack again.
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