Lepufology 201

[Christopher Stewart]

("Conejo" by Ecelan)

The Lepufology Project is the story of Jack Babbitt, regarded as one of the world’s most trustworthy investigators of the paranormal, whose unfaltering curiosity for the mysterious leads on an international chase seeking bizarre rabbits of extra-terrestrial origin that finds its resolution in the tar sands deposits of Alberta.

In the second episode, entitled « Lepufology 201 : Investigating Burrows, » we follow our good friend Jack in Flatbush, Alberta, to investigate reports of strange occurrences. Here's the storyline :

A few days later, Jack is at home, and as usual he's working in his office, completing his report on the British rabbit case. He receives a call from a photographer located in Alberta, Canada, telling him that there have been reports of strange looking rabbits with long legs and weird eyes near Flatbush, not far from a recently discovered crop formation.

Jack is again very excited and packs his stuff, getting ready for a 20-hour drive north of the border. He gets into his car and starts driving.

He arrives in Edmonton where he is greeted by the photographer who gives him more detailed accounts of the observations, and tells him about a fireball flying over Edmonton and falling near Lloydminster close to the border of Saskatchewan just the night before Jack's arrival. She shows him the location on a map in case he wants to stop there, and also gives him the name and phone number of a farmer and amateur pilot living in the Flatbush region who will gladly take Jack on his small plane should he want to see the location of the crop circle from above.

Jack gets in his car and drives to the pilot's home, where he is taken for a short flight over the remains of the crop formation. While in the air and taking photos, Jack notices patterns of strange cavities in the ground near the emplacement. After landing and thanking his helper, Jack returns to the field in his car to investigate the location.

He munches a quick evening meal while looking at the remains of the crop circle, and then starts locating the cavities, which he finds almost immediately. Taking a closer look at them he sees that they appear to lead down to an underground cave. He tries to enter one of the less narrow openings hoping to climb down to the cave underneath, but misses his footing, slips down, and falls to the bottom.

Jack is shaken but not injured, and finds himself much lower than he first thought in what looks like an underground network of tunnel and caves. As there is some light entering by the cavities above him, he can see and walk around. He is surprised by the size of the subterranean formation. His surprise is replaced by amazement when he sees that some of the tunnels have been furnished with lighting !

He keeps walking in what looks like the main tunnel, until he reaches an immense room which appear to be a huge rabbit farming operation operated by robots, machines, and computers. He is filled with terror, but his curiosity is stronger and he walks to the nearest rabbit to examine it from up close. Jack is not surprised to see that the animal looks just like the one that was found in Christchurch. He carefully opens its mouth to check its teeth, and, just as he thought, finds that the rabbit has two extra incisors.

He resumes his exploration and finds a cave that looks like it's being used as a meeting room. He sees documents on a table, and lists, photos, and charts on the walls. He recognizes some crop circle patterns on one of the charts. He sees a map of Alberta marked with symbols in various location including Flatbush, notices that three regions near Athabasca, Peace River, and Cold Lake have been outlined, and that there's a mark near the border of Saskatchewan matching the spot where the fireball has crashed down. He also finds a map of United Kingdom loaded with marks, including two near Christchurch, and many in the Wiltshire area amongst which is the biggest symbol on the whole map. He recalls his recent investigations and the links between them start to form in his mind. He remembers being told about the two crop circles near Christchurch, and that a great number of such formations have been observed in the Wiltshire in the recent years, some of them he has investigated himself. He figures that the big symbol must indicate the location of something really important, probably the headquarters of the whole operation, and that he must return back there to investigate further.

His reflections are interrupted by what sounds like an alert signal coming from outside the room. He looks out and sees two men wearing uniforms walking in his direction. They see Jack and call him in a language that he can't recognize. He's filled with fear, and starts running towards them as they stand between him and the entrance of the underground complex. He bumps into them and keeps running until he reaches the spot where he came in from. He climbs back up and out of the cavity without ever looking behind him, and then rushes to his car, jumps in and drives away as fast as he can.