S05E12 - The Message

"The Message" is the twelfth episode of Season 5 of We Can Fix Pawbert.

Synopsis

Nick and Judy visit Mr. Big, who reveals the location of Icener's command center and proposes a joint operation. A three-pronged assault on the Frostbite Processing plant—with ZSI, ZPD, and Big's polar bears fighting side by side—succeeds when O'Brian broadcasts a kill signal that permanently destroys every compromised weather wall device in the city. Icener accepts the loss as planned and pivots to Plan B: The Root.

Plot

Nick and Judy drive into Tundratown at night, sixty-eight hours remaining on Icener's deadline. The streets are deserted—mammals staying indoors, businesses shuttered. Polar bear guards at Mr. Big's compound recognize Judy on sight and open the gates without question. The courtyard is not the estate of a crime boss at leisure; it is a staging area. Polar bears work over maps, check weapons, and prep vehicles with tactical efficiency. Inside the office—built with a massive desk that forces visitors to look up at the smaller desk where the arctic shrew sits—Mr. Big greets them with a rebuke for being late. He has already been working since Judy's call. Koslov spreads documents across the desk: maps, photographs, patrol schedules, intelligence that would make ZSI jealous. Big identifies Icener's command center at the old Frostbite Processing plant near the ice manufacturing district and delivers his motivation with quiet fury—Icener came into his territory, killed his neighbors, and showed no respect. That is an insult Big does not forgive.

Big reveals crucial intelligence about Icener's backstory: Vladifrostok's climate system was built decades ago by a Zootopia company that designed it to fail without expensive maintenance contracts. When the company collapsed, so did everything they built, giving Icener both a desire for revenge and genuine desperation. Big proposes a joint operation—his people provide perimeter security and local knowledge of the approaches, while ZSI provides the tactical assault capability. He frames the alliance plainly: if ZSI refuses, he assaults the plant alone, his people die, and Icener likely escapes while the government debates protocol. The enemy of his enemy is his friend. Nick and Judy agree to make the call.

At the CCC, Nick and Judy present Big's intelligence to Costa. Shaw confirms that the Frostbite plant location matches O'Brian's signal traces. O'Brian verifies the command frequency originates from that exact location, and proposes a decisive countermeasure: if she can get physical access to the transmission equipment, she can broadcast a firmware update that permanently bricks every compromised device on the network. Costa makes the call—"Do it"—and lays out the assault plan. Alpha team takes the main entrance with Luther on point and Bauer protecting O'Brian. Bravo team takes the loading docks with Shaw leading, Nick and Judy flanking, and Captain Hoggbottom's full Razorbacks squad for heavy support. Charlie team handles the east maintenance access with ZSI tactical and the Zebros—Officers Zebraxton and Zebrowski. Big's people hold the perimeter under Raymond, a scarred polar bear who arrives with ten more and promises that no one gets out.

The assault launches at 0200. Costa counts down from the CCC—"Three... Two... One... Execute"—and three doors come down simultaneously. Alpha team meets immediate contact in the main corridor; Luther flows from cover to cover, dropping operatives with controlled bursts while Bauer keeps O'Brian pressed against the wall, his body between her and the gunfire. Bravo team breaches the loading docks and encounters three operatives—Shaw takes the first, Judy saves Hoggbottom from a catwalk shooter, and Truffler shoulder-checks an arctic fox trying to flee. Charlie team's tactical lieutenant takes a round to the vest but stays in the fight as the Zebros clear the junction.

From a secondary position, Icener watches the assault on monitors and orders full activation of every remaining weather station at maximum intensity—forcing ZSI to choose between the command center and the city. The CCC map explodes into red as Dessler, covering O'Brian's post, reports all stations going active. The death toll ticks upward—seventy-one, seventy-two. Costa relays the situation to Luther, who pushes forward. At the transmission room approach, six of Icener's best polar bears hold a fortified position that turns the corridor into a killzone. Alpha team is pinned, with two CTU operators down. Shaw's Bravo team converges from the east, catching three defenders with their backs turned and collapsing the crossfire. Hoggbottom orders the Razorbacks to finish it. Then Raymond and his polar bears breach through the main entrance—incendiary shotguns blazing, polar bear against polar bear, the corridor becoming a hellscape of white fur and orange fire. Raymond's battle cry echoes through the plant.

Bauer sees the opening and runs O'Brian through the chaos to the transmission room. She plugs into the console, her paws flying across the keyboard—accessing network protocols, bypassing authentication, broadcasting the kill signal. Across the city, every compromised weather station goes dark. Sahara Square's sandstorm dies. Meadowlands temperature gauges drop to normal. Tundratown ice roads stop melting. Canal District humidity falls. The CCC holographic map shifts from red to green, district by district. O'Brian confirms the kill signal fried the hardware permanently—Icener's people would have to rebuild from scratch. Costa allows himself a small nod: they won this round. Twenty-six operatives are captured, and the entire surface network is destroyed. Pawbert, who monitored emergency channels from the CCC throughout the assault and directed ZFD response to Sahara Square, stands beside Luther as they contemplate the death toll frozen at seventy-four.

In the tag, Icener stands at the window of his secondary position, watching the city lights. Roskova reports the losses—the command center, twenty-six captured, the surface network completely destroyed. Icener calls it acceptable. The surface network was always a tool, a means to an end. They demonstrated what they could do, made the city afraid, and now their enemies will relax and celebrate. That is when they proceed to Plan B: The Root. But first, Icener wants retaliation for the losses. He wants them to feel real loss—something that hurts. His final words: find me a target.

Key Moments

• Nick and Judy arrive at Mr. Big's compound to find it operating as a military staging area
• Mr. Big identifies Icener's command center at the Frostbite Processing plant
• Big reveals Vladifrostok's climate system was built by a Zootopia company designed to fail
• Mr. Big proposes a joint operation with ZSI, framing it as the only viable option
• O'Brian proposes a kill signal that can permanently brick every compromised weather wall device
• Costa authorizes the assault and assigns three breach teams plus Big's perimeter force
• Bauer instructs O'Brian to stay behind him during the field operation
• Raymond arrives with eleven polar bears carrying incendiary shotguns to hold the perimeter
• The three-pronged breach launches simultaneously at 0200
• Icener orders full activation of all weather stations during the assault, forcing ZSI to choose
• Alpha team is pinned by six polar bears at the transmission room approach
• Raymond's polar bears breach the entrance—polar bear versus polar bear combat with incendiary rounds
• Bauer runs O'Brian through the firefight to the transmission room
• O'Brian broadcasts the kill signal, destroying every compromised device across the city
• The death toll freezes at seventy-four as every weather station goes green
• Icener accepts the loss as planned and orders the pivot to Plan B: The Root
• Icener demands a retaliatory target to make ZSI feel real loss

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• Mr. Big's Mansion / Compound — Courtyard staging area; office with elevated desk; perimeter
• ZSI Headquarters / CCC — Crisis command center; briefing room; armory; monitoring station
• Frostbite Processing Plant — Icener's command center; main entrance, loading docks, east maintenance access, transmission room, corridors, processing floor
• Tundratown Staging Point — Abandoned warehouse; assault force assembly
• Tundratown Ice District — Perimeter positions; Raymond's polar bears
• Icener's Secondary Position — Smaller location; monitors; maps for Plan B
• Sahara Square — ZNN footage of sandstorm conditions dying after kill signal
• Meadowlands / Tundratown / Canal District — Weather normalization after kill signal

Items

• Mr. Big's intelligence folder — Maps, photographs, patrol schedules for the Frostbite plant; professional-grade surveillance
• Vladifrostok climate system documents — Corporate records revealing a Zootopia company built the system to fail
• O'Brian's kill signal — Firmware update broadcast from Frostbite plant console; permanently bricks all compromised weather wall devices
• Incendiary shotguns — Mr. Big's signature weapons; carried by Raymond's assault team
• Weather wall transmission equipment — Banks of equipment in the Frostbite plant transmission room; destroyed by kill signal

Notes

• The joint ZSI-Mr. Big operation is unprecedented in the series—law enforcement and organized crime fighting side by side against a common enemy.
• Mr. Big's declaration that he loves his city reframes him from pure criminal to territorial protector, establishing the foundation for his sacrifice later in the season.
• O'Brian's kill signal is one of the most decisive tactical actions in the series, permanently eliminating Icener's ability to weaponize the weather wall infrastructure.
• The death toll freezes at 74 after the kill signal—the weather network claims no more victims after this point.
• Icener's calm acceptance of the surface network's destruction reveals the weather attacks were always Phase 1, not the endgame. "The Root" is first mentioned in this episode as Plan B.