So that night the professor took Robodog to pieces to see what had gone so disastrously wrong. Only when she examined the computer that was the robot’s brain did she realise that her suspicion was correct. An important piece was missing. The strangest thing was that the professor distinctly remembered placing this piece there. Perhaps it had popped out somehow as Robodog ran riot. However, she turned her laboratory upside down searching for it and still couldn’t find it.
Admitting defeat, she clambered up the now- wonky spiral staircase that led back into the house.
“I need a cup of coffee!” she muttered to herself.
Trudging through the kitchen like a zombie, due to a lack of sleep, she stepped in Velma’s litter tray.
THWUNK!
The little pellets of litter flew up into the air.
However, in the grey storm, something glinted in the light.
It fell to the kitchen floor with a CLINK!
Intrigued, the professor sank to her knees and searched for this tiny piece of treasure. Buried under the pellets was exactly the piece of Robodog’s brain she’d been looking for all along! A tiny, crucial circuit board that regulated the robot dog’s behaviour.
“How on earth did this end up in Velma’s litter tray?” the professor asked herself. “Velma?”
The cat didn’t make a sound. Once again, she was lurking in the shadows, spying on the professor, this time from on top of a cupboard.
“Darn! My secret is out!” whispered Velma to herself. She had stolen the circuit board nights before in an act of SABOTAGE! Having spied on her mistress at work, Velma knew Robodog was a complex creation. He was made from thousands of tiny little pieces, all intricately put together. If just one of those were missing, she knew Robodog would MALFUNCTION. That was, of course, exactly what had happened. “But I will have my REVENGE on that metal mutt!”
The professor leaped to her feet holding the piece, and all but hurled herself down the staircase to her laboratory below.
“EUREKA!” she exclaimed.
Her hands trembling with anticipation, the professor put Robodog back together. With the precision of a brain surgeon, she placed the missing circuit board in exactly the right spot. Then she took a deep breath and flicked Robodog’s switch to ON.
CLICK!
Was her greatest creation going to wreak havoc again?
Robodog’s eyes flickered into life.
His nose twitched.
And his tail stood upright.
TWANG!
“My name is Robodog,” he began. “Welcome to the future of crime fighting. What are your orders, please?”
The professor beamed with delight. He was perfect!
At the top of the staircase, Velma was snooping again.
“This thing!” she hissed. “In MY house. I will destroy you, Robodog! I will destroy you if it’s the last thing I do!”
Then the cat let out a little chuckle. Not that what she’d said was funny, far from it. Rather, she had seen villains in films do it and felt it was the right thing to do.
“HUH! HUH! HUH!”
She laughed a little too hard and coughed up a furball.
SPLUTT!
The sound made Robodog look up. “A cat!” he said to Velma. “I am programmed to love cats! I am Robodog! What is your name, please?”
“Velma! And I am not programmed to love dogs!”
“I am sure we can be friends!” chirped the robot.
The professor looked on. She couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other but was delighted that they were speaking. “How wonderful to see you two getting along so well! Just wait until I tell the chief!”
The professor hurried up the spiral staircase, leaving the two animals alone.
“Good to meet you, Velma!” said Robodog. “How do you—”
“Goodbye, Robodog!” replied Velma.
With that, the cat hopped out of the laboratory and slammed the heavy wooden door behind her.
SLAM!
The key was in the lock, so she hastily turned it…
CLICK!
…and swallowed it.
GULP!
“Goodbye forever!” she hissed.
But then she noticed a red beam of light burning through the door. In moments, a robot-dog-shaped outline had been cut in it, and the smouldering piece of the door fell through.
THUNT!
Robodog breezed through the hole, his laser eye still glowing red.
“That was a good game, Velma!” he chirped. “What shall we play next?”
“HISS!” hissed the cat.