“THE MISSION FAILED?” Robo swung his large head towards Splat. “I’m sorry,” he said very slowly and with sarcasm. “What exactly does that mean?”
Splat looked down at his paws, scared. “The Husky—Blue. She has the orb.”
Robo’s eye widened with rage. He raised his robotic paw and slashed the claws across Splat’s cheek. Robo gritted his teeth, breathing hard. His head and ears were down, and his shoulders hunched.
Splat quickly rolled to expose his stomach in submission, praying that Robo would not kill him. After all, he had gotten them both out of the pound—two more dogs who escaped Harold’s grasp.
Instead, Robo turned his head to Unknown in anger, who tried to take a step back, her torn ears down, and her short tail under her legs. Robo felt his muscles tighten.
“I GIVE YOU A HOME, AND THIS IS WHAT I GET IN RETURN?” Robo howled in frustration, his natural eye crazed and his robotic eye flickering. Splat slowly crawled away from him, shaking.
“Get out…” Robo snarled. “GET OUT!”
Unknown and Splat fled the control room, brushing past
Sabu, who was walking in.
“Sir!” Sabu said crisply.
“What?” Robo spat, his back facing the young Doberman.
“I didn’t want to interrupt your…meeting,” Sabu said care-fully. “But the scientist has finally created—” he lowered his voice, “what you need.”
Robo turned around, ears pricked up.
Sabu proudly led Robo through the steel doors of a large laboratory. The scientist was startled, and instinctively backed against the wall as Robo walked into the room.
It had taken months for Robo to win over scientist Dr. John Fox, one of the three from Dr. Rune’s laboratory. Convincing him to continue his work took a combination of long conversations and large amounts of money. The money had been stolen from criminals’ bank accounts around the world, which Robo had hacked. Stealing from thieves, liars, and drug dealers actually brought Robo great joy. It was definitely worth it.
Over broth and green tea—John’s favorite—the scientist started to open up to Robo about how he had been recruited by Dexter. Robo learned about the scientists’ work before his fiery escape from Dr. Rune’s lab. John told Robo that it hadn’t seemed to be a bad endeavor—a way for him to work with extraordinary dogs who would be the new weapon of the 21st century: nimble, smart, and, yes, sometimes expendable.
It was also a way for him to make a comfortable living.
The chats, of course, were for John more than Robo. Robo only loved John for one reason: he was brilliant, which Robo could use.
Just as importantly, John believed in Robo’s plan for how the future should go; though, he had no idea how far Robo intended to take it.
“Robo!” John said, cheerfully. Robo was always slightly irritated with how little respect humans showed other species, even if they liked them.
“John,” Robo said sternly. “I hear you have something to show me.”
“Yes, I do,” John said proudly. “It’s ready. Come look.”
Unknown and Splat entered the room, Sabu behind them. Robo’s eye twitched as he tried to control his anger.
“Are you ready?” John asked, as he rubbed the two dogs behind the ears. “Unknown and Splat, why don’t you hop in there,” he said in a too-cheery voice, pointing to a glass holding-pen.
They looked at him suspiciously, ears cocked, but too afraid of Sabu and Robo to argue.
John checked his new monitor, strapped to his wrist. Slowly, he poured a mustard-yellow serum into a glass tube, which ran into a closed, stainless steel bowl. Underneath the bowl, there was a heat ring that caused the serum to boil, and a mist slowly rose, carried by an air stream into the glass pen.
Unknown and Splat initially looked alarmed, but when they found they could still breathe, they lay down and relaxed.
John checked his monitor, and turned everything off.
“Come on out, Unknown and Splat,” he called, as he unlocked the glass tank.
They stared at him in shock. They somehow felt stronger and smarter.
“What has happened to us?” Unknown asked, shivering in awareness.
“You have become part of the new ruling class,” Robo said with a smile. “Well done, John Fox. You get to live another day.”
John laughed, and then hesitated when Robo failed to join him.
“So, are we ready?” Robo asked.
John nodded his head. “I think so.”
“Then start it. Start it now.”
A week later, the two—one smart human and and one genius Great Dane—walked into the control room together. They lowered a vat of the yellow serum over the hot acid pit. Like the heat ring, the acid slowly brought the serum to a boil, and a mist filled the room.
Robo threw open the steel door of the control room. Huge fans pushed the smoke into the open auditorium. He howled for Savage and Sabu to gather the dogs in the auditorium, which was now filled with the strange mustard-yellow mist.
Within an hour, the mountain compound was filled with a new kind of dog. Strong, fast, and powerful. And, most importantly to Robo, oh-so-smart.
A month later, Robo was ready to unveil his plan.
Slowly, he climbed up to his platform, his metal feet clanking on the steel stairs. Staring down, he addressed his pack.
“It is time to take back what is rightfully ours, ” he said, his red eye glowing. “Our dignity.
“Humans have done horrible things to us. They have killed tens of thousands of our babies—litters tossed away or killed in shelters. They have tortured and killed our strong brothers in fight clubs. They have run our beautiful sisters to death on racetracks. They eat us like cattle in China, Korea, and Vietnam. They breed our mothers to death.” He paused momentarily, the memory of his own mother breaking his concentration.
Robo regained his composure: “And now they are using us in their terrible, terrible experiments for war.”
He leaned forward, making eye contact with the dogs in the front row.
“Look at me. Look at me,” he said. “Look what they have done. This must stop. They must be stopped.”
The dogs howled in unison, snarling and growling as they remembered the cruelty each had endured from humans. “Stop them,” they howled. “Stop them now. Stop them NOW. Stop them NOW,” they chanted.
Even Robo was surprised by the enthusiasm and intensity of his pack. He had almost forgotten how many dogs had suffered. One of his former friends, Raven, had come running to him for help after had seen his mother beaten to death by a gang of humans. Robo never forgot how desperate and sad Raven was.
“John Fox,” Robo commanded. “Begin.”
John had been leaning against the wall, trying not to be noticed. But now, he carefully stepped forward and began pouring the serum into the vats throughout the complex. With the help of Robo’s officers, he turned on a powerful ventilation system that started pushing billions of particles into the mountain air.
The dogs barked in triumph as they watched the mist drift through the air.
Happy and tired, Robo sent the pack back to their dens. He went back to his glowing globe, touching it and watching the weather patterns around the world.
“The winds of fate,” he said under his breath.
Exhausted, he retired to his own den. He first took a detour to visit a golden Lab puppy caged in an isolated room. The puppy’s fur was tangled, and his eyes were wet from tears. It reminded him of Savage when he was a pup. This Lab has much potential.
The puppy growled as the Robo sat next to the cage. “Where is Blue?” the puppy asked with as much bravado as he could muster.
“Oh, sweet boy,” Robo said smoothly. “She’s on her way. I have no doubt she’ll come for you.”
The puppy snarled, “You’re not going to win, you meanie.”
Robo laughed. With one last stare into the cage, he double-checked the lock and walked toward his den.