BLUE WAS FRUSTRATED. The first hallway had provided the happy discovery of Max, but brought her no closer to finding Robo. She quickly headed back to the main hall, toward Robo’s control room. A mesmerizing scene in the auditorium caused her to slow down.
The robot dogs no longer outnumbered SAD. Now there were hundreds of dogs: Border Collies, Huskies, German Shepherds, Pit Bulls, even Scottish Terriers and Chihuahuas, biting and snapping at the robot dogs, telling them to surrender.
Rex had a slash across his cheek. He briefly barked at her, but instead was forced to defend himself. “This is for you, Copper,” he barked.
Blue headed down the tunnel to the left, still looking for a back entrance. It was even darker than the others. Before long, she sensed a dog behind her. With ears down and fur up, she recognized the smell, and then the voice.
“I remember the first time Robo and I met,” Splat said, inching toward Blue. “I can still feel his paw on my snout. I can still see my pack leader—dead because of him.” Splat’s voice had a strange electronic echo to it. “My pack leader was a fool.”
He slowly moved toward her side and revealed his face. Like Robo, metal implants covered his face.
Blue took a step back. “Splat? What happened to you?”
Splat smiled, blood staining his teeth. “I was upgraded from the pathetic dog I was.” He paused. “Oh Blue, you have so much potential. Join us, and you will have power you can only dream of. We will build a brand new world where you never have to worry about hunger, disease, or abuse. Where we are the masters of all.”
Blue snarled, “Never!”
Splat narrowed his eyes. “So be it.”
He sprang toward her, raking his metal claws down her chest. She jumped back in pain, and then leaped above him, catching his paw in her teeth. He gave a yelp of pain. Splat charged her again, this time pushing her against the wall, biting deep into her neck. Blue used the wall as a brace, and then raked his stomach with her back legs. He howled with pain.
“You’re no different from any other dog!”
Blue laughed. “No Splat. I’m very different from every other dog. I am the Chosen One.”
She then bit his robotic eye and yanked back, puling as hard as she could. Suddenly, she hit the opposite wall, his robotic eye still in her mouth. Splat howled as electric wires and green fluid spewed from his eye socket. He collapsed, growling at Blue.
Blue gasped.
With his electronic eye gone, Splat’s rage seemed to have faded from him. Passing in and out of consciousness, he looked up at her with a dazed squint and asked, “Where am I?” His natural eye was full of sorrow, and he was bleeding from several wounds. Finally, he laid his head down between his paws. With his head turned, he looked like the dog she used to know.
Blue gently whispered, “I’m sorry, Splat.” And she was.
Behind her, a female’s voice broke the silence. “Oh Splat!”
Blue yelled, “Stay back, cat!”
Unknown didn’t listen, pushing past Blue with eyes full of tears.
“Oh Splat! Why did you agree to this?” Unknown whispered, lying beside him.
Blue hadn’t realized how much Unknown cared for him. Unknown stayed by his side, using her paws to wipe away his tears, frantically trying to lick his wounds.
Splat turned toward Unknown, and nuzzled with her. “I’m not dead yet,” he said in a small, raspy voice.
“What?” Unknown asked shakily.
“Unknown, this is our chance. If you can just help me a little bit, we can leave all of this. Leave Robo, and start over, just you and me.”
Unknown’s grief turned into cautious happiness.
“Splat, you’re right. This was never our battle to begin with,” she murmured.
Splat hauled himself to a sitting position, and looked at
Blue apologetically.
Blue tried to speak but someone else cut her off.
“You!” Duncan yelled at Unknown, running toward her with anger. “Running away again!
“You’re weak. You’ve always been weak. Just look at all the pain you have caused.”
Unknown stared down at her paws. Splat stepped in between her and Duncan.
Duncan glared at Splat, then at Blue. “This stupid excuse for a mother left me on my own, when I needed her the most.”
Unknown stared at Duncan. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I was scared of Robo. Terrified of him. ”
Duncan snorted. “You think fear ever stopped me? No, and I’m doing just fine on my own!”
Suddenly another dog emerged behind him. Blue hadn’t realized Destiny was standing with Duncan, her black fur blending her into the dimly lit hall.
“Duncan, there are limits to what any dog can endure,” Destiny said quietly. “You know more than most what fear can do.”
Unknown stood up and looked at Duncan. “Please, son. I’m sorry for all the ways that I have failed you. I was afraid that if I did not go with Robo, he would kill you. And that would have killed me.
“I hope, someday you can forgive me,” she said. “But right now, can you find it in your heart to let me start over—with Splat? He has been my partner for years, and loves me as much as I suspect this young Destiny loves you”
Splat stumbled to his feet and rose to his full height. His eye socket was no longer bleeding.
“Both of us will be slaughtered by Robo without a second thought,” he told Duncan. “Your mother doesn’t deserve that.”
Duncan looked confused, but relaxed when Destiny slipped under his chin, looking up at him lovingly.
“Duncan, let them go,” Destiny said. “We have all done things we regret. Let your mother have a second chance. For her and for you.”
Duncan lovingly looked into Destiny’s eyes and sighed. “I’m only doing this for Destiny’s sake. Get out of here, find a safe place, and never come back.”
Unknown limped to Duncan and nuzzled his ear. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Duncan,” she said. “I will make things right. I promise.”
Duncan stood stiff, but slowly accepted her embrace. “Go. Now.”
Destiny stepped forward to briefly nuzzle Unknown and Splat before they ran out of the room, seeking a secret passage that would free them from the compound forever.
Duncan turned to Destiny. “You owe me.”
Destiny rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
Blue couldn’t absorb all that she had just witnessed. Unknown and Splat were happily headed to freedom from Robo. Her Destiny was with a worthy partner, who obviously loved her. A happy moment in the middle of hell.
Destiny said firmly to Blue. “You have a mission to complete. We’ll hold off his armies as long as we can,” she said, with a slow grin. “Now, you go save the world.”
Duncan nodded to her. “Good luck, you’re going to need it.”
They both turned around and sprinted back to the auditorium.
Blue sat there for a moment, in the strange silence of the hall. Slowly, she looked around—it had to be here, somewhere. She noticed the small lever. This was it. Pushing it down, she heard a large clanging sound followed by silence. As Blue walked toward the great steel door, she knew she could never turn away from her fate. She pushed the now unlocked door open, and walked in.