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Return to Futureland, part 4

"Reporting suspicious behavior on sector 9, unusual traffic, current programmed functions are not enough to run a diagnostic"

Reginald was watching a set of monitors, the fine jackal couldn't figure out the issue but his new acquisition, a cold and mechanical Rottweiler of imposing look, formerly a responsible watchdog dad, has a clue of something rare happening. The robot was sit in a chair as if he or it was someone in flesh and bones. Reginald smirked proudly for himself.

"Before I send you to watch the area, my dear robo-dog, what will you do?"

"Do as I'm programmed" started to explain the robot in his natural monotone mechanical voice. "Find the problem, neutralize it, and apply protocol S09"

"And what's that protocol?"

"Retrieve the menace to main building and present it to you or any personal authorized for memory erasing or robotization"

"Excellent! You are such a good boy, now stand up!"

The robot obeyed, it stood straight and the remnant of its tail started to wag when the machine processed the 'good boy' meaning.

"sir, wait, ... ..., sorry, ... ... I ran at all my speed"

Katherine entered into the vigilance room, exhausted she wanted to take all the air of the room

"Oh Katy, come on! You're in the borderline of a heart attack. You need exercise".

"Later sir... I'm coming... because... I need him to put practice a subroutine I implanted into his brain"

"Come on Katy! They are subjects, not people. Try to refer the robots using 'it' instead of 'him', I don't like you nor other employees empathize with those automatons and go ahead".

"sorry sir, Rottweiler unit one, go with a reinforcement"

"command acknowledged, assuming master unit role, Rottweiler unit one into surveillance mode"

Then the robot-dog left the room, in the screens Katy and Reginald watched how the Rottweiler unit one went straight to a storage room, the metal dog put a paw in the electronic access and the door opened, the robot-dog entered into a room were the robots not used rested there, in suspension mode, sitting in chairs, all connected with wires to their own chair, maybe for reprograming and recharge. There were also lines of empty chairs presumable for the active units, the most accessible unit was the former friend of Randal by the name Jeff, now designed as 'bear unit 5'.

The metallic guard dog pressed a couple of buttons, in the chair, the bear unit waked up and unplugged by itself from its chair. Then the dog spoke a few commands not hearables in the CCTV. The bear bot nodded at the dog and both left the storage room.

"Why did you give the dog a master role?"

"It happens that he enjoys the watchdog roll but he doesn't admit it, and he is suitable for being submissive and dominant as it is required"

"How can it help us?"

"The more he likes his position the better for us to explore his processor and memory banks"

"I hope we don't have problems if he rejects the programming"

"Don't worry chief! You always can count with the powerful safe word"

=====================================================================

"what's wrong with you guys?!"

"what are you talking uncle Bruce?"

"uncle?"

"don`t go mad. It's just an improvised headquarter"

Randall, the young Rottweiler, and Bruce, the hyena, just have arrived into the deep and hide space between abandoned stalls and attractions. Some explanations must be given but not right now. The mysterious call that came from Denis gave them the creeps.

"ok, here we are"

"well Randy, I don't know how to start"

"Tom, just say it, I don't understand what's happening"

Bruce took a look to the scene, there were a fox, an otter robot, the cat and the badger friends of Randall. The fox with a laptop on the bench. Weren't that devices prohibited? And that's a robot of the park, isn't it? The friends of Randall are far from being good guys, thought the hyena.

"I think it is better if senior hyena and you see it by your own eyes"

And just like that Jose show them the video, Randall and Bruce went from the skepticism to the worryness and again to skepticism; then both were in shock.

"Damn it! How is it possible?!"

"that's horrible senior hyena, I'm sorry for your friend and the big dude, we must do something, I have lost a friend of mine too, a black panther about a year ago, and I'm guessing I just lost another, a pudgy and smart raccoon"

"George and I saw a raccoon robot, it got the position of a game. This game is about basketball, you know, throw four shots and stuffs like that"

"the win win basket?!" Randy and Tom said in unison

"maybe, I don't remember the name but is something like that"

"We broke the robot of that game, well, actually Jeff did it" Randall said apologetically

"ok, we need to do something" Tom said

"Any Ideas? Denis? You have said nothing"

"Actually, I'm thinking in something, we have not any idea of how many robots are active giving service in the park, we only know that the raccoon can be saved if we run the script Jose and I invented, will we be enough lucky to see our friends active? So, we could rescue them and get out of here as quick as we can" the cat answered.

Jose scratched his chin with a very reflexive manner "I have a question, otter friend, didn't you hear something useful for us? you know, something about their plans".

"sorry, I cannot remember, sir"

"sir? Try don't call me like that and think harder, please"

"As you command, think, think, sorry I cannot remember, I only remember the time they capture me and the time you waked me up"

"maybe If I... sorry dude, otter unit four, access memory banks, date: today, search key words: dog , Rottweiler , plan , 'new recruit' , 'new acquisition' , play the audio files, then reboot"

"are you insane? You are going to put him in the drone mode!"

"Don't worry Denis, he will shut himself down and with the script we set he'll wake up in free will"

"I hope you're right" Tom sighed.

"Oh, come on dude! I do not want to .... Pssss... tsskkk..." the otter bot shivered, his (or its) eyes strobed and went from red to blue; finally, in the characteristic monotone voice, "memory access guaranteed, searching, searching, 2 coincidences found, building play list... replay... audio 1"

---

The sound of a young voice, a little deep, came from the speakers of the robot

"hehehe, this is the new recruit , a raccoon, very rare, they always are escaping from this park, somehow they get out even if we put them an eye"

Another voice came, different tone, a little older but fresh and calming "imagine if they realize what we're doing here, maybe you must take him to the robo-store"

The first voice replied "no I don't think so, ours next victims broke down Leopard Unit One, let's release this pudgy friend and gave him that place, maybe for now"

The second voice added "ok, just because I'm in a good manner. I always wanted to command a robo-raccoon, Raccoon unit one, set role 'win win basket' host"

This time a monotone voice sounded. "command accepted. Running subroutines, acknowledged, Raccoon Unit One is ready"

Then some metallic steps were heard.

---

"wow, apparently we are the 'next victims'" Randall said

"indeed" everyone answered in unison

The robot stated "replay audio 2..."

---

"your plan is going too slow. I told you Reginald, we need a better surveillance system, we lost them again!" this time a feminine voice came from the speakers.

"Don't worry Diane, I always get what I want, and with the two Rottweilers as watch dogs, we can save money in that stuffs" a mature male voice sounded.

"all robots are based in natural neural bases, they can fail, even we must guide them and reduce their initiative, or they could take back their free will"

"no, they won't, that's the reason I contracted the best programmers with questionable ethical behavior, to prevent it and remain them as mere drones"

_ _

"anyway, we need the CCTV system now"

"are you crazy! We can't let any idiot to intrude and see what we're doing!"

_ _

_"or maybe you can buy the cameras and install it by yourself" _

_ _

"ehhh, it's just... wait... you see it?"

_ _

"what?"

_ _

"an intruder, and is our daddy-dog, we're so lucky"

_ _

"I told you Reginald, these dogs have a protective mode, that was a question of time, we got his bear boy"

_ _

"let's send the panther bot, just a click here and I'll send the commands thru the intercom to the robo-store..."

---

"Starting reboot in 5, ...4, ...3, ...2, ...1 ..." after a flashing, the eyes of the otter-robot returned to a life like red state. "whoa, whoa, what happened? I just felt myself going shut down and..."

"There's nothing to worry otter friend, everything is fine, you were very helpful" Tom approached a friendly hand and gave a pat on the metallic left shoulder. The otter still unsure and full of doubts, now in this state and with free access to his brain... suddenly a voice sounded, behind the laptop.

"Our friend Tom is right, otter bot, everything is fine, trust and make yourself quiet"

The cyborg-otter would frown if we could, but after a shot of alarm, every chip and IC of his electronic brain stopped the extra processing, he went to a state of calm, indeed he has nothing to worry, the administrator user is right, stop, Jose knows best, a good robot must trust in an administrator user, he now remembered something, a programmer always get an administrator by the sole fact of being part of the system configurations. A good robot-otter follows the program.

"I understand, you are right. Everything is fine" the otter robot sounded very calm but not so monotone.

"now we know where my raccoon friend is, I think we should wake him up!"

==========================================================

It was hard for Jose getting away from his laptop, but he understood that he must do it. The Mexican fox liked the strategic positions, directing orders, making plans, informing and even doing surveillance, he knows being informed all time is crucial; although in this mission he cannot count on Randal and Tom because probably they are being wanted by the drones and the mysterious 'Reginald'.

Denis was next to him, crossing the park, maybe it was around 3:00 pm, has been a long day but now instead of enjoying this creepy park, they went to rescue the poor Dan, Jose felt himself guilty, very guilty. Dan is, or was, a very skilled guy, always plotting, always looking for the easiest way or the most efficient, maybe Dan's brain wasn't too damaged as the poor otter, and now remembering, what was his name? it doesn't matter... now.

They now are approaching their destination, the win win basket. As they were getting closer, they saw the cute expression of the smiley gray robotic mammal, the pudgy belly covered by plates, as the chest, both in gray and white; the tail moving from left to right, painted with stripes like rings of black and gray, o wow, as Jose expected, all the color patterns of the body seamed as a copy of the original one. And now the characteristic cold blue eyes of all the robots in the park, except by the black eye mask so characteristic in raccoons.

"Hello dear visitors, would you like to try the win win basket" again, that monotone and cold voice, for Jose, it was like the actual voice of his friend was trapped in a radio speaker, but in a state of numbness, almost as the hypnotized people in the TV or theatre shows.

"not know, we are just waiting for some friends, this is our point of meting if any one got lost" Denis said, the cat gave a review to the plan, it was simple, but it required quick reflexes and distractions because there was a camera near, he saw it and started to prepare for his movements

The fox, with a Bluetooth handset camouflaged in his right ear, was ready for any call of warning coming from Randall, the handsome Rotty boy, who, in the improvised liar, was watching on the laptop the CCTV hacked of the park. The plan was simple, step 1: damage the camera, step 2 distract his metallic friend, and step 3... maybe Denis remember it, it is a stressful situation. Damn, Jose remembered now he hasn't any marksmanship skills but then he saw something...

Jose got out of the camera view and handed 3 rocks to a hyperactive boy who was near, jumping from a bench, this boy was a white rabbit and escaped from his parents for a brief moment, the boy took a slingshot, the fox didn't know where it came from, and the camera were destroyed, then the child extended his with furry white paw and the fox gave him 15 bucks. After, the rabbit moved away jumping, then he waved his paw to a frenzied and worried rabbit woman, yes, she was his mother, que Buena suerte (what a good luck).

Once the cat and the fox shared a compliance sight, the fox asked for a try to the robot raccoon and the fox approached again. It has to be a quick movement, nobody knows when the maniacal technicians of Futureland would realize the damage of the camera.

"hey mapache! I'd like to try a couple of shots"

Something tried to kick in into the electronic brain of the raccoon, 'mapache' is the Spanish word to say raccoon, he knew that because... sometimes he was called like that, he had a friend who speak that language and ... but... a subroutine started to run automatically, that routine made a block deep into the mind, or the memory banks of the robot, the raccoon robot got back under control.

Jose saw the brief moment of internal fight inside the robot, his heart started to beat quicker.

"Ok dear visitor, let's see what you have" Raccoon unit one replied coldly.

Then the fox took advantage of a moment of distraction and gave a power bear hug to the robot, Jose was careful to hold both arms of the raccoon robot and, before Raccoon unit one had time to send an alarm signal, Denis found the USB port and the couple of buttons back in the neck and connected the flash drive that serve them before and pressed the buttons needed.

The raccoon robot shook his own body before going limp, laying on the fox, both on the ground, then it happened again, first the eyes of the raccoon flashed in blue to change into off mode, then lighted in a life red, a headache came and suddenly Dan Smith, the young pudgy raccoon from 9th grade in Ben Furklin High was awake again. He sat his metallic ass in the ground, and rubbed his head, what a strange sensation, his skin felt odd, he can't breathe but he didn't feel suffocate. One sight to his reflecting chromed mechanical paws surprised the raccoon, Dan looked back and grabbed his fluffy tail to see that it was no more fluffy and soft, but hard old and not so flexible.

"What happened Jose?"

"you won't believe it if I told you but anyway, we must get away of this evil place". Then the fox gave another hug, "I'm so sorry my friend, I've never felt so guilty, how can I do to repay you for this?" a little sob escaped from his lips.

"there's no time, we must go now!" Denis said, the cat was watching for any treat or menace.

"Ok amigo! let's go to the liar and there, I need some answers, I have the feeling you own me not only a big one" the angriness in the voice of Dan wasn't been reflected by the happy expression of his robot face.

===============================================================

Destroying the camera of the 'win win basket' was a good idea, but now Randall Tom and Bruce didn't know how the things were running, but for moments, after a review of cameras near the site, they went quiet because everything was in calm, all the activities were normal.

Moments of uncomfortable silence only increased the tension in the air. Even the otter robot was nervous, he need to get out of this freaking place. Inside the mind of the otter robot there were lots of doubts, what happened with his parents? Were they looking for them? Now he remembered something, one of the technicians said him his parents won't remember him, even they would have another son, if that's true, what will he do? Going anywhere like this? Carrying or wearing this metal plates as his skin? His name was coming now to his memories, also his friends, relatives, school. Something interrupted his train of thoughts.

"hello folks!" waved the now robotic raccoon, followed by the fox and the cat.

The otter watched the robotic raccoon, he felt some kind of sympathy, he wasn't the only one with the robotic body. And maybe the group want to share a solution to his predicament, or they let him live with them.

"were there... any... incidents?" Jose said, trying to recover some air.

"We saw a robot bear, accompanied with a robot dog, they were patrolling the go-kart area, fortunately far from your and our location, I think they are Jeff and mi dad"

"The good news is that we can make a plan to take them down and wake them up"

"you always so positive Tom, look Denis and Jose, we were thinking maybe we reach their patrolling zone and just hold them, when the thing is over we just make a runaway" Randal had good ideas but sometimes he is so impatient

"no offense dude, but with that plan you'll get caught and will join us in this" Dan approached to the Rottweiler and gave a pat in the head. "I feel embarrassed for being caught so quickly, and that's because we didn't think right, I see you have brought another one back, we have the advantage of surprise in our side and they are so lazy that they send the new units to look for you, so we need to think in something that we could do to use these facts"

"and what do you have in mind mister raccoon?"

"before I share my plan, where did you left the roll of tickets I handed to you?"

Continue in part 5...