Humanity's Peacekeepers

Secret Chapter [ 17 : СЕМНАДЦАТЬ ]

— ACT 3 // АКТ 3 —

- Jack // Джек -

Thud thud! Water spilled onto the floor as I woke up. I looked down and saw a few flowers on the ground that apparently fell out of a tipped-over water bottle. Igor was still asleep on the floor to my left, while Chewdo wasn't here.

"Chewdo?" I called out for him. The mouse squeaked as he dashed over. "What's this doing here?" I asked.

"Squeak!" He pointed at the professor's skeleton.

"...So Igor brought him an offering?" I whispered, glancing at the sleeping husky. Chewdo nodded. "..."

— - — - — - — - —

"Ngh..." Igor finally woke up, moments after I tidied up his offerings.

"Good mornin', Igor!" I said. Chewdo squeaked him good morning, too.

"Mm, mornin'." He looked around. "Have I been asleep for very long? Or..."

"No, no, I woke up just a bit earlier than you did, that's all. Chewdo and I found the backpack, by the way."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that..." Igor scratched his head. "Where was it?"

"It was in that cabinet." I pointed to the one in the corner. "Also, chapter 4's here for some reason."

"W-What?" He stood up. I took out the box from the black and dusty backpack, and it had a certified "4" on it in marker, per usual. "Have you read it yet?"

"Nah, we were waiting out on you!" I took out the papers. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, really," he smiled.

— - — - — - — - —

CHAPTER 4
RESEARCHING, REVAMPING, RENAMING

— - — - — - — - —

Year 2112:
It's been one year since O's kept Chewdo in secrecy. O did plenty of experiments and tests to fully understand what he (and his brother) had created. In his secret little notebook, he wrote down every interesting attribute he could find (with footnotes written in red pen):

1. The robot is haunted by the mouse?? :O

2. The battery hasn't died at all, even though Dad said the battery would need recharging after a month or two
* It's been a full year without recharging!
* do experiments for infinite energy or something in the future

3. The robot can feel pain, or at least shows aversion to painful actions
* see page 4 for evidences

4. The remote control still works, yet the mouse really doesn't like it when I use it

5. The robot does not need to eat. There is no digestive tract, after all

6. The robot does not like to be turned off. The robot also seems to sleep?

7. Memory is not affected when switching memory cards, mind seems to be independent of physical memory
* conduct experiment with RAM in future

Otherwise, O has been doing some upgrades and repairing to Roborodent, such as providing better joints for him to move around more nimbly. His body has also been replaced with rounder, less sharp parts, like fishing line instead of copper wire for whiskers. The body's other copper parts have also been mostly replaced with lighter aluminum, though some copper plating was left in for aesthetic reasons.

Roborodent was just a low-maintenance metallic mouse pet now, but O had plans involving what he has learnt in the future. Maybe a degree in mechanical engineering?

— - — - — - — - —

Year 2114:
O was now enrolling in college for exactly what he wanted — mechanical engineering! The classes are nice, though a bit exhausting at times. His Dad would also help him out with homework if he were stuck, so his grades were sky high all the time. With the new information he's gotten, O improved Roborodent's design even more. The lucky robot got smooth ball joints, tidier wiring and even a fake lung to go with his sound box, as well as more better RAM and even some minute details like teeth and a tongue.

Speaking of which, O was laughing hysterically when Roborodent got his tongue for the first time. His faux lung and excessively long tongue led the mouse to basically blow raspberries every time he exhaled.

Today, though, he thought about his artist Grandma. She really inspired him to become an influential person someday, and O thinks that Roborodent is going to take him there.

"Roborodent!" He called for his pet. Even though he was still living with Dad, P was in school and Dad was busy with his aerospace stuff.

"Squeak!" The robotic mouse ran over to him. O picked him up and leapt into his bed.

"I have been thinking about renaming you, Roborodent," said O. "Your name's quite a mouthful, anyway."

"Squeak?" He tilted his head, confused.

"I felt inspired by Grandma and her Humanity's Peacekeepers statues, so how about Chewdo?" O suggested. "It's Russian, for 'miracle', because that's what you are to me, buddy!"

"Squeak!" he nodded.

"Then from now on, you'll be called Chewdo!" O laughed, and gave Chewdo a hug.

— - — - — - — - —

Dear Igor, Jack, and Chewdo,

I hope Chewdo isn't mad that I told that story about the raspberries, haha.

Sorry if the last chapter gave you a bit of a red herring about the next clue, but at least you found this one! Enjoy the backpack, Peacekeepers! And to Katharine Hepburn Gardens you go, no?

Faithfully,
Prof. O. R. Ryieszenski

— - — - — - — - —

"I bet you ten bucks that the locked journal is the same one as the one in this chapter," I grinned.

"If you can find ten bucks in this day and age, the bet's on," Igor smiled back.