The white dog was a flash as he ran into a hallway with slick floors, following the sound of Penny's "Bolt, help"s. He slided past the room with a bored looking man sitting at a computer, editing a past episode. He continued running past an open doorway, then slid to a stop and turned around. Running into the room, filled with boxes and packages needing to be shipped, he looked toward the window. There was a long, greenish-blue plastic box strapped down to a flatbed truck. "Penny!" Bolt called, jumping on the top of the boxes until he got to the window. He leaped to the window, ready to burst through it with his super strength, when he hit the glass and fell backward, into a cardboard box.
The little pink packing peanuts flew up, then settled back down, making Bolt disappear under a blanket of light pink. A man with headphones around his head, packing tape in hand, entered the room and closed the box, sealing it shut. Loading the boxes up, he put them in a big delivery truck and slammed it shut.
A Cattle Dog with blue and brown mixed fur ran up the final stairs, panting, and ran down a dusty hall. The whole building was filled to the brim with dust, dirt and mud splashed along the walls, thousands of paw prints outlined in the dust on the ground. He passed a window, looking outside from the third story of the old, abandoned building.
He stopped at a door, part way open, and pushed it open further with his nose. Inside he saw a Dalmatian talking to two Shepherd's, pointing at the screens behind the three. The screen showed video footage from a TV set, showing a bright blue scenery made to look realistic. A trailer with distinctive writing, a simple four-letter word on the side, stood in the middle of the building. BOLT.
Sypher glanced at the still image, wondering why the surveillance cameras weren't playing as usual. He shook his head and tried to get the attention of the largest Shepherd in the room. "But, sir, I can't just fix it!" Carter, the Dalmatian, said. "Carlos and Timber are working on the sattelite system, and if I fix this, then it will electrocute them!"
Arrow, the largest Shepherd, sighed. "Okay, well, like I said not a minute ago, fix it as soon as they are done. We need the cameras going 24/7, Carter."
"Yes, sir, but I can't fix them now!" "Oh, Carter, okay!" Arrow said, brushing past him and toward the Cattle Dog. "Fix it whenever you can!"
Maria, the other Shepherd, followed Arrow and cocked her head at the Cattle Dog. "Sypher, what's wrong? You look like you've just run a mile, chased by a ghost."
"Well, considering four flights of stairs, and running all the way from the basement, sublevel A, that is pretty much a mile." Sypher took a deep breath. "And as for the ghost part, I might as well be chased by one." He looked directly at Arrow. "Something has come up, something our backup computer systems found."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Carter came over, rolling his eyes dramatically. "You've been using the backup system? Oh dog, no wonder we're having computer issues!"
"Well, yeah, because Rain and I didn't feel like killing Timber and Carlos today." Sypher snapped. "But anyway, this just came in from the studios. Bolt is missing."
All three dogs gasped and their eyes widened as wide as golf balls. "What?" Arrow barked, finding his voice first. "What do you mean? Missing?"
"Yes, missing," An exhausted voice said, entering the room. A stormy colored dog, mixed breed, sighed and came to stand near Sypher. "Syph and I were monitoring the feeds, and also watching the broadcast, when we saw the news story of the day: Famous Movie Star Dog Goes Missing."
"What? How can that be? We were watching the cameras constantly, up until the time that the connection went crazy." Maria said, nervously glancing at the screens. "That was not thirty minutes ago!"
"Well, in thirty minutes we just lost our super dog," Sypher grimaced. "No one seems to be able to find him, in the studio or around. And who knows what danger there is?"
"There is wild dogs, stray mutts, big cars, real robber and cat burgulars, tyranosaurus rexs, and . . ." Carter drew in a deep breath. "Volt and his gang."
Arrow shook his head. "Okay, here is what we're going to do. Right now we will need to search all of Hollywood, and I need twenty or so dogs around the studio. If we're lucky, he won't have gone far. Syph, I need you and Rain to join me, also round up the best and most trained dogs in case Volt is looking for him as well. We need to be ready if we have to confront Volt and be able to find Bolt and get him back safely."
"Yes, sir." Rain and Sypher said in unison, nodding and turning to run out the door.
"Do you think Volt caused the connection problem at this moment, so we wouldn't realize it for the first thirty minutes?" Maria asked her mate in a quiet voice.
Arrow sighed and shook his head. "Yes, Maria. I do. Because that is exactly how Bolt's brother thinks."
