It was a quiet morning at Gravity Falls. The birds chirped in the brush. Super natural creatures ran a muck within the woods. Typical stuff.
Inside the Mystery Shack, Dipper and Mabel still lay asleep in their bedroom.
Dipper liked long mornings. Even after he awoke, he would still sit in bed for a good hour or two. He wondered if Mabel did the same thing. He never bothered to see if she were awake while in bed, although he had a hunch she was.
Yep, life couldn't get any better, although it could get a whole lot worse, as you're about to witness, through words.
"DIPPER! MABEL!" yelled a Grunkly old voice from downstairs. The voice could only belong to one great uncle.
Dipper didn't want to get up, and put his head under his pillow, trying to drown out the voice. Mabel however went downstairs. Dipper gave in and went down too.
"There you two are." Stan said. "Look, we got a long day of work ahead of us, so get showered, get dressed, and get ready sooner than later."
Stan then walked off to return to his post.
"Typical Stan pushing us around as usual." Dipper said.
"Hey come on Dipper, running the Shack is very difficult as we experienced first hand." Mabel said. "Help's appreciated, especially when you're helping the elderly."
"I suppose." said Dipper.
"Just try to be nice, and maybe Stan will be nice in return." Mabel said.
And so, that's just what the twins did. They both showered (at different times, stop having dirty thoughts), and they soon got to work.
Well, some work, mostly slacking.
"What are doing boy? Slacking off?" Stan asked.
"For your information, I've only been on break for five minutes." Dipper said.
"Five minutes? Try like... fifteen." Mabel said.
"Thanks Mabel for the help." Dipper said sarcastically.
"Does some child need a spanking with a paddle?" Stan said.
"Does some disillusion old man need to be reminded this is the 21st century?" Dipper asked back. "Who still punishes children with a paddle?"
"Dipper!" Mabel yelled.
"Tough guy huh? Alright then." Stan said. "How about this, you've been doing a lousy job around the shack!"
"Lousy?!" Dipper was shocked. "How about you-"
"STOP!" Mabel cried.
"You know what, fine, I will stop. In fact, going to take a power walk of self discovery and whatnot." Dipper said.
"Good luck with that kid." Stan said. "You probably couldn't make it three steps outside the shack before, either your puny legs crumble, or you run back inside because you want to read the outcome of your favorite fan fiction."
"I'll show you, both my legs, and my will power to wait on things are stronger than you think." said Dipper.
"I'll show you, I'll have the best walk every!" Dipper said.
"Fine!" Stan yelled.
"Fine!" Dipper yelled.
Dipper stormed lightly out of the shack, but bumped into Wendy on the way out the door.
"Whoa, slow down Dipper." Wendy said. "What's gotten into you little man."
"Little man'?" Dipper repeated. "Is that all I am, the little one!?" Dipper asked raising his voice.
"Hey man, chill." Wendy said.
"I shall chill... outside." Dipper said, and then he left the mystery shack to do his walk. Mabel ran after him before he got to far.
"What was that bro? You totally lost your cool back there." Mabel said.
"Look, I'm not in the mood right now." said Dipper. "I try be reasonable with Stan, and look at the treatment I get.
"Well to be fair, you were slacking for a bit." Mabel pointed out.
"Whose side are you on?" Dipper asked.
"Neither! Or both... point is, I wish you two would stop fighting." "I do too, but he's such a problem." said Dipper.
"Maybe Dipper, you're the problem!" said Mabel. These words hit Dipper right in the gut.
Before Dipper could respond, Mabel turned around and went back into the Shack.
Dipper stood for a moment puzzled, and then went on his walk.
Dipper's walk was going... about as well as one can expect.
Dipper had a lot of unhealthy thoughts floating around in his head.
"Maybe the problem... really is you." Dipper said to himself.
"Maybe if you weren't such a screw up, Stan would actually be satisfied with your service, and there'd be no tension!"
"But Dippy, you're fine how you are." said Dipper to himself.
"No you're not! You're a screw up, and hardly any good at anything useful! You're lucky Stan doesn't just disown you on the spot!" said Dipper.
"And look at how you snapped at Wendy, what the crap!? You think that's how she wants to be treated?!" Dipper said to himself.
"No..." Dipper said with a sob.
"Either you're too much of a pushover, or too much of an angst filled pre-teen dirt bag!" Dipper said.
Dipper sat on a fallen tree log to vent out his thoughts.
"Take a deep breath man." Dipper said to himself. "Take a moment to think about... something something love and trust."
"No matter how bad things may seem, people always exaggerate to themselves when they're mad." he said.
"So don't do something... you might regret." he said to himself with a tear.
Dipper got back up and walked through the woods, when he noticed a peculiar silhouette.
Am I being watched? Dipper thought to himself.
Without much thought, Dipper approached the silhouette, and what he saw... well...
"What have we here?" Dipper asked himself.
"Is that... me?" he asked.
It was! Kind of...
In front of Dipper, sat a life size metal replica of Dipper.
"Well, this is something you don't see every day." Dipper said to himself.
"Whoever built this thing got the likeness down to a tee." he said. And he wasn't wrong.
The metal Dipper was basically the exact same height. The robot captured his likeness of Dipper very well. His hair, and even his clothes were replicated out of metal very accurately, even the cap was detachable. The only thing was, the skin was all metallic and silver, instead of Dipper's pale skin color. The eyes were also clearly just bulbs.
"Hmm, I wonder if..." Dipper thought to himself. With caution, he reached his hand out for the robot's crotch area.
The robot's arm quickly lashed out and grabbed Dipper's arm.
"AAHH!" Dipper screamed.
The robot's eyes lit up, and started scanning Dipper.
"Scanning and classifying user information." said the robot.
The voice sounded... however you want it to sound. Think of your favorite voice synthesis, and that's Robot Dipper's voice. Or maybe he sounds exactly like Dipper. It's up to you.
"Subject identified as Dipper Pines, resident of Piedmont California, currently visiting Gravity Falls Oregon. Data storage complete." said the robot.
The robot stood up slowly, making all kinds of nasty mechanical sounds.
"Who are you?" asked Dipper.
"I am you. But stronger." said the mysterious robot. "You may refer to me as 'Robot Dipper', but everyone else shall refer to me as 'Dipper', for that is who I am."
"I hate to break it to you chrome dome, but I am Dipper." said Dipper.
"You were Dipper, but now I'm an even better Dipper." said Robot Dipper.
"...Really." said a dubious Dipper.
"Your qualities are subpar, so it is my duty to pick up where you have slacked off." said Robot Dipper. "In layman's terms, you are obsolete, and I'm taking over."
"Good luck with that. You can't fool anybody, the voice, the metallic skin, no one's going to believe you're me!" Dipper said hysterically.
"You under-estimate my power insolent child." said Robot Dipper.
"Whatever, I'm going to walk away now." said Dipper.
"Are you sure? You don't want me to lecture you the history of automatic intelligence?" asked Robot Dipper. "And how one day, AI will take over."
"No thanks, I'll pass. I think I'm needed back at the shack." said Dipper.
"Farewell child, farewell indeed." said Robot Dipper.
Dipper walked away from the robot, and back to the Mystery Shack.
"Should I worry?" Dipper asked himself. "Nah. He's just a pile of nuts and bolts. What harm can he possible do?"
Dipper thought of some sticky situations the robot could have initiated.
"Maybe I should be worried." Dipper made a quick u-turn, but the robot was gone.
"Hmm, oh well. Maybe he needed an oil change." Dipper didn't think much more about it, and went back to the shack.
Dipper made his way through the woods, and back to the shack, where he entered.
Stan was inside waiting.
"So how was your post pre-teen drama angst filled walk boy?" asked Stan.
"That sentence was a mouthful, and it was... okay, albeit weird." Dipper said. "See on the walk, I saw-"
Stan interjected "I don't have time for your life story, know hurry up and mop the place up!" Stan said.
"Sure whatever." Dipper said.
Dipper went into the cashier room, and mopped up. The whole time, thinking about what he saw in the woods. Mabel noticed he looked troubled, and asked him about it.
"Something's troubling you bro, what is it? You look like you saw a ghost." Mabel said.
"No, it wasn't a ghost this time. It was..." Dipper's voice trailed off.
"It was what?" asked Mabel.
"Well... you ever take a lone walk in the woods and find a life sized metal replica of yourself who says they want to take your place?" Dipper asked.
"...I can't say that strangely specific series of circumstances has not happened to me... like ever." said Mabel.
"Oh... well I mean, I didn't expect you to say yeah-*bleh* I stuttered. What am I trying to say?" Dipper was tripping on his words.
"I don't know, what are you saying? Did this happen on your walk?" Mabel asked.
"Maybe, never mind, just let me work." said Dipper.
"Geez, touchy." Mabel said.
Dipper finished the floors.
"There's your floors, anything other labor that needs laboring?" Dipper asked Stan with some attitude.
"You giving me attitude boy?" Stan asked.
"What if I am?! Huh?!" Dipper talked back to Stan.
"Whoa Whoa boys, clam yourselves." Mabel said interjecting. "You are like boys with toys!"
The two boys just grumbled.
"Well... go do the windows from outside Dippy." Stan requested. "And if you do a good enough job... maybe some sort of reward? Don't quote me though."
"Sure thing Stan." Dipper agreed. He was starting to look up slightly, not boy much though. Although, those feelings would be shot down pretty soon.
"I see your walk did very little good." Mabel said. "Why do you and Stan got to be at each others' throats like that huh?" Mabel asked.
"You're asking me?" Dipper asked back. "I'm just doing my best, and he's got to be all grumpy and complain about every little thing I do."
"I just don't like seeing you guys constantly fighting." Mabel said looking down. She walked away.
"Hmm." Dipper thought to himself. "Maybe the tension is partly my fault, and I have the power to stop it..."
Dipper walked outside to clean the windows, but he somehow managed to forget the cleaning supplies.
"I had one job, how'd I forget the cleaning agents?!" Dipper said to himself.
He turned around to walk back in the Shack, but he door closed right in front of him, locking him outside.
"What the heck?!" He was startled.
"Guys! I think I'm locked outside!" Dipper yelled, but no response.
Dipper looked through one of the windows peering into the kitchen, and what he saw stunned and horrified him.
*GASP* Dipper gasped. He saw exactly who closed the door on him. And he was non to pleased to see him.
Inside was Robot Dipper interacting with his friends and family in the shack.
What horrible things could Robot Dipper be doing to Dipper's friends? Were they in danger? Or was Dipper in danger?
How could Robot Dipper fool them anyway? There's no way a cold hearted bag of bolts could stand in for Dipper without anyone noticing... right?
Find out in Chapter 2