"May I speak to Mr. Mulligan? Tell him it's Norville," he said, holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder in order to keep both hands free. "Yes, I'll wait."
As Norville pulled books from the shipping box one at a time, he placed a yellow sticker in the top-right corner of each one.
"Mr. Mulligan, it's Norville. Yes, I'm fine sir. Yes, I did. I'm tagging them now for the consignment shelf. Uh huh. Yes, that's right. It's close to the front counter where everyone can see them. I hope they sell well, too. It looks like a great book. I can't wait to read it myself. Okay. I'll let you know. Thanks. Bye."
He hung up the phone and finished labeling the rest of the shipment. A digital "bing-bong!" chimed to announce the arrival of a customer. Norville knew it wasn't someone leaving, because he had been the only one in the shop since the delivery guy rushed off to make his next delivery.
"Hi ya, Shaggy," a female voice lilted from the doorway.
He looked up and replied, "Oh. Hi Daphne." He could only offer her half a smile. He was happy to see her, because it usually meant a book signing, which temporarily boosted business. The half of non-smile was because seeing her reminded him of a painful past.
She crossed the store, stepped behind the counter to hug him. She stood back and looked him up and down. He didn't care what she thought about his choice of clothing. The days of corduroy bell-bottoms were long replaced by loose fitting jeans. He still wore t-shirts, especially green ones, but now his selection included several with humorous book references. He swapped out his sneakers for sandals. Not exactly the best footwear for running away from ghosts and goblins, but perfect for a bookstore.
She looked him in the eyes and asked, "Are you doing okay?"
"I have good days and bad days."
"Which is today?"
"Not bad. Do you have a new book for me?"
"I do." Daphne tilted her head and smiled. "You know me so well."
"Well, the only time you come into the store is for a book signing or to schedule one. You never come in to actually buy books."
"But, I do order them from your website."
"Which I appreciate. What do you have for me this time?"
She swung her purse up onto the counter. With a dramatic flourish knocking Norville's plate of veggies so that carrots and broccoli scattered the counter. Once they cleaned up the mess, she pulled out her latest mystery novel. The cover had a ghostly cowboy holding a smoking gun standing in front of a dilapidated roller coaster with a few gaps in the tracks.
After the break up of Mystery, Inc., it took some time for Daphne to become a full-time author. She completed her degree in journalism and tried to break into news casting, first. She dreamed of being a news anchor sitting behind the news desk. Her journalism career stalled since she rejected too many sexual advances from her superiors and the station's news anchor, and was then overlooked for several promotions. She got stuck with boring personal interest stories that were filler for the last few minutes of the news program, and often were pulled at the last minute due to timing.
With a career that went nowhere, she took to blogging and started her own YouTube talk show that built up a decent following. One of the guests she interviewed for her web series suggested she get into writing. She started writing what she knew—mysteries. Borrowing from her many adventures with Mystery Inc., changing some of the details, and giving the mysteries a little more in depth, her book series launched her new career as a popular, indie mystery writer.
Norville read the title aloud, "Rollercoasters and Revolvers? Let me guess…it turns out the murderer is old man Jenkins of the abandoned amusement park?"
Daphne snatched the book from his hands and playfully slapped his arm with it. "No, you goof. You know I change the names and details. You'll just have to read it to find out whodunnit. Can we talk consignment and book signing?"
As Norville opened his calendar app, Daphne pulled Mr. Mulligan's book across the counter for a quick look. The cover displayed a pond with a frog sitting on a lily pad. A sword, stuck in the water at a tilted angle reflected in the water around the lily pad while a castle towered on a hill in the background. She crinkled up her nose and slid it back.
"Don't care for Mulligan's work?" Norville asked.
"Not really. He has a thing for frogs. Why frogs?"
"Yeah, but I like the adventure."
"If you got out of this store once in a while, you could have your own adventures," she said, giving him a look.
He ignored her and said, "Ok. Consignment. Same deal as last time. Is sometime in March good?"
"Can we push it to April? I have a book tour. I've scheduled a blog tour of the book and I'm interviewing with a few vloggers."
"April it is. I'll send you some dates and you tell me what works for you."
"Perfect! Thank you, Shaggy," she said, and kissed his cheek.
"You know I don't go by that name anymore," he said and shooed her from behind the counter.
"Your real name sounds too nerdy."
"Exactly. People tend to buy more books from nerds that rastafarians."
"Well, you'll always be Shaggy to me," she said.
The door chimed—bing-bong!
"Hello? Shaggy?" a nasally female voice called.
"See? I'm not the only one," Daphne whispered. She called across the store, "At the counter, Vel!"
"Daphne?" Velma asked.
Velma emerged from behind the book shelves, and Daphne from behind the counter. She and Daphne both exclaimed, "Hi!" and gave each other a hug.
"What brings you in?" Norville asked.
"I have something for you. I thought it might cheer you up."
Norville groaned and gave Velma a lukewarm hug. He didn't need cheering up. He sighed and said, "What is it this time?"
"Wait 'til you see this," Velma said. She pulled out her smart phone, opened up an app, tapped something on the screen, then lifted the phone to her mouth and said, "Come here, please."
A whirring, mechanical noise came from the front door. The sound got closer and closer to where they stood. Shaggy leaned over the counter to see what was approaching. Rolling across the carpet was a very sci-fi and very plastic looking dog.
Norville chuckled at the sight of it and asked, "Did you get that at a Doctor Who convention?"
"No, but K-9 definitely inspired my creation. Shaggy? Daphne? I'd like to introduce you to my robot dog…SkuB2! That's spelled S-K-U-B and the number two."
The humor of the situation drained at the mention of the robodog's name. Norville returned to organizing Mr. Mulligan's books onto the book cart to be shelved.
"Wouldn't that be pronounced skyoo?" Daphne asked.
"No, it's pronounced like skoo, like Stu, or sc—…"
"Yeah, we get it," Norville said, irritably.
"I was going to say scuba," Velma said.
"Why are you doing this?" Norville asked.
"Doing what?" Velma and Daphne both asked.
"Storming in here and dredging up the past. I don't want another dog, real or robott. My name's not Shaggy, it's Norville. I don't need cheering up. I don't need anything from either of you! Stop forcing your charity on me!"
Velma shook her head. She scoffed and sputtered before she could find the right words to get out. "I know you miss him, Sh—…Norville. We all do. He was also an inspiration for my creation. I'm not trying to replace Scooby. Nothing can replace him. I just thought you could use a new companion."
"I agree with Vel. Scooby brought out the best in you. He brought out the Shaggy in you, and that's how I'll always know you. The real you."
"Shaggy died the same day Scooby did," Norville said. He turned his back as he wheeled away Mr. Mulligan's books.
Daphne threw up her hands in defeat. Velma shrugged and shook her head.
—
The gang's last mystery had been a total disaster. It started well, but quickly went off the rails. Velma set up the elaborate trap. Fred and Daphne were in their lookout positions, ready to give the signal. And, Shaggy and Scooby were the bait. They had done similar operations dozens of times, and even when things went wrong, it still turned out alright—except this time.
The reputation of Mystery Inc. and their amazing crime solving skills had spread. Not everyone was pleased with their success. Then again, not every criminal imitates ghosts and monsters. One criminal did use such scare tactics. Leo Pullman, a trader in black market goods, used it as a diversion. For his plan, first, he would scare some poor soul walking down the street. When that person would tell all their friends about what had happened, soon afterwards, the people would swarm the area with their smartphones, hoping to become the internet sensation who posted the ghoul first. Then, as the crowd milled around, Leo would sell his wares in plain sight under the chaos of the crowd.
When Leo Pullman heard that Mystery Inc. was coming to town, he staged a fake monster sighting. The gang were all in their places, ready to bust a ghost. They were not aware that Leo also had people in place—to bust some heads.
The monster, some kind of deranged weresheep, chased Shaggy and Scooby. Fred was ambushed and gagged before he could give the signal. Daphne spotted the thug in her hand mirror, and fought him off, but she gave the signal too late. When Velma sprung the trap, Scooby became pinned by the counterweight. Those meddling in the gang's affairs said they were hired by Mystery Inc. as a publicity stunt. The gang denied what happened, but neither side had adequate proof. With their reputation shattered, Leo Pullman got away.
While Fred and Daphne sorted out the accusations, Shaggy and Velma took Scooby to the vet hospital. The doctor said that Scooby had a couple of bruised ribs, but that wasn't what concerned him. Scooby had put on a bit of weight, which Shaggy said was probably the people food he shared. The vet told Shaggy that people food is for people and dog food is for dogs. The richness of people foods had done damage to Scooby's digestive system and that fatty tumors had developed. Shaggy assured the doctor that Scooby got plenty of exercise and they often went running together. Despite the exercise, the vet suggested surgery to remove Scooby's tumors.
Thinking of Scooby having surgery broke Shaggy's heart. The worry about his best buddy and the guilt he felt for allowing his best friend eat too much people food gave Shaggy a heart attack. That, and the fact he was not exactly a healthy eater himself. Velma left Scooby with the vet, and stayed with Shaggy in the hospital. When Shaggy awoke from his own surgery, the doctor helped Velma deliver some delicate news. Scooby, being an old, large dog, had complications and did not survive what should have been minor surgery.
On that terrible day, after losing his best friend, Shaggy the fun-loving omnivore died, and was reborn as Norville, the quiet, reserved vegetarian. He blamed himself for not taking better care of his best friend. He hated himself for not being there for him in his final moments. He blamed Velma for not staying by Scooby's side. He blamed her for the flawed design of her monster trap. If it wasn't for Mystery Inc., Scooby might still be with him. Without the heart and the humor of the gang, Mystery Inc. was no more.
—
Norville shifted the contents on the indie author shelf to make room for Mr. Mulligan's new book. He arranged the books on the top shelf with the cover facing outwards which typically let customers know it was a new title.
Velma cautiously approached him from behind and cleared her throat. Without turning around, Norville asked, "What?"
"Don't you want to see what it can do?" she asked.
"Not really," he said, and pushed the cart back towards the counter.
The door chimed—bing-bong!
"Shaggy?" a male voice called from the front door. "I tried to get hold of the girls, but— Oh! Hey Daphne!"
The cart squeaked to a halt at the checkout counter.
"There you are! And, Velma! Wow! The gang's all here," Fred said, then added awkwardly, "Well, except for…"
SkuB2 whirred up to the counter as well.
"Okay, that works for me," Fred said with a smile. "Gang, wait until you hear this. I've got a new case, one fit for Dirk Gently."
Norville, Velma, and Daphne groaned. Out of the entire gang, Norville kept up with Daphne the most, Velma the least, with Fred tied for last. Norville thought Fred had gone weird. Fred stopping by the bookstore was also weird. In fact, it was weird Fred had any idea at which bookstore Norville even worked. Velma and Daphne kept up with Fred more, but even they kept it to a minimum.
People assumed the rest of the gang didn't keep up with Fred after he broke up with Daphne, but that wouldn't be true at all. Daphne and Fred never really dated. People also assumed the two went off somewhere to make out while Velma looked for clues and Shaggy and Scooby looked for something to eat. Yes, Fred liked Daphne, but only platonically. Daphne was the first person Fred admitted he was gay. That shouldn't be too much of a shocker, what with the orange ascot he always wore. People assumed the ascot was to hide his hickeys, which was partially right, but the hickeys weren't from Daphne. People assume a lot of things, like Fred's homosexuality might be the reason the rest of the gang didn't talk with Fred much, but again, they would be wrong. That's not why they thought Fred went weird.
After the gang went their separate ways, Fred finished college and found the love of his life— a red-head named George. This started all sorts of jokes. Velma referred to them as the "Weasley Twins" since they were as inseparable as the other Fred and George. Fred would joke that no one could tell them apart, even though their looks and personalities were as different as night and day. Daphne called them Fred and Ginger, because of how cute they were on the dance floor. Shaggy, or rather Norville, didn't call him anything at all since he wanted nothing to do with Mystery Inc.
Not even two years into their relationship, tragedy struck in the form of a hit-and-run drunk driver who took George's life and the love of Fred's life. Fred used his investigative skills and tracked down George's killer. Fred's lawyer was good and was able to prove the defendant was prejudice against redheads and homosexuals, and thus, the hit-and-run was a hate crime. The young man, who partied a little too hard and would never complete his college degree, was sentenced to a life in prison. Even though it would not bring his Georgie back, Fred thought it was a suitable punishment—a life for a life.
Tracking down George's killer rekindled another love for Fred, which was his passion for solving mysteries. Fred finished his degree in education, but latched onto a different career in private investigation. He started with helping perform background checks for start-up businesses and surveillance cases for trailing untrustworthy spouses, but slowly became obsessed with the paranormal. He longed for the more unusual cases. Daphne and Velma rarely reached out to Fred after he went full blown conspiracy theorist with his X-files-like agency. And, that's the weirdness the gang tried their best to avoid
"What do you mean 'a case fit for Dirk Gently'?" Velma asked.
"What I mean is I may have found a case with an actual ghost," Fred said, trying to sound mysterious, but failing because he was too excited.
"Freddy," Daphne said, taking hold of either side of his head to look him directly in the eyes, "How many times did our mysteries turn out to actually be ghosts or monsters?"
"I get that, but this is different. This time there's an actual dead body!"
Everyone gasped.
Fred rolled his eyes. "We don't have to deal with the body. The family has already held the funeral and buried it, but they are convinced the house is haunted by his ghost. I'm convinced, too!"
"Why are you so sure it's a ghost, Fred?" Velma asked.
Norville folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. The only mysteries he wanted to deal with were in his store's inventory.
"Things in the house seem to disappear and then reappear elsewhere in the house. It's like they move by themselves!" Fred said.
"Negative. Inanimate objects cannot move by themselves without the application of force," SkuB2 said with a very sci-fi robotic voice.
Everyone but Velma jumped. It was the first time most of them had heard Velma's robot dog speak. Norville detected a strong resemblance to John Leeson, who voiced Doctor Who's K-9.
"Velma, SkuB2 is right. Inanimate objects can't move on their own, except for when they do," Fred said, still trying to pull of a voice of mystery and failing. "I've seen it. Or, rather, I've experienced it. I haven't seen the objects move by themselves, but I've been to the house. One moment an object is sitting there, and the next time you look at it, it's gone. Then, I found it elsewhere in the house."
"What? Seriously?" Daphne asked.
"I'm serious," Fred said, "But, that's not the strangest part. I picked up this red coffee mug that was lying on the living room floor. It read, 'World's Best Dad' on it. I set it on the coffee table and went to explore the rest of the house. When I returned to the living room, the mug was missing. When I get to the kitchen, the same red mug was sitting on the counter, only this time, it read, '#1 Dad'. Huh? What do you think of that?"
"I think you're crazy, Freddy," Daphne said.
"Somebody probably moved the first cup. And, you saw a second, similar cup in the kitchen," Velma suggested.
"Only, there was nobody in the house with me at the time. The family claimed to see similar weirdness and refused to step foot in the house. When I told them the mug story, they said that was just the kind of pranks Lenny used to pull. Lenny is the guy who died in that house."
"What do you think, Vel?" Daphne asked.
"SkuB2 has got some built in sensors. I doubt there's a ghost, but SkuB2 can give the house a scan."
"I think whatever the weirdness, it might make a good plot for a future novel," Daphne said.
"Yes!" Fred exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "What about you, Shaggy?"
"I'm out," Norville said, shaking his head and crossing his arms tighter.
"Aw, come on, Shaggy."
"No. I'm not Shaggy anymore. I'm not going. We're not kids anymore. I've got responsibilities. I have a store to run."
"Do you think it's just coincidence that we all came to your shop and there is a new mystery to solve?" Fred asked.
"Yes, I do," Shaggy said, firmly.
Fred shook his head, and said, "No. It's not coincidence. I believe it's the universe's way of getting the gang back together. One more case for Mystery, Inc.."
"This is me telling you you're full of it, Fred. The universe is not doing anything, because it doesn't care. You go have fun. I'm staying here."
"Fine," Fred said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "When you change your mind, give me a call. The place isn't too far from here."
"Not going to change my mind, Fred."
"We'll see," Fred said. Fred, the girls, and SkuB2 left. The door chimed—bing-bong!
An hour later, as Norville munched on his salad consisting of sunflower seeds sprinkled over spinach leaves and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice for dressing, the door chimed—bing-bong!
A different delivery guy dropped off another smaller box. Norville scribbled his signature on the electronic pad and spelled his last name for the new guy. He wasn't expecting another package today, but it turned out the box contained four books that had been special ordered by a few of Norville's favorite customers.
Norville opened the box and glanced at the books. They would need to be entered into the inventory system, but that could wait until after lunch. When he was done with his salad, he also would give each of the customers a call to let them know their orders had arrived.
Norville picked up his salad and continued eating. He swiveled the invoice around to read the titles:
What Ever Happened to Disco?
Wood — Natures Crafting Canvas
Scuba Diving for Dummies
Do You Remember the Alamo?
His customers had a variety of interests. Yet, something odd struck him about the titles. Aloud, to himself, he read off the first word of each title, "What…wood…scuba…do?" Norville dropped the last bit of his salad all over his sandals. The universe had spoken to him in plain English. Or, as plain as a mysterious force can. It could not be a coincidence that it sounded remarkably like, "What would Scooby do?"
No, it couldn't have been a message from the universe. Could it? It was just another weird coincidence.
What Scooby would have done if he had seen it? They both would have thought it was weird and funny, that's what. Then, someone like Velma would point out the significance of it, and it would probably be a clue. Fred's words echoed in his head, "It's not coincidence. It's the universe's way of getting the gang back together."
Norville groaned, "Fine." When the store hit the next lull of customers, which didn't take very long, Norville closed the store early. He picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello, Fred? Where can I meet you?"
—
As his phone told him the directions to find Fred's mystery house, Norville progressed through a series of emotions. At first, he couldn't believe he was actually going on another case. He swore to himself, "Never again." Although, it felt good to get out of the shop. For too long, he had been working in that store day after day, surrounded by all those books filled with adventure. Like Daphne said, it'll be nice to go on his own adventure.
Then, something occurred to him that brought back a feeling of annoyance. Was that a coincidence? Or, was it orchestrated? It wasn't a stretch to assume SkuB2 belonged to Velma, but how did Fred know its name? And, what are the odds that four special order books all arrived at the same time and happened to spell out something that sounded too close to, "What would Scooby do?" He was beginning to believe that the whole thing was a little less of a coincidence and more of an orchestration.
The thought of Fred manipulating him like that angered him. Norville nearly turned the car around and retreated to his shop and never speak to Fred again. On the other hand, he was nearly at his destination. It might feel good to give Fred a piece of his mind.
Assuming Fred had orchestrated the whole coincidence, wouldn't that prove how much the gang meant to him to come up with an elaborate way to get them to all meet at the bookstore and then go off on a crazy adventure together? As he pulled his car to the curb, a couple houses down from his destination, he thought, Maybe it is too elaborate to orchestrate. Maybe it was an odd coincidence.
He knocked on the door, and Fred answered it.
"Shaggy, I'm so glad you changed your mind," Fred said, smiling.
As Norville walked through the door, he whispered, "You did this, didn't you?"
"I admit it. I did hope to get the gang back together. I follow Daphne's book release schedule, and knew she was going to your shop. I've followed Velma's blog. I reached out to her to encourage her to bring you one of the robot dog prototypes. They were in on my little reunion idea, but not the mystery. When I was approached with this case, I thought it would be something fun for us to do. You know…one last mystery?"
"And, how did you arrange the book order?" Norville asked.
Fred shook his head. "What book order?"
"There were four books that arrived shortly after you left. The first word of each book was what, wood, scuba, and do. What would Scooby do? I don't like you meddling with my life, but that was a very clever way of getting 'the universe to speak to me'."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Fred said with a confused expression. "But, I'm happy you changed your mind, Shaggy."
"It's Norv—zoiks. Yeah, I'm Shaggy."
"Yeah you are, Let's go solve a mystery."
Shaggy entered the house. According to Fred, Lenny had passed away several weeks ago, but the house still smelled of old man and, for some reason, peanut butter. He may not eat like he had in the past, but his noise was still finely tuned to any food-related scents.
"Hey, gang! Shaggy's here!" Fred announced.
Velma and Daphne cheered from elsewhere in the house.
"So, what's going on?" Shaggy asked.
"Daphne is doing a bit of research on her laptop in the kitchen. Velma and SkuB2 are getting readings for the whole house. She explained it, but I don't know. It sounded very Ghostbusters to me. As for me, I'm taking photo inventory of things in the house. I'm going to make multiple passes and then compare pictures to see what has changed. What do you want to do?"
"I'll do what I normally do. I'm going to check out the kitchen," Shaggy said.
"I thought you don't pig out anymore."
"I don't. You said something about a coffee cup. I thought I'd start with that."
"Suit yourself. The coffee cups are in the cupboard to the left of the sink."
Shaggy strolled into the kitchen. Daphne was flipping back and forth between madly typing on her laptop and scribbling something on a notepad. He didn't want to break her concentration, so he quietly went to the cabinet to survey the coffee cups. To him, they all looked like coffee cups. There were a set of five, powder blue cups that belonged to the same set and then a few others that looked like they were souvenirs or had company logos. His shelf of coffee mugs at home had a similar resemblance. He examined the shelf, cup by cup.
Shaggy said, "Huh."
"What's up?" Daphne asked, without looking up from her laptop.
"Fred said there was a mug that said something about Lenny being a numero uno dad, but none of these cups say anything like that."
Daphne looked up from the screen and turned to Shaggy. "Funny you should mention that. I can't find any record of Lenny even being married, much less fathering even a single child."
Fred walked into the kitchen and said, "I couldn't help overhearing this, but…As I am doing the photo inventory, there aren't many pictures in this house. Most people, especially someone with a family, usually has pictures of the family displayed somewhere in the house. Most of the pictures on display are of things and landscapes. Not people."
"But, you said his family hired you to investigate this house," Shaggy said.
"That's right. Amanda and Jeremy Jameson. I assumed they were his kids. They've got strong a resemblance to Lenny."
Daphne jotted down the kids' names. Shaggy and Fred shrugged. Fred wandered off to finish his photo inventory..
Shaggy returned to the coffee cups. He examined each one. They looked and felt like coffee cups. He pulled one of the blue ones down and said, "I'm getting me some water. You want any?"
Daphne held up her Starbucks cup to show she already had a drink. Shaggy nodded and filled the cup with water. He took a sip and set the cup on the counter. Maybe there were other cups in other cabinets.
As he searched the other cabinets, he heard the sound of water dripping. The faucet was not running in the sink. He turned and realized water was dripping over the edge of the counter. His gaze followed the pool of water on the counter to where his coffee cup had been. Instead of a powder blue mug, a ceramic giraffe stood on the counter and bent over as if lapping up water from the spill. The cup was gone.
"What the—?!" he said. He turned to ask, "Daphne, do you see this?" When he turned back, the powder blue mug was laying on its side next to the spilt water.
Daphne looked up and said, "Oh, Shaggy. Let me help you find a towel."
"But, it was a…Never mind."
Shaggy searched under the sink for some paper towels, while Daphne went to the bathroom for a hand towel. When they both returned to the spill, neither the overturned cup nor the giraffe figurine were there. Only the puddle of water dripping down the side of the counter.
"Wait, I want to hear this. Back up and tell me what happened," Fred said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Shaggy sighed. He dropped the hand towel over the edge of the sink and said, "After going though the mugs, I got some water. I wasn't standing anywhere near the mug when it got knocked over. Except, when I looked, it wasn't an overturned mug, it was a tiny giraffe drinking up the spill. When I looked back, it was a mug again, on its side. There was no way I knocked it over. I was several feet away from it."
"I don't know about the giraffe, but I saw the overturned mug, too. But, when I got back with the towel, the mug had vanished," Daphne added.
"See? This is what I was talking about," Fred said.
"Well, it's not a ghost," Velma said, entering the kitchen. "SkuB2 and I took readings all over the house. Temperatures were normal. There is a bit of network traffic, but what do you expect with a robot dog, four people with cell phones, and Daphne on her computer? There is nothing suggesting a paranormal experience."
"How do you explain the mug? It was like what Fred described?" Shaggy exclaimed, his voice rising. Between the giraffe and the shipment invoice, he had experienced a little too much weirdness today.
Their conversation was interrupted by a jingle of keys and the front door opening.
"Hello? Is somebody here?" a voice called.
Fred went to see who it was, while Shaggy and Velma followed him.
"Hello Fred," said the man standing on the front porch.
"Come on in, Calvin," Fred said, "Gang, this is—…"
"Calvin Schultz?" Velma asked, crossing the room. She and Calvin shared a brief and slightly awkward hug, but both had big smiles on their faces.
"You know him?" Fred asked.
"Of course! Cal and I worked together at the Thinkatorium."
"Before Vel went solo, that is," Calvin added.
"What are you doing here, Cal?" Velma asked.
"Lenny was my mentor, but we became good friends. When he needed assistance, I checked on him from time to time to see what I could do to help. Now I'm here to help pack up some of his personal effects. Question is, what are you doing here?" Calvin asked.
"His kids asked me to investigate his house. They think it's haunted," Fred said.
Calvin looked confused. He shook his head and said, "Lenny never had kids."
"I knew it!" Daphne exclaimed, joining them in the foyer.
"Who were they? What were there names?" Calvin asked.
Fred shrugged and said, "Amanda and Jeremy. They said they were family. They share his last name, and look remarkably like him. I assumed they were his kids."
Calvin shook his head and became agitated, "No. They are not his kids. When they come here, keep them out of this house."
"Who are they, Cal?" Velma asked.
"Their last name is not Jameson, it's Byers. As I said, they aren't his kids. They are Linda Byers's kids, and they are only after one thing—Lenny's legacy."
Velma stopped and looked at Calvin with an open mouth. "Jinkies! Linda Byers? Are you telling me this is Leonard Jameson's house? The Leonard Jameson?" Velma asked.
"Of course. Didn't I say?"
"No, Fred. You didn't! That's a pretty big piece of information to leave out," Velma said, raising her voice.
"How do you know Lenny?" Fred asked.
"I don't know him personally, only by reputation. Dr. Leonard Jameson was a pioneer in artificial intelligence. And, Linda Byers was his arch rival. People say she has been skimming from his work for decades. If her kids are posing as Dr. Jameson's kids, Cal is right. You need to keep them away from here, Fred!"
"But, they hired me! They provided me a key to this house. I can't just tell the people who are paying us to scram."
"Fine. But, keep an eye on them if they show up," Calvin said.
"Fair enough," Fred said. He clapped his hands together and said, "Let's split up gang, and look for more clues."
"Clues? What clues?" Calvin asked.
Velma rolled her eyes and said, "The Byers kids asked Fred to investigate a ghost in this house."
"Do they think the house is haunted by Lenny's ghost?" Calvin asked, chuckling.
"Something like that," Velma said.
"We've been seeing some weird stuff. Like objects moving by themselves or disappearing," Fred said.
"Interesting," Calvin said.
"And, shaggy saw a giraffe in the kitchen," Daphne added, returning to her research at the kitchen table.
"A giraffe?!" Calvin asked, holding his hand high above his head.
"Only a tiny one," Shaggy said. He held his hands inches apart to show how small.
"I would very much like to help you 'look for clues' as Fred put it," Calvin said.
"Do you want to see where I saw the giraffe?" Shaggy asked.
"Sure. Why not?"
Shaggy walked Calvin into the kitchen and retold what happened with the spill and the tiny giraffe. Calvin pulled out his smart phone. He couldn't tell if Calvin was completely paying attention to his story or his phone. He had worked with Velma, and guessed maybe there was maybe some kind of sensor on his phone or maybe he was taking notes.
"So, do you believe my story?" Shaggy asked.
"Huh? Oh. Um. I have no reason why not to believe your story. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual in here at the moment. Perhaps I should look elsewhere."
"Sure, Cal. Whatever floats your boat."
Calvin walked into the living room, still looking at his phone. Shaggy sensed Calvin knew something and figured he better keep an eye on him. Even though Velma vouched for him, who was to say that Calvin wasn't the one they really should be keeping out of the house instead of the kids who hired Fred? Calvin said he was a friend of Lenny. Maybe Fred was gullible enough to believe that. Shaggy decided he better keep an eye on Calvin while he looked for clues.
Shaggy kept to areas of the kitchen where he could still see Calvin. It greatly narrowed his area of the kitchen to search, but he could clearly keep an eye on the man. Calvin set his smart phone down on and end table next to a recliner. He left the phone on, tapped the screen a few times, then crouched down onto his hands and knees. Shaggy watched Calvin crawl around the living room looking under the chair, end table, and sofa.
Maybe Calvin wasn't after Lenny's secrets after all. If he were to look for Lenny's secrets, he would be looking for his old research, which was probably on a computer somewhere, or in a filing cabinet, or a box of old papers, and not under the furniture.
Shaggy returned to looking through the kitchen, peeking every now and then at Calvin, but left him to his crawling around on the carpet. The cupboards and fridge were bare. Perhaps Calvin or the Byers's kids had cleaned out all the perishables. He chuckled to himself. In the old days, he and Scooby would have mooched food themselves. He wasn't hungry, but the old urge was there to partake from other people's pantries.
Three sharp whistles snapped him out of his daydream. It sounded like the way someone would whistle to call a dog. Shaggy turned to look into the living room, the direction where the whistle originated. Calvin was back on his feet. The smart phone still sat on the end table and was still turned on. Calvin looked around the room and seemed perplexed.
SkuB2 whirred into the living room. It's robotic voice asked, "Are you in need of assistance?"
Calvin seemed surprised by the robot dog and chuckled. Velma followed SkuB2 into the room.
"One of yours I take it?" Calvin said.
"Yeah. It's a prototype. I thought Shaggy could use it."
"I don't want another dog," Shaggy said, entering the living room, too.
Velma looked down at Calvin's phone and quietly muttered, "Jinkies."
She looked up at Calvin and said, "Your phone seems to be very active for not being held."
Shaggy looked down. Sure enough, lots of text scrolled by on the screen of Calvin's phone, without him touching it.
Calvin glanced down at his phone and shrugged. "Oh yes. That end table's surface acts as a wireless charger. Lenny had it installed to charge his smart devices while he relaxed in his favorite chair."
"Looks like you're tailing a log," Velma said.
"Yes, it's sniffing packets for me," Calvin replied.
"I did noticed there is a high amount of chatter in this house," Velma said. "SkuB2…That is, my robot dog, detected a lot of network activity in the house."
Most of Velma's and Calvin's nerd talk went over Shaggy's head. He understood her comments about a lot of network chatter. He understood that Velma installed various sensors in SkuB2. That gave him an idea.
"I don't want the dog, but may I borrow it for a moment?" Shaggy asked.
"Of course!" Velma said.
Shaggy looked down at the robot dog and scratched his head.
"What command do I use to get it to follow me?"
"Just talk to it like you would have talked to Scooby."
"Uh. Okay," Shaggy said, a bit skeptical. "Come on, SkuB2. Let's go to the kitchen."
"Affirmative," SkuB2 said. It followed Shaggy into the kitchen.
Shaggy bent down to whisper to SkuB2. "Velma installed various sensors in you, didn't she?"
"Affirmative, I am equipped with—," SkuB2 said, and started listing the various sensors before Shaggy interrupted it and stopped it from spouting out more about different sensors. He had no idea what any of them did.
"Velma said there is a lot of network activity in the house."
"Affirmative."
"For the network signals, can you tell me which devices are talking to each other?"
"Affirmative."
"Okay. Eliminate all of our smart phones, including Calvin's, and ignore Daphne's laptop, and ignore your own network traffic, are there other devices communicating in this house?"
"Affirmative."
"What devices are still communicating?"
"There are several smart home devices operating the house from a server in the other room…"
"Ignore all smart home devices, too. What's left?"
"The table is talking with two unknown clusters."
"What are the unknown clusters?"
"Unknown."
"Thanks. Are the clusters communicating from inside the house?"
"Affirmative. Would you like me to determine their point of origin?"
Shaggy nodded, until he realized SkuB2 might not respond to visual cues. "Yeah, sure. That'd be great."
"Cluster points of origin indeterminate. The signals are mobile."
"Like a mobile phone?"
"Negative. They are moving at random vectors."
"Ok. I think I understood that."
"Would you like me to follow the clusters?"
"No. I don't want you roaming the house chasing ghosts."
"No ghosts have been detected in this house."
"No, I mean…Never mind. I need you to do something else for me. One moment."
SkuB2 waited for further instructions. Shaggy stood up and walked to the cupboard. He removed the coffee cups and set them on the counter.
"Can you estimate the volume of these cups?"
"Affirmative."
SkuB2 provided instructions to Shaggy, and one by one, SkuB2 measured each of the coffee cups. After each cup was scanned, he returned the cup to the cabinet.
"Find the average volume of all the cups."
"Affirmative."
"Now, I want you to search the house for any object approximately the same volume as those cups. And, I want you to see if the object is talking with the table. Got it?"
"Affirmative."
SkuB2 spun in a circle, stopped, and spun a bit more. His antenna ears and tail wiggled and wagged. It then proceeded to roll itself into the dining room. Shaggy followed it wherever it went.
"Did you find something?" Shaggy asked.
"Affirmative. One of the clusters is under the hutch."
Shaggy bent down low to look at the shallow space underneath the hutch. "There's nothing there but an old cloth napkin."
"The cluster is under the hutch," SkuB2 said.
"No, It's just a napkin. See?" Shaggy said. He pulled the napkin from underneath the hutch. It was dusty and a firmer than a typical cloth napkin. Also, it was bigger, about the size of a pillow case.
"This is the cluster?" Shaggy asked.
"Affirmative. Return the cluster to the end table."
"The one where Calvin was charging his phone?"
"Affirmative."
Shaggy carried the stiff, large napkin to the living room. He tried to shake and brush the dust from it, but the napkin was too stiff. He did his best to brush dust from it, instead. As he entered the living room and approached the end table, the napkin gave a tug and nearly jerked itself from his hands. He set the napkin on the table, where it flopped around like a fish. Not only did its shape change, but its color, too. In a matter of seconds, the napkin was no longer a napkin, but a black block.
Calvin ran into the room with Velma following close behind him.
"What happened? What did you do?" he asked, sounding more excited than accusatory.
"SkuB2 and I found an old napkin under the hutch. When I placed it on the table, it turned into that black box," Shaggy said.
"Good doggy!" Calvin cheered.
"Affirmative," SkuB2 said, wagging its tail.
"I think that's the ghost we're looking for," Shaggy said, pointing out the block to Velma.
"Jenkies," Velma said, breathlessly. "Is that—…?"
"Yep. Nanobots," Calvin said, and then added, "At least some of them."
"Great! Mystery solved. We can tell the Byers, and I can go back to my bookshop," Shaggy said, brushing the dust from his hands.
"No, no! We can't do that!" Calvin said. The excitement in his voice suddenly sounded nervous. "Plus, we're not finished here. We need to find the other half."
"This is only half the nanobots?" Velma asked.
"Yes," Calvin said. His eyes pleaded with Velma to help.
"Oh, that would explain the other cluster," Shaggy said.
"What other cluster?" Velma and Calvin asked together.
Shaggy began to explain when Fred and Daphne entered the room to see what all the excitement was about. He backed up his explanation and relayed his and SkuB2's investigation to the gang, plus Calvin.
"That was very clever, Shaggy," Daphne said.
Shaggy's face went pink.
"Great. Now we know what size of an object to look for, we can split up and look for nanobots," Fred said.
"Yes, and we must find them before the Byers find out. I don't care if they get a hold of Lenny's old notes. But, this is new tech that Lenny had been helping me develop. I shouldn't even be showing it to you," Calvin said, the last bit directed more at Velma.
"We know the house isn't haunted by a ghost, but what do we tell them?" Velma asked.
The door bell rang and everyone jumped. When Fred opened the door, everyone in the room became tense. Amanda and Jeremy Byers had arrived. Time had run out for thinking up excuses.
"Hello Fred," Amanda said, shaking his hand.
Jeremy followed her into the house and asked, "Is it safe to come in?"
"Oh, brother, don't be such chicken," Amanda said, rolling her eyes.
There weren't many pictures of Lenny, but Shaggy thought Fred was right. The two Byers kids did have a resemblance to the Lenny Daphne had pulled up on her laptop. He could see why they might be mistaken for a close relation.
"We were, uh, just finishing up," Fred said. "Velma scanned the house. No ghosts."
"That's relief," Jeremy said.
"We still need to do one more sweep through the house to make sure. Right, gang?" Calvin said, with his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants. Shaggy glanced at the end table and noticed the black block was now absent.
"Calvin. Good. You're here," Amanda said.
"I stopped by to help pack up some of Lenny's things," he said.
"I'm glad you're here. The lawyer sent us this with instructions of handing it over to you. It has something to do with a table?" Amanda said, she pulled a disc from her pocket. It looked about the size and shape of a half dollar coin, but without the detail.
She placed the disc into Calvin's hand. He asked, "What is it?"
Amanda shook her head. Calvin looked to Jeremy for further information, but he was too occupied with nervously looking around the room as if the boogeyman were about to jump out from behind the furniture at any moment and yell, "Boo!"
Calvin inspected the disc more closely. There was a thin seam around the perimeter of the disc, but it was sealed shut, most likely with super glue. There was no peeking at the secrets held within. There was only one thing he could do.
Shaggy could see the internal conflict play out on Calvin's face as he examined the disc. Giving in, Calvin said, "Okay. Follow me."
Everyone gathered around the end table as best as seven people and a robot dog could. Shaggy was taller than Velma and Daphne and watched over their shoulders from the back. Calvin set the disc on the end table, and the sharp dog whistle chirped once more. SkuB2 perked up and his radar ears wiggled back and forth.
Responding to the tug in Calvin's pants pocket, Velma said, "Gee Cal, Happy to see me?"
Calvin went pink with embarrassment. He sighed and pulled the block from his pocket. It jerked itself from out of his hand and landed on the table. The block tumbled over to the coin and stopped. The dog whistle chirped again. As it did, the block flashed red.
"What is that?" Jeremy asked, his nervousness replaced with fascination.
"A project Lenny and I had been working on before he passed," Calvin said. "But, part of it is missing." He pulled the phone from his other pocket, glanced at it, and added, "We need to find it. I'm getting a message about an incomplete message."
"What does that mean?" Amanda asked.
"It means we have to find the other half of our ghost," Fred said.
Jeremy swallowed hard and squeaked, "Half a ghost?"
Shaggy leaned over to Jeremy and whispered, "I've been in your shoes. Most of the time, it's not a ghost."
Jeremy relaxed at Shaggy's words. "Wait. 'Most of the time'?"
"Okay, gang…And friends. Let's split up and look for the missing piece."
"What are we looking for?" Amanda asked.
Shaggy threw his hands up in the air and said, "Who knows? It could be anything. It could be a napkin. It could be a giraffe. But, it should be roughly the size of a coffee cup."
The Byers kids inched away from Shaggy, hoping his crazy was neither contagious or dangerous.
"Shaggy's right. It will be smallish and could have taken on the shape of anything. My advice is to look twice. If something looks wrong or out of place, it might be what we're looking for," Calvin said.
Since there were plenty of people in the house, they split up and each took a room to look for the missing cluster. Shaggy bent down to SkuB2 and asked it if it sensed the other cluster, but SkuB2 said the missing cluster went into radio silence. Since he had already checked out the kitchen, he opted to look in the master bathroom and half bath. There was no way he was going to look in the bedroom. That meant checking under the bed. His irrational fear of looking under beds was one thing that stuck with him into adulthood, which is why he kept his mattress and boxspring on the floor. The smaller the space under the bed, the more diminished his fear.
SkuB2 followed Shaggy into the master bathroom.
"Can't you look somewhere else? Why are you following me?" he asked it.
"I have a question for you. Why do you not want a dog?" it asked.
Shaggy sighed and leaned up against the sink.
"That's a good question. I guess after Scooby Doo…That's a tough act to follow."
"Did Scooby Doo perform?"
Shaggy chuckled. "No, I meant that Scooby was so special, it was hard saying goodbye to him. He was the best dog a boy could have. How could I get another dog and expect it to be half as good as Scooby?"
"Did you love Scooby Doo?"
"Of course. But, don't start asking me what love is."
"I know what love is. Love is the chemical reaction that enables one creature to emotionally bond with another creature."
Shaggy shook his head. "That is such Velma answer."
Shaggy and Velma did have a fling…once. It was before their last case. To Shaggy, the experience felt very clinical. She treated it more like research than two people becoming intimate. That's when he realized Velma was purely asexual. Velma didn't realize it until later, after she had another clinical experience with a women she met in college. To Velma, since she was neither heterosexual or homosexual, she therefore concluded she was asexual. Neither experience stimulated her the way science did. Since she ignored the pursuit of finding a suitable mate, she focused that energy on her work and accomplished many great things.
"Does it upset you that I don't want a dog?" Shaggy asked.
"I do not get upset."
"Ok. Let me ask you something else," Shaggy said. He thought a moment to find the best way to phrase his question."What makes you a suitable dog?"
"For a robot, I am the approximate size of a dog. I am programmed with several attributes as a dog. I can fetch. I can wag my tail. Would you like to hear me bark?"
"Uh, no."
"I can perform more complex tricks than a typical dog…"
"I bet you can."
"And, unlike a dog, I do not require food and am designed to be durable for many years. I do require to be powered down and recharged approximately every 3.2 days. I can talk to you on many subjects, and the subjects I do not know, I am willing to learn."
Shaggy thought about it. SkuB2 is not a replacement for Scooby, but it might make a new friend for Shaggy. Running a bookstore in a sleepy town day after day does not always leave much room for building relationships. It might be nice to have someone, or something, to talk to in those many quiet times. This was Velma's way of making him stay somewhat social.
"You make some good points."
Shaggy inspected the rest of the master bathroom. Every once in a while, he grabbed an object, like a soap dish or a can of shaving cream and asked SkuB2 to inspect it. Each item came up negative to being a potential for the missing cluster.
"Found it!" Amanda called from the other room.
"Bring it to the living room," Calvin called from elsewhere in the house.
"Yeah, that's going to be a problem," Amanda responded.
Shaggy and SkuB2 arrived after Velma and Jeremy to Lenny's old office. Fred and Daphne waited in the hallway. Calvin pushed his way into the room and said, "What's the problem?"
"That," Amanda said, pointing to a three-ring binder laying in the middle of the floor.
"How do you know that's the missing piece?" Calvin asked.
"For one thing, I know Leonard doesn't use three-ring binders. Mom told us how much he hated them, because they always pinched his fingers. That's the other reason I know."
"What do you mean?" Calvin asked.
"Try picking it up yourself," Amanda said. She stepped out of his way.
Calvin squatted down and reached for the binder. Everyone jumped as the binder snapped at him like an angry beast nipping at his fingers.
"Whoa. What's going on with you?" Calvin said.
"How do we get it reconnected with the other part?" Jeremy asked, cowering behind his sister.
Everyone in the room stood around the binder, thinking about how to approach it.
Shaggy shook his head. "Oh, for Pete's sake. SkuB2…Fetch!"
SkuB2 rolled forward and clamped the binder in its mouth. The binder thrashed about, trying to break free of the robot dog with the super strong grip. Everyone backed up to let the dog and the angry binder through as it successfully returned the missing cluster to the end table. The moment the cluster hit the table, it melted into a puddle of black which flowed across the surface of the table and joined the other cluster to form a larger black block.
With the entire block intact, Calvin pulled the coin from his pocket and set it onto the block. Instead of resting on top of the block, the coin sunk into the block as if the cube was made of liquid and hit the table's surface with a soft clink! The block wavered and changed colors. It turned into a miniature statue of a ghost, which looked more like a person standing under sheet with two black eyes painted on for eyes. A spooky voice emanated from somewhere within the end table.
"I am the ghost of Leonard Jameson. Boo!" the ghost said. Jeremy yelped, and his sister rolled her eyes. The ghost pulled the sheet off itself to reveal a tiny Lenny within, who chuckled and said, "Just a bit of post mortem humor. If you are seeing this, it means that I am dead. It also means that Calvin, Amanda, and Jeremy have worked together. That's a good thing. That's as it should be.
"I know you know each other, but introductions must be done properly. Calvin, meet Amanda and Jeremy Byers. Amanda and Jeremy, meet Calvin, my assistant and closest friend. Also, Amanda and Jeremy, I am Leonard Jameson…your father."
Calvin and Velma gasped. Daphne muttered, "I knew it." The Byers kids did not seem phased by this news.
Lenny continued, "No doubt your mother filled your heads with her opinions of me. But, know this. No matter what she says or does, I have always loved your mother. No matter how much I loved her, I could not be with her. Our views towards science clashed too much. I love science for the pursuit and enjoyment of truth and understanding. She viewed science as a way of making money. I would tell her about my discoveries, and she would start asking of ways to monetize it. After a while, I kept more to myself, and she grew more accusatory, which led to our eventual break up.
"When we parted, I had no idea she was pregnant with you two. It wasn't until a few years later that I heard about 'Linda and her kids'. The rumor was that Linda was artificially inseminated. She cut off all communication with me and refused to admit the truth I knew about our children.
"My biggest regret is that she denied you the opportunity to know me. But, just because she blocked me from her life, don't think she blocked me from yours. I know I sound like a stalker, but I had friends and means to get to know you."
At this, the tiny Lenny turned into a flat, wide surface and started displaying pictures of Amanda and Jeremy at various moments in their life growing up. It displayed both their high school graduation photos. One picture displayed a birthday party scene in which both kids had cake smushed around their faces, Amanda crying and Jeremy having the time of his life with two fists of crushed chocolate cake. More pictures of the kids growing up cycled across the screen. Amanda teared up and Jeremy sniffled at watching their young lives flash by. The final picture was of the kids at the zoo, both sitting in a stroller. A giraffe head bent down to say hello to the kids. Amanda had the biggest smile on her face filled with joy, and Jeremy was crying as if extremely terrified of the approaching creature. When the pictures stopped and tiny Lenny reformed, Amanda wiped away a tear and Jeremy blew his nose into a tissue.
"Calvin, I bequeath you my home, so you can move out of that hole in the wall you call an apartment. To Amanda and Jeremy, I bequeath you my computer. It contains all my notes and research, as well as my pictures and journals. Even though we didn't spend time together, I hope you get to know me better than I got to know you. Also, I am letting the twins have this nano-cluster and disc so they can keep this virtual version of me. You'll be able to ask me questions, and I will answer them to the best of my AI's ability. Calvin, don't panic. The Thinkatorium already has my research and notes on how to replicate this cluster, including the fight-or-flight and curiosity algorithms."
"Jinkies," Velma said.
"What?" Fred asked.
Velma shook her head and whispered, "I'll tell you after he's done talking."
Tiny Lenny continued, "As for the rest of the stuff in this house, I'll let you negotiate what you want to keep and what to throw out or sell. Amanda and Jeremy…I'll let you decide what to do with my research. If you want to share it and monetize it with your mom, so be it. But know this…None of my research was acquired with money in mind. I discovered it all because of my love for science, which might be the one thing that I loved more than your mom and you. I hope you don't hide my findings behind a wall of patents. Instead, I encourage you to share my discoveries with the world. That's all I have to say from this rambling old fool. Bye."
Tiny Lenny waved at the people in the room for a few seconds, stopped, and then folded his arms and smiled. The miniature figure stayed locked in that form.
"So, what now?" Shaggy asked.
"I want to know why Velma said, 'Jinkies,'" Fred said.
"Oh yeah. What's up with that?" Shaggy said, looking at Velma.
"SkuB2 is programmed with one of the two algorithms. The curiosity algorithm. Of course, my algorithm was based on his theory and partial algorithm Dr. Jameson wrote about several years ago. It seems he has perfected it. The other algorithm explains the weirdness we have seen in the house. The clusters probably protected themselves by turning into random objects."
"Like the napkin under the hutch," Daphne said.
"Or, the binder in the office," Fred said.
"Exactly. It switched to fight mode and became aggressive and attacked in the office when it felt cornered," Velma said.
"I guess that wraps up another mystery," Fred said.
"Great. Now we can get back to our lives," Shaggy said.
"Yeah," Daphne sighed.
"What's wrong?" Fred asked.
"We solved the mystery, but nobody was naive enough to think they could get away with a crime. Nobody accused us of being meddling kids," she said.
"Yeah, but we aren't kids anymore," Fred said.
"I know," she sighed.
"Fine. I accuse Fred of being a meddling kid," Shaggy said. "How did you know those books would get me to come along?"
"Again with the books?" Fred said, his voice agitated. "I told you I don't know what you're talking about."
Shaggy shook his head and huffed and puffed as he tried to find the words. The next thing he said was, "Why lie about it?"
"I'm not lying about anything, Shaggy!" Fred said, his voice raised.
"Fred's not lying," Velma said, stepping between the two. "I sent the books."
Shaggy looked confused. "You? Why?"
"Because, I know you Norville Shaggy Rogers. I know how observant you are. I knew you would pick up on my little word play. I knew you would immediately think, 'What would Scooby do?' And, I hoped you would think about that. To some degree, it worked. You're here, aren't you? That's what Scooby would do. He would have got out. He would socialize. He would have some fun. That's all I wanted for you Shaggy. You lost Scooby, and that's very sad., but don't lose yourself, too."
Shaggy hung his head and nodded. He sniffled and said, "You're right. I've been hiding in my bookshop for too long. That's not what Scooby would have done."
Amanda cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her.
"I, uh, hate to break up this sentimental moment. But, if you're done here. We would like to get back to sorting out Lenny's things. We can take it from here."
The gang got the hint. Fred hung back to settle the fee, while the rest of the gang walked to the street where their cars were parked. SkuB2 whirred behind them down the walkway.
"So, are you going to be less of a hermit and get out more?" Velma asked.
"Yeah. I think I will," Shaggy said.
"Great," she said, and gave him a hug.
"This doesn't mean you want to hook up sometime, does it?" Shaggy said.
"No, it doesn't," Velma said, her voice flat and decisive.
"Yeah, no, never mind. That's what I thought. Just making sure," he stammered.
"But, it does mean, if you've got past that grudge you've been holding against me, that we can hang out sometime," she said, and then added as if to stress her earlier point, "As friends. Nothing more."
"Yeah, of course. That'd be great," Shaggy said.
Shaggy looked over at Daphne. "What about—?"
"Stop," Daphne said, cutting him off. "Never gonna happen. I'll see you at the signing."
Shaggy said, "I was going to say, what about grabbing lunch sometime, so we don't just see each other at book signings?"
"I would like that," Daphne said, smiling. She gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek.
They waited for Fred. He offered each of them a share of the fee, but the others refused. They agreed it was a fun little adventure and asked him to consider calling them up for the next bizarre mystery. They said their goodbyes, and agreed they would get together more often, despite their busy adult lives.
Shaggy stepped up to his car and manually unlocked the door. The battery in his key fob had died and he didn't even get out to replace it. A whirring stopped on the sidewalk behind him. He turned and saw SkuB2 parked on the sidewalk. The moment he looked at the robot dog, SkuB2 began wagging its tail. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
"I am accompanying you," it said.
"Velma? You're dog?" he called.
"It's not mine. It's yours," Velma said.
"Are you sure?" Shaggy asked. It seemed like an expensive bit of technology for someone to give away.
'Yes," she said.
Shaggy shrugged. "Fine," he muttered.
He walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door to the back seat. He looked down at the robot dog, thought for a moment, and closed the door again. He opened the door to the passenger side seat. After taking moment to scoot the seat back as far as it could go and leaning it down flat, he hoisted SkuB2 into the front seat and buckled it in. Despite the mechanics of the thing, it was lighter than it seemed.
With the seatbelt clicked and hugging his new robot pal, he asked, "Are you good?"
"Affirmative," SkuB2 said.
Shaggy situated himself into the driver's seat and buckled his own seatbelt. He glanced at SkuB2, who wagged its tail. He wondered if Velma programmed it to do that.
"Do you do that for everyone?"
"Do I do what?" SkuB2 asked, its head titling to one side. Shaggy couldn't help but chuckle. Cocking its head was a very dog-like thing to do, too.
"Did Velma program you to wag your tail any time someone looks at you?"
"I am programmed to repeat actions based on positive stimulus. When you look at me, I wagged my tail to signal I am aware of you, too. When I wag my tail, you smile, which is a positive response. The action of wagging my tail is repeated as long as there is a positive response."
"Cool," Shaggy said, and smiled.
SkuB2 wagged its tail and said, "Affirmative."
Shaggy put his car in drive and the two headed home. A grown up boy and his shiny new dog were ready for more adventures.