Chase couldn't sleep. His eyes refused to close, his mind refused to stop its bustling mental activities and his body refused to halt its annoying twitching. His entire self was beyond tired.
Earlier, Zuma tried radioing Ryder back at the Lookout via his Pup Tag. Nothing came on the line except crackling static, which eerily made Chase think of a storm of bloodthirsty flies. That could only meant one thing.
"The storm's not done yet, dude," Zuma had said, "Guess we just have to spend the night here."
"That can't be too bad, can it?"
"We have to see, but surely this storm will be over by tomorrow morning." reassured the chocolate lab, "Now do you have any snacks in your Pup Pack? I'm starving!"
Chase shook his head sadly, "Well, we're not exactly survival puppies but missing dinner won't make us go crazy." For a moment, his regretted saying that. If Rubble or Marshall had also decided to tag along, a supper-less night would cause problems.
"So...where do you wanna sleep? In the lab?"
"No way!" Of all the decisions he had made when they got marooned, this one was the most certain. After viewing first-hand the stark horrors of genetics modification, the lab seemed to give Chase goosebumps, "Let's camp out in the hallway, it looks pretty comfortable."
Now two hours later, Chase was still trying to believe that he had said the hallway looked comfortable. It was rough, like a pile of leaves, and pricked his fur and gave him pins and needles. The German Sheppard tossed and turned and moved away as much sand from beneath him as possible, but no matter what, his body couldn't stay still.
Zuma, on the other hand, slept like a lazy newborn. He cuddled up warmly on the other side of the hall, face turned away and soft snores escaping from his snout.
Suddenly, a noise made him snap up. It seemed like a scratch against a blackboard. Chase's hair stood on ends, and his ears perked up, trying to identify the sound. The scratch remained steady, with the occasional pauses. Then, it hit him.
What Chase was hearing was writing!
Leaping up, the aware police Pup crept towards the source. It seemed to be coming from the lab. Strangely, the lights, which were supposed to activate when somebody entered, was turned off. A ghost?
'Uh oh,' Chase thought, 'I don't wanna go in there.' But his curiosity was in the dominant position. Shoving away his new fear, Chase poked his head through the open doorway. The lab was a whole lot darker without the illumination, as well as more sinister and evil-looking.'
Yet Chase saw instantly who was making the scratching noises. A bald and pompous man in a white lab coat was propped up on a high stool beside the glass tube Chase had shattered earlier in a fit of rage. His hands moved extremely quick for a person his size as he scribbled down notes on a clipboard.
H-Hello?" The German Sheppard tried to sound as brave as possible, but his voice was shaky and uncoordinated. Who was this person?
"Ah, Chase, you're here." said the man in a friendly tone. He didn't stop his writing nor bothered to look up, "Please, do come in."
Chase remained frozen on the spot. He wasn't sure if he was ready to confront this stranger.
"You have nothing to fear, Chase." the man continued, "Have a seat, and I'll explain to you everything you need to know about this place."
Easing up a little, the German Sheppard trotted forward, his command bark for his tennis ball launcher ready just in case the man was a disguised serial killer. But there was no need, he just kept on scribbling down whatever he had to write. Eventually, Chase had made it. The man gestured him to a smaller stool beside him. The police Pup eagerly jumped onto it.
"So what do you want to me to spill the beans first about?"
Despite the calm mood Chase appeared to be in, his voice remained blocked. He struggled to get out a word, and a cold sweat rolled down his forehead. The man seemed nice enough, but Chase still wouldn't let his guard down. It had been a mere two years since his training he was taught to not trust strangers. During his time with the PAW Patrol, he hadn't been using that skill much. Ryder wouldn't have allowed it. But now, his instincts was coming back into play.
"Still tense?" chuckled the man. Letting out a laugh, his meaty hands reached over and began to scratch gently against Chase's ear, sending a tingle down his spine. Realizing it was the first time anybody had done that to him in days, Chase moaned in pleasure. His body gradually tensed down, and soon he found himself rubbing against the white-coated man like he was Ryder or Katie.
"W-Who are you?" Chase stammered, his voice quivering."
"Good question. I believe you may know me." Bringing Chase's head up to face him, the man smiled a wide toothy grin. Chase gasped. It was Dr. Adrian Smith, the same person in the photo above the bronze plaque Zuma had pointed out earlier.
"D-Dr. Smith!"
The man, no scientist, nodded, "Affirmative, it is me, Dr. Adrian Smith. I was the department head of this place, Adventure Bay Genetics Modification Research Lab. But that was years ago."
The police Pup had a thousand questions boiling in his throat. Yet his mouth was still like a funnel as narrow as a straw.
"Please tell me everything!" Chase blurted out, his paws wrapped around Dr. Smith's waist. Grinning, he propped Chase back onto his stool, just as he was about to tell him the story.
"Well, it began as a government experiment probably a decade ago."
"Government?" However good Chase's English vocabulary was, that word was a foreigner.
"Oh, it a group of special people who is in charge of Adventure Bay, as well as all the other towns and cities in his country. Anyways, the government had just began to realize the potentials of genetics modification. Do you know what that is?"
Chase nodded, remembering the lengthy discussion he had with Ryder on it, as well as with Zuma back during the day.
"Good. So, a number of towns were picked to be sites for genetics modification labs. Adventure Bay was one of them. The construction began in secret, and very soon it was completed, yet nobody other than the government and the lab scientists knew of its existence. Afterwards the government issued puppies of various breeds to be the test subjects."
Chase's ears perked up at the mention of dogs. Dr. Smith must be talking about him and what would be the members of the PAW Patrol!
"The puppies were injected with human genes, giving them the ability to think, read, talk and write like ordinary humans. But not only that, they were also given the capabilities of human workers, construction workers, polices and engineers."
Now that explains why the PAW Patrol were so skilled in their field. Chase's desire to know more and more from this "stranger" grew greater.
"After months of tests involving the puppies, the government and the lab people deemed it a major success. But the government's next plan for the subjects was very-" Dr. Smith suddenly stopped, his hand producing a handkerchief and dabbing it against his head, "-sinister. Very horrible, too horrible for me to speak. My fellow scientists agreed with me, and so we staged a plan to help the puppies escape."
"Some of my men deliberately smashed the cover glass of the incubation tubes," Dr. Smith pointed at one, "while the rest tried their best to distract the government inspectors from checking on our cooperation with them. But they somehow figured out. My scientists were all arrested and put in jail, except for me, well because those government jerks thought a department head like me would be loyal to them!"
"That's horrible!"
"Even thought for the arrests of my good friends, the puppies still escaped. They were all to be delivered to various makeshift animal pounds across Adventure Bay, then to be joined together one-by-one to from a rescue agency deemed the PAW Patrol! Yes, it must be, my men and I decided a rescue agency for the town of Adventure Bay would be an invaluable decision!"
Chase gasped. Dr. Smith had just revealed to them the origins of the PAW Patrol! It was something Ryder had never ever discussed with them. But one question, more like a question regarding an exception, lingered in his mind.
"Wait, what about the other test subjects? Weren't there like a lot more?"
Dr. Smith smiled once more, as if he enjoyed begin casually interrogated by Chase, "My dear Pup, the other subjects also possess the abilities you members of the PAW Patrol have. I believe you've already met one, Talon right?"
"Yeah, Talon, Ryder's parent's security Pup. He's a good friend of ours. But why isn't he a part of us?"
"Well, even though most of the formation of the PAW Patrol was actually planned, if was ultimately up to your leader, a 10-year old boy by the name of Ryder, to decide. Talon does have the skills of a security Pup, as well as an Army commando, yet I believe Ryder thinks his services wouldn't be much use to this small peaceful town."
"And the others. In total, there were twenty-six test subjects. Seven, you good Pups of the PAW Patrol and Talon, have already been bound together for life. The rest you will meet later on. Some will be your best friends, maybe be accepted into the PAW Patrol by Ryder! Some will be your worst enemies. But know this, Chase, all nineteen other test subjects you and the PAW Patrol will meet."
"Wow, that's interesting," breathed Chase, his jaws literally dropping to the floor, "It's just like I've been told of the future!"
"It was all planned, Chase. The PAW Patrol, the six founding members, everything. But before we end our conversation tonight, I need you do to me a favour."
"What?"
"Forget about everything we've discussed about. The lab, the government and everything else in between. I'm only telling this to you because you were actually the first to find me in all these years."
"Forget about everything?"
"Yes, Chase, forget about everything. If you don't you'll find your life weighed heavily under anxiety and stress. It will surely ruin your PAW Patrol career. Just put it in the back of your head. Remember Chase, we must forget about the past, because life moves on fast."
It was the same statement Zuma had told him earlier, the one only successful remedy that cured him of his rage and tantrum. Chase smiled, then yawned a long and big yawn. He suddenly felt very sleepy.
"Thanks for telling me everything, Dr. Smith. And I will forget...about...everything." Just as Chase finished his sentence, his eyes fluttered shut, and he drifted into an intoxicating snooze. Dr. Smith scooped up his clothed body, then marched out of the room. He laid the sleeping German Sheppard beside his chocolate lab friend, who was still snoring as loudly as an elephant.
Glancing at the puppies one last time, Dr. Smith went back to the lab. Yet as he reached the doorway he stopped. Reaching inside, he pulled the door shut quietly, then produced a numerical lock from his pocket and hung it on the handle. It would be an extra measure to encourage Chase to forget the conversation.
Dr. Smith stepped over the Pups as he put on his raincoat. His heavy masculine legs started up, and he walked down the tunnel, towards the trapdoor, and out of this situation forever. There would be no turning back.
