Working with Dakota and trying to figure out his data structures, it was interesting, and challenging, which made it even more interesting. Doofenshmirtz had a lot of fun with it, but it was still tedious and really tiring sometimes. He was a hard worker, but there was only so long he could work on trying to figure out what was going on with Dakota before he got bored of it. He frequently had to take breaks, or else he would probably get careless and misunderstand something and make mistakes. Dakota's systems were so complicated, and the Squip wasn't exactly your every day computer. Doofenshmirtz never really tried to screw up his -inators, but he had to be especially careful to keep anything bad from happening.
Doofenshmirtz had thought that Milo and Dakota would push for him to keep working on the coding, but neither of them had said a word about his frequent and long breaks. Milo was the one who was insistent that Dakota was 'fixed', but ever since Doofenshmirtz had been working on the coding, he'd been seeing Milo less and less. He knew the boy had his friends that he wanted to be with, but Doofenshmirtz thought that Milo's rushed excuses as he ran out the door were just that, excuses. He was looking for reasons to be out of the house as much as possible, and Doofenshmirtz hadn't understood why until he'd noticed that Dakota only ever came into the house after Milo had already left. It almost seemed like they were avoiding each other.
At one of the times when Doofenshmirtz was taking a break, he decided to ask Dakota what was going on with him and Milo. He knew it wasn't exactly his place, but Doofenshmirtz had never let that stop him before.
Dakota frowned slightly and leaned back. "I'm just giving Milo space. He doesn't want to see me like this, so I'm trying to make sure he doesn't."
Doofenshmirtz frowned. This all felt incredibly wrong to him. "You don't want to ignore Milo though, do you?" Before Dakota could answer, Doofenshmirtz continued. "Forget for a second about what Milo wants, I'm talking about what you want. You do not want to avoid Milo." It wasn't even a question, Doofenshmirtz was stating a fact.
"It doesn't matter what I want," Dakota said impatiently, his eyes sparking behind his glasses. "I want whatever Milo wants."
Doofenshmirtz frowned. Dakota's words seemed to strike a chord in his head, but he wasn't sure what it meant. It was right at the edge of his mind, and Doofenshmirtz thought he was about to find it when he heard a knock on the shed door. "Who is it?" He called out.
"It's just me, Dr. D," Sara let herself in. She held up a letter. "This arrived in the mail for you. It says it's from...Perry the Platypus?" Sara squinted at the letter. "I don't know if I'd be more concerned if this was a person whose last name is Platypus, or if this was an actual platypus writing to you."
"Of course he's an actual platypus," Doofenshmirtz scowled, both because of the letter itself, and because of Sara's words. Who had ever heard of someone with the name Platypus? That was just ridiculous. Doofenshmirtz glared at the letter. "Throw it away, I don't want to read it." Doofenshmirtz turned back to his computer. He'd been sure that he was close to a breakthrough before Sara came in. Maybe if he looked at the coding deep enough he would be able to remember what he hadn't quite realized before.
Dakota moved towards Sara and accepted the note from her. "I'll talk to him." Doofenshmirtz glanced back towards Dakota. He didn't want a supercomputer to try to act like his therapist. He got enough of that behavior from Norm, he didn't need it from Dakota as well.
"Whatever," Sara shrugged. She left the shed, closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, Dakota turned towards Doofenshmirtz and put the letter down on the desk. Doofenshmirtz was determined to not even look at it.
"What's with the animosity?" Dakota asked. "I thought you two had been working together since you left evil."
"Working together," Doofenshmirtz scoffed. That was a joke. "Perry the Platypus only hangs out with me because he thinks I need babysitting, because it's his job." Doofenshmirtz stared intently at the computer screen without really seeing or understanding it. "He doesn't think I have what it takes to be good." Perry the Platypus didn't trust him, and that stung. Doofenshmirtz expected this kind of thing from Francis, but Perry the Platypus? He thought they knew each other better than this.
Dakota looked down at the unopened letter. "That's not right."
"No, it's not," Doofenshmirtz agreed completely. "I may not be a perfect guy, but I'm not the only person that makes mistakes. Even Perry the Platypus messes things up sometimes."
"No, I mean you're wrong," Dakota said. Doofenshmirtz looked at him in shock, thinking that Dakota must be misunderstanding something, except he looked so confident, so sure, that this was just another piece of information. "Perry the Platypus wouldn't be investing in you and your work if he didn't think you had what it took."
Doofenshmirtz started. "What...investing in...what?!"
Dakota blinked. "You don't know?" He grabbed the laptop from Doofenshmirtz and began to pull something up. Doofenshmirtz looked over Dakota's shoulder and was shocked when it looked like Dakota was pulling up bank records...Perry the Platypus' bank records.
"That can't be legal," Doofenshmirtz said, but he didn't look away. He was curious. He knew that being an O.W.C.A agent was Perry the Platypus' job, but he hadn't actually thought that he got paid for it. Doofenshmirtz knew that O.W.C.A didn't pay their interns, it wasn't that big of a leap to think that they didn't pay their agents either. What did animals even have to spend money on? Many of the agents were pets.
"Look at this," Dakota pointed out the recent transfers from Perry the Platypus' account. He seemed to have sent out checks made out to Professor Time Industries, and there were a few times that he had deposited cash.. It took Doofenshmirtz a long moment to realize just what that meant.
"Wait, I'm Professor Time," Doofenshmirtz leaned closer, half expecting the information to change up on him. "He's...he's setting money aside for me?" And it wasn't just a few dozen dollars either. In total, the amount of money that Perry the Platypus had deposited into this side account was $50,000. That kind of money could go a long way.
Doofenshmirtz looked at the letter on the counter. He hesitated for a moment before he decided to open up the envelope and pull out the card inside. It was a simple apology card, and just moments ago Doofenshmirtz would have brushed it aside and not considered it sincere or worth his attention, but now he wasn't so sure. Perry the Platypus didn't send cards to just anybody, and he could tell that this was from Perry the Platypus, not some silly thing from O.W.C.A.. And Doofenshmirtz couldn't forget what he had seen, what Perry the Platypus was doing for him. Perry the Platypus was helping him, giving up so much for his sake, and yet he was still apologizing for hurting his feelings.
Perry the Platypus may be fairly closed up with his feelings, but when he let his guard down, he did it sincerely.
"I have to talk to him," Doofenshmirtz decided. He took the laptop from Dakota and closed it. He put it into a bag, along with his coding books and notes. He still had that bit of information that was just outside his reach. If he remembered it while he was talking to Perry the Platypus, he wanted to be able to write it out or take note of it while he could.
"Hang on," Dakota closed his eyes. "Perry the Platypus' owners don't know he's an agent, so if you go showing up at his house, you're going to have a hard time explaining why you want to talk to their pet." Dakota opened his eyes. "I sent a message to Perry the Platypus' communicator, told him you're ready to talk to him, and that he should meet you at Danville park."
Doofenshmirtz looked at Dakota in shock. "You only had your eyes closed for, like, a second, and you were able to say that much so quickly?"
Dakota smirked. "Squips aren't just really efficient, they're really fast too. I can process and transfer information faster than you can blink."
"Okay, now I really have to figure out what makes you tick," Doofenshmirtz felt a rush of curiosity. The kind of science that he was most interested in were his own inventions and -inators, but that didn't mean that he wasn't intrigued by the work that other people did. He loved to steal ideas from other scientists.
"You've got my coding at your fingertips," Dakota said. "As for what a general Squip can do, I'm more than able to tell you that stuff."
"Later," Doofenshmirtz said, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Why did he only think of talking to Dakota when he had other things that claimed top priority? "First I have to talk things out with Perry the Platypus, and then we need to get back to work on figuring out your coding." He felt like they were this close to figuring out what the coding was saying, and after that all Doofenshmirtz had to do was put some changes into Dakota''s new coding and have him download it again.
Doofenshmirtz had considered just copying Dakota's old coding onto his new one and hoped that would fix the problem, but there was no guarantee it would work. Doofenshmirtz may sometimes be willing to do things without fully understanding it, just going with the flow and see what happens, but he couldn't afford to do that this time. For all Doofenshmirtz knew, it had been Dakota's old coding that had caused him to reboot and 'fixing' it might just cause him to glitch and reboot all over again, putting them right back where they started. No, Doofenshmirtz wasn't going to be making any changes until he understood exactly what those changes were.
Doofenshmirtz wondered briefly if he should talk to Perry the Platypus on his own, except he was slightly nervous to do so, which just made him frustrated with himself and Perry the Platypus. He knew that Perry the Platypus was trying to help him, but he'd been hurt by his nemesis, and even if the reason for that hurt wasn't there, that didn't mean that the feelings themselves weren't real.
"Do you...can you understand what Perry the Platypus says?" Doofenshmirtz asked. He really didn't know what he expected of the super computer.
"I have been programmed to understand all animals," Dakota said. "You want me to come translate for you?"
"I don't normally need a translator with Perry the Platypus," Doofenshmirtz said. He was usually able to get the gist of what Perry the Platypus was saying through context, but that didn't feel like nearly enough for this particular conversation. He wanted to understand exactly what Perry the Platypus had to say to him. "This time though, if you'd be willing, I would appreciate a translator...and a friend there as support."
"I can translate, no problem," Dakota said. "I'm not exactly the best emotional support though, but I'll give it a try." Just the fact that Dakota was trying, it didn't matter how bad he was at it, he was automatically better at emotional support than Doofenshmirtz' entire family, save for his daughter.
"That's fine," Doofenshmirtz assured him. He grabbed Dakota's arm and pulled him out the shed door. "All you'll have to do is listen to me rant or possibly monologue when we're done."
"Oh," Dakota grinned. "Yeah, I can do that." Dakota cooperated with Doofenshmirtz and let the man pull him along. They passed Brigette Murphy as they left the yard. She gave Dakota a concerned look as they passed, but she didn't try to stop and talk to them. Doofenshmirtz looked at Dakota in confusion.
"Mom always seems worried about you." Doofenshmirtz commented.
"She doesn't know I'm a Squip," Dakota said. "When I first connected with Milo, our story was that I had been hurt by my partner, my partner being Cavendish. When I reconnected with Cavendish and started hanging out with him again, I guess Brigette and Martin thought that I got back together with my abusive partner."
"That's 'cause you did," Doofenshmirtz said automatically. From what he'd seen of Dakota and Cavendish's interactions, they certainly seemed to work well together, but what he heard about it told a different story. Cavendish had tried to delete Dakota's programming, and then he'd done something that had changed Dakota's whole structure and adjusted his personality completely. Partners weren't supposed to do things like that.
Dakota gave Doofenshmirtz a cold look and the man shrugged. "Right, sorry, continue," Doofenshmirtz still thought that Cavendish maybe wasn't the best partner, but that wasn't what they were talking about right now, and Doofenshmirtz didn't want to fight about it.
"Anyways, they don't know what happened between me and Cav this time, but they know I'm acting differently, and they can tell it's because of something he's done, so they're a little protective I guess."
Doofenshmirtz nodded. In his experience, Milo and Sara's parents had gotten into the habit of acting like a parent to everybody. It was why Doofenshmirtz frequently referred to them as Mom and Dad. He knew that they weren't his parents, but they still treated him in a way that he wished his parents would. It seemed they were doing the same thing for Dakota.
Doofenshmirtz still wasn't quite used to Milo's neighborhood and knowing where everything was in relation to it, but Dakota was a walking computer, he knew exactly where they were going. Dakota seemed to lead Doofenshmirtz to every shortcut imaginable, and much sooner than Doofenshmirtz could imagine they were walking right up to Danville Park. Because they'd arrived so soon, Doofenshmirtz was sure that he would have time to gather himself before Perry the Platypus arrived, but to his surprise he saw that the agent was already waiting there for them.
"Perry the Platypus!" As nervous as Doofenshmirtz had been before, he felt perfectly fine now. He rushed to his old nemesis. Dakota walked slowly behind him, his hands in his pockets. "Oh, I got your card."
Perry the Platypus chattered. Dakota translated for him. "He's surprised you want to talk already."
"Well, I didn't want to," Doofenshmirtz admitted. "But Dakota showed me what you were doing."
Perry the Platypus' eyes widened for a moment before he narrowed them at Doofenshmirtz, glared at him. Doofenshmirtz didn't need a translation. He knew that glare very well. It wasn't nearly as common as his 'you're up to something' look, but Doofenshmirtz was still very familiar with Perry the Platypus' 'you did something, what did you do?' look.
"What, no, don't give me that look, it's not my fault." Doofenshmirtz held up his hands defensively. He gestured to Dakota. "He showed me your bank records, without me asking, might I add." Perry the Platypus transferred his judging glare to Dakota. He chattered again.
"Look, I didn't do anything malicious with your information." Dakota said. "I literally just showed Doof exactly what you would have eventually shown him." Perry the Platypus' glare deepened. Dakota's eyes flashed as a look of irritation came to his eyes. "You sound like Cavendish. Why are you so focused on what I did that you won't even listen to why I did it?" Doofenshmirtz thought he understood where both of them were coming from. Dakota had looked into Perry the Platypus' personal information, which wasn't exactly legal, but he'd also done it with innocent enough intentions. He'd just been trying to help Doofenshmirtz.
"Don't take his judgemental glare personally," Doofenshmirtz said to Dakota. "He's that way with everyone." He then looked to Perry the Platypus. "And remember Dakota's a computer, you can't really lecture him about morals. It's not exactly in his programming." Doofenshmirtz froze, that little bit of knowledge that was sitting at the back of his mind was right there, ready for him to grab it.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Doofenshmirtz waved his arms slightly like he was trying to quiet Perry the Platypus and Dakota, even though neither of them were saying anything. "Programming, your programming, that's it!"
Perry the Platypus looked shocked and Dakota looked wary. "What about my programming?" Dakota asked, but Doofenshmirtz shushed him. He sat down on the ground and pulled out his laptop and notes. Doofenshmirtz quickly began to write things out. He was in such a rush that his handwriting would probably be illegible to anybody that wasn't him, but he had to get his thoughts written out before they escaped him again.
"Okay, earlier you said that it didn't matter what you wanted," Doofenshmirtz said, writing even as he talked out his thoughts. "You just cared about what Milo wanted." Dakota nodded in confirmation. "Maybe I missed something before, but you didn't seem like this before. You did things that Cavendish and Milo didn't like so much. You did things for yourself, right?"
Dakota thought for a second. "Huh, yeah, I guess I did. I mean, it was usually for their sake, but yeah, it was against their wishes anyways." There was a small difference, but a difference nonetheless, and in programming and coding, even a little difference could mean everything.
"You don't have any new coding," Doofenshmirtz looked at Dakota's programming on the laptop. "This could be because of one of the lines that were switched, changing priorities, but I don't think so,"
"Why not?" Dakota sat down on the ground next to Doofenshmirtz and looked over his shoulder at the coding.
"Because the bottom line of the new coding would be the top line of the old one," Doofenshmirtz said. "And while you used to be more independent, it was never your top priority."
"Definitely not," Dakota agreed.
"I bet that this if/then program is what's influencing your independence," Doofenshmirtz said. "This line won't apply unless certain conditions are met. In the old program, the condition wasn't needed, which would explain why you thought for yourself more and made your own decisions instead of just following the will of your host."
"Okay, I get that," Dakota nodded. "But how does knowing this help?"
"Now that I know what one line of coding says, I can figure out what everything else does," Doofenshmirtz said excitedly. "This is the key that I need to crack this code." Everything else would fall into place and make more sense, he was sure of it. "Once I know what your coding does, I can fix it using the language that fits the rest of the programming, and we can get you reprogrammed.
Doofenshmirtz still didn't know for sure if this was what Dakota wanted, but it seemed that even Dakota didn't know what he wanted right now. His programming wouldn't allow him to think for himself, which was exactly what Doofenshmirtz was trying to fix. He was determined to get this right, and hopefully he was able to figure out how to get Dakota's programming set up in a way that both Dakota and Milo were happy with.
Doofenshmirtz pulled out his coding books to use as reference. Maybe working in the park wasn't the most traditional thing to do, but it was most convenient for him at that moment. Doofenshmirtz worked best when he was motivated, and he had that drive right then and there. Going back to the Murphy house would take a few minutes, and he might lose his thought process and drive. Doofenshmirtz may be working unconventionally right now, but at least he was getting things done, and that was what mattered.
Doofenshmirtz smirked to himself as he looked at Dakota's coding as though he was seeing it for the first time. Finally, he'd be able to get some work done.
A/N: As frustrating as last chapter was, this one worked out a lot better, and thank goodness for that.