Author's notes:
If you wish to know something more about the story, you're most welcome to visit my profile - there you can find tons of useful, additional informations about the story.
In the meantime, enjoy reading the story ;)
Real life hurts
by TigressPL
Chapter 5: A stroll down memory line
Penny woke up late – it was almost nine o'clock, while she was used to getting up at seven. She didn't mind though – it was the last week of holidays and she needed a good sleep after all the events of previous day. After all, getting back to one's favorite work isn't a common situation. Besides, it was Sunday, a day off even in filming industry. She looked at a straight heap of books lying on her bedside table. It was a gift she got from the director yesterday: scenarios of all episodes of "Bolt", printed on a good paper and bound in hard covers. It made a total of seventeen books, the two episodes she didn't star in included in this number. She smiled fondly and decided to read through them today, as she didn't have anything else to do anyway. She reached and grabbed the first one, deciding to give it a go before breakfast. It was a pilot, so she quickly got through the introductory scenes, showing the characters: Bolt, her and her father. She smiled at the scene, where she saw news about a "mad criminal" - doctor Calico - in the TV. Then, after presenting the place she and her father lived in and a fragment about the professor's science genius, the real action started…
Penny got back home, trying to relax, but she couldn't. The feeling was too strong. Even Bolt, expressing his joy upon seeing her, couldn't chase her gloom away.
"Dad?" she called. "Are you home?"
"Yes, of course," her answer came from the professor's study. "How was it at school, Penny?"
"Good, thanks," she answered, dropping her backpack and going into the study. "But… there's one thing concerning me."
When she came in, her father immediately turned from his desk.
"Sure, what is it?" he asked seriously.
"It's probably nonsense, but when I was returning from the school, I've seen a dozen of black cars… I felt like I was spied."
"It was probably only a feeling," he smiled reassuringly.
She smiled too, then got out of the room. Professor stood up and looked through a window. A black car with darkened windshields stood at the street next to their house. He looked at it for a second, then sighed and sat back at his desk.
"It's nothing," he muttered, rubbing his temples, "simply a coincidence."
A sudden sound dragged him out of his reverie. He reached into his pocket and took out a mobile. He answered it.
"Am I having the pleasure of speaking with Professor Jeremiah Brown? The famous chemist and physicist, constructor of a micro-focusing mirrors satellite system and current co-worker on an 'Understanding animals' operation in Albert Einstein's Research and Development Center?" a voice with heavy English accent asked.
"Speaking. Who are you, sir? You seem to know a lot of my classified work."
"My name is doctor Calico. I have a very tempting work offer for a brilliant scientist such as you, professor. You would work with the newest technology… for an adequate emolument, of course."
"Did you count that I don't read newspapers?" professor answered after a while of silence. "That I don't watch television? I don't think there is a person in America that hasn't heard about the, let me quote today's 'Time': 'most cruel, rich and distraught criminal of XXI century'."
"Absolutely not! I admire your intelligence, professor, how could I doubt it? So, even though I'm thankful for your assurance about my spreading fame, I don't see any connection of my question and your answer."
"Maybe I shall put it bluntly then: I will never work for a criminal, doctor."
"A pity…" Calico sighed. "Thank you for devoting some of your time to me anyway, professor. We will talk again soon…"
He wanted to talk back, but doctor immediately hanged up. He sighed and once again looked through the window. The black car's engine started and it drove away… But it didn't make him feel any better.
Penny quickly read through next scenes, smiling at her memories. Those were the only scenes in whole show where Bolt acted as a normal dog, played with her and so on… This thought brought another memories into her head. Memories that were barely hers, based mostly on what the adults told her about that day later.
She had been one of the youngest actresses in the filming industry ever, already acting for two years at the age of nine. Miraculously though, she had avoided becoming a spoiled brat – mostly thanks to her mother, Beatrix. She had been completely devoted to her daughter's work – she hadn't had to work otherwise, as Penny's incomes provided the family enough funds. Therefore, Beatrix hadn't only been a mother – she had also been her daughter's manager and chief of personal department, hiring and firing agents if needed. She had also always had the last word on accepting or denying any contract. As if that hadn't been enough, she had always inspected the agents' work, not to let them hurt Penny in any way. She had been like her daughter's guardian angel.
When Penny's ninth birthday had been nearing, the girl had asked her mum if she could get a dog. She had gotten one of the most popular answers – "I'll think about it". By a total coincidence, not a week after this question, Beatrix had received one of the weirdest offers she'd ever seen. A young director, Sean Tyler, recently hired at Sovereign Entertainment, had visited her in person to present his proposition.
The plot hadn't been very original – a genetically altered dog with superpowers travelling around the world with his owner and fighting bad guys. The eerie part of the plan – and the one that was going to make it a hit – had been Tyler's idea to make the dog believe he's actually a superdog. To close him in an artificial world, to make him believe he really saves his owner from danger. To achieve this, certain conditions must had been met though. First, the dog had needed to be raised along his owner to make a true, unbreakable bond, so it had required buying a puppy for the actress. Furthermore, she had had to care for the dog, to make him love her too. Then, the dog had needed to be trained. The training had required the dog to be at least one year old and had been going to last three full years. That's why the chosen actress had had to be young – she hadn't been to appear in the show faster than in four years' time since then. For Penny it had clearly been a dream come true.
The director had looked trustworthy and ambitious, his plan had been clear and he had offered good conditions, so Beatrix had agreed almost immediately. She had demanded only one thing – if Sovereign Entertainment won't agree to launch the show, Penny will be free to keep the dog. They had signed the contract, then Beatrix had called Penny to the room.
And that's were Penny's real memories began.
She had gotten down to the living room and had seen some unknown guy, talking to her mother. She had been used to it though, her work had made her meet dozens of strangers every day.
"Hey mum, did you call me?"
Beatrix had nodded and laid her out the plot of a new show she had signed her into. After that, the newcomer – Penny remembered that she liked him at an instant – had kneeled in front of her and handed her something. She hadn't looked at it though, as the adult in front of her had kept eye contact.
"Now," he had said, "I want you to find a dog of your dreams and give him this."
She had finally glanced at the item in her hands and hugged the director in an outburst of joy. What she had held was a collar with a name on it. Bolt.
She wiped a small tear. Those were good memories… A week after those events, after visiting a dozen of shelters and kennels, she had finally found the one, a cute white German Shepherd puppy… She glanced at Mr. Carrot, Bolt's favorite chew toy, lying on her bedside table. The orange toy was smiling from ear to ear, so she smiled back and returned to reading. After the idyllic scenes of their common play, action began once more…
A clock standing on his desk showed it was well after midnight. Professor sighed and rubbed his eyes to chase sleepiness away. Since Penny's return and Calico's call he had been planning what to do. Many scribbled sheets of paper laid upon his desk, those containing various barely legible sentences, diagrams and formulas.
He took something off his head and laid it atop the notes. It looked like a monocle having an additional temple to make wearing it easier. In fact, it was an easy-access computer terminal designed by Penny. Like father, like daughter – despite her young age Penny was already a great inventor. The monocle was operated fully by voice, it was composed of the state-of-the-art display and miniature microphones. Whole software was stored on a USB flash drive, all it needed was an access to Internet or files on the computer, depending on where the information were to be found.
"Thankfully we've gone through most tests already," he muttered to himself. "And I really have to do this, tomorrow may be too late."
He stood silent for a while.
"I just hope everything will be fine," he sighed once more, then left the room.
He didn't have to go far, Penny's room was adjacent to his study. He opened the door quietly, letting a beam of light fall inside. He looked affectionately at his daughter, sleeping sound with Bolt. He took the dog into his arms and left the room. In the meantime Bolt awoke, so professor put him on the floor and ordered him to follow. They left the house and got into the professor's car.
***
Einstein's Research and Development Center was a big, modern building, made typically of steel and glass. It was placed near city center, but still quite far away from the most cramped parts. It was thoroughly dark and quiet now, as all scientists working here left for a weekend - exceptional job granted special working conditions. Even though, professor met no problems with coming inside. Parking's gates opened when he came, as their computer sensors caught signal of a special transmitter implanted into his car. Coming into the building itself required him to type a security code on the door and use his pass card. As he walked through the corridors with Bolt, lamps over their heads turned on, only to darken again after they have passed.
Finally, the professor opened one of the multitudinous doors and came into quite big laboratory. All the devices started to turn on, twinkling with a myriad of diodes and displays. He ordered Bolt to stay, then changed into a lab coat and started hustling about, readying everything to the operation he planned.
After half an hour, his preparations were complete. He looked about the laboratory once more, trying to remember anything he could forgot, but everything seemed to be well taken care of. Further delay was pointless, so he opened the door to a big metal chamber, biggest thing in whole this laboratory. Bolt came in hesitantly, then looked about the weird place he has been placed in. In the meantime, professor started clicking various buttons on the consoles. Door closed behind Bolt and several lamp-like appliances neared him, letting out golden sparks, which soon combined to fill whole the container with brilliant lightning bolts, hitting Bolt every now and then, yet causing no pain. Jeremiah watched several displays gathering information about the object of alternation, flashing various anatomical details of Bolt's body. After all the data had been collected, the readings started to change as genetic alternation of the dog proceeded.
The final step of the alteration was marking Bolt's side with a black lightning mark. Then, the machines turned down. After a while, professor released Bolt from the chamber. The dog looked normally, expression on his face being the only indicator of deep changes that has taken place in his organism.
"Good boy," Jeremiah petted Bolt."We did it..."
"Indeed. You did," a new voice, coming from the entrance to laboratory, cut in. Professor raised his head and looked at four men standing in the door. They were dressed in identical black uniforms with yellow markings. "Now," the tallest of them spoke once more, "give up and come with us."
"Never! I have a genetically altered dog here, he'll kill you if you do as much as try to touch me… Bolt…! Sic them!"
Bolt looked at his owner quizzically.
"Attack!" Jeremiah ordered once more. Bolt's only reaction was cocking his head. Professor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We'll have to do this in the old way…" he suddenly jumped at the attackers, knocking them over like a bunch of bowling pins. "Bolt, heel!" he yelled, dashing down the corridor. Bolt followed obediently. They went through the corridors so quickly, that the lamps usually lit up after they have left the section they should illuminate. There were no signs of pursuit, but professor didn't look back. He ran frantically towards his car, then quickly let Bolt inside, jumped onto the driver's seat and turned on the engine. Soon, the RD Center started to diminish behind his car, fading in the distance. He wanted to sigh with relief, but the sound decided to stay in his throat when a loud explosion sounded in the distance. He glanced into the mirror and froze in horror.
Einstein's RD Center was history.
Sudden ringing of his mobile almost caused him to have a heart attack. He answered nervously.
"I am still just kindly proposing to join me, professor," a certain voice with heavy English accent sounded in the receiver. "Don't make me threaten you. We will discuss my proposition again tomorrow in the afternoon, shall we?" with that, Calico hanged up.
That was the end of the pilot, end of the very first episode of "Bolt". She remembered that Sovereign Entertainment's acceptation didn't make Sean calm, on the contrary: he was a bundle of nerves. Everybody from his team understood the reasons of such behavior: he invested five years of intense work and money to train Bolt, to ensure success… That's why first serious celebration hadn't take place until after third episode of "Bolt" had jumped onto the rankings and settled there comfortably, becoming the best one for a long time.
Penny yawned and stretched, putting the book aside. It was about time to get something to eat.
In the same time, Beatrix and the trio of animals were enjoying a stroll towards a small lake, about a kilometer away from their house. In a more inhabited area they would probably get much attention – sight of a cat and a hamster following their owner was really weird. Thankfully, they lived in the hinterlands, lack of privacy was the last thing they could complain at here.
Mittens went alongside Beatrix on the front, while Bolt and Rhino followed a few steps behind. The quiet atmosphere was thought-provoking. Bolt unwittingly stared at Mittens, thinking about the eeriness of their relationship.
'I like Mittens. That's normal, considering what we've been through together, what she's taught me. But I like Rhino too, yet… Every time I think about it, Mittens is… special. Seeing her arouses emotions. Why is it so?'
Trying to come up with an answer, he lost his connection with reality. Hearing Rhino saying something to him, he reluctantly devoted part of his mind to understand the words. Nonetheless, most of his attention was still at the black cat in front of him.
"…she had an award-winning dog, a really beautiful Dalmatian…" was all Bolt understood from Rhino's story.
"Really? What color was she?" he asked to pretend he's been at least listening.
The hamster didn't answer, instead just looking at the absent-minded dog. He smirked and suddenly yelled, "Bolt!"
He caught the dog off-guard, causing him to literally shake his reverie off. Bolt looked at him expectantly.
"Gee, Bolt, I haven't seen you so deep in thought yet," he laughed. "You seemed to stare at Mittens as if you had been wondering how to court her… As if you've fallen in love with Mittens!" Rhino was laughing his head off.
'Did I?' instead of answering, Bolt could just think about it. 'Is THIS a reason for all those feelings I had? Is this even possible for a dog to fall for a cat…?'
Calming down a little, Rhino glanced at Bolt, expecting to see him laughing too… Instead he saw the dog look at Mittens again, back in his train of though. He cleared his throat to catch Bolt's attention once more and demanded, "Bolt… Tell me it's a joke. That you have not just confirmed you love Mittens."
"I… I can't. I just… I don't know what's-" he started answering in vain.
"Okay," Rhino interrupted, raising his finger. "I want you to confirm you're aware of two simple facts. First: you're a dog. Second: she's a cat. Third: this is abnormal!"
"That makes a total of three facts," Bolt answered, trying to steer clear of the topic.
"Confirm it!" Rhino demanded once more.
"Yes, I know perfectly well what species do we represent and I understand what you're implying. I can't explain it though."
"It's unnecessary. For a moment I feared you lost your mind," Rhino answered calmly. "How are you going to tell her?"
Straightforwardness of the question and simple realization of the fact it's even possible surprised Bolt greatly, making him stumble. He quickly stood up and caught up with Rhino.
"You ARE going to tell her, aren't you?" the rodent demanded once more.
"Of course not and you're not to do so either! She wouldn't understand-"
"Would you?"
The accurateness of the remark made Bolt shut up. He tried to answer, but no sound left his open mouth. Silence lasted for a few minutes, finally Rhino understood Bolt wasn't going to say anything.
"I won't tell her," he promised. "But I think you should," he added sternly.
Having eaten breakfast, Penny wanted to walk Bolt, but he wasn't around. A quick inspection of the house ensured her no one was present.
'They must have gone out without me when I was still sleeping,' she thought.
She didn't like the idea of going out alone, so she decided to sit in her room and read on until her family will be back. She eagerly opened the second scenario book.
Penny was sitting in a park with Bolt, enjoying a short break in their stroll, when her mobile rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Penny… I don't have much time…" a her father's concerned voice sounded in the receiver.
"Daddy…? Are you okay?"
"Something's… come up at work, honey. Daddy's not gonna be home for a while."
"I don't understand…" she admitted.
" You can't go back to the house, okay?"
"What's happening?"
"It's alright, you won't be alone… You have Bolt. I've altered him. He can protect you now."
"But how?" she asked, now seriously confused. Unfortunately, the mobile hanged up in the very moment.
She petted Bolt in reverie, trying to piece something from the scratched information she just got.
"Dad was home when we left," she muttered to herself. "He wasn't at work, so why did he say 'something's come up AT WORK'? We have to check it out. Bolt, come on!" she said, standing up and grabbing her scooter. Bolt looked at her accusingly. "Hey, he said we can't go back to the house, but I won't come in, I only want to look at it, okay?" the dog jumped down from the bench, expressing his obedience. They rushed back towards their home.
***
The Browns' house was burning. Three men leaving it were barely recognizable due to the brilliant light behind them. After a while, they moved away from the fire and became distinguishable. Two men in black, having characteristic yellow signs on their helmets, held resigned professor Brown. They dragged him towards a street, to a helicopter surrounded by a group of people, mostly soldiers dressed identically to the two. The only one not wearing a uniform, a tall man in suit, stepped forward. He would probably look like a respectable businessman without his thoroughly green right eye. That eye made him look like a criminal in a flash.
"Ah, professor," he spoke to his prisoner. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you in person."
"I'm sorry, doctor, but I can't reciprocate the compliment," Jeremiah answered bitterly.
Calico didn't respond, instead ordering the men holding professor to walk inside with him, then pointed another two and commanded, "Guard the house. Young lady Brown will probably come back soon. Invite her politely to join her father, we don't want too much publicity… Besides, she may come in handy if our friend would ever try to put his foot down. I want her alive, understood?"
The soldiers saluted to confirm. Calico boarded the copter and flew away with rest of his minions, leaving only the selected two behind.
***
Hidden behind a hedge, a certain pair had heard and seen everything that happened. When the copter left, Penny whispered, "We need to get to the house quickly and grab some items before they burn, so we must beat the living daylights out of those two. Dad said you can protect me, Bolt, so… Go get them!"
The dog didn't react, just cocking his head at his owner. Penny sighed, "I'll have to teach you this otherwise. But I don't have a weapon…"
She reached into her backpack and took out her scooter. Collapsed, it wasn't bigger than a bottle of Coke. She inspected it in reverie, thinking about the day she got it from her father…
"It's made of titanium, an extremely light and tough metal," he had described it, while showing her how to collapse and unfold it. "Moreover, you can divide it into parts and piece otherwise. I have no idea how that certain fact may prove itself useful," he had admitted, laughing, "but I'm sure you'll come up with something. You're so creative girl…"
She suddenly smiled, as a good idea popped into her head. She unscrewed the part connecting handle bar to the front wheel. She unfolded it to its maximal possible length.
"Now, that's better than a baseball bat. Still, it needs something more to be really effectual."
She added one of the wheels to the construction, thus creating something between a metal stick and a mace.
"You ready, Bolt?" she asked the dog, then added, "Heel!"
They jumped through the hedge. Penny ran over to one of the minions and hit him in the back of his helmet with her new weapon before he could do anything else. Strength of the impact didn't stop on the helmet, so he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The second soldier caught Penny's wrist, making her drop the bat. She screamed and that's probably what made Bolt join the struggle. He caught the man's ankle and pulled him a step back, making him fall down, then suddenly pulled harder, sending him flying over the house…
"Wow," Penny soughed. She knew there was no time for astonishment now though, so she jumped into the burning house. Seeing that, Bolt was about to do the same, but before he reached the entrance, Penny was already back, mostly intact. "Dad thought about everything," she said with gratitude, looking at the items in her hands: a laptop, two bundles of hundred-dollar bills, her easy-access monocle and some other gadgets. She packed them and all the parts of her scooter into her backpack.
That's when she spotted a black car with darkened windshields, driving in their direction.
"Bolt! We gotta go!" she screamed, grabbing her backpack and dashed away with Bolt hot on her heels.
The rest of second episode was focused on Bolt's training, the adventure of discovering his powers. By the end of this episode Bolt could run at an incredible pace, known various attack techniques and reacted properly to new commands. Those powers finally started the show's main theme. They were limited in comparison to the ones, available to Bolt after some more episodes – even though, they made "Bolt" jump higher in rankings immediately.
One could ask, how did the producers manage to learn Bolt all the other powers – superbark and so on – in few weeks. And why did the basic training took so long? The answer was simple.
Beginning from his puppyhood, Bolt was trained almost every day. His main trainer was Carl Blake, a young, innovative animal psychologist. He was a first member of Tyler's crew, without him the show would have no chance to appear on screen.
Bolt's training sessions gradually ensured him he possessed superpowers. As time passed, bars bent more easily, training dummies were loosely attached to the ground and made of softer material, running tracks ran slower, superbark's effects grew in number and metals started to give in more easily to the heat vision. Bolt learnt that he's mostly invincible, that there's nothing he should fear… and that whatever happens, his main goal is ensuring the safety of his person, Penny. There was also one more aspect of the training: sometimes Blake injected Bolt some water. After that, all the training utilities temporary stopped giving in to Bolt, making him feel as if he lost his powers.
After three years of training, Bolt needed such injection every time he left the training hall. After four, Penny lost possibility of taking him home, because "Bolt needed to stop losing his powers every day, as it could affect his mind in an unwanted way". The scientist kept his word – Bolt hadn't been injected until the start of filming process.
They were about a hundred meters from the lake they were headed to, but Bolt wasn't aware of this, still pondering over the real inferno of thoughts and ideas that awoke during his short conversation with Rhino. Currently, he'd been daydreaming about his first encounter with Mittens.
'…though she must have been scared to death when I pinned her. One could say, I literally bolted from the blue,' he chuckled at the pun. 'And her talking with those pigeons! Wait a moment, what were they saying? »You got her, pal!«, »That's herl!«, »She's the one!«, »That is definitely the right cat!«… They didn't mean that, but taking into consideration what I'm feeling now… Could they be foreshadowing the future? Even unknowingly? That would be strange, but impossible? Mittens is beginning to convince me nothing is impossible, I mean… if you scratch yourself while sleeping without moving your real paw… What's more, when you got no claws… The word impossible starts to lose its base meaning, doesn't it? That's kinda ironic though, I believed I had superpowers, she made me understand it's otherwise. And now she's the one to make me believe everything's possible. But wha-'
"Bolt, duck!" Mittens' voice managed to break through his reverie. He obeyed and momentarily collapsed to the ground, simultaneously trying to find out what's going on.
"Quack," someone in front of him said. He raised his eyes. A duck. "Watch your steps, buddy," the bird said and started waddling towards the lake.
"Gee, Bolt, since when do you sleep during walks?" Mittens asked, laughing.
"I think I know," Rhino muttered, rolling behind Bolt. He pushed the dog towards Mittens quasi-unintentionally, then receded.
"What's wrong with that rodent?" Mittens smirked. "Too much light focusing on him through this plastic ball?"
"Yeah, maybe," Bolt agreed, relieved that he avoided explaining her what was Rhino's real intention.
"Let's move on with this," Penny said to herself, reaching for a next scenario.
During Bolt's training he and Penny spent most time in forests to avoid publicity. They ate and slept in motels – they could afford better conditions with the money left by Jeremiah, but Penny feared Calico's minions will be guarding good hotels. For those few days they had only encountered those soldiers once, seeing them driving in a black car on a road nearby the motel they stayed in at the time being.
Penny had no idea as to what should they do further. The only thing that kept her from falling into depression after the traumatic events she'd been through was training Bolt. Have she not worked so hard, she would probably completely break down. She had no possibility to find Calico and she knew engaging police would be of no use, whole world was searching for the vile gangster.
Every day they went from motel to forest, passing a huge billboard advertising this year's Olympic Games. This day was no exception. Penny looked at the advert blankly, when suddenly something struck her. All those athletic sportsmen had a simple yellow symbol on their suits. The symbol that Penny saw on the memorable day when her father had been kidnapped. Huge letters on the billboard read: 'CLC International, sponsor of America's national team'. Suddenly, the three facts had pieced together: doctor Calico, a famous criminal kidnapped her dad. His minions had the same emblem on their uniforms as those sportsmen have. And 'CLC' was quite easy to see through. The only question that remained was: what was he sponsoring America's Olympic Team for?
"Bolt… I think we need to go to China."
Getting into China was easy, thanks to the money, left by her father. The Olympics were to begin in two days' time, so all the sportsmen's quarters were already inhabited and guarded by a police squad. They managed to sneak by them, hoping to find Calico – or just some indication as to where could he had been then. Instead, they discovered something else…
Seeing no one around, they scooted into the building. They were certain it's the right one, the American flags in front of it being an undeniable proof. Luckily, the door was open, so they got inside without any problem.
They found themselves in a spacious hall, furnished in an old manner. Whole floor was covered by a thick, soft carpet with oriental patterns. The hall was as high as the building, so if anyone came out of one of the rooms on the first floor, they would have nowhere to hide.
"Let's find out as much as we can without getting caught," Penny instructed Bolt. He clearly didn't understand a word, so she used the command she's taught him during the last few days, "Stealth mode."
This time, he understood and quietly trotted over to one of the door accessible from the hall they were in. She didn't follow him; he proved to be extremely smart for a dog during last few days and she'd trusted him even before her father altered him… She was sure he'll notice when something's not right or requires her attention for another reason and let her know about it.
They found nothing on the ground level, so they went up the wide stairs. Now they heard something, indistinct voice coming from behind a half-closed door on the left. They started in that direction, more carefully though, as there was no carpet to silence their steps this time.
"Your victory will assure me gargantuan amounts of money from the bets and liquidate any possible future problems with funds," this time the speaker's voice was clear. It had a heavy English accent.
Penny pushed the door a little, she saw the back of a tall man in an elegant suit. She was almost sure it was the criminal they were looking for, but she needed to find out who else is inside. Dealing with several Calico's minions at once would be impossible for Bolt, he had no experience in real fights…
"Good. You'll get your money, we'll get our chance, our money and fame… Well, WE won't be famous, but it should be a great feeling anyway," another voice answered.
Penny opened the door a little more. Now she was able to see who Calico was talking with – a tall, athletic man, famous American sportsman. Something wasn't right though, as he only had one arm. The second had been screwed as the moment. It wasn't normal…
"It's kinda ironic though," the man screwing his hand continued. "We're stealing them their names and faces but in return we'll bring fame and fortune upon them, perhaps we'll even beat some records for them… And they will be not two hundred meters further, locked in a basement…"
"Indeed, ironic," Calico agreed, clearly not eager to join the discussion on this topic.
"So… where are you going now? Back to that Atlantic oilrig of yours? Near that silly named town… Antofagasta? Man, it's like… Aunt of a gangsta!" he burst out laughing.
"How does it feel to have so much artificial body parts?" Calico asked, evidently wanting to change the topic.
"Quite normal," he answered. "I'm almost forgetting they're artificial. Ain't I right, Mike? Joe?"
"Yeah, right," two other men answered.
Penny opened the door a bit further to see how much more of them were inside.
"Hey!" the nearest of the sportsmen screamed, catching sight of her. "Whatcha doin' here?"
Calico turned to see who is he talking about. "I think I know you," he smiled. "You would be my dearest professor's daughter, Penny… I thought I will have to hunt for you, but look! I didn't even have to ask, you came all by yourself," suddenly dropping his cheery voice, he added, "Get her."
"Bolt!"
He obediently stepped forward, growling menacingly at the two men.
"Oh, you brought a dog to save you? How pathetic…" Calico motioned to somebody invisible for them and in a second at least ten famous American sportsmen, all of them heavily muscled, emerged from the depths of the room.
Penny gasped, "Oh boy… Bolt! We gotta run!"
He obeyed and soon they were in a mad dash towards the stairs. When they reached them, Penny looked at the door to the room they escaped. Two men came out, acknowledged their position and… jumped a few meters forward, falling on their feet with no sign of pain or exertion on their faces. They did only one mistake. There were only two of them.
"Sic 'em, boy!"
Bolt jumped forward, ready to pounce on one of the athletes, but they were fast too. The closer one immediately caught him by the scruff of his neck and lifted from the ground. Bolt contorted his head and bit the man's forearm strongly. A loud clang could be heard and Bolt looked at the place he bit curiously. Part of the artificial skin tore and metal mechanism showed up from inside.
"Another cyborg?!" Penny exclaimed in shock, then looked up. Other pseudo-sportsmen stood on the first floor and watched the fight.
Man holding Bolt decided to slam him into ground. Force of the impact would probably kill another dog, but Bolt barely felt it. Seeing the other man reaching to grab him again, he dived between his legs, jumped onto his back and bit the back of his neck. That part of his body had to be real, because the bitten screamed in pain and bent forward. Bolt used the opportunity and jumped from his back at the second opponent, smashing him in the forehead with his own head. The only difference was that Bolt didn't feel pain after the strike.
"What are you all looking at, morons?!" Calico screamed, pushing the nearest man down over the railing. "Get her!"
Meanwhile, Bolt caught the man he hit by his ankle and knocked him down, then twisted him around, slamming him into the other one and let both of them fall out through the entrance door. He looked at Penny, immediately taking in the danger. He dashed at his full speed and rammed into the legs of a cyborg, nearing her from behind, easily bringing him down.
"Run!" Penny screamed, dashing outside with Bolt hot on her heels. Several police officers were already surrounding the house in a few meters radius and more were coming – Olympics were guarded well. Penny stopped, unable to break through the cordon. She glanced at the beaten opponents. Breaking through the thick wood and crash landing on a street tore much of the skins from their artificial body parts, now it was clear that they weren't humans.
"They are cyborgs!" Penny called, pointing to the duo. "All of them, whole America's national team, it's doctor Calico's job! He's inside too!"
"Calm down, girl," one of the policemen stepped forward, while two others examined Bolt's victims. "How do you know about this?"
"I heard him talking about it!" she answered, using the opportunity to sneak out of the police circle through a place left free. "The real sportsmen are locked in the basement!" she screamed without stopping.
"Should we chase her?" one of the policemen asked.
"Nah… she's just a girl, she's probably scared to death by the view. By the way, how did she beat those two?"
Behind his back some other cops could be seen, leading the world famous athletes in handcuffs.