(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
An Unarranged Meeting
Chase watched as Marshall parked his truck, jumped down and subsequently got tackled by Cinder. As he watched the play fight unfold, he couldn't help but smile at their bond. A bright flash on the hill below drew his attention and he saw an all-black pup walking up to the twins. Now who could that be? And what was that flash? Chase wondered to himself.
"I'm sorry," Cinder said softly as she picked herself up and Marshall stood up beside her, "who are you?"
The black Labrador retriever cleared his throat before introducing himself. "My name's Gizmo. I'm a self-employed scientist and inventor, and I'm always on the lookout for things that are outside the current realm of scientific knowledge. I recently learned that you two shared a psychic link, and with your permission, I'd like to study it."
The twins gasped in shock. Marshall could hear his twin's voice in his head. How does he know?
I don't know! he responded nervously. But this is a bit too close to my dream for comfort.
Mine too, Cinder mentally concurred. Can you ask him how he knows? she nervously requested.
"How did you find out about that?" Marshall demanded. Their shared link was one of their best-kept secrets. To have a complete stranger approach them about it was entirely unexpected and set both of them on edge. And his appearance coinciding with their dream felt too strong to be a mere coincidence. It was unsettling.
"I have my sources," Gizmo responded cryptically, "but suffice it to say that I overheard a conversation, and it piqued my interest. I'd like to figure out how your telepathy works and why. If I'm able to figure out the science behind your ESP, it could be a major breakthrough."
"And what if there isn't a scientific explanation?" Marshall pointed out. "What then?"
"When it comes to nature, I believe in two things: Science and the Divine. Science is a normalized, structured rule set whereas miracles are God's exceptions. Miracles usually can't be explained by science, but your telepathic link seems to have structure and order. Some may call it magic, but magic is simply science that normal people don't understand," Gizmo explained calmly.
"I see…" Cinder softly replied with a thoughtful nod. "You said that you're an inventor. What are some of your inventions?"
After a moment of thought, the black dog answered, "Well, for example, I've invented polymimetic nitinol, hivemind nanotechnology, and a few other miscellaneous things like a cloud seeder for making snow. However, most of my inventions are things that I can't discuss with the general public for both personal and public safety."
Cinder looked the black Labrador up and down. He made her uncomfortable. He knew things that he shouldn't have known, and he came out of nowhere. Just like in her dream. She pressed herself up against Marshall for comfort.
Her brother ventured a question, "If we were to agree, when would the tests start, Gizmo?"
"The tests can start whenever you'd like," the scientist replied as he returned his gaze to Marshall. "Depending on the results and external factors, they'll probably go on for two or three days. It shouldn't take any longer than a week at most. How does that sound?"
Cinder and Marshall looked at each other. "We need to talk about this, if you don't mind giving us a minute," Marshall requested.
"Sure thing, I know this is a lot to take in without any warning," Gizmo replied understandingly. "Do you need me to give you some space?"
The Dalmatians shared another look. "No," Cinder softly replied, "even if we say no to your overall project, I suppose you can watch it up close in action at least once."
"You won't even know I'm here," Gizmo replied thankfully with a nod of his head.
Cinder turned to Marshall, I'm really not sure about this. He shouldn't have known about our link in the first place.
Marshall responded without batting an eye, I know, and that makes me nervous as well. We don't actually know him. How do we know he's telling the truth about any of this?
We don't, Cinder mentally sighed as she shook her head.
Him not being able to tell us about most of his inventions is also suspicious. And I don't know if the inventions he listed are real or not, though Everest would love that snow seeder thingy, Marshall added. But… he seems sincere which could translate to him being trustworthy, if for no other reason than to stay on our good side. It's not like he went to a newspaper or anything to spread gossip about us. I think he's genuinely interested in how our neural link works. And I'm curious too. We've always just accepted it as a fact of life without ever trying to figure out why. Aren't you just a little bit curious?
Maybe… To be honest, I'm not sure if I actually care. I'm perfectly content to just cherish our miracle, replied Cinder looking at the ground somberly.
Marshall sighed as he followed her gaze. I know, but this seems like it is right out of our dream… And we said yes there, but I don't remember many of the details. Maybe that dream was telling us we're supposed to say yes?
Maybe. So, what do we do? Cinder mentally shot back.
An interesting question, Marshall mentally conceded. Do we participate or just turn it all away? What if we put some conditions on it, ways out so to speak, so we can do this at our pace and stop at any time?
Maybe, Cinder replied hesitantly. There was a pause before she looked up and continued, if anything feels even the slightest bit hinky, we are done.
"Gizmo," Marshall softly said.
"I just have to say, that was fascinating to watch," Gizmo stated, a slight smile showing on his face.
Marshall snorted in amusement while Cinder shook her head. "We'll see if you feel that way as this goes along," Marshall said, "because we are at least willing to give this a go, assuming Ryder says it is ok."
"Awesome, thank you!" Gizmo yipped happily as Marshall held up a paw.
"There will be some caveats," Marshall qualified, "Rescues come first, so if we get called away in the middle of any test, you just have to deal with it. You also have to understand that this is not really the best time for us in general, as I expect you know. Towards that end, we may not be able to meet your timeline because of needing to take breaks or having to stop early, so please be patient and understanding. Lastly, we reserve the right to terminate at any point, either in a specific test, discussion, or anything else we are doing. It may just be for the day or we may decide that we are completely done. Is this acceptable?"
"Completely," Gizmo nodded in acceptance. "And don't worry about messing up a timeline. Time is irrelevant."
Cinder cocked her head curiously at that. Something about the way he said the last phrase struck her as odd, but she couldn't tell why. She decided to make a mental note and add it to the steadily growing list of things that made her feel suspicious about Gizmo.
"Ok, let's go talk to Ryder then," Marshall said as he turned to lead the way inside.
I have a bad feeling about this, Cinder thought as they walked towards the door.
If it turns out to be bad, we can stop at any time, Marshall reminded her as they entered the Lookout and got in the elevator.
I just want to curl up in Augie's paws right now, Cinder mentally whined as the elevator rose.
Only if I get to curl up in Everest's fluffy fur, Marshall said with a mental laugh as the elevator reached the top and they stepped out.
"Hi Marshall and Cinder, who is your friend?" Ryder asked, turning around as they approached. Chase could be seen out on the balcony, watching with interest.
"This is Gizmo," Marshall replied.
"He wants to study us," Cinder softly added.
"Study … you?" Ryder asked curiously.
"Yes," Gizmo replied. Gizmo briefly explained what he wanted to do. Ryder nodded as he followed along, asking a few questions here and there.
"You two agreed to this?" Ryder asked, looking at Marshall and Cinder, slightly skeptical.
"For now," the Dalmatian twins replied with one voice.
"Fascinating," Gizmo mused as he looked at them in wonder.
"Ok, Gizmo," Ryder turned back to the black Lab, "What support do you need?"
"I should be fine. I've got all the equipment and rooms I need. Thanks though," Gizmo politely declined.
"You're sure? You don't want a place to sleep or anything? We can set up a place inside the lookout without much trouble," Ryder offered.
"Well, a place to sleep would be nice," Gizmo admitted.
"Easy enough, I'll set something up for you inside," Ryder replied.
"Thanks Ryder," Gizmo responded happily.
"This is turning into a half-way house," Chase noted dryly from out of the balcony.
"You won't even know I'm here," Gizmo promised the skeptical shepherd.
"Let's go introduce you to everyone," Marshall said as they walked out of the control room, with Chase following them. "After that, we'll let you get set up."
"I'm already set up and ready. Do you want to start tonight?" Gizmo asked.
"No," Cinder softly replied, "we can start tomorrow." There was no mistaking the firmness in her voice.
"Alright. Works great for me," Gizmo affirmed.
Most of the other pups seemed dubious when Marshall introduced Gizmo to them. Rocky did seem interested though, and he asked several questions about Gizmo's inventions. The questions and answers were above everyone else's heads, except maybe Gasket's, but Rocky's acceptance of the answers made Marshall a little more comfortable about Gizmo's authenticity.
After dinner, Cinder pulled Everest aside in her pup house to talk. "This feels weird to be the subject of a series of experiments," the Dalmatian softly said.
"Yeah, it is kind of surreal," Everest replied. "You said he just appeared?"
"Yes," Cinder softly confirmed, "to be fair, though, we were play-wrestling, so we weren't paying that much attention. And yes, we were being careful."
"Good, because I would have to smack Marshall if he let you get hurt and slowed your recovery," Everest giggled.
"You don't want me here?" Cinder softly whined.
"I would love for you to stay with us forever," Everest replied lovingly, "but I also know you need to get back to doing your thing. You can only galivant away from your job for so long before you go crazy."
"I'm not galivanting, I'm healing," Cinder softly corrected.
"In your new lover's paws," Everest gently teased, wrapping her paws around Cinder. "And yes, you do need to heal. But I worry that these tests will distract you from that."
"I worry about that too," Cinder softly replied, "and something about Gizmo just makes me nervous. I can't put my paw on it though."
"All you can do is pay attention then," Everest concluded. "If he is telling the truth, it will become apparent in his work. If he is lying, it will become clear eventually too. And I'll be glad to take care of things when that time comes."
"I knew I could count on you to have our back," Cinder softly purred as she nuzzled Everest's cheek.
"Always," Everest replied with a smile. The girls kept chatting for a bit before they snuggled down to sleep. Cinder had difficulty falling asleep at first, playing out different scenarios in her head until her brain finally ran out of gas and she passed out. Her dream started almost immediately.
Gizmo gently shut the door of his room in the Lookout behind him, careful to lock it with the installed lock. Then he directed his attention to one of his devices he brought with him, disguised as a watch. Taking off the centerpiece and activating it, he attached it to the door. A translucent force field spread across the door, ensuring nobody would be able to enter. Paranoid much? he laughed to himself. The image of Marshall pinning him down while Cinder prepared to try every device in his lab to achieve her goals flashed though his mind. Nope, not underestimating her again.
Satisfied with his preparations, Gizmo pushed a sequence of buttons on the device he had attached to the door. There was another blinding flash of light. Within seconds, he found himself looking at a portal leading back to the same room of his own Lookout.
"How'd it go?" Marshall asked eagerly as Gizmo stepped through. The fire pup had been waiting expectantly in the room for Gizmo's appearance.
"It went well," Gizmo remarked, closing the portal behind him. "Things happened almost exactly the same way as last time. If they still remember, they aren't showing it. They were just as hesitant to agree this time as they were last time."
"Almost exactly the same?" the Dalmatian inquired. "What changed?"
"Well, some of my lines changed. I may have a nearly perfect memory, but I'm no pro actor, so some things had to be switched. Same with some things tomorrow, but for completely different reasons. For example, there's no way I'm letting Cinder have a panic attack again," the scientist vowed. "Some things are more important than stabilizing a timeline."
"That's probably a good idea," Marshall chuckled.
"Also, I'm going to have to keep another eye out. Chase seems suspicious already. But anyway, I need sleep. I'm going to my pup house," Gizmo explained, suppressing a yawn.
"Sleep? Already? But it's still afternoon!" Marshall exclaimed.
"For you, maybe. For me it's ten o'clock. And I woke up at five," the Labrador pointed out, taking off his helmet. "By the way, don't let me forget to remove the Paw Patrol emblem from the top of this."
"Sure thing! But you should be fine remembering that on your own. Anyway, I'll see you in the morning!" Marshall beamed cheerily.
"Goodnight. See you in the morning, 'Marty'," Gizmo smirked as he headed off to bed.
The next day, all pups awoke at their normal time and did their yoga and exercises. Cinder was only half paying attention to things, her mind focused elsewhere. Augie didn't say anything, but he noticed how deep in thought Cinder was. After breakfast, Marshall and Cinder went to find Gizmo. They found him waiting outside for them, holding a purple helmet they didn't recognize.
"Are you two ready to go?" Gizmo asked as he looked up, his tail already wagging.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Marshall replied. Cinder nodded in agreement.
"Great. Then let's go," Gizmo responded as he put the helmet on his head. His pointed ears poked through the holes in the top of the helmet, and a purple visor slid down over his eyes. "I'll direct you to the lab," Gizmo stated. They hopped into Marshall's fire truck and drove down the hill. Gizmo guided them out of town, towards Jake's mountain.
"As we head to the place I've prepared, I'd like for you to tell me what the extent of your psychic link is. Are you limited to telepathy, or are you able to physically see what the other person is seeing? Is there a range limit? Things like that," Gizmo requested.
"Well, it is both slightly complicated and simple at the same time," Marshall said carefully. "We can share images, including moving ones, with each other. We can share thoughts as if we were having a normal spoken conversation. We can feel exactly what the other is feeling, both physically and emotionally. We can see the world from the other's perspective, as if we are looking through their eyes."
Cinder discretely nudged Marshall to stop there, out of Gizmo's line of sight.
"In terms of range, walls or having other things between us don't matter, but the distance definitely matters, as does time spent apart," Marshall changed the course of the conversation deftly. "The farther apart we get, the weaker everything is as well as less clear. And eventually we can't hear each other at all. Again, it doesn't matter what is between us, just the distance. If we spend a lot of time apart, when we get back together, we have to re-acquaint our minds with each other. There isn't really anything we do for that, other than being together."
"Very interesting," Gizmo drawled. "So physical matter doesn't impact anything, but distance does. What's the farthest away you two have been from each other while still being able to hold a normal conversation under normal circumstances?"
"It's probably one time when Cinder was coming to Adventure Bay," Marshall replied after a moment of thought. "I think we were about 50 to 75 miles apart."
"And am I correct in assuming that you've never been able to add anyone else to the link?" Gizmo verified.
"That would be correct," Marshall replied, "but we also have never tried. Given that we don't know how it works, just the limits, we haven't really talked about how we would even try to do that."
"Fair enough," Gizmo conceded. "If we can figure out how you do it, maybe, just maybe, you could learn how to do that."
I'm not sure I want anyone else in my head, Cinder thought to Marshall, laying her head on his shoulder. I'm happy with just you.
Not even Everest? Or Augie? Marshall inquired back.
Not until you make your attachment to her permanent, Cinder teased with a mental smirk. And I definitely don't want to be in the crossfire when you two finally have a real argument. Then you'll both want me to take your side and instead I'll ignore you both and make out with Augie until you both make up.
Marshall laughed out loud at that, causing Gizmo to look at him in curiosity. "Sorry, we were just considering if we would even want to add anyone else."
"I assume you're referring to Everest or Augie specifically?" Gizmo questioned with a grin.
"Everest, yes," Marshall admitted. "But how did you know?"
"It doesn't take a genius to deduce who you would have been considering," the Labrador pointed out.
"You're not wrong," Cinder conceded. Definitely not ready to share my mind with Augie.
"Well, depending on how things go, we might be able to find a way to let one or both of them join you. After all, the more we understand about it, the more things become possible," Gizmo elaborated.
"Just because something is possible doesn't mean it is a good idea," Cinder softly noted.
The Labrador nodded solemnly. "Never has a truer word been spoken," he agreed, catching Cinder by surprise. She had expected Gizmo to want to do anything that was possible, even if just to prove that it was possible in the name of science.
After a fifteen-minute drive, they stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned log cabin deep in the woods. Marshall didn't remember there being one there and made a mental note to ask Everest about it later.
"Sorry to make you come out all this way. Being this far away from the city helps me get work done. Come on inside," Gizmo invited. "I promise the inside is much better than the outside."
When the Dalmatians followed Gizmo into the cabin, they both gasped. The interior looked vastly different from what the exterior suggested; the walls and ceiling were constructed from a white plastic while the floor consisted of concrete coated in a smooth, light grey epoxy. Several bright LED lights illuminated the entire area. Shelves full of electrical components lined the far wall of the room, and a couple countertops in the center of the room held what looked to be inventions in progress. Gizmo walked by them all and led his guests through a door on the right into another room. It looked a lot like the first one, but it was empty except for a control panel on the wall and two white squares on the ground in the middle of the room. The room also had two more doorways in it, but they were closed.
Gizmo strode over to the control panel in the wall and started making adjustments as he addressed them. "While I get the monitoring systems ready, I'll tell you what these tests are going to consist of…."
Cinder tuned out the black lab, focusing her attention instead on every detail about the lab, especially all the doors…
"Do you agree to these terms?" Gizmo asked
That doesn't sound shady at all, Cinder dryly thought.
Not even the least bit suspicious, Marshall confirmed, matching his twin's sarcasm.
"I don't think either of us has a choice" Cinder softly replied.
"You want to study us, right?" Marshall added, "And we can stop at any point if we are uncomfortable. So, it is probably best that you tell as much truth as you can without invalidating your tests."
"Alright, thank you," Gizmo acknowledged, nodding his head. "For the first experiment, we're going to establish a control test and baseline measurements. The test will begin with ten seconds of silence. No talking to each other, just stare at each other. Once the ten seconds are over, I'll give you a signal and I want Cinder to talk to Marshall while Marshall stays quiet. After ten seconds, I'll give another signal. I want Cinder to stop talking and Marshall to start talking. Then Marshall will talk to Cinder for ten seconds. Once that's done, we'll repeat the experiment for image sharing."
"So, ten seconds of silence, then ten seconds of Cinder talking, then ten seconds of me talking. Got it," Marshall confirmed with a nod.
"Stand on the squares when you're ready to begin," Gizmo instructed.
As one, the twins padded over to the colored squares in the center of the room. As they took their places, Cinder caught Marshall's eyes.
Just like the dream so far Cinder noted.
They we have a good idea of what is coming Marshall surmised. Just hang in there, Cin.
"Alright, silence starting in three… two… one…" Gizmo trailed off as he finished the countdown.
Dutifully, the Dalmatian twins stayed quiet, simply watching each other. Cinder felt as though she were being smothered; exactly as she had felt in her dream. Then Gizmo gave the next signal.
That felt so weirdly oppressive, Cinder mentally exploded, like having a pillow forced over my muzzle, or a SCBA mask that was too small and too tight. Just, unnatural silence, instead of the normal silence.
Gizmo gave the signal for Cinder to stop and for Marshall to start.
Just like in our dream Marshall replied, if things continue exactly the same, we know exactly what is going to happen, and when.
"Alright, thanks. Cinder, how are you doing?" Gizmo asked, throwing her off guard.
"Um… I'm doing fine. Why do you ask?" Cinder questioned. She didn't remember the question from her dream, so she wasn't sure how to respond.
"Well, I just want to make sure you're doing alright. You've been through a lot recently, after all," the black pup answered, sidestepping the question.
"But why me instead of Marshall? A lot of what we went through was together," the female Dalmatian pressed, not willing to let up.
"Well, you looked a bit tense during the test. Also, your heart rate spiked during the test."
"Oh. That makes sense, Cinder conceded. "Well, thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. Let's continue the tests."
"Alright," Gizmo accepted her answer with a shrug, "I'm ready for the next test whenever you two are."
"Go ahead," Cinder softly replied.
Gizmo gave the signal and they started the ten seconds of silence. Just like before, it felt like a boa constrictor on Cinder's neck. She put a paw up to her neck just to make sure she was not actually being strangled.
Gizmo gave another signal and Cinder sent an image of a python wrapped around her like she was a hot dog. Marshall just shook his head in amusement as he changed his mind on what to send her.
After ten seconds passed, Marshall sent his image. Taking what Cinder had sent, he unwound the snake and had Cinder tie it into a lasso. Then he placed a cowboy hat on her head. For the final touch, he perched her on his back like a cow pup, riding around chasing Oliver and Olivia, swinging her snake lasso.
Cinder couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as Gizmo signaled the end of the test.
"Ok, well, I'm glad that whatever Marshall sent you made you laugh," Gizmo chuckled with an amused grin.
"How are the tests going?" Marshall piped up. He hadn't had the chance to ask about the previous test and was eager to know the results of them both.
Gizmo let out a sigh before he replied. "I wasn't able to pick anything up. The only change that my instruments showed for both tests was Cinder's heart rate. Suffice it to say, I don't know how your telepathy works." The black Lab seemed to be about to say something else, but before he could, another sound alerted them to a more pressing matter.
Bleep bleep* "Paw Patrol, to the Lookout!" Ryder's voice echoed from Marshall's and Cinder's tags.
"Ryder needs us!" Marshall and Cinder yipped together as they ran for the door.
"Can I watch?" Gizmo asked as he ran after them, grabbing something along the way.
"As long as you don't get in the way," Marshall agreed as he jumped into his fire truck and started it. Cinder landed beside him and Gizmo flung himself into the back as Marshall floored it.
"Woah!" Gizmo yelped as Marshall rounded a corner, almost flinging him off. "You don't have to go so fast! We're closer than you think."
"It took us fifteen minutes to get to your cabin, which means it will take that long to get back," Marshall barked in reply, rounding another corner. To his surprise, he was already back at the edge of town. He drove up the hill and parked his truck just as the other pups got to the elevator.
"That was fast," Chase observed as the three pups ran to the elevator.
Marshall opened his mouth to reply but tripped on an errant tug of war rope. "Whoa!" he yelped as he sailed into the elevator and the other pups.
"Does that happen every time?" Gizmo inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not a real rescue if Marshall doesn't crash into us in the elevator," Chase explained.
"Don't forget he has to tell the joke too," Zuma added.
"The joke?" Gizmo asked.
"You might say that the elevator is pup pratfall powered" Marshall snickered, making everyone laugh. The doors closed and the elevator rose perfectly on cue.
"Hmm… an elevator powered by the kinetic energy of Marshall's crashes," Gizmo mused, "That's actually not a bad idea."
"What makes you think it isn't already powered that way?" Rocky asked with an amused grin.
"But… Marshall was joking. This is just a normal electric elevator. I saw it myself," Gizmo replied, slightly unconfident. Something else I forgot to double check, he mentally chastised himself.
"Did you?" Rocky inquired questioningly.
Gizmo still wasn't sure, so he added it to his steadily growing list of things to verify.
The pups all hopped out to their spots, with Gizmo hanging back with Augie, Gasket, and Dwayne to watch.
"Paw Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!" Chase sounded off.
"Thanks for hurrying pups," Ryder said as he started. "We have an emergency out at sea. Two kayakers were paddling along the coast when a pod of Orcas decided to use them as toys.
The pups all gasped in surprise. "Not good, dude," Zuma said, "Owcas are not known for being the gentlest with theiw playthings."
"Right on the bone, Zuma," Ryder said as the graphic changed on screen. "The Orcas sank one of the kayaks and injured the kayaker. The other kayaker was able to haul them ashore in a cave, but now they can't get out. For this mission, I'll need Zuma." The water pup's icon flashed on the screen. "You'll use your hovercraft and life buoy to rescue the kayakers from the cave."
"Let's dive in!" Zuma sounded off.
"Marshall, you'll go with him and treat any injuries," Ryder directed.
"I'm ready for a ruff-ruff rescue!" Marshall sounded off.
"Alright, Paw Patrol is on a roll!" Ryder declared before running to his fire pole. The pups all howled as he slid down.
Marshall ran to the slide first, doing his usual slip flip before sliding down. Zuma followed him down as if he was on a water slide.
Marshall landed in his pup house and with a bark changed it into his ambulance. As the sirens wailed, he cleared the way for Zuma's house to rotate into position. The water pup cannonballed into the cockpit, changing it into his hovercraft with a bark. The hovercraft lifted off and Zuma zoomed down behind Marshall.
Ryder met them on his ATV at the bottom of the ramp. The trio raced down the hill. At the bottom, Ryder took the ramp that launched him out over the Bay. In the air, he changed his ATV into jet ski mode and landed with a splash. Marshall skidded to a stop on the beach side of the ramp, and jumped up on the side of his ambulance. As Zuma came by, Marshall launched himself into the hovercraft. Without missing a beat, Zuma headed out into the bay and accelerated until they were practically flying across the water.
"What happens now?" Gizmo asked after they left.
"Now we wait, watch, and see if we are needed," Everest replied as Rocky stepped up to the mission display. With a couple swipes and clicks with his paws, the display was configured and Gizmo's, Gasket's and Dwayne's eyes collectively widened as they watched Marshall leap into the hovercraft in real time from both Marshall's and Zuma's perspectives simultaneously.
"That is so cool," Dwayne said softly.
"I bet you had something to do with this," Gasket nodded towards Rocky with a flirtatious wink.
"Does that sort of thing happen normally?" Gizmo asked.
"For one of us to ride with someone else, it's not uncommon," Chase replied, biting his tongue, "though usually it is Skye air-lifting one of us."
"And Marshall is concerned about response time," Everest interjected, "the longer an injury goes untreated, the higher the chance of something bad happening. Though, he rides with others more than most of us do. I would say he is pretty proficient in quickly changing vehicles."
"Why hasn't Ryder just made his vehicle able to handle all situations then?" Gizmo asked.
"Because Marshall is typically providing patient care on the way back," Rocky replied, "which he can't do while driving. It is safer for him to ride so he can just focus on providing medical care. Plus, there is an only so much space in his truck."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Dwayne said with a nod.
"You know," Gizmo whispered to Rocky, "not enough space in his truck is solvable with a little dimensional manipulation."
"How do you think I fit everything in the back of my truck?" Rocky whispered back.
"You can already do that?" Gizmo gasped in shock. Or at least apparent shock. Another item for his list. I really should have written these down the first time, Gizmo mentally groaned. But I also didn't know that I would get a second chance, so I may as well take advantage of it.
Back on scene, Ryder, Zuma, and Marshall pulled up to the cave. "Zuma, time to be a rescue swimmer," Ryder directed. "Get in there and get them out safely."
"Weady, set, get wet!" Zuma yipped as he barked on his scuba gear. With a splash, he was over the side of his hovercraft and into the frigid ocean while Marshall took over the hovercraft controls.
Zuma swam into the cave, timing his approach with the waves so he didn't get smashed against the rocks. Soon, he spotted the kayakers, huddled together on the rocks.
"Hey dudes, how are you doing?" Zuma asked the kayakers as the waterlogged pup hauled himself out onto the rock next to them.
"Cold and wet," one replied, "and my buddy is hurt."
Zuma quickly examined the injured kayaker, who was shivering so much that he couldn't talk. "Marshall," Zuma said over his pup tag, "looks like the injured kayaker has a broken arm and is suffering from hypothermia. A little blood loss but nothing major. I'm going to bring him out first."
"Copy, I'll get the stretcher ready," Marshall replied. The Dalmatian hit the necessary buttons to deploy the litters on the sides of the hovercraft.
"Help me get him into the water," Zuma directed the uninjured kayaker. Carefully, and minding the broken arm, Zuma clipped himself to the kayaker. Timing it carefully, he paddled out into the choppy ocean.
Marshall was watching the mouth of the cave anxiously from the hovercraft, as were the pups back at the lookout. All Zuma's tag showed were the waves he was battling. "Anyone see them?" Chase asked the pups. All of them nodded no.
"Marshall sees them," Cinder softly said, her eyes closed. "You should see them on screen in a moment."
"You can fully see what Marshall can, without him actively trying to send you the image?" Gizmo asked the lithe female Dalmatian.
"As clear as if I was there with him," Cinder softly said. "The survivor is wearing a dark teal green life vest, and latched onto Zuma's back, coughing up water. It is almost too choppy for this to be safe."
"There they are!" Skye yipped as she pointed. Zuma and the survivor created a wave as they approached the hovercraft. It was exactly as Cinder had described.
"Remarkable," Gizmo admired as he watched the rest of the rescue unfold. But there was a problem.
"Ryder, there is a trail of blood behind Zuma's survivor," Marshall yipped.
"Skye," Ryder immediately reacted, "spin up your copter and get out here for possible MEDEVAC," Ryder ordered.
"Let's take to the sky!" the aviator yipped before running to the slide and sliding down. A few seconds and a bark later, the whirring of helicopter blades reached its peak as the Cockapoo lifted her grey and pink copter into the air and flew toward the scene.
On site, Marshall grabbed the injured survivor and hauled him onto the hovercraft litter. "I'm going back for the other one," Zuma barked over the wind and waves.
"Hey there, I'm Marshall, I'm a paramedic and I'm going to take care of you," Marshall said serenely as he got to work. He quickly tore open the survivor's jacket and tossed it into the hovercraft. He quickly located the source of the bleeding.
"Ryder," Marshall keyed his tag, "the survivor has an Orca tooth embedded in his broken arm. My guess is that it got stuck there during the 'playing' and was dislodged when Zuma brought him out. He is also severely hypothermic."
"Skye is on her way," Ryder replied.
"ETA seven minutes," Skye updated them.
"You are going to be ok," Marshall said firmly as he packed the wound. The bleeding slowed but did not stop. "And you will have a nice souvenir when this is all over" he continued as he put a snug wrap on the bandage before splinting the arm into a stable position. Blood continued to leak through the bandages.
"That is worse than it looks," Cinder softly said. "Marshall is going to have to put a tourniquet on it."
As she spoke, Marshall reached back into a compartment on his pup pack and removed a military-grade field tourniquet. "Hang in there with me, this is going to hurt a bit." Marshall placed the tourniquet above the wound, between the kayaker's elbow and his shoulder. Taking one end in his jaws, he forcibly cinched it tight, eliciting a gasp of pain from the kayaker.
"Almost done," Marshall soothed as he then tightened the tourniquet down, eliciting more pained gasps from the kayaker, turning the built-in winch with his paws until the bleeding stopped. Marshall noted the time on the tourniquet before continuing his care.
"This is going to get colder before it gets warmer," Marshall explained as he removed all of the survivor's wet clothes. He immediately wrapped him as tightly as he could with a dry blanket. Then he wrapped the survivor in another warm layer and stuffed it with disposable hand warmers.
Just as he finished, Zuma returned with the other survivor. Marshall helped haul the other survivor up on the opposite side, got him bundled up and belted him into the litter.
Zuma jumped behind the controls, brought the hovercraft around, and headed toward Adventure Bay.
"Skye, we are on our way back now," Ryder informed the copter pilot.
"Got it, I see you," Skye replied as she swooped down. She brought her helicopter into a forward hover alongside Zuma's hovercraft and then slid sideways into position. "Arf, litter sling!"
The sling deployed from the belly of her copter and Skye brought it in lower. "That's good, Skye," Marshall called over his tag as he quickly clipped the sling to the litter. This was now the most dangerous part, as the helicopter and hovercraft were connected with the patient in the middle. Marshall quickly began removing the pins holding the litter to the hovercraft.
"Good to lift, Skye," Marshall barked as he jumped back onto the hovercraft and held the litter in position.
"Going up," Skye yipped as she slowly goosed her copter skyward. Marshall guided the litter until he couldn't reach it anymore and it was clear of the engines of the hovercraft.
"Clear, Skye," Marshall reported with a wave.
"Got it, enroute to the hospital," Skye called as her helicopter accelerated.
Marshall called the hospital to give them a turnover while Zuma drove back to shore. "Is he going to be alright?" the other kayaker asked as they rode.
"As a medical professional, I can't say for sure," Marshall replied honestly, "the tooth cut pretty deep. But the bleeding stopped, so he is stable. That tooth definitely needs to come out, though, so he'll need to have a bit of surgery. He will need time and physical therapy but I expect he'll be ok."
"That's good," the kayaker said with a sigh.
"Don't worry, I'll take you there," Marshall added with a smile, "You need to get checked out by a doctor too. You might not have gotten as cold as him, but you are still hyperthermic. So, you get a free ride in my ambulance to the same hospital."
"Thanks Marshall," the kayaker said, placing his hand on Marshall's paw.
"You're welcome," Marshall replied with a smile.
"Cinder," Gizmo asked quietly, "is sharing something that requires you to think about it, or does it just happen when you want it to?"
"A bit of both," Cinder softly replied. "If we want to send something specific, yes we have to think about it. But we don't have to do anything beyond wanting to send it. We can also just read what the other is thinking if we want to. Occasionally, when we are under stress, we share things without thinking about it, sometimes over much greater distances than normal."
"Like the day you got hurt?" Gizmo asked, making Cinder whip around.
"What do you know about that?" Cinder asked softly and suspiciously.
"Just the official account," Gizmo replied calmly, "in particular, how you and Marshall saved those two other fire pups. Both of you reacted faster than should be possible and got them out of harm's way without any sort of verbal communication. The two of you almost would have had to have some sort of shared situational awareness so that you could save both of them and not run into each other."
"I don't know about that," Cinder said softly, "we just kind of did it. Marshall might have a better idea, given that he stayed conscious throughout the entire event. But not today; he is going to be pretty worn out after this rescue."
"Marshall? Worn out? I thought for sure he had endless energy," Gizmo half-joked.
"Not physically worn out," Everest chimed in as she wrapped a paw around Cinder's shoulder. "Despite how calm he sounded, that patient is in very serious condition so his mind will not be fully present until he comes out of surgery and we hear that he will be ok. And he has a normal life to live, so you can wait until tomorrow for more experiments."
"Ok, maybe I'll join you guys then," Gizmo relented.
"As long as you actually play, you are welcome to," Everest replied, "but if you are bringing work to play, like Rocky tries to on occasion, no."
"Hey, I haven't brought work out to play in a while," Rocky objected.
"That you admit to," Rubble and Chase caveated with a laugh.
"I'd rather we play while working," Gasket mumbled under her breath.
"Project Outreach: Travel Log update 115. April 24th, 2023. 9:18 PM EST."
"Universe: FoxFireverse"
"So far, things are going well. Simulations are at 15% accuracy above random chance and climbing slowly but steadily. I never realized how hard it would be to re-enact an entire day. It was so hard to pretend to not know certain things. However, I've now successfully completed the first and second days. I thought the kayak rescue was going to throw things off, but it turns out the traffic jam caused by the high-speed pursuit of Hubcap delayed one of the kayaker's, pushing their adventure and subsequent rescue a day as well. Very interesting how that just sort of worked itself out. Gasket, Dwayne, and Augie haven't been changing everyday life too much, surprisingly. There's two changed that I noticed, though, that I wanted to document."
"First, when I asked how Cinder was doing, both Marshall and Cinder seemed surprised. I don't know how to explain it, but it seemed like they had been expecting me to say something else. If I'm correct in my deductions, I believe they're starting to remember the alternate timeline. I'm guessing it's a hazy sort of déjà vu for them right now, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow when I change up the test."
"But that wasn't the change I'm worried about. I'm worried about Chase. Going through all the dialogue changes, everything seems mostly consistent except for Chase's. He seems to have taken an interest in me, and I think I found why. After examining the new timeline, I found that I made a mistake. I forgot to check the surroundings before warping in, and Chase saw me arrive. If I'm not careful enough, he might figure things out. One thing's for sure, though: I underestimated them once. I'm not doing it again. Log end."
A/N: So, things are mostly the same, but subtle differences are appearing. Thanks for bearing we me as we revisit events. Special thanks to RodentRacer for bringing his OCs Gizmo and crew into this world and his help writing and proofing this chapter!
A/N: At the risk of a spoiler, I'm looking for someone who speaks Japanese fluently to assist with future chapters. PM me if interested.