Insurmountable change plagued the Patrol like an uncontrollable pathogen, even worse that it tried convincing them all everything was still the same. No one talked to Chase anymore, with the exception of that damned machine he carried around his neck, and he spent so much time wearing the Neuroband he crafted a new police hat that integrated with it. His apparent obliviousness was met with uncertain stares from his friends, his unyielding smile, the cheer in his step, the strange glint in his eye before he'd scan the room. Rocky leaned over Zuma's shoulder, whispering how something was immorally wrong with their shepherd, yet no one had any idea what it was.
Ryder finished a rather troublesome phone call from the mayor, and the boy made haste to summon the legion. Standing before the tower's controls, he hit the button and radioed his dogs.
"PAW Patrol, to the Lookout!" he said sharply, not seeing the small figure already standing behind him.
"You need me?" Chase spoke up.
" Aahh! Chase you're-" the boy nearly jumped four feet in the air in surprise, turning around and clutching his heart. "You're already here?
"Yeah, what's the mission? I'll have it done in seventeen seconds."
"No one's keeping score, Chase," Ryder crossed his arms, frowning at the animal. "We've never kept score."
"Okay... but what's the mission? Tell me."
"You can sit in your designated place and wait for the others," Ryder pointed at an outlined rhombus pattern on the floor, Chase's new assigned seat.
Gladly, thought the shepherd, happily bouncing over to his floor spot and anchoring himself down. It was quite thrilling to sit outside the line, to look upon those who were different, stuck in a primitive straight formation. He told Amata once how giddy he felt surveying all his friends like a drill sergeant, although Amata saw the new placement more like captivity. They could never agree on what ways to see the change, and the others could never decide how to feel upon walking into the tower and seeing Chase mumbling to his collar.
Arriving first was Marshall, the new center stage after Chase's prompted deletion from the "boring" ways. Getting to sit in the middle didn't come with any perks -as Chase made sure to inform him- but the Dalmatian seemed happy regardless. Rocky and Zuma arrived next, dressed handsomely in their recently ironed uniforms, and Skye and Rubble came last.
"Ready for action, Ryder sir," Marshall held up his paw with an innocent smile.
"That's my line," Chase said, speaking up before Ryder could.
Zuma shot him a glare, "is it?"
"Thanks for hurrying, pups," Ryder stepped up quickly, making his footsteps a tad louder to silence the animals. "We have a somewhat serious situation down in Adventure Bay."
"How ghastly," Amata randomly said, making them turn their heads in bewilderment. It was the first time she ever directly spoke during a mission briefing, even Chase was caught off guard. Almost forgetting his lines, Ryder quickly shook his head and returned to focus, stuttering back into the flow of things.
"We have... a missing dog down by the docks," he said, putting his hands together. "Mayor Goodway just reported it to me, there's still time to act before she's legally considered gone forever," wielding a remote control, he clicked some buttons and brought their colored emblems on the screen.
"Skye, I'll need you on overhead watch," he pointed a finger at the bouncing cockapoo. "I'll send you the dog's picture, keep eyes on the streets and don't let up until nightfall."
"This pup's gonna fly!" Skye saluted him proudly.
Changing the image onscreen, Ryder turned to the Labrador. "Zuma, this was by the docks, so just in case... I'm placing you on ocean duty. I don't really want to assume the worst but... we can't be sure. Search diligently and keep watch, but don't go too far out."
The coast guard promptly puffed his chest, glowing with a surfer's resolve. "Let's dive in!"
Changing the picture again to a red shield with a fire emblem, Ryder pointed at the center stage Dalmatian. "Marshall, you're on EMT gear. Again, we just need to be prepared. I'd rather end up not needing you than wishing I had. Alright, PAW Patrol is on a roll!"
As the puppies turned and threw themselves down the slide to their vehicles, Ryder let out a dejected sigh and looked over his shoulder at the remaining asset. "And Chase, you can just... do whatever you do."
The shepherd stood proudly, "I'm coded for action!"
"Just... just find the dog, Chase. That's all I ask."
Each one adorned with their vehicles, the PAW Patrol sped out the tower and took to the open road, soaring off where the action called them. Ryder chose to stay behind, rather uncharacteristically of himself to do so, but none of the dogs thought to question it. While the others scuttled away into action, one dog decided to instead slow down his vehicle into a shadowed parking lot. He came to a gentle halt, chuckling as he groomed his fur. Just a small moment of silence to himself, that was all Chase needed, he'd rejoin them later once he felt like it.
"Please," Chase said dismissively, boredom in his voice. "Why send them? I should be all he needs."
"I understand your... lust for optimization, but the Patrol is a team of six, I recall," Amata said from her dog tag. " As much as it feels like you can, you cannot possibly do everything yourself, Chase."
The shepherd raised an eyebrow, "oh yeah? Watch me."
"And Chase, the PAW Patrol is your family," Amata said, voice heightening a little. "The purpose of my design is not to be intrusive and destroy team morale. That is against my primary programming."
"Your primary programming is to help me," a faint growl slipped through Chase's teeth. "And I had a family once; they abandoned me in the streets until some nobodies came and adopted me... then they decided to dump me right back in the fuckin' gutter. I wasn't even a few months old!"
The automated voice went low, speaking as if hesitant to overstep. "I'm... sorry, Chase. I didn't mean to make you angry."
"Amata you-" Chase stopped, realizing the painful words he was about to say. "You and I... I want to be friends, okay? I love Ryder, and Marshall, Rocky, Zuma, all of them, but if I can do all this, then there's no reason for them to. Every day they break themselves solving petty little fiascos for a town that probably can't even wipe their own asses. I can't afford to let another group ditch me for not being the best, I have to use this Neuroband and make the city a better place."
He let out a long sigh, gazing longingly up at the sky. "I have to, by any means necessary. And you... you're different. You don't get tired, you don't sleep or eat, you're the perfect companion."
"I'm flattered at your words, Chase, but you must know I'm... I'm not real," she said, gentle disdain in her tone. "I'm just code, you should know and remember this."
"Yeah, well you're the best damn piece of code I've ever met," the shepherd brushed off her words. "I want to be friends, Amata. I want to make you a member of the PAW Patrol."
"Do you have the authority to do that?"
"I'll find a way," he placed his paws back on the controls. "Alright, could've sworn we had a missing dog to find."
The PAW Patrol met up again down in Adventure Bay beach, Skye already took to the air in her helicopter, leaving Zuma and Marshall to talk amongst themselves. Chase recklessly swerved his vehicle into the parking lot, annihilating a trash can and shattering a wooden bench, jumped out of his car, and landed on the ground with such blinding pride the sun itself grew envious.
Strutting as if he were the biggest hero the city had ever seen, Chase walked to his unimpressed friends. "So what's the story, fellas?"
"Shove it, Chase," Zuma jabbed his paw in the shepherd's chest. "There's a dog in trouble and there's no time for your antics."
"Uhh sorry, I don't speak 'jealous,' try English," Chase gave a faint laugh.
"When did you get so self-centered?"
"Look dude, I'm just trying to lighten the mood," the shepherd held up his paws defensively. "There's no reason for any of you to be here, why don't you just go home and relax, play some Pup Pup Boogie?"
Marshall stepped forward, "because we want to be part of the action, that's the whole point of the PAW Patrol."
"Yeah, we don't need you doing everything for us, you know," Zuma nodded.
"Okay but... why though?" the shepherd tilted his head, genuine confusion on his face. "Isn't this what we want; to not have to work and relax all day? I'm saving you guys a job, just go home."
"And let you take all the credit for what used to be a team effort?" came the Labrador's growl, his fur beginning to stand on end. "Why don't you go home and dance in your stupid metaverse all day?"
Amata overheard the comment, speaking up. "It's not a metaverse, it's a digital highway of-"
"Shut up, Amata! You aren't real!" Zuma sharply yelled into Chase's collar. "You don't have a soul or... emotions or... cognitive thought!"
Chase flattened his ears, his smile dimming, "what does that matter? She's real enough."
Freezing in shock, Zuma stared at his coworker as if he just walked upon a street of dead bodies. "The fuck did you just say?"
"Okay everyone just... stop," Marshall zipped between them both, dividing the dogs before something truly violent broke out. "This isn't how we're supposed to do things, let's just complete our mission and move on, just like we always have."
Despite the anger threatening to flare from his face, Zuma relented and sharply turned away with a huff. Chase shrugged and glanced at Marshall as if there was supposed to be some understanding between them, like the Dalmatian was supposed to take his side. The gaze was met with a blank stare, before Marshall walked after Zuma to tend to the mission at hand. Oh right, the mission, Chase nearly forgot in all the chaos. Why was everyone always so angry with him, he was practically willing to pick up everyone's roles at the same time, what was so bad about that? A few roadblocks were all that stood in the way of being the best protector of Adventure Bay he could be, but calling his friends "roadblocks" felt slightly degrading, perhaps "hurdles" was a better word.
Skye's voice unexpectedly emitted from their radios, "hey yeah so... I just heard all of that and I wanted to say; Chase your identity is fucking disintegrating."
"Into something better, perhaps," Chase said aloud, maintaining a straight face. "Ugh, this place stinks," he wrinkled his nose, walking along the weathered boardwalk. Cool wood met his paws, with a slight trickle of cold sea flora left behind by whatever fisherman stepped off their boats.
"It's a beach, Chase," came Zuma's grumble, following behind him. "That's the fish you're smelling."
"Yeah yeah, go ahead and drive your car into the water," the shepherd waved his paw at him. "Turn it into... 'boat mode' or whatever. I'm gonna go find a computer."
Marshall shot a concerned gaze at him.
A twitch rustled Zuma's fur, "it's a fucking beach, there's nothing but sand and wood! What could you possibly do here, and how's it gonna help us find the missing dog?"
Chase turned back at him with an undeterred look, "the last time I doubted my own capabilities, I was instantly humbled. Maybe you just aren't creative enough, Zuma. Now go splash in the water, I'll find something."
Not caring to see his brother's lips curling into a snarl, Chase let himself into the salty-fumed building.
Zuma was about to spit something venomous, but Marshall put a paw on his shoulder and gave him a pained expression. Meeting his brother's strained gaze, Zuma sighed dejectedly and walked off with him, leaving Chase alone.
Walking inside with careful steps, Chase eyed the empty warehouse. Not a soul around, unfathomably dusty, and so vastly empty the shadows itself seemed to echo alongside his voice. A small laptop was left abandoned in the corner, hastily set up on a foldable table, likely where some employee kept record data. Already his mind chuckled to itself, another one-ups on Zuma's underestimation, he'd be sure to gloat about it later. He loved keeping note of those moments where he proved someone wrong, although he was the only one keeping score.
"Hm... nothing right away," Chase flattened his ears. "But this was her last known location, supposedly..." His vision trailed to the corner, locking eyes with the laptop.
Amata already knew his thoughts, "go ahead, Chase."
"Isn't this invasive?" he proposed, walking to the table and jumping up on the metal chair. "Just... cracking a computer open without a warrant?"
"You have probable cause, though."
"Well I do now, but imagine if I didn't," Chase reached his paw, hovering it before the computer screen. He could already feel faint energies gripping his palm, "imagine if I just... walked in here, and decided to peek into any password protected machine I desired. That's a recipe for a pretty big outcry..."
The stupid thing didn't even have a firewall, a cheap little computer with a birthday password. Its network nearly fell on its knees, information unraveling from its hopeless arms.
"There's a crew manifest here," his eyes opened to words and files illuminating in his eyes. "From what I see, a boat left here yesterday. This list should..."
A scrambling hurricane of information spiraled out of control, spilling from the lengthy manifest all at once.
"Amata, this is like a thousand names," Chase looked woefully at the blurring lines of titles and numbers flashing through his mind. "I've been doing a lot lately but I can't do this. Can you maybe... read all this for me?"
"Of course I can," came the AI's chirp. "I'll have you know, I could read digital editions of the Bible in twenty seconds! Nineteen seconds is my personal record."
"Didn't ask, just read the stupid code."
"Of course, Chase."
The AI fell silent, tossing herself into a raging sea of data and numbers while Chase daydreamed. It only took her roughly half a minute, nothing compared to the several days he would've spent in comparison.
I've found a positive ID within 582 entries," she said finally. "Lesley, she left on the boat yesterday."
Chase blinked with widened eyes, "wow... you weren't kidding."
"I am incapable of telling you false information, my friend."
"Whatever, where's she headed?"
"Foggy Bottom," said Amata. "A trafficking ring of sorts is moving dogs around by boat under the public's eye, this may be the most recent location of our missing individual."
Chase nodded and turned to leave, "noted, I'll phone Ryder."
"Oh uh... there's another thing," Amata stopped him, her voice sounding rather tense. "I found something fascinating in that crew log."
The shepherd left the room, making haste for the doors. "Oh yeah, what?"
"Some of the animals in that manifest, they had a pretty genetic makeup to, well... you."
"Amata, they're dogs," he said matter-of-factly. "And I... am a dog, so therefore, I'm probably gonna share genes with other ones. German shepherds aren't a rare breed, you know."
"Well of course, I know that," said the AI. "But these two in the log... I found their files. According to attached blood records -which the existence of puzzles me- they're almost identical to you."
Chase wasn't exactly listening, already outside and climbing to his car. "So what, I have lookalikes or something?"
"I believe it's more than that. Chase..." came Amata's uneasy mutter. "I think... I think I may have found your parents."
He stopped, his heart skipping over itself as the world went silent. Not a word could be said, his voice locked in sheer disbelief as hundreds of haunting memories returned from their repression.
"Prove it," he said instantly, his voice shaking under a looming snarl.
Amata wasted no time, creating a digital image from the scanned data and picturing it directly to Chase without a sweat. Sure enough, there they were, the digital mugshots of two animals he swore would never cross his eyes again. Chase stopped in his tracks, standing motionless in his car as if he'd forgotten how to work it. His paws began shaking, scattered heat and confusion scuttling across his body. They were alive, right in front of him, their very faces held out for him to see. In all these years, Chase was convinced he was merely a street dog; a puppy recovered from the chaos of Adventure City, as Ryder always told him. What was this mockery, what was anything he was seeing now? They couldn't be, but they were, challenging everything he once knew.
"Yeah well- so what?" were the quivering words leaving him. He tried to start his car but his paws were slipping, clamming with heat. "I don't care, moving on."
His parents were alive.
"Chase, are you alright?" Amata dared to ask.
"I'm fine, let- let's go."
His parents were alive.
Ryder told him months ago his parents were gone, that efforts were made to locate them but ultimately fruitless. Understanding that time stalks all living things, Chase nodded in understanding and embraced his new life with the PAW Patrol, entering what could've been years of obliviousness. Had Ryder secretly known? The car didn't move an inch, its brakes locked from a shepherd keeping his paw clamped directly on the pedal. Idle exhaust floated up from the back, puffing up into the sky. He stared burning holes into the scratched metal surfaces around him, his entire body panicking with uncertain feelings and unresolved emotions.
His parents were alive.