The night was rich with sounds and smells circulating from the jungle, happily celebrated by the one dog who loved nothing more than getting outdoors. Tracker, the wilderness explorer chihuahua, was finishing up his current field report on his tablet. He nested within a constructed hideout within the jungle, a small yet sturdy hut housing equipment with his vehicle outside. A single empty chip bag laid on the floor, discarded before the dog rested on his sleeping bag.
Tracker was making the final paragraphs for his report, typing away on the tablet. "Still no sign of the legendary fruit," he spoke aloud as he wrote. "Will look more tomorrow, I anticipate much with expectancy-" he stopped himself. "Wait... that's too wordy, more like uhh..."
He quickly deleted the sentence and typed something new, "I'm excited for the day. Yeah, that should be about it."
Lost in his writing, he didn't hear the footsteps approaching the hut outside. His nose caught a familiar scent, unexpected in its arrival and making the chihuahua falter. Him? All the way out here? That was certainly strange; although it didn't feel too unnatural, there was probably something else going on. Tracker set his tablet down and looked toward the door with a puzzled expression.
Appearing like a predator from the shadows, a German shepherd appeared in the doorway.
"Hola Chase," the dog said warmly, wagging his tail at the sight of his good friend. He slipped off his sleeping bag and walked to greet him, "How did you find my shelter? And I didn't know the PAW Patrol was coming out here."
The shepherd let himself in, brushing past the small explorer and scanning the whole room in one flick of his eyes. "I zeroed in on your WIFI signal, and the PAW Patrol isn't coming," he turned to face him. "It's just me."
His voice left Tracker somewhat unnerved, but he ignored the initial fears, shutting the door behind him. "A solo mission? You don't usually get those, is everything alright?"
"No, Tracker, everything is not alright," Chase's voice dipped in tone. He already crossed the room and located the tablet Tracker was using, placing his paw on the screen. The tablet flashed briefly, then went dead from the exchange of information.
Chase narrowed his eyes, "it's becoming difficult to trust anybody these days, and right when you think you know something, your whole world gets shaken. You know what I mean?"
Tracker's smile slowly fell, "Chase... what's wrong?"
"I'm asking the questions here," came the shepherd's flat voice. "For your information, I'm not currently affiliated with the PAW Patrol right now. I've suspended myself..." he thought for a second. "Indefinitely, or at least until I get some things figured out."
"Wh-" the chihuahua didn't feel so safe in the officer's presence anymore. "What's going on?"
"My recent investigations have led me here, to the Jungle Oasis," Chase approached him, his expression darkened. "You're my next informant, play nice with me and you'll walk away with minimal damage. I broke Humdinger, Tracker," he stared directly into the small dog's widened eyes. "I can break you too."
"Tell me about Evcon Industries' newest project, the Technosoul," Chase said to him, seizing full dominance of the room. "Seems like everyone here has a paw in it these days except me."
"I've never heard that word in my life," the smaller dog flattened his ears slightly. "I don't know what that is, I'm just on the island."
"Oh, that's cute," said the shepherd. "I could turn every computer in this entire building against you, by the way," he leaned in with a wide grin, absorbing the small dog's sudden fear. "Which one of us has the upper paw now, I ponder?"
That quickly changed things; Tracker reeled back in exclamation, his entire demeanor swapping on a dime. "Wha- Chase what do you-"
"I recall as a puppy," Chase circled him like a jackal, expression curled up in an unstable grin. "People didn't lie to you every step of the way and tell you your parents were dead and now you're walkin' through life doing every damn thing you're told without a second thought!" He stopped to catch a breath. "Tracker, my buddy, my buddy ol' pal, my sweet little chihuahua, you!"
Tracker found himself backed into the wall shaking like a leaf, pinned backward by an overstimulated German shepherd. It could've been a trick of light, but Tracker swore he saw digital numbers shuffling and counting in Chase's eyes.
"I'm going to give you one chance," Chase reached his paw and placed it on the other dog's shoulder. "You tell me where I need to go, and I won't-" he stopped in a flash, vision snapping to the left and freezing.
Was he okay? Tracker struggled to control his labored breathing, flicking his gaze around for a way out.
"There's birds in here," the shepherd said, shakily turning his head back to him.
"Birds...? Chase, we're indoors."
"I know what I saw!" he barked unexpectedly, voice glitching for a brief millisecond. "Doves, Tracker, beautiful white doves... they're everywhere. They're..." his intensity calmed, ferocity on his face melting into genuine confusion. He released Tracker from his hold, "Marshall...?"
"No, Chase... I'm Tracker."
"Are you... wait-" the shepherd shook his head frantically. "Tracker, right," the anger returned in a flash. "Don't you tell me what I can and can't see!"
"Alright, alright," the explorer held up his paws defensively. "You're right, there's birds. You're the boss." Please, for the love of God, anything to keep this maddened shepherd from tearing him apart. "Chase..."
The shepherd's eye twitched.
"I honestly... do not know what you're talking about, but-" he added that last part quickly to save his own skin. "I think I know a way where you can find out."
"I'm listening," Chase said.
"All deals and interactions get recorded on a server farm up the island, if Technosoul is doing anything here, it'll have left trances you can pick up there," Tracker discreetly placed his paw on Chase's arm, trying to nudge it off his shoulder. Tracker discreetly placed his paw on Chase's arm, trying to nudge it off his shoulder. "I can show you where it is on my terminal."
"You have a wholeass server farm on this jungle island?" Chase said, skeptical.
"It's not completely indigenous, we have to keep this place on radar somehow." He pointed his paw across the room, "it's that computer on the table over there. Just give me a second, I can-"
He pointed his paw across the room, "it's that computer on the table over there. Just give me a second, I can-"
Whipping around, Chase snapped his arm forward and reached directly for the terminal, linking his mind with its hard drive instantaneously. It cracked like an egg, thousands of numbers and files blossoming through the network straight into his own paws. It was starting to get a lot easier, a detail Chase happily welcomed. Tracker watched with a spread expression of bewilderment, watching the digital exchange between flesh and machine. How was that possible?
Chase relaxed his arm, eyes flickering blue. "Nice try, it's on the northeast side, I got it."
The small dog stared agape, "what... did you just do?"
"What I'm good at," the shepherd grinned, puffing out his chest. "What I should've been, anyway. Dogs like me can save the world, Tracky," he leaned in a little. "You should take notes."
The feeble chihuahua shuffled his shaking paws, "Chase... I- I don't want to be in your way. If you need something, I can provide it." Never before had he felt so powerless.
"And that's why you're one the better ones," Chase's eyes softened. "Thanks for being nice to me, Tracker, I'll pay you back once this is all over." He leaned in and gave the dog a small lick on the forehead, a small gesture of care between dogs. But something was off about it; was it a subtle threat to stay in line, or genuine affection from a shepherd that lost his mind?
"Welp," Chase arched his back in a stretch. "Guess I better hit the ol' dusty trail. Bye Tracker, don't die, okay? Let's go, Amata," he turned and padded back to the entrance, disappearing into the jungle night.
The explorer watched him go, "Amata...?" He was left alone in his laboratory, small bruises formed around his body. What on Earth was any of that? That wasn't Chase, that wasn't the dog he'd known for years and risked his own fur facing missions with. Something was wrong with him, something that wasn't supposed to be there, clinging to him like a digital leech on the brain.
Tracker walked where his tablet lay and tried turning it back on, only to emit a whimper upon seeing the whole thing had its battery siphoned. He couldn't contact anyone with this, it needed to be charged; at least enough to get it turning on again. Something more was at stake; he could feel it ringing in his tiny paws. With no time to waste, he ran for the charger cable.
Now knowing exactly where he needed to go, Chase was filled to bursting with resolve, potent enough to brave the jungle's night. Not without slight hesitancy, as he chose to walk along the beach instead of thrusting directly through the dark world of trees and bushes where anything could snatch him. The crickets were proud in their song, harmonizing with the calm waves of the ocean.
"Hey Amata?" Chase spoke aloud as he walked along the beach, leaving pawtracks in the damp sand.
"Yes, Chase?"
"Why didn't you say anything when I was talking to Tracker?"
"I apologize, Chase. I do not fully trust these other animals, even if you call them friends," said the AI. "I must protect myself just as much as I protect you. Also..." there was noticeable hesitation in her words. "I believe he knew Matilda."
The shepherd stopped in his tracks, seawater lapping at his paws, "what? What do you mean?"
"You see, Chase, I've been around since Justin's earliest projects, and I am incapable of forgetting things. Tracker... he knew Matilda, I'm sure of it. That is why I did not trust him; he could be involved."
"Did he now," he blinked, looking up at the stars. "Well that's interesting, but I don't have time to dwell on that right now... but remind me later, that might be worth coming back to." His attention drifted to a flock of doves surfacing from the distant ocean, soaring straight up into the air and dissolving into shining dust.
The moon struck midnight as Chase arrived at the server farm, a secure building of wood-detailed concrete built outside a rougher edge of the island. It was most certainly the right place, the massive steel radio tower wired directly to the building was a dead ringer, endlessly transmitting its secrets overseas.
Pushing his head against the door, Chase entered the hot room, beholding an organized array of machines and computers. A pointy-eared shadow was cast in moonlight over the server farm, appearing in the doorway like a summoned demon. "Oh easy prey," Chase licked his lips, bristling his fur with a fanged grin. "Bringeth thyself to me." He wasted no time wandering up and down the aisles of high-tech machines and servers, stepping over hazards of tangled wires and wearing a gleeful smile like a child in a candy shop. The heat wasn't too appetizing, an unfortunate result of so much processing power in one place; Chase was already leaving drops of sweat from his paws.
"I assure you, your powers are well beyond these boxes of plastic and metal," Amata said reassuringly.
"And that's what I love about myself," Chase said like a giddy puppy, walking up to the main computer. It was such a wondrous display of technology he almost made a mess on the floor, six screens all wired to one another, spiraling networks of wires and internet cords, endless numbers, oh the beautiful numbers, Chase could barely contain himself. His paws were already quivering with anticipation as he held them up, his pads tickled by the digital highways already sensing his presence. "No one can keep me from anything!"
He slammed his paws on the machine, interlinking his mind directly into the entire server farm.
Chase instantly fell into a dream, a descent into a void of numbers and files, manifesting into doves and flying in circles above his head. He looked around for a while, running his eyes and scanning every little thing in nanoseconds. Pixels, metadata, downloads, renders, it all presented themselves like a graceful flock of ballerinas.
"Amata," he spoke, voice digitized and echoing far into the horizons of infinity. "Find me Project Technosoul, I need to know what Justin, Ryder, and Humdinger are planning."
The world transformed into flashing lights for a quick second, then fell dark once again. "I have found nothing you can access," Amata said dejectedly.
"What? What are you talking about, I'm Chase! I can crack anything!"
"Well, there's definitely files in here about the project," the AI continued. "But it's sealed and requires a decryption key, it can't be accessed without it."
"So what? Just run through the inner codes, I'm sure you can crack out a password."
"It's not a password, Chase," Amata said, growing mildly annoyed. "These files are encrypted with the highest tech Evcon Industries has, they cannot be cracked without a decryption key."
The shepherd huffed, deflating his posture, "well great. Whatever, download them anyway, I'll just save it for later." He looked back up at the ocean of code and files, "so what can you access?"
"Does this JPG file mean anything to you?"
Amata executed a picture file she uncovered in her search, opening it and calling upon thousands of pixels to birth from the black sea of codes, all coming together to form an image before their very eyes. Each tiny block fit together like puzzle pieces, forming legs, a torso, jagged tail, and then a faceless mask.
"Alpha," Chase growled, old bruises starting to ache. "Justin's little pet that almost killed me, how could I forget. Of course I know him, what are you playing at?"
Various documents manifested into his vision, scrolling up and down their contents and scanning out every single letter and punctuation mark. Chase's mind processed it all in seconds, new information downloading easier than picking up a chew toy. "Guard dogs?" Chase's eyes widened. "Alpha's not even supposed to be a Companion Canine, he's a whole line of dog soldiers Justin plans to release around Adventure Bay!" He thought for a moment, looking down at the void under his paws until an idea came to his head. His expression slowly reared up, "dear God, he's making an army."
"An army of Alphas would certainly be unstoppable," his AI chimed in.
"No shit! The Companion Canines are probably just some publicity stunt, he's gonna airdrop a bunch of enforcers around the bay!"
The reading material -or downloading material, in his case- was plentiful, only one last file within his reach. Chase pushed away what he already read and deleted from his mind what was unnecessary, swimming forward through the darkness and reaching out to connect with it. Ethereal wires stabbed through Chase's paw and merged his mind with the technology, a flock of white doves taking off around him in a shower of pure feathers.
He saw a map of Adventure Bay drawn in code. A single dot illuminated, then another, and another, and dozens more until the entire map looked as if it had chicken pox. A single location appeared from nothing on the upper coast of the map, then flowered with outstretching wires. They stretched all across the bay, connecting with each dot and electrifying it with life until every landmark was all connected to the central station. The numbers came, leaking out of the map with bleeding gashes in their wake, unspeakable power flowing through the wires so potent his vision began shaking. Images flashed in numerous successions; the Companion Canines, dozens of Alpha bots, infinitely running programs and operating systems.
"What are you?!" Chase called out into the fracturing map, watching it tear itself into pieces until beautiful doves spilled out and flew circles around him. Through the flashes of splitting minds and breaking agony, he could see glimpses of something emerging from the central hub, the driving soul to connect everything together in one massive, unyielding hivemind. It opened its glaring, infinite eyes to him, and spoke its name.
Chase suddenly awoke back in the server farm, disconnected from the main computer. The whole machine was overloaded and smoking, ruined beyond repair from the invasive entry. Shaking himself off, he let his vision recenter and looked down at his paws.
"What was it?" Amata asked.
The shepherd paused for a moment, turning around to stretch his legs. "It's called the Ethereal Link, I think it's an operating system that connects all Evcon technology to one, central network. A collective consciousness, if you will."
He emitted a small sneeze from the smoke in his nose, "I think I'm starting to understand, Amata. Humdinger, Ryder, and Justin were trafficking dogs and... probably turning them into machines, somehow. Adventure Bay already worships the PAW Patrol, so having Ryder on board is an easy way for Justin to earn the public's favor," his lips curled into a growl. "And Humdinger's job is to either clean up what doesn't work or help supply the other two in some way."
"So with all that in mind," he let out a sigh. "What the hell is the Technosoul Project? It could be the label for everything I just said, but what if it's not that simple? What if there's something else we're missing?"
Amata spoke up, "it would certainly seem that way. Maybe there's more somewhere," she paused for a quick second. "I wonder if Matilda left anything behind from her own work, it could tell us something, maybe why her owner turned on her and the other dogs of Adventure Bay."
"Matilda would be the next step," Chase nodded. "She was the closest to Justin, it doesn't make sense that he'd just kill her out of nowhere." A lightbulb went off in his head, "she must've found something, uncovered a secret that Justin couldn't let slide. And if world domination is what Evcon's planning, it makes sense she'd die for exposing their work."
"Sounds like we have our next mission, I would suggest getting back to Tracker. Earlier logs in Evcon's database say he knew Matilda, something about wilderness exchanges."
Chase didn't respond right away, standing still as if taking the time to breathe. A distant hum of knowledge, festering in its overflow, tapped against his eardrums.
"A maintenance tablet is nearby," he said aloud, turning his head to a far table. A coiling river of wires appeared from behind and connected to a small machine left on the counter.
"Yes, but I don't believe something like that will have the answers we seek," Amata replied.
The shepherd walked to his mechanical prey, "if I've learned anything about machines, it's that there's always something else, no matter how small. I can't break the Technosoul file... but I can get into the metadata packaged around it," he said, holding his paw against the tablet. "It probably won't tell me much but..." his eyes narrowed. "It might be worth a shot."
The tablet broke, its feeble firewalls helpless against Chase's power. His presence was so abrupt it physically ruptured the hard drive, carving a massive crack in the screen and frying its inner workings. The shepherd dropped the now worthless piece of metal to the floor, walking away with his pulled information. The main files were encrypted, but the surrounding folders around them were like oblivious mice scampering across a field of grass. Metadata, boring in appearance, as were most extensive lists, yet rich with information.
Four names were signed at the very bottom.
"Justin Martyr," Chase read off the names in his head. "Matilda... obviously. Ryder's on here too, that's another no-go, that only leaves..." his digital vision glazed over the last name. A guttural snarl emitted through his teeth, immediately reacting to what he saw. He clenched his paw, forcing several computer screens around him to overload, sparking with miniature explosions.
Growling under his breath, Chase uttered the name as age-old memories returned to him. "Sweetie."
Back across the island, a chihuahua finally got his tablet working again, having already spent hours pacing in circles in his outpost. His old mission seemed frivolous now, the objectives and secrets forgotten from his mind, replaced by something much darker that begged to be addressed.
Seeing his machine turn back on, Tracker jumped to it and accessed his contacts. This call wasn't going to the PAW Patrol's mission terminal, it was a direct reach to Ryder's personal phone, an action he couldn't believe he was even doing. He tapped the contact icon and let it ring, stewing in his own paranoia.
"Come on, pick up!" Tracker whined, his breathing intensifying in its pace. "Just pick up!"
"What is it?" Ryder finally answered, his usual upbeat attitude missing.
"Uh... Ryder?" the dog looked over his shoulder, speaking with a quivering voice. "I'm on a mission, or at least trying to be, and-"
The boy was less than pleased, "Tracker, I really can't talk right now; we have a situation here."
"Chase just paid me a visit."
Silence, the stunned revelation more than audible on the other end. Tracker whimpered slightly and looked back at the door, how safe was he in here? Hushed conversion was barely heard through the call, as if Ryder was frantically speaking to someone else.
"Where are you!?" Ryder nearly shouted into his pup-pad.
"Jungle Oasis," he replied. "I'm supposed to be on a business trip searching for exotic fruits but Chase just kinda... showed up. He seemed off and... really weird. He wasn't himself, Ryder."
"Alright sit tight," he replied in a frenzied tone of voice. "With a little luck, we can catch Chase before he does any more damage. Turn off all technology you can, we're coming."