Copyright 1998 -- Robert Baer Jr. D J Entry - "Puppy Love" W A R N I N G ----- D I S C L A I M E R The following work is PURE FICTION, it REALLY DIDN'T HAPPAN, only in my mind. It's meant for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY and NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN TOO SERIOUSLY, it represents a struggle of the mind The Dinosaur Chronicles PROLOGUE In the great vast universe of cyberspace roams a dinosaur, but not a ordinary dinosaur, a Computer Dinosaur, one who believes that a "hard disk" is a "petrified" 5 1/4" floppy diskette! How does a ten-ton reptile handle today's busy world? Well, let's see........ Entry # 613 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today was such a busy day, spent nearly fourteen hours in the recording studio making more radio commercials for Col. Crispy's Snack Foods. The Colonel himself was there in the booth with me and it only took 563 different "takes" to get the commercials finished just the way "he" wanted them. I was so tired when I got back to my cave that I simply went to my bedroom and crawled into bed. I was fast asleep (and having a really cool dream) when all of a sudden a loud BOOM! "startled" me awake and caused me to roll out of bed with a large THUD! I reached up with my tail and clicked on the light to discover my "intruder" was the Computer Renegade! "Dinosaur," he said apologeticly,"I'm sorry to have woke you up but I need your help!" "What wrong!" I said with a shout, still half asleep. "Otto is missing," the Renegade explained, " I'm very worried about him. He's been acting very strangely for the past few weeks. It was little things at first, the way he'd "talk" to me, the little "walks" he'd take and be gone for hours. I've even questioned him about these things and he was very evasive, it's not like a "robot" to act that way. And now he's gone again, in the middle of the night no less!" "Maybe he's out scanning the area or perhaps he's chasing a burgular or one of the Leader's men again," I said. "No," the Renegade said calmly,"according to my tracking scanner, Otto is now somewhere in Georgia, that's why I woke you up, won't you come with me to find out what's going on?" "Of course I will!" I said happily,"I'm sure there's a logical explanation." "I hope so! Here we go!" the Renegade said as he pushed a button on his black box. BOOM!!! Instantly we were in front of a very familiar looking home. "Hey, it's Ben Maddog's house!" I said in wonderment,"Oh, I think I know what's going on here!" "Ok, big guy," the Renegade said,"Otto has moved about a quarter mile straight ahead, we better sneak up on them, I'll use this device to make us invisible....." "Why do that?" I asked,"it's dark out here, he won't see us!" "But if his motion detectors are working, he'll 'sense' us," the Renegade explained,"so this thing might let us follow him without him knowing it." "Ok, let's do it!" I shouted with joy,"I love being invisible! It's SO COOL!" "SHHHHHHH!" the Renegade cautioned,"this device doesn't have a noise filter" That said, the Renegade produced another 'black box' and pushed the button. Instantly, we were invisible! We walked side by side so we wouldn't 'bump' into each other and soon we saw Otto in the distance, with Samantha Maddog! Just as I suspected, Otto was in love! But was that possible? I pondered these thoughts as we approached undetected. "Oh Otto," Samantha said softly,"these past two weeks have been wonderful! I'm so glad that we're together!" "I agree little lady!" Otto said in his consistant John Wayne voice,"you're so beautiful! Being with you has been the greatest thrill of my life!" "Otto, I told my father about us," Samantha said curtly,"and he told me that you were a robot, that you weren't a real dog, that couldn't be true, could it?" "Samantha," Otto said sadly,"please let me explain....." "It's true?" Samantha shouted,"I thought my father was lying to me, you mean that you're only a machine?" Samantha began to cry and turned away from Otto. "Samantha, please wait!" Otto begged,"please stay with me and I'll tell you the whole story." Samantha returned to Otto's side as he began to explain. "Many months ago I was an ordinary dog, a classic obedience school trained German Shepard guard dog. My former master lived in a big estate, surrounded by walls and security cameras. I was a good guard dog, I chased all intruders and obeyed my master's every command. One day I was chasing a burgular out of the gate and into the street. I was so focused on biting this guy that I didn't notice the traffic in the road. Before I knew it, a vehicle collided with me, I was thrown into a groove of bushes, feeling great pain and agony. I knew I was hurt badly, and I was scared that I was going to die. My master ran up beside me and said 'Stupid mutt! You're no good to me now! Someone shoot this curr and put him out of his misery.' As one of his security guards pointed his pistol at me, a strange voice shouted,'STOP! DON'T SHOOT!' A weird looking man with a Great Dane walked up beside me and said,'Don't shoot this poor dog, if you don't want him, let me have him, I can help him!' My master snorted,'Take him, old man, get this carcass out of here!' That's all I remembered as I passed out. When I awoke, I was on a table and feeling very, very strange. All the pain was gone, but so was all the 'feeling' in my legs! It was so wierd. I wasn't the same, and I didn't know why until I overheard that funny little man talking to himself. 'I've done it!' he said happily,'I've done it! He's alive and functioning! He'll be the perfect combination of canine and machine! He'll be better than you, Maxx! You're all machine, this dog will be my greatest creation! I'll call him Otto short for Automatic. Part machine, part canine, under my control!' Weeks went by, this man, Uncle Buford, ran a series of tests on me. I still felt strange, it was like I was 'in' my body, but it wasn't responding to me. All these computerized implants moved by limbs, though biologically I was functioning fine. Most of my organs were functioning, I did eat and pant, but all my other moments were controlled by the computer system installed inside of me. But soon, I discovered that my real brain was beginning to interface with the computer. I slowly began to gain 'control' over myself. By the time Uncle Buford gave me to his nephew, I was able to move 'on my own' and even to 'think.' I have become self aware, but I didn't dare tell anyone. Now I am in full control of my body and all the computerized implants inside of it. Samantha, I am real! Please believe me! I'm not a machine, I'm not a thing, I'm real ... and I'm in love with you! Please believe me! ........" "I do, Otto!" Samantha shouted,"I do believe you! All the things you've told me on our previous dates, I know that no machine can show that kind of emotion. I know you are real, those tears falling from your eyes now certainly are real! I knew there was something special about you, the way you instantly transported us all over the world! You are real, Otto, and I love you, too!" The two dogs kissed each other. "But there's one thing I don't understand," Samantha asked,"why are you keeping all this a secret from everyone? Why not tell your new master?" "You don't understand," Otto began to explain,"I'm not supposed to have a 'mind' of my own. I was created to be a 'glorified robot' not a self-aware being. Uncle Buford's lab notes say that if I were to become self-aware, that I was to be terminated." "Terminated!" Samantha screamed,"but why?" "Well," Otto began,"it's his belief that if I had a mind of my own that I would become evil and use all of my internal 'devices' to take over the world! But I'm not evil, I'm not a monster, I just want to live a normal life, be a regular dog, have a mate....." "Oh Otto!" Samantha cried,"I won't tell anyone your secret, I don't want them to shut you off!" It was just then that I sneezed very loudly. "What was that?" Samantha said in fear. "I think I know," Otto said as he turned around and shot a strange orange ray out of his eyes. This ray instantly made the Renegade and I visible again. "Nathan? Dinosaur?" Samantha asked with surprise. "You two followed me, didn't you?" Otto barked. "We did," the Renegade said reluctantly,"but ....." "We were worried about you," I interrupted,"because we care about you!" This comment seemed to cut the tension. Otto slowly walked over to the Renegade and said, "did you hear everything I said?" "Yes, I did," the Renegade replied,"but I don't think the same way my uncle does. It's been obvious to me that you had a mind of your own for a long time. The way you rescued me from the Leader's men a month ago kinda cinched it for me. I haven't known you very long, but I know you're a good dog. It seems ackward for me to call you my 'dog' when you're self aware, so if it's wrong for me to be your 'owner' can I just be your friend?" "I would like that," Otto answered,"you are a very nice human, you've really treated me well, much better than my former master" "What can I do?" Samantha said,"we'll have to tell my father about you, I wonder how he'll react." "We'll kept your secret," I said to Otto,"we're your friends, I'm sure Ben Maddog will understand, too!" "But he only thinks of you as a robot," Samantha said,"how will we convince him........" "You already have, Sam," said Ben Maddog as he emerged from his hiding place behind a peach tree,"I too was curious, and I believe you're real, Otto. Only a real dog could show such love and compassion for my daughter. I will keep your secret, and Sam, you don't have to sneak out of the house anymore." "Thank you, father!" Samantha said as she hugged Ben. "You really aren't a machine, Otto!" I observed,"otherwise you would have had your motion detectors on and found Ben's hiding place! Ok, let's keep all of this a secret for Otto's sake." "Alright, now let's all go home," the Renegade said with a yawn. "I'm with you!" I said, thinking of my nice warm bed. "Well, can Samantha and I finish our date?" Otto asked. "Sure," Ben Maddog said,"But I've got a court case in the morning, I want to go to sleep!" "Ok, y'all have a nice evening!" I said,"let's go back to my cave, Nathan!" "You got it, big guy," the Reneagde said. Well, I finally made it back to my warm, cousy bed. I hope Otto and Samantha are happy together, it's strange. First it was Wanna and the Renegade, now the two canines, will I ever fall in love again? I just don't know. End of Entry -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------