"What have you found out, Gehru?"

In the electronics division at Anderson Science Center, Gehru held up a broken collar piece that Mimi had brought in for analysis. The non-metallic segment looked like a hardwire cord; dark-colored and thin, the length of a quarter meter, with curvature to its being. On one side of the band, there was a single, large, indicator light. Conspicuously unlit, the overall look of the article was lifeless, like that of a doll, or a sinister shark.

"Waaait... " Gehru said in a dragged out sort of way. "Paaatience... "

Tall and rail-thin, Gehru was a funny-looking character with oversized ears and a pudgy nose. He also had coffee creme skin and tight, curly brown hair. Yet, for all his different attributes, one thing really stood out for Gehru: his artificial right eye. While fully functional, the robotic globe did not sit quite correctly in its socket, giving Gehru an off-kilter kind of persona; as if his attention were always directed elsewhere, distracted during a conversation, and gazing at something else.

In present time Gehru was, in fact, studying something else. His robotic eye whirred and rotated. The fine, metal sheets at its iris opened and closed, forming a dilating pupil; focusing, enlarging, adjusting to the angle at which Gehru held the foreign piece. At the same time, a clear yellow lens at its center glowed deep inside, changing its shape to focus laser-light at different depths.

A red laser-beam shot out from the globe and swept over the collar segment in a slow and wide fashion. Scanning, searching.

"Hmmph," Gehru grunted.

He and Mimi were old friends, having spent a lifetime of rehab together with their robotic prosthetics; Mimi with her cyborg left leg and Gehru with his mechanical right eye. Despite the challenging therapy, each was a constant companion to the other, encouraging progress and improvement. For Gehru specifically, delving into a world of transistors and circuits was therapy alone; an escape from a grim reality. He would naturally become an engineering resident at Anderson later on.

Presently, Gehru changed sitting positions in his chair once, and again, as if uncomfortable and dissatisfied. He spun himself around, as if riding a merry-go-round, then paused for a moment. Consequently, he pushed off and rolled to another desk a short distance away. Underneath a conclave of switches and wires, he found a small, nondescript, scanning device and mounted it onto a headband for immediate use. With the fixture in place on his head, he began another evaluation for the broken collar-piece.

All of this extra scrutiny seemed ironic, Mimi thought, given Gehru's artificial eye.

Squawk! Squawk!

Nearby, a large, yellow-breasted bird with blue and red plumage stood on a stand next to Gehru's workspace. The multi-colored fowl stood out in the room, like a bright flag in the midst of a vast, sepia scene. The bird tilted its head and blinked its eyes in a series of quick, short motions, all the while watching all the hustle and happenstance occurring in the room. It stretched its wings in a couple of deliberate, flapping motions.

"Hi Phoenix!" Mimi called out. "Is Gehru treating you well?"

Squawwwwkkk!

"Don't let him flim-flam you, Mimi," Gehru commented. "He's really a bigger turkey."

Squawk-kk! Squawk!

"O-kie," Gehru said aloud. He placed the section of collar on the table and took off his headgear. "The collars, inside of them, contain nano-frequency disrupters. Human-made. Origin-ly used to... uh, scramble-fry communication lines."

Mimi listened closely.

"Professor Tuli and me thinks they were... uh, re-changed?" He paused. "No, modified... to produce bandwidth confusion."

Mimi stared at Gehru with widened eyes.

"For camouflage," he continued.

"They're cloaking devices!" Mimi exclaimed. "The animals use this kind of technology?"

The female HP officer remembered something else. "The canines also got past the vox perimeter... "

"Ahh, dibble function," Gehru surmised. "It can probably... uh, break both audi- and visi- sensing. Same frequency disruptor."

He gave Mimi an up-down look over.

"You could not pick up the canines at all?"

Mimi shook her head.

"What scanner you use?"

"A TX30." An old, bare-bones multi-scanner.

"Hah, well! No wondie you never see them! A new scanner probably help."

"Transporters can't carry a lot of nice equipment. The canines steal all of their technology."

"I get you one better! Better than TX30. You need it!"

"Thanks, Gehru."

"Yes, yes! Though next time, you bring me one intackie, okie?"

"Sorry, I was worried about a recorder or a tracking chip."

"Ah, yes! Track-ie chip, there was! Ha-ha! Careful what the cat... er, what the dog dragged in, right? Ha-ha!"

"Tracking chips?" Mimi gasped. "Did you destroy them?"

"No have to! Underground? Useless. We recy-clee, for our own use."

"You guys are amazing," Mimi admired.

"I know, I know," Gehru smiled. He placed a hand at his chest. "I am amazing."

Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

"You're amazing too, Phoenix!" Mimi said.

Squawk! Squawwk! Squawwwk!

"Quiet, you big dodo! Enough attention for you!" shushed Gehru.

Mimi was reminded. "By the way, Gehru, how is that other project coming along? The one for Phoenix?"

"Ah! Not perfeck-ie, but mehh... Here, I show you!"

Off a nearby shelf, Gehru brought out a small box device that he placed over Phoenix' neck. The bird tried to step away as Gehru fastened on the device.

"Come here, you bigger chicken!" Gehru coaxed.

Squawkkkk!

Within seconds, the rough-draft-of-a-project was secured around the bird's chest.

"Okie, Phoenix, what say you now?"

"Leave me alone, you orifice!" the bird announced through the translator. "I want some food!"

"Ah!" Gehru turned the box off quickly. "Ha-ha, ah... No perfeck-ie! Still need some work!"

"Poor thing!" Mimi cried. "He sounds hungry! Aren't you feeding him?"

"Feed-ie him? This bird eat better than you and me together!"

Squawk! Squawk! Squawwk!

Mimi gave a sympathetic arc. "Aw-ww!"

"Don't worry, Mimi! This thing not accurate, yet." Gehru looked at Phoenix. "Need vocabu-larry... ah, adjusted."

Squawk!

Mimi smiled. "It's outstanding. You're a genius, Gehru."

He flashed a smile as wide as his big ears.

Squawwwk! Squawwwk!

Mimi laughed.

"Oh yes, and you too, Phoenix. You're pretty smart, too," she said. She gave him a gentle kiss.

Squawwwk!

"Well, I've got to get going." The female officer announced. She began to check her belongings. "Thanks again for your help."

"You're welcome! Professor Tuli always say, Anything for Georges' girl. Your dad-uh do anythin' for us."

That was true, Mimi thought. Dad always did love the Science Center.

"That reminds me, Gehru," she said. "May I ask you to look at something else for me?"

She took the cross pendant from around her neck.

"My Dad gave this necklace to me a long time ago. Can you analyze it?"

"Hmm... " Gehru looked at the pendant. "Okie, I do it."

"Thank you, Gehru."

Mimi liked Gehru. He was a humorous fellow. In fact, Mimi enjoyed all of the people at Anderson. They were all such smart, techno-wizards and could figure almost anything out. If not for their help, the Protection Unit probably wouldn't have existed. The human race might not have even existed, she thought. So much of the Center's work impacted the safety of people's lives.

The Science Center also promoted peaceful relations with the animals. Mimi liked that. Her father wanted that. It was why he was so supportive of Anderson. He believed it was the only way the human race was ever going to survive. A 'salvation center,' he described.

Dad would have done anything for the Center, Mimi thought.

The happy thoughts of her father evaporated as Mimi switched her thoughts back to the canine collars. The stolen technology had allowed the mongrels to pass onto Anderson's campus, unnoticed. That was new, and it meant breaches were now possible at all of the human communities. A report to HP headquarters would have to be made right away, urging updates to the perimeter defenses.

But why now? Mimi thought. Why did the canines cross the perimeter now? Did they simply think they could outnumber the three humans? Overpower them? It made no sense. It was just Elliot, herself and Aless...

Aless?

It was an odd inclination, to think of Aless and his peculiarity. His strangeness. His foreignness.

It struck Mimi. It was obvious. The mongrels had attacked them because they had detected something new. Something different. A stranger.

Alessandro!