Who said Programming was Easy?

     How long was this warning flashing? The whole time? And nobody fixed it? Annoyed and grumbling to himself, Garfalox realises that no one else is going to offer up to go down into the tunnels. He knows he was the only Grundo who would be suckered into investigating the tunnels, as always. Donning a toolbelt filled with laser cutters, screwdrivers, and a few tools he wasn’t sure about, Garfalox leaves his office and rushes over to the nearest elevator. Once the doors open, he scans his key card and punches in the coordinates of the maintenance tunnel. Normally, most pets couldn’t even get down there, only if you had special access, which made it all the stranger that something set off the alarm. What could possibly be running around down there?

     Garfalox considers what triggered the alert while he listens to the metallic hum of the elevator, the floor shaking at each descended level. He wants to believe it was just a false alarm. They did happen on occasion. As recently as last week, where a water sensor went off despite the recreational pool being filled to the brim. Maybe he would get lucky and it would disappear on its own…

     Back in the tunnels, the V4 is thinking how unlucky it is. So much has changed with the layout of the station. It seems the mutation rays are offline, too. There wasn’t even a connection to them. It accessed the station’s library and found a wealth of answers. Not only had Dr. Sloth been defeated, but he had been defeated upon his return, too! Some sort of resistance now ran the station. It was an economic hub and defence for the planet below. This is not what should have happened.

     Right in the middle of gear spinning and contemplating what to do, a ping sounds off in the distance. The V4 hears it all the way down the tunnel, as it echoes off the metal and pipes that cover the floor. Looking up, it sees a strange Grundo step out of the elevator. Garfalox and the V4 make eye and visual receptor contact, but before anything could be done, the V4 swiftly swivels around and rolls down the hallway as quickly as it can, treads scraping the floor in an attempt to flee.

     Garfalox has no idea how to react to what he just saw. He was standing there stunned, as the Mechanoid Warrior skids away and down the hallway. There shouldn’t be any of the Warriors down here, they all have been repurposed, or so Garfalox had thought. That one seems different from the usual models. It was a mottled green with what seemed to be a few extra lasers mounted on the head. Why did it run? Where did it even come from? Was Garfalox fully equipped for this?

     “Why, oh why does it seem like I am always the one to clean up these kinds of messes?” he says to himself while he takes stock of his toolbelt. He doesn’t know why he bothers; he knows the tools aren’t going to be of any help. Sighing, he picks up everything and gives chase. He isn’t a great sprinter, but the maintenance tunnels are littered with different coloured pipes, wires, and all sorts of forgotten supplies. As fast as that Warrior could go, it wouldn’t be able to navigate as easily as Garfalox, and maybe he could catch up. If only I had taken more time to train in the Battledome, he thinks, as if he knew this job was going to be more than desk work.

     The V4 is having trouble just as Garfalox predicted. There isn’t an easy way through these tunnels; each time there is a bit of open ground, the V4 gets stopped immediately by more rubbish in its way. There isn’t a good way to leave this area as far as the map it had downloaded showed. There would be another elevator in 100 metres, but with how slow it is moving, there would be no doubt the Grundo would be able to catch up. The V4 needed to get topside, assess the situation, and see what it could do to help its glorious creator.

     Garfalox, meanwhile, is trying to think of ways to catch the robot so he could end his day peacefully. There is no way he wasn’t going to use this as an excuse to take the rest of the afternoon off after dealing with this mechanical nightmare. Although, stopping the V4 was another matter. It has weapons, and Garfalox? He has some screwdrivers. Not even a Nova to his name! It’s not like he would have ever carried any if he did have them, but if only he would have grabbed one earlier, he could at least do something! Garfalox must use brain over brawn for this one. The key was making sure that the robot stays down here. Letting the V4 get up to the Recreation Deck would be very bad, there are far too many helpless pets up there that could get hurt.

     “Falvinx sure is missing this. I bet he won’t believe me when I tell him what happened, if I can make it out of this one. But how do I get rid of this? It’s not like I can just blast it out of the space station—hold on.” Garfalox thinks hard as he keeps running to catch up to the robot. Most of the elevators have special commands that are programmed in from years back. No one uses them anymore since it was only accessible with a special keycard and some finicky button patterns to hit, but maybe this could work. There was a slim chance that he would be able to trap the V4 in the elevator. But first, he needs to catch up to it.

     Garfalox leaps over cardboard boxes, ducks under some pipes, and narrowly misses a metal ceiling tile hanging by a wire, now seeing the robot up ahead, speeding towards the elevator. Garfalox begs himself to hurry up. If the robot gets to the elevator too quickly, Garfalox would never be able to stop it.

     The V4 smashes through more debris on the ground, grinding it all up in its treads as it tries to escape. The elevator is right there, it only needs to reach the elevator and it could get to the upper levels and escape this pesky Grundo. It swivels quickly and sends a laser blast down the hallway. Just one beam would be enough for it to clear the remaining distance, but the Grundo keeps up, even after diving behind a pipe to escape the blast. It was getting hard to see; the heat of the blast burst a pipe and steam was beginning to rise. Just another second and the V4 would be at the elevator, door within reach. Its mechanical arm extends and mashes the door open button of the elevator as it squeezes through the opening doors and screeches to a halt inside the elevator. It has won, now that Grundo wouldn’t be able to stop it.

     Garfalox sees the door start to close and dives to catch up. With not a moment to waste, he pulls his keycard out and swipes it on the access panel. The elevator shutters as the doors slam closed. Pulling in a stale breath of air, Garfalox taps at the maintenance screen that his card info displays, and puts in the commands for where he wants to send the elevator. The entire shaft shutters as the gears whir, trying to decide which way to go, before finally accepting Garfalox’s commands and reversing its direction. He watches the robot trapped inside the elevator tilt its head left and right, trying to figure out why the elevator was going down, before finally disappearing from view. Garfalox slumps over, exhausted, his breathing deep and ragged as he tries to compose himself. This was way too much excitement for one day.

     Not as exciting for the V4, though. It was trying to compute what was going on. It had directed the elevator to go upwards to the main decks. Where is it going? Suddenly, a robotic voice sounds on the speakers, “Garbage chute activated. Airlock to open in 3…2…1.” Right on cue, the elevator floor clicks and slides open to the outside darkness of space, the V4 is sucked out and doomed to float around the space station until its batteries run dry.

     ---------------------

     “So Garfalox, taking off early, I see?” Falvinx laughs as he passes by the Aisha’s cubicle.

     “Yeah, today is just too much excitement. I’m hoping for a real quiet one tomorrow,” Garfalox replies walking out, not even bothering to stop moving to chat. Garfalox decides to take the long way through the station back to his living quarters; no more maintenance tunnels and shortcuts for him after what he had just gone through. Maybe he could have a slow and quiet day tomorrow, for once!

     The End.