Radley walked over to Reggie, and Reggie again produced his film projector from out of the top of his head. The Doctor Dimmed the lights Reggie and started to show some more pictures to help illustrate his story for the others.
Radley began " As I told you I was given Reggie as a puppy by my parents when I was 13. He was my birthday present. Both my parents worried as I had no friends. I was home schooled so did not have other children or teenagers around. I was very friendly with the staff as I have told you at great length, but I had no one that I could talk to and look after.... all the staff looked after me.
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| Reggie as a Puppy, my best ever Birthday Presents |
So Reggie came into my life, I originally wanted to call him Rex as in King., however my Mom said her Father had been call Reginald and that meant King also. My Father chipped in that Reggie was a shorted version of Reginald, so Reggie became Reggie. He soon became a part of the family.
As I have already said I had tried and failed to make a Cybernetic Pet in the past. My Project MUTT , who can remember what that that stood for ? " Asked Radley to the others.
" Mental Upload Technical Test " Shouted out Jace before his sister could say it.
Radley nodded and continued " Gold Star to Jace. The Project was not a complete failure but it just did not work very well. So now I had Reggie, and he became my new project. We spent all day together, either outside playing or him sitting watching me as I went about my studies and inventing things. Even at night he would sleep beside my bed. We were always together. I could talk to him, and he would listen like he understood what I was saying. He was my Best Friend"
"And I was yours !" Reggie added and licked Radley's face,
" Oh No, Cyber slobber " Radley laughed..... as did the Room.
Radley Contained " When I had spent the Summer at The Quest Lab in California Reggie of course came too.
I had met Dr Benton Quest a few times at our Mansion when he had come for business meetings with my Father. Dr Quest had seen some of my inventions and he was impressed enough to offer me a place working beside him the Summer before my parents were killed. Dr Quest was a widower who had a young Son called Jonny. Jonny was about 6 when I first met him.
Jonny had become withdrawn since the death of his Mother who had died when Jonny was a toddler . When Jonny had first met Reggie & I, Dr Quest could see that his son became more like his old self. So when I was was not working along Dr Quest, both Reggie and I would spend time with Jonny. I got a little "Brother" and Jonny got me and my Mutt. Sometimes I would ask Jonny to look after Reggie so that he was not always coped up in the Lab with me. "
Quest Labs California was on the coast. This was the main residence for the Quest Family. It was large and very secure and safe. A Ideal place for a Boy and his Dog to have lots of adventures.
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" He took me Walkies, gave me Scooby Snaxs " Said Reggie
Radley smiled and said " Yes he did. Dr Quest and I collaborated on many of his projects. Then one evening he told me about his wife and how and why she had died. She had suffered from Neurological issues after she gave birth to Jonny. And bit by bit Dr Quest had watched her slowly lose control of her body. He said he felt guilty he could not fix her, and that although her brain was fine, it could not control her body anymore. She hated not being able to care for her baby or her husband.
Dr Quest said he had started to prefect a Cybernetic Brain and system that could either assist a person with brain damage. He had also started to develop a technique to try to transfer the essence of the person into a machine . He had made a few designs but nothing of any real note. His wife was by then getting worse by the day, and finally she died. With his wife dying his need to perfect his ideas was no longer a priority, his Son was. I told him about my project MUTT. He was so interested Dr Quest asked me to arrange for him to see my work. He lent me his private jet and pilot, and I flew back to Big City. I has asked if Jonny could join us as it would be a welcome break for him. Dr Quest agreed so back to Big City I went with Reggie and Jonny.
We spent a couple of days at the Mansion whilst I collected all the Information, Prototypes and Designs I had made years before on Project MUTT. Whilst I did this the Staff at the Mansion made a big fuss of Jonny which was good for him. Then it was back to California. Dr Quest said he was impressed by my work, but he had found a fatal floor in my designs. This was I was trying to build a Cybernetic Brain from scratch. He said that what I needed was a little help, I needed a test subject to copy their brain matrix, possibly two as a back up.
What Dr Quest suggested was we start by building a simple artificial brain, intelligent that could learn. He mentioned we could start by mapping Reggie's brain. I did not like the idea of animal testing. He explained using what he had already designed and what I had brought to the table, no one would get hurt. I agreed and Reggie became part of Project MUTT.02. After working at it every day for a month we were getting somewhere. Dr Quest had built a two way speaker, so we could try to get The Matrix to respond. Maybe a bark, or growl. But the speaker always remained silent.
However, I noticed that Jonny was now becoming withdrawn again. Both his Father and "Big Brother" were now too busy to play with him...... and his "Canine Buddy" was also too busy to play due to him being needed in the Testing Lab most of the time
I suggested to Dr Quest that we needed a new assistant, and he agreed so Jonny became part of the team. We need an expert Dog Handler, and Jonny said he was up for the job. Dr Quest even had a special small white lab coat made for him, and his only special security pass.
I then knew that Dr Quest loved his son. Maybe he did not have all the time possible to be with him, but he made time for him. This was something that my life did not share. My parents did love me, but they seemed to always be away. Dr Quest had made sure that Jonny always was with him when he traveled.
The machine we used to map Reggie's brain was big and sometimes Jonny would stand beside Reggie in it and talk to him.
That is when something amazing happened. We had just finished the latest scan of Reggie's brain waves, Dr Quest had asked Jonny to remove the two scanners from Reggie's head.
"They Tickled" Said Reggie giggling.
"Yes it was the static, it made your fur stand up on end sometimes " explained Radley. Then he continued.
Both Dr Quest and I were busy looking at the results, when we heard laughing. It was Jonny standing were Reggie had been with the scanners on his own head. He had managed to raise up the level of base. So he could now reach the scanners. He looked at us and Barked like a dog. Reggie joined in also. It was comical.
We both laughed, he was not at any risk. Then we noticed something, the scanners had started mapping Jonny's brain. It was downloading a copy of it into the same matrix as held Reggie's. We watched as the Reggie Matrix was joined by the Jonny Matrix, they were merging. Then from out of the speaker we heard a sound At first it was muffled. Dr Quest adjusted the volume. The sound became clearer, it was a voice. It said Hello, Hello where am I ? It Barked like a dog and then started to laugh.
Dr Quest asked it if it had a name. The voice replied "Yes I am Reggie !" The Voice started to Laugh again.
Then the speaker went silent.. We tried to replicate the experiment, but we could not make it happen as before. Dr Quest mapped Jonny and Reggie's Matrix again, but they never joined or merged as they had done the first time. The project had worked, but we did not know how or why.... or even if it could be reproduced.
It was now at the end of the Summer, and I needed to go back to the Mansion as my tutors would be returning soon to continue my education. It was sad to say goodbye to Dr Quest and Jonny.
As a parting gift, I had asked Dr Quest if I could buy Jonny his own pet. He agreed as long as I came back to visit them all very soon. I of course agreed.
I presented Jonny a little white Bull Dog Puppy who had Black markings on his face. Jonny called him Bandit, as the Black markings reminded him of a Mask. They soon became as close of a team as Reggie & I.
I flew back to Big City, not before gifting all my project MUTT material and notes to Dr Quest. I told him if he could not make it work, no one could."
" A year later my parents were killed. Now it was just Reggie & I left. I had now grown up, I had to grow up. I had sold some of my Father's Business. I wanted to make my own way in the world. Some of my Businesses Dr Quest purchased a few at a fair price. As I told you I later moved out of the Mansion into Crowne Tower. Then the night of the Storm and the death of Penny and Parker."
"And that" said Radley "Links both parts of Reggie's and my story together and how Dr Quest became involved in our lives"
Radley sipped his drink and continued "When I started to develop the weapons and equipment I needed to operate as The Blue Falcon, I found some of the companies I still owned did not have the capability to build what I wanted. I would out source some of the work to other companies. I needed to keep my identity secret, so set up a fake company with the help of my Lawyers. It was called BF Industrial Solutions.
My Lawyers would always advise me, but had learnt dealing with my Father not to ask too many questions.... and did what I requested them to do. I made contacts with many companies located all around the Globe including some in the USA like Quest Labs, Wayne Industries, Dexter Labs and Queen Industrial. It took time but slowly my arsenal grew. I already had a Heliport on my roof, so when the Falcon Car was ready I had it housed on the roof. Using many companies was an issue. Many only made part of things. So no one really knew what they were building, or why. I did have a team of trusted workers who lived in another State. They only ever met me as The Blue Falcon. They had never met Radley Crowne, as none of them had visited Big City. It was risky, but my Boffins liked the inventing not investigating.
Life was good, both Reggie and I grew older, but I knew that he was not going to last for ever. I built up both of my identities. Whilst Radley Crowne became a bit of a playboy character, Art Dealer and Business man, The Blue Falcon was seen as a hard hitting man of Justice who originally only operated at night time. But after I got acceptance from the Police Department, I started to stop hiding in the shadows. Around this time I received a call from Dr Benton Quest. He asked me if I knew a way of contacting The Blue Falcon. I told I had met him, and I was sure I could get a message to him.
Dr Quest had asked me to have The Falcon drop by his laboratory in California. A few days later I went to see Dr Quest as The Blue Falcon. Dr Quest asked The Falcon to look into a number of break ins at Quest Labs around the Country. Things had been stolen along with some special parts that he had made for BF Industries.Dr Quest said he had been following the career of The Blue Falcon for years. He had linked BF Industries to the Falcon, as he had seen me using some of the items his company had produced.
He then also reveled that he knew that The Falcon was Radley Crowne. I could not laugh this one off. Dr Quest knew Radley too well.
I just removed my Cowl and confirmed it. It felt good to have someone other than Reggie who knew I was The Blue Falcon.
Dr Quest also hinted that may be I was not the only playboy in America with a secret life. At the time this statement did not make any sense to me, but later on I found out how true it was.
Zan and Jayna started to laugh, they knew of a few members of their Super Friends Team that fitted into that category. Radley looked over at them and put his finger to his lips and smiled. He then continued.
I looked at where and when the different Quest Labs had been attacked. There was a pattern, and if I was right The Big City Quest Lab was next. Ironically that factory lab had been once part of my business empire that I had sold to Dr Quest.
I asked Dr Quest to help me get a job at Quest Labs, so that I could go undercover, and he did. I had suggested some type of guard and he agreed.
So disguising myself as a security guard allowed me to walk around the building at night without suspicion. I wore a Dark Brown Wig and Glasses and used the name Lou Malcolm. On Guard each night there were only two security people. Myself and Bob Bishop, an 60 year old man. I had done some background checks on him. He appeared to be honest.
To add to my disguise I took along Reggie acting like a Guard Dog. Dr Quest had had a special collar made with a gold Q on it for Quest Labs. It was nice that I could spend more time with Reggie, especially as I was out most nights as doing my Falcon job whilst he was home alone up in my penthouse.Reggie was now a mature hound, he had started to slow up, but he was still up for a little excitement. Two Nights went by over at Quest Labs and nothing happened. On the 3rd night Bob had gone home with a bad cold. I told him that I would be ok on my own with my dog Mutt. Oh Yes even Reggie had a secret identity too. Yes he was Mutt the Security Dog.
"Yes, I was Mutt Guard Dog First Class" Giggled Reggie
" This was the first time Reggie had worked with me as The Blue Falcon " said Radley smiling. Then he continued......
Then after mid night Reggie started to Bark. I could not see any thing, but then I heard a strange flapping sound. Running up to the roof I saw two Red Lights up in the sky, as they came forward I could see these were eyes. Eyes attached to a Giant Robotic Dragon made of metal.
Jack put his hand up..... Radley acknowledged him and invited him to speak.
"How did know that this Dragon was not real ?" he asked
"Why my good friend, because Dragon's do not exist in the world I live in" Radley replied.
" Really" Said Jack a little bit amazed. " You have all those strange things in your world like great boats made of metal that float on the water, Giant metal Birds that fly in the sky carrying people in their bellies , you have cannons so small you can carry them in your pocket, you have so many wondrous things in your world Radley Crowne.... but you don't have Dragons !" said a startled Jack.
The room was silent, Jace smiled and Jan looked down at the floor as she had started to giggle. Then Phooey started to laugh out loud. This set everyone off, including the Doctor.
" Did I say somethings amusing ? " Growled Jack.
" Yes, but I will get Penry to tell you later" Said the Doctor looking at Phooey.
Then Radley continued......
As the Dragon got nearer its eyes started to glow brighter and brighter .....
until the Dragon started to fire Red lasers from out of its eyes at Reggie and me.
I ducked down just in time, the Laser singed my guards cap. I threw it off as it started to burn.
I had a few of my utility belt weapons on me. I Threw my exploding Falcon's Claw towards the Dragon and the claw exploded causing the metal beast to crash onto the roof. It was on fire and was not moving, I assumed it was dead. The fire was getting out of hand. The roof doubled up a Helli Pad so there were fire fighting equipment on hand. I picked up a fire extinguisher, I had a feeling that something was standing behind me...... and upon turning around I came face to face with the Dragon.
It was not dead. Its eyes started to glow, I threw the extinguisher at it and I jumped out of the way before it had a chance to fire its Lasers at me again.
.
I threw it as hard as I could hoping that it may explode.
At the last second before impact I threw may self to the ground
It fired again and blew up a section of the roof wall behind where I had been standing. It now had me cornered, it fired yet again and hit me on the shoulder this set alight the jacket of my Guards Uniform.
The pain was like being hit by an electric lightning bolt. It threw we backwards on to the wall behind
I was lucky that I had my Falcon's costume underneath my uniform other wise it would have burnt through to my skin. I tore off my jacket which had started to burn, then I tore open the shirt which had started to burn through also,
Now I had full access to my complete utility belt. As the Fire Extinguisher seemed to have been a bit of a success, I threw some of my smoke bombs at the Dragon hoping for a similar result. Hitting the Dragon in the face they exploded causing another White cloud of Mist. It could not see me, and fired wide of where I was standing.
During all this Reggie had been barking and growling at the Dragon. It attempted to swipe him with its tail, but missed. The Mist and Reggie's barking seemed to have confused its sensors, as its lasers were again firing all over the place..... this would give me a chance and some time to plan my next attack. I grabbed from my Utility belt all I could and hurled it at the Metal Beast. It opened its mouth and what I had thrown was swallowed. The Mist was starting to clear, I had run out of options. I held up my hands in surrender. This creature was intent in robbing the building of what ever it wanted, so did it really care about me ?
The remains of the mist finally cleared, the Dragon advanced forward yet again. Its eyes started to glow again, I knew that this time it was game over.
I waved my hand in surrender, hopefully who was controlling the Metal Beast would not be too bothered by me. All they wanted was to steal equipment from Quest Labs. I stared at it and straight into is dark emotionless eyes and awaited my fate. It lent forward as it came closer. It kept on advancing. Its eyes had started to glow brighter, I knew what would happen next.
It fired its eye lasers again but in the second that followed Reggie leapt up in front of me shielding me from the the laser beams.
The Laser Blasts was meant for me but Reggie was hit by both of them. Yelping in pain he fell to the floor on top of me. I will never forget the smell of Reggie's burning fur from that night.
I looked up at the Dragon, it was about to fire again when I noticed something. When I had managed to throw the last of my weapons at it from my Utility Belt the Dragon had swallowed them. Or so I had thought. But this was not the case.
The Ring of One small stun grenade was stuck in one of its teeth, I had not noticed this, but with the Dragon now right on top of me so now I could see it. I pulled out my stun gun and fired at the grenade, it exploded in the Dragons mouth and this set off all the other explosives it had swallowed inside. I threw myself on top of Reggie to protect him. The explosion caused the whole building to shake and every thing went black.
I was awoken by Reggie licking my face. Thank God I thought he was OK, but once I looked at him I knew this was not the case. I pushed a button on my cuff. This summoned the Falcon Car that I had hidden near by just in case. Reggie was shaking so I wrapped him up in my cape whilst I waited for the Falcon Car. I surveyed the damage. The explosion had made all but a small part of the roof give way. We had been lucky. Looking down into the void below I could see that the Metal Dragon was in pieces, Its head was missing. Destroyed by the explosion no doubt. It was truly dead. If a metal beast can be said to be alive in the first place that is.
"Awh.... " Sighed Reggie back in the Galley
" Sorry Dog Wonder, you are defiantly alive to me, and to our friends here " Radley said correcting his last somewhat careless comment. Radley continued
The Falcon Car arrived and hovered whilst I loaded Reggie onto the seat. Then I jumped in and punched the boasters rockets and off we shot. I was not going to Big City, I headed for Dr Quest Lab in California.
Whilst we were on the way, I contacted Dr Quest via my Vidi Com system to inform him I was en-route and what had happened. He said he would prepare to receive me as soon as possible. He added that he would make sure that he dismissed all the staff for the night so not to cause any difficult questions or distractions.
I put the Falcon Car onto Auto Pilot Mode whilst I checked Reggie's wounds. Reggie was now asleep, but he was very badly burnt, his breathing was very labored. My Falcon Cape was helping to keep him warm.
Taking control of the vehicle again I pushed the Falcon Car to its limits, and we arrived at our destination in under a hour. Dr Quest was waiting at the door at main reception. I jumped out of the Falcon Car and picked up Reggie and ran towards Dr Quest. He took Reggie from my arms the rushed him in the small operating theatre / medical bay that they had in the building. The I tried to follow, but was blocked by a young man. It was Jonny.
" Rad, let Dad do his thing. You look done in, you need to rest." he said. I nodded and sank into the nearest easy chair.
" Good to see you Little Bro " I said
" Its nice to finally meet the Blue Falcon in person " he replied.
Jonny and I had become great friends over the years.... and he had grown up to become a remarkable person himself. I tried to stay in contact as much. Both him and Dr Quest were like family after all.
Jonny went off to bring me a coffee, whilst I gave into exhaustion and fell asleep.
To find out what happens next you will have to come back next time
But Until Then ENJOY !
