Chapter 12: The unmasking and epilogue

A short while later, the parking lot in front of the closed-down steel mill was transformed into a sheriff's command post and buzzing with activity.

When the sheriff arrived, he was wearing an arm sling with a cast around his right arm, on top of sporting a black eye and some bandages on his face, a clear testimony to the aftermath of his encounter with the killer robot back at police headquarters.

Stone didn't look impressed one bit as he arrived, not that the gang blamed him, and he later turned his glare towards the team of Wyatt Industries technicians as they arrived at the scene.

Dr. Wyatt and Jason stepped out of their car just in time to witness a team of deputies carrying the destroyed Robot Hound out of the mill, and the sheriff narrowed his eyes at the sight of the remains of the killer robot before turning towards the doctor.

"Whoever designed this thing clearly had intended for it to be a killing machine used in war." Stone glared.

"For battlefield purposes, yes." Dr. Wyatt replied. "The Robot Hound was programmed strictly for combat support, reconnaissance and surveying roles. We never thought that it would end up-"

As the team of deputies carried the remains past her and the group, she continued, "-going on a totally destructive rampage and demolishing the town."

"Someone sure went through great lengths to tamper with the Robot Hound, Dr. Wyatt." Fred said.

"And that someone wanted to make sure that potential clients would turn away from Wyatt Technologies and result in your firm going bankrupt." Velma added.

"Which then enables Destroido Corp to move in swiftly and acquire your assets while you're filing for bankruptcy protection, Doctor." Daphne said as the gang turned to face Dr. Wyatt.

Dr. Wyatt narrowed her eyes at the remark, during which Fred continued, "And Destroido's plans doesn't stop at your firm, Doctor Wyatt. Staples Technologies is next on its list, and I'm telling you that it's not gonna be pretty if a company as unethical as Destroido Corp happens to be the very first company to manage to explore the new frontier on autonomous robots."

"Like, I can even bet that Destroido Corp dispatched people into both your firms and have you and Dr. Staples set up to neutralize each other, thus allowing it to take over both of your firms easily." Shaggy added.

"All as Destroido Corp succeeded in developing the robots both your firms were working on, while the person responsible for tampering with the Robot Hound walks away from all of that, thousands of dollars richer." Fred concluded.

Dr. Wyatt and the sheriff shared looks with each other, and the sheriff frowned.

"Sounds like a clear case of industrial espionage." Stone finally said. "Which then begs the question: Who is responsible for all of this?"

"And how exactly do we find the person responsible for tampering with the Robot Hound?" Dr. Wyatt asked.

The gang turned towards Velma, who only smiled.

"Fortunately for you guys, I've memorized the exact details of the Robot Hound's schematics." She adjusted her glasses before turning towards the remains, grabbed something out of the head and held it in the air.

"Aha!" Velma exclaimed as she held the object.

"What's that, Velma?" Fred asked.

"It's a wireless control." Velma said. "It stood out to me because it wasn't part of the schematics, given that the robot's CPU already contained its own wireless controls."

"Then, what's this wireless control doing here?" Dr. Wyatt asked.

Swiftly, Velma opened up the wireless control, took out the USB receiver and plugged it into her laptop and started typing, then she paused and turned towards the others.

"Just as I thought." Velma said. "This wireless control receives commands from a designated entity, and its frequency is designed to override the existing signalling frequency that the Robot Hound is supposed to receive its commands from."

"And I take it that you can track the origin of the signal that is transmitted through the overriding frequency, can you?" Dr. Wyatt raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Velma nodded as she did some more typing, then upon hitting the "Enter" button, the screen showed a map with a red dot pinpointing the origin of the signalling frequency in the duration of the Robot Hound's rampage at Karmah and in the steel mill.

And as everyone watching had suspected, the red dot is located exactly at one of the offices at the head office of Wyatt Technologies.

The scene then shifted to one of the offices in Wyatt Technologies, where a man was frantically typing on the computer.

He slammed on the keyboard in frustration when the screen showed that contact has been lost, and he got up from his seat and placed his hands on his hips.

As he paced back and forth in the office, the scene then moved to the open drawer at the man's desk, revealing several schematics inside.

The man sighed, picked up his cell phone and dialed a number, only for a voice at the doorway to startle him.

"Must've been a tough day at the office, isn't it?" The voice asked, and the man was startled and turned towards the doorway.

Standing at the doorway were the gang, Dr. Wyatt, her son Jason, the sheriff and a couple of deputies, and the look of betrayal on Dr. Wyatt's face was unmistakable.

"Your little plan didn't quite work out, didn't it, Mr. Phillips?" Stone asked as he nodded at the computer on Mr. Phillips' desk.

Mr. Phillips, stunned by the sudden intrusion, stood at his spot blankly as his hand held his phone.

"Only that I think that this scheme was cooked up by your real employer, Destroido Corp, isn't it?" Velma folded her arms.

"Paying you a generous sum of money in return for tampering with the Robot Hound, resulting in our firm losing potential clients and thus pushing me to fold it, which then opens the door for Destroido Corp to enter the fray and swoop in and take the project away from our hands." Dr. Wyatt walked towards Mr. Phillips and placed her hands on her hips. "How could you did this?!"

"Aren't you supposed to be bound to a code of ethics that puts your duty to your employer and members of the public first and foremost, Vic?" Jason added as he folded his arms.

"It wasn't about your duty." Fred said. "It was all about money, isn't it?"

Facing the glares from the people at the doorway, Mr. Phillips swallowed and then threw in the towel.

"Okay, I'll save you all the trouble." He finally said. "The project itself worths billions, but I didn't think Dr. Wyatt was executing it properly, being the control freak she is, and with a project like this, we can't afford to compromise safety for the sake of meeting impossible deadlines, a problem compounded by having a control freak looking over the details, changing the programming at the last minute and not accepting any suggested improvements from members of the team!"

With a sigh, he then continued, "Destroido Corp is the only company who can execute a project like this the right way, and I was quite the fool in deciding in favour of joining your firm instead of joining Destroido Corp."

"No doubt about it." Stone grunted before gesturing towards the gang and added, "One question, though: Why frame the kids?"

"Because they're snoopin' around at where their noses don't belong at, and my pal assured me that once they're neutralized, starting with the dog, then we wouldn't need to worry much about things going wrong." Mr. Phillips grumbled.

"Rey!" Scooby began growling, during which Stone turned towards the gang.

"Either way, I would've made millions if these nosy kids haven't butted in!" Mr. Phillips added, only for the sheriff to cut in.

"Okay, I've heard enough." Stone said as the two deputies moved to handcuff Mr. Phillips. "Victor Phillips, you're under arrest for industrial espionage..."

As the sheriff read the charges before he and the deputies escorted Mr. Phillips out of the office, Dr. Wyatt turned towards the gang.

"We really owed you kids one." Dr. Wyatt said. "If it weren't for you kids, I wouldn't have known about the leak we've got here in Wyatt Technologies."

"And I'm sure you guys are relieved that your dog's name has been cleared at last." Jason added as he nodded at Shaggy rubbing Scooby's back.

"We sure are, Jason." Velma nodded as well. "Though going forward, Dr. Wyatt, I'd strongly suggest that you guys keep a sharp eye on your projects and make sure nothing that would suggest any form of industrial espionage has taken place."

"As well, I'll also suggest that you and Dr. Staples patch things up between the two of you." Daphne added.

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "Had the both you get yourselves carried away by your feud, it's only a matter a time before both of you find yourselves without a foothold in the industry while your competitor, particularly Destroido Corp, gets far ahead in the game, and who knows what sort of damage the company would leave in its wake."

Dr. Wyatt paused her lips and frowned, and her son turned towards her in concern.

She then sighed and nodded, "I will keep that in mind."

The gang shared looks with each other and nodded as well.

May 22, 2012

That late afternoon, shortly after last period of classes, the gang gathered together at their lockers as Fred held the morning edition of the Crystal Cove Gazette.

The main headline detailed the arrest from the previous night while a footnote directed them to the technology section of the paper, where word has it that Wyatt Technologies and Staples Technologies are in the preliminary stages of merger discussions.

"Well, it's about time those two put aside their feud." Velma remarked as they read the paper together.

"Yeah." Fred nodded as he flipped a page. "Though here's something interesting, gang."

"What is it, Freddie?" Daphne asked.

Pointing at one particular news article, which was accommodated by a photo of a security officer pushing a bear restrained with a mask and donning a green hat, white collar and green tie on a dolly, Fred said, "Karmah Asylum managed to round up almost every single patient that managed to break out of the facility in the aftermath of the Robot Hound's rampage."

"'Almost' every single patient, Freddie?" Velma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, one patient was not accounted for after the escapees were rounded up." Fred nodded.

At the mention of the patient that was not accounted for, Scooby's eyes perked up.

"Rone patient?" Scooby asked.

"Yeah, Scooby." Velma turned towards him. "Why?"

"Recause Ri saw a parrot last night that relped me rescape from re Robot Hound." Scooby explained.

"A parrot?" The gang were all now facing him.

"Like, is that who I think it is?" Shaggy asked.

"I don't recall Johnson mentioning any other parrots being locked up at Karmah." Velma frowned.

Fred turned back towards the newspaper article he was reading, only to find an envelope with an "E" sticker by his feet.

With a frown, he leaned down to pick up the envelope.

"Looks like we've gotten another message from Mr. E, gang." Fred announced as he held the envelope, leading everyone to turn towards him.

"What did Mr. E say?" Daphne asked in concern.

Fred opened the envelope, pulled out the note inside and read it.

"Follow the parrot and keep a sharp eye on him." Fred read, and everyone shared looks with each other in concern.

An uncomfortable silence followed, then Shaggy asked, "Like, what does he mean by that?"

"Beats me." Fred shrugged as he looked at the note again, then he added, "However, I've got a feeling that we won't be seeing the last of Professor Pericles, gang."

As the gang looked at the note, the scene then shifted towards the nearby window, revealing the cloudy sky outside.

Unbeknownst to the gang, a shadowed figure was watching them through the window.

There was a flash of lightning, and in a brief second, the shadowed figure revealed itself to be Professor Pericles, though at the second flash of lightning that followed the thunder, the parrot had disappeared.

The scene then fades out as the palm trees across the street began swaying from the rain and wind.

The adventures of Mystery Inc. continues in D3-1 SDMI: The Secret Serum.

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