Covering your ears against the din of the alarm, you step into the middle of the hall to shout: “Hello? I’m here to see Tharg! Is anybody ho-” Before you can finish, something slams into you from behind, winding you and knocking you to the floor. A great weight on your back and a barking in your ear tells you you have been pinned down by a guard dog...but its not until it hops off your back and circles around in front of you that you realise exactly what kind of guard dog. Suddenly, the alarm goes dead, and you hear someone approaching from behind. “Uhh...sit, Ubu, sit! Good dog! Yup!” says a moronic-sounding robot voice. The metal dog stiffens and turns its gaze on the newcomer. “For the final time before I tear you to pieces, you insufferable idiot, my name is NOT Ubu!” it snaps, shaking its head in frustration. “Now go tell Tharg everything is under control. We caught an intruder and I’m taking him to Mek-Quake...”
“Wait!” you gasp, pushing yourself up. “I’m not an intruder! Well, I am, but only because I came to return this...” You take the invitation from your pocket and show it to the robot dog and the strange frog-like droid who has come to stand beside you. You recognise them as Toby and Hoagy, and know that you only have the dog to be fearful of. “What’s this?” Toby says, craning his muzzle forward to sniff at the ticket. “An invitation to the Christmas party,” you explain. “Tharg dropped it outside, I just wanted to return it...” “Aw, gee, that’s good of him, isn’t it Ubu, yup!” “It certainly is,” growls Toby, eyeing the ticket in your hands like its a doggy treat. Without warning, the robotic dog snaps its head forward and clamps its teeth down on the invitation, ripping it from your grasp and taking off down the hall. “What the-?” you gasp, watching the dog run to a nearby door and leap up to push the handle down with its paws. “Sorry pal,” Toby snarls through clenched teeth. “My ex-squeeze is at that party and damned if I’m not gonna take this chance to 'catch up' with her!” The door swings open and the dog slips into the stairwell, metallic claws scraping on concrete as it starts down the steps...
Do you...
Chase Toby to retrieve the ticket, or...
Go with Hoagy to see Tharg and explain what’s happened?
