1x05 - The TIFF

Written by: Lane Raichert
Story by: Lane Raichert

Synopsis
Dot and Bob have a bit of a tiff; she thinks he's too impulsive and he thinks she's too inflexible. Enzo and the others try to get them to make up, but a Game Cube interferes. Dot and Bob will have to learn to work as a team to get out of this one.

Story
Dot is in her Diner doing business (checking the Mitchell account, waiting for the First National Databank) when her secretary reminds her that she missed a board meeting. Dot is upset that Enzo is late for his class in ancient languages (Cobol, Fortran). Bob accuses her of being preprogrammed, stuck to a schedule, and should live more on the edge, making decisions on the fly like he does. Both get angry and stop talking to each other.

Dot says she will never call Bob, even when a tear in the interface causes havoc in the Diner. Enzo decides that he has to do something.

A crowd goes to Phong at the Center, who says that "a broken friendship is best mended by tragedy or apology". Enzo gets help from the movie crew to make it look as if Megabyte has him captive at Old Man Pearson's Data Dump. (On the director's clapboard, the number 9404 is this epidode's production number.) Enzo sends this phony message to Bob and to Dot, then is tied to the conveyor belt to the big machine. But Bob and Dot argue so much that Enzo has to be saved by Frisket.

Enzo sends a fake apology hologram from Bob to Dot and from Dot to Bob and they almost make up on the park bench in Floating Point Park, but the deceit is unveiled. This is when the User's game arrives - a dangerous prisoner has breached the prison cell and has triggered a self destruct sequence on Starship Alcatraz.

Dot faces down some prisoners; a spider with four legs and a block head. She uses the PCU (Prisoner Control Unit) to immobilize them in a floating bubble. Bob dispatches a spider down the elevator, but it comes back up with a big hairy fuzz ball. They knock Bob down the central shaft, and Dot shoots him with her PCU. This saves Bob from the fall, but he has to figure a way out of the bubble. Glitch's hammer and cutter don't work, but Glitch as a pin does. "Go figure."

Dot carries two big guns as she goes after the User. Bob sits in the Control chair and tries to get the main power back on-line. It's written in Turbo YADDA, one of the ancient languages. Dot talks him through the job of reprogramming it. Once power is restored, Bob starts slamming the doors ahead of the User and turns the stairs into down ramps. Dot does some two-fisted shooting as she neutralizes an entire mob, then knocks out the User with judo. Time is running out, and Dot makes a wild leap down the central shaft, relying on Glitch and Bob to do something before she hits bottom. Glitch becomes a big spring, allowing Dot to somersault to the control panel and cancel the destruct sequence.

Bob complements Dot on living on the edge, and Dot appreciates Bob's plan.

References
* Tiff - a petty argument. TIFF - Tagged Image File Format, a way of storing pictures on a computer.
* COBOL and FORTRAN are two computer languages from back in the days of discrete transistors (before integrated circuits were invented).
* Turbo YADDA - Turbo Pascal was an affordable compiler that made Borland famous.

Did You Notice?
* Instructions on Dot's computer screen: 1) Place palm on reader, 2) Make choice, 3) Wait for Door to Open.
* When Enzo and the mob are asking Phong for advice, Rasta Mon is in the background, levitating in a lotus position.
* Clapboard: "The Tiff", 9404, Act:1 Beat:8:1, Version:2 Suite:7, Beep Numbers 10 - 11, Phil, Frames:175, Set 6, Notes: Data Dump Int.,
"Enzo Calls Dot", Wizzywig Productions.
* The cameraman for Dino DeHorrendous is always hiding behind someone.