The security guard was baffled when questioned, because to him, it just didn’t make sense. The warehouse was sealed for the night, only able to be opened with a card key, and had fifteen armed guards on the premises, ten guarding the interior.  An array of cameras set so that there were literally no blind spots watched over the grounds perpetually, conveniently capturing the thief on a grand total of zero cameras.
For all of the work that went into the infiltration, the Core Commodities Council only reported one item missing.
In a pile of wooden crates, hidden in a forgotten corner in the darkest part of the warehouse, were three identical boxes, each marked ‘Rejected’. The first two remained untouched, slowly collecting dust. The third crate lay open, the removed panel leaning neatly against the side. Taped to the back of the crate was a simple note.

‘We are borrowing Star Alpha-3 for the cause. Please excuse the inconvenience.
With love,
~CCAA’
---

Neo waved at the security camera, smiling at the guards watching on the other side. “Hey there guys! Can you let me in?”  After a pause slightly longer than usual an electric buzzer sounded, accompanied by the click of the door unlocking and swinging slightly open. “Thanks guys!” He stepped through the door and into the laboratory.
Neo walked down the hall whistling, a slight swagger in his step. He stopped at the metal detector,  took out his cell phone and wallet, placed them in a bin to be X-rayed, and stepped through. A series of shrill beeps stopped him in his tracks. A guard near the machine walked up. Neo smiled at the stern Pitbull before him. “Aww Henry! What did I forget this time?”
“You know damn well what you have in your pocket. You do this every day. Now take off the tool belt and go through again.”
Neo shrugged, un-clipped the tool belt from his waist, and walked through again. Silence greeted his arrival on the other side. “I’ll remember one of these days Henry.”
“Yeah, that’s what you keep promising.” The Pitbull handed Neo his things and went back to his seat behind the metal detector. Neo pocketed his phone and wallet, put his tool belt back on, waved to the guard, and continued on his way.
Neo was in his second year of college at the Central Institute of Technology and his second year working on the controversial android project. Twenty years old, confident and always smiling, Neo often came off as cocky to those who didn’t know him. But he had reason to be. He was a natural born Mechanic, almost unnaturally skilled in the ways of all things mechanical. That’s why he was brought on as the youngest person on the android project.
But Neo’s mechanical skill wasn’t the only thing unusual about him. Neo was a half-cyber, the child of a ‘Civilized’ Retriever and a ‘Cyberized’ German Shepherd and a rarity when he was born. He had light brown, plastic-like fur running over his entire body, interrupted on his cheeks and neck by a strip of faintly glowing green bio-plastic. He wore a well worn t-shirt, jeans, jacket and boots. He also made a habit of wearing his grandfather’s old, tattered, patched and oil stained paperboy style hat and a collar passed down his family. Those who knew his grandfather often told Neo that they looked exactly like each other. He took it as a compliment.
Neo turned down the white-washed halls of the lab and passed door after door until he came across his destination, Room # 103B. A small sign near the door read ‘Android Project’. Neo checked the tools strapped to his belt and, finding everything in order, stepped into the room.
He paused at the scene before him. Professor Hamilton, the raccoon leading the project, was talking to two official-looking Doberman suits in a hushed voice. Nobody else was in the room, and they hadn’t noticed Neo’s entrance yet. He waited and listened in.
“So is’s gone missing? And you don’t know where it is?”
“Yes Professor. We don’t know where it is, or who has it. We just have a note from CCAA. However, we do think it may be one of the anti-android groups.”
“We can’t leave it out there. The design isn’t finished . . . it’s not safe.”
“We know. If you know anything, contact us.”
“Yes. If I think of anything or find anything out, I’ll call.”
“Good. The OSS will thank you.”
The suits turned and saw Neo standing there. They came over to him and backed him against a wall. “You didn’t see anything.”
Neo nodded. “You’re right. Didn’t see a thing.”
“Good.” The Dobermans left.
Neo turned to the Professor. “So Prof., what is the OSS doing here?”
“The real question is, why aren’t working on Beta?” He was visibly nervous.
“Prof. Don’t avoid the question. What is missing and why were the OSS here?”
“Neo, if you ever need to know, I will enlighten you. Until then, get to work. If the others need me, I’ll be in my office.” Hamilton quickly left the room, leaving Neo alone.
Neo walked over to the partial humanoid machine standing in the back of the lab. “You know what, Beta? I think Hamilton has something to hide.” The robotic legs stood in silence. Neo grabbed a welder and a welding mask. “I’m going to find out what. But don’t tell anyone, alright?” No response. “Good. I knew you’d understand.” He flipped down the mask and got to work.