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ReBoot Episode
Megatruck
The Megatruck
Bad Bob
Episode no. 2.04
Written by Martin Borycki, Susan Turner
Story by Martin Borycki, Susan Turner
Original Airdate 28 September 1995
Prev.: When Games Collide | Next: Painted Windows
View Episode List.


"Alright, Megatruck - LET'S GET BUSY!!" - Bob

The ABCs rush out of Giedi Prime attacking the Principal Office. The CPU General quickly scrambles the CPU defense force. Chaos ensues and Phong looks worried.

Outside Dot's Diner, Bob is arriving in his car, until it breaks down three steps from the door. A biker woman binome makes a remark about classic cars, and Enzo pulls up in his new air cart. Dot emerges from the Diner and starts chewing Bob out for telling Enzo tales from the Super Computer, while the biker woman fixes Bob's Car. Bob and Dot get messages that the Principal Office is under attack by Megabyte and they can't hold him off. Bob takes his car to the Principal Office, and Dot says she'll handle tactical from the Diner.

At the Principal Office, Herr Doktor has an ABC fire on the Sub-Sphere deleting it. The explosion releases energy from the Core into a Transformer piloted remotely. Megabyte tells Lieutenant Chauncy that the ABCs must hold the CPUs off at all costs, but they are having a tough time of it. Bob arrives in his car and makes trouble for Hack and Slash.

While Megabyte is taunting Bob, a Game Cube is announced; however, the System Voice's warning is oddly distorted: "Warning, In-In-In-In-Incoming Game. Warning, Incoming G-G-Gaaaaaame." The Cube distorts and moves away from where it was landing, attracted to the stolen energy. Enzo arrives in his air cart and knocks Megabyte into the pool of energy. The Game Cube finally lands on the energy, covering half of the Principal Office. The Cube continues to distort, unable to hold its shape.

The Game is a Road Warrior Game. Bob reboots, biker-style, wearing leather and studs. He jumps into his car and drives off. The Principal Office sets behind him, burned and blackened. Phong pulls up beside him in a gyro-copter and explains that the Game has been corrupted; the stolen Core Energy is trapped inside the Game, so if either Bob or the the User wins Mainframe is doomed, and Mainframe's energy will leave with the Game, crashing the system. Phong is working on a solution, but first Bob needs to go find Enzo, who is in the Game and is trying to defeat the User.

Outside of the Cube, Dot has assumed command of the city in Phong and Bob's absence. She has ordered the city to begin evacuation to ensure some people safety. Dot consults Number One on the condition of the Game Cube; he tells her that anything can happen when a Game is corrupted, and worse, he has calculated twenty million nano-seconds until the stolen energy dissipates and Mainframe will be offline.

Meanwhile, Enzo is trying to beat the User, a low black car. He runs into trouble, however; Mainframe's energy is being towed by Megabyte. who has been turned into an eighteen-wheeler truck as a result of being combined with the energy. Enzo drives off to find Bob, whose car has broken down - again. Bob is picked up by Enzo and is brought to the Megatruck, where he boards and takes over from Herr Doktor. He manages to turn the truck around just in time and head back toward the Principal Office while Enzo and Frisket try to keep the User off Bob's tail. Phong helps Enzo get Frisket to the User and keep him from moving by holding onto his back bumper.

Bob makes it back to the Principal Office with the energy just as the User is flattened by the energy container, which skids down the bridge to the Principal Office, re-charging it. The Game is won and the energy is safe.

Outside the Game, Megabyte tries to take his revenge but is met with an angry Dot Matrix and an entire squadron of CPUs. Megabyte begrudgingly leaves. Dot is angry with Bob for taking Enzo into the Game, but Bob thanks Enzo for his help in secret because without the little sprite, all would have been lost.

Gallery[]

References[]

  • The title is a pun on the 1979 film Mad Max.
  • Enzo shows up with his new vehicle, modelled after an "XMP-48" from the Super Computer. Wordplay on the 'Cray X-MP' which was a 1982 supercomputer designed, built and sold by 'Cray Research'. It was once the world's fastest computer during 1983–1985.
  • Herr Doktor is playing Solitaire on his computer.
  • Upon seeing the Principal Office in the corrupted Game, Captain Quirk exclaims "Those maniacs! They blew it up!", quoting the final scene to 1968 film Planet of the Apes.
  • Many post-apocalyptic elements of the "Road Warrior" Game are taken directly from the Mad Max films.
  • There's a faulty interocitor in Bob's 262. An 'interocitor' was a very complex communication device featured in the 1955 movie This Island Earth, directed by Joseph M. Newman.
  • The Mega Truck driving itself is paying homage to Maximum Overdrive a 1986 film by Stephen King.
  • Knife blades poking out of the User's wheels are parodied to those from the chariot race in the 1959 MGM adaptation of Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler.
  • The tank is modelled from the front of a real-life Boeing 747 commercial airliner.
  • The 747 tank also has "Hi There" written on the side. According to Gavin Blair this message was borrowed from the 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove, where 'Hi There' and 'Dear John' were graffiti on two nuclear bombs being dropped on Russia.
  • Number One character is wearing a Starfleet uniform and has similar facial features to Commander Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also sounds much like Sean Connery.
  • Dot says "Initiate security plan 9505". The episode's production number.
  • The flash and freeze frame when the Mega Truck crashes into the 747 tank is a reference to New York attack scene from the 1964 movie Fail-Safe.
  • A viral says "Be still, my Binomes of war." Directly quoting the line "Be still my dog of war" spoken by Humungus from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
  • Phong's glasses are cracked in the same way that they were cracked in Identity Crisis, Part 2.
  • This is the first instance of Herr Doktor hurting his hands and screaming "Mein digits!" in response. This would become a recurring joke throughout the series.
  • This is the second consecutive episode to feature a malfunctioning game, and the third overall.
  • This episode was partially inspired by Brendan McCarthy's unprompted drawing of Megabyte as a truck. McCarthy would later co-write and work on designs for Mad Max: Fury Road, released in 2015.
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