by Mark Young
“Have fun!” Satoko said. She pushed a button, and a swinging, waist-high gate opened up next to her.
Mimi led Newton down another hall.
“Sorry you won’t get to meet my parents,” Mimi said. “They’re really, really busy.”
“That’s okay,” Newton said. “They do a lot for the school.”
Mimi grinned. “Yeah, wait till you see what I’m about to show you.”
She stopped in front of a clear tube—the same kind of transportation tube they used at Franken-Sci High. Mimi noticed him noticing.
“Look familiar? Yeah, these were invented here at Crowninshield,” she said, and she and Newton stepped inside.
Whoosh! The tube sucked them up to the top floor of the building. They emerged in front of a large metal box, open on two ends, with a conveyor belt running through it. Mimi walked up to a control pad and started pressing buttons.
“This is a top secret research floor,” she said. “Everyone gets a body scan when they enter, to make sure you’re not bringing in pathogens that could damage the equipment.”
“Does it hurt?” Newton asked.
Mimi laughed. “Of course not! Watch. I’ll go first.”
Mimi stepped onto the conveyor belt, and laser lights scanned her body from her head to her feet as she moved through the machine. She stepped out on the other side.
“Your turn!” she told Newton.
Newton moved through the scanner, and Mimi was right—it didn’t hurt a bit. They walked to more glass doors, which Mimi opened with another card. This led them to a catwalk looking down over an enormous, wide room.
Down below, workers wearing white lab coats scurried about, working on enormous contraptions, the likes of which Newton had never seen before. There were flashing lights, bright colors, and mechanical animals.
“What’s all this?” he asked, his eyes wide with wonder.
Mimi grinned, pleased with his reaction. “These are the rides for the Founders’ Day carnival,” she said. “Each year, Crowninshield Industries provides different rides, and each year we make the rides better and better.”
She walked down the catwalk, and Newton followed. She stopped at a giant transport tube shaped into a series of twisted loops, like a giant, mutant pretzel.
“We call this the Dimension Destroyer,” Mimi said. “It’s like a roller coaster, but the ride takes you through six different alternate dimensions.”
Newton’s mouth dropped. “Whoa.”
Mimi continued walking and pointed to a circular ride with colorful wooden horses attached to poles.
“Looks like a regular merry-go-round, right?” Mimi asked. “But watch. The horses are sophisticated robots programmed with precise horse movements and the ability to navigate around objects.”
One of the workers climbed onto an orange-and-pink painted horse, music began to play, and the circle spun. The horse suddenly whinnied, jumped off the carousel, and began to trot around the research floor.
“That looks fun,” Newton remarked.
“Wait until you see the next one,” Mimi said, and she broke into a run. She stopped and pointed to the floor, at what looked like a large, plain white box with an entrance and an exit.
“That looks pretty… ordinary,” Newton remarked.
“We need to jazz up the outside,” Mimi said. “But look what it does. We call it the Customizer.”
A worker stepped through the entrance. The box shook, and yellow lights flashed from inside. When the worker emerged from the other side, she wasn’t wearing her white coveralls. Her hair was pink, her skin was purple, and she wore a green dress with a yellow lightning bolt on it.
“You know how when you play a video game, you can collect different looks for your avatar and change your appearance with just a tap of a button?” Mimi asked. “Well, this does it in real life, instantly!”
Newton stared at the purple-skinned woman. “Is it permanent?”
“No. That’s the best part,” Mimi said. “You just have to walk through again to go back to your usual appearance.”
Newton shook his head. “Mimi, this is awesome! You’re always talking about how amazing your parents’ company is, and you’re right! This is so cool.”
Mimi smiled proudly. “Thanks, Newton. I’m glad you like it. Come on. Let’s see some more.”
They walked the catwalk all the way around the research floor, and Mimi pointed out some of the other attractions in the works.
“A lot of it’s pretty simple, like the antigravity bouncy house,” she said. “But that one’s always a big favorite.”
“This is all really great,” Newton said. “So, what other kinds of inventions does Crowninshield make? Can I see some of them?”
Mimi shook her head. “Sorry. That’s all top secret,” she said. “But I can show you the cereal bar in the cafeteria. There are fifteen different flavors, and none of them are slug or mustard.”
Newton laughed. “Thank goodness!”
They ate in the cafeteria, and then headed back down the mountain in the funicular. Taking in the mountains and the blue sky, Newton felt a pang. He didn’t want to leave.
“Mimi, I really want to thank you for taking me on a tour,” he said as they stepped out of the portal and back into the school hallway. “It was really nice of you.”
“You’re welcome,” Mimi said. “Be sure to tell Shelly that. She thinks I’m mean.”
“Sure,” Newton said. “See ya, Mimi!”
He waved and walked off. When he was out of sight, Mimi turned on her tablet and pulled a small flash drive from her skirt pocket. She plugged the drive into the tablet and grinned as text appeared.
Downloading body scan of Newton Warp…
CHAPTER 3 Two Perfect Plans
Shelly couldn’t believe that Newton was giving up on the search for his identity. She’d watched him all week, licking his locker pad and swinging over shark-crocodiles and eating in the cafeteria like he was just another student at Franken-Sci High.
Something must have happened that day he talked to Mumtaz, she’d thought. He’d been so focused on finding his family and figuring out why he has those special abilities. Why did he suddenly stop?
She’d asked Theremin about it, but he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“I think Newton was just tired of feeling different,” Theremin had said. “I know what that’s like.”
And when she’d talked to Higgy, he’d had another idea. “Newton knows that Odifin is his half brother. And Newton has us. He doesn’t need to look for his family anymore.”
But Shelly still wasn’t convinced. She didn’t want to stop trying to figure out the mystery of Newton Warp. The professors at the school knew something, she was sure of it. But how could she keep asking them questions without looking suspicious? And without making Newton upset? She puzzled over this for a few days, and then at the end of the week, it came to her. She announced her plan at dinner Saturday night, after Newton had returned from Crowninshield Industries.
“I’ve got the best idea,” she said, while Newton, Theremin, and Higgy listened. “We’re going to start the Franken-Sci Herald!”
“You mean a newspaper?” Higgy asked.
Shelly nodded. “A holographic newspaper, digitally sent to the tablets of everyone in the school once a week. We can write about school events, and exciting inventions students are coming up with, and we can interview professors.…”
“That sounds interesting,” Newton said.
“It sounds like a lot of work,” Theremin mumbled.
“Come on. It’ll be fun,” Shelly said. “I already asked Mumtaz if we could do it, and she loves the idea. She’s letting us use lab 27X as a newspaper office, and she wants the first edition to come out soon. So you guys have to help me. Please?”
“Hmmm,” Higgy said. “I’ve always thought I’d make an excellent food critic. Can I write a food column?”
“Sure!” Shelly said. “Whatever you want.”
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p; “Well, I guess if we have to help, I always thought I’d be a great detective,” Theremin said. “I’ve got built-in investigative equipment—heat sensors, matter detectors, scanners. I’ll dig around for an explosive story to write about.”
“Sounds great!” Shelly said. “I think I’m going to do a profile of a different professor in each issue. I’ve already set up an interview with Professor Leviathan.”
Newton frowned. “What about me? I’ve never even read a newspaper, so I’m not sure what goes in it.”
“We’ll find a cool job for you,” Shelly promised. “The first meeting is tomorrow at three. I’m going to send an announcement to everybody’s tablet, so maybe we’ll get some more volunteers, and we’ll figure out other things to do.”
“Excellent!” Higgy said, and he slid out of his chair. “I shall need some second helpings so I can start working on my first food review.”
Shelly stood up. “And I’m going to interview Professor Leviathan,” she said. “See you tomorrow!”
Shelly took the transport tube downstairs and made her way to Leviathan’s lab. She stepped inside the cozy but messy room decorated with illustrated posters of plant and animal species. Beakers and petri dishes balanced precariously on piles of paper on a large desk, and sitting at that desk was a large woman with a wild mass of pink, curly hair.
She beamed when she saw Shelly. “You’re right on time!” she said, in her booming voice. “Marvelous idea, this newspaper of yours. But you always have good ideas, Shelly.”
“Thanks, Professor Leviathan,” Shelly said, sliding into a chair in front of the desk. She turned on her tablet. “Do you mind if I record this interview?”
“Not at all,” Leviathan said, smoothing down the wrinkles in her leopard-print lab coat. “I’m very flattered that you’ve chosen me for your first interview.”
Shelly had actually chosen her because she thought Leviathan’s friendly nature might make it easier to get information out of her. But she didn’t say that.
“Well, you know how much I love your class,” Shelly said. “Now, let’s see. First question: How long have you been teaching at the school?”
“It’s been about twenty years, I suppose,” Leviathan answered.
Shelly leaned closer. “And in twenty years, have you noticed any secrets here at the school?”
Leviathan chuckled. “My, you’re starting with the hardball questions, Shelly,” she said. “But I suppose you’re onto me.”
“I am?” Shelly asked, surprised.
“Yes,” the professor replied. She reached down and pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk. “If you’ve heard the rumors, it’s true.”
Shelly listened eagerly. Was she about to get the truth about Newton?
Leviathan pulled something out of the drawer and held it up—it was an ice cream pop, wrapped in paper.
“Yes, the bottom drawer of my desk is an ice cream freezer,” she said, and she held out the pop. “Would you like one?”
“No thanks,” Shelly said, holding back a sigh. “So, tell me more about the monster-making program here at the school. Have you ever experimented with combining animal and human DNA to create a monster?”
“Heavens, no!” Leviathan cried. “Only the maddest mad scientist would conduct an experiment like that. Most of what we do is based on combining the genes of existing monsters. Now, generally, real monsters are difficult to find, but you’ve had luck with that, haven’t you, with your little friend, Peewee?”
As soon as the professor said the name, a small blue monster appeared out of thin air on the desk between them.
“Peewee!” Shelly cried, and she picked up the blue monster. “How did you get out of your cage?”
Shelly had rescued the monster in the wild in the summer, and the creature had followed her to school without her knowing it. Professor Flubitus had mistakenly transformed the cute little monster into an enormous, terrifying beast. Thankfully, Peewee was back to normal, but he had the ability to teleport, which had gotten him into a whole new kind of trouble. Shelly had been putting him in a cage with a teleportation shield to keep him under control.
“Your teleportation shield might be on the fritz,” Professor Leviathan guessed. “You should have your friend Theremin take a look at it, or see if Professor Yuptuka can fix it. I know Ms. Mumtaz won’t be happy if Peewee starts teleporting everywhere again.”
“I know,” Shelly said, and she tucked Peewee under her arm. He wriggled his nose and made a happy, chirping sound.
“Now, what were you asking?” Leviathan wondered.
Shelly stood up. “I think I’ve got enough for now. I should go put Peewee in his cage.”
“You do that,” Professor Leviathan said, and then she unwrapped the ice cream pop and ate it in one bite.
Shelly left the lab and hurried to the school basement, where she kept her animal rescue lab. She’d always been more interested in helping creatures than making them.
“Shelly! Shelly!” squawked a parrot with a robotic wing, which had replaced the one he’d broken.
“Hi, Wingold,” Shelly said. “Do you have any idea how Peewee got out of his cage?”
“Shelly! Shelly!” the bird repeated.
Shelly put Peewee back in his cage and shut the door. She pressed the security button, and the light flashed green. She shrugged.
“Must have been a glitch,” she said.
She spent an hour with the animals, changing their water and food and cleaning cages, while she thought about her interview with Leviathan. The professor had genuinely seemed shocked at the idea of creating something like Newton.
Maybe not all the professors are in on it, Shelly thought. I’ll just have to keep interviewing them until I get answers!
* * *
The next afternoon Shelly, Theremin, Higgy, and Newton met up in lab 27X.
“I’m sure we’ll get some more volunteers,” Shelly remarked right at three o’clock.
But only one more person walked through the door—Mimi Crowninshield.
“Mimi!” Shelly cried. “You want to be on the newspaper staff?”
“Why not?” Mimi asked. “After all, nobody knows more about the ins and outs of the school than I do.”
Shelly couldn’t argue with that.
“Great,” Mimi said, taking Shelly’s silence as acceptance, and then she sat on a stool next to Newton.
“So, what do you think you want to do for the paper?” Shelly asked Mimi.
“Well, a gossip column would be obvious, but I’m honestly not sure,” Mimi admitted.
“Me neither,” Newton confessed. “I’m not even sure if there’s anything I can do to help with this.”
Mimi’s blue eyes widened. “Wait, I’ve got an idea!” she said, and she reached into her backpack and pulled out a device that looked like a metal doughnut. “This is the latest camera from Crowninshield Industries. It takes three-hundred-sixty-degree photos all on its own—you don’t have to do anything except hold it! You could be the photographer.”
Newton took the camera from her. “I guess I could do it. This looks pretty cool. Do you think maybe you could show me how to use it?”
“Of course!” she replied. “We can walk around the school after the meeting, and I’ll show you how. It’ll be fun.”
“Sounds good,” Newton said. “I guess I’m the photographer, then!”
Mimi smiled, and not just because she had done a nice thing. She smiled because, like Shelly, she also had a plan. At first she hadn’t been able to believe what she’d overheard about Newton the day she’d spied on him—that he’d been created in a lab and given enhanced abilities.
But the body scan had confirmed what she had heard. Newton wasn’t entirely human. Some extra organs had shown up, and his DNA didn’t match any human or animal in the computer’s database. Mimi wanted to study Newton up close to see if she could witness his enhanced abilities, and joining the newspaper staff had seemed like the perfect way to do that.<
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“All right, then,” Shelly said. “Theremin, I need you to help me work on a holographic publishing program.”
“Sure,” Theremin agreed. “After I work on my big scoop. I’m doing a piece on black holes in lockers, and how many students have gone missing.”
“Great!” Shelly said. “Next we—”
“Good afternoon, newspaper staff!”
A huge holographic head of Headmistress Mumtaz appeared in the center of the room.
“Oh, hello, Ms. Mumtaz!” Shelly said.
“How is the meeting going?” Mumtaz asked.
“Pretty good,” Shelly responded. “I think we’ll be able to get out our very first issue on Wednesday.”
“Excellent!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “And once you’ve worked out the bugs with your first issue, I’d like you to get started on a special edition that will be released on Founders’ Day. I think our founders will be very impressed with this new addition to the school. I must confess that I’m quite anxious to please them, as last year they seemed disappointed in our lack of innovation—”
“Wait,” Newton interrupted. “The founders of the school are the ones who started it, right? Wasn’t that hundreds of years ago? Aren’t they—”
“Dead? No,” Mumtaz replied. “Their brains were among the first to be preserved in jars, like the brains in our Brain Bank. In order for the oldest brains to be preserved, they must remain in a dormant state, a sort of hibernation, for long periods of time. We wake up the founders only once a year. Which is why it is very important that the event is a success this year. Do you understand?”
“Yes!” all the students answered.
“Very good,” Mumtaz said. “I will leave you to your work. Carry on!”
Her holographic head disappeared.
“Wow,” Shelly said. “A special edition for Founders’ Day! I guess we’d better get this first issue out, and then we can start planning out the special issue.”
Mimi stood up. “Newton and I will go take some photos now. Right, Newton?”
“Sure, Mimi,” Newton said.
