by Zac Harrison
Back in the technology lab, John got down to work. With only half a day left, he was working frantically, with hardly a pause for breath.
The design steadily took shape on his desk-com. Once he’d explained to the computer what a “dog” was and grabbed some images of Jack Russells from Earth’s internet for reference, the rest had been easy, just like Zepp had predicted.
The computer-generated mock-up of his robot dog barked and wagged its tail. It had a visor instead of eyes and its body was covered in metal plates, but it was still just a dog at this stage. John thought it looked pretty cool.
“You need some special features,” John said to it. “Computer, can you give him a homing system? I want him to find his way back whenever he’s called.”
“Confirmed,” the computer said. The robotic dog’s ears vanished, and long antennae appeared in their place. At the same time, the computer image showed a black cylinder inside his stomach.
“Wicked. I want him to fly, too. Add a rocket booster.”
A rocket pipe appeared, sticking out of the dog’s bottom.
“Not there! OK – better make it two rocket boosters, one on each side of his body.”
The computer changed the design, and the new design was a huge improvement. Now he needed weapons – and what better weapon for a dog than razor-sharp teeth?
“Computer, replace his teeth with metal ones. As sharp as you can make them. I want teeth that can rip through armour plating!”
With a popping sound like popcorn, the teeth appeared one by one. Suddenly, the robot dog looked fearsome, but still somehow cute. John grinned. This was starting to be fun. He quickly hit the Save button, thinking of how much work he’d put in already, in such a short span of time.
“Still not finished?” a voice interrupted. “Why are you losers even bothering?” It was the voice of Mordant Talliver. “I’d give up now if I were you. You haven’t got a hope.”
John glanced up, annoyed, but Mordant wasn’t talking to him – or rather, not only to him. Rather, he was sauntering down between the desks, with G-Vez hovering over one shoulder and a freshly built cone-shaped robot about half his height following behind. It emitted a low, sinister hum.
Around him, students continued to work on their robots. No one looked Mordant in the eye.
Trust Mordant Talliver to turn a fun contest into a game of I’m-better-than-you, John thought ruefully. Not so long ago, Mordant had nearly got into major trouble by running away during a school trip, until it was revealed he’d been brainwashed by a sinister alien warlord. John got the distinct impression that Mordant had been humiliated by the brainwashing incident and was determined to boost his reputation by winning the contest.
“Of course master finished first,” G-Vez crooned. “Master is by far the most talented student in the whole class.”
“Check out my robot,” Mordant said. “This is IFI.”
“Looks iffy to me all right,” John muttered. He wished Ms Skrinel would finish whatever she was dealing with in the Junkyard and come and supervise like she was supposed to. Mordant’s antics often ended in trouble – usually with John as the target.
“I bet you’re wondering what it stands for!” Mordant went on.
“Not particularly,” Emmie said, without looking up.
Mordant scowled at her. “It means Invincible for Infinity!” He pressed a control, and a set of spindly arms in a ring extended from halfway up the robot. “Eight arms, each one with a needler pistol! Hoverpad to move about on! And don’t even think about trying to attack it. Know why?”
Nobody seemed to want to know why.
Mordant angrily grabbed G-Vez out of the air, making him bleep with surprise. He threw the tiny Serve-U-Droid hard at IFI.
G-Vez rebounded off an invisible force field and whizzed off towards the ceiling. He righted himself and came flying back, a little wobbly, towards his master. “Most inventive, sir!” he babbled. “A force shield defence. IFI will be unstoppable!”
We’ll see about that, John thought. “Computer, make the tail into a blade,” he said quietly. “I want it to hit hard when other robots least expect it!”
The computer obeyed. The dog’s little tail was replaced with a flexible jointed blade like a sword made of segments. According to the data on the screen, it could slice through reinforced plasteel.
“Wowsers,” John whispered.
“What’s that supposed to be?” said a nasty voice. Mordant had quietly slithered up behind him.
“Nothing you’d ever have heard of,” John said, without turning around.
Mordant leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “Let’s get one thing straight between us. I am going to win this competition, or there’s going to be trouble.”
“Whatever,” John said with a shrug, but his stomach was turning cartwheels. When Mordant Talliver made a threat like that, you could be sure he meant it. He had a knack for getting other people into trouble just so he could watch them flounder. And even when Mordant broke school rules himself, he always managed to wriggle out of the punishment.
To John’s relief, suddenly Master Tronic came clanking over towards them. Mordant retreated with a final warning hiss.
“How are we getting on, Mr Riley?”
“Much better now, thanks.”
Master Tronic scanned the desk-com with glimmering eye-lasers and nodded in approval. “Your design’s coming along well, I see. But you still need to choose your materials.”
“I haven’t had time yet!” John protested, his anxiety slipping back. “I’ve never done this before, I—”
Master Tronic held up a robotic hand. “Steady now! Many of your classmates have never built a robot before, either, as first-year students. That’s why I’m here – to help. Can I recommend beronzium for the teeth?”
John blinked. “Beronzi-what?”
“It’s a metal used in heavy-duty cutting equipment. There’s an old battle droid in the Junkyard with a beronzium claw. You can recycle that if you like.”
“Brilliant!” John said, taking notes.
“And for the homing device, perhaps you could reuse the navigation system core from one of our old deep-space probes...”
By the time Master Tronic had finished, John had made a lengthy shopping list of materials. He felt inspired − and a million times more confident than before. He was more certain than ever that he could do this project. But there were only four hours left on the clock! He’d just have to hope that it was long enough to turn his design into a fully assembled robot.
At least the design was complete... except for one thing. John tapped the blank section labelled PROJECT NAME, and entered the words SUPER-ROVER.
Now for the materials, John thought. He headed over to the Junkyard, taking a deep breath as he looked over the huge stacks and shelves full of electronic components and weird-looking bits of technology from all different planets.
Fortunately, Master Tronic had told him which bins and drawers to look in, and it wasn’t too long before he was guiding a hover-trolley laden with junk towards his desk.
“Hi, John!” Emmie called as she came his way. “Check these out!”
Something was moving beside her, a hovering object like a disc with a flat underside and two stubby vertical tail fins. It blended in with the desks and the floor, as if it were made of translucent glass.
Also next to Emmie was a figure in a bubble-like helmet, its head uncannily like a dolphin’s. She was a P’Sidion, John remembered – one of the first aliens he’d met. Her robot was hovering in the air beside her, a single long tentacle of steel with tiny sharp teeth and a crackling blue tip to its tail.
John whistled. “Nice robots!”
“This is Cammy,” Emmie explained. “Cammy, visible mode!”
The hovering disc’s skin changed to a dull silver, and now John could s
ee it clearly. “Camouflage, huh?” he said, impressed. “Wait a minute. Cammy looks kind of like a miniature Flitter X5000...”
“I thought it might be lucky,’ Emmie said, laughing. “And check out Dol’s robot!”
“This is Electric E!” Dol said proudly. The hovering eel-like robot buzzed and clicked threateningly. “Don’t worry. He’s very well trained.”
“Glad to hear it,” John said, steering well clear of the sparking tail. “Look, I’d love to chat, but...”
“Of course, you still have to finish your robot!” Emmie shooed him off towards his desk. “Go on, then! We’ll catch you later!”
John sat down at his work station and rubbed his hands together. Finally, it was time to build his—
He stared. The desk-com’s screen was completely blank.
Frantically, John typed “Super-Rover” into the keyboard. The desk-com replied with a tiny, blinking message that read PROJECT NOT FOUND.
Cold horror crept over him. He punched the RELOAD PROJECT icon, but the computer just flashed up a single message:
PROJECT DELETED.
Chapter 4
Right on cue, Mordant Talliver came sidling over.
“What’s wrong, John Riley? Having a bit of trouble with your computer, are you?”
“Mind your own business,” John said, too angry to think of anything more clever.
“How’s your design coming on?”
This time, John didn’t say anything at all.
Mordant shook his head. “Oops. Looks like you’ve wiped it. Clumsy. I expect you pressed the wrong icon.”
“I don’t know why they let a primitive try to use one of these sophisticated desk-coms, master,” added G-Vez.
“I’m surprised he didn’t try to worship it as a god,” smirked Mordant. “Too bad, human. Better luck in next year’s contest.”
Mordant chuckled to himself as he walked away.
You did this, John thought furiously. He was certain of it. Those long Gargon tentacles could easily have slithered under the desk-coms and fiddled with his console. John realized he had been an easy target for Mordant – too focused and out of his comfort zone to have time to think about protecting his work from the class bully.
But no one had been standing nearby to see it. He had no proof. And even if he had, his work was still gone.
There was only one person on the whole ship who could help him now – and it wasn’t even a person.
“Zepp,” John said under his breath. “Can you hear me? I need your help!”
“Affirmative,” said the computer, talking through the desk-com speaker. “I’m wired into every device on this ship!”
“Can you restore a deleted file? My robot project’s been wiped!”
“Let me see... this is not good. All the local data’s been deleted. I will assess my archives. I might be able to piece it back together.”
“Please try!” John’s hands trembled with worry. All that work, ruined. And for nothing more than sheer spite.
The seconds seemed like hours as John waited for Zepp to respond.
“Good news, John Riley! The files are fragmented, but recoverable! Give me five minutes, and Super-Rover will be back with you!”
“Zepp, you rock,”John said, sinking onto his desk in relief. “I seriously owe you one for this.”
There was a tap on his shoulder. It was Kaal, looking worried.
“What in the nine moons was that all about?” he asked, gesturing at Mordant’s back.
“I can’t prove it,” John whispered, “but I’m pretty sure Mordant deleted my whole project. Zepp’s recovering the files, but it’s taking time. Time I haven’t got.”
“He just can’t resist, can he?” Kaal glanced in disgust at the gloating boy, who was taking his robot, IFI, on another tour of the classroom. “If I were you, I’d report him to Master Tronic.”
“For cheating?” John said. “That’s way worse than just copying. They might even expel him for that. You know what the Examiners are like.”
“You know, they just might,” Kaal said with a dark look. “Wouldn’t that be a shame? Can’t you just picture the look on his face?”
John thought about it. “I’ve got less than four hours left to build Super-Rover as it is,” he said. “I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“They’d give you an extension. You know they would!”
John knew Kaal was right. But if Mordant gets expelled, he thought, I won’t have a chance to show him up in the contest.
“It’s tempting,” he admitted. “But you know what would be even better? Beating him fair and square.”
Just then, Zepp interrupted with a triumphant, tinny fanfare. “Good news! All project files successfully recovered!”
“Better let you get to work, then,” Kaal said, smiling. “Cool-looking robot, by the way.”
“Thanks!” John grinned. It was a huge relief to see Super-Rover’s schematics spread out in front of him again – every servo, wire, and circuit in place. He was doubly relieved that Kaal seemed to be back to his usual, friendly self.
Ms Skrinel said this was supposed to be fun, John thought. But I see now that it’s much more serious than that. Looks like some people don’t care how many rules they break if it helps them win. I thought people would play fair. I won’t make that mistake again.
John set to work.
The electronic chime rang out for six o’clock.
Only two hours left? John thought desperately. But it was five o’clock just a moment ago!
Super-Rover was slowly but surely taking shape. John had given him a metal skeleton made from recycled struts, and his homing-device power core had been strapped in place inside his belly. The socket for the tail was installed and could even wag. He didn’t yet have a head, but John was still very proud of him.
Master Tronic stepped to the front of the class. “You are dismissed for half an hour to go and get some dinner!” he boomed. “Remember, robots can go without food. Organic beings cannot.”
“And even if we could, who’d want to?” laughed Lishtig. “Come on, guys. I’m starving.”
John’s stomach gave a tell-tale rumble. There was still so much to do, and he didn’t want to waste any more time. Some of the other students continued to work, skipping their evening meal so they could finish their robots. He wondered if he should do the same.
No. He’d skipped lunch already. If he didn’t eat, he’d fall over.
“Zepp, can you lock my console? Mordant might try to delete my work again.”
“Consider it done,” Zepp beeped. “And don’t worry about Super-Rover. I’ll put him in a stasis field to protect against sabotage. Now, what would you like to request for dinner? I’ve been researching several new Earth dishes today!”
Warning bells went off in John’s brain. Last time Zepp had made him a special Earth dish, it was toad in the hole. At first it had seemed delicious, but after three bites John had spotted the head of a baked Neptunian toad looking back at him from inside the Yorkshire pudding. It still made him feel queasy just thinking about it.
“Maybe we should just stick to cheese toasties,” he suggested.
“Understood! And I’ve got a surprise that’ll go perfectly with those! Something you previously asked me to develop...”
Emmie and Kaal were waiting at their usual spot in the canteen. John’s mouth watered as he saw that his huge plate of cheese toasties was ready – with a cheery red blob of ketchup on each one!
Nice one, Zepp, he thought. He’d missed ketchup badly out here in space.
Kaal made a face as he sat down. “I know your Earth food is weird, but that is something else!”
“Try one!” John said, cramming a cheese toastie into his mouth and chewing. “Oo might like um.”
“Animal juices curdled int
o a paste, then melted over half-scorched slabs of plant mush?” Kaal looked ill.
“We ought to try,” Emmie said. “Come on, Kaal. How many times has John tried our food on this ship? It’s our turn.”
“OK,” said Kaal. “You go first, though.”
“Oh well,” Emmie said. “Here goes.” She took a deep breath, then nibbled a tiny bit off the edge of a toastie.
Then she took a bigger bite, and smiled at John. “It’s delicious!”
“Told you,” John said. His friends’ loyalty made him smile.
“It’s amazing! Tastes like... I dunno... like being cosy and warm under the Sillaran sun.”
Kaal picked up a toastie by the corner and dangled it as if it were a rancid sock. He gave John a wary look and then took a bite. His face told John exactly what he thought.
“Sorry,” John said with a grin. Emmie shrugged and helped herself to another.
Kaal swallowed as if he were forcing down a golf ball. “Zepp, get me a Gyronic surprise, quick,” he said. “I need to get the taste out of my mouth...”
The Gyronic surprise looked like a bowl of rainwater that rats had drowned in. A strange rainbow-coloured scum drifted over the top of it. Unidentifiable lumpy masses stirred in the thick morass beneath. Kaal lifted the bowl to his mouth with both hands and drank deeply.
“I’m heading back to the lab,” John announced, pushing his empty plate away. Good job I finished those before Kaal started slurping that stuff. He’d have put me off my dinner!
“Me, too!” Emmie said. “I’ve got some tweaking to do. I can’t seem to get Cammy to go into fight mode. She prefers hiding.”
“I’ll be in the dorm,” Kaal said, wiping his mouth. “I’ve already finished Laserdon, so I think I might video call my family.”
“Laserdon?” John raised an eyebrow. “Why’s your robot called that?”
“You’ll see why soon enough!” Kaal said mysteriously.
As John watched Kaal jump up from the table, he hid his disappointment. He’d hoped that if Kaal had finished his own robot, he might offer to help John complete his. It was the kind of thing his best friend would usually do. But then John caught himself; he was determined to do this by himself anyway, wasn’t he? He would have probably turned down such an offer, but he was still surprised.
