Ms. French told them they could talk quietly until the bell chimed, but Max just stared at her desk, and even Biggs was unusually quiet.
At last the bell chimed.
It was done!
Biggs bumped into Max as they walked out of the room. He gave her a wink and a thumbs-up.
She wasn’t ready to celebrate yet.
“Did it work?” she whispered to Fuzzy. He made his own thumbs-up sign.
Stepping into the hallway, Max breathed a huge sigh of relief. Everything had gone—
A qScreen lit up. And a padded arm popped out of the wall. Barbara appeared before them, in maximum stern mode.
“Maxine Zelaster, an expulsion hearing is set for three P.M. to consider evidence that you have cheated on an UpGrade science test. Your parents and your case officer, Ms. Brockmeyer, will attend. Proceed directly to the office to await the hearing.”
Max’s eyes widened, and she stepped back from the screen.
“I didn’t cheat!”
“That is a dishonest statement, and it will be added to the evidence against you.”
“You don’t have any evidence!” snapped Biggs.
Barbara’s face disappeared and now the qScreen showed a photo.
Max and Biggs both turned white.
It was a scan of the crinkled paper they had used to plot the whole thing.
As Max and Biggs—and most of the rest of the class—watched, Barbara highlighted each use of the word “cheat” and then zoomed in on Max’s final sentence: Let’s cheat!
13.2
HALLWAY B
“That . . . was just . . . a creative writing exercise! Fiction!” said Biggs. “We would never . . .”
Then Barbara played a video of Jones and Nina talking:
“He is actually planning to cheat on a test to help out this girl . . .”
“What are we going to do about these tests and Fuzzy getting Max and Biggs to cheat? You just promised the Federal School Board that he would follow the rules. If the school catches him cheating, they’ll kick us out in a nanosec . . .”
“A couple kids cheating on their science test . . .”
“That’s not us talking!” said Biggs. “We can’t control what a couple of weird adults say!”
The qScreen switched to a video taken just a few minutes earlier of Max pretending to take the test.
Then skipped forward to the moment when Biggs leaned into the shot. “Play it cool,” he whispered.
Then the qScreen showed Max powering down her combo-desk instead of hitting send.
And still later, Biggs was giving her a big thumbs-up and she was whispering, “Did it work?” to Fuzzy. Fuzzy gave his own thumbs-up.
“None of that proves anything!” pleaded Biggs.
Barbara’s face returned to the screen.
“M. Zelaster’s test answers were illegally transmitted by another device . . . a violation of both Vanguard Middle School and Federal School District 128 rules.”
Max couldn’t breathe. There was no way she could talk her way out of this. Her only hope was that Fuzzy would be able to explain it.
“Fuzzy, what—?” she started to say, but Barbara’s robot arm prodded her in the direction of the office.
“F. Robot, please return to Dr. Jones. The Robot Integration Program is suspended as of now, pending a formal termination by Federal School District 128 upon review of this evidence.”
Another arm popped out of the wall to keep Fuzzy from following Max. She turned back.
“Please help me, Fuzzy!”
13.3
AN UNMARKED CARGO VAN
Valentina and Zeff were sitting in the back of a new cargo van parked a block from the school.
The day had started out great.
Zeff, jacked up on ten cans of CaffCaff, had finally cracked the RIP’s encryption code at about three A.M.
He and Valentina had parked their new cargo van about two blocks from the school. Valentina had eavesdropped on Jones’s phone calls while Zeff had tried to hack directly into Fuzzy.
Zeff was good. Valentina had been right to break him out of that Bulgarian jail. Some hackers would have immediately started trying to download files. Zeff was too smart for that.
He waited and watched the flow of messages that went back and forth between Fuzzy and the RIP computers.
Finally, he saw something he liked.
The RIP computer sent:
InitSysBackUp(16).
And Fuzzy sent back:
SPOOL InitSysBackUp(16).
“Look at this!” Zeff yelled to Valentina.
“I’m right here, you don’t have to yell,” she snarled.
“It’s worth yelling about. It’s the key! Look!”
She looked.
“That’s the key?”
“Yes, look, RIP is reminding the robot to wirelessly back up his system files.”
“That’s what we want!” yelled Valentina. “Intercept his transmission!”
“Hold on . . . See, the command from RIP has a low priority of sixteen. He must have done it fairly recently, so it’s not urgent. The robot apparently has higher-priority stuff going on, so he spooled it for later.”
“Oh,” said Valentina. “So it’s not transmitting his files.”
“Not now,” said Zeff with a smug smile. “But when I send back the same message with a really high priority, the robot will have no choice but to obey.”
“And you’re ready to record it all.”
“I’m ready.”
“Well, do it!”
“Actually,” he said, “I’ve already typed in the command . . . but seeing as how this is a massive federal crime and I’m only getting a tiny cut of the action . . . I’d like you to actually hit the button.”
Click.
“OK, done,” said Valentina.
“And look—it’s working! We’re already getting files!”
His qScreen started to fill up with what looked like gibberish to Valentina.
She smiled. A real smile, too, not her I’m going to have to kill you smile. But actual pleasure.
“That’s all money, Zeff. Everything on that screen. Money. Lots of money,” she said, slapping him on the back. “All right, let’s go!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Zeff. “This isn’t a funny cat photo we’re downloading here. This is going to be terabytes of data. It’s going to take some time.”
“How long?”
“No idea,” said Zeff. “Might as well get comfy. Want a CaffCaff?”
“No,” she said icily. “I want that zarking code and I want to get the zark out of here.”
14.1
HALLWAY B
“Your plan stunk!” Biggs fumed at Fuzzy. They were still standing, with Krysti and Simeon, in the hallway where Max had been apprehended.
“If you are using ‘stunk’ to mean ‘a complete failure,’ then you are correct,” said Fuzzy calmly. “I was unaware that Jones and Nina would repeat the plan out loud. I am turning off my transmissions to them to prevent interference with my new plan.”
“A new plan?” snarled Biggs. “I hope it involves fixing all your mistakes and keeping me and Max from getting expelled!”
“That is exactly what it involves.”
“Oh . . . ,” said Biggs. “Well, good luck, then.”
“Luck is a variable I do not use in my calculations,” said Fuzzy. “What I need is your help.”
“No way!”
“And Simeon’s.”
“Uh . . .”
“And Krysti’s.”
“Me?” asked Krysti. “Why me?”
“Because you are Max’s friend. And so are you, Biggs. And you, Simeon. I know you all want to HelpMax() as much as I do. So I have factored you into my plan. If you do not help, the plan becomes much less likely to work.”
“Well,” said Biggs, “I’m probably getting expelled anyway! In fact, I’m surprised that Barbara hasn’t already dragged me off to the office.”
&
nbsp; “That is where I need you to go. Try to find out any information about what is happening to Max. Try to speak to Mr. Dorgas and get his help.”
“Great. Just who I wanted to see right now . . .”
“Is that a yes or a no?” asked Fuzzy.
“It’s a yes, I guess,” said Biggs.
“Good. Simeon, you should stand outside the office and attempt to intercept Max’s parents.”
“I don’t even know what they look like.”
“Look at your qScreen. I have sent you photos.”
“Oh,” said Simeon, digging his qScreen out of his backpack. “What do I do if I see them?”
“Explain the situation to them.”
“Explain it? I don’t understand it myself!”
“Do your best,” said Fuzzy. “Krysti?”
“Yeah?” answered Krysti. “What can I do?”
“I am concerned that Jones and Nina are going to try to interfere with my plan. I need you to monitor their room and find out.”
“How am I going to do that?”
“Look at your qScreen.”
Krysti pulled out her qScreen and gasped.
It was showing a live camera feed of the tech room. Jones and Nina both appeared to be arguing with people on their telephones. Jones was arguing with Ryder while Nina was trying to explain the situation to someone at the Federal School Board.
“How’d you do that?” asked Krysti.
“That is not important now,” said Fuzzy. “What is important is that you watch and listen. Use your qFlex to—”
“But we aren’t allowed to use our qFlexes at school, remember?”
“I am aware of that rule, but it is one I am willing to break to HelpMax(). Are you willing to break it for Max?”
Krysti smiled. “Totally!”
“Good,” said Fuzzy. “I am sending your qFlex a message on a secure channel. Just reply to it and alert me if they say anything about shutting me down or sending the security detail after me—”
“Security detail?” gasped Biggs.
“Yes, there is an armed security detail just off campus for my protection. However, they may act against my plan if they think I am in danger.”
“Danger?”
“Yes, I have analyzed my plan and believe considerable damage to my robotic components may result.”
“What???” yelled Biggs.
“Yes, Barbara is equipped with her own security measures. You have seen the padded arms that pop out of the walls?”
“Yes . . .”
“Not all of her arms are padded,” said Fuzzy. “She is designed to stop anything that she sees as a threat to this school. Since she is a part of this school, then she is capable of doing almost anything to protect herself.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?” said Krysti, now seriously alarmed.
“I am going to be a good student and follow all the rules,” said Fuzzy. “I’m just going to go have a little talk with Barbara . . .”
“Shh!” hissed Simeon. “Don’t mention her name . . . she may be listening!”
“I’m sure she is! But it’s too late to worry about that now.”
He turned and walked away.
“Is it just me,” asked Biggs, “or is he starting to sound like a guy in an old cowboy movie?”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Simeon. “I’ve never seen a cowboy movie—unless you count Transformers X.”
“Uh, no, I don’t think that counts. But I haven’t actually seen one, either, to tell you the truth,” said Biggs. “But I know they always yell ‘Yee-haw’ a lot when the trouble’s about to start.”
“Yee-haw!” yelled Krysti.
“Please remember to use your indoor voices and keep the hallways clear,” said Barbara, popping up on the nearest wall and looking like the friendliest grandma who ever baked cookies.
14.2
AN UNMARKED CARGO VAN
“Nooooooo!” yelled Zeff. “Son of a Gates!”
“What?”
“It stopped. The data!”
“Did we get most of it?”
“No . . . not even close. This isn’t even half a terabyte. A robot like that would have twenty times this much code.”
“Can you get the signal back?”
“No, there is no signal. He just stopped transmitting.”
“OK,” said Valentina. “Let me think.”
Another tough decision.
The data she had was worth a lot, but the data she didn’t have was worth so much more. Zeff’s plan of downloading the data had seemed too good to be true, and now she saw that it was. It was time to do things Karl’s way—well, not exactly Karl’s way; Karl was an idiot. It was time to do this her way.
“Stay here,” she told Zeff. “Be ready to roll. I’m going in.”
14.3
DETENTION ROOM 2
This is what hell might really be like, Max thought. Waiting in a room with absolutely nothing in it. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, and a lump that passed for a chair were all made from a single piece of T-polymer. The door was made out of the same tough-but-spongy stuff. Detention Room 2 was escape-proof, built to hold kids that went crazy or violent.
How did I ever get labeled as a bad kid? she wondered. Is it because of Fuzzy? Or was Barbara after me even before he came?
That’s all over now, she thought. But then she took that back. It wasn’t over. She just wished it were.
Sooner or later, that door would open. She would have to endure a terrible meeting with her parents and Ms. Brockmeyer and Barbara. And Barbara would display that awful scan of the note for them: Normally I would never cheat in a million years, but . . . Let’s cheat!
Why had she written that? And how had Barbara read it? Could Fuzzy have told on her? Could Fuzzy have been trying to get her into trouble all along?
Of course not . . . but . . . maybe he had just started. He had been acting different lately, ever since he had told her they programmed him to follow the rules, to obey Barbara. Maybe Barbara had ordered Fuzzy to trick her into cheating.
But he wouldn’t do that. Would he? He wasn’t like that. But what was he like? He was just a program. Just a machine.
It felt like he had been her friend, but now she wondered if he could even be a friend. He could act like one if he was programmed to do it, but would he betray the friendship when his programming changed?
Ugh . . .
Max was sure she was in hell.
When was that door going to open?
14.4
MAIN OFFICE
The door to Detention Room 2 wasn’t going to open until Mr. Dorgas started the disciplinary hearing.
Mr. Dorgas was trying to review the evidence Barbara had collected before the hearing, but he couldn’t get Biggs out of his office.
“We weren’t really cheating, we were testing the system and—”
“Please, Biggs,” interrupted Dorgas. “You’ll be getting your own hearing soon enough!”
“But all this goes for Max, too! Fuzzy took the test for both of us so that—”
“Look, Biggs, you realize that Barbara is recording all of this, too, right? Anything you say now is only going to be added to the evidence against you . . . and Max. You’re only making it worse for her.”
“But—”
Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Max’s parents were having trouble even getting into the office because Simeon was blocking their way and babbling at them about a crumpled paper and eavesdropping computers and a robot that was acting like a cowboy.
“You’ve heard about Big Brother? Well, this is like Big Grandmother! She says that Max cheated, but, really, she’s the one who’s been cheating!”
Normally, a student behaving this way would have been dealt with quickly by Barbara. But Barbara was . . . busy.
Max’s parents finally pushed past Simeon, but he had succeeded in delaying them several minutes. And for Fuzzy, every second was important.
14.5
HALLWAY
B
Krysti was glued to the screen. This was fascinating! A room full of adults in total chaos.
She would watch on the screen as a pair of technicians ran to the door. Then she would look down the hall and see them actually coming out that door. They would rush past her—with no clue that she knew what was happening. Then another pair would go past her and back into the room. Then she would watch on the screen as Jones yelled at them. Then they would go out again.
And then she saw someone she had never seen before stomping down the hall. It was a big man in a military uniform, followed by a couple of other people in uniforms.
The big man pounded the door switch and then started yelling.
“Where the zark is—”
The closing door cut him off, but Krysti just turned back to her qScreen for the rest.
“—my robot?!?!”
“We’re looking for him now,” said Jones meekly.
“You’re looking for the robot? A fifty-billion-dollar rocket waiting to go up, national security at stake, and you’re looking for the robot? What’s his GpX location? My team will get him.”
“Er, he’s stopped transmitting his GpX.”
“What? Well, can’t you look through his eyeball cameras or something? Pull them up on a screen. We’ll figure this out . . .”
“Uh . . . he’s not transmitting his camera feeds, either. In fact, he’s totally offline.”
“‘Not transmitting’? Great Gates, Doctor, have you lost control of this thing?”
“Uh—” spluttered Jones.
“We’ve tried to give him a certain amount of freedom,” said Nina.
“Freedom? The last time you did that you almost lost him, and this time you’re not even tracking him? Not only is that top secret, it’s also dangerous! What are you going to do if it’s gone rogue?”
It sounded as though the colonel was about to become apoplectic.
Jones ordered several more technicians to go looking, then tried to calm down Ryder.
“I’m sure we’ll find him in just a minute. You’re going to be amazed at the progress he’s made. This project has been successful beyond my wildest dreams! It’s the dawn of a new age of cyber—”
“Successful?” roared Ryder. “Your robot has corrupted students, defied orders, broken every rule they’ve got, and the National Superintendent of Schools is calling me up and chewing me out, and you claim this project has been a success?”