Читать книгу The Adventures of Anna Atom - Elizabeth Wasserman - Страница 14

Chapter 10

PIP GETS A VIRUS

Back at Monpetit, Ton tied the little boat to the jetty while Anna jumped onto its wooden planks.

Mutt was waiting for her on the beach. As usual, he welcomed her by turning summersaults backwards in the air and barking a mechanical greeting. Green and purple lights flashed behind his eyes and his rubber tail wagged frantically. This indicated happiness, his instruction manual said.

Anna gave his round little head a pat and said, “Down, Mutt!” as he tried to leap into her arms. He over-calculated and shot right over her head.

That was sometimes a problem with robotic dogs.

“Where do we go from here, Ton?” she asked as they walked up to the house.

If Ton was surprised to find himself included in her little adventure, he didn’t show it. He just said: “To dinner, after you’ve given your homework the necessary attention.”

“It is Friday, Ton! I can do my homework tomorrow!”

She thought of taking a quick swim to her slug garden, but it was much later than their usual return time from school. It was almost dark, and the memory of her encounter with the hammerhead the previous day made eating supper a more attractive choice.

And supper could be the perfect time to chat to her dad because her mom didn’t join them – she was too busy dealing with the ecology of the earth. Instead, Ton took some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee down to Sabatina’s laboratory.

Pip was malfunctioning in some way – he was sitting quietly in his chair. Anna didn’t mind this much – five-year-old brothers could be such a pain, and even more so if they happened to be biotrons. But Ton was concerned and whisked him off to his room for a check-up.

Pip’s room was decorated in baby blue. There were pictures of sharks and stingrays on the walls and curtains, and a small computer terminal in the corner. This was Pip’s docking station.

As a biotron, Pip had small neuro-batteries that had to be recharged every few months, and sophisticated sensors regularly checked his electromagnetic circuits. Sometimes he required a software update. The biological part of his body worked in the usual way: he had to eat and, like most boys, he liked sweet things. He could also breathe, but could go without oxygen for hours. He was an amazing swimmer, and Anna envied him because he didn’t need an aquabreather and his eyes could see perfectly underwater without waterspecs. In fact, Anna hated taking him along on her underwater swims – the sea was a dangerous place for reckless little boys, biotron or not, and he was impossible to watch. She’d often wished that he’d come with a remote control. One with an “off” switch!

Happy to be left alone at the dinner table, Anna waited anxiously for her dad’s face to appear. But the screen above the table remained dark.

Eventually Ton reappeared, announcing that Pip was sleeping. Then he served a desert of coconut mousse. Anna sat there playing with her spoon until it was clear that her dad was not going to be contacting them that night.

“Goodnight, Ton,” Anna sighed, rising from the table. She walked out on the veranda. The moon was dark and billions of twinkling stars appeared even brighter than usual. Down below, the sea was still invisible in the darkness, and she could hear the faint sigh of small waves hugging the bay.

As Anna turned to go back inside, she noticed that the light of Pip’s room was still on. She tiptoed quietly up to his room, and peered around the door. Ton was sitting at Pip’s bedside, watching him anxiously. Her little bionic brother was connected to his docking station by a wire plugged into the back of his head. There were graphs and figures displayed on a screen next to him, but Anna couldn’t make them out.

Pip appeared to be sleeping, but a rash of strange blue spots covered his tummy and chest. There were even a few bright spots on his forehead.

Anna felt vaguely concerned, but she was sure that Ton would be able to sort him out. Meanwhile, she needed to sort out the riddle.

Maybe Max had some answers.

Maybe he could help her.