The Robot Who Knew Too Much Read online

  As a child, seeing you create tiny worlds inspired me to create my own.

  This one is for you, Mom. —M. Y.

  CHAPTER 1 The Future Is Funky

  A lot of strange things had happened to Newton Warp since the day he’d appeared at Franken-Sci High with no memories at all.

  That was the first strange thing—not knowing who he was. He had a student ID that said his name was Newton Warp and that he was a student at the school. But that’s all he knew. And nobody at the school could tell him who he was, not even the professors or the headmistress, Ms. Mumtaz.

  The other strange things had happened very quickly, one after another. He met his roommate, who was a talking mound of green goo. His best friends were a robot, and a girl who rescued monsters. Then Newton discovered that he had some unusual powers, such as sticky fingers and toes, and the ability to camouflage himself.

  Other strange things had happened too, but at the moment, Newton was thinking that what had just happened was really, truly bizarre and confusing. His friend Shelly Ravenholt, the monster rescuer, was thinking the same thing.

  They were standing in the school gym, facing Professor Flubitus, a green-haired man wearing a polka-dot shirt, shiny black pants, yellow boots, a vest with blinking LED lights, and a red bow tie.

  It wasn’t just his outfit that was strange, but what he’d told them. He had said that he had traveled all the way from the future to protect Newton and Shelly.

  “Your future,” he specified. “I’m afraid it’s not looking so good.”

  Newton and Shelly stood there with their mouths open for a few long seconds. Then Higgy, Newton’s gooey roommate (he was made of protoplasm, actually), spoke up.

  “How not good do you mean?” he asked. “Not good, like how eating a sandwich with stale crusts is not good? Or how movies with talking babies are not good? Or more of a funky not good, like really stinky cheese?”

  “I like movies with talking babies,” muttered Theremin, Newton’s robot friend.

  Professor Flubitus frowned. “Far worse than funky, I am afraid,” he said.

  Newton finally spoke. “Mumtaz told us that you were following us around to protect us. Protect us from what?” he asked, his voice rising. “What is going to happen?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” Flubitus said, his face turning as red as his bow tie. “If I did that, it might alter the future. That’s one of the first rules of time travel, you know.”

  Shelly snapped out of her stunned trance. “Who’s making these rules, exactly?” she asked.

  Then they heard Ms. Mumtaz’s voice behind them.

  “Flubitus, what’s going on here?” she asked. “What happened to the monster?”

  The monster—that was another strange thing that had happened recently. During a family reunion, Shelly had helped out a small blue creature called a Transylvanian baccatrei. The grateful monster, Peewee, had followed Shelly to the school without her knowing it. Professor Flubitus had found Peewee trying to get into the school, and had brought him inside.

  Before Flubitus could return the creature to Shelly, Peewee had eaten a nanochip that had transformed him into a giant, three-eyed, fire-breathing monster with spikes on his head. Professor Flubitus had deactivated the chip and returned Peewee to his normal state. But he was no hero as far as Newton was concerned. Because Flubitus had confessed that the nanochip had been intended for Newton!

  Shelly held up Peewee and showed Mumtaz. “Here’s the monster, back to normal,” Shelly explained. “Professor Flubitus told us that Peewee ate a nanochip that turned him into the monster.”

  “A nanochip meant for me,” Newton said. “Professor Flubitus was going to turn me into a monster.”

  “To protect you, my dear boy,” Flubitus said.

  “Protect me from what?” Newton asked. He turned to Ms. Mumtaz. “Why can’t you tell us?”

  The headmistress stared at him with small, bright eyes that reminded Newton of a bird. Her thin, pointy nose and orange-and-purple-streaked hair added to her avian appearance.

  “Newton, the members of the faculty have been keeping a secret from you,” she said. “Professor Flubitus came from the future to warn us that the school will be in great danger, and you are our only hope.”

  Our only hope. The words felt big and scary to Newton. Am I really that important? he wondered.

  “I can’t tell you any more than that,” Mumtaz continued. “Or it would be disastrous to the space-time continuum.”

  “That sounds extra funky,” Higgy remarked.

  “I don’t understand,” Newton said. “Earlier you told me and Shelly that Professor Flubitus was keeping an eye on us. So why am I the only hope and not both of us?”

  Flubitus turned red again. “It’s… uh… well… I simply can’t tell you! You’ll just have to trust me!”

  “Can I trust you to not try to turn me into a fire-breathing monster again?” Newton asked.

  The professor looked at Ms. Mumtaz, as though he hoped she would give him permission to try again.

  “He absolutely will not be trying to turn you into a monster again,” the headmistress said firmly. “Isn’t that right, Flubitus?”

  The professor nodded energetically. “That’s right. No more monster transformations. We will just have to hope that Newton’s own—”

  A sharp look from Mumtaz stopped him from saying anything more. She turned to Newton. “I know this is a lot to take in, Newton, but you have to take my word for it. Flubitus is on your side.”

  “But how do you know he’s even telling you the truth about the future?” Newton pressed her. “He’s the only one who witnessed it, right?”

  “We have no reason to doubt Professor Flubitus,” Ms. Mumtaz said. “I need you to believe us, Newton. And I need you to just go on with your life and forget about all this future business, if you can. Just let the future unfold.”

  “And then what?” Newton asked. “If something bad happens to the school, what am I supposed to do?”

  “You’ll know what to do when the time comes,” she promised him.

  I want to believe her, Newton thought. But it’s hard to when she won’t give me any more details. Still, do I have a choice?

  Ms. Mumtaz gazed at Flubitus and the students. “It’s late. I suggest you all get back to your dorms. Shelly, please put Peewee with the rest of your animals.”

  “Yes, Ms. Mumtaz,” Shelly said, and the headmistress turned and left the gym, her heels clacking on the floor as she went.

  “I’ll go with you, Shelly,” Theremin offered.

  “Me too,” Newton said.

  “I need to grab a snack,” Higgy said. “Catch you later!”

  Newton turned to Professor Flubitus. “I get that you’re trying to protect us, but could you please stop following us?” he asked. “It’s creepy.”

  “It is my sworn duty to protect you,” the professor said, and then he tripped over his own feet. The kids were used to his clumsiness by now, so they tried to ignore it.

  “I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of protecting ourselves,” Newton said.

  “That’s right!” Theremin piped up. “Newton and Shelly have me to protect them! Do you have super robot strength? Can you shoot lasers out of your eyes?”

  “Er, no,” Flubitus replied.

  “So you don’t have to worry about us,” Theremin said. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

  Theremin zoomed off, floating above the ground on his hover legs, and Newton and Shelly followed on foot.

  “That was impressive, Theremin,” Shelly said. “I hope you convinced Flubitus to give us some space. Newton’s right—it was creepy having him follow us around like that.”
r />   They made their way to the basement of the school, where Shelly had an animal rescue lab. They were all animals that Shelly had found on the island who needed a little help. Wingold the parrot had one robotic wing. There was a frog with springs to replace some missing legs, a turtle with a titanium shell, and a lizard with wheels for feet. Plants kept alive by artificial sunlight helped re-create the animals’ island habitat.

  Shelly placed Peewee on a tree branch.

  “Here’s your new home, Peewee,” she told him.

  The tiny blue creature looked at her with big, sad eyes.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll see me twice a day, when it’s feeding time,” she said. The little creature squeaked and then curled up for a nap.

  Shelly sighed. “Poor little guy,” she said. “He was lost and alone when I found him, and scared. I could bring him back to Transylvania and let him loose, but that doesn’t feel right. I’d want to find his family first.”

  Lost, alone, and scared. Newton had felt the same way when Shelly and Theremin had found him in the school’s Brain Bank just a couple of months ago. When Newton, Shelly, and Theremin won the school’s Mad Science Fair and each received a portal pass as a prize, Newton tried to use it to find his family. The portal pass was supposed to be able to take you anywhere you wanted to go, but when he asked it to take him home, nothing happened. He stayed right there in the school. That experience had left him with a longing, wondering if he’d ever know who his family was, and if he had a family at all.

  Thank goodness I have my friends, he thought, and he smiled at Shelly.

  “Peewee was lucky that he found you,” he said. “And I guess I was too.”

  “I think Theremin and I are the lucky ones,” Shelly said. “This place has gotten a lot better since you showed up.”

  “That’s right,” Theremin agreed. “We won the science fair together. You saved me from being sucked into a black hole. You made it snow in my room. You’re the best, Newton.”

  “Thanks,” Newton said. “You guys are making me feel funny. Like, I’ve got this warm, fuzzy feeling.”

  Theremin’s eyes glowed, and he scanned Newton. “Your endorphin levels are elevated,” he reported.

  “That just means you’re happy,” Shelly explained.

  Newton grinned. Things at Franken-Sci High were strange, and weird, and unusual, but they were pretty good, too.

  “Yeah, I guess I am happy,” he replied.

  The three friends left the animal rescue lab and headed upstairs and outside the main school building. A blast of warm, humid tropical air hit Newton’s face as they walked down the jungle path to the student dorms. Newton and Theremin said good night to Shelly and went inside the boys’ dorm. Theremin made his way to his room, and Newton went to the room he shared with Higgy.

  He opened the door, expecting to find Higgy awake. But the lights were out, and his roommate was snoring in the bottom bunk. Newton froze.

  Higgy loved to play pranks on Newton, and by now Newton knew to look out for them. He scanned the room—thanks to his special abilities, he could see perfectly in the dark. Everything looked normal, with Higgy’s clothes piled messily on the floor, and empty candy bar and chip wrappers strewn about. He quietly walked to the bunk bed and used his grippy fingertips to pull himself up to the top bunk. The bed was empty. Satisfied, Newton came back down. He kicked off his sneakers and changed into a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in. Then he scrambled to the top bunk, stretched out, and rested his head on the pillow.

  Pfffffffffffffft!

  The farting sound came from beneath the pillow. Newton lifted it up and found a rubber chicken underneath!

  “Very funny, Higgy,” Newton said. “That’s pretty lame, though, compared to some of your pranks.”

  Suddenly a disco ball dropped down from the ceiling. Music with a heavy beat blared through the dorm room. And next to Newton, the rubber chicken started moving! It stood on two legs and hopped off the top bunk. Then it danced underneath the disco lights.

  Higgy peeked out from the bottom bunk. “Pretty cool, huh? I had to rework the standard reanimation formula to have it work on a rubber chicken, and they’re not very smart. But it only took me three days to teach it how to dance!”

  “You went to all that trouble just to prank me?” Newton asked.

  “Of course I did,” Higgy replied. “And it was totally worth it.”

  Newton gazed at the rubber chicken, shaking its chicken behind to the music and flapping its wings up and down. A word popped into his mind.

  “Would you call this a funky chicken?” Newton asked.

  “Exactly, roomie!” Higgy said. He slid out of his bunk and started to wiggle along with the chicken. “Do the funky chicken!”

  Newton hopped down from the top bunk and joined them.

  “There you go, Newton!” Higgy cried. “Flap those chicken wings!”

  Newton laughed. Maybe the future’s going to be bad, he thought. But now… now is pretty awesome. Then he happily joined Higgy in a disco move.

  CHAPTER 2 Fun with Frankenstein

  The next morning Newton stopped in front his locker, number 325.17. He pressed his finger to a button on the locker’s glass pad. Beep! Next he opened his eyes wide for the eye scan. Beep! Finally, cringing with anticipation, he licked the taste-sensitive security lines for the saliva analysis.

  “Mmm,” he said. “Banana… blue cheese?” He wrinkled his nose.

  Shelly and Theremin approached him. “I think today’s flavor is very unfair,” Shelly remarked. “You think you’re safe with the banana, and then, yuck!”

  “I have no idea what either of those things tastes like, but when you guys talk about it, it makes me glad I don’t produce saliva,” Theremin said.

  Newton sniffed the air. “Maybe some food is gross, but bacon is amazing,” he said. “I wish you could taste bacon, Theremin. Maybe your dad could install some taste sensors for you.”

  At the mention of his dad, Theremin’s eyes flashed.

  “I don’t think my father wants to do me any favors,” he said.

  Newton felt bad. Theremin’s dad, Dr. Rozika, was a professor at the school and had wanted Theremin to be smart, but not smarter than him. So anytime Theremin got really good at something, he automatically failed at something else. Sometimes the professor said it was for Theremin’s own good, but it only made Theremin miserable.

  “Right, Theremin,” Newton said. “Bad idea. Sorry I mentioned it.”

  “It’s cool,” Theremin said, to Newton’s relief. Then the three friends took the glass transport tube to the school cafeteria.

  When the doors opened, Newton saw the word “bacon” flash on the digital menu board on the buffet line.

  “Yay!” he cheered, and he hurried toward the line, with Shelly behind him. He picked up a plate and held it up to the blue-haired cafeteria worker.

  “Bacon, please,” he said.

  The woman dropped a small, brown capsule onto Newton’s plate with a pair of tongs. Newton stared at it.

  “Is this a new kind of bacon?” he asked.

  “It’s something they cooked up in the food lab,” she replied cheerfully. “It’s got all the calories and fat of three pieces of bacon, with none of the fuss or the grease.”

  Shelly popped her capsule into her mouth and frowned. “Or the taste.”

  Newton swallowed his bacon capsule and frowned. “This is very sad,” he said.

  The cafeteria worker lowered her voice. “Yes, we’ve been getting a lot of complaints,” she said. “But as the old mad-scientist motto goes: ‘Some experiments succeed, and some fail!’ ”

  Shelly grabbed Newton by the elbow. “Come on, let’s get smoothies,” she said.

  “I’ll save us a table,” Theremin offered, and he zoomed off.

  Disappointed by the bacon capsules, many kids were already in the smoothie line. Newton realized that when he’d first shown up at the school, everybody had been a stranger to him. But now he knew almos
t everyone.

  At the head of the line, Mimi Crowninshield was boasting to Gustav Goddard.

  “Crowninshield Enterprises is the leading innovator in stealth technology,” she was saying. “My parents have a machine that can make the moon disappear!”

  “Doesn’t that happen once a month anyway?” Gustav asked, and Mimi scowled.

  Behind them, Tori Twitcher filled a glass with coconut milk, and Newton remembered that on his first day at Franken-Sci High, Theremin had seen her acting like a cat at Nurse Bunsen’s office because of a mind-control accident. Today she was acting like a regular human.

  Next in line was Tootie Van der Flootin, master monster maker. She wore her hair in a bun on top of her head, as usual.

  Behind her stood a tall, greasy-haired teenager, Rotwang. While most of the students in the school were descended from the world’s greatest mad scientists, Rotwang came from a long line of mad-scientist assistants.

  The mad scientist he served, Odifin Pinkwad, was a brain in a jar of fluid who got around on a small table with wheels, pushed by Rotwang. Odifin’s voice came out of a speaker on the jar.

  “Rotwang, why are we waiting in this infernal line?” Odifin complained.

  “I’m hungry, boss!” Rotwang replied.

  “What an inconvenience,” Odifin scoffed. “So much time wasted with your bodily needs. The next thing you know, you’ll want to waste more of my time brushing your teeth!”

  Then Odifin spun around, or at least his brain did, in the jar. “Who is that invading my perimeter?”

  An orange tentacle had poked out of the pocket of Tootie’s lab coat. She was now at the front of the line, and the tentacle had stretched past Rotwang and was tapping on Odifin’s jar. Tootie reeled in the tentacle as if it was fishing line and stuffed it back into her pocket, which she had adapted to be extra large.

  “Sorry, Odifin,” Tootie said. “Just a new monster creation I’m working on.” Then she pressed some buttons on the smoothie machine and turned to Newton and Shelly.

  “Hey, guys,” she said as she picked up her glass. “How’s Peewee doing, Shelly?”