Robots Rule the School Read online

  “It's Mr. Paige!” Cesar cried, rushing forward. “Help! Robots are taking over the school!”

  “Shhhhhh,” the librarian said again, not turning.

  Gabe grabbed Cesar’s arm. “Um, Mr. Paige?” Gabe asked warily.

  The librarian’s head suddenly swiveled around. It wasn’t Mr. Paige at all! It was another robot wearing a sleeveless sweater and a gray mop as a wig!

  “Ahhhhh!” The kids screamed and raced into the book stacks. They ran back, back, back, ducking down in the darkest corner they could find.

  Luckily, the robot librarian seemed more interested in shelving books than in catching them.

  “Is this normal for your school?” Olive whispered.

  “No,” said Cesar. “Well, not super normal, anyway. But usually crazy stuff like this only happens when Dr. B. is around.”

  “Who’s Dr. B.?” Olive asked.

  “We’ll tell you later,” said Laura. “Right now we need to get help. Someone has reprogrammed all the robots to catch the students. And they are building new robots too, from the looks of it.”

  “We should try to get to an exit,” Gabe said. “The police station isn’t too far away. They can help us.”

  “Or we could get Dr. B.!” said Cesar. “He’ll know what to do!”

  Suddenly, the library doors banged and rattled.

  “STUDENTS DETECTED! MUST CATCH ALL STUDENTS!”

  The doors busted open! Dozens of robots crashed through!

  “We’re trapped!” yelped Olive.

  But before the robots could reach the book stacks, the librarian robot blocked their path.

  “SHHHHH! SHHHH! SHHHH!”

  “Now’s our chance!” Gabe said urgently.

  The friends crept along the back wall and zipped out before the robots spotted them. They raced away as the shushing sound of the librarian robot faded behind them.

  Chapter 7

  It’s Munchin’ Time

  * * *

  The DATA Set and Olive sneaked into the cafeteria. They could reach the emergency exit from there. All the lights were off, but there didn’t seem to be any robots.

  “I usually love the cafeteria,” Cesar whispered. “But in the dark, it looks scary, in a yummy way.”

  “Do you think the robots caught all the other students?” Laura asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Gabe, worried.

  The friends tiptoed as quickly as they could.

  “Who do you think is behind this?” Laura asked.

  “Maybe the robots are,” said Olive.

  Laura looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “If someone were controlling the bots, wouldn’t we have seen them?” Olive pointed out. “It’s like the robots are acting on their own. Like they’ve gotten smarter.”

  “Is that even possible?” asked Gabe. “I know your bot and mine were AI. But all the others were just motors and gears.”

  “Maybe our bots worked together to modify the others,” Olive said.

  Gabe shook his head. “I programmed my robot to be smart, but not that smart. There’s no way it had the power to lead a robot rebellion!”

  Suddenly, a whirring noise echoed from the cafeteria kitchen. It grew louder.

  “I think quiet time is over!” exclaimed Cesar. “Run!”

  The kids bolted to the exit doors and tried to tug them open. They were locked with chains!

  “No! Who would ever lock up the emergency exit!” Cesar exclaimed. “Who?”

  An enormous robot wheeled out from the kitchen. It lifted its giant mixer and rotated it slowly.

  Cesar smacked his head. “You have got to be kidding me. BAD Mix-and-Munch Bot!”

  WHIRRRRRRRRRR! The mixer spun faster! “PREHEATING OVEN MODE,” it announced in its robotic voice.

  “Don’t make it angry, Cesar!” Laura cried. “Just run!”

  The friends sprinted back across the cafeteria. “I don’t want to be an ingredient!” Cesar yelled as the Mix-and-Munch Bot whirred at their heels.

  “This way!” Gabe banged open a hall door into the boys’ room and the friends darted through. The Mix-and-Munch Bot was too wide to follow. It buzzed angrily!

  “Hurry!” Gabe exclaimed.

  Inside the friends found a door that connected to the gym locker room.

  “Phew,” said Olive as the friends crept into the gym. “That was close—eeeeeek!” she yelped. Dozens of large figures loomed there.

  “It’s gymnastics equipment, not robots.” Cesar said

  Olive breathed a sigh of relief. Cesar was right. Vaults, uneven bars, and balance beams were set up everywhere.

  “Now what?” asked Laura. “What if all the exits are locked?”

  “We have to keep trying until we find a way out,” Gabe said, determined. “We may be the school’s only hope. We have to get help.”

  Just then a scruffy-haired shadow stepped toward the kids. “Did someone say ‘help’?”

  Chapter 8

  Save the School!

  * * *

  Gabe couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Dr. Bunsen! “Dr. B., you really have to stop doing that.” He broke into a huge grin. “But boy are we glad to see you!”

  “As am I, my young DATA Set!” the doctor replied. He looked at Olive. “And the DATA Set’s young friend.”

  “Oh, how rude of me. Dr. B., this is Olive,” said Cesar.

  “Are you here to stop the bots?” Laura asked the doctor hopefully.

  “Er, not exactly,” Dr. B. said. “But your question does make me worry.”

  “Robots have taken over the school.” Cesar acted out their day.

  “Somehow all of our robots were reprogrammed to capture the school,” Gabe added.

  “We think they’ve gotten smarter,” said Laura.

  The doctor scratched his head. “Ah, yes. Well, you may have me to thank for that. That’s why I came. You see, when I put the Bunsen Infinity Battery in your robot, Gabe, I may have accidently put an Artificial Intelligence Booster Power Pack in it instead.”

  “A what?” asked Gabe.

  Cesar looked to Olive. “See? This is what I meant.”

  The doctor shrugged. “My Infinity Battery and AI Booster do tend to look the same. I have a note on my ‘to do’ list to mark them properly. Oh, well, you know how it is. Busy and all.”

  Olive turned to Gabe. “So that’s how your bot got smarter.”

  Gabe nodded. “Smart enough to combine with Pal 1.0 and build all the other bots.”

  “Did they really? Oh, how excellent!” The doctor clapped his hands. “Well, not excellent that they’ve taken over the school. But quite exciting that my AI Booster is working so well!”

  “Can we stop them?” asked Gabe.

  “Of course,” said Bunsen. You just need to—”

  Suddenly, the gymnasium doors burst open!

  It was Laura’s Swiss-Army-Tool Bot, brandishing lassos made from tape measures!

  “Hold that thought, Dr. B.!” exclaimed Gabe.

  The friends bounced off of the vaults and swung over balance beams!

  “Wow.” Cesar watched Olive somersault over a vault. She was good at gymnastics, too?

  But it was no use. The Swiss-Army-Tool Bot had cornered them in the gym locker room.

  “Stop!” Laura stepped in front of her robot. “Remember what you’re programmed to do! You’re supposed to hand me the tools! They won’t work without me.”

  The robot paused, confused. It couldn’t decide if it should follow its old programming or its new programming.

  Suddenly, the wall behind the DATA Set crashed open! It was Cole’s Lever-Bot, but now it had two enormous mechanical arms!

  It grabbed Dr. Bunsen and whizzed off!

  “Dr. B.!” the kids cried.

  Laura’s Swiss-Army-Tool Bot zipped after it, still confused. But the friends weren’t fast enough to rescue Dr. Bunsen.

  “Remove the power pack and save the school!” the doctor cried before disappeari
ng down the hall in the robot’s clutches.

  Chapter 9

  Operation: Tag

  * * *

  “It’s up to us now,” said Gabe. “We have to rescue Dr. B. and the others.”

  “You guys are free?” a nervous voice whispered. “I thought I was the only one.”

  It was Cole! He had been hiding under a locker-room bench.

  “Cole!” exclaimed Laura. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “I hid when the robots attacked. They missed me.”

  “What happened to everyone else?” Gabe asked.

  “The robots took everyone to the teachers’ lounge,” Cole said. “They even have a leader—Olive, somehow your bot combined with Gabe’s and gave orders to ‘catch all the students’ and ‘win the game.’ ”

  “Win the game. . . .” Olive smiled. She had figured out the robot’s plan. “Of course! Cole asked my robot to play tag. Pal 1.0 is playing tag!”

  “But it couldn’t complete the request on its own,” Gabe realized. “It needed my bot’s assistance to help gather and organize the students.”

  “And with the AI Power Pack . . . ,” said Laura.

  “It built all the bots to play tag too,” finished Cesar.

  The friends were relieved to finally understand what was going on at their school!

  “So how do we get close enough to unplug that power pack?” asked Laura.

  A smile crossed Gabe’s face. “We need to play tag.”

  “This way!” Laura and Cole sprinted down a hallway. “Those robots won’t catch us!”

  “Humans rule! Robots drool!” yelled Gabe from up ahead.

  Robots whirred and buzzed angrily as they moved out from classroom doors. There were bots of all shapes and sizes—modified inventions and even more newly built ones. And at the front of the pack was Pal 1.0 on top of Gabe’s Classroom-Assistant Bot.

  Gabe, Laura, and Cole backed against the lockers. This didn’t look good.

  “ROBOTS WIN.” Pal 1.0’s robot eyes popped up, flashing red. “PROGRAM SCHOOL TAG: COMPLETE. ALL STUDENTS CAPTURED. NOW ROBOTS MUST CAPTURE ENTIRE TOWN!”

  “That’s what you think,” Gabe said. “Hit it!”

  Suddenly, Cesar and Olive jumped down from a hiding spot on top of the lockers! Together they landed on Cole’s Lever-Bot. The lever shot up . . . smacking right into Pal 1.0’s AI Booster Power Pack and sending it flying!

  “NO!” cried Pal 1.0. “MUST . . . CAPTure . . . all . . . stuuuuuuu . . .”

  The voice went silent as the red light faded from Pal 1.0’s eyes. All of the other bots shut down! Olive stepped forward to catch her bot as it toppled from Gabe’s Classroom Assistant.

  Pal 1.0’s eyes blinked back to the color green. “Hello,” it said to Olive in its normal voice. “I am Pal 1.0, a robot friend. Shall we play a game?”

  “No thanks,” Olive said. “I think we’re all gamed out.”

  Chapter 10

  The DATA Set 2.0

  * * *

  The DATA Set, Cole, and Olive burst into the teachers’ lounge.

  “Dr. B.! Mrs. Bell! Please say you are all o- . . . kay?”

  “Oh, there you guys are!” said a student named Chaz as he buzzed by on an electric scooter.

  “What took you so long?” asked another classmate named Heather. She was playing Ping-Pong against Mrs. Bell.

  The DATA Set couldn’t believe their eyes. All the students and teachers were packed into an enormous game room! Pinball machines lined the walls. Principal Stevens was making espresso shots at a bar. There was even an air hockey table!

  Gabe blinked. “Did the robots do this?”

  “No,” said Mrs. Bell as she served the ball in a game of Ping-Pong. “Our lounge was always this way.”

  “When the robots started acting up, they brought us here,” said Chaz as he made another scooter lap.

  “We were going to escape,” said the real librarian, Mr. Paige. He shot a basketball into a hoop that hung on the wall. “But we figured the robots would run out of batteries sooner or later. So we decided to take the rest of the afternoon off to have fun.”

  Cesar was in shock. “But I—I don’t—HOW DID WE NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?”

  “Oh, there you are!” Dr. Bunsen ran up to the kids. He was wearing a virtual reality gaming helmet. “Did you end up saving the school?”

  “Did you—did we—” Cesar sputtered.

  Olive patted Cesar’s shoulder. “We sure did.”

  While the students and teachers continued to play in the teachers’ lounge, Laura and Olive quickly powered up Laura’s Swiss-Army-Tool Bot to help repair the damage to the school. Dr. B. helped too.

  “So, my young DATA Set,” said the doctor. “Now that you have all earned A’s on your robot projects, destroyed the school, and saved the school, what will you do this weekend?”

  Cesar shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably relax. It’s not like we have a SECRET GAME ROOM TO SNEAK OFF TO OR ANYTHING!” he shouted back down the hallway toward the teachers’ lounge.

  “But we do have Laura’s super-awesome tree house, which is just as good,” said Gabe.

  “A super-awesome tree house?” asked Olive. “I’d like to see that.”

  The DATA Set exchanged glances.

  “I’m afraid only members of the DATA Set are allowed inside,” said Laura.

  “You should come check it out,” Gabe said with a grin.

  Olive broke into a huge smile. “Do you mean it?”

  Cesar tossed a spare robot part into the air and caught it. He winked. “When it comes to officially welcoming new members of the DATA Set, we never play games.”

  CHECK OUT THE NEXT DATA SET ADVENTURE!

  Mmmmm. I taste cranberry and pumpkin . . . ,” Cesar said as he took another gulp of juice. “With a hint of turkey gravy.”

  “No way. Something’s wrong with your taste buds,” said Laura. “It tastes like peach cobbler.”

  “You’re both wrong,” said Gabriel. “This is totally a banana milk shake.”

  “Oh, excellent!” Dr. Gustav Bunsen clapped his hands. “My Juice-o-Tronic 2000 works perfectly!”

  Gabe, Laura, and Cesar were in Dr. Bunsen’s laboratory, helping him test his newest invention, when they should have been doing their homework. But Dr. Bunsen insisted that they try his perfect “pick-me-up” drinks first to boost their energy.

  It was going to be a busy day.

  Ada Hopper has been extremely inventive ever since she was little. There was nothing that a rubber band and some tweezers couldn’t fix, no question that couldn’t be answered by scouring the library, and no way she wasn’t escaping over that backyard fence! Ada loves reading and writing because of all the fantastical worlds a good book can bring you to. When not working, Ada enjoys karaoke, spending time with her family, and going on the occasional adventure or two.

  Sam Ricks is an illustrator for several children’s chapter book series. He grew up crafting stories about toxic fruitcakes, peanut butter–snatching aliens, and killer vacuums. Now he splits his time between illustration, art direction, hanging out with his family, and vacuuming. You can visit him at SamRicks.com.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  Visit us at

  simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Ada-Hopper

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Sam-Ricks

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Little Simon paperback edition July 2016 • Copyright © 2016
by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by John Daly. The text of this book was set in Serifa.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Hopper, Ada, author. | Ricks, Sam, illustrator. Title: Robots rule the school / by Ada Hopper ; illustrated by Sam Ricks. Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2016. | Series: The DATA set ; #4 | Summary: Mrs. Bell challenges her science students to invent their own robots but when they start malfunctioning it becomes up to the DATA Set to deprogram the machines before an army of robots take over the school. Identifiers: LCCN 2015038091| ISBN 9781481463133 (hc) | ISBN 9781481463126 (pbk) | ISBN 9781481463140 (ebook) Subjects: | CYAC: Robots—Fiction. | Inventions—Fiction. | Clubs—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction. Classification: LCC PZ7.1.H66 Ro 2016 | DDC [E]—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038091