Read Online The Winter of the Robots by Kurtis Scaletta - Free Book Online Page B

me to get him in trouble when he was going to get
me
out of trouble, especially if he was innocent.
    Rocky was nudging me. “… since this guy bailed on me,” she was saying.
    “Huh?” I’d missed whatever they were talking about.
    “We could do something together,” said Dmitri. It took me a moment to realize they were talking about the science-fair project.
    “Sure,” said Rocky. “What do you want to do?”
    “I still want to build a robot,” he said. “Oliver got me interested in the idea. I’d like to try it, but I can’t handle tools right now.” He held up his scarred hand.
    “No problem,” said Rocky. “Dad made me learn a bunch of guy stuff. I’ve used power saws, welding torches, you name it.”
    “We need a hypothesis,” said Dmitri.
    “I have one,” said Rocky, her eyes shifting toward me. “Our hypothesis is that our robot can beat up Oliver and Jim’s robot.”
    Jim: Any luck with Peter’s car?
    Oliver: Nope.
    Jim:
    Oliver: The car is insured.
    Jim: Still stinks.
    Oliver: Yeah. He’s pretty bummed.
    Jim: BTW, we have a new mission. Dm and Rocky are sci fair partners. They’re making a robot to fight ours.
    Oliver: Srsly?
    Jim: Srsly.
    Oliver: Bring it.

    In science class on Friday we spent most of the period working on our projects. Oliver worked on graph paper, sketching elaborate plans for robots. His lines were sharp and clean. He rambled while he talked about infrared detectors and weighted cudgels. I kept glancing back to see Dmitri and Rocky chatting. It seemed everything he said made her laugh.
    Dmitri had been the center of attention all week, swarmed by kids with questions. He must have liked the attention, because I’d even seen him smile a couple of times.
    Oliver was explaining about cudgels—that was what he called the robot’s fists—and anchoring the robot so it could pack a punch. Mentally I traced the chain of events: An ultrasound sensor would tell the robot an enemy was at hand. It would send a signal to the controller, and the controller would trigger the actuator.
    “How does it know where to punch?” I asked. Ultrasound told it something was near, but would the robot just flail randomly? Could it be strategic? Could it go for the gut?
    “Good question,” said Oliver. “We can use infrared cameras to give the robot an image of the combatant.”
    “You can do that?”
    “Yeah, some of the newer sensors are amazing.”
    I sneaked another peek at Rocky. She was still giggling. Since when had Dmitri been so funny? I wondered. Oliver noticed I was looking.
    “What kind of robot do you think they’ll build?” he asked.
    “Some kind of vehicle,” I guessed. “Dmitri is into cars.”
    “Like an armored tank with a brain?” he said. He sketched one while he talked, barely aware he was doing it. “We’ll strategize around that. See if you can find out more.”
    “Find out how?”
    “Talk to Rocky,” he said. “Make like it’s just friendly talk.”
    “Of course.” I’d been promoted from arts and crafts to being a spy.
    Usually Dad meets customers on their own turf, but once in a while a client comes to our house. There was one on Friday: Dad had the case out and was discussing the various makes and models of security cameras. I had an instant panic attack and almost didn’t notice who he was talking to.
    “Hello, Jim!” he said.
    “Peter. Hey.” I noticed that the table was piled high with boxes. Every one had a picture of a camera on the outside. The end was nigh. “Sorry about your car,” I muttered.
    “It’s insured.” He waved it off. “But the incident has raised my concerns about the state of the neighborhood.” He turned to Dad. “No offense.”
    “None taken,” said Dad with a nod.
    “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to bolster the security. It’s not about my car; it’s about Ellen and Oliver. They’re practically family.”
    “I know,” I said.
    “Are you and Ellen—” Dad started.
    “We’re very old