Paisley studied the beetles Flesh-eating beetles huh They didn’t have fangs or look bloodthirsty or anything Newton licked his lips Don’t even think about eating them Dad said to Newton These beetles will be doing some important work for me They don’t bite do they Paisley asked Not humans They don’t carry any diseases either They’ll naturally clean some bones Dad said His office overflowed with lots of strange stuff these days including a deep freezer with parts of a bison skeleton He was working extra hours to put on an American Grasslands display at the university Ben watched the beetles and their larvae so long Paisley had to tug on his arm to pull him away Still want to run some experiments in the lab she asked Ben hesitated then followed Paisley She tripped over one of Newton’s squeaky toys as they squeezed through a hallway lined with overgrown plants to get to their basement lab The place was a mess 9
Too bad my dad couldn’t use a robot to clean the bones instead of beetles Paisley said The house was already a disaster without the addition of the freezer full of bones and now Dermestid beetles Flesh-eating robots could turn into a nightmare if they don’t get programmed right Ben said He pretended he was getting attacked Paisley laughed I didn’t think that all the way through We could at least use a robot to help with our chores The place is a wreck I can’t believe I’ve let things get so disorganized Ben said He took after his neat parents and was usually orderly like his ants Paisley looked around their lab They had safety goggles a couple of fire extinguishers multi-meters different types of scopes beakers batteries art supplies recycled materials plus a bunch of other stuff scattered about Newton had even shredded a large poster board to build himself a makeshift den Ben stared at a printer and scanner combo Coils and wires stuck out of the machine like hay from 10
a scarecrow’s head A robot would be awesome Millions of robots are used all over the world to build industrial stuff Surely we could design one to help with chores As long as we don’t come up with some sort of flesh-eating robot that tries to attack us our lives will be much simpler Paisley said She told Ben about an article she’d read about a woman named Melonee Wise who designed robots Melonee Wise and her team built a robot called UBR 1 to do all kinds of stuff around the house like get drinks and clean out the dishwasher Talk about living up to your last name Ben said No kidding Paisley said though she liked her last name and Ben’s too Atoms and Striker had a nice ring to it if they decided to start their own robotics company one day My parents were talking about how kids born today might not ever drive a car because of robotics Ben said I hope that one doesn’t pan out Paisley liked the idea of driving a car someday 11
