Robo Robo short for robot Not that robos are all that practical in the middle of a d eathstretch Things have been even worse since the old president died and his we-thought-he’d-be-better but-he’s-not son took over the second President Vex This isn’t the time to think about itchglitchy robos that guzzle m-fuel M-fuel is pretty much nonexistent these days and no way will Papa let me keep a robo anyway But that’s not the point 9
The Point if A robo would make a fine addition to my collection a pièce de résistance Especially it’s an antique model Above all Mama would love it Maybe even more than my newly operational printing press She’d be button-popping impressed Plus it’s something to do other than what I’m supposed to be doing which is sparkshining and stocking the burrow in case the deathstretch reaches the Worselands the way the streamscreen says it will I sure hope the streamscreen is wrong 10
Wrong No one should have to worry about taking shelter inside a bu rrow where there’s no sky no privacy no freedom It doesn’t make sense But that’s the world we live in Our burrow is nothing more than a hole in the ground It’s got a hatch that’s hidden beneath the old plastic sandbox and inside there are pegs for stairs and wooden shelves that I’ve been sparkshining and stocking for days Thank goodness it’s less than a week before hotseason break is over and I’ll go back to school That’s great but also not great because going to school means chores ram jammed into just a few after-school hours and homework to boot No knockaround time in my bedroom and the Museum of Fond Memories I keep myself very still as I listen again for what I think is a robo I don’t even breathe because I’m listening so hard to determine where the sound is coming from I hear a bzzzz then the clatter of tools The barn Of course 11
Of Course If there’s a robo no doubt it’s thirsty and desperate Its chestplate might already show the red rings of death Which means I’ve got to hurry It’s a lot harder to revive a bzzflopped robo than it is to simply sparkshine one up I pat my pocket for my trusty screwdriver which is as effective a w eapon as it is a restoration tool just in case it isn’t a robo and I s pring for the door I k eep my footsteps red-fox light of course and make sure the screen door doesn’t slap behind me so I don’t spook the robo They can be sensitive Or as Papa would say robos are a pain in the you-know-what Papa Known to the rest of the world as Link Tovis 12
