Chapter 3
Hiro looked around as Tadashi drove through the gates of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, often called SFIT for short. “What are we doing at your nerd school?” Hiro asked. “Bot fight’s that way.”
“Pit stop,” Tadashi replied as he pulled up to a gleaming steel-and-glass building.
Hiro impatiently followed Tadashi into SFIT’s robotics lab. “Is this gonna take long? Megabot wants to fight!”
“Relax, you big baby. We’ll be in and out,” Tadashi said as he led Hiro into the enormous lab.
“Oh, great. I get to see your lab,” Hiro said sarcastically. Out of the corner of his eye, Tadashi saw Hiro’s attitude change. His lab was high-tech heaven. Tadashi smiled.
“Heads up!” said a girl with purple-streaked hair as she whizzed by on a bike. She stopped short and tossed the bike onto a rack. Tadashi walked over to her and smiled.
Hiro couldn’t help himself. He had to touch the bike. “Whoa ... electro-mag suspension,” he said. “Who are you?”
Hiro turned around to look at the girl. “Um, I’m ... Tadashi’s brother.”
“Go Go, this is Hiro.”
Go Go Tomago chewed her gum and nodded. Hiro looked back at her bike. “Never seen electro-mag suspension on a bike before.”
Go Go spun the bike’s back wheel. In place of an axle, the wheel was suspended between two magnetic forks. The wheel seemed to float like magic between the magnetic frames.
“Zero resistance,” Go Go told him. “Faster bike. But not fast enough.” Then she took the wheel off and threw it in the trash. “Yet.”
Hiro stared as she fired up a 3-D printer on the spot and began to create a new wheel. Then he heard a high-pitched hum coming from the other side of the lab. He saw a large, muscular guy with dreadlocks experimenting with lasers there. His work space was immaculately organized. Hiro headed for the machine.
“Whoa. Do not move. Behind the line, please.”
Hiro stopped and looked down. He took one step back behind a white line that was taped on the floor.
“Hey, Wasabi,” Tadashi said to him. “This is my brother, Hiro.”
Wasabi, a physics student, nodded. “Hello, Hiro. Prepare to be amazed. Catch.”
Wasabi tossed an apple up into the air, but when Hiro reached for it, the apple fell down in hundreds of wafer-thin pieces.
“Wow,” Hiro said.
Wasabi grabbed a bottle and sprayed its contents into the air. Hundreds of green lasers were immediately visible. “There has never been an optic system so precise.”
Hiro nodded, noticing that Wasabi carefully placed his spray bottle back into a particular circle on the table.
“I have a system. A place for everything; everything in its place,” Wasabi said.
Just then, Go Go grabbed something from Wasabi’s table. “Need this,” she said as she whizzed past him.
“Hey, what are you ... ” Wasabi shouted, and went after her. “You’re messing up my whole system!” The boys were watching Wasabi chase Go Go when a sweet voice said, “Coming through.”
Hiro and Tadashi turned to see Honey Lemon, a blond chemistry genius, rolling a large ball of metal across the floor. They stepped aside. Tadashi smiled. “Honey, this is my little brother, Hiro.”
Honey was thrilled. “Omigosh! Hi,” she gushed. “Perfect timing! You’re going to love this!” She pushed the ball onto a hydraulic lift. Then she dashed over to a large machine that held many chemical elements and used the touchscreen to select several of them.
“That’s a whole lot of tungsten carbide... ” Hiro said.
“Four hundred pounds of it,” Honey responded. They watched as the machine combined the elements. Honey smiled and said, “Super-heat to eight hundred degrees, and voilà!”
The boys saw a stream of chemicals shoot out of the machine and spray the metal ball. Instantly, the entire orb was encased in a bright pink glow.
“Pretty great, huh?” Honey asked, and used her cell phone camera to snap a selfie of the boys and herself standing in front of the ball.
Hiro didn’t know what to make of it. “So... pink,” he said.
Honey nodded enthusiastically. Pink was her favorite color. “And here’s the best part,” she said. With one touch, the metal ball disintegrated into dust.
“Wow!” Hiro said, stunned.
“I know, right?” Honey said. “I call it chemicalmetal embrittlement.”
“Not bad, Honey,” Tadashi said with a smile. Hiro thought Tadashi’s friends were nice, but he was a little confused about their names.
“Honey, Go Go, Wasabi ... ?”
“I spill wasabi on my shirt one time, people— one time!” Wasabi said.
“Hey,” Tadashi laughed, holding up his hands.
“Talk to Fred. He gives out the nicknames.”
“Who’s Fred?” Hiro asked.
“This guy!” someone said behind Hiro. Turning, Hiro came face to face with a giant Japanesestyle Kaiju monster—and screamed!
The monster took his big head off, and the smiling, friendly-looking kid underneath said, “Do not be alarmed. Name’s Fred. School mascot by day.” He spun the SFIT sign he was holding. “But by night, also school mascot.”
Hiro nodded. “Hey. So what’s your major?”
Fred plopped down on a couch strewn with comic books. “Oh, I’m not a student here,” he said, grinning. “But I am a major science enthusiast! I’ve been trying to get Honey to develop a formula that can turn me into a fire-breathing lizard at will.” Fred sighed. “But she says that’s not science.”
Honey nodded. “It’s really not.”
Fred called out to Wasabi, “Right. Then I guess the shrink ray I asked Wasabi for isn’t science either, is it?”
Wasabi shook his head.
“Laser eyes? Tingly fingers?” Fred asked, following him.
Tadashi smiled and led Hiro to another part of the lab. “What have you been working on?” Hiro asked his brother.
“I’ll show you.”
第 3 章
泰迪騎車穿過(guò)舊金山理工大學(xué)(簡(jiǎn)稱SFIT)的大門時(shí),小宏向四周看了看。“我們到你們這書(shū)呆子學(xué)校來(lái)干什么?”小宏問(wèn)道,“機(jī)器人格斗賽在那個(gè)方向。”
“停車加油!”泰迪一邊回答,一邊把車停在一座閃著微光的由鋼筋和玻璃筑成的大樓前。
小宏很不耐煩地跟著泰迪走進(jìn)舊金山理工大學(xué)的機(jī)器人實(shí)驗(yàn)室。“在這兒待多久?超能機(jī)器人想要去格斗了!”
“放松點(diǎn),小屁孩。馬上就好了。”泰迪一邊說(shuō)一邊領(lǐng)小宏走進(jìn)了一間巨大的實(shí)驗(yàn)室。
“哦,好棒。我能看到你的實(shí)驗(yàn)室了。”小宏諷刺地說(shuō)道。泰迪用余光看到,小宏的態(tài)度轉(zhuǎn)變了。他的實(shí)驗(yàn)室是高科技的天堂。泰迪笑了。
“小心!”一個(gè)挑染紫色頭發(fā)的女孩騎著自行車呼嘯而過(guò)。她突地停住,把自行車拋上一個(gè)架子。泰迪笑著走向她。
小宏忍不住摸了摸那輛自行車。“哇哦……電磁懸浮”,他說(shuō)道。“你是誰(shuí)?”
小宏轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭看著那個(gè)女孩回答道:“呃,我是……泰迪的弟弟。”
“神行御姐,這是小宏。”
神行御姐嚼著口香糖點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。小宏回頭看著她的自行車。“以前從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)電磁懸浮用在自行車上。”
神行御姐旋轉(zhuǎn)著自行車的后輪。沒(méi)有車軸,輪子懸浮在兩個(gè)磁力叉子之間。輪子像魔法一樣懸浮在電磁框架之間。
“零阻力。”神行御姐告訴他,“自行車會(huì)更快,但還沒(méi)達(dá)到足夠快的地步,”隨后她把輪子取下扔進(jìn)了垃圾桶,“目前為止。”
小宏目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著她開(kāi)啟了實(shí)驗(yàn)室里的一臺(tái)3D打印機(jī)并開(kāi)始造另一個(gè)新輪子。隨后他聽(tīng)到高分貝的嗡嗡聲從實(shí)驗(yàn)室的另一側(cè)傳了過(guò)來(lái)。他看見(jiàn)一個(gè)高個(gè)子長(zhǎng)發(fā)綹的肌肉男在那做激光實(shí)驗(yàn)。他的工作區(qū)整潔有序。小宏朝那臺(tái)機(jī)器走去。
“哇!別動(dòng),請(qǐng)站到線后面去。”
小宏停住腳,向下看去。只見(jiàn)地上貼了一條白線,他向后退了一步。
“嗨,芥末無(wú)疆,”泰迪對(duì)他說(shuō)道,“這是我弟弟,小宏。”
芥末無(wú)疆點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭,他是一個(gè)物理系學(xué)生。“你好,小宏。準(zhǔn)備好大開(kāi)眼界吧。接著。”
芥末無(wú)疆向空中拋了一個(gè)蘋果,可當(dāng)小宏去接時(shí),蘋果已經(jīng)被切割成數(shù)以百計(jì)的極薄的薄片了。
小宏說(shuō)道:“哇哦”。
芥末無(wú)疆抓起一只瓶子,向空中噴灑了一些瓶子里的溶劑。數(shù)以百計(jì)的綠色激光束馬上顯現(xiàn)出來(lái)了。“還沒(méi)有什么視覺(jué)系統(tǒng)可以如此精確。”
小宏點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭,注意到芥末無(wú)疆小心翼翼地將噴灑溶劑的瓶子放回到桌子上特定的圈里。
“我有自己的一個(gè)體系。每件物品都有自己的位置,一切都是有序的。”芥末無(wú)疆說(shuō)道。
就在這時(shí)神行御姐從芥末無(wú)疆的桌子上拿走了什么東西。“借我這個(gè),”她一邊說(shuō)一邊就像剛才一樣從他身邊呼嘯而過(guò)。
“嘿,你干嗎……”芥末無(wú)疆喊著,追著她走了。“你搞亂了我整個(gè)體系!”男孩們正在看著芥末無(wú)疆追趕神行御姐時(shí),一個(gè)甜美的聲音響起:“借過(guò)。”
小宏和泰迪轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身看到了哈妮檸檬。這位金發(fā)化學(xué)天才正推著一個(gè)金屬球滾過(guò)地板。他們向旁邊讓出一步。泰迪笑道:“哈妮檸檬,這是我的弟弟小宏。”
哈妮檸檬很激動(dòng)。“哦,我的天!嗨!”她滔滔不絕地說(shuō)道,“來(lái)得正好!你會(huì)喜歡這個(gè)的!”她把那個(gè)球推上液壓起重機(jī),然后沖到一臺(tái)放有很多化學(xué)試劑的巨大機(jī)器前。她通過(guò)觸摸屏挑選了一些試劑。
“全都是碳化鎢……”小宏說(shuō)道。
“足足有四百磅。”哈妮檸檬回應(yīng)道。他們看著機(jī)器混合了那些試劑。哈妮檸檬笑著說(shuō):“加熱至800開(kāi)爾文,瞧!”
男孩們看見(jiàn)一股化學(xué)試劑從機(jī)器噴里噴出,灑在金屬球上。整個(gè)球瞬間被亮粉色的光芒包裹住。
“超棒,對(duì)吧?”哈妮檸檬問(wèn)道,并用她手機(jī)的相機(jī)咔嗒一聲拍了張自拍照,把站在球前面的男孩們和她自己拍了下來(lái)。
小宏不知道如何是好。“很……粉,”他說(shuō)道。
哈妮檸檬熱情飽滿地點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。粉紅色是她最喜歡的顏色。她說(shuō)道:“到最精彩的部分了”。她輕輕一碰,金屬球變成了粉沫。
“哇哦!”小宏驚呆了。
“很贊是吧?”哈妮檸檬說(shuō)道,“我叫它化學(xué)金屬脆化。”
“不錯(cuò),哈妮檸檬,”泰迪笑著說(shuō)。小宏覺(jué)得泰迪的朋友們都很好,可對(duì)于他們的名字感到有點(diǎn)困惑。
“哈妮檸檬,神行御姐,芥末無(wú)疆……?”
“我就把芥末撒在襯衫上過(guò)一次,大伙——就只有一次!”芥末無(wú)疆說(shuō)道。
“嘿,”泰迪笑過(guò)后,舉起自己的雙手。
“問(wèn)問(wèn)弗雷德,這些綽號(hào)都是他取的。”
“誰(shuí)是弗雷德?”小宏問(wèn)道。
“這家伙!”有人在小宏后面說(shuō)道。小宏轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身,和一個(gè)巨大的日式風(fēng)格的怪獸來(lái)了個(gè)面對(duì)面,小宏嚇得大聲尖叫!
怪獸脫掉大大的頭套,里面是一個(gè)微笑著看起來(lái)很友善的孩子。他說(shuō)道:“別害怕,我是弗雷德。白天是學(xué)校的吉祥物。”他旋轉(zhuǎn)著手里拿著的舊金山理工大學(xué)的標(biāo)識(shí)。“可是到了晚上,我還是學(xué)校的吉祥物。”
小宏點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭:“嘿,那你是什么專業(yè)的?”
弗雷德?lián)渫ㄒ幌绿傻乖谌鰸M漫畫書(shū)的沙發(fā)上。“哦,我不是這里的學(xué)生,”他咧嘴笑道,“但我是狂熱的科學(xué)愛(ài)好者!我想讓哈妮檸檬給我研制個(gè)分子式,把我變成一個(gè)噴火的大蜥蜴。想變就變。”弗雷德嘆息道:“可是她說(shuō)那不科學(xué)。”
哈妮檸檬點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭:“真的不科學(xué)。”
弗雷德大聲向芥末無(wú)疆說(shuō)道:“是啊,那我猜我讓芥末無(wú)疆幫我研究的縮小射線也是不科學(xué)咯?”
芥末無(wú)疆搖了搖頭。
“那激光眼呢?痛感手指呢?”弗雷德緊跟著他問(wèn)道。
泰迪笑著把小宏領(lǐng)進(jìn)了另一間實(shí)驗(yàn)室。“你在研究什么?”小宏問(wèn)他的哥哥。
“我馬上就給你看。”
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