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INVENTI  9' An inventor's daughter uses his inventions

"Where's daddy?" asked Michaela as she sat down for dinner.

"He's out in the workshop. I think he'll be there all night."
replied her mom.

"Another national emergency?" asked Michaela.

"I'm afraid so." replied her mom, "But he says this one is more
complex than the others."

"Will he need me?" asked Michaela, "Should I go to bed early?"

"He'll need you. But not tonight." replied her mom, "There are
so many new inventions that Daddy won't have them all done until
tomorrow."

When the lunch bell rang at school the next day, Michaela's dad
was waiting for her in the lunch area.

"Hi, sweety." he said while removing her bracelets. "I'm sorry I
missed dinner and breakfast."

"That's okay." replied Michaela, "Mom said this is a complex
one, huh?"

"Yes," he replied as he removed her fishing-net necklace, "Enemy
agents stole thousands of my newest nanobots. And the whole
building they're keeping them in won't let you use the
see-through camera to get in. This time you'll need five new
inventions just to get into the building. But that means it's
more dangerous for you, because you won't have your necklace or
bracelets to protect you."

He installed two new bracelets and a necklace that were all made
of soft pillow-like material, saying, "These new tools will help
you to get into that building, but I won't have time to teach
you how to use them, so I'll run them with my remote control."

Then, he removed one of her earrings and installed another that
looked just like it, saying, "You'll only be able to hear me
through your left ear. This new earring is a speaker for your
voice synthesizer."

Michaela wanted to asked what a voice synthesizer was, but he
was in a hurry. He said, "Now I've already set up your left eye
lens with the satellite view of where your going. I'll turn your
system on by remote control."

When he pressed a key on his laptop computer, the message in
Michaela's left eye lens read "All systems GO."

Then the satellite view appeared. Dad gave her three small
colored bottles saying, "Put these in your pocket. Now go."

Michaela pocketed the bottles and commanded, "Take me there."

Immediately, she disappeared from the lunch area at school and
reappeared on the sidewalk in front of what looked like an
office building 7000 miles away. It was the middle of the night.

"Okay, I'm in front of the office building, Daddy." she
reported.

Dad said, "Go in through the front doors and walk up to the
guard sitting at the desk. You will need to keep the red "X" in
your lens on the guards nose for ten seconds while I record his
face and voice."

"Understood." replied Michaela as she went through the door.

The guard stood up and spoke in a foreign language that Michaela
had heard before. But she had no idea what he was saying.

As she approached the guard, her dad said, "Try to move your
lips in sync with the words coming out of your earring."

Just then a child's voice came out of her left earring in the
same foreign language. Michaela tried to keep up but she knew
she wasn't in sync.

Her dad said, "That little girl's voice is asking the guard for
permission to use the restroom. But the guard won't let you use
it. So, you're going to plead with him to keep him talking so we
can record his voice. Keep your "X" on his nose while I record
his voice."

The guard shook his head and pointed to the door.

Then the child's voice spoke pleading with the guard. He raised
his voice and shook his fist at Michaela.

"Okay, Michaela," said her dad, "We've recorded his voice and
his picture. Now point your left hand at his nose."

When she did so, what looked like hair spray came out of the
bracelet and swirled around the guard's face. He fell asleep and
slumped over the desk.

"Take the guard's badge and his hat and go to the elevator."
said dad.

When she got into the elevator, dad said, "Insert the badge into
the slot above the buttons."

She did. As the elevator began to rise, dad said, "Now hold
still while the nanobots in your new necklace cover your face
with latex foam to make your face look like the guard."

Immediately Michaela felt the nanobots crawling all over her
head. But she was surprised to feel nanobots from both bracelets
crawling up her arms and over her body down to her waist.
Michaela let out a yelp.

"Sorry about the cold liquid, sweety." replied daddy, "Try to
hold still. When the doors opened, I'll turn on your helicopter
shoes and you'll float about a foot and a half above the floor
so you'll be as tall as the guard."

By the time the elevator got to the top floor, the nanobots quit
moving. Michaela looked down.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, "The nanobots didn't cover everything!
My legs still look like me!"

"Don't worry, sweety," replied her dad, "the camera will only
see you from your chest up. Now put your hat on."

When the doors opened, the "X" on Michaela's left eye lens moved
by itself to a camera next to the steel door across the hall.

Her dad said, "Go over there and put your face in front of that
camera and insert the badge into the slot."

When she did, a man's voice came out of the speaker near the
camera. It was speaking in the same foreign language.

Dad said, "Now move your lips in sync with the guards voice."

When her earring began to speak the guards voice, she moved her
lips. It worked. There was a click and a buzz and a hum and the
steel door opened itself.

As she entered the room, Michaela was surprised to see three
people in white coats working this late at night. Fortunately
for her, they didn't turn to look in her direction.

"Whenever those men look at you, aim your left hand at them."
said dad, "But first, empty the green bottle on the floor."

When she did, a pile of black powder fell to the floor, but it
seemed to disappear in all directions at once.

Dad explained, "Those nanobots are traveling all over the room
to tell the stolen nanobots to come to the blue bottle. So open
the blue bottle and put it on a work table as close to the
center of the room as possible."

When she moved toward the center of the laboratory, one of the
men in white coats turned toward her. She aimed her left hand at
him. Again, her dad released the spray and the man fell asleep
on the floor. Then she opened the bottle and placed it on the
table. Immediately a parade of nanobots streamed into the bottle
from all directions.

But the motion of the nanobots caught the attention of one of
the men. He turned. She pointed. Dad sprayed. The man fell
asleep on the floor.

Michaela whispered, "Daddy, there's smoke coming out of the lock
in the steel door!"

Dad replied, "That's a good thing! Some of the nanobots you
dumped on the floor are breaking the lock so that enemy guards
can't come into the room. Now, Michaela, you'll need to shout a
command soon, so you need to move closer to the last man in the
room."

She tried, but she was too late. The last man in the room was
already alerted by the stream of nanobots. He turned toward
Michaela before she was within spraying distance and he could
see that she was floating above the floor. Before she could stop
him, he slapped the big red panic button and started yelling at
her.

Red lights blinked on and off, buzzers sounded, sirens wailed.
She pointed. Dad sprayed. The man fell asleep on the floor.

Dad said, "The command is PANIC MODE."

Michaela shouted, "Panic mode!" over and over, then she
reported, "Daddy, there are little tiny blinking lights all over
the laboratory."

"That's a good thing." replied dad, "That tells you where to
bring the red bottle. Those blinking lights are nanobots that
the enemy agents have changed. They won't go to the green bottle
by themselves, so you have to go around with the red bottle and
collect them. The red bottle is a tiny vacuum cleaner."

"Understood." replied Michaela as she floated all around the lab
sucking up nanobots with the red bottle.

Finally, as soldiers outside began beating down the door,
Michaela reported, "That's the last one, daddy."

Immediately, the satellite view appeared on her left lens as dad
said, "You know the command."

Michaela picked up all the bottles and commanded, "Take me
there."

Immediately, she disappeared from the laboratory and reappeared
in the lunch area back at school. But her face and shirt still
looked like the foreign guard and she was still floating a foot
and a half above the floor. Her dad immediately poked some keys
on his computer and the helicopter shoes turned off while the
nanobots quickly went to work removing the latex covering from
her head and body. The kids who were still eating lunch, all
stood up and gathered around to watch the metamorphosis. When
the nanobots finished and crawled back into the necklace and
bracelets, they shouted, "It's Michaela!"

"Do that again!" shouted Tommy.

Michaela replied, "Only in case of national emergency."

©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties.
Do not sell this story or rewrite it.
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http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid  email: bobsnook@fea.net

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