Chapter 6

Chapter 6 WILLAGERS WANT YOUR EMERALDS, NOT YOUR JOKES. "IS EVERYBODY READY?" asked Jodi. The kids were back in Minecraft, at the top of the mountain. The village was spread out below them. "Absolutely," said Morgan. "Let's—" He stopped short. "Po, what are you wearing?" Jodi turned around to look at Po—and she hopped in surprise! Ash actually screamed. "What?" said Po. He was dressed as a clown, with brightly colored hair and a big red nose. "Why are you dressed like that?" asked Ash. "I want the villagers to like us. AND EVERYBODY LOVES CLOWNS." "EVERYBODY DOES NOT LOVE CLOWNS," said Harper–emphatically.

"I don't know," said Po, rubbing his colorful clown chin in thought. "I think maybe you're wrong this time, Harper." Jodi giggled. Avatars couldn't actually roll their eyes, but she was pretty sure that was what everyone was doing. "Hey, what do you call a clown on a mountaintop?" asked Po. Jodi had no idea. "I give up," she said. "What do you call a clown on a mountaintop?" "Impatient!" Po said. "LET'S JUST GET DOWN THERE ALREADY." Morgan sighed. "All right," he said. "But if the villagers chase you off with torches and pitchforks, we are not with you." "I see," said Po. "And what if they make me their king and shower me with presents?" "THEN I'LL EAT MY EMERALD," said Morgan. "Is that really an option?" asked Jodi. "Because I'm sick of apples. Apples, apples, apples.

Ugh!" "Let's go," Ash suggested with a nod of her cube head in the direction of the village. "Maybe they have some real food." The area was bustling. Villagers moved about, honking at one another. If it was a language, it wasn't one Jodi had heard before. "They don't seem to even realize we're here," she said. She walked up to one in a brown robe. "Knock-knock." She got no response. "Oh man," she said. "They don't even go along with knock-knock jokes." She looked over at Po. "I think your outfit is wasted on them." Po made a sound like a deflating balloon. "This is mostly what I expected," said Morgan. "They're acting like normal villagers, although they look a bit old-school. Doc clearly isn't running the latest update." "MAYBE HER VR TECH DOESN'T WORK WITH NEWER VERSIONS OF THE GAME," Harper suggested. "Or maybe this belongs on our list of weird stuff." Morgan lowered his voice. "Keep an eye out.

IT'S POSSIBLE OUR THIEF IS HERE SOMEWHERE." The brown-clad villager Jodi had approached threw produce toward another villager. "Uh, is that the sort of thing we're looking for?" she asked. "Nope," said Morgan. "The ones in brown are farmers. They share food sometimes."

"GRAB IT!" said Ash. "We might need that food." "Hey, check it out," Harper said. She was standing in front of another villager, who was wearing a black robe. "I blinked at this one and IT OPENED UP A TRADING MENU!" They had learned on their first adventure that blinking their eyes worked like clicking a mouse in the real world. It could open pop-up windows and more. She squinted at some new menu that only she could see. "THEY'LL TRADE US AN EMERALD FOR COAL. Do we have extra coal?" Jodi turned toward Ash. "Are you still keeping track?" she asked. Ash nodded. "That seems like a good trade to

me. EMERALDS ARE CURRENCY HERE. We can trade our extra coal for an emerald, then use that emerald to buy something we need." "Gotcha," said Po. "EMERALDS FOR BIG RED CLOWN SHOES." "You're not spending the emerald I just got on clown shoes, Po," said Harper. She held up her shiny new jewel. "BUT MONEY IS FOR SPENDING." Jodi grinned at Morgan. "You know, it's been ages since we've been to the mall." Morgan grinned back. "All right," he said. "Let's go shopping!" Jodi lost track of time as she moved from one villager to the next. It was fun to see what each had to offer. They all agreed, however, that no one should actually buy anything without consulting the group first. Buying food made the most sense. But Jodi had seen farmland on the way into town. Couldn't they just take food from the fields for free? Did it count as stealing if these weren't real people? They were just bits of code, weren't they?