Chapter 9

Chapter 9 They Say Diamonds Are Forever Because It Takes Forever to Mine Them! The first part of Harper and Theo's plan was clear: they needed obsidian today, before everybody left. Ironsword sent all student groups home at five…and the clock was ticking! Theo and Harper kept an eye on all the equipment and started writing down a plan for the whole week. Morgan sat next to Jodi and watched, trying to give advice. It felt strange to be split up after so many adventures together inside the game, but at least they could all still talk to each other when their headsets were on.

"So we…start digging and hope we find diamonds?" Jodi asked. "No, they mostly appear down deep, near bedrock. You'll need to dig for a while before you start looking," Morgan said, watching Jodi's screen. "Everybody should spread out and start digging in separate places. Not straight down. Make a staircase." "You got it, boss." Po did a little fake salute over the table, which made Jodi laugh. Morgan didn't think it was that funny. He didn't want to be giving orders. He wanted to be playing! But now

giving advice was all he could do, and all the advice felt basic. Eek didn't want to smash blocks, so he was on torch duty. While Jodi dug her staircase, Eek carefully placed another light whenever they couldn't see. "I like torches," Eek said after a while. "THEY FEEL WARM AND SAFE."

"Mining is scary sometimes," Jodi agreed. "But the light keeps mobs away and protects us from getting lost. They feel safe to me, too." She paused. Eek's light had revealed some iron along the wall. She mined it—but when the iron dropped, she couldn't pick it up. "Oh, my inventory's full. I'll head back to the base." "But we—" Ash began. Jodi was already on the move. In the tree house, she unloaded her inventory into a chest, then rushed out again. Jodi walked all the way back down the staircase, picked up the iron, then started digging

again. Through all this, Eek happily trotted along behind her, placing torches. A few layers deeper, Jodi's iron pickaxe finally broke. She checked her inventory—no pickaxes available. "You put them back in the chest at base with your other stuff," Morgan explained. Jodi look at him in the real world, frustrated. "If you saw that, why didn't you say anything?" "I didn't want to be bossy."

"Is bossy a kind of mob?" Eek asked cheerfully. "I DON'T THINK NOW IS A GOOD TIME," Po whispered to him. "That was the whole point, right?" Jodi asked Morgan. "Harper and Theo make the plan, and you help us figure out how to do the plan." "But I shouldn't have to!" Morgan complained. "Everyone knows how to mine! Or everyone should, at least. You should know