Chapter 8

Chapter 8 If Pork Chops Drop, That's a Hoglin. If Pork Is Chopping You Until You Drop, That's a Piglin. Jodi was having a great time. She never would have expected it after going to the principal's office for the first time, but Morgan's leadership— and Ms. Minerva's help—turned everybody's mood around. Even Po, who had taken the whole situation harder than anybody, was back to his silly self. They were laughing and joking and working hard. It was easy to be proud of her friends. She was still worried about Eek, but there was no reason to dwell on it. Morgan was keeping

them moving so they would finish faster, and Jodi believed he had the right idea. They'd already organized the old library, cleaned the hamster and guinea pig cages, and were now halfway through polishing suits of armor in Ironsword's Hall of History.

The hall was mostly suits of armor, actually. Jodi wondered if Principal Ferris liked collecting them. "Hello?" It was Eek's voice. "Is anyone around to talk for a moment?" "I'll talk to him!" Jodi said. She used a cloth to wipe the metal polish off her hands and pushed her earbud to start a private conversation with Eek. "What's up?" "Jodi! Perfect." Eek sounded strange. Nervous, maybe? "You do not like fighting, either, correct?" "In the real world, not at all. In Minecraft I'd rather spend my time building, so I usually hide from mobs. Or play on Creative mode!" "But it does not bother you if other people fight." "I guess not." Jodi could hear what Eek wasn't saying, though. "Does it bother you?" "Yes!" Eek said. "I do not get it. Skeletons fight. Piglins fight. We apparently have to fight hoglins whenever they see us. Why? I do not want to fight or destroy anything."

"And you want some help understanding?" "Yes, please." Jodi was pretty sure because it's a game wasn't a good explanation for someone whose whole life was a game. Minecraft felt real to Eek because it was the only world he knew—and she knew from talking to him that he was always going to take his world very seriously. Out of everybody, she felt like she understood most how Eek looked at the world: at one point, her mind had been connected to all of Minecraft. She had felt every mob and block like it was a part of her. She took a moment to think about his question seriously, then realized with surprise that she did have an answer for him. "Ash mentioned you built something for the first time. And I know Po talked to you about how everything in Minecraft turns into something else. Fighting is a part of that process, sometimes. Just like mining, you fight mobs to get the things they turn into so you can make food or craft something special. It's the nature of the game.

Other times, you fight because the mobs want to fight you, and they go out of their way to do that. Some mobs seem just plain mean, like creepers and Endermen." The others were finished polishing the armor, but they hadn't found a pigurine anywhere. Jodi joined in the search while she talked into her earbud, peeking behind boots and inside scabbards. "Piglins and hoglins are a little different. The piglins have things they like and dislike. They fight hoglins and skeletons to protect themselves, and probably to feed their babies. And they fight

players because players are scary to them! If I was a Minecraft mob, I'd probably attack players, too. We're always showing up out of nowhere and taking their stuff. Or maybe they're jealous that we can go to the Overworld. I'm not sure." "No Overworld?" Eek asked. "They turn into zombies. It's freaky." Jodi tried to remember where she was going. "In the real world, animals and people fight because they need things. It's kinda like that in Minecraft, too. Mobs are also creatures that need things, and they have lives they're trying to live in their own way. So they fight. I think Minecraft feels best when we treat them like they're real and respect them as part of a whole connected world. Same with the trees and the villages. They might be code in a game, but—"