Chapter 3

Chapter 3 THAT FEELING WHEN A PRETTY GOOD PLAN GOES TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY HRONG... Jodi always felt a thrill when she opened her eyes and saw Minecraft's Overworld spread out before her in glorious 3D. It was a just as real as the real world—a virtual space that she could touch. But there was a twinge of disappointment this time, too. Because she saw the rolling hills, blocky trees, swaying flowers, and shining square of sun…but she didn't see her friend Ash. Ash Kapoor was an important part of their Minecraft squad. She was a scout, a natural leader, and a good listener. Things hadn't been quite the same since she'd moved away. They kept in touch. Ash had even taken the sixth headset with her so she could join them in the game

world from time to time. But they'd had a hard time making that happen. Ash was busy in her new home, and her school wasn't on the same schedule as Woodsword. Jodi missed her friend. "What's that over there?" Harper asked. "Is that a camel?" "You'd better get your vision checked, Harper," Po said, teasing. "I'm not a camel. I'm a butterfly!" Po liked to change his avatar's skin every few days. Today, in honor of the cocoons in the old computer lab, he was trying out a butterfly skin. But Harper hadn't been talking about Po. "Not you," she said. "Up there, on the hill. Look!" Jodi turned to see what Harper had spotted. It was a huge, animal-shaped concrete sculpture atop the nearest hill. A small stream of water fell

from its mouth to form a river in the grass. Jodi recognized Ash's handiwork immediately. "IT'S ALLAMA," Jodi said, smiling. "It's even sort of spitting like a llama, see?" "It looks more like it's drooling," said Po. "Still, it's pretty cool," said Morgan. "Ash must have made that." He turned to Jodi. "It's her way of saying hi to you, Jodi. She knows how much you love llamas." Jodi's heart swelled. It was the best sorry-I-missed-you present she could imagine.

Theo, on the other hand, was too occupied with Evoker King to even look at the statue. "I can't believe it," he said glumly. "The Evoker King is still solid stone." Jodi looked the Evoker King over from top to bottom. Theo was right. The King hadn't changed at all. He hadn't moved an inch since the day he'd turned to stone. They were no closer to understanding what had happened to him, or why. "WELL, HE HAS TO CHANGE BACK EVENTUALLY," said Po. "Doesn't he?" Harper shrugged her blocky shoulders. "It's impossible to say. We just don't have enough data." "Well, we can't stay here much longer," said Morgan. "We've been in this spot for ages, hoping that

whatever happened to E.K. is temporary." Po realized that Morgan was right. They'd been spawning in the same area for a while, afraid of leaving the Evoker King behind. Of course, they'd still had plenty of fun. Po got to try out new skins and role-play different characters. Jodi got to make sculptures. Harper was happy as long as they had materials to mine, and Morgan was happy as long as there were hostile mobs to fight. The monstrous mobs were endless. They always appeared when the sun went down. But Po and his friends were having a harder time finding good materials in the caverns below their feet. They had mined most of the good stuff. All that was left in the area was stone and dirt. "I think it's time to go," said Harper. "If we want to gather new resources, we need to move on." Jodi's jaw dropped. "BUT WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM!" she said. "We had just convinced him to be our friend. How would he feel if he woke up and realized we had abandoned him?" Harper rubbed her chin. "Okay. So what if we take him with us?" she suggested. Po made a show of trying to push the Evoker King over. "HE'S REALLY HEAVY," he said.

"Hm." Theo squinted. "Stuff in Minecraft doesn't really have weight, though. So how can he be heavy?" He poked the statue. "I think it's more likely that he's fixed in place. He's part of the scenery now. But maybe we could move him…" "WITH A SILK TOUCH TOOL!" said Morgan. "What's that?" asked Jodi. "It's an enchantment," her brother answered in his geeking-out voice. "If you enchant a tool with Silk Touch, you can remove a fixed item without breaking it. YOU SORT OF JUST…KNOCK IT LOOSE." He turned to Harper and Po. "What do you two think?" "I think it's worth a try," said Harper. "The Evoker King should fly free," Po said, dramatically fluttering his digital wings. "Like me!" Morgan rolled his square eyes at Po's butterfly voice, but Jodi giggled. "So we'll craft a Silk Touch pickaxe so we can move him," said Theo. "Then we can put him on a mine cart, lay down some rails, and take him to our next base of operations." "I like it!" said Jodi. "Good plan, Theo." Theo smiled brightly. "Thanks." "We should have everything we need for the enchantment," said Harper. She ran into the small building where they kept their beds and their chests full