Chapter 2

Chapter 2 THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIPS? LOTS OF SNACKS! "I think we need to talk about the giant hole in the sky," said Harper. They were in Minecraft—not just playing the game, but inside it. Together, Harper and her friends were experiencing a hyper-real simulation that they could only access with special Doc-enhanced VR goggles. It never ceased to amaze Harper that they were in the world of Minecraft. Thanks to Doc's mad science, their favorite game had come to life!

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But now, she feared that something was very wrong with that world. "Do we have to focus on the negatives?" complained Po. "I'm moooo-dy enough as it is." Po liked to wear different skins to express himself. Today, he was in a mooshroom skin, in honor of their recent temporary teammate, a mushroom-covered cow named Michael G. "I really miss that guy," Po said. "He was an excellent addition to the team," Jodi agreed. "But he's safer not following us around. WE TEND TO GET INTO A LOT OF FIGHTS." "And talking about the Fault isn't 'focusing on the negatives,'" Morgan argued. "If we're going to find a solution, we have to acknowledge the problem." "What we really need to do is find the Evoker King," said Theo. "OR THE 'EVOKER SPAWN,' I GUESS. AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT I'M CALLING THE PIECES HE BROKE INTO." He gazed worriedly at the rift overhead. "Finding them is our best hope of bringing this place back from the brink of disaster." Harper figured Theo knew what he was talking about. As the group's only programmer, he'd spent some time studying the computer code at the heart of the game. It was Theo who had figured out what happened to their former enemy turned friend, the Evoker King, an artificial intelligence who had lived

inside this version of Minecraft. The Evoker King's very essence had been split into six distinct pieces. Those pieces had taken the form of unusual mobs. So far, Harper and her friends had confronted three of those mobs. They had been successful in retrieving half of the Evoker King's code. They needed three more pieces to save the Evoker King…to put him back together again and stop the rest of the program from breaking down entirely. The sixth member of their team, Ash Kapoor, had joined them for the day's scouting mission. Ash lived in a different town, but distance didn't matter in this virtual world. Harper felt as if she were truly

standing right beside Ash. She reached out and put her arm around Ash's shoulder. Even though she was only touching an avatar, it felt solid to the touch. "I'm glad you're here," Harper told her. "An extra set of eyes could come in handy." "It can't hurt, right?" said Ash. "Especially when we're looking for something as small as a butterfly." Butterflies weren't a normally occurring Minecraft mob, and they only showed up whenever one of the Evoker Spawn was near. They were like digital ghosts, virtual echoes of the Evoker King's metamorphosis. They were clues. And Harper knew they desperately needed clues. Suddenly, she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Not a butterfly—it was a rabbit, darting across the grass. Po screamed. "LOOK OUT!" he said. Harper gave him a funny look. "It's just a rabbit," she said. "Am I the only one who remembers that time we were attacked by rabbits?" he asked. "I still see their beady little eyes in the dark when I'm trying to get to sleep." "Those rabbits were being mind-controlled by a giant cave spider with self-esteem issues," Theo

reminded him. "That doesn't make it any less weird," said Po. "Or more forgettable…" "Oh, cute!" said Jodi. "Look. The bunny has a friend." Harper looked where Jodi was pointing. A fox hurried past them, heading the same way the rabbit had gone. "HE WENT THAT WAY!" Jodi told the fox. "If you hurry, you should be able to catch him." She sighed, then turned to her friends. "I love animal friendships. I have a whole notebook full of cute animal photos I found online." "Uh, Jodi," said Morgan. "You realize—"