Chapter 12

12 LET GO OF MY FRIENDS, YOU METAL MONSTER!" JANEGOODALL SWINGS three more fast strikes. WHAM! PING! DOINK! "OOH! AHH! OWW!" "Janegoodall! Janegoodall!" "I am very delicate! Do not break my glass dome!" BAM! BING! BOINK! "OOO! OOO! OOO!"

Klank drops Klink, Frank, and Watson in a heap. He hops around on one bent leg, covers his dented head with his twisted duct-hose arms, and dives under the workbench to save himself from the wild human smacking him with an aluminum bat.

Janegoodall cocks her bat for one more home-run swing. "Wait!" yells Watson. "Don't hit him. That's

Klank!" "He's a robot," adds Frank. "Not a monster." Janegoodall stops and looks over her shoulder. Klink ducks behind Watson. "I am also not a monster. So you do not need to hit me, either." Janegoodall lowers her bat, leans on it, and looks more closely at Klink and Klank. "Are you kidding me?" Klink shakes and whirrs. "It is not possible for me to kid you." Klank peeks out from under the workbench. "I would hug you." "Well, I'll be..." says Janegoodall. "I was walking by, and it sounded like the world was ending in here. When I shoved in the side door, I thought you guys were getting mugged by that metal monster—I mean, Klank. So I thought I'd better take him down." "Thanks for saving us," says Watson. "Even

if we didn't need saving." "Klank was just celebrating our newest invention," explains Frank. Klank crawls out from under the workbench, nervously making sure the bench is between him and the new human. Janegoodall nods. "Funny how celebrating and playing can look a lot like fighting. I've observed that in other species." Watson notices that Klink and Klank are staying as far away from Janegoodall as possible. "These guys are amazing," he says. "Artificial intelligence, but they teach themselves. And they are constantly learning more and more." "Really..." says Janegoodall. "Most certainly," says Klink. "Huh?" says Klank. "Klink and Klank," says Frank Einstein, "meet our friend Janegoodall Jones. She is the

best animal scientist and baseball player in all of Midville." "You are Dr. Goodall? The famous chimpanzee scientist?" Janegoodall laughs. "No. But my parents love her work. And they did name me after her. Nice to meet you." Janegoodall reaches out and shakes Klink's vacuum-hose clamp-hand. Klank clomps over and gives her a hug. "Sorry I smacked you around so much," says Janegoodall. "Oh, do not be sorry," says Klank. "Nothing can hurt me." Klink looks at the dents all over Klank. "It did not help your looks." Frank holds up the Electro-Finger. "We were just going to take the new invention out. Show the town of Midville that wireless power is possible with this."