9 Check Out the Big Brain

Chapter Nine Check Out the Big Brain Each stomach brought a new surprise. They bounced through a rubber stomach, dodged flying meatballs in another, and made friends with little hippopotamus creatures, but refused their offer of tea. By the time they had moved through at least twenty stomachs, Finn and Elias were almost too weak to walk. Sweat was pouring down Abigail's face. She wouldn't admit it, but she had started to feel sick, too. "Jern, how much farther to the prison stomach?" said Abigail. "We need to get there and get out." "You're telling me," said Jern. "Three of my legs have gone tingly. I think Saphrite is even

getting to old Cool Franky." "No one's calling you Cool Franky, Jern," said Vale, who was the one explorer who didn't feel sick at all. "Come on, guys. Let's just keep going and we'll get there. I know it." "That's your plan?" said Finn, who was leaning heavily on Foggy. "Absolutely," said Vale. "It's foolproof!" After several more stomachs, they turned into a new cave and immediately ran into a big, squishy, squiggly blob. "Oh, hello," it said as the explorers tried to back out of the room. "Sorry, sorry," said Abigail as they shuffled back. "Wrong number." "You must be the little aliens everyone in here is so inflamed over," said the blob. It didn't move, and they couldn't see any eyes or a mouth on it. But when it spoke, little sparks and lightning bolts seemed to dart across it from side to side. "I suppose I should sound the alarm, tell everyone you're here. Call down those awful antibody ants."

"No, wait!" said Abigail. "We really need your help." "My help?" the blob laughed. "No one ever listens to me. I'm just the sixteenth brain. Not good for anything but overseeing Saphrite's toes." Every time the blob spoke, more electricity shot across it. The explorers could see that it really was a brain—crammed into this smaller cave like it was forgotten. But its blue, puffy folds definitely looked like the drawings of brains they had seen in books.

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"We don't mean any harm to Saphrite," said Finn. "We're just looking for a way out of here." "This isn't the zoo, dear," said the brain. "You can't just go to security when you get separated from your parents. There's no way out. And if you're getting sick, that just means you're being digested. You won't last much longer." "No way," said Vale. "We're not food. We'd just end up causing Saphrite heartburn." The brain seemed to consider this. Tiny lightning bolts flew across the cave, and the explorers all ducked and covered their heads. "Interesting!" A giant spark shot from one side of the brain to the other, shocking Foggy as he flew up to get a better look. He returned to the ground with the rest of the troop, smoking slightly. "Do your brains do this, too?" Foggy asked Finn. "I feel all sparkly." "I don't think our brains are this stormy," whispered Finn. "I feel tingly, too," said the brain. "I didn't expect my thought to go through you like that. You're different, aren't you?" "Duh, he's a robot," said Vale. He looked back at his friends. "Some brain on this brain."

"Hmmmmm," said the brain. A quick bolt of electricity shot out and zapped Vale's foot. "Yeowch!" shouted Vale. "Sorry," said the brain. "Had to check if you were a robot, too." Finn laughed. He was pretty sure the brain meant to do that.