27 THE TOWN

CHAPTER 27 THE TOWN The ocean had risen only slightly when it flooded into this low-lying town. Humans built barriers to keep the water out, but it kept finding new ways to get in. Eventually, the humans packed up their things and left. As the ocean continued rising, the town gradually disappeared beneath the waves. Streets were buried under sand. Flower gardens were replaced with gardens of corals and sea sponges. Wooden structures were swept away, and now all that remained were structures made of steel or stone. Our robot marched through the underwater town until she came to a building that had once been a grocery store. Some of its walls had collapsed, and its flimsy roof rocked side to side with the waves, but it was still standing. Inside, the store was dark except for a few columns of daylight shining down from holes in the ceiling. Roz peered through the open doorway and said, "Hello, is anybody in there?" A voice hollered back, "Get outta here!" and a creature shot through the door and latched on to Roz's

head. Then somehow the creature began shocking the robot with powerful electric pulses. The pulses slowed and stopped, and when the creature released its grip, Roz fell to the ground. "Go on, get outta here!" said the creature. "Or do you want another shock?" "I d-d-do not w-w-want anotherrr shock!" said Roz in a garbled voice. Electricity had overwhelmed her circuits, but then her recovery program activated, and after a moment, she was fully functional again. Roz looked up from the ground and saw a large, gray fish with a flat, circular body. It was a ray. Not a stingray, not a manta ray, but an electric ray. The electric ray stared at the robot and said, "What kind of sea monster are you?" "I am not any kind of sea monster. I am a robot. My name is Roz." Just then, a hermit crab came scuttling over. Instead

of wearing a seashell on his back, like most hermit crabs, he wore a rusty old soup can. The crab climbed up Roz's leg and onto her chest and said, "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right! You'll have to forgive my friend, Zap. She can be overly protective of our sea cave." "That is not a sea cave," said Roz. "That is a flooded grocery store." "Really?" said the crab, clicking his claws. "Interesting! In that case, Zap can be overly protective of our flooded grocery store." "What was I supposed to do?" muttered Zap. "He looked dangerous. I mean, she looked dangerous?" The ray's face scrunched up with confusion. "Tell me, Roz, are you male or female?" "Technically, robots are not male or female. However, I have been programmed to feel like a female." "Interesting!" said the crab. "Roz, there's someone I think you should meet! Follow me!" The hermit crab's name was Scoot. He scuttled into

the store as Roz and Zap trailed behind him. There wasn't much to see besides junk and shadows. The flooded grocery store was a dreary, dismal place. "Pretty nice spot, isn't it?" said Scoot. "It certainly is unique," said Roz politely. Scoot crawled across the broken floor and over to a heap of shelves that were covered with sand. Then he said, "Ripple, are you up there?" Roz didn't see who Scoot was calling to. But when she took a closer look at the sandy shelves, she noticed that they were packed with small fish that blended in with their background. One of the fish floated out and said, "Yes, what is it, Scoot?" "Ah, there you are, Ripple!" said the hermit crab. "I'd like you to meet Roz, the robot! You're both, oh, how do I say this? You're both a little different! Roz isn't male or female. And Ripple is both male and female! Isn't that interesting?" "That's not quite right," said Ripple. "I was born a female, and then I changed to a male. We gobies do that from time to time." Ripple was a type of fish called a goby. Roz scrolled through her computer brain for information about

gobies and about all the other creatures who were a little different. Many other types of fish can change back and forth between male and female. Certain kinds of frogs can change in similar ways. Some species of animal are not male or female, and some species are both. And just like that, our robot felt more connected to the natural world. Roz described her life on the island, and the sea creatures smiled as they imagined her living on dry land. But their smiles vanished when she mentioned the poison tide. They'd all heard about the poison tide, but it had seemed like a distant problem, not anything that would ever concern them. After listening to Roz, though, the problem felt awfully near. "I will do everything in my power to stop the poison tide," said Roz. "But first I must find the Ancient Shark. I need her help." "I grew up hearing stories about the Ancient Shark," said Zap. "They say she has spies throughout all the oceans. Her spies could be watching us right now." Scoot glanced around nervously as Zap continued. "But the Ancient Shark lives up in the far north. What are you doing here, Roz?" "I am passing through on my way to the far north. I still have a long journey ahead." "Well, don't waste your time with us!" said Zap. "Go find the Ancient Shark! Go stop the poison tide! Go on,

Roz, get moving!" "Oh! Okay! You are right! I should be going! Good-bye, my friends. I have enjoyed our time together!" The sea creatures waved and said good-bye as Roz hurried back through the flooded grocery store and out the door.