11 The Map Room

Chapter 11 The Map Room Peanut, Rockwell, Little-Bit, Mr Markmaker, Mrs Markmaker and Doodle walked out into the lobby and through the door marked 'Map Room'. It led to a small antechamber which resembled an airport security checkpoint. It was being marshalled by three cartoon gorillas wearing blue uniforms and peaked caps. Unsmiling, they guided the group through the full-body scanners, baggage screening Peanut had to remove her bandolier) and the biometric identification tests, before opening another door at the far end and grumpily waving them through. It led to a dimly lit, perfectly circular chamber the size of a small circus tent. Despite being considerably smaller than the hangars they'd already visited, it was no less impressive. It was

dominated by a huge table, about five metres in diameter, on which was printed a massive version of the map of Chroma that Mrs M had given Peanut during her first visit—the one that was safely folded up in the pocket of Peanut's dungarees. Dotted around the various city districts were lots of miniature pink and blue models of the vehicles that they'd seen in the Transport Room. There were also several tiny model RAZER platoons, five long sticks with felt blocks on the end, and, right in the centre, a two metre-tall, white, needle- shaped tower, dotted with a spiral of tiny black windows. The infamous Spire. This was surrounded by seven concentric

circles, painted red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, to represent the Rainbow Lake, the magical body of water at the heart of the city. It was said that a single swim in the lake had the power to boost a person's creativity to ten times its normal level. Peanut and the gang had swum through it on their last adventure, and she had definitely noticed an improvement in her drawing skills ever since. 'It's a war room!' said Rockwell. 'Just like the ones they had in those old films about World War Two! COOL!'

'We call it the Map Room,' said Mrs M, 'but yes, it does serve a very similar purpose. It's where we plan our Resistance activity against Mr White.' She flicked a switch on the wall, and a raft of spotlights in the ceiling lit the map up like a theatre stage, and large illuminated letters indicated north, south, east and west on the circular wall. Rockwell nodded appreciatively. 'Right, teas all round then,' said Mr M, before disappearing through a triangular door to their left. And biscuits?' said Little-Bit hopefully. 'I think I might have some chocolate ones hidden away somewhere,' said Mr M, giving the little girl a wink. 'So,' said Peanut. 'What can we do to help? We've worked out, or rather LB's worked out, that Mr White must be stealing masterpieces from all over the world.' 'My goodness. That does sound like him,' said Mrs M. She sat down on one of the chairs at the table. 'We both have so much news to share. First, let me tell you what's been happening in Chroma since you were last here.' The three children took a seat as Mr M emerged through the triangular doorway with a tray full of steaming mugs and a plate of chocolate biscuits. He handed them out and sat down next to Little-Bit. 'So, while we have been working on ours, White has bolstered his own arsenal with a speed that we couldn't have

imagined,' continued Mrs M. 'The first thing, or things, to tell you about are these.' She reached under the table and pulled out a model of a vehicle, about thirty centimetres wide, and drawn in blue pencil. 'I recognise that,' said Peanut. ' It's the Big X,' said Little-Bit. 'It certainly is,' said Mrs M. She placed it on the map and used one of the sticks with the felt blocks to push it towards the centre, carefully positioning it in the narrowest area of Modernia. She then spun it around until it faced south. The Big X was the huge, monstrous machine that had been built by Mr White to 'mono' the city—to rid it of all its

colour. It had the capacity to move relentlessly forward on its giant tracks and chew up everything in its path, leaving a black, white and grey wasteland in its wake. The children had come face to face with it once before, and it wasn't an experience any of them would particularly like to repeat. Mrs M reached under the table again and pulled out another model, exactly the same as the first. This time she placed it in the Grid, again facing outwards. Then she pulled out another, which she placed in Cubeside. Another in Warholia. Then Dali Point West. Then the Green Valleys. In fact, she kept producing them, like a magician pulling rabbit after rabbit from a hat, until twelve Big Xs sat in a circle at the centre of the map, all of them facing menacingly outwards and pointing towards each of Chroma's districts. Doodle whimpered, and jumped on to Little-Bit's lap. 'Twelve Big Xs! One was terrifying enough,' Gop Peanut. ' He's going to mono the entire city, isn't he?'