31 The Pot of Gold

31 The Pot of Gold 'Here.' Peanut stood up and raised her hand. ' Peanut! No!' shouted Dad. ' AH, THERE YOU ARE,' said 67. ' NOW THEN. BE A GOOD MEDIUM-SIZED HUMAN AND GIVE ME THE PENCIL.' Actually, I don't have it,' said Peanut. 'It must have fallen out of my bandolier when your robots pushed me into the water. Maybe it's gone down the drain, a bit like your stupid plan. Such a shame. And do you know what? You've only got yourself to blame.' 'VERY HUMOROUS,' said 67. ' BUT WE ROBOTS AREN'T REALLY KNOWN FOR OUR SENSE OF HUMOUR. SO ENOUGH OF THE JOKES. MY PATIENCE

IS BEGINNING TO WEAR THIN. GIVE ME THE PENCIL. NOW!' 'Honestly, I don't have it,' replied Peanut. ' Look.' She pointed to the empty slot in her bandolier. 'OK, PEANUT JONES,' said the robot. 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY. PLAY YOUR LITTLE GAMES IF YOU WANT TO. BUT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT I CAN PLAY GAMES TOO. AND THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITES. IT'S CALLED... PERSUASION.' The robot signalled to the two RAZERs at the end of the line. They immediately started moving towards the edge of the lake. When they got there, they didn't stop. Instead, they pulled apart two of the steel cables with their incredibly strong robotic arms, slipped through the gap and floated downwards. Once on the lake bed, they moved forward through the crowd, pushing several citizens out of the way before stopping directly in front of Peanut. RAZERS 19 AND 33 CHOOSE!' ordered 67. 'Choose what?' said a confused Leo. Suddenly, several thin red laser beams shot out of 19's eye panel and, slowly, began to move down over Peanut. 'I think they're scanning her,' said Dad.

Once the lasers reached Peanut's boots, they disappeared. Then the robots moved sharply to the right, from Peanut to Little-Bit, and 33 began to scan her with similar redlasers. Once that was done, they slid along to Mum, where 19 repeated the process. Then 33 scanned Dad. They kept shuffling down the line of people, scanning as they went, until, eventually, they reached Nerys. This time, instead of scanning her, four mechanical arms shot out from 19 and coiled neatly around Nerys's body. The robot then picked her up. Her scream made all the hairs on the back of Peanut's neck stand on end. 'HEEEELLLLP MEEEEEE!' cried the terrified woman as the robot dragged her through the crowd. 'NERYS!' shouted Mum. ' Nooooooooo!'

Peanut, Dad, Little-Bit and Leo all ran forward, jumping up in a desperate attempt to grab Nerys. But it was no use. The robots were far too quick and far too powerful. Suddenly, 33 lifted off the ground to pull the steel cables apart so that 19 could carry Nerys up and away. As the RAZERs hauled their hostage towards the platform, Nerys's wild eyes stared back at the group, fear filling her dilated pupils. Peanut looked at Little-Bit. Little-Bit looked at Peanut. In that moment, they both realised that it wasn't just Nerys that had been taken. It was also Little Tail.