5 67's Story

5 67's Story The children looked out of the portholes, marvelling as the submarine moved through the water. 'These fish are BONKERS,' said Little-Bit, referring to the myriad of creatures that lived in the cleaning channel. ' That one looks like a Christmas tree and I swear I just saw a jellyfish that could easily pass as a trifle. It actually made me feel a bit peckish.' 'Does anyone know what time it is?' shouted Dad from behind the periscope at the front of the sub. Peanut looked at her watch. 'Oh, it's stopped working,' she said. 'A common occurrence when a person is crossing between dimensions,' said 67 matter-

of-factly. 'Especially those which operate at different time rates. I assume your timepiece is a harmonic oscillator, which means that the inertia of the balance wheel and the elasticity of the balance spring have probably been subject to too much change. Only the very best movements are able to withstand such trauma over a sustained period, and I would guess that your watch features neither a Rolex calibre 3235 or a Lemania 2310, regardless of whether or not a coaxial escapement is included.' 'Er, I think what the robot is trying to say is that all of

this travelling between Chroma and London has busted your watch,' said Rockwell. 'Give it here and I'll take a look. I've read a couple of engineering books that covered basic watchmaking. I reckon I might be able to fix it.' Peanut removed the watch and handed it to her friend. 'I wouldn't let Tall Human get your hopes up if I were you, Peanut Jones,' said 67, much to Rockwell's annoyance. And to answer your question, Gary Jones, the time here in Chroma is 1804 hours.' 'That means it's probably still yesterday in Milan,' Dad reckoned, pushing the left joystick further forward. 'This old girl is pretty slow, but she should get us to the Green Valleys in time.' 'Why are we going to the Green Valleys?' asked Peanut. I'll explain everything a bit later, I promise,' replied Dad. ' In the meantime, you lot should try to get some rest. You're going to need as much energy as possible.' 'Er, 67,' said Little-Bit quietly as she sat next to where the robot was hovering, 'can I ask you a question? Why did you betray Mr White? What made you decide to help our dad? And how did you get him out of prison?' 'Technically, you have asked me four questions, Small Human,' replied the robot. 'I am, however, happy to answer

them all. I am a second-generation RAZER a considerable upgrade on the launch model. We have been given more autonomy by the programmers. This means we can make our own decisions. We have the ability to weigh up a situation and act as we see fit with no need for instruction. So, when I saw what was happening to Chroma and its citizens, I made a decision to act. 'That's exactly what 72 said to us in Die Brücke,' noted Peanut, who had been eavesdropping from the bench on the other side of the submarine. 'What is 72?' asked 67. ' The only other RAZER we've ever met,' replied Peanut. ' A really good robot. I miss them.' 'Understood,' said 67, who, to Peanut and Little-Bit's surprise, didn't seem to want to know more. 'To continue, I was aware that your father, Gary Jones, was Mr White's most prized detainee. As such, he was being held in one of the maximum-security cells near the top of the Spire. That's where the most valuable enemies of the city were imprisoned. I decided I would make it my goal to free him.' 'Oh, wow,' said Little-Bit. And did the Markmakers

help you like they helped 72? Are you an agent of the Resistance too?' 'Negative,' replied 67. 'I acted alone.' 'So how did you manage to get Dad out?' asked Leo, who had been listening in and was pretty interested to hear how a robot had rescued his father. 'I formulated an ingenious plan which I then executed over a number of months. It involved a fire extinguisher, the water in the Rainbow Lake, a waste pipe and the cleaning channels.' 'Go on...' said Peanut and Little-Bit together. 'Mr White had been draining water from the Rainbow Lake for a long time. He had a small amount pumped to the top of the Spire which he used to fill his own personal Rainbow Pool, located just below the control room. I believe his plan was to empty the lake slowly while keeping a supply for his sole use. As such, there was a comprehensive network of pumps and pipes between the lake and the top floor of the tower.' 'That explains the water that Rockwell and I saw when we lifted the hatch in the control room with all the doors,' exclaimed Peanut, remembering the last time they had visited the Spire. At the sound of his name, Rockwell

looked up from his seat a few metres away and began to listen more closely. 'Indeed,' continued 67. 'I determined fairly early on that as well as the pipes taking water up to Mr White's pool, there was also one that took a little back down to the lake so that his supply could be circulated through the cleaning and colour-correction systems. Even though the systems weren't functioning brilliantly, they were still quite effective on small amounts of water. The pipe that took his water was built into the cavity between the outer and inner walls like the others. But unlike the others, it descended in a spiral so that the speed of the water could be controlled. This fact, I realised, meant that it would be safe for a human to travel inside of it.' 'Ooh, so it was kind of like a giant water slide crossed with a helter-skelter?' said an excited Little-Bit. 'Affirmative.' That is a very accurate description, Small Human,' replied the robot. 'So, all you needed to do was get Dad into the pipe?' said Leo. 'Affirmative,' said 67. And that was relatively easy. All prisoners were permitted ten minutes of exercise per day. For those in the maximum-security unit, that exercise involved walking two laps of the corridor connecting the cells, accompanied by a RAZER, of course. All I had to do was secure a position on exercise detail, convince Gary Jones of