The Good, the Bad, and the Accidentally Evil!

by Mark Young

  “Great,” Shelly said. “Why don’t you start with some photos of Professor Leviathan for the profile I’m writing?”

  “Sounds good,” Mimi said, and then she and Newton left the lab.

  My plan is working perfectly! Mimi thought.

  Shelly watched Mimi and Newton leave the lab. The special Founders’ Day edition would give Shelly an excuse to ask the professors all kinds of questions.

  My plan is working perfectly! Shelly thought, not realizing that Mimi had plans of her own.

  CHAPTER 4 Smile and Say “Suspicious!”

  “So how does this camera work?” Newton asked, turning the device around in his hands.

  “It’s foolproof,” Mimi promised as they walked to Leviathan’s lab. “Hold it in the palm of your hand. Then say ‘click’ when you want to take a photo.”

  The doughnut-shaped camera activated when Mimi said “click.” It floated up from Newton’s palm and began to spin in a circle.

  “It automatically takes a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree photo of your surroundings,” Mimi said. “And you can easily edit the photos if you don’t want everything in the shot.”

  “Cool,” Newton said as the camera landed back in his hand. “I think I’ll be able to do this.”

  Mimi nodded. “It’s so easy that a baby could do it!” she said. “No offense, Newton. That’s just how it is.”

  I don’t even know what it’s like to be a baby, Newton thought, and then he scolded himself. Stop thinking about stuff like that, or you’ll never have a regular life!

  When he emerged from his thoughts, Mimi was talking.

  “… after we photograph Professor Leviathan, we should go to some key areas around the school and get some photos for the special issue,” she was saying. “That is, if you don’t mind me tagging along.”

  “What? No, sure, that’s fine,” Newton said. “It’s more fun than doing it alone.”

  They had reached Leviathan’s office.

  “Newton! Mimi! How can I help you?” Leviathan asked.

  “Newton would like to take your photo for the school newspaper,” Mimi answered.

  “Yes, of course!” Leviathan said. She sat up straight in her chair, patted her pink curls, and smoothed out her leopard-print lab coat. “How’s this?”

  “Perfect!” Mimi said.

  Newton held out the camera. “Click!” he said.

  The camera lifted up and began to spin around. After one rotation it settled back onto Newton’s hand.

  “Now press the button on the top to project the photo,” Mimi instructed.

  Newton obeyed. An image projected above the camera, showing the professor, the lab, and Mimi—everything surrounding Newton.

  “You can download it onto your tablet later, and then edit it just to have Professor Leviathan,” Mimi said. “Or you could use the whole photo.”

  “That’s very impressive,” Professor Leviathan said. “Another product from Crowninshield Industries, Mimi?”

  Mimi beamed. “You guessed it.”

  “Such a wonderful company,” Leviathan said. “Although, I never understood why you don’t have a monster division. Imagine what you could do with your resources!”

  “My parents prefer to focus on nonbiological innovation,” Mimi answered. “They’re real tech heads.”

  “Ah, but imagine what you could do by melding monsterology with technology,” Leviathan said. “I’ve got years of research behind me. With my knowledge and your resources, who knows what we could do?”

  Mimi’s eyes gleamed. “I like the sound of that, Professor. I’ll talk to my parents about it.”

  “Excellent!” Professor Leviathan said. She stood up, and towered over both of them. “Do you need any more photos?”

  Newton had been playing with the camera while they’d talked, talking more photos from different areas of the room.

  “No, I think we’re good,” Newton said. “Thanks a lot!”

  Mimi and Newton left Professor Leviathan’s office.

  “Where to now?” Newton asked.

  “Let’s head to the gym,” Mimi suggested. “I think some shots of the pool would be fun for the Founders’ Day issue.”

  “Sounds good,” Newton said. He rested the camera in his palm. Along the way, he stopped every few feet, taking photos of whatever looked interesting. An explosion of confetti and glitter in Professor Snollygoster’s lab. Odifin zipping down the hallway with a green-and-yellow school scarf sailing behind him, tied to the pole underneath the table holding his jar. The cafeteria ladies trying to catch stalks of animated broccoli as they dashed around the kitchen.

  “This is fun!” Newton remarked. “I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

  “You’re a natural,” Mimi said. “Let’s get some shots of the pool, and then we can go back to the newspaper lab and I’ll show you how to edit.”

  “Thanks,” Newton said.

  When they reached the gym, they made their way to the pool room, which had a blue tile floor and a big rectangle of water in the middle.

  “Nobody’s here,” Newton said. “Maybe we should come back when kids are swimming.”

  “Why don’t you get on the diving board to get a shot of the rippling water?” Mimi suggested. “That would be pretty.”

  Newton nodded. “Sure,” he said, and he climbed the short ladder to the diving board and held up the camera.

  “Get closer to the water,” Mimi said, and Newton moved forward. “No. Closer.”

  Newton teetered on the edge of the board, which was just a foot above the water. Mimi climbed the ladder and stepped behind him. She had seen the fish DNA in his body scan report, and was curious to see how it worked. A little playful nudge might jolt that DNA into action. At least that was what she hoped.

  “Hey, Newton!”

  Higgy entered the room, and Mimi jumped back.

  “Just came for a little dip,” Higgy said. “Do you want to join me?”

  “No, thanks, but I’d love to take your picture,” Newton said.

  “Sure!” Higgy cried, and he whipped off the towel from around his shoulders and jumped in. His green body floated on top of the water’s surface.

  “Look! I can do the backstroke!” Higgy cried as he splashed around the pool.

  “Click!” Newton said, and the camera lifted off his palm and spun around.

  Mimi sighed. “Great shots, Newton. Let’s get back to the lab.”

  Newton nodded. “Bye, Higgy!”

  Mimi was quiet as they headed to the newspaper lab. Only Shelly was there, typing away on a terminal. She looked up when they came in.

  “Hi!” Newton said. “I think I got some good photos.”

  Mimi took the camera from Newton and slid aside a panel. A short cord came out.

  “You can link it to any computer or tablet, and you don’t need a special app,” she said. “The photos automatically download and create their own folder.”

  Newton linked the camera to his school tablet. A page popped up showing thumbnails of every photo he’d taken. He clicked on the first one he took after Mimi showed him how to use the camera. The photo showed Professor Leviathan at her desk.

  “You just tap on the area you want to focus on, and a frame will pop up so you can crop,” Mimi explained, showing him. “See? Perfect shot of Professor Leviathan.”

  Shelly looked up again. “I created a shared file for us on the school system. It’s under ‘Herald.’ Can you upload the photo?”

  Newton did just that, and felt a sense of accomplishment.

  Maybe photography is my thing, he thought, and that made him feel good. It was a talent that had nothing to do with his animal DNA. It was something regular kids did.

  “It’s time for dinner,” Mimi said. “And I’m meeting some friends at the Airy Café. I think you’ve got this, Newton.”

  “I think I do,” Newton agreed. “Thanks for the camera, Mimi.”

  Mimi grinned. “You’re welcome. See you around.”
<
br />   Mimi left, and Newton turned back to the photos he’d downloaded.

  “That was really nice of Mimi to give me the camera,” Newton said to Shelly.

  Shelly frowned. “I’m sure she has some ulterior motive. There’s usually a catch when Mimi’s being nice.”

  Newton shrugged. “Maybe. She seems like she’s just being nice, though.”

  “Hmpf!” Shelly said, and then she cried out, “Peewee!”

  Newton had seen the small blue monster just appear out of nowhere on the lab table Shelly was sitting at.

  “How’d he get out of his cage?” Newton asked.

  Shelly shook her head. “It happened before, and I thought it was a glitch. But I guess I need Theremin to take a look at the teleportation shield. There’s a lot to do to get this issue out, though.” She sighed and stood up. “I’m going to go put him back in his cage. I’ll be right back.”

  The monster squeaked as she picked him up and walked out the door, leaving Newton alone.

  Newton started to examine the photos he’d taken. There was the sign in front of the school. There was Odifin zipping down the hallway. He swiped his finger on the screen, taking in the whole three-sixty view.

  He paused on a head with a shock of green hair, peeking out from behind an open locker.

  “Professor Flubitus?” Newton asked.

  He tapped on a photo that he’d taken of the cafeteria ladies. There, behind where Newton would have been standing, was Professor Flubitus again.

  Peeking into Snollygoster’s classroom—Flubitus.

  Behind Newton as he photographed a row of lockers—Flubitus.

  Outside the door of the pool—Flubitus.

  It’s just like before, when he was following me around and I didn’t know who he was! Newton realized. But why is he doing it?

  There was only one way to find out. Newton quickly got up and went to look for the professor.

  CHAPTER 5 Read All about It!

  Newton found the professor in his classroom, where the man was seated at his desk, with his green hair standing on end. Newton didn’t bother to be polite.

  “Why are you following me again?” he asked.

  “Newton, I fear you are mistaken,” Professor Flubitus replied.

  “Don’t lie,” Newton said. He thrust his tablet in front of the professor. “I have photographic proof.”

  Flubitus frowned. “All right, you’ve caught me. But honestly, Newton, I can’t tell you—”

  “You always say that!” Newton cried. “I already know that I was created in a lab to save the school in the future. So why are you secretly following me around?”

  Flubitus nervously drummed his fingers on the desk. “As I’ve told you, Newton, I cannot tell you what is going to happen in the future,” he said. “At least, I don’t think I can tell you. There have been new developments in the future, and I’m trying to find out exactly what is happening in this time line that would cause—”

  Newton interrupted him. “What do you mean ‘this time line’?” he asked. “Are there other time lines? And what does that even mean?”

  “Oh dear. You see, I’ve said too much,” Flubitus said. “Traveling back and forth to and from the future will scramble your thoughts a bit, Newton. I don’t recommend it.”

  “So let me guess,” Newton said. “You’re not going to tell me what happens in the future, or why you were following me?”

  “Not right now,” Flubitus said. “But… things may change, Newton. I ask you this, young man. Please give me some time for my brain to clear. I am sure I will figure things out.”

  “Fine,” Newton said. “But I’ll only agree if you stop following me.”

  The professor nodded. “I will. I’m sure… I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. I just need to clear my head.”

  “Okay, then,” Newton said, but he felt uneasy as he left the professor’s classroom. Normally he’d go looking for Theremin and Shelly to talk it over, but he couldn’t do that now. From now on he had to keep everything secret—or risk losing them if the professors wiped their memories along with his.

  * * *

  The next day Newton and his friends met in the newspaper lab after school.

  “I’m calling my food column Hungry Higgy’s Food Review,” Higgy announced, typing into a computer terminal. “For my first review I rank all the cafeteria’s pudding flavors from best to worst.”

  “What’s the best?” Newton asked.

  “Butterscotch,” Higgy replied. “And the worst is anchovy.”

  Newton shrugged. “I like that flavor,” he said.

  “Of course you do,” Higgy said. “You’ll eat anything weird.”

  “Maybe I would,” Newton admitted. “But I’ve never eaten ten gallons of pudding in one sitting!”

  Higgy nodded. “Fair,” he said. “Okay, we’re both weird!”

  Newton looked over at Mimi. “How’s your gossip column coming?”

  “Great!” Mimi said. “I’m calling it Eye Spy on Franken-Sci High,” she answered.

  Theremin’s eyes flashed green. “That’s got a ring to it,” he said. “So what’s the hot gossip?”

  Mimi cleared her throat. “Okay, here’s an example. ‘Which freshman has been bacon his roommate crazy with his sound barrier experiments? I don’t see what the problem is. They might be loud and annoying, but they’ll never bore us!’ ”

  “I don’t get it,” Theremin said. “Which freshman is it? Why don’t you just tell us his name?”

  Mimi grinned. “That’s how you write a gossip column. You don’t say the name outright, but you give a clue.”

  Newton rolled it over in his mind. Bacon his roommate crazy… never bore us…

  “It’s Boris Bacon!” he cried.

  “Right!” Mimi cried back.

  “Very clever, Mimi,” Higgy said.

  “Sure, it’s clever,” Theremin said. “But wait until you see the story I’m working on.”

  Theremin walked up to Shelly, who was squinting at her computer screen and counting.

  “Shelly, did you get my file with my investigative report on the locker black holes?” he asked.

  Shelly was too absorbed in her screen to answer. Theremin turned back to Newton, Mimi, and Higgy. “I cracked this thing wide open!” he said. “I investigated every single locker, and you’ll never believe what I found in locker 698.17—everything that’s been sucked into a locker black hole since the lockers were installed in 1960. I even found Sven Angstrom, who went missing in 1975!”

  “Wow!” exclaimed, Newton, Mimi, and Higgy.

  “Hmm, that’s nice,” Shelly mumbled.

  Theremin spun around. “Nice? Are you serious? It’s the story of the century!”

  Shelly looked up. “Oh, sorry, Theremin,” she said. “You’re right. It’s a great story. I’m just struggling with this newspaper layout program. It’s so slow, but it’s the best one I could download.”

  Mimi stood up. “You’re going to want to try this layout program that Crowninshield Industries developed,” she said, and she walked over to Shelly and handed her a flash drive.

  Shelly looked at it suspiciously.

  “Oh, come on, Shelly. Give it a try,” Mimi said. “It’s awesome.”

  Shelly plugged the flash drive into her terminal and quickly downloaded the program. A template popped up on her screen.

  “It’s all voice activated,” Mimi told her. “Just name the file you want, and tell the program where to put it. You can move photos the same way, and add headlines just by saying them.”

  Shelly looked doubtful, but she tried it out anyway. “Run Theremin’s black hole article on page one,” she said, and the article appeared on the page. Her eyes widened and she looked at Mimi. “Wow, this is really helpful. Thank you!”

  “No problem,” Mimi said.

  Shelly turned to Newton. “Can you go with Theremin and get some photos of that locker? And maybe of Sven, if he’s around?”

  “He�
�s in Nurse Bunsen’s office,” Theremin reported. “He’s just a little confused.”

  “We’re on it!” Newton said, and he jumped out of his seat and grabbed the camera.

  * * *

  Newton took many more photos over the next two days, and was relieved not to see Flubitus in any of them. Early Wednesday morning the newspaper staff gathered around Shelly as she got ready to send out the first edition.

  Shelly took a deep breath. “Here we go,” she said, and she hit “publish” on the screen.

  The sound of beeping tablets ricocheted around the school as the first edition of the Franken-Sci Herald was delivered. Shelly exhaled.

  “We did it!” she said. “Let’s hope everybody likes the paper.”

  They left the lab and made their way to the cafeteria for breakfast. When they exited the transportation tube, the first thing Newton noticed was how quiet it was. Then he realized that everyone student was absorbed in reading the newspaper, which projected in holographic form from each tablet.

  “Wow!” Theremin said. “I think it’s a hit, Shelly.”

  “We’ll see,” Shelly replied nervously. “Nobody’s finished reading yet.”

  The quiet lasted for a few more minutes, and Newton and his friends (the ones with digestive systems) got their food. When they sat down to eat, they were immediately swarmed with kids, all talking at once.

  “Theremin, your article was amazing!”

  “Higgy, everyone knows chocolate pudding is the best!”

  “Mimi, you’ve got to put me in your next gossip column!”

  “Great photos, Newton!”

  Newton smiled at the attention.

  This is nice, he thought. He got excited thinking about the next edition of the newspaper and what photos he could take.

  Maybe I’ll become a real newspaper photographer someday, and work for one of those papers I saw when I visited Higgy in London, he thought. He’d liked that city, with the buildings and the lights and the people.…

  Then an anvil dropped onto his happy thoughts, smashing them.