Robot Petpets to the Rescue

     It was a cold and ominous night on the Virtupets Space Station. Silence surrounded the local businesses as the Grundos slept peacefully, unaware of the situation unfolding around them. Within the Robo-Petpet Shop, two unassuming Petpets were wide awake, conversing quietly so that none of the other Petpets around them would wake up. The room was dark aside from some flickering lights in the back rooms, casting the space in an eerie glow.

     “Tell me everything.” Flash the Wheelie Bot whispered urgently, pulling his friend Oscar, a GX-4 Oscillabot, closer to him in a huddle. Most of the Grundos at the Space Station didn’t understand the beeping sounds robotic Petpets use to communicate, but Flash didn’t want to take any chances.

     “Well, do you remember the Zoomik that was bought last week? I heard through the Petpet network that his Neopet took him to the Grundo Cafe yesterday. His Neopet didn’t seem to notice, but there was something wrong with Gargarox.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Well…” Oscar paused in thought. “He said he seemed stiffer, almost… robotic, I guess.”

     Flash beeped out a laugh. Oscar shushed him angrily.

     “It’s not funny! He said Gargarox was talking funny too. And he swore he heard him beep when nobody else was looking! This is serious Flash.”

     “That’s just Gargarox, Oscar. He’s a… unique Grundo, you could say. What you’re telling me just doesn’t make any sense.”

     Steam blew out of the Oscillabot’s antennae in frustration.

     “It’s not just Gargarox! Other Grundos are acting funny. If you don’t believe me, I can show you.” Oscar whispered intensely. The two Petpets slowly looked around the room, listening to the soft beeping snores of the other Petpets.

     “Fine, you can show me. But the shop is going to open back up soon, so we have to be quick.” Flash insisted. Oscar nodded quickly as the two raced quietly across the room and hesitantly approached the front door. Flash listened for any roaming Grundos through the door as Oscar began to pick the lock with a loose spring from his arm. Oscar was the best Petpet at picking locks, and in a matter of moments the door clicked and slowly creaked open.

     Oscar led the way as the two Petpets quietly made their way across the Supply Deck. The Virtupets Space Station always had a soft glow to it, even in the middle of the night, so the Petpets were just able to see ahead of them as they journeyed through the space. The hum of machinery was comforting to the Petpets as they grew more and more nervous about their escape into the night. Oscar checked quickly for sleepwalking Grundos as they rounded the corner, went down the stairs, and finally reached the Grundo Warehouse.

     “Don’t make a sound.” Oscar warned as the two slowly crept into the warehouse. Flash wasn’t sure what he should be expecting, but he was starting to feel nervous. Flash could see the shape of a Grundo across the room, but it seemed frozen in place.

     “Gilroy usually stays here overnight. Take a look.” Oscar whispered ominously. Flash slowly rolled towards the shape, making sure to keep close to the wall, hidden in the shadows. A single flickering lightbulb hung above the Grundo, making it easy for Flash to remain out of sight. As the Grundo before him became clear, the Petpet beeped in surprise.

     “WHO. GOES. THERE.”

     The Grundo’s voice boomed through the room. Flash sped back towards the door, meeting Oscar at the entrance. The two quickly ducked around the corner, both panting in fear.

     “That… that wasn’t Gilroy.” Flash gasped, trying to catch his breath.

     “I told you something was wrong!” Oscar whined. “But why does he look and sound like that?”

     “Because that’s not Gilroy!” Flash hissed, exasperated with his friend. “That was a Robot Grundo!”

     “But… Gilroy’s not a robot?”

     “I KNOW!” Flash roared. Oscar shrank back in surprise.

     “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. But Oscar didn’t you recognize that robot?”

     Oscar slowly shook his head no. Flash could hear the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out what Flash was saying.

     “That’s a Typing Terror Grundo. Neopians have to play a game to keep them out of the Space Station.”

     “A Typing huh?”

     “Come on, I’ll show you.”

     The two Petpets took off again, this time heading towards the Hangar. As soon as they got close to the spaceships, the pair could hear the commotion happening. They peaked around the corner and watched in horror as clockwork Grundos stormed onto the Space Station. They beeped in unison as they walked in all directions, completely taking over the Hangar and heading towards the Supply and Recreation Decks.

     “Flash, what do we do?” Oscar whined, unable to look away from the onslaught of robots beeping and chiming in unison. “There must be hundreds of them!”

     “This has to mean not enough Neopians are playing Typing Terror. The clockwork Grundos are able to break right through!”

     “Well how do we convince them to play?”

     “I don’t know, let me think!”

     Flash quickly shuffled through his memory drive, trying to see if he could find any pieces of information that could help them stop these robots from taking over their home.

     If Neopians weren’t playing Typing Terror, maybe they were doing something else…

     Maybe another game…

     “I’ve got an idea!” Flash whispered excitedly. “We have to go to the Recreation Deck, quickly!” He took off, not even waiting for Oscar’s response. The two had gotten very good at keeping to the shadows and luckily they avoided the blank gaze of the Robot Grundos as they reached Flash’s destination.

     “What is this?” Oscar whispered.

     “This is Spell or Starve.” Flash said triumphantly. “It’s another game Neopians play. Maybe they need some inspiration to work on their typing skills.”

     “Their huh?”

     Flash rolled his eyes.

     “Just wait here!” He commanded, then headed into the game. He was greeted with a giant letter grid, with V2 watching excitedly as Neopians spelt out words from his puzzle. Flash discreetly hid behind the grid, where he found a master control centre unattended. He double-checked there was no one around, then approached the board in front of him. There were hundreds of buttons (who knew what they would do!) and a miniature grid showing the letters that were presented to Neopians when they played the game. Flash clicked the ‘Override Letters’ key and began typing.

     P L A Y T Y P I N G T E R R O R N O W

     Immediately the grid shuffled, and Flash’s chosen letters appeared on the master grid. He knew Neopians everywhere would be confused about what happened, but he hoped they read his message loud and clear. He zoomed back to where Oscar was hidden and told him what he did.

     “That’s genius Flash!” Oscar cheered.

     “I hope so! Now we have to wait and see what happens.”

     “Let’s go back to the Petpet Shop. I don’t want any of these Grundos catching us.” Oscar murmured nervously. Flash nodded and the two set off back to the shop. It was already almost morning and the shop would be opening soon.

     The two flew back to the shop and made it back inside with minutes to spare. They waited with bated breath for the Shopkeeper to walk in.

     When he did, it was the Green Grundo they all knew and loved who walked through the door. Flash and Oscar looked at each other and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

     “Good morning my metal pals! I hope you all had a nice rest. It’s going to be a wonderful day!” The Grundo called enthusiastically.

     Flash grinned. “I’m sure it will be.” He whispered to Oscar, and the two beeped out a laugh.

     The End.