Oops!

      Comicsgirl had been gone all morning and Waraqa began to feel somewhat impatient. She had just decided to go inside her neohome when there was a knock at the door. Comicsgirl was here! and she held a small object in her hands. She knelt down and handed it to the little brown Grundo. Waraqa's eyes widened. She was given a little robot petpet Oop.

      "His name is HA-Bits," said Comicsgirl. "It is a very special name. As you get to know your little petpet you will understand why." Comics girl patted Waraqa on the head and left to do dailies.

      HA-Bits was a strange name. The little neopet wondered about this for a while. The little Oop sat very still and quiet. All that could be heard was a small whirring sound.

      Thump! There was a loud thud as Shizzrr made his way down the stairs. He jumped down two steps and swung his arms out. "How do you like my outfit?" asked the Tyrannian Ogrin named Shizzrr. He stood proudly with his paws on his hips. He was wearing a Poets Hat, Negg Tie, no shirt and Pant Devil Pants.

      Waraqa politely held back a giggle. She was about to say something when a loud and strange noise erupted from the little Oop.

      "HA-AH-AH-AH-(BEEP) AH-AH-AH-(BEEP,BEEP)." It continued to make this constant noise for quite a while. Shizzrr was finally frustrated and decided to leave. He wanted to show off his new clothes to the neighbors.

      Waraqa was trying to quiet the little petpet when it suddenly stopped. "How strange," she thought as she picked it up and carried it outside. It was silent again.

      Waraqa decided to show off her petpet to her friends. She found Airialia sitting next to the pond and playing a strange horn-like instrument. Airialia was quite good and the little melodic sounds came thrumming out and echoed through the trees.

      "What instrument is that?" asked Waraqa.

      "Its a Semidemi... muh... " answered Airialia " Semi... ugh! I don't know how to say it." Airialia gave up and showed a little green book to Waraqa. The title was as follows: Your Semidemiquaver And You. "I have no idea how to pronounce that," said the mutant Shoyru. "My, my, what a cute little petpet. What is his name?"

      "HA-Bits," answered Waraqa. The petpet sat motionless on the ground.

      "Hmm.. it doesn't do much, does it?" asked Airialia.

      "That is what is so strange, though," Waraqa said. When Shizzrr was here it was making the strangest noises. It went non-stop for over an hour until he left."

      Later Waraqa went back in the house and the rest of the day carried on with HA-Bits not making a sound. They later sat around at dinner and chatted. Airialia insisted Shizzrr to change his clothing. In fact, she asked him not to wear anything at all. Airialia was the straightforward type and was not afraid to speak her mind. And there was Waraqa's petpet sitting quietly in the corner flashing a little blinking red light. They wondered why it hadn't made any noise at all. Perhaps it was a glitch. That is, until the next morning. Waraqa was eating a bowl of Snot flakes when Shizzrr came down donning an orange dress and pink sun hat. Airialia put her Semidemi...(you know what it is) down and began to chastise him again when another loud noise erupted from the corner of the kitchen. HA-AH-AH-AH-(BEEP) AH-AH-(BEEP) AH-AH-AH-(BEEP,BEEP). The three neopets stared at the robot petpet rather confused and eventually annoyed as it kept up this noise this time for several hours. Shizzrr was trying to read a book. Airialia was flustered as she couldn't play her horn with all the racket. Waraqa was beginning to feel embarrassed. Airialia had had enough.

      "Take that thing outside!" she shouted. Glumly Waraqa left with HA-Bits walking down to Neopia Central. It took her several minutes to realize that it had remained silent for quite some time. She was more than puzzled and thoughtful for a moment as to why her petpet would make such a noise all of a sudden and then stop. She thought of her friend Lauray who worked in the bookstore nearby. Airialia knew Lauray to be the smartest Xweetok she ever knew and had the idea that perhaps she would know what was wrong with the petpet.

      Waraqa entered the bookshop watching a White Xweetok shuffling a handful of books on a shelf. It was Lauray organizing the books in alphabetical order again.

      "So, you say this here Oop makes strange noises, huh?" answered Lauray as she rubbed her chin. "Hmm, let me see here." Lauray was fumbling through a few books. She pulled some large book off the shelf. "I don't seem to have anything here about Oops. But, perhaps this book will give us a clue." Lauray sat down and opened a book entitled Robot Spyders and thumbed through it.... but found nothing that would help them. Lauray checked a few more books and found nothing. "Do you mind if i keep this little Oop around for a few days?" asked Lauray. " I will observe it and see what I can find out."

      After about a week Waraqa received a neomail letter asking her to come to the bookshop. Waraqa ran quickly out. She had missed her petpet and was curious. When she arrived at the bookshop, the little petpet sat quietly on a table. A mess of books lay piled on the table.

      "Welcome," said Lauray as she handed the petpet back to Waraqa. "I have the mystery solved, or at least I think I do. I will have to run a little test. Do you think your brother could come by?"

      When Shizzrr arrived, he was wearing a blue negg hat and a muumuu. The moment he entered the bookstore HA-Bits erupted with noise again.

      Lauray giggled, "Umm... Shizzrr, would you mind taking off your clothes for a moment?" Shizzrr put down the hat and muumuu at the corner of the table and was shocked along with his friends to see that the petpet was again quiet. Lauray stood up and began to speak.

      "Not only have I found out why this robot petpet has been making such noise. I also understand why it was named HA-Bits. This little robot has quite a sense of humor." Lauray told the petpet a little joke and once again..

      "HA-AH-AH-(BEEP) AH-AH-(BEEP, BEEP)." Once again the petpet was loud as it continued to .... yes, laugh. It was laughing loudly as it grabbed its toes and rolled on the floor. HA-Bits was true to its name as it laughed a loud ha that rumbled through the bits of metal on its tummy. Waraqa wasn't satisfied.

      "But we didn't tell it a joke," Waraqa said. "Why would it be laughing."

      "Watch," answered Lauray as she asked Shizzrr to put on the hat and muumuu once again. This time the walls shook from HA-Bits's laughter. Waraqa, Lauray, and Airialia looked at each other a moment and began laughing. Shizzrr looked annoyed at the moment when he realized they were all laughing at him and his lack of fashion sense. Soon, however he started to chuckle.

      "Well..." said Airialia. "At least the Defenders aren't fashion police. Or, Shizzrr would have been arrested a long time ago!" They all laughed out loudly and went home playing dress up and having a contest to see who wore the silliest clothes. Shizzrr, of course, won.

The End