LITMIR.BIZ

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cookie yet.

      Once Ash had crossed the room, she

      quickly stood up, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and grabbed the hamster’s cage. Taking the whole thing would be faster than scooping the hamster out.

      But the cage was heavier than it looked.

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      “Let me help you,” said Morgan.

      Ash turned to see Morgan had followed her back into the classroom. Then she was almost smacked in the face by a bat wing. Okay. Now she was really glad Morgan was there.

      With Morgan’s help, the cage felt like it hardly weighed anything at all. They ducked their heads low and crossed the classroom in a matter of seconds.

      Ms Minerva slammed the door shut behind them.

      Ash smiled at Morgan. “Thanks for coming back for me.”

      He returned the smile. “Thanks for remem-bering the baron. I was so panicked that I forgot all about him!”

      The hamster, for his part, seemed totally unbothered by the whole ordeal. Especially once Ash slipped a cookie into his cage.

      “Minerva, I apologise,” Doc said. Full of nervous energy, she paced the hall while she spoke. “I wanted to warn you about the bats. It

      didn’t occur to me that my noisy entrance

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      would set them off.”

      While Doc never stopped moving, Ms Minerva always seemed patiently at rest. She put her hands on her hips. “And how did you know the vents were full of bats?” she asked. “Was this another one of your little projects, Doc?”

      “I had nothing to do with it!” Doc insisted, waving her hands for emphasis. “I recognised the sounds coming from the vents this morning. I’ve been following the noise from class to class all morning.”

      Ms Minerva looked like she didn’t wholly believe the science teacher. “At least it’s nice outside,” she said. “Class, head to the sports ground. I’ll be there as soon as I’ve updated the principal.”

      “What about Baron Sweetcheeks?” asked Morgan.

      “Your hamster can stay with me,” said Doc. “It’s the

      least I can do.” She snapped her fingers as if remembering something. “In fact, I wanted to speak to

      a few of your students anyway, Minerva. May I borrow Ash here, and Harper, Po, and the Mercado siblings?”

      Ash and Morgan shared a look. Doc had just named their entire Minecraft team. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

      Ash wondered if their secret was out. Did Doc know the truth about the game? Or about the message the kids had found while playing it?

      There was a high-pitched squeaking sound, and Ash looked over to see a small bat perched over Ms Minerva’s head. The teacher didn’t seem to notice.

      Ash sighed wearily. Whatever Doc had in mind for them, it couldn’t be any more of a disaster than homeroom had been. She hoped.

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      Chapter 2

      It’s All Fun and Games

      Until Someone Steals

      Your Super-Secret

      VR Portal Technology.

      M

      organ grinned as he and his friends entered the computer lab. This place, he thought, is where the magic happens.

      Maybe literally. He still wasn’t clear on the magic-or-super-science thing. All he knew was that Doc had built several pairs of virtual reality goggles. The goggles were decorated with strange, glowing symbols that almost looked like words in an unfamiliar alphabet. He and his friends had discovered that the goggles allowed them to actually enter the game Minecraft. It wasn’t like real. It was real. And it was so cool!

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      But his smile fell away when he saw where

      Doc Culpepper was leading them – straight to the VR goggles hanging from pegs on the wall.

      There were five headsets. There were supposed to be six.

      “Wasn’t there another one of these?” she asked, seemingly talking to herself. “I could have sworn . . . Anyway, there’s plenty of room for your hamster here.”

      Morgan and the others traded a look. After their first few adventures in the game, they had realised that someone had taken that sixth pair. But they didn’t know who!

      He and Ash slid the hamster cage onto the table.

      “Thanks for giving Baron Sweetcheeks a home, Doc,” said Harper. Morgan knew that she admired Doc a great deal.

      “It’s a temporary solution,” said Doc. “We’ll have to address this bat problem. The vents give them access to every room in the school.”

      Jodi covered her neck. “They’re not going to bite us and drink our blood, are they?”

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      “That’s a common misconception,” said Doc. “Believe me, those bats are more afraid of us than we are of them. They certainly won’t attack you.” She tapped her chin. “But still, they’re wild animals. They don’t belong in a school.”

      “Aw, they just want an education,” joked Po.

      “The adults will handle the bats,” Doc said. She leaned against a table and crossed her arms, finally standing still. “I asked you here to learn how your after-school project is going. Tell me: Have you noticed anything strange as you’ve been playing Minecraft? Any sign that the goggles aren’t working correctly?”

      Morgan bit his lip. Where to begin? Whether Doc knew it or not, the goggles went far beyond any sort of virtual reality tech they’d ever seen. It was amazing – but it could be scary, too. So far, they’d managed to steer clear of any hostile mobs, but Morgan knew that their luck wouldn’t last.

      And then there was the mysterious message they’d found. “Beware the Evoker King” had been written out in huge letters like the famous

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      Hollywood sign. The letters were built out of obsidian stolen from one of their own chests during their first big adventure in Minecraft.

      Someone else was in the game. And they had no idea who it was. But it had to be the culprit who was behind the theft of the sixth headset. So obviously someone else in their school knew about the goggles’ power.

      Morgan simply shrugged. “We have noticed some . . . weird stuff,” he said. “But we want to put a full list together for you. We’ve barely done anything with them yet. You know, we’ve just been playing Minecraft.”

      Doc smiled. “Very good. I will look forward to your report. And in the meantime, I’ll see what I

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      can do about clearing those bats from your homeroom.”

      “Thanks, Dr Culpepper,” said Ash. “Let us know if we can help in some way.”

      “Of course,” said the teacher. “Oh, and Ash? Call me Doc, would you? ‘Dr Culpepper’ was my father. And my mother. Also one of my grandmothers.”

      Doc began rummaging through her boxes of electronic equipment. The kids waved farewell, but their teacher’s mind was already somewhere else entirely. Doc was funny like that. She was somehow super attentive one minute and easily distracted the next.

      But Morgan had faith that the bat problem was as good as solved, now that Doc was on the case. On their way to the sports ground, he said, “So we’re going back to the computer lab after school today, right?”

      Po

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