The Superpower Project (5 page)

“That's amazing,” laughed Megan.

“Is it?” said Miss McTeer, who probably wasn't used to people thinking that sort of thing was at all amazing. “Listen, I've started a lunchtime coding club for second years. You should come along if you're interested. Everyone's doing their own project.”

“Really?” said Megan, surprised to find she was actually excited by the idea.

“Yeah! You could have a go at programming anything you like. Some of my pupils are making alarms for their rooms, or weather stations for geography homework, even connecting them to solar panels. It's really up to you!”

“Hmm,” said Megan, “I think I have something I'd like to program.”

***

It had been a while since Megan and Cam had walked home from school having enjoyed their day. It was quite a pleasant experience.

“What's Kevin like then?” said Megan. “He always seems really quiet.”

“A good laugh actually. He gets a bit overexcited about stuff,” said Cam. “Think we might suggest the statue is one of your gran's monsters.”

“Aw Cam,” said Megan, “Gran would've loved that.”

Cam smiled and they walked in silence for a moment.

“I'm joining Miss McTeer's coding club,” said Megan. “I'm going to learn how to program TJ.”

“Coding club?” said Cam. “That sounds even less fun than the chess club.”

Megan punched Cam on the arm. “Don't you get it? I can program in school, pretend it's for a Lego robot or something, then see if I can connect it to TJ.”

“But he's already programmed. Won't that just confuse him?” asked Cam, for once sounding mildly concerned about the robot.

Megan smiled. “You said ‘him'. TJ must be growing on you.”

Cam groaned.

“His programming has to be a bit old-fashioned,” Megan continued. “But we might as well try to help him remember stuff.”

“Maybe,” said Cam. “It would just be a shame to accidentally turn him into a terminator or something. Oh, I meant to say, think I found a place online that does Morse-code paper.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, for museums and science classes. I asked Mum to order some for us.”

“That's brilliant Cam!”

Cam stopped outside his garden gate. “Yeah, it's given me an excuse for all the strange lights and noises in the shed while we've been oiling and charging TJ,” he explained. “I've told her I'm using it as a lab.”

Just then, there was a small but very definite
boom
, causing the two of them to jump. Megan briefly forgot to land back on the ground after her jump, but fortunately Cam was too busy looking in disbelief at his garden shed. Smoke billowed out from beneath its door and through both–now broken–windows. The door creaked open and they could see TJ standing inside with a smoking bottle of fertilizer. The beeping sound of the Morse-code machine echoed round the garden.

“Cameron,” said TJ calmly, “your shed is compromised. I may need somewhere else to hide.”

“What have you done?” shouted Cam.

“It is not my fault,” said TJ. “The contents of the shed are dangerous if mixed together and set on fire. There should be a sign explaining the danger, Cameron.”

Cam groaned. “This is going to be worse than when I bought bath bombs for the goldfish.”

“Is your mum in?” asked Megan, genuinely worried.

“She's on backshift,” said Cam, “but my dad'll be in.” He glanced nervously up at the house.

“Look,” said Megan, “I'll take some of the blame. We can say it was a science project that went wrong.”

Cam looked at the smoking hollow shell that used to be a shed. “I suppose if they think I was doing school work I might only lose one month's pocket money.”

“Cam? What's this? What's going on?” Cam's dad was hanging out the window, looking tired and unhappy.

“We're ok Mr Molloy,” said Megan quickly, “but I think we copied down the chemistry homework wrong.”

Cam's dad looked at the smoking garden shed. “Cameron, what have we told you about paying attention in class?” he barked.

“Sorry Dad.”

“Get it cleaned up,” he said. “You can explain it to your mum. And what's that?” He pointed down to TJ.

“Art project,” said Megan. “We're doing sculptures.”

“Flippin' sculptures everywhere,” muttered Cam's dad, disappearing back behind the curtains. “Stupid Chronos bell always making me jump out of my skin at work…”

“There,” said Megan, turning back to Cam. “All sorted.”

“Oh, you think?” said Cam, scowling at TJ.

“None of this would have happened if there had been a danger sign, Cameron,” said TJ.

Even if Cam hadn't just lost his next month's pocket money, it was pretty clear to Megan that Tin Jimmy would no longer be welcome at his house. It was time for a flit.

This time Megan and Cam decided to move TJ using a wheelbarrow. But after a few minutes of pushing, Megan was hoping for another lift from the police.

“This is heavier,” said Cam. “How can it be heavier?”

“At least it has wheels,” said Megan.

“Would it help if I used my wheels?” asked TJ.

“Your wheels?” asked Megan.

A pair of ancient-looking roller skates popped out of the robot's feet.

“You have wheels!” shouted Cam. “Why didn't you say that before we started carrying you round like a king?”

TJ clicked. “It did not seem important.”

“Cam, honestly, a roller-skating robot would probably have attracted even more attention.”

TJ's wheels clunked back in.

“Where are we taking him anyway?” scowled Cam. “Somewhere he can't blow anything up, I hope.”

“You know number two on Gran's map marks the old tobacco warehouses, down by the dock? I thought maybe we could leave him there when we check them out,” suggested Megan. “You said they were lying empty.”

“Yeah…” said Cam, “but I thought they were getting knocked down.”

“Even more reason to search the place soon then.”

Cam made the new face he had for whenever Megan talked about the map. It was supposed to make him look interested and pleased that they might be going somewhere dangerous, but it just looked like he had a dodgy tummy.

“It'll do for now anyway. Won't it TJ?” said Megan.

“It sounds better than the hazardous shed,” said TJ.

“The shed was fine before you moved in,” said Cam.

***

The old tobacco warehouses were just hollow shells in the truest sense. Going inside one was like being on a film set where the buildings are really just the front bit held up with wooden beams. Although each one had four sides and a roof, there was nothing left inside but broken glass, rubble and some very well-established pigeon colonies.

Megan, Cam and TJ stared through the grimy framework, collapsed fire escapes and missing floors. Now they were out of sight, TJ was free to move about on his own. His joints were much less noisy now Cam and Megan had oiled and cleaned him, and he was fully charged.

“Ehm… will you be ok here for a few nights TJ? Just until we find something better?” Megan felt a bit guilty about how they had ‘rescued' him by moving him from a dank tunnel to a flimsy shed to a rotting warehouse.

“There are a lot of pigeons,” observed TJ. “Can I have an umbrella?”

“Honestly, it won't be for long.” Megan glanced over at Cam, hoping he would chip in with something positive and reassuring. He just looked horrified.

“Why would Gran want me to come here?” mused Megan.

“Why would
anyone
want to come here?” said Cam. “It's even worse than the gym hall.”

Some pigeons flew between the beams above, scattering the intruders with old brick dust and dried pigeon poo.

“Any ideas TJ?” said Megan. “Do you remember ever coming here with Gran? It doesn't really seem like her sort of place.”

“I do not recognise this building,” said TJ, staring up towards the sky through the gaps in the roof.

“I suppose we'd better start looking then,” said Megan. “I just wish I knew what we were looking for. Is there gonna be a robot at every place on the map?”

“If it's another robot then I'm out,” said Cam. “We still haven't worked out what to do with this one.”

Megan patted TJ on the shoulder. “TJ knows what he's for, and he'll tell us when he's remembered. Right?”

“And what is Cameron for?”

Megan snorted. “He's mostly here to moan. But he is helpfully tall.”

She wandered over to look around the old office space on the right-hand side of the building, while Cam rummaged around an entire wall full of shelves. TJ, eyes alight, peered into the darker areas of the warehouse.

“Y'know Megan, difficult to say whether we've found something when we have no idea what we're looking for,” said Cam. “I mean, I've found loads of damp old newspapers and some dead pigeons if that's what we're after.”

Megan had wandered over to one of the holes in the floor and was peering down. “Cam, could you come and have a look at this?”

“Not if it means I have to climb down a hole,” said Cam, walking over anyway.

“Look.” Megan pointed into the hole. “Can you see that?”

The gap opened down onto a dark room, presumably the cellars of the warehouse. But there was something metallic jammed between the stone floor they were standing on and the ceiling beams of the cellar below.

“It looks like a box,” said Megan. “Can you reach it if I hold onto you?”

“Think so,” said Cam. “It's not too far. TJ, come and anchor us both while I see if I can stretch down.”

Cam lay on the floor, leaning into the gap, while Megan sat on his legs and TJ held his feet.

“Got it,” said Cam. “It's really light.”

It was an old scratched biscuit tin, covered in faded pictures from fairy tales. Megan's hands were shaking as she opened it. Inside was what looked like an old brass coin.

“What is it?” asked Cam. “Is it actual treasure?”

“I'm not sure,” said Megan, examining the coin. “It's got strange letters and symbols on it, but no pictures of the Queen or anything.”

“Must be really old then,” said Cam.

“Do you know what this is TJ?” said Megan.

“I… have seen something like it before. Ago.”

“Is it connected to my gran, Sarah?”

There was a crash from outside, dust fell from the ceiling. TJ instinctively moved in front of them.

A creak, then another crash, and they could see bricks falling from the wall in the far corner.

“We'll talk about it later,” said Megan, slipping the coin into her pocket. “Let's go.”

But Tin Jimmy was heading straight towards the noise and falling bricks.

“Not that way!” hissed Cam.

The brickwork finally gave way, tumbling inwards as a steel wrecking ball pummelled the side of the building, sending pigeons fleeing for the skies.

“You are
kidding
,” said Megan “They're knocking it down
right now
?”

A massive black shape was visible through the brick dust, moving slowly forward into the building. At first, they assumed it was a bulldozer, though its odd shape and shadows were confusing. It was Cam who realised first.

“It's Resilience!”

“What?” asked Megan.

“Resilience. You know… the really horrible jaggy sculpture from the roundabout!”

Megan looked, and sure enough, there were the steel beams, now acting as legs; the spheres, now two huge wrecking-ball fists at the end of interlocking steel arms; and the polished silver-and-black glass pyramid, now the dangerous and angry-looking head of…

“A robot!” said Megan. “The sculpture's a robot!”

“Looks like it,” said Cam, “and I don't think it likes the look of your robot.”

Resilience pounded across the warehouse towards TJ, scattering further dust and debris as he came.

“TJ, get back!” yelled Megan.

Resilience's faceless pyramid head turned towards them, the rest of its body swivelling slowly behind it. It began banging its way towards Megan and Cam instead. Cam seemed to have tuned out completely; he was simply staring in open-mouthed terror. Megan knew there was only one way to escape quickly enough, and it meant doing something really silly. She had been so careful up to now, but the thought of her or Cam being crushed by either the falling building or a giant robot was too much; Megan grabbed Cam and flew straight upwards, darting and weaving like a sparrow through the crumbling roof.

This seemed to wake Cam up.

“Aaaaaaiiiiieeeerrrgggaaaagghh!” he screamed.

Below, Resilience stopped, tilting its pointed head upwards only once, before rotating back around towards Tin Jimmy.