S.M.A.R.T.S. and the Droid of Doom

By Melinda Metz and Heath McKenzie

The S.M.A.R.T.S. club has a new member—a high-tech android named Dude. But not everyone is happy to have the robot at school... because someone is deliberately damaging him during the night! Usually Zoe, Jaden, and Caleb would easily crack the case with their amazing teamwork and critical-thinking skills, but there’s a problem. Caleb doesn’t trust the droid. He’s sure that Dude is up to no good and that artificial intelligence will lead to DOOM and a robo-takeover. Will the three friends be able to work together to solve this mechanical mystery?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: May 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781515887522

Melinda Metz

Melinda Metz is the author of over sixty books for teens and middle-grade readers, including the YA series Roswell High and Echoes (originally published as Fingerprints). She has worked on TV shows such as Roswell (based on her series) and Missing. Melinda lives in Concord, North Carolina with her dog, Scully.

Book preview

Cover

1

Why did the robot go to the movies and get popcorn and soda? Caleb Quinn asked his best friends, Zoe Branson and Jaden Thomson. It was Monday morning, and they were headed to the Hubble Middle School media center.

"Wait. You’re telling a joke? Dumb jokes are Jaden’s thing," Zoe protested. Jaden loved to tell them so much that Zoe had to give him a limit of three a day. More than that and she was sure her brain would go squish.

There can never be enough dumb jokes, Jaden said. Go ahead, Caleb. Why did the robot go to the movies and get popcorn and soda?

So it could blend in with human society and ultimately conquer it. Caleb didn’t smile as he gave the punch line.

Jaden burst out laughing. Nice!

Not nice — and not funny, Caleb told him. "I couldn’t believe they had the joke in Synch. My favorite tech magazine should know that there’s nothing funny about a robot with artificial intelligence. Get enough robots together, and they’ll take over the world. I don’t even know if S.M.A.R.T.S. should be making a robotic dog."

Caleb, Jaden, and Zoe were all in S.M.A.R.T.S. — Science, Makers, And Real Technology Students. They’d known each other since kindergarten, but it wasn’t until they’d started fifth grade and joined S.M.A.R.T.S. that the three had become best friends. Once they were in the group, they’d realized they liked all the same stuff — comics, video games, puzzles, and anything science fiction.

Right now all eleven S.M.A.R.T.S. members were working on building a toy robotic dog they’d named SpotBot. Caleb, Jaden, and Zoe were working on its programming. It was their job to write simple step-by-step instructions for the robot in a language SpotBot’s computer brain could understand. The goal was to get the robot dog to act as much like a real dog as possible.

We’re just trying to get SpotBot to react to certain situations and actions in a specific way, Zoe reminded Caleb. "Like the program we just finished — someone pets SpotBot, so it wags its tail. It doesn’t actually think for itself."

Exactly. Besides, Mrs. Ram wouldn’t let us work on anything unsafe, Jaden told him. Mrs. Ram, short for Mrs. Ramanujan, was the sponsor for S.M.A.R.T.S. as well as the fifth grade science teacher. She was a big nerd too, just like them. The SpotBot will …

Jaden’s words trailed off as he opened the door and walked into the media center. A woman was shouting over by the checkout counter. It was Ms. Kinney, the drama teacher. And she was shouting at Mr. Leavey!

Mr. Leavey was the school librarian. He was almost like a second sponsor for S.M.A.R.T.S. He’d helped Mrs. Ram get the back of the media center turned into a makerspace for the kids. The makerspace was a community area that had all kinds of supplies and equipment so kids could collaborate on ideas, robotics, science, and computers.

You think your S.M.A.R.T.S. kids are so special, Ms. Kinney continued. Well, they aren’t. It’s not fair that they get advantages the other kids don’t!

Jaden, Zoe, and Caleb hesitated in the doorway. They exchanged worried looks. What was she talking about?

Yeah, they get all kinds of cool equipment, like a 3-D printer, but now we don’t even get to do a play because of the budget cuts! Mike Perez cried from his spot at Ms. Kinney’s side. Mike was the president of the drama club. We’d already started building the sets.

I’m upset about the budget cuts too, but I — Mr. Leavey began.

Ms. Kinney gave an irritated snort. Come on, Mike. Nothing we say will make any difference. She turned and stalked toward the door. Mike followed right behind her. Caleb, Zoe, and Jaden moved out of their way.

Mike stopped and glared at them. You S.M.A.R.T.S. won’t always be so lucky, he threatened.

2

What was that all about, Mr. Leavey? Jaden asked as he, Caleb, and Zoe walked over to the librarian.

Mr. Leavey sighed. The school just came out with a new budget, and unfortunately the drama club and lots of other school programs lost money.

"It sounded like they