Extreme Machine Challenge Read online

  And still you want to push it further. Everything is distorted light and colour as you whizz through more galaxies.

  And then you stop. You suddenly realise that you have no idea where you are.

  ‘No worries,’ says Blarp. ‘Just think of home – your planet, your sun.’

  The Sun. You imagine its warmth … and you’re off. Even faster this time.

  ‘Oh,’ says Blarp. ‘Don’t forget to slow down for the approach. You don’t want to collide with –’

  Whoops – too late!

  You crash the spaceship into the heart of the Sun. The chain reaction causes it to go supernova. In the wink of an eye, the entire solar system, Earth included, ceases to exist.

  Well, that was pretty extreme!

  You jump on the Segway with the mysterious woman in black. To your surprise, the Segway zooms off at a pretty fast pace. Looks like it’s an extreme machine, after all!

  The two of you speed through the Expo, people jumping out of the way. Behind you, figures dressed in white hats and trench coats are in pursuit. You manage to elude them and make it out of the exhibition centre.

  The woman drives the Segway up to a black sports car. It’s sleek and streamlined and stunningly beautiful. The windows are tinted so that they’re almost as dark as the body. The woman snaps her fingers and the doors slide up. You ask if you can have a drive.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she says. ‘Now, get in.’

  You jump into the passenger seat and the woman positions herself behind the wheel. As the doors swoosh shut, you see two men in white come running out of the exhibition centre. One of them is talking into his watch.

  ‘Buckle up,’ says the woman. ‘This is going to be one helluva ride.’

  You only just have time to snap your seatbelt into place when you are pressed back into your seat by the speed at which the car zooms off.

  Go here.

  You can’t be certain you’ll survive a fall from this height, even if it is into water. You decide it’s safer to climb back.

  Slowly, you haul yourself up the rope ladder into the helicopter, falling into the seat beside the woman in white.

  Go here.

  You get out of the car and approach the truck driver.

  She casually reaches down and pulls a hub cap off the truck’s front wheel. She flings it at you like a frisbee. You throw yourself to the ground and watch in horror as the metal disc flies over you and hits the race car. The hubcap slices through the bonnet, embedding itself in the engine.

  You jump to your feet and back away.

  KABOOM!

  The car erupts in a fireball. You and the truck driver are knocked to the ground by the force of the explosion.

  But then you realise – poor Mr Pacer is in the car. You hear his high-pitched squeal, which continues to echo around you even after he is vaporised by the blast.

  You stagger to your feet. You’ve got to get out of here! You see the pile of motorcycles that have fallen out of the back of the truck. You could use one of those … but you’ve never ridden a motorcycle before.

  If you want to take the chance and bike it out of here, go here.

  But if you’ d rather run, go here.

  With a screech of tyres and a spray of gravel, you’re off down the road. Glancing in the rear-vision mirror, you see the truck driver getting on a motorcycle and giving chase. You speed up.

  ‘She’s gaining on us,’ cries Mr Pacer, frantically looking over his shoulder. ‘We have to do something!’

  Like what?

  ‘This car has auto off-road capability,’ explains Mr Pacer, ‘for cross-country racing.’

  You look to either side of the road – rough ground and farmland. You could go that way. Or you could try something a little more risky. You saw it in a movie once. You could slam on the brakes when the motorcycle is right behind you.

  To veer off the road, go here.

  To try the abrupt-stop trick, go here.

  Your heart is in your mouth as you race through the city in an incredibly fast car with a strange and mysterious woman dressed in black.

  ‘You’re probably wondering what’s going on,’ says the woman as she drives. ‘That water you drank contained nanoparticles inscribed with the plans for a revolutionary new super weapon.’

  Well, colour you surprised!

  ‘I’m Agent 66,’ continues the woman, glancing at the rear-vision mirror. ‘Looks like we have company.’

  You turn around to see two white sports cars in pursuit. Now begins the greatest car chase … ever! Way better than anything you’ve seen in movies.

  Agent 66 zooms through a shopping mall, smashes through huge piles of empty cardboard boxes and does a seemingly impossible jump over a fire engine that’s blocking a narrow lane. Cars around you are overturned, shop windows are smashed and chickens are thrown into the air as you speed down deserted back streets.

  Chickens? you think. Where did they come from?!

  One of the pursuing cars ends up nose-first in a fountain; the other is accidentally squashed by a pile-driver machine conveniently positioned along a side street. Miraculously, no innocent bystanders are harmed during the chase.

  After the excitement is over, Agent 66 slows down. But your heart is still racing. She looks over at you. ‘We need those plans so that the bad guys don’t get them. I’m going to take you to our HQ and then we’ll wait for you to urinate them out.’

  She flicks a switch and the car sprouts wings.

  ‘Hang on tight,’ she says, as the car accelerates along the road.

  With a stomach-turning lurch, the car/plane launches into the air. Seconds later you are being chased again, this time by two helicopters and three jet planes. They’re all stark white.

  The car/plane flies over the city, past the dock and over the ocean. You are thrown from side to side as your vehicle is rocked by explosions. The bad guys are firing!

  The car/plane veers sharply to avoid a missile. As the projectile detonates to the side of you, the impact sets off the driver’s airbag. Agent 66 is incapacitated, pushed back into her seat by the airbag, and the car/plane plummets. An extra steering wheel pops out of the dash in front of you.

  It’s now all up to you.

  You pull back on the wheel, bringing the car/plane out of the spin. You level out, but the bad guys are still after you, continuous explosions making sure you don’t forget it.

  You look down at all the controls on the dashboard. Your eyes focus on one labelled ‘Submergence Conversion’ and a second labelled ‘Press only in case of extreme emergency’. You wonder if the former will allow you to go under water.

  Which one should you use?

  This is certainly an extreme emergency, so if you want to press that button, go here.

  You are flying over water, so perhaps ‘Submergence Conversion’ would be better.

  Go here.

  As you sit in the helicopter you wonder why you are here and where you are being taken.

  You cling to your seat as the helicopter suddenly veers and dips.

  ‘You had better vasten your seatbelt, young person.’ The woman in white speaks with a strange Eastern-European accent. ‘Ve have company.’

  You look out to see three black helicopters chasing you. What is going on?

  ‘Let me explain dis to you,’ says the woman. ‘I am Agent Natasha and you have something ve vant. I am led to believe dat you svallowed a liquid containing nanoparticles inscribed vith de plans to a revolutionary new super veapon.’

  Veapon? Does she mean weapon?

  ‘Yes – veapon! Dat is vat I said.’ She’s looking impatient now. ‘Ve vere going to vait for you to … how do I put it? Excrete dem. But now dat ve are being pursued, speed is of de essence.’

  She reaches into her coat and produces an ENORMOUS needle and syringe.

  Can you allow this evil agent to siphon the plans to a secret weapon out of your bladder with a gigantic needle?

  ‘By de vay, ve don�
�t have any anaesthetic.’ She shrugs. ‘Much apologies!’

  To stop the super weapon from falling into the wrong hands, you could sacrifice yourself and jump from the helicopter before the extraction takes place. Go here.

  But is it really worth your life? To agree to the extraction, go here.

  You step on the accelerator, pulling ahead of the truck. You continue to speed up the dirt road until you are well ahead. Then, in a cloud of dust, you screech to a halt, parking the car across the centre of the road. Now the truck will have to stop.

  You look out the window to see the truck heading straight for you. It’s not even slowing down!

  You stab at the controls to get the glass roof to slide back. It seems to be moving very slowly.

  You jump out of the car before the roof is fully open, and throw yourself clear just in time. The truck barrels down the road, smashing through the race car. Twisted metal is flung from the fireball as the truck continues down the dusty road, carrying Mr Pacer away.

  You crawl out of the ditch and survey the wreckage. You were lucky to escape. Sadly, your mobile phone did not.

  You look around. Travelling at high speed, you’ve made it quite far from the city. You can just see the buildings off in the distance.

  You take a step and stagger, clutching your leg in pain. You must have injured it when you jumped from the car.

  If you want to start limping towards the city, go here.

  Perhaps it would be better to stay where you are and wait for a passing car.

  Go here.

  You’ve never ridden a motorcycle and you’re not sure you could even start it, let alone stay on it. So you run!

  You race as fast as you can down the road, legs pumping, chest heaving, breath rasping. You chance a look over your shoulder.

  The truck driver is following. She is striding towards you at a steady pace.

  You decide to forgo the road and head into the trees. You continue to run.

  But each time you look back, the driver is still following, steadily walking after you.

  You jump a fence onto some farmland. Your leg twinges but you run through a paddock of cows, up to a small reservoir. As you glance back, you trip and fall. Ouch!

  Your ankle throbs with pain. You twisted it. You try to stand up but fall again, unable to put weight on it.

  And suddenly she’s there, looming over you. The truck driver from hell.

  You scramble back, scoop up a rock and fling it at her. Bullseye! You get her right in the cheek.

  The mirrored sunglasses are knocked from her face, revealing glowing red eyes. The rock has scratched her skin and there’s something poking out. Wires?

  Is the truck driver a robot? A cyborg?

  As she reaches for you, you are struck with an idea. A desperate idea that you’re not even sure will work.

  You push yourself across the ground to the edge of the reservoir. It’s a two-metre drop into the muddy water.

  The truck driver robot/cyborg/creature advances towards you. As soon as she’s near enough, you launch yourself at her legs. You grab hold and pull. The two of you tumble down into the dam.

  There’s an enormous shower of sparks as she hits the water.

  Bzzt! Bzzt! ZAP!

  Smoke belches from her ears, nose and mouth. Her red eyes flicker and dim. You’ve short-circuited her!

  Neck-deep in murky water, you breathe a sigh of relief. But before you can complete your exhalation, a massive crocodile with gaping jaws erupts from the water and devours you in one chomp.

  As the driver gets to her feet, you race to the back of the truck and grab a motorcycle. You hop on and kick the starter.

  You take off jerkily, uncertainly weaving from one side of the road to the other. But then you seem to get the hang of it – you straighten out and accelerate smoothly.

  You chance a look over your shoulder. The truck driver is not following. She’s standing by the truck, watching you, a box-like device in her hands.

  You’re safe. Or so you think.

  You find that you’ve got quite a flair for riding the motorcycle. It’s a fluid, easy ride, almost as if the motorcycle is driving itself.

  Hang on. You realise you can’t steer to the right even when you try. The motorcycle is remaining on a straight path.

  The motorcycle is driving itself! It must be remote-controlled.

  You squeeze the brakes. They don’t respond. You don’t know how to stop.

  A metal clamp grabs you by the waist, wedging you into the seat. You can’t even jump off.

  You can do nothing but watch and panic as the bike veers off the dirt road onto a gravel path leading up into the mountains.

  Your speed increases.

  As the bike tears up the narrow winding roads, spraying gravel in its wake, you get dangerously close to the sheer drop. The wind whips your hair and stings your eyes.

  Your heart is thumping uncontrollably, you’re dripping with sweat and your hands are trembling.

  Up ahead is a large sign: ‘DANGER! BRIDGE OUT!’

  You scream as the motorcycle careens off the edge of the cliff.

  The dirt road you came down is twisting and winding – not a straight path to the city. You decide it would be quicker to walk through the trees and across the farmland.

  As you start limping towards the city, you notice large birds of prey circling above you. Are they buzzards? Vultures, maybe?

  You’re so preoccupied with the birds that you don’t notice the drop ahead of you. Next thing you know, you are tumbling down the side of a hill, heading for a wire fence. Luckily, there’s a water-filled ditch between you and the fence. You splash into the water.

  Your leg is throbbing with pain and your mouth is full of mud. Reaching up to the fence, you pull yourself out of the ditch.

  Big mistake!

  It’s an electrified fence.

  With the water acting as an extra conductor, electricity courses through you. Sparks fly.

  And you gasp your last breath.

  You hop onto a Segway and off you go. It’s actually a lot faster than you expected. People jump out of the way as you roll through the Expo aisles.

  It’s not long before you’ve attracted the attention of the security guards, who give chase. As you trundle back past the Segway exhibit, the two guards acquire their own vehicles.

  The Segway chase is on!

  People stop to watch, snapping pics on their phones. They think it’s part of the Expo entertainment. The crowd erupts into cheers every time you elude your pursers. Eventually, you are cornered in the ‘Mini Extreme Machines for Pets’ aisle, right between the ‘Budgie Buggy’ display and the ‘Puppy Pooch Plane’ exhibit.

  The security guards take you to the main office. Luckily, the manager informs you that the Expo is insured against the sort of damage you caused. You don’t have to pay for it.

  But …

  The manager is about to call your parents.

  ‘Wait!’ A strange man in a Hawaiian shirt bustles in. ‘I run the Segway exhibit and since your little chase through the Expo, I’ve had a sudden burst of interest. I’ve sold more Segways in the last ten minutes than all of yesterday!’

  You are offered a million-dollar contract to advertise Segways. As well as the money, you get your own Segway, which you ride to and from school every day, with a camera crew following you around. You appear in television commercials, magazines and all over the Internet. You even get your own reality show.

  You become a Segway star!

  You take a deep breath and brace yourself.

  ‘Don’t vorry. Ve vill let you go avter we get da plans.’ The woman leans towards you with the needle. ‘This von’t hurt … too much.’

  As she thrusts it at you, the helicopter lurches, and the syringe misses its mark.

  ‘Voops!’

  And so you take your last breath aboard an evil organisation’s helicopter with a needle plunged deep into your heart.

  Tough luck!
r />   You take the wheel and steer. Unfortunately, driving a submarine is a lot harder than driving a car. The ocean currents have an effect on your speed and direction. It’s not long before you crash into a large rock on the ocean floor while trying to avoid hitting a whale.

  Oh well, you’ll just have to wait for Agent 66 to wake up.

  A crack forms at the top of the windshield, and water begins to pour in.

  Suddenly, you really need to wee.

  You wait until you’re in position and then let go. You hold your breath as you plummet towards the water.

  Unfortunately, you’ve miscalculated the jump. Instead of splashing down into the water, you hit the pier.

  It hurts rather a lot.

  You end up in hospital in a full body cast. You never find out who the woman in black was, or the people in white.

  You spend eight months in hospital, itching like crazy … but unable to scratch.

  You yank the steering wheel to the right and the car swerves off the road. Your whole body is shaking as the car drives over the uneven ground. In the rear-vision mirror you see the motorcycle still in pursuit.

  As you watch, the motorcycle hits a rock and is flipped into the air. The driver is thrown from it, landing in the barbed-wire fence surrounding a farm.

  There’s no way the truck driver could have survived a crash like that. You execute a skidding U-turn, stop the car next to the body and go out to check.

  The mirrored sunglasses are gone; her eyes are closed. There’s a gash across her face and … there’s something poking out of the cut. You step closer and lean down.

  Wires! Is the truck driver a robot? A cyborg?