City of Robots Read online

  But who won?

  There doesn’t appear to be anyone left alive.

  Perhaps you are the only survivor.

  Self-destruct?

  You turn for the door, but Fred pushes you aside as he tries to get out.

  ‘Eight … Seven …’

  You stagger to your feet.

  ‘Six … Five …’

  A cable whips out from Pi’s innards and wraps itself around Fred, dragging him back.

  ‘Four … Three …’

  You race for the door.

  ‘Two … One …’

  You fling yourself through it.

  ‘Zero … Goodbye!’

  KABOOM!

  You are thrown across the street by the force of the explosion. Battered, bruised and bleeding, you look up groggily.

  Pi, Fred and the games arcade are gone. The shops around the smoking crater are on fire.

  You hear the distant sound of sirens as you pass out.

  You’re suspicious of the Termech. Why would future robots help you defeat their ancestors? You go off in search of a scientist.

  You find one cowering in a workshop. You give him the Termech and explain what has happened.

  He scans the device to discover that it is a high-frequency emitter that will send a massive waveform burst killing all life on the planet.

  So the scientist cuts open the casing with a laser, rewires it and changes the frequency of the emitter.

  ‘Now it will disable electronics,’ he explains. ‘It will stop the robots, and all other devices too.’ He hands it to you. ‘You should have the honours.’

  You stare down at the Termech.

  You have the power. You wonder what life will be like without your games console and television and iPod. You hesitate.

  A mechanical tentacle smashes through the door. Oh no, that pesky robot squid is back!

  Your mind is made up. You activate the Termech.

  PING!

  It sounds like a microwave oven going off.

  The robot squid falls lifeless to the floor. Every electronic device on Earth, from the smallest microchip to the largest computer, simultaneously short-circuits.

  The planet is safe – but is now really, really boring!

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Penguin Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  You Choose 12: City of Robots

  9780143782995

  Copyright © George Ivanoff 2017

  Illustrations copyright © James Hart 2017

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted.

  A Random House Australia book

  Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd

  Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060

  www.penguin.com.au

  Addresses for the Penguin Random House group of companies can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices

  First published by Random House Australia in 2017

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry

  Author: Ivanoff, George, 1968–

  Title: City of Robots [electronic resource]

  ISBN: 978 0 14378 299 5 (ebook)

  Series: You choose; 12

  Target Audience: For primary school age

  Subjects: Plot-your-own stories

  Robots – Juvenile fiction

  Cyborgs – Juvenile fiction

  Science fiction

  Other creators/contributors: Hart, James, Illustrator

  Dewey Number: A823.3

  Cover and internal illustrations by James Hart

  Cover design by Christa Moffitt, Christabella Designs

  Internal design by Midland Typesetters

  Ebook by Firstsource