| Your fingers tremble as you snip
the last thin wire in the robot's brain. You have only twenty-two seconds
to attach the last magnetic bypass clip to the hand computer so that you
can control the heavy machine! The room about you is deathly quiet, and
you know that they are watching you, but you must not let their tense stares
make you nervous. You grab the needle-nosed pliers and reach inside to clip the last circuit. Then you notice the bypass wire isn't long enough! "FOUR- TEEN SECONDS!" your wrist timer flashes. You get another bypass wire from your kit and coolly clip it to the first one, then connect the robot to your computer. You have no tome left to check the circuit. You press the START button and freeze, expecting to hear the alarm. A string of flash- ing zeroes on your wrist watch timer tells you that your time is gone! Suddenly the robot's photocell eyes flash to life. "I am now programmed to report a success- ful bypass," it says in a flat, metallic voice. For a moment, the room is silent. Then every- one begins to cheer. "You did it, Dru!" "Way to go, boy!" "You can work on my robots anytime, Clayton!" "That's enough," interrupts the silver-haired woman standing beside you at the front of the classroom. "I have something to say before the period ends. Turn it off, Dru, and return to your seat." You nod and push the power switch. The |