Rebels With a Cause Read online

  Max found herself sitting, slumped in a chair. But her hands and ankles weren’t bound or shackled to it. She felt groggy and vaguely remembered Dr. Zimm’s thugs shooting her, Klaus, and Keeto with tranquilizer darts fired from air pistols. Dr. Zimm and Lenard must’ve figured Max wouldn’t need restraints. They were counting on the drowsy drugs to keep her under control.

  That was their first mistake.

  It took everything she had but, finally, Max was able to get to her feet and stumble over to the door. She gripped the knob. Tried to twist it. She couldn’t. It was locked. Okay. They weren’t as dumb as she originally thought.

  However, they did make a second mistake.

  Max still had her body cam.

  Unfortunately, the LED indicator for the battery was blinking red. It was dead. There was no charge left. Keeto hadn’t done a power check when he dug it out of his shoulder bag.

  Max assumed the Corp goons had left the tranquilized Klaus and Keeto back at the hotel, lying on the floor. She also hypothesized that her friends’ tranquilizers would be wearing off at about the same time as hers. Actually, she prayed that was the case.

  Max looked up at the warehouse ceiling.

  “Yes!” She saw what she was looking for: a battery-powered smoke detector.

  She piled a stack of water bottle cartons directly underneath it. Then, she created a series of smaller carton towers to improvise a step stool. Body aching, she gingerly climbed up each layer of cartons. Stretching out her hand until it felt like her shoulder would pop out of its socket, she snapped open the smoke detector. The door dangled on its hinge. Max took a deep breath, reached up again, got her fingers around the nine-volt battery, and yanked down hard.

  She tugged it with everything she had because she needed to rip out the plastic cap connector with its wires, too.

  “Got ’em,” she said as she wobbled down her makeshift ladder. Her legs still weren’t fully functional.

  Moving as quickly as she could, Max forced open the back of the body cam to expose the dead battery. She slid it out of the unit. There was a roll of tape for sealing broken-open cartons sitting on a work table. Max tore off a few small squares. Next, she attached the stripped red wire from the nine-volt battery to the + symbol on the back of the camera battery. The black wire got taped to the − symbol.

  Then Max waited.

  For a full sixty seconds.

  When the minute was up, she slid the recharged battery back into the body cam and flicked on its transmitter. The indicator light glowed green. She had battery power. Probably not much. Hopefully enough.

  She panned the lens around the room.

  “Okay, you guys,” she whispered as her camera took in the warehouse and the automated conveyor belts out on the factory floor. “If you’re awake, I don’t know where they took me, but I think it might be a Fresh & Pure bottling plant. Or a warehouse. Does this thing do GPS coordinates? If so, you’re a bigger genius that I already realized, Keeto, and you know exactly where I am. Send Klaus. I think I’m gonna need him.”

  The door clicked open.

  Max whirled around.

  Lenard had just shuffled into the room.

  52

  “Our new friends at the water company knew that you children were staying at the Royal Duke Hotel,” said the smirking humanoid. “They simply forgot to inform us of that fact in a timely manner.” The robot shook his head and seemed to sigh. “Unfortunately, my artificial intelligence is only as good as the data it is given.”

  That’s when Lenard saw Max’s miniature camera.

  “Ah, very clever, Maxine.”

  Lenard was alone. No guards. No Dr. Zimm. No water company thugs.

  “My friends didn’t search you to see if you were carrying any concealed weapons or, in this instance, concealed cameras,” the boy-bot said with a giggle. “Another human error committed by the ever-fallible Dr. Zacchaeus Zimm. I assume that’s a live feed, sending a signal to your compatriots?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then I suppose we don’t have much time, do we? Your friends will be here soon. The two mysterious adults with all the weaponry and martial arts training. Maybe even that annoying woman with the video camera. Meanwhile, I am here all alone. Everyone else had to head downtown to deal with your friend Vihaan and a mob of rather loud and unruly local protesters. Very well. I will make this quick. Dr. Zimm has much to tell you.”

  “About what?”

  “All sorts of things. For instance, why you have that photograph of Albert Einstein in your suitcase. For that matter, let’s talk about your suitcase. Do you know where they both came from?”

  Max shook her head.

  “Dr. Zimm gave you the suitcase and the photograph.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Apparently so you’d always remember who you are.”

  “Okay—who am I?”

  “We can discuss that later. After you agree to my terms.”

  “So, all of a sudden, you’re in charge of the Corp’s operations against the CMI?”

  “Yes,” said Lenard. “It’s a much more efficient way to operate because, as you might surmise, I am not prone to human errors.”

  Max knew she had to stall. She had to give Keeto and Klaus time to locate her. She had to act interested in Lenard’s terms.

  “Okay. I’m listening,” she said. “What is it you want me to do?”

  “Work with me. Redeem your hero, Albert Einstein.”

  Max laughed. “Redeem him?”

  “Oh, yes. You see, Maxine, your beloved Dr. Einstein was from a different time and era. He made so, so many mistakes about quantum mechanics. Called it ‘spooky action at a distance.’ Couldn’t stand how ‘fuzzy’ it was. Why, he even famously dismissed its uncertainty principle by saying that he doesn’t believe God plays dice with the universe. Oh, he agreed that the math worked. He just couldn’t wrap his nineteenth-century brain around what could become the shining scientific accomplishment of the twenty-first century.”

  “The Corp wants to build a quantum computer, right?”

  “Yes, Maxine. One that can work on hugely complex problems by doing innumerable simultaneous computations. One that’s small and compact. One that might even fit inside my head.”

  “You want a quantum computer brain?”

  “Oh, yes. Even more than you want to know who your parents are. Work with me, Maxine, and, I project with ninety-nine percent certitude, that we will both find what we are searching for. You don’t need the CMI. You’ve come as far as you can with them. But you and me? Working together? We will make quantum leaps! And Dr. Zimm will answer every single question that has ever kept you up at night! Who are you? Where did you come from? Why is your last name Einstein? Work with me, and Dr. Zimm will tell you everything he knows! Everything!”

  53

  Max considered Lenard’s offer—for maybe two seconds.

  When you’re an orphan and suddenly find yourself part of a big family, you don’t throw that away. The CMI was Max’s first family. She would not desert them, not for all the secrets Dr. Zimm claimed to know.

  But she still needed to buy time.

  “Fine,” she told Lenard. “How about we play a game of chess? If you can defeat me, I’ll work with the Corp. If I win, you come work for me.”

  The robot laughed uncontrollably.

  “Work for you?”

  “And the CMI.”

  “Game on,” chuckled Lenard. Then it pressed its ear and a three-dimensional hologram of a chessboard was projected from a beam streaming out of its left nostril. The translucent, checkered board and thirty-two lined-up pieces hovered in the air between Max and Lenard.

  “Just tap the piece you wish to move and swipe in the direction you wish to move it,” Lenard explained. “Tap twice if you wish your pawn to move two spaces instead of one.”

  Max nodded and thought about the hundreds of times she’d defeated Mr. Weinstock (and everybody else) at the chess tables in New York City�
�s Washington Square Park.

  She was a chess master, for sure. But Lenard was an artificially intelligent robot. He probably knew even more grandmaster gambits and moves than Max did.

  As they played, Lenard became somewhat chatty.

  “So, if I may, Maxine, why do you and your friends strive to do good in the world?” he asked.

  Max shrugged as she tapped a holographic bishop on the board. “I think we all have a duty to do as much good as we can. Besides, doing good feels good.”

  Lenard shook his head. “My views on charity are very simple,” he said, sounding like he was quoting something his creators had downloaded onto his hard drive. “I do not consider charity a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty.”

  “And what do you consider a moral duty?” Max asked, making her move, threatening Lenard’s king.

  “Greed,” he answered as he successfully defended against Max’s strike. “Greed is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms—greed for life, money, love, and knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind.”

  Now he sounded like he was quoting a scene from a movie.

  That’s when Max fully realized that Lenard was just an empty vessel, bursting with whatever information and knowledge his minders pumped into him. In a way, Lenard was a lot like quantum physics. He could be simultaneously good and evil. It all depended on the information he received, the data he was given to mine.

  Max slid her knight into the perfect pouncing position.

  “Checkmate,” said Max.

  “Impossible. I am programmed to never lose.”

  “Yeah, that’s the problem with programming. It comes from programmers and, unfortunately for you, they’re human. Just like Dr. Zimm.”

  “I do not admit defeat. Winning isn’t everything. It is the only thing.”

  “Who fed you all this gunk?”

  “My friends at the Corp. They carefully curated my input. They gave me confidence. Swagger.”

  “They gave you a bunch of garbage, too.”

  Just then, the door creaked open.

  Klaus.

  54

  “You are the Polish boy,” sneered Lenard. “You are Klaus. You were our useful idiot.”

  “That’s right,” said Klaus, sounding slightly sinister. “I see you’ve got Max. Good. You probably should’ve tied her to that chair.…”

  “What are you doing here, Klaus?” asked Lenard.

  “I want to be more than a useful idiot.”

  “Klaus?” said Max, sounding slightly scared. “What are you doing?”

  “We’ve both always known that I should be the one heading up the CMI,” said Klaus. “I think Ben has some kind of crush on you. That’s why he chose you instead of me to lead the team. But you’re right, Max. Your very presence slows us down. You’re not cut out to be the top dog. I am.”

  Klaus slid a thumb drive out of his pocket.

  “Lenard? I came here to upload some new information into your hard drive. All the data you might need to keep Max Einstein here under control. This is the good stuff. The dirt. Her likes, dislikes, and psychological weaknesses.”

  “Why did you bring this to me?” asked Lenard.

  “Because I want what’s rightfully mine. I want to eliminate my competition.”

  Now the boy-bot grinned. “You’re a very greedy boy.”

  “Yeah,” said Klaus. “Greed is good. So here. Let me hook you up. Dump some new Max Einstein–specific data into that amazing brain of yours. I see your USB input port. Just need to insert this thumb drive.…”

  Klaus moved behind the automaton. Into its blind spot.

  “I am sorry, Klaus,” said Lenard, attempting to twist his head around a full 180 degrees. He couldn’t. “Data input can only be administered by authorized Corp technicians who have undergone—”

  Klaus jabbed his thumb drive into the back of Lenard’s head. The robot stopped talking mid-sentence.

  “Don’t worry,” said Klaus. “I’m fully authorized. Heck, I’m a robotics genius!”

  Lenard’s head flopped forward. His eyes looked dead as a fish.

  “Is he okay?” asked Max.

  “Totally,” said Klaus. “I just gave him a swift reboot. His hard drive is erasing itself. It’ll take about an hour.”

  “Did anybody come with you?” Max asked.

  “Charl. He came rushing back to the hotel ten seconds after Keeto and I woke up and contacted him. He’s out in the hall. Crouching below that window there. He’s my personal security detail. It’s pretty cool.”

  “Is Keeto okay?” asked Max.

  “Yeah. After Charl and I were good to go, he headed down the hill to join Vihaan’s protest rally.” Klaus rapped his knuckles on the window. “Olly, olly, oxen free! It’s safe to come in. The robot is in sleep mode.”

  Charl popped up and bustled into the room.

  “This facility is clear,” he reported. “Dr. Zimm, the Corp mercenaries, and the packaged-water company’s enforcers are all in Jitwan, trying to do something that will make Vihaan’s nonviolent protest turn violent. You and Lenard were the only ones in this building, Max.”

  “The robot wanted to deal with you one-on-one,” said Klaus, gesturing toward the mechanical mannequin, which was now slumped over at the waist. “Probably figured it could use its treasure trove of pure logic to turn you against us. We might’ve deserved it, too. Especially me.”

  “Impossible,” said Max with a grin.

  “Are you forgetting how I goofed up with that phone Dr. Zimm sent me?” said Klaus.

  “You made a couple mistakes,” Max told him. “So what? It’s like Einstein always said: ‘Anyone who never made a mistake never tried anything new.’”

  “Albert Einstein said that?”

  “Nope,” Max said with a grin. “Max Einstein said that. Speaking of trying something new…”

  “What?” said Klaus. “I see that look in your eye, Max. That’s the aha glint you get right before you have a great big brainstorm.”

  Max turned to Charl. “We need to transport Klaus and Lenard to CMI headquarters in Jerusalem.”

  “You want to steal their robot?” said Klaus.

  “It’s not really stealing. It’s… refurbishing. Plus, that was our deal.”

  “Huh?”

  “The stakes of our chess game. If I lost, I’d go work for the Corp. If Lenard lost…”

  “He’d work for us?” said Charl.

  “Yep. So now we need you, Klaus, to head up our CMI robotic restoration. We need you to give Lenard’s artificial intelligence some new raw data to chew on. The poor guy’s bionic brain needs better material.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” said Klaus.

  “Is everybody else still at the protest?” Max asked Charl.

  Charl nodded. “Vihaan and his grandfather are leading the march through the streets, winding their way to the municipal commissioner’s office.”

  “I’ll go join them,” said Max. “You help Klaus haul our new friend Lenard out of here.”

  “Put us on the first flight to Jerusalem, Charl,” said Klaus. “I’ve got some major robo-rebooting to do.”

  55

  Max joined the rest of the CMI team and what looked like the entire population of Jitwan holding a rally in the square outside the municipal commissioner’s office.

  Vihaan and his grandfather were leading the rally, which, Max figured, was as it should be. This was their home. Their country. A lot of the marchers were children. They were out in the streets, fighting for their future.

  “I am a key man!” cried Vihaan’s grandfather through a bullhorn. “The water barons bribe the police! Water should belong to all the people, not just the greedy ones with the money to make it flow where they wish!”

  “We will continue to clean your water!” added Vihaan, taking the bullhorn from his grandfather. “My Change
Maker friends and I will build more machines. We will teach you how to operate them. But it is up to you, the people of Jitwan, to make the real changes. It is up to you to make certain the government ensures that the clean water goes to those who need it most. Not to those who pay the most so they can put our filtered water into bottles and bags and sell it for a profit!”

  A small man who looked like a mayor came out to the steps of the government building to address the crowd.

  “We will make many changes,” the municipal commissioner promised Vihaan and the protesters. “Starting with firing the police officers who were supposed to protect our key men but, instead, intimidated them into not doing their duty. I’ve also asked the police to arrest several representatives of the Fresh & Pure water company. They have much to answer for.”

  The crowd cheered. Max figured the two thugs from the water company would be spending the night in jail.

  “This is the dawn of a new day!” the commissioner promised. “Thanks to Vihaan Banerjee and his young friends, we will soon have many new sources of clean water. We will make certain that it gets where you, the people, need it most.”

  The crowd cheered again. If elections were held that afternoon, the municipal commissioner would’ve won in a landslide.

  “Thanks for sending Klaus to answer my distress signal,” Max said to Keeto when she found him carrying a WATER IS LIFE placard in the crowd.

  “No problemo. I tweaked out that camera to record the GPS coordinates of every shot it recorded. Finding you was easy.”

  “Only because you made it easy. You’re a genius.”

  Keeto shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a gift. And Max?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Everybody on our team is a genius, remember?”

  “Yep. And I’ll never forget it.”

  “Your friend Dr. Zimm just took off,” Siobhan told Max when she came over. Tisa was with her. “We’ve been keeping an eye on him and his goons.”