Minecraft: Into the Game (Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles #1). Nick Eliopulos

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СКАЧАТЬ and continued. “Culpepper is new this year. She’s brilliant.

      She’s a real doctor! I looked her up online, and she has worked on artificial intelligence. So what is she doing at our school?”

      “Maybe she enjoys teaching,” said the new girl.

      “That’s an interesting hypothesis,” said Jodi.

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      “But I like mine better.”

      “Well, I have bad news,” said the girl. “I think your science project has got away.”

      Jodi spun around and looked

      through the binoculars. “How did she do that?” she asked.

      “Did she step through a time portal?”

      “She stepped into . . .

      a minivan!” the new girl

      answered dramatically.

      “Hmmm . . . ” said Jodi, disappointed. “That’s

      so normal, it’s almost suspicious . . .”

      The new girl giggled. “I’m Ash, by the way.”

      Jodi put the binoculars away. “I’m Jodi. I saw you this morning. We’re both in Ms Minerva’s class.” She pointed to Ash’s sash. “So you’re a Wildling Scout? You have so many badges!”

      Ash nodded. “Unfortunately, there’s no Spycraft badge. But maybe I can help you anyway. I do have a badge for bird-watching. And camouflage. And drone building.“

      “Oh, I love the drone idea,” Jodi said. “I could

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      paint it to look like a ghast!” She scratched her chin. “But what if Doc takes control of it remotely with advanced technology from the twenty-third century?”

      “You’re right,” said Ash. “A drone is too risky.”

      Jodi sighed. “I need a real science

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      project, anyway.” She perked up. “Wait. Did you say you’ve already done one this year?”

      “Yes,” Ash said. She pointed to a badge with the image of a test tube on it. “I made an exploding piñata. It uses carbon dioxide.”

      “A piñata you don’t even have to hit?” Jodi said. “It’s the invention of the century!”

      “The science is easy,” said Ash. “But it takes an artist to make it look like a real piñata.”

      Jodi grinned from ear to ear. “You want to be partners? You bring the science, I’ll bring the art.”

      Ash smiled back. “Sure.”

      A shrill whistle cut through the air.

      “Our three minutes are up,” Jodi said. “Follow me!”

      Jodi was a year younger than the other kids. The teachers all said she had ‘creative problem-solving skills’. That seemed to be a polite way to say that she was smart but impulsive – both traits shared by all the members of the Mercado family. But where her brother usually tried to control

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      himself and look cool in front of their classmates (she didn’t think he was all that successful), Jodi liked to follow her artistic whims, no matter what anyone thought.

      Her ‘creative problem-solving’ made her seem a little odd, but there was no denying that

      she was smart. She had been allowed to skip a grade. That was why she was in the same classes as her older brother, Morgan.

      In most cases, being younger than her classmates wasn’t a big deal. But she always felt the difference in gym. She was just a little bit shorter than

      everyone else. It put her at a disadvantage for most sports.

      So she’d made a deal with Morgan. They called it their pact. When it was his turn to choose teams, he would always choose her first. And when it was Jodi’s turn, she would choose Morgan first. That way, they were always on the same team.

      Morgan was a good big brother. So good that she was reluctant to do what she was about to do: she was going to break their pact. She only hoped Morgan would understand.

      It was Jodi’s turn to choose. And Ash looked so hopeful, standing on her tiptoes and waving. Jodi realised that she was probably one of the only people Ash knew in the entire school.

      “Go ahead, Jodi,” said Coach Graham. “Make your first pick.”

      Morgan took a step forwards.

      “I choose Ash,” Jodi said quickly, before she could change her mind.

      Ash looked so happy. She rushed to Jodi’s side. “Thanks,” she whispered.

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      Jodi felt warmth in her chest. She was sure she’d done the right thing. And she was sure Morgan would understand.

      She glanced across the asphalt at her brother.

      Uh-oh. Maybe he wouldn’t.

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      Chapter 3

      Science! Without It¸

      There Would Be No Candy

      S

      everal days later, Harper Houston stepped back to admire her team’s creation. She smiled.

      There was just something beautiful about a perfectly constructed volcano.

      “I hope this works,” said Po Chen. He was one of her partners for the science fair.

      “It will work,” Harper promised. “That’s the beauty of science. If you follow the instructions, you get the same result every time.” She turned to Morgan, the third member of their group. “Right, Morgan?”

      Morgan didn’t say anything.

      “Right, Morgan?” she repeated.

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      But Morgan wasn’t paying attention to her. He was looking towards the doors of the auditorium. Harper turned to look, too. She saw Morgan’s sister, Jodi, with the new girl, Ash. They were arriving with their own project. It was tall and covered with a white sheet, like a Halloween costume of a ghost.

      “What is that?” Harper asked him. “Did your sister make a volcano, too?”

      “I don’t know,” Morgan answered. “They’ve been working on it in secret for days.”

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