About the author

Aleksei Shevchuk (pen name: Alex Krown) is an entrepreneur, educator, and founder of the Itlandia network of digital skills schools, which is attended by thousands of teenagers every year. With over 27 years of experience at the intersection of IT, business, and education, Aleksei has dedicated his career to helping children and adults explore the digital world with interest and safety. He currently lives and works in Vilnius, Lithuania. As a writer, Aleksei strives to combine popular science and fiction formats, creating works based on the concept of “soft learning.” His goal is to make complex but critically important topics such as cybersecurity, media literacy, and critical thinking accessible and engaging for a young audience. Stellar Vacation is his debut project in this hybrid genre, where an exciting adventure becomes the basis for learning important life skills.

Additional authors

Steven Bink

Aleksandr Murashko (Steven Blink) is an experienced educator teaching physics and programming. He is a lecturer at the Academy of Communications, develops courses for Itlandia, and authored a book on Scratch.

Aleksandr Murashko (pen name: Steven Blink) is an experienced educator with many years of practice, known for his work in teaching physics and programming, as well as for being a co-author of literary works.

Aleksandr's primary activity is focused on teaching. He holds a position as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Physics at the Academy of Communications. With over twenty years of teaching experience, he makes a significant contribution to education and is actively involved in popularizing science among young people.

In addition to his work at the academy, Aleksandr Murashko is the author and developer of programming courses for the "ITlandia" project, where he teaches schoolchildren robotics, graphic design, and the fundamentals of programming, particularly on the Scratch platform.

Aleksandr Murashko is also the author of the book: "Programming in Scratch. A Tutorial for Children" (2020) — an educational guide aimed at teaching children the basics of programming in an accessible and engaging way.

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Stellar Vacation: Unsafe Connection

Chapter 1

CATASTROPHE. COMPLETE, ABSOLUTE END OF THE WORLD.

For two days, fifteen minutes, and forty-six seconds Dan had already been considering himself the unhappiest person in the world. That’s exactly how long it had been since he learned he would spend the summer in the countryside. With his grandfather, whom he hadn’t seen in several years.  Without the internet. Total cringe! And all because his parents were rushing off on an urgent business trip, leaving him with no one to take care of him. Utter injustice!

“Just imagine: fresh air, fishing, books!” his dad gushed as he saw Dan off onto the bus. “Imagined. That’s a nightmare,” Dan muttered. A line of tired farmhouses, slumped fences, and Grandpa’s place-dark as dusk and paint peeling off the walls. On the roof, crows: “Caw… caw…”, This is roughly how the boy imagined his summer vacation would be.

During the long, and by the way, his first solo trip, Dan cheered up.  His phone showed four full bars of internet connection, and his battery was fully charged. He could totally binge-watch PicTok. And despite his dad’s claims, the boy found it hard to believe that there was no internet. 

“Seriously? In the 21st century, there are places without a network?”

*  * *

Dan recognized his grandpa immediately. The real Nicholas Harrington was very different from the image of a rural grandpa that Dan had imagined. A neat, white, trimmed beard, luxurious mustache, and a light brown linen suit - all together, he looked like a trendy Santa Claus who had just visited a barbershop. He was the only one waiting on the platform at the bus station. As soon as he saw Dan, he strode toward him, smiling broadly with his arms wide open.

“Wow, look at you, Danny - you’ve grown so much!”

And instead of a simple hug, he suddenly lifted his grandson, backpack and all, and spun him in the air. “Whoa, Grandpa’s powerhouse,” Dan wondered to himself.

Then, Dan's attention was drawn to an odd pin on his grandfather's lapel. A shiny droplet with a black dot in the center – it looked a lot like a tiny video camera. 

It turned out the journey wasn't over yet. They still had to drive from the station. The boy rested his forehead against the cool window of his grandfather's SUV, sneaking a peek at his smartphone. The network indicator was slowly fading away. Dan sighed. His grandfather interpreted the action in a completely different way.

“Yeah, it’s a good idea to call your parents and tell them you arrived safely. So we shouldn’t waste any time. Besides, Nina has prepared dinner for us.”

“But… is there really no network at all?” Dan asked, sadly glancing at the screen.

“Absolutely none,” grandpa “reassured” him. “But don’t worry. As soon as we get there, you’ll call Dad right away,” grandpa encouraged him. “And the nature here is amazing. You can swim if you want, or go fishing or go for a walk in the forest.  There’re plenty of berries and mushrooms. Such a sight for sore eyes.

On the side of the road, Dan spotted a strange sign: a schematic image of a mobile phone with a red line crossing it out.

Grandpa caught his eye.

“Yeah, this is where the ‘Zone of Radio Silence’ starts. So, here’s a heads-up: it’s best to turn your mobile phone off. It won’t work here.”

“Why?” Dan asked indifferently.

“Because mobile phones interfere with the radio telescope.”

Then grandpa started explaining, and the longer Dan listened, the more his mood sank into the negative zone. It turned out that the place they were being sent to-and where Dan felt like a “digital prisoner”-wasn’t a village at all. They were heading to a scientific settlement where the observatory staff lived. The observatory itself wasn’t far away-just a few kilometers. The settlement is called “Orion,” and it even houses a radio telescope that receives signals from outer space. That’s why, in the settlement, you aren’t allowed to use devices that create interference with radio signals-not mobile phones, not TVs, and not even microwaves.

“Medieval times,” Dan groaned. “That’s it! My summer vacation is ruined!”

Dan exclaimed in horror.

“I’ll definitely take you on a tour,” grandpa continued as if nothing were wrong. “Wanna check out the observatory?”

“No!” Dan snapped, turning away in dissatisfaction and staring out the window. “This is child abuse!”

His sadness and resentment toward his parents were boundless. How could they send him here? For what? Didn’t they know there was basically no civilization here?

At the entrance, grandpa showed Dan a bizarre-looking phone sitting on a small table-a stationary phone, as he called it. Dan cautiously picked up the handset, which was attached to the body by a long spring. He ran his fingers over it: just a regular wire, but somehow twisted into a spiral. On the front panel, there was a dial with holes and numbers. Clearly, it was for dialing a number. But how? A long, drawn-out dial tone came from the receiver. “I feel like I’ve stepped into the past. How boring life must have been back then,” he thought.

Dan had no idea that incredible adventures-way cooler than anything in his favorite games-were waiting for him.

“Have you never seen a phone like this?” grandpa raised his eyebrows in surprise.

 “Now I’ll show you how!”

After a couple of failed attempts, including a call to a pizzeria and nearly spraining his finger, Dan finally learned how to dial a number by turning the dial. It turned out to be pretty fun. But he didn’t talk much with his dad-he just wasn’t in the mood.

“Yeah, I got here. Yeah, grandpa met me. Everything’s fine, I’m tired, and I just want to sleep.” And he passed the phone back to grandpa.

Then Nina came and led Dan on a tour of the house. In the car, Dan had been wondering “Who is this Nina, the one who made dinner? Doesn’t grandpa live alone?” Unfortunately, grandma had died many years ago during an expedition in Alaska. Dan barely remembered her. And Dad had never mentioned any Nina.

It turned out that Nina was the housekeeper-she comes by and helps around the home.

Grandpa’s house turned out to be completely different from what Dan had imagined. It was a real cottage, with all the comforts-a huge fireplace in the living room… and the aroma of flowers and books, which didn’t match the boy’s idea of a rustic country house at all.

And on the second floor, in grandpa’s study, Dan saw… a computer with a huge flat screen. Next to it was a printer.

And on the screen… a familiar logo and a search bar. And that meant…

“So here’s the deal-it’s a browser!” Dan exclaimed joyfully. “There’s internet!”

“Yeah, there is,” confirmed grandpa, who had already climbed to the second floor. “But it’s wired, connected only for work purposes.”

Dan sighed heavily and gave grandpa a pitiful look.

“Maybe… can I use it too? Just a little?”

Grandpa smirked:

 “You love to play, right?”

 “Totally,” Dan admitted. “By the way, I was the first in class to beat ‘Cosmodrive’ on my first try.”

What he saw filled him with at least a sliver of hope, and the delicious dinner helped push away his awful thoughts of escape. Yes-yes! Even in the car, Dan had started thinking about how to escape back to the city. He remembered the road from the station to the settlement. And the money his parents had given him, “just in case,” would have been more than enough for a return ticket.

“Alright,” the boy decided, “we’ll see what’s up here in the morning.”

Especially now that he had his very own room with windows overlooking the garden on the first floor.

Then Dan remembered that he hadn’t yet asked grandpa about that strange device on his jacket.

“I’ll ask in the morning,” he muttered as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2

A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 

The morning kicked off with some really weird sounds.

"Who in their right mind chose such a stupid alarm sound? And at full volume?"

Dan jumped out of bed, looking around in surprise for a few seconds. Oh, right-this wasn’t his city room at all. And that wasn’t even an alarm clock! Dan peered out the window. Beyond the fence, a rooster was crowing. Somewhere, a dog was barking. Up above, a crow was cawing.

He glanced at his phone-the one he always kept by his bed-and it was way too early.

"So annoying! They won’t let me sleep in, not even during vacation."

Grumbling, Dan slipped on his slippers and headed to the bathroom. Then he peeked into the kitchen, where some mouthwatering smells were coming from.

"Good morning! Dan, wash up and come down for breakfast!" Nina was plating up pancakes. "Professor Harrington will be coming down soon too."

"Good morning," Dan mumbled, still half asleep.

And let me tell you, those pancakes were insanely good-almost as good as Mom’s. Dan lost count of how many he pigged out on, all washed down with warm cocoa. That totally made him feel a bit more at ease with the world. And then he asked his grandpa about that weird gadget on his jacket.

"A video camera? You’re kidding, right?" Grandpa chuckled. "But, you know, it kinda looks like one. So why would someone carry around a tiny camera?"

"Uh…," Dan stammered, "like, maybe to record everything for memory… All those experiments and stuff."

Grandpa burst out laughing.

"Not complaining about keeping memories. And you’re right: a lot of scientific experiments need to be recorded on video. But that’s a whole different story."

Nicholas Harrington then took off his badge and handed it to Dan.

"This is meteorite material. Well, actually, a micrometeorite. I once managed to watch it fall, and later found a few fragments. I polished it, set it in a frame—and boom, it turned into this unique piece of jewelry."

Dan examined the badge with pure curiosity.

"Can you imagine? A little rock wandered through space for millions of years until Earth’s gravity finally caught it, and now it’s right here in front of you."

He handed the badge back.

"Cool thing. I’d really love to find a meteorite of my own someday."

Then he sighed.

"But can I play on the computer while you’re at work? I seriously know how to use it, for real!"

But grandpa shook his head.

"No way. It’s your vacation! Your eyes, your brain, your whole growing body needs to rest."

"Yeah, sure," Dan grumbled. "What am I supposed to do all day? Lie in bed?"

"Well, that wouldn’t hurt either," Grandpa said while getting up from the table. "Especially with a good book in hand. You saw the computer in the study, but you totally missed the huge library, right? I have tons of really cool books. And the library is right next to the study, by the way. And if you’re itching to do something else…" Grandpa pointed out the window toward a building in the back of the garden.

"Over there, in the garage, there’s a pile of old junk. If you feel like it-tidy up a bit. There are even some fishing rods. You could go fishing. Enjoy your break!"

After grandpa left, Dan, feeling dejected, started scouting the area.

"Exploitation of child labor, seriously," he muttered as he walked up to the garage. "I’m not going to clean it up-it's vacation, man!"

Inside, in the dim light, he noticed a mountain of parts from old computers on the shelves. A few monitors here and there. He even spotted a box full of random cables. Dan figured he could probably put together a whole computer from all that stuff, if all the parts still worked. Since the garage was stuffy, dusty, and super dark, he decided to haul his finds outside. Nearby, by the fence, there was this hidden gazebo with a table and benches. “Perfect spot,” Dan thought, and dragged his chosen bits over there.

But after a few minutes, he realized he had no clue what some of the boards were for.

Out of habit, Dan pulled his phone from his pocket-only to find there was no network. He sighed in disappointment.

"Ugh… If only I had internet connection, I'd find the info right away. That stinks!"

At least his phone had a couple of simple clicker games that didn’t need the internet. What else was there to do? Dan settled comfortably on the bench and launched a game.

“Hi! What are you doing?” a clear voice rang out. Expressive black eyes peered over the fence. It was a girl, a truly unusual one, with red hair braided into two thick plaits and faint freckles on her cheeks and button nose. “Cool,” Dan thought, feeling his face flush traitorously. He turned away. A dog barked beyond the fence.

“Rex! Quiet!” the girl said, looking down. There was a rustle under the fence, then silence. “Can I come in?”

Curiosity overcame his embarrassment. Dan glanced at the fence, but she was already gone.

He went back to his game, but then the fence boards parted, and the girl slipped into the garden. She held the boards, and a large reddish-brown dog followed, eyeing Dan warily before sitting at her feet.

“I’m Ruby” she said, nodding toward the dog. “And this is Rex.” To the dog, she added, “Rex, he’s friendly!”

“I’m Dan, or just Den,” he replied, eyeing the dog cautiously. “Does he bite?”

“Oh, he bites alright,” Ruby said. “But I told him you’re okay.”

Ruby approached the table, scanned the parts, and picked up one, turning it over in her hands. 

“This is a motherboard,” she said confidently, sorting through the other components. “Oh, and this is a graphics card, and this is RAM…”

Dan nearly dropped his phone in shock. 

“How do you know all this?”

Ruby sat at the table and started assembling the parts. 

“I study at ‘IT Land,’” she explained. “It’s a special school for digital skills.”

“Here?” Dan asked, surprised.

“No, in my city. I’m here for the holidays. It’s so lit here!”

“Look, it’s simple—it’s like a puzzle,” Ruby said, expertly connecting parts while Rex, after sniffing Dan, settled at his feet. 

“Every part has its place. This is the motherboard, the most important part, with the processor that handles the computer’s ‘thinking’ speed. This is RAM, for multitasking,” Ruby continued, impressing Dan. 

“It fits in a specific slot on the motherboard, nowhere else. And this…”

“Graphics card,” Dan jumped in. “I know that one. It processes graphics—needs to be powerful for games!”

He watched in awe as Ruby turned the pile of parts into something resembling a computer.

“And this is the cooler—it keeps the processor from overheating. All these parts go into what’s called the system unit.”

Ruby rummaged through Dan’s box. 

“Okay, we need cables… here they are. These have specific places too. This one’s for the monitor, this for power, and this for the network, if there’s internet.”

“Internet,” Dan sighed. “It’s so boring without it!” Glancing at Rex, he asked, “Can I pet your dog?”

Ruby nodded, paused, then smirked mysteriously. 

“There is internet, but only for the research center staff, and only wired. But if…” She looked up thoughtfully. “If you know where the cables run and how to connect…”

“You know how?” Dan asked excitedly.

“No,” Ruby admitted honestly. “We haven’t learned that yet. But we could experiment.” She flipped her hand to the table. “I’m done. If we had a monitor and power, we could test it.”

Dan frowned, eager to be useful. “I’ll get power!” he exclaimed, rushing to the garage. Moments later, he returned, grunting as he dragged monitors, with an extension cord trailing behind like a tail.

They found an outlet in the gazebo, so the extension wasn’t needed. Testing the monitors, they found one that worked, connected it to the system unit, plugged in Ruby’s creation, and…

The computer chirped merrily, hummed, and the familiar loading screen appeared. The cooler whirred faintly. To Dan, it felt like magic, and Ruby was the magician. But remembering there was still no internet, he pressed on with an idea:  

“Maybe we could try connecting to the internet?” Dan said eagerly. “Grandpa says the village gets internet through cables.”  

“Do you know where to find those cables? Or where to connect to them?”  

“It won’t work. The adults in the village would definitely stop us,” Ruby said, waving toward the forest where a white observatory dome was visible in the distance. She added, “And as you see, the computer needs power. Where are you getting electricity in the forest? Our cable’s not long enough.”  

Dan furrowed his brow. Ruby looked surprised. “What now?”  

“Just watch!” Dan shouted, already running back to the garage. He remembered seeing a big, heavy battery in Grandpa’s garage, along with a new garden cart with four wheels and a handy grip.  

Who said adventures are just for boys? Minutes later, the kids were excitedly pushing the cart toward the forest, loaded with the computer, battery, and cables, all hidden under an old blanket from the garage for good measure.  

Tracking the cables was easy: just follow the poles along the forest road. Rex, thrilled with the walk, bounded twenty steps ahead along the path.  

Suddenly, the dog stopped, grew restless, sniffed the air, and with a low growl, darted off the road into the forest.  

“Rex, where are you going? Come back!” Ruby called.  

But the dog vanished into the bushes. Barking echoed. Ruby took a few steps after him, listening. The barking turned into angry growling.  

“Did he run into someone?” she whispered.  

The kids exchanged glances and, without a word, rushed into the forest along a faint path. Ruby ran ahead, Dan followed pushing the cart, lagging but stubbornly refusing to abandon it.  

The forest grew denser, branches whipped their shoulders, and roots crunched underfoot. Suddenly, it was as if someone switched off the light. They’d entered a thick part of the forest. The bright June sun couldn’t pierce the foliage; it grew cold and eerie. Rex’s barking came from the thickets. Ignoring the spooky darkness, Ruby ran toward the sound without stopping. It felt like they’d been running forever. Dan’s face was tangled in cobwebs. He hunched his shoulders, trying to keep up, though the tree roots and thick moss made pushing the cart harder. But Dan stayed determined, refusing to show weakness. “I’m not a wimp. I beat every level in CosmoDrive, and this is just a forest,” he told himself as he ran.  

It grew chilly. Rex’s barking seemed close now. After a bit more running, Dan crashed into Ruby, who’d stopped abruptly. He brushed dust and cobwebs from his face and looked around.  

Before them was a bright clearing the size of a playground. In the middle stood a mound, like a half-buried globe, covered in short, young grass.

Rex was pacing atop the mound, tail tucked, baring his teeth and barking furiously at a dense bush.  

“Rexie! What’s wrong?” Ruby called out, worried, moving toward him.  

At that moment, Rex glanced back at his owner, wagged his tail joyfully, and stuck his nose into the grass as if to show something. A faint buzzing sound came, followed by a light electric crackle, and… Rex vanished!  

“Oh!” Ruby gasped. Dan didn’t even have time to speak. He just rushed after Ruby to where Rex had been standing, where Dan thought he’d seen a faint glow.  

The grass was low-Rex couldn’t have hidden in it-but Dan crouched and felt around anyway. His hand touched something sticky and gross. Ugh… some purple-green slime. He found a burdock leaf to wipe his hand clean. For a moment, it felt like something eerie and terrifying was watching them from the dense, dark part of the forest where Rex had been barking. The fear was so intense that Dan didn’t dare look back. He just slowly returned to the top of the mound.  

Meanwhile, Ruby had circled the mound, checked under bushes, and kept calling for her dog in a frantic, heartbroken voice.  

“Rex, Rex! Come here! Rexie, where are you?”  

Dan was jolted from the sticky fear by something silvery glinting in the grass. He crouched again, carefully picked it up, and examined it. It felt like a stone but looked metallic, about half the size of his palm, almost weightless and impossibly smooth—slipping right out of his hands! For a split second, he felt a warmth and strange allure from the object, like when he’d seen his grandpa’s meteorite badge.  

Ruby came back to Dan, nearly in tears, and asked, “What do we do?”  

Dan was more focused on the metallic object. He stood up, held it out to Ruby, and asked, “Look! What do you think this is?”  

In that instant, the unsettling buzzing sound returned. Ruby glanced at the object but didn’t have time to answer. She only felt her red braids crackle with static, slowly rising into the air.  

Pop! A flash of light! 

Pop! Darkness! 

Pop! Another flash of light! 

The sensation of falling from a height! 

Pop! Blinding, dazzling light!

Chapter 3

WELCOME TO THE PLANET EERTH

Dan squeezed his eyes shut tightly. It hurt to open them-the white veil of intense light was receding very slowly. His head was spinning a little. Finally, he was able to take a look around. Ruby was standing nearby, also slowly turning her head, showing no fear as she curiously scanned the surroundings. And there was plenty to marvel at-they had somehow ended up in a huge, brightly lit room that was a gigantic smooth cube, about twenty stories tall.

The absolute silence was unbelievable too-not even the hint of an echo from their footsteps was audible.

Right in front of them, on the floor, stood a metal box roughly half a meter tall, wide, and deep. Opposite it, perched on half-bent legs, sat a tousled Rex, quietly growling.

“Rex!” Ruby exclaimed. “There you are!” and she rushed to give him a hug. “Oh, you little rascal, where did you disappear to?” Rex accepted the hugs, licked Ruby’s cheek, wagged his tail, and then returned to his growling post in front of the box.

“Where did we end up?” Dan wondered. “Or is this some epic prank?”

“Welcome to Planet Earth, dear tourists!” a voice sounded from inside.

The box jumped and hovered in the air.

The kids froze.

Two thin appendages emerged from the bottom of the box. They rapidly grew and turned into… legs.

In the same way, arms appeared on the sides.

Bright little lights flared up on one of the faces and transformed into eyes and a mouth.

Standing before the kids was a short, square robot that looked like a Rubik’s Cube with arms and legs.

“Your multi-ticket, thank you-please,” said the robot-cube-cuber, and its mouth moved.

“Wha-what?” Dan’s voice trembled.

“Your multi-ticket,” the robot repeated, extending a polymer hand-like arm toward Dan.

Instinctively, Dan extended that same little metallic thing—the one they had found on the hill and that he was clutching tightly in his palm.

The metallic piece soared into the air and hovered beside the robot. The robot took it in its mechanical hands. And where once there had been a single metallic piece, there were now two silvery semicircles. The robot moved toward the kids, causing Rex to growl at first, but Ruby  grabbed him by the scruff and he fell silent.

“Thank you-please! Take these-use them,” the robot said in a dry tone, and the two silver rings flew up to the kids, instantly wrapping around the left wrists in the form of beautiful bracelets.

“Is this your cyborg, baggage, or a food supply?” the robot pointed at Rex.

“What kind of food is that?!” Ruby  exclaimed indignantly. “And it’s neither baggage nor a cyborg—it’s our friend!”

“Understood, thank you,” replied the robot. It made a gesture in the air with its metallic finger, and another ring detached from Ruby ’s bracelet, instantly transforming into a silver-black medal that fastened to Rex’s collar. Rex didn’t seem particularly happy about that.

“My name is CyberBitt-with a double ‘t’ at the end. I am your guide on this planet Earth. Even though this is my first shift in this star system-” (a tinge of melancholy crept into the robot’s voice) “-I’ve completed full training. I have completely learned the local language-speech. And I am listening to you too. I must, sorry, be glad to greet you-” (the robot looked at Dan) “Brrre-Brrre and” (it nodded in the direction of Ruby ) “you, Mrry-Mrry and-” (here the robot hesitated for a second) “-you, Rex, on behalf of the Galactic Scientific Council, I thank you for not only traveling, but for also volunteering to study primitive civilizations. I can see that you have prepared very well for the trip—choosing makeup and costumes that correspond to the local race and epoch.”

The kids exchanged bewildered glances at all this, but wisely kept silent.

“Before I introduce you to our Cyber Center,” the robot continued, “you must go through the registration procedure.”

This sounded suspicious, and Dan began to look around nervously-searching for some loophole to escape.

“I need to log your accounts in the database,” explained the robot. 

CyberBitt approached one of the walls; one of the cubes on its head slid through the air directly into the wall, and three monitors and three panels with keyboards appeared.

“You can create your accounts here on the basis of the galactic social network Galax or…”

“Or-or,” Ruby  interrupted the robot. “We want to create new accounts.”

“Good for you,” Dan thought. “How quickly she caught on: because really, where would our accounts in galactic social networks come from? I wonder, do they even have ClipGram and PicTok?... If the robot figures out who we really are, who knows what will happen to us, and whether we’ll even stay alive?”

Dan didn’t want to upset his parents and grandpa any further.

The kids and the dog approached the terminals.

“Tell me, Bitt, is it okay if we call you that? And what would you suggest for creating our accounts?” Ruby asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“You can call me Bitt,” the robot replied uncertainly. “Thank you-please.” And with some surprise, it turned its cubic head toward the kids:

“First, come up with an account name for yourselves, then a password. The password must be secured with two-factor identification, which is not forbidden by the culture of your civilization. It can be based on your: DNA, the pattern of your retinas, your claw prints, teeth, paws, wings, feathers, or the pattern on your scales.” The Rubik’s Cube-like robot recited this as if it had recently memorized it.

“Paws-er, rather, hands,” Dan chose.

“Alright. Thank you-please.”

Then new, small but differently sized cubes appeared from the wall. The robot took one, placed another into its square head, where it merged with the other cubes. And the second cube, Bitt took and handed to Ruby.

“This is your comlink—the quantum ultra-portable computer.”

“Computer?” Dan perked up.

“With an integrated communicator and teleportation device,” the robot explained, “it is linked to your accounts.”

“The comlink will allow you to move quickly around the planet and come back.”

“How fast will it let us move?” Ruby asked curiously.

The Rubik’s Cube turned and looked very intently at the girl. Its electronic eyes blinked several times. And the kids got the impression that the robot was surprised and delighted.

“In units of the local measurement,” the robot hesitated slightly, as if recalling or calculating something, “instantly. Although, I must confess, I don’t quite understand the exact meaning of that word, pardon me.”

“It’s really cool that you, Mrry-Mrry and you, Brrre-Brrre,” the robot turned to Dan, “prefer such precision.”

“I’m ready to give you full information. You do know that the Galactic Commonwealth is not only building an intra-galactic internet, but is creating a universal knowledge base?”

Dan and Ruby exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

“And it also houses Storages inside planets inhabited by sentient life. Sometimes even with primitive civilizations, like this one.”

Ruby  noticed that Dan was subtly pinching his arm-his way of making sure he wasn’t dreaming and that everything happening around him was real.

“We do not interfere with development, but to ease data collection at a certain stage, we can assist with some technologies.”

The girl subtly tugged at her ear a couple of times. Ouch. Not a dream.

“For example, on this planet, the Internet and Artificial Intelligence-after the local civilization builds a global network, we connect to it, and information gathering goes much faster. When the civilization reaches certain conditions, we allow it to join the Galactic Union.”

“Whoa!” Dan’s eyes widened. “So, our… oh!… Earth’s Internet is created kind of like the galactic one? That’s awesome!”

“That word also is unfamiliar to me. What does ‘awesome’ mean?” The robot looked at Dan with interest.

“Awesome… means really good!” the boy improvised.

“Yes, indeed, it’s very awesome-good,” agreed Bitt. “It significantly simplifies the work of scientists. But most likely, Informarius will be able to tell you more about that in detail.”

“So you’re not alone here?” Ruby  asked in surprise.

“Of course not. Although this isn’t a central server, just a small server on the edge of the galaxy on an almost wild planet, there is a staff here. Oh, if only you could see the Center on Behaverion-5, where there are hundreds of thousands of tourists and thousands of scientists and colleagues,” the robot replied with a sigh.

Now it was definitely clear—although the remark that Earth is a semi-wild planet had slightly upset the kids, it became obvious that CyberBitt was capable of conveying emotions because he was actually feeling them! This deeply impressed the friends.

Gradually, the kids recovered from everything they had experienced. Dan started glancing at Ruby  and winking at her. Ruby whispered to Rex, “give a paw,” and Rex approached Bitt and, striking a pose, extended his paw toward Bitt.

“A new kind of greeting. I’ll have to remember that,” the robot blinked, several of its little lights flickering.

The kids had a minute to whisper among themselves:

“Incredible! So aliens really exist,” Dan said very softly and in awe, “and they have an entire community—and robots.” Then, in a gloomy tone, he added, “But what are we going to do until they find out about us? What if they lock us up in a cage or some kind of zoo? Or erase our memories and force us into experiments? We’ve got to get out of here before they figure us out.”

“You’re right,” Ruby agreed. “We need to come up with something.” Raising an eyebrow, she said, “I have an idea!”

Ruby  addressed the robot:

“Dear CyberBitt, we really want to get to the surface and check things out as soon as possible. We’d like to do that right now.”

CyberBitt blinked one of his lights, and right before the kids, a three-dimensional, rotating image of Earth appeared in midair.

“That’s awesome,” said CyberBitt. “So you want to get started on the assignment right away.”

“Before you, there’s a hologram of this planet,” the robot began explaining, “the dots on the planet’s map are portals connected to your comlinks.”

The kids stared, mesmerized, at this unusual globe.

“You can choose any location for your journey and exploration. Green dots are regular tourist portals; yellow ones are available for scientific researchers and volunteers; red ones require a special pass with clearance of Class 15 or above,” Bitt continued.

“The instructions are written in Galactic language,* but the built-in Artificial Intelligence will translate them for you into any language. Or would you prefer Interlingua*?”

“Can we have it in Earth language-like the one we’re speaking now?” Ruby  exchanged a knowing look with Dan. One of CyberBitt’s cubes blinked several times in different colors, and, as if in response, the bracelets on the kids’ wrists and the medal on Rex’s collar flickered in the same manner.

“It’s awesome that the researchers strive to study the languages of less advanced planets. The instructions have been loaded! Have a good journey. Thank you-please.”

A familiar buzzing sound resounded, the kids were surrounded by a flash of bright white light, and they found themselves once again in a clearing on that same perfectly round hill.

“Did that really just happen?” Dan marveled, studying his wrist with the bracelet. Rex, meanwhile, assumed his stance again and quietly growled toward the dark corner of the clearing, his fur bristled.

“What are we going to do now?” Ruby  sighed and looked around. “Maybe we should tell the adults?” Then, lowering her eyes from Dan, she added quietly, “Honestly, I was really scared.”

At that moment, Dan really wanted to be strong and protect Ruby  from all harm.

“We’re not going to tell anyone anything!” Dan declared in a deliberately deep voice, making a serious face. Then he sat down, began petting Rex to calm him. “First of all, no one would believe us! And secondly…” Dan hesitated. Fragments of thoughts and images flashed through his mind. For example, all the world’s news websites would be screaming: “Schoolkids make contact with aliens!” Every TV broadcast would be interrupted by “Emergency News Bulletin!” And there he would be, Ruby  and CyberBitt in a studio. How amazing it would be to become the most famous boy on the planet…

“Hey, what’s with you-what’s ‘secondly’?” Ruby  touched Dan’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Secondly, we’re not exactly a backward civilization!” Dan declared resolutely. He stood up, came down from the hill to a cart with a computer, and pushed it forward. “I suggest we head back home while we still can and think everything through properly.”

“Yeah, sounds reasonable,” Ruby  nodded in her head and quickly caught up with Dan: “Rex, let’s go!”

Rex lingered for a few seconds longer, gazing at the dark edge of the clearing, let out a discontented bark at the eerie darkness, and then followed Ruby. If only the dog could talk, he would surely have told the kids about the strange incident that had happened to him in the clearing. But, since he couldn’t, he simply ran alongside, ready at any moment to protect his mistress and her new friend.

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