The Brainiacs by H. Badger

CHAPTER 1
    Kip Kirby couldn’t stop yawning. He’d been studying for ages and the school library always made him feel sleepy. His head nodded and his eyelids lowered…
    â€˜Wake up!’ yelled Kip’s best friend Jett.
    â€˜SHHHHHHHHHH!’ bleeped a robot, tidying a shelf nearby. Its red eyes flashed.
    Kip and Jett hated Shhhbots, which had replaced human librarians hundreds of years ago. Shhhbots had antennas on their heads that picked up the tiniest noise. In-built detectors scanned your library books from a distance. The Shhhbot gave your arm a mild shock if your books were overdue. Antenna for picking up noise

    â€˜Keep reading,’ Jett told Kip. ‘You’re nearly out of time.’
    Kip wasn’t studying an old-fashioned paper book. He was reading a BuzzBook. In fact, he was reading two at once!
    BuzzBooks vibrated with millions of electrical pulses. Kip ran his fingers over them and his brain converted the vibrations into words. He was reading Alien Cuisine (Year 2354 ed.) with his left hand and Flags of the Universe, Vol. 2 with his right.
    Kip didn’t usually study this hard. He didn’t have time! He was juggling school with his job as a Space Scout.
    Kip loved being a Space Scout. It was his job to search the universe for a second Earth, because the current one was nearly out of room.
    Kip’s job meant he got the fastest, coolest starship and lots of high-tech gadgets. Plus he got to explore planets that humans had never seen before.
    Kip was due to leave on his next mission into space in a couple of hours, but this one was going to be different.
    Kip was heading to a planet called Clevor. The annual Smartest Kid in the Universe quiz was being held there. Earth was competing for the first time, and Kip had been chosen to represent his planet!
    â€˜How come you were chosen, anyway?’ asked Jett.
    Kip explained that even though he wasn’t the geekiest kid on Earth, he had the most intergalactic travel experience. It was a long flight, and space travel could be hard on people who weren’t used to it.
    â€˜So that’s why they’re sending me,’ he finished, pushing back from the desk. ‘Anyway, I’m bored of these BuzzBooks. Let’s do something else.’
    Kip hit play on his Teach-A-Tronic, a virtual-reality lesson player.
    A virtual alien popped out from behind Jett’s chair. Kip picked up a glob of virtual purple goo that had appeared next to him. It felt slimy and cold. Even though Kip knew the goo didn’t really exist, he was always impressed with how real virtual reality was.
    â€˜Studying alien slime-tossing customs is heaps more interesting this way!’ Kip laughed, tossing the glob at the virtual-reality alien.
    The alien hurled back his own glob of slime and Kip ducked as it flew past him. Straight into the back of a ShhhBot’s head!
    SPLAT!
    Uh-oh, thought Kip.
    â€˜Leave the library IMMEDIATELY!’ bleeped the outraged robot.
    â€˜It wasn’t real slime,’ Jett protested.
    â€˜But it made real noise,’ the Shhhbot snapped.
    â€˜Don’t chuck us out,’ Kip begged. ‘I haven’t finished studying!’
    The Shhhbot rolled towards Kip, waving the shocker on its arm.
    Kip and Jett jumped up. They didn’t want to get shocked! They raced out of the library and jumped into an elevator, narrowly missing the Shhhbot.
    â€˜There’s no point hanging around on Earth if I can’t study!’ said Kip pressing the button for the roof. ‘I might as well head up to MoNa a bit early.’
    MoNa 4000 was Kip’s starship. She was glossy and black, and highly advanced. Unfortunately she was also very bossy.
    Kip flagged down a Universal Taxi and jumped in. UniTaxis were small, self-piloting spacecraft designed for travel within Earth’s atmosphere.
    In a swirl of dust, Kip blasted off, waving goodbye to Jett. Kip was heading for the Intergalactic Hoverport,