h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*Catches the scent of something cooking in the kitchen, and the unfrozen part of his mouth salivates. The drool runs down his chin where it forms an icicle.*

*on the shelf next to the shelf on which Butch Cadbury lies, there sits a box*

*the box is a deep golden color with elaborate etchings of currency signs chased all over the surface*

*there is a piece of paper resting atop the box which says
EXTREMELY VALUABLE!
MONEY INSIDE

*the box is positioned so that it is in the Semisweet Kid's line of vision*

*Rather bored with being frozen semi-solid, the Kid's eyes roam from object to object, finally resting on the paper. It is at this point that he keenly regrets his lack of ability to read, for surely the paper must say something extremely important, seeing as how it is resting atop a cash box. It probably says something like "Dern't yer dare open this here box! It's got one'r them boobly traps!" This awakens a keen desire to open the box and makes him drool faster. The icicle grows exponentially. He tries to communicate his thoughts to the others.*

Mrm'mphph'ph. Rng'rghrmmph. Hrngrgrrr'thphl'th. St'mpdthpth.

*Butch thinks he understands the Kid and responds.*

! !

Ooops.

Ha ha.

Slaps forehead

*Crawls around the 2 inch thick ice column that extends from the Kid's mouth to the floor. Endures a vacuuming. Crawls over to Butch, keeping an eye out for the bot with the gun. Hefts Butch onto his shoulder and begins to turn back to the chimney when he spots two things. The first is the spiderbot, which he pockets after his hand flashes out and grabs it. The second is the mysterious box, which he also pockets.

Crawls back to the chimney and heaves Butch down the flue. There is a muffled thump below. Turns back to the Kid. Wraps his arms around the Kid's waist and pulls.*

*inside the pocket, the spidercambot placidly begins to weave a very dense web*

*back at HQ, Chesworth and Eleven are monitoring several situations, including events at the Aroma Cafe*

*a number of bots are placing bets*

Eleven: *for he has long since returned to the control room* [I've armed the self-destruct device on the compromised spidercambot.]

*Chesworth nods and returns to watching the cafe*

*pulls mightily until the Kidsicle comes suddenly free with a cracking sound causing the Kid, Choc and Lindt to fall down the flue all together*

Whaaaaaaagghh !

*is about to go to the library to find out about new conversations when the intercom crackles to life and speaks in a tinny voice:*

One apple pie, one banana pie, one plum pie for immediate delivery to the Aroma Café if you please!

*Matina stands very still for a moment, trying to order the facts, while the sound of Chloe's new vacuum can be heard in the library as the little bot cleans up the mess left by the Chocolate gang*

*Matina suddenly whirls into action, extracting ingredients from the refrigerator and beginning to prepare pie pastry*

*several hours later, the pies are baked and packed into a thermal pie carrier*

*Matina picks up the snowzar and the pie carrier and heads down the front stairs*