Trapped!: The 2031 Journal of Otis Fitzmorgan (21 page)

It looks as though the Notabe Corporation will finally have its wish. After successfully convincing the country that private
investigators are dangerous and should be banned, the family-owned company has been calling for a new. bill that would provide
stiff prison sentences—up to 50 years—for detectives who continue to work on private cases. The United States Congress passed
the bill, known on the Hill as the Notabe Solution, which will go into effect immediately. To work on a case now, investigators
must he hired by the government—or face jail time.

TECHNOLOGY

Kind Gesture

The Pinkerton Foundation announced today that it would provide thousands of Gesture Technology Devices to disadvantaged people
around the world. The devices—which allow the people to communicate with computers just by moving their hands, feet or even
their eyebrows—will mean different things to different people. “I am so excited!” says Motsuri Hentricks, 12, a high school
student in Norway. Motsuri was in a hydro-car accident that left him unable to walk. “The Gesture Devices will work with my
artificial legs. All I'll have to do is point toward something. The new Gesture gloves will talk with the computers in my
legs and they'll carry where I want to go!”

GO, GO,
NANO!

Scientists in New York City recently unveiled all-new nanobot surgeons. What are they? Imagine the tiniest machines you possibly
can. Now shrink those machines one trillion times more. Nanotechnology is about building machines one atom at a time. That
means they are very, very tiny devices—small enough to fit into the narrowest blood vessels in the human body. Once there,
nanobot surgeons can clear blocked arteries or stop internal bleeding.

NATIONAL DEBATE

DO COMPUTERS HAVE RIGHTS?

Artworks created by computers, or virtual artists, were sold last month at the first Out-of This-World Auction held at the
top of the Space Elevator. These pieces of art have fueled the national debate: If computers can be artists, does that mean
they're alive?

YES!
My definition of alive is being creative and imaginative. To me, that means computers certainly alive. Please note I did
not say they're human. I only mean that a new kind of life form. And we must recognize that all life forms have the right
to freedom and certain civil rights.

—Lucy Salmona, Riverdale, MI

NO!
I can tie a pen to the pendulum of a clock. The swinging motion of the pendulum will cause the pen to make a line back and
forth. Does that mean the clock is alive? What about snowflakes that leave patterns on my window? Are they alive? Computers
were built, not born. Therefore, they can't be alive.

—George W. Vincent, Punta Gorda, FL.

ENTERTAINMENT

REALITY VIREO GAME REVIEW

Skate Rat's Revenge

Even if your state allows reality video games, you might think twice about picking up this sizzling title. The evil Skate
Rat (from Skate Rat Lives) and his nuclear-powered skateboard arc back and badder than ever. In this version, you have to
outmatch Skate Rat and do even more extreme tricks—like 720s and Hammerheads—all while blazing through a broken glass factory
and a rusty nail plant. Players injured by the game have been pouring into emergency rooms around the world.

n
EW SURROUND-SHOW ALERT!

What the hottest new show now beaming to a holo-pad near you? It's 2000— the show about the way people lived at the beginning
of this century. As the characters surround and interact with you, you'll see what it was like to actually have to type on
a real keyboard, use textbooks, and watch films on machines called DVD players. Plus, it stars Ruse Cruise! Don't miss it!

SPORTS

Ready for World Bowl XXV?

American-style football will never be the same! This month the Tokyo Rising Suns will take on the Beijing Marvels at the One-Mile-Down
Stadium, just off the coast of New Zealand. The undersea stadium will be jammed as crowds wait to see how Taka Haturi of the
Rising Suns will behave. He's promised to clean up his act after being ejected by the ref for doing a 20-minute victory dance
following one of his three touchdowns at last Sunday's game.

Six MLB Players Suspended

The Major League Baseball Commission has determined that six players from different teams have been using Smartbats during
games. There are no official rules about using these new bats—which have mini-turbo boosters and almost guarantee that the
batter will hit a homerun. The Commission, however, has decided to suspend all the players for one game.

STELLAR FASHION

What are the cosmically cool wearing onboard the new Space Elevator?

Astro No!

Messy hair is so 2010!

Old-fashioned bulky spacesuit

Clunky helmet

Astro Yes!

Slicked-back 'do

Shiny elbow-length gloves

Sleek intelli-clothes

Unravel the mystery with real historical crime-solving methods!

Welcome to the crime-solving world of the famous Fitzmorgan and Moorie detective families! Each of the books in the Crime
Through Time series is hosted by a young sleuth who must work against all odds to unravel a compelling mystery. Every few
pages, you can take a break from the suspense and learn about real-life investigative techniques so that you, too, can become
a detective!

In
Trapped!
, art fraud expert Otis Fitzmorgan no sooner discovers that a valuable statue aboard the Space Elevator is a fake than all
the adults fall sick with a virus triggered by their computer implants. With the Elevator communications system down, Otis
has to delve into the distant past to solve the riddle of the statue and save the adults—and Earth—from the deadly virus.