Dot Com's First Adventure

DOT COM'S FIRST ADVENTURE
…how an ordinary schoolgirl became an INTERNET VOYAGER!
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Chapter 92 - Dot's home again - or is she...? "All done!" said Ron, running back up the steps. He straightened up his baseball cap and stood there panting. "You big silly!" said Deirdre. "Fancy forgetting to switch on our VoteClick!" "Didn't!" said Ron, looking a bit hurt. "Just knocked it off when I was getting a Yorkie! Anyway, I've got the control with me now" - he held up something that looked a bit like a TV remote control - "so we can vote from up here." "Very well!" said Old Hieronymus. "Now there's no-one missing, let's vote again!" Dot turned round. Once more the little blue lights flickered on the hundreds of Mopple vans, to decide whether Callum the squidglet could stay, or would have to be defragmented - sent back into the blackdown virus he'd come from. She held her breath. ALL the Mopples had to vote to say it was OK for Callum the squidglet to stay with the Mopples, or he couldn't. Were they all there now? Off flew the Moppletop again, its little wings fluttering it up in front of the towers as it counted the votes coming in to each one. Then, just like before, it came back to the Mopple leader and hovered in front of him. Old Hieronymus looked closely at the screen, his lips moving. Then, suddenly, the sparkling white laptop went "Tzzing!", and landed gently back in his hands, its little wings folding away inside it again. The Mopple leader looked up at Dot and a big grin spread over his face. "It's YES!" he laughed. "Or "Zibble!" as our little friend here would say. Callum can stay!" Dot felt so relieved, she hardly knew what to say. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was just going to say thank you when she heard Old Hieronymus tap on the Moppletop keyboard again. There was a huge "WHOOSH!" which made everyone jump. Even Callum woke up, and Wizzie went bark-bark. And suddenly the steel shutters came back up between the arches over Mopple Towers and the lights came back on again, flooding the hall with the warm light like sunshine they'd seen at first. There was a clattering and a banging as the Mopples and the Searchers started coming out of their vans and search engines - now they knew Callum was OK, they were ready to party! "Go on!" said Old Hieronymus, waving towards the floor of the hall. "Go and have a good time!" He held out the squidglet. "And take Callum along too - he's one of us now!" ********************** "So!" said Mr Mouse, grabbing another snack from one of the flying trays as it went past. "THIS is what all the fuss was about?" He looked at Callum in his cheekiest way. "Prrrp!" went Callum. "Can't he say anything else?" asked Mr Mouse, doing a little dance on the bonnet of a very smart Mopple van, right next to where they were all standing, at the side of Adrienne's search engine. The music from the party was getting louder and louder, and so was the noise of hundreds of Mopples and Searchers all talking away at the tops of their voices. Ron and Deirdre had gone off to chat to their friends. "Zibble!" went Callum. He was sitting on Dot's shoulder, looking round at the party with his big green eyes under one orange eyebrow. He fluffed up his shiny black fur and shook it down again, then hopped onto the seat in the cockpit of Adrienne's search engine. He seemed to be looking very hard at one of Adrienne's computer screens (the green one.) Then... "Prrrp!" he went again. "Can't he do anything else?" Mr Mouse went on. Dot was about to answer when Adrienne - who'd been watching Mr Mouse with a frown on her face - suddenly looked inside her search engine and gasped. Dot and Wizard looked too - and neither of them could believe their eyes. A long, list of names, addresses and phone numbers was scrolling up the computer screen. All dog food companies: 'DogFine Products' - 'Doggy Days'- Dogs 'n Things Ltd' - Dogs To Go, Inc'. On and on and on it went! IT WAS THE MUNCHENMEAT AWARDS LIST DOT HAD COME ON THE INTERNET TO FIND FOR DOT'S DAD!! And after all their searching, Callum the squidglet had found it for them - or for Bill Com, anyway! "What... how... " went Dot. "Zut!" said Adrienne, looking a bit ashamed. "We search and we search - and zen a squidglet finds what we need, in a tiny moment!" "Zibble!" went Callum, still staring at the screen and its endless list of names and numbers, rolling on and on up the screen. Dot could hardly believe it. After all the time she'd been searching on the Internet (though in real world time much much less than a second had gone by - that was the magic of the Net!) she'd finally found what she wanted for her dad - the list of dog food companies who'd taken part in the Munchenmeat Awards last time. The one Mr Elms' secretary Julie had lost in her computer. They'd always thought it was a virus, and now another virus - a good one called Callum! - had brought it back! But there was something else... what else had Dad wanted... oh yes! Well, she could only ask! "Er... Callum" she said. "can you find any companies who came on line with their own website since the last Munchenmeat Awards who might want to join in this time...?" "Zibble!" went Callum again. And suddenly, the screen in front of him changed, with some of the names coming up in red. "Oh!" said Adrienne. " 'E is finding ze new ones now." She frowned again. "But zere is a problem you know Dot... Callum's search will not stay... unless you he sends it to ze computer where you want it to be and you go zere and save it!" Dot's heart jumped. That could only mean - her Dad's laptop. And THAT meant - she had to go home, very quickly! *********************** Dot hated saying goodbye, even for only a while. But this was even worse. She was at the top of the steps that lead to Old Hieronymus' throne, with Wizzie and Ron and Deirdre and Adrienne standing next to her. Behind her, Old Hieronymus had his hand on her shoulder. It was warm and comforting, but still Dot felt like crying. She was going to have to leave all the good friends she'd made on the Internet in her first adventure - Samson the Server... Bert the Router Station who wouldn't stop talking... Cursor the Cat... the Searchers Louise D the Afghan hound and Luis de la Zarpana the Borzoi dog - the one she'd rescued from Void... Adrienne the red squirrel Searcher and Ron and Deirdre Mopple... and Old Hieronymus, the leader of the Mopples... and last of all Callum the squidglet... it was goodbye to all of them. She felt a big lump in her throat. And now, just as Old Hieronymus said they always did, the Mopples and Searchers at Mopple Towers were singing her on her way. Just like this: "Goodbye our good and true Companion We're sad to see you're on your way But friendship still goes on and on and o-on Far or near, you'll still a friend to us! We won't forget you, good Companion We'll think about you every day And though you're in the world beyo-ond Far or near, you'll still a friend to us! Mopple true, a real Mopple Companion One look, and all the Net will say: She's a girl that you can all rely on Far or near she's still a friend to us! As the gathering at Mopple Towers finished singing, the music of their voices died away in a long echo. Dot gave everyone there a big wave and the biggest grin she could find, and they all waved back. But already Adrienne was whispering anxiously "You must go 'ome Dot - you 'ave only a few minutes now, if you want to save zose names for the Munchenmeat Awards for your papa!" There was just time for hugs all round - with Ron and Deirdre, with Adrienne, even with Old Hieronymus - and then Dot found herself sitting in the cockpit of Adrienne's search engine again, looking at the computer screen, ready to net-voyage back to her house. Callum was sitting on top of the screen looking at her with a smile on his very red lips. Dot tickled his shiny black fur and he closed his eyes - a sure sign he was enjoying it! "Thanks Callum" she whispered. "A big thank you! I promise I'll be back!" "Zibble!" went Callum. "You guys ready or what?" said Mr Mouse, tapping his little paw on the edge of the keyboard. "Ready!" said Dot. "Ready!" said Wizzie. "OK!" said Mr Mouse. "Let's net-voyage!" He double clicked his backpack and ZVIIISSHHH! OFF they went, straight through the computer screen, travelling back home on the Internet! ****************************** THUMPETY-BUMPETY-BUMP! "There's just GOTTA be a better way of coming back off a net voyage than that!" said Mr Mouse, picking up his baseball cap off Dot's bedroom floor and putting it back on his head. "Oh stop MOANING Mouse " said Wizzie, up on his hind legs with his paws on the top of Dot's computer table, right next to the laptop they'd just come out of. There was the Munchenmeat Awards list, all ready for them. "Quick Dot - click on File!" So Dot did - and again on the "Save As" in the File window. Easy, thought Dot - the list for her Dad had to be saved as 'MUNCHENMEAT AWARDS' - and it had to be saved in 'DAD'S WORK' in 'My Documents'. Done... and done! And just to safe, Dot got up her e-mail, attached the list to a new message, and sent it to her Dad's computer at work. But she just couldn't wait to show him! "DAD!" called Dot, with a big grin at Wizzie and Mr Mouse. "DAD! Come up here! I've got something special to show you!" But then she looked around her bedroom again. It was her bedroom... only... it was different somehow. Even as she watched, it was changing round her. The carpet beneath her feet had turned into big flat stones. Her curtains were changing too - they'd become big red velvet ones. "Dot..." said Wizzie. "What did you just do?" "Nothing!" said Dot, feeling a bit panicky. "I just saved Dad's list and e-mailed it to his offi0ce, that's all!" Now a cold draught blew through her room - which was getting bigger and bigger all round her - almost as big as Mopple Towers had been just a moment ago. Looking up, Dot jumped. She could hardly see the ceiling, it was so high - but what she could see made her gasp - it had big wooden beams all across it. And now the windows were stretching too... stretching taller and taller, becoming like old-fashioned castle windows. But some of them didn't have any glass at all - and looking out of one of those, Dot could see a tower with a strange top on it, a bit like a funny old hat. Through another open window, beyond a high stone wall, she could see the mast and sails of a ship moving along. In wall there was what looked like a big dark door, with the words 'TRAITOR'S GATE' in funny olde world writing on it. "What the heck!" went Mr Mouse - but then Wizzy gave his special warning bark. Someone was coming! CLICK ON 'ADVENTURE' FOR DOT'S NEXT AMAZING STORY - 'DOT COM and KING HENRY VIII'
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