Charlie Numbers and the UFO Bash by Ben Mezrich & Tonya Mezrich

Author:Ben Mezrich & Tonya Mezrich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2023-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

12

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Kentaro nearly shrieked as his little form teetered on his tiptoes at the edge of the curb in front of the Grand Hilton Hotel. “I mean, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Though his voice had pitched into the near stratosphere, hypersonic at the edges in a way only a dog could hear, Kentaro was only expressing what they were all thinking. Charlie, next to him, had his mouth open wide enough to catch flies. Crystal and Jeremy were both jumping up and down, and Janice looked like she was about to start doing doughnuts with her wheelchair. Only Marion seemed disturbed, taking a cautious step back while the rest of them hovered forward.

“It looks so… futuristic,” he mumbled, wringing his hands together.

It was true, the thing sitting in front of the Hilton looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Oblong, curved, about the length and size of a minivan set high on thick tires that were almost buggylike. The upper part of the vehicle was mostly glass. Its body was metallic and shiny—maybe fiberglass—except for the huge banner along both sides, proclaiming SCIENCE OLYMPIAD: TO THE FUTURE next to a brand icon from a local high-tech automotive technology company. The object was all glossy, white, shiny. There were two doors on either side with three rows of bucket seats, but as Charlie peered into the front window, he realized there was no steering wheel.

“It’s a self-driving car,” Crystal said. Charlie noticed she was holding a pamphlet in her hands. She must have grabbed it from the hotel lobby as Mrs. Hennigan was checking them in at the registration desk for the Olympiad. Mrs. Hennigan was still at the desk, lodged in a deep conversation with the other school chaperones about the schedule, about their own scientific hobbies, about science in general. Charlie had never seen Mrs. Hennigan so animated before. To her, this was just about as close to heaven as a biology teacher could get, and he had a feeling they would have no problem dodging her as much as they needed to; in fact, she’d probably have to be reminded that they were even with her in New Mexico.

“There are seven provided for the Olympiad contestants, to tour the local area. They’re all experimental, but street legal, in the testing phase for a bigger rollout in the next couple of years.”

“S-self-driving?” Marion stuttered. “You mean, it drives itself? For real?”

“Come on, you’ve got to have read about these things, or seen them on TV,” Kentaro said. “It’s the future of cars. One day they’ll all be self-driving. Ninety percent of accidents are caused by human error. Take out the humans, take out the error. Most new cars already have things like driver assist, parking assist—they do a lot on their own. But the technology already exists to take over the rest of the job. There are test models like this one in cities all over the country, zooming along all by themselves.”

Kentaro pointed

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