Doohickey and the Robot

'It's the RoBoffin 2000 Multi-Purpose Robot,' said the professor proudly.

'What does it do?' asked Doohickey.

'Absolutely anything!' said the professor. 'Let me to show you.'

The professor scribbled some words onto a scrap of paper. He fed the paper through a slot in the Robot's chest. Then he pressed a big button and stepped back.

The Robot hummed and whirred for a bit. Then it climbed slowly to its feet.

It was enormous. Its head almost scraped the attic ceiling.

The lights on the Robot's face flickered on and off. It looked as if it was thinking about something.

And then . . .

It painted a picture
of the professor's dog.

It played a piece of music
on the test tubes.

And discovered three new ways of splitting the atom.

'Pretty good, eh?' said the professor when the Robot had finished.

'Cool!' said Doohickey. He was really amazed. The huge heavy robot had whizzed around the attic. And it hadn't disturbed so much as a paper clip.

'It can do anything I ask it to,' said the professor.

'Anything?' asked Doohickey.

'Absolutely!' said the professor.

'Can I have a go?' asked Doohickey. He wanted to ask the Robot to build a space rocket or tell him next week's winning lottery numbers.

'Absolutely not,' said the professor. 'It's far too complicated. Besides, I've got better things for you to do.'