A Fowl State of Affairs

1.

Professor Ochanomizu put on his dark welding goggles and picked up the heavy electrodes. He made sure that the clamps holding the metal in position were tight and then turned on the power to the arc welder. Sparks flew high into the air as he drew a bead of metal across the two beams creating a strong union between them. After a few minutes he shut down the power, stood back and removed the dark lenses from his face. He admired the job he'd just done, the chamber was almost completed and would soon be ready for its first test.

"What are you doing Hakase?" Astro asked as he walked in, followed closely by his sister Uran.

"I'm working on the inter-dimensional transporter I told you about," the professor replied. "This machine should be able to transport matter between any two points on earth through higher dimensions instantly."

"Could it send me to Disney World in Florida?" Uran asked. "I've always wanted to see that theme park."

"Until I thoroughly test this machine it's much too dangerous for any sentient being to be transported by it." the professor said. "I'll have the machine finished by the end of the day, and maybe tomorrow we'll try transporting some simple things from one end of the building to the other."

"That sounds boring." Uran said.

"Come on sis, let's leave Hakase alone so he can finish his project," Astro said, pulling Uran by the hand. "Let's go get some ice cream, OK?"

"Only if you're buying!" Uran teased.

"Sure thing!" Astro laughed as the two of them left the laboratory.

Ochanomizu put the dark goggles back on and picked up the welding electrodes again. He started to make a few more welds on the chamber, fitting the final pieces into place. "My that looks perfect!" he said to himself trying the door into the device. "Now to finish programming the control computer and we can see if we can power this thing up and test it."

It was getting dark outside, but the professor was still hard at work in the laboratory. He opened the door to the glass lined chamber and placed a small glass statue that Yuki had given him inside. Suddenly the door to the laboratory opened and Uran ran in with Astro trying to keep up with her.

"I wanna go home!" she yelled at her guardian. "I'm going to miss my TV shows!"

"I'm sorry, I guess I lost track of the time." the professor said. "I was just about to test the transporter."

"Can I watch?" Uran asked, having a sudden mood change.

"Sure." Ochanomizu said. "I'm about to send this little statue next door."

The professor went over to the control computer and brought up a screen showing a map. He zoomed in on the Ministry of Science building and a 3D image of the building's inside appeared. He then moved the computer cursor to the room next door and clicked on it.

"There, now the machine knows where to send this little trinket that Yuko thought I'd like."

"You mean that ugly glass statue you hate." Uran laughed.

"Yeah, it makes a perfect expendable test object." Ochanomizu laughed.

He activated the transport switch, and the inside of the chamber started to glow with a soft light. The glass statue started to look rather faint, and slowly faded from view.

"It's gone!" Uran said.

"Let's go next door and look for it!" Astro said running to the door, followed by his sister.

The two robot children ran into the office just next to Professor Ochanomizu's laboratory and looked around. Sitting on a chair was a glowing object. Slowly the light surrounding it faded and they could see what it was.

"It's that glass statue!" Uran said grabbing it. The object was cold to the touch which surprised her, it slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor, shattering into about a dozen pieces. Astro scooped up the largest bits of the broken glass and carried them next door.

"It made it over there," he said showing the professor what was in his hands.

"Something went wrong!" Ochanomizu sighed, "It arrived broken!"

"No it didn't." Uran sobbed. "I picked it up and I dropped it by accident! I'm sorry!"

"That's alright Uran." the professor said, patting her on the head. "Accidents happen to the best of us." He looked at his watch, and smiled. "If we leave now you can still catch your shows on TV at home."

"OK, Hakase!" Uran said.

The three of them left the building and drove home. All the way back, Uran was thinking about how wonderful the professor's machine was.

Astro was awakened in the middle of the night by noises coming from Uran's room next door. He tiptoed across the hallway and peeked into his sister's room to find her busily packing a suitcase.

"Are you running away from home?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to Disney World!" she said

"Leaving in the middle of the night?" Astro asked.

"It's daytime in Florida right now." She said.

Astro suddenly realized what she had in mind. "You're NOT going to try and use the professor's machine!"

"Why not?" she asked. "It works just fine."

"You don't know that!" Astro said. "It only sent a cheap hunk of glass into the next room!"

"I'm not scared." She said. "Everything Hakase makes works perfectly. He made me!"

Astro face palmed. "You better go back to bed and forget this crazy idea!" It was then that Astro noticed the jet packs attached to his sister's feet.

"You weren't thinking of flying over to the ministry right now were you?" he asked.

"Yes, and you are not going to stop me!" she said walking towards the window.

"You'd better not!" Astro said.

"Try and catch me!" Uran teased, jumping out of the open window.

Astro took off flying after his sister. She knew he'd follow her, and she was able to fake a turn one way and zigzag another. Astro was able to keep up, but just barely. He arrived at the Ministry just as Uran flew though the window of the professor's laboratory. She was already at the computer terminal, setting the controls for Disney World.

"There now all I have to do is click on the activate button and enter the chamber." she said.

Astro ran over to the chamber door. "Get out of there Uran, it's too dangerous!" he said reaching inside to pull his sister out of it. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind him, throwing Astro into the chamber next to his sister. A bright light enveloped them and a loud humming sound deafened them.

"I'm scarred!" Uran yelled. "Why did I think this was a good idea?" she cried.

The noise faded and the light dimmed. Astro and Uran then found themselves in the middle of an unfamiliar place. It looked like a city, but in strange colors and a plastic looking texture.

"Where are we?" Uran sobbed. "Is this Disney Land?"

Astro looked around him. They were in the middle of a crowded downtown, with lots of people walking by them. Only they weren't exactly people, they were all anthropomorphic DUCKS!