Victor Appleton - The Blurred Blogger

Tom Swift Inventors Academy

The Blurred Blogger

Victor Appleton

The Drone Pursuit

The Sonic Breach

Restricted Access

The Virtual Vandal

The Spybot Invasion

Augmented Reality

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.simonandschuster.com

First Aladdin paperback edition June 2021

Text copyright 2021 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cover illustration copyright 2021 by Kevin Keele

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Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.

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Cover designed by Heather Palisi

Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Appleton, Victor, author.

Title: The blurred blogger / Victor Appleton.

Description: New York : Aladdin, [2021] | Series: Tom Swift Inventors Academy ; book 7 | Audience: Ages 8 to 12. | Summary: Tom and his friends track down a mysterious blogger who pushes pranks too far.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021000539 (print) | LCCN 2021000540 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534468924 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534468931 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534468948 (eBook)

Subjects: CYAC: InventorsFiction. | BlogsFiction. | Practical jokesFiction. |

SchoolsFiction. | FriendshipFiction. | Science fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.A652 Bl 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.A652 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000539

LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000540

LOOK OUT! I SHOUTED. COMING through!

I ducked around fellow students as I ran down the first-floor main corridor. Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the school day, so the hallway was buzzing with twelve- and thirteen-year-olds.

Good thing we just charged him, huh? Noah asked with an eye roll as he raced beside me.

Normally, my best friend Noah Newton was happy to join me in the pursuit of knowledge and scientific achievement. Now he joined me in the pursuit of our small robot, Raider. Thats right. We were chasing our new robot all over our school.

That may sound weird, but believe it or not, its not the first time something like this has happened here. Its not even the first time my friends and I have chased a robot through the halls. Thats what happens when you attend a cool school like the Swift Academy of Science and Technology.

Whoa! Kent Jackson shouted as he sidestepped the speeding robot.

Our little robots motor whined as he zigzagged past other student obstacles. His main housing was only half a meter square and fifteen centimeters tall. It looked kind of like an oversize, flat gift box. Noah and I had used the body of the battlebot we had made for Mrs. Scotts robotics class. Thats right. We had a robot battle as a class project a while back! See? I told you it was a great school.

Hey! shouted Jessica Mercer as she jumped out of the way. Aww thats cute!

Noah and I had removed our battlebots weapons and added a metallic dog head on top instead. He had cameras for eyes, and microphones hidden inside his pointed ears. It had been Noahs idea to make the snout triangular to look like his dog, Phoebe. The finished robot resembled a steampunk bull terrier piloting a flat car. He even had a tailactually a Wi-Fi antennapoking out the back.

Excuse me! Sorry! I said as I pushed past Terry Stephenson and his friends.

New robot, I heard Noah call out behind me. You know how it is.

Up ahead, Raider was making his way through the crowded hallway better than we were. The little guy dodged surprised students with ease as he zipped down the corridor. It looked like our robots AI was as sharp as ever.

Raiders AI, or artificial intelligence, was part of the problem. Noah, whos a first-rate programmer, had designed a program that would learn and grow over time. The trouble was that he started the program very low on the evolutionary scale, at a level similar to a lizard brains fight-or-flight instincts. Earlier, someone slammed a locker door, and since Raider cant fight, he chose flight.

You sure you didnt add a stop command yet? I asked over my shoulder as I sprinted in pursuit.

You wanted to show Mrs. Scott where we were, remember?

Okay, its true. I was proud of what wed accomplished so far. Even Raiders name was cool. His actual name was RAIDR, an acronym for: Roving Artificial Intelligent Dog Robot. Okay, its not as elegant as SCUBA or TASER, but you get the idea. And yeah, scuba and Taser are real acronyms. Look them up!

I slowed my pace a bit as we neared the end of the corridor. Raider wouldnt let himself crash into the closed elevator door, so he was trapped. He would have to stop, and then one of us could simply flick the off switch on the back. Of course, the hall was a dead end until it wasnt. The elevator doors opened and a couple of students shuffled out. When Maggie Ortiz stepped inside, Raider zoomed in behind her.

I sped up again. Hold the elevator!

I dont know if it was that Maggie didnt hear me over the usual hallway noise or if she was just too surprised by Raiders sudden appearanceit mightve been bothbut I saw her back away just as the doors slid shut.

Stairs! Noah shouted.

Stairs! I agreed.

We veered to the right and began climbing the steps two at a time. Luckily, the elevator on this end of the school doesnt access the basement, so it could only go up. Unluckily, our progress slowed to a crawl as soon as we hit the landing. The stairwell seemed more congested than the hallway had been.

You take the second floor, Noah suggested. Ill cover the third.

Good idea. I pushed my way as politely as possible toward the second-floor landing.

Above my head, I heard Noahs footfalls on the stairs, along with his own round of Excuse me! and Sorry!

I dashed onto the second floor and jetted for the elevator, but I was so focused on my destination that I didnt notice the backpack on the floor up ahead. I sure noticed it, though, when I tripped over it and hit the ground with a splat.

Smooth move, Swift! Jim Mills chuckled as he picked up his backpack. Then the larger kid bent down and hoisted me to my feet.

Thanks, I said, rubbing my elbow.