MY BEST FRIEND IS A SECRET AGENT, Book 2: How C.H.I.P. Took a Dive to Dash...

Chapter 23: "A Shocking Turn of Events"

Just as C.H.I.P. was making the last few turns to shut down Dr. Eelstrom's huge pump, the doctor grew desperate.

He pleaded with C.H.I.P., "Stop! You're ruining my life's work!" Then he started to bargain: "If you stop, I'll make you . . ." he paused, thinking, "I'll make you Prince of the Sea! You know, 'cause I'll be King. I mean, there can only be one King, right?"

"Accept it, Eelstrom. You're all washed up," C.H.I.P. quipped as he made the final turn to fully shut off the valve. Then he stepped back and folded his arms, pleased with a job well done . . . but as he did so, he slipped on the water that had spilled out of the model of Vortville. Trying to regain his balance, he slid across the room, heading right for the huge aquarium full of electric eels. Then he accidentally stuck his arm inside the aquarium, and a SHOCK shot through his body!

As I watched on my phone, I felt totally helpless. Would this shock deactivate the C.H.I.P. microthingy on his tooth as it did before in the C.H.I.P.-mobile? The last thing we needed was for goofy old Chip to be stuck helpless in Dr. Eelstrom's lair at the bottom of Lake Vortville! Eelstrom probably didn't even have any cookies.

But C.H.I.P. remained a weightlifter, so the shock clearly didn't deactivate the microthingy. Phew!

C.H.I.P. stood up straight and shook his head, appearing confused. There was a strange look in his eyes—and this got me worried. He was still C.H.I.P., but I could tell something was different. I just didn't know what.

Then C.H.I.P. began to speak. It was hard to hear him at first, but then his eyes opened wider, and his speech became clear: "Must . . . destroy . . . dam. Must . . . destroy . . . dam!"

Oh no, I thought. The shock from the eels didn't deactivate C.H.I.P.—it reprogrammed him!

Stella was watching all this from HQ, and she radioed me. "Did C.H.I.P. just say 'Must destroy dam'?"

"No! It's impossible!" I insisted. "I created C.H.I.P. to do good things! C.H.I.P. would never destroy anything!"

But C.H.I.P.'s chanting just got louder and louder. "Must . . . destroy . . . dam. Must . . . destroy . . . DAM!"

I couldn't deny it now. C.H.I.P. was still C.H.I.P., but was he now compelled to use his powers for evil?!

I had to shut him down. I had to turn C.H.I.P. back into Chip whether there were cookies down there or not. The very existence of Vortville was at stake!

So I hit this big ABORT button on my C.H.I.P. phone app . . . but nothing happened.

C.H.I.P. remained C.H.I.P., still a weightlifter—and still evil!

Dr. Eelstrom couldn't believe his luck. Giddy, he jumped to his feet. "Yes! You must destroy the dam! Then you'll be Prince of the Sea! Oh, forget it, I'll make you King! I'll be Prince, I don't mind."

C.H.I.P. jumped into Eelstrom's mini-submarine. Dr. Eelstrom was left cackling, "Go! Destroy!" as C.H.I.P. sped off. "The hero guy is doing my bidding!" Eelstrom said to his little octopus. "Now, we cannot fail!"

When I looked up from my phone, I saw Dr. Eelstrom's mini-sub speeding right towards me. I held out hope that my C.H.I.P. phone app might work on C.H.I.P. now that he wasn't underwater anymore. When he drove the sub up to the dam, I was poking away at the ABORT button like there was no tomorrow!

But again, nothing happened. C.H.I.P. remained a weightlifter as he jumped out of the sub—and he had a pickax in his hand! He still had this glazed look in his eyes, and he continued droning on with "Must . . . destroy . . . dam. Must . . . destroy . . . dam!" Then he swung the pickax high over his head and heaved it down onto the dam!

Instantly, a crack appeared! C.H.I.P. swung again—SMACK!—and the crack got bigger.

"C.H.I.P.! What're you doing?!" I pleaded. "Please stop! You're good, you're not evil like Dr. Eelstrom!"

But C.H.I.P. just kept swinging away at the dam.

Then I got an idea. If I couldn't turn C.H.I.P. back into Chip, maybe I could switch him to some other skill, and that would turn him back from evil to good!

So, I used my phone to turn him into a scientist. (A scientist wouldn't try to destroy a dam, right?) And it worked! C.H.I.P. morphed from a weightlifter into a scientist right before my eyes.

But there was still something strange about him. He dropped the pickax . . . but then he pulled a test tube out of his lab coat pocket, and it was filled with acid! He continued saying "Must . . . destroy . . . dam" as he bent down and poured the acid right into the crack in the dam!

The acid fizzed away, slowly destroying the concrete as it made its way further down into the dam!

I couldn't believe it. I'd turned C.H.I.P. into a mad scientist!

Then C.H.I.P. looked downhill to the city of Vortville below. His eyes widened, and he said, "Must . . . destroy . . . dam. Must . . . destroy . . . Vortville!" Suddenly, he jumped into the C.H.I.P-mobile and took off, leaving me behind!

My own creation was off to destroy Vortville, and I was stuck on Vortville Dam, which was cracking more and more every second! I was torn: Should I stay and try to stop the slow destruction of the dam? Or should I race after C.H.I.P. and thwart his new plans for destroying Vortville?

But these questions were moot because I didn't know how to stop the crumbling of the dam, and I also had no way of following C.H.I.P. fast enough down the hill into Vortville.

There was nothing I could do but stand back and watch my fair city get destroyed!