The Quiet Button

Crayon Deer Lodge sat right in the middle of Coloring Book City, all sleek glass and tall crayon towers that looked like rockets.

Inside the shield bay, Crayon Buck bounced on his hooves. His blue-and-black suit squeaked a little. He propped his phone against a mug that said BEST BUCK and hit record.

A human engineer stepped in, hugging a box. “Juniper,” she said. “Please tell me you’re not testing past midnight again.”

He grinned behind his bright blue mask. “Science doesn’t own a bedtime.”

Juniper set down the box. “Spare nib-caps. Also: last week your gadget copied the copies and jammed three printers. Start small.”

Crayon Buck tapped a tablet labeled CRAYON TOWER SHIELD: PROTOTYPE. “Small is my middle name.”

With a snap, he summoned a giant blue crayon. He drew a tiny blue paper deer on the white wall.

He lifted the new tower shield. Its screen blinked: MULTIPLY MODE.

The little drawing twitched.

Then another identical blue deer popped beside it

Mail Slot Static

A third blue paper deer popped in, then a fourth.

Crayon Buck’s shield chirped like a microwave that wanted attention.

Juniper’s green eyes narrowed. “Okay. Nope.”

She grabbed his mug that said BEST BUCK and smacked the shield’s side.

The shield answered with a sharp BEEP and a puff of blue copy-spark.

The wall deer didn’t just duplicate.

It launched.

A fluttering swarm of flat blue deer zipped past his mask and out the bay door like a paper snowstorm.

Crayon Buck bolted after it on fast hooves, still holding his phone. “Stay in frame!”

Juniper chased him, sneakers squeaking. “Do not narrate the disaster!”

In the lobby, the swarm funneled toward the mail slot—because of course the lodge had a mail slot—and whooshed outside.

They burst into the plaza between the crayon towers and the street.

A golden-brown dog with a red collar, Pogo, barked and pounced, scattering paper deer into spinning piles.

Juniper jabbed at her phone. “Printer-traffic hotline. Please pick up.”

A robot voice said, “All lines are busy.”

The piles of blue deer shivered, and doubled again