Crash Zone

A coded message on the Net becomes an irresistible puzzle for Mike, Pi, Bec, Marcello and Ram. Following the clues leads them to a meeting with Alexandra Davis, head of software company, Catalyst, and a job testing video games after school! It's the job of their dreams, that brings unexpected surprises - including the discovery of Virgil, a strange Artificial Intelligence loose on the Net.

Testing Alex's new game, Trillin, the kids encounter Virgil, who is having an identity crisis. The surprised Alex is worried that Virgil might be a spy for rival company, Sunijim. An offended Virgil gets the kids to help prove he's not a spy - but Virgil can't remember who he really is! The kids discover Virgil was actually grown from a program created by Alex.

Alex's valuable necklace goes missing at Catalyst, and everyone is a suspect. Pi feels she needs to prove her innocence although Virgil's idea of helping by downloading detective stories from the Net is making things more difficult. When Marcello's little sister, Sam, is lost on the streets, the kids have two demanding cases on their hands.

Marcello tries to make money by selling Ram's new invention. Ram, realizing Marcello is ripping him off, dissolves the partnership and then sells one of his new game converters to a strange girl, Louise. Louise's TV blows up and she blames Ram. Will the other kids be able to save Ram before he becomes a meal for Louise's huge dog 'Predator'?

A computer virus invades Catalyst, and it's a fight against the clock to save Alex's game, Trillin, and indeed, the whole of Catalyst. The kids are not at their best, as there's friction between Mike and Bec. Bec believes he should have stood up for her when his friends made racist comments to her. No matter how much Mike apologizes, the team is edgy.

Bec is intrigued and delighted by a 'Net romance' she's pursuing. The boys are skeptical, and their worst fears are realized when they find out it's really Virgil writing love letters to Bec. Pi tries to think of a way to save Bec from the humiliation of finding out she's romancing a program! How can she do this, when her own lies are getting her deeper in trouble herself?