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"Wow. Look at all those buildings. It looks like a big white castle!" he exclaimed. From the apartment balcony he could see students going to class. Stanley thought about the night before. "It sure would be nice to go visit Cambodia. Too bad there's only one of me." Uncle Robert, eating breakfast, looked up and thought about it. "You know, I have a friend who might help you go to Cambodia." Flat Stanley looked confused. "But I'm staying here in Hong Kong with you. How could I possibly go to Cambodia as well? There would have to be two of me!" With great curiosity, Uncle Robert and Flat Stanley walked to the university. They went into the big white building where all the students were going. They went up stairs, through hallways, up elevators, deeper and deeper into the building. At first they saw offices where teachers prepared their classes. Then they saw classrooms full of students. Finally they came to a sign that said, LABORATORY and they walked in. Inside the laboratory, they saw people in white coats walking around and working at benches. They saw different kinds of machines all over the place. People seemed to be putting things into and out of the machines, writing in books, typing in computers -- all working very hard. It seemed quite mysterious to Stanley.
"They don't keep food in these refrigerators." Uncle Robert replied. "These are for experiments." Stanley found that quite odd. As they walked into another room, a woman looked up from her desk. Uncle Robert introduced Stanley to her. "Stanley, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Tina, she is a DNA scientist. Tina, this is Flat Stanley. Stanley is visiting from San Diego." "My you're flat." Tina observed. "Flat enough to fit in an envelope." Stanley replied. "What is a DNA scientist?" "I make exact copies of things, especially very small bugs. I do it by copying the DNA inside the bug's bodies." Tina tried to explain, but Stanley scratched his head in confusion. Uncle Robert spoke up. "Tina, I was wondering if we might use Stanley's DNA to make copies of him. You see, he wants to visit both Cambodia and Hong Kong -- at the same time." Tina thought for a moment. She looked Stanley over. "I'm not sure. Normally, DNA in the body is all coiled up, but I think Stanley's DNA has gone all flat. We'll have to do something about that first." "Stanley," she asked, "is it okay with you if we try to make copies of you?" Stanley considered it for a moment, and realizing that this would allow him to be in two places at once, responded, "Yes, I'll do it!" Tina led Stanley to a big machine. She opened the top and placed him at the bottom. "This machine is going to spin you around in circles. It goes very fast. It should help spin your DNA back into a coil." Stanley was a little frightened. Around him were glass jars full of colored liquids. As Tina closed the top, the machine began to spin. "Whhhhhhooooooooo yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaa!" Around and around he went. It felt like his insides were getting all mixed up. After a few minutes, Tina opened the top and the machine came to rest." "It looks like your DNA is back to normal now." She told him.
"One more step," she told him as she removed his folded body from the dish. This last step is the most important. I'm going to put you into this DNA copying machine, and, if everything works out, you'll be able to go to both Hong Kong and Cambodia at the same time.
Tina carefully folded Flat Stanley into the DNA copier. She closed the lid, and locked the top. She pressed the buttons on the front, and it began to make a whirring noise. "This shouldn't take too long," she said to Uncle Robert. Uncle Robert was a bit anxious. But Tina was a good scientist and he trusted her. "BING!" went the machine. "He's ready." Tina unlocked the top and slowly opened the lid. From seemingly nowhere popped, not one, not two, not three, but FOUR FLAT STANLEYS!
Stanley was amazed. He was beside himself -- beside three copies of himself! "You did it! I mean, you REALLY did it. There aren't just two of me, there are four of me!" He said. "If I stay in Hong Kong, and one copy goes to Cambodia, what happens to the other two?" Tina replied, "Well one of you can come with me to England." Stanley thought it a swell idea. Uncle Robert added, "And another copy of you can go with another friend to the island of Borneo." Stanley thought that swell as well, but he wasn't sure where Borneo was, or if he'd like it. Leaving one of the copies with Tina, Stanley and Uncle Robert bid goodbye, and made their way home. What a busy day -- making DNA copies. Click here to go with Hong Kong Flat Stanley... |
With
the daylight of the next morning, Flat Stanley was able to see where
Uncle Robert and Aunt Louise lived. The apartment was located next
to the university where Uncle Robert worked. And the university was on a hill, next to the
Pacific Ocean. 
They
walked down a long hallway filled with more machines and
refrigerators. "There sure are a lot of refrigerators
here." Stanley said. "There must be an awful lot
of food too."
Tina
then took him to her bench. "Now we need to prepare you for
the DNA machine. I'm going to put you in this little dish and add
some chemicals to you." She proceeded to fold him into a
dish, and taking an eyedropper, she added a mixture of chemicals from
jars she had on her shelf. Through it all, Stanley remained calm,
even smiling as he waited for Tina to finish her work.
