Twipsy

It all begins quite innocently: 13-year-old Nick Walker is playing with his 8 year old sister Lissie and his neighbor Albert on the computer. Suddenly there's a short- circuit, and Nick finds himself catapulted into Cyberspace, a universe made up of bits and bytes. Twipsy shows his new human friend Nick around the Cyber Mall and all its fantastic opportunities.

Nick, Lissie and Albert introduce Twipsy to the real world. The children are surprised to find how little Twipsy knows about it - even rain amazes him. He never saw anything like it in cyberspace. Twipsy and Champ are traveling in cyberspace. But even in this hyperactive electro-cosmos, Champ is overcome by fatigue, and goes to sleep on the Information Highway.

A robbery in cyberspace: the E-Mail Snatchers snatch an e-mail from Mosey, the laid-back e-mail messenger. It's from Albert to his school friend Rachel. Albert, who has a crush on Rachel, has sent a message asking her about their homework assignment. It's a great day: there's a talent show in the cyberworld. Twipsy plans to sing a song and accompany himself on the guitar.

Champ meets a skunk. The Walkers try all sorts of ways to get rid of the horrible smell, but in vain. The old dog will have to be banished from the house and live outside. Twipsy needs plenty of money to buy papaya smoothies, his favorite drink. He thinks up a good way to get it - if other people will pay him, he'll do their work for them.

The creepy Data Eater has captured Twipsy. Albert bargains with them to get his friend released: Twipsy will be freed in exchange for a "juicy" bit of information. Champ, the rather decrepit family dog, slips into cyberspace when Lissie and Nick's grandfather comes to visit. It's the day of the "E-mail Messenger of the Month" race in the cyberworld.

Mr Neat and his Tidy Team think it's time they spruced up Cyberspace, but things go wrong during the operation. The team gets some important cables and credit cards confused, and there's information chaos. Dr. Walker, Nick's mother, gets into the cyberworld by mistake and meets the depressed cyber-messenger Flit, who can't bear to be sending bad news around on the Net.

lbert is too shy to tell his school friend Rachel that he's in love with her. When other children at school tease him, it's just too much - he goes into cyberspace to have an intellectual discussion with Know-It-All. Herbie, Albert's brother, tries his luck as a reporter of sensational news. He takes a photo of Twipsy and sells the story to Art Abrash, a disreputable TV producer.

A black day in cyberspace: Rumor Rumor and Miss Information think the world is coming to an end. Lissie suddenly appears in cyberspace - with her beloved doll Frieda. Twipsy falls in love for the first time in his life - with a light bulb. But it's a short-lived affair, because the light bulb breaks. Twipsy discovers the meaning of unrequited love, and suffers badly.

Twipsy is just crazy about food. But enough is enough, and he stuffs himself until he falls sick and has a temperature. Twipsy borrows Nick's new bike and takes it into cyberspace, to show it to his friends there. They have a great time with this strange mechanism - until the E-mail Snatchers come and steal the bike.

Lissie is stuck in the cyberworld because the Print-o-Scan has broken. Albert tries to fit a replacement part, but he has no luck. Hypno the Great bets Twipsy that he can make anyone computer- addicted, and he plans to try it on the first person mentioned in an e-mail. The victim happens to be Champ, the Walker's old dog.

The e-mail messengers are kicking up a fuss. They want better working conditions, time off, and a school. When the cyber-bosses refuse, the cyber- messengers go on strike. ven cyberspace has its dangers: Lissie lands in a black hole when she is trying to transport data along the Information Highway. The only person who can help her is Twipsy. But he has gone off to Gameland to amuse himself.

Lissie acts as an agony aunt, Cybergirl, sending advice by e-mail, and mixes up two letters by mistake. She goes to see Twipsy in the cyberworld to put things right. Nick, Lissie and Mr. Walker go on a camping expedition. The family dog Champ can't go with them because she has fleas.

Henry, the little boy next door, mistakes Twipsy for his stuffed toy mouse. Since Henry has lost his own "Googy", he takes Twipsy home. On her way into cyberspace Lissie is only incompletely digitalized; her mother has interrupted the application by mistake. As a result, Lissie is invisible in cyberspace.

Lissie has to look after the school guinea pig, Trouble, for the night. Miss Information turns this news into a rumor of a dangerous wild beast roaming cyberspace. Twipsy has gone fishing, and he caught himself a friend, the trout Wanda. Meanwhile, he is wanted in cyberspace because his messenger license has run out.

Twipsy eats the delicious cookies Dr. Walker made specially for her club meeting. Suspecting Lissie, her mother grounds her. Albert in love: Albert wants to write Rachel a romantic e- mail, but he isn't sure how to set about it. So he and Twipsy travel to the "Blabber Zone", where all kinds of e-mails assemble for collection.

Herbie installs a virus on Albert's computer. It makes Twipsy lose some data he has to transport urgently. Herbie is a real pain: when he lures Twipsy into a trap it's just too much. Herbie must mend his ways! Nick, Lissie and Twipsy persuade Hypno the Great to hypnotize Herbie by computer.

Nick gets news by e-mail, saying he can't take part in the school soccer game. He has been training hard to be ready for the game, so he is very sad. Lissie creates a great sensation when she takes Twipsy to school with her. There's tremendous excitement when her friends see the cyber-being for the first time.

Nick is madly in love with the pop star Elsa Hair. The singer is all the teenagers' heart-throb, and famous for her enormous hairstyle. Nick sits down at the computer and writes her elaborate fan mail. On her birthday, Lissie's parents give her a new computer and printer. Twipsy likes this idea, and tries to discover the date of his own birth, so that he can have a birthday too.

Nick, Lissie and Albert have discovered a new computer game, and are enthusiastically playing it. Twipsy feels neglected, and beams himself into the computer game to attract his friends' attention. While Nick is playing tennis with the cyber-messengers in the cyberworld, a storm is raging in the real world. It causes a short-circuit that makes the lights in cyberspace go out.

Gazonk and Flit are sorting out the weather news. Nasty Gazonk changes the data to say that there will be lovely sunshine instead of the hurricane that has been forecast. Lissie builds a website for Champ - or rather, it is actually built by Jack and Jill, the cyberspace online construction workers.

The cyber-messengers are holding a party to celebrate the sending of the zillion zillionth item of information. Since all the cyber-people have to be there, no data can be transported - and that includes Albert's e-mail love letters to Rachel. Over in cyberspace Nick, Twipsy and Lissie find the answers to a test that will be set in school tomorrow, and the temptation is too much.

There's a violent storm in cyberspace, and Lissie has to stay in the Cyber Mall. Then, suddenly, everything's in confusion. Mr. Walker and Dr. Walker go on vacation for a few days. Mrs Turner the piano teacher is looking after Nick and Lissie while their parents are away. This is no fun for the two children, because Mrs. Turner spends most of her time playing scales.

Albert is sick and has to stay in bed, or so his ever-anxious mother thinks, anyway. By now, however, Albert is feeling fine again, so he slips away and beams himself and Nick into cyberspace to go to a party. It's Environmental Awareness week at school, so Nick and Lissie try to save as much energy as possible.

Albert's soccer team loses a game and it's all his fault. Albert feels so bad that he decides to stay in cyberspace for good, and lead a quiet, intellectual life there. Little Henry hits a key on the computer so that Twipsy gets duplicated during data transfer from the real world to the cyberworld.

Nick orders a pair of hockey pads on the Internet, but they never arrive. Jack and Jill, the website online construction workers, are so bored they have mixed up several orders, creating confusion in the real world. Love conquers all, even in cyberspace: Miss Information is only too keen on reading other people's e-mail love letters, and she falls madly in love with Twipsy herself.