Book excerpt: From National Book Award nominee Chris Lynch, the second action-and-humor-filled futuristic series about talking pets who are tired of being pets ... and the boy who must help them. Zane has made an enemy for life in the evil scientist Dr. Gristle. Not only is Gristle angry about the damage Zane has done to his reputation, he's also extraordinarily jealous of Zane's ability to use technology to talk to animals. The result? He's now working on a new device to control animals' movements and speech - and Zane's dog, Hugo, is one of the first targets.