Mad Vlad runs a strict ice cream shop on 104th Street in New York City with one rule: one flavor, one scoop, one topping. When robot competitors offer unlimited everything, Vlad loses his customers and closes shop. He bounces back by building his own ice cream robots, turning the tables on the competition.
Chapters
Ice Cream Robots. Written and doodled by Ryan Maloney. Voiced by Tracy Pendergast. In New York City, there was an ice cream shop on 104th Street called Mad Vlad's Ice Cream, the treat of all treats. Mad Vlad scooped ice cream like a machine, and people were crazy about Mad Vlad's ice cream. People lined up way out of your view, down Broadway to Times Square, across Park Avenue. Fans wore Mad Vlad t-shirts to show they were cool. On the back of the t-shirts were Mad Vlad's 3 rules. Rule number 1 doesn't sound like much fun. There's only 1 flavor to choose from. The second of rules, as you can guess, you get only 1 scoop. Vlad does not like a mess. Here's the last rule. It's rule number 3, and this is a big one, so listen to me. You get only 1 topping. Don't ask for more, or you may get yourself kicked out the door. You see this kid here? His name is Ned. He asked for more toppings, and Mad Vlad said, you kids look so smart with your gadgets and code, but Mad Vlad has rules that you must follow. If you want toppings, if you want a lot, go on, get lost. Go to ice cream robots? Mad Vlad's eyes popped out of their sockets when he saw robots vacuuming coins out of kids' pockets. For soft-serve ice cream and unlimited toppings? A gazillion flavors and whipped cream ploppings! Suddenly the line at Mad Vlad stopped. So Mad Vlad had to shut down his ice cream shop. Ned could see that he was sad. So he asked one question of Mad Vlad. Hey, Mad Vlad, what will you do now? Well, I will fly back home, scoop ice cream to cows. At night I'll dream of lines out of view, of my 3 silly rules and those robots too. But then one day when I'm old and gray, a cow will order 1 scoop and say, "Boy, Mad Vlad, you sure look mean, but wow, you are an ice cream scooping machine!" Then it will hit me, 4 words on a loop, and I'll shout those 4 words from that chicken coop, "Those robots can't scoop!" I'll be right back here before you know, and you'll say, did you know robots can be programmed to scoop with a few lines of code? And just like that, we'll be back on top. We'll open a brand new ice cream shop. There will be only one rule, we'll slap it on the wall. Unlimited toppings, a gazillion flavors for all. A new line will form that will never go away. Across Park Avenue, through Times Square, and right up Broadway. Just like that, we'll be back on our feet. Welcome to Happy Vlad's Ice Cream Scooping Robots, the treat of all treats. The end.
