Zero Effect Odd Squad

My name is agent Olive.

This is my partner, agent Otto.

This is my lucky pencil.

But back to Otto and me.

We work for an organisation run by kids

that investigates anything strange,

weird and especially odd.

Our job is to put things right again.

Who do we work for? We work for...

CLOCK TICKS

CLOCK TICKS

Hiccup!

Yep, those are exploding hiccups all right.

We've got just the thing.

Drink some of this, it get's rid of them every time.

Thank you, Odd Squad.

Now, if you'll excuse us.

Hiccup!

Uh-oh!

-Hiccup!

-CAR ALARM BEEPS

BAAAA!

Incoming!

-Morning, agents.

-BOTH:

-O'Brien.

Hey, Olive, I know we've only been working together

for a little while now,

but it's my birthday tomorrow.

Otto's turning ten.

Ten?

Too tall for ten.

I'm short for 12.

And I'd be happy to go.

Oh, quiet day at the Squad.

Olive! Otto! In my office, now!

At least Ms O's in a better mood than usual.

Rrrarrgghhh!

What's the problem, Ms O?

Something very odd has happened.

Question, who's that guy?

Oh, that's Glen.

He's opening a new cupcake shop in town.

I'm going to have one million, billion, trillion flavours.

Chocolate with vanilla frosting, vanilla with chocolate frosting,

chocolate butterscotch with ketchup centres...

Thank you, Glen.

I'll just leave my box right here.

As I was saying...

Here's the photo of the giant ball of gum in the town museum.

It's made up of 1,000 wads of chewed bubble gum.

Except, this morning, shrunk down to one wad.

BOTH GASPS

And the sign is different too.

There used to be three zeros after that one.

Why did the ball of gum shrink from 1,000 wads

to one wad?

I have a hunch what's happening, but I need more evidence.

What are you waiting for? Go!

I'm getting too young for this.

COMPUTER BEEPS

O'Brien, send us to Polly Graph.

Preparing to squish-inate.

Squish-inating.

Hold on, I'm not ready yet!

Sorry.

Ahh!

Hey, Olive. Hey, Otto.

Here's your usual.

Thanks, Polly.

Ah, perfect.

Say, there's some odd stuff going on around town.

-Have any graphs that might help us out?

-Let me see.

This is a bar graph showing how much money I make

selling hot chocolate.

I haven't made much today. I'm never, ever going to get that pony.

Maybe because the price of your hot chocolate has gone down.

Five cents?

But it used to say 50 cents.

Five, zero.

What happened to the zero?

Same thing that's happening to zeros all around town -

-they're disappearing.

-Huh!

Nooooo!

Wait. Why is that a problem?

-Zero stands for nothing, so nothing is the matter.

-Uh-uh.

A zero only means nothing when it's by itself.

But take Polly's marshmallows, for example.

This is 1,000 marshmallows.

Right now there's a one in the thousand's place

and a zero in the hundred's place,

the ten's place and in the one's place.

But take away one zero...

..the one moves to the hundred's place

and it becomes 100.

But lose one more zero,

the one moves to the ten's place.

That's ten.

Take away the last zero, that's just one,

which is why the ball of gum shrunk from 1,000 wads of gum

to one wad.

But why would zeros just disappear?

You know you've got to pay for that, right?

Sounds like we've got ourselves a number-hog.

Both: A what?

A number-hog.

Oscar can explain.

Where is he?

O-s-c-a-r!

Hey, guys. So a number-hog is someone who uses up a number

so much that they start sucking up all that number.

So, say you like the number four.

If you like four, four, four, four, four, four, four, four

four, four, four, four and then...

HE GARGLES

So if we don't find our number-hog, he's going to suck up

all of the zeros in the world?

Wait, if we don't fix the zero problem...

I'm not turning ten tomorrow.

Otto's turning...

One!

But I don't want to turn into a baby.

No offence, agent Orson.

Agent Otto, listen.

Somehow, some way, we will find that number-hog.

If we have to climb the highest mountains,

or swim the deepest ocean, we will...

Or, you could just use my number-hog finder.

That will work.

Come on, partner.

Agent Orson, I want that report on my desk by five.

Here we are, eight Main Street.

But where's the number-hog?

I don't know. This is where the gadget said to go.

It's over.

Tomorrow I'm going to be in diapers.

What are we missing?

Unless something is missing from the directions.

-Both:

-Zeros!

The directions are missing zeros because zeros are disappearing.

Stop speaking in time with me. You stop!

So, how do we figure out the real directions?

Otto, I can't hold it in any more.

I really have to go to the maths room.

Me too.

-Greetings, agents.

-Hi, Maths Room.

OK, so eight Main Street wasn't right.

Well, what if we add one zero?

So the eight from the one's place moves to the ten's place to

make 80 Main Street.

Generating 80 Main Street.

-The town lake?

-Let's see what happens

when we add two zeros.

So the eight moves to the hundred's place to make 800.

Generating 800 Main Street.

A cupcake shop?

Wait. Remember that cupcake guy in Ms O's office?

He was going to have one million, billion, trillion flavours.

Generating the number one million,

billion, trillion.

That's a lot of zeros.

-He must be the number-hog!

-Let's go.

So many zeros.

SHOP DOOR RINGS

BOTH: Odd Squad, Odd Squad! Stop right there, number-hog!

Number-hog?

-There's the zeros.

-Get them!

Partner, partner, that's enough.

-Ooh, may I?

-Sure, sure.

They did it. Look, everyone, the zeros are coming back!

-Good work, agents.

-Thanks, Miss O.

Otto's turning ten, woohoo!

I had no idea I was a number-hog. I'm so embarrassed.

It's OK, it happens to the best of us.

How am I going to get people to visit my cupcake shop now?

You know, I do need cake for my party.

Happy Birthday, agent Otto.

-Thanks, partner.

-Plain cupcake, no frosting.

-Oh, that's me.

-Looks good.

Glad to have you on the squad, Otto.

You're so much better than Olive's last partner.

-Who was her last partner?

-Eh...

Look at agent Orson, out of control as usual.

Crazy...baby.