I Told You Not to Buy a Robot

I Told You Not to Buy a Robot

by Aleyana Noel

The Russian spies came back after 4 years of trying their best to get R.R.I’s (Rodriguez Robot Industry) plans for their next robot. They failed miserably so many times. They were on the verge of giving up until they spotted Ella coming home after hanging out with her friends. They waited until she got into a quiet alley and did not hesitate to bag her head and throw her into the back of a sketchy white van. Ella thought in her head, irritated and flustered, ahh here we go again. They brought her into a warehouse where they questioned and beat her. Ella did not say anything to them, up until the spies began to threaten her friends and family, the people she cares the most about. They knew she cracked when they mentioned the names of her family and friends so they made a deal.

“Okay, listen, little girl. We know how much you care for your loved ones. Well, if you ever want to see them outside of a casket, then you’re going to start playing by our rules!”

Ella then responded in a monotone voice. “Fine, I’ll play your game.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Alexi, the leader of the Russian spies, responded. “So now what you’re going to do is you will tell us the 17 digit code to the next robot.”

“For what?” Ella replied, getting smacked across the face for it.

“Listen, you’re not going to ask any more questions, you will obey our every command or the people you love oh so dearly will perish in a matter of seconds,” Alexi said, with a scary tone in his voice.

“The code is 13903456782346790,” said Ella.

“Aww see it wasn’t that hard to cooperate, was it?” Alexi said, grinning and laughing menacingly. They got the code and began reprogramming one of R.R.I’s robots to test and see if she gave the right code . . . She did.

“Hahahaha! WE DID IT! AFTER YEARS OF FAILING WE FINALLY DID IT!” Alexi exclaimed. “Let her go, she’s no longer necessary in the plan. We have all that we need.”

Ella was let go, but what she did not know was that giving them

the code was going to end the world and around 6.9 billion people would be dead within a week.

Let’s go back a little because I can see you’re lost.

Hey, I’m Michella (Ella for short), and this right here is my story. I grew up in the richest family to ever exist since the O’Briens, who came up with flying cars/flying technology such as: flying cars, flying ships, flying buses, flying houses, et cetera. They made around 9 trillion dollars off of their revolutionary inventions. This was around 15 years ago, I wasn’t even born yet, can you believe what a generation I came into! My family, however, beat the O’Briens for the richest company, making 109 trillion dollars in sales for our robots. My family has been selling robots for 20 years. It was only when I was born that they began making big bucks off of these never-before-seen robots. This was amazing! But the only thing I didn’t like was having to pay the price of being a rich girl. No one thought of me as a person, only the child of the richest family in the world. Which would be cool, but I just want to be Ella . . . My parents can never understand that I truly don’t want the money. I don’t want to have this “title,” I also want my parents to be home to show that they care about me and my siblings at least a little bit. But they’re never here; it’s always some interview or something with the robots.

Yeah, I’m not too happy about all of that, but at least I have my best friends, Antonia and Nyrobi, who I call Nia and Ro for short. I’d literally do anything for them. I don’t know what I’d do without these girls. Then there are my siblings, who I love with all my heart. Their names are Clara, Azaria, and Alexander. Clara is the oldest, she’s 17, has straight A’s, literally the kindest person ever and she takes care of me and my siblings when mom and dad are away on business trips. Azaria is the youngest, she’s 10, pretty reckless, loves riding her bike, grades aren’t the best but school isn’t really her thing, she would love to become a pro BMX racer when she’s older. Alexander is the second oldest, he’s 16, extremely smart, a clean freak, loves to bake, lastly he would love to become a baker/chef when he’s older. Then there’s me, the second youngest, 14 years old, my grades are pretty good (nothing compared to Clara’s), I’m good at self defense (been in a few fights, but we’re not going to talk about that . . . ), I want to have my own business when I’m older (even though my parents say that I won’t make it due to my inconsistency maintaining straight A’s), lastly I’m

pretty kept to myself and not all that talkative. Well, you heard about my family, my friends, and my life—I think it’s about time we get back to my story on how the world collapsed . . .

Michella snuck back into the Abandoned Warehouse where she was kidnapped. She did this to find out what their plan was.

“Okay guys, we need to prepare for the last robot to be sold,” said Alexi, leader of the Russian spies.

“But boss, what’s this gonna do?” said Dimitri, Alexi’s assistant.

“Hahaha, you fool, how could you not know? WE’RE STARTING A REVOLUTION.”

“No, we’re killing innocent people . . . ” said one of the spies.

“What did you just say?” said Alexi.

“You heard me. Once the last robot is sold and we hit that button, rebooting every single last one of these robots . . . they’re going to kill off almost half of the population.”

“So you’re feeling guilt . . . I always knew you were weak! Hey boys, give the guilty princess the special treatment he deserves,” said Alexi.

“Right on it, sir,” said all of the spies.

“Good, I’d rather die than be a part of your sick plan,” said the

spy.

“So this is the plan! They are planning to reboot the robots and wipe out all of these innocent people,” Ella said, trembling with fear. Horrified after hearing the plan, Michella rushed home to contact her friends about either throwing their robots away or not getting one.

On the phone with Antonia: “Ella, I think I’m getting a robot!”

“NO NIA DON’T GET A ROBOT PLEASE I’M BEGGING YOU!” said Michella, shaking and filled with fear.

“OMG Ella, are you okay?” Antonia said, scared and confused.

“Yes, I am perfectly fine, just do me a favor and . . . DON’T. BUY. A. ROBOT!”

“Okay, fine, but I don’t see the big deal. Your family legit owns the biggest robot company in the world . . . why don’t you want me to buy one?”

“Look, I have a bad feeling about these robots. It doesn’t have to do with family or anything. I just think that they’re dangerous and I would never want to put you or anyone I love or care about in danger,” said Ella.

“OKAY FINE I WON’T BUY A STUPID ROBOT YA HAPPY?” said Antonia.

“Yes, very,” responded Michella nonchalantly. The rest of the week Michella spent trying to plead with people to either throw their robots away or not buy one.

“Please sir, can you just throw your robot away?” Michella begged.

“Are you kidding me? Your family owns the richest company in the world and you just want people to throw away your merchandise? I don’t understand.”

“I know sir, but there is a bug in the system that makes the robots get violent. I am just trying to ensure your safety.” Michella had to tell a white lie in order to possibly save someone’s life.

“NO WAY!” the old man exclaimed, slamming the door in Michella’s face.

You can’t be serious, Michella thought. Michella had given up trying at one point due to the fact that everyone either ignored her or didn’t believe a word she said. She had lost hope, until she figured out that the plan only goes into action once the last robot is bought.

“OMG THEIR PLAN ISN’T GOING TO WORK BECAUSE NIA ISN’T GOING TO BUY THE LAST ROBOT.”

Nia was the only person on the planet who did not own a robot.

Michella got on the phone with Nia.

“Heyyy girl what’s up?” Nia said, filled with joy.

“Hey,” responded Michella. “Sooo, why are you all happy? Haha,” said Michella.

“OMG, you will not believe what my dad just bought!!” squealed Antonia.

“NIA! PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T TELL ME IT’S A ROBOT,” screamed Michella.

“Girl, what’s your deal,” said Antonia, confused, with less enthusiasm.

“TELL ME, DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT GET A ROBOT?” Michella said in a furious tone.

“I didn’t . . . ” said Antonia.

“Oh thank—” Michella almost let out a sigh.

“But my dad did.”

“Your dad did what?”

“He, um . . . he bought a robot.”

“ANTONIA WHAT??!!?”

“It’s all my fault, I told him not to get one but then I also complain about not having one almost every day . . . so I’m sorry,” Antonia said, fearing that Michella was very upset with her.

“No no no no no this can’t be happening . . . ”

“Seriously, what’s going on? I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything.”

“THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!” Michella blurted out.

Antonia roared with laughter. “OMG, are you serious? Elle, stop goofing around and tell me the truth.”

“I’m afraid I just told you the truth,” Michella replied.

“WHAT NO NO YOU’RE JOKING THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE THE WORLD CAN’T END.”

“Yes it can, and it will. I need you to get out of your house NOW.”

“NO I’M NOT LISTENING TO YOU, YOU’RE DELUSIONAL!” Antonia yelled.

“BUT NIA YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME—”

Beep beep.

She really just ended the call. Sigh. Michella began to pack as much food and supplies as she could. The clock was ticking and it was only a matter of time before the public became aware of the robot’s new destructive behavior. The news channels weren’t broadcasting the end . . . yet. She was almost done packing when loud explosions erupted out of nowhere. *Ploosh* *Boom* *Screams of terror*

It’s happening. Michella scrambled to find her siblings, who were unaware of what was going on.

“What’s going on, Elle?” Azaria asked.

“We’re in danger and we need to get to safe grounds.”

“The explosions just went off . . . How the heck are you so prepared?”

“This is all my fault . . . we got to go . . . NOW!”

“Wait, what do you mean—”

“There is no time for questions,” Michella said, in a hurry to get all of her siblings out of the house. “Come on guys, hurry up, pack whatever is necessary!”

Azaria packed her teddy bear and a few of her awards from junior BMX racing. Clara packed some clothes and a few of her favorite

books. Alexander packed clothes, his books, and some food recipes. Michella, already finished packing, yelled, “GUYS HURRY UP THE EXPLOSIONS ARE GETTING CLOSER!” Everyone ready to go went out through the secret compartment in their house which led down beneath the earth.

“Eww, it’s so gross and smelly down here!” said Clara.

“Clara, can you please shut up!” Michella said angrily.

“Elle, chill, it’s not like they can even hear us down here.”

“You don’t know that, so just keep quiet, just in case they can.”

“Elle . . . ” Alexander spoke up from behind the rest of his siblings.

“Yeah . . . ?”

“Back at the house you said, ‘this is all my fault.’ What did you mean by that?” Alexander said with a scared tone in his voice.

“Oh . . . well guys, you’ll have to sit down somewhere for this . . . ” said Michellla.

“Okay . . . ” said all of Michella’s siblings. Clara, Alexander, and Azaria huddled together on some large muddy rocks.

“Well, about a week ago when I was coming home from the mall, a few guys pulled me into a car and kidnapped me.”

“OMG, are you okay?” blurted out Clara.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good, but that’s not half the story . . . ”

“Oh,” said all of her siblings in unison.

“So after they brought me to this undisclosed location, they decided to question me about the plans for Mom and Dad’s company. I kept my mouth shut for a while . . . until they mentioned the names of my friends and family. I broke when they said they were going to hurt you guys and basically everyone I love. So I told them the code, thinking that I would be saving y’all, but instead, I put your lives, along with billions of other people, in danger. I came back to the warehouse they took me to because although they didn’t know it, I peeked out of my blindfold just in time to see the address of this warehouse. But when I snuck in, to my horror, they were discussing what they were going to do with the code that I gave them. They were planning on embedding the code into every single one of R.R.I’s robots once everyone on this earth bought a robot. I don’t know exactly how they managed to do it, but they had some sort of button that they said they were going to press once the last robot is bought. I was shocked and horrified at what I had discovered, but then I realized that the only

person on this earth without a robot is Antonia, so I rushed home, trying to reach her and warn her about buying a robot. Obviously, she thought I was insane, but still decided not to buy a robot. I was relieved because there have been very few times in my life when Antonia broke a promise she swore to keep. Then, today, Nia told me that her father purchased the very last robot on this planet. I guess it was to surprise her due to their family’s low income that they were able to purchase this robot, so she was excited to tell me. I told her the reasoning behind why I didn’t want her buying a robot while I was in the middle of freaking out, yet she did not believe a single word I said. She called me delusional and hung up the phone. Not long after that, I started packing food supplies because I knew what was going to happen next. Then the explosions went off and I called you guys because we had to get out of here almost immediately. I let y’all pack what was important to each and every one of you because the explosions weren’t that close and we had some time. If these explosions had been anywhere close to us, you would have had to kiss all your prized possessions goodbye.”

“Wow . . . ” said all of Michella’s siblings in awe.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS SOONER YOU, WHY NOW?” said Azaria, with tears in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Zari . . . I’m sorry to all of you,” Michella apologized.

“You should be, because if Mom and Dad had known—”

“What would they have done? Alex, please tell me!” Clara interrupted.

“Shut up, Clara, they would have helped—”

“No, they wouldn’t have! They would just call us a bunch of crazy kids and go off on their business trips without a care in the world.” After Clara said this, the entire group of siblings went silent. They were all silent for about 20 minutes until Michella spoke.

“OH MY GOSH I JUST FORGOT,” she blurted out.

“You forgot what..?” said Alex, with a confused look on his face.

“WE NEED TO GO GET NIA AND RO!”

“Then go get them!” said Clara.

“Wait, none of you are coming with me?”

“It only makes sense, you are literally the most capable to handle anything you see out there, you don’t need us, we’ll only weigh you down.”

“Fine, I’ll go on my own, but you guys please don’t leave the

cave!” Michella asserted.

“Okay, we won’t. Be safe,” said Michella’s siblings synchronously. Michella went to get Nia first as her house wasn’t too far away. She went up to the surface and saw pure chaos and destruction. Buildings, houses, shops, and stores either burned to the ground or were on fire. Michella started panting heavily, tears flooding her eyes almost as if she were drowning. Why did I have to give them the stupid code? They could’ve been bluffing . . . This is all my fault. THIS IS ALL MY FAULT. She pushed all of her negative thoughts away and focused on the main issue here, her friends could be in grave danger right about now. Okay, we got to save Nia and Ro, that’s what we’re here for. Michella waited until the robots were as far away as possible and then discreetly crept up out of the safe haven. Once she got out she looked around and saw no sign of robots, the area was quiet, probably the most quiet New York City had been in years. The last time New York had been this quiet must’ve been back in 2028 during COVID-27. Michella walked as quietly as possible, trying her best to not make any sound. It took her a while to reach Antonia’s house, even though it was only 3 blocks away. The minute she got there, it was completely trashed, and there were loud screams. Michella was terrified at what she would walk in on. She crept up to the door and knocked as usual, but the door opened on its own. Michella came inside to see Antonia up against a wall with a tall terrifying robot standing in front of her. He was holding several sharp tools in his right hand but then saw her. For a second there, he just stopped moving. Antonia seemed shocked, but Michella wasn’t. She wasn’t surprised at all, for she had spent a large portion of her childhood studying how to tame her family’s robots if they ever got out of hand. All she did was look him straight in the eyes and did not look away, not even for a second. She kept eye contact with him until she got close enough to quickly flip the switch behind the robot’s neck. Antonia’s robot shut down immediately and Antonia’s life, along with her family’s lives, were saved. “OMG ELLE YOU’RE ALIVE!” Antonia exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m alive, see this is why I told you not to buy a robot,” Michella said, breathing heavily, with a slight chuckle.

“I should’ve believed you. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Elle,” Antonia said sadly.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t have believed me either. Anyways, we have to go get Ro.”

“Wait — just Nyrobi?” said Antonia, confused.

“Yeah, who else do we need to get?”

“We need to get Lee, dummy!” Antonia said, irritated.

“No . . . um, we don’t need to get Lee.”

“Girl, what’s wrong with you?”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” Back in Elementary School, Lee, Michella, Nyrobi, and Antonia were the best of friends. Up until Middle School, where Lee developed a little crush on Michella. Even though Lee was really sweet, he was also just a friend to her, and she didn’t want to ruin their amazing friendship. Soon after Michella rejected him, he left the group, ashamed and heartbroken. For years, Michella, Nyrobi, and Antonia had not been in contact with Lee. But Antonia was not trying to leave Lee behind.

“Look, I know it’s going to be a little awkward due what happened, but girl . . . that was in the 6th grade, it has been 3 years! We need to talk to him. I mean, come on, we were best friends.”

“Emphasis on the were, we’re not friends anymore! It’s all his fault why we stopped being friends in the first place!” Michella told Antonia angrily.

“We’re getting him whether you like it or not!” Antonia told Michella sternly.

Michella grunted, “Fine whatever, but I’m not talking to him.”

Michella and Antonia arrived at Lee’s house 2 hours later.

“What are you waiting for? Knock,” Michella said, annoyed.

Antonia knocked on the door. Knock, knock. Footsteps approached the door. The door slightly opened.

“Um, can I help . . . you . . . ” a voice said from behind the door.

“Hey Lee, it’s been a while,” Antonia said to Lee.

“Hey Nia . . . and hey Ellie . . . ” said Lee, looking directly at Michella.

“Uh—hey,” Michella said, while looking away from Lee.

“You don’t look too happy to see me.”

“Honestly I’m not,” Michella replied.

“I’m not surprised,” said Lee, looking down at the ground.

“Look can we just get along, THE WORLD IS ENDING!” said Antonia.

“Okay . . . ” said Michella.

“Guys . . . what’s going on?” Lee said, concerned.

“As you can see there are buildings burning down, robots turning

on their owners and PEOPLE LITERALLY DYING, what do you think we’re here for ya big dummy!” Antonia said, frustrated.

“Jeez, calm down . . . wait, are you guys here for protection?”

“PROTECTION?! BY YOU? Nah, we’re good.” Michella was extremely annoyed.

“Can you both just calm down, and tell me what’s going on?”

“Okay. We’re here to get you to safety,” said Michella.

“Why would I need to be protected by y’all, I’m doing perfectly fine on my own.” Lee had always been very stubborn and had the largest ego.

“Ugh, Lee, why must you have such a big ego,” said Antonia.

“I do not have a big ego!”

“Lee can you stop acting like a two year old and just come with us?” said Michella.

“Sure,” said Lee.

“Why do you only give in when she says to stop?” said Antonia.

“I, um—” Lee struggled to get any words out. Antonia gasped.

“Do you still have a crush on her?” Antonia squealed.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. Can we please just go.”

“You totally still have a crush on her.”

“Does it really matter if he still has a crush on me or not? It’s not going to change anything between us,” Michella said before walking away. Lee was standing right behind the door, his heart had been shattered yet again. Michella began to lead Antonia and Lee to Ro’s house. It took them about 45 minutes to get there, but when they got there, they were amazed to see that Ro had already re-programmed her robot to be gentle and friendly as all the robots once were.

“Ro . . . what did you do?” Michella said, filled with confusion.

“Oh, I just re-programmed my robot to get its act together,” said Nyrobi, glaring at her robot.

“Hey Ny . . . ” Lee said, creeping up from behind Antonia and Michella.

“What’s Lee doing here?” said Nyrobi.

“Oh, we needed to protect him.”

“Yeah, cause you care about me,” said Lee, in a smug tone.

“Look, it wasn’t even my idea to come get you, it was Nia’s, so thank her.”

“Ew no,” said Lee.

“WHAT, HOW DARE YOU SAY EW WHEN YOU LOOK

LIKE A WHOLE TROLL.”

“Well at least I don’t look like the stuff that grows on the bottom of your feet.”

Nyrobi and Michella almost formed tears from how hard they laughed.

“Bruh . . . I can’t breathe,” Michella said whilst laughing along with Nyrobi some more.

“That wasn’t even a good comeback. I don’t know why y’all laughing,” said an annoyed Antonia.

“It was good, you got to admit,” Lee said, with the biggest smile on his face.

“I’M NOT ADMITTING ANYTHING TO YOU,” Antonia screamed.

“Wait, hold on, can someone tell me again, why they fight like siblings?” Nyrobi asked.

“You really don’t remember? Every single year, they would get into the stupidest arguments and the dumbest fights. You and me would always have to break them up,” Michella informed Nyrobi.

“Ohhh yeah, now I remember, didn’t Nia almost kill Lee once?”

“Yup I did, because he was being an absolute idiot as per usual,” said Antonia.

“How was I being an idiot?” said Lee.

“Well, you were trying to jump off the top of the staircase at school onto Elle because you were mad at her for stealing your juicebox. I HAD TO TRY AND KILL YOU BEFORE YOU KILLED HER,” Antonia stated.

“Ohhh right, I remember that . . . sorry, Ellie bear,” Lee said.

“What did I say about calling me Ellie bear,” Michella said, turning her head to Lee.

“Oh, um . . . ‘NEVER CALL ME THAT NAME AGAIN YOU IDIOT, IT MAKES ME LOOK WEAK.’ Was that it?” Lee replied, mimicking Michella.

“Yes . . . and what did you do? YOU CALLED ME THAT AGAIN.”

“I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY PLEASE DON’T KILL ME.”

“Fine, I’ll spare you.”

“WAIT, GUYS,” said Nyrobi.

“What?” “Yeah?” “Huh?”

“SHOULDN’T WE BE TRYING TO GET TO SAFETY?

THERE ARE MURDEROUS ROBOTS TRYING TO KILL US ALL, CAN WE FOCUS ON THAT PLEASE?”

“Oh yeah right we got to move guys,” Michella said, leading the gang. They all began following Michella. Then robots came out of nowhere.

“No one move,” said Michella.

“Okay,” said Lee.

The robots began to charge. “RUN!!!” said Michella to the rest of the gang. Michella began fighting off the robots while Lee was trying to help.

“Ellie come on, go with Toni, and Ro I got it,” Lee said, urging Michella to stop fighting.

“NO, YOU LEAVE, I CAN HANDLE THIS ON MY OWN.”

“What’s up with you, why do you hate me so much?” Lee said, punching two robots in the face effortlessly.

“I don’t hate you.” Michella kicked a robot down.

“Then why do you act like you do? Why do we only reconnect now, when it’s a life or death situation?”

“BECAUSE YOU LEFT US, LEE, YOU DECIDED TO WALK OUT ON US,” Michella said, walking up to Lee in the middle of the fight.

“I DIDN’T WALK OUT ON YOU GUYS, IT’S JUST THAT SOME PEOPLE FEEL HURT AND HEARTBROKEN WHEN THEIR CRUSH OF 4 YEARS REJECTS THEM, YOU’RE SPECIAL TO ME, ELLIE, MORE THAN YOU KNOW—WAIT! ELLE, WATCH OUT!”

“What?” Michella was pushed into the streets by a robot and got hit by a car. She laid on the floor, unconscious, with a puddle of blood near her head and bruises all over her face.

Oh my god this one’s on me, Lee thought as he crouched to the floor with his hands on his head. If she wasn’t dealing with my dumb self then she would have been more focused on fighting the robots. I should’ve at least been able to protect her, I just stood there and told her to watch out, I froze instead of grabbing her, I should have stopped this from happening, this is all my fault.

“Lee, Lee, LEE,” a familiar voice kept repeating.

“ELLIE?”

“No . . . Elle’s in the hospital right now. It’s Antonia.”

“Oh . . . okay,” Lee responded.

“It’s not your fault, you big dummy, there’s nothing either one of you could have done in this situation, it was kind of inevitable,” said Antonia, trying to cheer Lee up.

“Yeah, ‘kind of inevitable’ doesn’t mean that there’s nothing that could have prevented this from happening. If I wasn’t around weighing her down, she would have been okay!” said Lee, furiously, as he walked away. Lee went home that day, not even slightly caring about the fact that the world was ending, all that was on his mind was Ellie. He fell onto his bed. You idiot, he said to himself right before he passed out and went to sleep.

1 week later:

“The key, I NEED THE KEY!”

“Ma’am, ma’am, calm down.”

“WHO ARE YOU GET AWAY FROM ME, I NEED THE KEY.”

“What key, what are you talking about?”

“First tell me who you are . . . ”

“I’m your doctor, Michella, you’ve been in a coma for a week. Now can you tell me what key you’re talking about?” Michella looked up at the woman’s chest to see the top of a wire sticking out.

“Okay, so the key is supposed to—” Michella headbutted the woman before finishing the sentence. Did Alexi and his guys really think I was going to fall for that? Michella began to rip the medical equipment off of her body and saw that she wasn’t too high up and jumped out the window. She began to run as fast as she could in her hospital gown. She ran to Lee’s house, as it was the closest to the hospital. As soon as Michella got there, she began to knock rapidly at the door.

“OH MY GOD ELLIE ARE YOU OKAY?” Lee said, seeing as though Michella was drenched in sweat and had blood dripping down her arms.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, but I may have found a way to save the world,” said Michella, breathing heavily through her words.

“YOU WHAT?” said Lee happily.

“Yup.”

“Wait, but why do you look like a bloody hot mess?”

Michella gave Lee a cold glare.

“No offense,” Lee assured.

“Mhm . . . but to answer your question, I had to escape the hospital.”

“Why?”

“Because there was a woman there who tried to fool me into thinking she was a doctor. I knew for a fact she wasn’t a real doctor after I woke up screaming about the key and she started asking me questions about it instead of asking how I felt after I had just woken up from a coma. I looked up at her chest to see this wire sticking out and I knew then and there that she had been sent by someone to get information from me. I gave her a strong headbutt and started to rip the medical stuff off me and went through the window. The first thing I did once I came out was run here. So, yeah . . . this is how I ended up here.”

“Wow . . . I have no words,’’ said Lee in disbelief that Michella had just gone through all of that.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, we have to focus on saving the world right now.”

“You got that right,” Lee said in a chill voice. “So what’s the plan?” he asked eagerly.

“So basically, back when I got kidnapped for the first time when I was about 9 years old, my parents took a lot of time to tell me about the robots just in case they ever successfully hacked into our robots. They told me about this key that they created 20 years ago when they made the first R.R.I. robot. This key is supposed to be used to open an indestructible safe, which is back at our house. No one knows about the key or the safe. Except my siblings, my parents, myself. And now, you.”

“Okay, so what does the key do once we open the safe?” Lee asked Michella.

“Well, once we open the safe, a big red button will pop up, and once we push it, every robot in existence will deactivate and most likely blow up.”

“Woah, that’s awesome!” Lee replied in awe.

“Yeah, but we’re going to have to risk our lives to get it,” Michella said with a sad and serious tone in her voice.

“Oh . . . ” Lee said less enthusiastically.

“We’re going to have to go up to the mountain, that’s going to be about a 2 day drive with a car and a week on foot,” said Michella.

“I have a car,” said Lee.

“No. we’re not driving in the car with you.”

“Come on, why not,” said Lee, in a whiny, sad tone.

“Because you’re 14! You don’t have a license, and you’re also extremely reckless!” said Michella, with an aggravated tone in her voice.

“First of all it’s MY mom’s car and I’ve been learning how to drive in the Macy’s parking lot for 2 WHOLE WEEKS and I think I’m a pretty good driver.”

“Lee . . . TWO FLIPPING WEEKS? OMG, WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE.”

“TWO WEEKS SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH DRIVING EXPERIENCE,” Lee yelled back.

“You know what? Fine, I’ll let you drive, but if I die I’m coming back AND HAUNTING YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.”

“Ahh yes, I see you’ve come to your senses.”

“I hate you,” Michella mumbled.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing, friend,” Michella said, clenching her fists.

“That’s what I thought.”

“OKAY, YOU MAY BE THE ONLY ONE WITH A CAR, BUT DON’T MAKE IT THE ONLY ONE WITH NO FINGERS.”

“I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, PLEASE DON’T HURT ME.”

Michella sighed and then called Ro and Nia to discuss the plan. Michella was going to ask them to come along on the journey but instead she just told them the entrance to the safe haven and told them to go down there and stay safe. It was only going to be Lee and Michella on this mission.

“Just the two of us,” Lee sang in front of Michella.

“One. Ew, no. 2. Wasn’t that a song from like a million years ago?” said Michella, annoyed.

“One. You’re mean. 2. It wasn’t that long ago and it’s also a really good song.”

“Can you just drive, please, like a normal person.”

“But I’m not a normal person, I’m built different.”

“Please don’t ever say that again and just drive pleaseee.”

Two days later:

“We’re finally here!” Michella shouted with joy.

“WOOOOO,” Lee yelled.

“Shhh, keep it quiet!”

“Oh, my bad, sorry . . . Woooo,” said Lee, in a softer voice.

“You’re an idiot,” said Michella, rolling her eyes. Lee chuckled as they began to look for a secret entrance inside the mountain.

“There’s got to be a door somewhere around here,” Michella said while wiping moss away from some rocks.

“OVER HERE!” Lee yelled. “I FOUND THE DOOR.”

“Good job!” said Michella. They walked inside and saw a glowing box all the way across a bridge.

“Sick, it’s right there.”

“Wait,” Michella said to Lee. She skipped a stone on the bridge, it shook and wiggled. “The bridge doesn’t seem too safe.”

“Not the time to be afraid, Ellie,” Lee said to Michella.

“Y—yeah, you’re right.”

“You know, if you’re really scared, you could hold onto me. I’ll make sure you’re safe, okay?”

“Oh—okay,” Michella said to Lee, unsure if he was going to keep that promise. They were walking as slow as possible across the bridge, Michella holding onto Lee as tight as possible. Then the bridge began to shake. THE BRIDGE WAS BREAKING OFF PIECE BY PIECE. They started to run as fast as they could and Michella managed to get across the bridge. While Lee was slightly behind her, the bridge cracked in the spot Lee was at! But luckily, Michella caught him by the arm before it was too late. His arm began to slip and Michella tried as hard as she could to get him up.

“Just let me go,” Lee said in a weak voice, with tears in his eyes.

“NO, I CAN’T LOSE YOU, NOT AGAIN,” Michella screamed.

“What do you mean? . . . You will never love me . . . so what’s the point in even living if the only person you ever loved will never feel the same way?” Lee let go of Michelle’s hand.

“NOOOOOOOOO.” Michella screamed as she watched Lee fall. With tears streaming down her face, she curled into a ball. But something happened once Lee hit the lava. In fact, it wasn’t lava. It wasn’t even real. It all disappeared.

“CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE TEST!”

“What’s going on?” Michella asked, filled with confusion.

“Your parents signed you up for the most realistic virtual game to test your mobility, strength, and leadership skills,” a voice said in

the distance.

“ALEXI??” Michella yelled.

“No, it’s actually Steve, haha.”

“WHERE IS LEE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?” Michella yelled.

“Oh your little lover boy is right here.” Steve pulled Lee by the arm. “ELLIE!” Lee yelled ecstatically while running to hug her.

“I thought I was never gonna see you again,” Michella said as she wiped away tears.

“I thought I was gonna die,” said Lee.

“Well, Ms. Rodriguez, you passed the test, your family’s company will do well in your hands.”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘do well in my hands’?” Michella asked, confused.

“Oh, that is what you won for being such a resilient, powerful leader, leading your siblings and friends to safety,” said Steve, the game host.

“So were we being watched?” Michella asked.

“Yes, of course. We needed to see what you all were up to.”

“Oh. Okay. So . . . the world didn’t end?” Michella asked.

“No, of course not, haha!” Steve flipped a switch, and at that moment, the world went back to normal. No fires, no burning buildings, and most importantly, no robots turning on their owners. “We’re home.”