Written By: James M. Weir
Edited By: Angelia Delesdernier
Unexpected Year 1 Day 20
As school was out for the weekend, I decided to head over to Elisabeth’s as Sieg had a new invention to show all of us. When I got there, it was a giant glass box. I was confused, but then Sieg walked out from around the corner of the glass box and I jumped. Sieg laughed and described how the box worked: it would make whoever was inside it invisible for five minutes, but you must enter alone. You might mess up your gender, or even the really important part, your mind.
Sieg was still working out the bugs, but it seemed interesting at the time and I was off for the weekend, so I decided I should just join him and see what comes of it. Apparently, I made a lot of mistakes when younger, and this was one of them. When I entered the box, I felt my hair raise, and then I was gone. I couldn’t even see my own hands and I was wondering If I was a floating pair of eyes. But after a minute it faded, and I had to try again. Although, like clockwork, it exploded.
When Jenn and Elisabeth entered the house, they both looked horror struck as fire seemed to be everywhere. Sieg and I, with help from Jenn and Elisabeth, put out all the fires, and fell to the ground exhausted and covered in soot. Sieg got up and walked over to a small box then walked back towards us and opened it up. Inside were four ear buds; I was confused at this but Sieg wasn’t going to wait for us to ask questions as he instantly went into a rant about what they were.
“Communication units, these babies can get you a crystal-clear sound from even a mile away!”
In unison we all said, “No”. Siegfried lowered his head in disappointment, and went off to his room to sulk, but three minutes later he returned with a new invention that needed Jenn and I as his test subjects. We asked him what it was, what it is supposed to do, and what it actually does.
“This is a great thing; it is a confrontation resolving cube!”
He pulled the three of us into the garage, and there was a large wooden box in the middle of the room. Jenn looked at it and snorted, as for me I grinned and knew what I should do. (Although I later regretted it.)
“I am up for it if Jenn cannot insult me for a whole hour. Or maybe even a whole day. I doubt she could do it.” I knew I got her when looking at her: Jenn’s face was completely red.
“Alright, barf-bag let’s see who will win this bet.”
Sig agreed and locked the door behind us. As the both of us sat there wondering what we were going to do for the next hour, Sig answered that question fairly quickly. He put a TV screen inside the box, and on it he brought up his face and a long list of questions he wanted us to ask each other. I smiled as I knew these questions would also make it harder for Jenn, so I laughed and started with the first question.
After about ten minutes, Jenn’s face was red in trying to not insult me. I decided to try and push some buttons for her when out of nowhere, the screen shut off and the box’s A/C turned off. Jenn and I were a little confused, and tried to open the door, but it was still locked with the magnetic lock that Sig installed.
“Great going dumb ass, this is all your fault!” Jenn shouted at me and I smiled, and silently praised victory as I was trying to find a way to open the door.
“Well seems I win our little bet. So that means you owe me something.”
Jenn rolled her eyes and then Sig’s voice came in muffled.
“Hey, the power went out here. I’m looking for my generator so I can kickstart the cube and undo the electro magnets.”
“Okay! But one question? How the hell can the electro magnets be engaged without power?”
“It’s a close line circuit, they remain magnetized, and adding electricity can neutralize them.”
I rolled my eyes and sat back down. Knowing how Sieg is, I honestly thought we would die in there, caused by Sig accidentally setting the WOODEN BOX on fire. Luckily, since I’m writing this, that didn’t happen.
“So, what is it you want from me? I may not like you fudge face, but I am a lady of my word.”
“I want you to find me a martial arts teacher. One that isn’t some sports guy, and someone that is honorable.”
At that Jenn burst out laughing and fell to the ground holding onto her abdomen. I looked at her and she looked up and me, and started laughing again this time I could tell she was exaggerating, and just waited until she was finished. Once she stopped, she sat up, walked over to me, and pushed me into the wall moving close to my face. Honestly, I thought she was going to kiss me, but she then moved over and whispered in my ear.
“There is no such thing as honor.”
The door clicked and the A/C turned on again, Jenn stepped back quickly as Elisabeth opened the door. Her face was full of worry, and she asked if we were both okay. Jenn walked out without saying a word to any of us, but whispered something in Elisabeth’s ear before walking out of the garage.
“Sorry to say Sig, but you really need to work on your electrical skills. That power outage was at the worst time.”
“Sorry Matt, but that wasn’t me. The entire city lost power. No idea why, but it was really strange. Hopefully it comes back on soon because the generator will only last for a day at most.”
Little did we know, that power outage was the start of a war that would change everything. But that won’t be for years: for now I shall let this story play out as it is.