Art and Arts

trANTsferred, part 1

"I think I did pretty well on that French test," Fletcher said.

"It was a math test, Fletch," I said as I sat down at my desk.

"Ay, dios mio!" Fletcher exclaimed.

"That's Spanish," Olive commented.

"Oh. Well, then I did very badly either way," Fletcher decided.

"Don't worry, Fletcher. We're never going to need all this math. Yet everyone always tells you how important it is. In fact, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard it, I'd have... I'd have... some nickels," Chyna explained.

The chair she was about to sit in suddenly disappeared. "Ow!"

Angus laughed mockingly. "First victim of my holographic chair!"

"Angus! That was incredibly mean! Why would you do that to me?" Chyna snapped.

"It was meant for Fletcher," Angus said.

"Still incredibly mean," I cut in.

"Well, I don't understand. Our A.N.T. Pads can't project 3D images," Olive explained.

"Mine can," Angus replied. "I accessed the manufacturer's secure server and downloaded an experimental beta update. I'd be happy to tell you more detail, Fletcher, while you relax in this completely real lounge chair."

"No way. I'm not falling for that," Fletcher scoffed.

"Suit yourself." Angus sat on the lounge chair.

"Wait. You broke into the Z-Tech servers?" I realized.

"They're a huge, powerful technology company!" Chyna added. "Aren't you worried about getting in trouble?"

"Nope. There's absolutely no way they can trace it back to me," Angus assured us.

People dressed in black broke into the Ant Farm. "Because I used Fletcher's computer to do it." They held Fletcher by the arms.

~~~

"Don't hurt me!" Fletcher squeaked. "Do you not speak English? I'll say it in Spanish. X plus three equals seven!" Fletcher yelled. "Ah! He's got a weapon!"

I stood with the girls. A man unraveled the sticks, revealing a screen. It beeped.

"I am the great and powerful Grundy!"

We shrieked. "I created this new voice modulation app that makes your voice sound scary and awesome!"

"You're Zoltan Grundy!" Olive said. "I read your book about how you founded Z-Tech and built it into the world's largest technology company."

Mr. Grundy smiled. "You liked my book?"

"I said I read your book." Olive hated the book.

"Mr. Grundy, I am a huge fan," Chyna gushed. "I have your cell phone, your laptop, your desktop, your mp3 player, your tablet, your mini-tablet, and your jumbo mini-tablet. Wow, you have a really good marketing department."

"If you like the jumbo mini tablet, you'll love the mega nano jumbo mini-tablet. It's huge, while also being quite tiny," Mr. Grundy explained. "Now." Mr. Grundy's smile fell. "Where is the villainous cyber-crook responsible for the break-in?"

"It was him!" Fletcher pointed at Angus. "He framed me! He used my computer!"

"What?" Angus was lifted from the lounge chair.

"You're telling me some kid breached our network, bypassed our intrusion detection algorithms, and somehow figured out the answer to my security question?" Mr. Grundy questioned. "I mean, how did he know the name of my first pet? I miss Password. Such a great dog."