Life and Times of a Keyboard Warrior

Christmas in april

34
8th of April
Markus

I kick open the club room door and storm in. Everyone watches me hesitantly.

"What seems to be the matter, my boy?" The Professor asks me as I slump into a chair.

"Oh, a bunch of eighth grade girls decided it would be funny to mob me and beat me up. Five of them pounded away at me until I managed to get one of my haymakers into them. I swear, that punch probably sent their leader ten feet, and when they realized their mistake, they all burst into tears. So then I coped it from the teachers even though the damage they inflicted was far more visible than what I'd done to them." I reply, staring up at the ceiling.

"My my, you're a violent one, Marky." Heath cackles at me, not looking away from his videogame in the communal television.

"Suck eggs, you ratbag." I snipe back, and we share a good natured laugh.

"Alright everyone, I have an announcement." The professor claps his hands and we all look over. "I have a few things I'd like to give to you all."

"Oh prezzies!" Heath bounds over. Everyone gathers around, curious as to what he could be giving away.

"Heath, this is for you." He hands Heath a small laser light. "Now my boy, be very careful with that. It's a prototype of mine from when I was researching hard light constructions for the military. When it's active and you wave it across someone, it has a mild paralytic effect." Heath activates his new plaything, and a bright red shaft of light pops up. He waves it and it shines through Elizabeth's hands on the table. Her fingers jolt harshly and lock up in fists, and she screams rather loudly. Heath and I crack up laughing.

"Now now, settle down. There's still more gifts to give!" The Professor exclaims, and we manage to quieten down. "Now, miss Green. This is a super 8 movie recorder." He hands over exactly that, an old super 8 recorder.

"Is this it?" Pippi demands, and Daria cuffs her on the back of the head.

"No, far from it. It just looks old because I liked the vintage look. It's super powerful though. It records in high definition digital onto what I call Ultra 9 Cartridges, each cartridge holding up to 900 hours of compressed video footage. The inbuilt telephoto lens and microphone can record crystal clear sound and footage from up to 500 metres away, no problems. It's waterproof up to 20 atmospheres and can withstand being run down by a fully laden road train." He explains with pride, and as he tells her about the camera, Pippi's face gradually breaks open into a look of delight. I can already tell she's gonna use this camera for filming a lot of things.

"Miss Magnys." Professor Repeatro says, holding out what looks like an e-reader.
Daria takes it and boots it up, and three options come up.

"That is my research, all of it. Everything I've ever worked on or contributed to is stored in that little device. Don't worry, I have the backup and the backup backup I can work off, I just thought that'd be invaluable to you, it also has all my notes and formulae too." Daria looks slightly awed by the magnitude of this gift, and begins eagerly scrolling through all the diagrams.

"Now, who is left? Ahh, miss Reach-Jackson. This is for you, it's a ring that changes colour when your emotions change." He hands her a dull black ring on a metal chain.

"So, like a mood ring?" Eli looks disappointed.

"Sort of, except that if you point it at others, it'll show you what they're feeling. Watch." He levels the ring at me, and the entire colour shifts from black to yellow. "Surprise, and now this dull red is annoyance." The colour changes again.

"Way better than a mood ring." Eli concedes. Everyone but me, Mia and Ruby now have a gift in their possession. The professor turns to leave.

"Sir, don't you have anything for us?" I blurt, staring at him intently.

"Of course I do, your ones just aren't ready yet." He winks at us, and I feel a little put out. Suddenly, i convulse wildly in my chair, falling off it and crashing to the ground.

"Gotcha, Marky!" Heath roars with laughter, brandishing his laser-taser. I snarl up at him, and he responds by zapping me again. What a git...

Later, on the way home, I strike up a conversation with Mia while Heath runs ahead, whirling his laser-taser around and having a good old time.

"Hey Mia." I say, getting her attention. She was staring ahead, seemingly lost in her thoughts. As my voice registers, she quickly shifts her weight, standing up taller and puffing her chest out. She looks up at me.

"Uhh, well, based on what all the others got from the Professor, what do you think we're gonna get?" I ask her, trying my best to ignore her disarming posture.

"I'm not really sure. I mean, a super-camera, a laser-taser, a tablet full of data and a ring that reacts to the moods of others. There's no real correlation between them, so I really can't guess." She responds, scratching her chin lightly.

"Yeah, that's the thing. I've never heard of anything like the stuff we were given today. It mean, that ring, it changes colour depending on the moods of the person it's pointed at. That's kinda weird, don't you think? Like, anomaly weird." I counter. She nods in understanding.

"I just hope we don't get anything overly dangerous..." She mutters, and my thoughts wander once again back to the gifts of today, and what the gifts of tomorrow might be.