Snow White #OnceUponNow

Chapter Eight - Snow

Light.

Sound.

Movement.

Dismissal of command taking place.

Please hold. Command to shut down rejected.

I open my eyes, squinting against the sudden light. Everything seems hazy and disoriented. The sounds made near me are muffled. The air is stale.

What happened?

Today is July 24, my system tells me. Temperature, 72 degrees Fahrenheit inside. Location, Dwarf City, Nevada.

Hold up. Why am I in a glass box? I can't move at all.

I suddenly freeze, reminded of what happened. Dr. Grimhilde's jealousy led her to shut me down. So how did I wake back up again?

Command to shut down has been rejected, my system informs. However, it took approximately four hundred ninety three hours to succeed.

I gasp. Twenty days?

I pound on the glass box, yelling, "There's someone alive here! Help!"

A blurred figure appears in the glass, moving jerkingly, as if alarmed by my sudden revival. The figure fumbles with the glass and finally removes it.

"Snow!" Lucas exclaims. "Wha—how—what?"

I climb out of the glass box. It's shaped like a coffin, with flowers surrounding it. I cringe. It's like I've been dead, and the box was a grave made for me.

"Lucas, we have to alert the police about this," I rush, grabbing Lucas' arm. "Please. Dr. Grimhilde was the one who did this. She put a clever hacking code in my system, just because she hated the fact that I was smarter than her."

Lucas is standing stiffly, awkwardly prying his arm out of my grasp. "What?" I demand. "We've got to catch the criminal!"

"The thing is," Lucas mutters, "there's no evidence. Security cameras weren't working the day you, er, were found shut down."

I roll my eyes. "I can prove she's the one who did it—" I pause in my rambling. Leo. Where is he?

"Where's Leo? Shouldn't he have been notified if I was found shut down?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that," Lucas pips up.

"He's on a business trip," I inform. A quick internet search did it all. "Apparently, the area he's in doesn't allow internet access. He should be back in a week."

"I'm going home," I press on, "and I'm not going to let Dr. Grimhilde ruin my life."

I shake Lucas off and barge out of the workshop. My system automatically downloads the latest news.

Snow White Discovered 'Dead'

Greatest Technology Hacked

Dr. Mary T. Grimhilde Titled, 'Smartest Being'

I flag down a taxi and say, "Willowy Hills, please."

The taxi driver glances at me through the rearview mirror once we set off. His eyes widen. "Aren't you the lil' gal Snow?"

I shake my head. "People say I look like her. Hurry. If you get there under five minutes, which is perfectly possible, I'll pay double." He looks at me again and shakes his head.

I hear him mutter, "Sure looks like her."

I nearly bolted out of the taxi without paying after we arrived.