Alone Hour

Chapter 3: Espy Lacopa

       Almost immediately, as if by reflex, 20 or so guns were pointed, and more than 40 red dots were pointing at my head. "Put your hands in the air!" a guard yelled. Michael froze, Victor stepped into some kind of fighting stance, and a kid in the back whimpered. I slowly put my hands up, careful not to make sudden moves. It really is scary, so many guns pointed. Even Mrs. Dobley was in shock. Mr. Martin just started staring at the huge machinery and pretended not notice. He was starting to wear out of staring and the guard beside him also started to get suspicious. The guard was just about to yell something like "Empty your pockets!" when...

       "Wait, just a sec guys, I did that, sorry." A young woman, about the age of 30, emerged from the room in the back. There was something familiar about her that I just couldn't identify. Was it that brown hair? Or was it that fancy looking suit? "I pressed it by accident, you guys can put your guns down now." All the soldiers immediately put their guns down and stood in a salute. "Yes, Ms. Lacopa!", they shouted at the same time. So that's who she is. Espy Lacopa, daughter of Lacopa Tech's founder, Ragar Lacopa. The two were notorious for completely updating the internet, changing everything people once thought they knew. I looked back at my fellow students and teachers. They were dumbstruck.

"Well," said the brown haired genius. "you guys must be students from Crossfire Techno School! I'm Ms. Lacopa, or you can just call me Espy." Slowly, we all started loosening up a bit. "Yes," said Mr. Martin. "I'm Mr. Martin, nice to meet you Espy." Espy smiled slightly, and nodded curtly at Mrs. Dobely. "And you?" she asked. "Uh, well," It was the first time I saw Mrs. Dobley stutter. "I'm Mrs. Dobley." "Great!" said Espy, now turning toward us. "And all of you?"

We all introduced ourselves to Ms. Espy, and while we were all doing so, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man standing in the corner. He had a notepad in hand and was writing away. Then, as I looked around again, I saw even more men. Some had cameras, others had recording devices, and they seemed to be everywhere. Then, I understood. We're being recorded. A little less confident, I followed everyone as we started following Espy for a tour around the building.

We looked at some really cool gadgets, old model laptops, and even early hologram designs. Throughout the entire tour, the men were following us. They were silent, and hardly noticeable unless you look very carefully. Still, Espy seemed to take no notice. We walked along the hall until we got to a very big room. It looked like a ballet room, in size, but it was completely white. "This," explained Espy. "is our newest invention. We were hoping some of you could help us out and test it."

The word "sure" seemed to just roll off my tongue. I couldn't help but be amazed by the the room. Up on the top, near the ceiling, there was a glass panel where numerous technicians and engineers were working. They all seemed very integrated into their work, signing papers and doing experiments. "Great!" exclaimed Espy. "Then, does anyone else also want to try?" Everyone raised their hands. "Perfect!" She lead us to a labratory with the words "TOP SECRET" on the door. She walked right inside, motioning for us to follow.

"Ok," she said, suddenly looking very serious. "I need all of you, teachers included, to stand in a straight line. We have to run a few tests on you. We will be choosing 6 of you to participate. The rest of you will go to the resting room to wait until the experiment if over." In the end, we ended up going into a tiny room one by one, and I was last. As each student/teacher went in, I heard a scream, then it quieted down. I feel pretty lucky to be last.

At last, it was my turn. I got in, and sat, down, wondering what I would be tested on. Then, a robot emerged from the floor, pushing itself up out of the ground. I screamed. Like everyone else. It propped itself on the chair opposite of me, and a red light emitted from its head. "Hello, Lance Matthews. Welcome to test 0228. I will need your most honest feedback on what's about to happen." And with that, it began pummeling itself in the face with its own fists. There were horrible screeching noises as it committed suicide, eventually punching its own fists until it was a pile of scrap metal. I stared, wordless. Here was this steaming pile of metal on a chair that used to be a very nice looking robot. A door opened behind me, but I hardly seemed to notice. "What was his motive?" I thought. "Now that," came a voice I didn't recognize at all. "is the correct question.