3032

1

I woke up, screaming.
"Shh, baby girl, it's okay." My mom had run into my room and was now hugging me close. I sighed.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"No. I'm sorry. I should never have brought him into your life."
I sighed. She thought that's what my nightmares were about. And I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were really about the message I'd gotten from the Antitechs the other day.
Mom stood up and pressed the "wake up" button on my room's control panel. The curtain disappeared and the lights all turned on. I yawned.
"Computer, take me to my wardrobe." I called out after my mother left the room. Two robot arms swooped down from the ceiling and picked me up, then placing me in a chair which moved through my wardrobe doors.
"School sector."
It moved me through the wardrobe 'sectors' before we got to the area which I recognised as the school one.
I pulled out a pair of black jeans and a white cropped tank top with a black bomber jacket. I  stared at myself in the mirror.
"Computer, curl my hair." I said, yawning. The two arms returned, taking my hair out of its messy bun and brushing it gently, then curling it quickly. I smiled.
"Computer, take me to breakfast." This time, the arms just picked me straight up and carried me straight across the hallway, upstairs, and out of the loft hole.
"Oh, hey mom! I didn't realise you were on the roof today." I smiled as the arms gently placed me down on the tiles.
"Well, Emily, you never asked." She smiled back at me. I giggled.
I heard a loud crash on the street below us. A man in a hooded cape was there, attacking a street vendor with a motorised robot assistant. I grabbed a small black square from my pocket and threw it down. It expanded into my hover board.
"Emily. No."
"Yes. Those Antitechs need to stop." I snapped. I hurried down, landing next to the Antitech. I picked up my board and smacked him with it, hard, around the back of the head.
"Thank you!" The street vendor smiled, "here, have anything from my stall."
I looked at all of the beautiful jewellery in front of me.
"I recommend this one." He handed me a silver chain with a heart about the size of a large coin, covered in intricate lines and swirls.
"It's beautiful." I smiled.
"And look." He grinned, pressing the centre of the heart after he had tied it around my neck. He then went to punch me. I winced, but his hand never touched me. It was some kind of shield!
"That's amazing."
"The shield only lasts for about a minute. But it's good for in-the-moment safety." He smiled.
"Thank you." I smiled, as the Coranians walked over.
"We heard there was an Antitech disturbance?"
"Yep. Just here." I pointed at the slumped body on the floor.
The Coranians picked him up and cuffed him, loading him into the vans they'd brought.
"Thank you for protecting our streets." Said one of the Coranians, "here you go."
He handed me a pair of starrings.
"Oh my God. Are you serious?!" I squealed.
"Yep. I just checked the DigiWeb. That was your final checkbox to fill. Well done."
I jumped up and down in excitement. I pushed the starrings into my ears, and grinned. I placed my finger on one and out shot a beam of light.
"Cool!" I squealed. The Coranian laughed at me. I jumped back onto my hover board and flew back up to see my mom on the roof. She looked at me in annoyance.
"You accepted the Starrings?" She sighed.
"Of course. You know I want to become a Star Warrior."
"Well, until then, you have to go to school! So go."
I launched my hover board down over the street and leaped off of the roof so I could land on it. I heard my mom's audible sigh.
I giggled. I waved as she stepped back down into our penthouse.
I whizzed past the street vendor who waved at me, and then lifted myself up so I didn't run into any hover traffic. As soon as I was on the straight hoverpath to school, I began to look at my necklace. It was so pretty and intricate. I was still staring at it when I felt a whoosh of air next to me. I dropped the necklace and looked up.
"Oh, hey Liv!" I shouted over the wind, seeing my best friend. She giggled.
"Race ya to school!" I yelled, tipping my board forwards slightly and speeding up.
"Hey! No fair!" She laughed, and sped after me.

I touched down on the school grounds just before she did.
"Haha! I won!" I laughed. She sighed. I grabbed my board and threw it up in a circle - it turned back to a small black square. I threw it in my pocket and opened my black backpack, pulling out my SchoolPad. I placed the small grey box on the floor and pressed a button.
"Timetable."
"Today: you have Foreign Languages, Music, Flight, Protection and Star Warrior Training."
"EMILY!" Liv squealed, hugging me.
"I got Starrings this morning." I grinned, showing them to Emily. She gasped.
"Do it!"
I pressed them, and a beam of light flew up into the air.
"I guess today I learn how to carry that power into my hands." I squealed.
Liv hugged me again, before putting her own SchoolPad on the floor.
"Wait, that's not normal." She said, confused. Odd black lines were swaying across the screen.
"Hmm, that's weird. Anyway, you're in all my first four classes and I'm sure it'll be sorted by lunch." I smiled.
I felt warm hands on my waist and recognised them instantly as Austin's.
"Austin!" I cried, turning around and kissing him.
"Hey babe. And Liv."
Next to him stood our other best friends - Zeke, and his twin sister Hana.
"Wait a second. Starrings?" Yelled Hana.
"Yep!" I squealed, pushing my hair over my shoulders to show them off.
"Wow, Em! That's amazing." Zeke smiled.
Austin gave me a signature wink before saying, "never doubted for a moment that you'd get them."
I giggled, before hearing the bell.
"That's weird. It's twenty minutes early. Oh well, sucks to be whoever hasn't arrived at school yet." Hana laughed. We all laughed with her before heading inside.
"Why is everyone going to the assembly room?" Asked Liv, after eyeing the crowds of people for less than a second.
"You have a talent for observation, bro." Zeke said.
"No, no I don't. I can just see things right in front of my face." Liv smiled back, and the rest of us laughed at a now red-faced Zeke.
We followed the crowd into the auditorium.
"Must be some kind of emergency. Look at the lights. Plus, Miss Vanderwell isn't here - she's on the hologram pad!" Hana cried.
"What the heck is going on?" I asked.
Austin slipped his hand into mine.
"We'll be fine. Don't worry." He said, obviously sensing my panic.
After a long wait, we finally got seated at the very back of the assembly room. Miss Vanderwell, our principal, waved from the hologram.
"She's not smiling. This is bad." Whispered a nearby boy, Louis, to his girlfriend, Cara.
So they had noticed too...
"Oh my god. What if it's the Antitechs!" Cried someone else, Danny.
Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. Austin slowly placed his hand back into mine, as I released my breath. He hugged me.
"Don't worry. You stopped an Antitech this morning."
"That's not what I'm afraid of." I sighed. I handed him a piece of paper.
"Oh my God, you got a letter?!" He cried, "they're, like, super rare these days."
"Shh! Just read it."

Dearest Emily,
We are writing to express our particular interest in you joining the Antitechs. We think you would be an asset to our team in days to come - especially when we attack your high school. If you do not join us, we will not hesitate to take you and your friends prisoner and kill them one by one in front of you.
This is only the beginning of our rebellion. Don't worry. We'll get things back to the way they were.
If you'd like to join us, meet us at the oldest warehouse, ALONE, for a little chat.
Yours Sincerely,
The Antitechs.

"I took the letter to the Coranians. But they refuse to believe it's real. They think it's just a prank."
"This is why you've been so off lately?" He asked, lifting up the letter.
I nodded. He tore it up.
I smiled, "thank you. I needed that."
"Anytime." He winked at me, and I laughed.
"Hello everybody. We want to discuss the issues with our SchoolPads. They are currently offline."
As Miss Vanderwell continued to speak about the internet issues, I looked around. Everyone seemed different... on edge. I gasped.
"EVERYONE, RUN AND GET DOWN!" I screamed as I saw a man run in with what looked like a bomb. I grabbed Austin's arm and dragged him as far away as I could, praying that the other three had the sense to follow us. We dropped to the ground, once outside the hall and on the field, and huddled up. I felt three more warm bodies huddle near us. Then a bang, before I had any time to look who they were. My head was ringing until the world went dark.