The Adventures of Amy Jeakins

Computer Trouble

Amy stared at her computer, reading through responses at the Superhero Forum, a forum for kids and teens who set up a superhero profile and pretended to be that hero whenever they typed and messaged each other. Suddenly, as she was beginning to reply to Flying_Girl_47, her computer's screen turned black. Slowly, words began to appear, and she heard them, too.

“Do not be alarmed, you are about to play a game. Keep this screen on. Here are some tips for playing. You only have three lives, and you cannot get more, so try not to die. You will get points by killing any people on the screen. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game will win a special prize. Now, play!”

Amy quickly turned her screen off. She didn't want to play a game, she wanted to help Flying_Girl_47 out with her problem — bothersome siblings. She walked downstairs to see if her mother was having the same problem.

“Mom, how's it going with — ” Amy started.

“Hold on, I just need to finish this level,” Mrs. Jeakins called out from her bedroom, interrupting Amy.

“Okay,” Amy said, then, realizing what her mother said, added, “I thought you didn't like video games.”

“Well, this one just popped up on my screen, but I can't stop playing it. It's really addictive.”

“Even after only a few minutes?” Amy asked through the door.

“Mhmm . . . Die, you vile henchman!”

“Mom, are you okay?”

“Yes, Amy. Why would you think otherwise?” Amy's mother asked.

“Oh, never mind. Have fun playing your game.”

Several hours later, when Amy' stomach was telling her that it was dinnertime, she found that her mother was still playing the game.

“Mom, it's getting kind of late. You've been on for quite a while. What's for dinner?” Amy asked after knocking on her mother's bedroom door.

“It hasn't been that long. I've only been playing for maybe an hour,” Mrs. Jeakins called back out.

“Mom, it's six.”

“It can't be, Amy,” her mother argued.

“If you're not going to make any food, can I order a pizza?”

“Uh, sure,” Mrs. Jeakins called from behind her door.

“Mind control level one complete,” Amy thought she heard the game say.

Nah, Amy thought, What would a game have to do with mind control?

The next day, Amy tried to check the forum, but after only a minute, the game tried to start again. Amy sighed and turned the screen off before it could begin. When she tried to access the site on her phone, the same thing happened.

“Mom, there's something wrong with my computer and phone. Does yours let you do anything other than play the game?”

“What's wrong with games, Amy?” her mother asked, staring at the wall.

“Nothing, I suppose, but I kind of wanted to get back on my forum.”

“Have you tried the game yet? It's so fun!”

“Oh, well, I might play. But first, I wanted to reply to my friend on my forum.”

“That's up to you, then. But you really should play.”

Amy sat down for breakfast at the table. She noticed her mother didn't make eye contact with her, and seemed to forget that she and Amy always sat at the table for breakfast. Instead, Mrs. Jeakins carried her cereal into the living room and ate with one hand while playing the game on her phone with the other. Amy ignored her mother, although something still nagged at her.

“I'm going to spend some time upstairs, okay, Mom?”

“Oh-kay,” Mrs. Jeakins answered, pronouncing each syllable like it was a different word.

Upstairs, Amy called her new friend, Jessica. It took longer for Jessica to pick up the phone than it normally did.

“What is it?” Jessica asked, speaking exactly like how Amy's mother had just moments ago.

“I was wondering if yesterday a game popped up on your computer or phone.”

“Yeah. You in-ter-rup-ted my game. Now I will have to st – ”

Amy hung up before Jessica could say any more. She knew there was something wrong with the game, and it was affecting both her mom and her friend. Amy knew she had to somehow stop it. She had to find the person who made it and get him to turn everyone back.

Amy ran to her dresser and pulled out an orange superhero suit from the bottom of the drawer. She quickly put it on, then opened her window and flew outside. She looked around. The game maker could be anywhere.

Everywhere around her, people were playing the game. Quite a few people were walking and playing at the same time, while others drove and played. Amy looked inside a house, where someone was playing the game on their computer.

Amy thought she saw an animated evil henchman from the game, then she shook her head, and it disappeared.

Why did I imagine that? I haven't even played the game, Amy wondered.

Amy flew above the town, searching for anything suspicious. The grass began looking less real and more like a game. A piercing headache took over her mind along with the fake-looking grass. Amy shook her head again and her vision returned to normal, the headache stopping at the same time. Then she saw it. Or rather, she thought she did. She shook her head to make sure it was really there. And it was. A huge tower sat on top of a house. Amy flew down to house. As her boots touched the ground, it suddenly appeared much larger and much, much scarier. The house looked like a huge, black, haunted house that didn't have a roof, and just continued up forever up into outer space.

Amy shook the picture from her mind, but it soon returned, the headache coming back along with it. Overwhelmed by the pain, she crumpled to the ground.

A tall man towered over her. He had on a huge cloak and his face was hidden by the hood. Darkness seemed to emanate from him. Amy shook her head to get the real picture. An average-height man stood over her with a T-shirt and jeans on messily. He had glasses on, too, and looked almost familiar.

“Ha! Even the Orange Hero has been overcome by my Hypnotic Mind Control Game!” he laughed. As he spoke, Amy's vision became clogged again by whatever the game had done, and the pain in her head causing her to have a hard time concentrating.

“W-who are you?” Amy asked.

“I,” the man said dramatically, the version Amy could see swirling his cloak around, “Am the Coder.”

“What's . . . with the . . . game?” Amy asked slowly, the headache affecting her speech.

“I simply need some minions to take over the world for me,” the Coder said.

“But . . . you're ruining . . . perfectly . . . good — ”

“Good? Perfect? No, not either of those. Don't you even read the news? I could change that, though. Just enter some code, and change the world!” the Coder explained, then laughed in an evil sort of way that Amy had only heard in movies.

“Even so . . . you have . . . evil . . . intentions, so . . . I . . . will be — ”

“Will be what? Capturing me? You're suffering too much to do anything at all, aren't you? And anyway, I have all the police playing my game, too. So who'd keep me locked up?”

“No . . . one, I . . . guess,” Amy answered, slowly crawling toward the Coder's house.

It seemed to take ages, but the Coder didn't notice, so Amy was fine with that. She hoped she could come up with a plan once she got inside. She shook her head for another glance at reality.

Does Mom see things like this now? Amy wondered.

Inch by inch, Amy went into the house. Luckily, the Coder hadn't noticed she had moved yet, so she had some time before he would catch her. She used her powers to slowly open the door before she had quite gotten to it. The use of her powers made her cringe at the extra pain they inflicted, even if for only a moment. She took a deep breath and, entering the building, shook her head. After getting a bearing for where she was, she crawled into the Coder's living room.

Noticing a computer near where she was, Amy climbed up to it. She cringed with each movement, but knew it was for a good cause, so willed herself to move more. Amy moved the mouse around a little bit, clicking every now and then.

“Hey, where are you?” the Coder called out from outside.

Amy smiled just as the Coder walked in. Her finger was at the button.

“No!” he yelled as Amy clicked, “My precious program! You'll pay!”

“Not at the moment, I won't,” Amy said, fully cured. All it took was deleting the program completely.

Amy used her powers to fly herself and the Coder to the local jail. She explained what happened, and the police happily took him into custody.

“How can we ever repay you?” she was asked by several people.

“There's no need. I'm always willing to help the town,” Amy answered to everyone who asked.

The next day, she was in the newspaper again.

"The Orange Hero Saved Town from a Computer Genius Taking Over Minds of Gamers," the headlines read.