The two of them enter the VeloTrak and buckle their seatbelts. The hatch door closes. The VeloTrak starts moving, magnetically hovering above the track. The world speeds by. In about three minutes, they reach their destination. Avonari and Venessa exit the station and head to the nearby Kennedy-Gloften High School. Avonari looks at Venessa’s schedule.

Avonari: Perfect! We have first hour together! Follow me.

Venessa follows Avonari into the English classroom and they take their seats. Everyone takes out their tablets with the textbooks downloaded into them. A middle-aged teacher with dark hair walks into the room. Some kid in the back plays ‘The Imperial March’ on his tablet at top volume as the teacher enters. The whole class, except for Avonari who doesn’t get the joke, bursts out laughing. Mrs. Kennan silences them with one glance.

Avonari:(whispering to Venessa) This is the witch.

After a few moments, the group says the Pledge of Allegiance, and sits back down. Mrs. Kennan presses a button on the wall and a floating board is projected.

Mrs. Kennan: Today, we’re going to discuss the history of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The whole class groans.

Mrs. Kennan: It’s important to discuss the mindset of the author before reading their works.

Avonari raises her hand: Why can’t we just read the book and decide for ourselves what the author’s intentions were?

The whole class agrees.

Mrs. Kennan: Because the conclusions would not be factual.

The projector glitches and then disappears behind Mrs. Kennan.

Venessa: Mrs...Uuum…Teacher? The projector isn’t on.

Mrs. Kennan turns around and throws her hands up: After all these years, the annoyance remains.

Mrs. Kennan repeatedly presses the button on the wall, trying to get the floating board to reappear. Mrs. Kennan finally gives up, but the projector turns on by itself.

Mrs. Kennan: That’s odd.

Suddenly, all the lights in the school shut off. The automatic doors shut by themselves and lock. The window blinds close. The class is concerned.

Mrs. Kennan: Jake Winniger, if you did this, I will personally see to it that…

A woman’s face made of static appears on the floating board. Her voice fluctuates from sounding normal to sounding glitchy and low.

Webmaster: Hello, students. As you can see, I’ve taken over the building. ‘How?’ I hear you ask. The answer is that no one can escape the omniscient eye of the Worldwide Web. Now, we’re going to play a game. You’ve likely heard of it before. It’s called Two Truths and a Lie. Yet, I know every bit of information about each of you.

The students cower in fear against the wall.

Avonari:(whispering) You have destructive telekinesis, right? Blow her up!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Venessa:(whispering) I can’t! I don’t know where she is! Plus, I’d expose myself!

Webmaster: For every lie that I guess correctly, a very embarrassing personal truth will be shared with everyone at this school and every hacker in the world. Let’s start with Jen Baron.

A girl in the cowering group quivers.

Webmaster: You have thirty seconds to come up with two truths and a lie. Begin!

Jen: I already have some!

Webmaster:(sarcastically) Well, what an overachiever! Tell me then!

Jen’s lip shakes: I…I have two brothers. I have…uh…

Webmaster: Hurry, up! I hate adolescent humans!

Jen: My favorite candy is Swedish Fish, and I have a dog named Sparrow at home.

Webmaster laughs and it glitches and lowers from time to time: Correction! You had a dog named Sparrow! He was euthanized two days ago! (mockingly) I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I won! Now, let’s see here…

Jen:(whimpering) No…

Webmaster: Oh, yes! Here’s a stain on one’s reputation! Jen has updated her social media status from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship’ and you’ve likely seen pictures of her and her new “boyfriend”. But did you know that the pictures of her boyfriend were A.I. generated?

Her claim appears on the board. It’s true. Jen begins to cry. A boy starts laughing at her.

Webmaster: How about you, Jake Winniger?

The boy is silent.

Jake: Uuum…can I pass?

Webmaster laughs: No, I’m afraid there is no option to pass. You have two options. I either release embarrassing secrets or dangerous secrets. By defying me, you have chosen the latter.

Jake: No, please! I’ll play the game!

Webmaster smiles crookedly: Alright.

Jake: My name is Jacob Eliot Winneger, my last English test grade was a B-, and my favorite A.R. game is 49th Quadrant.

Mrs. Kennan stares at Jacob in distress.

Webmaster: Unfortunately for you, your last grade was a C+, not a B-.

Jake: Wait! I miscalculated the percentage! I didn’t mean to! I told three truths!

Webmaster: You broke the rules! Two truths will be revealed! One humiliation and a piece of security information!

Jake: No!

Webmaster laughs: You cheated on your last test! Terrible job cheating, by the way! A C?! Let’s see. Jacob Winneger, social security number…

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. Webmaster looks around for a few moments.

Webmaster: I…I’m going to leave you…*intimidatingly* For now.

The projector flips off.

Mrs. Kennan: Now, are you going to complain about having to do earthquake drills?!

Jake: Yes.

Mrs. Kennan sighs: Get under your desks!

The class obeys. The earthquake suddenly stops. A man and a woman enter the room. There’s a flash and Webmaster appears in front of them.

Tyler: Leave this building and go back to wherever you came from, or there will be consequences!

Webmaster: I human threatens me?!

Tyler looks up and the water pipes burst. Everyone gets drenched, including Webmaster. Webmaster’s form begins to glitch.

Webmaster: No…N…No! *She recovers* Ha! You can’t stop me with mere dihydrogen monoxide!

Pearl: What about psyche?

The woman’s brown eyes begin to glow blue and her hair begins to float. A sonic wave casts Webmaster to the ground. Glowing blue cracks begin to form on Webmaster’s face. Pearl backs off and lets Tyler take care of Webmaster. Tyler forms the water on the ground into a blob which he then forcefully pummels Webmaster with. Webmaster glitches again.

Tyler: Leave!

Webmaster: This…This…This isn’t the end.

She disintegrates and jumps from electronic to electronic until she escapes out the window.

Tyler and Pearl help the kids out from under their desks. They then slyly exit the room through the window.

Mrs. Kennan: Alright. Let’s get back to our discussion.

The whole class sighs loudly.

Jake: I would rather get cyberattacked again.