"Dad?" I had called out in his room. "Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

Peering into my father's room, he was engrossed in his computer. He was startled and jumped up as soon as he heard my voice.

"Zack," he said in between ragged breaths. "Shouldn't you be asleep right now?"

"I-I tried, but I couldn't," I said tiredly before yawning. I saw him turn to his computer to look at the time. 11 P.M.

He turned to me and blinked his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the hallway. He rubbed his eyes as he stood up. "Come on Zack, let's go to your room."

My eyes lit up as I skipped over to my room. I always loved the stories my father told me, whether it be folklore or complete fantasy. While he had been telling me less and less as he worked on his company, I had still found solace in the times when he would.

When we came into my room, I jumped onto my bed and pulled my blanket over me. I lay down with my hands still on the edge of my blanket. I eyed him with interest as he laid down with me on my side.

"What story do you want to hear?" His voice was warm but still carried an exhausted undertone. Just by looking at him, you could tell that he had been carrying a massive sleep debt. The bags around his eyes were big and his movements looked sluggish.

"Robin Hood!" I said with excitement.

My father eyed me in suspicion. "Did you steal something again?"

I blinked a few times in response to his question. "Uh, no?"

I saw a smile creep through on his face for a moment before his dad instincts kicked in and became serious again. "What did you steal?"

Realizing I was caught, I reached for my drawer and slowly pulled out a watch. It wasn't anything too expensive. It was a Casio stainless steel watch.

He took it from my hands and turned on the nightlight to examine the watch. "Did you take this from Blake?"

I nodded my head. I felt my face get warmer and my cheeks began to get flushed. He just sighed and ran his hand across his face before putting it down. "I was going to return it!" I protested.

"I believe you," he said with a sigh and a chuckle. I saw his hand reach into his pocket before he pulled out a green pack of cards. It looked ancient and like a leather-born book with the words Robin Hood written on it in Old English Lettering.

"Happy early eleventh birthday," He said before handing the pack to me. I took it and carefully opened it. Pulling it out, I saw that the cards looked wooden yet were still made from paper. Fanning the cards out in my hand, the cards had a golden foil for a border and carried references to the myth. The ace of spades with a bow, the King of Spades showing Robin Hood himself.

What caught my attention were the jokers. On the back of each of them contained a half mural of Robin Hood fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham.

I faced my father with watery, puppy-like eyes. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

He laughed loudly before booping me on the nose. "Don't get too excited. After all, you still have to sleep." My dad took the cards and put them back into the pack before setting them aside. He tucked me into bed before beginning the story.

"Once upon a time, in the enchanting forests of Sherwood, there lived a brave and clever man named Robin Hood. A hero of the people, he couldn't stand to see the poor and helpless suffer. He took from the rich and gave to the poor,"

"A master of the bow and arrow, his aim was unmatched. He could shoot an arrow through the eye of a needle. His skill with the bow helped him protect the innocent and outsmart the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham."

"With his band of merry men and Maid Marian, he served justice throughout the land. They helped the poor, stood up for what was right, and lived a life full of adventure and excitement. A symbol of resistance, he led to the charter of the Magna Carta."

Suddenly, his watch beeped. Looking down, he sighed before standing back up. "Sorry Zack, something just came up."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"It's fine," I said as I closed my eyes. "It's Project Archer right?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "Something's giving me trouble."

"Maybe I could help," I offered. Coding was one of my many passions. I'd like to think that I was pretty good at it as I helped my dad out a lot with Project Archer.

"No, you need to go to sleep. You have school tomorrow," he said as he walked to the door.

"Ah alright," I said as I shifted onto my side. "Good luck."

"Thanks," he added before he closed the door. I listened to his footsteps as I began to drift to sleep.

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"Julian! On your right!" A man yelled out. Two people were running away from a group of pursuers. In their hands were big metal swords. They were running on a road that stretched for three miles before any buildings began.

"I know god damnit!" he said. He felt the hairs on his body raise up and quickly rotated his body. Looking down, he saw that he had narrowly missed an arrow.

"We're never going to escape them by running!"

"What do you suggest then, Craig?" The man snapped.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But we have to do something fast! Otherwise, we won't see Blake or Zack again!"

"Split up?" Julian asked.

"They want you, not me," Craig replied. "And if they caught me, I would just be used as leverage."

"Then w-" he began before getting interrupted.

"Oh, Julian~" a female voice sang out. "We're getting closer!"

Looking back, they saw that the distance between them was closing rapidly. The two looked at each other with wide eyes. They both shared a similar idea: they were fucked.

"Should I just tell them?" Julian asked in distress to Craig.

"Absolutely not," Craig responded. "The world would be in danger. Our lives can't be put above the whole world."

Julian opened his mouth to speak before feeling an intense pain going through his body. Breathing immediately became harder as he looked down. Protruding from his stomach was a metal blade. Moments later, the sword was pulled out. Blood began to ooze out of the hole.

"Julian!" Craig yelled out in complete shock. Out of instinct, he stopped running. A big mistake. He was stabbed alongside Julian.

They both fell on their knees as they began to cough out blood. Their pursuers now circled them on the floor in their helpless state.

"What a shame that it had to come to this," the female said with a heavy sigh. "If you tell me where the Plauna is, I'll give you medical attention."

"S-sorry, Zack," Julian croaked out. It was so quiet that it was inaudible to everyone around them.

"What?" The woman asked as she moved her head closer to listen.

"Eat … shit," he struggled to say. He spat on the women.

"Hmph, fine," she said as she backed up. "Kill them," she ordered.

The three henchmen nodded. They brought their swords up to their necks and quickly swung them. In one smooth strike, Julian and Craig were decapitated. Their heads rolled to the floor. As their brain was disconnected from their body, their hands relaxed and their swords dropped.

The woman took out a phone and quickly dialed a number. "Hey, it's me. I need you to clean something up."

The person on the other end sighed. "Who is it?"

"Does it matter?" The woman asked, annoyed. "If I tell you to do something, you'll do it."

The man on the other side sighed. "Fine, I'm on my way."

As the call ended, all eyes were drawn to a camera hanging on the side of the road. It was clear that it had caught everything that happened on camera.

"Deal with it," the woman ordered. With a precise strike, one of the henchmen launched an arrow. The camera began to burn up.

Although the camera was destroyed, that didn't stop one message from being sent an hour later.

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It was the middle of the night. I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing at a strange level. As my eyes opened and adjusted to the brightness, a robotic voice began to speak.

"PROJECT ARCHER ADMIN CONFIRMED DEAD. BEGINNING END OF LIFE PROTOCOL."

"What?" I asked no one in particular as I opened the phone. It didn't fully process in my mind what it had meant for I had just woken up.

'Dead?' I thought.

"END OF LIFE PROTOCOL COMPLETE. WELCOME NEW ADMINISTRATOR!" My computer began to light up and automatically unlocked itself. As I stood up and walked over, I saw that the code for Project Archer had been installed and opened.

But what drew my attention were two videos that were displayed above the code. One was a video of a car near a government building. The architecture looked different from what was in the United States. The bottom of the video showed the location, Vauxhall, London.

In the car were two people. Their heads were on a large metal beam. The heads looked strangely familiar. Switching the camera angle, I saw that the hands were removed from the body.

Not only that, but who it belongs to.

'Dad?' I thought in fear as I began to examine the image. In the driver seat was a familiar brown coat, one that my dad had worn the day before.

'Please no!' Tears began to stream down my face as it had finally set in for me. Administrator dead. My dad was dead. A loud and high-pitched ringing manifested in my ears, overtaking my sense of hearing.

What made matters worse was when I looked at the person beside him. It was Blake's dad as well. Two of the most caring people that I'd known had just died. To a fucking metal beam.

I looked to the left away from the heads. I couldn't bear to see them anymore. I watched as an unmarked black van began to drive away.

Project Archer was able to track the car and I watched it enter the nearby government building.

I could feel rage through my sorrow.

'The government is responsible!' I thought. Why would an unmarked car leave the scene without helping? The only reason is if they were somehow involved. I assumed that it was related to Project Archer.

For the rest of the night, I just stared at the screen. I didn't have the heart to call Blake and tell him. That was something that the cops could do.

No, all I could do was cry. An endless stream of tears riddled my face for the remainder of the night.