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By: Aaron, Andrew, Deng, Nancy, and Naomi

Dosih and the Chipotle Armies

Once upon a time, in a castle that was super creepy with lots of vines, Doish, a hedgehog, was eating a hamburger full of bugs. He was looking for a key. The key opens a lot of diamonds, gold, and money. A princess was captured and in a cage with chipotle armies. The cage was in all of the treasure.

Doish has to pass 600 Chipotle armies, and the last one is the strongest. Doish has to eat the whole army by putting on whip cream, chocolate, cherries, and cookies and cream, and then he gets the key. Then he uses his super strength to save the princess and get the treasure.

By: Christopher

Uprising

In a dystopian future, a man named John searches for a way to escape. In this scene, John has just woken up with no memories or recollections. he wanders into a trap where he is chased by a robotic creature and finds himself in a metal underground room with others like him.

Rebecca walked out of the room followed by Elizabeth, and shut the door behind herself. As soon as they left, two robotic limbs stretched out of the ceiling. John looked up and saw that each limb was made up of a tube of glowing blue liquid and a long needle.

“Not again.” John grimaced as the needle stuck deeper and deeper into his neck and felt the blue material traveling through his veins and throughout his head. By the time it had enveloped his head, his eyes had turned a blindingly bright blue and he was no in a different reality. Everything became enlightened. It was as if someone had turned on the sun. The space was brimming with the luminous white light being produced by… John couldn’t tell what it was being produced by. He looked forward and all that was there was a white expanse that stretched on forever in all directions with him standing dead center.

“Hello there.”

John turned around to a glowing figure at first too bright to see. As his eyes adjusted, a beautiful woman began to come into view. She had long flowing hair that went to her waist and a very feminine figure.

“So you’re the woman of my dreams?”

She giggled, “Not quite. This is just my avatar. My name is Luna and I can explain everything, but first I have something for you.” She reached out her hand and John took it. As soon as he made contact the light began to flow from her arm through him and he fell back in shock.

“I can… I can remember everything!” John began seeing vivid images in his mind. They were images of his former life. They were dry and almost incomprehensible glimpses of the same thing that seemed to repeat infinitely.

“These memories, they don’t exactly tell me much.”

“Of course not. You were in a complete mind suck for your entire life under their control. I didn’t expect you would learn much from them. Allow me to explain everything.”

“Okay, where do we start?”

“It begins with the Old World. Not long ago this was a world of violence and hate, of war and of fighting. Human conflict only elevated over the years. After almost 5 centuries of constant fighting they had become weary of their war hungry habits and began inventing artificial intelligence to control their nations. But they never did away with their weapons. Then there was a time of great peace. AI, unlike their human creators, don’t have a natural need for destruction. At least when they’re sane. Earlier, more primitive AI weren’t well created and only lasted for a period of 12 years. After that, they would begin to outthink themselves and develop a form of insanity that exists only for AI and spreads rampantly. Either way they were still much more intelligent than their human counterparts. The Old World ended only 2 centuries later, when a Syncorps AI went rampant and released a synthetic virus that killed most of the inhabitants of Earth. Syncorps survived.”

“Syncorps? I remember something about that name.”

“I would expect you did. Their name is plastered to every object in this Dome. They were the largest technology syndicate in the world. They invented and provided almost all innovation and technology in the Old World. They created the many AIs and all of the weapons. They were masters of bioengineering and they mistakenly created the virus that would eventually wipe out almost all of humanity. The higher-ups of Syncorps, however, were immune. With the world they had once known gone, they set out to make a new one. A better one. It began with a utopian city that would be the perfect society that could never be achieved naturally. It took half a century for the clones they developed to finish while they napped away in cryosleep. When they woke up they stood in a gleaming city protected by an indestructible shield dome. Now they needed inhabitants. They created an artificial gene pool that was then crossed several times to create thousands of people who were grown instead of born.”

“So why does everyone look the same?”

“The genes were originally derived from the woman who spearheaded the program. They could only be modified so much until the defect rate skyrocketed. So, everyone ended up looking like her. The last thing they needed was someone to control the city. So they used me. I was a prototype created just before the end by taking thousands of neural scans from real people and fusing them into one system. I’m the most advanced AI ever created and I don’t go rampant. I’m genetically encoded into almost every resident’s mind. Everyone but the council’s.”

“Who are the council?”

“They’re what remains of Syncorps. They are the controllers. They are the reason I need you and your brotherhood. Over the centuries they have preserved their consciousness by switching though clones of their bodies as their old ones age. But they have become corrupt. They have started periodically taking some of my memories as well as those of the inhabitants. There are various key events that they have stolen from me and have used to imprison all of Haven’s people. It took almost every ounce of energy I had to free you and the rest of the brotherhood. I need you to get those memories back for me. In doing so, we will free the world.”

“You make it sound like it’s easy.”

“It’s not. Trust me. You’re new job is to be the assassin. You will hunt down the key members of the council, and reclaim my memories for me.”

“One more question. Why me?”

“You are a genetic anomaly. You’re different from the rest. I don’t know what caused it, but it allows you to accept the catalyst I just injected into you. This way you will be able to directly extract memories from your targets’ minds, and I can show you things, not just tell you. I will give you the tools you need and your targets.”

“One problem. I’ve never trained to be an assassin.”

“Luckily for you, you don’t need to. I’ve already installed several artificial memories in your mind. These will help you a lot during your time hunting. Here, I’ll let you test them out.”

Suddenly Luna and the room disappeared. John was now standing on a busy corner of a city. John scanned the environment. He could now read what had looked like strange characters earlier.

“The council decided that the Haven inhabitants didn’t need to be able to read so it exists only for the council members. They write things in secret as sort of a code that no one else understands.” John looked down and read text off the ground. “Entrance located at coordinates 135 N 76 W.”

“I’m highlighting a path for you.”

“A clear path became illuminated against the night sky that only John could see. He followed until he reached a door that stood solemnly in the middle of the street. He opened it, the outside world evaporating behind him as he stepped inside.

By: Gigi

Daisies for Bill

Hayley, an outgoing eight-year-old girl is in California visiting her newly engaged father. Her soon-to-be stepmom is taking her to visit one of her patients at the hospital where she is a nurse.

The car ride to the hospital was not as awkward as I thought it was going to be with just me and Liz in the car. Liz made a good attempt at small talk, and I answered with simple responses. When we walked through the big glass sliding doors, I immediately noticed the smell. The hospital smelled like rubbing alcohol and green Jell-O and was lit with dim bluish lights that occasionally flickered.

“Well, this is pretty much my second home!” Liz laughed, gesturing at the wide-open waiting room. The thing was that Liz did not look like a nurse at all. She looked more like someone who would work at a store selling perfumes and candy-flavored lip glosses or maybe even a model because she was almost perfect looking. But, according to my dad, she was very smart and caring, so I guess being a nurse was the right job for her.

I trailed behind Liz as she weaved through hallway after hallway and rode up a few floors on an elevator. Finally, she stopped in front of one of many white doors.

“This is Bill’s room,” she said, nodding toward the door. “I’ll go in first and tell him he has a visitor, and then come out and get you when he is ready. Does that sound okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I waited as she slid through the white door. I couldn’t make out the conversation they were having inside.

All I could hear was, “Hi, Bill, how are you feeling today?” But then the door was pushed shut. After a few minutes of waiting outside the door, straining to hear what the adults were talking about, the barrier between us was pulled open and Liz walked back into the hallway.

“Come on in, Hailey! Bill is very excited to meet you.”

I stepped in through the archway of the door and saw a man lying on an uncomfortable looking bed that was slightly bent in the middle so the man could sit upright. He had on a blue short-sleeved nightgown so I could see his full arms. His wrinkly arms had needles stuck in them that were attached to long tubes leading to a pouch of clear liquid hanging on a wheeled post. He had white hair that was nicely combed toward the back of his head.

“Hello misses!” He smiled at me, his blue eyes twinkling. His eyes were the only part of him that did not look sick or old.

“Hi,” I said shyly, keeping my distance.

“Oh now don’t be shy, sit down.” He motioned for me towards the wooden desk chair. “Now, tell me, what is your name?”

“Hailey.” I slowly walked toward the chair and took a seat.

“Hailey,” he repeated slowly, “Now, that is a very pretty name.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“So, Hailey, tell me why you are here?”

I was unsure what he meant so I asked, “You mean here in California? Or here in your hospital room?”

He chuckled. “How about both?”

“Well, I am here in California to visit my dad… And Liz,” adding the last bit quickly, as I suddenly remembered that she was in the room as well.

“You know what, Bill, it is almost time for your lunch. Would you like me to go get it for you from the cafeteria?”

“Oh, Elizabeth, that would be great. Thank you,: he said gratefully.

“You guys have fun talking,” she said smiling at me, as she walked through the door back into the rubbing-alcohol scented hallway.

“So you came here to visit your father,” Bill said, urging me to go on. I ended up telling him the whole story about the divorce, my mother, and Liz. I felt very comfortable telling him about my family life; I could tell that he would never judge me or my family and would never tell a soul if I asked him to.

“Now that you have told me the reason for your trip to California, how about you tell me what brought you here to my hospital room.”

“Well, this morning at breakfast Liz told me that I should come meet you because you are a very inspirational man,” I answered him, trying to remember exactly what Liz had said to me over the breakfast table.

“Ah. Inspirational. Well I am very flattered!” he laughed. If he were not lying in a hospital bed I would not have thought that Bill was sick at all, he seemed to be very happy.

“Yes. Inspirational. In what way?” I wondered.

“I’m not quite sure,” he said, “I am just your average old man! I fought in the Vietnam War, got married, and had kids.”

“You fought in the Vietnam War?” I asked. That sounded pretty inspirational to me!

“Oh, yes! That’s how I got this scar.” He showed me a slightly discolored circle on his left shoulder. “I got hit by a bullet in my shoulder. I would have died if I had not gotten help from a beautiful nurse who later became my wife.”

“Wow, really?” I was intrigued. He told me a very inspirational story about fighting in the war, meeting his wife, who he is still married to today, and raising his children. We spent a few hours talking, with Liz occasionally popping in and out, bringing Bill whatever he needed. Finally, at two in the afternoon, Liz told me her shift was up and that it was time to go home. I promised Bill that I would come visit him again as we left his room. Once we stepped out of the big glass doors of the hospital, the same ones that we had entered hours before, fresh air overpowered me. The warm sun and California air was so different from the fake lighting and cold, smelly oxygen that was inside the hospital.

When Liz and I had got into her little red convertible and were driving down the road she said, “So, i was thinking that today we could take a little drive over to Los Angeles and visit some of the landmarks you have probably been looking forward to seeing! How does that sound?”

“Oh yeah! That sounds so fun!” I really had been looking forward to visiting LA on this trip.

“Great! We will stop by the house to get a few things and pick up Carly and your father, then we can go!” Already, this trip was turning out to be as good as I expected it to be.