“The human spirit must prevail over technology.” 

– Albert Einstein

I’ve been doing this online learning stuff for over a year now and I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t concentrate when I have to look at a computer screen for hours on end. My mind wanders and I’ve started losing interest in  my studies. Its too bad because I am a pretty good student. I miss my friends. I miss all the fun we have at recess. And I even miss the bus ride to school.

Lately I have begun to chat with my friends on Zoom or watch movies streaming online. The internet can be a wonderful tool but it can be harmful as well. Today’s lesson plan involved having to read a chapter  from our history book about The Industrial Revolution. After I read it, I’d have to write a one page summary about it. Boring! I  decided to binge a few episodes of Karate Cowboys online before starting  my assignment. My computer screen went blank for a few minutes as the power flicked on and off. Maybe I should unplug it and let it cool down. Wait, what the heck is that?

“My name is KilRoy. I am am robot from a distant planet called Robotix. We are currently under attack from a band of renegade robots being controlled by some unknown, sinister force. This is not spam or an online hoax. This is serious.  Our planet is  completely inhabited by robots and we have lived in harmony for millions of years. That was until some nefarious being hacked into our planet’s hard drive. Soon a rebellion had begun pitting robot versus robot. You may be wondering how we selected you….”

“Not really” I scoffed before turning off my laptop.

“Yeow!!! Who or what are you?”

“We have been monitoring your activity online and your browser history indicates that you are very knowledgeable about computers, engineering, and robotics” the robot on the screen continued. 

“Gah! How did you get in here?” I uttered to the big chrome robot who was suddenly standing in my bedroom.

“Mr. Davies you have been chosen to save Robotix from a mob of misguided robots. A spacecraft will be here shortly to take you to outer space.”

Who was Mr. Davies? Oh right, he was the man my Dad bought the laptop from.

“Hold on! You have the wrong guy. I’m not Davies! I don’t know any of that high-tech mumbo jumbo!” 

As I tried to reason with the robot I could feel myself being pulled out of my bedroom window into a hovering spaceship. 

“Good luck young warrior” the robot called out.

“I can’t just fly off into space. What’ll I tell my parents?”

“You need not worry as I am fully prepared for any interaction with your fellow humans.”

Before I could ask what he meant by that, the spaceship blasted off at warp speed. Next stop, Robotix.

After trying to make sense of all the crazy things that were happening I decided to sit back and enjoy the ride instead. I had been trapped indoors for most of the past year and a half.  This was a once in a lifetime experience so I might as well  have a little fun. Besides , how bad could things really be on Robotix?  I’m sure this fancy spaceship would be more than capable of ending the robot rebellion. Maybe I’d even have time to do a little sightseeing.

“Holy Moses!!!! There must be thousands of rampaging robots. How am I supposed to take down an army all by myself? It’s gonna take a miracle to quell this uprising. I don’t know what any of the buttons do inside this spaceship. I have no allies on this planet  all I got is this highly complex spaceship. It sure looks cool but it doesn’t seem to have any lasers or missles or anything that could help end this madness. I sure hope KilRoy is having better luck with that assignment on Earth than I am up here.

“Alfred! You’ve been in your room all day. I hope everything is alright in there?”

“Yes human. I am presently working on an academic paper about The Industrial Revolution.”

“Well, take your time. Your schoolwork is very important” Alfred’s Mom replied.

“I agree. I will be ready for the process of eating and digesting food in an hour or so.”

“You mean dinner?”

“Affirmative.”

“Poor kid. He’s been spending so much time online that he’s starting to sound like a robot” Alfred’s Mom sighed.

With The Robotix Empire on the verge of destruction I knew I had to do something. But what? I didn’t even know how to fly this spaceship or what all the buttons on the dashboard did. “What the…..?” The spacecraft slowly lowered into the massive mob of marauding robots. I tried pressing all of the buttons but nothing happened. The robots began to violently shake the spacecraft as they threatened to tear the rocket to bits. Suddenly the ship began to wildly shake to the point where I thought I was gonna hurl. All was a calm for a minute or so. Then ‘BOOM!” The spaceship had turned into a giant bomb blowing all the robots to smithereens.