text: "Please, don't do it!" Sarah jumped from her chair, almost knocking down the table and chessboard. "Ha! I beat you!" Jake stood up and rearranged the chess pieces back to the starting position. "That’s because I was going easy on you!" "Fine! Then we play one more round, no going easy." Jake sat back down. "Nope, I have to do my essay. It's due today, and you know Mom would kill me if I turned it in late." Sarah opened the door and stepped out. "That does sound like our mom. But one more won’t hurt, right?" Jake begged. "No is no! I swear, sometimes I wonder why you aren’t dead due to pissing me off too much. Goodbye!" Sarah closed the door. "Ugh!" Jake lay down. Ding! "What was that? Oh, it's my phone." He picked up his phone and saw an email from the news site Tech Time. Dear @jakesmith, Thank you for purchasing the E-razor! To thank you for your support, we sent you a coupon that you can use for a free sticker on our news site. We hope we can continue working together. Thank you again. Sincerely, The TTTT “I don’t remember buying the E-razor.” Jake rushed downstairs to check the mailbox. He opened the front door and saw a package on the porch. “I guess that’s it,” Jake said, ripping the box. Inside there was a gun-like shape that was black with blue stripes. He picked up the E-razor and put it on the kitchen counter. “SARAH! COME OVER HERE!” Jake screamed. Sarah slammed the door open. “What do you want, Jake?! I’m writing my essay!” “Did you buy an E-razor?” “An eraser? No, why would I?” Sarah walked down the stairs to the kitchen. “Not an eraser, an E- razor !” “E-razor?” Sarah looked at the item in question. “It seems more like a laser gun, and no, I didn’t buy it. Check the envelope on top.” She picked up the envelope and took out a white note card and a coupon. Sarah started reading the note. “So?” Jake snatched the notecard from Sarah. “Hey! I was still reading that!” “Too bad, you read way too slow. Let me read it out loud, okay? Ahem, ‘Dear Jake Smith, we have gifted you an E-razor for being a committed supporter of our news site and tech team. We won’t give you much detail since we want you to figure it out yourself. But remember, if you screw up too badly, there’s a way to reverse it. -The TTTT’ “Happy now?” “What’s the TTTT?” “It’s short for the Tech Time Tech Team.” Jake put the note on the marble counter next to the E-razor. “Okay, well, shouldn’t we test it out?” Sarah picked up the E-razor. “Here?” Jake motioned to the kitchen. “I know the name says razor , but I get the vibe that it’s not a razor. Mostly because it’s shaped like a gun.” I honestly don’t care. This house is trash anyways.” “Outside, because I like this house.” Jake opened the front door. “Then let’s go!” “Don’t you have an essay to write?” Jake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but this,” Sarah gestured to the E-razor, “is more important.” “Right. So, where should we test this baby out?” Jake pointed the gun at Sarah. “Pew, pew, pew!” “How about...the park? It’s just a few blocks away.” “I guess it would work.” Jake opened the door again, gesturing for Sarah to go out first. “Come on! I have to get back before dinner to write my essay!” Sarah ran off. “Wait up!” Jake yelled, trying to catch up to Sarah. Sarah slowed down to a walk. “So, any guesses as to what this E-razor might be?” “Why would I know?” Jake said, “I’m just as confused as you are!” “Okay, stop. I’m just going to test it out right here.” Sarah pointed the E-razor at a nearby tree. “Really? Why?” “I’m getting impatient, and I still need to write my essay. Ready?” “What can possibly go wrong?” Jake asked as he stepped back. Sarah lined up her aim and shot the tree. The tree instantly disappeared. “Whoa! What happened?” Jake took the E-razor and studied its appearance. The gun had TTTT etched in green on one side and E-razor etched in blue on the other. “I’m not sure, Jake. Maybe the E-razor erased the tree from the earth. Let’s test this thing on...” Sarah looked around and saw two people walking on the sidewalk across from them. “Those people, over there.” She pointed at the strangers. “No! They’re living people! We can’t test a weird gun-laser thing on them!” “Whatever. We don’t even know them, it won’t impact our lives in any way, and we’ll even help the world by having less population! It’s a win-win!” Sarah lined up her aim. “Don’t!” Jake leaped for the gun, but Sarah side-stepped, still aiming at the people. “Stop! Sarah!” “It’s fine!” Sarah rechecked her aim and shot. The people disappeared like the tree. “Cool! What do you think?” “I think it’s horrible. It’s so horrible I can’t describe how horrible it is!” Jake had a disgusted look on his face. “You’re right! It’s too small. We need to go big! If that was what happened, imagine the power we would have! We can control the world with this, Jake! I’ve got a plan, so listen up. When we go to school tomorrow, we’ll start giving out ridiculous orders, and if the people we ask to do stuff for us don’t do it, we erase them. Then students and teachers will start obeying us, and soon, we’ll get on the news and everyone will be terrified of us. Then we can rule the world!” Sarah squealed. “Isn’t that awesome! Jake? Jake?!” Jake’s face was stunned with horror. How can his sister think of such an evil plan and plan on doing it? “You’re joking, right?” “Of course not! Think of the power we can have!” Sarah handed Jake the E-razor. “Come on, Jake. How about I make you a deal. I won’t shoot anyone you know. Strangers are strangers, they don’t care about you, you don’t care about them.” “Doesn’t mean you can just kill them with no regrets or guilt!” “You don’t even know them! It’s not like you’re killing Mom or Dad! And you know I can carry on by myself. I’m letting you in because you’re my brother. I can easily erase you, too. But I won’t, since we’re family. And family helps each other. So?” Jake took the E-razor. “No, I’m throwing this away. I don’t want you turning into some evil maniac.” “JAKE! This helps you, too, you know? Just follow my lead and everything will go perfectly .” “What if there’s obstacles in the way? Will they stop you?” Jake tried to poke holes in his sister’s plan. “Nothing will stop me, nothing . Unless I die, I won’t stop. I will be invincible!” Jake sighed, and tears started welling up in his eyes. “Y-you said it y-yours-self. Give m-me the g-gun.” “Why are you crying, and what do you want the gun for?” “Um... I-I want to t-take your plan into...c-consideration, before I commit.” Jake sniffed “Okay, fair enough. Glad to see you’re turning around.” Sarah handed the E-razor to Jake. “D-don’t mo-ove, Sarah or I might a-accidentally shoot y-you.” Jake’s voice wobbled, and tears started flowing down his face. “What’s wrong with you?” Sarah put her hands on her hips. “I-I’m going to h-hit that t-tree over there. A-and the n-note said i-it’s reversable, okay?” Jake was sobbing now. “Okay? So?” Sarah tapped her foot, “Any second now!” “T-three, two, one!” Jake spun around and pointed the E-razor at Sarah, tears streaming down like waterfalls. “I’m sorry, Sarah!” “JAKE! Think of what we can accomplish! I’m your sister! “Y-you said y-you c-couldn-n’t b-be s-stopped unl-less y-you d-died, a-and the n-note said it w-was r-reversable.” “Please! Don’t do it!” Sarah blocked her face with her hands. “I’m sorry! I’ll fix this!” Jake closed his red eyes as he pressed the trigger.