CHAPTER 29

Lily

Famous agent Lucy LaRoux’s cell phone rang. She took one look at the caller ID and turned pale. “It’s my boss.” She gulped. She answered, “Hello?”

Judging by all the screaming coming from the phone, it did not sound like good news for her. In between bursts of shouting, the kids in Classroom 13 heard Lucy whisper:

“Yep… Uh-huh… I’m so, so sorry.… I know, you’re right.… But it wasn’t my fault.… It will never happen again.… I’m begging you.… Okay, got it… Thank you… I won’t let you down!”

Lucy turned off her phone and glared at the students of Classroom 13. “Is everything okay?” Ms. Linda asked her cousin.

“No, everything is not okay,” Lucy said. “Right now, about half of your students have made me money, and the other half has cost me money. My boss is not happy. But we have one chance to make things right.…”

Then Lucy got down on her knees in front of Lily. “You’re the last student left. Please, please, please tell me that you’re going to help me get a win for the Ace Agent Agency.”

“Well, I want to be an astronaut, but I’m still too young. However, I do have all kinds of science-y ideas for inventions. For the last month, I’ve been building one to prank my four brothers.…” Lily pulled the small device from her backpack. It looked like a little metal egg. “I call it the LILY-HAMMER 5000.”

“What is it?” Lucy asked.

“It’s an EMP,” Lily answered.

The agent scratched her head. “Does that stand for: Egg Making Power?”

“No, it stands for Electromagnetic Pulse,” Lily explained. “The Lily-Hammer 5000 emits an invisible pulse of EM energy that knocks out all electronics in a one-room radius. It makes TVs turn off, computers go to sleep, and phones shut down. But not forever. Everything will power back on again after an hour. I don’t wanna break people’s stuff; I just want to prank people.

“I’ve been doing it to my brothers all week. Every time they play their video games, I shut them down right before they beat a level. They have no idea it’s me. It drives them nuts!”

“That’s so cool!” said Yuna and Ava.

“That’s so cruel!” said Dev and Teo.

“It looks like an egg, though,” Lucy said. “Can it prank people and make eggs?”

“No,” Lily said.

Lucy considered the egg-shaped machine. Even though she didn’t quite understand it, Lucy did know that people liked technology and gizmos. “Okay, if that’s the best you’ve got, let’s see what I can do with it.”

Lucy sent Lily’s blueprints to the Ace Agent Agency. They filed a patent and started production immediately.

Pre-orders for the Lily-Hammer 5000^® were in the millions. Pranksters of all ages couldn’t wait to mess with their friends and families. The prank device cost three hundred bucks each, but no one cared. They wanted it.

The Ace Agent Agency was pleased with the sales numbers, and Lucy’s boss told her she “did good.” Things were looking up for Lucy and the Ace Agent Agency.

On the day it came out, Lily tried to turn on her computer. She wanted to read the reviews and the blogs and see what people thought of something she’d made. But her computer wouldn’t turn on.

In fact, neither would her phone. Or her tablet. Or her TV.

Nothing worked.

That was because everyone in the country who bought a Lily-Hammer 5000 got their package shipped to them in the mail at the exact same time. That meant everyone in the country opened the package at the exact same time. That also meant everyone in the country turned on their own personal Lily-Hammer 5000 at the exact same time…

…and that created one giant EMP so massive it fried nearly every device in the country. No one could call or text or play silly games on their phones.

Everyone freaked out. Society went crazy. Many believed it was a return to the technological dark ages. Needless to say, people were furious.

Lucy was so mad her face was the color of… well, I can’t think of a metaphor, so let’s just say her face was really, really red. “I thought you said the pranked phones would turn back on after an hour?” Lucy yelled.

“They were supposed to.…” Lily said, rechecking her notes and calculations. “Oh, I see what happened. People weren’t supposed to use their Lily-Hammers at the same time. We should have put a warning on the box.”

“Now you tell me!” Lucy shouted. “I told you this thing should’ve made eggs!”

Technology in the country did not turn back on after an hour. Or twelve hours. Or twenty-four hours.

The Ace Agent Agency started getting letters—actual letters, in the mail, with stamps. The letters were all complaints.

“How am I supposed to order a pizza without my cell phone?” one angry letter said. “I am starving!”

“How am I supposed to text my friend Jeff ‘you are kewl’ with a sunglasses emoji?” another angry letter said. “Now Jeff probably thinks I’m mad at him!”

“What am I supposed to do in the bathroom? Just use the bathroom?! I like to play games on the toilet! This is madness!” said a third letter (probably written while on the toilet).

Finally, the president declared a state of national emergency and demanded that people destroy their Lily-Hammer 5000s. To help people calm down, the president also bought everyone a new phone. After all, she was a very good president. (Yes, the president in this world is a woman, and she is a very good president at that!) Then Madam President demanded the Ace Agent Agency refund everyone’s money. Immediately.

Lily may have been embarrassed that her invention broke the country. But her embarrassment was nothing compared to the rage Lucy LaRoux was feeling at this moment. Lucy was in big trouble at her job, and Lucy needed to blame someone.…