Bonding. Organisms can bond together. Family. Friends. It goes further than that. You’ll see...

Hi, I’m Ellanora PondFolk. From what I could tell, I was just your average, run of the mill female teen. I guess not. One Saturday, after my horseback riding lesson, I came home to my stepmom arguing with my brother. Typical. Father gone angry stepmom. Dad was always away on some “secret project” for the gov. I changed out of my dirty clothes and took a shower, only to come out in new clothes, to a CIA agent at our door. My stepmom answered the door, and he held up his badge. I was at the top of our staircase, looking down.

“My name is Neill Perkins, I’m with the CIA, we’re here about your daughter. We need to speak with her privately.” He told her. She stared up at me in serious disgust.

“Get down here, Ella, whatever you’ve done, it’s time to pay up now,” she said. I finished coming downstairs and walked outside with the agent. Neill, was it? As soon as I stepped out the door, I had at least 5 guns trained on me. What did I do? Was it my secret lab? Or maybe the blades I had placed in my limbs that I could extend and contract? They weren’t metal. I was ready to use them.

Neill walked in between me and the other men, “you can be very dangerous, this we know. You are… special. Only 7 people like you exist in America. You have special brains. You can understand things most of us can’t. We need your help. All we’re asking for is for you to come take a look. If you say no after you take a shot, your memories of this encounter and the site will be erased. If you say no now, nobody will even know we came here. Or, you could help us and save humanity,” he said.

“I’ll take a look, I will make no other obligation right now,” I replied, looking down.

“Then follow me,” he said with a smile. I followed him. We went on a long ride with me blindfolded to keep the route secret. After what I guessed was about an hour, the car rolled to a stop. My blindfold was removed. Neill led me out of the car. It was a warehouse with people all carrying pieces of metal… wait… that wasn’t metal… those were organisms. They looked like parts, but they weren’t. Every piece I looked at, I could tell what it was. I started to feel nauseous. If only I could close my eyes. I couldn’t, it was just too incredible. It was too much for my brain. I couldn’t take any more analyzing, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I felt like I was going to pass out. A hand shot out in front of my eyes.

“Don’t process too much at once. It could be harmful to you,” said Neill. My thoughts were still racing, filing everything I saw away to be found later. I now found that Iwas breathing hard and shaking.

“Only 7 people in the U.S. can even come close to understanding this stuff. You are the strongest. For all the others, not even a millisecond passed before they fell unconscious. You lasted two minutes before I started to worry,” he informed me, “so if you join us, you will be the leader of team A. We want you and the others to build things out of these parts. Robots capable of fighting alien threats to earth. Nobody else can either build or pilot these things other than you and the others. We should probably get you a checkup because too much staring can give you physical issues.”

He turned away, and I followed on shaky legs. He brought me to a white room with a person that looked like a doctor. By that time, I had to use the wall for support. He was working with another young girl, showing her one part at a time. Seeing them made my head hurt. When he saw Neill and I, he dropped the part he was holding and rushed over.

“I’ll get her a checkup right away, looks like she really needs it,” he said, talking quickly. I wasn’t aware of how terrible I looked. I actually thought I looked fine.

“A newbie is still conscious after seeing the warehouse?” asked the girl.

“She lasted two minutes before she turned into this,” Neill stated as the doctor carried me away. I didn’t hear any further conversation, but it may have only been because I was behind a closed door.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” asked the doctor, waving five hands in my face.

“Fifteen? No, three,” I replied. It was hard, but if I saw fifteen fingers on five blurry hands, then it was three. I was now aware of my exhaustion. I was swaying from left to right. I had no way of knowing if I would stay awake, though I highly doubted it. I was in so much pain. Maybe I would be taking a dirt nap after all. If I woke up ever again, I would help them. From the intelligence I could gather on the parts, they had only ever been used to help protect organisms from aliens, they fell apart when their job was done. They were alive. They could tell that there was another job coming for them. They were ready for whatever came...

I woke up feeling better than ever. I felt energetic and well rested. Then I remembered where I was. The bed I was in was very comfortable, and I was in a white room. I had to squint as my eyes adjusted to the new light. Around me were several girls seemingly taking tests, including the one from before. I felt so good just sitting here, better than ever. Unfortunately, one of the adults ended my moment when she walked up to my bedside.

“You weren’t out for long,” she frowned, “how are you awake?”

“Um, well I woke up…” I said, ``I didn’t know what to say to that question.”

“Hmm… well, we should get you some medical tests to keep you healthy,” she walked away, leaving me alone again.

A couple minutes later, the doctor from before came back. My bed moved so that I was in a sitting position. “Well, you really are up! What a surprise! Before you get up and move again, we want to make sure you don't need any more… repairs,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

“Any more repairs?” I asked.

“Well your entire left arm had stopped functioning for a while there, and your toes almost got gangrene,” he said, looking away, “also, your heart is producing some fluid now and pumping it through your body, but we don’t know what it is… or what it does. We’re constantly monitoring your vitals in case something goes wrong.”

“Interesting,” was my only reply. For about the next hour, the doctor did a medical checkup on me. It was pretty standard, except it also included close examination of my muscle groups and some X-rays.

“Well, it seems that you are fine, however, your muscles seem to have grown, your brain is reconfiguring, and a couple other things too that shouldn’t matter too much, just be careful,” he said.

“O...okay,” I replied. Like I was supposed to know what any of this meant.

“Agent Levi wants to talk to you about your final decision,” he informed me, “however, before that, I want to make sure you know what you’re getting into. This job will be like hell for you, but you will save many lives. You will be able to protect those you care about, though you will sacrifice your happiness and well\-being. That’s all I have to say.” he left the room. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought that he was supposed to convince me to join.

A man in black came into the room. Probably agent Levi. He walked in front of all of us, the patients, and smiled. The room went silent.

“We have chosen assignments, however, we are waiting to see if the newbie will join. If she does, she will lead team A,” the room went silent. Everyone stared at me with anticipation in their gazes.

“I’ll do whatever I can,” I said. I really did want to help as much as I could.

“Good. We need it.”

In a briefing room. Figuring out my job. Wonderful.

“She needs to focus on leadership!” yelled agent Neill.

“No, she needs to focus on building the robot!” Replied agent Levi. This argument was going nowhere, maybe I should finally step in. It had been going on for about an hour.

“Leading!”

“Building!

“Leading!”

“Building!”

“Leading!”

“Seriously! You’ve been arguing for an hour!” I stood up fast, banging on the table. They both stared at me in shock, “I can multitask. You two are a couple of adults. Stop acting like a child.”

Silence. Pure silence. Levi was the first to break it, “works for me.”

“Me too,” agreed Neill. Finally, the argument was over. We all left the room in silence. Before all the arguing, Agent Levi had explained the peril that earth now faced. Alien beings had bombarded Russia with a spaceship, then contacted the governments of all the countries at once, using aliens that were amongst us on earth as translators. They said that in 1 year and 1 month they would attack earth again, they told us to prepare so that they could enjoy our little struggle.

Neill led me to team A’s barracks. I was going to have to get settled in now. Take a shower, change into uniform, and meet my new team. We lived in the hangar. Ate in the hangar. Everything we did was in the hangar. I took my shower, changed into uniform, and pulled my hair into a tight bun. The uniform consisted of baggy navy blue pants and a navy blue tank-top. The ceremony uniform was long-sleeved and unwrinkled. It had my status pins on the collar and had tighter pants. I was ready to meet my team. Levi had warned me that they were all adults, while I was still a child. I wasn’t worried. I would figure it out. I walked through town halls to meet Neill. He would introduce me to my team.

Together, we made a few more twists and turns and ended up in the hangar. I tried, and succeeded not to look at the parts. “All right! Everyone! We found you a team lead!” Hollered Neill. All of the noises stopped. Everyone put down what they were working on and started walking over.

Once everyone had gathered, many staring at me or whispering to their neighbors, Neill leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Good luck,” he said and walked away. I looked at my team. My mouth was dry. I didn’t know what to say… or do.o

“Hi, I’m Ellanora Pondfolk, and I’m going to be your new team lead,” I said with as realistic a smile as I could manage. About when I said my name, people started shuffling around. Soon enough, my father was pushed to the front.

“Ellie? Why…” he started to ask.

“Why is your kid here?” asked another man.

“Well, I have a special ability, so…” I replied.

“Ellie, you can’t be here. You could get hurt,” stated my dad

“You should have thought about that before you married stepmom and left. She really hates brother and I,” I looked up. Oooopsie. I started categorizing parts. Oh joy. In my peripheral vision, I saw the men staring at me and moving in slow motion. I managed to stop staring at this time. I leaned on a wall and held my head. I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, my team was staring. Silence. It was beginning to get annoying. I stopped leaning on the wall, I felt dizzy, but I could manage.

“Look at that. She can’t even look at the size of this room without being stricken. Are you sure she should be our leader?” Whispered one woman to a man.

“Yeah,” he replied. Obviously, I had to gain their trust. I started walking forward. The people parted to let me through. I was categorizing parts like crazy now, but I could take more this time. Within a couple of seconds, I had “downloaded” all the information on the parts. I had taken care of most of them before. I continued walking. I picked up a long cylinder and a circular white plate. I turned around and put them together, holding the cylinder in a specific area. I put the two together. They melted into one thing. These were living organisms. With the right prompting from another organism, they could join together. They could also partially absorb other organisms as well. I felt my hand sinking into the cylinder and making it longer. Soon, it had become my arm all the way up to the elbow. The team stared at me in shock.

“What? Is it because I’m still a kid?” I asked them.

I began to rummage around in another pile one-handed. I found my goal. A long staff made of what looked like wood. I picked it up, put my hand in the right spot, melded into it, and banged it on the floor once. It made fire come out of the bottom. I tapped it twice. The whole stick lit up until I banged it once again. I banged it three times. My whole body was on fire, yet I remained scorch free. Even the other two bonded parts lit up. I banged the staff on the floor again. The fire extinguished. I commanded the organisms to unbond. They did and became their original parts again, clattering to the floor.

Silence. I was getting so tired of this stupid silence. “Any questions?” I asked them.

“How…” he didn’t finish his sentence, so I decided to do my best to answer.

“Weren’t you paying attention? I have a special ability. Also, if I see too many parts at once, I begin to waste energy trying to figure them all out,” I told the man, “ I can also see individual atoms, If you don’t hold them correctly down to the atom, it won’t work. This is why I was chosen as your team lead.”

“We’re supposed to be building a robot that can fend off aliens. They sent a threat to enslave earth. We have a year. They will be here in a year. We don’t have time for this. Let’s get moving. I’ll get a blueprint together,” I walked back to the barracks to get a notebook. I started putting together my idea on paper in detailed instructions. I made sure everybody had something to work on and had everyone get to work.

We began building small suits for everyone, because even if we didn’t finish the big project in time, we would have some defence. I started a diary. Might as well, right. I might not live another year.

Week1:

This week, we started building the minibots. Each one shall be special. Different. That way, they can’t counter so many unique robots all at once. I started building the large robot. I got part of the foot. Such intricate mechanics. We finished one suit. Built for speed, it has little blades on the forearms and shims. There are wheels on the feet, and the suit is very aerodynamic. We also finished a set of wings that can attach to any suit. We have started a pilot program, the team is learning to bond with the minibots.

Month 2

This month, I finished a complete half foot. We finished two suits, both built for strength. They are slow. Very slow. However, they really do pack a punch. They have lots of weapons and overall power. They are used for melee combat. We may have to make some more speed robots and some long range robots. The pilot program is a pretty bad failure. We can’t operate the bots because our brains are effectively fried every time we try for more than an hour. When We have two people working together, one controlling each side, we can last longer.

Month 3

This month, everyone started to get the hang of building and training schedules, so I could direct more of my attention to the large bot. I completed the foot and ankle joint. Another speed minibot was built, it rolls on skates and has turbo engines in the feet. It has lots of weapons built into its body. A long range robot was created. It shoots guns and other long range weapons. The pilot program is going well, people are getting used to operating different bots, though they come out with very low blood sugar. It gives about as much damage as for all of the team leads to look at too many parts at once. The pilots who used the bots more end up with less physical damage than others in the same amount of time.

Month 4

This month, the shin of the robot was created and attached to the ankle. The pilots are getting better and better, and the other team leads are ready to start. The team focused on long range robots, and 3 more were built. Pilots are now able to pilot for 2 hours each. The other teams are making an armored helicopter, transforming animal robots, and a spaceship. Their mini projects are flying bombardment bots, mini transforming robots, and smaller spaceships. Their overall progress is going strong, and they have some people in team A’s pilot program, since they don’t have one of their own yet.

Month 5

This month, the rest of our robot’s right leg was finished, along with a finger. One of the pilots tested the leg and it works very well, yet we figured out that it takes 5 people to move it for long enough to be effective. Another strong, slow minibot was created, along with 3 more speed bots. Team B finished putting together a flying bombardment humanoid bot and a couple of pilots are training with it in turn. Their leader, Aki, was the first to try it. She managed two hours right off the boat. Team C finished one foot’s toes for their transforming robot, and made one minibot. Team D finished the engine for their spaceship and one minibot. The same results came from Esmerelda for the pilot test. Everyone insists that I try piloting next month.

Month 6

This month, there was a setback in the building of the giant robot. Everyone insisted that I try piloting a minibot. I operated it for 24 hours straight, while eating food of course, and then came out pretty tired. Major setback, I managed to barely get started on the next finger though. The other teams continued their projects, and I hope they make it in time..

Month 7

This month, we tried something new. The pilot program piloted the robots while helping build. Half of them ended up helping me with the large bot. They made the left leg, and I finished the hand using a speedboat. Tons more minibots were made. Team B caught onto our idea, and wants to borrow some of our minibots next month. Everyone else is making steady progress.

Month 8

This month, we finished the other hand and both forearms and elbows on the large bot. Team B’s progress skyrocketed. They have enough minibots to work on their own now and have more people training as pilots. Teams C and D decided to use some minibots to work as well, Team C will use our bots and D will use some of team B’s bots.

Month 9

The torso of our large bot was finished, we will attach the limbs next month. I took another pilot lesson and could control a minibot for almost the whole month without leaving it. I did a lot more work using a bot, but I still needed food and water. The other teams, now using the minibots too, got more work done. They can all support themselves with their own minibots now.

Month 10

This month, we attached the limbs to our large bot and completed the head. In total, teams A, B, C, and D have about 3 million minibots and we are almost done with everything. A few months ago, millions of people got into the pilot programs. We have enough pilots, but with the deadline quickly approaching, the pilots and backup pilots for the large robots will be inexperienced in using them specifically. Each robot is different. We might barely be able to be proficient in operating it by the time the invasion begins. The pilots are all getting very good with precision things and staying longer. I managed to speak with some of the parts through bonding, and they gave us some tips. They told us about how we think of them as foreign. To truly bond with them, We need to think of them as part of us. That helped almost all the pilots. They last longer too.

Month 11

This month, the head (which is a control center) was placed on our robot. It functions perfectly, and we had our best pilots use it. It takes 5 of the best to operate it for as long as one of them could operate a minibot. About 24 hours. They all become one. They, the parts, and the other pilots become one in both mind and body. That’s how they move. There are only two sets of backup pilots, plus me, who can pilot it alone for… well, we don’t know how long, we don’t have a year to test me alone, but I can pilot it for at least 4 days at maximum efficiency. The other teams barely finished their bots and had me test them out. They all got a big thumbs-up and have one month for pilot training.

Month 12

Our last month. Over 15 million different minibots, over 30 million pilots. 4 large bots and pilots. They are inexperienced, but they were all we had. Each of them had about ⅓ of a month to train with their teams, with the exception of team A’s pilots who had a little more training time. We are about as ready as we’ll ever be. Each one of us is easily ready to give our lives for our home. Our family.

Last day of month 12

I made a speech today. It went something like this. “Men and women. I am just going to come out and say it. I doubt very many of this will make it out of this alive. If any of you want to leave, this is your last chance. Go home, see your family. Anyone?” A few people left the room, “Well then, for the rest of you. You know you’re likely not getting back out of this. That means you have to fight harder. If you are worried about someone getting hurt, you don’t let them get hurt. If you are worried about dying, then don’t let yourself die. If you’re scared that what your protecting will break, protect it. Look straight into defeat’s eyes and say, ‘ no. You’re not taking me today,’ Tomorrow we will be prepared. We will fight to the end for the home we cherish. Today. Make peace with yourself. Go see your family, get some much-earned rest, eat your favorite food. We will be waking up at 12:00 to warm up the bots and do our mission briefing. Dismissed!” the response was a loud “YES MAM!!” and the crowd began to disperse.