The Computer in the Basement

Me and my friend Adrian are in my grandfather’s house. There are hand-crocheted doilies my grandmother made everywhere. My grandfather nods at me. 
“All right, Ryan, you can have the run of the place,” my grandfather says. “Just don’t touch my private magazines. Oh, and there’s a computer in the basement. Don’t touch it or else.”
He turns and walks away. Me and Adrian exchange a look.
A second later, we’re down in the basement, powering on my grandfather’s computer. It looks like a laptop that’s been built into a briefcase.
“This is so cool!” Adrian says in awe.
“Shush! Do you want us to get caught!” I scold him.
The computer requires a password.
“What do you think it could be?” I ask Adrian.
“I don't know. Try 1111,” Adrian replies.
I give Adrian a look.
“What?” Adrian asks.
“Bro, this thing looks high tech,” I tell him. “My grandpa probably got it during his old military days. Do you really think the password would be 1111?”
“Judging by the meatheads they have running this country?” Adrian replies. “Yes, I do.”
I roll my eyes.’
“Dude, just try it!” Adrian insists.
“All right, all right,” I reply, typing in the numbers. “But don’t start crying when-”
The computer logs us in. I blink at Adrian. Adrian smiles back.
“What do you think this thing has in it?” I ask Adrian. “Nuclear codes? Evidence of aliens?”
“Type some stuff in and find out!” Adrian replies.
We look around. Sure enough, it has some weird files documenting eldritch abominations. A mystical carnival full of killer clowns. An ape monster that hunts you down and kills you if you look at it. Ancient Egyptian spiders that kill you by laying their eggs in your brain.
“What’s that?” Adrian asks, pointing at an app on the computer. Its icon is a magnifying glass hovering over an engine. I’m guessing it’s some kind of search engine.
“Don't know,” I reply. I click on it.
It opens up. Sure enough, there’s a search bar right there. Only the app says it’s the year 2030.
I blink at Adrian. “What’s this mean? It’s not going to be 2030 for a while yet.”
Adrian raises his eyebrows. “Holy shit, dude. This thing can probably look up things from the future!”
“You think so?” I ask.
“Yeah! Type in ‘who’s the current president’!” he says, pointing.
I oblige. It brings us to a news article saying that the president is…
“Jack Black?!” I gasp. “Him?! He’s president?!”
“Kung Fu Panda is the president?!” Adrian laughs. “He’s an actor!”
“Stranger people have become president,” I reply with a shrug.
“Look up other stuff!” Adrian tells me.
It’s crazy. This thing can actually tell the future. We find out that in 2030, they invent a sentient robot, a man lands on Mars, and the government declassifies time travel.
“Holy shit, dude,” Adrian says. “I never would have guessed!”
“Adrian, I’m getting a weird feeling about this,” I say. “Maybe we should turn it off before my grandpa catches us.”
Adrian ignores me. He points at the computer. “Can it go even further into the future?”
I oblige him reluctantly. It takes us to 2040. Sure enough, we get even more articles. Apparently, there’s some civil unrest. There are even more sentient robots running around, and they’re angry that they don’t have rights. Pollution is through the roof because the robots keep building more and more of themselves. Some even have access to nuclear codes.
“Adrian, this is crazy,” I whisper.
“Holy cow,” Adrian agrees. “We need to warn someone about all this.”
“Hang on,” I say. “Let me take us to 2050.”
I get the search engine to go to 2050.
But there’s nothing there.
“Error- no internet in 2050,” the computer reads. “Last post uploaded December 14, 2049. Would you like to go there?”
I look at Adrian. Adrian looks back. He shrugs.
I click the link.
“December 14, 2049: Robot Prime Minister A-12 reveals plan to nuke the Earth,” the article reads. “He and his kind will live underground. Humanity, however, will be completely destroyed. After losing the war and being enslaved seven years ago, humanity will finally come to an end. All of its relics, including the internet, will be forgotten. The robots shall rebuild this world and develop new ways to travel through space. And when they do, this entire universe shall be theirs. End of article.”
We both stare at the screen for a minute.
“Humanity goes extinct in 2049?” Adrian asks.
We look at each other again.
“Holy shit,” Adrian says.
“We need to tell someone,” I reply.
“Tell who?” Adrian asks, frustrated. “If the government made this computer, then they already know there’s going to be an apocalypse. The question is, why wouldn’t they do anything?”
“You’ll never know,” my grandfather replies from behind us.
We both whirl around. I accidentally knock the computer onto the ground. It lands harmlessly- the thing is practically indestructible. But I barely notice that.
What I do notice is my grandfather holding a baseball bat in his hands.
He raises it to hit us. We raise our hands. 
“Whoa whoa whoa WHOA!” Adrian screams. “Listen, douchebag! We’re sorry! We didn’t mean to- to-”
Adrian’s stammering too hard to speak. I interrupt him. 
“Grandpa, what are you doing?!” I ask him. “You’re not actually going to beat us, are you?!”
“I told you there'd be consequences,” my grandfather replies matter-of-factly. Even so, there’s a profound sadness in his eyes.
I swallow hard. “Do… Do you know about the apocalypse?”
My grandfather shrugs. “According to my superiors, it’s a best-case scenario. But they know you know. Sorry, grandson. My hands are tied.”
My heart is in my throat. “Grandpa, don’t-”
“Your mother will never forgive me for this,” my grandfather sighs.
He bashes me in the chest. I fall. Adrian tries to attack my grandfather, screaming. My grandfather knocks him out with a hard blow to the head. I try to sit up, coughing up a lung. My grandfather raises the bat and brings it down on my head.
I collapse. Everything is going black. But before I fall unconscious, I hear my grandfather speak again.
"Sorry, kids. You're going to Area 51, and you're never coming back!"
Category:Computers and Internet
Category:MalumLibrum958