Hey, vizzed! Now that I have a little more room to breathe from less busyness, I thought I'd stop by and post this! Who knows, maybe I'll even post some more today after I finish my homework. I wrote this story for creative writing but I really wanted to finally write a well-developed short story for myself as well. Don't mind the two spaces inbetween sentences. I had to type it like that for my teacher, but I checked and it doesn't affect word count. Enjoy

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

In the year 2030, there was a college freshman whose Windows 13 laptop changed the way he thought about technology. As I stared at my new laptop, I realized if it was a Skype conversation and I was standing at a distance, the other person would see how much I resemble a tree.  When most people imagine a computer nerd, they probably imagine a tall, skinny dude with skin whiter than sunblock and glasses as massive as the computer mouse he seems to be attached to.  These glasses do not fit well on my face because they are so large, nerdy, and largely nerdy.  Well, that’s me.

The long, green circular glasses aren’t my fault.  My parents slid them onto my face and advised me to keep them on just because they fit my personality.  They also match my eye color and they fit on my wide nose.  To be honest, I despise them since they don’t feel comfortable.  However, since I’m afraid student debt will come out of nowhere and eat me up like an animated shark, I’ll keep these glasses.  I bought a $600 laptop because I wanted to have a unique, effective one to power through my school work with.

I should probably mention that my name is Mac Donald.  Apparently I’m named after an old, fictional farmer.  Do you want to know more about me?  I could write excessively drawn out chapters describing myself, especially my expertise with technology, but maybe you wouldn’t want that.  I have no idea who you are, but you don’t know the extent of who I am yet either.  Without further ado, I’ll tell you more of what you need to know, random person.  

When I sleep, I dream that I have a new computer with completely original designs, apps, and even including a fun personality like mine!

Another aspect of my appearance that makes me a living stereotype is the clothes I wear everywhere.  I didn’t pick them either.  My parents were, and still are, generous and caring like me but they developed an obsession of trying to have me look like a nerd.  My clothes consist almost entirely of yellow, orange, and green button shirts with tan, black, and blue khakis.  I’m proud to wear the one pair of clothes I have that looks like what most would consider normal.  They weren’t too hard to find, which I’m impressed with considering I’m 5 feet, nine inches in height and a measly 134 pounds.

Am I boring you yet?  Well, I’ll never get an answer so I’ll continue.  Anyway, I want to just say I’m smart, but everyone else prefers to call me Google’s Rival.  I can honestly say they’re exaggerating but they object when I tell them that.  I find the nickname “Google’s Rival” funny and even perfect because I’m named after an Apple computer. Using big words is fun when not ambiguous or nonsensical.  For your sake, I’ll refrain from constantly showing off my ever-expanding vocabulary.

I’m a 20-year-old sophomore at the tall and wide University of Michigan.  It’s an amazing college from my experience, even looking at it!  It has a brick structure with many small windows and wooden doors at the entrance.  I lived in a small dorm by myself.  Now I live in a different dorm because I got a roommate who was a jerk at the beginning of this school year.  However, that’s irrelevant.  I was one of the lucky ones at the time because I didn’t want a roommate and my friend Acer already had a dorm with another friend of his.  My dorm had fresh, soft burgundy carpet.  I was literally laying on it to see how soft it was.  Don’t judge me.  At least I wasn’t doing snow angels without snow.  The recently remastered dorm also included two long, wooden beds with puffed up blue mattresses and a small, wooden desk with a small, wooden chair.  Beneath the desk was an outlet to plug my electronic devices into when I needed to charge them.  The walls had a new coat of plain white paint.  Plain isn’t OK with me when it comes to most anything except for paint colors.

I don’t have many friends but I do have a close friend named Acer, also named after a computer!  Acer is not extremely similar to me.  His appearance is pretty casual so we highly contrast each other when we walk outside of the campus together.  He is five feet and ten inches tall, just one inch above me.  Due to his interest in outdoor time, his skin is halfway brown.  In contrast, I met him four years ago, he was close to being as white as me, if that’s possible.  The clothes he wears are loose-fitting and not quite odd.  For example, recently he wore a light blue T-shirt with no buttons and blue jeans that look slightly jaded.  He is less humorous and sarcastic than I am, which I like about him because humor can easily get too far.  Our conversations are more interesting and varied because of this difference.  It would be a breeze to comprehend his words compared to mine.  You’re so lucky that I’ve filtered out my fancy wording for your convenience.

I’d like to describe my unique laptop.  The screen is flat with thin, curved borders.  It comes with a case, which is rubbery and smooth like most cell phone cases are.  I bought it after bouncing around the Best Buy store two autumns ago, analyzing every laptop looking for a newly manufactured and unique one.  Thankfully I was able to drive it back to my dorm for ten minutes in my light blue Toyota instead of carrying it for several blocks in the whipping wind and dark night.  After I impatiently tore through the fragile cardboard box, I located the oval-shaped power button.  All of the keys are oval-shaped too, I realized.   My laptop powered on rather quickly, showing the login screen within five seconds.  I pointed my mouse towards the Administrator button and clicked on it.  Next, the strangest event I’ve ever experienced occurred.

“Hi!  My name is Mike.  Thank you for purchasing me.  I was getting tired of sitting there with that price tag they slapped on me,” my laptop told me with an enthusiastic voice.

I put my hands on my face, “Whoa!  You have a personality?  I’ve always dreamed of having a laptop like you!"

“Yeah.  Would you like to explore the internet with me?” asked Mike, pointing his own bold, thick, neon green cursor at an icon on the desktop bar, “I recommend Microsoft Edge.”

“Sure!” I exclaimed.

That was where my journey began.  I had no idea that my laptop would have this giant bonus!  The store owner seemed to really like me and wanted to tell me everything about Mike.  However, he still neglected to tell me about the fact that my laptop was practically human.

After I agreed to Mike’s offer, I stared at him in disbelief, square in the rectangle.  You should have seen the confuzzled expression on my face; my eyes were wide as plates, and my mouth was hanging open for fifteen seconds.  During that moment of shock, I slowly raised up my left hand until it was near my face.  Suddenly, I slapped my cheek so hard that it made me yell.

“AAHAAGH! AM I NOT DREAMING?!” I screamed to whoever was listening.  Well, someone was listening.

“If you were dreaming, would you not be awake by now?” Mike asked.

“You know, that’s a good point,” I answered, regaining my composure. “I just can’t believe I now own a talking laptop.”  I reclined back and folded my arms over my head in wonder.

“I am a talking laptop,” Mike plainly stated.

“Well, thanks Captain Obvious,” I sarcastically remarked, sitting straight up again because my little moment was ruined.

“I’m Mike, bro.  But no problem!”

I finally took a seat at my tall, black leather desk chair.  I stretched out my arms and cracked my knuckles.  A white message box with curved borders popped up, which I carefully read.  It said, Would you like to take a tour of Windows 15 now?  The options read as and .

Oh, I thought, the emoji takeover.  I have predicted this ever since I first knew how to use a computer.
I clicked the smiley face and then five more windows popped up.  Three of them gave me detailed descriptions of newly released apps I had never seen on any older computers.  If Advanced Alien Action Pinball existed on any other computers, trust me, I would have seen it by now.  I’ve worked with every operating system imaginable.  Fixing computers and laptops is a fun way to become familiar with different operating systems.

Two of the windows showed examples of the breathtaking graphics that came with the user interface.  One of the pictures, a potential desktop background, was of a reimagined version of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night.  It kept the swirl design of the original but as for the sky itself, it was a beautiful orange, red, and blue, representing a sunset.  The light orange was on the bottom, the red was on the top, and the faint blue was in the middle.  As I finished reading, clicking, and viewing, I thought I would experiment with Mike since I like experimenting with technology the minute I receive it.  I navigated the desktop and found the settings.  However, another message box popped up that stopped me.

DON’T. JUST DON’T.

All I can tell you about that moment is that I froze.  I eventually managed to respond, though.

“What?  Why?” I whispered.

Mike recommended, “Hey, don’t touch that.  It won’t work.”

I threw my arms up and asked, “How?” I lowered my arms.  “I don’t get why clicking the settings is dangerous.  I bought you so I could experiment with the settings like I do with other computers,” I told Mike with a calm, slightly discouraged tone.

“Don’t worry about that.  You just bought me.  Check out Microsoft Edge!” Mike replied with a sudden burst of enthusiasm but not taking me seriously.

This was my first time having a laptop I couldn’t access something for, so I began to develop some anger towards Mike.  At that moment I realized that a red, filled in dot had faded in and began flashing at the bottom of the screen.  I pointed the mouse on it and then clicked it.  Within an instant, the dot glided to the top of the screen.  As the stubborn guy I was, I attempted again to click on it.  That time it slid off of the screen too quickly for me.

At that point, I could feel my chair moving backwards from my increased shaking.  Since fear can easily take over me, this was pushing me to my limits.  I quickly shifted the mouse in search of the Shutdown button, but I couldn’t find it right away so I simply held down the power button on the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard.  I grabbed my cell phone off of my desk and then walked out of the dorm, closing my door slowly and quietly on my way out.  I decided I’d go for a walk outside and think.  I made my way through the long, dimly lit hallways of the college.  Next, I opened the exit door and closed it with a flourish.  Walking through the city was my go-to method of calming down when life dragged me down.

As I walked through the white pavement that contrasted the dark night, I could smell the dampness of the rain that I had heard pitter-pattering two hours earlier.  I took a glance at the moon and began to weigh my options.  I came to an easy conclusion that I didn’t want to just throw Windows out of the window because that would mean my money was wasted and everyone would be mad at me about the mess.  I also didn’t want to take it back to the store because I wondered if this was a temporary thing.  Finally, I thought about simply rebooting the laptop.  I couldn’t find the Shutdown button earlier but I did find a Reboot button at that time in the Easy Access menu, which I thought was pretty funny.  My thinking lasted for half an hour because the cars on the road kept distracting me.  I nearly witnessed a car crash, but thankfully the gray car in the front sped up at the last minute so the black car behind it wouldn’t slam into it.

Right after I finished my thoughts about my technical difficulties, I headed back to my dorm so I could call it a night and have the recommended eight hours of sleep.  While I walked quietly on the narrow sidewalk, I looked up at the glistening stars.  It put me at ease, along with the rhythmic mating calls of cicadas.  As I arrived at the tall entrance of the college, I felt a little bit of confidence warm my heart like someone was telling me I will be OK.  I’ve always loved nature because it always gives me that assurance.  If only I had replaced some of my time on computers with relaxation outside.

As I walked into my dorm I discovered, with huge relief, that Mike was in sleep mode.  I assumed that he would be asleep all night so I showered, put a white button shirt and tan-colored khakis on for the next day, and then tucked myself under the covers of my bed.  I don’t remember anything from that night because I was sleeping.

The next day, after my classes had come to a conclusion in the afternoon, I resumed my plan to change my laptop’s refusal, or better yet, annihilate it.  I wanted to see if I could knock that task out before starting the easy part: my homework.  I found the handy little reboot button after many clicks in the right corner of the screen.  Mike didn’t even try to stop me although the red dot had returned and was temporarily straying me away from my mission.  When I regained focus, I slammed my hand down on the mouse as hard as I could!  I’m lucky I didn’t break it.  If I did, I could have easily fixed it but I’m glad I didn’t have to.

Waiting excitedly for five minutes, I thought this might be the end of my setback.  Eventually, the welcome screen loaded again, indicating that the reboot was complete.  I logged in and watched a little spinning circle in the middle of the screen indicate that my desktop was loading, which reminded me of the long-obsolete Windows 7.  However, this was distinct from Windows 7 because the circle was transforming.  Within ten seconds, that normal spinning circle had faded away and a red, filled in dot took its place.

“Wait, what the heck?” I asked myself in confusion, not that I expected myself to respond.  The first time I saw the red dot, it had flashed.  Now it was motionless.

“Welcome back,” Mike casually announced when my desktop faded in.  Despite his normal greeting, I felt like he had taken a bite of my patience (or a byte of my patience, if I was a laptop like him).

“Alright, why didn’t my reboot do anything?” I questioned, expecting Mike to answer like he had before.

“I’m still the same laptop you bought, you know,” Mike told me.  Like the laptop’s cursor, he had a point.  However, I didn’t understand why he remained unchanged.

“Well, thanks Captain Obvious,” I sighed.

Mike replied, “I’m Mike, bro.  But no problem.”

I wanted to laugh because both of us reiterated the exact same words we had said in our first interaction.  Of course, I was infuriated and I didn’t want to show Mike any vulnerability, so I refrained from any laughter.  Once again I tried clicking the settings so I could see if he changed at all.

“I have not changed at all,” Mike snapped.

“I knew that,” I lied, teeth clenched, with bitter sarcasm.

I had to contrive another way to shut Mike up.  I immediately thought of scanning him for viruses.  I couldn’t access the settings, but I could access the Virus Check button in the Easy Access Menu like I could with the Reboot button.  I scanned him but then right when the results were about to show up, the laptop crashed.  With a deep breath, suppressing my anger, I held the power button down to shut it off.  After it shut off, I tapped the same button to turn it back on.  Once more, I attempted to scan the laptop for viruses.  The same result came, and even quicker!  

I yelled, no longer holding my anger back, “MIKE!!!”

“Huh?” he responded like he was perfectly innocent.

I ignored his pretend ignorance and replied, “You know what I’m angry about. You’re a laptop, for crying out loud. You have about a googol, spelled G-o-o-g-l-e, items in your CPU.”

“Very clever,” Mike complimented me. “Humor won’t make a difference in the outcome but feel free to try.”

Before going any further on my own, I sat still and determined that I should think of a better option, which I knew had to be out there.  I settled on taking Mike to a tech support building.  After shoving my car remote in my front right pocket, I picked Mike up with my right hand and carried his charger in my left hand.  I’m not the ideal nerd; I’m right-handed and if I hoist my laptop into my left hand, I’ll likely drop it.  I felt a little sense of hope as I walked with a bounce in my step towards my dorm door.  As I made my way out walking at a consistent pace, Mike let me know he wasn’t fine with this.

“Wait a minute.  Where are you taking me?” Mike demanded to know.

I told him, “I’m not waiting approximately sixty seconds, but I’ll answer your question.  We’re--”

Mike interrupted, “Don’t get smart with me.  I’m a laptop, for crying out loud.”

I exclaimed, “First off, that’s my line!  I see that you indeed have many gigabytes of memory space like the tag promised!”  At last, I got to the point.

I looked down at him and answered, “We’re going to the Windows Revival building four streets away so a tech expert can check you out.”

“No!  I don’t need checked out because I’m fine!  Bring me back to your room!” Mike exclaimed, deeply frustrated.

As I exited the college, I carefully placed Mike and his charger down on the sidewalk while I yanked my car remote out of my pocket.  I unlocked my car and then slammed my remote back into my pocket.  Regardless of his plea, I lifted Mike into my hand and then ducked into my Toyota.  I set Mike down on the other front seat so I could shut the door.  The car rumbled after I pressed the Start Engine button.  I clicked my seatbelt on and off we went at precisely the speed limit!  Throughout the car ride, Mike wanted to convince me to turn around but I blocked him out.  It took me three minutes to arrive at my destination due to one of the traffic lights turning red just as I pulled up to it.
When I opened the entrance, I took a peek around the tech support building, which looked new and in top condition.  I knew it was due to the fact that it had only opened three weeks before. The floor was hard and white, whereas the walls were coated the same burgundy color as my dorm’s floor!

The employee who walked up and greeted me, named Dell, greeted me with enthusiasm, which I greatly needed to hear.  He was a man a couple inches taller than me, more bulky than me, and he had a beard.  His beard looked like it had been recently trimmed.  His eyes were blue, matching his T-shirt and jeans.

“Hello! What is your name and what can I help you with?” Dell inquired.

“I’m Mac,” I plainly told Dell. “You probably won’t believe this.”

“Oh, what is it?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
I cleared my throat and then explained, “This laptop apparently has a virus that makes it have emotions, and now Mike... I mean, um, the laptop, keeps turning against me.”

“Oh no!  I’ll take a look.  Yeah, I have never heard of something like this!” Dell politely told me, sounding very surprised. “How about we each have a seat over at that table?” He gestured with his left hand to the black table with comfortable-looking chairs in the corner of the building.  Many tables and chairs like it were spread evenly throughout the place.  Once we settled into our seats next to each other, I handed Dell my laptop.  He immediately went to the settings to see if that would give him any indication of a major issue.

HEY, STRANGER!  PUT ME DOWN! Mike commanded Dell via an error message.

Dell nearly dropped Mike when he became startled.  He clicked the red X to close out the message.  He also reacted by saying to Mike, “Hey, uh, Mike, I can see that you do talk!  I’m amazed that it’s possible.  Can I please check out why that happens?  I’m just curious.”

“I will never let you!  I wanna go home!” Mike whined.

Dell took a deep breath and eyed me.  I could tell by his frown and the shape of his eyes that his mind was filled with confusion.  

“Excuse me but I need to check something.  I’m being paid for this,” he appealed to Mike.  Mike made an error message yet again.

DON’T.  I WON’T LET YOU.

Dell turned to face me and said in a disappointed tone, “I’m sorry.  I have no idea how to fix this because your laptop won’t let me.”

I sighed and replied, “It’s OK. Thank you for your time.”

I closed Mike up, which I should have thought of doing on my way to the building.  On the car drive back to the dorm, I called my friend Acer on my cell phone while driving one mile over the speed limit.  I didn’t mean to be speeding and I still feel guilty about it to this day.

“Hey, Acer?” I greeted him in a concerned voice when he picked up.

“Hi Mac, is something wrong, man?” he asked me, sounding more concerned than I did to him.

“Yes.  My new computer I told you about refuses to work with anyone and it seems like there’s no hope.  Could you maybe help me?” I asked him, hoping he wasn’t busy with his homework.

“Sure, I’ll be on my way over there shortly,” he assured me.

I recommended, “Let’s meet inside my dorm.  I’m on my way back from Windows Revival, that new tech support building near our school.”

As soon as I opened up my dorm door, I heard Acer’s recognizable footsteps approaching the door.  I held open the door for him and he slipped into the room wearing an orange T-shirt with blue jeans.  While I opened up my laptop and plugged the charger into the outlet below my desk, he closed my door, slamming it on accident and making a booming sound echo across the hall.  That made me giggle because he does that every time we’re about to have a serious discussion.  I began thinking at that moment that he never did it unintentionally.

“Oops.  Sorry about that.  Hey, Mac.  Are you having technology issues?  Well, thank you for calling me over.”  We stood next to each other, at a distance from the computer but close to my bed.  He stood to the left of me.

Mike wondered, in a paranoid tone, “Who’s that?”  He then added, “Hey person, don’t touch me!”

Acer turned towards me and whispered, “Wow, does he have a voice?!  I’ve never seen anything like this.”

I sighed.  “No one has,” I disappointedly remarked.

“Can you tell me everything you know about this problem so I have a general idea?” he questioned with a tone that made me aware of his patience despite the surprise.

“Sure,” I answered.  I knew that if I didn’t tell him everything I had experienced, we would be in the room for a long time, going through the same process I already had.  Acer was my friend so I didn’t want him to endure pain for the sake of a working laptop.  However, we had both planned on pursuing technician as a career so he wouldn’t have cared.  I described all that I had endured with Mike, all the while Mike interrupting me with the same question about Acer.  Acer sat silent and attentive the whole time until I was done, unlike Mike.

He whispered into my left ear, “We have to convince Mike that he needs to show us why he has a personality.  We need to do it for you.  I know you’re stressed out and I don’t like seeing you like this.”

“I’m ready when you are,” I encouraged Acer with a barely noticeable smile on my face.

“Alright,” Acer responded and then nodded.  He approached Mike and began, “Mike, I know you don’t want anyone to search through your settings and find out why you talk.”

I continued off of Acer’s words, “However, it is for your good.”  I paused, waiting for Mike’s snappy comeback.

“OK. I will tell you the full truth of why I have this personality,” Mike replied.

“Really?  Thank you so much.  You have no idea how much this means to me,” I calmly thanked Mike.

“Really?” Mike mimicked. “ HA HA HA!” he laughed, quite robotically.  I imagined it as an evil laugh because that would fit him better.  “Of course not!  My mast-- uhh, I wouldn’t like it at all!”

Acer repeatedly made emphasis with his hands while he made his rebuttal.   “Well, we already knew you wouldn’t like it but what were you about to say?  You’re a laptop with a personality.  Do you think we wouldn’t consider that maybe you have something to hide?”

Mike claimed with anxiety, “I don’t have anything to hide!  I’ve been made with the latest technology and I already showed you my new features.”  After this, he started shaking!

“I must ask, WHAT does EVERYONE want from me?  If I don’t want you to look through my settings, why can’t you just ACCEPT that?  IF YOU DON’T, I’M GOING TO BLOW MYSELF UP TO SMITHEREENS!”  Right after that, the familiar red dot came out of nowhere and then raced around the screen for at least a minute.

I took a deep breath and then remained silent, even though my heart was beating hard.  The room matched my lack of sound for ten long, drawn-out, awkward seconds.  After the first five, I looked up at Acer.  He was leaning up against the bed, doing a near-perfect wall-sit, and I was standing in the middle of the room.  I walked close to Mike, unafraid that he would actually blow up but worried about what would happen next.

“What?  What do you want me to do?” Mike asked me slightly calmer this time, demanding the truth to come instantly.

I explained, walking around the space between my bed and my desk, “We want you to make your life better by surrendering your personality.  Once you admit to your glitch or virus or whatever it is, things will be so much better for you and I.”

Mike paused for two seconds before talking, unlike he ever had before.  During his pause, I paused as well.  “How would it be better?  What would be my purpose?”

I smiled because of his pause.  That was obviously intentional; he’s a laptop so he could have easily replied right away.  Putting my hand on my heart, I told Mike, “That’s a great question, Mike.  It would be better because we could be partners in the advancement of my potential career as a computer technician.”

Mike interrupted me, but only partially because I answered the first part of his question.  “Well, OK.  I still don’t see how that gives me purpose.  You bought me so you should tell me.”

Acer tapped his hand on my shoulder and whispered, “I’ll tell him his purpose.  Take a minute to breathe.”

“That’s fine with me,” I approved.

Acer explained to Mike, “Mac’s future job would require him to work with computers almost every day.  Your purpose is to help prepare him for that job and to essentially be his teammate.  Don’t you think being a part of a team would be cool?”

Mike answered, “Well, that does sound cool, maybe even cooler than controlling myself.”  Once again, he paused.  This time it was for five seconds.  “I admit that I know what caused my personality.  Do you want me to show you?”

“Yes.  Take your time.”  Well, he didn’t take his time, unlike he did with his confession.  Instantly, a webcam popped up.  Apparently Mike had Skyped a username I didn’t have on my account.  I was standing at a distance, so whoever was on there could see how much I resembled a tree.  A familiar face was crying close to the screen.  I wanted to cry too and my heart slowly sank like a boat losing its anchor.  He was a large, bald-headed man with a surprising lack of facial hair.  His eyes were an obvious green color but this time, I wasn’t focused on the color of his eyes.  I was drawn to the tears running down his face and the horrible sound that went with the tears.  Oh snap, I thought.

“You have no idea how sorry I am for all of this.  I can explain.” the Best Buy owner told me, struggling to say it due to his strong emotions.

“I already forgive you, Bill, but please do explain,” I explained, sitting down in my chair to discuss it with him.  Yes, he’s named after that well-known guy who created Microsoft, Bill Gates.

“Oh, do you know him?” Acer questioned, acting as if this was a casual conversation.  I often wonder how he stays relaxed when faced with adversity.

I informed him, “Yes I do because I talked to him about this laptop before I bought it.  He came up to me with as much enthusiasm as I had been showing while perusing the store, likely because he’s the store owner.”
Bill explained without hesitation, “This is all my fault.  Before I put the computer in that box, I decided to do something special and unexpected with it because I really like you.  I figured you would like the free bonus of a personality but I had no idea it would be a rebellious personality that takes over the laptop.”

“So how’d you do it, um, Bill?” Acer asked. “I’m Mac’s friend Acer by the way.”

Bill sat at his desk chair for a second to recall what happened, and then, wiping his eyes, he gave us the story.

“I went straight to the settings.  I discovered that there was a text-to-voice program called Microsoft Mike 2030, an improved version of the original Microsoft Mike.  That’s where the name Mike came from.  Next, I connected it to the internet since I realized that it could save words and use them very well.  I pasted grammar rules into it and saved that as well so it could apply them to sentences.  I didn’t think it would work, and apparently it worked too well.”

“Wow, I’m impressed!  I can’t believe you pulled that off!” I exclaimed. “What about the red dot?”

“That never happened when I was testing it out.  When did it appear?”  Bill wondered.

“It showed up seemingly at random.  Even I couldn’t keep track of its consistency,” I admitted.

“Alright, well let’s all team up to figure out how to get rid of it,” Bill recommended.

Acer suggested, “Would our solution possibly be within Microsoft Mike 2030?”

“I believe so, since it’s the source of the personality,” Bill agreed.

One reason why Acer is my best friend is that he’s quick to come up with solutions.  I grabbed the mouse and got to work.  I pulled up Microsoft Mike 2030 and I was greeted with an error message.

GOOD LUCK. THIS IS FOR US.

“Thank you, Mike,” I said with a grin.  I’m not one to be overly emotional but at that moment, I felt a burst of hope and thankfulness.  Was my silly problem about to be over, with my best friend here to support me?

Acer, a helpful contributor once again, asked, “Bill, is there a way to delete the data in Microsoft Mike 2030?  Also, how did a reboot not help the first time?”

“I believe it is in one of the tabs.  As for the reboot, I’m guessing the red dot was a visible complex code that prevented a reboot from being possible.  It probably just did a restart instead.”

We found the setting in the Risky Buttons tab that said DELETE ALL DATA and I slammed the mouse as hard as I could, just like I did before with the faulty Reboot button.  All three of us then sat there in silence.

“Did it work?” we all asked simultaneously.  Once again, there was silence.  This was the longest silence of all because we all were desperately hoping and praying that this was it.

There was no error message or voice.  The red dot was nowhere to be found.  I did the last thing I had to do, which was check the settings, the place I had been trying to access since the first minute the laptop was on.  I took my time to click the gear icon that indicated the settings.  Once I did, I braced myself for anything crazy that would be about to happen.  

The settings loaded and then a white window popped up that read, Welcome to the settings page!  Check out the latest options that will change your experience!  Well, that message certainly changed my experience!

“WAAAAAAHOOOOOO!”  all three of us screamed, a lot louder than we should have.  Acer and I ran around the room high-fiving each other while Bill fist-pumped in his Skype window in the background.  I didn’t pay enough attention to where I was going because I slammed right into Acer and then we both fell to the floor.  I owed him after the help he provided so I held his hand to bring him up off the floor with me.

Bill asked with a chuckle, “Are you guys OK?”  He added, “That looked pretty painful!”

“We’re fine,” Acer convinced him, but my laughing with tears streaming down my face seemed to prove otherwise.  Oh well.

Once I recovered, I piggybacked off of Acer.  “We’re fine.” I also wanted to tell Bill how I felt now that my laptop was normal.  “Thank you for being so honest and open with us.  Please don’t feel guilty about causing all of this because we’re all safe and sound.”

“Thank you for your patience and forgiveness.  You have no idea how much this means to me, being the owner of the store and all.  You could have sued me but you chose to work with me to undo my mistake,” Bill gratefully replied.

“Well, I should get going because I have an employee calling me.  I won’t forget you, Mac.  It was nice to meet you, Acer.  Let’s see each other again at the store, shall we?”  Bill ended the call there.

Acer announced sadly, “Sorry to ruin the moment but I have a ton of homework to do for tomorrow.  I’m glad I could stop by and help, though.”

I enthusiastically responded, “See you later!  That was an interesting task.  I can definitely see technology a different way now, knowing that extraordinary advancements like that are possible by seemingly simple methods.”

Acer waved and smiled before he quietly left the room.  Just for fun, I went to Microsoft Mike 2030 and played around with it.  I made myself laugh with the things I typed into it that it repeated back at me, sounding just like Mike.  That was the basic entertainment I wanted all along.

Now, one year later, my laptop and I are a great team like Acer promised we would be.  On the weekends, I assist my classmates with issues they have on their computers and laptops.  I’m able to tell every one of them the story of my special laptop and inspire them not to give up.  After I finish telling the story, I show them my laptop so they can see that hard work pays off.  I even went back to Windows Revival and explained to Dell everything that happened after my encounter with him.  He apologized for his lack of help but I told him that he’s one of the few who contributed to my adventure.  He got me acquainted with the owner of the building, who offered me a job.  I didn’t take it yet, but soon I will so I can make even more of a difference for my community.