Percabeth Betrayed

Chapter 28 - I Turn my Friends into Robots

Finally. I haven't updated in forever. Hopefully I can make this chapter a little longer, to make up for lost time. 

Annabeth's POV

As soon as Percy handed me the shiny silver device, I rushed off to the Chaos Cabin. Percy didn't seem very surprised. Not only was I trying to find what the device was for the mission, but out of my own curiosity. It was a daughter of Athena thing. If it matched my original theory about what is could be, the demigods at camp could be in trouble. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Thankfully it didn't. Once I set it down on my desk and took a closer look at it, I realized that it wasn't what I originally thought it could be. It was small, about the size of my palm, with several buttons and a screen. A keypad sat beneath a large red button. It was one of the old fashioned ones that you could find on a flip phone. Press a button once for A, twice for B, and three times for C. 

When I flipped it over, I found an engraving of a flame below the battery compartment. It was simple, but why did I have a feeling it stood for something huge? The flame etch could stand for anything. Hephaestus. Hestia. The Elder Cyclops who worked in forges. 

I continued to explore the tiny device. There had to be a reason why Jake had it. My fingers brushed over a switch on the bottom of the box, and I flipped it. An antennae rose out of the top, and emitted a wave of purple that flowed through the air in a giant circle. It seeped through the cracks in the doors, traveled out the windows, and eventually faded into the afternoon sky.

As I watched it disappear into the air, I noticed Percy out of the corner of my eye. He was attempting to train the Aphrodite cabin how to sword fight, and it wasn't going well. Jason walked by and laughed, asking Percy, sorry, Commander Epsilon, if he needed any help. That was weird. Jason had been very hostile towards us during the past few days. What was with the sudden change of heart?

But just as Percy nodded curtly and gestured towards the Aphrodite Cabin, Jason froze. His laid back attitude changed, and he glared at Percy before stalking off. Percy just shrugged and continued his lesson. What in Hades?

I returned to my investigation to find that the screen on the box had flickered to life. On it was a map of the camp, with several blue dots moving around. The dots must be the campers. I watched as an Ares camper hefted her spear and walked by. One of the blue dots moved with her. 

I could see the several blue dots clumped together in the arena, symbolizing Percy's sword fighting lesson. The blue dot representing Percy weaved between the other dots, the Aphrodite campers, as he attempted to adjust their sword fighting positions.

I pressed an arrow button that pointed north, and the map moved to focus on the Chaos Cabin. I smiled as I watched my fellow warrior's blue dots move towards the kitchen. I heard the pots and pans clattering downstairs.

But that was enough stalking. I didn't know what the buttons on the device did, but I was anxious to find out. There was one button in particular. The large, pulsing, red circle seemed to be calling my name. I wanted to do nothing more than to push it. Call it a daughter of Athena thing, but I couldn't control my curiosity. I pressed it. 

Immediately another wave of purple flowed out of the antennae. This time, instead of floating out the window, the purple substance disappeared through the floor. I didn't know what it was. Waves of radioactive energy, or holograms, but it didn't look good.

I clutched the device in my hand and watched as the blue dots in the downstairs kitchen moved to form a perfect line around the kitchen island. I rushed downstairs, not bothering to take the elevator, to find the other Chaos Warriors lined up and staring at me.

I waved my hand in front of their faces, and the only way they reacted was by blinking. It was like they were in a trance. The silver box in my hand was vibrating, and a search bar had now appeared above the map of the Chaos Cabin. I wonder...

I quickly typed in a command. It was annoying, having to press one button twice to get to the letter w. A few minutes later, (Yes. minutes, I had dyslexia) I had a command typed in. Wave right hand, it said. The blue dots representing my friends turned red as Luke, Zoe, and Bianca all waved their right hand. Ok. That was creepy.

Act natural, I typed in. Immediately, the trance was broken and the three went back to making lunch. Zoe melted the cheese on her quesadilla, and Luke waved his hand to make a bucket of ice cream appear. But the red dots still didn't change back to blue.

Luke looked up. "Oh, hey Annabeth! Didn't see you there. Care for some mint chip ice cream?" I was too shocked to respond as I typed in a third command. Act natural, but ignore Annabeth. Luke continued to scoop out ice cream, but proceeded to pretend that I wasn't standing five feet in front of him.

Of course, that's what it was. How come I didn't figure it out sooner? I flipped the power switch off, and the antennae receded back into the silver rectangle. Luke looked up. "Hey Annabeth! Watcha doing?" I didn't respond. I was too busy running back upstairs to perform more research.

Ok, not as long as a chapter as I had hoped. Only about a thousand words. Sadly. But I guess this chapter was like an introduction to what was to come. What was the device? Why did Jake have it? What did the flame represent? But you guys will have to wait til tomorrow to find out. I have another chapter planned, and hopefully it will be longer than this one. Until then!
                                                                                                                                                -Ahey