“Do I really have to do this? I mean there’s literally millions of trees in the world already; what goods planting one more is going to do.” I continued scoop by scoop until there was a sizable hole in the ground. 

“Come one, you’re making it sound way worse than it actually is, it’s one tree.” The man I was digging the hole for said as he leaned back in his chair. It was good to finally get a start up to my lawn care business; but this job was making me second guess myself. If I couldn’t even complete one job without complaining, what would I do when they started to get harder? 

“Well I’m almost done with just a couple more scoops.” I thrusted my shovel into the ground eager to finish and get my paycheck. 

“Clank.” My shovel bounced off what wasn’t dirt, I crouched down, rubbing the remaining dirt off of what I had just struck. 

“What the hell is this?” It appeared to be a dial with a button in the middle. Out of curiosity I reached forward and clicked the button. Just then lightning struck down directly at me. 

I awoke confused and face down on cool marble flooring, it wasn’t the warm sunbacked sod I had just been on.

“Awaken chosen one.” a sound echoed throughout the room. Chosen one? What could it mean by that?

“WHERE AM I.” I shouted to where I thought the sound came from.

“Shawganta, you know where you are, you came back after 1000 years like we asked.” Shawganta what kinda name is that?

“Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I don't think I know any Shawganta’s.” the sound of zipping became louder and louder and a giant computer swung around the corner. 

“Shawganta what are you…” the computer paused while looking directly at me. “Oh no, please do not say you clicked the button.” I gave an awkward smile.

“Umm yeah that would be me.” The computer looked as if it would drop its jaw if it could. 

“Oh no no no, this wasn’t supposed to happen.” 

I took a couple steps forward. “What are you talking about?” 

“You clicked the button, that means Shawganta has been killed.” Killed?? How does clicking a simple button kill someone??? I looked down and then back up to the computer.

“Like, me pressing the button killed him? Was it at least a peaceful death? The computer screen dimmed.

“Oh no, it’s a gratefully painful death.” gratefully??? What did I do to this guy? 

“Well what do we do now? I took another step towards the computer. Before it quickly sped back away from me. 

“Well, now you’re going to have to stop the invasion.” Invasion I thought??? This isn’t what I was trying to do, I just wanted to click that oh so delightful looking button. 

“But now we only have you and your shrimpy body.” Shrimpy?? Who is this thing calling shrimpy? “And how’s anyone supposed to trust you with that absolute petrifying face? Not even a mother could love that”

I stared in disbelief as the computer insulted me. This was not what I had signed up for when I agreed to plant a tree. I didn't even know where I was or what was going on. But the mention of an invasion caught my attention. 

"What invasion? And what do you mean by 'only me'?" I asked, my confusion turning to concern. The computer let out a sigh. 

"You see, Shawganta was our last hope. He was the only one who could stop the invasion from the planet Korga. But now that he's gone, it's up to you to save us all." I looked around the room, trying to make sense of what was happening. The walls were made of a smooth, white material that seemed to glow. There were no windows or doors, just the computer and me.

 "How am I supposed to do that? I don't even know where I am or what's going on," I said, feeling overwhelmed. The computer beeped, and a holographic map appeared in front of me.

 "You are here, on the planet Zorg. Korga is planning to invade us in three days. You need to gather an army and defend our planet." I stared at the map, trying to wrap my head around the situation. This was insane. But at the same time, a part of me felt excited. This was a chance to be a hero, to do something meaningful. 

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "I'll do it. But I need your help. I don't know anything about fighting or leading an army." The computer nodded. 

"I will assist you in any way I can. But time is running out. We need to act fast." With that, the computer began to give me instructions. It showed me how to use the holographic map to locate other inhabitants of Zorg who were willing to fight. It gave me tips on how to train them and strategize. And it even provided me with weapons and equipment.

Although I was reluctant, I looked down at the map, highlighted in bright yellow was something or someone called Zorgians, “Are the Zorginas the natives of this land?” The computer spun back around.

“Uhh yeah, something like that, they’re the defense force of this island you could say, well more like mercenaries right now.” KIND OF? I didn’t not like the uncertainty of that. But if the only chance I had of surviving and getting off this planet was to get the help of them, then I’d have to do it. I took a moment to brace myself, I slowly got closer and closer towards the door; before fully stopping to make one final decision as I reached the door. 

It took only a second of thought to decide that I didn’t want to die on this planet, so I gathered all of my courage before sprinting out of the door. Before promptly blacking out after 4 seconds. 

I awoke very confused, I was on what felt like a bed. Has it all been a dream??? Was I going to get up and be in the safety of my home????? I swung myself up to check my surroundings before hearing. 

“Did you really think you could go outside without a helmet.?” Now that he says it, it would make a lot of sense to have to wear a helmet in here. I walked over to the armory wall and grabbed a helmet. I realized I had no clue of how to get to the Zorgians or how long it would take.

“How long will it take me to get to the Zorgians?” the computer screen began to load.

  “62 hours” 62?? How was I supposed to save the world in 3 days if it would take 62 hours just to get to the people In need to do it?

“Is there any faster way to get there??” The computer looked a bit annoyed 

‘Well there would have been Shawganta could fly there in about 5 minutes, but looking at the fact that now we only have your sad noodly body, it looks like there isn’t.” just at the moment the computer paused for a second. “Hmm actually, there is a way, I could teleport you, but I don’t know if your fragile little body could handle it, and it will still take at least 48 hours as it will knock you out.” Who does this computer think they are, they’ve just been digging on me this entire time.  

“Don’t worry about me, I'll be fine, let's just get this going. I don't have much time.” The computer started to fix a couple things and set up the device.

“Please step inside.” The computer asked me

I went inside before asking “Will this hurt?” The computer thought for a second.

“No, it won’t hurt at all, there’s just a chance that your matter could spread apart.” He began to count down before flicking the switch. I felt a zap enter my body before. HOLY SHIT!! THE MOST EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL FEELING I HAD EVER EXPERIENCED HIT MY BODY, THE FUCKING COMPUTER LIED TO ME. Before I could manifest any more bad comings on the computer I blacked out. 

When I awoke I appeared to be in some sort of tribal village, but it was a very futuristic tribal village, they were all living in tents in very close proximity however; they appeared to have giant flying vehicles and weapons. I looked up to see a huge ass lizard staring down at me. He was trying to say something to me but I couldn’t really understand him.

A pop up appeared on my helmet, it was asking if I wanted to translate what this Lizard was saying to me, well if I want to gather this army. I clicked the button on the side of the helmet and the lizard began to speak again. “Yo g, what’s your toothpick looking ass doing here.” Was…the translation of these guys, being translated into a British accent? Why would this be the default? “Can you get the fuck up, you’re looking mad silly just lying about fam.” I was about to speak, but realized will this guy even be able to understand me?  

“My bad, I umm are you a Zorgian?” I finished standing up 

He twisted his head at me, and his face smushed “Yeah, what is it to you?” Well, that's good I guess the helmet is translating it out to me as he speaks.

“Do you have a boss around here? Or whatever you guys have.” the lizard gave me as blank of a stare as he could. 

“Oi, ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⏃⌰⏃⋔⟒⍙, get over here.” and out of nowhere, a giant 8 ft tall Lizard came walking out of the tent. Then turned to look at me. 

“Umm, would you like to help me, the chosen one, stop the Korg from invading?..” The lizard gave out a look of disgust.

“They must be choosing anyone nowadays, listen; we’re already planning on putting up a fight against Korg, we don’t need some noodly thing thinking he’s in charge.” he waited for a second “Although, your horribly deformed face would most likely scare them off.” Deformed??? What was with these guys and these backhanded comments. 

“Well, should we get ready if we don't have much time?” I asked 

“We’re leaving right now, they should be arriving in a little under 4 hours.” He said as he turned to walk away.

“4 hours???, but the computer said I’d only be out for 48 hours? “ The lizard began to laugh at me, when he was finished he said 

“⟒⎍☌⟒⋏⟒” over here kept on accidentally knocking you out cold whenever you woke up.” How do you accidentally knock someone out??? I better watch out around these guys.

With a sense of urgency, I followed the lizard to the tent where the rest of the Zorgians were gathering their weapons and vehicles. They were a fierce looking group, with scales and sharp teeth that could intimidate anyone. However, as we started to prepare for the upcoming battle,I could sense a general distrust towards me. As the time approached, we loaded onto the vehicles and gathered at the edge of the village. The air was tense with anticipation, as we waited for the enemy to arrive. Suddenly, we heard the sound of engines in the distance, growing louder and louder. The Korgians had arrived. Just over the hill we could see their camp, if we wanted to have a chance we had to catch them while they weren’t ready.

⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  look at me “You’ll lead the charge.” Me? I wasn’t expecting him to trust me with such an important task.“Remember, we have to get the chrono energizer to the edge of the camp and activate it.” I had no clue what that was but it didn’t matter. I cleared my throat and mind. Then unleashed a scream “CHARGE.” Which now thinking about it, might’ve been a bad idea; I’m pretty sure we had the element of surprise. As we began to get closer and closer it seemed as if the wind in the air came to a dead stand still. The Korgs had begun to notice and rush towards their tents and just then shots began to fly. AND HOLY SHIT, WHY AM I LEADING THE CHARGE, the lizards next to me and behind me began to get evaporated by whatever was hitting them. The lizard next to me was just about to throw a grenade when he was hit and straight up evaporated. 

Which led to his grenade falling to the ground exploding and leading to more people being killed. I dove into a pothole in the ground to regain my breath. When I heard ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  scream out “Continue the charge we’re so close.” I peaked over the edge when the lizard next to me was shot and dropped his gun into the pothole I was in. Wait, I just realized they put me at the front without a weapon. I ran over grabbed it and the peaked over the pothole again, I saw around 15 feet away from me ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  with a Korgian above him trying to stab him. He dwarfed ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  he looked around 10 feet tall, and even though he had the size advantage ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  was somehow managing to delay the sword. It took only a second to think I took aim and shot the towering beast. 

He dropped his sword and then slumped over. ⏚⏃⍀⏁⊑⍜⌰⍜⋔⟒⍙  got up and then looked at me. He gave me the nod of acknowledgement; I had proved myself and saved the commander from certain death and, HOLY SHIT, he just got shot and literally melted away. Just after that a giant electrical beam shot into the air before crashing down. It looked like it chained up the Korgians from around the neck. I walked up to ⟒⎍☌⟒⋏⟒, and 

“Wait so what even is this thing?” He finished packing up all his weapons before saying. 

“Oh well the Korgians are the inhabitants of this planet, but when we invaded a lot of them escaped. We need them to help work our cities before the rest of our planet can come over. 

“What, I thought  I was helping save Zorg.” He scratched his 

“Well we kind of are, our planets are going to be destroyed by a supernova soon; so we found another planet to take over. We needed you because the chrono energizer doesn’t work without something you produce carbon dioxide.” 

Well I guess I’m an intergalactic terrorist. I contemplate my role in this intergalactic situation, the reality of the situation set in. It was chosen to help save a planet from invasion, but in the end, it was all part of a plan to save another planet. I shook my head in disbelief as I tried to process everything that happened. Ihad never expected to be in this position, but here you were, a key player in a plan that could change the fate of two worlds forever.

I took a deep breath and looked around, watching as the Zorgians continued to pack up their weapons and vehicles. I knew that there was still much to do, and that you had a responsibility to see it through. You grit your teeth and take a step forward, I had to make a decision do I un-activate that Chrono Energizer?