Freda Hayes ran out of the robotics department of MIT into the central courtyard and stared up at the sky. A booming voice rattled the windows of the building behind her and vibrated through the concrete. Above, in the sky, the holographic face of a beautiful human woman stretched.

“Greetings people of Earth,” the voice said. “We are the Archon Empire. Your species will be added to our cybernetic collective. Resistance is futile. You have twenty-four hours to comply.”

As the voice faded into the wind and the face dissipated into nothingness, Freda stared in disbelief, her jaw hanging open. The students and professors standing in the courtyard were equally shocked. No one spoke. Someone began to cry.

Freda stumbled back, her hand on her thundering heart. This couldn’t be happening. Earth had yet to make contact with any alien species. And this was how it happened? All Freda’s dreams of a Star Trek like future burned up like an exploding supernova inside her mind. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was a big conspiracy. She wasn’t beyond considering the possibility that it was a foreign government. Or even her own.

All these thoughts ran through her mind as she ran back to her laboratory inside the Robotics Department. “Cybernetic collective” they’d called themselves. She found Professor Higgins huddled under a lab table, clutching a robotic claw in his arms like a security blanket.

“This is a big joke, isn’t it?” Freda asked, trying to make sense of the crushing blow of what appeared to be an alien invasion.

“Stanford is behind this. I’m sure of it,” Professor Higgins said, finally climbing out from under the table.

“Yeah, Stanford. That must be it,” Freda said, reaching out to help her elderly professor up off the floor.

“What other explanation can there be?” he said in a shaky voice.

“That we’re being invaded by cyborgs?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“That is a distinct possibility,” Professor Higgins said. “I don’t know of anyone with that level of holographic technology.”

“To ensure your compliance, we will give you a demonstration of our power,” the booming voice said outside.

“Oh crap,” Freda said, just as a sonic boom vibrated throughout the entire world.

The windows shuddered under the pressure of the boom. Computer parts flew from shelves and shattered on the floor. Freda and Professor Higgins dove under the lab table, covering their faces.

When she stood and looked out the window, she saw a mushroom cloud in the distance billowing into the sky. It was to the south, probably New York City judging from the direction. Then she stopped to think. Her parents were in NYC.

“No,” she gasped.

“Well, that definitely wasn’t Stanford.”

Freda looked at her terrified professor and rubbed his back affectionately. His blue eyes were wide and half-crazed. White hair stuck out in all directions around his wrinkled face, and he twisted his torso back and forth while holding himself around the waist. He was losing it. She was losing it too, but she didn’t have time to have a breakdown. Her sister Lottie was back at her apartment, having come to Boston to visit and tour colleges.

“This is bad, Professor. Really bad.”

“It’s okay. I’ll call campus maintenance to clean up the mess,” he said, absently.

“You do that, Dr. Higgins. I have to get back to my apartment to check on my sister.”

“Alright Freda, just make sure you’re here bright and early tomorrow morning. We have those new protocols to install.”

“Right. Bright and early. Got it.”

Professor Higgins wasn’t dealing with this very well. She hoped he’d pull himself out of his stupor fast enough to ensure his own survival. That is, if anyone survived this. She had to leave to check on her sister and find her parents.

“You’ll be okay, Professor. Why don’t you go home and make yourself some tea, and add a little bourbon to it? Everything will be fine in the morning.”

She patted his shoulder one last time, hating that she had to leave her mentor like this. He’d been the one to champion her all along. He’d been the one to encourage her to stick it out through her undergrad years, even with all the torment from her snobby classmates. He’d encouraged her to enter the PhD program and to excel to the point where she was today.

Her robotics experiments were not only going to ensure her doctorate but were also being considered for additional university funding. She owed Professor Higgins a great deal. But he was a grown man and her little sister was only seventeen and most likely terrified.

“Good thought, Freda. I should be going home,” he said, looking at his watch under the arm of his white lab coat.

“Take care of yourself, Professor. And thank you for everything,” she said, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He looked at her with surprise and delight when she pulled away.

“Always such a thoughtful girl. Not everyone as smart as you is also as kind. You should go far, Freda.”

She gripped his arm one last time before leaving the lab and hurrying out into the parking lot. His praise meant a great deal, especially now that the world was seemingly turned upside down. It’s during times like this that you find out what the people you know are really made of.

Freda jumped into her old sedan and rushed down the crowded streets to her apartment building. She didn’t have a lot of money as a PhD student, but she’d moved out of the dorms three years ago and into her own one-bedroom apartment.

She ran up three flights of stairs and burst through the door to find her sister Lottie huddled under the kitchen table. There were debris from every surface scattered over the floor.

“What’s happening!” Lottie screamed, her hands pressed over her ears.

Freda rushed to her little sister and wrapped her arms around her. She ran her hands down her hair and back, trying to comfort her.

“We’re being invaded by hostile alien cyborgs,” Freda said.

Lottie needed to understand the truth if they were going to make it through this. She sure as hell wasn’t going to be assimilated into their collective. She’d go down fighting for her life. And she needed Lottie to get her head straight and fight beside her. The Hayes girls were not weaklings.

“This can’t be happening,” Lottie whimpered.

“It’s happening.”

“They want to add us to their collective. What does that even mean?”

“They want to assimilate our organic life forms into their cybernetic collective. I’m guessing that would pretty much suck, so I’m going for option B. Fight to the death. Are you with me, Lottie?”

“I can’t fight alien cyborgs,” Lottie wailed. “I’m not strong like you, Freda.”

“Of course you are. Plus, fighting sometimes means running for your life, which is what I propose we do right now. Let’s pack some stuff and get the hell out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Away from population centers. Those are the first places they’ll bomb to force us to comply.”

“We can’t win,” Lottie moaned. “They have more advanced technology.”

“But this is our planet. We have the home team advantage.”

Freda’s words didn’t comfort Lottie, who remained under the table clutching Freda’s childhood teddy bear.