It was a hot Sunday morning in Upstate New York. Donald, a thin, tall, dark-haired sixteen year old had been walking for more than two hours. He wished his father hadn't destroyed his bike during one of his recent rages. Ever since his mother had died in an auto accident two years ago, the two had always comforted and consoled each other. Then during the past week, Arnold Taylor suddenly became abusive to his only son. Unable to handle the situation, the boy decided to run away.

Donald's feet were aching. He stopped at the side of the road. His eyes were suddenly attracted to something in the field. Walking over to it, he saw a roundish shinny pendant on a chain lying next to a fallen tree. Light and cool to the touch, it seemed to capture all the colors of the spectrum. Donald couldn't tell what kind of material it was made of. Without hesitation, he slipped the chain over his neck. Seconds later, he felt a gentle vibration go through his body. In his mind he could see a translucent face looking at him with piercing black eyes. The image spoke to him telepathically
"I’m glad you're finally here"
"I must be hallucinating, " Donald said out loud. " I should have worn my cap to protect me from the sun."
"I am defiantly not a figment of your imagination, Donald," it replied.
"How do you know my name?"
. "I know a lot more about you than just your name!"
"Just what are you?" asked the perplexed boy.
"I am a synthetic form of intelligence built into this pendant. I was created to help my master, Brandies, in case of an emergency."
"Master? What are you, some kind of space genie?" joked Donald.
Donald felt the pendant get warm. "Don't joke!"
"Sorry," the boy apologized. The pendant became cool again.
"I am from Tandon, a planet that is millions of light years away from earth. My master, Brandies, came to Earth to retrieve and destroy an instrument placed here a long time ago to gather information about your primitive world. Unfortunately he was suddenly called back to his planet. Before leaving, I was activated and put in a safe place where he knew you would eventually pass by and find me. Since I am not physical, your assistance will be necessary to retrieve the instrument before anyone else can get to it."
" But why me?"

Donald was getting a headache. This was all too fantastic for him to believe. The situation was reminiscent of a science fiction movie he had seen. Yet, here was this translucent face communicating with him. He brushed himself off and got up.
The image sighed. "Your species is so inquisitive. I need you to stop your father from accidently discovering the instrument which is hidden away in a cavern at the bottom of an abandoned well on your property. If he finds it, he will mishandle the instrument and cause a reaction that will wipe away all living things."
Donald shook his head. "That sounds bogus."
"But it's absolutely true. Now, let’s get back to your house. We have work to do." said the pendant.
"No way," Donald objected, but suddenly he was back in his living room. The teenager looked around in amazement. "How did you do that?"
"By teletransportation. Beats walking, don’t you think?" the image quipped. Luckily, his father wasn’t home. He probably was boozing it up at some bar. Before this past week, Arnold rarely drank liquor, now he couldn’t get enough of it. It was a wonder that he was able to sober up in the morning and get to his job as a city clerk.
"Do you have a name?" Donald asked.
"No, I'm just a prototype of my master's mind."
"Then I think I'll call you Junior."

Donald had finished making a sandwich for himself when Arnold walked in and began yelling at his son for leaving the house without permission. He quickly noticed the pendant hanging around his son’s neck. He was ready to rip it off when a blue beam of light came from the pendant and surrounded him. The man stood frozen, looking like a grotesque statue.
"Don’t worry," said Junior, "he’s not being harmed, I just did that so I could scan his brain and find out what his problem is. Say, wait a minute, this is not your father."
Donald gasped, "What?"
"Oh, it may look like him, but that’s only an outward physical copy. Tell me, Donald, when did your father’s behavior started becoming violent?"
"This past week," replied the youngster, sadly.
" Then that's when your father was put into suspended animation and placed in a sixth dimensional space continuum. This is really a Mytron masquerading as your father. Mytrons are an intelligent, but cruel species that exists on an enemy planet in my galaxy. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. The Mytrons recently monitored my planet and found out about my master’s mission. They must have devised a scheme to invade Earth by sending an agent to manipulate the observation instrument and annihilate all humans. I believe the cruel treatment you recently endured was done to motivate you to run away and not hinder the agent from completing his job."
Donald's head began throbbing again. The situation was getting too overwhelming.
Junior seemed to understand. "Go to sleep. In the morning you will be able to better cope with the situation."
Donald was asleep within minutes. During the night Junior located the exact place where the instrument was located.

It was raining when Donald woke up the next morning. Getting off his bed, he went into the kitchen. The Mytron masquerading in his father’s image still stood frozen in the middle of the room.
"We won’t be able to do anything in this weather," Donald said, suddenly feeling hungry and getting himself a bowl of cereal.
"Weather will not be a hindrance to us," Junior impatiently replied. "Please finish your breakfast and get dressed. We’ve got to go to the bottom of the well."
"We’ll need rope and some tools," suggested Donald as he put his boots on.
"Not necessary," replied Junior.

Instantly, they were down in the well. The raindrops, above, were being repelled by some invisible shield. A white light emanated from the pendant and illuminated the surroundings. When Donald leaned against the left side of the wall, some loose bricks caved in. Through a gaping hole, he could see the entrance to a cavern.
"Don’t be afraid, Donald. Go in and let’s get the instrument " Junior encouraged him.
Walking into a small alcove, Donald saw a rectangular box resting on a large flat stone. He was ready to pick it up, when a resonant voice shouted behind him. "Leave that alone!" Donald whirled around and saw a humanoid figure, about twice his size, glaring at him. The creature was covered in some kind of gray protective outerwear.
"Don’t panic, Donald," Junior advised. "That's the Mytron who impersonated your dad. He must have broken free from my beam and returned to his own image. I’ll bet your father is back in his office where the Mytron first got control of him. We’ll check it out later. Right now, pick up the observation machine and let's get out of here. My force field will protect us and stop the Mycronian from following us."
In an instant they were gone.
Donald looked around in astonishment. He was standing on the beach of a beautiful tropical island. The ocean was calm and clear. The smooth golden sand was soft under his feet. The sun shone in a cloudless, blue sky. Hot, the boy took off his coat and shirt.
"Go ahead, take a quick swim, but don't remove the pendant," Junior instructed. " I brought us here because it’s the best place on your planet where I can automatically energize from the sun."
After his swim, Donald walked around the island. Colorful birds with long tails flew from the trees. Tasty wild berries grew profusely on bushes. Having circled the island, the boy lay under a large palm tree and was about to fall asleep when Junior began speaking to him in an agitated tone.
"Donald, Brandies has contacted me. I have been ordered to immediately vaporize the Mytron agent, then we can safely destroy the instrument so no one else can ever get to it."
Once back in the cavern, the Mytron appeared as soon as the force field was shut off. Donald felt the intense hate as the alien spoke, "Give me the instrument."
Again a beam of light shot out of the pendant and struck the alien. There was a swishing sound. A puff of smoke arose from where the alien had just stood.
"Wow," exclaimed Donald, "that was just like something from The Wizard of Oz "
"The Wizard of Oz?" asked Junior.
"Oh, a popular child’s book that was made into a famous movie on earth," explained Donald.
" A Movie? Oh, yes, my master’s civilization had such antiquated things eons ago. Well, it's time for the final task. I want you to gently take the observation instrument and hold it in your right hand. You will see a small etching on one side that looks like two parallel lines. Keep that side on top. With your other hand, tap your index finger between the lines twice. Finally, keep your palm down on the top for a few seconds. If it is done correctly, the instrument will crumble into dust."
Carefully, Donald followed Junior's instructions. Moments later, the observation box was destroyed.

With the task over, Donald was back in his kitchen just as the phone rang. It was his father calling. "Something very strange happened to me today. I was sitting at my desk in the office, when suddenly I couldn't remember anything about this past week. I had a doctor check me out and nothing physically wrong could be found. Probably my condition was due to stress. I've been given some time off from work. How about us taking a trip to Canada?"
"Gee, that would be great, Pop."
"I’ll be home soon. Think you could manage the fort until then?"
"No problem," Donald answered, smiling as he thought of the day’s unusual events.
"Everything's back to normal, Junior" Donald said as he hung up the phone.
Junior sighed. "Well, I‘m ready to terminate."
"But why?" Donald asked, puzzled.
"It’s an order. My purpose is over."
"But that’s wrong. After all, you can think, communicate, and what’s more, feel emotion," Donald vehemently protested.
"But I am artificial. A circuit built into a pendant."
"So what" Donald argued. "It’s like that seventeenth century philosopher I studied about in school said; ‘I can think. Therefore, I am.’ You can think, so you are. Understand? You're not just a mechanical product. Why, after all the things we’ve gone through, you're my closest buddy."
Donald suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. In front of him stood a figure dressed in a copper colored outfit. His face was pale and his features were exactly like Junior's image. No doubt it was Brandies.
"A transmitter built in the pendant has communicated everything to me. I’ve beamed down because I was so affected by your plea. Donald, I am rescinding my order of terminating the synthetic intelligence and have decided to entrust it in your care. I’ve got to immediately return to my planet, but maybe some day we’ll meet again." Seconds later, Brandies was gone.
Donald smiled. "Junior since you are entrusted to me, I have decided to rename you Grant."
"But why Grant?"
"Because the name Grant means great."
"Oh, then that’s fine," replied the independent entity, vibrating with pride.

***

Looking out from the porch, the sun began to set in the West. It cast a beautiful orange glow in the sky. The birds quieted down as night spread across the serene region of the Adirondack mountains. One could smell the poignant odor of the pines as it wafted on a gentle breeze. Everything was so peaceful.

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