The Incredible Space Switcheroo

Chapter Seventeen: Ahsoka The Computer Sleuth

Ahsoka

When Irene and I got home – or Sharron's place, but I was getting used to calling it that –, I realized that I still hadn't watched that movie. It was ten thirty, and getting close to the bedtime that Sharron's parents regularly enforced.

I figured that staying up late to watch a movie once in a while was okay. Deciding to skip the popcorn, I grabbed a chocolate bar from Sharron's stash and headed up to the family room, avoiding as many of the creaky spots as I could.

But apparently, I wasn't quiet enough, because a moment later, Irene called up from the ground floor. "Shar? Are you going upstairs?"

"Um..." I tried to come up with an excuse on the spot, but I wasn't nearly as practiced as Sharron was or as diplomatic. "Yes...?"

"It's late! You should be in bed in half an hour!"

"Can't I watch the movie until then?" I whined.

"Sharron, what have I told you about how bad it is on your eyes to be watching a flickering screen right before bed? Go read a book, or draw, or something!"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. Right then and there, I wanted to say, Well, look here, lady! Back in my galaxy, we're looking at flickering, glowing screens right before bed all the time! It's not that harmful! What's the big deal?

But then I remembered that back in our galaxy, people were two millennium or so ahead of Earth. We had to have developed some sort of technology to keep our brains from getting hot-wired by all the screens and holograms we were looking at. Or we had just evolved to the point that it didn't bother us anymore...

Either way, it didn't change what Irene had just dictated. I wasn't allowed to watch anything tonight, but there was always the computer...

"And no going on that laptop, either! You need to rest!"

Growling curses under my breath, I stalked back into Sharron's room and closed the door. My arms crossed, I sat down on her fuzzy carpet, but my anger faded away to curiosity when I realized that I could feel a bump underneath me.

Scooting to the side and reaching under the rug, I pulled out a rectangular piece of rubbery material. According to Sharron's memories, it was the case for her cell phone, which Kate had told me she had brought with her when we switched places. But why would the case be here?

I turned it over in my hands. But then, as I found myself looking at the inside of the case, I gasped. There was writing in it! It said:

To my future self: in case I get amnesia or fall down the stairs and die or something, this is the account username and password. Sincerely, SK.

SK. That had to stand for Sharron Kennith. But what confused me was the next part. Below was a complicated series of numbers and letters, and the phrase shanSWfan. shanSWfan? What did that mean?

It was certainly something online. So, taking care not to make any noise, I crept from her room into the one next door, which was James and Sharron's shared office. Thankfully, it was an easy stretch of floorboards to walk, as only one of those that I stepped on actually creaked.

I opened the computer, pulling up a list of Sharron's Word documents. Carefully, I scrolled through the results.

I sighed. I couldn't find anything except a few stories about The Legend Of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender, two shows that Sharron was interested in, some stuff about Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, as well as a few original ideas. But there was nothing involving the mysterious 'shanSWfan'...

But then, a memory of Sharron asking James if they had one of the Harry Potter movies came up. She had told him that she couldn't find it anywhere on their movie hard drives, but was certain that they had it. He had laughed and said, "Shar, if you can't find it, then check the computer backups hard drive."

With those words of wisdom in mind, I walked over to a nearby shelving unit and pulled down a large hard drive that was labeled 'SK backups'. It was certainly the one used for Sharron's computer.

Plugging it in, I searched through the recent items. I didn't see anything that struck me as important, except...

There. Near the bottom of the file containing the last computer backup was another file labeled 'Star Wars Fanfics'.

I gasped. "Star Wars... SW... That's it! She writes fan fictions about the Star Wars movies, like the one I found upstairs!"

But then, I heard Irene coming up the stairs. I froze, my gaze darting towards the door. There wasn't time to get into Sharron's room from here.

But then, in my haste to close up the computer, purely by accident, I opened the file and hit one of the results. It was named 'UAAT Book 1', but I didn't have enough time to check it out, as Irene had just walked into the room.

"Sharron!" she said in a scolding tone, her hands on her hips. "I can't believe this! Give me that computer, right now!"

Unplugging the backups drive, I begrudgingly handed the laptop over. But then, the most peculiar thing happened. I started talking, but... I wasn't controlling what I was saying. It was like someone else was talking for me.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I – or whatever was moving my lips – said. "I have a new chapter to post, and I wanted to get it online tonight!"

Irene sighed, gazing up at the ceiling exasperatedly. "You spend way too much time on that godforsaken Wattpad site! It's all you ever do now!" She walked back to the door. "I'm keeping this until tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll see if you've earned it back."

And with that, she stormed off down the hallway. Normally, I get the feeling that Sharron would have been absolutely furious, but I was excited. Happy, even. I now had a lead for shanSWfan and what it meant.

Now, all I had to do was go online and find out just what this 'Wattpad' was...

*Hello all! Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I was procrastinating and I came down with a mild case of writer's block. This is a shoutout to the lovely Superkate-Studios, thanks to whom I got my creative juices flowing and, consecutively, back on track. This nice long chapter is dedicated to her!

I'll update as soon as I can :)