Sasha clicked on an icon named ‘nanochips’ and a picture of the small pinheads opened up on the screen. She double-clicked on the image, and it enlarged. The pinhead was actually a miniature nanochip with hooked edges. Diagrams showed how, after ingestion, the hooks attached to the wall of the mouth or the intestine, ensuring that the nanochip became embedded in the person who had ingested it. Sasha read on, growing more horrified by the minute.

The nanochips were programmed so they could be remotely controlled, and they disabled normal higher brain functioning. Essentially they turned people into robots – under the power of Prof V!

Sasha knew that she had to override or delete the program somehow if she wanted to get Doreen back. She smiled to herself. She may not be pretty or thin, but she could do this. She started typing, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She didn’t notice that it was starting to get dark outside.

Twice Simphiwe poked his head in to ask her if she was alright and she snapped at him to get back outside and watch for Prof V. The third time he came in he turned off the lights. He didn’t want Prof V to see the light shining from the windows if he returned.

Four hours passed. To Sasha it could have been ten minutes. She had been oblivious to everything around her, including the weather outside. A strange wind had started blowing and with it, brought heavy, black storm clouds. Sasha heard the first few drops of rain splatter on the tin roof as the door opened.

“Bingo! Damn I’m good!” she exclaimed. “Simphiwe, I’ve overridden the program,” she shouted. She stood up, and looked straight into eyes as black as midnight. Prof V’s voice was deep and oddly hollow.

“Did you really think this through?” he asked. He was blocking her path and held a syringe in his hand. Sasha felt her knees weaken beneath her. Her heart was pounding in her ears, almost deafening her.

“Do you know how long it took me to write that program? How much of my time you’ve wasted?” he asked. His voice was chillingly devoid of emotion. “You are an annoyance. And I get rid of annoyances.”

Sasha wanted to scream but her voice seemed stuck in her throat. Prof V grasped her arm and brought the syringe closer to her skin. His hand was ice-cold. She thought she saw a flicker of a smile hover on his lips a second … before Simphiwe brought a heavy metal pipe whacking down on Prof V’s head.

There was a dull thud and then a strange white light filled the room. Sasha didn’t know if it was lightning from the storm or some weird supernatural light. The scream that Sasha had been holding in escaped and bounced off the metal walls. She felt her knees finally collapse and Simphiwe caught her.

“I managed to override the program,” she heard herself say. “Doreen is going to be OK.” Her cheeks were wet with tears. Simphiwe pulled her closer to him and whispered in her ear.

“It’s going to be fine,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But what about Prof V?” Sasha asked. Simphiwe shone his cellphone light to where the body had fallen. All that remained on the floor was a life-size, paper-doll cut out in the image of Prof V.

“But, how?” Sasha stammered.

“I don’t know,” Simphiwe answered. “But I think the sooner we go the better. I called 10111 anonymously. The cops will be here soon and they can take it from here. I don’t think they even need to know we were involved.”

***

Tell us: What has happened to Prof V?