Free 20,000 Nerds Under the Sea by Jeff Miller

the sky,” said Biggs. “I just blew my own mind.”
    â€œHow, exactly, would you know what flying a jet is like?” asked Jolly from the radio. Biggs looked at the glass bubble camera monitoring them from the ceiling.
    â€œUgh, video games of course. You know what I mean,” said Biggs.
    â€œYou kids sure do love your fancy video games,” Jolly said.
    â€œAnd you don’t?” said Sam.
    â€œThere are so many more interesting things in the world,” Jolly said. “It’s a pity you people waste your lives staring at screens.”
    â€œOK, Jolly, what’s your deal?” said Neil. “For someone who has a video game named after them, you seem to hate them. I didn’t see a screen larger than three inches on your ship. Something’s not adding up.”
    â€œYou think that game was for anything other than finding recruits?” Jolly said, starting to sound angry.
    Wait, it’s not a real game?
    â€œAnd I’ll tell you what’s not adding up: the fact that we haven’t captured a single shark. My radar is showing a small pack of hammerheads a few hundred meters from here. Now turn left.”
    Magda kept its course, heading straight. Neil, Sam,and Biggs didn’t budge from their present course.
    â€œI said left!” shouted Jolly. A small electric shock coursed through the metal of the three pilot seats.
    â€œOw!” yelped Sam. “What’s going on?”
    â€œLet’s call it positive reinforcement,” said Jolly with a snort.
    The ship veered left as Sam maneuvered a fin. Neil’s hands began to sweat as his nerves still buzzed from the jolt. Jolly was more sinister than she seemed.
    â€œGood,” said Jolly. “Now I trust you’ll do as I say from now on. Head for the grouping of sharks.”
    â€œYou know, if you’re making an aquarium, I can suggest much cooler stuff to collect,” said an upset Biggs. “There’s far more interesting sea life.”
    â€œYou really are something special, aren’t you,” Jolly said. “You worry about doing what you’re told. Give me full speed!”
    She sent another electric jolt and gave the jaws a few quick chomps. Unlike in the video game, Jolly made sure she was the only person in charge of the jaws.
    â€œNo, I won’t,” Biggs said, his voice shaky. “You mean there’s no aquarium?”
    â€œYou think revenge for my family is a little glassviewing booth for those monsters?” Jolly said. “We’re getting them out of every ocean. Forever. Now shape up, or would you like to see how many volts you can take?”
    Neil gulped. He knew they were in deep trouble, literally.

“SO WHAT’S OUR PLAN?” SAM PUT A HAND IN FRONT OF HER microphone so Jolly couldn’t hear her.
    Neil shrugged his shoulders, covering his headset as well.
    â€œI don’t think we’ll make it north to that aquarium,” Neil whispered. Biggs nodded in agreement.
    â€œOnly if we want to be extra crispy, well done,” said Biggs. “But we can’t let her have control of this thing.”
    â€œWe need to find a way to make this megalodon extinct,” said Sam. “Again.”
    â€œCopy that,” said Neil. “Let’s see what we can do. Sorry in advance for getting you both electrocuted.”
    â€œIt’s worth it,” said Biggs. Sam gave a nod.
    The trio guided the shark toward coordinates given by Jolly, which seemed to keep her silent. Neil knew he wasn’t ready to withstand another burst of electricity. The amount of sugar inside of him would most likely act as some kind of superconductor.
    The team accelerated forward, and soon a group of sharks slowly became visible in the watery distance. They all circled in a feeding frenzy. Smaller sharks darted between the larger, slow-moving ones. From her controls, Jolly opened the jaws of Magda .
    â€œFull speed ahead!”