“Why aren’t you worried?! Why aren’t you panicking like I am?! Like everybody else in the whole world is?!”

“What good would that do?” my sister asked. “Besides, you’re being hysterical enough for the both of us.” She rolled her eyes and tsked. “And you’re supposed to be my big brother. Taking care of me, and all that.”

“I… You… Oh…” I spluttered.

“Very articulate, big brother.” She rolled her eyes again.

I took a deep breath. “Listen, there is a massive asteroid heading our way. It will hit the earth in less than twenty-four hours. It is so big it will be like 100 hydrogen bombs went off! Those who survive the initial impact will die in the cold of a long, long night because of all the dust in the atmosphere blocking the sun. Either that or they’ll burn up because sun will heat the atmosphere with no way for it to vent.” I slowed down on the last couple sentences, because Violet was moving her lips in sync with my words.

“What are you doing? Mocking me?”

Violet laughed.

“Why are you laughing, Violet?” My eyes went wide. “What did you do?”

She laughed some more. She looked into my eyes, then snickered before she said anything. I waited.

She started slowly, “Well, Joseph…”

She knew I hated it when she addressed me like a dim-witted student. I was, after all, three years older than she was. But I am no genius.

“You were reciting my press release verbatim.”

I blinked. I blinked again. “_Your_ press release?”

“Yes. My press release.”

I squinted my eyes. “What’d you do? Hack a newsfeed?”

She waved her hand in the air, literally waving off the notion. “Been there, done that. Remember? Four years ago? I was twelve? Ring any bells?” She smiled and swelled with pride.

I had to laugh at her current posture, and the thought of the old incident.

***

Violet had hacked a newsfeed for a major network television news show. She had graphics, video, and even a teleprompter script. The station never figured out who did it until they saw it on my sister’s YouTube channel. Mom had been horified at the incident, but Dad said she was a chip off the old block. Of course, he is a cyber-security guy who legally hacks for a living. Our parents did have to give her some punishment for it though, even though the government and the network never did.

***

I came out of my reminiscing and asked, “Then what did you do?”

Violet smiled, and was about to speak, but did not get the chance.

Dad came in the front door with Mom right behind him. They were out of breath as if they had run all the way across town, which they might have had to do with traffic being so bad. Dad was all smiles. Mom looked worried.

Dad managed to ask through his gasps, “Was that you?”

Violet nodded.

“YouTube?” Dad smiled even broader.

Violet nodded.

“H.G. Wells?”

Violet nodded again. “His _War of the Worlds_ was definitely my inspiration. Just thinking of the hysteria caused by the reading of fiction on the radio made me wonder if would still work.” She sighed as if longing for a time long ago. A time way before us.

Dad gave his sixteen-year old genius daughter a huge hug. Mom and I collapsed on the sofa. Never had I been so glad to learn about the latest breaking news was actually fake news. Fake news generated by my sister.