It was a mysterious package, which seemed to have shown up out of nowhere. She’d just woken up that morning and headed out back to let the cat out. She’d almost kicked it when she stepped out to get a better feel for the weather. Sitting there on the doormat was a brown paper wrapped package, no bigger than a stick of butter. A white label read simply, “to: Dela.” There was no ” from:” label to be found, no return address, in fact no address at all. As far as she could discern, someone had hopped the fence and left it at her backdoor either late last night or very early this morning. Best she could tell, there were no signs that it was dangerous. The cat had walked right by it, it wasn’t ticking, it seemed heavier than package filled with strange powder might be, it didn’t seem to contain liquid, and it didn’t explode when she picked it up or shook it. She supposed there was still a chance it was plastique explosive, and there was someone hiding nearby waiting for the ideal time to detonate it, or that it was a pressure release mechanism which would explode or release poisonous gas the moment she opened it. But honestly, she felt like her morning paranoia was stretching things too far. She brought the package inside and set it on the counter for later. She still had to take a shower and get ready for the day ahead of her, it wasn’t like she didn’t have things to do. She could think about it while she carried out her routine. She thought better when she was in the shower anyway. She’d have a decision by the time she finished.

She was dressed now, having run over it in her mind, she’d decided to open it. She was unable to imagine who might have sent it, except perhaps that it might be a secret admirer. Still, she could not imagine what might be in such a small package and the curiosity of that had gotten the better of her. She opened the wrapping by cutting around the center to pull the two ends apart. It seemed whatever it was had been in a box of some kind, so it shouldn’t be damaged by the knife. Better safe than sorry, she figured. So, with her painter’s mask and goggles on, arms outstretched, and the package laying on the counter, she eased the two ends apart while crouching for cover. She hoped she was just being silly, but what was it they said about curiosity and the cat? No powder, and nothing exploded so far. Whatever it was, it was in a white cardboard box. It had a tab type design, like many product boxes these days… but no sign of any lettering or logos, not even a serial number sticker. She peeled back the small, clear, circular sticker used to lock the tab in place and lift the top tab insert away from the bottom tab insert. This was the final moment of truth, once she pulled back this tab or the minute she attempted to open the lid, she thought, surely if that didn’t trigger an explosion she was in the clear. She held the top down with a long broad kitchen knife and pulled the tab back, before tucking below the counter-line, then she pulled the hand with the knife down after her… nothing. She eased up to confirm it was safe to proceed, feeling evermore ridiculous. With a smile on her face, she said half jokingly, ”No, that’s what it wants me to think… so I’ll let my guard down.” She grabbed the knife with one hand and the sharpening file with the other, in case maybe she heard a click or caught some other cue. Pointing the file at the face of the box, she realized this might be the first time she’d ever used it for anything at all. She flipped the top panel open… but still there was no click, flash, or boom, only bubble-wrap. She removed the packaging from the box, thinking how silly she had been, while examining the contents of the bubble-wrap. This wasn’t C-4 or anything like that, it was some kind of pen maybe. She unrolled the bubble-wrap to get a better look… “Boom!”

… she exclaimed in a loud joking manner. Upon closer inspection she thought it might be some kind of high-end precision-stylus, like you might use for digital art. Actually, it looked like it also had a speaker, maybe even a mic. There was also a long, thin glass panel… perhaps an LED, to help you locate it, or a weird camera. Then suddenly it lit-up with a cascading series of colors and began making a beep-beep-beep sound, in succession. She fooled with it a bit, until she figured out pressing down on the top triggered a clicking function. This stopped the repeating series of beeps and caused it to emit a strong projection. She turned the pen towards the counter-top and realized it was projecting an image, only it was difficult to make out. finally she set the pen down on the counter-top, to check the box for instructions or some type of information, only to realize she could now make out the image projecting across the backdrop of the counter-top… only to realize that this device was actually some sort of phone. She wondered for a second, if maybe she was about to be recruited as a spy trainee. Then she attempted to swipe the area where the screen was projecting. Only slightly to her surprise it worked. The phone began running through the setup process. So that’s what she did, following a number of load screen pop-ups. Including one for a digital personal assistant and another for an app called “Customize Me” which she could checkout after she completed the initial setup.