This play was developed in 2019 through Vertigo Theatre's national call for new works of mystery. Michaela didn't have any experience writing genre pieces, but had been a lifelong consumer of true crime content, pulpy investigation dramas like SVU and CSI, and anything that dealt with detectives on the BBC (Poirot, Ms. Marple, Broadchurch, Luther, Shetland, etc.).Real-world influences that informed aspects of this story was the rise and fall of the NXIVM cult and the complex stories of those involved and the popularity of alt-right pseudo-celebrities / self-help gurus / podcast hosts like Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan.Michaela makes custom, handmade Dungeons & Dragons dice.The Extractionist was first produced by Vertigo Theatre in Calgary from January 28 to February 26, 2023.

Premiered in October 2019 at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon.While the story features adolescent characters, it is primarily intended for adults to see the challenges issued by youth today. Michaela was inspired after seeing an image of a young Girl Scout protesting at a neo-Nazi rally in the Czech Republic around the same time that there were attempts to destroy the Fearless Girl statue in Manhattan.