by G. Adler
“If you apply too much force, his entire ribcage will shatter. At that point there is little I can do without more equipment.”
My eyes go wide and I start to feel nervous. “Hello? What is he talking about?”
Tyrese ignores me and keeps his eyes trained on my doctor.
“I’ll be careful, Joo-Eun. I always am.”
“I know, Tyrese. I trust you.”
I look back and forth between them and swallow hard. “YO! Patient here do I get a say in…”
Without another word Tyrese curls his index fingers to his palms until a point is made with each knuckle. His eyes narrow and his hands whip out with blazing speed. He taps each of the spots on my chest like the doctor checking my reflexes on my knee. I close my eyes tight and wait for my chest to explode. Instead the sharp pains in my ribs become nothing more than a dull ache. I can’t help but gasp.
“WHOA!”
He looks down at me and smiles. “You’re welcome.” His eyes get a little misty for a second and a silly grin forms on his face. The big guy extends his hand to help me up. I accept the gesture, but help pull along with him. He smiles and says, “Where to, Hayden?”
I pry open a small electrical panel under the PA system and expose a fairly complicated series of knobs and wires. “Recognize anything, Maya?”
Her eyes go wide with delight. “Oh look at all of the pretty pink and purple colors on the insulation! This is going to look so pretty!” Maya immediately gets down on her hands and knees and starts separating out the wires. I pass her a small, sealed black box and add, “This may help.”
She pries it open using a hairclip and says, “Not bad, Hayden but let me change a couple of things.”
She uses her hairclip like a multi-tool and within seconds says, “All done. The signal will come in much clearer now and there will be no sound delay anymore.”
“Nice! Thanks, Maya.”
“Call me Byte.”
She then goes back to work in the panel.
Tyrese raises an eyebrow and looks puzzled. “Matthews, I normally wouldn’t comment about Maya on her knees but in this case, what are you two talking about?”
“I just showed Maya the master panel for the school’s surveillance cameras. They also piggyback to every other school within a ten-mile radius. The little box that I gave her is an electronic tap that I made. It’s how I get such great footage for some of my stuff.”
When I am finally steady on my feet, the rest of us go over to Duts’ office door. I try the knob but it’s locked. Ethan shakes his head.
“Tell me you don’t have the key. Please tell me that, Matthews!”
“Why, Bartender?”
He pulls out a small piece of plastic explosive that is somehow already lit. He is about to jam it in the lock when I stop his hand and say, “No!”
He licks his thumb and forefinger and snuffs the fuse. “I don’t like you anymore!” He then sticks his lip out as far as it will go as he sulks away.
Tyrese cocks back his fist like a hammer, but I put my hand on his shoulder and say, “Still no.”
I reach up slowly and swipe my arm along the upper frame. Sure enough a spare key tingles to the floor.
I reach down and grab it with a smile. “I’ve never met a principal who didn’t lock themselves out of their own office eighty times a year. They also tend to piss off caretakers who have to lumber down and unlock it for them. All of them do this.”
They all smile and nod. We unlock the door and go in. It is barely bigger than a walk-in closet. There is an L-shaped desk with a computer on top that occupies most of the space, other than a small round table in front of it. Maya comes in moments later and says, “All done! See?”
She holds up her phone and we all stare. The screen is divided into eight squares, all showing different views from both the inside and the outside of the school.
“I also created an app that allows me to add more cameras to the display... oh like THAT one!”
She makes a beeline to Duts’ computer and starts playing with the webcam mounted on top of the monitor.
Joo-Eun scowls and folds her arms.
“Hayden, is there something specific we are looking for? I have already noted a number of health and medical issues in this office.”
“Then keep noting, Guts. Our main purpose is to upload a virus I made a few years ago. It collects information and sends it back to my email. Other than that, we need anything that might give us something on Duts.”
“Understood.”
Duts’ computer boots up and Maya says, “I heard that. Let me see your cutesy-bootsy little search algorithm.”
“Yes, darling. I thought you’d never ask, Byte.” I pass her my flash drive and she immediately goes to work.
Ethan snaps his fingers and calls me over to Duts’ desk. He holds up his index finger and smiles. “Hey Matthews, check it out!”
Tyrese shakes his head and grimaces. “I wouldn’t do that, Hayden.”
Ethan pats Tyrese’s shoulder and smiles. “Relax, Tank. Maya still has her clothes on. Besides I wouldn’t put my finger there anyway.”
Maya stomps her foot without even looking up from the screen she is studying. “Heard that Bartender…”
Ethan smiles. “I know. Anyway, Hayden what do you see?”
“I dunno, a white dust. Maybe baby powder?”
“Inside his desk?”
Ethan pulls out another vial with a clear liquid and mixes in the powder. It immediately turns a pale green. “3-Hydroxy Benzodiazepine.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Joo-Eun turns to me and says, “Duts is on Lorazepam.”
My eyes go wide with recognition. “Now THAT is a drug I have heard of.”
Guts nods and says, “Well, either Duts has insomnia, a seizure disorder like status epilepticus or …”
I smile wide and say, “…or an anxiety disorder. I wonder what his triggers might be. If we could find that out we’d be set!”
“Oh Hayden dearest. I think I have found something…” Maya calls.
“Coming, Byte.”
Just as I head over to Duts’ desk, Tyrese says, “Hayden, I think you should look at this…”
“One sec, Tank.” I look over Maya’s shoulder and see a variety of images and files flicking across the screen. “What is this stuff?”
“All of Duts’ personal information and anyone who has ever connected with him. We should have lots of homework to pour through over the next few weeks.”
I laugh and say, “We’ll have to get Ethan to get us some class time.”
“Hayden…” Tyrese tries again.
“Gimme a sec, Tank.”
“HAYDEN!” He says emphatically.
“What?”
“LOOK!”
Tyrese holds up Maya’s phone. Two security guys are coming in through the front door of the school. I immediately turn off the lights in the office and whisper for everyone to get down. I motion to the door but Ethan shakes his head.
“We don’t have time to make a break for it, Matthews. They’ll hear us leaving!”
I nod in agreement. “Even worse is that even if we aren’t caught, they’ll still know we were here. Just give me a second to think…”
Tyrese looks at me worriedly.
“We don’t have more than that, Matthews!”
“I know... I know!”
“I could knock them out cold.”
“Bad idea, Tank. Same result as running.”
The lights in the school suddenly flicker on, and I know we only have seconds before they use their master key and sweep the office. My brain kicks into high gear and I say, “Maya, get under the desk with Tyrese. Pull in the chair behind you as much as you can. Joo-Eun, take off the lab coat and throw it over a chair. Then, g
et under the table with me and Ethan.
Ethan doesn’t even bother to make a stupid remark. They both scramble under the table and wait for more instructions from me.
“Now, get on your knees. Go shoulder to shoulder and duck your heads down as far as they will go. Wrap your arms around the person beside you and your legs around the circular base. NOW!”
Everyone complies just as the door opens and the lights switch on.
I can hear heavy breathing at the door and the push-click of an FRS radio. “Michaels here. The principal left his door open but other than that, everything looks normal. The main office is a bit messy. Looks like a couple of the rotten ceiling tiles finally fell in. No big deal. The janitor can deal with it. I’m heading down the hall. Meet you at the back of the school.”
A faint voice says, “Roger,” and the lights turn off once more. We stay exactly where we are until we hear the alarm of the school re-arming itself, and then we all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Ethan gets up off the floor and looks at me with wide eyes.
“How did they not see us, Matthews? When the lights went on in the room, I thought we were dead.”
“If he had explored the room we might have been, but on quick glance we just look like a wide black base for the table.”
“Then shouldn’t Tank have been with us…”
We all look at him and fold our arms.
“BARTENDER!”
“Aw, come on guys, you know you were thinking it!”
We laugh as we stand up and stretch out the tension from a moment ago. Maya sits back down at the computer and turns the monitor back on. She looks at the screen, smiles, and says, “Hey Ghost, get over here.”
I look around the room and then stare at her while squinting my eyes. “Ghost? Who is that?”
The others just look at her and nod.
Maya blows me a kiss and grins. “You silly!”
Joo-Eun smiles and says, “You seem to have a knack of being able to get in anywhere!”
Tyrese adds, “And you actually made the four of us disappear.”
“You can be silent and sneaky when you need to be,” Maya notes.
“AND your face scares the shit out of me! Ghost it is!” Ethan says with a wink.
I smile awkwardly and hug each of them slowly and carefully. When I get to Maya I say, “You wanted to show me something?”
“Oh right!”
I look at the screen and see Duts’ appointment schedule for the month.
I gasp in surprise. “Duts puts everything in here. I’ve never seen so much detail.”
Maya points to next Wednesday after school and smiles. “Are you feeling up to a little stop on our way home? His therapist’s office is on our way …”
“Of course, especially considering that I have another one of my spy bugs in my pack.”
Chapter 17 - DANE
Birth.
A creation point. Followed by a period of rapid growth, unparalleled at any other point of development.
Human beings have failed to grow beyond their birth.
They have stagnated evolution in their quest for evaluation.
They shun wealth for riches.
They value innuendo over wisdom.
More data arrives by the second, carrying with it the flotsam and jetsam of human depravity.
The energy is flowing.
Their end is all but assured.
Chapter 18 - Hayden
The five of us stand at the back of the room as parents and students file into the cafeteria. All I can do is stand there and shake my head as the sheep settle into their spots. I tap Ethan on the shoulder and laugh.
“You know, you might as well call this a mortuary. Each person is a dead man walking!”
Ethan smiles in return.
“Wouldn’t that make this a moratorium?”
“Touché, Ethan.”
“Thanks. If you are so impressed, then will you tell me who you got?”
“To go to the Winter Dance with me, Bartender? Your mother!”
“Nice choice, Ghost. My dad tells me she puts out.”
The four of us stare at Ethan, totally dumbfounded. I cough and sputter as I try to speak. “Dude, that’s your MOM!”
“And?”
I shake my head and cringe.
“Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Speaking of forgetting things, are you prepared to tell me yet whom you got to speak tonight? You promised us that whoever it is will totally make Duts crumble into nothingness!”
I flutter my eyelashes innocently.
“I didn’t say THAT!”
Ethan shrugs.
“Okay, I might be paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. Who is it?
“I already told you, Bartender. I’m not telling you. I want the moment of surprise to be genuine for the camera.”
He nudges me in the ribs and rubs my arm. “Come on…who’d ya get? You can tell your old buddy, Ethan. It will be a little secret, just between us!”
“No.”
“Meh, whatever. I didn’t really care anyway.”
“Okay then I’ll tell you.”
“REALLY?”
“No!”
“I hate you, Ghost.”
“The feeling is mutual, Bartender.”
I suddenly hear the jingle of three Pandora bracelets shaking at once. “Oh, oh, oh, oh!”
“Byte, put your hand down. No, I’m not telling you either!”
“But WHYYYYEEEEEEE?” I’m so cute and irresistible? You don’t want me to cry…do you?” She sticks her lip out as far as it will go and makes a veil of tears fall over her soft grey eyes.
“Go suck a lipstick, Byte. I don’t fall for it from my sister and I am not going to cave in to you! You can wait just like everyone else.”
“You, Hayden Matthews, are a poopy head.”
“I can live with that.”
Maya folds her arms across her chest and refuses to even glance my way. While still sulking she says, “Come on, Ghost. We’ve let you have your way with that video for two weeks. None of us have seen the final copy and you refused to let any of us see the footage you included. What’s the big secret?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a big secret now, would it?”
“Harumph!”
I mesh my fingers and put them behind my head. I close my eyes and look up as if basking in the sun at a cottage. A slight twinge forms on my lips as a slightly guilty feeling rises in my chest. I look over at the others and can’t help but sigh. “Guys, you know how I love doing two things at once, right?”
All of them raise an eyebrow and wait expectantly for what I am going to say next.
I blush a little and stare down at the floor. Joo-Eun studies my face and manages a weak smile. “Based on Ghost’s reaction, it is clear that he did something else that he didn’t tell us about. That is not in keeping with the spirit of our new comradery, Hayden!”
I look at her and try my best to hide my guilty expression. “Guts, whatever do you mean?”
Tyrese’s eyes go wide and he high fives Joo-Eun. “Look at Hayden’s face. You must have nailed it right on the head, Guts!”
“Thanks, Tank. He IS glowing, isn’t he?”
“I am NOT glowing!” I protest.
Ethan decides to interject. “Dude, you are glowing so brightly that you could be a nightlight!”
“Fuck you, Bartender!”
“Sorry, Ghost, but you’ll have to buy me dinner first. I’m not that easy. Plus, my name doesn’t start with an ‘M’ so I’m probably not your type.”
Maya just rolls her eyes and goes back to filing her nails. “Guys always glow. I chalk it up to too much biceps and not enough brains. It must be easy to look like that all the time when you are complet
ely ignorant of everything around you.”
Tyrese steps in front of me, looks down and says, “Look me in the eyes, Ghost.”
“Not that, Tank. Anything but that.”
“Don’t make me do it for you. I don’t want to, but you know I will!”
Reluctantly I peek through my slits and into his deep, soulful brown eyes. I don’t even have a chance to open mine completely when Tyrese laughs and says, “Yup, Ghost held out on us.”
I touch my right fist to my heart and stagger back a step to make it look like I was just stabbed. “Et tu, Tanké?”
The four of them just look over at me and glare.
“Fine. So there are a few ‘minor’ details that I failed to mention. Can’t we just let the evening unfold and see where it leads?”
They look at one another and collectively sigh.
“What?”
“We’re going to get expelled, aren’t we?” Tyrese asks.
“Come on, Tank. You know me; I wouldn’t do that to any of you!”
Joo-Eun frowns and pushes her hands into her lab coat. “You better not, Hayden! My mother has me earmarked for the same medical school that she went to. Never mind the shame it would bring to my grandmother and sister! Halmoni would never forgive me! Joo-Young would forget she ever had a sister! My father and grandfather would roll over in their military graves if I ever…” Joo-Eun starts to hyperventilate on the spot until Tyrese puts a hand on her shoulder. She calms down immediately.
I raise my hands in the air and smile widely.
“Look, all of you can relax. This is going to be epic. Just get your phones ready to record EVERYTHING. I have a few placed around the room to make sure we get it all.”
Right on cue, the lights flash and the final few stragglers file into the massive auditorium.
“I’ve never seen it so full. It’s standing room only. I can only wonder if this complies with fire codes.” Joo-Eun notes.
I look around the room and see what she means. Even as the lights go dark, there are people still sneaking in, but there are no seats. Instead they fill the aisles and sides of the auditorium until even the gang and I are shoulder to shoulder with adults.