“Falcon, this is Eagle. Do you read me?” Todd asked.

“Eagle, this Falcon, coming in loud and clear.” Viktor replied.

“Turkey, this is Eagle. Do you read me?” Todd asked. He was met with radio static. “Turkey, this Eagle. Come in. Do you read me?” Todd let go of the talk button and waited, but was again greeted with static. “Falcon, this is Eagle actual, might need you to make a flight by Turkey’s nest to see if mama bird knows-”

“Don’t you even think of going to my house.” Jun snapped.

“I’m sorry, this is a private communication channel. Please identify yourself.”

“For the love of...this is Jun..”

“Who?” Todd asked. Jun let out a frustrated laugh.

“I hope you’re enjoying yourself. This is...turkey.”“Turkey! This is Eagle, are you in position? Gobble once to confirm.”

“I will destroy you.” Jun said. “I’m taking the walkie talkie back.”

“You can have it. It very conspicuous, and it keeps losing the frequency .” Todd said.

“I don’t know, mine works pretty well. Comfy in my ear too.” Viktor said.

“Ear? Mine is huge and looks like one of my dad’s old phones.” Todd said.

“Yeah, I only had two pairs in ear radios, and figured Viktor and I needed a back up. Don’t worry, I found yours in the garage, so you know it’s sturdy.” Jun said.

“Interesting. Guess, what. There’s a been a slight change in plans.”

“What change?” Jun asked.

“Yeah.” Todd said slowly, as he strut around his room. The early morning sun shined through the slim openings of his blinds. After the meeting at the magic shop, Todd barely slept between nerves and continued refinement of the plan. “Finn and I figured you needed back up more than I do. Since you’ll be near the actual summoning, probably, Viktor is going to start with me then meet you at the observatory.” Todd gleefully waited for Jun’s reaction. There was a moment of silence.

“Fine.” Jun said.

“Roger.” Viktor replied.

“Gentlemen,” Todd said as he slung his backpack over his shoulders. “Let’s go save the school.”

----------------------------------------

As Todd neared Fillmore, he was filled with a profound sense of unease; partially due to a bout of brain fog which seemed to intensify as Todd got closer, but it was also due to a bizarre stillness which surrounded the building. There were no students grudgingly headed inside, or harried last ditch attempts to complete and assignment before the first bell; the school grounds were uncomfortably quiet.

Todd wobbled a bit and ran up the stairs at the front of the school. When he threw open the heavy, metal doors, a wave of frenetic energy crashed down upon him like collapsed building; to the point he nearly lost his footing. At first Todd felt intense lethargy, but that was quickly replaced by a burst of manic energy that seemed to target his mind specifically. His thoughts raced with anticipation and anxiety. It was as if a dam had burst and his brain was flooded with every bit of knowledge he’d acquired from years of studying at once. The only clarity was found in strong, singular drive. “I have to get to work.” Todd said, his voice monotone.

“Todd. How great to see you.” Sarah said. He turned around, but the usual joy Todd felt when seeing her face was overridden by a desire to study. Sarah’s own voice was an approximation of a warm greeting, but it wasn’t quite right. The expression on her face was blank until she frowned. “You’re not working.” she said. Sarah’s eyes began to glow yellow and Todd felt himself being draw into their golden shine. “Everyone has to work.” she said with a disengaged voice.

Todd felt his mind slip further into the fog when he was suddenly yanked backwards. A quick rush of wind on his skin and flashes of lockers, the hallway, doors, then finally a hard fall. Todd looked up and his thoughts finally started to come back together. He was outside, laying on his stomach in the grass. He blinked as his brain rebooted, and when he heard a groan, Todd slowly got up on unsteady legs. He looked around and saw Viktor doubled over on his knees. Todd took a step towards him, but Viktor waved him away.

“I’ll be fine.” he said. He took several deep breaths, then exhaled a final time as he stood up. “We’ve got a problem.” He motioned for Todd to follow and carefully moved towards the window nearest the front doors. When they arrived he crouched down and Todd followed suit.

“What happened? I was walking into school then-”

“Look.” Viktor said. He tapped at the window, and revealed an abnormally hairy arm, that Todd hadn’t noticed before. Something which Viktor picked up on, as he quickly lowered his arm. Todd watched as Sarah and several other students surrounded a boy that happened by. They seemed to engage him in conservation until the girl next to Sarah moved directly in front him. Her eyes started to glow yellow, and the student’s entire demeanor changed. He walked into the nearest classroom with the same blank expression as Sarah and the others.

“I’m officially freaked out now.” Todd said.

“I noticed it right when I arrived.” Viktor said. “I overheard someone say there’s no actual class today. Instead students are encouraged to catch up on school work and relax. Obviously that’s not what’s happening.” Todd slapped his forehead, then took out his phone.

“I was so busy planning I didn’t think of checking my email. I’ve probably got so many-” Viktor quickly knocked it out of Todd’s hand.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Under no circumstances can you even glance at an assignment. The pull is too strong. This is one hundred percent what it was like at Viltburg. You’re going to have to beeline it from the front doors.” In the distance, an engine roared to life. “That’ll be the field trip.” he said.

“I already created the quickest, and most efficient route. It’s sort of my speciality.” Todd said with a satisfied smile. “The real issue is going to be getting past the roaming brain washers.”

“I think I have a solution.” Viktor said quickly. He pulled walked away from the window and grabbed a large gym bag from behind a nearby tree. “And maybe I should take a look at your route. I had an idea in mind, and I was kind of known for my ability to get to from class to class without wasted movement.”

“Really? You were known for that?” Todd asked. “Because I was able to shave almost half a period’s worth of time from my commute, on average. So...”

“Yeah, well that’s pretty impressive, almost impressive as making the run from the student store to the space tech room in under six minutes.” Viktor said, his chin lifted in the air.

“Come off it.” Todd said.

“Fine. Break out the map.” Viktor demanded.

----------------------------------------

Todd took heavy steps through the hallway, with his gaze fixed straight ahead. The shabby disguise that Viktor provided managed to get him deep into the building, albeit untested, but the strain of remaining focused on the task was getting harder with every step; the school work which called out to him with great insistence.

“Hedgey?” someone said. Todd turned around, once again, having donned the mascot costume, and waved excitedly; or at least with as much energy as he could muster. “What a treat!” it was the boy from earlier. “If everyone weren’t so busy working, I’d let the others know.” Silently, Todd shook his head then brought his oversized hands to the mascots head to pantomime crying. Deep down, a part of Todd was impressed with how well, and how quickly, he’d learned to play the part. “Wait...” the boy asked, his voiced sounded sleepy, “should Hedgey be working?” Todd frantically shook his head. “Mascots aren’t students. But they are part of everyone. And everyone has to work.” the boy said.

Todd shook his head even more as he turned and started to run. Between the mania induced brain fog, and general lack of athleticism, the entire chase was an awkward race as the two boys walked as much as ran through the hallways.

As more and more of the roaming students noticed the chase, a crowd formed and followed the pursuit. Todd pushed himself to create as much distance as possible. The compromised route long since abandoned, Todd operated on instinct and desperation. He was able to round a corner just ahead of the boy and threw himself in to the first classroom without light that he could find. Todd practically broke the door down as momentum carried him forward.

Inside the room, Todd threw the head of the mascot costume to the ground and gasped for air. He first check the door to see if it would burst open, then looked around. Whether by accident, or subconscious effort, Todd was in Mr. Scofield’s home room. Instantly, he felt very conflicted. On the one hand, there was a fairly good chance Nedd was connected to some evil force which currently controlled the others. On the other hand, Todd desperately missed real school work. Anything handed out at the bottom clss was embarrassingly easy, and the few assignments that were minimally challenging took points off if DEN decided Todd tried too hard.

Todd’s imagination turned to some of the work he assumed was part of Nedd’s class. A dreamy smile spread across his face, until a notification bell rang from Mr. Scofield’s office. Todd shook his head and looked towards the door. Light from the monitor illuminated the dark room and revealed a small opening. Todd walked over to the room and gently pushed the door open. The computer was on, and based on the whirring of its parts, running a resource heavy program.

“Of course.” Todd said as he shook the mouse and a lock screen appeared. He wasn’t exactly keen on snooping, but if it gave either indication of innocence or clarity on guilt...it could be forgiven. There was a large machine that looked like a mixture of a printer and scanner with a large stack of papers on top. The machine ran on its own, as it sucked up a paper, did something which generated the sound of gears turning, then grabbed another. Todd couldn’t see where the initial paper was deposited after the machine did, whatever its function determined.

Todd was on his way out of the office when he noticed the name on the lock screen: admin. He bit his lip then plugged in his credentials, falsely given by admin privileges by Jun, and sat back as the wheel circled on screen. He smiled as the desktop loaded. Windows were everywhere, running several programs, most of which Todd didn’t recognize. He glanced over his shoulder and clicked around, careful not to close anything or stop any processes running. Most of what he found were documents and plans for various ideas, along with notes which were indecipherable without prior context.

The walkie talkie attached to Todd’s hip crackled a bit and Todd thought about leaving, until his eyes fell on a directory titled DAI. He opened the folder and a video player opened. started to play. Nedd, his hair a bit longer, was primed to speak into a camera. The blueprint of a surge protector plugged into itself appeared on screen as Nedd sighed.

“Conversational: despite the ultimate failure of what I’m now dubbing DEN zero, I discovered the source of interference at Viltburg. A freaking video cart. Thank you DAI for creating a solution, as silly as it might be. Unfortunately, zero delivered less an ideal candidate, and more general rioting. I’ve been stone walled in my search for a site to deploy DEN one. Action: reach out to my old school. They’d probably beg to have me.”

In the next video, Nedd slapped his knee and chuckled “Conversational: I was going to tell you about a hilarious joke involving computational algorithms, but then I remembered, I queried it from you!” Nedd looked longingly at the camera. “You are the only one who gets it. Gets me. I almost don’t want to share you with the world...” Nedd immediately closed his eyes and grabbed his head. “No. No. No. App that takes a picture of your breakfast and rates your attractiveness.” He repeated several times, then opened one eye. He exhaled. “Can’t let him have you.” He whispered.”

The next video featured Nedd in front of the camera, but he looked a bit sloppy and a wine bottle was off the side. “Query!” he shouted and slurred. “Run hypothetical on human and AI relations. Then create a dummy program to calculate the complexity of simulating several AI emotions. Include, anger, sorrrow...love, and hunger. Wait don’t run or save tha-” The video abruptly ended.

“Okay...” Todd said. The next video that opened was the first with a title: student assessment. This time Nedd looked like what Todd was used to seeing.

“It’s the most fertile ground to yield results, but the district got me in with Fillmore. Due to...well everything at Viltburg, my access is restricted, but they’ll open the gates to everything I need soon enough. I will admit, I’m surprised, a few candidates, potentially stand out based on transcripts, but overall the school seems ripe to create the conditions needed to summon. Many overachievers, even more with self-doubt. One particular stands out as almost too good to be true. There is a close second, but I sincerely doubt its authentic. Overall the student are progressing though the equation faster than their peers at Viltbrug. Must the be desperation of the mediocre.”

After ‘student assessment ended’ Todd manually paused the video and rested his chin in his hand. What was all that? The weird reaction Nedd had in the second video sent a chill down Todd’s spine. This was too bizarre to comprehend; though Todd had no doubt now that Nedd was involved with Viltburg. DEN zero, DEN one? That was still unclear, but whatever happened, Nedd was behind the incident.

Todd’s hand accidentally hit the spacebar as he rolled the chair back from the desk and another video started.

“Conversational: the weirdo from the district is all over me about that newspaper kid again. Guy gives me the creeps. As an aside, monitor all our interactions from here on and create a contingency plan.” Nedd said. The computer beeped again. “He was a problem, and I’m a theoretical scientist. Am I supposed to not try and brute force results when a specimen appears? It was unlikely but still, the results have been interesting. If he wasn’t on the loose, I’d probably be further along. Based on the results of only a partial exposure, once the full thing is completed….” Nedd whistled. “Not that they care. Luddites.”

Todd heart skipped as the next video started. He was certain that was about Viktor. What had he’d done to the boy? Brute force results? The radio crackled again and Todd fished it out of the mascot costume.

“Yeah?” Todd asked.

“Todd where have you been? I’m on my way back to the school now. We have a huge problem.” Viktor shouted.

“This stupid thing hasn’t been working. What’s wrong?”

“The bus. It changed directions. It’s not going to observatory.”

“Where’s Jun?”

“No clue, I think the bus is headed downtown.”

“I got delayed but I’m moving now.” Todd said. As he stood up from the chair.

“Copy. Meet you there.” Viktor said. As Todd closed the video player, the window underneath became active.

“Equation status?” Todd read. His eyes darted back and forth until comprehension dawned. “Viktor, turn around.” Todd said into the walkie talkie. Only silence. Todd hit the radio against his hand. “Viktor, come in!”

Todd dashed out of Nedd’s office and threw open the class room door. “Viktor!”

“Yeah?” Viktor replied. His voice was garbled but Todd could still tell he was running.

“Don’t come to Fillmore!”

“What?”

“Don’t-” Todd saw a bright flash, then nothing.