“I saw that guy out in the hallway earlier.” Todd shouted. He jumped from his seat and pointed at the monitor. “Who is he? Does he work with the Superintendent?” Todd asked. “I had this feeling he was up to something and now he’s on stage.” In his excitement, Todd momentarily forgot he was meant to only be just playing along with Jun’s delusions. Jun rolled his chair back and looked over at Todd’s screen.

“Wait. You saw him?” Jun asked. He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow.

“Yeah. That was him.” Todd said quickly.

“That’s the man you saw in the hallway earlier? Him?” Jun asked as he leaned closer to the monitor.

“Yes.” Todd replied.

“This man on stage at, at this very moment, about to deliver some speech, you ran into him before he went to the auditorium? Think clearly now.” Jun suddenly stood up.

“Yes!” Todd shouted.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen that guy before in my life. Probably a teacher or something. I don’t know, didn’t claim to allegedly have gone to this school before?” Jun sat back down and rolled his chair back to the other computer.

“Thank you. Very helpful.” Todd said. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the screen. “And I did go to here.” he shouted over his shoulder. Todd wondered why he got so worked up. There was no logical explanation other than the man being a guest of the staff or something similar; certainly not chance it was related to whatever Jun’s imaginary world. Todd told himself it was concern over the errant drone or drones apparently flying around the hallway. Todd sighed and increased the volume.

The man in the flannel walked up to the podium and cleared his throat. His hair looked a bit better than when Todd saw him in the hallway, except now it was a bowl cut with too much emphasis on the bowl. His face carried a look which was a mixture of boredom and contempt. The man folded his hand together and Todd noticed a large ring on one his fingers as he leaned towards the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Fillmore, your favorite son is back.” he said. The security camera’s placement allowed Todd to see the first couple rows of seating and he noticed most of the students look at each other and shrug; even a few teachers shook their heads. “How? Doesn’t matter. The real question is: how am I going to fix education?” He smirked. “I might have an idea or two.” The main pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the curtains on stage. When nothing happened, he glanced over his shoulder and his smile instantly disappeared. “I said, I migh-” he was cut off by the loud sound of a motor struggling to start before it reached a constant whirring sound as a projector screen descended from the ceiling. It descended very slowly and at one point started to raise back up. One of the teachers in the front row coughed and cleared her throat. “You know what, rather than keep you in suspense-”

“Vision. Genius. Dedication. Obsession. Impression. The lesson: success. The teacher? Ned Scofield.” a voice robotic said over the speakers. It was much louder than anything else and sounded like a robot’s unsettling attempt at a whisper. The lights in the auditorium dimmed and Todd saw the man, Nedd, furiously typing on a small device. Images flashed across the projector screen in a montage of magazine covers and photo shoots. Each picture featured Nedd in a black turtle neck and different color flannel.

“Sorta Notable Engineering?” Todd said. “Oh yeah, I remember that magazine. I think it was shut down for advertising a toy that turned out to be a portable doomsday device.”

“That was quite a Christmas. But you know what, I have no regrets.” Jun said with a chuckle. Todd considered asking several question, but decided it was legally safer not to inquire any further. On screen a bold headline read “Nedd Scofield Wants to try to Attempt to Save the World” over a picture of Nedd staring off into the distance. “What drives the success of this generational genius?” the narrating voice asked. This time, it sounded more human and natural; it spoke like a young woman with a British accent.

“Myself.” Nedd’s voice came through the auditorium speakers. The presentation switched to an interview in an all white room; he wore a red flannel shirt on top of his turtle neck this time. “When I think back to my formative years and my time at school, I say: wow I could have been so much more.”

The camera switched to a profile shot of Nedd. “I was the first inductee of the Fillmore Hall of Success. And its’ only member. And its’ creator. I didn’t let teachers, parents, or the law stop me from being the best me.” From the security feed, Todd noticed several teachers bristle at the comments. “It’s no one’s fault but my own for not being born even earlier and turning the educational paradigm on its head sooner. And for that I’m sorry.” On stage Nedd put his hands together and gave quick bow. The Nedd from the interview video shed a single tear. “I also accept your apology for getting in my way once I was born. Since there’s more of you than me, your mistake counts more so, I want you to know I forgive you.”

A light flashed and another montage of images of sales charts, and award show photos played. Todd noticed most pictures were actually just him giving awards out to others. “The so-called “innovators” of our day may chase flashy products that sell well and prioritize being first to market, but Nedd Scofield keeps his eyes on what’s most important of all.” the narrator said.

“Nedd Scofield. A vision. A door to the future. A bridge on the other side of that door, because the door is actually the present. The real future is across a chasm, for which he is the bridge.” Nedd said on video as the interview continued.

“I remember reading about this guy now.” Todd said with a snap of his fingers. “He’s a bit out there, but he knows his stuff.”

“My weakness is that I don’t think of myself as world changing genius. I’m just a simple man who takes great ideas and brings them down to the little people in the village so they can smash rocks and dance their jigs, or whatever its is you people do.” Nedd said in the interview.

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“Smart Phones, processors, machine programming, space. Nedd Scofield is familiar with them all. Now he’s ready to tackle his greatest challenge yet.” the narrator said.

“It’s past time that I give to the world of education that gave so little to me. It’s time for a smarter way to learn. It’s time for DEN.”

“DEN.” Nedd shouted a few seconds too late as he ran from behind the curtain. He turned to face backstage. “Jared you were supposed to cue me you incompetent son of-” Nedd took a deep breath and turned back to the audience. He smiled and slowly walked back and forth across the stage. “Before the year started, I told your teachers I would enroll select participants into a special class to test pilot DEN. I made painstakingly sure that the information went out to each and every student in the system so you would all be prepared to try your hardest.” Nedd stopped pacing and looked at the audience. “That was an absolute and complete bold faced lie. You’ve never seen a bigger lie in your life. The truth is...you’re all in the program.” Nedd smiled and held his hand up to stem the applause; only a smattering of confused clapping broke out. “Yes. Yes. Very exciting, but that’s just the start.”

“He kind of reminds me of you.” Jun said.

“No way.” Todd bristled. He started to adjust his glasses but noticed Nedd doing the exact same thing and moved to scratch the side of his head instead.

“What is the biggest problem in education?” Nedd said. “Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical and I’ve already answered it. Your attempt will only ruin it.” A student in the second row looked around and slowly lowered his hand. “Digital Education Network. It takes the weakest link, humans, out of education.” Behind Nedd, the letters D-E-N were projected on the screen. “Now I could stand here and tell you how it works under the hood, the nuts and bolts, but that is none of your business. That is proprietary software and I will sue you in Federal Court.” Nedd pointed and sneered at the audience. He clasped his hands together and smiled. “I want to demonstrate just how adv-

“That’s a good one Nedd. No, I’m just an advanced algorithm producing virtual assistant, sprinkled with that Scofield magic.” the narrating voice said. Todd was surprised at how much inflection and tonal nuance the voice carried. Nedd scowled and closed his eyes.

“So help me Jared if you don’t get these cues right...forget it! I had a whole presentation and it was very cool and now nobody gets to see it. You can all thank Jared for that. DEN show the diagram!” The projector changed to an image of a staircase with different colored silhouettes on each step. “All students will be segmented into tiers based on a new GPA I’ve developed. Patent pending.” Nedd added quickly. “This will make sure like minded peers are always together. The smarty pants with smarty pants and dumbos with the dumbos.”

“You can’t call them that.” a teacher shouted. Nedd rolled his eyes.

“Fine. “Gifted” Whatever. Now, the dumbos will have classes and schedules more suited to their speed. Assignments worth more points to help lift their grades up, more time to work on those assignments, etcetera. If they can cobble together enough good grades...” Ned paused and on screen the lowest silhouette jumped up a level and waved. “They will be bumped up to a new level suitable to their displayed skills. Of course, when someone comes up...” Two steps higher a different silhouette was booted to the lowest level. “The worst scoring student in a higher level gets knocked down. Constant reassessment and re-calibration so every student is challenged.” A murmur went up as the audience considered the implications. “The better students get perks, like later start times, better field trips and cafeteria food. And grades which have more value.”

“Does he mean better cafeteria food or cafeteria food period?” Todd asked.

“Found him.” Jun said.

“The Superintendent?”

“Not technically, but that many Hall Monitors in one spot? It’s the only explanation. They’re outside of some room next to the book house.” Jun said.

“You mean the library?” Todd replied.

“Todd Stewart, everything I want to read is online. And I don’t want to read.” Jun got up from his chair.

“I want to see the end of this. I’ll catch up.” Todd said.

“Not asking you to.” Jun said as he left the room. Todd turned the volume up.

“Before I go, I have one more thing...” Nedd waited for a reaction which didn’t come. “I have two very special rewards for two very special students. The student who improves the most over the course of the year will be given a summer’s worth of free, all expenses paid passes to Wild Willie’s Wet and Wild Waterpark and Wave pool Emporium. Not valid in Texas.” This announcement brought the reception Nedd was looking for; a rush of chatter and whopping started in most the auditorium. “And for the student who finishes with the best grade in the highest tier: admission to the Honor Society.”

Todd’s jaw dropped and he practically pressed his face against the screen. The Honor Society was where the future movers and shakers congregated during high school. An organization so selective, it made Viltburg look like open enrollment. There were rumors even people in the Honor Society didn't qualify to be in the Honor Society. Nobody Todd knew had ever come close to achieving such a feat, not even his siblings. The rest of the school reacted in similar manner as that announcement brought the house down and the crowed hit a fevered pitch of energy. Todd thought he could almost feel it coming through the screen. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something odd in the way that Nedd watched the crowd; an unusual glint in his eyes. The sound of his phone vibrating on the desk brought Todd out of his daydreams.

“You all will receive your rank and class tier immediately. But remember, I don’t want anybody using today to try and get ahead and study extra or prep for class. Take it easy on the first day. If you have any concerns or questions, don’t contact me. I am not open for discussion.” Nedd said. He walked behind the curtain and through the other camera feed Todd watched him walk off stage, followed by a crowd of animated teachers.

Todd pulled his phone out to check his ranking, but the sound of footsteps in the hall caught his attention. He had completely lost sight of the fact that he was very much not allowed to be seen in this room, and that he had to catch Jun. Todd waited a few moments for the traffic to die down and slipped into the empty hallway. Clear of any potential witnesses, Todd hurried to find the room next to the library.

Todd slowly opened the door, afraid of what Jun’s imagination might had led him to do. There were no signs of the drones or Jun when Todd arrived, which led him to hope that it was possible the entire situation would be done. A few steps into the room, and Todd was surprised at what he saw: nothing of note. The unused classroom was turned into the storage place for the summer honor’s class projects. The lights were out and the blinds closed, which let partial sunlight into the room. As he closed the door, a crash on the other side of the room caused Todd to jump. One of the projects had fallen from its spot on a desk.

Todd walked over and returned it to the vacant space and sighed. He walked around the room and studied each diorama like a judge inspecting contestants. The honor’s classes would assign some sort of task to be completed over the summer as part of a final project. The previous year’s teacher’s would grade and a portion of that would be added as extra credit for the next level of the class. Todd remembered the painstaking effort poured into his own project two summers ago, and the collaborative sessions with Sarah and Ivan. In actuality it was more Ivan trying to sabotage Todd, who in turn sniped at Ivan, all while Sarah tried to play peacemaker and actually get some work done. More than once she’d stormed off leaving the boys bickering without noticing her absence.

With no indication Jun was ever even in the room, Todd decided it was time to move along and try to locate him again. On the way out, Todd saw Sarah’s unmistakable handiwork in the form of the sequential depiction of famous scenes from literature through the ages.

“Nobody does a timeline better than Sarah.” Todd said to himself. He frowned when he saw the project next to it: a working model of Industrial London. “Back to well again Ivan?” Todd asked. The boy made one award winning miniature Mt. Vesuvius during sixth grade and suddenly that was his niche.

Just as Todd grabbed the door handle, he heard what sounded like the feet of a desk or chair scrape against the ground. He paused. It was short and could have come from across the hall as students arrived for their first check in at home room. Despite the chill he felt, Todd decided to ignore the noise. However, he couldn’t ignore the low rumbling growl he that came from the other side of the room. Todd’s heart began to beat faster and he slowly turned to see the source of the sound. Todd relaxed when he saw nothing but dioramas across the room. Suddenly, several projects were knocked to the ground and a snout then two yellow eyes pushed out of the darkness before snarling lips raised and revealed a mouth full of fangs.