Locker #2375 Chapter 16

Posted on | May 7, 2009 | No Comments

As always this is the 1st draft of the story, there are all sorts of little things to be corrected BUT you get a peak into the process! Welcome.

Locker 2375 c16

The Lab.

Of course you can only run so fast in the hall before you become an obvious target of the hall monitor in training, Mr. Smith!

Actually, the gang as I have now come to refer to them, was pretty sure that the administration had installed human speed-detecting webcams around the school to cut down on students moving too fast!

Of course there was a huge debate ongoing in the staff room about what walking too fast was.

Omar had placed a listening device under a lamp to get the inside scoop on what was happening on campus, as any student council president should.

Ana and Kevin took it as a personal challenge to send the system into chaos by reprogramming it and substituting in video of a tortoise on a skateboard being pushed down the hall by a ferret.

Imagine, the administration thought that this was happening in real time!

After day three of the video feed being simulcast, at exactly 12:03pm, and the extraordinary number of teachers milling about in the hallway, also at exactly 12:03pm, we knew that we were right, hall speed was being monitored.

From that moment on we were careful to move fast but not so fast as to attract attention.

Nathaniel pulled me aside just in time to miss the glaring eyes of the science teacher, Mr. ½amolaculemissing.

“We need to get into there”, Nathaniel said pointing to the science lab.

“We need to take a look at this latest piece of paper left in place of the detention book, which if we do not find very fast we are going to be in it so deep that Ms. Shelley’s face stuck to the floor in a pile of paper pulp will look like art” Nathaniel said with a little smile.

“Speaking of Ms. Shelley it looks like she is still there, but I see the janitors have put those yellow slippery when wet cones around her”, I was beginning to wonder if this was  a bad dream! Is it possible that someone thought that Ms. Shelley stuck to the floor was art?

I knew it wasn’t a dream because at that exact moment Jeanne walked past me, slammed her heel into my big toe and winked as she whispered, “thanks for the cake”!

Instinct told me to chase Jeanne, but before I could react Nathaniel pulled at my arm distracting me.

The question going through my mind was why the science lab?

“What are we looking for”, I said with more than a hint of question as I sure did not want to get on the bad side of Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing.

Michael had already tested Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing by putting popcorn, crazy glue and a dozen eggs into the microwave oven in the lab and setting the timer for exactly the time that Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing had his 13th coffee break of the day!

Well not only was the lab not a pretty site, but the punishment for Michael, well, it is still ongoing and he completely sidestepped the detention hall.

Michael is serving out his time collecting cockroach samples from the septic tank of the school.

Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing is a world respected cockroach collector and his passion is using the little beasts as wall art!

“Max we need to get into the lab and power on the MAC127 portable OSmicroscope to get a better look at this piece of paper”, Nathaniel said as if this was something that he did on a regular basis.

“But the whole lab is like a bank vault with triple locking systems and an air movement sensor, not to mention laser detection units that reset every 4 seconds”, if the room was locked there was no chance of us getting in there I told Nathaniel, hoping he would agree so we would not have to join Michael.

Nathaniel gave me that look as if to say that we were no at a Chucky Cheese, this is the real world and if there is one thing to learn about the real world it is to always have a plan.

Nathaniel reached into his pocket and squished what looked like a piece of snot between his fingers and then stuffed it into his ear!

I thought I was about to vomit and then Michael ran past us with what looked like a rat hanging on his back.

Instantly I realized that there are worse things than the old snot-talkie!

Nathaniel mumbled a few words, obviously he was in communication with someone.

Nathaniel looked over at me and whispered, “Sam seems to be manning the technology today”.

Like magic the red light on the handset strategically placed beside the lab door went from amber to green and an electronic click could be heard, the place was open.

“We only have 5 minutes and 34 seconds before the secondary alarm system is activated so we need to move fast”, Nathaniel said as he worked his way through the lab to the microscope.

I looked at Nathaniel and it was as if he was reading my mind.

“Max here is the thing.  Not only have we always had a piece of something from your locker show up when things have gone missing or been moved, but we have also had a calling card left. The only way to verify the calling card has been through a reverse polarized magnification of the object  left and the only place we can do that is in this lab”, how did Nathaniel know all this I wondered.

“Guys you have less than 3 minutes”, Sam said over the snot-talkie, which I had also added into my ear.

Nathaniel motioned for me to come over.

From the look on his face it was clear that as he suspected the disappearance of the detention book was indeed part of the larger picture.

“Look at this Max”, Nathaniel said turning his face away from the monitor and waiting to gauge my reaction.

There in plain sight was a word that sent a shiver up my spine because there was only one other place I had ever seen it, on my locker!

Geyomi was the word!

I looked at Nathaniel, Nathaniel looked at me and Sam shouted into our ears, run you have 12 seconds before the lab is locked down!

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