"Awesome, thanks! Hey, if you're interested, tomorrow night, a bunch of us hackers and programmers are getting together to have a little party. You're totally welcome to stop by!"
Jason shakes his head, and says, as he starts to pack up, "I'd love to, but I can't. I'm going to the movies with Michael. I've kind of... let him down lately, I need to make up for it. Sounds awesome, though."
"That's unfortunate dude, I'm sure the guys would love to meet the genius behind these puzzles! You killed it on them! I'm super impressed!"
Jason grins, and says, "Thanks. Really sorry I can't come. But, it would be cool to meet them any other night!"
He passes a USB stick with the puzzles over, and says, "This was fun."
"It's all good dude, we'll be in touch, promise!" With that, he pockets the USB drive and leaves.
It's around eight pm, so you have an hour or two before you need to head home. You told your grandparents you would be out a bit late, so they aren't gonna worry about you.
Jason grins, and says, "See you."
Now, he has free time. Considering for just a moment, he heads to do some shopping before the stores close. Some parts for his drone from his favourite hobby electronic store, some alchemical ingredients from an apothecary in case he needs to make some of his wakefulness potions in the near future (or, as he uncreatively calls it, super-caffeine), and a visit to a comic shop just because.
You're easily able to procure all the parts you need for your drone, and you pick up almost a dozen new comics, as it's Wednesday and that means all new titles.
As you walk into the apothecary, the older woman who sometimes works there smiles as you enter her shop. "Ah, Jason, just the guy I was hoping to see! A woman came in asking about you a few hours ago, she seemed nice, but a bit too stern if you ask me."
Jason gives the woman a cheerful smile, happy to see the familiar face. "Hi!" He looks surprised, but then he asks, "Did she have her hair in a really tight... um... bun or whatever it's called? She got me out of some trouble yesterday, but wouldn't tell me who she was."
Myra chuckles "Yes, that's her exactly! She mentioned she had helped you out recently. I told her I hadn't seen you in a few days, but you were due to stop by soon."
"What did she want to know about me?"
"Nothing specific, she just knew you shopped here, and wanted to know if I had seen you. Maybe she wanted to talk to you about whatever it was she helped you out with?"
Jason nods a little, though still looking unsure, and says, "I guess. She sure didn't want to talk at the time."
He shrugs again, and smiles, "I guess she knows where to find me. Did she leave a number or anything?"
"She did not, but she did say she'll be in touch shortly, and to remind you to stay out of trouble." She says with a soft smile. "Boys your age are almost always in some form of trouble or another."
Jason gives a sheepish grin, and says, "Not on purpose."
Then, though, he says, "Thanks."
She smiles again, "You're quite welcome. Now, what can I help you with?"
Once get everything you need, you make your way back home. It's still early enough for you to work on drone for a couple of hours.
Jason settles in, taking out his tools and new supplies, and sets to work.
Unfortunately, even having all the right parts you are unable to make any progress tonight. With the movie tomorrow night, it will be tricky to devout enough time, but maybe you'll get lucky, and finally complete your construction.
Jason works for a while, but when the frustrations start to rise he gives up, pushing it back into storage for the moment.
He ends up watching some TV and then going to bed.
You wake up to another text from an unknown number. It reads "Meet me at 9pm, at the internet cafe on 77th, I'll explain everything, including what happened to your father."
Jason - as probably all teenagers do - checks for texts before his head even leaves the pillow. He blinks, sitting straight up, as he reads it. Then, he groans, "Why tonight?"
He quickly gets ready and goes downstairs for breakfast, hoping to catch Michael without his grandparents present.
Unfortunately, your grandmother is in the kitchen, having just made herself a cup of tea. "Good morning Jason, how did you sleep last night?"
Before you can answer, Michael comes down as well, and says "Lookin forward to your date tonight?" in an obvious teasing manner.
Jason smiles to his grandmother, and opens his mouth to say something, only to blink as he looks up to Michael as he comes down the stairs.
He grins, though, and says, "You did set that up, didn't you?"
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Not tellin either way." Your brother replies, teasingly.
Grandmother gives Michael a bit of a 'knock it off look', but it's not overly serious.
"So, how excited are you?"
"Very." Jason grins, but then admits, "But also kind of nervous."
I can talk to him about the text later. Grandma would just call it suspicious or something.
"Ok you two, behave. I gotta go wake your grandpa up, and get him movin his butt to work. I'll see you after school." She gives each of you kiss on the forehead, despite protests, and heads upstairs.
Once his grandmother is gone, Jason looks back to Michael, as he loads up the text on his phone, "And making things even more complicated, is this." He hands the phone to Michael, to show him.
Michael looks at the phone puzzled. "Um, Jay? What are you supposed to be showing me? Cuz there's nothing there dude."
Jason blinks, looking to his phone. He flips through a few messages, looking for the one he was thinking of.
"Huh. I swear I looked at this right after I woke up and..." It's gone. It has to of been one of the Adepts who sent it. &*$#, that means I can't tell Michael anything. "Wow, I really must've been half-asleep when I woke up this morning. Nevermind, guess it was a stupid dream."
Mike chuckles "It's ok bro, I once had a dream about going to school for an important test that I failed that felt so real, I woke up on the verge of tears. Dreams are hella weird."
Jason grins at that, and says, "Yeah, they definitely are."
Finishing up his breakfast with a last mouthful, he stands up then says, "Let's get to school."
Not that he would spend much of the day actually concentrating on work. Not only was he excited about learning ... whatever it was he was going to learn tonight, he had to come up with a reasonable enough to excuse for missing the movie tonight.
I guess I could always say I chickened out at the last minute.
Aside from some test prep in math, classes pass by uneventfully. Lunch, however is a different story.
Ashley walks up to your table, wearing a short skirt that ends a couple inches above her knees, and a Black Panther tshirt, clearly excited about the movie. "Hiya Jay, I can't wait for tonight!! My mom is gonna let me borrow her car, so I can totally pick you and Michael up!" She says with a big grin.
Jason blinks, inwardly wanting to groan but outwardly smiling. "That'll be awesome!"
Why did whoever it was have to pick tonight? She's going to hate me. Michael, too, probably. ... Maybe I'll go pick a fight with someone after the meeting, make it look like I didn't make it home in time because I got mugged. Assuming this meeting isn't some kind of trap or something.
"Excellent, it's a date then!" She says and gives you a kiss on the cheek.
Thankfully, Michael just misses that display of affection, as he comes over with several slices of pizza, one of which he sets next to you. "Hey bro, figured I would grab you an extra slice."
Jason grins, kind of stunned, but happy. But then, he gets an even more nervous look.
He does grin a bit again, though, as his brother arrives with the extra slice of pizza, "Fantastic, thanks!"
For the next few hours, to the last of his classes that day, Jason's mind is running with scenarios.
Maybe if I hack the theatre's systems, have them send emails to me and Ashley saying - no, too convoluted.
Maybe if I say they messed up my ticket, maybe Ashley will reschedule. - No, Michael would just give me his.
Well, I could call in a false bomb scare. - No, people would just panic. And if they traced the number, I'd be in jail.
Making absolutely zero progress on any ideas.
The last bell rings, signifying the day is done. As you're clearing out your locker to go home, Ashley stops by. "I really can't wait to see you tonight. I'm so excited." She leans in and gives you another kiss on the cheek, trying not to make too much of a scene as kids stream past you.
Jason grins back, and says, "Yeah, me too. This will be awesome." In that moment, he means it. Then, he says, "See you in a few hours."
He leaves school, but doesn't go home. He texts Michael, "goin shoppin 4 cool clothes, b home in time 4 ride." If he stays home, he'll just be tempted like he was that moment ago with Ashley.
He does, indeed, go shopping for new clothes as if he was going for the date, except he hops a bus across town to go to one much farther from home than normal. Nothing expensive, of course, but something new a bit less geekish than his normal. He even does a social media update, tagged with his location, showing where and why he is there.
He also buys a hoodie and new sunglasses. He still isn't sure what excuse he will use, but he's laying the groundwork. Nobody is going to be able to tell Ashley that they saw him at a cafe while he was supposed to be missing. On his way out the door, he turns off the GPS and Data on his phone, and silences the ringtone. (He'd pull the battery if he wasn't worried about missing another text about the meeting.)
Stopping off at a restroom to change into the hoodie, Jason starts to slowly make his way to the meeting spot, even though it's very early. All the time wondering if maybe he should just skip it and go to the movies as all of the Adept warnings to be paranoid come back to him. What if this is just a trap set by the Men in Black? Or, worse, what if it was just a bully setting him up for some cruel torment?
Still, he doesn't turn back. He is that desperate to find out what happened to his father.
You wait around, ordering some snacks, and pulling out a book to kill time. Eventually, you hear a throat clearing and when you look up, it's the woman who 'rescued' you from the police. "Mind if I sit down? I have some things to explain to you."
Jason looks up, and then quickly closes the book, sitting up a bit straighter. "Yeah. Please." It's more 'please explain' rather than 'please sit down' in tone.
She takes a seat, and it's clear by her manner she's used to being obeyed.
"My name is Kalindra. Let's sit somewhere a little more private." We two relocate to small booth at the back of the cafe. It's just noisy and removed enough where you can talk at normal volume and not be readily overheard.
"Tell me, what do you know of the world 'beyond ours'? Of things not of the mundane?"
Jason hesitates for just a moment, after they sit down. Nervous and unsure if he should answer. But, after a moment he does, "I know ghosts are real. And I know magic is, even if only figured out a bit of it so far. There's also people with technologies that might as well be magic, who control the modern world behind the scenes. And I know there's more stuff out there, but I don't know what it is, or what's real or just stories."