Leonard walked through the front door, the warm glow of the evening sun spilling into the hallway.
Lucy rushed to hug him, her arms enveloping him in a comforting squeeze.
Lucy: "You're back?!"
Leonard smiled, dropping his backpack to the floor.
Leonard: "Hey, Mom."
Lucy stepped back, examining his face.
Lucy: "How was today?"
Leonard's grin broadened.
Leonard: "Great."
Lucy's eyes lingered on his, concern etched on her features.
Lucy: "Well, that's great to hear. Although, Leonard sweetie, I'm still worried about you being there."
Leonard's expression turned serious.
Leonard: "Mom, we talked about this already."
Lucy's voice took on a gentle tone.
Lucy: "I know, I know, but remember when you were helping that little girl? More cases of those incidents have been happening a lot over the last two weeks."
Leonard's brow furrowed.
Leonard: "Mom, what are you saying?"
Lucy's hands clasped together.
Lucy: "I'm saying that you should be careful, honey."
As Leonard looked on at his mother with a worried expression, the sound of sizzling food wafted from the kitchen.
Four hours earlier, in Zeus's office...
Zeus leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.
Zeus: "So, you'll be working under Ezekiel as research teacher, despite your talents?"
Scott nodded.
Scott: "Yes, I feel that the research department doesn't get enough credit for their work and how much they contribute to the field."
Zeus' eyes narrowed.
Zeus: "Regardless of your line of work here, you must forge a relationship with all the students at NI."
Scott bowed.
Scott: "I look forward to it."
Present time, at Ash's house...
Ash's Dad called from downstairs.
Ash's Dad: "Come and get your food, or it'll get cold!"
Ash typed furiously on his laptop.
Ash: "I'll be right down."
As Ash continued researching the 'black tech,' his eyes scanned the screen, his mind racing.
Ash: "No good, there's too many firewalls here, but if I trace the places where they were spotted, I can try and pinpoint..."
The locations popped up, and Ash's eyes widened.
Ash: "A-all of this area, the streets, the patterns... they're all around near the perimeters of the school."
Ash's face paled.
Ash: "{This is bad; the thugs are close to the other kids. Zeus needs to know immediately.}"
Meanwhile, Tracey and Erica were on a call, their voices hushed.
Tracey: "Erica, don't you think you should've been honest in class, especially since it's our new classmates?"
Erica's voice was firm.
Erica: "Exactly, we don't know them; they don't have to know. You shouldn't have told them about your power of alchemy."
Tracey's tone turned persuasive.
Tracey: "It'll make us more of a unit and help us help each other more; I trust them."
Erica's skepticism lingered.
Erica: "Well, I don't. And you better hope that trust doesn't come back to bite you."
The call ended, and Tracey's expression turned thoughtful.
Meanwhile, Leonard, Kevin, and Sam were on a call, their voices filled with excitement.
Kevin: "So, it's a weekend; we should meet and test the rock again."
Sam's voice was confident.
Sam: Good idea. Are you up for that, Leonard?
Leonard's response was enthusiastic.
Leonard: "Well, yeah, sure; I got nothing going on."
Sam outlined the plan.
Sam: "Good, we'll meet at 12:00 at my place, then. I have the perfect device to test it, oh, and we're testing out your voltage as well, Leonard."
Leonard's grin spread.
Leonard: "Alright, sounds good."
The call ended, and Leonard lay back in bed, the rock cradled in his palm. He stared at it, his thoughts swirling.
To be continued...