Next morning, the steady drizzle of Seattle rain followed Ben Ternt to school; his head was ringing with the newfound resolution about finding out the truth about it. Every raindrop seemed to remind him of those pixel glitches he had found; these made him further down the path of curiosity.
At Roosevelt High, the morning air crackled with witty banter. Ben caught Arjun in his customary spot by the lockers. Arjun-his hair all askew, his bright, interested eyes-fiddled with some small gadget, he guessed, a new hack, no doubt.
"Hey, Ben! What's up?" Arjun greeted him, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Ben took one more deep breath, collected his thoughts, and said, "Arjun, something's serious," very sternly.
Arjun's eyebrow shot up. "Oh, sounds mysterious. Spill it."
Ben checked around in case somebody was listening. "I've been seeing these. glitches. Like pixelated strips on my skin, on objects around me. I think the world might be a simulation."
Arjun's eyes have widened and he leaned closer. "You're kidding me? That's .wow. Have you documented any of this?
He nodded, pulling out his notebook to show him the sketches and outlines he had taken. Arjun stared at them intensely, his mind racing with possibilities.
"This is unbelievable," Arjun said, staring into Ben's face full of incredulous wonder. "We need to dig into this further. Maybe we should start with the Space Needle. There's always been rumor about strange energy fields around there."
Ben breathed in relief. He thought Arjun might just blow him off, but the fact of the matter was that his friend was equally as excited over this discovery. "I was thinking the same thing. We should go this weekend."
As he walked to his first class, Ben felt the weight on his shoulders begin to lift. He wasn't alone in this quest. With Arjun supporting him, he felt more confident than ever.
The rest of the school day melted away just like that. Lunch was one of those moments when Ben sat across from Emily Chen in the cafeteria. She read a book with her forehead furrowed in concentration. Ben hesitated and took a chance.
"Hey, Emily," he said, trying to keep his voice even.
She looked up and her eyes softened with recognition. "Oh hey, Ben! How's it going?"
"Good, good," Ben said, relaxing a little. "I was thinking maybe you'd like to come with Arjun and me this weekend. We're gonna go check out the Space Needle and, you know, explore around some."
Emily cocked her head to the side. "That sounds kinda cool. What are you people going to be exploring?"
Ben blinked, not wanting to appear some sort of fringe crackpot conspiracy freak. "We're just curious about some of the rumors and mysteries, you know? Thought it'd be fun to check it out."
Emily grinned. "Okay, sure. I'd love to join. It sounds like an adventure."
Ben and Arjun planned, scouted for equipment, and finalized lists of possible locations to explore in the remaining week. They would initially start small by confining their exploration to the local areas and then expand further.
It was the weekend, and all three were to meet up at the bottom of the Space Needle. The misty veil did little to detract from the towering form of the famous landmark. Ben felt the excitement as he, along with this nervous feeling, headed onto ascend towards the observation deck.
"Okay, let's see if we can find anything unusual," Arjun said, getting ready his gear.
He scanned the horizon, his eyes sharp and intent. Everything seemed normal for a while: The tourists milled about, snapping photographs and gazing out at the water view. Then, again at the edge of his vision, he saw it—a flicker, a glitch, like before.
"That way," he whispered, pointing to a spot near the edge of the deck.
Arjun and Emily followed his eye, which widened their eyes at the faint pixelation. Arjun quickly adjusted his device to take a picture of the anomaly.
"This is it," Arjun whispered in awe. "This is the proof we need."
As they continued this investigation, Ben felt validation. The journey had just started, and with every discovery, they were one step closer to uncovering the truth.