Chapter 8- Lick Your Wounds

Gail's Point Of View;

After Mitchum left us, we went straight to the aerospace lab. Thank goodness they didn't clean it out yet. I really didn't want to go searching in the garbage. Presley started examining the spot where the explosion happened. It was at the front of the classroom where the teacher's desk was. It was now turned over and the black imprint of snoot spread all over it and the front row desks.

They had the most damage and the rest of the classroom looked thrown out of sorts. The classroom also had computers that were on the floor and the screens of it were shattered. It looked like there was an earthquake that hit only this class. Was he sure it was just second-degree burns he had from such a close encounter he had?

The back of the classroom had the least damage even though the desks with the computers were somewhat ransacked. The monitors were they were at least still usable. You would think the maintenance persons would avert all their attention to this area than the old school. No one ever uses it anyway. I sat by one of the computers that weren't too damaged. That was I saw him steady himself by holding on to the deal while clutching his ribs. I saw him close his eyes momentarily and he seemed to wince in pain. I got up to go near to him but he opened his eyes and said, "Gail can you get access to the security camera's footage of the incident?"

I noticed he let go of his stomach and the desk next to him as I replied, "Yeah I can, are you ok?"

He walked over to me and as he pulled a chair that wasn't too damaged to sit near the computer saying, "Yeah I'm ok, just a little sore."

I sat back down to where I was before and being an expert hacker I did it in no time at all. Doing this reminded me of the days when I was training to be a white hacker. As we watched the clip of the incident, Presley didn't complain of any discomfort in watching it. But I saw him tense up when the explosion was getting nearer. We must have watched it at least a dozen times and I was kind of getting bored. He never lost focus on what was happening on the screen but seeing his reaction to it, I wanted to suggest that we stop for a while.

As I opened my mouth to tell him, he spoke drawing my attention to the screen,"STOP! There it is; see it."

I looked back at the screen and asked, "See what?" All I saw was the smoke that blocked the camera and the ceiling lights that fell.

Then he ordered, "Replay it from the beginning when the machine was turned on then freeze."

I started to do as he said then he exclaimed, "There look! Zoom in, what does that look like to you?"

"It looks as if the machine dismantled itself before it exploded. Almost as if-"

Presley then finished my sentence, "As if it was rigged to explode, yeah. That part of the machine is supposed to be tightened but it came loose the minute it was set on. That couldn't be a mistake."

That was disturbing to hear him say. How could he be so sure that it wasn't an accident or a miscalculation on the senior students' part? Although those questions weighed on my mind I was curious to hear his thought process on it."But why would someone do that?" I asked.

We were both so focused on what was happening on the monitor that we didn't hear someone else enter the room. The person shouted at us causing us to turn and face them, "Hey! What are you guys doing here? This room is off-limits because of the explosion."

Although his tone wasn't exactly threatening I still didn't like being spoken too loudly. Who did he think he was, my dad? "Oh yeah, well if it's off-limits how come you're here? You're not even the night watchman."

When I faced him I saw he was a tall guy with a light complexion. His eyes were light brown and his hair though neatly combed was a darker shade of brown. He looked like the senior student that was in the security footage who turned on the device. His clothes were different from how it was in the footage. He now wore a black sweater with a red and black checkered jacket. He looked like he was dressed for a chilly evening as the black shirt was also long-sleeved under the jacket. He even wore a necktie that matched the color pattern of his jacket. His shoes were black to match his sweater. But the color of his pants was the only thing that broke the color coordination so that it all didn't clash.

As the guy tried to reply to me Presley spoke, "It was your project that exploded, right?"

When Presley asked that it seemed like the guy now began to remember him. His eyes widen momentarily and I saw his eyes focus on Presley's bandages. A look of remorse became noticeable in his demeanor as he looked down with his tone humbling. "Um yeah, gee dude and you're the one I sent to the hospital. Look I'm so sorry that happened, I was going to visit you but the Dean held me back for a good talking to. But I'm glad you're OK, I just don't know what went wrong with it. It worked perfectly this morning but that's no excuse. Again I'm just really sorry."

He couldn't even look us in the eyes as he gazed all about at the now-wreaked lab. He sounded really sincere. If I'd been the cause of all this destruction I would feel guilty too. And I bet knowing that you're responsible for someone else getting hurt makes it all the worse.

Presley seemed to be forgiving as he went close enough to the guy to tap his shoulder to get his attention, "Um it's OK, I'm not angry with you or anything. But tell me, can you remember the exact time you last tested the machine?"

The guy nodded and seemed a little more relaxed as he responded, "Well it worked fine for the morning class then we went for lunch, came back, turned it on, and.... well it exploded somehow. It couldn't have overheated unless the cooling system malfunctioned. So this morning."

Presley took his hand from his shoulder. The guy was taller than Presley but he could still look him in the eye as he said, "Well I examined your project and the security footage of when it exploded. I suspect that it was tampered with."

The guy's head raised when he heard Presley say that. Then Presley asked me to show him the footage of the zoomed-in frame of what we were looking at earlier. The guy came closer to see it and admitted he had not noticed that part before. He also told us that the part that came loose is always tightened as it is necessary for the programming process. So the only way that it would come loose is if someone did it deliberately as Presley suggested earlier. The guy was understandably upset by that. He frantically shook his head as if he refused to believe it.

Then he placed the palms of his hands to cover his face and move up through his hair. But to both Presley's and my surprise he then clenched his hands to make a fist and smashed the monitor. That made us jump back and I moved away from the computer. Then he kept hitting it repeatedly with his bare fist. I didn't know what to do. When I looked at Presley, he seemed to be almost paralyzed. He just stared and was unable to say anything. I guess it was up to me to do something. "Uh Look um listen, I know you're upset but this is no time to lose your head. Try to think clearly, do you have any idea who would want to do this to you?"

The guy hit it once last time and stayed in that position facing downwards as he practically shouted, "I HAVE NO IDEA! ALL I KNOW IS I'M THE ONE TAKING THE FALL FOR IT!!!"

Presley who seems to come out of his trance then said, "OK! L-like Gail said just c-calm down first, n-no need to hit the computer again. How about you tell us your name?"

I could hear the shakiness in Presley's voice as he spoke but the guy seemed to calm down a bit. He took a deep breath in and exhaled before he answered, "It's Homer Reeves."

I saw Presley also take a deep breath so he could continue talking. "OK Homer, I'm Presley and this is my friend Gail. Do you mind telling us how long have you been attending here?"

It seemed like Presley was trying his best to deflect the situation and focus on something else. Homer then raised to stand straight and lean off the computer saying, "This is my second year here, sorry I got so mad. I've been working on it with the guidance counselor but this really got to me. It's just that an infraction like this could go on my permanent record. I might have to change my major because no one is going to hire an aerospace scientist who blew up his school lab."

His voice settled back to a normal tone and Presley seemed to relax also and continued, "Hmm, no... they would not; the professor's name for this class is Jeremiah Smith right?"

Homer then had a somewhat sad expression come onto his face as he said, "Yeah, he's one of the best teachers we have here. But I guess I let him down too."

I felt bad hearing that from Homer but Presley seemed detached from the situation. He looked at me and pointed at another across the room. It wasn't too damaged as the others were. Then he asked me, "Gail can you send me the footage of the entire day right up until the accident to my phone?"

I simply nodded and went to the other computer. It was a good idea considering the other computer with that footage was on its last legs after that encounter with Homer. I sent it to him shortly. I saw at the side of my eyes that he clutched his ribs again and grunted in pain. Homer got scared and rushed over to him asking, "Presley, are you OK?" Presley held on to the nearest chair and answered, "Yeah I just need to sit down for a while."

By that time he got a notification showing that I had sent the footage to his phone. "Thank you, Gail, and can you research Professor Jeremiah Smith in the meantime also? Anything from hobbies to vacation plans."

"Sure," I answered as I saw him sit down and leaned back on the chair as if it bought some relief.

At hearing that Homer stare over at him and raised his left brow in confusion then said, "Wait, Professor Smith wasn't even in class when it happened. He was running late which is why I decided to start without him. I saw him do it so many times so I insisted on going ahead without him. Even just this morning I saw him use it for the class before yours."

I had turned to face the computer to start researching but I heard Presley tell Homer, "That's what I'm counting on; so I need you over here looking at the footage on my phone of the professor with the machine before. Since you have more experience working with these devices than I do, you can spot any inconsistencies."

I was a little worried about Presley as he didn't seem to be feeling his best. But I still smiled hearing him talk like that. Even while in pain he seemed to be focused on helping Homer with his problem. I admired his selflessness. So the least I can do is help him in doing the task. I smiled and said to none of them in particular, "You know what guys; I'm beginning to feel a lot like a detective." I'm now again, using my hacking skills for good.