13: Smoke and mirrors game

Time: 14:10. Location: Computer lab, Hoover High School.

Clint is the student in charge of the computer lab, a tall, slender, and receding-chinned boy, accustomed to carrying a spare pair of glasses in his shirt pocket, as a habit of surviving the bullying of the school's jocks. Clint, muttering words of annoyance, places the open computer towers next to the windows, very careful that they won't fall out.

"Why don't you understand? Nobody understands. It's not hard to understand. The equipment won't break down if we change the check-up and maintenance schedule to fortnightly" His complaint is almost a whisper, but Veronica hears him.