Thank you very kindly for the positive reviews! They are much appreciated *-* And now without further ado, on to Chapter 4! As always, R&R please! ^-^
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Chapter 4: The Great Exploding Cereal Incident
Matt settles into the cushions on his bed, scanning the email he's received. A smile plays on his lips. Perfect.
It's not a big job; he had already known about it from the year before. He glances at Mello; he shouldn't be too much of a problem. It wasn't THAT illegal. Not on the level of Times Square anyways; it was just a little switch. It shouldn't take long at all, so he gets to work, putting on his headphones.
It takes him 0.6 seconds to find the website, about 30 seconds to trace it to the main server. Everything was electronic these days; that was what was so fun about hacking. And this was just a little public school infiltration, a little crack.
A friend of a friend, and so forth, of his client, 's daughter had nearly failed two courses in the tenth grade, and her father was worried about her prospects for college. He had wanted a 'quick fix' to the situation, but Matt had advised they wait a year. Within the first, a change was likely to be caught, especially by the teachers who had given the grades, but beyond the year, no one would take a second look.
Matt hums a little to himself; it was the perfect task for the moment. Easy peasy. It doesn't take him long to get into the files. His two smaller laptops are enough for this job. He scrolls through the girl's grades, and suppresses a laugh. All low B's and C's, several high D's; this kid had more to worry about than a few near-fails, Matt thinks. But he finds the offending grades, two D-'s in... English and Politics? Hah. He adjusts the system, raising the grades to a high B, low A - have to be reasonable now - and raises everything else a grade up for good measure. She was now an average student, from a terrible one.
Task completed, Matt erases his trace and sends a final message to his client. He instructs him to have the girl in question ask for a copy of her transcript in a couple day's time. Once they've received proof of the change, they'll send payment . Feeling rather satisfied, he closes the laptop screen and leans back, stretching his sore muscles.
Mello had noticed how distracted Matt was with his computers. It's not so different from the afternoon before though so he doesn't really care. He sits up and with a red pen writes a few lines on the wall in an odd looking script. The lines are crammed between two papers so he has to write small.
When Mello's done he looks at it for a moment then sighs and lies down on his belly and starts scribbling in his notebook, working on the English homework that's due the following morning. He'll do the algebra homework after dinner.
When Matt closes his laptop Mello glances over. "Pulling through after all? Darn. I really wanted some of those video games." He continues writing while he speaks. It's not like the English homework requires his full attention.
Matt doesn't have the full workload yet, and hasn't been to English, so his homework consists of what was assigned Monday. He's already done the parts of it that he was somewhat interested in, and can't be bothered with the rest.
He's doing research on the city of Winchester when Mello distracts him. "I told you, I'm done for today," he responds. He's comfortable in his pajamas and has no intention of leaving the room for anything. He finds the local university and scrolls through some off-site message boards. If he can find someone who needs a favour, maybe they could put him in touch with a few smokes. A trade-off of services would probably be best in this situation.
"Maybe I'll let you play with me, one day, if you prove yourself worthy," he mumbles, caught up in the boards.
"Screw you," Mello grumbles and closes his notebook. He lies still for a moment, debating whether he wants to go back to his novel or go on that gambling website. After a few moments he pulls his laptop over. He needs to earn more money before he meets the college student who will withdraw it for him that weekend.
A little while later the dinner bell rings. Mello finishes the hand he's on then swings to his feet. "Skipping dinner?" He asks, eyeing the pajamas.
Having successfully put out a few threads, Matt feels better about the day as a whole. Hopefully someone will bite and the weekend will be a quick trade-off of services. He can taste his success already. It tastes like smoke.
He nods in response to Mello's question. "I'm not really hungry." While this wasn't exactly true, he could use the time to himself. And he's got enough junk food to keep himself satisfied.
Matt waits for Mello to leave, then goes over to his desktop; he'll need more power for this. He grabs the Cheetos and cracks his knuckles; time to get to work.
Mello shrugs and goes out. Dinner is quiet and uneventful. Already finished with all but a few algebra problems, Mello reads his novel during the meal. He takes his time eating and it's nearly an hour before he goes back to the room.
When Mello returns he puts the book back in his bookshelf and writes another line below the one he'd written earlier, also in the red ink. He seems bored. Normally he'd have gotten on his computer and played some games but he's not in the mood. As tired as he is from the day, he feels restless and twitchy. He opens the window on his side to let in some fresh air and for something to do. Maybe he should go for a walk or something. He gets out a chocolate bar and bites off a chunk then just lies and stares at the wall, reading the words on it.
Matt has to exit his screens quickly when Mello returns, swearing under his breath. He hadn't made even close to the progress he'd have liked. He'd passed the school's first security barrier, but there was another level around the student files themselves, which he hadn't anticipated. He'd need a good many consecutive hours to crack it, and getting that much time to himself seems unlikely. He glances at Mello and wonders how deep a sleeper he is.
Seeing as he's not going to get any more work done today, Matt chucks the empty bag of Cheetos to the floor and turns around on his bed, lying on his back with his head at the foot of the bed, tilted up to see the screen.
He looks at Mello and sighs in annoyance, extending a controller to him. It won't reach to the other side of the room. "Wanna play?" He asks as he sets up the game.
"Thought I wasn't worthy," Mello replies acidly. But after a moment he rolls off his bed and onto his feet. He crosses the room and takes the controller from Matt.
He rolls the desk chair from Matt's desk to beside the bed and sits down on it. "What're we playing?" He's not super knowledgeable about games but he knows the big ones. He has a few on his laptop for spare evenings like these.
Matt adjusts himself on the bed, pulling his handheld out from under his back and tossing it on his pillow. "Call of Duty 4," he says, finishing with the settings. "You don't look like you do this a lot, so we're on the same team. Wouldn't be much of a challenge to kill you."
Mello rolls his eyes but keeps hold of his irritation. He has a competitive nature obviously, but he knows in this matter it has to be tempered by a reason at least a little. He knows he's nowhere near as good as this boy who's obsessed with games.
He gets more comfortable in the computer chair and watches the screen, the controller held steadily in his hands.
Matt gives Mello a quick overview of the controls; the way he's holding the controller makes it look as though he doesn't know how to use it. "See that guy?" He points to the screen, displaying a video clip. "We gotta rescue him, then blow up the building where the terrorists have him."
They start the mission, Matt going through the motions with an expert's ease. He's played every type of mission thoroughly, and hits enemies with near 100% accuracy. But he moves slower than usual to give Mello a chance to catch up. "Dude on your right," he says, indicating an enemy hiding behind some cargo.
"I see it," Mello mutters, his attention focused on the game. He brings his character around, perhaps a little slowly but still manages to shoot the assailant when the other raises his head over the cargo.
As soon as he's sure the enemy is dead he hurries after Matt, keeping his gun ready. He does move a little slower but he's just trying to look around and make sure there are no other enemies lurking behind things.
Matt's impressed that Mello hasn't yet died, though he does move very slowly. He seems overly thorough. They enter the main building and are immediately assaulted by twenty-some men. Matt dives behind some boxes. "Ambush," he says. His character hasn't yet taken any hits; he's beat levels with full HP before. He throws a grenade then picks the rest off one by one.
Mello's character takes a few hits in the arm as he tries to get out of the way. "Shit," he grumbles, watching his HP fall.
Then he's behind cover too and creeps to the side so he can aim. By that time Matt's picked off the majority of the enemies but he gets a few kills in too. "How much farther to the hostage?" He asks, his eyes glued to the screen.
Matt notices Mello's health level; not sure he'll make it, he lets them sit behind the boxes for a few extra seconds to regain HP. "A ways," he says; they've barely started the mission.
As they progress Matt calls out certain things he knows are lurking, and things that are useful, saving Mello's ass more than once.
They finally get to the hostage, releasing him before setting an impressive number of explosives. "We gotta get out fast," he tells Mello, and they barely make it out before the bombs go off in an impressively-rendered simulation of a huge explosion, sending the building to ruins.
Mello whistles at the graphics. He has to ask something though. "So if we killed all the men inside...and saved the hostage...why was it necessary to blow up the building?"
Matt grins at the explosions; COD4 had some pretty good ones, even for a game this age. "Because explosions are awesome, duh," he responds as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Boom!" He mimics an explosion with his hands.
Mello chuckles at Mello's explanation and shrugs over the rest of it. It's true enough. "I can see how things like that can get addicting." He leans back on his hands, letting the controller rest on his lap. He glances at the time. "I can't believe how long that took," he says in shock.
He laughs at Mello's surprise. "That was only one mission. We hardly did anything at all, and it took way longer with you, friggin' slow poke." He jabs Mello in the shoulder with his controller. "You weren't completely terrible though, at least not for a total n00b."
Despite these words Mello gets to his feet and sets the controller down by Matt. He should start on those algebra problems. He can get them done before lights out still.
Matt yanks out Mello's controller and switches to online mode. He finds the highest-ranked person available and challenges them. Within moments he's deep in a new mission, eyes focused on the screen. He's still on his back, looking at the screen from the odd angle; he finds it more of a challenge when gravity is flipped. If only he had a cigarette, he'd be fully content at this moment.
Mello glances over while he works, interested despite himself. It does look fun. He doesn't ask to play again though. Playing had calmed his restlessness.
When he finishes his homework he gets on his laptop, back to the gaming website. He's looking forward to the payday he'll have that Saturday.
Matt plays the game and when the bell rings for lights out, he keeps right on going. He sticks his pen back in his mouth; chewing it helps with the cravings he's been having. He wins his third mission in a row, sighing loudly though he's grinning.
"It's so boring when no one ever beats you," he complains in a bragging tone. He rolls over to his stomach and quits the game. He switches over to his desktop, deciding to do a thorough search of his real name, just in case something else has come up. It's probably too late if there is something, but it's better to better erase the damage now than not at all.
"Right. Well I hope you meet your match and get killed then," Mello says with grim humor. Matt laughs at this; fat chance. He hasn't been killed in this game in forever.
When the bell rings Mello gets up and turns off the room lights. He yawns and stretches out on his bed. "Hey Matt..." he says sleepily. "What's America like? Or...well...New York," he corrects himself. "After I graduate I think I'm going to the States."
Matt doesn't react when Mello turns out the lights; fine by him. He works better in the dark; there's no distractions to keep his concentration from breaking.
Except for the other person in the room, that is. "Uhh..." he thinks for a moment. "New York is like... the best and worst of everything, all combined into one. The city is big, really big, so it's easy to get around unnoticed. There's a lot of really classy rich-people places, but then there's also really bad areas too, where there's a lot of crime." He shrugs. "It's big enough that it's different things for different people, I guess. I like it. People there have a reputation for being assholes, though." He laughs at this, wondering if he fit right in with that latter part.
Mello is silent for so long it's conceivable he might have fallen asleep. But his eyes still glimmer in the otherwise complete darkness of his side of the room, reflecting the light from Matt's computer.
"Well I'd fit in there then," Mello comments, sounding amused. Then he rolls over to face the wall and soon his breath deepens and he's asleep.
Matt smirks at this. "Probably. But you'd better watch the clothing. Some seedy photographer might try to recruit you or something pervy like that."
Matt stays up a little bit later, completing his superficial search. Nothing so far; this much was good. But he'd have to do a much deeper, thorough probe later. Look for stuff that wouldn't show up in a search engine.
He turns off his computer and crawls under the blankets, clutching his Legend of Zelda pillow. He passes out within seconds, but like the previous night, his body isn't fully adjusted to the time change, so at 4 AM he wakes up, wide eyed. His body aches, his stomach is grumbling and all he can think of is how badly he needs a cigarette. So he throws on his hoodie over his pajamas, and decides to wander around the school, see if he can find anything interesting.
Not a deep sleeper, Mello jerks awake when he hears the door close. He sits up and looks around. He debates for a moment then gets up, puts on some shoes and follows Matt. He hadn't worked on his shadowing skills in a long while but he can move quite silently already.
The teachers tend to take turns along with the prefects in patrolling at night. But at 4 AM they're no trouble to avoid. Still Mello keeps an ear out. He doesn't know how long he'll follow Matt, but he can go back at anytime. Mostly he's just curious.
Matt pads around barefoot down the hallways, not making much sound. He's not sure if there's anyone around at this time, but it's best to be careful. He wanders around without much direction in mind, and ends up a door marked 'Computer Lab.' So this is where it was.
He inspects the door handle; it's a basic lock-and-key system. He's not familiar with the British designs, but with a bit of research, he's sure he could pick it. He does notice a red light near the top of the door; it looked to be a motion or touch sensor, so he makes sure to not put his fingers on it or get too close.
He continues on his way, his stomach grumbling again. Guess the Cheetos hadn't been much of a meal. There's a shadow in the hallway, and he slips around a corner until it passes; guess there were people keeping watch at this point. Once the shadow's gone he continues on his way, eventually finding the kitchen. His ears pick up a slight shuffle; was he being followed? He grins to himself, wondering who it might be.
The kitchen area is locked, but there's a separate door that looks like it leads into a possible pantry. He glances around before pushing the door open. Inside there's mostly dry goods, stuff you can't eat without cooking, and canned items, but after a bit of rummaging he comes out with a box of sweet cereal. Triumphant, and since no one else is around, he sits cross-legged on the ground and tucks into the cereal, waiting to see if his stalker will show.
Mello twice almost gives up following Matt as a fruitless endeavor in favour of returning to his bed and getting more sleep. The first time he stays when Matt comes across the computer lab. No surprises there. He watches as Matt studies the security on it. And what would he do if he broke in there? He already has more technological power than any other student at the school.
When Matt moves on Mello does too. He's growing weary again now and is about to give up once more when Matt opens a door and goes down some stairs. Mello had stopped paying attention to their surroundings and it takes him a moment to get his bearings and figure out where in the school they are. The pantry. Really? He creeps to the doorway and hears a munching sound down below. Now he's really disappointed. He debates for a long moment whether to just to go back or not. But then he shrugs and goes down the steps.
"Don't tell me you came out to get a snack," he tells Matt and leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
Matt stops with a fistful of the cereal halfway to his mouth, looking up. So he had been followed, and he's not surprised at all by who it was. He grins at Mello. "I was waiting for you," he says, bearing a shit-eating grin. "I was hungry. Want some? It's chocolate-flavoured." He holds the box out to the blonde.
"Yeah, yeah, of course you were. Skipped out on dinner after all." Mello plops down across from Matt, an exasperated look on his face. The consternation only grows when Matt offers him some. But he'd said the right thing about the flavor. He can't resist. Why not? He's here anyway. He takes the box and takes a handful before passing it back. "Lucky that everyone who patrols just wants to go back to bed at this time of night," he informs the other wryly and eats the cereal.
Matt grins as Mello takes a handful. He'd already done a number on the cereal; the box was half-empty. He laughs lightly at Mello's warning. "I'm pretty good at slipping under the radar," he says nonchalantly, not really concerned about any sort of patrol.
He holds a chocolate pebble up to the light. "I wonder if these things burn," he wonders vaguely. He looks around at all the dry food stacked in here. "Oh! Or what would they do if everything in here suddenly went missing? Wait! Let's go outside and try to burn these things. I got a lighter back in the room somewhere." Perhaps he'd had a bit too much of the sugary cereal.
Mello just stares at him. "What would they do..?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing. The entire school would have to go hungry until they could replace it all. One meal missed. Maybe two. You'd have the entire student body hunting furiously for the culprits to commit mob justice."
Mello looks around. "There's a fire pit in the garden that the students are allowed to use after dinner. If you really want to burn things we could use that tomorrow without causing a school riot."
Matt shrugs. "We could just move it to the head's office or something," he says. "A fire pit," he scoffs. "Are you always so safe and practical?" He gets up, brushes crumbs off his pants and goes back to the shelves. "I saw something earlier," he murmurs, rummaging around at the back of the shelves. Finally he emerges, holding a small plastic bottle of lighter fluid. He grins. "Let's torch them, and not tomorrow. C'mon."
"I don't want to be expelled," Mello replies stubbornly. He gets to his feet and grabs the lighter fluid from Matt. No wonder they'd put Matt in his room. This boy needs a babysitter.
Then again... "If you really need to burn something just take a few things. And we're not doing it on the school grounds where the smoke will be noticed."
Matt rolls his eyes. "You're going to get expelled for having a little fun? Forgot how much school sucks." He makes a grab for the bottle.
"If it involves fire and explosions, yes!" Mello shoots back in exasperation, holding the bottle up over his head.
"I was gonna just take a few things!" Matt complains. "That, the cereal, a lighter, scissors and duct tape." He grins mischievously. "Then let's get off school grounds, huh?"
"Why duct tape?" Mello asks curiously. "...You'll need some shoes. The garden is pretty big so it'll be a bit of a walk to get off the grounds."
Matt grins evilly. "You'll see," he taunts the other boy, before poking him hard in the stomach, grabbing the box of cereal and taking off. He slips through the hallways quietly, back to their dorm room to grab the few things he needs, along with a pair of shoes. He waits for the other boy to catch up outside their room.
Mello watches him dash off and he sighs. He follows at a more careful pace, making sure there's no teachers patrolling. It's close enough to morning now that they've all gone back to their beds. Nobody minds if the students get up early. They're trusted to be smart, obviously.
"This is insane," he informs Matt in a clipped tone when he gets to the doorway of their room.
"It's not insane; you're just boring," Matt chides the other boy, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him off towards the exit. "You're taking forever."
Once they're out Matt looks around, deciding which way to go. It's a chilly early morning, though the sun still hasn't risen, and he's glad for his hoodie. He sees some trees in the distances and walks off decisively towards them.
Mello frowns in annoyance. "Oh yeah?" He growls. He jerks his sleeve away and starts jogging. Pretty soon they're past the cultivated part of the grounds and in the little grove of trees at the edge.
Mello looks at the trees and keeps walking. "Let's get past these. The trees will hide the smoke from the school windows."
Matt nods, though not long after he becomes annoyed with the distance. They come to a little clearing in the trees, and he sets the box down firmly in its center. "This is far enough," he says decisively, shooting a glance at Mello. Without another word, he gets to work.
He takes the lighter fluid from Mello, and covers the cereal in a healthy amount of it. He then shakes the bottle with the lid open, letting it slosh down the sides and coat the outside. Then he plants the bottle firmly in the cereal upright, leaving the lid half off. The plastic bottle is still nearly half full.
Next, the lighter. He gets out the duct tape and cuts a couple of small pieces. He then shakes the lighter and flicks it on, duct-taping the little levers in place so it won't turn off. He turns to Mello, putting his hoodie over his head and affixing his goggles firmly in place.
"Stand back," he instructs, holding the flaming lighter over the box. "And when I say 'fire in the hole', duck and look away."
It's obvious to Mello that this thing is going to go off like a firecracker as he watches Matt set it up. He bites his lip, wishing the other had let them go a little farther.
But he's excited too. "Wait." He grabs Matt's sleeve and yanks his hand away from the box. Looking around he grabs a handful of dry leaves and twigs. "The box was almost empty of cereal," he points out. "Let's give it a little more tinder to burn." He dumps these in around the bottle of lighter fluid and gets a second handful. He takes a few steps back, putting up the hood on his own jacket.
Matt grins, excited that Mello's getting into it now too instead of just giving him a hard time. The tinder should give them half a second extra to get away. "Okay, ready?" He moves the lighter back over the box. Mello nods and backs away, his eyes intent on that lighter hovering over the combustible material.
"Fire in the hole!" Matt yells, and he drops the lighter. He takes two huge steps away then leaps forward with his back to the box, shielding his face. Mello whirls and leaps away, his hands coming up toward his face and covering his ears.
As Matt leaps the flames hit the bottle, causing it to explode with a 'Bang!' then a 'Fwoom!' as the entire box bursts into flames, leaping several feet high. Matt feels an intense heat on his back as he lands on the ground, then turns his head around to see their work.
The flames are shooting out of the box a good four or five feet into the air; what's left of the box, that is. It's already a crumpled mess, and the remains of charred cereal falls from above them to the ground.
Mello still hears the bang and feels the rush of heat and he's glad he had put up his hood. The smell of burning plastic pervades the air as he turns back to watch the box burn. Then he looks up and notices the smoldering ashes falling. He wipes them off his sweater. "You're insane," he repeats but he's smiling.
Matt looks back at the fire and cackles with delight. "Insanely awesome!" He corrects, reaching out a hand to high-five Mello.
"That was so wicked," he declares, approaching the flames. The smoke coming off the fire reeks of plastic and lighter fluid, and it's already making him lightheaded. Too bad.
Amused by the correction and the high five Mello laughs. "It was," he agrees. He sits up and watches the box burn until there's only ashes and debris. Then he gets to his feet. "We'll both have to rinse off before class or someone will notice the smell." Boring and practical? Maybe. But it's the little details that will keep them from being caught. "And we'll have to get you a new lighter," he adds, poking through the wreckage with his boot and noticing the burned lighter beside the scorched bottle that the lighter fluid had been in. He kicks at the fire, spreading the ashes around.
Matt nods in agreement; lighter fluid wasn't exactly the greatest smell in the world, and his hands reeked of it too. "That lighter was really old anyways," he says, shrugging. "I'll get a new one this weekend. Along with some other stuff..." He wonders if the sound of the explosion was heard from the school; it had been fairly loud.
A shout from the school grounds makes Mello look up. "We better clear off quick." He pushes his hood down. "Let's sneak around to the back, by the pool and go in that way since people will be heading here from the front."