I Will Take This Secret With Me to the Grave
Chapter 3: Running Dry of Bad Excuses
April was sure that if Don could be human, this is what he would be like. It was no small wonder they were online friends. April sighed. At least she was aware, painfully so, that Adam knew his stuff. Her chin was cradled in her hand and the weight of her head was propped up by her elbow on the table.
He talked over her ability to understand chemical bonds and molecular structure, but she didn't stop him. He seemed overly excited about the topic and, as long as she didn't give him the glazed over, absent minded stare, he seemed to keep going. She would make Don pay for this, and demand a study session with him alone.
"So," April finally segued from synthetic techniques in organic chemistry, as quickly as she could, "I know you started a new site with DocSweetAuthority. You have anything good going on over there?"
Adam's face, speckled with two days worth of stubble, lit up. He had thin hollow cheeks that made his long face appear even longer. It was an unfortunate combination. "You thinking about coming over? Joining the dark side again? You should see the number of hits the new place gets and the weird things that have been spotted. Alien robots. Alien. ROBOTS. That sewer alligator on film. Physiological control through mushrooms. Mutants galore. This stuff is everywhere, April."
She tried not to show her surprise and instead nodded. "Crazy, right? I wonder how much of it's true."
Adam looked somewhere between appalled and hurt. "All of it. All weird phenomenons have some scientific reality. Even if it's not exactly as it sounds or looks. There's truth in all of it - somehow, somewhere."
"Uh-huh." April nodded trying not to seem skeptical. The last thing she needed was this conspiracy theorist on the tail of her friends. "Well, the city's certainly full of mystery, that's for sure. Sounds like all that stuff is old news. You working on anything new?"
Adam's smile grew across his whole face. "You better believe it!"
He pulled out his laptop and opened the cover, peeking over the top of it at April. "Wait until you see this..." he clicked a few keys and then spun the computer for her to see.
April's mouth dropped open and her eyebrows knitted together. She glanced at Adam and back at the screen. She had see the alien ship in action, but never the schematics of it. "What is it?" she opted for blind stupidity, hoping her performance would pass.
"An alien ship, of course!" He exclaimed and then slipped into her side of the booth. "This is a diagram for the alien robots." Adam's finger grazed a Kraang next to the ship, for size reference. "I hadn't had a chance to look at it until recently, but I'm sure of it. The site has gathered half a dozen videos of these guys. Just small clips, nothing full on. But I think it's safe to say they're real. Plus there was that weird attack on New York that the press buffed up as terrorists. Alien terrorist maybe. Anyway, my supervising professor's kid, Melly - you know, DocSweetAuthority - came upon this. I don't know how, but it's legit. I'm sure of it. Have a closer look while I fill up my coffee. Want another?" he asked, helpfully polite.
April glanced at Adam, "Oh, yeah. Thanks." she said offhandedly. Her eyes were, instead, glued to the screen. She couldn't decipher the details, but she knew Don would be able to. The one thing she took solace in was the fact that it seemed Adam wasn't some sort of spy. Kurtzman might be able to figure some of it out, he might even have these diagrams. Adam was, however, in trouble. If the Kraang caught on to the fact that someone had this information, they would possibly eliminate them.
This document could not go live. Listing it on a public website would be a death sentence for Adam.
April flicked her phone open and wrote Don a quick text, Adam is in trouble. It's Kraang. He has no idea what he's stumbled on. He's excited about it.
She didn't have time to wait for the response as Adam was back with their coffees. She didn't need Adam to know she was friends with Don, lest he want to meet his nerdy, genius friend too.
"So, you don't know how – what was her name? – DocSweetAuthority - came on this?"
Adam shook his head, "Given that Melly is 16 and not exactly the most social kid on the planet, no. I can't even speculate. But the fact is, she got it and it's glorious."
'Not exactly the most social…' April rolled that around in her head for a moment. The same could be said for her, but when those words came from a man whose fascination was in quantum theory and organic chemistry, April couldn't help but wonder how awkward this girl must be. "Adam," April hesitated. Her eyes searched the tabletop, pondering how to approach the topic. "I don't think you should post this on the site."
His eyebrows came together in one straight line across his forehead. "What? Why? It's a site for conspiracies and paranormal activity. This is prime real estate."
"I know. But given its sensitivity, have you considered taking it to a real professional?" April diverted. "I know one. Jack Kurtzman. I could take it to him and see what his thoughts on it are." It would buy her time if she could get Adam to agree. Destroying the digital copy on his computer, she figured, wouldn't do much when the source was from a third party.
Adam nodded a little bit. "Yeah, I can get behind that idea. How is this Kurtzman a professional? Should I know him? Was he a regular on the board?"
April shook her head. "No. I ran into him by chance. But he knows everything there is to know about these guys." April regretted the risk as soon as she took it, when Adam's eyes lit up.
"Can I meet him…" the doe eyed look made Adam look like a child on Christmas.
"Ah, he's not much of a people person." She deflected again. "But I'll see what I can do. But for now, I really have to get going. It was great meeting you, Adam, thanks for the help. Email me a copy of those schematics so that I can talk to my guy about them."
"I'm on it." Adam's nose was already in his laptop, hacking away at the keys so he could send her the document. "Talk to you later," he added, without looking up but waving.
Once through the door, April let out a slow breath. She was still going to make Don pay for this. The one comfort she got was that Casey's house was directly across the street and she hoped for a dose of 'normal' person, after an hour with genius. At least Don tried to be relatable; Adam didn't even realize he was thinking and talking on a plane of existence separate from most humans.
"Red. Whatcha doin' on this side of town? My turf…without an invite. I like it."
Never in her life had April been so relieved to hear one person's voice. She swept around and smiled with one side of her mouth, "I just happened to be passing through. You busy, Jones?"
The lanky teen offered a lopsided, gap toothed smile as he leaned on the wall. "Whadya know? For you, my calendar just got wiped clean. Its your lucky day. Got somethin' in mind?"