Mudita ; The Gifted 2018

Chapter 17

Jaidee

THE DAY OF THE PLACEMENT EXAMS

I was in the courtyard with Wave, just finishing up the rest of my assignments for Class 1 when the PA system turned on.

"Administrative Announcement. Due to the Placement Exam which takes place today, the school blocks all communication channels to prevent any academic dishonesty. Therefore, all teachers and students will not be able to use the internet on your devices on the school premises for a day. Please be informed accordingly. Thank you."

Amidst the groans and complaints of other students, mine and Wave's phone beeped. The exams for M4 and M5 were set at 11 am while ours took place earlier so we had the rest of the day off.

"Meeting room NOW.- Pang". We tidied up our books and headed to the room where the rest were already there. We all sat in silence, figuring out what to do next. If the school was blocking all communication channels, the plan was doomed.

"I think the school is using a radio jamming device to block the WIFI connection." Punn said.

"Why don't we set up another pole? Easy-peasy. Punn and Jai are rich anyway." Ohm suggested and Punn and I looked at him in annoyance.

"That's not the point Ohm. The number of poles we can set up won't matter." I told him.

"The jammer interferes with all signals in the school. It doesn't matter how many poles you set up. It won't help." Punn explained.

"I told you this wouldn't work. When the speed is this fast, the director won't let it go. The harder we fight, the harder he tightens his grip." Wave spat before glaring at Ohm.

"And you jumped the gun and turned the signal on." He yelled, pointing at Ohm. I stood up and gripped his arm.

"Wave, calm down. He didn't mean it." I told him, rubbing his arm as he breathed heavily. I turned to Ohm who was about to yell but instead just sank back in his seat.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Guys, calm down. Let's think this through. If the school is using a jammer, all we need to do is destroy it. Am I right?" Pang said and Wave visibly calmed down.

"I was gonna say that. But more importantly, how can we find it?" Wave asked and Pang gave me a knowing look.

"We need Time." I said and Pang nodded, heading off to find Time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hello, hello. The walkie-talkie is working fine." Jack said, holding up one.

"The entire school ground is out of signal. It can't be anything but a DRC Jammer X10, which can block 2G, 3G, 4G mobile signal, 1800-2100 MHz frequency, WIFI signal, and all digital signals. I'm not sure if it's a series one or series two. But both series look the same. It's a black box, 20 x 24 cm in size. It's got three antennas." Wave explained as he scrolled through his tablet.

"I think... The only thing you should say is the last two sentences." Ohm joked as Wave glared at him. Claire and I laughed as I patted Wave's shoulder comfortingly.

"Looking at the jamming range, the location of the device must be at the center, which is the M4 building. And it's the spot where no signal is found. So, Time, can you pinpoint an exact location?" Punn asked as he encircled the M4 building on the school's blueprint.

"Hold on, do you expect me to help you? But I've never tried to locate an object before." He reasoned.

"We really need you for this, Time." Pang begged and Time sighed.