Conundrum

Part 13

theSingingDragon

If someone ever invented a way to carry more groceries than was humanly possible upstairs, Jamie was determined to be the one to discover it. At the moment, though, his books were punching through his plastic bags, his homemade stair climber hated every inch of its coding, and he was even dreaming of ripping pages out of a textbook in his frustration. The only thing keeping him from following through with it was recognizing this wasn't the source of the frustration, merely additional fuel for it. He may have talked to the MDA agent only that morning, but he still felt a phantom vibration in his jacket pocket. It was too soon but Jamie still pulled his phone out to see nothing had changed since the last time he checked. Sighing, he put the phone back in his flannel pocket and started scanning the code on his computer screen again.

Somewhere inside there was a line that was determined to destroy his stair climber and he was going to find it, or destroy a textbook trying. Satisfied he had fixed it, Jamie tried to stand up to realize his feet had fallen asleep while they were perched up on the stairs. He didn't get five inches off the ground before he flopped back against the mattress he had at his back. After an awkward moment of repositioning his legs and using the handrail as an aid, Jamie was able to support himself. A quick inspection to make sure the mattress was sufficiently protecting the wall from being punched through by the stair climber and Jamie made his way painfully back to the top with his computer. When he looked down at the creature he created he could practically see a face in the thing, groaning, wanting to give up. He pushed the start button on the computer and held his breath.

Nothing happened. He could probably get away with shredding his history textbook. The creature lurched suddenly into life, albeit a miserable looking one from the grunts and squeaks. About halfway up the stairs a scratching sound arose and progress froze.

"No no no no no!"

As if things weren't going badly enough, a grey suited man came around the bend in the stairs looking up at the scene with mild amusement, then concern when the creature began to slide down the stairs.

"Move!" Jamie rushed to grab the stair climber to keep it from falling on the agent but it slipped before he could reach it. The creature rammed into the mattress with a bang, a couple of small parts falling off. Cringing at the sound of the crash, Jamie started down the stairs when a loud creak echoed through the hallway and a rather large piece of machinery fell off. After a moment of silent waiting, the grey suit man appeared again from around the bend, surprisingly calm as he examined the scene, particularly the hole torn through the mattress.

"You know, I've got a perfectly good mattress I've been meaning to destroy," he said, putting a tentative finger near the hole.

"It was already like that," tried Jamie.

"No it wasn't."

Jamie shoved his hands into his flannel pockets, looking down to hide his embarrassment at having a witness to such a humiliating experiment. "What are you doing here?" Then he looked up. "Is Spencer cleared?"

The grey suit man took a deep breath as if he was mentally preparing himself for something uncomfortable. "No, but there's a way to speed it up, if you're interested."

Not entirely sure where this was going, Jamie made sure no one else was around before stepping closer. "And that would be?"

Now it was the grey suit man's turn to check for eavesdroppers. He pulled from his suit pocket a rather bulky set of handcuffs.

"How did you fit that in there?" asked Jamie, but the agent ignored him.

"Your majors are engineering and biology."

"And physics and chemistry, but yes."

The grey suit man just stared at Jamie, taking another deep breath. When he didn't say anything Jamie cleared his throat. "Anyways, you were saying?"

"Take a look at these and tell me what you think in the morning." The agent handed the handcuffs over.

"Wait, at the MDA building?"

"Yes, someone will meet you inside the front entrance."

"But I don't have clearance."

"You were cleared before I came here."

Shifting his stance, Jamie took a moment to process. "Don't I have to be there to get cleared, you know, do paperwork and stuff?"

"Only the contract if you accept the offer."

"Yeah, no, how exactly - "

"Also, don't lose those." The grey suit man pointed at the bulky handcuffs.

"Why are they so bulky?"

"You don't have the clearance. Just know if you do lose them you'll be on a level 5 MDA watchlist."

Jamie stared down at the suddenly heavy object in his hand. In the back of his mind he remembered hearing something about level 5 watchlists not being able to pee without MDA knowing about it. He didn't want to know exactly how that worked, but the fact that he didn't have to be present to have his security clearance raised was starting to make more sense. When Jamie looked up the grey suit man was already walking away.

"Wait, I don't even know your name! How am I supposed to find you?"

The grey suit man stopped, turning back some to side-glance at Jamie. He swore he heard the agent say "With any luck" before speaking up. "You won't need to find me." Then he inspected Jamie. "And try not to look like that when you come."

Jamie studied his big flannel, math equation t-shirt, and jeans. No rips, stains, or wrong sizes. Just as Jamie glanced up the agent was walking out of sight and Jamie leaned over the railing to get a little closer before yelling, "Look like what?"