Saving Nightlock

4. Geniuses With A Thing For Espionage

September 25, 08:15 A.M.

Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.

St. Andrews High School.

ISABELLA.

About 45 minutes ago...

Come on, I urge the minute hand, Just a bit faster now.

Sociology class first period is the absolute opposite of thrilling, especially if you've just graduated college. It's even worse if the teacher speaks in a flat monotone that makes you want to crawl into a corner and cover your ears.

Which is exactly how Mrs. Dimitrov happens to lecture.

Sociology should be interesting, at least. Does this teacher even understand the meaning of interesting? An idea of the concept? A faint notion perhaps?

Doubtful.

After all, the only thing she's been driveling on about is 'boss authority' and 'paternalism' since I started here. Couldn't she have picked a more interesting topic, like Ideology or the Internalization process?

The best thing about Sociology is that there's no set formula for every age, every person, every culture. It's always changing. The unthinkable becomes thinkable; yesterday's outrageous becomes the standard of today.

That doesn't mean it's right—but it certainly is interesting.

"...Recent debates in public health ethics have engaged most critically with the individualistic and anti-paternalistic liberal..." The teacher drones on and on.

Good lord, having Irene yelling at me is better than this. What was her problem today anyway? Her face scrunches up like a sponge full of dirty dish water if I even think the word "mission". She lied about going out, that's for sure.

"And now," Mrs. Dimitrov raises her voice, "Your first homework assignment will be an essay on the appropriate relationship between an employer and an employee. The second will be reviewing the definitions of all the terms we've studied so far. Quiz on Wednesday. Take out your notebooks."

Everyone groans. I'm just happy she's stopped talking. Thank the heavens.

While my classmates copy down the tedious long list of vocabulary tacked to the wall, I slip my phone out and place it under a book. Time to find out what's going on.

There's a tiny, state of the art camera in one of the top corners of the training room. I don't know who put that little piece of awe-inspiring technology there, but I do know that he or she is a freaking genius.

He's also a complete moron. Or she. Giving me such easy access to something like that. Tapping in is child's play. I have Gollum moments just thinking about....my precious. My prrrrecious. Mii prrrrrreeecious...muhahahaha!

Focus Isabella Leonora Lake. This isn't the time for getting distracted - if Irene were to catch me doing this, she wouldn't be happy.

I open a direct link from the camera to my phone. So I'll have no problems viewing the footage now.

I flick through the files to yesterday morning's footage, and skim through till I find a clip of Xena and Irene. The clip opens with them walking into the training room. Irene picks up some papers, and then proceeds to walk back to the stairs just as Xena calls: "Irene."

The other girl turns around with a frown. "Yes?"

"Have you heard from Henry at all?"

"Nothing so far. Henry hasn't contacted me since my last mission, which was before Cedric told me that Henry wanted me to begin training you guys. A few months ago. Why, have you?"