The Ultimate Spies

Prologue: Day Zero

              Day Zero 

            “Don’t you think this is a little creepy?” Jacob asks as he settles down into the plush chair with his name on it. “I mean, I understand why we’re doing it, but isn’t it creepy? Just… spying on this poor girl?”

“Jacob,” Nick states, sending a look at him. “It’s a contest, we’ve already signed up for it, and besides, we’re helping research.”

“But it’s weird,” Jacob argues back. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, but can we all just admit it’s weird?” He looks around at the other people in the room.

“Well,” the head of the operation states as he takes his chair. “Let’s go over the rules again. Perhaps then it will feel less… invasive.”

Everyone settles in and focuses on the leader, waiting for his speech to continue.

“Alright,” he says. “You boys are famous–”

“YouTube famous,” Jacob cuts in, annoyed at the thought of being truly famous.

“Yes, yes. ‘YouTube famous,’” the leader corrects. “Anyway… you presented this contest to your fans, correct? And waited for submissions?”

The ‘famous’ YouTube sensations nod their heads. Jacob Avalos, Nick Hayden, and Carter Masters had become popular internet sensations for their videos on YouTube. They were often funny, sometimes inspirational, and always a little goofy. They share a channel and take turns posting videos each week, always thinking of what they can do to inspire or entertain their fans. All three are attractive guys, all in their early twenties. To be specific, Jacob and Nick are twenty-one, while Carter trails by one year.

“Alright,” the leader continues. Jackson Haywood was his name, a tall man of thirty-five. “What exactly did you say in the contest description? Just to be clear…”

“The winner of the contest would be studied in order for the world to better understand the struggles of a high school senior during the second half of the year,” Carter supplies.

“And you announced a fake winner?” Jackson asks.

“Yeah,” Nick says. A fake winner was announced so the actual winner, Alyssa Splendor, would not know that she was being watched and therefore would not change her typical behavior. They want an honest portrayal of the life in a teenage girl in order to get a more accurate understanding.

“Okay, good. Today, we asked her mother to get her out of the house so we could set up the cameras. We have one in her bedroom, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, one in the upstairs hallway, and one in the strap of her backpack. The school is aware of our project and has allowed us to tap into their security footage to watch her there as well. There are also cameras on her purse and we’ve used scientific technology to tap into her brainwaves to see what she sees. When we choose to be connected to her we will feel her pain, her hunger, her thoughts, everything. We will, essentially, become her.”

“I still think this is a little creepy,” Jacob says under his breath. He ran his hands through his brown hair.

“Well,” Jackson states, his green eyes looking tired, “let’s just get through the rest of this talk, okay?”

Jacob sighs and nods, waiting for Jackson to continue speaking.

“Alright. Her mother has told me that she wakes up for school at six-ten every morning. So tomorrow morning we will meet here at six, just to be safe. We will do our best to be… noninvasive,” Jackson says as he looks at Jacob. “That means quickly shutting off the camera when she begins changing, and not using our technology to feel everything she feels more than thrice a day. Okay?”

The three boys nod, but Jacob is unable to shake the feeling in his stomach that something was going to go wrong.

New story ♥ I'm not sure how it'll go and I'll keep writing Not Your Property, but I couldn't shake this idea...