The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

Keegan's Story

Keegan and Tober stood on the roof of the courthouse, drinking in the view. A white haze muted the sun, making the forest below them appear almost black. They seemed hypnotized by the open sky and tree-covered hills.

Cam let them have their moment while he retrieved his forgotten backpack. "So, Kinsler," he said, finally breaking the reverie. "You mentioned something about an origin story?"

Keegan turned and rested his elbows on the concrete railing. "I got kicked out," he said casually.

"How?" Cam asked, hoisting the backpack onto one shoulder. "I mean, why?"

"So, right before holiday break, one of the teachers—one of the real teachers—called me into her office to tell me she wanted me to be a cadet instructor next year, and I needed to start prepping this year."

"You?" Tober snickered. "I'm sorry, I know you're smart, I just can't imagine you telling people to simmer down and do their homework."

"It was Mrs. Stevens," Keegan said. "We had her for English Comp."

"Oh," Tober replied sheepishly. "I like her. She's nice."

Keegan nodded in agreement. "She's one of the few people around here who gives a crap about us. She knows how bad most of the CI's suck and obviously recognizes talent, so—"

"You found a way to screw her over?" Cam finished.

"Hey!" Keegan laid a hand over his heart. "Since when am I the bad guy?"

"Sorry," Cam said with a smirk. "Just joking."

Brushing off the insult, Keegan continued. "Anyway, she had to go deal with something and left me sitting there alone with her computer."

Cam cleared his throat.

"I was dying to get on it but held myself back."

"Okay..."

"Mostly because I didn't think I'd have time to do anything worthwhile."

Cam leveled an accusing finger at Keegan. "And there it is."

"Can I finish, Drex?"

"Please do."

"So instead, I took a piece of tape and used it to stick the door-latch open so it wouldn't lock," Keegan explained. "Then I went back during holiday break and walked right in. All I had to do was guess her password, and I was online."

"And that was no problem for a hacker like you!" Tober beamed.

"I'm not a hacker, Sunderland. You'd be surprised how many systems you can get into with admin/admin as the username and password."

Tober shrugged. "Sounds like hacking to me."

"Call it what you want," Keegan said. "But I spent the next two weeks playing games and downloading movies."

Tober's eyes lit up. "That's where you were!"

"I'm surprised you never asked where I was going every morning."

"Would you have told me?"

"Ha! No."

"As interesting as all this is," Cam interjected. "How exactly did she catch you?"

"She didn't," Keegan answered. "They have site blocker software that I guess keeps the teachers from playing online poker all day. Only it uses a browser extension that's stupid easy to turn off."

"Hacker," Tober said, masking the word with a cough.

Cam folded his arms across his chest. "And they caught you because?"