Eve gets into the car with Mason. She unsurely settles into the black leather seat as the Tesla starts to drive with an eerie quietness. She'd never been in one before. Rachel thought the inside of these electric vehicles will probably have an extensive dashboard, but there's almost nothing. It's uneasily empty - a far cry from her dad's old pickup truck that's full of buttons and sticks.

     There's only a screen in the middle that looks like a tablet. It shows the image of a car at the left and a larger map at right. She's not sure why the car shown on the screen is red when Mason's Tesla is black.

    "Tell me about this machine you want me to look at," Eve says.

    "I don't know how to describe it. It's just a metal case with wires all over it. It's probably a storage box," Mason says.

    "Whose it is?"

    "My uncle, Nathan's."

    "He can't open it?"

    Mason takes a left turn. "He's missing."

    Eve's eyes widen. Mason looks at her, then ahead and says, "He's a Meteorologist. But is really interested in anything that's science. He travels a lot for his researches. He usually calls me almost every week, but in the past few ones, I haven't heard from him. His number doesn't go through."

    "Could his research have taken him to a remote location this time? No signal," Eve says.

    Mason smirks. "His works are always in a remote location. He has a sat phone. Also, last week was my birthday," Mason says, his smile disappearing. "He had never missed calling me on my birthday, no matter where he was."

    Eve could tell Mason is seriously worried for his uncle. "You talked to the cops? Filed a missing persons report?" She asks.

    Mason shakes his head. "My uncle wouldn't want that. He hates the police, government, things like that."

    "What kind of scientist hates the law?"

    "He likes the law, just doesn't trust the people who enforce it. I don't blame him though. Besides, the local police might not be of much help."

    "How are you going to find him then?"

    "I need to retrace his steps. I looked through his place and followed all the leads. All dead ends. The only thing I haven't looked into is what's in that machine."

    "What if I can't open it either?"

    "I'm sure you will," he says as the car stops at a red light.

    Eve stares at the side of Mason's face. This is the longest conversation they have ever had, or one at all. Usually there's just a request from him for the notes, and the next time she sees him she gives him the notes and he pays her.

    Eve had never wondered what kind of person Mason is. He's popular. That she knows. Everyone knows. But she didn't have any other impression of him, until now - He sounds mature, as if he had experienced more life than her, even though they are the same age.

    The light turns green. The car pulls away. Soon they reach a three story neoclassical grey-stone building. Eve steps out looking up at the house. She has heard rumors that Mason is from an unimaginably rich family. She didn't understand what that meant because at Partmore High everyone is unbelievably richer than her, the daughter of a construction worker. But Eve is beginning to put together how the rumors could be true.

    Mason uses a passcode to open the iron door, and a key for the wooden one behind it.

    The inside of the building is just as magnificent, with arches and Doric ceiling. Although the walls are plain, they are covered with photos and artworks.

    They reach the living room. "Wait here, I'll get it for you," Mason says and leaves. Eve looks around the room. The bookshelf catches her eyes first, and it's like what Mason mentioned before of his uncle, someone who's interested in anything related to science. Eve thinks if she had ever met the man they would've gotten along. She notices some of the familiar books: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Newton; The God Equation by Michio Kaku; Origin of Species, Darwin; What is Life? by Schrödinger; A Popular Treatise On The Winds, William Ferrel, and a slightly surprising read for Eve, Tao Te Ching by Laozi.

    Mason's uncle is beginning to look even more mysterious. Eve turns her attention to the Mantle of the fireplace. Photos with varying style of frames are clustered on its surface. The subjects are always the same: Mason and a man, who Eve believes is his uncle Nathan. The backdrops in the photos however vary just as much as the frames: The stone henge, Colosseum, Sphinx, Great Wall of China. There are some places Eve can't guess. She picks up one of the photos. Mason and Nathan are standing on a dangerously narrow suspension bridge with nothing but a dense green forest behind. She turns the photo over. There's an ink inscription - "Pailon del Diablo."

    "It's from our trip to Amazon," Mason's voice says. Eve turns around and sees he's with a wooden box. She puts back the photo. "You didn't say you traveled with him," Eve says. "Only during the vacations," Mason says, putting down the box over the coffee table.

    Eve goes over and looks at the box, with her heart pounding, like every time it did when she's about to be asked a question in the quiz competitions she went to.

    Mason takes off the wooden cover.

    The forehead skin of Eve's wrinkle, looking at the machine.

End of chapter

A/N - Don't forget to vote and comment on the chapters :) See you tomorrow at ML10.