Adam must have circled Tyche Point's halls twenty times before he finally spotted Eric's friend Summer standing at her locker. He called her name and jogged toward her.

"Adam?" Summer closed the locker door and turned to face him. "Do you know where Eric is?"

Adam's heart sank. He stopped in front of her. "You haven't heard from him, then?"

Confusion gave way to concern. "Not since history yesterday," Summer said. "Is he missing?"

"He went out on a walk last night and never came back," Adam explained. "I'm going to go help look for him, I was just hoping you might know—"

"Summer!" A boy Adam didn't recognize walked up to them. A girl trailed behind. Judging by the similarity in their appearance and troubled expressions, they had to be siblings.

"Oh, Sam, this is Eric's brother Adam." Summer halfheartedly gestured to Adam. "Sam, you haven't heard from Eric since yesterday, have you?"

Sam. The telekinetic Eric had mentioned yesterday.

"No." Sam frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"He's missing. And this isn't the first time," Adam explained. "He disappeared for about a week when he was a kid, around ten years ago. We never figured out what happened, and he doesn't remember anything." Maybe it wasn't related. But given the superpowers, Adam couldn't rule out the possibility.

Sam's sister's eyes widened. "No way," she whispered. When everyone's attention shifted to her, she cleared her throat. "Sam. That happened to you twelve years ago."

Sam rubbed his arm. "Right. Yeah."

"This is what I was afraid of!"

Summer turned to Sam's sister. "Listen—uh, I didn't catch your name."

"Veronica." Her response was cold. "I warned Sam about getting involved with this stuff. If he goes missing again—"

"What's important right now is finding Eric," Sam said.

"Right." Summer's attention moved back to Adam. "Did he say what direction he was going when he left?"

"No." Adam shook his head. "Look, we've already talked to the police, and my mom's out searching for him. I'm going to go look too, I just wanted to check with you first."

"I can help," Summer insisted.

"Thanks, but you should go to class," Adam told her. "We've got other people out already. I'll let you know if we find anything."

He walked away, eager to leave behind the brewing tension. Veronica had a point about their powers being dangerous. And if Sam had disappeared as a kid too, Adam was sure there was a connection.

But that was an issue for later. Right now, Adam had one more person to talk to before he went back to his search.

She was in the classroom tech club was held in, as he'd hoped. She sat alone in the corner, typing at a laptop, hair up in a ponytail, coffee next to her, all while kids around her chatted and worked on projects of their own.

Adam approached her. "Willow."

"What do you want?" Willow asked as she looked up.

"Your help. It's an emergency."

Willow lifted an eyebrow. "Go on."

"My brother went missing on a walk last night. Since you were apparently able to hack into the auditorium cameras, I was wondering if there was a chance you could get into security cameras around town and see if you can find out what happened." Saying the words out loud, Adam realized how much of a long shot this was. "I know, it's a lot, but I'm desperate. If you can help, I swear I'll find some way to make it up to you—"

Willow cut him off. "Let me see what I can do." She adjusted her laptop and began typing. "Any idea where he was walking?"

"Not really. Sorry." Adam began pacing back and forth in the short space in front of Willow's desk. "It might not be related, but he also went missing for a week when he was six."

Willow paused. After a moment, she asked, "Has anything unusual happened more recently? Did he mention anything...strange?"

"I don't think so," Adam replied. He stopped pacing. "Wait. He was talking about seeing black cars driving around town the other day. He said that they had D.C. plates like they were government vehicles or something."

"Government vehicles," Willow muttered. She was typing faster now. "Now we're getting somewhere."

"Huh?"

"You weren't planning on going to class, were you?" Willow asked.

"No, I was going to go look for him."

"Good." Willow closed her laptop and stood up. "We're going to need some better equipment. Come with me."

Adam followed her to the door, torn between his desire for her to elaborate, and his slight fear of her. It was a miracle that she had agreed to help at all.

On the way out, Willow paused next to a girl working on the mess of wires inside an open computer. "Kate, if I'm not back by lunch, can you run today's meeting?"

"Oh, uh, sure."

After Willow looked away, Adam saw annoyance flash across the girl's face.

Willow led Adam to her locker just around the corner, where she pulled out a radio plugged into an older laptop model. "We need to get somewhere high," she told Adam. "Ever been on the roof?"

"Uh, that sounds...against the rules."

Willow's laugh took him by surprise. "Only sometimes. I've got a key, though, since I persuaded the administration to let tech club do projects up there." It was clear from her tone that she was immensely proud of herself for that. "Come on."

She was off again. Adam jogged to catch up. "You walk fast," he noted.

She didn't respond, instead choosing to fiddle with the antenna of the radio.

"What's that for?" Adam asked. "I don't see how you're going to get any useful information from tuning into radio signals."

"Oh, this?" Willow smirked. "I'd hardly call it a radio at this point. I hollowed this thing out and added some more...useful components."

A narrow hallway, a staircase, and a locked door brought them to the roof. Willow set up her laptop and made a few adjustments to the radio dials.

Adam slid his hands into his jacket pockets. "So, uh, mind if I ask what you're doing?"

"Looking for out of place signals. I have a hunch." Willow's face lit up. "Bingo." Her hands darted across her keyboard. "You know that old lab outside of town?"

"The one people dare each other to sneak into?" Adam had never been himself, but a few of his friends knew kids who had. The place had a reputation for being downright creepy.

Willow nodded. "Delta Labs shut down twelve years ago. There was an accident. Building's basically unusable now. The upper levels, anyway. Most of the sublevels are still intact, and I think—" She hit one last key, and graphs and text filled her screen. "—we have some visitors."

Adam leaned forward to peer at the screen and didn't understand a single thing he was looking at.

"I think whoever's been hanging around Tyche Point has taken over the labs," Willow continued. "And I'm pretty sure they're using radio to communicate inside. But I won't be able to get on their signal from here."

"You think they have Eric?" Adam asked.

"Honestly? Not sure. But they're likely suspects. Look." Willow opened a new window, displaying more line graphs Adam didn't understand. "I take regular readings of the town and the surrounding area. These signals are new." She pointed at a peak. "There's activity from the direction of the labs that are supposed to be abandoned. And it only started recently, which I'm guessing fits with the arrival of the cars Eric saw around town."

The more Willow talked, the less Adam understood. "Wait, what? What kind of readings?" he asked. "Why are you taking them? And how do you know it's from that direction?"

"Do you want a science lecture, or do you want to find your brother?"

Good point. All Adam needed was a place to look, and he had it. He straightened up. "Okay, great. Thanks." He started toward the door.

Willow closed the laptop and jumped to her feet. "Wait, you're not going to go out there, are you?"

Adam glanced at her over his shoulder. "Of course I am. I have to find Eric."

"Are you crazy?" Now Willow was the one rushing to catch up. "You can't possibly think you'll be able to just walk in, grab your brother, and walk out."

Adam's fists tightened. That familiar sensation bubbled up just beneath the surface. Heat rushed to his hands, but he pulled it back. Not yet.

"Thank you for your help. I owe you one." He opened the door.

Willow wasn't done. She darted forward and moved into his path. "Can you think of any particular reason people might want your brother? Anything about him?" She backed down the stairs, one hand on the railing, her free arm cradling her equipment.

Adam paused. Did she know about their powers? No, how could she possibly know? He kept moving. "I don't know, and there's no reason for you to care."

"Fine." Willow reached the bottom of the stairs. "Then I'm cashing in my favor now. Take me with you."

Adam paused. "What?"

"You said you owe me one for helping you. I want to come to Delta Labs with you."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons. Besides, I could help you."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"What, you think I can't handle myself, just because I'm not some tough athlete like you?" Willow held up her laptop. "I might be able to get into their comms or cameras once I get close, so you don't have to go in blind."

That would make things easier, but Adam still hesitated. There was a good chance he would have to use his powers to rescue Eric. Could he trust Willow with that secret if she found out?

Willow watched him expectantly.

"Fine," he conceded. "Let's go."