"Hey Kim."

Grey turned around at the sound of Morris' voice. She smiled evilly.

"Hey. Are you ready?" She asked.

Morris nodded.

"Let's do this." He stated.

The two carried on with their plans. As they were busy, someone was above them on another floor level. The grin on his face masked the future actions that were sure to come.

"Yeah, let's do this." He agreed.

********************

The technopath was speeding past students in the hallway. His eyes searched for a certain young lady. The sound of a locker opening caught his attention. He quickly looked to his right. The sight of the cheerleader made him smile. She was currently grabbing one of her notebooks. Her focus was pulled away from it as she was greeted by the halt of a skateboard.

"Nice entrance, Walker. The last person that did that fell off and hit the janitor." Ryley spoke.

"Well, good thing I'm not the janitor." Ryan replied.

The cheerleader closed her locker, holding her notebook close to her chest.

"So, why did you wanna meet up?" Ryan questioned.

His girlfriend handed him the notebook. Curiously, he took it from her.

"That's what we have to do. We're gonna start going around the school and see who has this kind of stuff. Sorta like a favor chain." Ryley explained as the pilot peeked inside the notebook.

"Ok. But, what are we getting?" Ryan inquired.

"Supplies. The generator supports the barrier. This is for when the others get here." Ryley answered.

"Others?" Ryan quizzed.

"I told you there were more technopaths. My friend Steven and his sister Hannah have it. Their power is really strong, like I told you before. You might've seen Hannah before. She's always on the phone." Ryley informed.

"Wait, you mean the one who sits next to Veracity at lunch? With the headphones?" Ryan asked.

Ryley nodded.

"Wow, did not see that coming." Ryan added.

"I don't think anybody did." Ryley agreed.

The two continued to talk. From the corner, Harris and Spyder were listening in. The young genius knew something was going on. He knew that his friend had been acting weird and a little more distant than usual. The young cheerleader definitely had a part to play in his sudden absence. All he wanted to know was why.

"Wait, a favor chain? Why do they wanna start a favor chain?" Spyder whispered.

"To get parts for something. Aren't you listening?" Harris questioned him.

"I am, but it's hard to hear from this side." He responded.

Harris glanced at him before paying attention once again.

"I thought you already helped them?" Ryan queried.

"I did. But, they play a part in this too. Their powers will make this even better. And I'll tell you more when we get there. Right now, I need you to ask everyone on this list. I got the other one. Text me when your done." Ryley instructed.

"Ok...then what?" Ryan requested.

"Geez, you ask a lot of questions. You should be a game show host." Ryley replied.

Her boyfriend chuckled. The bell rung, making the two have to part ways. Once they both left, Harris and Spyder came out of their little hole. The young genius had a questioning expression plastered on his face.

"So their asking people for supplies? Hmm...wonder why they needs parts?" Harris asked.

"Maybe it's for a project." Spyder guessed.

"Yeah, but Ryley said more people were coming. And it sounds like it's not just a simple project. We gotta ask Ryan what he's doing." Harris decided.

"K, let's go." Spyder agreed.

"Um, we have class. And as much as you hate it, you know how your mom is." Harris retorted.

"I know that. But, she's gone for the next month. She won't even know." Spyder told him.

Harris shook his head as he headed to class. His friend went the opposite way. As the trio was currently on their way to their assigned classrooms, the oldest of the bunch had been off doing his own thing. As of right now, he was busy talking to his friends and trying to dodge the obvious question they had. They didn't even need to say it because the former jock was aware what they all were thinking. It became preferably annoying and also that much more hard for him to avoid it. He hadn't been good at covering his tracks since the incident with Ryan being upset with him over a shocking family revelation. It was then and there that the guys had suspicion churning in their minds like butter. The group wasn't furious with their friend, just concerned is all. However, they fail to realize that they could never understand what is truly going on with their buddy.

"I told you guys a million times, I've been busy." Mark stated.

Blake crossed his arms.

"That's all you say. Look, if you got a nasty lump on your back, just say it. I know it's embarrassing, but lots of people had that." Collin said.

The guys gave him a weird.

"A lump?" Sean asked.

"Yeah, it was big and red. Jalen knows what I'm talking about." Collin replied.

The group looked at the oldest one. He sighed.

"I saw him at the doctor's office. He told me what happened. They had to pop it." Jalen explained.

"Eww!" Everyone remarked.

"Geez dude, glad your okay, but that's nasty." Greg added.

Collin nodded.

"No but seriously, you can't be hanging with Georgia 24/7. She doesn't need that much of you." Sean joked.

"Hey, having lots of Mark Walker is good for the soul." The sixteen year old responded.

Sean shook his head.

"Seriously bro. I don't even remember the last time we hung out." Blake told him.

"Yeah. We used to hang out all the time after school. And every Saturday night, we either have movie night or go to the mall for shakes." Jalen listed.

"And football! Dude, I tackled every single one of y'all." Collin mentioned.

"Bro, you had me scared sometimes. If you weren't on my team, I didn't wanna run the ball. You hit hard." Greg complimented.

Collin grinned proudly.

"Yeah man. What happened to all that? You good?" Dane questioned.

Mark nodded.

"Yeah guys, I'm fine." He reassured them.

"Don't make me go get him." Blake warned.

"Who?" Mark asked.

"Little Walker. I can get him to snitch." Blake answered.

Mark rolled his eyes.

"He won't snitch. Plus, I already threatened him if he does." He replied.

"So something is going on?" Sean inquired.

Mark glanced at the clock before responding.

"Uh guys, we got class." He informed.

"Uh uh. Don't change the subject. We're not done." Dane caught.

"Yeah! And unfortunately for you, I hate my next class. I can do this all period long." Collin backed him up.

"What's your first class?" Greg posed.

"Math." Colin replied.

"Ooo, that's messed up." Sean stated.

"I know. My teacher hates my guts. She literally calls me peanut." Collin complained.

Jalen chuckled.

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Cause of my head." Collin responded.

"What up peanut head!" Sean teased.

Collin glared at him.

"Wait, where's you class?" Dane questioned.

"D105." Collin answered.

"Ooohh! You got Ms. Derillo. Bro, she's a nightmare. I heard a kid peed his pants cause he forgot the homework and he didn't want the teacher to know." Jalen told them.

"He peed?" Mark inquired.

"Soaked his pants and boxers. He had to go home." Jalen added.

"Oh yeah. People called him wet Willy for months." Blake mentioned.

Sean chuckled.

"Hey wait a sec. You changed the subject again! Yo, your slick dude." Collin realized.

"Your the one who brought up math class." Jalen pointed out.

"Well, all of you started asking me questions." Collin defended himself.

"You didn't have to answer." Blake replied.

"Yeah but that's rude." Collin told him.

Mark shook his head as Dane looked back at him.

"Alright weirdos, let's go. We'll talk later at my place. Your coming, right?" He quizzed.

Mark, who didn't know what to say since monsters and anything suspicious comes up so quickly and unexpectedly, just shrugged.

"Maybe." The sixteen year old retorted.

"Uh uh. Not a maybe, your coming. If I gotta drag your little skinny butt out I'll do it." Blake stated.

"I dare you." Mark challenged.

"If you don't come by tonight, I'll prove you wrong." Blake happily accepted.

The group of friends began to spread apart as they headed to class. The former jock sighed. As much as he loved hanging out with his friends, it's not like he could tell them his situation. All of the reactions to helping his brother to fight in a giant 150 foot robot to kill monsters are various in many ways. Not the best so called Mark Walker is his mind. And to make matters worse, is the fact that his buddies, though comical, were right at every turn. They could easily put Mark in the corner and burry him with questions that he couldn't give the answers to. The odds of at least one of them finding out is not totally impossible. The sophomore knew better than to drop any subtle hints that could lead them to discovering the machine for themselves. Although he didn't do that specifically, his absence was enough for them to be curious and dig a little deeper into what he might be doing. Well, the only person who would be that the most is Sean. Everyone else basically feeds off of what is found. Overall, this was the type of complication that the sixteen year old had to fix.