Page 61 of Mastermind

Mylo is Hailey’s best friend and probably the most sarcastic person I’ve ever met. Nothing I could say or do would impress her.

“We’re running an online tournament right now. She’s providing commentary.”

“Does that include reminding your fans they’re going to die virgins?” I joke.

Hailey shakes her head. “You of all people can’t be the ultimate nerd hero and then point at other nerds and yell, ‘Nerd!’ It doesn’t work that way.”

“Fair point.”

“So, the Void thing? Are you involved in that?” she asks.

“Kind of. Did it affect you?”

“Not too much. We run some servers from Manhattan, but everything was backed up. It was more of a problem for some friends there. A lot of people had their entire businesses wiped. I’m hosting a used-laptop drive to help people get back on their feet,” she explains.

“That’s good of you.”

“Good? If people don’t have computers, they can’t play my games,” she jokes. “So, seriously, are there going to be more of those after Singapore and Seoul?”

“I don’t know. Are you worried about your data?”

“Yeah. Like everyone else now. Companies are scrambling to add triple redundant backups. Some services are even offering servers in Faraday cages.”

“Smart,” I reply.

“Maybe. What can I do to help?”

“With what?”

“Your case, idiot. What can I do?”

“I don’t have a case. They actually wanted to put me into some detention center in case I had some connection to what was going on. Some people were afraid that I was a secret criminal mastermind.”

“Well . . . ,” Hailey replies.

“Well, what?”

“You do have that ‘decides who lives and who dies’ vibe. Not gonna lie. I think it’s kind of attractive, but I always rooted for Ming the Merciless and the Bond villains with the good plan.”

“Maybe we should be looking into you.”

She shakes her head, “Oh, Theo, you could never catch me if you tried. But seriously, if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”

“I will. Assuming they let me stay involved.” I’m surprised to hear myself say that. A few days ago, all I wanted was to die or go home and sleep forever. What changed?

Idiot. You know what changed. You don’t only need challenges, you need challenging people.

People like Hailey, who can run circles around you mentally; or Jillian, who can literally run circles around you hiking up a trail looking for a crime scene; or Johnny, who could grasp a concept so quickly you felt stupid for not seeing it his way; and of course Jessica, who underneath it all is as scarred as I am, but somehow manages to hold it all together.

“Earth to Theo.” Hailey snaps her fingers. “You zone out on me again and I’ll have you committed to a facility I control where Mylo can be your therapist.”

“Sorry. I appreciate the offer of help. There might be a point where I need something in a hurry.”

“Like what? A helicopter? Billie Eilish singing at your birthday party?”

“I don’t know who he is,” I reply. “Either way, I’ll let you know.”

My phone starts buzzing. I glance down and realize I’ve received five text messages from Jessica while talking to Hailey. Each one is marked Urgent.