Chapter 7 - The Team Up

                                    

                                          
Boys surround us as we work at a table in the corner of the shop class. I got a special permission slip to come to class during this study period, telling people it was for the internship. Peter and I work very carefully on the glowing rock, trying to remove it from within the metal frame that contains it. 
                          
"Hey, thanks for bailing on me." Ned grunts at Peter, making his way over to our table. 
                          
"Yeah, well, something came up." Peter mutters, gesturing to the rock I work on. Ned walks over towards it with wide eyes, "What is that?" 
                          
I work meticulously and carefully as I start to undo the wires and screws surrounding the glowing orb. Peter leans down next to me and shrugs, "I don't know. Some guy tried to vaporise me with it." 
                          
"Seriously?" Ned gasps and Peter sighs, "Yeah."
                          
"Awesome." Ned cheers. 
                          
Both Peter and I look up and give him a look, to which he quickly back tracks, "I mean, not awesome, totally uncool of that guy. So scary." 
                          
I shake my head and I turn back to the rock, "I think it's a power source." 
                          
"Yeah, but it's connected to all these microprocessors." Ned says, walking forward and pointing to the root of the gun, "That's an inductive charging plate. That's what I use to charge my toothbrush." 
                          
"Whoever is making these weapons is combining alien tech with ours." I murmur, pretty impressed with the technology in front of me.
                          
"That is literally the coolest sentence anyone has ever said." Ned states and I look up, giving him a wink. He smiles and turns to Peter, "I just want to thank you for letting me be apart of your journey, into this amazing-"
                          
I step back as Peter picks up a hammer, hitting the gun and the glowing orb flies out creating a surge of energy that shakes the table. We all freeze up and look over to the shop teacher, who doesn't look up from the book in his hand, "Keep your fingers clear of the blades." 
                          
I let out a breath of relief and the three of us turn back. Peter picks up the orb and turns it in his fingers, "We gotta figure out what this thing is and who makes it." 
                          
"We'll go to the lab after class and run some tests." Ned suggests and I nod in agreement. 
                          
Without looking at each other, the pair perform a handshake that I've seen them do way too many times in the last four years. I roll my eyes but smile though, happy to be apart of this journey. 
                          
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Shop class is over and we are walking down an empty hallway. Ned stands on the other side of Peter and looks between us, "First, we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer." 
                          
"First, we gotta come up with a better name than glowy thing."I chuckle and Ned nods, "You're right." 
                          
"Crap." Peter mutters, grabbing my hand and pulling me against him as he jumps out of the hallway. 
                          
I gasp at the sudden movement and he looks down at me, his breathing quick before we pull apart. Peter gesturing towards Ned to follow us, "Come on, come on, come on." 
                          
Ned scurries after us and we all look around the corner to see these two adult guys coming forward. They look incredibly sketchy, holding a small box in one hand as they are dressed in all black. The smaller of the two looks around the halls, "High schools creep me out, they got that funny smell, you know?"