Chapter 1

 Max stumbled out of the Course, sweat dripping off of his face. He had just had to fight off six vyes and had managed to take down four before the other two got him. He knew he could have done better, but it was only his second try at a scenario filled with vyes. He rode up the elevator and strode toward the kitchen, mindful of his grumbling stomach.

Ever since Cooper had announced that vyes, tall wolf-hounds, would be inserted into scenarios, most students had stopped going to the Course. Max, however, kept training. He knew that there was an extremely good chance that he’d encounter vyes in the future, so he made sure to go to the Course every single day.

Max had just reached the kitchen when Mum shot through the doors. She whizzed by him, screeching unintelligibly. Frowning, Max stepped into the kitchen.
“What’s going on with Mum?” he asked Bob. The tall ogre, who was making dinner, shrugged.
“I suggested that she should let me make the dessert for tonight, which is going to be a souffle, but then she got angry. She said that she could make one that is perfectly fine and that I should stick to making the dinner. She thinks I was doubting her souffle-making abilities,” Bob said. “Which I kind of was.”
Max smiled. He was about to reach for a sandwich when his friend Sarah Amankwe walked into the kitchen, guiding Mum by the hand.
“I make the best food in the world, right?” sniffed the hag. Sarah put on a charming smile and murmured her agreement.
“Bob’s food tastes like dung and death put together, right?” Mum pressed. Sarah nodded wholeheartedly, shooting Bob an apologetic glance. Bob rolled his eyes and shrugged. Max let out a small laugh, amused by Mum’s question. Sarah smiled at him, amused as well.
Max turned away to hide the blush that was slowly spreading across his face. He liked Sarah, but he also had feelings for Julie Teller, a third-year. He knew that Sarah had had feelings for him earlier in the school year, but he wasn’t so sure about now. Shaking his head, Max stuffed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his mouth. Girls are so complicated, he thought to himself.
Having comforted Mum, Sarah walked over to Max.
“Hey,” she said, helping herself to a sandwich. “I found Mum out in the hall muttering to herself. Something about Bob and souffles.”
Max nodded distractedly. He didn’t really know how to act around Sarah anymore; his feelings for her were still new to him. It had only been a few weeks since he realized that he liked her. The only other person who knew was David. He had started asking questions when he saw Max staring at Sarah with a dazed look on his face. He was startled out of his thoughts when Sarah poked his face.
“What?” he asked, frowning and rubbing his cheek.
“I said, it was awfully nice of your father’s friend to come by earlier today.”
“What?” Max repeated. “Who?”
Sarah sighed. “You know, Mr. Lukens. He came by earlier. He was really sweet. Said he wanted to talk to you. Apparently your father wanted to surprise you with a visit but something work related came up, so Mr. Lukens volunteered to come.”
Max frowned. He didn’t know what to think other than that something about what Sarah was saying was slightly odd. “I wonder why Mr. Lukens would come without my father, then. Why would he even want to? That’s weird...”
“Well you can ask him yourself! He’s upstairs in your room.”
“What?! But he’s going to see everything that he’s not supposed to! My room looks nothing like a typical room should! Why is he---”
“Calm down, Max,” said Sarah, giggling. “He was given a badge that apparently filters everything he sees. He’s been in your room for a while, though. You might want to head up there now.”
Max sighed in relief. However, another question surfaced in his mind. “Sarah, do you know why he’s in my room instead of waiting elsewhere? I mean, Mr. Lukens is nice and all, but it’s not like he’s a close family friend who can just go into my room and hang out whenever he wants to.”
Sarah nodded, understanding. “Who knows. Just go up there and find out. I’ll see you at dinner. Let me know how it goes, alright?”
Max nodded and said good-bye to her. He grabbed another sandwich and trotted up the stairs that led to the floor his room was on. This time, the sandwich was ham and cheese, and he savored every bite. He walked into his room, expecting to see Mr. Lukens sitting on a chair or maybe even sleeping since he had had to wait for a while, but instead he saw his father’s boss rummaging through David’s things. David was his roommate, and Max saw no reason why Mr. Lukens should even be touching anything in the room.
“Mr. Lukens?” Max said, closing the door. The man straightened up and turned around, a smile on his face.
“Ah, Max! It is so good to see you again!” he said, slowly inching away from David’s personal belongings. “How are you? Has this school been treating you well? You know, I was thinking about trying to get my niece into this amazing institution, bu---”
“What were you doing looking through my roommate’s things?” Max demanded. Something strange was going on.
“Sorry?” asked Mr. Lukens, doing a horrible job of acting like he didn’t know what Max was talking about. He continued to slowly move away from David’s things and toward Max, his hands behind his back.
“Answer my question,” Max demanded. He suddenly realized that Mr. Lukens had taken something of David’s. “What’s behind your back?”
Mr. Lukens laughed heartily and raised his hands, revealing that he wasn’t holding anything. He smiled at Max as if they were sharing a private, extremely hilarious joke while climbing up the stairs.
“My boy, I haven’t touched any of David’s things. I was just cleaning up. Your friend is a rather untidy fellow.”
Max frowned. “You obviously just put whatever you were holding in your back pocket! Just tell me wh... I never told you his name.”
Mr. Lukens hesitated, sensing that he had just made a mistake. He tried smiling, but saw the look in Max’s eyes. And with that realization, he lunged.