Free Minds

Chapter 69.

   The first two hours to put our cameras in Zavlon to use were reserved for Rav and Landon. Camila and I, in the meantime, converged in her room to map out various areas we could scout when it was our turn.

   Before we knew it, Rav came knocking to inform us that the agreed time was spent. The expressions etched on his and Landon's faces were all Camila and I needed to understand that their search for Mr Sacury's lab was unsuccessful.

   Although it was barely noon, the exhaustion in the boys' red rimmed eyes and their demeanour couldn't be any more evident. Clearly, staring at screens for two hours straight took more energy than anyone could have predicted.

   Well, all this wasn't ominous at all.

   I just hoped Cami and I had better luck.

   While Rav left for his room with the announcement that he was going to take a nap, Landon joined us in Camila's room. He'd volunteered to help sync Rav's laptop with Cami's so that she and I could each get our personal view of Zavlon Academia and cover more ground.

   In addition to making sure we got more coverage of the perimeters, Landon was currently making what he referred to as 'harmless tweaks' to the laptops.

"Almost done," Landon muttered, his gaze fixated on Rav's laptop as he typed away.

   In less than a minute, he switched to Camila's device, going through what I assumed to be the same process.

   After Landon finished, he took several steps away from the desk where the laptops were and gestured for us to do the same. I was about to question the reason he did that and why his head was currently tilted upwards— almost toward the ceiling— when the answer appeared right before my eyes.

   I suppressed the amazed gasp that threatened to erupt from me just in time. Camila, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.

   Although he didn't need to at this point, Landon explained how he'd installed some kind of software which made the laptops that were displaying the various videos captured by our cameras in Zavlon able to project those videos in a holographic form.

"How is this even possible?" Camila gaped without tearing her eyes from the holograms displayed above the very spot Landon made us back away from. "These laptops aren't even made for...this!"

"They're not supposed to be," Landon said. "But that doesn't mean it can't be done."

   I could barely pick up the subsequent explanation he gave to Cami of the process since my eyes remained on the holograms. I mean, I knew Landon had to have been good if Talise made him one of the members of her hackers' school club but this... I don't even think Talise could do this.

   This was some next level shi—.

"Well?" Landon's clear, deep voice broke my trance.

"Huh?" It was only then that I realised the person he had been referring to for the past five seconds was me.

"You haven't said a word," he raised an eyebrow. "A little too stunned by my genius, are we? Not that I blame you."

   I chuckled before admitting, "This is amazing. And really helpful. Thank you, Landon."

"Anytime," he gave me a small smile.

   Even after Landon's reply and his grin eventually drifted away, the same couldn't be said for his eyes on me. His blue-eyed stare had the most piercing effect I'd ever experienced. It couldn't really be described in a good or bad way, just, in a word... intense.

   So intense that it made me remember what he'd said earlier in the morning as we returned from breakfast. About his family and Talise not being the only ones he cared about. Something I'd been trying to forget.