“Look. I’ll I’m asking is why Beatrice would use this method of getting into contact with you.”

“I don’t know. She did the same thing before when she told me to touch the artifact without actually telling me to touch the artifact,” Dyna said as she reset the timers on several scheduled emails intended for herself. “Maybe something about the situation forced her to do this.”

Ruby scoffed. “Assuming she couldn’t just call you, or whatever, why not text or email? You think hacking into Livermore’s files and changing around some images is really more likely? That sounds more like something she absolutely wouldn’t be able to do.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t understand the rules she has to live by.”

“Did you try asking?”

Dyna sighed, glanced up, made eye contact with the red light on the security camera, and said, “Beatrice, have you been trying to tell me something?” The phrasing was a bit different this time, but she doubted that would change much.

“I apologize. I do not know of what you are referring to.”

Dyna nodded and looked over to Ruby. “See?”

“That just tells me that she didn’t do anything. The glorified secretary,” Ruby mumbled.

“Well that doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“How?”

Dyna set down her tablet and leaned back in her chair. “Who else would it have been? Livermore seemed upset that he couldn’t continue with the experiment. He suggested Emerald, but Emerald is far more likely to just tell me than anyone else. And she’s been gone for a week now. She also wouldn’t have known about Livermore’s experiment. Anyone else with access to Livermore’s files would probably just have told me too. So it has to be the one person who is restricted and constrained in her actions. Right?”

“That does make a small amount of sense.”

“So you see why we need to figure out a way to elevate Beatrice’s permissions, so she can tell us properly what she was trying to tell us.”

“Or, hear me out, why don’t we not do that.”

“What?” Dyna spun in her chair. “Why?”

Ruby ran a hand through her red hair, wiggling it back and forth as she went. “Well, I don’t have any idea where to begin with something like that. It isn’t like I can just look up the institute’s directory for Beatrice’s technicians like I did with the memory specialist. Not only that, but Beatrice is like super top secret stuff. We won’t be able to just waltz in and waltz out without so much as a slap on the wrist like we did last time. I don’t even know where to waltz into or out of.”

“That’s…” Dyna slumped back, folding her arms. “Then what do we do?”

“Why not focus on the information you’ve already received rather than how it got to you. You said it showed your other friends going missing. The institute tracked down their contact information, right? Give them a call and ask if they’ve been kidnapped lately.”

“That… could be phrased better.” But it wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, it was probably a much better idea than what Dyna thought of. Assuming someone was out to get them, it would probably be better to contact them sooner rather than dither about trying to squeeze information from Beatrice.

Time could be of the essence if people were in danger.

Turning back to her desk, Dyna pulled up her tablet. She swiped through a few files she had been sent, looking for one in particular. It didn’t take long to find. A full list of her childhood friends and their current contact information.

Emmanuel Fultz, the one whose birthday had been at the water park. Dyna herself was included in the list for some reason. She knew her own number. Then there were the other three. Ken Zahradnicek, Victor Thorpe, and Matthew Quincy. The last of whom didn’t actually have a phone number or email address. He did have a mailing address, so she would have to send an old fashioned letter.

Later.

It was somewhat amusing that her mother had remembered absolutely none of her friends correctly—or had gotten them mixed up with other classmates—but it wasn’t quite amusing enough to bring a smile to her face. Things just felt too serious at the moment.

To start with, Dyna decided to contact those who could be contacted instantly. She typed Victor’s number into her phone. Before she could actually hit call, however, Ruby made a small snort noise.

“You don’t think he’s actually going to answer, do you?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“I used to get like twenty calls a day—mostly about car insurance—before I blocked everyone. Now only Walter, Emerald, and you can call me.”

Dyna narrowed her eyes. “And Beatrice, right?”

“Sure,” Ruby said with an entirely unapologetic shrug. “Look at your own phone, how many calls do you ignore?”

“I get it, I get it. Fine. I’ll send a text stating who I am and… something casual.” Dyna’s eyes roamed around the room, looking for a conversation topic before realizing that she had one right in front of her. “They’ll think I’m crazy if I start talking about a spooky man in a wide hat kidnapping them one by one.”

“I’m not entirely sure you aren’t crazy. Most artificers are.”

“So instead,” Dyna said, ignoring Ruby’s comment as she nodded at her tablet. “I’ll ask about this guy. Why doesn’t Matt have a phone or email address? I assume the institute would have found it if he did have information. It’s a good question and maybe one of them will have some useful information about it.”

“A much better plan.”

Nodding, Dyna started typing on her phone. She included her name, a brief reminder that they all went to school together, and then wonderings about Matt’s contact information. Once all three messages were sent, Dyna set down her phone and waited. There wasn’t much else to do.

She had been putting off contacting them because she didn’t think there was much that they could do. Their memories would have been modified just as her own had been. She had considered contacting them right away, if only to get them in to see a Carroll Institute memory specialist, but the specialists hadn’t been able to help her in any way shape or form over a long period of time. What good would they do to people just stopping by for a weekend or two.

Though he had been a traitor, Harold’s hypnosis had actually been the thing that got her closest. None of the other hypnotists they had brought in even managed to send her to that sanctuary with the books. Though all of them had different methods and may not have been aiming for that, but still…

“So what’s the plan for after?”

“After?”

Ruby waved a hand toward the phone. “What if one of them is being chased around by your man in a hat? Or what if none of them are? What are we going to do about it?”

“I didn’t really plan that far ahead.”

“You never do, do you? You know it is easier to make decisions at tough times if you’ve already made them in simpler times. Emerald says so.”

“That’s very wise of her. But I don’t think I’m about to go buy a plane ticket back to California until I at least hear back from them.”

“We are leaving then?” Ruby adopted a wide grin. “Great! I’ve been feeling the cabin fever, ahh!”

“What?”

“From that pirate movie we watched.”

“Oh. Right. But no, at least, I don’t think so? We would need to talk to Walter, I think.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine. There hasn’t been a peep from Id in months. You even went into the city without incident once or… was it just the one time?”

“Twice.” Both times with Walter, so Id probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway. But it was a valid point. “It isn’t like I don’t want to get out of this place. I mean, I’m curious about this guy especially,” she said, pointing to Matt’s conspicuous lack of contact information. “Did the institute send someone to the address to check on him or what? And why no phone number? Who doesn’t have a phone or email in this day and age?”

“Great! I’ll procure our tickets to… Wyoming?” Ruby said after squinting down at the tablet. “I thought they were all from California.”

“Must have moved. And wait, we at least need to tell Walter.”

“Tell me what?” The deep tone of voice didn’t make Dyna jump. She turned in her seat to find Walter tapping his knuckles against the open door. “May I enter?”

As Dyna nodded her head, Ruby jumped into action.

“We’re going on a mission. I’m in charge.”

Dyna had to roll her eyes at that. Though Walter, eyes hidden behind his glasses, hummed and nodded.

“Are you now? Duration, location, objectives?”

“A day or two, probably? And Wyoming, apparently. The objective is to track down Dyna’s suspicious childhood friend.”

“He’s not suspicious. The situation is. Who doesn’t have a phone number? And we weren’t planning on this, just tossing ideas around.”

“I’m pretty sure we are. Dyna just wanted your okay and here you are to give it.”

Walter hummed, looking from Ruby to Dyna. “Doctor Livermore might not be happy having you disappear so soon after getting authorization to begin his experiments.”

Dyna blinked. “That’s… not that big of an issue for me. The first time turned out so well after all.” Despite it having that message from Beatrice, something about that enclosed chamber didn’t sit all that well with Dyna. She wasn’t all that enthused to enter it again.

“He is in quite the rush to get his equipment returned to normal, I understand.”

“Great,” Ruby said. “If he’s having problems, we have plenty of time. Maybe he’ll get his shi—”

“Ruby.” “Ruby…” both Dyna and Walter said at the same time.

“Maybe he’ll get his bleeping shit together by the time we get back.”

“You’re lucky I sent Emerald away.”

Dyna just sighed.

“But you do have a point.”

“She does?”

“Of course I do. You’re going to be spending a few days just sitting around in the institute. Might as well spend it doing something useful.”

“Quite,” Walter said. “I’ll authorize it under three conditions.”

“Yes,” Ruby hissed.

“First; Ruby, you never leave Dyna’s side. Id’s still out there somewhere, evading our best clairvoyants. We don’t want either of you falling into her hands. Especially with us still unsure of her motives.”

“Orders clear, Sir.”

As Ruby gave a sloppy salute, Walter turned to Dyna. “I doubt I need to tell you this, but don’t try to abandon Ruby, no matter how irritating she gets.”

“Hey!”

“I wouldn’t. She isn’t that annoying once you get to know her.”

“Exactly.” Ruby nodded her head in agreement before abruptly stopping. “Wait…”

“Second,” Walter said, moving on before Ruby could think too hard. “Anything strange, and I mean anything, and you remove yourselves to a safe place and immediately contact me. This man in the wide brimmed hat, Id or one of her affiliates, or even if you merely suspect the presence of another psychic. You will alert me immediately.”

“I can handle—”

Walter leaned down at the waist, putting his mirrored lenses inches away from Ruby’s face. He spoke in a tone both calm and impeccably clear. “Immediately, Ruby. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” she said, voice a whisper as she gave a far more proper salute.

“Good.” He stood back up to his full height. “Good. Finally…” He took a deep breath and looked between Dyna and Ruby. “I suppose you should enjoy yourselves.”

“Uh, instructions unclear?”

“You might have felt like this has been a vacation, but you’ve still been stuck around the institute. And Dyna, you’ve hardly left since the incident. Wyoming might not have the most urban locales to visit, but they have an abundance of natural beauty. Take a week and drive down. Make contact with your old friend, but ensure that you leave enough time for you.”

“Assuming nothing is wrong,” Dyna said. “I mean, what if the man with the hat is out there?”

“Then you contact me immediately as per my second condition. We’ll work out what to do from there.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Any questions?”

“No, Sir!”

“I don’t think so,” Dyna said before glancing at Ruby. She stared for just a moment before looking back to Walter. “Uh, Sir?”

“Good. Ruby, I want a report up to the usual standards within an hour, including all relevant details. Get moving.”

With a nod of her head, Ruby dashed outside the room. A moment passed before she sprinted right back in, grabbed the tablet with the contact details of everyone, and rushed back out. “Can I borrow this? Thanks!” she shouted, already out of the room.

Dyna just shook her head, not even annoyed with the girl’s antics. She was clearly excited about getting out of the facility. If Walter’s light chuckle was any indication, he thought it was amusing.

“Is this really alright?”

“You aren’t a prisoner here, Dyna.” Walter straightened his red tie. “Though I originally came down here to deliver a small warning. I wasn’t expecting to send the two of you off on a mission.”

“Oh?”

“Despite Doctor Livermore’s earlier statements, both he and I are in agreement that Emerald did not tamper with his machine.”

“Right.” Not surprising. Dyna didn’t believe it either.

“Rather, this may be an attempt to lure you out of the Carroll Institute orchestrated by Id. She is the only one likely to know about you specifically and has demonstrated the ability to compromise our staff in the past.”

“And you’re… still alright with Ruby and I going off on a road trip?”

“Based on previous interactions, the current analysts do not believe Id intends you harm, but rather likely wished or still wishes to recruit you. Danger should be a minimum. From her. You’re not to join her as some kind of double-agent, but if she does make contact, any information you can glean may provide insight into her location, motives, or other vital information.”

“So spy on her as much as possible? Pretend to be interested in her offer?”

“Acceptable. You have full agency here. If you wish to rebuff her entirely or even remain here at the facility, I won’t argue against that. Just remember that living in fear and paranoia will lead to you staying down here for the rest of this facility’s existence.”

“It’s not paranoia if they’re actually out to get you,” Dyna mumbled.

Walter apparently heard. He quirked the corners of his lips. “Fine line to walk. Don’t let Ruby push you into doing things you don’t want to do. If you wish to remain here, just make it clear to her.” With a nod, he brushed an imaginary fleck of dust from his vest, turned, and headed out.

That left Dyna frowning to herself. Ruby wasn’t pushing her. Maybe a little bit. Or maybe a lot…

Her phone buzzed before she could think much further. A text message from Victor Thrope. The first to respond. Dyna quickly skimmed through the short message. A bit of pleasantries. ‘Hey, how are you doing? Haven’t heard from you in forever.’ Fairly standard stuff. But a bit came in the third text that made Dyna raise an eyebrow.

Matt, Victor, and Emmanuel all went to the same middle school. Not the same one Dyna had gone to. But Matt apparently didn’t stick around for long. He ‘went crazy’ and his parents sent him to a bunch of psychologists. Victor apparently hadn’t heard from him since middle school and didn’t know where he was now.

That really piqued Dyna’s interest.

Going on this trip wasn’t actually something that Dyna was opposed to doing in the first place or she would definitely have protested more. Ruby might be a little pushy, but she was a ten year old. And now? After reading that? Dyna immediately felt the opposite of opposed.

Dyna quickly sent a text back. Just a few comments about how Matt’s… condition was unfortunate. Then she bit her lip.

There was really no easy way to ask what she next wanted to ask, so might as well rip the bandage off all at once.

This might sound strange, she typed out, but you haven’t seen any creepy tall men with wide-brimmed hats have you? Maybe out of the corner of your eye or maybe you can’t remember exactly where you saw him…

She started typing out a second message elaborating further, only to get interrupted by an incoming text.

You too?

Dyna deleted what she had partially wrote and sent a single question mark in response.

The Hatman. Shortly before getting pulled out of school, that was all Matt would talk about.

Sitting up straight, Dyna clutched her phone tight. Matt knew. Or he remembered something. Or the man in the hat came back and Matt saw. He could know something that Dyna didn’t.

Finding him just became all the more important.

Tell me everything, please?