Siddiq and Alex locked their scooters and headed inside.

  “What do you feel like eating?” Siddiq asked as he took a deep breath absorbing the different aromas of the food court.

  “Burgers sound good.” Alex replied, his stomach giving a slight rumble of agreement.

  “With extra fries,” Siddiq drooled. Alex chuckled and they scrambled to be first in line.

  “Hey, did Zayd seem off today?” Alex asked Siddiq as they waited for their food.

  “I mean this morning he seemed grumpy but honestly I have been so worried about this presentation I didn't really notice. Even when I came over to help I mostly was still going over everything in my head,” Siddiq said. “Why did something else happen?”

  “It’s not that something happened,” Alex paused as he grabbed his food. “It's just like he seemed super short and I kept catching him staring at me which was kind of weird.”

  “Hmmmm, that is weird. Maybe he is just worried about tomorrow also?” Siddiq offered. “Speaking of tomorrow,” Siddiq stopped to eat a handful of fries.“Man these are good. So, I checked my calculations like you said and I did find an error. So I fixed that and when Reshma went through everything he thought it was good." He took a bite of his burger. “I don't know though.”

  “What are you not sure about?” Alex asked after swallowing a bite of his burger.

  “Well, it's not that I am not sure about my presentation. I am just nervous about giving it. I have been on a few teams and everyone treats me like I don't know what I am talking about because of my age.” Siddiq stared at his burger for a second before looking at Alex, “I just don't want to seem like a joke.”

  Alex sat back and looked at Siddiq. “Listen, if you truly believe in what you are going to present and can make that come across, then that is all that matters. Make them believe in it and they will believe in you.”

  Siddiq sighed, “How many times have you given that speech?”

  Alex chuckled, “A couple, but that doesn't mean it's not true or doesn’t apply.”

  “Thanks man,” Siddiq said with a smile.

  They finished eating and got up to head to the apartments. Alex’s building was first and Siddiq gave a wave and continued on. Alex watched him for a minute before heading in. Opening his door he looked around. Something felt off but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it's just because I finished unpacking and took those boxes out, he thought as he put his scooter against the wall. Checking the clock he saw that it was nearing midnight. He yawned and walked towards the living room. I should probably get some sleep, but I didn't really get to work on my powers today since I didn't want to mess up the results. He sat down, the bucket of material in front of him. Maybe just for a little while, he thought with a smile.

  He reached into the bucket with both hands and was stuck. What?!, he thought. Panicked he tried to pull his hands out but it only caused him to be sucked further in. The material from the bucket began to grow slowly creeping up his arms and moving to his shoulders. He couldn't move as it hardened around him slowly encasing his body. Get off of me! He thought, willing the material to obey his wish, but it instead continued to cover him until his head was covered. In the darkness Alex struggled to breath.

  Relax, said a voice in his mind. You are in no trouble here.

  Who are you? Alex asked.

  I am you. You are me. Said the voice.

  What? Alex asked, confused.

  You are in danger. You need to be careful, said the voice.

  Danger from who? From what?

  Danger. Careful. The voice said as it faded away.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  In an instant the darkness was gone. Alex gasped and flew back in his chair. “What just happened” he patted his body checking to make sure everything was back to normal. Alex peered into the bucket of material. Slowly he moved his hand towards it, poking the top with a finger. Nothing happened. He sighed, rubbing his face. “Bed, I am going to bed.” He got up and stretched. Giving the bucket one last look he turned and made his way to his room.

  He took a quick shower and laid down. His mind wandered to what had happened in the living room. What was that voice? Or who was that voice? What did it mean that I am in danger? And from who? The thoughts continued to run through his mind until he fell asleep.

  Alex woke with a jump and looked to see the sun just coming through the edges of the window. Yawning he rolled over and looked at the clock. 6:30am. Swinging his feet out from under the covers he planted them on the floor sitting up and stretching. Might as well head over early, he thought as he stood up. Walking to his closet he opened the door and smiled, “Ah it is nice to have clothes again!” Picking out an outfit for the day, he changed and made his way to the kitchen.

  “What can we scrounge up to eat?” digging in the fridge he found some eggs. Making an omelet and some coffee, he sat and ate his breakfast. Looking over at the bucket still sitting in front of the chair he thought back to the night before. I still don't understand what happened. He cleaned up his dishes and headed to the door. Giving the bucket one last look, he grabbed his scooter and headed out the door.

  He rode slowly down the sidewalks looking around. It was a normal morning as people were hustling in different directions. As Alex pulled up to Lab 5 he locked up his scooter and looked towards the Lab 4 building. Having not been in any of the other labs his mind wandered to Zayd and seeing him enter it last night. Shaking his head, he swiped his badge and headed in.

  Before he got to the door he heard raised voices, he hurried and entered the room. He saw Evalyn and Reshma working on the press in a panic.

  “How could this happen?!” Evalyn cried.

  “I don't know, hand me the wrench.” Reshma said, reaching his hand out.

  “What happened?” Alex said, grabbing his lab coat and heading over to them.

  “Someone tampered with the press!” Evalyn exclaimed.

  “Tampered how?” Alex asked confused as he started to look it over.

  “The release mechanism isn't working. The Piston is gone.” Reshma said standing back up.

  “What?!” exclaimed Alex. “Someone stole the piston from the press? But why?”

  “To make us look like fools in our review today.” Evalyn said.

  “Well the joke is on them!” Reshma said. “I kept the parts from the first build, we just need to take this apart and rebuild it before they come to see us.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “We have about 4 hours before they get here. We can do this.”

  Alex and Evalyn nod and start to take the panels off to reach the interior. After about thirty minutes the door opened and Siddiq walked in.

  “Whoa, what's going on?” he asked.

  “We need hands, get over here,” Alex said. Siddiq nodded, grabbed his lab coat and headed over. “Someone stole the piston and some other stuff we are trying to rebuild it with the parts from the first build.”

  “Who would do that?” Siddiq asked as he started to help the others.

  “I don't know but I am going to have a word with the Administration office.” Reshma groaned as he moved some parts around.

  “None of that matters right now. We need this thing to work by the time they get here,” Evalyn said. They all grunted in agreement and continued. They worked in silence for the next couple of hours. It was about eleven am when the door opened and Zayd entered.

  “Where have you been? I asked everyone to get here early today,” Reshma asked.

  “Yeah, sorry I slept through my alarm. What's going on?” Zayd replied, looking nervous.

  “Someone stole parts from the press but we are rebuilding it with the original parts,” Reshma answered.

  “Original parts? What original parts?” Zayd was surprised.

  “I never got around to shipping the initial parts back so we are using those. Thankfully my procrastination actually paid off for a change.” Reshma chuckled.

  Zayd gulped and looked at the clock nervously. He slowly grabbed his lab coat and headed over. Watching the others as they worked. After about fifteen more minutes Reshma stood up and dusted his hands.

  “Everyone back up. Let's pull the lever and make sure this thing is working at least. We can fudge through the demonstration if we have to. We have all the data at least,” Reshma said.

  Evalyn pulled the lever and the press came down. A sigh of relief rang through the room.

  “Alright, let's get this place cleaned up like none of this happened,” Reshma said with a smile. “We have enough time to try a couple experiments before they get here.”

  “I am going to go look at my presentation and make sure it's good,” Siddiq said walking towards the back computer.

  “Oh yes, that is a fine idea. The rest of us can handle this,” Reshma said, giving Siddiq a pat on the back as he passed him. They were just about finished cleaning up when the door to the lab opened. Jumping in surprise they all turned to see the doorway taken up by an enormous figure.