Pittacus Lore - Return to Paradise

Okay .

I try the next one and end up with another red “X.” As I hit Enter on the third one, it dawns on me what the “X”s probably mean.

“Oh no, no, no, no,” I whisper. But it’s too late. I’ve fucked up. A third “X” appears, and suddenly there’s a whirring from inside the computer as the hard drive spins into overdrive. In the background I see files disappearing from the desktop. Finally, the screen goes black. The power button is unresponsive.

“No!” I shout. “Son of a bitch!”

I slam my fist on the table, rattling my dishes. The sparse customers at the diner all turn to look at me. My waitress hurries over.

“Everything all right over here?” she asks, with a little more annoyance in her voice than worry.

“Yeah,” I say, pulling out my wallet. “I just . . . lost my homework.”

I start to hand her my debit card but pull back before she can take it. I’ve seen enough crime shows to know I shouldn’t be leaving a trail. Instead I hand her a twenty and wonder if it’s already too late for me to hit up an ATM—if doing so will bring a hoard of FBI agents choppering in from the sky.

I’m fuming at myself when I walk outside and think about chucking the laptop in the air and kicking it into the parking lot. But it may be useful still. I’m only just learning about all this computer stuff. Maybe GUARD can still get something off the hard drive. Maybe even info that’ll help the Loric and the rest of the world if the Mogs one day decide to invade on a massive scale.

I get in my truck and pull onto the highway. There are hardly any cars in sight. The sun’s at my back. My eyes are bloodshot from all the coffee, but I’ll be fine. Better that than to be falling asleep on the road. After all, it’s another twenty hours until I’m in New Mexico.