“Hey man, sorry I haven't checked in," I apologize first.
"Don't worry about that. I found something."
"What?" My grip tightens on the phone.
“Are you near your computer?”
“Yes.”
"Go to the files"
I switch between screens and bring up Alfonse's files.
"I'm there. What now?"
"I'm about to show you what you can't learn at M.I.T." He chuckles.
I can't resist the smile. "Okay, school me."
“Go to the last one on the main folder.”
I do what he says. “I’m there.Now what?”
“Click it and scroll to the last document in that folder.There should be three hundred documents in there.Go to the last one and tell me when you get there.Don’t click on anything until I say.”
I’m intrigued now to see where this is leading.I follow his instructions precisely.
“I’m there Aiden.”
“Okay. Click on it.”
It’s a Word document labeled Miscellaneous Items.I click on it and all I see is a table listing a food order for a business meeting.
“It's stuff about food,” I tell him.
“Good, you’re on the right track.Close the document and wait for fifteen seconds, then tell me what you see.”
I close the file and glue my damn eyes to the screen as I wait fifteen seconds, counting down eagerly, waiting to see what’s going to happen.I expect something dramatic, but when the screen just flashes my expectations drop.
Then it rises again when I realize what just happened.
Fuck. I assumed it was the computer flickering but it fucking wasn’t.
“Did you see it?” Aiden asks.
“The flash. I saw it.”
“Good. I think you know what to do here.Wait another fifteen seconds, then click on the file again.”
I wait for another fifteen seconds, click on the file, and what comes up next is not what I saw before.
The background of the screen turns gray and another little folder pops up with a lock in the centre.
“It’s a ghost file,” I rasp. Another fucking secret file hidden within the shit.
“It sure is old friend. I can’t open it though so here's where M.I.T takes over." He laughs."It’s set on a fifteen second flash window, and guess what?”
"What?"