M Is for Mama's Boy

OOOOHHHHH! WASN’T THAT

EXCITING? YOU KNOW, A LOT

OF KIDS READ THAT AND FREAK

OUT. I’M SERIOUS. THE LAST

TEN CANDIDATES HAD TO BE

TAKEN TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL

FOR SOME “RELAXATION.”

ANYWAY, THE POWERS THAT BE

TOOK A LOOK AT YOUR CODE-

BREAKING SKILLS AND DECIDED

THAT IT WAS TIME TO TAKE

YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

SO I’M GOING TO TEACH YOU

ABOUT SOMETHING CALLED A

SUBSTITUTION CIPHER WHEEL.

THIS IS A CODE METHOD THAT

GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE

TIME OF JULIUS CAESAR, WHO,

WITH HIS TOGA, SANDALS,

AND LEAF HEADBAND, WAS

A TOTAL B.C. NERD.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: YOU HAVE

TWO CIRCLES MADE FROM THE

LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.

TRACE OR COPY THE CIRCLES

ONTO A PIECE OF PAPER AND CUT OUT THE CIRCLES.

OR, BETTER YET, CUT THIS BOOK

UP NOW AND GO OUT AND BUY

ANOTHER ONE TO READ—THAT’S

EXCELLENT FOR SALES.

OH, BUT THIS IS AN EBOOK. NEVER MIND!

ALL RIGHT. NOW PAY ATTENTION,

’CAUSE THIS IS WHERE IT GETS

TRICKY. YOU MAKE COPIES OF THE

CIRCLES AND THEN CUT THEM OUT.

TAKE THE LITTLE CIRCLE AND PUT

IT ON TOP OF THE BIG CIRCLE

SO THAT ONE IS INSIDE THE

OTHER. GOT IT? GOOD.

NOW YOU CHOOSE A “KEY LETTER”

FOR THE SMALLER CIRCLE. THIS

LETTER WOULD BE SOMETHING ONLY

YOU AND THE RECIPIENT OF YOUR

MESSAGE WOULD KNOW. IF YOU HAVE

A KEY LETTER, LINE IT UP WITH

THE “A” ON THE BIG CIRCLE.

THE LETTERS ON THE BIG

CIRCLE ARE THE ACTUAL

ALPHABET AND THE ONES ON

THE INNER CIRCLE ARE YOUR

CODE ALPHABET. SELECT THE

CODE LETTERS THAT LINE UP

WITH THE LETTERS OF

YOUR SECRET MESSAGE

AND WRITE THEM DOWN.

HERE, LET’S TRY. I’M ASSIGNING

THE LETTER “M” AS MY KEY

LETTER. SEE IF YOU CAN

DECIPHER MY SUPERSECRET

MESSAGE.

EQDUAGEXK, PA EAYQFTUZS MNAGF KAGD RQQF.

FTQK EYQXX XUWQ M OAYNUZMFUAZ AR QSSE MZP

RMDFE. KAG’DQ XGOWK FA TMHQ M RDUQZP XUWQ

YQ ITA IUXX FQXX KAG ITQZ KAG’DQ RGZWK.

SORRY, BUT YOU CLEARLY

AREN’T GETTING THE MESSAGE.

Duncan heard something cracking above him and watched as the metal ceiling turned from black to red to white-hot. He quickly realized that someone was using a blowtorch to cut through the vault—probably Matilda and her enhanced inhalers. He wished he could free himself from his own glue, but all he could do was watch. It was all very embarrassing.

Finally, a portion of the roof fell to the ground and Agent Brand poked his head inside. He stared at Duncan for a moment and frowned. The man’s disappointment felt like a punch in the belly.

“We’ll get you out of here soon, son,” Brand said.

Duncan quietly wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to be trapped underground forever.

“Gluestick, did you hear me?” Ms. Holiday said. She and Agent Brand were watching him through a glass window in an adjacent room back at the Playground as a bank of green lights danced across his body. “Scans are showing that every nanobyte in your body has been infected with a computer virus that is destroying them one by one. Two-thirds of them are already off-line and the rest will be gone within the hour.”

“Which means what exactly?” Duncan said.

“You’re powerless,” Benjamin said as the tiny orb hovered about the boy’s face. “At least for the time being. You see, the nanobytes that give you your abilities are nothing more than microscopic computers. In your case, they produce the adhesive in your skin that makes you sticky. The ray gun that was fired at you basically rewrote their code, causing many of them to burn themselves out. The rest are acting most peculiar—like they are obeying completely different instructions.”

“I know how the nanobytes work,” Duncan said. He could feel a panic rising inside of him. “What are we going to do about it?”

“Gluestick, you and the rest of the team will have to have the nanobytes extracted and then we can put you through the upgrade process once more.”

Duncan sighed. “I shouldn’t have just barged in when I had no idea what or who was waiting for me.”

“Duncan, you’re being too hard on yourself,” Ms. Holiday said. “You were concerned for the bank manager and—”