Molly and Jeremy walked together along the aisles of the boardwalk as they had many times before. But that night it felt different. It was forced. Both kept up appearances for the benefit of the other. Neither of them really wanted to be there. It was awkward. But did the other notice? They weren't ready to find out. Jeremy hoped to buy himself time as he had explained to Zeke earlier that day. Molly wanted Jeremy to trust her, to confide in her, to tell her what he was doing to people and why. She knew she would learn nothing if Jeremy suspected that her loyalties had shifted after the previous night's display.

They walked through the carnival rides and past the sideshows. Occasionally they saw someone they knew from campus, but mostly the crowd was filled with high school kids trying to act tough and thirty-something parents trying to get their toddlers under control. Molly kept looking for a way to get Jeremy to talk about the recent strange events, but she couldn't appear to be prying. As they wandered into the arcade room, she continued testing topics hoping that one would lead her to the truth.

Molly: What's Zeke-the-geek doing tonight? Out on the town, or is he still hungover from last night's escapade.

Jeremy: He's at home, chained to his workstation. I've got him in deep on a major deadline.

Molly: I get the feeling that's the way he likes it.

Jeremy: He only gets hyped when the pressure is on. Problem is he never generates the pressure himself; someone else has to do it for him.

Molly: He loves that machine. Why do you suppose he didn't do a CS degree?

Jeremy: Says he wanted to learn something and that he already knows enough about computers. Sorta makes sense but I think the real reason is his parents. They didn't want him to burn in to total geek mode at the ripe old age of twenty-two.

Molly: Luckily he's got you to help balance out that parental influence.

Jeremy: What's that supposed to mean?

Molly: Well, you said you've got him on a project deadline. I'm assuming it's another one of your way-too-cool, Web technology gimmicks.

Jeremy: This one is king. It's not that lame animation trying to be a television set stuff. This is big, and anyway, Zeke is into it.

Molly: He's smart, there's no doubt about that. Think he'll make your deadline?

Jeremy: He'll make the deadline if he has to stay up all night.

Molly: I guess the unveiling is tomorrow then, huh?

Suddenly, Jeremy realized he had said too much. He relaxed for about one minute and somehow he found himself talking about the program to Molly. He knew better than to have shared the information. There was no reason to give away his schedule to anyone. Had Molly meant to extract the schedule or was she as innocent as the conversation had seemed at first? His only measure would be her persistence in probing deeper.

Jeremy: You know me, I like to set goals and push to get there. It's just for the energy.

Molly: Come on Jeremy, you just said this one is the new edge. You can't tell me you're just running Zeke through the steps.

Jeremy: Yeah, well we've got a lot to do before it amounts to anything worthwhile. Netscape wasn't built in a day, you know. It took weeks.

Hey, let's do a head-to-head on the Daytona 500 machines. I need an action fix. What do you say?

Molly: I could coast around the track and win just by waiting for you to crash and burn. You sure your ego is ready for defeat?

Jeremy: If you don't play hard, you won't get a thrill even from winning. One day, you'll realize how true that is.

The arcade game became a dry run for the real life race that would follow. Molly had learned two things. First, Zeke was an active part of Jeremy's plan. Second, a significant event was scheduled for the following day. It wasn't the inside story she had been hoping for, but it was something to work with and Molly knew Jeremy would not be giving up anything else. Apparently, the stakes were too high. That was the third thing she learned. Unfortunately, the information had cost her any trust that Jeremy did have for her. Whether it was his own paranoia or not, as far as Jeremy was concerned, Molly had crossed the line.



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