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Mark frowned, turning the poster upside down, trying to check for hidden messages. To his left, Jett was inserting random number combinations into the PIN Pad.
"0093...no....0094...no...." Jett sighed. "Bro, I think we're wasting our time here."
"Keep trying. I'm sure it starts with a 0." Mark said. "...Or it ends with a 0. There's a zero somewhere."
Jett had been lucky enough to stumble upon the clue for the pinpad - another piece of paper, with mysterious wording. Mark wasn't into history that much, but from the clues given on the poster it was something about the paintings around the academy. Maybe the code was for the painters' birthdays...or the day the paintings were made? One of these people didn't even exist, Mark was sure of it. Either that, or they were too obscure for him to recognise. But Mark wasn't going to let Ulysses get his hands on this poster. Him and Tozu had a...weird relationship. Tozu was strangely fond of him, more than once alluding to whatever private meetings they might have had. Ulysses behaved like he hated Tozu like everyone else, but who knew how he really felt?
"Stupider people than us have done this." Mark looks down at the paper. "We'll find the passcode at some point. Remember - don't tell Ulysses. If anyone asks, we don't know where the clue for the PIN code is."
The library books he'd bought hadn't helped so far - he wasn't able to identify the paintings across the academy at all. He'd overheard Ulysses with Damon talking about the paintings earlier...some guy called Goldino painted one of these? If on'y he'd been paying attention...
Another buzz - Jett groaned. "...0098...incorrect. Can we just get lunch already? Nobody's gonna unlock the door if we have the clue to the passcode."
"If we get to 0200 and I still haven't figured it out, then fine. But we'll come back in half an hour."
"Only half an hour??"
Mark ignored his grumblings, picking up a different book and flipping through the pages. He needed this advantage for himself. He couldn't become a target. As he was getting near the middle of the book, a hand reached over and slammed it shut.
"I was reading that."
Jett had lifted the book out of reach, holding it high above his head.
"Dude, you're getting kinda obsessed with all this passcode stuff. We should just go eat lunch already, I'm hungry!"
"We'll eat when we've found the code." Mark reaches for the book, and Jett takes a step backwards.
"Chill out, dude. It's not the end of the world if we-"
"Hand it over now." Mark held out his hand. "Stop trying to distract me."
Jett pauses in place, the hand holding the book lowering slightly. "...Broskii."
"What? Didn't you-"
"Wenona's wrong about you, bro." Jett tucked the book under his arm casually, completely undeterred by Mark's anger. "I get it: everyone's all spooked out about Toshiko being attacked, and it's messed up that someone went after her. But it doesn't mean someone's gonna try and kill you."
Instinctively, Mark reaches to cover his beanie with his face. "Just hand it over already..."
"You're not some easy target. And I'm here to protect you if anything goes south." Jett promises.”But reading all these long books, acting like Ulysses is secretly evil? You’re gonna go grey stressing yourself out like that.”
Mark looked down at his feet. “…I can dye it black again.”
”Or you could come eat lunch with me. You didn’t even eat breakfast this morning, so I know you’re hungrier than I am.”
Frowning, Mark takes one more look at the hidden door. Then back at Jett, still holding his book.
…He was starving. His head pounding. Mark doesn’t even know the last time he’d drank any water.
”…Fine. Let’s go.”
”Finally. I’ve been looking forward to a good plate of pasta for hours.”
”I guess I could make some more for us…”
”N-No, I’m good. I’ll make it myself. Your cooking skills are, uh…I’m not sure I would even call it a skill, broskii…”