I nodded. “Of course. Did Amy come up with another animation?”
Sam shrugged and gave a sly grin. “I’m not saying.”
I shook my head and turned my attention back to my phone. The beast was just coming into view. As he moved into range, people began launching loot. Unfortunately, just as before, they didn’t launch enough food to prevent an attack on the school. The beast stomped forward as Jacob Mahaley’s name flashed across the screen. He was today’s top loot collector.
This time there were no animated Ghostbusters to fend off the attack. Instead, a lone figure stood on the roof. He raised a bazooka and fired. The beast roared with frustration but kept coming. I held my phone higher and zoomed in on the figure, cracking up when I realized it was an animated Mr. Davenport. Amy had done a great job dressing him up in full military gear. I widened the image back out just in time to see the beast shake off another bazooka blast before biting down on the animated figure, swallowing him whole.
Everyone around me laughed, and Noah turned back to grin at me. He must’ve forgotten we were fighting for a moment. I just got out half a smile before his grin faded as he spun back around. So much for a truce.
7
The Association Polarization
“AM I SUPPOSED TO BE seeing something yet?” Lori, the camera operator, asked. She peered through the eyepiece again.
I tightened one of the plastic zip ties holding my filter to her camera. “Not yet. We have to find some loot for it to register.”
I had finished the filter the night before and caught up with one of the camera crews after second period. Just as I had hoped, it didn’t take much to attach the device to the front of the camera. Pete, the sound guy, had already downloaded Noah’s app on his phone, so it was no big deal to pair my filter with his phone via Bluetooth. It was the exact same way my glasses worked.
Unfortunately, there was no way to truly test the filter until we found one of the virtual food items hidden around the school. And since everyone was playing Feed the Beast with renewed vigor, those items would be hard to find.
“I think I know where we can find one,” I said. “Follow me.”
I led Lori and Pete down the nearby stairs and onto the second floor. We entered the chemistry lab and moved toward the nearby storeroom. We were between classes and Mrs. Gaines didn’t seem to object. It appeared the teachers were getting used to the camera crews too.
When Noah had first created his app, he boasted to me about a few hard-to-find items he’d hidden throughout the school. One of them was sitting on a shelf among all the bottles and jars of various chemicals in the lab’s storeroom. I just hoped it was hidden well enough to still be there.
I put my glasses on as I led the way through the door, then scanned the shelves until I spotted a cartoon bunch of bananas. “There,” I told Lori as I pointed to them.
She aimed the camera toward the shelf and adjusted the lens. “I see something,” she said. “A big, blurry, yellow something.”
“Keep your eye on it,” I said as I reached toward the camera. “I have to adjust the focus.”
My special filter was a square piece of glass mounted on four rods, which were attached to a circular ring that went around the lens. Since I didn’t know the exact size of the lens on each camera, I made the ring adjustable, and I’d attached it with zip ties. The key to my filter, however, was the small video screen mounted between the top two rods. The square glass was slightly angled away from the lens, and whatever came up on the tiny screen would be reflected on the glass. Even so, the distance between the screen and the glass had to be manually adjusted to bring the image into focus.
“Let me know when the image is sharp,” I said as I carefully spun a tiny thumbscrew on the video mount.
“There,” Lori said, and I pulled my hand away. She laughed. “That is so cool.”
Just then, Maggie Ortiz poked her head in through the open doorway. She slowly raised her phone. She was getting ready to collect the loot.
“Maggie, wait a second,” I said. “We’re testing my new filter.”
She lowered her phone and stepped inside. Meanwhile, Lori had her camera trained on the shelf as she recorded it from different angles. “Amazing,” she said. “It’s a little transparent, but it’s like it’s really there.”
“The items won’t look completely solid since they’re projected onto the glass,” I explained. “Just like with my glasses.”
Lori lowered the camera and glanced back at Maggie. “Can I get a shot of you collecting the loot?”
Maggie beamed. “Sure!”
Lori directed Maggie where to stand so both she and the cartoon bananas would be in the shot. When Lori was ready, Maggie raised her phone to view the animated item herself. I watched through my glasses, so I could see the bananas fly off the shelf and zip over to Maggie’s phone. The bunch of bananas shrunk at the last minute, making it appear to enter the phone itself. Maggie gave me a quick wave before exiting the storeroom.
“Very nice,” Lori said as she lowered the camera from her shoulder. “Great job on this filter.”
“Thanks.”
“Now I just need to find more loot.” Lori grinned.
“You can ask Noah,” I suggested. “He knows where everything is hidden.”
“Oh, sure,” Lori said as she headed out. “He’s been a big help all around.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure he has.”
I followed Lori out of the rapidly filling lab and hustled to my locker. The bell rang just as I got there; I was already late for my next class. Lori had given me a hall pass, so I was okay on that
