Aien's room was a sanctuary of blue light and humming hardware, a stark contrast to the dusty "Hellhouse Cafe" they had just fled. The five of them—Aien, Kito, Enori, Weng, and Hiraka—were huddled around a low table. In the center sat a single sheet of notebook paper.
"What are you planning to do?" asks Weng getting suspicious of his face." Nothing much", Aien tears a page of the Notebook and started to write something.
At the top, in his jagged handwriting, he wrote: THE ANTI-SURPRISE BUCKET LIST.
"You're insane," Enori whispered, adjusting his glasses. "If Mr. Kazi finds this, we aren't just getting suspended. We're getting erased from the school records."
Yes," says Kito, already grabbing a bottle of water. "If he knows that we peeked into school and knows about the surprise, he's surely going to beat the s*** out of us."
"Only if we get caught," Aien said, that freaky smirk returning to his face. He tapped a pen against the first item on the list. "The school wants to surprise us with a 'survival test'? Fine. I will make sure they get no time to regret this."
He wrote on the piece of paper;
Goal 1: Ghosting the GPS ....
"Are you serious" , Weng already sweating in fear sl ," This is far what we are thinking. How can you hack the GPS."
"It's not hacking, Weng. It's 'signal redirection,'" Aien corrected, his eyes reflecting the neon glow of his dual monitors.
He scribbled a second line beneath the first:
Goal 2: The food smuggle.(Operation High-Calorie)
"If this is a survival test," Aien continued, "the school is not going provide any supplementary items for food. We might have to do fishing or other kind of stuff"
Hiraka, who had been silent, finally spoke," Are you saying that we should take outer food stuffs before getting too the Mountains."
" Exactly" scratching the pen on another paper," look if we didn't take food stuffs we aren't sure we can survive that place or not. I think Weng can handle this kind of stuff."
Weng takes a step back, leaning nervously against the switchboard. "What do you mean?" Aien just keeps glaring at him with that mysterious smile.
" Hey.... Are you telling me to steal from my own general Store. My father will beat the s*** out of me if he knows about this."
"Don't worry, you don't have to take much. Maybe a three-day ration would be enough." Aien assures him calmly.
" Isn't that the period of trip." Enori muttered.
Weng looked like he was about to faint. "Three days of rations? Aien, my dad counts every single bag of rice. If I take a whole box of protein bars and canned meat, he'll know by dinner!"
"Then don't take the boxes," Aien said, leaning back into his gaming chair, which creaked under his slight frame. "Take the 'damaged' stock. The stuff near the expiration date that he usually writes off. He won't check the logs for trash."
Enori nodded, liking the logic. "And if we pack the food into the lining of our sleeping bags, the weight sensors in the school vests won't be able to tell it's food. They'll just think we have thick insulation."
"See?" Aien pointed his pen at Enori. "This is why we're the top group. We don't just break the rules; we use them as camouflage."
"Aien," Hiraka said seriously. "If you redirect the signal, what happens if there's a real emergency? If someone gets hurt on the mountain and the school can't find us because your 'ghost' signal says we're five miles away?"
The room went silent. The "freaky smirk" on Aien's face didn't fade, but his eyes grew colder.
"In the Blackwood Mountains, Hiraka, the school is the emergency," Aien replied. "If they can find us, they can control us. If they can't find us..." He tapped the dual monitors. "...we're free to win the game on our own terms."
The blue light of the monitors flickered across Aien's face as he turned back to the notebook. The group was hooked now; even Weng had stopped vibrating with fear and was leaning in, his curiosity getting the better of his panic.
"Two goals isn't enough," Aien muttered, the pen scratching against the paper with renewed intensity. "If we're going to the Blackwood Mountains under their thumb, we need to reclaim the 'fun' they're trying to strip away."
He scrawled a third line: Goal 3: The Teacher Special (Teacher Pranking).
"Aien!" Weng hissed, his eyes darting to the door as if the teacher could hear them from across the city. "Pranking teachers in the middle of a mountain range? That's not a prank, that's a suicide mission."
" Are you really thinking to leave them after making our trip a disastrous survival game" Aien pressed the pens tip making a cracking sound," This is the only chance we can make them regret about their decision."
The room went silent for while, suddenly Enori speak," Okay we are going to do as you say . I also feel that our trip is ruined due to them."
Hiraka stood up ," Guys I know the trip have gone wild due to the teachers plan but Isn't this far what we are doing till now."
"Quite" kito pulls his hand," I know you're the class president but your responsibility is to support students not the teacher."
Hiraka after taking time to get convinced at last agrees." Okay I am fine" he murmured " I can't against this frenzy people."
Aien's smirk widened. He wrote the final goal at the very bottom, underlining it twice:
Goal 4: THE LEGENDARY TRIP (No Regrets).
"This is the real one," Aien said, his voice dropping to a low, intense hum. "The school wants to break us. They want to see who cracks under pressure. But we're going to have the best time of our lives. No phones? Fine. We'll have better food, better gear, and we'll be the only ones who actually know where we are."
He stood up abruptly, the blue light of the dual monitors casting his shadow against the wall like a giant. "The Bucket List is locked." He yelled," Are you ready for the grand trip."
"Yess" everyone shouted in chorus.
He reached into a hidden drawer beneath his desk and pulled out a small, palm-sized device encased in a matte-black, 3D-printed shell. It looked like a piece of alien technology, its surface pulsing with a rhythmic, emerald light that matched the heartbeat of the room.
"Mission One: Ghosting the GPS," Aien declared. He looked at each of them in turn—Hiraka's stoic resolve, Kito's hungry grin, Enori's nervous brilliance, and Weng's trembling courage. "If we miss our window tonight, the school owns us for the next three days. If we succeed, we own the mountains."
He snapped a black hoodie over his head, the fabric swallowing his face until only his eyes—blazing with a cold, neon brilliance—remained visible.
"Hiraka, get the gate codes ready. Kito, prep for a sprint. We aren't just students anymore," Aien whispered, his hand hovering over the light switch. "Tonight, we become the ghosts in their machine."
With a sudden click, he killed the power.
The blue sanctuary vanished. The humming hardware died. For a heartbeat, there was only absolute, suffocating silence—and then, five shadows slipped out into the midnight air, ready to set the Blackwood Mountains on fire.
The five shadows reached the school's rear service entrance, the iron bars cold and damp in the midnight mist.
"Thirty seconds until the security sweep," Hiraka whispered, his eyes glued to his watch. "Aien, now."
Aien didn't waste a breath. He dropped to his knees by the service gate's electronic lock, his fingers flying across the handheld jammer. The emerald light on the device began to pulse frantically, a digital heartbeat racing against the clock.
"Come on..." Aien hissed. On his screen, strings of red encryption code flickered, clashing with his own blue override.
Clack.
The gate's magnetic lock hissed open. They slipped through like smoke, staying in the blind spots of the overhead cameras. They reached the storage room window where the crates were stacked. Aien pressed the jammer against the glass.
"Transferring the ghost-loop now," he muttered. The device hummed, vibrating against the pane as it "fed" a fake signal to the GPS trackers inside the crates. "Ten percent... fifty... ninety..."
"Flashlight!" Kito alerted, shoving them all into the shadow of a heavy dumpster.
A beam of light swept just inches above their heads. The heavy tread of boots—Mr. Kazi's unmistakable stride—crunched on the gravel nearby. Aien held his breath, his thumb hovering over the 'Execute' button.
Ping..
The jammer turned a solid, triumphant blue.
"Done," Aien breathed. "The trackers are looped. To the school's server, we're already at the mountains, standing perfectly still."
"Movement!" Hiraka signaled.
As Kazi's flashlight swung back toward them, the five of them vanished. Aien led the charge, his "quick pace" a blur in the dark. They scaled the perimeter fence and hit the pavement of the outer street without a sound.
Standing under a flickering streetlight three blocks away, Aien looked back at the dark silhouette of the school. He pulled the notebook paper from his pocket and drew a thick, aggressive line through Goal 1: Ghosting the GPS.
"Mission 1: passed." He whispered to the group," let's head back to our home."
They were running in the dark night on the cement road. They reached the cross road were they usually separates." Fine for today." Aien says " we still have two days. Weng our next mission depends on you."
Weng nods in agreement." Okay" he mumbled," let's meet tomorrow." By addressing each other the meet their ways.
'This isn't the end but the start of a legendary trip ' was thought of every member.
***************Chapter ended***********