Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter I (TRIGGER WARNING)

"This is very interesting," I mutter to myself. "Whaddya say I tell the gang about this at the clubhouse today?" Yeah, my friends and I are having a small little hang-out at this random clubhouse (I won't tell you how we found it, other than the fact that it involved a mouse and a piece of yarn) later this afternoon.

The hovercraft nods in response. I then dismiss it, close out of the tab with the article, and open Twitch to begin watching streams, with this Alexys story staying on my mind the whole time.

ELLE

Music: Demeter from Gradius IV

Most of the time, whenever our group gets together (whether we're all present or not), nothing terribly interesting happens. We talk about our lives, what's going on at home, stories we hear on social media, the usual.

We've split into our usual sub-cliques within the group. Mia, Mackenzie, Sean, and Shanna are babbling about various music they've been listening to, while Heath, Luke, Skylar, Avery, and I are discussing events that happened to us since we last saw each other (two days ago, Sam's 14th birthday). Sam is still nowhere to be seen.

"So, did any of you do anything interesting yesterday?" I ask after explaining how my soccer season has been going.

Heath begins snickering and says, "Yeah, I did something fun."

"What did you do?" Skylar, Heath's girlfriend, sighs, giving Heath a glare.

"I signed up Luke to be an organ donor."

Avery and Skylar begin laughing hysterically. Luke turns to Heath, gives him the evil eye, and yells, "You bastard!"

"Sorry, I saw the opportunity and couldn't help myself," Heath says through his laughter.

"I'll get you for that," Luke growls, clenching a fist.

"Sure you will," Avery snorts.

Luke opens his mouth to say something to Avery, but before he can, there's a rap-rap-rapping at the door. "Ooh! That must be Sam!" I say cheerfully, getting up and walking towards the door.

Sure enough, when I open the door, he's standing right there, with that good 'ol smile on his face. "What's up, cupcake?" he asks me. He's been trying out various nicknames on me, and so far, none of them have stuck. I roll my eyes at him and then proceed to give him a quick hug before he strolls in eagerly, like he's got something to show/tell us.

"Someone looks excited," Skylar comments.

"Guys, I need to tell you all something, and you're not going to believe this," Sam says, grinning.

"Okay, but this better be quick. In case you haven't noticed, we're currently in the middle of a very important Fall Out Boy discussion," Mia replies.

Everyone then focuses their attention on Sam, and he tells us, "So, a couple hours ago, I found this article that talked about this baby girl, Alexys Barnes, who was abducted from her home in the middle of the night a while back. It's been ten years and they still haven't managed to find her. Can you believe it?"

"And you're telling us because?" Shanna asks, shrugging.

"Well, I mean, we've solved kidnappings before, right? Clearly, the police haven't been able to find her in ten years. Who's to say we can't?" Sam is acting overly enthusiastic when he says this.

The rest of us proceed to exchange various glances, unsure of how to respond to Sam's idea.

And who better to break the silence but Luke.

LUKE

Music: Blazed Up from Nemesis 2 MSX

"There's just one little flaw in your idea there, Sam: They've been searching for her for ten years. If it's been that long, how the hell do you expect us to be able to find her?" I ask, rolling my eyes. I'll admit, I could've been a little nicer with that one, but seriously. This is just too ridiculous.