State of Shock

Chris

“Class dismissed,” Chris’s pre-calculus class was getting themselves together to leave. This class was not his favorite, but he was required by the university to teach at least one freshmen level class. When the new semester started a full month and a half after the incident at the office building, he was not in the best mood. The case had taken its toll and he found himself becoming grouchy with students he usually found amusing. Freshman came in from high schools across the country, and some of them tried to intimidate their fellow students by not bothering to take notes. Only to find that they had failed because they lacked the motivation to pass. Others thought that the only math that they should have to know is how many red plastic cups of beer you could get out of a keg. 

After leaving the hospital Chris went for a cup of coffee at the Internet café across the street from the hospital. He sat there for a couple hours and then went back to the university for his afternoon pre-calc class. His thoughts went to Stacy. How could he have missed what she was trying to tell him? He walked into his office. Typical for the average professor, small, with one window. But Chris had papers strewn all over his desk. He used the pile method. It may not look neat, but he knew where everything was. 

Chris pulled out a stack of papers that had all of Stacy’s notes on them. She would give them to him when she turned in her homework to keep from looking suspicious to “The Institution.” She knew if she got caught, she would suffer some kind of tragedy. Not like she hasn’t already, but at least she was alive.

Chris began working with Stacy spring semester the year before. She was in his calculus class as a sophomore. She had taken pre-calc over the summer, so he was surprised when she ended up in his office during office hours. Stacy had reached out to him after going through the initiation process and she was scared. They worked together for about three or four weeks to figure out how she could pass him information without her getting caught. They agreed that she could pass him notes hidden in her homework. It was less suspicious than visiting every week during office hours. Through her notes, Chris was able to figure out how the group recruited, who her contact was, how often they met, and what they had planned. She used an upwards arrow at the end of her notes as a kind of signoff. Why she insisted on that symbol, Chris didn’t know. After the semester was over, they had to devise a new plan. She would continue to send him letters in the mail. The last one he got a week before the incident. 

8 weeks prior to the incident, Stacy went to his apartment late at night. It was this meeting that got Elizabeth on his tail. Apparently, one of Stacy’s friends mentioned that she went out that night, but didn’t know where. Elizabeth found out that he and Stacy had been meeting frequently during the previous semester, and she assumed that Stacy was still seeing him. Elizabeth asked him if he spoke with Stacy that evening, he answered in the affirmative. Next thing he knew he was being arrested and accused of being the ringleader of “The Institution”

After being grilled and accused of everything under the sun, Chris finally came clean and told Elizabeth about his secret meetings with Stacy. He told her as much information as he could. He photocopied all her notes and passed them to the detective. It was only then that Elizabeth understood what Stacy’s relationship was like with Chris. He was the consistent adult for her in her time of need. Elizabeth knew that he probably saved her life. 

Chris knew the name of Stacy’s contact, Nathaniel. But he was counted among the dead, there was no way he was the ringleader of their little operation. He was a command leader, but not the head of the group. Chris sat and thought for a while and began to doodle on his notepad. He then picked up a rubber band and played with it while he thought. He did that sometimes when he was thinking. While he sat there he heard a knock at the door. 

“Hey buddy,” a happy voice came in. It was Professor Keith Ingleton. He was a classics professor. Chris always found math more appealing than history. He and Keith worked together to figure out what kind of math might have been available to early civilizations. What stepping stones each civilization might have taken to improve their own capabilities and understanding of their world. And while they got some grant money for their studies, Chris found it fascinating what early people knew about math. Since their project, Keith and Chris remained close friends. 

“What’s up?” Chris asked Keith. Chris shot the rubber band he was playing with across the room. 

“Oh, picked up your mail. And I thought you might want to join me and the Mrs. for dinner.” Keith set Chris’ mail on one of the many piles he had on his desk. Keith was a senior professor. He was a short squat grey haired man who looked less like Indiana Jones and more like The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island. He’d been teaching for much longer than Chris had. Keith had been married for roughly 50 years, had a couple kids that graduated from college and were off on their own. Keith and his wife often tried to find someone to come over and have dinner, so that dinner conversation would be a little more interesting than what they had to say to each other.

“I’m not sure what I have planned for the evening,” Chris said reluctantly. “I have a ton of papers to grade,”

“Sure, sure. That’s why you’re here playing with rubber bands and doodling. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you have something on your mind.” He picked up Chris doodle pad and examined it. “What’s this mean?” He asked, pointing to the upward arrow that Chris had drawn.

“Dunno.” Chris said, “Something I’m working on.”

“Sure, sure. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that was Tiwaz. Viking rune for the god Tyr. But I’m sure it’s some kind of math symbol, not some old Viking jibber jabber. You know you have got to get out of this office sometime. You’re spending way too much time in here the last few months. I know that you are really only here or at the hospital.” Keith turned the paper this way and that. 

Chris’ eyes brightened, “Wait, what?” He stood up grabbed the doodle pad from Keith and stared at it. 

Keith was startled at having something snatched from his hands. “Well, you know. You have to get out and do something. Find a girlfriend, find a boyfriend, anybody to bond with. You can’t stay cooped up in this stuffy old office.” Keith was slow to the punch.

“No, not about that. What did you say about this symbol?” Chris’ eyes were interested. Keith had been teaching enough to know an interested student when he saw one. 

“That’s the rune Tiwaz. It’s more fancy than what I would use. But, that’s what I would say it is. It’s a Viking rune sometimes associated with the god Tyr.” Chris looked at the symbol, it seemed so simple. This was a lead. He was so excited he could hardly contain his enthusiasm. 

“Of course I’ll have dinner with you this evening, and you can tell me everything you know about this symbol.” For the first time in a long while, Chris was actually looking forward to some dinner with his friend. 

“Great, I’ll call her and tell her to set an extra plate,” Keith picked up Chris’ office phone and dialed the number.