X ray mode

A shrieking call from his friend prompted Evan to stop writing his history essay and run down the alleyway two doors up from his home to visit his long time school mate.

Evan and Jack had been friends since kindergarten, both intellectuals from a very early age. This was their big exam year and both had already earned enough credits for a pass and extra credits that would automatically go into next years marking.

He thought at first Jack might just be nervous about tonight as both of them were going to be awarded the academic achievement award at the college end of year awards ceremony and had to give a speech.

Neither of the boys were comfortable with public speaking.

The call, “EVAN, COME NOW HURRY, I AM FREAKING OUT!“ Sounding like he was almost hyperventilating as he spoke.

Down the alley way, turn left, and one house up, Jack was pacing up and down on the deck waiting for backup you might say. Evan laughed as Jack was still in his undies. He always slept in his undies. Even when he stayed elsewhere it was always just the undies.

Then the thought went through his head with the look on Jack’s face, 'He’s murdered an intruder and wants me to help get rid of the body'. Yes that’s it. Maybe I should phone the police now. That thought went out the door and Evan went back to laughing as he noticed skid marks on Jack’s undies.

He yelled out to Jack. ”For the love of mankind go and change your underwear and get that skinny white frame into some clothing.”

Jack yelled out telling Evan he was going to stay put, ”can you please get me some clothing from my bedroom and then come up here.”

Back to his thoughts. “Hey is there a dead body in your room you haven’t told me about?”

Jack yells back, “technically no” then mumbled under his breath. “Not a fresh one anyway.”

Evan went into Jack’s room, fetched some clothing and underwear, and went upstairs to Jack’s parents bedroom and out onto the deck to give him his clothing. He could not help but notice his pastie white face. Jack stripped down bare on the deck, put fresh undies on, tee shirt inside out and then jumped over the deck onto the driveway.

Something he had never done before.

Evan walked through the house and grabbed the house keys from the hall table, locked the front door and met Jack on the driveway.

Okay, “what’s so important that I had to run from my house to rescue you?”

Jack explains to Evan that he won’t believe him, so he had to show him.

It’s all about the program we are writing.

Evan and Jack were developing a computer program that would allow your iPad or iPhone to X-ray any part of the body.

Evan had left Jack the night before with what was left to finish it. Hopefully it was all going to fall into place, and they would make their fortunes.

That was the grand plan anyway.

A quick sprint back to Evan's house and Jack immediately jumps on Evan’s computer.

“I sent it in an email before“ he said to Evan.

“BEFORE WHAT” demands Evan.

Jack asks Evan if he could go and get his dad before he opened any emails,

He follows his friend's instructions as he is quite concerned by his behavior.

Evan goes upstairs to summons his dad, very puzzled as to what’s going on with Jack.

He is on the phone so Evan picked up a pad and pen and writes.

Extremely worried about Jack’s behavior. Would you come downstairs ASAP.

They often communicated like this when his dad was busy.

“Dad will be down in a minute” says Evan.

2 minutes later Evan’s dad comes down and wants to know why they have taken him away from his work.

Jack had developed a nervous shake, was sweating and looked like he was about to cry.

Evan shrugs and Jack hops up from the computer and hands them the iPad that was sitting on the bed.

“Open that email and turn on our X-ray mode.”

“So it works then” Evan said with a grin.

Jack says nothing and opens X-ray mode, throws it at Evan’s dad and then jumps behind him.

“Hold the camera up and look around.” When it showed nothing he asked them to walk around, "keep walking you will see something shortly.”

All of a sudden Evan’s dad throws the iPad back on the bed and screams, "WHAT THE F—-K"

Evan had never heard his father scream in fright nor had he heard him swear. He always said that swearing was just a waste of words.

Evan picked up the iPad and looked at it. He repeats his fathers swear words.

“Everywhere, they are EVERYWHERE" he screams. Evan and Jack had inadvertently built a computer program that could see spirits. It didn’t take X-rays like it was supposed to. Instead, it was picking up spirits left, right, and center.

They had all fled to the office upstairs to talk. Evan’s dad paces and concludes that if they are on the iPad today then they have always been there. They are not hurting anyone so none of them need to worry. Although you could see he was bothered but trying to calm both boys.

He walks down stairs alone, picks up the iPad and goes back up to the boys. Sweat was on his brow.

He turns on the iPad and immediately sees one adult and one child spirit standing beside them that could obviously see that they could see them looking at them.

The figure was trying to talk.

Evan’s dad, a computer wiz himself, and who worked as a computer technician, sits and thinks.

The boys sitting so close to him that they were all squashed up on the couch.

He tells Evan to go and turn on the Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen.

Both boys get up together and turn on the Bluetooth.

Adjustments are made to the X-ray mode program to enable the spirits to have a voice. They try it and it works. Not well but it worked all the same. They were literally able to talk to ghosts, spirits or whatever anyone wants to call them.

An app that sees spirits, unbelievable.

Written by two teenage boys, unbelievable.

Part two:

One year on. The boys are no longer freaked out over their discovery. They slowly got used to the idea that spirits do exist.

The two boys, Evan and Jack, have trademarked their app. As yet it has not hit the market as not one spirit / ghost has been at all useful.

If you have a product to sell to the public it has to be useful for something or it has to do something and this app has done nothing. I will explain.

These spirits are just that, spirits. They have no reason to be in the place they stand and can sometimes stand in that spot for days. They have no purpose, or as far as they know they have no purpose.

Maybe this is like a purgatory or a stopover to someplace better or worse.

As yet they don’t have these answers. Not one spirit has been claimed as such by their beloved families so maybe they never belonged. Maybe they are aliens in a lost dimension that X-ray mode has picked up on.

Despite extensive advertising the faces of all the spirits on social media, not one family has recognised any of them.

X-ray mode can pick up a spirit in any room any outdoor area or anywhere that one might be hanging around. However the boys have questioned many over the past year since they discovered what the x-ray Mode app could do, and although they can talk, that’s it.

No information whatsoever.

Here is a typical conversation with a spirit.

Q What is your name?

A I don’t know

Q When did you die?

A I don’t know

Q Do you know who your family is?

A I don’t know

Q Do you have any feelings?

A I don’t know

Q Do you know why you are here?

A I don’t know

Anyway you get the picture. Despite this they have been offered a substantial undisclosed amount of money for the app from a well-recognized app company.

The boys are about to sign a contract making them extremely wealthy teens.

The boys also discovered an error in their program, it was simply two letters written the wrong way around.

Adjustments have been made and the original X-ray Mode has hit the ground running.

Sales exceeded expectations and are still soaring.

The End