Content Warning: This section of the guide references terrorism and violence.

Sometime in the near future, Marcus, a senior at Cesar Chavez High in San Francisco, is called out of class to answer to vice-principal Fred Benson. Marcus’s alleged violation is subverting the school’s security systems using banned technology, and although he has circumvented nearly all the security systems, Benson’s accusation that he stole standardized tests is not true. Marcus advises the vice-principal to call both the police and his parents, and Benson sends him back to class when he loses his temper with Marcus. Once back in class, Marcus convinces his best friend, Darryl, to join him in ditching school to play an alternate reality game. As they circumvent the school’s gait recognition software, they are stymied just before they leave school grounds because Darryl has a library book in his backpack, which is easily traced through its Radio Frequency ID (arphid) tag.

Marcus and Darryl sneak into the teacher’s lounge and nuke the arphid in the microwave so their location off campus won’t be traced. As they are leaving, however, they see Charles loitering in the hallway outside the teacher’s lounge. Charles is no friend of Marcus and will turn him in if he sees him.