Elias and Dakarai tried hard not to make eye contact, fearing that it’d signal the other to talk again. Elias finally caught sight of their server, who was walking in the direction of their table.
“Our food is coming,” Elias said, thanking every god he could think of that they could at least eat so they wouldn’t feel pressured to talk. However, his smile faded when his eyes fell on his “pulled pork” sandwich. He squinted skeptically at it. Then, pinching the bun between two fingers, he took the smallest bite he could and quickly put it down again, as if he were afraid it would bite him back.
“What do you think?” Dakarai asked. His expression was hopeful.
“Honestly?” Elias asked, to which Dakarai gave an urging nod. “It’s dry as hell. I’m about to piss off the server so she’ll come back and spit in it.” He chewed animatedly as though on cud. “How is yours? Yours doesn’t look as dry,” he added as he poked at Dakarai’s barbecue “ribs.”
“Stay on your own plate,” Dakarai protested, swatting away Elias’s hand.
“Whatever happened to Southern hospitality?”
Dakarai’s lip twitched, caught between exasperation and amusement, as he cut off a piece and lifted his fork to Elias’s mouth.
“Yours is so much better!” Elias exclaimed as he covered his mouth to chew. “What’s it made out of?”
“Seitan.”
“Satan?Are you sure mine isn’t Satan? Because mine has to be the work of the devil.”
“Yours was pork.”
“Plant-based pork?”
“No, literally pork. As in it was a pig and now it’s pork.”
With his mouth open in disbelief, Elias watched Dakarai as he flagged down the server and ordered another plate of ribs. Elias hadn’t had someone order for him since he was a child. When he saw people do it for their dates in the movies, he thought it looked annoying, but he had to admit that he kind of liked it. Even though, by the time the order came, Elias had already eaten the rest of Dakarai’s meal.
Elias let out a satisfied groan and eased himself back into his chair. Taking out his phone to pass the time while Dakarai finished up, Elias suddenly stopped.
“CYPHR posted something!” Elias said excitedly.
It was a Notes app screenshot of random letters in seemingly no pattern.
FJSUWIZNPOKEGDPDDECCTW
Dakarai and Elias looked over the message a moment, turning their heads sideways to analyze it from every angle. Miming a pen and paper using the tip of his finger and the palm of his hand, Elias tried a few configurations, but the letters didn’t spell outanything that made sense; there were too many consonants.
“Do you know what this is?” Dakarai asked, perplexed.
“His name is CYPHR. I’m going to guess that it’s a cipher.”
“Well, did you figure it out?”
“I’m not Alan Turing,” said Elias. “I saw the post the same time you did.” He expanded the caption and read it aloud:
HEY DROPOUTS!
I hate to disappoint all the fans who came out to Raleigh, so I’ve got something in the works for you tonight—a SECRET SHOW. The band and I need some time to set things up, so I’ve partnered with my charity, The Kindness Project, to bring you a scavenger hunt to keep you busy while you wait.
Here’s how it works:
1. Download The Kindness Project app.
2. Complete each random act and snap a photo as proof.
3. Upload your photos in the app and receive a clue with each upload.
Collect all the clues to decipher the code above. No two scavenger hunts will be exactly the same, but everyone will have the chance to access an exclusive unreleased song, which will be the key to revealing the location of the secret show (if you don’t figure it out before). Only the first 100 people will be admitted. Let’s spread kindness, support the arts, and have some fun. I’ll see you tonight, Raleigh?
