“Will she stop you from returning to the lab?” The other party couldn’t help but worry, given the inherent dangers involved.
“No,” Tom replied gently. “My grandmother is very open-minded and aware of the rapid advancements in organic chemistry. She hopes I can contribute to the world. She just wants to see me.”
“That’s good,” Professor Wilson finally felt relieved. He had been worried about Tom’s delay.
“Manage your time well. We hope you can come back soon because many things can’t proceed without you.”
“I understand,” Tom said, also feeling anxious.
Wilson seemed to remember something suddenly. “By the way, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you remember sending me an email about a social media account seven years ago?”
Tom Fritz thought for a moment.
Wilson continued, “It was an unpublished paper on stereochemistry, analyzing a series of complex reactions. Do you remember?”
Tom Fritz nodded. “I remember. What’s the matter?”
“Do you still have the original on your computer?” Wilson asked. “My email was accidentally cleared a few days ago, and my old computer broke down. I’ve been searching for a week with no luck…”
Tom Fritz’s original documents were lost when his computer got infected with a virus back then.
“Check your email records,” Wilson suggested.
“I…” Tom hesitated but answered truthfully, “That account was given to me by someone else and was bound to their information. When verification was needed later, I didn’t know any of the answers, so I haven’t logged in for many years.”
“I see…” Wilson sounded disappointed.
Tom Fritz thought for a moment. “But don’t worry, I’ll try to retrieve it.” There were some important materials in there that might be useful in the future.
“Thank you. I’ll wait for your good news,” Professor Wilson sounded hopeful again. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
After ending the call, Tom Fritz put down his phone and sighed, leaning back into his chair.
The account…
He remembered it was given by Jimmy, his high school classmate.
Back then, social media accounts were just becoming popular, and many classmates didn’t have one. Tom wasn’t interested in socializing either.
Jimmy had applied for more than a dozen accounts with good usernames and handed them out to everyone, including Tom.
Tom used it for several years without issue until one day he received a warning that his account might have been compromised and needed verification to change the password.
But he didn’t know any of the answers to the security questions, so he couldn’t log in anymore.
Jimmy had transferred schools during high school, and no one knew where he went.
Tom Fritz hadn’t seen him since starting college.
The night was quiet, and the wind was slightly cool.
After a while, Tom Fritz picked up his phone and dialed a number. He spoke in a low voice, “Hello, please help me find someone from Arkpool High’s 2003 class named Jimmy.”
“Okay, Mr. Fritz.”
As soon as this call ended, there was a knock on the open study door. Tom looked up to see his mother bringing in a cup of warm milk.
Jane glanced at the documents next to his computer and frowned. “You’ve been sitting here for hours without looking at them?”
Yes, not only had he not looked at them?
He hadn’t even touched them; his cold gaze merely swept over the cover photo briefly.