“There’s something else you have to see,” Ethan added, unzipping his bag.

He took a gray laptop out of his backpack, balanced it on his knees, and opened the lid.

He pointed his thumb at a tiny red microphone icon beside the function key in the corner of the keyboard.

“The school handed out these laptops for class,” Ethan said, his soft voice growing steadier.

“That button starts an instant audio recording app.

It saves everything right to my student drive.”