Oregon's cold felt different from Alaska's. When Jack stepped out of the car, he paused to breathe in the smell of fresh rain before putting his earphones back on.
Listening to a podcast on improving drone durability, he began unloading his belongings from the trunk of his father's car.
He looked up and realized his father still hadn't gotten out.
Neil usually got out before Jack did.
Jack walked over and knocked on the driver's side window.
"Father, why aren't you unpacking yet?"
Neil didn't say anything at first. His brow furrowed as he glanced at his phone, read something, then locked the screen.
"I'm not staying here, Jack."
"What? Why?"
Neil pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
"You're almost 17. I think it's time you learned some independence."
"What the fuck?" Jack stopped himself and covered his mouth.
"Sorry, Father. Why tell me now?"
"The city arranged a place for me. You'll stay here. I think living on your own will be good for you, and I'll still cover the essentials."
"You told the Costanzas that we'll be neighbors again."
"They'll understand."
Jack frowned, then shrugged and nodded.
"This is another training lesson, I presume?"
Neil smiled. "More or less. I think you'll like it here, Jack. Maybe even enjoy it."
"My workshop is back in Alaska."
"You haven't seen the inside yet."
Jack raised a brow.
"Huh. Alright then. How about my education? You told me you'd take care of it."
"Right... About that. How about you enroll yourself?"
"That's allowed?"
"Of course."
Jack looked down at the asphalt, lowering the volume of his podcast with his thumb as he thought.
Living alone meant freedom, but also bills, groceries, and managing himself.
"Independence, huh, Father? How much is my allowance?"
"750 a month. The house, utilities, phone, insurance, and basic groceries are covered."
"And my projects?"
Neil gave him a knowing look. "Separate budget. Up to 500 a month for electronics, fabrication materials, drone parts, tools-anything you can reasonably explain. Bigger purchases, ask first."
Jack did the math. "So 1,250."
"No. 750 is yours. 500 is a project budget. If you burn through either irresponsibly, I don't replace it."
Jack nodded. "Fair."
Neil handed him a card. "Use it wisely."
"Right. Thank you, Father."
"Now, go on. I'll pick you up later for dinner at the Costanzas'."
Jack groaned. "What? I thought I was exempt from that."
"No chance. And get used to the Costanzas. They're going to be around a lot."
"Why?"
"Because I say so."
Jack knew that tone from Alaska. Neil used it when an instruction had stopped being optional.
Jack nodded. "Fine."
Neil's face softened. "Sorry. I just don't want you isolating yourself while you're living alone. I don't want you to feel lonely."
Jack nodded. Neil wasn't worried about the house. He was worried Jack would disappear into it.
Jack remembered when they still lived here, before Alaska.
A rope.
A step ladder.
The office ceiling.
Neil climbing the ladder.
Jack shook the thought from his head.
"Sorry, Father. I'll be ready later."
Jack went back to unpacking.
Jack dragged the first few boxes from the driveway himself. By the third, he was winded. By the time the moving truck arrived, independence had already lost some of its appeal.
The movers handled the furniture, but the electronics boxes were apparently his problem. Jack considered asking the Costanzas for help, then rejected the idea. His father had told him to learn independence. He could manage 1 afternoon.
He checked the garage for a handcart and found only a few dusty power tools. The familiar space stirred old memories of Neil teaching him to solder and repair things when he was younger.
Footsteps pulled his attention away, and Jack turned.
A figure appeared by the garage doors, the sun outlining his silhouette.
"Need help with all this?" the figure asked.
"One sec."
Jack stepped forward until he could see the figure clearly.
"Wait, you're one of the Costanzas. Ron, was it?"
"Aaron."
"Right, right…"
"So, need help?"
Jack glanced at the boxes, then back at Aaron.
He was clearly bigger than Jack-about 2 inches taller, with the kind of build that suggested he lifted for a living.
Then he heard his father's voice in his head.
Independence.
"I can take care of it. Thanks for the offer, though," Jack said, already regretting every word as it left his mouth.
Aaron furrowed his brow. "You sure?"
Jack gave Aaron another look.
He wasn't about to start relying on the Costanzas on his first day back. Besides, he had only just met Aaron.
Neil had always told him not to trust strangers who offered help freely.
"I'm sure-"
"I'll do it for 10 bucks," Aaron said.
"What?"
"10 bucks, and I'll move all of it."
Jack didn't need long.
"Deal."
They shook on it.
Jack leaned against the wall and watched Aaron carry the boxes in 2 at a time, openly impressed.
Apparently physical strength belonged on the curriculum too.
While Aaron continued carrying boxes inside, Jack explored the house.
The house was mostly as Jack remembered it, only emptier. Upstairs, he paused outside the room that had belonged to his mother. He had barely known her, but he remembered the photographs-Neil smiling in a way Jack rarely saw anymore.
He left the door closed.
"Jack!" Aaron yelled from below.
Jack snapped out of his thoughts and headed downstairs.
"What is it?"
"Where do you want these boxes labeled tools, circuit boards, wires, and crap?"
Jack chuckled, remembering how he had labeled some of the boxes.
"Right. Just put them in the garage."
"Gotcha."
Later, while Jack sifted through documents and paperwork in his room, Aaron knocked on the door.
"Got all the boxes in, boss."
"Thanks."
Aaron lingered in the doorway, clearly waiting for something.
"Ah. Sorry, forgot."
Jack grabbed his wallet and counted out 10 dollars.
Aaron took the money and shoved it into his pocket.
"Much appreciated. By the way, not to alarm you, but one of the walls in the garage just fell down."
"What?!"
Aaron raised both palms. "Hey, hey. Wasn't me. It just slid off."
Slid off?
Jack was out of the room before Aaron could say anything else. He hurried downstairs and into the garage, with Aaron following behind him.
The wall hadn't fallen. It had moved.
An entire section of what looked like ordinary drywall lay flat on the garage floor. Along its hidden edges were steel rails, small bearings, and a recessed frame built into the wall.
It was a door. A sliding one.
Jack crouched beside it. There were no torn screws, snapped anchors, or splintered studs. Nothing had broken loose.
The panel had released cleanly.
Behind it was a dark opening. Dust coated the floor beyond, and the smell of old oil and plastic drifted out from inside.
Jack stared into it.
He didn't remember this being here at all.
"Got a light?" he asked. He wasn't going in blind.
Aaron shrugged. "Might have one at home."
"Can I ask a favor then?"
"10 bucks."
Jack nearly groaned. "Fine. 10 bucks."
Aaron grinned and jogged back toward the Costanza house.
Jack knelt beside the panel again.
Now that he knew it was a door, the construction bothered him even more.
The drywall was old enough to match the garage.
The mechanism behind it wasn't.
The rails were almost clean. 2 brackets showed fresh tool marks. A solder joint near the retaining latch still had a faint amber residue around it. It was recent work clearly.
Jack leaned closer.
A thin wire ran from the latch to a small heating element around a soldered retaining pin.
Power the element, soften the solder, release the latch.
The door hadn't failed. It had been designed to open.
Jack followed the wire.
It disappeared behind the garage trim, ran along the rear wall, then continued toward the back porch. Beneath one of the removable tiles, he found a compact battery pack and a small timer module wired into the circuit.
The battery pack was almost spotless against years of grime. Fresh adhesive. Bright copper at the clipped wire ends. The battery pack had been installed recently too.
More importantly, the entire setup was too easy to trace. If Neil had wanted the room hidden from Jack, he would have buried the wiring and concealed the power source. Instead, the mechanism had left a trail Jack was practically guaranteed to follow.
His father knew him too well for that to be accidental.
This wasn't a hidden room Jack had stumbled across. It was one he was supposed to discover.
Neil had built the trail for him. Who else could've?
Which meant his father had been back in Oregon before today. Before the moving truck, and before telling Jack they were leaving Alaska.
Jack looked toward the opening and remembered Neil's answer when he'd complained that his workshop was still up north.
"You haven't seen the inside yet."
Jack returned to the garage and stared at the exposed mechanism.
"What triggered you?" he muttered.
He traced the wiring again. One branch ran toward the garage door instead of the battery pack. Jack followed it along the frame until he found a small contact sensor tucked beside the track.
His eyes narrowed.
Opening the garage door had closed the circuit. From there, the timer had done the rest.
So Neil hadn't only designed the false wall to be discovered. He had arranged when Jack would discover it.
Footsteps approached behind him. Aaron returned with a flashlight and held it out.
"Here."
"Thanks."
Aaron lingered a few steps back, close enough to look inside without getting in Jack's way.
Jack aimed the beam through the opening.
For a moment, he said nothing.
The dust ended only a few inches past the threshold. Beyond it, the room was almost pristine. Soundproofing panels covered the walls. A large workbench sat in the center, fitted with drawers and measuring tools. Empty storage racks lined one side, spaced and mounted as if someone had already planned what would eventually go on them.
In one corner sat a 3D printer.
Beside it, a high-end computer workstation.
Jack swept the flashlight farther along the wall and found a breaker panel.
He opened it and flipped the main switch.
The room came alive.
Overhead lights flickered on one after another, washing the hidden workshop in white light.
Aaron let out a low whistle.
"This is the goddamn Batcave."
Jack stared at the workshop, eyes bright with awe.
The possibilities came all at once: things he could build, design , and test here.
Then he remembered Aaron was still standing behind him.
"Not a word, alright?" Jack warned. His confidence faltered slightly when he remembered exactly who he was trying to intimidate.
Aaron considered that for a moment.
"30 bucks."
"What?!"
"30 bucks, and I won't tell anyone."
"Jesus Christ. Here." Jack groaned and slapped the 30 into Aaron's outstretched palm.
"Pleasure."
Aaron pocketed the money and left without another word.
Jack wondered whether Aaron charged Adam the same rate for keeping secrets.
Then again, it had been 4 years since Jack and Adam had last spoken.
There was a lot to catch up on.
Jack spent the next few hours settling in, but his thoughts kept returning to the garage: the room, the timer, and the fact that Neil had prepared all of it before Jack even knew they were leaving Alaska.
That morning, his father had also insisted the Costanzas would be a constant in his life.
Independence clearly wasn't Neil's only lesson.
First, though, Jack still had to deal with school enrollment.