The Boy Who Knew Everything by Victoria Forester

the help of Kimber’s electrical precision and Jasper’s healing hands Conrad managed to hardwire it directly into his brain. He then used the DBI in conjunction with specially designed glasses, which when worn appeared to be normal glasses, but were actually computer screens in his line of vision.
    Piper was equal parts amazed and disgusted by the device. “You mean you put a computer inside your brain?”
    â€œNo,” Conrad corrected, showing her where the device was tucked discreetly behind his ear. “It’s not inside, see? It’s still outside my body, but I hardwired it into my brain so that I can’t take it out.”
    â€œSo your brain is now talking directly to the computer? It’s like your brain’s got its own computer.” Piper poked at it gently with her face screwed up like she was worried it might explode. “Is that safe? And did your brain really need a computer in it?”
    Conrad shrugged. “You can never think too fast or have too much information.”
    *   *   *
    Of course, the fact that the McCloud farm was suddenly bursting at the seams with kids had not gone unnoticed by Betty and Joe.
    â€œWe’ve got youngens comin’ out of our ears, Mr. McCloud. Something’s gotta be done!” Betty demanded soon after they arrived. She had kids bursting out of bedrooms and sleeping on floors and a crowd that wouldn’t fit around the kitchen table jostling to be fed. So Joe got to work on converting the grainery into sleeping quarters for the girls and the upper loft for the boys. This kept the youngens close enough so that an eye could be put on them but far enough away that Betty didn’t have to see all the antics they got up to. After all, there was only so much that a God-fearing woman such as Betty McCloud could take of their hijinks.
    *   *   *
    One morning in June the kids woke up for training to find that everything had changed. During the night, Conrad had taken away the training mats and workstations and replaced them with a large table in the center of the floor. In front of the table stood a whiteboard and several huge monitors. The size of the new monitors elicited low whistles from Ahmed and Nalen, who appreciated the ever-growing number of electronic toys that were appearing daily, thanks to Conrad, who had hacked into a trust fund still in his name and used his sizable inheritance to fund their burgeoning hardware needs.
    â€œTraining is over,” Conrad announced, turning on the monitors. “You’re ready.”
    A jolt of excitement rippled through the air.
    â€œThis morning we prep; this afternoon will be our first mission.”
    When Conrad explained that their first mission entailed helping the Lowland County Feed Store locate a lost kitten, an audible groan arose from the group.
    â€œWhy waste our time on a stupid kitten?” complained Kimber. “We’ve got better things to do.”
    â€œThe difficulty is not in the mission itself,” Conrad explained to the disgruntled faces, “but in concealing that we have any involvement with it or, in fact, that we were ever even there. No one can ever see us. No one can know what we are doing. No one must know what we are capable of. We must be silent, work quickly, and then disappear.”
    â€œI could find a lost kitten if I was blind,” Smitty complained.
    â€œLet’s get to work.” Conrad turned to the monitors, flicking up real images of the terrain around the feed store and pictures of the lost kitten in question. He drew maps on the whiteboard and assigned tasks to teams so that at precisely half past one that afternoon the main street of Lowland County was the epicenter of something quite extraordinary. It was extraordinary because absolutely no one who happened to be walking the street or visiting the few stores was in the bit least aware of what was taking place.
    First a single