Editing Covenant:RickyHawkins (section)

== The Science Fair Debacle ==
Ricky was suspended from school for a month last year following the Science Fair.  After reading about psychic mediums and occult figures like Alister Crowley and others, the young boy decided to build a device to commune with the spirits of those who died in Armageddon.  His aptitude for basic electronics combined with a book he borrowed from [[Covenant:CaleLynch|Caleb Lynch]] helped him build such a device.  In truth it was a small CB Radio that could reach as far as Chicago.

At the science fair, Ricky's table featured a poster which illustrated some, but not all, of the steps in the construction of his "Spirit Medium Box."  It also displayed "research" from occultists and other psuedo-scientists and theologists.  Ricky was on his way to a bad grade due simply to poor research and a hokey Spirit Medium act, but he was barred from participation when the science teacher heard the boy start playing a cassette tape of a recorded conversation.

Ricky and his infernal contraption were sent to the principal’s office before he could even finish introducing his taped conversation with "[[Covenant:BlackJack|Black Jack]]."  The device and the recording Ricky brought to school were confiscated and destroyed.  No one bothered to listen to [[Covenant:Tapes|the tapes]].  That is, except for Ricky’s friend and confidant, [[Covenant:CaleLynch|Caleb Lynch]].  Caleb may or may not still have copies of those tapes.

At first Ricky thought he was communing with the spirit of one of the unfortunate souls who perished on that fateful Halloween.  But soon he became convinced that the story about the world ending really was just a fairy tale told to keep people in line.  There was something Black Jack said about the strip mine that rang true, but at the same time contradicted everything Ricky knew about the Armageddon.  That’s why he went in when dared.  It gave him an excuse and a plausible cover story.  If he came back and was questioned about why he ignored the barrier he could say it was all just part of a prank or a dare.