My dad told us he was a mid-level manager at a parts distributor

are three things: a leather-bound notebook, a black device that looks like a phone without a screen, and a lanyard with a badge that reads “Project GIDEON — Level 6 Clearance.”

Ellie flips through the notebook. It’s handwritten, filled with diagrams, maps, notes, and codes. “This is… this is like something out of a spy movie,” she says.

But I don’t respond.continue reading …