The Client.

"Steven, your program."

Only a day had passed, but Alex had finished his program.

"Are you sure? I gave you a week."

He wasn't expecting Alex today.

"I thought about my idea for some time, and I decided to improve on it."

He took out his laptop and opened up the file.

"This is what I came up with."

With the access to student information, Alex used the system's idea to use the cameras as scanners. This way, as soon as the students entered the premises, the cameras scanned their faces and sent the data to the main system, which marked their attendance. This reduced the time required for teachers to mark their attendance individually. They can log on to the database and get the attendance sheet.

This wasn't the best part. Alex asked Clara for a favor. Access to the criminal database. If they weren't a part of the faculty, a background check happened. If there was a match, the security intervened.

"This is completely useless."

Steven was direct with his words.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't get me wrong. There are some ideas here that are very impressive. Together, they make nothing but a mess."

He pointed towards the database.

"You skipped the security part. If the database is available on a network, it is pretty easy to hack through it. I had specified this in my prototype."

Alex flinched. He wasn't wrong.

"Then, you are connecting your program to a criminal database, which consists of information in terabytes. Do you think we have a processor that can scan through that in seconds?"

Steven deleted the file.

"Your program focused on the software part."

He shut down the laptop.

"But you neglected the hardware that was supposed to run it."

-------------------------------------------------

"The mission file is here."

Clara handed Alex the file.

"Thank you."

He left the room. He was not in the mood for small talk.

"Let's see what this mission looks like."

Closed his eyes and retreated into the system space.

It is a retrieval mission. Alex had to cooperate with the bank and find out the location of the money. The client had already tried to do so, but the bank had refused. This was the main priority.

There would be a bonus if he captured or killed the people behind it.

The amount that was stolen from the client, whose name was Jack Nolan, was around 200 million dollars. The reward for completing the mission was half of that.

"This doesn't sound too difficult."

He closed the file. He could make a fortune with this mission.

"System, any thought?"

She appeared beside him.

"I think you should take it."

There was a message with an asterisk on the bottom of the file.

"The collective will offer no help in this mission. The person overtaking this task must rely on his sources and affiliates to complete it."

He sighed. Of course, there was a catch.

"I'll have to ask for some help."

Money was not an issue. He had his earnings from the previous missions. But if the information on this file was all he had to work on, this might take longer.

He came out of the system space with the file in his hand.

"First, Jane."

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"Sure. I can help you."

Jane had not been taking many tasks recently. The mission sounded interesting, so she readily accepted his invite.

"Great. How much do you want?"

She chuckled.

"10 million."

"5."

"You haggle for favors?"

"If I am paying, then it isn't a favor."

"Ok. Then 7. I won't go any lower."

"Deal."

He was prepared to give her around 20 if she made it difficult for him. But it all went smoothly.

"When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. I need to bring in one more person."

-------------------------------

"The prodigal programmer returns."

Steven teased Alex with his previous failure.

"Steven, I want to hire you for a mission."

"Show me the file."

He handed it over. Steven read through it and said,

"It seems doable."

He handed the file back to him.

"Count me in for 20 million."

"No way. 7 is my limit."

"Very well then. I am out."

"I'll just go and ask Claudia."

Steven was expecting Alex to give in a little, but Alex was already at the door.

"Wait!"

Alex smiled.

"I'll take 7."

Steven did not like to give in, but the mission sounded fun.

"I need access to the financial records of the bank. Can you get through?"

"I'll try. But it will take time."

"Bring it to me as soon as possible."

He left the room. Steven opened up his laptop and got to work.

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