Decypher 1

~Nariya Patel~ 

My eyes widened as I observed the man in front of me meticulously pull out the drawer beside him, carefully selecting equipment to aid in his "research." Never would I have thought to put on gloves, delicately holding the letter between pliers and scrutinizing its contents using a magnifying glass fixed at the table edge. However, apparently, Alexie did, as I watched him thoroughly examine the envelope of the letter.

"Did you open the letter?" he inquired.

"Yes, I did," I replied.

"I would also assume that the thought that it might contain some dangerous substance never occurred to you?" he added.

His words took me aback. How right he was, especially considering I had been attacked before. But how could I have imagined that a simple letter would potentially contain something life-threatening for me? Looking down, I chewed my lips, unable to formulate a response.

His fixated gaze turned towards me as he urged, "Nari, words."

Gulping down my guilt, I responded, "Yes, I... I didn't consider..."

"Hmm," he murmured, returning to scrutinizing the envelope, scraping the edge of the lid a bit, and depositing its contents into a sealed jar. "I will have it tested, but from a glance, I don't think the sender had any ill intent towards you. When did you receive this?"

"I found it in my locker on the last day of my exams. I thought it was like a congratulatory note, but didn't think much of it. That is until I remembered about it, sitting in my bag randomly one night."

Using his tweezers, he once again proceeded to open the flap of the envelope, moving about in sections to ensure he missed no hidden details.

"I thought," I began, attempting to alleviate my own guilt, "that it was something passed to all seniors."

"Hmm, did you see anyone else receive it?" he countered as I shook my head. That was indeed the most odd part that should've raised a lot of red flags for me. Somehow, amidst the flow of events, it never occurred to me that a seemingly innocent letter with its neon envelope could potentially bring harm to me.

"Let's see," he kept his hands engaged. "There seems to be no hidden braille or any embossment on the sheets. The letter itself," he said as he went through its content, "doesn't have much significance until we look deeper into it. Does the name Eve ring any bells?"

I bit my lips, my brain skimming through names I had become acquainted with over the years, yet this particular one didn't seem to trigger any memories. Even if I had met this person named "Eve" in passing, I couldn't recollect it.

"No... not that I can remember."

He raised his brows as he turned towards me, "Nari, I want you to take your time. Maybe it was an acquaintance of your mother's or a relative?"

I looked at him when he brought up the topic of relatives, "Why do you think it could be someone related to my mother? Why not my father?"

"Well, I'm not saying that it could not be a possibility, but we know some things about your father. I knew most of his acquaintances, unless he had met this person after he and I grew distant. But when it comes to your mother, I don't know much about her. She had her life well out of the limelight, and if it's something that relates to her in such a matter, my first suspicion is on someone she might have known."

Nodding, I replied, "I understand where your suspicions come from. I'll try to remember, but it has been well," I sighed, "five years, and even before that, I had rarely seen her with people. In the last years of her life, she literally saw no one except me and my father. Even while she was in the hospital..."

"Don't you find it odd?" he asked, his attention back on the letter, zooming in on the thin, almost transparent paper. "A woman of her stature, not having friends?"

I furrowed my brows at his statement. "What?"

"I mean, think about it," he began, his gaze deep in thought. "She was just a college senior when she met your father, her then professor. She came up with a great research idea for her final thesis, but later your father approached her to turn this study into an actual working model, a business. They worked together, but the truth is that she was the solid foundation behind the company's success. Later, they both saw that not only could they work on a company together but also their lives. They got married and had you. Throughout this narration, it doesn't seem like your mother would be someone who had, well, no deeper connections other than her family."

The thought clicked, and indeed, it was true, but somehow the last part didn't make sense. "Alexie," I added, "they did have friends. I mean, I vaguely remember when the company was still starting off, we used to host small gatherings among friends. I, of course, no longer remember them, but they were there! You met my father around the same time; don't you remember some things?"

He blinked, deep in thought, and scratched his head. "When I had shifted, your father didn't allow me to involve in the company per se. His motto was clear, that I had to take my education seriously. I might have been a prodigy, but what is it without having the right direction? But by the time I joined, there were only business partners, and Mrs. Patel had completely detached herself from the daily affairs of the company and worked remotely."

"Remotely?" I wondered aloud. "But she used to go to the office every day until she was hospitalized."

Both of our eyes widened at the revelation. There was something amiss that neither of us knew quite well. Maybe it was a thought that no child would ever wish to question about their deceased parent, but perhaps there were things in my mother's life that even I never knew. A side of the woman that I never discovered, and might never, but there is an entity out there, this "Eve," who is forcing me to question everything I know about my own mother.

"Wait," suddenly Alexie jerked forward, a victorious glee in his eyes as he hurriedly pushed himself off the chair, unscrewing the lens of his magnifying glass as he moved to the floor-length window in the room. The sun was bright in the sky, flashing a good amount of its rays into the room, lighting the space.

"Nari, look," he said with almost a childlike excitement laced in his voice. Following his words, I got up, coming right beside him to narrow my eyes at what he was pointing at—the borders at the two sides of the paper. But clearly, my eyesight was not as good as his.

"Here, look now." Carefully placing the paper on the window at my eye level, he gave me the lens to see.

Peering through the lens, I skimmed around to notice what he had seen. After a while, I could see it—extremely small in nature and well-hidden, but they were there. In between the lines that acted as the margins of the page, small digits were scattered about on the ink of the lines, only slightly distinct from the black lines due to the use of a darker grey on the digits. Coming closer to the lines, I tried to zoom in more, but human eyes had their own limits.

"Looks like we need to zoom in further," Alexie pointed out.

"Yes, we do. What do you think this might be?"

"I am not sure, but whoever this 'Eve' is, I have a feeling she won't be so easily done playing with us," he sighed as he moved towards the entrance. "Let's go, Nari. I think we need professional tools for this."

"Professional tools?" I asked as I followed him, but all my queries were answered when he opened the next door. An "oh" of understanding left my lips as I looked about the room. This room, furnished to almost resemble a laboratory, was equipped with home versions of professional-grade equipment. The shelves were lined with an array of precision instruments, and the air carried the faint scent of chemicals. In the center of the room, a sturdy worktable held an assortment of tools neatly arranged, each with a specific purpose.

As I scanned the room, my eyes landed on high-tech devices I had only seen in research facilities or advanced workshops. It became evident that this was no ordinary workspace; it was a hub of innovation and expertise. The hum of electronic equipment and the soft glow of monitors added an air of anticipation to the atmosphere.

"Wow," I was mesmerized by the attention to detail. It was a rare thought to use one's money in such a manner, but I guess being a developer working in the underworld meant one had to be prepared for anything and everything.

Making his way towards a monitor in the center connected to a device that could scan fine prints at a microscopic level, he approached a cutting-edge microfilm scanner. The device, known for its unparalleled precision and high-resolution capabilities, was designed to capture even the tiniest details of documents with remarkable clarity. As he operated the scanner with practiced expertise, it became clear that this technological marvel played a crucial role in the meticulous analysis of intricate patterns and delicate prints that we needed to discover. Once everything was set up, through an array of commands, Alexie was quick to decipher the fine print on the page borders by removing the layers of differential color patterns on the border itself.

Coming closer to him, I bent next to his monitor to take a closer look at the marvel that technology could generate. What was, for naked human eyes, an incongruous mumble-jumble was precisely laid out right in front of our eyes.

"These look like digits and letters?" I furrowed my brows in confusion, examining the seemingly complex string in front of me.

However, Alexie was quicker than me and immediately started typing in a frenzy. "No, look," he said. "This is not just a random string, but if you place them correctly, you get this."

Looking at the final result presented in front of me, it clicked as I gasped in surprise. "This is a location, the longitude and latitude!"

"Yup, that's right," and he started to work on the second string in the same manner. Once we had two sets, it was simple from there onwards as he input the results to get a precise location on maps.

"Where is that?" I asked as I looked through the varied photos of what looked like an abandoned town.

"It seems to be the location of a place in the state of Colorado, just west of Nathrop… called St Elmo," he glanced through the information on the town and stopped at a peculiar wording. "Also called originally the Forest City… does that click anything in your memory?"

"Nuh uh, I don't even think I have ever been to Colorado before."

"Hmm, it seems that this Eve expects us to visit this ghost town. Let me look; they have a Ghost Town Guest House, so it looks like we can take a flight and then drive the rest of the way."

"Alexie," I called out, biting my lips as nervousness crept through my veins. The whole idea, now that I look at it and where it might lead, was uncanny. Until it was a simple letter with just words, it didn't seem so daunting. But now, the prospect of going somewhere, a physical location that too so remote, sent the dread of reality down my spine.

As if sensing my discomfort, long fingers wrapped around mine, calming me instantly. It was the first time since my confession he had touched me. His touch, gentle and caring, pulled me towards him, almost magnetically. Without exchanging any words, I found comfort in his arms, as if my body had already deemed it to be its home, my comfort zone.

"Don't worry," he cooed into my hair, his earlier hesitation gone. "If you want, I can send someone—"

However, I cut him off as I looked into his eyes. "No, I think this Eve, whosoever they are, would not like that. They want me specifically to solve this labyrinth they have set for me. That's why the warning on the letter to not trust anyone, but…" I looked down, deep in thought, before I continued. "It doesn't make sense; without your help, solving the first cipher might've been impossible. It's as if…" I looked at Alexie; his grey orbs had already figured out what I was about to say, so he finished for me. "They knew that I won't let you go alone."

Nodding, I looked down again, realizing the closeness between us. A flush crept up on me, and I slightly moved to get off his lap. However, with his strong hold draped around my waist, moving even an inch seemed impossible. Despite my effort, he was not willing to let go, so I called, my voice just a flutter in the space, "Alexie…"

Hesitant, he coughed as his hold lightened, helping me slide off his lap easily. For a few moments, we remained silent until he finally broke it.

"Nari, I need to also ask you something," he started, and I raised my brow at his question. "Did your parents ever talk to you or maybe you heard them talk about something called 'Enigma'?"

"Enigma?" My head almost hurt with this new folded information thrown at me. What is this 'Enigma' exactly, I wondered.

"Apparently, there are a lot of people, bad people, that are after something that your parents' company developed, a software maybe called the 'Enigma.' No one knows what it is, but there has been word going around that this 'Enigma' will help its finder seek the greatest treasure of all times. Listen, I know all of this is too much to reel in at one time. How about we take a break, go out, have some nice dinner, and then I could chart out everything for you to take in better tomorrow?"

I nodded at the idea. All of everything that had happened today had my brain on a speed run. This kind of information that had made me question every sense of my own parents was something that would take time to absorb. Alexie was right; I needed to calm my head down to think about everything logically.

"I would love to do that," I smiled at the man.