Uninvited Guest

"Every system has a flaw, and every person has a weak spot."

— Chapter 8 —

~ Past Tense ~

— Here you go, Dad. Your tea.

Mr. Cengiz set aside the newspaper he was reading and reached for the tea glass.

— You seem awfully cheerful today. Don't tell me you've met someone new and I don't know about it?

Tuğçe smiled and replied:

— Even better! I've come across some information about the documentary I'm working on… I'll be dropping a bombshell before the year's over.

Her father took a sip of tea and looked at his daughter, who now spoke with the seriousness of a reporter:

— What kind of information?

— A video that proves the existence of a secret company called ARME (Artificial Memory). These bastards are conducting secret experiments on children they abduct from different countries. When I release the documentary, the media will go wild.

Mr. Cengiz was skeptical:

— Are you sure it's not edited footage?

— I had it verified. I'm confident it's real.

— And who gave you the footage? That tall guy who's been hanging around you lately?

— No, not him. A hacker named Shadow sold it to me for ten thousand dollars.

Cengiz raised an eyebrow. He adjusted his glasses, then leaned back slightly: "Only ten thousand dollars for a video this important? If it were me…" He slowly sat upright as a thought struck him. Tuğçe had just gone to the kitchen to refill the tea.

"If those who own this footage were negotiated with properly, Rising College could've been saved from the brink of bankruptcy. And we could've lowered the cafeteria prices too," he thought. The idea stuck with him through the night, keeping him awake. While his daughter was still asleep, he quietly entered her study. He knew her computer password -it was his own birth date- so he unlocked it with ease. A folder titled 'Truths' caught his eye.

"There it is."

When he opened the video, he saw a small child sitting in a white room. A man in a lab coat and glasses was injecting him with something. Since he didn't want to wake Tuğçe, he kept the sound off and couldn't understand the dialogue. He quickly transferred the video onto a flash drive.

"My daughter's a great journalist but a terrible investor," he muttered as he returned to his room. Now he was dreaming of making a profitable deal using the footage. With his international contacts, it wouldn't be hard to reach ARME employees. All he had to do was plan the exchange carefully. He needed to account for every possible mishap. There couldn't be a single gap in his plan.

---

~ One Week Later ~

Poyraz opened the package that had arrived for him. Inside was an earpiece for communication and the device Shadow had mentioned in his message. All he had to do was secretly connect it to Tuğçe's computer-Shadow would handle the rest remotely.

He had been observing Tuğçe in secret for a week. The young journalist lived alone in a not-so-crowded neighborhood. Her father owned a private college and usually visited her on weekends. She had two brothers, but didn't keep in close touch with them. There were two doors to the house, but the back one had weaker security. Tuesday was the best day to break in-Tuğçe usually returned later than usual on that day.

It was Tuesday again. Night had fallen. Just as expected, the journalist girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Wear a mask to cover your face-just in case."

Poyraz was irritated by Shadow's know-it-all voice echoing in his ear, but he was under orders to obey every instruction.

Thanks to prior research, he managed to pick the lock using a tension wrench:

— Can't see a damn thing in this stupid place.

"Don't even think about turning on the lights."

Poyraz could barely see with only the streetlamp's light coming through the window. He needed to find the computer fast. As he stumbled and grabbed a couch for balance, he kicked aside a fallen scarf and started scanning the room.

When Shadow heard drawers opening and closing through the earpiece, he got annoyed:

"What the hell are you doing? Go to her room and turn on the computer!"

Poyraz whispered:

— She has a lot of chocolate.

A mocking voice responded:

"How sweet... We now have a sugar-powered agent. Just find the damn laptop already!"

Poyraz hadn't taken the drugs Dr. Hard had prepared for him in a long time. He had discovered that eating sweets helped regulate his emotions. And unlike those pills, chocolate didn't leave him with unbearable headaches. The meds stirred violent storms in his brain-chocolate was quieter. More human.

He left the kitchen, which was adjacent to the living room, and headed to the study. He pressed the power button on the laptop sitting on the desk.

— It's asking for a password.

"No problem. Plug the device into the correct port… I'll have root access in three seconds."

Poyraz carefully inserted the small device into the USB port. A small green light on the device began blinking.

— It's in. The light's on.

"Good. Exploit initiated. The password wall has two layers, but lucky you-it's an old model."

The screen first went black. A countdown timer appeared. Lines of code rapidly scrolled in the corner.

— What's with all this code?

"In 45 seconds, the entire system will be mine."

Suddenly, the screen turned blue. A white-text message appeared.

— Did the screen just break?

"Think it's a Blue Screen? Don't worry. That's my signature."

Poyraz was growing bored of waiting. He pulled down his hood and brushed his hair aside. His thoughts were back on the chocolate in the kitchen. There were kinds he hadn't even tried yet.

"All done. That's all from me"

Poyraz unplugged the device and put the earpiece in his pocket. Just as he turned toward the kitchen, relieved to have completed his mission, a sudden noise behind him made him look back-

A blinding light burst across his face.

The woman holding the phone screamed and fled the house, while Poyraz, in a panic, dashed toward the backyard door. Without even looking behind him, he vanished into the darkness.