Code | ✓

code | 3

Chapter Three: Midnight Sessions

***

Paiten stared blankly. But then, after a moment of him holding his breath, she got up. She walked over to him and grabbed his hand, saying, "it's a deal, Trouble. Don't let me down."

Axel smiled, letting them shake hands for a little while before they let go, with her returning back to her desk with a small grin.

Her fingers clacked against the keyboard as she worked on something for a little while, the two of them sat in utter silence, until she finally spun around on her chair and looked at him. There was an intensity to her eyes, a glimmer of interest he hadn't seen before - it was quite admirable, actually.

"What company do you want me looking into? And what sort of 'actions' do you want me to erase?" Paiten asked, eagerly awaiting his reply.

He winced as he thought about everything he had done. For a moment, a silly one, he forgot what he was there for - he forgot he was there due to his abhorrent actions rather than a friendly visit. Axel didn't want her to be uncomfortable around him, but he also knew that the circumstances of their recent 'friendship' probably already made her uncomfortable, and he reminded himself that she knew what she was getting into.

Still with nothing said, Paiten rubbed her temples and said, "Trouble, if you don't answer, I can't help you."

"Right, sorry." He quickly answered, and then spoke once more. "It's this place called Noskan Loans. It's a horde of crooked loan sharks that have rather... intimidating ways of getting back their money. A while ago I got into their database to see what they had and decided to take some for myself, and well... It was a moment of greed and selfishness, and now they're hot on my tail. They want their money back, but I also suspect they want to get a few hits in. You know, for revenge."

Paiten raised a blonde eyebrow. "Okay... and how is the police involved?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you see—this wasn't the first time I did something like this. I told you; I hack too. The first time I did it, I escaped without a hitch, so I got cocky. The second time I did it, I fucked up and left a trace and some guys came to beat the crap out of me. I got a few hits in myself, but that stupidly got me put on the police database. The judge agreed to give me community service since he could see that I hit back in self-defence, but my instigation with the hacking prevented me from getting out of a complete sentence."

"Now I'm confused." The girl said, eyebrows furrowed. "How exactly can I help you by erasing the database? Don't those guys know your face? And wouldn't the police get suspicious?"

He hadn't thought about those things beforehand. However, the answers to her questions came quickly - Axel knew exactly why he needed his name off every website, so telling her the information she scoured for wasn't difficult.

"They do, but having my name off their database will prevent them from looking for me. And about the police database? Not necessarily; again, it was only my actions that were recorded, not my name. My criminal record is hardly monitored too, a light charge for self defence, so it shouldn't be too noticeable with it gone." Axel said, earning a satisfied nod from Paiten.

"Okay, that's all I need to know." She said, spinning away from him. She cracked her knuckles and then pushed forward in her chair. "First, I'll take down Nosman Loans."

"Noskan Loans." Axel corrected.

"Yes, yes, Noskan Loans. I'll take them down, then the police database, then I'll have you help me before you leave and poof - we're out of each other's lives."

A cold sinking feeling went down his spine as disbelief settled over him. Did she want to get rid of him that fast? It hardly seemed fair; he thought they had gotten past the stage of him breaking into her bedroom (granted that only happened last night, and they hadn't explicitly talked about it yet) but it seemed as if she wasn't.

Nevertheless, Axel knew that he couldn't argue her decision, so just nodded and went along with what she said.

He forced a smile, saying, "exactly. No late rendezvouses for us."

She didn't reply. Instead, the loud clacking of the keyboard drowned out any possibilities for a conversation, and she seemed entirely enthralled in her work.

Occasionally, she'd bring him over to her desk, where she'd ask him questions about certain aspects - what guy was the frontman, what was his code name, what did he use to break in - but those happened rarely. So rarely that he could probably nap in between and be fully rested by the time she was done.

He felt strangely lonely, despite her being only a few feet away. It was incredibly peculiar - Axel didn't know what to make of it.
A few hours later, his name was entirely out of Noskan Loans' database. She got up off her chair to tell him all about it, explaining how she had to check the source codes for any indication of a hidden compartment - something used by websites to hide information from public view - but he was too pleased to listen.

He ran to her, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around, thanking her. Paiten's cheeks were red as she was let down on the ground, crossing her arms when she was standing on her own again.

"I'm not done yet. I only did the easy part." She said.

"I know." Axel replied. "But it's like a weight got lifted off my shoulders."

She paused before she explained, "I'll need a friend to help with the police one. They're not impossible to hack into, and it's actually quite laughable how you can just hop in and out with them seeing. I've only ever done it once, but I used the help of my friend - the one you're going to have to see to help you with the next part."

That didn't sound like fun. The more people involved in Axel's business, the less glad he was to have people helping him. He'd hate to be a burden, and already felt bad for dragging Paiten into things, despite the extra clauses involved, like her clear competence for such a task.

Regardless, he tried keeping his cool as he asked, "a friend? What do they offer to the table, exactly?"

"He has a cyber black hole that's practically impossible to penetrate unless you know how to get in. He stores all sorts in there, and he never leaves a trace. I haven't managed to get in since getting my new computer, so to use it we have to go to his house and use his servers."

•••

The original draft of this book went in a completely different direction. But I like to think with all these changes it's actually making it better - it makes much more sense as to why Paiten has to go see her friend, and also gives Axel's character a proper motive, something he didn't have before. (Woops)