The Cryptic Hacker

Not Your Usual 'Techie'

"Might as well be a casino..." I muttered as I went in. It turned out to be something like a casino. Why? Because there was a bar in the so-called-arcade. I went over there. Might be a good place to sit still while looking around at potential Thorns. Thorns in my side, I added bitterly.

"Hey." I nodded at the bartender.

"You old enough to be drinking?" He asked. Technically I was only 16, but I somehow bagged a job working as an intern for the C.I.A.

The bartender didn't look too old himself, maybe around 17 or 18. I figured he must be the assistant bartender. He had a tattoo on his shoulder that I could see because he wore a black tank top. His tattoo showed a heart with the initial N.K in the middle of it.

"Of course, why else would I be here?" I tried to talk in a deeper voice when I answered his question. The bartender rolled his eyes and looked across the room. He was looking past me.

Before I could turn around the bartender spoke. "You got identification?" He whispered in a gruff voice. I pretended to look through my coat and pockets, avoiding the hidden holster where my gun was.

"Gee, I left my wallet at home." I faked disappointment, "You take pictures of I.D's?" The barkeep nodded as I took my phone out. "Let me find it in my camera roll..." I pretended to scroll through my phone. I was actually typing a prompt in my picture generator.

"What's taking so long?" The barkeep asked. I showed him my phone and he nodded at my picture. It was a picture of an I.D that said Kristen Valerie had a birthdate that showed I had just turned 18.

"Everyone says I look young." I told him casually.

"What's you order?" The bartender looked annoyed as he polished a random glass. I noticed that the shelf behind him was filled with an assortment of different glasses.

One glass in particular caught my eye, it was a glass made of what looked like gold. There was even a capital T inscribed on the cup with blue paint.

"Hey Phil, let the new customer have the top one." A boy sat on the stool next to me.

I realized he had curly brown hair, green eyes, and a black face mask. The barkeep didn't say anything, he just quickly turned around and took the gold cup from the top of the shelf.

"Thanks." I said in a blank voice, not really sure what I had anything to do with the letter 'T'. I didn't know how special the cup was but the bartender looked horrified by my neutral tone. "I'll take a virgin cup of your fantastic Cuba Libre."

"That's just coke," The boy looked at me.

"I know." I rolled my eyes. "So, N.K ..." I asked the bartender as he served my drink. I didn't notice his nametag until now: Phillis. "Someone special?"

"She's no one." The bartender stated, he seemed nervous.

"Yeah, no one..." The boy next to me answered my question as he was served his drink. "Just someone Phillip's obsessed with. I bet she doesn't even know about the tattoo..." The bartender cleaned another glass faster than before.

"You seem a bit young to be here." I looked at the boy.

"I am, I'm only 17." The boy gulped down his drink. Then I realized it was root beer. "My dad owns the place, so I hang around here." The boy finished his statement. "You seem a bit young, for your fake I.D"

"I get told that a lot, figur-" I stopped short, and eyed the boy blankly. "What do you mean?" I tried to act calm.

"What I mean is, what's your name?" The boy held a gun to my head as I put my hands up.