The Concorda Files [ONC 2025]

06_DECRYPTION.key

'Albert! Albert! Wake up,' Banjo said as she gently shook the android's shoulders. 

'What's wrong with–' Granddad stopped, looking for the right word. 

'Him. Granddad, he's a "him".' Banjo shot a look at her grandfather. 

Granddad shrugged. 'I don't know, do I? He's my first android.' 

Albert's eyes slowly open and immediately found Banjo's eyes. 'I have the whole encryption key now,' he said. 

Banjo looked hard at her friend, looking for cues that there was a mistake. But there was none. 'Does that mean you can access this?' She patted her bag. 

Granddad was watching them both intently and then gestured a silent, "What's that?" 

Albert started to stand, and Banjo and Granddad both helped him to a seat. When he was sat at the kitchen table, Banjo took the stolen data stick from her bag and handed it to Albert. 

The android took the four-inch steel cylinder and turned it over and over; examining every seam and hole carefully. A moment later he pulled his thumb on his left hand to the side to reveal a connector port. Albert then plugged the data stick into the port on his hand. 

Immediately, Albert's eyes turned an opaque white; there was no sign of the mechanical blue irises. Banjo and Granddad both took a step back, but the android didn't move. A moment passed uneasily before Albert spoke. His voice was altered, and he appeared to be mimicking voices again. 

Banjo's breath caught in her throat when she heard a voice she hadn't heard in over a year come from the android's mouth. A voice from someone she thought dead. 

'Hawk, you have yet again failed to meet your end of the bargain.' It was the voice of her ex-boyfriend, Simon. 

'Simon?' whispered Banjo, confused. 

'It's Mr. Hawthorne to you, and you've got it backwards. Again! Your little scheme was never going to work, Grant,' replied the voice of The Hawk. 'Remember, you work for me. Not the other way around. I got you that job at Concorda so you could steal for me, and you didn't deliver in time. So I had to get an old employee to come out of retirement. A promise of cash was always enough to get their grubby little fingers interested.' 

'But they destroyed my office,' replied Grant. 

'I don't care. You have a copy of the data from your laptop, and you need to deliver it to me in the next forty-eight hours, or I'll send Two-ton to break your legs.' 

Albert's eyes returned to normal, and he unplugged the data stick from the port on his hand. 

Banjo sat down heavily and stared at Albert. The android blinked several times before looking back at Banjo. 

'My apologies. I detected a call taking place when I attempted to connect to Concorda's servers. Now I have the full encryption key and knowledge of their encryption algorithm; I believe I am able to circumvent all their security protocols,' said Albert. 'The call I intercepted was being diverted through Concorda's secure communications systems, which enabled me to intercept it.'