Discoveries ✔ (Divergent Fourtris Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

I nod. "Yes, but I need a spare part to repair the drive to make sure your data won't get lost the next time you turn it on. If you can take my place here for a while, I'll go to the storeroom to find the necessary parts and tools."

Thank god I've had lots of time to learn not to flinch under Eric's scrutinizing stare.

"I need the computer to work again in two hours. So hurry up! And better don't screw it!"

I take the precious drive in my hands as Eric settles down in a free chair and looks over the images flooding the screens.

"I forgot what an interesting place to work the control room can be," he says to no one in particular, and I guess he's seen something that caught his attention in the feed.

I leave and take the shortest way to the storeroom. Surely Eric is following my every step. I'm still surprised everything went so smoothly. It was the crucial part of the task: That Eric would let me leave with his data.

On my way, I soon pass Zeke and Shauna's apartment. That's where Zeke is hiding with some gadgets, prepared to read out Eric's files. He's much more skilled than I am regarding IT. I knock and hand him the drive, and he gives me a similar looking one in exchange, so Eric won't see me wandering around the compound with empty hands. I continue walking and reach the storeroom after several more minutes. Inside, there are no cameras, and I exhale deeply as part of the tension leaves my body.

Okay, I tell myself, go looking for the stuff you need.

I gather the necessary tools and parts on an empty shelf near the door. It doesn't take me long, since Zeke has come here earlier to compile a box with all the possibly necessary items in different sizes to repair the damage, and then he took it with him to his apartment. He has everything he might need in stock there, to double-check it fits the drive, so if I've picked anything wrong, Zeke can correct my mistake. Our plan would be completely blown if I returned to Eric with the wrong stuff, and he became suspicious.

I wait a bit before I start to walk back anyway, to give Zeke as much time as possible. On my way, I meet Shauna, as we have intended, and we chat a bit in front of a camera, providing me with an alibi for needing another five minutes to get back to the control room.

Then I exchange the fake drive with Zeke, and he grins at me with his thumb up after looking over the tools I brought with me from the tech store room.

"That will do. And it worked. Here, I've already repaired most damage. You just have to fix this connection here on the side and then put all the pieces back together," he whispers before he disappears behind the door again.

A good half an hour later I give a repaired computer back to Eric. He observes it from all sides before he sets it down again and turns it on. His home screen is up in no time, and he clicks some random folders and files to check if everything's still there.

"Seems to work, Four. Computers have always been one of the few things you can handle better than I."

Even if he makes a compliment, he still does it in a way that shows off his superiority. I swallow the harsh remark I'd like to make, thinking that I indeed proved that I am smarter than him today — with Zeke's help, of course.

The rest of my shift drags on too slowly. I'm impatiently waiting for it to be over, so I can join the meeting at Zeke's. I wonder if he has already found something interesting. Eric, although sometimes blinded by his huge ego, isn't stupid. He won't leave any secret files where anyone could quickly find them. If he trusted me with his drive, he has them either encrypted or hidden well or saved them to another device, or they just don't exist.