Hacker

Chapter 8: Cognizance

cognizance

(noun)

Knowledge, awareness, or notice

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Chapter Eight

Later that morning,, when the pair had all but given up on trying to look through the security cameras anymore, the glass on a window shattered. Ignoring Andy's indignant remarks, she walked over, to inspect the projectile that had done the damage. A flashdrive. Plugging it into her laptop, a message appeared on the screen. You have tried to find us. You will pay. Came up in a bold red font on the screen, before going black not ten seconds later. Eliza pulled out the flashdrive quickly, and watched his burst into a small fire, which she was quick to stamp out. The flash drive The Archangel had given her at The Art Institute weighed heavily in her left sock. "I'll pay for the window," Eliza promised, before walking away, Cameron following. "Remember Marilyn!" Andy called out, and she raised her cigarette in acknowledgment. Andy laughed again. Cameron wrinkled his nose. "I still can't believe you smoke."

"You hook up with random people and I smoke. Which one is given a worse reputation in our world?"

"If you're in L,A both are clapped upon.

"Touché."

"Breakfast first?"

"Of course." Eliza responded, as they stepped into Bettany's Breakfast Buffet. Sitting at a booth, a waiter came to take their order. "What can I get you guys?" he asked, winking at Eliza. She ordered, and mimed gagging, as the waiter turned disinterestedly to Cameron, asking the same thing. Cameron smothered a grin, before ordering the same. Above Cameron's head was a television, showing the morning news in New Haven. Eliza stared at it, disinterested, as the waiter brought over two cups of coffee. Eliza stared at it, swirling the cream into the dark liquid mindlessly, when Cameron nudged her, motioning for her to eat. The waiter soon after brought over their food and the bill.

In the most cliché way possible, he had scrawled his phone number near the bottom of the receipt. Eliza paid no attention, finishing up her food when her head perked up. The news reporter was talking about her.

"A twenty-three year old woman currently residing in New Haven has been accused of hacking into the mainframe of the FBI," A man in a tweed suit narrated. Eliza let out a sigh of relief. Her name hadn't been announced, her picture hadn't been shown. However, her luck died out quickly. A picture of her flashed up. Caught my some security camera a couple days ago. Her facial features could be clearly made out, and she had stupidly tied her hair in a ponytail, giving the camera a direct view of her ears and nose. The two hardest things to conceal. Eliza swore underneath her breath, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. The waiter, had pulled his phone out of his apron pocket, and was trying to inconspicuously. The white case of his phone camouflaged perfectly with his apron, but the red light near the lense was obvious. Recording.

Cameron caught her gaze, and got up, walking over to the waiter who tried to look nonchalantly. He effectively stood in front of the lense, trying to engage the waiter in some questions. Cameron had his hand behind his back, and gave a quick thumbs up, to which Eliza got up and left the restaurant quickly. She hurriedly made her way down the street, and made to cross when a bus stopped in front of the street. And the same picture of her was plastered on the back of it, scaled to a larger size. A man in a car with the hood down stopped behind the bus. He smiled at her slightly, a sign of acknowledgment before looking ahead, seeing the picture He looked back at her, his eyes widening and Eliza made a run for it.

In a mad dash, she raced down the street, pushing past pedestrians who exclaimed in various tones of annoyance. Her sneakers pounded against the pavement as she ran down the sidewalk, taking turns at random. Pushing past a mom with a stroller, she ran across a green light, almost getting trampled by a Honda Civic. She ran faster, going God knows where, cutting off a semi truck, a boy on a bike and three roller skaters.