Mirage // Marvel Universe

file-shield-01.txt

April 2003

Sometimes a person just has to sell government secrets to pay off their student loans. It's a questionable career choice, sure. But when breaking through firewalls is the only thing you're good at, what else are you going to do? Taking a part-time job at some fast-food restaurant was never really my thing anyway.

It is the perfect kind of Saturday people dreamed about during a particularly boring seventeenth-century literature lecture. Outside on the lawn, the laughter of people enjoying the sun with their friends echos off the brick dorm buildings surrounding the square. It's late in the afternoon, but the early summer sun is still high in the sky. I have plenty of time before the handoff; enough time to study for a history final.

I hum along to the music blasting through my headphones as I thumb absentmindedly through the pages of my textbook. I have read the same paragraph at least fifteen times and I'll probably read it fifteen more before I actually pay any attention to what it is saying. Something about burning books-- I don't know. I'd burn this book if I could. Too bad textbooks cost more than what I pay for three months worth of food.

There's a tap on my shoulder and I spin around. "Yeah?" Kathrine, my roommate, mouths something to me and I shake my head, not understanding. "What do you want?" I ask probably a little too loud.

"Take off your headphones!" She yells at me.

My cheeks flush as I set my headphones around my neck. "So-- uh-- what's up?"

Kathrine sets her backpack on her bed. "You said you wanted to borrow my laptop?" She pulls it out of her backpack, setting it on the desk next to my textbook. Honestly, I forgot I asked her. I was planning to just to walk down to the library later, but this was much, much better.

I smile, slamming my textbook closed and tossing it to the floor. "Kathrine, you are an absolute godsend."

"Um, I have a paper I need to edit by Monday so I'm going to need in back by tonight, Harper," she explains as she pulls her trombone case out from under her bed.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be done by the time you finish band practice."

The door closes behind Kathrine, leaving me in peace to do what I need to do. I open up the laptop, playing with a strand of my annoyingly straight, black hair as I wait for the loading screen progress bar to finish. Come on, come on. As soon as it's done, I open my email in the browser.

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New Messages (1)

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file-shield-01.text

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Bingo. I quickly open a terminal, watching as the cursor blinks back at me. Taking a deep breath, I begin to type. My fingers work with practised agility on the keyboard. It takes a bit of searching, but once I hit the first firewall, I know I'm headed in the right direction. Time to take a look at all the things the government suits didn't want people to see, and of course, make some money off some sketchy people while I'm at it.

I fiddle with the flash-drive in the pocket of my red and yellow hoodie I got for free at orientation. I watch out the window as the bus moves along with the traffic, the white noise of the engine tempting me with sleep. It's late now and I still have to finish my studying, but that's nothing a few dozen cups of coffee can't fix when I get back. The bus's brakes hiss to a stop and people move to congregate at the doors. Looking around to see where we stopped, I furrow my brow. I glance at my hand where are wrote the handoff location: "The alley near Blake and 17th." We should be close.