For the third time in not even ten seconds, I pushed the doorbell, urging whoever would open the door to walk fucking faster. As I was about to push it a fourth time, the panel opened, revealing my mom's annoyed expression. When she saw it was me, it turned into surprise, but I didn't have time to explain why I was here.
"Hi, mom," I greeted her, stepping into the house. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek as I passed by her and swiftly made my way to the living room.
MC was already there, watching some random telenovela, and she seemed as surprised as my mom had been to see me here. Offering her a shrug, I grabbed the remote on the table and switched channels, earning me some Spanish scolding. With my eyes fixed on the screen, I went through the channels, trying to find what I was looking for.
"Hey, peanut. I didn't know you were coming today," said my dad, who'd just entered the room.
As he finished his sentence, I finally found a news channel that had already picked up on the heist. On the large screen, a very serious-looking man wearing a dark blue suit was staring gravely at the camera.
"Government officials have barely started their investigation, but the public already seems convinced. The world-famous hacker known as Nammota has done it again. As of now, the U.S. Department of Justice's website is still a victim of the hack, and the only thing that shows is the message the alleged hacker has left behind."
The screen changed into a screenshot of what the website looked like now. It was entirely black, with only the text in white in the middle of it. The anchorman read out loud what was written on it.
—————
The American Justice System is built to cater to the needs of a few while ignoring the rest and being unfair to marginalized populations. This unacceptable behavior has lasted for too long, so I have taken action to right the wrongs this institution has committed over the years. Money has been taken from twenty-five of the richest people in this country. The very ones who never hesitate to negotiate favors with crooked officials. In the past, these people have scammed their employees, forcing them to an arduous life of struggle while they share more wealth than what could be spent in a thousand lifetimes.
These twenty-five money hoarders have been exposed on the websites of their companies, just like our Justice Department is being denounced here. There, you will find more details of their wrongdoings and have a glimpse at just how rotten each of these individuals is. As consumers, you have the right to know what kind of person your hard-earned money goes to.
In an effort to rebalance the scale, this money will be redistributed to twenty-five thousand families that have been wronged before by our biased and corrupted justice. These people have fallen victim to shady settlements, unfair dismissal, uncompensated work injuries...
Untraceable and anonymous donations will be made during the incoming months, for a total sum of $55,978.91 per family. Everything has been carefully considered, and no one can come after you for it. If you are among these families, know that you are more entitled to this money than the scum it belonged to. Do not feel ashamed to keep it.
Your friendly neighborhood hacker, Nammota.
PS: You will find below a list of government workers, including judges, district attorneys, and high-ranking justice officials, who have received bribes in the past. The documents that prove these claims have been sent to the appropriate departments.
—————
It was nearly impossible to hold back the smile that eagerly wanted to take over. We'd fucking done it. I'd have to check further and see if everything had gone well, but we'd fucking done it.
The news outlet couldn't know this yet, but there was much more to these twenty-five bank accounts being hacked. Each of them had gotten sixty-two "micro" withdrawals in a very specific order. It wouldn't take long for the investigators to figure it out, since all these were composed of ones and zeroes, but the transactions formed a message in binary code. 'Appearance is deceptive. Nothing around here is what it seems.' It was another Lex Luthor's quote, Nammota's signature move, and it was meant to point toward Lex's innocence even further. Like a cheeky note left by Nammota, telling the investigators they'd fooled themselves on this one.
Then, the money had been shuffled countless times through various bank accounts, to the point where it was absolutely impossible to trace. In about three minutes, a little under one point four billion dollars had disappeared into thin air. Now, it was patiently waiting, scattered into heavily secured offshore accounts, waiting to be slowly drained. The recipients, the wronged families, would receive randomized amounts, ranging from ten dollars to five hundred, at random intervals of time, sometimes twice a day, sometimes once a week.
Oli, Death, and I had spent hours trying to find the most secure way to get the money to them. Even though there might be some suspicions in the long run, there would be no way for law enforcers to know which transactions were or weren't from the hack, so they wouldn't be able to seize any of it. Also, handling an average of two hundred transactions per family would cost them more than they'd get back. There was no way they'd bother with over five million of these microtransactions. Truly, the plan was flawless.
When I looked around, I noticed that my parents had settled on the couch, their attention completely focused on the screen. Their absolute shock was almost comical. The anchorman was talking about some of Nammota's past strikes, probably trying to keep the public interested long enough until some new information was given to him through his earpiece.
On my way to the armchair, I took my phone out of my pocket, finally allowing myself to check on it. I already had a few messages on it, from people telling me to go watch the news immediately. As I sat down, a call came in. Seeing it was Kevin. I picked it up, my eyes still on the screen.
"Are you seeing this?" he asked right away.
"Yes, I'm with my parents. We're on CNN. This is insane..."
"I know. Everyone at Kelex stopped working, and we're all in the breakroom, watching it. It's everywhere now. All the news channels are talking about it."
Since I was still holding the remote, I checked for myself, and sure enough, every single news outlet had picked up on this. Holy shit, the whole country would know about it soon.
"They have to let him out now," Kev said, his tone light and hopeful. "There's no way they'll keep him after this. Clearly, Nammota is still out there; they'd have to be stupid to keep the charges against Lex."
"Yes, I know. We kept telling them he wasn't Nammota, and now they'll have to believe us," I answered, full of hope as well. The prosecution's case had already been flimsy, but now it was downright unwinnable.
"Lex must have a guardian angel watching over him," Kev let out, and I knew he meant me. He was too smart not to have figured out I had done this.
"Maybe Nammota did it for that. Maybe he didn't want his work attributed to someone else, or refused to let an innocent man go to prison for it. That could explain the timing."
"Yes, you're probably right. That would also explain why it's the justice system he's attacking now."
"Exactly."
Kev and I stayed on the phone a while longer, barely talking, our attention absorbed by what was unfolding on the screens before us.
The twenty-five targets were already being dragged into the mud all over the internet, and according to the anchorman, some were already seeing their stock value drop significantly. It was insane to think that I'd taken slightly under fifty-six million from each of them, and it had barely made a dent in their fortune. But this, losing the public's appreciation and seeing their value drop would hurt their wallet a lot more.
Some of them had already been targeted by Nammota in the past, like StarCare or Amazon, and some of them were brand new, seeing their image tarnished for the first time. It had taken a lot of research, but we had found the worst companies we could and their ruthless, heartless CEOs.
Kev was forced to hang up when his wife called him, and I got to check my phone again, seeing I'd gotten more texts and messages. For over an hour, my family and I remained glued to our seats, watching all of this unfold. They didn't hesitate to react, and their commentary helped with the tension. Abuela was in an odd mood, clearly delighted by the idea that this might free Lex, but attacking whoever pointed out that Homeland's cyber division still needed to confirm it was indeed Nammota.
The news channel we were on took calls from a few experts, and thankfully, most of them agreed this must be Nammota's doing. Very few people would have been able to execute a cyber-attack of this magnitude so flawlessly, and all of them would have claimed it for themselves, instead of attributing it to Nammota.
"If this cyber breach was indeed carried out by the infamous hacker known as Nammota, we can't help but wonder what will happen next to Alexander Coleman," the anchorman declared. Hearing Lex's name had my heart beating hectically, and I sat up in my seat. "Arrested on the 4th of January, Coleman was until now the primary suspect in the Nammota's investigation that has been going on for well over a decade now. Ever since his very public pre-trial, he has been incarcerated and waiting for the pending trial. The much-awaited event is supposed to take place in DC in four days. Speculations have been arising all over the internet, and people are asking if this means Alexander Coleman will be freed."
To help with the tricky question, some hotshot lawyer joined the anchorman. They talked about the situation, and the information they gave reassured me greatly. While there still needed to be confirmation that it was indeed Nammota's doing, there was no way Lex would remain the prime suspect in the investigation. According to the lawyer, the odds were in favor of Lex's defense, and even if he went to trial, he would be found innocent.
"¡Sabíamos que era inocente! [We knew he was innocent!]" MC claimed at the TV, visibly irritated. "[But, la madre que te parió, did you listen? No, you didn't. I'm going to call Susan and tell her to eat shit.]"
"Mamà," my mom scolded, giving her a reproachful glance.
"What?! She's been slandering the man's name ever since this started. You bet I'm going to call her out."
It didn't surprise me one bit that Mrs. Temple, a black belt in gossiping and bad-mouthing, had spread some nasty rumors and insulting assumptions. "When you get to it, tell her to go fuck herself on my behalf," I told my Abuela, throwing my head back to look at her.
"Andrea!" mom protested.
"Tell her for me too." This time it was dad, and my mother finally gave up with a groan.
It took an advertisement break to get me to finally move away from the TV, and I moved to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I was just done drinking it when MC joined me in there. She came to me and gave me a tight hug.
"Our man will come out soon," she declared with assurance when she moved away.
"Our man?"
"Sharing is caring, Dee."
My mom came in as well, and she offered me a motherly smile that warmed me all the way inside. I received a hug from her as well, and a long, loving kiss on the temple. "Everything will be better soon," she whispered into my ear, still holding me.
These past few weeks, I'd been the strongest I'd ever been. I'd pushed through, held back my worries, and given everything I had to bring this plan to completion. For a month now, I'd barely shed a tear, barely listened to the insidious doubts that crippled me deep inside.
But now that I was in my mom's embrace, against her comforting frame I'd known my whole life, this barrier I'd built, this wall of strength and badassery was cracking. Right there in the middle of the kitchen, I broke into tears of relief, the pressure finally lifting off my shoulders. Lex would come out. There was no way he'd stay in prison. I'd done it, and now I could finally breathe.
Overtaken by a strange mix of joy, weariness, and alleviation, I let the emotions wreck me. My limbs gave up under me, and both my mom and Abuela must have helped me down, because soon enough, we were all sitting on the floor while they held the pieces of me together. Mom was whispering comforting words in my ear with a soothing voice, and MC was gently caressing my back and hair.
This breakdown was probably a mix of fatigue, happiness, and lifted pressure, but it felt so good to let go, to let myself be submerged by my feelings.
I'd done it. I'd fucking done it.
• • •
After we'd stayed for God knows how long on the kitchen floor, my mom had insisted I took a nap, because I looked exhausted. I hadn't fought her on it and had gone to my room, falling face-first on my old bed.
I'd woken up quite late, but everyone was still up. MC brought me some leftovers from their dinner before heading out for the night. I was now eating the pasta in front of the TV with my parents, catching up on what had happened during my nap. There wasn't any new development, aside from a plethora of statements from people who used to work in one of the twenty-five companies I'd targeted.
Hopefully, the cyber heist would not only restore some balance and free Lex, but also change the norm and force these abusive companies to do better and be more humane to their employees.
When I declared I needed to leave, mom protested greatly, about ready to force me back upstairs and put me to bed. "Mamà, I have to go. There's a million things I need to get ready if Lex comes back," I argued.
In all truth, I needed to return to Seattle as soon as possible, to inspect everything and make sure it all had gone well. I had no reason to believe anything had gone wrong, but as long as I wasn't back to the Lexcave, I couldn't be certain. Hopefully, Death had handled any issues that arose, and Oli too, since he'd been off work for a while now. But just in case, I had to go back.
My mom argued some more, but I held my ground. With a pout, she gave up and went to pack me a few things she wanted me to have. Once she was out of the room, off to the kitchen, my dad turned to me, and despite his glasses, I could tell there was something odd in his gaze. He'd been a little off ever since I'd arrived, and we hadn't gotten the opportunity to talk until now. When he spoke, though, I wasn't expecting his question.
"Did you do it?" he asked. My heartbeat increased dangerously, troubled by his assumption. For his own sake, he couldn't know. Not only would it put him in a dangerous position, but it would also make him worry for me.
"Do what?"
"Don't play dumb, peanut. You're way too smart for that."
Conflicted, I looked at the screen where they were still talking about the cyber attack I'd very much orchestrated. He knew me too well, and regardless of what I said, he'd know if I was lying. The best thing I could do at this point was to reassure him.
"If I ever did something like this," I started, "I'd take every precaution to make sure I didn't get caught. Maybe I'd even ask for some help from a trusted few; just to be certain I didn't put myself or Lex in danger. If I'd done it, I would only have gone all the way if I had been one hundred percent certain it wouldn't fail."
There was a long pause, where all we could hear was my mom doing whatever she was doing in the kitchen. When my father spoke again, there was a great sense of acceptance in his tone, even though he still seemed concerned. "If you'd done it, would you ever show your old man how you did it? He'd be very proud of his little peanut, and would want to see just how brilliant she was."
An irrepressible grin lifted the corners of my lips up, and I twisted my neck to gaze at him with gratitude. "Yeah, I think I might have shown him, one day."
He smiled back at me and offered me a mischievous wink. Before we could say more, my mom came back with a bundle of what must have been cookies and other sweets. As much as I wanted to stay here with them, I had no other choice and needed to go back to Seattle. I should have hit the road as soon as I'd left the FBI building, but my curiosity had been too great.
I'd wasted enough time as it was, so now I needed to get back to work, and make sure none of what I'd done would come back to bite us in the ass.
To keep my mind busy and avoid falling asleep, but also because I needed to keep track of what was happening, the drive back to Seattle was done with a news station on. Just like on TV, they mostly repeated the same things over and over, still waiting for any new development to come out. I didn't mind though, and I listened to the facts I already knew, still having a hard time believing this was all real. At some point, I hesitated toward putting on some music instead, but out of fear of missing anything relevant, I held back.
The drive was smooth, with barely anyone on the road. Despite the nap, I was feeling more tired than I should have. I'd regularly pinch myself hard or slap my cheeks to prevent myself from falling into drowsiness. The empty roads upon arriving in Seattle were a blessing, and I was glad to be spared from the usual heavy traffic.
At that point, I was barely paying any attention to the voices on the radio anymore. But the host's tone suddenly became more enthusiastic, which made me listen to him again. Thankfully, I was at a red light, or else I would have probably hit the brakes.
"Just out now, a new development in the Nammota case. It would seem the case of The United States Vs. Alexander Coleman is being dropped. The prosecution just released a public statement, declaring they were abandoning the charges against Coleman, incarcerated since January the 4th. Many people have been speculating about this unavoidable outcome, but it's now official, and the wrongfully accused..."
The rest of it was lost in the deafening cacophony of my thoughts. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. This wasn't real, was it? Had I fallen asleep? It felt so pure, so good, it almost seemed like a dream. I pinched the skin of my forearm between two fingers, and the pain gave me the sense of reality I so desperately needed. An incredulous laugh poured out of me, mixed with sobs caused by my overwhelming elation.
Lex was fucking free again. He'd be home soon. He'd be out of danger. He'd be with me.
I'd really done it.