The Breach

7. Hurricane

VIDEO EVIDENCE NO 246/1345/229C

LOCATION: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK

VIDEO TAG: UNKNOWN

SUBJECT: THEO PARNELL, STATUS: ROGUE

Theo Parnell was sitting in an empty classroom, university hours already over for quite a while. Golden light was seeping in through the windows, painting everything inside with a soft glow, making the camera image appear a little too bright. It was still possible to see the important details though. Theo was obviously nervous, tapping his left foot rhythmically against the floor, going through his phone at the same time. Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened and two figures came inside. ISAC databases confirmed them to be Theo's father, Henry Parnell, and Daniel Hathaway, a computer engineering professor. They were obviously shaken up about something and Theo flinched upon seeing them approach.

„How many times do I have to tell you," Henry Parnell spoke loudly, not even trying to hide his anger, „To quit your stupid antics at least until my campaign is over?"

Theo flinched again, immediately hiding his phone and turning the chair around to look at his father.

„It's not my fault, dad," he was speaking fast, obviously very stressed. „I told you that they're just waiting for a single misstep on my side to..."

„Stop talking, Parnell," this time it was the professor who spoke. „You can't hack the inboxes of your classmates to check if they're sending out emails about you. We talked about this."

„But somebody must have gone to the press! Only a few people apart from me knew what kind of research I was doing and..."

„... and you could have picked a different subject," Theo's father was still angry, moving closer and closer to Theo's desk. „Because you know how hard it already is for me to explain your shit to the press. Now this? This is unacceptable. Why are you doing this, Theo? Why can't you lay low for a single semester? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Henry threw a newspaper on Theo's desk then, making sure that his son got a good look at the cover. The camera image was coded with a comment citing the title. Henry Parnell's son tracking government conspiracies, hacking his classmates' inboxes in the process.

The room was silent for a while, almost making the recording appear frozen. A few seconds passed before Theo spoke again.

„It's not like that, dad."

„Then what is it like, Theo? It's all I want to know. What is it like?!"

Theo opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He bit his lower lip and didn't say anything else.

„If I may," the professor spoke again. „Senator, I'm afraid I can't tolerate any more... events like this. I have been very understanding, but this has gone too far. I'm going to have to remove your son from my class, effective immediately."

„Daniel," Henry's tone suddenly turned to a softer, almost pleading one. „Please give him another chance. I promise it's never going to happen again."

„You said the same thing last month, Senator. I have a reputation to uphold."

„One last time. Please. If he screws up again, I'll let you do whatever you please. Just let him try and make this right one last time."

Silence fell between the men again, interrupted only by a barely audible whirring of air conditioning.

„Alright," professor Hathaway finally spoke. „One last time. But I promise you, if anything like this happens again, I'm throwing your ass out of the program, Theo."