Misfits

10.3 | still cheaper than therapy

Behind the entrance is yet another locked door. I can't help rolling my eyes.

This time is a little easier however; the lock is secured with a worn-down padlock. Perhaps if Emma was here, I would have gotten her to melt it, but there's no need, the lock looks old enough to be picked easily.

I pat my hair down to find a stray hairpin and begin bending it into shape. Within fifteen minutes, I manage to unlock the door, feeling satisfied as it swings open with a groaning creek.

The inside of the room comes as a surprise to me. Being so used to the sophisticated, state-of-art technology that typically surrounds my mother, this room feels too dated, too old-fashioned. The space is small and secluded — clearly newer than the barn itself, and yet it felt older, like it was neglected and rarely in use.

Cautiously, I walk inside. Even the air felt older, mustier. An ancient computer lies along one of the walls on a simple wooden table covered in gadgets and an assortment of thick wires running through the back. Compared to everything else in here, it looks like it had been dusted recently. I run my hand over the edge of the monitor screen, only to be overwhelmed with a feeling similar to the one I got outside when I touched the books.

I pull away, starting to feel slightly nauseous after having so many visions in such a short period of time. I still can't figure what exactly is triggering this new ability - does this mean this computer is important too?

I push away my nausea and sit down to further investigate. I go to power on the PC, but I find myself stuck on a buffering screen which displays a 'loading...' option for a few seconds before blacking out and looping again to the first screen. I try turning it off and on again, but after a few minutes of trying to no avail, I opt to search around the table to see if there is any component I am missing. Sliding the hefty computer to the side, I reach my hand between the gap to discover a newer sleeker laptop folded away behind it.

I raise an eyebrow, not sure what to make of the new device. The PC is definitely important but... My thoughts trail off when I catch sight off a cable that had dropped to the table when I pulled out the laptop. I gently tug on the end, spending a few minutes trying to figure out where it is supposed to connect too.

The further into the night it gets, the slower I notice my movements become. Yet, I can't bring myself to stop and take a break. The thought of stopping now makes me anxious. Like I'll wake up tomorrow to discover all of this is a dream, that this secret room at the back of the barn never existed.

The large computer screen glows with a bright blue light, concurrently with the smaller laptop screen; it causes me to instantly brighten up. Everything seems to be working now. After fiddling with the mouse for a few more minutes, I get the screen to display a familiar page requesting me to input the password to unlock the device.

My heart sinks a little. Ugh. Not this again. I still feel exhausted from the last passcode-cracking session. I stretch out my fingers, loosening the tension in my knuckles as I grudgingly prepare myself to start crunching through different combinations and hoping for the best.

After two failed attempts, a hint pops up on the screen that catches me by surprise.

draobyek eht htaeneb

I furrow my eyebrows. Is that supposed to be English? After staring at the hint for a few seconds, it clicks.

Beneath the keyboard.

Surely not... I murmur to myself as I turn the keyboard around.

Surely enough, there it was: a password handwritten onto a white strip of paper, taped to the back of the keyboard. I shake my head as I type in the password. This has got to be the worst attempt at cybersecurity I've ever witnessed. Sure, the computer looked like it was from the early 2000s, but still, that wasn't much of an excuse.