Broken Allegiance | Transformers Prime [2] (On Hiatus)

𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟎

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

Jack

└─── °∘❉∘° ───┘

Being a mentor to a foreign exchange student came with its benefits.

I got to leave class early, got my homework excused, and got to use my Peer Mentorship abilities to do some totally not legal stuff. I mean, what I was about to do was technically illegal, but that was only if I got caught.

Right now, I am the only one here.

I pushed my anxiety aside and bounded in through the door labeled, Peer Mentorship Program Office, going inside.

   The hallway I entered was a mix of bland beige walls and vibrant flags from every corner of the globe, which provided a strange contrast, but I barely noticed. The office was massive, a maze of cubicles and desks. I made my way through, nodding at a guy I knew who was with a female exchange student from Vietnam. I caught another friend's eye, who was working with a kid from Spain, and gave him a quick wave.

Then I shot a quick smile at the front desk as I passed by, hoping to pass the message that I was so not suspicious, and seemingly enough, they didn't know what I was up to. Not yet, at least. 

    I walked briskly toward the back of the office, where the computers were and I could feel my heart pounding harder as I reached the row of machines.  I sat down, my fingers trembling slightly as I booted up the computer. The screen flickered to life, and I quickly logged in, just in time for Raf's voice to crackle through the speakerphone.

    "Jack, you there?" Raf asked, his voice tense.

"Yeah, I'm here," I replied, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. We were on a three-way call, Miko soon joining it.

"What's taking you so long? Get on with it!" she urged.

        "Alright, alright," I muttered, pulling up the enrollment files. I scrolled quickly, my eyes narrowing as I searched for the name I dreaded but needed to see. Ember.

"There it is," I said, my finger hovering over the 'E' column. I clicked on Ember's profile, and immediately, a wave of frustration washed over me. The screen flashed a red banner, the words 'UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS ' glaring back at me. I lightly slammed my fist against the table, feeling a surge of anger.

"That's as far as I can get in," I growled. "The admin won't allow non-adults even if they're associated with the Peer Mentorship Program, to have access to the logs."

"Typical school security," Miko sighed in frustration. "They think they're so smart."

"Luckily, you've got someone who can handle this," Raf chimed in, with a hint of confidence/egotism? in his voice. "I'll get to work on overriding the school firewalls and blocking the admins. just give me a sec."

I waited, tapping my fingers anxiously on the desk. I darted my eyes around the room, checking to make sure no one was getting suspicious. The seconds felt like hours, but finally, Raf's voice came back on the line.

   "Jack, refresh the page. You should have access now."

I took a deep breath and did as Raf said. The page reloaded, and this time, the red banner was gone. My heart skipped a beat as I clicked back on Ember's profile. Her private information stared back at me in the form of a spreadsheet, with a badly photoshopped yearbook photo of her set off to the side.

But that's when I paused. What we were dealing with was plainly something new. And I wasn't talking about the missiles and everything, but that fact that we were dealing with socialist spies that wanted this country in shambles for some reason. Or, specifically, the bots.