Game Over, Engineer

R

CLARENCE JUDE RACAZA.

That's where the number led them after reading the details that the head had uploaded. The GCash transaction between Bea and Clarence. She bet the receiver was using a fake ID to verify their GCash account, and because Clarence's GCash name matches his Tinder name, napaniwala si Bea na legit ito.

"Iba na ang scammers ngayon, 'no?" Jack gave her a cup of coffee. Mabilis niya naman iyong tinanggap at binuksan ang file matapos magpasalamat dito. The file is in JSON format, and it's a type of file format na gumagamit ng human-readable text upang maitago at maipasa ang data na naglalaman ng arrays.

The file contains Bea's personal information and messages, including the messages she sent to the deactivated account of Clarence. They could see the messages that Bea sent to Clarence, but they couldn't see Clarence's messages.

Well, that's the downside of Tinder. Ang mga nase-send lang na messages ang makikita sa JSON file at hindi ang messages ng receiver.

She managed to download Bea's information the moment she accessed Tinder's NoSQL database. Hindi kasi pwedeng ang account nito mismo ang iha-hack nila. They need to get through Tinder's database in order to retrieve what Bea sent. Hacking Bea's account will just give them nothing.

She sipped on her coffee which Jack made for her. Its steam hit her face, making her cheeks turn hot. Nevertheless, she slowly sipped it, at lihim siyang napangiti nang malasahan iyon.

Coffee with milk.

Jack didn't forget.

"Sarap, 'no? Syempre, paborito mo 'yan lalo na kapag ako ang gumawa." Jack wiggled his brows and gave her a cheeky grin, his curtain bangs slightly covering his left eye, but she could still feel its intensity.

And she hates to admit it, but his messy hair made him look even sexier.

Nakakahiya ka, Jilyanzel. That's your fucking ex. 

Umirap siya rito at mabilis na itinago ang nararamdaman. "Shut up, Futore. Nagyayabang ka na naman. Magte-thank you pa naman sana ako, pero 'wag na lang."

Mahina itong natawa at ngumuso. "Kiss na lang."

"Ew," maarte niyang saad at muling sumimsim sa kape. Hindi siya magpapadala rito. Ganyan naman talaga si Jack, mapang-asar. At siya naman, pikunin. 

Kung sasabayan kaya niya ang mga pang-aasar nito, 'no, nang magtanda ito?

She tapped her head to clear her mind and looked at her laptop once again, her eyes scanning the name 'Clarence Jude Racaza'. Other than Bea's information, she also managed to gather Clarence's information for them to see the messages that Clarence sent to Bea.

This is what she likes about databases. Hindi madaling i-delete ang mga personal information, because deleting data can cause inconsistencies in a database. Kaya kahit deactivated na ang user, mananatiling naka-store sa database ang information nito.

She adjusted her glasses and looked at the messages that Clarence had. Si Bea lang ang ka-chat nito, and she guessed that whenever they successfully scammed a person, kaagad itong magde-deactivate at gagawa ulit ng panibagong account.

Nagkatinginan sila ni Jack nang may mapansin, kapwa nakahawak sa tasa ng kape at may pagtataka sa mga mata, pagkatapos ay parehong natawa. Kumikinang pa ang mga mata ni Jack sa aliw. 

This case is fucked up as hell.

"Let's find loads of evidence, pero pahinga ka muna. Kanina ka pa nakaharap d'yan, Jill. You're overworking. Tataas na naman ang grado ng mga mata mo, sige ka."