I am a Hacker

2.

Without a word an Administrator opened the Box and brought it to Orva. He tried hard not to show his shock through his shaking to maintain his professionality. Orva looked into the Box to find a black velvet lining cushioning a circular object in the shape of a helmet in the heart of the Box. This circular object was known as an Encroacher.

An Administrator put the Encroacher onto Orva's head. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sounds of the machine such as beeps, whirs and even shock sounds as it warmed up. All too soon, a blue gas that smelled of cotton was sprayed into her face the back of her head rolled forward.

***

She was transported through time and dimension to Earth where she was taken inside of the brain of her Döppelganger. At that present moment, they were with the Döppelganger's boyfriend in a carpark at dusk. Quiet flamenco music was playing in the background because the boyfriend had deliberately set the FM to 'Classical'.

"Where are we going today?" The girl smiled and looked up into his moonlit face. His cheeks were slightly rounded and warm from the compact space. He seemed distracted and hadn't seem to have heard her. His smile was tight and diagonal instead of soft and playful.

'Ask again.' Being a Hacker, Orva had the power to give commands because she acted as conscience.

"Devon?" She asked again, "Where are we going today? Is it your house?"

"Hmm?" Devon's dark eyebrows raised as he turned towards the girl's petite and anxious complexion. "Oh... Don't worry Piper, we're going far away. Far, far away from both of our families." Orva could feel her Döppelganger's heart pick up speed. Her brain started pounding in unison. She was afraid.

"What? But I don't have anything with me?"

"That doesn't matter. We just need to get out of this state. I never want to see my parents again."

"What? What have they done?"

"They found out about us. My dumb little sister found my phone and ratted me out. I'm sorry it's so early." Piper looked at the clock on the dashboard to find that it read 4.30am. She was meant to tell her parents she wasn't coming home that night but it must have... slipped her mind. Devon put the keys in the ignition to show how serious he was about running away. Piper grabbed his arm fearfully.

"Let go of me, Pi." His tone was one of warning and he began to reverse. Piper's heart raised even faster and the sections of her brain that Orva was surrounded by were whirring and beginning to malfunction. She feared at this rate Piper would have a panic attack. She knew she had to calm her down and so forced her to think,

Breathe, take it slow and think for a minute.

A sign lit up saying 'ignore' and flashed back to the previous thought of 'RUN'.

"Devon, no. I don't like this. I don't want to leave my family. We should tell them about us. Get this over with. Besides, we don't have any money to live off of!"

"Who cares about that. If I'm going, you're coming with me. There's no way I'm letting you stay behind and tell your parents about us. My parents will ground me. I'm sick of being grounded. I want freedom."  He revved the engine and started to drive.

"Devon, please. Devon. You're scaring me, please let me tell my parents."

"No. We're going somewhere... far away. Where they would never think to find us." Orva felt the colour fade from Piper's face. 

"Like where?"

"Las Vegas."

"No... it's too big, we can't do that! You're insane! Let me go!"

The seat belts had been turned onto lockdown so that Piper couldn't move even a metre without being restrained back. She tried in vain to reach the door handle or unclick the seatbelt, but nothing worked. She couldn't reach. They were on the motorway  and driving quickly. Piper was struggling and struggling, throwing her hands in front of Devon's face. He tried to ignore her, but in the end the irritation got to him and he looked at his girlfriend.

Orva could see he felt sorry for her as if he never meant to make it seem like he was kidnapping her, but she could also tell he was desperate to keep their relationship safe. He was looking at her for so long that he didn't see the corner ahead and he slid off of the road. The car rolled and rolled down the side of the motorway, Orva knew that she was about to die. She close pad her eyes and braced herself and told Piper to do the same. They were moments from impact when-

***

The Encroacher sighed and beeped to signal its work was done and it was shutting down. The people in the room turned their gaze away from the Projection on the TV and looked at Orva.

"Do you know what your power is, Miss Willower?" A small male Administrator asked,

"Yes." She replied, out of breath from the nightmare.

"Do you understand the capability of your power, Miss Willower?" The stout female Administrator asked,

"Do tell us." The small male pressed,

"I... I could kill somebody." Never in Orva's life would she dream of doing this but the possibility was there and the Society believed in honesty.

"And?" The female asked,

"And myself."  She replied again, hoping beyond hope they would not proceed to ask questions.

"Do you know... the consequence for this power?" The third tall male Administrator asked.

"...Yes." She said slightly uncertainly, for she did not want to accept the truth.

"Very well then." He finished the conversation. All three of the Administrators wrote on their clipboards about the power of the Hacker. They then looked up at the family and nodded their heads with respect. 2 of the Administrators made their way out of the front door, but the third stayed back and put a hand on Orva's shoulder.

"You are the bravest young woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I wish you luck. Your training will begin on Monday, 3 days from now. Practise wisely, and be careful."  She too nodded her head at Orva's mother and brother, before making her way out into the wood panelled hallway. As soon as they heard the door slam, a heated debate began.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a Hacker?" Aaric demanded, both angry and fearfully.

"I... I didn't know how you'd react!" She shrank away from his temper.

"Do you know how dangerous it is?"

"Oh no, I don't know at all how dangerous it is. It's not like I've been stuck with it since I was 7 years old!" She said sarcastically, sick of all of the warnings.

"I'm only trying to help!" Aaric retaliated,

"Help? How is judging me helping? It's not my fault I am a Hacker! It's not my fault that the Gift is dangerous!" Orva was furious at the lack of thought from her brother. They stared mutinously at each other until Ma Grace broke in.

"It is no one's fault, Aaric. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but I certainly know arguing about it won't do any justice! Just wait until your father gets home. He will know exactly what to do." Orva didn't want to hear another word of sympathy or fear. She ran to her room at the top of 5 curves of the spiral staircase and slammed her door.

This was why she was afraid of showing people her Gift. She would be feared. She would have sympathy, worry and anger suffocating her when she had her own problem of controlling the actions of her Doppelgänger in her dreams.

She didn't want to think about what could happen to her. What would happen to her because of the clumsiness of her Doppelgänger. She didn't want to think of the resolution. She didn't want to think about anything. She just wanted to be free and independent like Pa Joe's Willow tree.

The front door opened to remind Orva of the second truth she'd have to face: Telling her proud father of what her Gift truly was.