Saffron's Fire

Katelyn meets her chooser 5:00 pm

In the Room of Sighs Katelyn landed with a thump. She laughed, unlike her sister she relished the feeling of falling and was delighted at the method of transportation to this room. Overhead the automated voice gave her the same congratulatory message it gave all the Shirees upon being chosen, it added that her uniform was laid out in the pull out drawer.

A uniform, huh? She thought with glee. She didn't have to worry about choosing outfits to wear! Pulling out the drawer, she saw the most unexpected uniform she had ever seen. Breathable fabric of a t-shirt, khaki pants. sneakers. What kind of uniform was that?

She hurriedly changed and put her hair up into a professional and prim looking bun. Also as part of the uniform was a clip on ID card and very nerdy glasses. There, on the card, was her picture ingeniously photoshopped to make her look geeky.  The name on the card was Miriam Khan, title: IT Specialist, Company: Falcon Technical Institute

Of course a man named Byrd would have a company named 'Falcon', clever. Without further warning, her door opened and Agent Tarly came in.

"Katelyn Saffron, or should I say, Miriam Khan?" She smiled and Katelyn cooley nodded. Agent Tarly continued, " You certainly look like you know your way around a computer now, which you do."

"I don't think I could pass as someone with the name Khan." Katelyn added skeptically.

Agent Tarly smiled and replied with, "You'd be surprised." Without further comment, Agent Tarly handed Katelyn her tablet and shook her hand.

"Good Luck Miss Khan." she said fondly and then left the room. An assistant motioned Katelyn to follow them. They led her through a maze of corridors, some looked very ill used and old, until she entered a parking garage where a town car was idling obviously waiting. The rear doors were opened from the inside and not surprisingly, Byrd jumped out. He held out his hand and Katelyn shook it this time.

"Miss Khan, It is indeed a pleasure to be seeing you again, and so soon." His eyes were dancing with mirth. Katelyn deigned to give his a half smile but no more. As much as she thought he was interesting, she far from trusted him. He ushered her into the town car and closed the door for her. He got in on the other side and casually told the driver, "Let's Rock and Roll Cecil!"

They pulled out of the parking lot. Katelyn did not look back at Scion house. She pulled up her tablet and checked on her programs. She zoned everyone else out and decided to write out a vague pros and cons list.

P:

-I could help.

-doing what I like to do

-interesting

C:

-trap

-unsuccessful

-consequences

-not really my fight

All the sudden on her tablet screen a bubble popped up.

"You think this could be a trap? And how is it not your fight?"

Katelyn started and then remembered what Agent Tarly had told her about her algorithm being discovered and too late realized what a mistake even being vague was. She looked up from her screen and Byrd's eyes met hers with an amused twinkle. He too, had pulled out his tablet and had been working furiously. She returned his look with disdain.  She replied via by throwing up a stronger firewall.

"Nice try, but you'll need to do better than that to keep me out." Said that annoying bubble.

Katelyn's lips twitched. She really didn't think he would be so persistent. Amused, she protected and encoded with everything she knew. When she looked up again, she saw with further triumph that Byrd looked astonished. His mouth hung open and his fingers were typing just as furiously as hers had just been.

"Damn! What did you do?" He asked

" If I told you, I'd have to kill you." she barely concealing her glee.

He chuckled again and looked her right in the eye, " I knew you were perfect for this job. You know how to act quickly and decisively and you are not afraid of what I might do to you."

Katelyn cocked and eyebrow, "Should I be afraid? I thought I was fighting on your side to right the injustice of the Shiree/Shirron system."

"Direct, I like that. I see Tarly was able to speak with you beforehand. I must say, Persephone is truly astonishing. I really am a fan. Yes, I suppose you don't really have anything to be afraid of from me. I think you know that you can get away from, or at least get enough of a head start that I could not find you again. That is precisely why I chose you. I recognize a fellow hacker when I see one. Since you happen to be far superior to any others in the field currently, I need your help. You are probably the only other person who can do what I do and break into the UN computer base to find out who our enemies are."

Katelyn lazily picked a hair from her pants and flicked it onto the floor. Taking that moment to really consider if she wanted to work with this guy. He seemed pretty reckless. Didn't he know that the bluetooth in the car or their devices could easily be hacked. They could be caught talking about such things and she would be right back to where she started, or probably worse.

As if to make her point she pointed to the speakers and then to her own ears. Catching her drift Byrd was silent and thoughtful for the rest of the day and a half trip.