SPECTRE

4| FILE RETRIEVED

At the 143rd corner, the woman placed her hand on the wall. A neon green light flashed from a knob on the ceiling and a cyclindrical hologlass tube, large enough to fit a polar bear in it, rose up from the floor.

Yes, I have been to the North Pole, once, to accomplish a task given to me because the pay was really good---20, 000, 000 cubix. And all I had to do was hack into a science institute there studying polar bears to alter the reported experiment procedures, because it was illegal. I had to swallow down my disgust, but the pay was more than worth it. I wasn't a hero, after all.

I only did what I had to survive and evade the people who were after me. Morals, ethics and everything useless were usually thrown out of the window.

The hologlass melted away at the centre, leaving a doorway for us to go through. The chair, carrying me, rolled into the tube, and the woman calmly came after.

I could hack into the hologlass, so easily, so easily, but with my hands trapped, all I could do was wait and sit as the hologlass slid back up, enclosing us in the tube.

A platform under us opened, and we fell downwards. I craned my neck to try to look down, but the floor was at least 60 storeys below.

I'd fallen from higher places before, so I wasn't scared in the least. The woman didn't seem shocked, either, so it must be safe.

Before we could smash into the floor below, a glowing blue net caught us and slowly lowered us towards the floor.

Called it, I said smugly inside my head.

Two people in neon-coloured suits grabbed me and hoisted my chair up, then proceeded to carry my chair into a completely empty room.

At the very least, it looked empty from the outside. However, I knew better. I could even feel all the electricity crackle from underneath the white-tiled floor and behind the sterile white walls. If they thought they could trick me, they were very wrong.

The door locked with a click behind us, and the rope unfurled from the chair, leaving me untied. I stood up as quickly as I could, not wanting to spend another second longer in the chair. My legs were falling asleep.

Then, a hole appeared the ceiling, and a middle-aged man dropped down from it. His hair was a dusty grey, and wrinkles surrounded his stern, piercing brown eyes. He did not seem friendly, and as he stared at me, I felt a shiver run down my back.

"Hello, Miss...Spectre. I have a few questions to ask you."

My fingers curled into fists at my sides, I willed myself to stay still. Even though technology---hackable technology---was in the walls, the door was an old-fashioned lock and key version, which obviously couldn't be hacked.

If I wanted an exit route, I had to get through this man and the key that was probably---no, definitely---in his pocket.

"Miss Spectre. You are one very talented hacker."

"What do you want?" I hissed from behind clenched teeth.

He raised an eyebrow. "It's less of a question of what I want, than a question of how you are so...gifted, you might say. Tell me, Spectre, who did you learn from?"

"Self-taught," was my cold, clipped reply.

"That is not possible. Tell me who you learnt from."

I pointed at myself.

Anger flared in his eyes. "Tell me!"

When I just rolled my eyes, he reached forward and grabbed my collar. "Tell me! Are you working for OPTIS?"

OPTIS.

I hadn't heard that name in so, so long.

And I wished to be free of it, forever. That's why I erased my existence. But it still comes back to haunt me.

OPTIS. My mentors, my family...

My demise.