Teenage Alien Nation

Chapter 4

The Introvert Hacker

I promised myself I wouldn't talk to him again. Need I remind Kim how much I was avoiding that guy? Sorry if I neglect to tell you guys that I am hacker myself. Well, I was.

I used to be the best in school until I met Tae, a low-key hacktivist attacking questionable school regulations and impositions. He hid behind the name 4n0m4ly which was very much related to what was going on at school.

I knew him differently. We had our hacking thing going on. It started as a game, fun and exciting, and the good thing is that Tae didn't like having many friends, so he enjoyed only the company of people who could understand him, well, that's mostly me.

One day at school, we were both invited to join a competition organized by a cyber-security company looking to find out if their system was safe enough, but the thing was we had to go up against each other.

We didn't really want to do it, but the Brothers told us if we joined and won, we'd get very huge prize money courtesy of the sponsor. In addition, the winner would be named one of the best students for the school year. Of course, both of us wanted to enjoy the benefits of being the winner, but it meant being competitors.

My friends cheered for me telling me I could easily beat Tae. He, being a loner, didn't have anyone. He still thought competing against each other wasn't a good idea, but I was cocky I thought I'd win.

The day of the competition came. Intense. I was anxious, and so was he. At the end of the day, he won. I guess I was feeling a little envious that I challenged him outside the school grounds for another round, but this time, the stakes were higher.

He said it wasn't necessary, but I insisted. The prize? Fame and glory in the world of black, white and gray hats. Whoever lost would have to admit that the other one is better, and that the loser would never go anywhere near a computer ever. I was too confident I could make him stop hacking again.

Then, I lost. Again. It was a shameful event in my life as a computer genius, but I owned up to it and told everybody that I would never touch the keyboard ever again. So much for my arrogance. Since then, I have remained true to my words, and I could say my skills have deteriorated too.

Served me right. I guess it was true. Tae was and still is the best hacker at school.

So much for back story. Kimmon has been bugging me to get in touch with Tae as soon as possible, but I am still in the process of thinking of a good strategy on how to persuade the computer genius. He might not be as friendly to me as before.

I told Kim that I'll be dealing with Tae by myself because I do not want Kim to see how I will be interacting with Tae. I don't know if he's going to be nice to me. I don't want to humiliate myself in front of the mastermind.

There's only one way to connect with him. Through the deep web. This is the first time I'll be contacting him since the competition. I am a bit edgy.

masterTEe_ser: 'do you have time?'

No reply. I waited.

masterTEe_ser: 'I know you're there. hit me up.'

masterTEe_ser: 'I have a job for you.'

Nothing. I am almost giving up. If I can't persuade him, it means I'm going to have to do his job which I am not confident to do so. This success of this job depends on the best ability of each team member, and I have lost confidence in myself a long time ago. I don't want to be the one to cause this plan to fail.

I was about to get up from my seat in front of the computer when I heard a sound. I glanced at the monitor and almost jump off the seat when I saw that Tae replied to my last message using his old handle.