Project LOKI ③

Chapter 45: The Scarlet Thread X (Scarlet Showdown)

A/N: Here's an update to complete your weekdays! This is the penultimate part of Chapter 45. The next UD is gonna be the last part then... Chapter 46!

LORELEI

THE KEY to the Augustus' box is now in our hands. Kung sanang hindi ninakaw sa 'kin ni Rosetta ang hard drive, nabuksan ko na. We would have seen what secret Stein was trying to hide. We would have seen what secret Rosetta didn't want to be revealed.

But there's still a silver lining in our dilemma right now. Kung na-access na agad namin ang hard drive, posibleng nakita na ni Loki ang files ni Augustus laban kay Luthor. He would have known by now that his dearly beloved brother was one of them. That might have complicated the situation. Thank God we didn't have to deal with that issue right now.

That evening, Loki was busy redecorating his spider's web of conspiracy. May mga idinikit siyang sticky notes sa paligid ng picture ni Rosetta. Limang sticky notes. Each had the numbers from the riddle that we solved this afternoon: 51-21-43-61-32

May naalala tuloy ako.

"Those numbers mean something else, don't they?" I asked while rubbing Freya's chin. Humiga siya sa aking lap, mukhang gustong magpalambing. "Natigil ka kanina habang binabanggit mo ang mga 'yan. You said na wala lang, but I don't believe you. There is something, isn't there?"

Loki let out a long sigh. "The truth is, it could mean something. It could mean nothing."

"Mind sharing it with me?"

Humarap siya sa akin sabay ituro sa mga sticky note. "We don't know yet if this is the original password of the hard drive or if the generous Samaritan who left it in your locker changed it."

Tumango ako. Augustus would have surely secured the contents of his box with a password. Our mysterious third party stole not only the hard drive from Sir Ephraim, but also the gadgets of the late instructor. Posibleng nasa text message, chat o email ang password kaya hindi na nakapagtataka kung maa-access niya ito at mapapalitan ang password.

"What does that have to do with the numbers?"

"If we use the keypad code, we can translate each pair of numbers into a letter," Loki explained. Mabilis siyang nag-type sa kanyang phone at ipinakita sa akin ang kanyang Google image search. On the screen was the photo of an old phone's keypad, noong mga panahong hindi pa uso ang touchscreen.