The interior of the modified military sedan was silent, save for the hum of the air conditioning and the rhythmic tapping of keys.
Ren sat in the back seat, balancing a sleek, silver laptop on her knees. It was Juan's personal computer—a machine that contained secrets worth billions of Wolf Coins, access codes to the Supreme Council, and the coordinates of the Lin Pack's hidden armories. Yet, he had handed it to her without a second thought, unlocking it with his fingerprint before leaning back to watch her work.
"The virus is a variant of the 'Ghost' protocol," Ren muttered, her eyes scanning the lines of code cascading down the screen. "It leaves a backdoor open even after the main threat is neutralized. That's why Luke couldn't recover the data fragments."
In the front seat, Dr. Luke turned around, resting his chin on the headrest. He watched with a mixture of skepticism and awe. "Can you really fix it? That drive contains the encrypted medical records of the Pack Elders. If it's corrupted..."
"Quiet," Juan ordered softly.
Ren didn't respond. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. She didn't look like a high school dropout or a girl who worked part-time at a milk tea shop. In the blue glow of the screen, her features were sharp, cold, and illuminated by a terrifying intelligence.
She wasn't just patching the leak. She was hunting.
***
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit basement apartment on the other side of the continent.
The room smelled of stale instant noodles and overheating electronics. A man with a thick beard sat hunched over a bank of monitors, his fingers stained with nicotine. Behind him stood a tall, muscular man with a scar running down his face—a mercenary hired to ensure the job was done.
"Report," the scarred man growled. "Did we get the data?"
"Almost," the bearded hacker chuckled, his eyes glued to the screen. "I planted a dormant worm in their system. Even if they blocked the main assault, the worm is still eating their archives from the inside out. They won't even know it's gone until—"
Suddenly, the screens flickered.
The bearded man frowned. "What the..."
The stream of data he was siphoning froze. Then, it reversed.
Instead of downloading files, his computer began to upload. A massive surge of junk data flooded his system, overwhelming his bandwidth instantly.
"What's happening?" the scarred man barked, stepping closer.
"I... I don't know!" The bearded hacker's fingers flew across his keyboard, sweat beading on his forehead. "Someone is pushing back! They're flooding the connection! It's a counter-attack!"
"Cut the line!"
"I can't! They've locked the terminal!"
The screens turned a violent shade of purple. A single symbol appeared in the center of the main monitor—a pixelated image of a hand crushing a scorpion.
*Zap.*
A spark flew from the main tower. Then another. Smoke began to curl up from the vents.
The bearded man shrieked and pushed his chair back just as the motherboard fried with a loud *pop*. The monitors went black. The room plunged into darkness.
"They fried it," the bearded man whispered, staring at the smoking ruin of his equipment. "They traced the signal back through seven proxies and fried my hardware physically. Who... who is on the other end of that line?"
The scarred man clenched his fists. "Was it the Wolf Alliance cyber-division?"
"No," the hacker shook his head, his face pale. "The Alliance uses standard protocols. This... this was savage. This was **'Q'**."
***
Back in the car, Ren hit the 'Enter' key with a final, decisive click.
The screen flashed green: **[ DATA RESTORED ]**.
"Done," Ren said, closing the laptop and handing it back to Juan. "I recovered the files and fried their hard drive. They won't be bothering you for a while."
Luke's jaw dropped. He snatched the laptop from Juan, checking the drive. The files were there. All of them. Intact.
"Master..." Luke looked at Juan, his eyes wide. "She actually did it. She out-hacked the hackers."
Juan took the laptop back, setting it aside. He looked at Ren.
She was leaning back against the leather seat, looking bored and tired again, pulling her hood up as if she hadn't just engaged in high-level cyber warfare. She unwrapped a lollipop—grape flavor this time—and popped it into her mouth.
"You're full of surprises," Juan murmured. His voice was low, intimate.
"I just hate bugs," Ren replied, closing her eyes. "Are we done? I need to go home."
"Drive," Juan told Luke.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Juan watched the girl sleeping next to him. The streetlights flickered over her face.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text to his intelligence officer.
*Cancel the background check on Ren. I prefer to find out myself.*
***
The next morning, the reality of high school life returned with a vengeance.
The results of the monthly unified exams were released. The hallways of Wolven High were buzzing with students comparing scores.
In Class 9 (The Delta Stream), the atmosphere was tense.
Mr. Gordon walked in with a stack of papers. He looked weary.
"Alright, settle down," he sighed. "I have the results for Physics and Chemistry."
He handed out the papers. Groans and cheers erupted around the room.
Xavier, the Physics Representative, walked over to Ren's desk to deliver her paper. His face was expressionless, but there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
He dropped the paper on her desk.
**Physics: 12.**
Ren stared at the number. It was written in red ink, circled twice.
"Twelve," Xavier said, shaking his head. "Out of a hundred. You managed to get two multiple-choice questions right by luck, I assume?"
Ren didn't look up. She took the paper and shoved it into her desk drawer, right next to her '0' from the previous quiz.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"And here's Chemistry," another student dropped a second paper.
**Chemistry: 18.**
Joey, sitting at the next desk, leaned over and whistled. "Whoa. Ren, you're consistent. 12 and 18. That's a solid 30 points total!"
Lily, Ren's timid deskmate, looked at the scores and tried to be supportive. She leaned in, whispering, "It's okay, Ren! If you... if you round up, you almost passed!"
Ren looked at Lily, then at Joey. She sighed, resting her chin on her hand.
"Yeah," Ren drawled. "Rounding up is a great strategy."
She didn't mention that to get exactly 12 and 18, she had to calculate the point value of every single question and avoid the correct answers with surgical precision, leaving just enough 'accidental' right answers to avoid a zero, which would draw too much attention after the last time.
It was much harder to score a 12 than a 90.
***
During the lunch break, the hallway was crowded.
Faye walked by with her entourage of admirers. She saw Ren sitting in the back of the classroom, sleeping with her hood up.
Faye smiled, stopping at the door. "Xavier," she called out softly.
Xavier looked up from his book. His expression softened when he saw Faye. He walked out to the hallway.
"Did you see my sister's scores?" Faye asked, her voice filled with fake concern. "Mom is really worried. 12 points in Physics... I don't know how she's going to graduate."
Xavier frowned. "She doesn't try, Faye. It's not about ability; it's about attitude. She sleeps through every class."
"I know," Faye sighed. "I tried to give her my notes, but she threw them away. I just feel so bad for her."
While they were talking, Joey walked into the classroom carrying a large, colorful tub.
He slammed it onto Ren's desk.
*Thud.*
Ren woke up with a start. She glared at Joey. "What?"
"For you," Joey grinned, pointing to the tub. It was a bucket of premium lollipops—hundreds of them, in every flavor imaginable. "I saw you eating that grape one yesterday. Thought you might run out."
Ren blinked. She looked at the bucket, then at Joey's grinning face.
The tension in her shoulders relaxed. She reached in, grabbed a strawberry one, and peeled it.
"Thanks," she said, her voice less icy than usual.
Outside the door, Faye's smile stiffened.
She saw the way Joey looked at Ren—like she was the most interesting person in the world. She saw Xavier glancing back into the classroom, his eyes lingering on Ren despite his words of disdain.
Faye clenched her fists.
Ren was a failure. A Dormant. A dropout with 12 points in Physics.
So why... why did she feel like Ren was slowly stealing the spotlight?
"Xavier," Faye said, her voice a little sharper than intended. "Let's go. I need to practice the violin for the upcoming Founder's Day assembly. I have a solo."
Xavier nodded, turning away from the classroom. "Right. Your solo is the most important thing."
But as they walked away, Xavier couldn't help but think about the haunting violin melody he had heard in the practice room days ago. The one that had touched his soul.
He looked at Faye's perfect, elegant profile.
*Was it really her?* he wondered. *Or was it someone else?*
***
Back in the classroom, Ren sucked on her strawberry lollipop.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
**[ Unknown Idiot: ]** *The food at the hotel is terrible. Come to the infirmary tonight. I bought fresh fish.*
Ren stared at the message.
**[ Ren: ]** *I have homework. I got a 12 in Physics. I need to study.*
**[ Unknown Idiot: ]** *Liar. Come over, or I'll tell Luke to dock your pay.*
Ren rolled her eyes.
"Tyrant," she muttered.
But she stood up, grabbed her backpack, and headed for the door.
"Where are you going, Ren?" Lily asked. "Class starts in five minutes!"
"Infirmary," Ren said, not breaking stride. "I have a terminal illness called 'poverty'. I need to go earn my cure."
**[Chapter 15 End]**