Crystal woke up as she always did- throat parched, limbs twisted in odd angles due to her wrestling with her sheets and sweaty enough to put WWE wrestlers to shame. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was 4:32 in the morning. She slept for three hours. Not much, but by her standards, it was an improvement.

She bowed her head, sucking in deep breaths trying to compose herself.

"Damn… Not real."

Trying to convince herself that the past was the past was not entirely easy. There were certain disadvantages to an eidetic memory and this was unfortunately one of them. She was quite thankful that no one else came in- dreams, or rather nightmares, like that always put her on the defensive. Physically too. Romeo once got a roundhouse kick right in the kisser. Sported a black and blue bruise for a week.

Crystal got up and tried to push everything from her mind. Everything that wasn't relevant to the present moment. Now, about that shower. She positively reeked.

"Come on, get yourself together. Come on. Shower. Now."

She stood up, set the couch right and bundled up her blanket, which she promptly chucked into a basket nearby. If she was bothered enough, she'd wash it. But later. Going over to her cupboard, she rummaged through until she found an outfit to wear. A black sports bra and lime green shorts. It was hot out and she's been through thick and thin with the people in the other room. Anyone could walk around semi-naked (or naked if they felt particularly lethargic, though no one had yet slunk to that level of apathy), and no one would bat an eye. Well, maybe except Romeo. But he'd check out a female baboon's blood red ass as well.

Crystal walked into the bathroom and contemplated between a shower and a bath. Bath was more relaxing, but it took a hell of a lot of time. Time that they just did not have. Shower it was.

She stripped quickly and got in, her mind in part disturbed by the nightmare, but unarguably fresher. The nightmare was the same as it usually was, with the exception of the last part where her parents and the girl stood together. Also, the rotting apple and the diagram.

Crystal shook her head. Not the time.

Dipping her head under the spray of hot water, she reveled in the comfort it brought. What was she going to do? Would she take the plunge, stealing the data directly, leaving themselves open? Or would they stick it out in hope that they could break the encryption key? The first was a true hit or miss. The second was proving to be increasingly hopeless. The third? Pearce's data. Maybe, but it would be the definition of 'long shot.'

"Fuck… what do I do? Can't just let this go…"

She rested her head on the cool, yet warming tile of the shower area, while she lathered herself with citrus body wash. Shaking her head of all sobering thoughts, she then moved on to soaping her hair and while she did, made a mental note to re-bleach her hair. The roots were becoming honey colored again.

Finishing, Crystal stepped out, wrapping herself in an old towel and walked over to the sink. Brushing her teeth, she stared into the mirror. Her eyes weren't as bloodshot anymore. Good. She looked semi-presentable.

She spat and rinsed her mouth. Apple flavored. Her eyebrows knitted. Apple. Why on earth was there an apple in her dream? It was completely unrelated- it made no sense. The memory was so clear- her nightmare was accurate down to pretty much the smallest detail. So why today of all days? Why the rotting apple?

What was her brain saying? What was it trying to tell her?

"… Crystal?"

She shook out of her train of thought. Someone was calling her.

"Oh. Yeah, just a sec."

Quickly toweling her hair dry and shoving it into a sloppy excuse of a bun, she quickly tossed on her clothes and walked out. Rounding into the warehouse hall, she saw Krusty staring in her direction. She surmised that it was the stoned, yet alert man who called her.

"Krusty, you rang?"

He blinked a bit.

"Yeah. Well, Crystal. I just wanted to say that the worm's done."

She looked pensively and then nodded once.

"Alright. Amazing! Keep it on standby, no telling when we'll need it."

The worm was a key part of their plan, regardless of which way they were going to go. The firewall must be breached and all five layers must be broken through simultaneously. It was an insanely difficult program to write, but Krusty managed it. How he did it always on the edge of reality, she didn't know. Nor did she want to.

She strode over to her laptop and spied Trix out of the corner of her eye. He had his goggles on, his red hair falling over his face. His posture and body language told her that he was beyond tired. She walked over to him.

Shaking his shoulder, she roused him.

"Hey. Trix. I'm up. Get some sleep. You look beat."

He stirred, coming back from his stupor.

"Oh. Thanks Cris. Mm. You okay?"

She stiffened slightly. Of course she knew they heard her scream, but still it was a touchy subject. But she knew he meant well and she softened her voice.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks. Go, catch some Zs."

He nodded and after stretching, walked off towards the lounge room. Crystal moved back to her laptop, picked it up and went over to the makeshift kitchen. Throwing on the coffee maker- a necessary indulgence- she picked out a couple of powder doughnuts and a piece of slightly stale coffee cake, along with a carton of strawberry Nesquik. Sugar and caffeine were a hacker's best friends.

Sitting cross-legged on the table itself, not bothering to go back to where she came from, she got down to business. Using Pearce's data, once the worm breached the firewall, she could view the actions of the bank officials in real time. She could see the files of the new customers being made. If she was quick enough, she could grab a copy of the file, no matter how menial it was, before encryption. Then, she could get one after encryption. That would allow them to find how it worked, therefore, the key.

If the bank was too comfortable about their level of security, they could hit the jackpot and actually see the encryption software. That would make it a cakewalk for them.

The only problem with that was once the firewall was breached, they had about a minute. If they exceeded the allocated time, the network administration can seek out their IP addresses. Even though it is bounced off several points around the world, if they were good enough, they could find them. And for the amount of money and data that they were going to heist, the bank would go to very great lengths indeed. A slightest mistake and everything would be ruined.

She began typing a code that would install a virus into the peripheral computers. It should buy them a few minutes, but chances are that the admins were smart enough to know to fight intrusion with the mainframe directly. Crystal didn't have enough time to write up a completely new program powerful enough to stall the mainframe. Too much time had been wasted on the preliminary worms.

Biting into a doughnut and holding it in her jaw, she resumed her work. Until something touched her ass.

Without so much as glancing up, she reached behind her and slapped the hand away. No need to look to know who it was.

"Romeo. Touching me isn't earning you any favors, mate."

She glanced up slightly, fingers still typing away. The tall, bulky man just smiled. He would be the typical, good looking surfer not uncommon in Maui. Bleached hair, wide smile. Carefree attitude. Crystal didn't find him appealing though, but his good mood was infectious. She put up with his flirtation. It was jousting between the two of them.

"Ah. But you like it, no? Don't lie to yourself, babe."

Crystal remained impassive and turned her gaze back to her screen. She bit her thumb slightly in concentration. But the rummaging of plastic bags did not let her focus.

"Oi. Piss off for a bit won't you? Did you bury acorns for the winter or something?"

He pulled a face.

"Some people eat more than candy and the occasional loaded baked potato. I'm looking for some fruit. I bought some yesterday."

He grumbled and resumed searching and Crystal rolled her eyes. The guy was a health nut. He had to keep those pectorals up, else he'll lose his shit. She looked on amused for a while and watched his expression brighten as he pulled out something from the mini fridge. Taking an apple out, he bit into it.

Time froze for Crystal. She watched as he sunk his teeth into the green skin as if he was moving in slow motion. He ripped out a chunk and chewed. The apple. The dream. Her brain was trying to tell her something. Just listen. Listen.

Box. A cereal box. Apple. Box.

Romeo caught her staring, hypnotized at him. He frowned. She never paid attention to his flirts. This was out of the ordinary.

"Crystal? Yo. You okay?"

No response. She dropped the doughnut she was holding, not even noticing it falling onto the keyboard. She saw nothing else, heard nothing else. An answer was right there in front of her. Right there. Just a little more.

The box unfolded into a net. Bitten apple.

She saw the changing code. Sixty one by sixty one. The box as a net. A bitten apple. It still didn't make sense. Until her brain gave it away. The missing piece of the apple coming back. And fitting inside the apple again. Then it made sense.

"CRYSTAL!"

Romeo shook the girl violently, trying to snap her out of her catatonic state. The rest of the team heard him yell and hurried over to see what was wrong. Save Matt, who was sleeping away soundly. Crystal snapped out of her trance. She took a look at her audience and a broad grin began to stretch over her face.

She spoke quietly, but everyone heard her.

"I got it."