Ciphertext – Chapter 10: Timeout

It was already starting to get dark outside and Luciel had been focused on gathering more intel on how Cheritz had managed to hack into the RFA app. He stared intently at the screen before him, squinting to pick up on even the minutest fragment of data that could be out of place. But no matter how many times he ran the check, the company's credentials seemed to be legitimate. He didn't know much about Cheritz, other than the simple fact that they developed mobile games. It was no good – he was used to digging up dirt on organisations through the Dark Web, but these guys were surprisingly clean; they paid their taxes, they filed everything correctly, they had proper security and most all, they treated their developers well. He respected this.

When he was certain that every corner of the internet had been fully scoured, Luciel felt satisfied that it was impossible to blame them for what had happened so far. Someone must have been manipulating them.

Then, who on earth is behind all this? How did Eun-ji end up becoming an RFA member?

Eun-ji had spent her time lying casually on the sofa reading some manga she'd found in Rika's bookcase. Every few minutes, she'd find herself glancing over at Luciel, watching him from the side as he worked so hard. But he had willed himself not look in her direction, lest he break his train of thought. They had been alone together in this apartment for over an hour, and barely a word had been exchanged. Being in a place which belonged to neither of them felt stifling.

Luciel had been sure to place his bulky headphones firmly over his ears and took sips of his coffee every once in a while, just to boost his brain power. Listening to music helped him to work better, as his imagination would be stimulated to think of different solutions. If he didn't do that, his mind became numb from the dull and repetitive sounds his fingers made as they channelled his intellect through the keyboard and into a virtual, mechanical wilderness.

Once again, he absorbed the goodness of his favourite tune The Sound of Silence, but this time it was a cover by the band Disturbed. It had a deep, rousing quality about it that he especially liked.

"And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of-"

He almost jumped out of his seat as he felt a sharp tap on his left shoulder. Turning around, he saw Eun-ji standing behind him with nothing short of a cute smile on her face. She was saying something to him, but since his headphones were so well-made they had blocked out all noise.

Removing them quickly, he placed them around his neck. "Hmm? I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I said … how's everything going?"

"Oh, it's fine. You know, just doing this and that …"

"Is that all you're going to tell me? You've been stuck at that computer for so long."

"This amount of time is peanuts to me. But I don't have any news to share with you. I'm at a loose end. As far as I can tell, Cheritz are in the clear."

"Cheritz?" Eun-ji cocked her head to one side as she questioned the name. "What's that?"

"Oh, you don't know them? They're a game development company, mainly specialising in games for women. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

"Hmm. No, I don't think I've ever heard of that company. But why are you even researching them?" and then she realised something more pressing. "OH GOD!"

Luciel's heart raced a little hearing her suddenly scream out like that. She had been so calm and quiet up until now. He wanted to know what had made her change. "What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"WHAT ABOUT THE BOMB? ISN'T THERE ONE RIGGED UP HERE!? WHAT ABOUT THE SPECIAL SECURITY SYSTEM?"

"Whoa, Eun-ji! Okay, first of all – calm down. Don't worry. There isn't actually a bomb in this apartment … like you said, it wasn't good of me to make up stuff like that." He smiled at her, hoping for forgiveness. "Okay?" He didn't really know what girls wanted in a man, but wasn't the prospect of being in danger kind of a thrilling experience?

Then, as though he had just detonated an internal bomb, Eun-ji delivered a swift, resounding slap across his face.

"Honestly!"

Eyes widening, he put a hand to his cheek and look up at her. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"

"That's for asking me if I was on my period for no good reason!" She looked so serious now.

Luciel let out a slightly stifled chuckle. "You're mad about that? I thought you knew I was joking!"

"It's rude to ask a girl those questions … why did you do it?"

He sighed. "You're actually pretty persistent aren't you? Do you … really want to know?" he blushed and felt his stomach turning in a sudden onset of nerves. He'd never been so directly confronted by a girl in his life. "No … forget it. It will only cause trouble. For me, in one way. For you, in another."

His cryptic way of talking was confusing Eun-ji even more. She showed little sign of letting up and simply glared right into his bold yellow eyes, like she'd rip him in half whether he revealed the answer or not.

Whatever had riled her up so much, he didn't like to see her like this and it was scaring him a bit. "It doesn't matter now. Come on. Please don't be like this. I'm sorry I asked you about it … okay?"

"…"

No good …

"Are you going to stay mad at me forever because of a silly joke that I can't take back now?" he tried, but Eun-ji was silent all the same.

His mind whirred with complicated, irrational thoughts and he swivelled back around to face the monitor. He put his headphones back on again, purposefully. What more could he say to her? She was being more than a bit impossible and he didn't know how to handle it. He frowned, a sense of childlike stubbornness taking him over.

Gahhh … Seriously? Why can't I just be taken for who I am without causing offence? She could have maybe retorted with "Did your hair have a period?" or something … and we could have just forgotten about the fact that I asked her a personal question.

Eun-ji stared at him from behind, and she could make out his face as it reflected off the screen. He looked so lifeless and dejected, despite his concentration. She felt a small pang of guilt for having lashed out at him the way she had, but she also felt justified at the same time. She went to sit back down again and looked over at the metallic robot cat that he had made. Its cold, machine-like eyes held no emotion whatsoever. She had no idea why it was even there to begin with. Why would he spend the time creating something like this when he had a job to do?

Then suddenly the high-pitched voice inside it piped up. "Meow! 707 is feeling frustrated meow!"

Eun-ji jolted backwards, and looked to see whether Luciel had reacted to the robot cat's confession. He hadn't. It seemed like he was too focused on what he was doing. Slowly coming to the realisation that her attitude had been over the top, even after he had apologised, she wanted to at least make another cup of coffee for him. It was the least she could do.

As they'd entered Rika's apartment earlier, he had mentioned something about the cat being connected to his mental state. She took the robot cat into the kitchen with her, hoping for a little more insight into Luciel's thoughts. Placing the cat on the fridge, Eun-ji poured some leftover coffee into a mug and warmed it up in the microwave.

"So … is there anything else you'd like to share with me, little kitty?" she didn't know why she was asking the robot cat, when the man in the other room was the subject in question. But he was busy, wasn't he?

Its eyes lit up and the mechanisms inside started to whir away. "Meow! He is sexually frustrated meow! Maybe you should give him some attention meow! If you don't, it could be really dangerous meow!"

"Ehhhh?"

Turning a ridiculous shade of red, Eun-ji looked horrified as she panicked and tried to locate the 'off' switch. The robot was giving too much away. After all, Luciel had made it with his own hands. How could a machine be intelligent enough to know this information without having been specifically programmed by him?

What is he thinking?

The microwave pinged and she went to retrieve the mug of steaming coffee. Checking that the temperature was just right to drink, she took it cautiously by the handle and strolled back into the living room. She left the robot cat on top of the fridge to cool down, although after hearing those words, she felt like she was the one who needed to do so.

Sexually … frustrated?

Luciel had seen Eun-ji approaching from the corner of his eye and gulped hard as he tried desperately to concentrate on what he was doing. She placed the coffee cup down onto the desk beside the mouse he was using, and kept her hand there for a few seconds longer than necessary. As he moved the mouse slightly to the left, their fingers accidentally brushed against one another. Seven felt a short static friction burning through his body as they touched. Eun-ji withdrew her hand quickly and shot him a little look that begged for reconciliation. The coffee was obviously supposed to be a kind gesture. His mind was focused on the job, but his heart was elsewhere.

"Th-thank you," he managed, although still a little taken aback by her earlier outburst.

Stop it Eun-ji … stop looking at me like that … please … I need to find the truth …

But as he turned to look up at her, she was staring at him with moist eyes and had her hand resting on her chest. It was clear that her heart was feeling the immense strain of keeping her emotions locked up in a cage.

Eun-ji. Don't tell me … you want me to do something impossible …