Sophia stared at the window deep in thoughts as she remembered the last conversation she had with Jessica. "You can simply hire a hacker online and they'll do the job in a jiffy. You have the money, they have the skills. It's a win-win".
That's the thing that scares her, hiring a computer hacker. Although she has hired graphic designers to make a model of the human brain parts she described, that was on a freelance site.
The question was, where would she fin"d this computer hacker that would assist her? She cannot let that biology teacher take credit for her research without her benefit.
Shaking the thoughts off, she focused her mind on resuming her paused research. She could not believe she let a deranged teacher tell her worth. For a second, she felt stupid.
After she arrived home, she immediately headed to her room and dropped her bag. Then she carried her laptop to the sitting room and booted it up. There was a message, which was from Mark.
She frowned and opened it. "Hello Sophia. I just wanted to remind you to recheck your computer for any backup of your research. Text me back when you've seen this".
Rage surged inside Sophia's heart. So shameless! He even had the guts to even write her back after directly shunning him. Who did he think he is?
Angered, she went to a freelancing site and searched for the term "Hacker", but it returned with zero results.
Not wanting to give up, she tried "cyber-security" and fortunately, it returned with more than a hundred results.
She picked the one with the highest rating and contacted him. Then she wrote a short message to the account, requesting his services on something, but she intentionally did not disclose what she wanted the person to do for her.
After hitting send, she looked at the name of the account again, to write it down. "Simon Pierce", she muttered as she saved it in her note app on her smartphone.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Sophia looked up and wondered who it was. She slowly climbed downstairs and headed to the door. About thirty minutes ago, Beatrice informed her one of her neighbours would return a power tool they borrowed from her.
She prepared to meet the person at the other door, so when she opened it, her expression changed. She changed from surprised to smiling, to squealing. "Mom!" She said and hugged her mom tightly.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Before Sophia closed her eye to sleep, a message popped on her phone. It was from the person named "Simon Pierce". She jolted out of the bed and turned on her laptop.
"You sent me a message two hours ago requesting help on a security issue." Sophia immediately typed yes. "Alright, what do you need me to do?"
Sophia began to think. "Uhm, as you said, it's a security issue. There was this person I gave a confidential document for verification, but that person sent the document to another party without my consent. I want that document wiped out of that person's laptop, otherwise, I'm in trouble".
After sending the message, she stared at her laptop for a long time anxiously. She read her message again and winced. Damned, she was too direct. He probably would not reply to her again.
After a torturous five minutes, she assumed he would not replay again. Feeling disappointed, she was just about to close the lid of her laptop and wanted to sleep, but just then, he replied.
"Alright, but for me to do this, I have to be sure that whatever I'm going to does not adversely affect the other party in question. I would need proof that whatever documents I'm going to delete from the party in question is yours. Would you be able to do that?"
Sophia read the message and began writing a reply. Thank goodness she always signs her research digitally. Her mom always told her that if you want your files to be protected from piracy, you should always encrypt them, or sign them. A pirate would find it very difficult to claim signed documents.
After sending her reply, she sent a copy of the exact document she sent to Mark. Moments later, Simon informed her that she should wait till tomorrow for an update.
Sophia closed her laptop and sighed deeply. She prayed that this person would be fast enough to complete the job because she did not know when her biology teacher would spread her findings and claimed it was his.
There was a knock on the door, and Sophia's mom came in. "Sophie, it's bedtime. You should be asleep now, not using your laptop at this time of the hour", her mom said solemnly.
"Mom, it's nine o'clock", Sophia chuckled. "As they say, early to bed, early to rise, makes one happy and bright. You have to create the habit to sleep early alright?"
Sophia rolled her eyes smiling and said, "Alright mom, I hear ya. Goodnight mom", she said and lay on her bed. Her mom kissed her forehead, before turning off the lamplight beside her and leaving the room.
Sophia closed her laptop and drifted off to sleep.