Rav led me to his bedroom/lair. It was a decent size room; it had a twin-size bed in the corner of the room, a three-monitor computer, a rundown computer chair, and a military-base-looking laptop placed on the far-end corner of his desk.
"Welcome to my circus," he said, widening his arm as if I had just entered a private tour.
"As I said, I do not have much time." I reminded him of the reason why I came to see him. "I need information about that chip fast."
Rav then plugged the chip into his reader; an instant, a tab popped out asking for a code.
Rav wiggled his fingers across his keyboard; a separate tab encrypted the chip, processing and deciphering every information possible.
A flashing blue line appeared at the end of the screen.
"This might take a while; the programmer encrypted this with the latest codes. Whoever put this together made sure somebody could only access it once." Rav said, reading through the data his system gathered.
"How long?"
"With my current set-up, which by the way is the latest a person like me could get my hands into, I'd say 24 hours."
"I don't have 24 hours. You don't have 24 hours," I said irritated. I looked at my phone for any sign of malicious activities.
"What do you mean I don't have 24 hours? Are you going to kill me after I crack this?" Fear echoed following Rav's speech.
"Not me. The Project Organization if they find out you're working along side me. What you have there might contain information about the development and hierarchy of the system. These are highly classified data that will cost you— our lives."
"So you're telling me The Project is true? God, I have only read about it on private servers. Rumors had it that people under 'the project' were subjected to evil experiments, basically making them a cyborg."
I looked at him smugly. Words run fast, even on the dark web.
"I also read that 'the projects' were actually not people but the perfected version of artificial intelligence that can recognize human emotions and mannerisms." Rav continued.
"How about you? What do you think?" My curiosity got me.
"I would like to believe the latter. This is not the Marvel Cinematic Universe; undercover cyborgs aren't real. I couldn't fathom that an organization could experiment on people like that. Like wolverine shit or abomination shit, you know. Just inhumane. The thought of cyborg assassins roaming around the same area as I live freaks me the fuck out. I do hope they are not real."
"You hacked into The Pentagon, and you think the world is peaceful and law-abiding?" I smiled in disbelief. "Ignorance is bliss, I guess." I shrugged at the naive boy.
A beeping sound from my phone alerted me.
'The Organization had made contact.'
Shit.
I looked at Rav. When I planned to ask the pentagon hacker for a hand, I didn't imagine a scrawny 19-year-old. If I had known, I would not have asked for help.
The evil people behind The Org will submit this clueless teenager to hours of interrogation. He won't survive an hour here alone if the Organization would revert through my trails and locate our location. I am hours ahead of them, but they could easily catch up.
My stomach weaved at the thought of Rav being plagued by the torture methods used on me. I could not let that happen.
"What's going on?" Rav must have seen the intense look I was making while assembling my plan. His face was full of worry and fear.
"Listen to me." I tapped my phone, and a hologram of a map appeared.
"You need to get out of here as soon as possible; bring things to a minimum. Grab whatever is necessary and follow this path." I looked at him; his face turned pale. "Rav, did you hear me? Only this path."
He nodded.
"These entrances and exits are the best way to go undetected. You must travel to my unit in Alhambra, Spain. You and I are not to communicate until you land on my safe. Do you understand?"
"Rav." I sneered.
He nodded multiple times, "I get it. I get it."
I wondered if it was himself he was telling these and not me.
"You will be safe. They are after me, not you. And as far as I know, I noted years ago that 'The Pentagon Hacker' was deceased. You did well by laying low." I patted Rav's shoulder as I lied.
I need them to see me. I need them to think I am here for a mission that does not involve this young boy.
"But what if something bad happens?" Rav asked in horror.
"Nothing harm will be upon you, all you gotta do is memorize these paths, and you'd be safe. But to ease your mind, here," I handed Rav a piece of gum; when you are hundred percent sure that someone is after you, eat this. It has a lethal dose of a substance that could kill you instantly."
Rav looked at me as if I was crazy.
"You want me to die?" He yelled. "Are you crazy?"
"You are not going to die. Unless you eat that gum." I answered sarcastically. "Rav, I will tell you everything you need to know but not right now, not here." I put on my hands on Rav's shoulder. I regretted contacting him, but there was no time to cry over spilled milk.
"You will be safe, Rav. You have me," I said truthfully.
I will do whatever I can to keep this skinny, naive boy alive.
"Get everything you need and get moving. The sooner you get out of here, the better." I nodded my head at Rav's set-up, "Clean your mess. Only bring the chip. My place should have everything you need."
I gave Rav some time to mourn for his beloved set-up.
"Agent Mae, show me the fastest route to Dark Anchor."
"You have an intelligent Agent?" Rav held his head as if it were going to explode. "Who are you? This Chip. This Lethal gum. And now an intelligent Agent? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
"As I said, I will answer every question you have at my place in Alhambra. You have half a day to get there. Here's the address, and here's a pile of cash. When you locate my den, my system will let me know, and I will let you in."
"What if you die before I get there?" He asked.
"That will never happen." I smiled arrogantly. The worst thing the Organization can do to me is to extract any information they need from me and reprogram my system. They could kill me they just could not let a multi-billion project go to waste, couldn't they?
"Go, I promise. You will be safe." I gave Rav a reassuring look. "Don't be nervous; act like you always do. Just think of it as a vacation."
Rav sighed and looked at me with a concerned look, "You will be safe too, right?"
"Always." I smiled as I glanced at Rav disappearing from his village's narrow street.
"Agent Mae, alert me if you encounter suspicious activities."
"Noted, Project Seven." My Intelligent Agent responded, "No suspicious movements within a 1-mile radius."
I jumped out of Rav's back window and headed to Dark Anchor. The busiest and darkest Underground Market in this country.
Agents from the Organization will surely be there.
All I need to do to make my presence known and this distract them away from Rav. While at it, I might gather some intel about Chen's latest endeavors. Two birds. One stone.