The drive home was quiet, the hum of the car engine soothing as Anushka gazed out of the window. The city lights blurred past, and she allowed herself a moment of calm reflection. Thirty minutes later, the Uber pulled up outside her apartment building.
Before heading inside, Anushka decided to grab something to eat at the diner across the street. She pushed open the glass door, the familiar aroma of grilled burgers and fries greeting her instantly.
"Anu!" the girl behind the counter exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Hey, Kayla," Anushka said, smiling back.
"Let me guess—an Anu burger, fries, and strawberry juice?" Kayla asked, already punching the order into the system.
"You know me too well," Anushka laughed, leaning against the counter.
"What can I say? You're our most predictable customer," Kayla teased, sliding the order ticket to the kitchen.
As they waited, the two caught up in small talk. Kayla mentioned a funny incident with another customer earlier in the day, and Anushka shared a bit about her frustrating yet exciting work. They also talked about Linda's visit, she had been assigned to secure a deal with a business tycoon in the city. So being in town, she had decided to drop by. Their conversation was light and easy, and it helped Anushka unwind after the long day.
"Here you go," Kayla said, handing over a neatly packed bag with her food. "Enjoy your dinner!"
"Thanks, Kayla. See you later!" Anushka said as she exited the diner and crossed the street back to her apartment.
Once inside, Anushka kicked off her shoes, set her bag down, and placed the food on the kitchen counter. Taking a deep breath, she looked around her cozy room, glad to be home. She moved to her wardrobe and stripped naked, then drifted to the bathroom. Minutes later, she emerged with a towel wrapped around her. The warm shower had relaxed her muscles, washing away the weariness of the day.
She slipped into a pair of small shorts and an oversized hoodie before heading to her desk. Opening her laptop, she began to connect to the office system. As she sipped her strawberry juice and took a bite of her burger, her focus returned to the task at hand. It was time to finish what she had started.
But to her surprise and frustration, there was no internet connection. Her browser displayed a "No Connection" message, and the Wi-Fi icon on her laptop had an exclamation mark.
"What now?" she muttered, clicking around to diagnose the issue. It wasn't on her end.
With a groan, she stood and stripped off her shorts, replacing them with a comfortable and decent pair of leggings. Determined to figure out what was going on, she walked out of her apartment and headed to her neighbor's door.
Her neighbor, Tom, answered after a few knocks. He was in his late twenties, always polite, with a calm demeanor that made him approachable.
"Hey, Anushka," Tom greeted, his eyebrows raising slightly in surprise. "What's up?"
"Hey, Tom," she said, offering a small smile. "Sorry to bother you, but do you know what's up with the Wi-Fi? Mine's out, and I was wondering if it's just me."
"Oh," Tom said, leaning against the doorframe. "Didn't you see the notice? The building management sent it out yesterday. The Wi-Fi is down for maintenance—apparently, it'll be off for 24 hours."
Anushka blinked. "I didn't see any notice."
Tom chuckled lightly. "They probably put it up in the lobby. Not very effective, huh?"
"Yeah, clearly not," she said, sighing. "Thanks for letting me know, though. Guess I'll have to figure something out."
"If you're desperate, you could use cellular data," Tom suggested.
"I might. Thanks, Tom."
"Anytime," he said with a smile before closing the door.
Back in her apartment, Anushka sat on her bed, contemplating her options. Cellular data wasn't ideal—it was slower and unreliable for what she needed to do. Her mind wandered to the café across the street. Kyla had mentioned their Wi-Fi was always on.
She grabbed her laptop, phone, and charger, slipped into her sneakers, and headed out. The night air was cool, and the warm lights of the café greeted her as she crossed the street.
"Anu! Back so soon?" Kyla exclaimed as Anushka walked in. The counter girl grinned at her, clearly happy to see her again.
"Hey, Kyla. Yeah, I've got some work to finish, and my Wi-Fi's out," Anushka explained, setting her things on the counter. "Is the Wi-Fi here working?"
"Of course! It's always on," Kyla replied proudly. "Need anything to go with it? Another Anu burger, maybe?"
Anushka chuckled. "Not this time. I barely touched the first one. Maybe just juice?"
"Strawberry?"
"You know me too well," Anushka said with a smile.
Kyla grabbed a glass, filled it with juice, and handed it over. "You know the drill—sit anywhere you like."
"Thanks, Kyla," Anushka said, moving to her favorite corner table. The café was mostly empty, save for a couple of students huddled over their laptops.
Settling in, Anushka connected to the café's Wi-Fi and opened her laptop. She quickly reestablished her remote connection to the office system and checked the status of her earlier phishing attempt. To her surprise, a notification popped up: Access granted.
Her heart raced as she realized what it meant. Dr. Otim had read the email and installed the fake app. She was in.
A smirk tugged at her lips as she muttered, "Finally."
She navigated to the Metasploit console and launched her payload. Within seconds, she gained access to the phone's system. The dashboard displayed detailed information about the device: call logs, messages, installed apps, and even GPS location.
As she explored the system, her phone chimed. It was a message from Mark.
Mark: Any progress?
Anushka: You'll be pleased to know we're in.
Mark: Good. Any complications?
Anushka: Just out at the dinner. Other than the Wi-Fi outage, no. It's clean. Everything's running smoothly.
Mark: Great work, Ruhi. But don't stay too long at the café. It's late.
Anushka: Yes, Dad.
Mark: I'm serious. Be safe. And anyway tomorrow I won't be coming to the office, so we'll meet at home for breakfast.
Anushka smiled, appreciating his concern.
Anushka: Your home???
Mark: Yeah I'll send someone to pick you up. And no saying no. We have to discuss some important matters.
Anushka: Alright I'll make myself available.
Her attention returned to the task. She extracted the files Mark had requested, making sure to encrypt them for security before transferring them to the office server.
Kyla came over, leaning lightly on the table. "Work going okay?"
"Yeah, just finishing up," Anushka replied, glancing at her. "Thanks for letting me crash here."
"Anytime, Anu. You're basically part of the furniture now," Kyla teased.
Anushka laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."
With the session active, she had full remote access: she could view files, access the camera, read messages, and even listen to calls.
For added stealth, she installed a keylogger to monitor future activities and ensured her actions left no trace by using anti-forensic tools like Shred to delete her tracks from the system logs.
As the data flowed into her encrypted storage drive, Anushka felt a mix of triumph and trepidation. She knew the weight of her actions and the thin line she was walking.