The minutes dragged on as Zark, Jerry, and Rommel lingered near the entrance of Infospeed, their patience wearing thin. Zark's eyes flickered between the customers inside, watching as they gradually trickled out of the shop. It was already 23:40, and they had arrived at 22:10. The longer they waited, the more his hope began to fade.
"This can't be right," Zark muttered, frustration creeping into his voice.
"We've been here for over an hour, and there's still no sign of anyone. What was the point of that code?"
Rommel glanced at Zark, then at Jerry, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. The café was nearly empty now, with just a few customers left hunched over their keyboards. Zark's mind raced, replaying the events of the day and the mysterious message over and over, trying to find some hidden clue they might have missed.
"Zark," Jerry called out, breaking the silence.
"I just remembered something."
Zark turned toward Jerry, a glimmer of hope reigniting in his chest.
"What is it?"
Jerry reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope that had contained the coded letter. He held it up to the dim light outside the café, pointing to the bottom corner. There, faint but unmistakable, were handwritten words in black ink:
"Devil in the code."
"Look at this," Jerry said.
"I didn't notice it before, but maybe this means something. It could be another clue."
Zark's eyes widened as the words sank in.
"Devil in the code…" he repeated softly.
"What if I have to use this? Something to identify ourselves with?"
His mind worked quickly, connecting the dots. If the sender of the letter wanted to remain discreet, using a phrase like that as a passphrase would make sense.
"It's worth a shot," Zark decided, straightening up.
"Stay here. I'm going back to the counter."
Without wasting another second, Zark strode back into the café and approached the woman behind the counter. She looked up at him, her expression calm and curious as ever.
Zark leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.
"Devil in the code," he said.
For a moment, the woman's expression remained unchanged. Then, she gave a slight nod.
"Affirmative," she replied, her tone shifting subtly as she reached beneath the counter and pressed a button.
With a quiet click, a hidden door at the back of the café slid open, revealing a narrow hallway that led away from the public area.
"Staff entrance," she said, gesturing towards the newly revealed passage.
Zark took a step forward, but before he could go further, Jerry and Rommel came up behind him. As they moved to follow, the woman raised her hand.
"Only staff are allowed beyond this point," she said firmly.
"We're going with him," Jerry said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"We're new members."
The woman hesitated, her eyes darting between Jerry and Rommel before settling back on Zark. With a resigned sigh, she reached for her phone and dialed a number.
"Ma'am, someone has entered without an invitation," she spoke into the receiver, her tone respectful.
"What should I do?"
In an office somewhere behind the scenes, a woman with a lively smile and a playful glint in her eye was watching the café's CCTV feed. Her long, curly red hair fell over her shoulders, and she wore a fitted outfit that accentuated her alluring figure. She leaned back in her chair, holding the phone to her ear. Her expression was a mix of curiosity and amusement as she watched Zark, Jerry, and Rommel waiting near the entrance to the hallway.
"Let them in," she said, her voice cool but tinged with a hint of mischief.
"I've been expecting them."
The woman at the counter nodded in response and hung up the phone. She turned to Zark and the others, her calm demeanor never wavering.
"You can go in," she said, her voice tinged with a hint of reluctance.
"Follow the hallway, and you'll reach another door. Knock twice when you get there."
"Thanks," Zark said curtly, already heading toward the open doorway.
Jerry and Rommel followed close behind, both of them glancing back at the woman at the counter, who simply returned to her post as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
The narrow hallway was dimly lit, with bare concrete walls on either side. As they walked, the sound of their footsteps echoed off the floor, the atmosphere growing more tense with each step. When they reached the door at the end, Zark raised his hand and knocked twice, just as the woman had instructed.
After a brief pause, the door swung open, revealing a spacious room lined with monitors and high-tech equipment. At the center of the room stood a sleek desk, and behind it sat the woman who had been watching them on the CCTV. She was dressed in a stylish black jacket, her curly red hair cascading down her back, and her bright, lively eyes studied the newcomers with a mix of curiosity and amusement.
As Zark stepped into the room, he was taken aback by the sight that greeted him. Every member of the group was assembled inside, seated at their respective workstations. There was a buzz of energy in the air as familiar faces turned towards him, some grinning, others throwing playful gestures and sign language his way.
"Look who finally showed up!" Roy, the penetration tester, called out, grinning from his seat.
"Thought you got lost, man."
"Or chickened out," Julia, the botnet operator, added with a smirk.
The cheerful atmosphere was contagious, and Zark couldn't help but smile at the familiar banter. He recognized most of the members in the room from past missions—each of them an expert in their field, from Jojo, the financial specialist, to Rene, the malware developer, and many others. Yet, there were also some new faces among the group, people he hadn't seen before.
Jojo stood up from his seat, beaming at the sight of his twin brother.
"Jerry!" he exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug.
"And Thadz, good to see you, man."
He then gave Rommel a warm pat on the back before returning to his place.
"Alright, enough with the reunion," Samantha interjected, her voice cutting through the chatter as she rose from her desk.
"We have some introductions to make."
Rony glanced at Samantha as she gestured towards the new faces in the room. One by one, she began to introduce the newcomers, starting with a tall, thin man who stepped forward.
"Meet Bobby Mandawe," Samantha said, her tone steady.
"Our physical infiltration expert."
Bobby gave a nod, his expression calm and serious.
"I specialize in getting into places I'm not supposed to be," he explained. "If we need to install hardware exploits, gather intel, or bypass physical security, that's where I come in. I can handle lock-picking, RFID cloning, and slipping past guards unnoticed."
The next to step forward was a stocky man with a rugged appearance. Samantha gestured towards him.
"This is Jobert Ibañez" she said.
"Our supply chain attack specialist."
Jobert grinned slightly and glanced around the room.
"I focus on exploiting weaknesses in third-party vendors or contractors," he said.
"Basically, if there's a way to compromise a target through their partners or suppliers, I'll find it. I can manipulate software updates, compromise hardware shipments, and use social engineering to get inside information."
Samantha's gaze shifted to the third newcomer, a tall man with a confident stance.
"Next, we have Mike Bunagan" she announced.
"Our AI/ML security specialist."
Mike stepped forward, a faint smile on his face.
"My role is to manipulate AI-powered security systems," he explained.
"I work with machine learning algorithms, finding ways to bypass or trick their AI into overlooking malicious activity. If we need to create blind spots or manipulate behavioral analytics, I'm your guy."
Samantha's eyes then fell on the final new face.
"And this is Christy Salazar" she introduced.
"Our signal intelligence specialist."
Christy gave a small wave, her expression composed.
"I handle intercepting and decoding communications," she said.
"If there's data traveling through the air, I can catch it. I specialize in RF signal manipulation, decoding encrypted transmissions, and extracting useful intel from secure communications."
Zark listened carefully as each new member described their expertise, his curiosity piqued by the diversity of skills now present in the group. But Samantha wasn't done yet. She turned her gaze towards the entrance.
"And last but not least," she said, her voice carrying a suspenseful tone.
"Glaiza Bakido"
The door swung open once more, and the woman from the café's counter entered the room. Her entrance was met with a moment of stunned silence as she walked confidently in front of the group. Glaiza's expression remained calm as she reached the center of the room before speaking.
"Surprised?" she said, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"I'm the AI/ML data poisoning expert. Most of you probably thought I was just a staff member."
She continued, "My role is to manipulate the data used to train machine learning models. If an AI is learning from corrupted data, it will make wrong decisions. I create adversarial datasets that can make the algorithms miss threats—or see threats where there are none."
The members exchanged looks of shock and amusement, clearly taken aback by the revelation. It hadn't occurred to any of them that the woman who had been at the front desk was actually part of the team.
"Well played," Dominic, the reverse engineer, remarked, giving Glaiza a nod of approval.
Samantha clapped her hands once, drawing everyone's attention back to her.
"Alright, now that the introductions are done, everyone please head back to your respective stations."
As the members began to disperse, Samantha's gaze lingered on Jerry and Rommel.
"So, you two finally decided to join the party," she said with a teasing smile.
"About time."
Jerry and Rommel both chuckled, a hint of shyness coloring their expressions.
"Guess it was inevitable," Jerry replied.
"We've been on the sidelines for too long."
Rommel nodded in agreement, still getting used to being part of the group.
Just as the members settled back into their places, the big screen in the room flickered on, casting a bright glow across the space.