WHEN HE ARRIVED AT HIS DESK, Martin started a conversation:
— So, did you get any information?
— Well, I heard some things, but nothing that could be proven.
— Like what?
Gregory decided not to open up to his friend, he needed to be careful with the information, even though he trusted his partner.
— I went to the school where he studied, no one said anything other than: "he was a strange boy" or "he was introspective", anyway, things like that — he disguised himself.
— And since when is a suicide normal? — said his friend, while accessing some data on the computer, drinking a chocolate milk from a box.
— Well...
While the two were talking, Gregory Evans noticed that the webcam on his laptop turned on. He stared at the fact in astonishment and waited to see if it would stay on.
— What happened? — Martin asked, curious about his distraction.
— The camera LED turned on by itself...
— These new things really suck, see if it's under warranty.
— Yes... — he said, not paying much attention to what his friend had said — yeah... I'll look into that later...
A few seconds later, the light went out.
Gregory was sure it wasn't a defect, that LED only lit up if the camera was on. It was a sign that something had made it work for a few seconds...
But what could it be?
He started looking for possible strange activity on the computer, malicious software or some sign of invasion. The antivirus didn't identify anything... Nothing on the firewall either... He investigated somewhat lost, until he heard the sound of his smartphone, warning him of the arrival of a new email. He then decided to check what it could be.
He opened the browser on his notebook and checked his always full inbox. Among so many unread messages, spam and warnings from his superiors, there it was, sparkling before his eyes, a different email, whose title was:
Do you know how to play?
The sender had a strange, unknown address. At first he thought:
Damn spam!
But he noticed that this one in particular was out of the ordinary. He decided to check it out.
When he opened it, he saw that there wasn't much in the content, just the phrase:
"Put the pieces together."
And a long, encrypted link.
Curiosity gripped him, Greg opened the link. He needed to see what it was about...