Matt and I stared at each other, his face was only a few centimeters from mine. I could tell, from the look in his eyes, how worried he was. His green eyes were wide and glimmered because of the few tears that started to form. But there was something else, hope. He was waiting for me to answer, to tell him that I would help him, but I was so confused.

I had hoped for two years to hear this! And now that it was finally happening, I couldn't answer. My brain wasn't able to think straight or understand what was going on. Seconds passed and I remained still, almost without breathing. Matt slowly straightened up, shaking his head. His hands let go off my shoulders and the young man turned back with a deep sigh. I watched him walk to his place but didn't try to stop him.

The wind blew, making my dress twirl a bit, shaking me from my slumber. My eyes widened and a single name was now filling every corner of my brain: Jake. Suddenly I felt like my mind was finally aware of what Matt told me. My legs moved by themselves and I started walking like an automaton. A few seconds later, I stood in front of the door leading to the basement.

I put my hand on the knob and pushed open the door. It was a dark room without windows, only lit with several monitors standing across the room. I walked slowly avoiding stepping on wires that laid down on the floor, and I approached the desk where Matt was sitting.

The young man had his head in his hands, eyes closed and seemed defeated. He didn't hear me coming so I softly cleared my throat to show him my presence. He jumped, opened his eyes and turned his head toward me. "MC?" Matt looked at me, surprised I'd changed my mind.

A deep sigh escaped my mouth. So many questions were running through my brain, the flow of my thoughts became so overwhelming that I started to speak without taking my breath, "How do you know Jake? How do you know me? Why would you help him? I can't even know this isn't a trap! Why haven't you told me you wanted my help earlier? Why...?"

"MC, MC!" The man was rubbing his eyes with an exhausting look on his face, "Calm down please." He pointed a chair at me, "Please, sit down. Do you want something to drink?" without letting me answer Matt was already handing me a can of energy drink. He opened his and sat back on his chair while taking a few sip of the drink.

I slowly took the chair Matt showed me and approached it to the desk. I sat and put the can of energy drink on the desk without opening it. "Matt... I need to know, I'm totally lost now," I muttered.

"I know," he opened his eyes again, looking right at me. "Jake and I have known each other since we're kids. We were neighbors back then and went to the same school, studied the same thing. At some point, he became distant with me. He told me it was because of his job, that he has a lot of things to do." Matt stopped speaking, I could see his eyes started to be filled by tears. With a heavy breath he continued,"One day in the middle of the night he came to my home. He was totally panicking and crying. I was surprised because you know... he's a very calm and quiet man. Anyway... He told me his friend and coworker, Pete, had been killed because they discovered something about the company they worked for. Apparently he had every evidence against his company and those involved with it on a hidden server. I tried to find a solution to help him but there were already so many warrants against him... The next morning the FBI was at my door, Jake had barely the time to escape before they broke into my apartment. Before he left he asked me not to look for him or help him, that it was too dangerous. I tried, though. But he had vanished in the air. I never heard from him again until two years ago. I receive an encrypted email from him, leading me to this server. The next day his arrest was all over the news."

Matt stopped speaking again and took another sip of his energy drink. I never took my eyes off him while he talked. I learned a lot but I still had so many questions, "But... how do you know me? And why do you need my help?"

"I easily found that another person was with him when he was arrested. It wasn't difficult to find you. Thanks to Hannah's case I discovered a lot of things about you, specifically your relationship with Jake," I felt my cheeks blush at his statement, "It took me time, but I finally found the hidden server thanks to Jake's email. I needed a password to enter it. I tried to hack it but nothing worked. Jake is a talented hacker, maybe the best I know, so I knew it wouldn't be easy. As I couldn't access the server I went to visit Jake in jail..."

When I heard those words my heart started beating fast. I clenched my fists on my lap and asked quietly,"he accepted to see you?"

Matt slowly nodded, "Yes... but when I mentioned what I did he was mad. He told me he sent this email so I could protect the data, not to open the files, so he refused to tell me more about it. So I needed to find something else. I was pretty sure he had given you some clues about it. But as I didn't want to involve you, I first hacked your computer..."

"You did what?!" I almost yelled, "I thought Nym-0s was protecting me!"

Matt smiled, "So he finally created Nym-0s? He used to work on it when we were younger. To answer your question, a program like this requires a lot of work. It's been two years since Jake hasn't changed anything about it, so I guess it became weaker than it was. This is why it didn't detect me. When I read your chat with him and the group I figured out he called you 'the key' and that he already used your name as a password. So I'm pretty sure the password is related to you. I tried everything for weeks; your name, your birth date, your security number... but nothing worked. This is why I decided to contact you. I'm sure Jake would kill me if he knew, but I need you to help me with this password, and when we'll have access to the files... I'll need you to help me reveal them."

I remained silent. The sting in my chest was even more present than usual. I was terrified, but also I felt something rising in my being. Something I haven't felt for the past two years, hope. My mouth and throat were dry and I reached for the can of energy drink that was on the desk. I opened it and drank half of the can in one go. I winced because I didn't like the taste, but at least I felt a little better. I tried to regain my composure, to gather logical thoughts. If there was even a tiny hope to get Jake out of prison, I would do my best to help. Jake was innocent, I knew it, and there was no way I would let him roast in prison his entire life.

"I'll help..." I whisper and Matt's face lit up. "So... Show me the password you tried."

We worked a big part of the night, drinking energy drinks over energy drinks. Finally I came up with an idea, "I want to try something," Matt raised one eyebrow curious about my idea, "when he left some riddles for Lilly and I, he used my name as a password and then when he sent me his location he used Nym-0s ID numbers. So maybe..." I started to type on the keyboard, "if we combine both passwords" I pressed 'enter' and the monitor suddenly turned black. "Shit!" I shout.

"Wait..." Matt whispered. Slowly the screen started to glitch and then a message popped up indicating the server was now accessible. "You did it!" Matt laughed and put a hand on my shoulder squeezing it. "Okay..." his eyes were quickly scanning among the amount of files that had just appeared. "Everything is encrypted. I expected this, but I will need time to decipher it all."

"I was thinking... maybe I could contact Mr. Roth, Jake's lawyer, to tell him we have found proof which could clear Jake's name." I mused.

"Good idea. Maybe we can see each other once you see Mr. Roth." Matt told me without taking his gaze off the screen.

I agreed and left the place, it was already 8am, and I hurried to go back to my apartment. When I entered home, Jessy ran to me, "MC! Where were you? I was so worried! You usually warn me when you don't sleep at home!" the redhead started, "Wait... Why are you smiling? Did that guy and you...?"

"No, no!" I cut her off, "It's not what you think."

"So what is it?" she asked.

I frowned, should I tell her the truth? Jessy was my best friend and I trusted her with my life. I bit my lip still thinking about what I should do but when she insisted I eventually told her everything.

Jessy didn't seem as happy as I was, though "Are you sure this is a good idea... I mean, it could be dangerous."

"I think it's worth the try. Jake is innocent and I can prove it. I can't sit on my hands! I had to do something."

She sighed, "OK, as you wish. But please, be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll be ok." Jessy and I hugged before she left for work and I headed to my room. I opened my laptop and sent a message to my boss to warn her I wouldn't work today pretexting I was sick. Then, I sent an email to Mr. Roth. I explained to him that I've got new information about his client that could prove he was innocent.

Then I went to the bathroom. After this hectic night, I needed to take a warm shower. Once under the water, I felt my muscles starting to relax. Soon, exhaustion hit me. I leaned my back against the cold tiles and sat on the floor. I hugged my knees and let out a big sigh. I felt relieved. After two years I finally had hope again. But I had to remain focused, as Jessy said it could be dangerous.

When I went back to my room, I saw that Jake's lawyer had already answered. He suggested a meeting at his office the same evening at 6pm. I decided to sleep a bit before going to see Mr. Roth. I set my alarm clock and fell asleep as soon as my head rested on the pillow.

_____

I stood in front of a gray building with huge bay windows. I took a deep breath and entered the place. A blond girl was sitting behind the reception desk. I walked toward her and smiled, "Good evening, I'm MC I have an appointment with.."

"Mr. Roth, yes. He warned me,"she smiled back at me, "he's waiting for you in his office. You can take the elevator. It's on the 7th floor third door on your right."

I thanked the receptionist and headed to the elevators. With a soft noise the doors opened and I stepped out of it and went to Mr. Roth's office. I knocked on the door and heard a male voice telling me I could come in.

" Ah MC!" He greeted me while standing and shaking my hand, "please, take a seat. Do you want to drink something? Coffee, tea, water?" The man gave me a charming smile waiting for my answer.

"Uhm.. Yes. Water would be great" I said shyly. I sat on an armchair across from the lawyer and took the glass of water he was handing me.

"So tell me MC, what information do you have?"

I looked at him and tried to be careful with the words I used, "Mr. Roth, before answering you I have a question. Why did Jake plead guilty? I'm sure you know he's innocent!" I breathed slowly so I would not let anger take over me, but deep inside I was mad at this man who didn't fight enough for Jake.

Mr. Roth rubbed his chin with his hand,"I can't tell you what my client and I agreed. All I can say is that with the amount of evidence against Mr. Donfort, the best thing for him was to plead guilty."

I frowned, I wasn't convinced at all. And I couldn't tell why, but there was something odd with that man."I have information proving Jake is innocent. A friend of mine has files with the names of the people involved in the activities that Jake was charged with."

"Do you have those files? I need to see them before telling you if it could help him."

"I don't have them right now..."

"So I can't do anything for you MC," the lawyer cut me off. "Send me the files first and I'll tell you if it can be useful."

I was stunned. Mr. Roth didn't give a shit about Jake's situation. "You don't believe me? If it's about money.."

"Money isn't the issue here. I can't juge without the files. You need to send them to me. The sooner the better." He stated. His voice was commanding and he had lost his friendly smile. "Please, give your phone number to my secretary so I can call you back." He wasn't even looking at me anymore.

I stood defeated and left without a word. I did as Mr. Roth told me and gave my phone number to the blond woman at the reception. When I went outside the building I took my phone and saw Matt sent me a message.

Matt: I have almost deciphered a file you can stop by tonight if you want. I saw you went to the lawyer's office.

I sighed, why were hackers always watching my every move? I started walking to Matt's place, hoping he had better news than mine. When I arrived the man immediately saw something was wrong. "What happened MC?" he asked, concerned.

"Mr. Roth didn't believe me. He wants the files before making a decision."

Matt slowly nodded, "It's quite logical. We will need several files before sending them to him. The one I deciphered won't be enough."

I approached his desk, curious. "So, what is it?" I pointed at the screen.

"A list of everyone involved with the company Jake used to work for." He turned his chair to face the monitors and I sat next to him.

I shivered. There were pages of names. I looked at them looking for anything when suddenly I gasped.

"Look!" I pointed one name at Matt with a trembling hand. Here, lost between other names, was a name I immediately recognized, the name of Jake's lawyer.

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