"As you know, Jason Bridger was a government spy, working for the NSA ." Doug began, "He was also a member of the Cyber Police."

"Wait a minute." she objected, "You're telling me that Jason was a double agent for both the government and a hacker group?"

"That's right." he nodded. "He was a covert ops agent for the NSA, but he was also a leader of the Cyber Police, a group dedicated to fighting cybercrime. He was a talented hacker himself."

"So why was he spying for the NSA?" she wondered, "Were they blackmailing him?"

"According to reports, Jason was under investigation by the NSA." Doug explained, "He was supposedly leaking information about the NSA's illegal activities."

"Was he?" Lily asked, "Did he give the Cyber Police any incriminating evidence?"

"Sort of." Doug said, "All of his files were encrypted. Even though we cracked his password, we still haven't been able to read any of his data."

"Was that a coincidence, or is something else going on?" Lily asked.

"We don't know," Doug admitted, "We've been trying to figure out exactly what Jason was doing. We even hired an expert to study his files."

"Who is this 'expert'?" she queried.

"His name is Tony Solomo," he said, "He's one of the leading experts on encryption technology."

"And?" she prompted.

"Tony says that Jason's files are beyond his expertise," Doug said. "In fact, he suspects that Jason wasn't even responsible for creating those files."

"What do you mean?" she asked, "Why would he suspect that?"

"Because it turns out that the file was protected with Rotating Cleartext Encryption.”

Lily’s eyebrow raised, “Which was developed by CyberBolt!”

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“Now you’re catching on.” Doug smiled, “Jason didn’t create the file. He stole it from CyberBolt Headquarters.”

Reality sunk in.

And I was his accomplice.

Lily was stunned. She looked back at Doug, "And you think his death is related to the stolen files?"

"It's the only explanation I can think of," he replied. "Like I said, we've tried to decrypt Jason's files, but no matter what we do, we can't break his encryption."

"So, what are these stolen files?" she asked, "What do they contain?"

"That's the real question." he shrugged. "It's not clear what Jason was planning to do with them."

"What do you mean?" she pressed.

"I mean," he said slowly, "He may have been planning to destroy the NSA. Destroy it from within."

She sat in silence for a few seconds. "Destroy the NSA from within?" she repeated, "How? Is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Doug admitted, "but it seems likely. After all, it's the only thing that makes sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," he said, "If Jason did plan to destroy the NSA, then why would he leave behind a single encrypted file? That's absurd. It seems there was another party involved.”

“But who?”

“We suspect Timur Demyan.” he answered.

"Timur Demyan?" she repeated, "The CEO of CyberBolt Entertainment? Why would he want to destroy the NSA?"

"We don't know for sure," Doug admitted, "But we think that he might be involved with Jason's murder. That's why we need your help."

"My help?" she asked. "How can I help you?"

"You're a genius," he grinned, "You can crack Jason's files and discover Timur's involvement. We'll pay you fifty thousand dollars. You can stay anonymous if you want."

"I'm not sure I can help you," she said, "I could try, but I won't guarantee anything."

"We understand," he said, "That's why we're giving you until tomorrow to decide. We're going to do a little digging tonight anyway."

"Then you already know what you're looking for?" she asked.

"We know that Jason was trying to expose some serious corruption," he explained, "And we suspect that Timur is involved. If you want to help us, you'll need to find out whether or not we're correct."

"What’s in it for me? I called you guys to help me deactivate my implant." she said.

"Fair enough," Doug nodded, "The surgeon is available later this afternoon. Until then, you’ll have to hang tight here in this Safehouse.”

"Is this safe?" she asked, "What if the NSA finds me?"

"This is a secure location," he said, "We've got a lot of money invested in this place. Don't worry about the NSA. They won't find you here."

They sat in silence for a moment before Doug spoke again. "Well," he said finally, "Do you accept our offer?"

"Yes," she said, "I'll do it."

"Good," he nodded. "I'll be back in the soon to pick you up."

"Okay," she said.

He turned around and left the room. Lily watched as he walked down the hall, disappearing into the darkness. She thought about what he'd just told her, and realized that things were about to get very interesting.

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