I tried to delete the file again, but the same error message came up saying that there was a problem with the file. It appeared to have malfunctioned; the intruder must have been trying to copy the folder to their USB drive but because of the disruption, and in their hasty exit, it looked like the file hadn't been copied properly. In turn, it had caused our file structure to malfunction.

I looked at Jonty.

“It still won’t delete. Whatever they were doing disrupted the file structure within our file system. We have to find a way to erase it though, so no one else can see it until we are ready.” I said frowning.

Jonty looked at me, his eyebrow raised.

“The Admiral offered you a position on the Temporal team, maybe we should just leave it and you can explain it to the project leader in the morning.” Jonty said.

“I don’t want them to see what we’ve been doing here until I’ve had a chance to talk through the Temporal project with the lead scientist. I want to know what I’m getting myself into first.” I said, raising my eyebrows back at Jonty.

“I think you already know what you’re getting yourself into. We've done over 500 tests on the simulator Ariah, I think you have a fair idea.” Jonty smirked.

I ignored him and went back to looking at the screen and tried typing on some new code that I thought could help override the malfunction. The computer beeped an alarm again to highlight the fact that the code hadn’t worked.

Thinking about the coding tutorials my father used to run through with me, I suddenly remembered how we used to tidy up old hard drives in the basement office by typing in a self-destruct sequence which would eradicate files but not wipe the hard drive itself. He always had lots of old tech equipment and computers laying around just in case he needed pieces from them.

I typed in the sequence that I remembered my father sharing with me and hit return. I waited, holding my breath, to see what would happen. The file icon and files within it disappeared. The sequence had worked, they had been erased.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stepped back and rubbed my eyelids with my fingertips, trying to massage them into wakefulness. I was so tired that my vision was starting to blur and I was ready to lay down where I stood to close my eyes and go to sleep on the floor. Jonty came and stood next to me looking at the computer screen.

“So you did it? He asked, turning his head to look at me as he leant over the desk that the computer was on.

I nodded.

“We must tell the Admiral what has happened.” I said, shutting the computer down.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Jonty lent in and whispered in my ear. His closeness gave me a fright and I pulled back. He looked around the room, as if making sure that he wasn’t being listened to.

“What do you mean?” I said, looking into his crystal blue eyes.

“The Admiral isn’t who he seems.” Jonty whispered again and motioned to the corner of the room. I saw a camera in the corner, it’s red light blipping as if it was recording.

Shocked, I turned back to Jonty.

“I thought we took care of all the cameras?” I whispered back.

“We did. That one is new. I only saw it when I walked over to look at what you were doing on the computer.” He pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear. My breath caught in my throat and my heart started to beat faster.

I nodded again, his lips accidentally brushed my ear as I did so and he stepped back from me as if he’d been hit by an electric bolt.

“Sorry, I…” He stammered.

I felt myself blush and I turned away.

“We need to get out of here before the team comes in to start work and I need to get some sleep before classes start…and you need to explain to me what you meant about…” I stopped and looked at the camera.

“...the Admiral.” I whispered to Jonty and I turned back to him.

“Not here, we need to find somewhere safe to talk.” Jonty mouthed back.

“Follow me.”