Chapter 55
It took several minutes for the call to connect. A groggy and irritated voice came through on the other end, grumbling through a yawn. "What is it? Don’t you know I pull all–nighters? I just fell asleep not long ago. I’m sorry." Zoe said with a nervous chuckle. I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t an emergency."
"What kind of emergency could a rich young woman like you possibly have?" The voice on the other end sounded surprised.
"My computer got hit with a virus last night. It just crashed all of a sudden, and I spent the entire night trying to fix it, but nothing worked. I had no choice but to call you for help", Zoe said, her voice a mix of distress and embarrassment.
"You spent the whole night on it and couldn’t even get it to boot?" The voice on the line now sounded incredulous. "Are you really my apprentice if you can’t handle something so basic?"
Zoe quickly explained. "Please hear me out. This virus is really strange." She went on to describe the virus’s characteristics and its destructive power in great detail.
Her mentor seemed to be intrigued, and the drowsiness in his voice was gone. "This virus does sound interesting. Bring your computer over. I’ll take a look at it myself"
"Alright, I’ll be there in half an hour."
Though Zoe hadn’t slept all night she was young enough to power through. She immediately got up, changed out of her pajamas, dabbed on some concealer to cover her dark circles, and then grabbed her computer and called her chauffeur. On her way out, she picked up two pieces of bread and a bottle of milk before heading to her mentor’s place.
He was none other than the famous hacker, Chaos. To become his apprentice, Zoe bought an apartment in the city center for him, spending all her bonuses, allowances, and savings. She also sold several handbags and some inexpensive jewelry.
Over the past two years, she had learned a great deal from Chaos, establishing a name for herself in the hacking community Not even her family knew about this secret.
As Zoe grappled with the virus’s effects, others were also feeling its impact.