Chapter 10 - Omega takes over

~Tesla University, women's dorm~

With a confident smirk on her face Sarah was anticipating seeing the end results of the event.

Her performance was good, and she dominated position #1 on the list of top contributors through the event. She is eagerly waiting to see final total for the amount awarded and confirm that she is #1.

Sarah was enjoying thoughts of her glory as a hacker, when unknown chat window opened on her computer screen with text:

…ping successful...

...session established...

[unknown]: "Don't be upset, you did well"

Sarah was startled. 'Who is this, and what kind of a chat app is this... am I getting hacked??? I have latest firewall and defender app, how is this possible?' Sarah's eyes opened wide in disbelief, and she almost choked on BBQ chips she was eating. Reluctantly she typed:

[Sarah]: who are you?

[unknown]: you know who I am

Sarah gave it a moment before giving a response:

[Sarah]: omega?

[unknown]: :)

She was not sure why he would contact her, but somehow, she knew or maybe she just hoped that it's him. 'What if it's someone pretending to be him?', Sarah thought, 'there are not many with these skills, and why would anyone pretend to be Omega? Any hacker wants to keep the credit of his exploits'. At the same time, Sarah decided to make her move. With sharp look in her eyes, her fingers were already flying like a wind on her keyboard. She was back tracking through the network, with intent to find where is Omega.

[Sarah]: what do you want?

She needs to keep the conversation going, if he ends the chat session, she will not be able to find him.

[unknown]: just to tell you that you did well and not to be upset

[Sarah]: I don't get it

[unknown]: you will

[Sarah]: why are you contacting me?

Sarah was getting on her screen series of numbers representing network addresses and various other data. She was getting closer as she eliminated noise within the data and focused on finding the IP from where the session is established.

[unknown]: I find you interesting

[Sarah]: ?

[unknown]: I need to go... you are getting close. Will chat again soon.

...end session...

'Cr*p, he closed the session!', Sarah fumed with mix of anger and disappointment. At the same time, she felt excited as challenge presented in front of her was something that stimulates her mind. She looked at the results she manages to get, and with surprise realized that chat was initiated from Tesla University network!

She compared it with her previous data and information in active directory. After quick analysis, Sarah was able to confirm that session originated from one of men's dormitories! 'Well, at least I know it's a man... probably a student' Sarah's thought.

She was not happy that he ended session before she could locate him, but consoled by the thought that she was able to narrow down her search for the mysterious Omega. Sarah concluded to herself, 'He is at the University, male, probably student. Do I know him?'

Her mood quickly turned sour when final results form the event were published:

#1: Omega, $12200

#2: Sigma, $11800

#3: ...

'Are you kidding me?!!', Sarah fumed. 'He took my first spot at the last minute! Ahhhh!' She screamed internally.

It took her few minutes for emotions to calm down a bit before she froze... Her eyes were glued to still open window showing chat session with Omega and his message "Don't be upset, you did well". She blanked out for few minutes, when her mind exploded with realization, 'Wow! This means he knows who I am! He knows I'm Sigma! What the …?'

Sarah's face was contorted, she never felt this sour. 'Is he trying to console me, or rub it in my face? What are his intentions?'.

Sarah took few deep breaths, 'Calm down, breathe. His skills are undeniable. He found out that I'm Sigma and showed me that he knows who I am. Why would he do that? Is he someone who enjoys toying with others? If yes, why me?'. Shivers went through Sarah's body when to all that she added her recent discovery that Omega is someone from the same campus where she is! She felt like someone is watching her.

Sarah went to the window and looked outside in the dark before pulling the blinds down and closing the curtains. Her room was on the third floor, but she still felt uneasy and double checked that window is locked. Her mind was creating all kinds of wild scenarios where Omega was some pervy-sicko-villain and she is in grave danger.

Flow of her imagination was interrupted with an email from SysTech company:

"Dear Sigma,

Thank you for participating in our event and contributing to quality of our PC Manager.

Issues you reported:

…

The amount will be deposited to your account within next 3 hours.

Thank you for your time and efforts. We hope to be able to work together in the future.

With respect…"

Sarah knows that this is a standard generic email sent to all contributors. There is nothing special about it.

Sarah was in a sour mood. She turned off her PC and went to bed after a relaxing shower. She was planning what Christmas gifts to buy for her family. When she thought of an acceptable idea, she took a note on her phone so that she does not forget.

Holding her phone after she noted few gift ideas, Sarah opened chat app looking at conversation with Aiden.

'This definitely looks like flirting!' Sarah was half pleased, and half upset.

Reading through the content of their chat, it seems they didn't talk about the project. Sarah was getting suspicious if he even wants her to work on the project at all. She remembered that Vivian said how Aiden is one of top students, that means that he should be able to work on it by himself.

She decided to send him a text and clarify:

[Sarah]: "Are we still on for the project?"

She kept her phone next to her pillow and closed her eyes in attempt to sleep. Her thoughts started to wander again towards Omega and crazy scenarios were building inside her head again.

Sarah had difficulty sleeping that night.

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