tabby

my face as I turned to face the crowd. Arin stood in front of me, filling the space so that I could barely see the others surrounding him. For a second I faltered, but then I lifted my gaze to his face. Small creases formed on my forehead as I stared at his mocking smile.
“Miss Blue? We’re ready for you to show us your amazing device.” Mr. Silva rubbed his hands together as he rocked back and forth on his toes. “Arin, this is something your team is going to want. With it, when it’s complete and field tested, this will revolutionize how data intelligence gathering is done. If only we had more agents like Miss Blue here, why, we’d take the upper hand in our fight against crime and keeping our community safe from the humans.”
It took every effort to keep from rolling my eyes as Mr. Silva went on and on. He couldn’t help it, as it was part of his nature: loyal to a fault of those he found worthy. But as his praise continued to pile up and Arin stared at me, I couldn’t stop the flushing of my cheeks. The moment he saw that telltale sign, his smirk widened until he had to cover his mouth with his hand as he cleared his throat in a poor attempt to hide his laughter.
That man, he... aaarrrrg. He had me so flustered, so angry, so, so... Overwhelmed, my emotions jumbled up inside me and I couldn’t decide how I felt or even an appropriate word for it. Grrr. If I didn’t slow the frantic pace of my heart and get my head in the game, he’d win, proving to everyone that, as much as I wanted to be here, I wasn’t made of the right stuff. I couldn’t let him do that.
After six slow breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, the clenching and unclenching of my fists four times for each breath, and the slight rolling of my balance from my heels to my toes and back once for every second clench of my fists, I successfully calmed myself down. It was an elaborate routine, but I had to make it that way to fully occupy my brain. If it didn’t, then my brain continued to spiral until I needed my physical escape of climbing.
I finished my routine at the same moment Mr. Silva turned the floor over to me, which I took as a sign, helping to bolster my mood. “Thank you, Mr. Silva. I’m not sure this little device will deliver all that you’ve suggested, but I certainly hope it will help. For those of you who aren’t aware, copying files off a computer is not as easy as it looks on TV, especially when there are passwords involved. There are many things that we can do to help, but it always requires time and putting a highly trained tech person in danger since many of the organizations we’re dealing with are employing tactics to keep us from hacking them remotely.”
Jules caught my eye, giving me a discreet thumbs-up and a smile, which further bolstered my confidence. She knew how much I didn’t enjoy standing up in front of a room full of people, but if I had to do it, then it helped that I was talking about something I excelled in. Stepping to the side, I motioned to the setup on the table. “Here we have a desktop computer that has been password protected by Mr. Silva, containing maps, spreadsheets, and written documents. He’s the only one who knows the password and what’s on the computer.”
Without delay, I picked up the doctored USB, plugged it into the computer, and waited for the screen to boot up. The moment it did, I typed in a series of commands to start the password hacker program. It popped up with a new prompt, revealing to me the type of password cracking program I would need. A few new commands and the program was off and running. I turned back to the crowd, attempting to avoid Arin, but I couldn’t help sneaking a little glance out of the corner of my eye. The look of eager anticipation on his face made me swell with pride. At this point, I’d take any form of shock and admiration from him.
At the sound of startled gasps, I glanced over my shoulder and smiled. Images flashed across the monitor at a breakneck speed as my little USB copied all the information. “Depending on the number of files, it should be done within minutes. And best of all, the program will erase any trace of its presence or that the files were accessed and copied.”
The soft chime, signifying the program had finished copying the files, beat even my estimates. I snatched the USB from the computer and handed it to Mr. Silva who plugged it into another laptop. A new command popped up, asking for my password—a safety mechanism I’d built in to prevent someone who might find the USB from seeing the information on it.
Mr. Silva turned the laptop toward me and shrugged. “Another security precaution, Miss Blue?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks as I nodded while inputting the long string of letters and numbers that made up my password.
“A very wise precaution. I’m sure our guest of honour can attest to that. In the field, things can change rapidly and sometimes items get misplaced or have to be hidden until it is safe to retrieve it.” Mr. Silva turned the laptop to face the students as all the data they saw on the first computer flashed across the second laptop’s screen.
A few people began to clap, but I held up a hand to stop them. “That’s not all. Does anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?” I stared at Arin in challenge. What I was going to show next should wipe the smirk off his face for good.
He caught my challenge and accepted, holding out his