“Your little espionage ends here, Ms. Maxine… I can’t believe you will do such a thing, but seeing your nature of secrecy, I expected this. Torture, or Death ?”

Sorry, Game Over ! Shooting is a terrible idea, because .44 is the only way, and your silenced weapon did not work.

It took her 10 minutes to find it, but Jolyn eventually managed to find the secret entrance. Where was it?

“Out of the all the places, it is right behind a thorny rose bush?!” Jolyn exclaimed quietly to herself, “Sheesh, I feel sorry for Emperor’s visitors.” She patched up one of the minor scratch wounds that she got from the thorn, being careful not to leave any band-aid wrappings behind, as well as even small traces of blood.

She went to the main hallway, avoiding security cameras through various means and making her way to the Server Room.

“Of course it’ll be in the server room… nobody else uses papers anymore. I hope my 1 TB drive is enough for this job…”

OOC: I’ll write Part II tomorrow, or something.

“Sheesh, what is with me wanting to shoot things?” Jolyn muttered to herself. Taking out her silenced pistol this time, she proceeded to shoot the system a few times. However, much to her dismay, despite the security lock being shredded into pieces, the door did not open.

“Ugh, I should have known!” Jolyn exclaimed, “Apparently, shooting a lock does not help. The video games and movies are too over-the-top.”

Sorry, you lost. Without any other way to enter the locked door, Jolyn quickly ran out of options and made her way back home for a drink or a two.

“Apparently, I can just hack whenever I want,” Jolyn thought,” It’s like that video game where you just press a button to hack!”

Here though, it was slightly more difficult. The system was penetrated easily, but now Jolyn has to input a 4-digit code, and she has 10 tries. Red = Wrong, Blue = Correct, but in wrong place, Green = Correct. The twist here is, there are no duplicate characters, but it uses uppercase letters A-Z.

“10 tries… really?” Jolyn exclaimed sarcastically, “You guys are really generous.”

She proceeded to move on with the input job.
1st guess: A B C D (Red, Blue, Red, Red)
2nd guess: B E F G (Blue, Red, Red, Red)
3rd guess: H I B J (Red, Red, Blue, Blue)
4th guess: K L J B (Red, Red, Blue, Green)

“Come on, come on!” Jolyn exclaimed, “I’ll have to jump a few letters if needed…” The guard is still out cold though.

5th guess: M J N B (Red, Blue, Red, Green)
6th guess: J O P B (Green, Red, Red, Green)
7th guess: J Q R B (Green, Blue, Red, Green)
8th guess: J S Q B (Green, Red, Green, Green)

“Merde!”

9th guess: J T Q B (Green, Red, Green, Green)
10th guess: J W Q B (Green, Green, Green, Green)

“ACCESS GRANTED,” the keypad displayed a simple text.

“Err, my hand slipped, but hey, it works!” Jolyn glee to herself, “Now then, let’s see… the computer terminal is over there.”

Miraculously, the computer is not protected by a password. Or at the very least because the door was already open, so anyone who has clearance to the door probably has clearance for the computer.

“200 GB?! What kind of data do you seek, Aozora? Well, let’s get to it! Not too good that I brought along a HDD.”

Copy + C, Copy + V. The transfer will take 8 mins.

“Hmm, this guy probably has access to the door,” Jolyn thought to herself.

With that, she lifted the guard up and placed his index finger on the scanner. The system took 5 seconds to verify and…

It immediately went into a lockdown and the alarm blared across the halls. “ACCESS DENIED! ACCESS DENIED! INTRUDER ALERT!”

“What the…” before Jolyn was able to finish her sentence, more guards came in, and the Emperor simply teleported behind them. The rifles cocked in unison, all aimed at Jolyn.

“Well, well…” The Emperor started his mini-speech, “Isn’t this my lucky day! The personnel database was restoring itself at this time, so this very guard that you disabled, does not have his fingerprint in the verified list. And you know how our systems will lockdown even after ONE failed attempt. Sorry, Ms. Maxine… better luck next time, if there’s any.”

Sorry, you lost. In a surprising result of using the guard’s finger on the scanner, Jolyn caused every single personnel in the room to be swarmed towards her.

Reluctantly, she simply pulled out the hard drive from the port, without even safely removing it. Well, there was no time to safety remove the device when time is of the essence. With that, Jolyn quickly ran and hid behind one of the server towers. The footsteps have suddenly stopped, so she assumed that they were all clustered around the very guard that Jolyn knocked out. A little bit of a radio chatter here and there, and soon enough, she heard a booming voice of the commander of the team, “Search the perimeter! She should still be here somewhere!”

For Jolyn, this was a combination of good news and bad news: The bad news was that, well, she was actively being hunted down, so expect more reinforcements to come down. The good news was… she was just 5 meters away from the entrance, and so she made the logical idea of just gunning it – sprinting towards the entrance.

Fortunately, she was not spotted by any of the 4 guards, and with that, Jolyn simply got out of the hallway and out of the palace through the secret entrance. Just to be safe, she checked how much time she could stop on her built-in module. As of that moment, she has a good 8 seconds of battery to stop time and avoid any danger that she faced.

Of course, that danger came in the form of alarms blaring about in the compound.

The following messages were also broadcasted throughout the PA systems in the palace and its compound.
Guard A: Warning, we have a spy in the palace! Suspect unknown, and seemed to be holding on to our intel. Stop him at all costs!
Guard B: Could be a woman, you know-
Guard A: Shut the hell up!
Guard B: I bet 50 dollars that the spy is a woman.
Guard A: We have a major situation here, that’s not the most important detail! Activate the rest of the guards! And… fine, the bet is on.

At that moment, she was nearly back at the way she climbed back. Just to be extra safe, she activated her time-stopping powers, fired the grappling gun, and proceeded to climb up the wall and out of the compound.

“Whew, 7.8 seconds! That’s a new record,” Jolyn said to herself, “Now, I have to do something completely inhumane.”

She sprinted towards the suburban neighborhood nearby, and took one of the parked vehicles. Jolyn then hotwired the car, turned off its GPS features, and well, drove normally. The common sense is NOT to drive crazily and weave around the traffic. The Emperor could not exactly teleport at the moment, since Jolyn’s location was unknown for these people. So, she’s safe… for now.

Just to be extra safe, she went into one of the auto-repair shops for a change of paint, as well as to get a vanity license plate, simply named, “ILUVSOLOR”.

“Good, a new paint job and an engine. The cops won’t recognize me anymore!” Jolyn said to herself gleefully, “Now, to get back to Kyoki.”

The next 4-5 hours of a long car drive and an airplane trip to Kyoki was rather uneventful. After the car has served its purpose, Jolyn figured out that she could not just leave some owner in vain over a lost vehicle. And thus, she bashed one of the windows and wrote a letter on the car’s windshield, that says, “If stolen, please send it back to [DATA REDACTED]”.

This is Good Ending A, so if you choose this, you’ll be given Outcome A for the final part.

Jolyn left the computer terminal and hid behind one of the server towers. She waited a few more seconds for the guards to approach her, then cocking her silenced pistol, she proceeded to disarm and attack the guards. The disarming simply involved precision shots to the guards’ arms or hands so that they would drop their weapons. She managed to do this to 3 out of the 4 guards, while the last one, presumably the commander of the team, was a tad tough for her to take down. After 10 to 15 seconds of hand-to-hand combat, Jolyn got the upper-hand due to her expertise in close-quarter combat, as well as the fact that she was 8’ 5” and was able to tackle the guard commander with some advantage. Jolyn finally knocked him down with a precision roundhouse kick to the face.

“I am so sorry, my chaps,” Jolyn remarked, “But a job is a job, even if I am not seeking money from it.”

“TRANSFER COMPLETE,” reads the pop-up notification from the computer.

Jolyn took the HDD, got out of the hallway and out of the palace through the secret entrance. Just to be safe, she checked how much time she could stop on her built-in module. As of that moment, she has a good 8 seconds of battery to stop time and avoid any danger that she faced.

Of course, that danger came in the form of alarms blaring about in the compound.

The following messages were also broadcasted throughout the PA systems in the palace and its compound.
Guard A: Warning, we have a spy in the palace! Suspect is female, 8’ 5”, and was holding on to our intel. Stop her at all costs!
Guard B: It was a woman?!
Guard C: Oh, damn, I lost my bet.
Guard B: Hahaha, pay up, sucker!
Guard A: Both of you, shut up! We have a Code Red situation here!

At that moment, she was nearly back at the way she climbed back. Snipers at the towers did not manage to hit her, so it was all good (for now).

“Whew, 12.5 seconds! I… need to train harder,” Jolyn said to herself, “Now, where do I head.”

She was pursued by the Emperor’s guards, and suddenly, even the Emperor himself teleported right beside her.

“Not so fast, Miss!” as he gave a rather extraordinarily hard push, sending the 8’ 5” Jolyn to fly a few meters away and land on her back, exacerbated by the fact that her backpack was filled with sharp and hard items. She showed much signs of pain from that push.

“Ouch,” she muttered, “He’s strong!”

There’s only one thing in her mind at the moment: She need to cover her tracks. That in itself was a very tricky process, because she only had 8 seconds of time-stopping power. She needed to distract the Emperor and in turn, to run as far as possible and to use her time-stopping powers.

With some calculations here and there in her mind, and listening to the Emperor’s monologue about how spies are unethical and conniving robbers, Jolyn prepared a flashbang grenade and rolled it right in front of the Emperor (and 10 of his men). All of them were blinded for a good 10 seconds, due to the strength of the flash, and the night-time conditions that made their eyes more sensitive to light.

“I got places to be, bye!” Jolyn exclaimed, as she sprinted and sidestepped her way into an alleyway.

After their sights recovered, Jolyn was nowhere to be seen. She disappeared into the suburban neighborhoods and she was last seen running towards the city area. Apparently, she is a good runner, being able to run at speeds peaking up to 16 meters per second (57.6 kilometers per hour). She then activated the time-stop so that she has an extra 128 meters of lead.

Finally, she reached the borders of the city, specifically one with a lot of parking lots. “I really hate to do this, but here I go,” she muttered.

Jolyn approached one of the four-door sedans (the more inconspicuous, the better), took out one of her tools and picked the lock. She then hotwired the car, turned off its GPS features, and well, drove normally. The common sense is NOT to drive crazily and weave around the traffic. The Emperor could not exactly teleport and find her at the moment, since Jolyn’s location was unknown. So, she’s safe… for now.

Just to be extra safe, she went into one of the auto-repair shops for a change of paint, as well as to get a custom decal on the windshield, “Screw Solordia.”

“Good, a new paint job and an engine. Now the Emperor won’t recognize me anymore!” Jolyn said to herself gleefully, “Now, to get back to Kyoki.”

The next 4-5 hours of a long car drive and an airplane trip to Kyoki was rather uneventful. After the car has served its purpose, Jolyn figured out that she could not just leave some owner in vain over a lost vehicle. And thus, she bashed one of the windows and wrote a letter on the car’s windshield, that says, “If stolen, please send it back to [DATA REDACTED]”.

This is Good Ending B, so if you choose this, you’ll be given Outcome B for the final part.

Jolyn loaded 20 darts into her tranquilizer gun, and waited for the guards to approach the server tower that she was hiding behind. At a suitable distance, Jolyn fired a few shots towards one of the guards. However, to her dismay, the darts simply bounced off of them, since they were wearing full protective gear. Apparently, the security in the palace was very top-notch, so shooting darts to their Kevlar plating and full body armors is like taking down a concrete wall with a tennis ball. They quickly noticed Jolyn desperately pulling out her firearm, AM Alter.

She cocked the magnum and * BANG! * The shot rang through the server room, bounced off the walls and echoed throughout the compound. She has attracted attention to herself. On the bright side, the AM Alter was able to incapacitate THREE guards all at once. The bullet embedded on the Kevlar armor of the first guard (so he’s fine), but the shockwave and the momentum sent him flying towards the other two behind him, eventually hitting the wall 3 meters behind. The magnum was powerful enough to send a guy – with full body armor, flying 5 meters, AND hitting two of his friends!

“Ouch, err… sorry,” Jolyn muttered, “One, two, three… where’s the-“

* Smack! * Jolyn was hit rather hard on the back of the head by the guard commander, “That’s quite enough, Missy!” he exclaimed angrily.

Jolyn then woke up, tied up and sitting on a crate (they couldn’t find a chair big enough for her height and stature) in a dark room, with the only light from the bulb hanging above her.

“Well, well,” the Emperor amusingly monologued, “’Your’ precious data is still with us, so you have lost. Now, either tell us who you’re working for, or we will shoot your pretty little head. Look, you obviously are not working for money, and you find the life of a spy thrilling. What’s your main motivation?”

“Contrary to what people believe, I have friends. I don’t just work for anyone. And… let’s just say my employer is, someone I am fond of.”

She had her own AM Alter aimed towards her face. “Ok, enough games. Pick one, or we will kill you! Who is your little friend?”

Jolyn simply closed her eyes. “Стрелять / Shoot,” she whispered.

Game Over. Ms. Jolyn did not make it this time, but on the bright side, her sacrifice has allowed her employer to remain a secret.

Just as she expected, the full amount of data was not inside.

“I have to take out the drive before the guards spot me,” Jolyn explained, “So that’s why there’s only 90% of data inside. We might never know what’s inside the rest of it.”

Good Ending A! You made it this far, and you have helped Jolyn fight against all odds and from a teleporting Emperor.

The result? You only have 90 % of the needed data (180 GB out of 200 GB). It will still be useful, but it’s just that, what is the other 10%?

Well, this was a good news, bad news thing again.

The good news is that all of the data were inside and kicking. 100 % data extraction, mission successful!

So, where’s the bad news? Well, the usefulness of the data. You see, before she escaped to Kyoki, Jolyn was pushed by the oddly-strong Emperor, resulting in her falling hard on her back (and thus on the backpack). It damaged the physical HDD (even the SSD will be prone to the impact) and thus the data inside.

“Let’s just say that there was some… accident, after meeting the Emperor for the first time,” Jolyn remarked.

The drive was connected to the computer, a data recovery software was ran and… the result? 88 % of the data was usable (176 GB out of 200 GB). 24 GB of the files were corrupted, and happened throughout the entire database library. So, you now end up with ALL of the data, but with some parts shredded and defaced (that’s an analogy).

I wanted to try out the question of, what would you rather have?

- 80 GB of data, all-intact, but the later parts (20 GB) missing?
- Or you would rather have all the 100 GB, but the 20 GB of it were corrupted beyond recovery?

The last pages missing, or random pages from the entire book torn and burned?