The Red String

Episode 6 Hacker

On the other hand, Sean was busy at his office desk, rushing to sign piles of important documents. The room was quiet except for the sound of his pen scratching across paper and the hum of computers all around him.

Suddenly—click!—his screen went pitch black. Before he could react, every single computer in the entire office shut down at once. Lights flickered, and the hum turned into dead silence. The whole staff froze, then burst into panic—people gasped, stood up from their chairs, and started whispering and shouting in confusion.

“What’s happening?!”

“All my files are gone!”

“Is it a power outage?!”

But Sean knew better—he saw a faint, strange green flash flicker across the main server screen before it died. “This isn’t a power problem!” he called out sharply. “We’re being hacked!”

Without wasting a second, Sean bolted toward the exit to find whoever was behind this. Down the hallway, he caught a glimpse of someone sprinting toward the emergency stairs—wearing a loose black jacket, hood pulled low over their face so no one could see them.

“Stop right there!” Sean shouted, and chased after them as fast as he could. His heart raced as he ran through dim corridors, dodging chairs and boxes. The mysterious figure ran faster, but Sean kept up, determined not to let them escape.

While running, he pulled out his phone, dialed 911, and spoke quickly but clearly: “Police, this is an emergency! We’re at the Central Business Office—our whole system was hacked! I’m chasing the suspect: wearing a black jacket, hooded, running toward the back alley! Send help right away!”

The sound of police sirens wailed louder and closer as Sean chased the hacker out of the building and into the narrow back alley. The mysterious figure stumbled over a loose crate but quickly regained balance, trying to vanish into the shadows—until Sean lunged forward and grabbed the back of their black jacket!

“Got you—you’re not going anywhere!” Sean said firmly, holding on tight.

The hacker struggled, twisting and pulling to break free, but Sean was strong and refused to let go. Seconds later, bright blue and red lights flooded the alleyway—police cars skidded to a halt at the entrance. Two officers jumped out, guns drawn but calm.

“Freeze! Hands where we can see them!” one officer shouted.

Sean slowly pulled the hood down… and everyone froze in shock.

Beneath the hood wasn’t a stranger—it was a young man around 18 years old, looking terrified, hands shaking as he raised them. He dropped a small USB drive that had been plugged into the office’s main server port.

“We’ve got him, officer,” Sean said, catching his breath. “That USB probably has all the stolen data.”

The officers quickly cuffed the young man and read him his rights. While searching his pockets, they found a note with a name and address—proof he was hired by a rival company to shut down the office and steal confidential records!

Back at the office, the IT team worked fast. Thanks to Sean stopping the hacker in time, they managed to restore all the files before any data was permanently deleted. The staff cheered and clapped when Sean walked back in—he saved the day!

The sun shone bright through the office windows the following morning. Everything was back to normal—computers hummed steadily, lights glowed bright, and the quiet, busy vibe returned. But this time, the atmosphere felt lighter and safer, like a huge weight had been lifted off everyone’s shoulders.

Sean arrived early, carrying a cup of coffee. As soon as he stepped in, all the staff stopped what they were doing and broke into loud applause! Some cheered, others whistled, and his manager walked over with a big smile.

Just then, an IT specialist called him over to the server room. “Sean, we added extra top-level security—firewalls, face locks, and 24/7 monitoring. No one will ever hack us again!”

Later that afternoon, two police officers visited the office to give Sean an official report. They told him the young hacker had confessed everything and agreed to help them expose the rest of the criminal group.

Before leaving, one officer shook his hand: “You acted fast and brave—you helped solve a much bigger case than just your office!”

When work ended, Sean stood by the window, watching the sunset. He felt proud, calm, and happy—knowing he didn’t just save the office… he protected everyone who worked there.

To be continue....