Unexpected Path

In the room, Ryan looks so tense, very focused on the laptop in front of him, as well as on the C-Pad on the right side of the laptop itself. The seriousness on the man's face was truly something that could not be taken lightly.

A few seconds later, Ryan was seen swearing even though no sound came out of his mouth. Only the movement of the mouth and the expression on the man's body clearly expressed his annoyance. There was disappointment there.

"Goddamnit!"

Ryan dropped his back, and lie flat on the floor. The man took several deep breaths. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling as if he was trying to find answers to the problems he was currently facing. The floor of the room felt quite cold to him.

Ryan's attention was distracted when the only access in and out of the room made a hissing sound. Doors open to both sides. Ryan watched as a pair of feet stepped into the room he was in.

The hissing sound from the door closing again was heard as Angela's footsteps approached Ryan. The girl smiled broadly at what the man was doing now—lying on his back as if the floor of the room was a beach on a beautiful seashore. That's ridiculous, she thought.

Seeing the tall, slender figure approaching, Ryan said, "Can you come a little closer?"

Angela stifled a laugh as one hand rested on her waist and the other held a ten-inch C-Pad.

"Will peeking at my crotch make you happy?"

Ryan laughed softly and got up, sitting with his hands propped up on the floor. He moved his head, a little effort by the man to get rid of the stiffness in his neck and also the aches he felt. The crackling sound was quite clear when Ryan twisted his neck in such a way.

Again it provoked a smile on Angela's lips.

"Hey," said Angela. "I need to retrieve your data," said Angela. "By the way, my name is Angela. You can call me Ann. And you're Ryan, right?"

Ryan smiled and nodded. "Pleased to meet you."

"Me too."

"You brought me the drink I ordered earlier?" Ryan looked at the bottle of drink in the girl's hand.

Angela nodded and handed Ryan the bottle. Ryan accepted the bottle, opened the cap, and immediately gulped down the liquid in the bottle.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. A pair of eyes opened wider, he felt his body much more refreshed and vibrant.

"Can I retrieve your data now?"

Ryan nodded. "Of course," he then stood up and faced the girl. "Oh my God," he said admiring Angela's figure in front of him. "You are quite tall and very beautiful."

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

Ryan smiled. "No, I am purely complimenting you."

"Alright, thanks for your compliment. And now, let me do my job."

Angela activated the C-Pad in her hand, then handed the device to Ryan.

"What should I do with this big C-Pad?"

"Put your hand on the screen," Angela shook her head slightly, a gesture to emphasize what she just said. "Left and right, alternating."

"Okay," Ryan said following Angela's words. "You are very beautiful," without realizing it, the words of praise just slipped out of his mouth again. "Good grief! What am I saying?"

Beep!

Ryan cleared his throat to get rid of the nervousness inside him. While Angela shook her head with a sweet smile.

"Your right hand, mate," said Angela, finding the man's gaze focused on her face. "Now, your right hand."

"Oh shit," Ryan scratched his non-itchy head. "Sorry, I…"

"It's okay," Angela said with one deep breath. "I know what you're thinking about me."

"No, forget it," Ryan said. "Sorry."

Then, Ryan put his right hand on the surface of the gadget held by Angela.

Beep!

"Now," Angela said, fiddling with the C-Pad's screen. "Facial scanning and recording, as well as the retina of your eyes."

"As you wish, Ann," Ryan smiled broadly. Lifting his face, a pair of eyes widened, and the body was motionless, silence is like a stone statue.

The man's behavior made Angela unable to hold back her laughter. The girl repeatedly shook her head.

"You are so ridiculous," said Angela. "You know that?"

"I don't know," Ryan smiled again with a look in his eyes that implied that there was a desire to get to know the girl deeper, in a more intimate way. "Do you want to find out?"

"Oh my God…" Angela shook her head. "You boys!"

"With this form of yours, I guess I'm not the only man who said that, am I?"

Angela just smiled and scanned the man's face and retinas. In a moment, the scan was complete.

"One more thing," Angela said, the girl again thrusting the C-Pad in front of Ryan. "Put one finger on the circle."

Ryan looked at the beautiful face in front of him, then turned to the device in Angela's hand. He saw the circle the girl was referring to, in the right corner of the C-Pad.

"Wasn't the fingerprint scan done just now?" Ryan frowned, looking back at Angela. "Still not enough, huh? I like that."

"This one, to take your blood sample."

"Aah, I see," Ryan put his thumb into the circle.

Ryan wasn't even affected by the little shock that hit his thumb. He looked relaxed.

"You're tough, huh?" Angela smiled. "Alright, this is enough. Thank you."

"Anytime," said Ryan with a wink.

Angela smiled again, and she adjusted Ryan's data, merging it into a pre-compiled file with everyone's data.

"And done," she then handed the C-Pad to Ryan. "Your data is the last. Now, I leave all this data to you."

Ryan nodded, of course, he knew that. This gadget contains the data previously requested by Hyker on Ryan to be entered into the main computer system.

Ryan licked his bloody thumb as he grabbed the C-Pad from Angela. When he saw his thumb which was bleeding blood, he was slightly dumbfounded.

"You okay?" Angela was quite confused looking at Ryan who was silent. "You seem to be having a really hard time."

Ryan still watched the blood seeping slowly on the skin of his thumb, he seemed to ignore Angela's words, who stared at him in amazement. Ryan looked further into the fine wound on his thumb.

TO BE CONTINUED ...