Crack The Code

After freshening up she wore a black pant and a black t-shirt and went downstairs.

Michael was sitting on the sofa waiting for her.

"Hello Great Uncle"

"Come Amara I'll show you around the house"

He took her on a tour around the house and showed her every room, Amara is smart so she memorized the location of every room and the entire geography of the mansion was imprinted in her mind. Then after showing her the entire house, he brought her to the study room which was their final destination.

The study room looked like a regular study room. A huge chair and a table at one corner of the room, the table had important documents lying on it with other basic necessities.

There were shelfs behind the chair, the entire wall was covered with shelves and books in it. Amara wondered if people in mafia are actually interested in boring stuff like reading.

"Amara can you inspect this room and let me know your observations" Michael commanded.

Amara nodded at him and carefully observed every nook and corner of the room, she saw the books on the shelf and tried to see as many books as she can.

Then her sight fell on one of the red books, it was big and looked different from all other books, it was red with a gold-plated border, the beautiful book attracted her and when she took a closer look at it her eyebrows twitched and she looked at the name of the book in surprise.

Michael smirked when he saw her observing the red book.

"Time's up, Amara tell me your observations"

"This room is not in line with the conventional image of a mafia gang leader."

"Conventional Image?"

"Yes, when one hears the word mafia, the first thing that comes to their mind is underworld, guns, power, murder, danger and all scary things."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's what is shown in movies"

"Then did you also have the same conventional image about mafia?"

Amara felt awkward in answering it but she had to, she bowed down her head and said, "Yes"

"Why are you bowing your head down as if you are at fault or have done something wrong?"

"Aren't you upset with me as I had this kind of image of mafia and in-turn this kind of image of you."

"You are not wrong that is what mafia is, please continue your observation."

"This room doesn't reflect and doesn't fit in with the mafia image, this room looks more like it belongs to a scholar. The books here are not random, every book is related and there is a pattern."

Michael was silent which was a signal to her that she can continue.

"One side of the shelf starts with science books and it continues with books from every area of science, physics, medicine, biology, then it goes deeper into the physics world with books on astrophysics, thermodynamics, electrical and similarly for other fields."

"Was there anything weird with the books and its arrangement?" Michael knew what was coming and he wanted to encourage her to voice her opinion freely.

"Yes"

"What was it?"

"This red book" Rachel pointed at the red book she was observing seriously.

"Why is that weird?"

"It is the Holy Bible"

Michael smiled, "So?"

"These are all science related books and this is Bible, they don't go together, firm believers of Science don't believe in religion."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, not everyone is like that but most of them are, especially here in Italy"

Michael stayed silent and she understood she should continue.

"Mafia, I don't think are religious, so having a Holy Bible here makes it seem weird."

"Who said people in mafia are not religious?"

"I assumed"

"Remove that book from there" he instructed.

As soon as she removed it, there was a mechanical noise and the shelf started parting from the middle, she was surprised with the sudden movement. She saw to her left and right and the small walls on the either side of the shelf were now covered by the end part of the shelf and in front of her she saw a small metallic door which seemed like password protected.

The space available was enough for one person to enter freely, she surprisingly looked at Michael as if asking for an explanation.

"Don't be so surprised we mafia need to have secret places in our home, for our secret meetings or in case we are attacked then we hide in these secret rooms, even if the assailant manages to discover this secret metal door, they would never crack the code."

Amara heard everything he said with utmost concentration and praised herself for making the right decision.

"Amara, you are talented right, I got to know you learnt hacking skills too."

"Yes, true"

"Then crack the code to this secret the door."

Amara was shocked and thought, 'I know hacking but how will I crack the code for this locker, they are not related or maybe I can'

"Can I get a laptop?"

"No" Michael firmly replied.

'What the hell how can I crack the code without a laptop' she thought.

Understanding what she was thinking, Michael said, "I don't want you to hack the door, figure out the password."

"But"

"No buts, use your brain and figure it out, also, there is only one chance to open this door, if your attempt fails then you would never be able to open this door, it will be locked forever, it can then only be opened from the inside and since no one is inside the secret room right now, you will have to be careful as one wrong move and this door will be locked forever and you can never discover what is behind this door. Also, no one other than me knows about the existence of this secret door, so no one else would ever be able to tell you what is behind it."

These words worried Amara and she felt more pressure. The thought of never being able to find what is behind the door if she fails made her more anxious and she was determined to crack the code.