Talented Me! 42

"And how does the other group feel?" he walked over to the other table and asked. He raised his microphone to the mouths of both boys.

Tom sighed. "A little frustrated, I admit, but that was pretty fun."

Roger agreed with Tom. It was a pretty fun battle. The bushes, the escape, the fierce attacks raining down on the terrain - it was heart pumping for certain!

They both turned towards Wilona and Sandra and smiled. These two ladies defied the odds and won! Although it was awkward to admit, they both played the game many times and could be called experts. To be defeated was not humiliating but instead admirable. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Wilona and Sandra shouted back at them. "Thank you for the good battle!"

"Well, congratulations to the both of you for winning another theme!" the host said. He pointed to the door at the side. "We have prepared a lovely gift for all of you for joining us on our show."

A cart was rolled out covered in a black cloth. The host walked over and gave it a tug revealing what was hidden underneath, There were 6 gifts beautiful wrapped in different colors.

He placed down his microphone and stood straight and tall. A proud smile filled with genuinity but also years of experience brightened his face. Picking the first one, he called out Angel's name.

"This is one is yours," he said. Angel walked up and took the gift thanking him. She curiously looked at the small box in her hands.

One by one, he called out our names and gave us each a box. As we stood in line, we each looked at the box curious of what oddity was inside. It was not until everyone received theirs that he urged us to look inside.

"What are you waiting for? Look inside!" he said. He motioned with his hands to hurry up.

We pulled on the bow letting it slip off the sides. It swayed as it fell to the ground landing simultaneously with the other ribbons. Instantly, the box opened revealing our gift. It was a beautifully crafted glass trophy.

Each of its sides was smoothly sliced off into the figure of either a man or woman. With slight movement, the light would refract from its side revealing a small stream of the rainbow shining down. Looking closer, our names were engraved on the plate at the front. Everyone received one.

"As a show, we pride ourselves on being unique and generous. We hope that you enjoyed participating in this as much as we enjoyed your presence. This is our thank-you gift as well as congratulations for what you may have found during the show. May you take what you have felt throughout your lives!"

With his final words, another wave of confetti fell, but this time with balloons. Colorful sprinkles of joy rained down onto our heads. The staff stepped onto the set and cheered for us. We all stood together holding the trophy in front of us proud to stand there. The cameras circled around us like planets to the sun grasping each of our corners in hopes to capture our best sides.

"Thank you for having us!" we yelled out together. 6 people shined their best smiles at the camera. And that marked the end of the shoot.

The host swaggered over. He wiped his nonexistent sweat and said, "That was tiring, wasn't it!"

Sandra laughed and agreed. "Yes, it sort of was."

"But I'm sorry to ask you this -all of you- but we aren't done yet. There's a mini segment -you may know if you watch the show- after the end where the participants go into the black room and talk about what they thought of the show and all. So if you could, take turns to go inside and give your commentary," he asked of us. He clapped his hands together and pretended to beg.

Of course, we all agreed. He gave us a smile and a thumbs up. "Thank you!"

It was nothing much to everyone. All it would do was delay their leaving time. Avina was not worried primarily about being late to leave, but about the hacker who was waiting. No matter how tough 5025's virus was, the hacker would have it fixed by the time she was done.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom for a bit," Avina told the others. "You guys go on without me. I'll be right back."

"Come back quickly!" Sandra called out after her. Avina ran out the door leaving only the sound of the door closing behind her.

'Okay, so where is the hacker? Which floor?' Avina asked 5025 as she waited for the elevator to arrive.

'The first floor! He's in room 10,' 5025 told Avina.

'I should call Graham and tell him,' Avina thought. This was the big evidence she needed, the one they had to have, and it would be wise to tell him just in case.

Avina reached into her pocket rummaging around. She didn't feel the familiar bulk of her phone anywhere on her. She had left her phone on the set…

'...5025,' Avina smacked her head before turning to ask 5025. 'Any way you could tell Graham for me?'

'That would be a negative, Host,' 5025 answered.

'Like sending an email to him? Or a message? Or something at least?' Avina tried to give it some ideas. Any of them were good as long as Graham knows.

'I can try to see if I could send him an email, but I can't say that he will see it,' 5025 explained. It quickly got to work to write an email to tell Graham.

Avina was fast walking through the halls to the room. Rows of doors lined the hallway, but only one was the most important. Standing in front of the very ordinary door, she knew inside would be a not-so-ordinary situation.

Avina lifted her hand and knocked on the door. Once, twice, and then thrice. No one came to the door.

"Open up," Avina yelled at the door. "I know you're in there."

5025 had placed a monitor in the room before it went to email Graham. The entire time, Avina was staring as the man inside scurried on his computer typing complex codes. His eyes were like those of a maniac who would go insane to protect his computer. And he did -well, struggled to- and completely focused on his computer unaware that Avina was outside.

At her voice, his hands froze on the computer. This instance of distraction allowed 5025's virus to completely control his computer. All of his data, which he desperately tried to protect, was gone. He stared in absolute horror before reverting to fury as he slammed his laptop down.

Controlling his emotions, he searched around the room for a hiding spot. Regardless of what, the most important thing was to hide. He could do something about his lost data later, but there was no coming back if he was sent to jail.

"Don't hide," Avina called out again. "There's no use. I know you're in there. Open up before I kick the door open."

He stopped in his tracks. The man turned his head to look at the door still solid on its hinges and smirked. He thought, "What an empty threat."

Avina huffed and smirked looking at him through the monitor. 'Empty? We'll see how empty it was.' Lifting her foot, she gave the door a strong kick. The result was a frightening thud.

Inside the room, the man gasped in horror looking at the door almost giving in from her kick. A loose screw fell down tinkling on the floor rolling around before stopping. His eyes full of taunt before were now filled with fear.

"Open up," Avina said one last time. She had no time to be dealing with this nonsense.

The man gritted his teeth. His palms were sweaty grasping and gripping continuously. One hand held his laptop and the other at his side clutched in a tight grip. He looked around the room one last time before resorting to an absolutely insane deed.

He ran to the window, braced himself, and used his laptop to protect himself against the glass. In one successful attempt, the glass broke and he was freefalling down the building. A completely unexpected suicidal attempt!

Avina's eyes opened in shock before kicking the door open. She rushed to the window looking down trying to find the dead body.

Alarms in the vicinity rang loud alerting the nearby security. A stampede of footsteps rushed towards the door. Shouts of panic were right behind her.

Avina cursed under her breath. She held the window frame with both of her hands. She steadied herself on the ledge and leaped off. The wind blew her hair back flapping in the wind. The last sight anyone saw was strands of her hair in the air.

She prepared herself for a harsh landing curling her body like a cat. Branches broke her fall before she rolled onto the ground. Jabs of rock embedded themselves into her clothes, but she quickly dusted them off before giving chase. The man couldn't have run far!

Avina followed the monitor and tracker to find the man. He was not far from where she was and was limping as well. The fall was not gentle on his body leaving ghastly wounds on him. Avina winced looking at it but told herself to calm down. Fear or no fear, this was a mission.

She found the man quickly. Her body suffered no wounds except for a few scratches while he was covered in them. He looked at her and in his hands was still his laptop.

"What do you want?" he managed to spit out through his teeth. It was soft and muffled in the wind, but Avina heard clearly.

Avina smiled. "Adi? Wilona? Do you know these two names, mister hacker?"