A new face

When Luke managed to step out avoiding the teachers at the gate, Nora was already gone.

"Luke what's this all about?" Mr. James was right behind him.

"Professor." He said.

"Where are Rachel and Joseph?" He asked.

"Inside, I slipped out." Luke said.

"Would you care to explain, what's happening?" He shouted.

"Professor, you saw the whole thing, they stole our project, Nora got into their system and made a few alternations." He shrugged.

"Got in? How?" Mr. James asked him.

"Virus, she built it herself." Luke nodded.

"A virus?! She built a virus!" Mr. James was shocked.

"Professor, it's not the time to be surprised, she is out there alone. We have to get to her." Luke was already on his heels.

"Guess you're right." Mr. James nodded.

When they reached the conference hall, it was dead silent, Nora was standing on one side, while the Republican University team and their mentor on the other. The disciplinary committee had arrived and was already seated.

"There you are Anthony." The team's mentor spoke.

"It is nice seeing you Matt." Mr. James said.

"You teach your kids to steal, what kind of a teacher are you?" Matt shouted.

"If Mr. Jefferson, would remain silent, we would like to speak something." The man sitting in the center said.

"Yes Mr. Campbell." Matt nodded.

"We would like to know what happened." Mr. Campbell said.

"Yes sir, she.." Julia started.

"Not from you, we already heard it, but from the person you called the culprit. Miss Nora, I suppose." He looked at Nora.

"Certainly." Nora started. "They took our USB drive, stole our project and tried to frame me, as for the evidence you've seen it with your own eyes."

"Yes we did, but may I know where they took your USB drive from." He asked.

"From the sleeping dorm, while we were sleeping of course." She shrugged.

"The sleeping dorm? As far as I know University of Nuezelea placed second, so the sleeping dorm?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I helped the Sovereign University solve a bug in exchange for the dorm." She said bluntly.

Luke slammed his palm on his forehead.

"Certainly you did." Mr. Campbell smirked.

"It is not against the rules, and also it doesn't change the fact that they trespassed our room, took away our belongings and planned to show it as theirs." Nora said.

"But I see your team managed to submit the project, how do you explain that?" Mr. Campbell leaned forward.

"About that.." She trailed off.

"You have to tell us the truth Miss Nora, only then can we help you." He said sweetly.

"I got into her system using a virus, and took what was rightfully ours." She said.

"The virus, where did it come from and the video, was that you too?" Mr. Campbell leaned back.

"The virus, I made it. As for the video, the laptop already had a malware, due to which the camera was recording on its own from the last three months, I just used it to my advantage." She shrugged.

"Impressive." A voice came from behind, a man moved forward and stood in front of Nora, "That is quite impressive." He smiled. The man was probably in his early thirties, with blond hair, he wore a three piece black suit which accentuated his lean stature and made him look quite elegant and classy.

Nora raised her eyebrows. "Pardon me for intruding, I am Sheldon O'Connor. Nice to meet you." He stretched his hand out. Nora hesitated but shook it.

"I heard about the matter, and I do want the committee to deliver justice without being biased." He looked at Mr. Campbell.

"We shall do that Mr. O'Connor. We would deliver the statement after a few minutes, please step outside." He asked everyone.

Everyone left the room, except for Sheldon who stood there in the middle of the room.

Outside the hall, Julia pounced on Nora, "Fuck you. You have no idea what you did!"

"I know what I did, clearly." Nora smiled.

"Matt you better control your kid now." Mr. James said.

"Julia, you messed up big this time." He shouted at her. "So just step back now."

"You did good." Luke looked down at Nora, and smiled showing a row of perfect white teeth.

"I know." Her face split into a huge grin.

The door opened and Sheldon O'Connor stepped out, he directly moved towards Nora, Luke and Mr. James.

"I am sorry, I didn't introduce myself properly, I am Sheldon O'Connor, one of the sponsors. And you must be Mr. Anthony James, I have followed you since my university days sir." He said.

"I am honoured, Mr. O'Connor." Mr. James smiled.

He looked at Luke and extended his hand, he took it, "You are Luke Osborne, we met at the City Gala, didn't we?."

"Certainly we did." Luke smiled back.

"And you little one, you are quite bold, got to say that. Building a virus, invading a system, whoa, that is fantastic." He threw his hands in the air.

"Thank you." She said.

"Anyway, all of you should hurry in, the decision is out." He turned to leave and gave a scornful look to the mentor of the Republican University.

Mr. Campbell was out of his seat and was standing in front of them, "For the record, the decision of the committee is final and irrevocable. After looking at all the evidences, we have come to a decision that Republican University is disqualified from the competition and will face a ban of three years from the National Tech Fare."

Their mentor started yelling, "If you do that, forget about the sponsorship."

"I am afraid, we don't care about that, what your university did is against the rules and do not think, even for once, you can get away with it, Mr. Jefferson." He said sternly.

He turned to face them, "And Anthony, as for the kid, she's got to step down." He sighed.

"That's not fair, she has put her everything in this. You cannot ask her step out." Mr. James countered.

"I understand, morally she is right but it's against the rules, can't help it. It's either her or the team."

"Can't do that, they came in as a team, and they either win or lose as a team." Mr. James said.

"As you wish. So University of Nuezelea is out of the race too." Mr. Campbell sighed.

"No wait! I'll do it, I'll step down." Nora shouted.

"What are you doing Nora?" Luke hissed.

"I am doing what is right, I cannot drag you guys with me, ever. Mr. Campbell, I'll step down." She said.

He looked at Mr. James, he sighed and shook his head, "Do as the kid says, you can't stop her."

"Then, Nora, your ID." Mr. Campbell put his hand forward.

She hesitated, but took it off from around her neck and handed it over. "You better hurry, you have a presentation left. Don't keep the judges waiting." He looked at Luke.

He nodded and and ran out of the conference hall.