Deception

<<<Chp 4

Fifth Segment: I Stand Against You


Levi


    An average, shitty, day at work that was filled with rants from Hanji in the lounge and classes filled with, shitty, brats all day long. The only source of encouragement being that it pays the bills-- seems legitimate. Also, it keeps me out of the house every day and the work hours are doable, fitting my schedule perfectly.

    I was a busy man with a variety of talents-- I almost think I'm wasting my talents by being a professor. I can shoot-- an actual gun, not some shitty paintball gun or baseball. I clean efficiently-- I don't have OCD, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I am, of course, the most popular hacker out there, but only my pen name is
famous-- not me.

    Sitting at my desk, I entered the passcode into the Survey Corps website. My desk was cluttered with the usual items; a cup of steaming tea-- milk, no sugar, lecture plans for next week, and folders made for tests, student grades, etc. I kept everything neat and labeled, even keeping bandanas and handkerchiefs just in case I saw dirt spots on the windows.

    Two closets were in my classroom; one containing cleaning products and the other is for basic schooling supplies. Behind them, the walls were painted a soft blue, and were rid of any informational or encouragement posters most educators had. I found posters distracting and unnecessary to take interest in. Right behind my desk was a large whiteboard with exactly one black and one red marker. I hated chalkboards-- the smell that radiated from it overpowered that clean scent I always liked.

    Only a few members of the Survey Corps were in the chatroom, and they greeted me as soon as I logged in:

Wings-of-Aroma: Hello.

Wings-of-Fortitude: Good morning, we were just about to start an important discussion.

Wings-of-Anarchy: It's about time you arrived.

    I let out a rare smirk. Wings-of-Anarchy was the only one who gained my respect over the years, being one of the most notable hackers in our organization. Nobody knows anything on the mysterious member unfortunately.

Wings-of-Freedom: Fill me in.

Wings-of-Fortitude: I designed a way to lure the spy to us so we can capture him.

    I rubbed my fingertips on my temple, reading the words on the screen carefully.

Wings-of-Anarchy: Interesting. Do you have any suspicions on who it is?

    I typed quickly, without making any errors.

Wings-of-Freedom: Besides being among the technology ranks, the little shit needs to be young. Why wait this long to take over firewall Maria if they could have done it twenty years ago?

Wings-of-Anarchy: I agree, why don't we look at Determination's graduate squad? There seems to be a lot of interesting characters within them.

Wings-of-Fortitude: The only way to find out is to lure them to us. We need some members to get outside the firewalls, and I think it should be either you or Freedom should be with Determination. It will be interested in getting him because he is also a titan shifter, so it will surely attack.

Wings-of-Fortitude: While Determination acts as bait, the rest of the Survey Corps will take over the titan computer, keeping it hostage until we find the location of it.

    The plan seemed reasonable enough, and should be a breeze if everyone would cooperate. So, I agreed to the plan, volunteering to lead it instead of Wings-of-Anarchy.

Wings-of-Anarchy: I can't help but feel that there are more titan shifters out there-- more than just Determination and this person.

Wings-of-Anarchy: I'm not saying you guys might be titan shifters! But, what if this person we're hunting is a hacker I worked alongside with for years. If they can betray, others can.

    Nobody replied right away. I ran fingers through my ebony hair, thinking about the words on the screen. They were powerful and true. Heck, Hanji could be the titan shifter we're hunting. Anyone could be it, and it's hard to trust others if we know that fact.

    My key strokes were slower, pausing at every phrase.

Wings-of-Freedom: We can't think of that right now.

    The letters poured out from underneath my fingertips, letters forming words, words into sentences, sentences forming into power.

Wings-of-Freedom: We have to learn to trust in one another.

    I slouched forward, my fingers picking up pace.

Wings-of-Freedom: These titans took down firewall Maria, destroying thousands of lives in the process.

Wings-of-Freedom: We just have to hope that beings among our ranks don't stand with it.

Wings-of-Freedom: Because if they do...

    I leaned back, typing out those last few words.

Wings-of-Freedom: ...they stand against me.

    Then, I logged out.


2738428394939283838385938165479293759276294857493973820184757939273

Things we can disclose this far

    Firewall Maria's fall took lives of people with a low-class living. Fortunately, some towns and cities-- like the one this story is placed in-- contain people mostly with computer security in firewall Rose. Therefore, no noticeable death penalties were taken in the town so far, but there might be a few who were in firewall Maria who still haven't received any signs of titans moving against them yet.

2738428394939283838385938165479293759276294857493973820184757939273


    "Okay brats," I slammed my hands on my desk, and glared at the students violently. "We are doing absolutely nothing today."

    This was the first hour of the day, and I recognized quite a few familiar faces. The trio-- that consisted of Mikasa, Petra, and that vile creature that shouldn't even be a student here. They wore a puzzled expression like the rest of the class, but the said creature in the middle smirked evilly at me.

    I hate her.

    I despise her inability to drink alcohol, her stupid smirk that was always plastered on her damn face, and her skin that, practically, radiates light. I can't stand the way she refuses my authority, the way she insists that her arguments are the best, and the way her curled [H/C] hair flares up whenever I speak to her.

    In the row behind them, Jean and Marco sat next to each other like always. Being on the college football team, Jean was gifted with a broad build, unlike his friend beside him who was average and dotted with freckles. Marco was one of those encouraging students who would help another person with work, despite being under average in my eyes.

    "A whole hour of absolutely nothing," I spat repeatedly. I walked to the other side of the desk and leaned on the wooden surface, just surveying the group of students menacingly.

    "Why are we doing nothing, sir?" The blonde girl from the other day asked. She was the short student from the other day who asked me to open a window.

    "You want to know why?"

    She nodded.

    "The vile creature in the first row is why," I hissed, glaring at [Y/N] from my desk in the front.

    "[Y/N]," Eren, the kid who showed up with in pajamas on the first day of school, said. He sat next to his adopted sister, Mikasa, which made him only two seats away from the said creature. "What did you do this time?"

    Her smirk grew, increasing twice the size that it originally was. "Oh, you know. I only put a tiny bit of sriracha sauce in his tea."

    I picked up the tea cup that was on my desk and strode across the room to her desk between Mikasa and Petra. "I think I changed my mind," I said, eyeing [Y/N] dangerously. "We are all going to watch this brat..."

    "...drink this whole cup filled with black tea, infused with sriracha sauce."

    The smirk was immediately taken off her face as she stared at the tea cup, and I suppressed the urge of showing a smirk of my own. Her angelic face was priceless, a mixture of fear and surprise upon looking at the surface of the liquid. She never expected for this to happen-- not at all.

    I left her after she gripped the handle of the teacup, and I could feel her fiery glare fixed on my back.

    "All college freshman and professors are to report to the auditorium at this time."

    The voice boomed through the room as I flung my jacket over my shoulder. The speaker made the voice sound dim and otherworldly, interrupting my ongoing amusement.

    I saw [Y/N] sigh in relief, and Petra lecturing her while they stood up to leave.


2738428394939283838385938165479293759276294857493973820184757939273

Things we can disclose this far

    Titans, the terrorists you've been constantly told about, have a single week spot in their computer which is called the 'nape of their system'. It allows the hacker to find out the terrorist's whereabouts, which they then send to a police force in their area. Once captured, they are sent to a life-long sentence in prison, but if they resist the capture, they are killed.

2738428394939283838385938165479293759276294857493973820184757939273


    "Hello fellow students," a man said into a microphone. He was on the stage, standing among a few members of the board on the stage. "As freshmen, you are to receive this assembly regarding college extracurricular activities we offer. This includes clubs, drama, and sports."

    I leaned on a wall next to Hanji on the left side of the theater, while she rambled on about what students are destined to be on the football team. When I looked over at the seats, some students had their phones pulled out.

    I grumbled, annoyed at the amount of cellphone vibrations. It was useless to travel along the rows, hissing at people to turn their cellphones off; there was too many on to even care.

    "I'm Darius Zackly, head of this college. And the people behind me are on the board..." He trailed on, but I ignored him and skimmed through the crowd.

    I stopped when I spotted [Y/N] on her cellphone with Mikasa and Petra talking to her. On some moments, they would look towards the stage to see if the man stopped talking-- when he was, they would resume their conversation happily.

    "I would like to present Levi Rivaille, the logics teacher here at our college, who will display us with the presentation on club and sport activities."

    I nodded and made my way over to the computer that was connected to a projector on the stage. The desktop shined onto a white screen, as I plugged in the flash drive hooked onto my college ID. I clicked on the flash drive icon and played the presentation, which was supplied with a small rhythm in the background and displayed various sports the college had to offer. It was a video that was played for years, and I was always trusted with putting it in the computer every year.

    While the football clips were playing, the picture started blurring at moments in the footage. It was like one of those times that your internet is bugging out while watching live television.

    I beckoned Hanji over. "What's happening?" I asked, drumming my fingers against the laptop's keyboard.

    She shrugged and adjusted the glasses on her nose, "You would know more than me."

    I glanced over the crowd of students, seeing if anyone was reacting to the blurriness of the presentation. Everyone was questioning their friends about the footage, indicating that they noticed something was wrong.

    Suddenly, the images were removed of their color, making them black and white. When I tried to close the window of the video, it refused and the presentation stayed open.

    I furrowed my eyebrows at the screen and said, "Is it a titan?"

    Hanji sighed, "I don't know."

    The screen faded to black, and a screeching noise sounded through the speakers causing dozens of students to cover their ears. The sound was like nails scratching against a chalkboard. I almost flinched at the noise, but I remained unfazed.

    I watched as the projector displayed a static image, and words slowing typed onto the screen. I almost went over and threw the projector out the window when I saw the small font at the top. It was my username, 'Wings-of-Freedom'.

    The mysterious hacker, who I then assumed was a titan, wrote a small message which set me off, 'I stand against you.'

    My teeth clenched as they began to type out the next phrase.

    'I will clip every feather of your wings, ridding you of your freedom.'

    Then the screen started going haywire, blurring and fading the words on the screen, until finally, it drowned in darkness. A few students let out terrified gasps, and others clutched onto their friend next to them.

    At that moment when Hanji and I glanced at each other, we knew actually who our enemy was now.

    And that enemy was within this college-- more specifically, within the freshmen.