Hacker Academy

HN 1

The stadium is chilly. My uniform is zipped all the way up, and I cross my arms to warm myself. Unix sits beside me in what looks like an Arctic suit. The stadium is huge. A blue neon line circles the ceiling, and our seats have short red lights on the edges. It's dark, so all we see are the lights, and the arena in the centre of the stadium.

It's almost like a boxer ring. Except it's a circle, and there is a small podium with a computer on it. Most people are sitting in the front, but we are sitting closer to the shadows. Unix is on her laptop playing some kind of farming game, and I'm still thinking back to my dream.

Because I lost to hacker number 1, my family was killed.

Was this some kind of sign? Maybe if I became hacker number 1, my family would be rich and safe. Loud whispers wake me from my thoughts.

I look at Unix, and she has a hand on her mouth. Her laptop is closed and tucked away in her backpack. I look at the arena and see our principal.

She steps into the ring and circles around, admiring the many students in the stadium. She gestures us forward. "You're all so far away. Come forward to the front seats, please."

Everyone quickly follows her orders, and almost everyone is on the first row. She smiles with tight lips. "That's excellent. Now I know it's rare for me to come, especially on Free Friday, when it's supposed to be ..."

Her words drift out of my head and I look at Unix. "Is it rare for her to come?"

She's looking at Miss Tag like a moth mesmerized at the light. "Yeah. This is the fourth time I've seen her. First was coming to Hacker Academy. The second time was getting expelled, and third was coming back." She gives me a sheepish grin.

"Today I thought that we should make things interesting."

Her eyes find me. "Ada, please come up."

Unix squeals and pushes me out of my seat. "Go, go, go!"

I stammer and look at Unix, then hesitantly climb up the steps to the ring. I stand beside Miss Tag. She looks at me and smiles.

"I hope you don't mind doing this. We haven't done this tradition in Hacker Academy for so long now. It's about time we continued it."

Her face turns serious, and she turns to the stadium entrance and calls out, "Cyber."

Heavy boots make their way towards the ring, and my heart pounds with each louder step. Cyber comes out of the shadows and walks into the spotlight.

He stands right in front of me. Miss Tag stands in the middle between me and him.

"Cyber, this is Ada. She's hacker number 1000, but she shows potential."

Then she looks at me and then over at Cyber.

"Ada, this is hacker number 1."