Expiation//Elliot Alderson//Mr. Robot

[2]: Hot Space

"He does some irrational things some pretty dicey things...he's not the purest human being in the world but he does have a very strong moral center."—Rami Malek [on Elliot.]—

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[CHAPTER TWO: HOT SPACE]

Shortly after her departure, the subway cart zoomed past him, blowing a rotten stench directly into his nostrils. His nose crinkled at the first whiff, his tired green eyes shut, and his lips parted slightly to inhale deeply before he would ultimately try to hold his breath. Disgusting. The repulsion evident on his tanned face was considerably odd due to his status as a resident of the city. However, the prolonged exposure to the relatively new smell from the pretty girl caused a temporary shift in his internal system. His nostrils sought that powerful smell.

He cursed himself for not allotting her the space, for not standing up, hiding behind someone tall and handling the problem himself. It was truly awful that he accidentally corrected her and revealed his real name, not his ever-changing pseudo name that he gave future hacking subjects. If she were truly, a bad girl the revelation of his name would connect her to Tyrell Wellick. The Swedish CTO was more than enough of a hassle already. Her random nickname, Ace, was it a reference to the tragically forgotten Alan Turing? Did she think Elliot was worthy of comparison?

Elliot Alderson spent the first five minutes of what was supposed to be a fifteen-minute walk consumed by thoughts about Malena. She did not seem technologically adept. Not only did she keep water near what was presumably her laptop, she owned an iPhone, and from the subway ride, it did not seem as if she cared about people looking over shoulder for her password. If she worked for Evil Corp it was likely she was new or, at least, an intern.

Malena Ström was a mystery, a mystery that should stay unsolved. For now, he had too much on his plate with his life, fsociety, and the repercussions from setting up the innocent idiot, Terry Colby. He shouldn't continue thinking about her. About seven minutes into the route toward Allsafe Cybersecurity, he was concerned with Fernando Vera.

The kingpin of a dangerous drug organization, he acted untouchable, which physically, he was. However, Vera's untouchable nature presented no problems to Elliot whose preferred method of delivering justice never required any physical confrontation. Moreover, the hacker found himself unable to heed the pleas of neighbor, drug dealer, Shayla Nico, after Vera raped her. That man had to go away. At work, he would use a virtual private network to send in an anonymous tip to the NYPD with enough information on the organizations illegal activities to get Fernando Vera incarcerated. He felt wary of the situation but there was not a doubt in his mind that it had to happen.

However, the deep thinking ended quickly. All because of a distinct black nylon messenger bag sprawled on the concrete, a bag that happened to collide with his feet. Elliot recognized the bag.

❝Shit. ❞

His green eyes stared blankly for a moment before hesitantly removing his hood. He found it impossible for Malena to have dropped the expensive bag without noticing. Which meant that unless something bad happened, this should still be in her care. He did not want to pick it up but... she did help him. The least he could do was return the favor. The young man quickly bent over and lifted the surprisingly heavy bag up by its long strap. The curiosity thickened as his eyes caught a vision of something else. Underneath the bag, once it was lifted, long white earphones lay tangled on top of a phone. This definitely belonged to her.