Luggage and pCard in hand, I slip out the back door. My hair is in two braids, and I used some temporary lightener to make it appear more brown than black. I'm wearing brown coloured contact lenses and makeup — it's light but still changes my appearance — and a sunhat which casts a shadow over my face. I'll also have to avoid the cameras, and keep my face hidden as best I can. It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do without my infrared facial concealer.

I arrive at the airport at 11:50pm. I have a 1:00am flight to France, and luckily, it doesn't take long to get through border security, despite the issue of my current persona not, you know, being a real person. Compared to some of my past "projects", hacking the ID database wasn't even too hard. I scan every screen in sight as I walk through the corridors, hoping the UNBI hasn't figured out who I am yet. My disguise is OK, but if my face suddenly shows up on every screen, someone will surely recognise me.

* * *

"Next," the woman standing by the entrance to the hovercraft calls, and I walk up, trying to hide my nervousness. "Name?"

"Hello, my name is Nicolette Lacroix," I say, trying to alter my voice with a slight French accent, while handing her my fake identification card and the temporary pCard which contains my boarding pass.

She scans my cards and looks at the hologram profile that comes up, glancing at the photo to make sure it's me.

"Could you remove your hat, please?" She asks, and I do. The woman nods, looking at the photo. "Thank you, Miss Lacroix," she smiles and hands me my cards, and I breathe a sigh of relief, quickly putting my sunhat back on.

I try my best not to fidget anxiously throughout the whole flight, but I can't help the nervous energy. Out of the three flights I'll be taking, and the three different identities, this one's the hardest. It would be difficult to find, but there are still ties connecting my real identity to Alias Number 1.

MEANWHILE - Agent Cassanova

Anticipation courses through me as I watch the Tokyo UNBI agents approach the door through one of their body cams. Finally. I'm reassigned to the case — well, not quite reassigned, but that's just a matter of paperwork — and finally, finally, I've accomplished what I'd been working at for months. I've found her. I've found xCodebreaker01.

One of the agents knocks loudly on the door.

After a minute or so with no answer, she knocks again.

"This is the UNBI, could you open the door, please?" she shouts, maintaining a tone that is both polite and strict.

A second agent gave her an uncertain look before glancing at the unmarked police cars parked at the curb. I shake my head and press the button on my headset.

"No backup, not yet. Try the door again."

She obliges, but with a little less patience.

"This is the UNBI, open the door!"

After what seems like forever, the door cracks open and a sleepy-looking, middle aged woman steps out. It's Eloisa Raven, the mother, although she looks quite different from her IDDB profile... tired, for one thing.

"Raven-san?" The agent confirms.

"Mhmm, uh, yes. Just Ellie, please. Umm, what seems to, uh, be the matter?"

"Ellie, is your daughter here? Kalixieta?"

She looks confused, disconcerted, but gestures vaguely upstairs.

"She's, ah, probably sleeping." Ellie clears her throat and calls in the direction of the stairs. "Kalix? Kalix, umm, there's someone at the door for you!"

As if it's just now hitting her that they're from the UNBI, a look of concern appears on her face and she takes a few steps toward the stairs.

"Kalix, have your friends got mixed up in something? What's going on, honey?"

No answer.

"May we come inside, please?" The first agent asks, and the Ellie nods nervously.

"What's going on? Kalix would never do anything—"

The other agent interrupts her, taking her hand and leading her toward the kitchen table. He nods to his partner, indicating that he'll explain the situation to the mother while she looks for Codebreaker — er, Kalix. It feels so weird to finally put a name to the profile.

Sneaking quietly upstairs, she checks each room but finds no-one that I can see through the camera. She calls the girl's name a few times — though I wouldn't exactly expect her to respond — and rechecks any possible hiding places, but to no avail. Kalix Raven is not here.

"It's empty, Agent Cassanova," she tells me through her earpiece.

"Acknowledged. Call in the backup officers to run a more in-depth search, but..." I trail off. I know they'll find nothing.

After following the instruction, the agent returns downstairs where the other is waiting with Kalix's mother. She shakes her head to indicate the lack of success, and he gestures to a chair beside him and across from the mother. Before she can ask anything, Eloisa speaks up.

"I don't understand. This man says my daughter is a criminal hacker? She's a 16-year-old girl!"

"I know, Ellie. However, we have reason to believe that she has been committing cyber crimes under the alias xCodebreaker01. Do you watch the news?" the agent asks her, and she nods. "Then you've probably heard that username before. Listen, I know this is a lot to process, but we need to ask you a few questions."

"She's my little girl, Agent..."

"Mizaki."

"Well, Agent Mizaki, if you think I'm going to help you arrest my little girl, you're out of your mind! And you must be mistaken, she would never break the law!"

"Ellie, I understand you want to protect her, but if you don't answer our questions, you could be charged with aiding and abetting a criminal."

"Will you stop calling her that? She has a name, god-dammit, and she's not some dangerous threat!"

"I'm sorry," Mizaki says, sounding respectfully apologetic. "And, think of it this way, if it turns out you're right, and she's innocent, helping us find her will help to prove that."

Reluctantly, Ellie nods. "OK. Ask your questions."

"Thank you. Now, when was the last time you spoke to your daughter?"

"Today, umm, only a few hours ago. She came home from school, I think after spending some time with her friends, first."

"Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean, why wouldn't I be?"

"Our records show that Kalixieta wasn't at school today, Ms— Ellie."

"Well, where else would she have been?"

This clearly isn't going to go anywhere. The agent moves on. "What time did she get home?"

"I— I don't remember, exactly."

"Can you give me an estimate?"

"No, Agent, I really don't remember..."

She seems to be getting agitated, and Mizaki speaks more calmly. "OK, that's OK, Ellie, just try to think. Was it dark outside? What was happening when she came home? Had she already had dinner with the friends you said she was with?"

"Um..." She shakes her head, her expression worried and somewhat distant. "I don't... know..."

"She doesn't remember if her daughter was home for dinner or not?" I wonder aloud.

Grey gives me a look, and I focus once again on the video feed.

"Did she mention anything about leaving, was she planning to go somewhere tonight? Out with her friends, or a boyfriend, maybe?"

"Uh, I don't think so. I suppose you could talk to her friends, but she didn't say anything to me."

"Did she say anything about leaving the country?"

"Wha— No, nothing at all. Why would she leave the country?"

Kalix

Stepping off the plane, I walk quickly in the direction of the nearest bathroom, looking down at my phone — new phone, of course — as to look more natural. After catching sight of the familiar washroom sign, I scan my surroundings and spot a group of five women headed that way. Slipping behind them as they walk past the door allows me to enter completely out of view of the corridor cameras. Once inside, I hide in a stall and pull my first change of clothes out of my carry-on — high-waisted black slacks, a red blouse, and black heels. I stash the sundress and sandals I wore as Nicolette back in my carry-on.

After checking that no-one else is in the washroom, I quickly unbraid my hair and wipe off most of the brown hair chalk, leaving my hair almost back to its natural black colour. I put it up in a super-high ponytail, then adjust my makeup, changing to a bold red lipstick colour, rose-neutral eyeshadow, and some mascara.

Standing at the exit with the door open just a crack, watching and waiting for another group to pass by, is possibly the most stressful four minutes of my entire past year. Luckily, though, the airport is busy. A cluster of people walk past the washroom, and I slip out and make my way to the terminal for my next flight.

This time, when the boarding attendant calls for the next person in line, I embrace my new identity and try to adopt the personality of my New York young business-professional persona. With notably more confidence than I'm actually feeling right now, I approach the desk, introduce myself as Jackie Losange, and hand over my pCard with a sigh and an attempted I'm-too-busy-for-this look.

"All clear, Jackie," the woman says, with a hint of irritation at my impatience, and I do my best to fight the instinct to apologize.

Agent Cassanova

The interview was mostly useless. It would seem as though Codebreaker's mother had little to do with her life, and no idea where she had gone. She didn't even know her daughter had left the house earlier tonight. The only possible lead is the names of her friends — Roxanna and Cayden. I sent two agents to interview them, and two others to each airport in case she tries to leave the country.

Turns out, the security footage at the airport is useless as well, but that's to be expected. Countless people walk by every hour, even this late at night, and most of their faces aren't in view of the cameras.

Kalix

Time for identity number three.

I swap my intimidating business attire for a white billowy blouse tucked into black jeans and wedges, and apply some darkish-red lipstick and light eye makeup. I also have enough time before my next flight to loosely curl my hair — it's important that this identity, which will be the one I actually use once I reach my destination, looks different enough not to raise suspicion if my photo ends up online.

Agent Cassanova

You'd think people would pay a little more attention to what's going on. Unfortunately, much like the conversation with the suspect's mother, interviewing the airport staff was a dead end. No one said they had seen anyone matching Kalixieta's description, and they didn't recognize her from a photo. Luckily, I was able to get a warrant for the boarding lists for all outgoing flights tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to run a facial recognition search for her.

...3 hours and many, many cups of coffee later, I am proven wrong. Some kind of virus was uploaded to the database, corrupting all the pCard scan files from between 23:00 and 1:30. Grey is on the phone with the cyber unit, asking if they can restore anything, but from what I can overhear, it doesn't sound easy.

This girl's good. The UNBI underestimated her, yet again. They underestimated me, too, and by kicking me off the team, they essentially gave her a head start. Now Codebreaker's gone, and we haven't the slightest hint of a lead.

Kalix

The cool London air hits my face as I step through the automatic doors, luggage in hand. My hair, still in curls, blows in the wind. I haven't stepped outside in the past 26 hours. The combination of three long flights, three identity changes, countless updates to complex computer programs and zero sleep has left me exhausted, both physically and mentally. Not to mention, my day isn't over. It's 14:00 local time, and I still need to find a place to stay.

* * *

Turns out, it's easy enough to find a hotel on short notice, and I'll work on a more permanent solution in the next few days. Right now, I'm exhausted, and the idea of sleep feels welcoming. After tossing my key card and carry-on onto the desk and leaning my suitcase against the wall, I collapse on the bed, only to be distracted moments later by a ping from my phone. Then another. And another. They're all news alerts, every network eager to share the latest development in the case everyone's been following. Choosing one at random, I open it on my eyeview, raising a hand to expand the message.

xCodebreaker01 Identity Revealed — Notorious Hacker Traced Back To Kandori High School Student Kalix Raven

Ooh, I'm notorious now? That sounds so much more flash than "infamous".

Right. Not the point. Hey, I'm tired, OK? Moving on.

They know who I am now — everyone knows. I'll have to be extra careful about cameras, now that my picture has spread around the internet like the coronavirus in 2020. As soon as I get the chance, I'll try to write some kind of program to confuse them, although at the moment I have no idea how. As for the whole interacting-with-humans thing, I'll just change my appearance enough that no one will recognise me. It's not like they pay much attention to others anyway.

That'll have to wait though. I've been travelling for over 20 hours, and all I want right now is sleep. Despite feeling physically as well as mentally drained, though, rest proves a challenge. There's just so much on my mind. I'm far from in the clear — there's still a lot to worry about. Finding an apartment, job hunting, and I don't even know what I'm going to do about school.

And then, of course, there's OutlawResolve. He's here, somewhere, and now he knows who I am.

Maybe I'll finally get to meet him.