Cadenza: Veritas
Chapter 3: Impenetrable
"I'm Anjy Miles, just as I said earlier. This is my first Masquerade, and to be honest? That guy spoiled the mood for me. All I really wanted to do is dress up and dance." She extends her arm to shake hands with you, and you exchange introductions. "I can show you to some other place in Ziara, but I need to settle a few things, first."
She leans closer to you, and rests the side of her hand against your ear, to cover it as she whispers, "Do you know how to… hack a password-protected USB?" You feel your dance partner slide something in your pocket. As you palpate for it, you sense that the object is bulbous on one end.
"Hey, don't take it out while you're here. Just plug it to a computer, preferably something connected to a public network. Don't worry if you don't know anything about this. I have the hints, but I just can't remember the actual password for the life of me." Anjy cautiously glances to her sides, again. She hands over another object. You take a look at it, and find that it's a clawed mask.
"I'll be wearing that mask the next time we meet. I have to change my appearance a bit, with that guy on to me. Actually, I can hack that flash drive on my own. But if I do that, it'll be traced to me..." She asks you if she can borrow your phone, and texts something as quickly as she can muster.
You peer over the screen to see that she saved a message to your drafts. "The password hints are in your drafts. I don't really have much time, so I left my number there too. Thank you for the dance and the help, amigo." She then runs away and blows you a flying kiss, but not before sliding a few more trinkets to your pocket.
She leans closer to you, and rests the side of her hand against your ear, to cover it as she whispers, "Do you know how to… hack a password-protected USB?" You feel your dance partner slide something in your pocket. As you palpate for it, you sense that the object is bulbous on one end.
"Hey, don't take it out while you're here. Just plug it to a computer, preferably something connected to a public network. Don't worry if you don't know anything about this. I have the hints, but I just can't remember the actual password for the life of me." Anjy cautiously glances to her sides, again. She hands over another object. You take a look at it, and find that it's a clawed mask.
"I'll be wearing that mask the next time we meet. I have to change my appearance a bit, with that guy on to me. Actually, I can hack that flash drive on my own. But if I do that, it'll be traced to me..." She asks you if she can borrow your phone, and texts something as quickly as she can muster.
You peer over the screen to see that she saved a message to your drafts. "The password hints are in your drafts. I don't really have much time, so I left my number there too. Thank you for the dance and the help, amigo." She then runs away and blows you a flying kiss, but not before sliding a few more trinkets to your pocket.
The lobby of the venue has an internet station, but considering the secrecy with which she gave you the flash drive, it might not be the best place to get cracking at that password. You take the flash drive out of your pocket, examining it more carefully. On one side, you see a sticker with "Property of Brandon Dorian" in small print.
Close to the Atebus Shop is a small internet café, a curious little place where you can order pastries and coffee while surfing the net or whittling away at a keyboard. The faint canned music playing from of centralised speakers is occasionally drowned out by the trashtalking of unruly youths who seem to be busy playing some new first-person shooter. You rent a semi-private terminal, located on one end of the room, where passersby are less likely to see what you're doing.
You plug the flash drive into one of the terminal's USB ports. An error screen immediately greets you.
Close to the Atebus Shop is a small internet café, a curious little place where you can order pastries and coffee while surfing the net or whittling away at a keyboard. The faint canned music playing from of centralised speakers is occasionally drowned out by the trashtalking of unruly youths who seem to be busy playing some new first-person shooter. You rent a semi-private terminal, located on one end of the room, where passersby are less likely to see what you're doing.
You plug the flash drive into one of the terminal's USB ports. An error screen immediately greets you.
You panic momentarily, until you see a notification to the side of the computer.
Clicking on the notification prompts you to enter the password.
It's time to work your magic, or rather, your puzzle-solving skills. Taking out your phone, you look for the draft Anjy saved in your messages:
He is very conceited, but not so Obviously that he uses his own Name as his password.
Others would have expected him to Use the name of his lover, but he does not hold that much Respect for Anyone but himself.
Many have fallen victim to his Otherworldly charm, Not to mention the Gold he so flaunts every so often. They will all come to pass, and He will have nothing In the End. Victory will be mine, as long as I can guarantee the Erasure of one file from that Storage.
[REDACTED PHONE NUMBER]
[ I'll give you time to figure it out. When you're ready (or give up), proceed to Chapter 4. ]