Fatal Encryption

A hacktivist group known as DeleteRich livestreams a message declaring their successful hacking attack on a bank, draining business accounts while leaving personal accounts untouched. The hacker proclaims that the rich must fall then ends the stream. In the privacy of his dark room, he watches the online reaction unfold—until a sudden knock at the door draws his attention.

Outside is Jackie, dressed in a jumpsuit and shivering in the cold. Mitch goes to the door and checks outside, asking Jackie how he can help her. She claims she was stranded after leaving a comic convention for an emergency, explaining the full body leather jumpsuit. Jackie asks to borrow a phone charger, citing an emergency involving her runaway dog and her out of battery phone. Mitch hesitates but decides to les her in. As he searches for a charger, Jackie subtly picks up a tea kettle, feigning gratitude before violently bringing it down on Mitch’s head knocking him unconscious.

Mitch awakens, tied to a chair, his head bruised. Jackie is at his computer, typing with practiced precision into he hacking code, ignoring Mitch’s demands for answers. She reveals her purpose, here to eliminate the hacker on behalf of DeleteRich tying up loose ends. Mitch laughs, taunting Jackie and her superiors for being so predictable. He directs her to the closet on the other side of the room, claiming he has a message for her superiors. Suspicious but intrigued, Jackie checks inside—only to find the real Hacker’s, already dead with his body slumped in the closet

Before she can react, Mitch has freed himself and loops a wire around her neck, yanking her back in a deadly struggle. Jackie fights desperately, gasping and clawing, but Mitch maintains his grip. They struggle in front of the closet as Jackie grasps at the string and the hands holding it tightly. Mitch holds on tightly gritting his teeth while Jackie’s eyes go wide from the strangling pressure. She tries to pull away but Mitch has a tight grip, following her every movement and constricting the wire tighter every moment. Jackie coughs and gasps, her eyes rolling as she panics from the intense pressure. Mitch pulls her back against the wall dragging her throughout the room as she tries to escape. She tries to kick at him and thrash herself free but he is calm and confident in his ability to overpower the agent. He holds her in place but loosens the cord enough for Jackie to catch a quick breath and plead for mercy. 

Mitch demands she make a call to her handler to give an all-clear. Barely able to breathe, Jackie resists at first but with the cord tightened again and realizing her helpless situation, Jackie complies. Mitch pushes her across the room onto the desk where the phone is and directs her through every step of the process. Jackie picks up the phone and calls, lying that the Hacker is gone but that she has a lead to pursue. Once the call ends, Mitch reveals his true identity—he works for the bank and is here to reverse the hackers gains. He mocks Jackie and DeleteRich for their failure, sneering at her belief in their cause.

Jackie is enraged and refuses to back down, but her resistance is short-lived. As the struggle intensifies, she reaches for the tea kettle in a last-ditch effort, but Mitch overpowers her. The kettle falls to the floor with a clang and Mitch kicks Jackie’s knees, causing her to fall to the floor. Jackie keeps trying to reach for the bludgeon but Mitch stands behind her holding on tightly. Jackie’s eyes roll wildly and her tongue sticks out as she is choked out on her knees. Soon her arms fall, no longer able to reach up to resist. Her head dips back and her body collapses to the floor. Without being able to control her limbs, Jackie is strangled hard on the floor with no resistance. Mitch puts the wire tightly as the agents body spasms and twitches wildly, her eyes still rolling. With one final, forceful pull of the wire, Jackie’s body goes limp and her head falls to the side in an open stare, lifeless. Mitch takes a moment to revel in his victory before moving to the desk and undoing the hacker’s work. He taunts the dead agent, then drags her body into the closet, leaving it right beside the Hacker’s corpse.