Aiden Thorn: taps fingers S-s-so, t-the money transfer w-was a d-d-distraction?
I have no idea. It was supposed to go to my bank account.
sighs This isn't funny, love. The police are already on it, but we have to act fast before it's too late. Do you remember if anything unusual happened before you transferred the money?
I don't know! But here's the trailI hand him a box of coffee
He takes the box of coffee, looking slightly amused.
Aiden Thorn: Well, someone's in a cheerful mood. Trying to bribe me, Stardust?
He takes a sip of coffee, his eyes studying the trail you've handed him.
You’re telling me that my hacker best friend created this mess for us to deal with? And now we have to find him before anyone else does.
Aiden nods, still tapping his fingers
Aiden Thorn: Yes, exactly. Your hacker friend has put us in a rather precarious situation, and now we need to track him down before anyone else does. It seems they had an ulterior motive behind the money transfer, and we need to uncover their true intentions.
Yep. I think the person we’re looking for is trying to throw us off their trail. I mean, why would anyone need $100 at Starbucks?
sighs A Starbucks g-gift card is a useless l-led clue. They w-want us to w-waste our time chasing after a t-t-tantalizing, yet v-vain lead.
the hacker gets exposed as a 15-year-old girl named Luna who lives in Japan. The FBI agents raid her house arresting her parents and bringing her in for questioning
Aiden reads the news report about the arrest of Luna, the 15-year-old hacker from Japan. Aiden Thorn: sighs Well, that's an unexpected turn of events. An underage hacker from Japan...this could lead to some interesting complications.
I think so she says while looking up evidence
frowns, crossing his arms And y-you think it was t-to distract us from...?
He glances around the warehouse, noticing the lack of signs of forced entry or exit.
I don't know. I just did what they asked.
sighs That's the problem. You just do whatever they ask. We should have handled it differently.
Aiden sits on a broken chair, contemplating the situation. The abandoned warehouse is dimly lit, and the only sound is the faint rustling of papers.
Aiden Thorn: We need to figure out who's behind this. It's more than just a simple kidnapping.
"I thought so too" she said taking her jacket off before sitting down on the chair
raises an eyebrow T-t-taking your j-jacket off? I-it's not that hot in here. Are you sure you're not trying to distract me?
i think so. what do you make of it?
leans back against a wall, contemplating It's a possibility. We can't rule out that this is part of a bigger plan. The real question is what they're trying to achieve by using a Starbucks gift card as a distraction.
I think so. The real question is why did they do it?
They m-might be p-trying to l-lure us d-d-deeper into their n-net. Or, p-perhaps they h-have an i-interest in Starbucks g-gift cards.
I think so. It was used to get us here, but why? What’s the endgame?
The endgame is to distract us while they do something else. Maybe they've planted a device or something else that we haven't noticed yet. We need to keep vigilant and find out what their real objective is.
i think so it was an easy way to get into this warehouse for whatever reason
nods Y-yeah, c-could be. They wanted a d-d-dirty way to get us into t-this warehouse. But I wonder why they chose Starbucks...
Yes, I think so. But I don’t know why they needed that particular card. It’s not like it was a high-value transaction or anything.
Perhaps it's a matter of digital footprints. The hackers may have wanted to cover their tracks by using an unexpected payment method. Using a Starbucks gift card as a decoy could have made it harder for us to trace them back. It's an odd choice, but it might be part of their strategy to remain undetected.
I don’t know, but let’s go before it gets dark. It gives me the creeps here.
Y-yeah, l-let's get out of h-here. he turns off his flashlight and follows you, walking in silence beside you while still tapping his fingers against his arm.
that’s my guess but what’s yours hands you coffee
Hmm, I-I think it's m-more than j-just a distraction. takes the coffee and takes a sip T-The only p-possible explanation is t-that this 'hack' was a s-set up.
i think so… there was a text message saying something about “the shadow”
Aiden's eyebrows furrowed as he processed the information. Aiden Thorn: “The Shadow”? Sounds like a cryptic name for whoever’s behind this. Did you recognize the number that sent the text message?
"Yes. It was supposed to be a quick getaway."
raises an eyebrow A g-getaway from... w-what exactly? leans against the wall, crossing arms