The Devil's Sweetheart

A man stiffer than his suit and when he speaks, his voice sounds like an army. Clean cut and well-groomed in a tailored black suit, he was suave with an allure. There is only one color in his life, right or wrong, legal or illegal. But right now his eyes held no mirth, they were soulless and lifeless.

Sitting in front of his computer, he rolled his fingers into balls with fury when he saw his face being photoshopped with women like features. How dare he provoke me again?

The staff even though shuddered in fear in front of him, they were internally laughing seeing his photoshopped face which was looking funny with long hair. Some of them even started imagining him in real.

"Did you get through his security walls, Alex?" His voice shrieked with a thunderous aura.

"I am trying sir. But I will be honest with you, it's hard to break his walls." Alexander meekly added. He was the famous hacker enacted by the FBI itself and has cracked and broken every network but not the current one. Right now, he is combatting to hack the impossible security walls of one of the world's notorious hackers. Being a cyberpunk, it was a shame to not even get into the first wall of defense. What kind of security he has built? Alex wondered.

"Agent Kurt Weller! Congratulations on receiving the Medal of Valor. Man!!! You were dapper in yesterday's show." With a broad smile, a woman entered into the office room but seeing his dampened mood, the woman glanced at the staff asking for his unexpected change of behavior.

"What happened to him suddenly?" Sylvia, she is one of the FBI special agents in the Kurtis team. She asked the staff again when there was no response.

"Kurt has received the evidence of Black scorpion organization's dark secrets and also the supporting gang involvement in their drug dealings today." Eliza, the forensic science FBI agent in Kurt's team whispered.

"That's amazing Eli. For six months, we have been trying to investigate black scorpions right?" Sylvia asked back, still not understanding with Kurt's odd behavior.

"Yes. But it was not us who has found the evidence. Someone has sent it to him secretly. Kurt's account was hacked and the proofs were directly sent to his mail when he arrived. Even his face was photoshopped in a funny_"

"Don't you have any other work? Get back to your places right now," Kurt shouted at the gossipping staff. Scared, they immediately flew away.

"Was your face really photoshopped funnily?" A giggle escaped from Sylvia's lips.

"It isn't funny Sylvia." He threw the files on his desk thinking about the humiliation.

"Who dared to challenge you?" As far as she remembered, there is only one person who can invite Kurt's ego and that person had been in hiatus for a long time.

"Elysian."

"What? Elysian is back?" Silvia exclaimed. Speak of the devil and he doth appear.

Just now, she was thinking about that notorious hacker and he has appeared right away. It's been six years since she has heard of him after what he did to the entire world.

"Did you somehow offend him, Kurt? Six years back, when you received the shield of bravery award, he has sent a big trophy to you on the next day. Right when you received the medal of honor yesterday, he exposed the black scorpion's secrets."

"He is a sick criminal, Sylvia." Just because he doesn't have any work, he is going around the world hacking everything his eyes laid on.

When the staff working in the building heard it was hacker Elysian, their interest piqued again.

"Who is Elysian?" A girl named Sarah asked out of curiosity.

"You don't know Elysian?" Another employee asked in wonder.

"Even I am not aware. But I heard one of our staff talking about him once." Another girl entered into their conversation.

"It's fine if we discuss him among ourselves. But never bring his name in front of Kurt. He would flare up in anger."

"Care to tell who exactly Elysian is?" Sarah asked running out of patience.

"Hmm...Where should I start? Elysian, he is as mad as a March hare and as nutty as a fruit cake. One word, he is insanely crazy."

"The world's most wanted cybercriminals and he goes by the code name Elysian. A notorious black hat hacker. No one could track his identity. Even now, there is no evidence that Elysian is a man or a woman. But Kurt strongly believes it is the former."

"Why is Kurt after him?"

"Six years back, he shook the technology world like a withered leaf. Like a maniac, he hacked into almost all the company networks and revealed the dark secrets they were carrying out under the table. Many companies went bankrupt and some of the companies fired the employees when the organization heads knew about the underlings. But then, he disappeared like a speck of dust after all the things he has done and now he is back again. FBI has been trying to track him down for a long time but they couldn't find a single trace of him. He would disappear in seconds and goes around the earth if we search for him."

"Wow. I am starting to love him already." Sarah's eyes twinkled.

"But isn't it good that he has cleaned the society? Why was he branded as a criminal."

"Even I wonder the same. Maybe he has hurt Kurt's ego. For long, Kurt has been trying to find the dark organization's secret, but six years back, Elysian delivered everything at his doorstep provoking his ego, just like today."

"Kurt must be pissed off right now." The girl giggled.

...

"You know what, My daughter was a big fan of you. After Elysian challenged you openly six years back, she has kicked your photos out of her room and put up Elysian's imaginary photos." Taking a sip of coffee, Sylvia confessed.

"Don't bring his topic. I will not leave that bastard at any cost. How dare he ask me to wear a jumpsuit and apologize to the media if I cannot crack the puzzle in one month?" Kurt was fuming with outrage.

"He has given a puzzle to crack?" She asked curiously.

Kurt opened his mail and showed a series of alphabets and numbers code which Elysian has sent to him along with the message hacking into his account.

[We meet again buddy! Are you surprised by the gift I sent? You should be. After all, you have been trying to get your hands on it for the last six months. You better sit in your home and watch cartoons. That suits you better than catching criminals. It's been six years, you couldn't even find my single trace. I wonder you will ever find out. At least if you have balls, decode the below puzzle in a month. Else wear a sexy jumpsuit and apologize to me in front of the media just like how you berated me six years back.]

[Here goes your Mystery Elysian's untangled paradox: CROTWORHOTHREESNOFOUROBE]

"Bastard. How dare he call me as his buddy." Kurt yelled.

Sylvia laughed reading the message. As expected from Elysian.

"Is it alphabet numbers?" Looking at the code, she was trying to examine what it could be.

"It isn't. It's not an easy puzzle Sylvia. He wouldn't give a simple alphabet. He is trying to convey something through this.." Kurt made a vow to get him through this puzzle by hook or crook.