“You should get some sleep. This is a long haul.” Naja emerged from her nap.
“There isn’t anything that looks like information on hacking techniques…”
“What? Aw, man. From his personality, I was sure he’d preserve his data… I thought for sure it was this one…” Naja mumbled, troubled.
“I thought we copied everything on that disc. What should we do?” Washu’s expression clouded over.
“We’ll figure something out. Cheer up,” Naja hugged Washu’s shoulders and stroked her hair. “Hey, what’s this?” Noticing some data on the monitor, Naja leaned in to type some keystrokes. “What… ‘My Glorious Achievement Log?’ Heh…sounds great. Let’s take a look.” She merrily removed Washu from the chair and started typing.
“Naja, private data is off limits.”
“As if he ever respected anyone else’s privacy… Here we go… What’s this…?”
Day X: I accessed Naja’s data banks today, the entry read. I couldn’t even call it a warm-up, as there was no resistance whatsoever. That security level is nothing to me…
Naja’s face twitched, rage slowly taking over her expression. In the journal, Clay sang his own praises, touted his hacking skills, and, all the while, sprinkled in ridicule for the people whose data (mostly private information) he obtained.
“Th-that bastard!! I’ll murder him!!” Naja grabbed the nearest military-grade special ops weapon and deliberately rose from her chair. Washu had to hastily hold her back.
There were entries about Washu, too, but she chose not to look at them. She knew that, if she did, she might just let Naja do as she pleased.
A few days later, as they finished up analyzing and organizing Clay’s data, Naja came home from buying groceries in a good mood. “Washu-chan, Washu-chan!!”
“What happened? Anything good?”
“Oh, this is great… Remember that awful outfit we saw when we snuck into Clay’s house?”
“The one you were convinced had to do with a woman?” Washu asked.
“Yeah. As you know, new students get a volunteer guide to show them around the school and help with administrative formalities. That was supposedly the outfit he chose to act as host for a new student.”
“Clay? No way. He wouldn’t pick something so expensive…”
“Turns out, he was actually aggressive about it. He used some shady tricks to get the other hosting candidates booted from consideration.”
“So, she was cute…?”
“Exactly. The rate at which hosts and new students eventually marry is pretty high, you know.”
“Well, well, so spring has finally arrived for Clay? I hope this’ll calm him down,” Washu answered, already disinterested.
“I wouldn’t be so ecstatic if that was where the story ended. There’s more! So, after they filled out the paperwork, Clay took her on a campus tour and to his own room. Then he started lecturing her all about himself!”
“You mean like in the diary?” Washu gasped. Naja nodded. “Ouch, sounds painful.”
“And then he tried to show her some slides of his achievements. And then…” Trying to suppress her laughter, Naja found it hard to continue.
“What’s the matter, Naja?”
“What showed up on the monitor was hard-core porn, full screen and full volume! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!” Naja burst out laughing and started rolling around on the floor.
“What…?” Washu suddenly seemed uncomfortable.
“And what an uproar. The new girl ran crying to the office, and everyone from the admin to all the students with grudges against him stormed over. Even the newspaper reporters came! The judicial administrator is going to decide on his fate.”
“What’s Clay saying about this?”
“That it’s a conspiracy, of course. I mean, there are plenty of people who have something against him. But then, it’s still his fault. He brought this upon himself. The newspaper and magazine reporters are out searching for the culprit.”
“Wh-why?”
“It’s obvious. This incident will go down as one of the year’s top three news events. Whoever did this is a hero. What’s wrong, Washu-chan? You look pale… No—you didn’t! When we snuck into his place?” Naja drew closer.
“I-I mean… I felt sorry that he was alone, so I did it to thank him for the data. I thought it would serve his needs. I wanted to surprise him. I didn’t mean any harm…”
“Oh my god! Well done, Washu-chan!!” Naja hugged Washu in joy and twirled her around. “The Department of Philosophy will win News Topic of the Year!!”
“You’ve got to be joking! Everyone will find out we broke into his house.”
“Urk, that’s true… But, Washu-chan, we could leak just a little…”
“I don’t want to be involved with Clay.”
“Well, all right.”
Later, Clay was suspended for a month and earned the nickname “octopus” from the other students. The Academy planet contained a creature similar to Earth’s octopus, which lived in a shell. The male would use bait to lure a female out of her shell, then drag her into his own shell to copulate. Furthermore, with a year-round mating season, they multiplied like rabbits. That was why Clay earned his nickname.
“I’ll find the culprit and shove the prize and plaque for the News Topic of the Year down their throat!” shouted Clay venomously in his awards ceremony interview.
Even though they could not identify the award winner, the judges were unanimous in their decision. Never in the award’s history had the recipient remained unidentified, but that just added to the notoriety of the year’s winner. Washu vowed to herself that she would never be discovered. However, she did not realize that this would be the beginning of a very long, protracted, and mostly one-sided battle with Clay.
Washu took several months to apply and develop Clay’s technology, and soon completed a system that could freely infiltrate anything not managed by Jurai’s Royal Trees. Procuring the necessary technical materials, and having absorbed all the relevant technology, Washu was approaching the level of expertise possessed by the Academy’s best, such as Professor Ikuma or the grad students.
Then, one day, two things happened.
The first occurred while Washu was searching through Jurai’s top secret files. She discovered and accessed a familiar item. “Report by Tatsuki Nishia Jurai… Nishia-dono.” It was the report on the incident that had alarmed Nishia, a Juraian Royal, when Washu first arrived at the Academy.
“Someone you know?” Naja paused in her work and peered at Washu’s monitor. “Nishia? Oh, the Juraian Royal. He was your bodyguard.”
“Yes… What?! The Jurai fleet that struck the Shank base along with Shippris…was devastated?!”
“I see. That was why they made a fuss about it up top.”
“You knew?”
“I didn’t know the details, but Professor Ikuma received a confidential analysis request.”