text: Mail hadn’t existed for many years. Yet there before him lay a small box with a letter resting on the top. Sonder would never know who put it there or when, but he would soon know the importance of it. And why it was on his doorstep. Training. He knew it was safe. No heavy components for a bomb or anything out of the ordinary that would represent a threat. “Its just a package” he thought. Safe. The smell of fresh coffee caught in the cool air made its way to Sonder and he followed that smell back to the kitchen after shutting the front door behind him. Walking down the hallway, he opened the envelope and revealed a small piece of paper with numbers on in. \+1 617 3874020 Sonder, thinking of what the numbers could mean, walked into his kitchen. They reminded him of a system criminal gangs used in the underground. An old technology that required numbers to contact people. Through phones. Phones. Small enough for a package. He began to put two and two together and figured this might be a threat after all. A system used by criminals, to get in contact with a high-ranking officer in the World Centre Policing Agency, just showed up on his doorstep. He lifted the lid of the package and a phone rested at the bottom with a note saying: **We need to talk about project Cypher** Project Cypher was his life work. Before being an officer, a dream he had since he was a kid, he graduated from MIT with a degree in Algorithmic Principles of Security. His work in security jumpstarted his career and he was quickly hired to protect government secrets. Including Project Cypher. The project was a virtual vault for any type of information, and it was almost impossible to hack. The information that Sonder protected was nothing he could have ever imagine. The phone didn’t require a password. It must have been old. Security was a major part of Sonders life and work. The phone only had one application on it. He froze for a second after realising that it wouldn’t open on command, a very basic task for modern electronics. He held his finger down on the icon. A keyboard popped up right away. He slowly typed in the numbers. Sonder held the phone to his ear and listened to the light humming sound it made. Then the sound stopped. “Hello...Sonder.” The person on the other end was unnoticeable. No definite accent. Could be anybody. “I know you’re there Sonder, and I know who you are, what you do and why - “ “Who are you?” His training taught him to talk as little as possible, but he couldn’t help it. “This isn’t about me it’s about you...and the work you do. I have a question...where are you right now?” “At home.” “Well it that case will you please look under the sink in your kitchen.” Sonder slowly walked over to the sink and opened the cabinet. He didn’t speak. The air in the room seemed to drop through the floor, suffocating him, stopping him from speaking. He was in danger. A bomb. It was large and it was strapped to the pipe along with large detonators on each side. “Sonder, leave the house; we blow it up. Try to get help; we blow-“ Sonder began to speak again. “Who’s ‘we’?. What do you people want?” “We want to know the truth” Sonder started to yell into the phone. “I don’t know anything! I don’t know...” “That’s ok” said the man, “I’ll tell you what I know and maybe you can help uncover the rest.” The man talked about some of the most horrific thing he could imagine. He told Sonder about terrorist attacks that were planned by his own government to create fear, and about targeted outbreaks of disease to affect weak economies to make profit the rich on Wall Street. It was a scheme on a global scale and his job was to make sure nobody knew. He felt responsible but tried to ignore it. “But what evidence to you have?” said Sonder, now calm. “That’s were you come in. We need you give us everything on project Cypher. Send it all to this address before 12:00, or the bombs goes off.” The line went dead. After that whole thing he realised a tear was rolling down his face. But that wasn’t the problem. He rolled up his sleeve and peered at his watch. **11:43** The phone vibrated and an email address popped up on the screen. Sonder opened his laptop, taking a deep breath. He sifted through files he was told never to see. Sonders hands start shaking, his watch read 11:54. He used passwords and access codes that would get him fired. 11:57. And he saw things that could cripple the world. Billions of dollars funding secret government projects and large international bidding for war secrets. He had helped uncover the greatest form of greed the world will ever see. His hand hovered over the send button knowing that he was about to shatter the world. His work on project Cypher assisted the rich and hurt and poor. He hit send. 11:59. He looked back under the sink in the kitchen to look at the bomb. He stared at it, wondering if I would have really gone off one minute later. The world shook like the terrible truth that held it up for so long. Then the peace returned. It flowed back like the light that Sonder was forced to bring over the shadows. He would sit back and watch society rebuild around the knowledge that greed would always serve as a crutch. He never knew the darkness until now. Sonder held the phone in his hand and turned it off.