#DesireToProtect

[thornwick]

CHAPTER 2: Adelle

Adelle isn't just another pretty face. She once told me over a late night dinner that she might as well be a intelligently sexy Terminator cyborg in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" movie. After all, she holds Master's Degrees both in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity from the University of Melbourne. A talent like this could only mean one thing in our company: Adelle is put in charge as the IT Assistant Manager in Data Analytics and Cybersecurity. Her role is crucial in this digital age of industrial espionage, particularly concerning digital proprietary rights.

Adelle is not just quick-witted, but she's also very helpful. One night, I needed her help to figure out why I couldn't apply the security watermark to seal some e-books that our company was about to sell. At that time, we were only given a window period of about two months to finish selling all the new editions of Master Tax Guide, Accounting Desk Book and International Taxations. If we fail to sell these books quickly, they will be completely removed from all warehouses, thus leading to significant financial losses.

Because Adelle's responsibilities included the development and management of the company's in-house digital rights management system, I think that she'll be the most appropriate person to consult for assistance. "Ermm... Adelle, hop over. I urgently need your help now," I looked over my shoulder and I noticed that Adelle is about to head home for the evening - slinging a duffel bag on one shoulder while her laptop and tablet were neatly packed into a briefcase and rests on her other shoulder. From what I know, she'll be heading for her regular "muay thai" exercise session at night. "This girl is feisty," I mused, imagining that Adelle could also be the Catwoman who'll scratch my face off or pin me down on the floor for keeping her any longer in the office that night.

However, to my surprise, she asked with a tone of concern, "What's the matter and how can I help?" She isn't complaining, but her softening gaze revealed genuine empathy that melted me to my core. That was also one of the rare picture perfect moment that I'd like to "screenshot" for posterity. She quickly put down everything and came to my aid.

Then, she hunkered down and tried to figure out the crux of the issue. Curious, I walked towards her, peering at my laptop as she typed rapidly with graceful touches of her fingers, akin to playing a piano. "Could you give me some space?," she muttered, serious at work, but with a twitch of her nose. Her dimpled cheeks are already adorable, but the way her nose twitches when she's working? That's the real charm. Yeah...

A few keystrokes later, she met my gaze with an impish grin, laced with a hint of disapproval. "Have you updated your computer's security patch this week?," she asked. "Not yet. I updated it last week, though. Anything new I've missed?" I asked. "Plenty," she said, and when I was least expected it, her IT and computer 'lectures' began...

Apparently, I was unaware that the latest security patch for Windows 11 Professional was released this week [KB5052025] and this information had been emailed to everyone. It seemed that my common error during extremely busy workdays, was neglecting important technical emails, especially when my email inbox was swamped with an avalanche of them. As a result, misalignments occurred between my work computer's security data and Adelle's in-house DRM system, preventing me from applying security watermarks to the e-books before selling them.

Thus, I'm relying more and more on Adelle, whom I often refer to as my 'work wife,' when it comes to IT-related matters. Yeah, she's THAT good. If you get to know Adelle more intimately, you'll begin to understand the struggles that this IT prodigy had been through as a child, which shaped her into who she is today. Like any other child, there was a time in Adelle's childhood when she experienced pure, unadulterated joy daily - where every day felt like an adventure and every moment was filled with rapturous wonder.

Adelle is an only child who grew up in a well to do family in a luxurious grand villa in Hyde Park. Adelle's dad, Bill is a cybersecurity engineer for Australian Signals Directorate [ASD], who protects organizations' digital infrastructures by designing and implementing security systems and mitigating threats. Over the years, the strain of national security issues gradually increased Bill's stress and irritability, leaving him with less time for his family. In contrast to her logical and analytical spouse, Adelle's mother is a creative eco-florist, crafting stunning floral arrangements for events, retail spaces, and homes using locally grown, organic flowers and sustainable practices.

However, Adelle's childhood joy is entirely different from that of her peers. While other kids her age played outside, Adelle could often be found in the basement with her dad, Bill, tinkering with tools and assembling an eclectic assortment of gadgets. Adelle developed a natural affinity with all computer and IT systems, displaying a remarkable understanding of both hardware and software at an early age. At three, she'd already "subdued" her dad's tablet PC and at seven, her parents were already enrolling her in an IT bootcamp to learn coding.

Even though Adelle had always been close with her dad, however, she had once confided in me that she felt that something wasn't quite right when she was five years old. She even held back her tears when she recounted her story. At five years old, she was already a bubbly little girl who's full of laughter as she carried about her day. Perhaps it was this trait that made her dad getting more intimately interested in her.

One evening, Adelle's dad, Bill was busy at the basement tinkering with a new pair of bio-optical security lenses for Australian Signals Directorate [ASD]. It was 2005, three years after the horrific and devastating Bali bombings by the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, and Australia still mourns the loss of approximately 88 of its citizens. IT specialists like Bill were hired to beef up Australia's internal security networks round the clock. Bill's pair of bio-optical security lenses leverage quantum holograms and nanotechnology to provide secure, multi-layered authentication that significantly enhances protection for sensitive information and high-value assets.

With his mind focused on the intricate details of miniaturizing bio-optical security lenses, Bill's train of thoughts were suddenly broken by the sound of Adelle's footsteps on the basement stairs. "Daddy, daddy, mom's got dinner ready!", said Adelle in her usually chirpy voice. "Thank you, sweetheart. Come closer, I'd like to show you what Dad's been working on.," said Bill, attempting to draw Adelle nearer to him. Adelle then hurried down the stairs and rushed to her dad.

The basement hummed, a low thrum of active servers and cooling fans, a stark contrast to the quiet of the house above. This wasn't a typical basement; it was more of a high-tech fortress, a personal command center for Bill. Thick, sound-proofed walls, painted matte black, absorbed any stray noise, creating an almost unsettling silence, broken only by the rhythmic click of keyboards.

A few monitors, with their screens displaying complex code, network diagrams, and real-time threat analysis, lined the custom-built workstation. Even Bill's workstation was a marvel of ergonomic design - with adjustable chairs, specialized keyboards, and multi-monitor setups that wrapped around Bill when he's working. Fiber optic cables, thick and glowing with internal light, snaked along the walls and ceilings, connecting a rack of powerful servers that pulsed with data. In Adelle's eyes, her dad was "Batman", and this basement was clearly his ultimate "Batcave".

When Adelle came near to her dad, he grabbed her forcefully and started to undress her. Terrified, Adelle's breath hitched when she tried to scream - the sound dying in her throat as Bill's burly hand closed over her mouth. It was not too long when Adelle's Winnie the Pooh's t-shirt and panties fell on the basement floor and Bill came inside her, relieving him of months of pent-up work stress and rewarding him with a few moments of fleeting, twisted pleasures.

In that instant, Adelle knew that her world would never be the same, even when some fragile innocence lingers. She felt broken, consumed by shame, dirtiness, and guilt. The weight of what had transpired pressed down heavily on her like a dark force crushing her spirit. Each breath felt heavier and each thought a painful reminder, intensified by her vagina's lingering soreness. The world around her seemed distant, muted - as if she were trapped behind a thick, black, impenetrable glass.

"All right, it's done," Adelle declared, and requested that I validate the fix by reapplying the security watermark to the e-books. For a moment, Adelle's remark jolted me out of a deep mental stupor. I thanked her profusely and invited her instead to sample the mouth-watering roasted duck, a signature "masterpiece" of the Yellow Pot restaurant, of which she graciously accepted. Even now, a thread of her youthful innocence remains, a fragile and beautiful quality I long each day. If possible, I would like to hold her close and offer her a love that safeguards her innocence with every fibre of my being.